2 Days later...

After my meeting with Dvirt and his retelling of Merlin coming to observe our next practical lesson, juts 2 days later, the entire school got a whole day which was just practical. They said that this was due to them wanting to see our capabilities as well as our progress in terms of magic skill, due to well, learning about magic and stuff for the last 9 days or so. I could definitely see why people believed it, but come on — it should be obvious that it is just an excuse to have Merlin see what Alis can do. I mean, if this was truly a test to see our capabilities, why didn't it happen faster? And then, why is it happening around the start of the month and not the end?

Honestly, could they seriously not come up with any better excuse other than what they did? Because if so, I feel very bad for them. The school system and the higherups, I mean. I was inside my dorm room, just laying in bed and staring at the ceiling, waiting for when our class has to go to the practical test. All classes were headed to it at different times and in turns, with the oldest ones going first and then progressively making their way down to the younger classes. If they don't manage to do all the classes today, this will continue tomorrow.

How fun huh?

Felix: "Hey Anker? How do you feel about the magic practical test that will be overseen by the Grand Sorcerer?"

Felix suddenly asked me across the room, sitting on his bed — looking a little nervous. He was fidgeting quite a lot at this point and even earlier today almost smashed a window by throwing a weight ball into the air and catching it on the way down over and over again.

I get that being stressed and nervous about this whole event is completely normal for any human, but do you seriously have to do literally anything that could get your mind off of it? Even if it is throwing a fucking weight ball up into the air and almost smashing the window using it at one point? Honestly, this academys students make 0 sense.

I exhaled before nodding my head lightly in response.

"Honestly, I'm completely calm. I don't see a reason to stress about it that much."

Felix: "Don't see a reason—?! Anker! THE Grand Sorcerer will be here to oversee the whole thing! You know! The Strongest Sorcerer of Mankind Merlin!"

Yes, I very much know who Merlin is, you don't need to remind me by calling him literally every title he possess. I exhaled lightly again, before sitting up on my bed and throwing an unimpressed gaze over at Felix, before shrugging lightly.

"So what? Even the King himself could be observing this test and nothing would really change."

I then put on a bit of a calm and friendly expression across my face.

"Just try to relax. Besides, our turn won't come for a long time."

Felix: "....I guess..."

Felix was left a bit speechless after my entire statement, however managed to push out a single word combo in the end, before exhaling and falling down onto his bed, laying down and just staring at the ceiling, still visibly nervous about the whole thing. To be blunt, I was more annoyed with this whole situation — I mean, just a few years ago, Merlin was the one who attacked and tried to kill me while I was waiting for Alis to show up at our usual meeting spot.

Merlin was also the main reason why they figured out who was at the scene of the Behemoth and killed it — well.... Actually, technically Gilgamesh figured it out by finding a tree scorched by the Demonic Blade of Despairs power, however it was still Merlin who issued out the statement which said what it was and from where it could have come from. And then afterwards, he continued to snoop around the Behemoth corpse I had made for them to find and found out that it had been tampered with using magic, which one;

Is actually really impressive — but also two;

Is very, very annoying. With Merlin knowing that something is up and that the Behemoth was not slain by anyone normal, which could get me into trouble should I use the Sacred Blade of Hope and Demonic Blade of Despair together once again.

Soo... Basically, it has forced me to be more careful whenever I do shit around the Human Kingdom of Evelia — I do not want them to possibly catch on the fact that I have been chilling and hiding amongst them all this whole entire time.

Felix: "Say, since you know a ton about magic and its history — are you confident that you'll be able to impress the Grand Sorcerer?"

Felix asked, causing me to throw a slightly confused stare towards him — lifting my eyebrow slightly as I did.

"What do you mean by that?"

Felix: "I mean the fact that you're practically a walking encyclopedia of magic, do you think you will be able to impress the Grand Sorcerer and possibly earn his recognition? Your knowledge over magic and its history at your age is insane my friend."

Ah, so basically he is asking if I can impress Merlin when our turn comes and we have to go out to do the practical test... To be honest, I am not sure if I will do anything flashy just yet. Due to being the Demon King of Sins, I am not very good or compatible with regular magic that humans use, as I mainly use Dark and Demonic magic, which is usually something only Demons and the 'Damned' can use. Ah right — I don't think I've explained the whole spheal around the damned.

