A/N: The mangarock's translation of Black Clover and the Wiki have several very different names, same meaning just uses different words. Still, I will use the wiki one, in case any Warhammer fan want to look up the wiki.
The White Serpent
It had been about seven years since that fateful day. The day that Sotek came for him.
Frankly, Asta didn't see much of a difference from before. Besides the new red companion, a new strand of red hair, and his new ability to guilt-tripping Yuno, nothing seemed to change too much in his life; his magic power didn't increase and he got no new powers. The only thing that happened was Tehen would drag him out of bed to train his body every morning but that's all.
Today was different though, this was the day for Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony.
Grimoire was the very essence of being a mage, no, a person in this world of magic. Without one, a person wouldn't be able to channel their magical power into a proper spell. Suffice to say, anyone had grimoire; peasant, noble, knight, thief, seafarer, cook, nearly everyone had a grimoire.
"Arrgghh, my back felt so sore," Asta said as he walked toward the wizard tower alongside the others from the orphanage.
"That's just your fault for using those rocks as weights while doing sit-ups," Yuno replied. Tehen, who was sitting on Asta's left shoulder, hissed at the black-haired boy. "Like you're the one to talk, you don't even have arms." While Yuno couldn't ever understand a thing that snake said, its action had always been so obvious it's easy enough to guess; this serpent was certainly no mere animal.
"Now, now, please don't fight. Today is a special day," Lily reminded them.
Tehen just hissed again, though this time at the sky.
"Is he preying?" Hollo, a very young orphan that came along, asked
"It's 'praying', Hollo," Nash, another orphan, corrected.
"Heresy," Oris just said bluntly, still didn't really like, or even believe, the idea that Asta would be a prophet to this 'Serpent God.'
"A-anyways," Lily said again, trying to defuse the situation. "We're here."
Indeed, they had arrived in front of the wizard tower. Without delay, the group went inside where other people, who had also come of age, had already gathered. The two parted way with the others and stepped into the assembly of people their age, Tehen still stuck with Asta.
Even as they walked in, Yuno and Asta could hear whispering insult from other people, mostly the richer kids. They ignored them, however, a perk of growing up in an orphanage was making them thick-skinned. [1]
Soon the wizard, Drouot, came forward to give a short speech, including urging someone in their area to become a Magic Emperor, before letting the magic worked itself and the grimoires began to fly out of the shelves and into its owner's hand.
Asta opened his arm wide, waiting for his grimoire. He waited, and waited, and waited.
Only when everyone else got their books did he started to feel that something was off. Why was-
'Patient,' a voice hushed in Asta's head.
Since he became the supposed 'Prophet of Sotek', he would occasionally hear these voices — guiding him. To this day he still not sure if it was Sotek or Tehen who was talking to him, but there was no use disobeying it so he continued to wait.
Some people who already got their grimoire noticed his lack of magic text and quietly chuckled or insulted him, but before more people could notice a very bright light shore from Yuno's grimoire.
Yuno's grimoire was a four-leaf grimoire. One of the rarest type, the type that was said to be the most powerful, the type believed to only be given based on luck, the type that the Magic Emperor had also received.
The black-haired boy just stared at the powerful artifact in his hands before finally spoke.
"I'll become… the Magic Emperor."
There was a momentary silence then the hall erupted in a unison roar of cheer. It appeared everyone seemed to see him as a beacon of hope for the peasant and for people of this village.
Yuno let it pass over him. He turned to look at his promised rival, only to find that Asta had walked a little bit away from him with a… stone tablet in hands? Judging from how intense the white-haired boy was looking at it, there was no doubt that was Asta's grimoire, but there were so many questions.
Why was it made of stone?
When did Asta get it? It certainly didn't fly to the boy else, Yuno or anyone else would have noticed it.
Why was there no clover on the back of the tablet?
However, Yuno didn't get his answer when Drouot announced that the ceremony was concluded and told everyone to leave. He walked back to Father Oris, Sister Lily, and the others with Asta followed close behind. Father and the other kids had already run ahead, thinking about arranging a feast. Lily and Yuno, meanwhile, looked a little bit concerned at Asta.
The white-haired boy was always loud-mouthed and usually had a short attention span, but now he was focusing on reading the stone tablet in his hands; a trait he had never exhibited as far as anyone could remember. As the two watched on, their concerned grew when they saw Tehen hissed quietly to the boy.
That snake was not particularly active back in the orphanage, besides help getting rid of vermin. Now though, there was a much more ferocious new look in its eyes.
