Upon completed the escort, the Golden Dawn had experienced a sudden twist.
"WHY IN THE HELL ARE WE IN THE WITCHES FOREST!" shouted Asta as he began shacking the mischievous noble.
James remained tight-lipped as he replied with a stuck up smile on his face.
"So you wanna play it like that... I'll give you something to smile about" clenching his fists.
"Asta you fool, you mustn't get so wound up like this," shouted Klaus as he held back the fist of the Anti-Magic user. "If he gets hurt, that will be our responsibility, so calm down this instant."
"The tall one has a point their shorty if I get injured your arse is on the line... so back off," said James with a smug look on his face.
As much as the young knight wanted to punch a hole through the nobles teeth, he had to reframe from doing anything stupid. "Listen, James, I don't know what you're playing at right now. But you're gonna sit back on to the chariot and then we're taking you home."
"Hmmm, no I don't feel like going home, I'm gonna do some more exploring" replied James walked away from the Golden Dawn members.
"Hey, you get back here" shouted Klaus.
The distance between the knights and the Noble started to increase promptly, Asta knew he had to conjure something quickly if had any hope of bringing James back home."Look, James ill let you go explore the witches forest, under one condition, I'm coming with you" attaining the noble's attention.
"Alright I've got him, once I get close to this jerk ill spray him with the sleeping potion. Once that's done were gonna have to wait until Letollie wakes up, Hmmm but how long will that take. But once she does wake up, we can take this spoilt brad home. Its full proof."
"Asta are you mad, we can not just let him have his own way like this" hissed Klaus.
"Just trust me on this one" nudging the steel mage "So what do you say James, do we have a deal."
"Interesting proposition swordsman, I didn't know you could be so negotiable with that hot head of yours."
"So we have a deal!"
"ICE MAGIC."
Within a flash, the mischievous noble froze the two Golden Dawn members right into their tracks. Ice that covered their whole body from head to toe, there was no escaping this magic.
"That should keep them occupied for a while," said James rubbing his hands "Well gentlemen, I don't know about you but ill be one my way now. By the time the ice melts, ill be fare gone," walking away from the scene.
1 hour later
One hour had passed, and the heat was starting to take its toll on the ice created by the troublesome noble. Ice and frost began to soften, allowing Asta to rattle the core of the ice, thus smashing out of his freezing cube.
"That jerk he's gonna get it when I'm through with him... Klaus" noticing his comrade still trapped within "Hang on Klaus ill get you out of here," smashing the ice cube with his sword.
"That James, how dare he makes a mockery out of me," shouted the steal mage coming out of his icy slumber "how long have we been out for"
"I mean the sun is still out, so id would probably say 1 hour."
"1 HOUR" cried the steal mage.
"It could be 2 depending on the sun," replied Asta.
"Dam it, we must find him and quickly. We have already wasted so much time, Let's go," the taller mage charged forward as he began with his pursuit to capture the irritable noble.
"Klaus you cant go in there, just charging in like that!"
"And why not?" he replied
"What have you never been the witch's forest before, they'll kill if you if you get caught," determined, look on his face "I'm the only with no magic, so the witch's cant track me... Besides someone needs to take care of Letollie."
Steal mage rubbed his head in frustration "I hate it when you're right, very well then. I'll take care of you Letollie, but make sure you bring that brat back as quickly as you cant, we are already late as it is."
The swordsman gave a quick node before swiftly making his way through the forest. Due to him being magicless, he was able to quickly elude and cruise his way through the woods; bypassing virtually witch that came his way. Jumping in the bushes, standing quietly behind trees; it was almost as if he never existed.
1 hour later...
"Dam he doesn't seem to be anywhere, where the hell is he? You'd think he'd be caught by now, apparently not."
The Golden Dawn continued to walk, before slipping on to a frosty floor.
"Ouch... hey! This is ice," analyzing the lump of frost in his hands "This has to be Jame's ice, I gotta be close now."
Before he knew it, Asta was laid witness to a snowy path, which went even deeper into the witches forest. Despite fatigue starting to settle in, the swordsman knew he was one step closer to capturing his target "You don't make this easy do you, James."
The Anti-magic user rushed through the forest happily following the snowy trail left behind. However, the optimism was short-lived as he fled into the bush's sensing a witch's ki.
