Welcome to the next chapter.
Darth Simp; Yeah, seems like Yami's having a good deal of trouble winning huh. That would be pretty funny if Dorothy had to do that. Secre's real self is going to be coming pretty soon. Yeah, it will be quite like that before the curse is fully lifted.
wellingtonlucas282; Thanks very much!
ShadowUzumaki55; Yami surely did, it seems that he'll have to get even better. I'm sure Sol will secretly be happy about it. Julius does know about it, a select few know about Venta's Devil. Yeah, that scene will happen in one way or another hehe. Salim is yeah, we'll be seeing what he's doing pretty soon.
Silver crow; She is yeah. We'll see what happens with Salim. Nebra surely is. She could appear there yeah. That's what he does yeah. That's how the Elves see themselves. I thought it would be nice to add that to Patolli. Sally is a pretty smart girl. Glad you liked Dorothy and Charlotte's moment together. Nebra surely is yeah. Venta's pet can be quite scary. Venta's quite aware of his stone yeah. He has a good deal of impact on those around the squad. Venta and Rebecca have a nice relationship with one another. Glad you liked the Julius scene. Some people know about it, not many. Maybe he could do yeah. We'll see what happens with Salim. Yeah could do. Yeah, could be like that. I can't reveal if he does know them or not yet, maybe. Langris was quite like that, pretty good stuff. They'll have some fun at the beach yeah. Maybe he and Charlotte could go together. Thanks for the harem suggestions. Maybe Nebra could do yeah. We'll see how the Witch Queen goes.
Noelle fan; Glad you liked it. Yeah, Noelle and Venta had a nice moment between the two of them. Yeah, she is. Lets see how they get on.
djinn; Thanks, glad you liked it! Yeah, we'll see what happens soon.
Guest 1; Yeah, that sounds like a fun story idea to do for an Issei replacement type of story, thanks for the suggestion!
Andrew123456; When it's needed.
Guest 2; That would be an interesting way to go about a fic with a Dhampir, Akeno being like that would be quite interesting to see. That would be a cool dynamic between them. Cool harem, thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 3; Noelle did yeah. Glad you liked the moments between the Elves. Charlotte definitely did yeah. Yeah, it could be quite like that~ Venta's got his own pet, we might be seeing that down the road at some point. Julius is a fun character, and Venta and he will have a good few conversations over time. Salim will yeah, it's gonna be fun to see. Thanks very much! Yeah, she'd be cool.
Guest 4; Yeah, they'd be cool, thanks for the suggestions.
Guest 5; Yes, there will be lemons, not sure when yet.
With those reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter.
Salim's mission part one
After his defeat at the hands of Yuno, and then again at Venta, Salim was pissed off.
He was angry.
He couldn't believe that he had lost to two people like that.
A newbie from a backwater place like Hage.
Then to a Black Bull who he believed wouldn't be able to defeat someone of his status at all.
He didn't want to accept it at all.
That's why he knew that he'd have to hire the strongest to fight beside him.
But he was having some hard luck finding those that would go along with him.
Even with the wealth that he had, it still was a difficult thing to get what he desired.
However, eventually he did find a good few people. Some that were strong, and capable, professionals that had the ability to kill and weren't opposed to doing underhanded methods either, something that Salim definitely loved to see, if it meant working with what he considered low lives, then he'd do just that.
So he returned back to his home for the evening.
However, in the middle of his thoughts, suddenly a portal opened up before his eyes.
Stepping through it, was Sally herself, her eyes dancing towards the young man.
"So, you're the one that has such anger issues? I was told that you'd be up to becoming more powerful, so what do you say huh?"
Salim's face dropped.
Seeing Sally's expression, it was clear that something was going on.
More than that, he didn't know who she was, and he felt insulted that she could suddenly just come as she did.
"Who do you think you're speaking to peasant?!"
Sally blinked.
"What? You're Salim right? I have the right place, don't I?"