The 'Damned' are apparently known as individuals who worship the Demon King of Sins and have scorched his crest onto her chest, allowing them to use Dark and Demonic magic while a human or any other race they may be. They're called 'The Damned' because they are seen as betrayers of the Gods and individuals who are meant to eventually have a painful death in this world.

That's a short summary of who they are, just so you can understand more about them. Anyways, back to my slight problem at hand — The incompatibility of using normal Human Magic. While technically I am fully capable of using any magic I want, I haven't been training in the use of human magic or spells, as I exactly couldn't do that nor had the time. I was busy practicing Dark and Demonic, as well as a little Dragon magic — due to all these magic types being the greatest in the world.

Soo... There may be a chance for me to completely lose control over the spell I am casting should it be required that I use magic that humans use. Buuut I am sure it will be fine — just have to make sure to not use any big spells and all should be good.

Felix: "Anker, are you still with me? You didn't answer my question."

Felix suddenly pulled me out of my train of thought, walking up to me and staring me down as I shook my head — the other boy just standing infront of me with his arms crossed. I chuckled lightly, rubbing the back of my head.

"Sorry, I zoned out for a bit. As the answer to your question, I believe I have what it takes to impress the Grand Sorcerer, however I would like to stay out of the spotlight if possible. I don't want much attention brought to myself."

I replied, with Felix throwing me a strange stare, almost like he was asking if I was serious, before exhaling and placing his arms onto his hips.

Felix: "Geez... You know, you already drag a ton of attention from others with your whole family, how much more attention would you draw if you used your magic to its full potential?"

If I use my magic to its full potential, I will end up opening a giant blackhole that will wipe this kingdom off the face of the planet — Yeah, I think I'm good. I'd rather keep the protagonist alive and settle things peacefully rather than starting a whole war with the entire order of Gods that oversee this world.

I... Or rather, Avis Virtiosa has already been through a chapter where he fought the entire order of Gods... It ended with him being the only Demon King left standing as all the other ones were killed off by the Gods, and I do not intend to join them yet. I would like to keep my life for as long as possible. Y'know? Living sounds more fun than death.

After a small bit, I exhaled before dropping back down into my bed and smirking lightly to myself.

"Don't worry Felix — I will use my magical abilities to an extent that I deem as non conspicuous. I won't embarrass myself."

I replied, with Felix simply sighing heavily before walking over to his side of the dorm room and sitting at the desk there, taking out a feather and ink vial before dipping the feather into the ink vial and beginning to write on a small piece of paper. Guess time has come for his daily letter to his family. It came much faster this time than the last time, when he was writing his letter at fucking midnight. Wonder what he is writing to them this time... I mean, the day hasn't exactly even begun for us and we're still inside the dorms.

What is there to even write to his parents about? How we've been lazing around in the the dorm so far today? Honestly... I sometimes don't understand what goes on in Felix's head. He is such a... Mystery to me. I swear — This guy could probably write to his parents about him eating a snail and somehow make it interesting.

What weird people I've gotten acquainted with...

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

• • • • • •

Summoned to Another World, but as the Final Boss

• • • • • •

Hours went by and eventually, and surprisingly, our classes turn came to be observed in the practical thing. Me and Felix almost immediately headed out to the main school building and met up with the rest of our class — who all had already gathered outside the practical test area. When getting a glimpse at how it looked, I could see a couple of extra durable targets put up, all of them made from different materials. The one on the right seemingly seemed the softest, while the middle one was around as durable a human guards armour and the last one... Wait — that was Dragon Steel. How on earth did they get their hands on a metal that the Dragon-born Kingdom only has access to... Last time I checked, the Dragon-born King and the Human King weren't exactly on the best terms.

Before I got any more time to see what else was prepared for this practical, we were all called into the 'arena' with our Headroom Teacher walking into the arena first and then all of us followed. Once everyone was inside, the door behind us was shut and then locked, before a powerful magical barrier manifested itself around the arenas interior, probably here to ensure that all damage from our spells is kept inside of the arena and does not get out into the world around.

Plus, upon closer inspection... It appears that the supplier of the magical barrier was none other than Merlin himself, who stood out in the middle of the arenas field, a warm smile across his face as he was dressed in long, flowing robes, decorated with golden and red colours. Gotta say, he definitely changed quite a bit since my last run in with the Sorcerer — he actually looked older.