When Asta was close to Yuno, the black-haired boy expected some kind of greeting, challenge or congratulation, or anything, but Asta… he just walked past him. Yuno's eyes widened.
"Asta," Yuno called the white-haired boy.
Asta looked like he was suddenly broke out of his trance.
"Oh, Yuno! I nearly forget I was still in the tower!" Asta spoke in his usual high volume, much to the relief of his rival. "Well, don't get cocky just 'cause you got four-leaf clover grimoire! I'm still going to be a Magic Emperor!"
Yuno allowed himself to his lips to turn upward a little at his childhood friend antic, but it quickly disappeared as he took a glance at the stone tablet.
"Asta why is your grimoire made of stone and why didn't have any clover on it?" He asked the very obvious questions.
"Oh, these?" Asta lifted his arcane plaque up to their eyes level.
The material of the tablet was certainly stone, but despite the dark-grey color it was certainly not common granite or any type of mineral Yuno could identify off the top of his head. On one side were lines of glyphs that was a written language of an unknown civilization, while on the other side (the barren one) was a single symbol of a serpent head baring four fangs located in the middle of the page.
"It's Sotek's doing!" The fact that Asta answered him with a straight face disturbed Yuno. "He gave this plaque as my grimoire." A silence hung in the air for a few moments.
"And what about your own grimoire?" Yuno asked.
"This is my grimoire!"
"That wasn't what I meant." Yuno visibly frowned. "If he gives you this stone grimoire then what about the one that was supposed to be your?"
The reaction Asta showed Yuno was not what he expected, a completely still and neutral expression that displayed no emotion; this wasn't like him at all.
"We can talk later, Lily and the others are waiting for us." Asta walked away, leaving a dumbfounded Yuno behind.
Something… was really wrong with the white-haired boy. Wait… where was Tehen?
While the others had gone back to prepare a feast back at the orphanage, Asta decided to come out to find a suitable spot to use his new power. After finding a clearing in the nearby wood, he sat down and laid the plaque in front of him.
Asta folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.
Back when he touched it the first time he felt a strange sensation came over him. He didn't know what it was, but… Asta did not like it. It made his heart cold and his mind still; it changed him. In those few moments before Yuno snapped him back… he didn't… want to be a Magic Emperor, or at least thought it didn't matter. So for the third time, Asta experienced fear, fear at what this power would do to him.
This had made him wary of his newfound grimoire, if he could even call it 'his' since Sotek was the one giving it to him. Yuno had made a great point when he asked what happened to his 'real' grimoire, but that was a question Asta couldn't answer either.
But with all that being said, he wouldn't deny this power. He would make it his and then…
"I will become the Magic Emperor no matter what!" Asta shouted to the sun setting sky. He then looked back at the tablet. "Alright, let's see how this work." A hiss interrupted him. Asta turned around and saw no other than Tehen. "Oh, Tehen! You are supposed to be my guide from Sotek, right? Can you help me with this?" The white-haired boy put the stone tablet forward.
The red serpent opened its mouth and bite Asta thumb, forcing him to drop his grimoire. This time what sang into Asta's fresh wasn't poisonous fangs, but sharp needle teeth. The snake let go and reveal the wound it had inflicted.
"What was that for!?" Asta screamed at the serpent, but it merely waited.
A drop of blood trickled down Asta's thumb and touched the plaque. The light shore from the stone grimoire and a handle emerged; made of gold and stone. Tehen motioned its head at the handle.
Asta, with his undamaged right hand, reached for it and pulled out the weapon. In term of size, this weapon stuck in-between being a dagger and a sword. Its shape was asymmetrical with its double-edged wavy blade. The white-haired boy gave it a few swings. The sword was quite light, lighter than he expected.
Tehen hissed again to get Asta's attention. It motioned again at the boy's bleeding hand.
"What? What do you want me to do with it?" Tehen bit the air then motion at the dagger. Asta stared at the blade for a few moments before bitting it. "Is this what you meant?" The boy uttered while his teeth still biting the blade. The serpent just facepalmed with its tail.
When the reptile recovered from the shock and awe Asta had inflicted on it, Tehen used its tail to catch a drop of blood that dripped from Asta's hand before painting it onto the plaque.
"Oh, so that what you mean! I need blood to make the grimoire work right?" The red snake nodded. Asta then understood why the snake motioned at the dagger a few times "Alright, let's… try this then."
While Asta was willing to do a lot to use this power, cutting himself wasn't exactly what he had in mind. So with some courage, he slid his left hand. He let the stream of blood dripped onto the tablet. The stone grimoire shore again in bright light. A phrase suddenly found itself into Asta's head and without hesitation he uttered it.