"I am and you're in the right place, but you may refer to me as Salim-sama, understood?"
Sally blinked, then shook her head.
"Erm, no."
Salim's eyes filled with rage.
"You do as I say girl!"
"How about no?"
"How about yes or you be shocked to death!"
Salim countered, Sally wagged her finger in a pleasantly scary manner that caused Salim to have shivers run up and down his spine.
"No, that's not how it is going to go, okay? It is best if you do as I say right now, and we wont have to have any trouble between us. I mean, I am here on the orders of people above me, and your personality is kinda rotten to be honest, so I don't think that you'd be a good candidate, but you never know, they might see something about you that I currently don't see."
Salim felt his eyebrow twitching.
He was being sought out, yet it sounded like Sally didn't even have any confidence that he'd be any decent at all.
"W-Well, if it is power you want, then I'll show you the power of a Noble such as myself! Even I have the power to reach that of a royal! So eat this, my Salim dose of lightning!"
As he said it, sparks of electricity ran off of his form, shooting for the young Sally.
Before reaching her however, a wall of what looked like gel appeared, blocking the attack.
The gel wall managed to become somewhat electrified, but otherwise remained normal, as she moved her hand and pointed it towards him.
"W-What the hell! You didn't even chant any spells did you?!"
"Afraid not, no."
Salim pulled back, unleashing a barrage of lightning for the gel like substance before his eyes.
But his attacks didn't pierce through it at all.
Mana gathered around the hand that Sally had pointing towards him.
"Magic Bullet!"
From her extended hand, Sally shot off a sphere of Mana, causing Salim to dodge out of the way, only for a giant hand of gel to grapple him, and then slam him down onto the ground, surprising the young man.
"W-What the hell are you doing?!"
Sally looked at him, showing a dead pan expression.
She looked rather tired right now, dealing with Salim...it was too much for her mentally, she'd rather just be working on her experiments right now.
"Defending myself. Hey, I don't really wanna be here, but I've been asked to see if you'd like to take a chance to enact your revenge."
When Sally said that, Salim paused.
Enact his revenge?
But how would he do it?
He didn't know the answers, so he asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"What I'm saying is that you can be granted power, but you'll have to be willing to follow me. Is that clear?"
Salim's face curled upwards.
Granted power…
He'd be able to defeat Yuno and Venta if he had more power.
He just knew it.
"So, what do you say? Do you want more power?"
Salim didn't answer.
Instead, he showed a dark expression on his face, and an equally smug look as well.
The thought of gaining power, he didn't care how it happened.
As long as he got what he desired, he didn't care what would happen.
As he thought it, Sally looked on and thought "It seems our leader sees something in this guy...maybe he wishes to give Venta-kun a test...or maybe it's something else..." as though Sally was asked to do this, she didn't really know what was going on with this, perhaps she'd know in the near future...
Venta returned home that night from going towards Golden Dawn, when he found that Yami was sat in the corner.
He was alone, and he seemed to be in deep thought about something.
But Venta did notice that Charmy had left out food for Venta himself, due to how there was a plate on the table, a drink with his name written on some paper in her hand writing, something that he found really adorable.
Yami had a cloud hanging over his head, he looked rather down about something, so Venta went over to go and see what was going on, while using his Magic to bring the food, and drink over, causing it to hover in mid air, as he ate it.
"Captain look, no hands~"
Yami looked and saw Venta float his food to his mouth along with cut it apart without the need for a knife and fork.
"Funny..."
Venta raised a brow, Yami usually did find that pretty funny.
"Captain, what's wrong? Did you and Charlotte-san have your card game?"
Yami breathed sharply in through his nose, and exhaled out of said nose, trying to remain as calm as possible.
"These people go to some special academies for these games, I'm sure of it Venta. It isn't normal their abilities being able to do these things."
Venta raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean Captain?"