Shortly after we entered, we all were ordered to gather around Merlin, standing tidily and neatly and ensuring to remain quiet while the Grand Sorcerer spoke. Before taking my stance in the crowd, I quickly threw a gaze over at Alis and my goodness... She did NOT look happy to see Merlin. And you know what — I cannot blame her. During my 5 years of training her, I have heard just complaint after complaint from her about how Merlin is a terrible teacher. So yeah...

After we all took our places and settled down, the Grand Sorcerer exhaled before clearing his throat and putting on a much smaller, but still as warm of a smile.

Merlin: "Greetings Younglings of the Evelias Magical Institute. As you all know already I am Merlin, the Grand Sorcerer of Evelia as well as the most powerful Sorcerer among all humans."

He introduced himself first, before lifting his right hand up and placing it onto his chest.

Merlin: "For starters — as you all also should already know, I will be the one overseeing your magic practical today, to personally evaluate your magic talent and abilities to hopefully find a new apprentice for myself for the future."

Merlin stated, before looking towards us all. Everyone in my class looked a little surprised about the information, even if it had been spreading like wild fire across the entire school — with literally almost every single student speaking about how Merlin will be the one overseeing the practical for today. After the small commotion that was generated among my classmates calmed down, Merlin snapped his fingers, with a pedestal made of wood suddenly manifesting out of thin air, before a clear crystal ball appeared ontop of it — laying on a red pillow.

Merlin walked up to the crystal ball, before placing his hand onto the wooden pedestal it stood on.

Merlin: "This is how the practical will go. First, I wish to see how strong your magic is by measuring it using this Magic Measuring Item. It will tell me how strong your magic is as well as which magic types you excell at and which ones you are pretty bad at."

Merlin explained before turning to look at the targets behind him, pointing towards all of them to get our attention to them.

Merlin: "After measuring, I'll have you all attack those dummies that are made of different materials. Each material is different when it comes to its ability to withstand and resist magic, with the one on the right being the weakest as it's made of Quartz, the one in the middle being the middle ground as it's made of Wolfram, which is used for our soldiers armour and the one on the right is the toughest one, being made of Dragon Steel, a metal that is very rare and only the Dragon-born use as it has the qualities to completely negate magic."

Merlin gave us a brief explanation of each of the dummies and their metals, before looking at us again and then inviting the first person to come up and get their magic measured — who just so happened to be a brown haired boy, who walked up to the crystal ball and looked at it nervously.

Merlin: "Just place your hand onto it."

Brown-Haired Boy: "O-Okay!"

The boy replied, before hesitantly placing his left hand onto the crystal ball. After a few moments, the crystal ball was filled with slight mist, which then split off into 6 different coloured orbs inside the ball, each one representitive of the magic types that humans are able to use.

Earth, Water, Fire, Lightning, Wind and Soul. Light magic is also capable of being used by humans, however it is a universal magic that is able to be wielded by anyone from any race.

For this boy in specific, the orb that was coloured in a light turquoise colour, symbolising wind, shined the brightest, while the dull brown coloured orb, which symbolised earth, shined the faintest.

After examining the orbs in the Crystal ball, Merlin nodded and gestured the boy to take his hand off, before inviting him to come closer and aim for the first dummy - the one made of Quartz and to launch the strongest spell he can using his wind magic.

Pretty standard stuff if you're like me and have seen a shit ton of other stories do the same before. Only thing is — they did it a lot earlier. Anyways, as the other students one by one went through the test and showed off their magic to Merlin, I began to brainstorm on how I could pass the Crystal Ball test without revealing who I am. That item is a low tier magic item, unable to measure magical abilities that are beyond the 'Cataclysm' rank, which is considered the highest rank of magic — well, right after the 'Godhood', which is the rank of magic used by the Demon King of Sins and The Hero.

If I place my hand onto that crystal ball without any preparations, the ball would not react to my presence nor would it shatter, which would definitely rise suspicion among everyone present. How do I do this...

While I brainstormed ideas, time kept moving forward and before I knew it, Felix had already finished his test — however I didn't really pay attention to what his magic was nor how strong it was, mainly because of me being in my thoughts, but also because I already knew that he didn't have great magic talent, as he was more of a physical man in the game. After Felix returned, Klara stepped up and placed her right hand onto the crystal ball. The crystal ball was filled with mist and then split off into two orbs — both symbolic of Elven Dark and Elven Light magic. I remember this part from the game. Klara is revealed to be a descendant of.... Actually, I will keep it to myself.

