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Serena Snape: Love of Magic - chapter 65
🕑 Added 2025-01-18 02:10:11 +0000 UTCAuthor's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
February 5, 2008 – Serena Pov
It had been a little over a month since we came to this world. And today was the day I had the summons for the high-class promotion test. In fact, I had to take the middle-class promotion test at the same time. Apparently, it wasn't unusual to have to take both tests; many devils surpassed the power of a middle-class devil and were firmly in the high-class, yet still considered lower class.
Especially the devils reincarnated with Powerful Sacred Gear or some other heritage that gave them some power boost, like some other supernatural race. Or for other simple reasons, devils were waiting to jump straight into the high class. Although there were always the idiots who overestimated their capabilities, most of them were rejected from taking the test.
The tests could be attempted as many times as desired, as long as permission to ascend was granted, which was obtained in various ways. Military achievements or ranting games were the easiest way to gain permission to promote to a higher class. But there was one more, a pure, devilish power. It was the reason why the descendants of the 72 pillars were automatically high-class practically from birth. If someone had devilic power on par with theirs, they would be allowed to take the promotion test.
And that last one was exactly the path I was taking in order to prepare for the promotion tests. Pure devilic power, my devilic power had firmly fused with my magic and was completely stabilized, so I now had a large amount of devilic power within me, which was able to be used for all my skills without any problem.
For the past month, we had been living out of a suitcase. For the most part, it was spacious, not as spacious as the mansion, but big enough for the five of us, plus Dobby, to live comfortably, although it wasn't always necessary.
Once we left the pocket dimension, it was completely sealed. We could still remove items from the inventory, but everything else was locked. Luckily, time seemed to have stopped inside the dimension, so we didn't have to worry about the plants and animals there.
Thanks to Paper Trail and each other's backstories, we had several houses to live in, as Lucius, Bellatrix, and Narcissa were practically nobility. Hence, they had large houses in the human world to live in. However, since most of our belongings were in the Suitcase, it became our main shelter.
I, on the other hand, was an orphan who was raised in a brothel, so I had no place of my own in the underworld. I spent all my time with Bellatrix, and Enid joined us.
Enid, whose backstory was created by Paper Trail, was relatively straightforward. She belonged to the Quileute tribe in San Francisco, United States, and was a shapeshifter. She was the heir to the soul of Florence Nightingale, and the first possessor of the new Sacred Gear, Rejection of Phenomena.
Pretty basic, like Bellatrix, she had hired my services as a devil for a time, which caused my paper trail to change slightly to reflect the paperwork corresponding to those jobs and payments.
Now, most importantly, Bellatrix really tried to get along with Enid, and, to my surprise, it went remarkably well. Enid has a way of winning people over, and Bellatrix was no exception.
In the first few days, Bellatrix apologized to Enid, but she was still slightly uncomfortable with the whole thing, although she softened as the days passed.
Enid was thriving in our little family; she had become best friends with Narcissa almost immediately. Despite having no real skill at sewing, Enid spent a lot of her time in Narcissa's workshop, either as a model or a helper, and she loved it.
She also spent a lot of time on social media; apparently, she had joined a group of Enids, and they welcomed her. She also had a slot at the movie night we had regularly; obviously, the first night she decided on Twilight. Bellatrix left after the first 10 minutes. Oddly enough, Narcissa loved it, so Lucius and I were forced to watch it with them.
So here we were now, me preparing to go out to the promotion test standing, looking at a smiling Enid as she handed me… a scarf?
"It's a snood, you silly!" Enid laughed happily. Of course, it was a snood. I sighed as I grabbed the woollen item. I had to admit that it was well-made. I sighed and looked at Enid, who was looking at me expectantly. I sighed again.
“You can put it on me.” I sighed resignedly, and Enid squealed happily, quickly placing the snood on me and adjusting it for a few seconds. Meanwhile, I took the moment to look at Enid, the flower hairpins in her hair. Reject of Phenomena was in its early stages, much like Orihime in the early arcs of Bleach, yet it was utterly ridiculous. She had been able to heal the soul damage I inflicted on Bellatrix’s souls when working with Hemalurgy.