"I mean, they've banned together, and now are working to beat me in every card game imaginable. Oh yeah, you're now going towards Prickly Queen herself after the sleepy headed Captain, all of the time I'm giving you away to others because they keep beating me somehow."
Venta thought the outcome was that as he watched his Captain's attitude.
"Captain, don't be so down, it's alright."
Despite trying to cheer him up, it seemed that Yami was quite down in that moment, and looked at his feet.
"Hmm, maybe you should take them on? Maybe they'd fail if you did it since they'd be distracted by your cute face. Vanessa seems to think so anyway. Vanessa said it could work, and that's good enough for me."
"Vanessa-san did huh..."
Yami nodded as he thought about the card game.
How challenging that was.
Shaking his head, he folded his arms as he faced Venta.
"I'm going to bed, this has been too much for me."
Venta could see why that would be the case. Yami had been through a lot recently.
"Night Captain."
"Yeah, night. Maybe sleep will help cure me."
Venta thought "Poor Captain, he really is going through it lately, Karna-san will help him with that though, I'm sure that she would be able to." as he watched Yami make his way to the stairs.
Once he was gone, Venta and Nero were all alone together, so the small bird flew out of his hair, and landed on his right thigh.
"I'll do the final bit of research tomorrow Nero, but I think I've done everything. I'll just go over it, then it should be all ready to go. Excited Nero?"
"Yes...I haven't been able to do many things that humans do, even for a short time, I think it would be good to do it."
Venta was glad that she was having so much confidence in him.
He for sure wished to make sure that everything was right before going through with it, he didn't want to make a mistake and accidentally cause her more harm than good. So he knew he'd go over it one more time to make sure he had everything planned out right for Nero to return back to being a human, even if it was only in short bursts.
When getting into bed, Dorothy was already there. So he stripped down to his underwear, the normal for when he was going to bed.
She reached out, and hugged onto him tightly, he settled down next to her.
Dorothy didn't open her eyes, but she did cuddle up to Venta and made it known that she wouldn't let go of him.
He was going to go to sleep, when Vanessa casually came strolling in, a drink in hand, a red face indicating that she had been drinking a good bit, but she looked rather happy when she saw Venta.
"Hello, I've come to join in Venta-kun, lets cuddle~"
She sang enthusiastically, while showing her strong smile.
Vanessa stripped down to her underwear, so she just took off her Black Bulls cape, and then got onto the other side of Venta, noticing how Venta was dressed, and placed her hand on top of the right hand side of his chest, feeling the muscle there, and smiled.
"My Venta-kun, your muscles seem to be growing all of the time, I quite like it."
Vanessa cooed out.
She then settled down, and Venta thought that might be the end of it, when the door opened once more, revealing Charmy in her cute night clothes.
"Venta-kun, I've come for a sleepover! Did you eat all of the food?"
"I did, it was really delicious Charmy-chan. So you want to sleep in here with us?"
With her small frame, she hopped towards the bed, and snuggled under the covers, placing her body on his right hand side, resting her head on his thigh.
"La, this is the best bed. And Venta-kun is too cuddly as a pillow to pass up. I can't go now."
Venta raised an eyebrow, but didn't have time to think as the door opened yet again, revealing another Charmy.
Rather, Venta knew who this was, it being Grey.
Seeing Vanessa pretty much out of her, Dorothy was asleep, and Charmy had settled in, Venta waved his hand over.
The small girl rushed over, and stood before Venta, looking rather shy even in her Charmy form.
"La, Venta-kun..."
Mimicking Charmy didn't seem to calm her nerves right now.
So Venta gave her a concerned look as he beckoned her closer, which she did and he ended up comfortingly taking her hand within his, causing a massive blush to appear across her cheeks.
"Hey, Grey-chan. What's going on?"
"I-I heard a s-s-scary n-n-noise coming from the C-Captain's room, a-and some pro-profanities..." Venta sweat dropped at that. "C-Can I st-stay in here V-Venta-kun? Please...I'm scared, I don't want to be alone."