"Lore of Sotek: Tongue of the Old Ones."
With that, the boy had cast his first spell. A new knowledge surged into his brain. Every glyph was now understood to him, every line, every sentence, every idiom; now he had learned the tongue of the Lizardmen. The light wasn't gone yet.
Asta presumed that there was a connection between his grimoire and the amount of blood he gave to it. So now Asta cast another spell, this time directly from the tablet now that he could understand it
"Lore of The Third Slann: Mending Scale."
The cut and bite on Asta's left hand began to heal, knitting itself close. Asta folded his left hand into a fist a few times, testing if there were any lingering pain. When he was sure that his palm was fully healed, he looked at the plaque again to see that the light had faded completely.
"I wonder…" Asta mumbled to himself. He swung his hand a few time to let the blood droplet on his hand fell onto the grimoire. With the offering being made, a plaque shore again, this time dimly.
Asta picked up the stone tablet, reading through the available spells at his disposal and spotted one that looked like a good one to test his theory about the blood quantity. He picked up the tablet and aimed at the nearby tree.
"Lore of Chotec: Solar Ray!" A thin bolt of light shoot out of the grimoire and hit the tree, leaving a burning mark on the bark. "Alright, let's try this again." This time Asta cut himself with the dagger and offered more blood to his grimoire.
"Lore of Chotec: Solar Ray!" This time the bolt was so powerful it pushed him backward, the sun-bolt the size of a watermelon exploded upon making contact with the tree and rip the bark and hardwood asunder; causing the tree to fall. "Whoa! That's awesome!" Asta yelled in excitement.
While he wondered why this spell didn't have 'Sotek' in its name, he couldn't careless. The white-haired boy suddenly heard a hiss from Tehen. He turned to look at the serpent hissing toward the wood. It hissed again in the same direction.
"What is it, Tehen?" Asta asked in-between casting another Mending Scale with the leftover power; his hand wasn't completely healed this time, but at least the cut was mended. Tehen hissed again and motioned toward the wood. "Is something going on? Should we take a look?" The snake nodded.
"Alright then," the boy put his serpent companion on his shoulder. "Let's go!" With that, Asta charged in the pointed direction.
"Hehehe, you shouldn't be wandering around the wood during twilight hours like this, boy," a man with black wavy hair said to Yuno.
Yuno just simply stared back at him, no reaction on his face. He came out here to look for Asta, but now he got caught up in this mess. Despite the lack of emotion, however, he started to form a plan to get himself out of this situation. But that was going to be difficult, especially with these magic-binding chain wrapped around him.
"Until recently, I was a Magic Knight. Revchi of Chain, I was quite famous, you might have heard of me. Now though, I am just a petty thief." Revchi showed his burnt face to Yuno. "Well, maybe not 'petty' for long at least. With that Four-Clover Grimoire of your, if I could find a nice buyer in the black market, I will be much better off; maybe even leaving this life behind." The ex-Magic Knight, the elite soldier of the Clover Kingdom, said gleefully.
"It's a shame though, everyone who had received…"
While Revchi was monologuing, Asta was near his intended destination. That was when Tehen pulled on Asta's hair, hard.
"Argh," the white-haired boy groaned as he fell backward. "What was that-" He was cut off when Tehen putting its tail on his lips, signaling him to silence. When the boy only looked at the snake in expectation, it motioned its head toward the bush.
Asta nodded and quietly crawled toward the hiding spot. He peered his eyes past the bush to see Yuno being restrained by chain while a suspicious looking man was talking to him. He really didn't need to see anymore.
The boy looked down at his grimoire. Considering how it worked, he should go in with it charged rather than cutting himself while fighting. So Asta slid his left hand with the dagger and let his blood powered the plaque.
As the light of his grimoire began to shine, Asta took notice that some lines of glyphs shine immediately when his ichor touched the stone, while others took more blood before beginning to shine. [2]
'Nice! Now I know how much blood I need to cast certain spell,' Asta cheered in his head at such a convenient function.
Now Asta shifted his focus into searching for a proper invocation to use in this situation. Tehen quietly hissed, catching the prophet's attention. The red serpent used its tail to swipe upward on the plaque surface and, in response, the grimoire's page scrolled itself upward with the spells at the top disappeared and new ones came to take their place. [3]
"Whoa," Asta muttered in astonishment. He tried himself, swiping downward.
As the page itself scrolled downward, the glyphs at on the lower part disappeared while the ones that had previously varnished came back. Asta did this a few times, swiping up and down before he reminded himself that he had a friend to save. With so many spells, Asta didn't know what to choose, so he settled for the one that caught his attention.