Upon the orbs lightning up, and the Elven Light magic shining brighter than Elven Dark magic, Merlin and everyone else let out a gasp, surprised to see a pure blood human with the ability to use Elven Magic.

Merlin: "Very interesting... Say, do you wish to try attacking the Middle Dummy?"

Merlin asked Klara, with the small girl looking at him a bit perplexed before nodding.

Klara: "O-Okay..."

She replied, before moving to the center of where Merlin had everyone stand, before exhaling and lifting her hands up and placing them together, closing her eyes — as if praying.

Then, light green and golden orbs and sparkles began to surround her, before she opened her eyes, which shined fully light green and caused two massive branches to shoot out of the ground, before launching at the dummy in the middle, tearing it to shreds in an instant and surprising everyone there. Even Merlin couldn't help but look a bit impressed by this showcase of strength.

After the dummy was destroyed, Klara stopped her casting, with the branches returning back into the ground from where they came from. Afterwards, the girl exhaled before returning to the crowd, with Merlin throwing a slight side eye at her as she left. After Klara, Kris stepped up, with his best magic being Soul and worst.... Literally every other magic type there is as none of them lit up. Yup, this guy was basically just all about Soul Magic type, which once again, surprised everyone there and also Merlin.

When he stepped up, Merlin quickly rebuilt the destroyed middle dummy, before allowing Kris to attack. Kris nodded in response, before exhaling and creating in an instant two light blue and transparent magic shurikens, before throwing them at the dummy, which was once again — torn to shreds by the stars.

Merlin again looked a bit impressed and everyone else was cheering Kris on as he exhaled and quickly ran back to his sister, with Merlin also giving him a slight side eye.

Merlin: 'Interesting pair of twins... I might want to learn their parents names after this.'

Merlin thought to himself before inviting the next person to stand up. At first, Alis was ready to step up and show off her power, however before she could step up, I quickly overtook her, stepping up before her and walking up to the Crystal Ball, with the girl looking at me with a slightly sour expression before stepping back into the crowd.

I gave her a slightly pitying stare before exhaling.

'Sorry, but I want to get this over with.'

I thought, before picking up my right arm and placing it onto the Crystal Ball. After a few moments, there was no response, with the Crystal Ball not reacting at all to my presence — like I had predicted. Merlin and the others immediately began to throw slightly suspicious gazes towards me, which caused me to panic lightly and quickly use a small spell to force the Crystal Ball to show a fake image — with my eyes lighting up slightly red.

Once I cast the spell, the Crystal Ball displayed only one small orb inside it — one that turned dark, dark red and then began to glow so brightly that it was blinding to look at. Merlin looked confused on what this meant, as well as everyone else — while I quickly disabled my spell, realising my mistake and quickly took my hand off of the orb.

The spell had accidentally displayed by true magic type as soon as I cast that fake image spell, which could have been disastrous, had it not shined as brightly as it did. Once the light subdued, Merlin looked at me with even more suspicion, however invited me to stand up and face the first dummy either way. Once I was in position, I exhaled, deciding that I would use the Human magic spell, flame creation. That is a pretty average spell, I think. Well, I hope...

I extended my hand up into the air above me, before closing my eyes — everyone around me watching me with anticipation and slight nervousness on what I was going to do. And then, the weirdest thing happened. It felt like I just lost control of my body and instead of trying to cast Flame Creation spell... I cast... Well... Something much, much worse and more powerful.

"Dark Flame Serpent."

I stated, before opening my eyes widely, both of them igniting with black colour and dark red flames coming from them, before a small black flame appeared in my hand, before exploding and releasing a massive force of magic energy that pushed everyone back, before a giant serpent with crimson red eyes and made from pitch black flames appeared around me. I simply looked at all three dummies with a cold expression, before pointing towards them and sharpening my gaze.

In an instant, the serpent let out a loud hiss before dashing at the dummies and absolutely disintegrated all three of them in one go, causing a large outburt of magical power that even managed to crack and then shatter the barrier Merlin had set up for us. Once the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of the three dummies and the ground around me was on fire, as I stood triumphantly. Merlin looked at me shocked while all of my classmates looked at me with fear — with Felix being the exception and instead smiling and then cheering me on loudly.

Merlin: 'Impossible... I thought this magic type was long gone...'

Merlin thought, shedding a sweat as I looked towards him, with the dark red flames disappearing from my eyes.

Merlin: '...The Black Fire magic...'

• Next Time •

[ (19.) The Last Black Flare. ]