When she said it, he felt for her.
He didn't want her to feel like that, so he gently patted the bed.
"Aah, when you say that, of course you can stay Grey-chan if you feel comfortable enough."
Venta opened his arms, so she happily got into the bed, and hugged him tightly while shivering.
He petted the back of her head, as she gazed up towards him in a cute manner.
He also looked at the young girl with a soft expression on his face.
"So you chose Charmy-chan huh?"
"Yes...I thought it would be a good choice."
"Haha I see. Though maybe one day, it could be your normal form."
As he said it, Grey gushed at the thought of being in bed with Venta in her normal form.
What they could be doing together, and what things they could explore together.
Blushing hard, she let out a cute "Eep!" before she snuggled against Venta tightly.
He smiled down at the young girl, and thought that would be the end of it…
But it wasn't, as Asta came walking into the room.
Wearing her normal pyjama's, which were surprisingly revealing with it showing off her toned stomach and her legs to the point that it came up to her inner thigh, the young small girl rubbed her eyes sleepily as she pulled closer and closer.
"Future husband...we should totally be in bed together since we will be getting married at some point! So, lets cuddle even more, okay? Until the morning has come, okay?"
Asta's cheery demeanour shone brightly as she crawled into bed with Venta himself.
As she did, she saw Charmy laid on his thigh, and she murmured "My spot." so Asta moved up more on the bed, laying between Venta and Vanessa, laying her head on his stomach happily, enjoying the feelings that she had within her.
"Aah, future husbands body really is the best, it can't be beaten at all. I love it, sleeping on it is the best kind of pleasure to have."
Venta looked between the different girls, wondering if that was it…
Then he felt two more figures coming.
Noelle hid behind the wall near his bedroom, while Venta saw Nebra stood at the door.
Nebra's eyes looked over the different women clinging to Venta, seeing their various states of dress, or lack thereof in the case of Vanessa who was openly happy about being in her underwear.
She glances at her little sister, who releases a massive blush on her cheeks as she looks into the room with a mixture of shyness and envy, though the envy part she kept denying to herself, while Nebra expressed it openly.
"After all my planning, these women had the gull to do such things while going behind my back?"
Nebra's words were sharp and cold, but no one paid attention, besides Venta who let out an awkward laugh.
"Nebra-san, do you want to sleep in here?"
Nebra placed her hands on her face, and she began blushing furiously.
Even though she really did want to do it, she also felt extremely shy on doing it.
She thought that it would just be her and him, and perhaps Dorothy but because she was basically in eternal slumber it seemed, she didn't have that much to worry about.
But now with so many people, it was becoming harder for Nebra to organize her own thoughts.
"T-That's something I couldn't possibly do under normal circumstances. As you are a peasant, and I am a royal, sharing a bed is simply an uneasy task for myself. I have to prepare myself for such an event before we finally release the feelings that we have for one another-"
"Can you please hurry?" Vanessa began with a hiccup, catching Nebra off guard. "It's really late, and I have to fall asleep to the sound of Venta-kun's heart beat, it is so soothing, so would it be possible if we do these things quickly?"
Nebra was taken aback by what Vanessa had said.
She then glanced at Noelle once more, who was blushing even more, trying to deny wanting to go inside over and over again.
She then looked towards Venta's bed once more, her eyes going up towards the young man's face.
As she saw his body, she felt her own heating up more and more. The sound of her heart rung within her ears. Her body even was twitching with some new excitement. It felt good within her body, she wasn't able to contain the feelings that she felt.
"He's got such a good body...so toned, and tight...what am I thinking? I have been with commoners for too long...but those rippling muscles of his, that innocent look in his eyes, and how his lips curl in that cutely adorable way sometimes...it's too much for me...but I want it even more..."
Nebra was more and more falling into the idea of being about to express what she had inside.
When Noelle peaked around the wall, her shyness at the situation kicked in.