"Alright, this one then!" Asta said and gripped his dagger tight then pointed his stone tablet forward. "Lore of Sotek: Summon Carnosaur!"
A small explosion erupted in front of him, but he had braced for it. In a mere second, the light was gone and left in the crater of the explosion was a creature.
Standing over twelve meters tall on its mighty hind legs that could crush a mere human with ease, the monstrous reptile the size of a house looked around with its pair of yellow eyes with slit pupils.
Despite the short arms, it compensated by a one-meter long jaw that could bite and shredded most creatures with no problem, human included.
Yuno and Revchi could only stare at the creature that had suddenly appeared in shock.
"Carnosaur! Get the guy with the cloak!" A voice shouted from behind the creature.
In response to the command, the Carnosaur gave a short roar, revealing its sharp rows of teeth, before charging toward Revchi without a pause.
Startled by the appearance of this creature, Revchi panicked, though one couldn't blame him. Even a well-trained state troop from an empire in another world, who had trained their whole life to die in the line of duty for nothing more than to be of use to his country, would falter in front of such terrifying being; the predators of Lustria were not to be trifled with.
Revchi, while possessed a few spells that could be of use in this situation, had forsaken those spell in distress and cast only a few spells that he could think off the top of his head.
Chain after chain broke upon the superior jaw and leg of the mighty hunter of Lustria and the Carnosaur wasn't even slowing down.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Revchi shouted as he ran away, forgetting to take Yuno's Grimoire with him.
The apex predator ran past Yuno and chased after its target. Yuno could feel the earth quaking as it went by and he stood completely still in shock for a while until…
"Yuno!" Asta shouted as he ran up to his childhood friend. "Are you alright?"
The black-haired boy just nodded with a bit widen eyes. The chain soon disappeared and Yuno was free to move again.
"Asta," Yuno began as he stared at the boy. "Was that your magic?"
"Yup!" The white-haired boy then looked past Yuno in the direction where the Carnosaur had gone. "Don't kill him!" Asta shouted and ran after it.
Yuno opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he couldn't. Then he saw Tehen slithered past him. The serpent suddenly paused and looked Yuno in the eyes.
Its yellow predatory orbs stared at Yuno's amber eyes.
"Asta… isn't someone you can control. He is himself, he is my friend," Yuno told the snake, breaking his usually stoic face and returning the fierce look back at the serpent. The reptile just broke eyes contact and followed the white-haired boy.
Yuno just sighed and ran after them as well, hoping that the future wouldn't be as bleak for Asta as he feared.
Deep beneath the world, where light could not reach. In the dark and dank corner of the Clover Kingdom, lighting began to surge in the air. Slowly, a ball of pure unholy chaotic started to form and soon exploded. The result from the explosion created a tear in the very fabric of reality itself.
A figure in dark green armor stepped forward.
"My invention work, yes-yes." With its paw, it held a device in its hand closer to its face. "Not stable-steady yet, but it didn't explode on the first time. I would call-say that a success."
With its other mechanical hand, it flicked a fuel-switch and bathed a cave in sickly green light from the flame in its claws paw.
"Hmm, need to tune-adjust the location, no use for a cave with no way to get slaves-workers over," the creature mumbled to itself. "Oh well-well, it doesn't matter-important for now." It shut the light and turned around to walk back into the portal. "Still…"
It reached into its pouch and took out a small crystal that glowed in bright green light.
"This a nice spot-place to grow-plant Warpstone, yes-yes." With that, it crouched down and forced the stone deep into the virgin earth until it buried deep into the ground. "Will come back to take-harvest later, but not only the stone, no-no."
The creature began to cackle madly, enjoying the mere thought of the possibilities this new had to offer. "We will take this world! We will take everything! In the name of the Horned-Rat! All shall fear the might of the Under-Empire and the Skaven! All will know the name of Chief Warlock Engineer of Clan Skyre, Ikit Claw!"
Then, the creature was gone, still laughing as it went back through the portal.
But this was far from its last visit, for a dark force had finally arrived in this world.
A/N: You wouldn't expect me to use some generic Chaos threat in this story when we are focusing on the Lizardmen, do you? All roads lead to Skavenblight! No matter the dimension!
[1] This is a metaphor/idiom for not being easily upset by word, not literally thick-skinned.
[2] Ichor is a fancy word for blood. Prepare to remember this because we will be using the word 'blood' a lot.
[3] It basically a magical stone iPad-Grimoire.