The witch was somewhat bewildered by what she had seen. A snowy path leading to who knows where left her slightly unsettled. Instead of trailing the path, she opted to use her fire magic, and melt route entirely, omitting no trace of nobles potential.
"No, don't burn the ice!" cried Asta hiding in the bushes
"Is someone there!?" said the altered Witch "If someone is out there show yourself."
The Golden Dawn was tightlipped as his heart began to pound, rapidly. Nearly blowing his cover, he couldn't afford to get caught now.
The witch laid her eyes as she began sensing the mana of her surroundings. Lucky for Asta he was immune to such methods, as he quietly hide himself within mother nature. However, that's not to say he wasn't scared of getting caught, sweat was practically pouring off his forehead.
"Hmmm, looks like I was just imagining things. Whatever Ill see what the girls are doing."
Couple seconds of hiding, the Golden Dawn realised the coast was finally clear. He popped his head out the bushes and began looking both ways assuring himself no one else was in his presence.
"Few looks like no one else is here. Time to get moving."
Fortunately enough for Asta, despite his path being entirely melted, he still remembered the direction of which the route was heading. He knew if he were to follow this direction, he would eventually find another lead.
Time spent scrambling through trees and bushes, avoiding Witchs of the way, the swordsman found another trace. One trace came after another, and another and eventually...
"I FOUND YOU, THERE YOU ARE JAMES!"
As it stood, the mischievous noble was sat down lying against a tree, he was laid back and had a toothpick in his mouth.
"Took you long enough I was starting to get bored."
"Listen here you jerk, no more running around. You're gonna come back with me whether you like it or not, you got that!"
"Relax, you hothead, I'm not going anywhere," replied James as he brushed himself off "But I must say, the fact you were able to find me without getting caught, that takes a lot of doing. Guess being magicless does come with its perks."
Within a flash, the swordsman appeared right behind the ice mage, grabbing him by the wrists and detaining him on to the floor.
"Look I don't know what you're playing at James, but the fact is you're coming back with me" tightening his grip, "You think you're funny wasting my time don't you, you already know were late for this escort."
The immobilised noble stood firm, as he quietly giggled in the process "Hah you really have no idea whats going on do you, Asta. Don't you think it's weird why I even brought you here."
"What are you talking about?"
"Truth is I haven't been entirely honest with you."
"You haven't been truthful? What do you mean by that? Who are you?" asked the anti-magic user.
"Well if you get off me then maybe ill explain."
"How do I know if you're not gonna run away again?"
"How do you know I will?" replied James
Took a few seconds but the Golden Dawn eventually gave in and released James from his tight hold. Despite, being paranoid Asta could still sense the Noble's Ki, so he knew he'd be willing to co-operate.
"Alright, don't try anything funny," warned the Golden Dawn "Now explain yourself, why did you bring me here anyway."
"Well to put it simply, this was all a test," sparking a puzzled look on the swordsman "As I said before, I haven't been entirely honest with you. The truth is I'm not a noble, I'm actually a spy."
"A SPY!" gasped Asta he pulled both his demon slayer and demon dweller swords "I see how it is, so your one of those jerks from the Diamond or Spade kingdom. Well, at least I don't have to worry about hurting you."
"Relax dumb arse" replied James slapping the short knight across the face "If you let me finished, I would've told you, I'm, also from the Clover kingdom."
"Then why the hell are you here with me, shouldn't you be in the other kingdoms or something" questioned Asta holding his reddened cheek.
"Will you just shut up and let me finish" shouted the spy "Now where was I... Oh yeah. I'm a spy from the Clover and your right, I am normally tasked on delivering important intel from other kingdoms. But today was different, I was tasked on spying on you, the magic knights."
"You're spying on us? But why?"
"To make sure you dumb arses are doing your work properly. Don't know if your new to this, but the Golden Dawn a lot of magic knights and because we need to keep track on all of them to make sure they're doing what they should be. Been a couple of instances where we had to let people"
The swordsman took everything in "Ok if you're a spy then why did you go all this way to bring me to the withs forest? You could've just told us where to drop you off, then this escort will be over?"
"Were you not listening to me, Asta? I said this was a test, I never said it going to be easy. I wanted to see how you guys would react in these changing scenarios. My job was made a bit difficult when Letollie put me to sleep, but when I heard you guys knocked her out as well, I could continue my mission. "
It was a lot to take in, but the Anti-magic user finally had a clear grasp on the situation. Jumping late on the mission, he would've never anticipated this outcome.