Staring at the area Venta was in and the girls, she contemplated joining, but then was shocked that she indeed was contemplating such a thing.
She didn't think that she would do.
So when she caught Venta taking a glance at her, she became so nervous, that she ended up running away.
Her heart going a million miles a minute, she couldn't keep it calm.
Nebra on the other hand, her right hand on her chest, moved closer and closer.
"Darling...sharing a bed, it is really a big deal..."
"Yeah...if you don't want to-"
"Who said I didn't want it darling?" She cut him off, as she jumped into bed with Venta, her arms sliding around his form, blushing madly. "T-This is something t-that we have to do...b-because..."
She didn't finish and simply kept her head on his chest, her face burning red.
Venta furrowed his brows, and looked on with a curious gaze, before looking around at the women clinging to him, or sleeping on him in general, before giving a soft smile, and allowing them to sleep, as he himself fell asleep in their warm embrace.
The next morning, Venta sat down the stairs with all of the other Black Bulls. As per usual, Gauche was in the corner looking at a picture of his sister, and nose bleeding, something Nebra looked repulsed by, Luck was trying to pick fights with others, Magna was taking those challenges up, while Venta calmly ate his food together with Charmy on his lap who was giving Asta a stare down as she also occupied Venta's lap.
"La, you may sit on this lap...but, it is also my lap. The best place to eat a meal, and to sleep on."
Asta gave Charmy a strange look, seeing that she was eating her food very slowly.
"Say remember that guy that's on my list?"
Yami suddenly brought up in the middle of the conversation.
His words directed towards Venta who spoke up in response.
"Which one Captain? There's several, and most of them are Dorothy-san."
Yami sweat dropped as did the others that were sat around.
"Well, you can add Prickly Queen to the list now, several times over." Venta sweat dropped. "But no, not either of them. That damn lightning user...damn it, what's his name…? Salim I think it is. Something like that. Whatever his name is."
Venta furrowed his brows.
But then sighed, remembering who he was and what he could want.
"Salim...I think you're right there, yeah I remember him. What's he done now? I only just saw him back at Golden Dawn last night, is he up to his old tricks again?"
Venta exhaled.
Yami nodded.
"Aah, so you were there. Alright, makes it easier. Apparently, they're going on some mission, and he's asked that you go along as well. He said he wished for a familiar Mage that is also fair, so he could evaluate the new members of Golden Dawn, and not be bias."
"That sounds like a trap to me."
Yami laughed.
"Yes it does. It's clearly a fake thing since that jackass wasn't like that at all, and asking you specifically when you aren't even in that group. He's probably up to something, but it would be better if you went. Go and destroy the weasel if you have to, I'll send over the concerns to Julius so he can approve of using extreme force against the noble ass."
Venta didn't have a problem with it.
If he was targeting the likes of Yuno and Mimosa, he wished to go and make sure they were okay.
"Wait, if you both believe it is a trap, then why not inform William-san of the Golden Dawn?"
Nebra asked, with Venta nodding.
"You are right Nebra-san, we will inform him and get his thoughts as well. Though I think he might agree with what's going on, and wish for us to go ahead with the mission, so he can be caught, and brought before the justice system. Right now he hasn't committed any crimes, well beyond that attack he tried on me, and I believe he got punished for doing such an action, so if we move now, then there would be little point as those he is either hiring or maybe comrades of his could be able to get away if we simply arrest Salim who isn't much a threat on his own, plus we'll take the precautions necessary so everything works out well. So by doing this, we can get Salim, and his group as well in all one go."
Nebra was impressed with what she had heard.
It sounded very strong and his words made sense right now.
They didn't know what Salim had planned, and this was to merely go with it, but also having plans to disable the man in case he did have something that might cause trouble.
So, Nebra was pretty impressed with what was being said.