"Look, I have one just like it!" Enid smiled as she pulled out a completely pink snood, just like the one she had given me, and quickly put it on Bellatrix. "Now we're even!" she added happily. "And I didn't forget about you, Bella, ta dan!" Enid now pulled out a third snood, this one a deep, rich purple. "It's a royal purple, I thought it would be appropriate for you." Enid said and looked at Bellatrix expectantly. Now it was Bellatrix's turn to sigh, but she leaned her head closer to Enid.
Enid squealed happily and quickly placed the snood on her, then pulled away and walked away to appreciate her work. After a few moments, she squealed loudly and launched herself at us, her arms wrapped around our necks, and she pulled us into a tight hug.
"You're the best!" Enid exclaimed elatedly as she pulled away slightly to look at Bellatrix, as if asking for permission. Bellatrix nodded, and Enid immediately moved in and kissed her cheek hard. "Good luck!" Enid smiled lovingly. I let out a smile as I nodded.
"I'm leaving," I announced simply, kissing Bellatrix on the lips and returning Enid's kiss on the cheek, who almost looked as though she was going to faint. Then I created a portal and walked through it.
The first thing I did when I rose high into the sky was to accustom my senses to how… noisy the devilic world was. Not to the normal noise, the hustle and bustle of the city was practically every day. But to the noise generated by the devilic power within the underworld. Continuously burning bronze within my stomach so that I could permanently hear the drums of devilish power, because, of course, the devilish power was still detectable to my senses; it was a blessing and a curse.
It was good to be always alert, but it was disconcerting and somewhat overstimulating in totally magical places like the underworld. Something as basic as the sky was stupidly loud. The sun and the moon, generated by the power of the current four Satans, beat in the back of my mind with a loud, low drumbeat in the background.
It was so far away, but I could hear it so close. Even though my range definitely didn't reach the sky, it was a devilstration of the ridiculous power of the Satans.
Then there were the people, being magical beings, they too had their own sounds, and interestingly, somehow, none of them were the same as another. Even though I could have seen thousands of people, their drums were each different from one another. Some were extremely close, especially if they were family, but they always had something different that stood out.
It was a good thing, I basically had a people tracker, but it always overwhelmed me whenever I entered a place with a lot of devils.
The second thing I did was threaten and force Aria not to eat, break, or throw away the snood that Enid had given me. I could sense Aria's complete reluctance, but she seemed to have gotten the message. Mental note, enchant the Snood to make it unbreakable.
Lucifaad, the original capital of the underworld, the former territory of the original Lucifer. And the only place where the succubi could settle without any problem, even if only in the outer part of the city. Practically in the slums, because, of course, the underworld also had a surprisingly high level of poverty.
I appeared outside the city, and I didn't even try to suppress my state of La Verità. The good thing about being among devils was that it wasn't necessary to hide my appearance or my aura of power that poured from my body.
The good thing was that I didn't need to take out my wings to fly; I could still do it without them. My goal was to reach the center of the city, towards the place where the promotion test would be held.
The building was practically a small stadium near the center of Lucifaad. I entered the building without hesitation.
"Welcome, I'm Pandemonica. How can I help you?" I looked at the monotonous and bored voice, and my eyes opened wide. It was THAT Pandemonica, the very same one from Helltaker, with white hair, glasses, red eyes, a black and red suit, and a bored and tired expression.
"Hello, I'm Serena Prince. I'm here for the promotion test." I quickly introduced myself, and Pandemonica looked down at the clipboard in front of her, quickly looking through her papers.
"Ah, yes, Serena, this is your… first time taking the promotion test, jumping straight from the lower class to the high-class. You'll have to take both the middle-class and high-class tests. It says here that you are… a succubus?!" The first half of the sentence was spoken monotonously; there was just a hint of disbelief in the last part. Her eyes were directed straight towards me, and she stared at me as if she were scanning me behind her glasses.
"Yes, I am. Is there a problem?" I asked with a frown, and Pandemonica reacted quickly again.
"No, none… I just didn't expect it, no… you're not dressed like a succubus." Pandemonica apologizes, and I raise an unimpressed eyebrow.
"That's stereotypical and offensive." I said dryly. Pandemonica's eyes widened slightly.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" Pandemonica said quickly, well, quickly for her, she still sounded incredibly monotone. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't really blame her. I had interacted with a few succubi, and to say that most of them were scantily clad was an understatement.