"So ah... ho-how did we do? Did we pass?"
"Negative" sparking shocked look on the Golden Dawn "Frankly you all failed, miserably I might add. I've been doing this a couple of years, and I have never seen such a catastrophe."
"Oh, wh-what? Really?" replied Asta
"Completing the mission is one thing. But how you go about executing the mission is another, one bad decision can lead to another, and another... Next thing you know, your whole team is down, or mission didn't go as smoothly as you hoped."
The short knight looked dejected, looking back at it now perhaps there some blunders which made things a lot more difficult. This was meant to be an easy escort, how could he fail such a small task he asked himself.
"Let's start with Letollie. Before the escort even began, I opted to repeatedly talk, and essentially get under her skin. I wanted to see how she would act and communicate in such a situation. Instead of trying to engage in conversation, she opted to spray me with sleeping potion. This shows a lack of patience is and frankly very rude, what if that person was a prestigious royal? You think the approach would be ideal in such as a case."
"Klaus who is normally so responsible, and mature for his age, made the stupid mistake of not bringing a map to the escort. This shows the utmost naivety and demonstrates he has no regards of completing the mission."
"Oh what, come on! You're gonna mark him down for that? It was a simple mistake, that's way too harsh" argued the Anti-magic user.
"And then there's you," said James pointing at the swordsman "the obnoxious loudmouth, that always gets himself into trouble. I'll give you credit for being able to find me, that was part of the test. But what you did after that inexcusable."
"What are you talking about," growled Asta.
"The second you found me, the first thing you did was get angry and shout. You never asked why did you flee, you never gave a thought if I was ok, you never showed any form of compassion. All you cared about was grabbing my throat and tossing me away. Magic knights are meant to protect citizens of clover, these people are meant to undergo a sense of security, not feel as tho they are criminals, that is where you failed today."
It was a tough pill to swallow but looking back it now, perhaps Asta could've handled things a lot differently. Asta's dream is to become the wizard king, to protect the people of the clover and become that symbol of hope that people can rely on. He showed non of those characteristics today. "Alright, you make a good point but come on. If I knew this was part of the test, things could've turned out a lot different. You woke up, you took us to the witch's forest, you freeze me, and my partner, and ran away. How did you expect me to react, that's soo unfair."
"Well, I never said this was easy."
"You bastard you wanted to us to fail didn't you!" shouted Asta
"Hmmm perhaps," said James with a smug look on his face "The fact is I already have enough intel, to show. Good luck having a good beating from your captain."
The shocking words angered the swordsman, his eyes locked on to the spy as he clenched his fists "You can't do this, it's not fair what you're doing."
"Give me one good reason why I can't do this" replied James.
The Anti-magic user was immensely infuriated, by the antics of the spy. Despite wanting to punch a hole through his skull, Asta knew he couldn't do anything reckless; he had to stay composed. "Look I don't know what you want me to do, but please don't tell Captain Vangance. I did so much up until now, I don't want to disappoint him like this. Please there has to be something I can do?" he pleaded
The spy gazed forward, carefully monitoring the duel wielder. Looking at his facial expressions he could tell Asta was massively upset by what had transpired, and would anything to make things right. He did give it a second thought, and perhaps the test was a little harsh, however there nothing that could be done to satisfy the unjust spy.
"As I said before, you failed the test and there's nothing you can do from this point on," looking back at his watch "We better be going, it's getting really dark out here. Let us go back to Klaus and Letollie, and we shall take it from there."
Deflated, Asta turned his back towards James as he slowly made his way out of the witches nest. Both mages side by side, the two practically no eye contact.
Despite the tension and sheer awkwardness in the air, the pair still had to keep their presence hidden; as the slightest slip up can leave them completely exposed.
During the course, Asta noticed James was covering himself with a large blanket "So that's hows he's concealing his magic."
The duo continued to make their way through the forest eventually finding their destination. There they found Klaus, who was patiently waiting on his steal chariot and Letollie, who had finally woken up from her deep slumber.
"Asta there you are!" shouted Klaus, as he waved his hand in enjoy, "I see you found our troublesome noble, nice work."
Despite being happy to finally see his comrade again, Asta couldn't bear to the tell on what happened "Klaus the thing is..."
Before he could say another word, the Anti-magic user had his whole mouth covered by the clover spy "Maybe it's best if I explain Asta."
