Finally, the day had arrived—the Magic Knight Entrance exam. I had missed the previous year's exam since I turned fifteen a month before the exam. Since I didn't want to do anything out of the ordinary, I had to wait until the next one. I woke up early and wore my cute and comfortable outfit. I decided to put my hair up into two buns, pulled a couple of curly strands from the front, and let them fall over my face. I could now reveal my grimoire, so I bought a new belt that could hold my weapons and my grimoire. I went to check-in and handed over my grimoire for inspection. The examiner at the gate was curious about why mine had two covers: silver and ocean blue and a lotus instead of clover. I told him it's because I'm not from the Clover Kingdom. I was given the number sixty-seven and told to walk into the arena. Once I got into the arena, I could immediately feel all eyes on me. I was a foreigner who looked completely different from everyone else. I noticed many birds hovering and pecking people all over, but they would fly away every time I would get close. Strange. I heard someone mention that they were anti-birds and floated over people with weaker magic levels.
I decided to wander around the arena to meet people, but most of them seemed to avoid me. Then, I noticed the birds surround someone in the middle of the crowd as he moved closer to where I was standing. He was shorter than a lot of the guys there but still a bit taller than me. He was super fit, wearing a white shirt and blue pants. He had ashy blond hair, green eyes, and massive, muscular arms. He looked friendly to everyone, and as he got closer to me, all the birds slowly started flying away.
"Hi! I'm Asta! You must have a lot of magic if the birds aren't coming to you at all and even chasing mine away." he said to me as he stretched his hand out to shake mine. My face suddenly felt like it was burning up.
"I'm Sayuri. You must be Leo's friend without the magic. He told me about you."
"YOU KNOW LEO?! HE'S MY RIVAL AS WELL!"
"I trained with him, well, trained him. He was such a butthead before he met you. So thank you for fixing him because I tried, and it didn't work."
"What did you do to him?"
"I made his arms stop working until he apologized for being rude" we both started laughing at Leo's expense.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Asta. And thank you for talking to me. If you need the birds gone, you can stand next to me as long as you want," I said as I blushed.
I then spotted Leo making his way through the crowd as well.
"Leo! What are you doing down here? I met your friend! Why didn't you tell me he's your rival too?!" I shouted at him excitedly as I ran to hug him, and he picked me and twirled me around. He always smelled like cinnamon and vanilla.
"Hi Asta! Hey, Yuri! How do you feel today?"
"Ready to kick some ass!" I told him.
"Mereo said that you're keeping your options open for a squad. So you might not come to the Crimson Lions? And you dressed so normally today!" he said as he pouted. Since Mereo-san had officially made me her ward shortly after they took me in, most of my clothes were the House Vermillion colors which was the white tunic covered with a dark blue shirt decorated with stripes and purple sash. So instead of that, I wore just the white tunic, bloomer shorts, and the purple sash.
"Yeah. I didn't want to stand out. Not that it mattered because I still did." I grumbled.
"Don't worry about them. They can't match your magic anyway, so just ignore them."
"Awww…Leo, no matter what squad I pick, you'll still be my best friend. I just wanted to do everything as a normal person would. And we can still train together! Mereo-san said home will always be home, so I can go anytime I want! Plus, I wouldn't turn down any opportunity to kick your butt." I hugged him.
"Well, kicking my butt just makes me better, so I'll welcome it any time."
"I think they're ready to start, so you guys should probably head to wherever. It was nice to meet you too, Asta!" I said as I hugged him. I then realized what I was doing and let him go.
"Umm…sorry about that. I always do that," I said as I started blushing.
"No, you don't!"
"Shut up, Baka-Leo!" I told him then pushed him away.
"Nooo…I can't be Baka-Leo again. I thought we were over that!"
"Well, if you act like Baka, you'll be Baka. Bye, Asta! Nice to meet you!"
The exam had finally begun. All the Captains were introduced, and I got so excited because the Black Bulls Captain, Yami Sukehiro, might be from Hino. If he is from Hino, then I will join that squad no matter what.
For the first test, I thought it was pretty easy. I grabbed the broom and jumped on it as it took off. I did circles all over and stood on it, then slowly glided down and casually jumped off.
The second test was easy, as well. I made two large iron balls, aimed them at the wall, and then shot them off at high speed from my hands. The wall crumbled into pieces.
The third test was the easiest for me because my parents had trained me for this. I made metal kunai and put them in my pouch in preparation. Once the target started moving, I grabbed three kunai between my fingers, used my ki to predict where it would be, aimed, and threw them straight at the targets.
The fourth test involved creating something with magic. I stood for a second, trying to figure out what to make. Finally, I made a silver lion that walked around. The Crimson Lion guys had asked me once if I could make it move, and I worked on making it do that.
The fifth test involved pouring magic into a seed and making it grow. I sat down with my legs crossed and put it on the ground in front of me. I focused my magic on it, and it grew into a young tree. I wasn't sure whether I should let more magic out and looked at Fuegoleon-san for help. He nodded, and I assumed it meant I should keep going. So I made it grow into a short, fully grown tree. I looked back and at him again, and he shook his head, so I decided to leave it at that.
The last test was a combat challenge. A girl who looked like she could have been a noble stepped to me angrily and challenged me. She said I was a foreigner and had no right to talk to Leopold, let alone touch him. I looked up at Leo standing next to Fuegoleon-san and blew kisses at him, and he waved back. I then accepted her challenge.