"Well, darling. It seems that I may not worry after all. I am sure that as the future Captain of the squad that we have yet to decide on together will truly be a good squad indeed. Such quality leadership, judging your opponents and being able to lead a tactical charge."
"Thanks Nebra-san."
Nebra nodded with a regal smile, while Venta saw that she sent a wink towards him which caused a soft smile to appear, Nebra's eyes showcasing a surprisingly seductive look to her, something that Venta was surprised by, it seemed that Nebra was becoming even bolder as of late.
Gordon suddenly appeared beside Nebra, freaking her out.
"My best mist friend, it seems that you have moved your relationship forward."
Gordon mumbled it out so quietly that even next to him, Nebra didn't hear what he said.
Nebra looked on with narrowed eyebrows.
"I don't know what you said, but I hope it wasn't a curse, so thank you Gordon-san."
Gordon lifted his head, and looked at Nebra with happy eyes, something that came off as terrifying for the young woman.
But Venta was glad at least that Nebra was trying her best, making an effort with even the likes of Gordon.
Later on during the day, Venta was currently reading and studying the information that he had, for the time he was going to finally release Nero from her curse, even if only for a short while before she would be transformed back.
All the while, he was also duelling with Asta, levitating rocks into the air, and shot them for Asta in a barrage style. He didn't go full out, but the rocks moved faster than the ice that Heath had used so Asta took out her blade, and swung it before her again and again.
"Haaah! Haaah! Haah!"
Asta was determined.
If she did her best, then maybe she'd be able to have some good times with Venta, and be able to relax with him.
She also was quite impressed that he was able to fire off the rocks and read at the same time.
Though she didn't know what he was reading, it seemed that he was engaged in it whatever it was.
"Aaaah!"
Asta saw one rock coming in, so she sliced it apart, only for another rock to appear from behind it, and slam into her upper body.
Venta glanced at her, seeing that she looked reasonably well, so he smiled.
"Keep going Asta-san."
"After this, can we have a bath together future husband?!"
"If that's what you want, I don't mind Asta-san."
Asta beamed, while Venta kept reading the book, and training Asta at the same time.
"Yes! Leave it to me! I'll dodge a hundred, no two hundred! Even four hundred! Haha! I'll do my best for you future husband!"
Venta smiled at her energy, sending that same smile towards her.
That reignited the fuels of passion that Asta had, and she went wild with her swings, being able to carve through the rocks that Venta had fired off at her tirelessly. Even with them going faster than Heath used his Magic, it was clear that Asta held determination this day.
Venta on the other hand kept reading the book, and going over the information, studying the curse as much as he could. He had done so many times, he didn't want to get anything wrong and Nero end up in a worse state because of him, so he thought being careful and cautious like this would be better than simply trying it out now.
"I think that's everything that I need, after the mission with Salim, I should be able to do this. I've gone over everything, ever little detail that I can do. Okay, so this is what I have to do...don't worry Nero, I'll bring you back to how you were before. It's going to be great seeing you..."
Before he could finish his thoughts, he heard Asta let out a battle cry.
So he glanced up, seeing that she was swinging her Anti Magic sword out before her rapidly. Destroying all of the stones that Venta had launched, he had to admit that it was pretty awesome to see her doing this.
But then he saw her slip, and a stone headed for her face.
So he stopped it in the span of a second, before using his Magic to crush it to dust.
"Aaah! I nearly got hit then Venta-kun!"
Asta let out a complaint, annoyed at herself for not being able to do what she had seen others do like her Captain and Venta.
Venta patted his lap, so she rushed over, and hopped on immediately, her starry eyes going towards his own.
"So how come you wanted to train with me?"
"Because I thought it would be good! And you'll be going with Yuno tomorrow, right? I might not see you for a little while, so I thought that I could spend as much time with you as possible, then it would be for the best."
Venta raised an eyebrow.
But then he allowed a small smile appear on his face.
"Worried about something, Asta-san?"
Asta's face flew through several shades of embarrassed redness.
