The training area was a wide field with all kinds of different terrains. Perfect for practicing fighting on different surfaces and simulating large battles. This is where the evaluation battle against the demon was to take place - against Byleth.
Edelgard was very surprised when the Ashen Demon revealed her name. For one thing, she didn't know if demons even had names, and even if they did, she thought they would guard them well.
She had to explain to the demon - Byleth - that they were going to a training field since she seemed to want to fight directly in the courtyard. She also made it clear that they would fight with the wooden training weapons. Bernadetta had almost fainted at the sight of the ominous sword.
The demon's sword looked dangerous with its jagged edge. When she drew it, the sword got a threatening red aura. At the same time, it looked broken and incomplete. There were several cracks and a large hole in the shaft.
She was curious to see what this sword could do and to see the full unleashed potential of the demon's power. However, she didn't want to risk the lives of her loyal Black Eagle Strike Force.
Edelgard and Hubert decided to oversee the battle on a hill. The Black Eagle Strike Force had the demon surrounded, but Byleth didn't seem too be bothered by it. She calmly twirled the wooden sword in one hand and waited to be attacked.
Caspar, unsurprisingly, attacked first. The blue-haired one lunged at Byleth with a wild battle cry and struck with a mighty swing of his gauntlet. The demon dodged seemingly effortlessly and did nothing but dodge the wild swings for the time being.
Her goal was clear, she waited until Caspar had exhausted himself to strike back when he spent most of his energy. During the small duel, Petra and Dorothea came closer, but didn't dare to intervene for fear of hurting their own team mate.
Quickly Caspar was exhausted, he relied on a lot of power in his punches but had hardly any stamina. At the first sign of weakness, the Ashen Demon immediately went on the offensive. Her sword strokes were fast but precise and didn't seem to cost much energy. She fought very efficiently and smartly so that Caspar's defense didn't last long.
Bernadetta, who had placed herself in the forest behind the demon, took advantage of an opportunity when Byleth lunged for the finishing strike and let a well-aimed arrow loose. The arrow flew quickly towards the back of the demon's head. Edelgard watched tensely as Byleth's head turned briefly to the side as if she had heard the arrow, and perhaps she even did, only to dash to the side within the blink of an eye.
The arrow now shot unimpeded toward its new target - Capar's forehead. Caspar was still looking after the demon in confusion when he was unexpectedly hit by the blunt-headed arrow directly in the middle of his forehead and fell to the ground like a wet sack.
Bernadetta squealed in fright, dropped the bow, and ran back to the castle as if the demon was behind her, howling and screaming.
"I killed him!"
"I am so sorry!"
"Please don't kill me!"
Edelgard could only make out some of her desperate cries, but it was enough to get the gist of it.
The other Eagles cried out and Linhardt immediately began to formulate a healing spell, but Caspar was clearly out of it.
Edelgard grabbed her forehead with a sigh and shook her head in disappointment, while Hubert beside her scoffed. They clearly still had to work a lot more on their teamwork.
Byleth took advantage of the shocking moment to sprint towards Ferdinand, who was sitting on his imposing warhorse and had probably been waiting to have an "honorable" duel. However, the demon didn't let that happen and took advantage of his inattention to knock the lance out of his hand with one blow so fast that Edelgard hardly noticed it.
Ferdinand now came to his senses, but had no weapon in his hand. Without further ado, he made the steed rear up, apparently to scare Byleth back. But the blue-haired one did not even bat an eyelash, dodged the hooves dancingly and pulled the orange-haired noble out of the saddle with a well-aimed tug. Ferdinand landed hard on his butt as the demon held the wooden sword to his throat which resulted in his defeat.
Petra and Dorothea were not idle at the time. Petra sneaked up to the demon with a sword in her hand while she was still busy with Ferdinand. Edelgard knew how silent Petra could be and yet the demon managed to dodge at the very last moment. Had it not been a wooden sword, Byleth would have had at least a scratch if not a nasty cut, but now only the blunt edge of the sword brushed against her shoulder.
An exciting fight ensued, which at first appeared to be very balanced. Petra and Dorothea fought well together, while Petra engaged in a sword duel with Byleth, Dorothea took advantage of the gaps in between Petra's attacks to give the demon no breathing space with lightning attacks.
She was careful not to hit her friend as to not make the same mistake as Bernadetta. The Ashen Demon hardly had time to attack and was constantly put on the defensive. Suddenly the demon's tail lashed out and tugged on Petra's leg. It brought the huntress out of balance and Byleth immediately took advantage of it. With a kick against her torso she brought the already staggering princess to the ground and took her out directly with the sword at her neck.
That left only Dorothea… and Linhardt. However, Linhart had so far only taken care of the injured and hadn't interfered directly in the fight. Now, too, he looked worriedly after Petra and left Dorothea to fend off alone against the demon.
Dorothea cast her Thunder spell, but Byleth dodged it with a forward roll. Her sprint was barely stopped by the roll and in the next moment she held her sword to the young mage's neck. She turned sharply to Linhardt, who had already raised his hands in surrender. Thus the victory went to the Ashen Demon without a doubt.