"HOW MUCH DAMAGE CAN I DO!?" I shouted at the masked Captain with a pretty mouth who was proctoring the exam. I heard a few laughs from the crowd.
"Do the best you can." he replied.
"DO I HAVE TO USE MAGIC, OR CAN I JUST USE MY HANDS!?" I heard a few murmurs and chuckles from the crowd.
"Whichever skills you feel that you possess to show us what you can do."
I looked at Fuegoleon-san and made a choking gesture. He shook his head. I made a breaking one, and again he shook his head. Finally, I nodded my head and went back to face her.
She had water magic. Easy. She was angry, which caused her to act rashly and not think through her attacks. I left my grimoire in my pouch and decided to mix magic and taijutsu. She made seven water spears and aimed them at me. As soon as she launched them, I aimed similar water spears at hers, and while she was distracted by my counterattack, I ran towards her, slid under her grimoire, and hit both her shoulder seams at the same time. Her hands went limp by her side.
"What did you do to my arms!?" The girl suddenly screamed.
"Nothing that won't repair itself in a couple of hours. Do you yield?"
"I do not yield. This was not a fair fight! What did you do to me? What sort of magic is that?!"
"It wasn't magic. I need to hear whether you want to continue this fight, or do you yield?"
"Captain! Is she allowed to do that?"
"I believe everyone heard me ask whether to use magic or my hands at the beginning of the fight. So I made sure to get clarity on that. Do you yield?"
"I DO NOT YIELD!"
"Fair enough." I tripped her, so she fell on her back. I then knelt on her chest, made water spears similar to what she had, and aimed them at her head. I heard gasps all around and people whispering, 'is she controlling the water too?' 'what sort of magic is that?' and other speculative whispers.
"Say you yield," I told her, and she shook her head. I then moved my spears closer to her face. "You can yield, or you can leave here unconscious. I'm partial to both, so it's your choice."
"Yield!" she shouted. I got off her chest, cleaned up my knees, then squatted next to her.
"Who I'm friends with is none of your concern. I went easy on you because I was told not to kill you or break any of your bones. I just rerouted the nerves in your hands for a few hours. Hopefully, you brought a friend to take you back home. By the way, you have no chance with him, so don't even try. Thanks for the fight."
I was done with my wizard exam. Once everyone else was done, the Captain with the pretty mouth announced that they would call each number. The Magic Knight Captains would raise their hand if they were interested. If more than one raised their hand, you could pick which house you want to go to. If none of them raised their hand, then you failed the exam.
65…No Captain
66…The green mantis Captain
67…I only had my eyes on the Hino Captain. All the Captains raised their hands. I stepped forward and looked at him.
"Konichiwa Heichou. Shusshin wa dochiradesuka? (Hello Captain. Where are you from?)." I asked him
"Hino," he replied. I beamed
"Watashimo sankashite iidesuka? (May I join you?)"
"Hai (Yes)"
"ARIGATO! (THANK YOU!)" I said, then bowed. I then turned to Fuegoleon and Leo.
"I'm sorry, Fuego-san, Leo. As much as I would have loved to join the Crimson Lions, I have to choose the Black Bulls. I hope you understand why."
I didn't pay attention to any of the other choices and waited for the ceremony's end. First, I had to say goodbye to Leo and Fuegoleon-san. After that, I would meet my new squad Captain from the land he and I were from—a foreigner just like me.
I spotted the two Vermillions walking with their new member, ran towards them, and jumped to hug Leo. He always liked my hugs.
"I'm sorry! The Black Bulls Captain is from Hino just like me, and I just had to go there! I'm sorry! I hope you understand!" I sniffled. I proceeded to hug Fuegoleon-san.
"Thank you so much for giving me a place to call home. I hope I can still be welcome because you are all my first family in the Clover Kingdom."
"You're still welcome anytime, Sayuri. And we do understand. You're also welcome to visit our Base. You know the squad sees you as a little sister, so they would be happy if you visit every once in a while," Fuegoleon-san said.
"Please tell Mereo-san I'm sorry as well. I'll try to visit whenever I'm free, and hopefully, we can still train together. I have to join my Captain now. Goodbye Fuego-san! Goodbye, Leo" I waved at them and went to join my new squad.
"Heichou!" I ran towards my new Captain. "Sorry, I'm late. I had to say bye to Leo and Fuego-san. I'm Sayuri Nakamura, and I'm from Hino too!"
"Yami Sukehiro. Welcome to my squad," he said.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"So, how much were you holding back?" Captain Yami asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You kept looking at Vermillion for certain tasks. You would have been able to make that tree bigger, am I right?"
"Umm…Maybe."
"How about the girl you fought?"
"I needed to know how much damage I was allowed to do, and the other Captain didn't specify, so I asked Fuego-san. I assessed her and knew I could beat her without magic, but I figured I'd use it anyway just to show a bit of both."
"And the water spears?"
"Ummm…water spears were mine."
"How many jutsus do you know?"
"Enough? I can use a katana too."
The Captain shook his head, then looked at the guy next to us.
"This here is Finral. He's our ride back to the Base. The others should already be there." Finral blushed, then opened a portal, and we walked through to my new home.