"Explain? What is he talking about Asta?" questioned Klaus "Oh whatever, both of you just get on the chariot, I've had a really long day. Letollie are you ok to navigate?"
"Ready as ill ever be Klaus," she replied.
"Now hang on a minute," said James attaining the attention of the steal and compass user "The truth is I haven't been completely honest you. I've already talked about this with Asta, but it's probably best if you all hear this."
It was only a short brief, but James had explained the entirety of his scheme. He revealed this was all a test, but he also presented the result. Both Klaus and Letollie were left utterly distraught. They were surprised, shocked even, to think they were being tested all this time and the final result will be going on their record... how humiliating.
"Take the feedback as you may, but I will not be taking any more questions from this point on. I must give this intel back to your captain, so my business with you three is done. Feel free to head back to the hideout, or whatever your endeavours are."
"Just where the hell are you going now?!" shouted Asta
"I told you I'm a spy remember, ill be heading towards the diamond kingdom. For your sake, you better hope get caught" he laughed.
James used his ice magic to forge a glacial path "I hope you all learnt a valuable lesson, just don't make the same mistake again. See ya..."
The ice mage left the scene leaving the three Golden Dawn members stranded outside the forest. The knights clenched their fists as they felt nothing but anger and hatred towards the spy.
"That jerk, you can tell he wanted us to fail," said Asta
"Can't believe he's gonna mark me down for something as stupid as that" Letollie followed "Honestly if you guys heard the things he was asking me, you'd understand why I sprayed him."
Both Asta and Letollie continued to complain as they both hopped on to the chariot. Klaus who was in front, driving the chariot didn't say a single word as they began to take off; he remained tight-lipped with a disappointed look on his face.
Time had passed, and the group was edging to the capital, but more importantly the Golden Dawns hideout. The sun had set and what was a bright day, turned in to a dark night; Asta couldn't wait to get home, he was exhausted.
"Asta can I ask you made of all this?" asked Klaus
"What I made of all this? I don't know... As much as I hate that jerk, I guess we could've done things a bit better," scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, I mean could've just walked away. I didn't have to spray him" said Letollie.
"What are you implying, when you say we Asta," replied Klaus
"What I'm implying" confused look on his face "Well you know, we all could've done a bit better today. If we did, James would have no reason to give us a bad word right?"
"So you believe we are all to blame?"
"Well, yeah," responded the swordman "we all kinda messed. But its ok, we just have to make sure don't repeat the same mistakes."
"I beg to differ," said Klaus adjusting his glasses.
"Sorry what was that Klaus."
"I said don't agree with what you're saying," stern look on his face "The fact of the matter is, we would've never failed today if you never had shown up."
"Ummm ok... that's a little harsh" replied the Anti-magic user.
"Were in this mess because of you. If you never sprayed Letollie all of this would have never happened."
"Ok hang on Klaus" snapped Asta "You're blaming me for the failure of this test when you're the one who forgot the map back at the hideout."
"I only dropped it because you startled me," he replied
"You're blaming me, for the whole thing. You're the one who said I can't come on this stupid escort." shouted the swordsman
"What so I'm too blame?!"
Out of nowhere tempers had begun to flare, and the compass mage was right in the middle of it. She felt annoyed but also a sense of embarrassment arguing for something as small as this was pointless.
"WILL YOU BOTH, JUST SHUT UP!" attaining the attention of both mages "honestly it's bad enough we got hit like this, but fighting about it isn't gonna help anyone. Klaus, I know you're frustrated, but if what Asta's saying is true, then you also have a part to blame, including myself. We all messed up today, but get over it, you idiots are starting to give me a headache."
The male mages took the message loud and clear, as they both sat down patiently continuing their journey. The swordsman looked to his side, while the steal mage had his eyes locked on what was in front of him.
"Asta this isn't the only time you messed up," reminded Klaus "there was another instance in the dungeon, where you failed to listen to clear instructions and went charging in."
"Oh here we go again," said Asta as he waved his arms.
"THAT'S I HAD ENOUGH!" screamed the compass mage "If guys are gonna keep arguing than I'm heading out" jumping off the chariot
"Wait, Letolie where are you going?" asked Asta
"I'm going back to the hideout myself. You dorks, you dorks can waffle as much as you want, see ya" gliding away on her broom.
"See now look what you don't Klaus!"
"You incompetent buffoon, you're blaming me for this?!"