And I don't say this lightly, Lucifaad is a city of devils. And devils live, breathe, and are practically walking sins. Lust was one of the main sins; they also had no sense of shame, so there were a lot of devils who wore skimpy, very revealing clothing.
But even then, succubi managed to use much less than that. Or, make it look much more lascivious than the average devil. They were practically sex with legs.
I, on the other hand, was wearing my black dress, a copy of Fubuki from One Punch Man, lots of jewelry everywhere, and now a snood. I was practically a nun in comparison to all the other succubi I had met. Although not out of modesty, I could really get used to wearing my normal Baiser and La Verità outfits, both of which were provocative enough. Still, both were vetoed entirely by Bellatrix and Enid, who apparently now had a vote as well.
Additionally, I was already accustomed to wearing this dress, which completely covered my body, allowing Aria to protect me in any situation. I didn't need her for physical damage; I could heal from it in moments, but unknown magic attacks, especially curses, were always a problem to deal with.
"I'll need the papers you were asked to bring with you." Pandemonica said professionally, bringing me out of my thoughts. I nodded and pulled out a folder with the papers. The folder contained a variety of miscellaneous documents, ranging from basic items like my birth papers to the latest documents related to my contracts with Bellatrix and Enid.
I stared at Pandemonica as she quickly went through my papers. She frowned and paused momentarily as she reached the part about my contracts. There was nothing spectacular there, but she still grimaced.
"Everything seems to be in order, for the most part, there's just… one problem, this amount of contracts is not enough to grant you the right to a promotion, you also don't have any military achievements to your name, and also, no participation in Rating Games." She announced seriously, and I nodded.
"I want to ask for the test of power." I said simply, Pandemonica stopped stiffly.
"I think I heard wrong... do you want to repeat that?" Pandemonica asked with a tense expression.
"Test of power, I want to try the test of power." I repeated. Pandemonica made a doll.
"Yeah… that's what I thought I heard." Pandemonica sighed before looking at me tiredly. "Are you… Sure about that?" she asked.
"Yes, I am. Are there any consequences if I fail the test?" I asked cautiously, and Pandemonica looked at me for a few seconds before sighing and shaking her head.
"No, none… please follow me," Pandemonica said as she started walking, still holding the papers in her hand. I followed her immediately. We walked down some hallways until we reached a room, where she stopped. "This room was built by Satan himself, Beelzebub. Once inside, you will release all the devilic power you can, and the room will register the maximum output. It will be indicated on this screen-" she pointed to the screen next to the door. "-if you meet the devilic power requirements to take the promotion tests." Pandemonica explained.
"Understood." I nodded in her direction. Pandemonica began to manipulate the screen and then opened the door.
"Please come in, the room has a force field that limits the entry and exit of devilic power, so feel free to release as much as you can." She said simply, 'I walked inside. I could hear magic resonating, specifically above the threshold of the door; there was definitely some sort of bounded field.'
As I took the first step inside, passing through the barrier, the screen next to the door made a noise, and I stopped. With one leg inside, I looked at Pandemonica, who was frowning as she began to tap the screen once more, only for it to make the noise again.
"Did something happen?" I asked, confused, and I removed my leg from the room. Pandemonica stopped and looked at the screen, confused, before looking at me and then at my legs.
"Can you... Can you put an arm inside the room?" she asked. The tense expression had returned; I shrugged and nodded. I stretched out my arm and made it pass through the barrier, the screen immediately making a noise. I tilted my head in the direction of Pandemonica, who looked slightly paler than before, "e-enough." She said simply.
I lowered my arm as Pandemonica tapped the screen again before moving and reaching into the room, her head turning towards the screen as if she was waiting for something. When the screen didn't make any noise, she grimaced.
"Everything okay?" I asked, totally confused. Pandemonica's expression shifted several times before settling into a resigned look and a nod.
"Yes, everything is fine, everything is perfect." Pandemonica took a deep breath, then calmed down and looked at me. "Congratulations, you have met the requirements to take the middle class and high class promotion tests. Please follow me to the next room."
I blinked a few times and smiled lightly before nodding and following a Pandemonica who was walking faster than before—time to take a promotion test.