"The demon is undoubtedly strong and capable of destroying a small army, but the Eagles require significantly more training. That was a sad spectacle."
Hubert shook his head again in disappointment. Edelgard had to agree with him. It was wonderful to watch the elegant almost dance-like fighting style of the Ashen Demon. I was all the more disappointing to see the fighting abilities of her friends - her most elite soldiers - go up in smoke.
Byleth and all the Eagles except Bernadetta approached the Emperor and her loyal Minister of the Imperial Household. Linhardt with the help of Dorothea had brought Caspar back to his senses and healed Ferdinand's minor injuries.
"Hubert," Edelgard commanded in a firm voice, "go and find Bernadetta." He bowed and walked away with long strides.
"Your soldiers need a little more combat experience," the demon began to criticize unbidden, starting with Caspar, "You were far too obvious with your announcing shout and you put far too much power into your punches, so you were quickly out of breath. You have to use your strength for your defense as well and not just hope to beat every opponent in the first two punches."
She turned to Petra and Dorothea and continued.
"You worked well as a team and you were well in tune with each other. You should continue to work on that, but also make sure you don't just rely on each other and can handle yourselves in a fight.
Your sneaking was excellent. Just strike a bit faster and aim at the vital points. That way you can end the fight with just one blow. Mage, you must be ready to defend yourself even in close combat. Specializing only in ranged combat can be fatal."
Next on her hit list was Ferdinand, whom she eyed critically.
"You shouldn't let things that happen in battle upset or surprise you. You had the clear advantage, but you let yourself be caught off guard and panicked. That concluded in your defeat."
The addressed Nobel seemed to want to contradict, but Byleth did not let him get a word in edgewise and continued with Linhardt.
"Even if you are only a healer, you must be prepared to fight. Not every opponent will let you live if you surrender and life as a prisoner could be worse than death itself."
Linhardt seemed less than impressed. He nodded briefly to Byleth, laid down on the grass and closed his eyes. If Edelgard did not have to deal with the new one, she would admonish him sternly.
However, she was somewhat distracted by the surprisingly precise productive feedback the demon gave each one. It showed that she had a great understanding of strategy and was not simply a wild beast who wanted to kill everything in her path, as the books suggested.
"Your archer certainly knew how to aim and shoot accurately. She just needs to be more aware of the current situation and what consequences might follow her actions on the battlefield."
She addressed her final assessment to Edelgard on behalf of Bernadetta.
"You did a good job of pointing out where the weaknesses are in the Black Eagle Strike Force. I was also very impressed with your combat performance. You will be a great addition to the team."
Byleth bowed her head barely noticeable to Edelgard's words.
"We will begin the team training tomorrow so that you all learn to fight efficiently with each other."
No one really looked excited about the news, but that was to be expected. It was always difficult for new additions to an already tight knicked group. What made it more complicated was of course the fact that the addition was a demon, an unknown factor for everyone and that this group never worked with an outsider since their academy days.
Edelgard was optimistic though. She had to be because they had less than a month to make this work. At least the demon seemed rather well behaved and easy to deal with. Only her blank stare and monotone tone seemed inhuman and gave her a bit of a chill.
"Ashen… I mean Byleth, please follow me. I will escort you to your room."
Obediently the demon trotted after her through the castle. It was Hubert's idea to quarter the Ashen Demon in the guest wing of the castle. Conveniently it was far enough away from everyone else's chambers so that no one felt threatened - except Bernadetta, but she saw danger in everything anyway. Also it was near enough in case of an emergency - no matter the reason.
They arrived at the designated room quickly. It was nothing fancy, but it had everything one needed, what humans needed anyway. It had a tall wardrobe, a comfortable bed and a small desk with a chair, but no windows unlike most rooms. Edelgard suspected Hubert chose this room for its windowless aspect. Maybe he thought the demon would fly away at the first possibility. That was ridiculous of course. The blood contract was binding for both parts involved, but it didn't mean the demon couldn't do anything mischievous.
Byleth inspected the room closely before commenting.
"These sigils are unnecessary. I don't plan to harm any of your people and I probably could still break out of this room even if the sigils are activated."
"What are you talking about?"
Edelgard was beyond confused.
The demon graced her with a blank stare.
"There are hidden sigils on the walls. If they are activated, they will lock whoever is in here in until they are deactivated. Effective for everyone but demon lords as myself and archangels."
Edelgard shook her head.
"I didn't know. I have to talk with Hubert about this. Please feel welcome anyway. You should rest. We eat breakfast at sunrise and begin with training directly after. I will have someone wake you and escort you to the dining hall."
"Demons don't sleep as often as humans, but thank you nonetheless."
The demon was unexpectedly polite. More well mannered than most humans Edelgard knew.
She was about to leave Byleth by herself, but halted at a sudden thought.
"Do you eat? And more specifically our food?"
"Of course," was the demon's simple answer.
"Are you hungry now? I must apologize. I am simply not used to having guests," said the pale-haired woman with a blush.
"No need to worry. It is sufficient if I eat something in the morning."
It felt a bit silly, but Edelgard bid Byleth politely a goodnight. Then she began the hunt for her loyal friend, who could be a bit too overprotective and seemingly loved keeping secrets from her.