"N-No! Of course not!"
Venta chortled at the sight, seeing how cute Asta's face was, how red ruby her cheeks were.
He placed a hand on her already flushing cheek, his fingers delicately dragging across said cheek, causing Asta to shiver in new excitement.
"Honestly?"
"...Maybe a little bit, but it is Yuno, and she's really beautiful so..."
"Asta-san, you're very cute and beautiful."
"Venta-kun, my future husband! If you say that, then I'll become even more excited than ever before!"
Asta's face beamed, before she placed her lips on his cheek. Caressing his cheek with her soft lips, Venta placed an arm around her, supporting the young girl as she kissed his cheek, before she allowed multiple small kisses go across his face.
"So affectionate Asta-san~"
"Hehe, that's because I really like you Venta-kun...speaking of, I got you something!" Venta tilted his head, as she produced what looked like a scarf that looked similar to her bandanna that she wore on her head in colour. "It's nothing much, but it seems that your neck might get cold on your mission, so..."
Venta smiled at her genuine cuteness, so he took the scarf, and wrapped it around his neck.
Asta smiled, but then blushed heavily as Venta laid a kiss on her cheek, before bringing her to his chest. She smiled as she nuzzled his chest with her cheek.
"I'll be back before you know it Asta-san, don't worry about me, and the others, we'll be fine."
"I know! I can't wait for you to come back, I'll train doubly hard! Maybe even triply hard!"
Venta laid a kiss on her forehead, as she snuggled against him.
"I can't wait to see it Asta-san."
Asta gave a happy smile.
She couldn't be more happy right now, being in the arms of someone that she cared for immensely.
When the day arrived, Venta met up with Mimosa, Yuno and Klaus, the former two he knew, he didn't know Klaus that well, and could see that he was giving him a look that told Venta he was trying to judge who he was.
Since he didn't know Venta's social status, he wasn't sure how to treat him, so he remained rather cold looking as he gazed towards Venta. Venta himself simply looked on curiously, before turning to Mimosa and Yuno.
"Hey everyone, so are you ready for the mission ahead?"
Klaus pushes forward, readjusting his glasses as he gazes towards Venta.
"I was informed a member of the Black Bulls was coming, though please do remember, my Captain has placed a lot of trust in me and because we are of a superior squad, I shall take the lead."
Venta glances at Mimosa who giggles awkwardly.
Yuno on the other hand bluntly speaks up.
"You do know he is the Vice Captain of the Black Bulls, right? His rank is above us all, even if from a different squad, so Venta-kun really should be taking the lead."
Klaus blinks.
He wasn't aware of that.
He looked at Venta up and down, checking out the colour of his hair, and his eyes as well as his general demeanour. Even the small bird that was comfortably resting on top of Venta's head.
His face then dropped as his mouth becomes agape.
"Eeeeeeeeh! Y-You're the Vice Captain! Bu-But you couldn't be! I heard that he was a complete monster that destroyed Kirsch Vermilion in a fight and that had the power to manipulate gravity!"
Venta tilted his head while Mimosa giggled.
"He did destroy my brother in their fight, a good lesson if you ask me."
Hearing Mimosa roast her brother was always entertaining to Venta.
"B-But, this boy has a gentle face... He looks like a gentle boy, not some hardened Vice Captain that looks as if he could destroy a town. This boy looks younger than I am."
"Why, how old are you?"
Venta asks curiously.
Klaus pauses, and huffs.
"A gentlemen doesn't reveal their ages."
"Aah, I see, then I shall not reveal my age either...eeh..."
"Klaus."
"Klaus, you may call me Venta."
"From which house do you belong?"
"From the house of Venta."
Mimosa giggled at the small joke, Yuno did find it also amusing, Klaus didn't appreciate it though.
"I see, so a commoner."
"Maybe~ Though I don't think it should matter if I am a commoner or not."
Klaus was even more intrigued, he didn't know what to think about this.
But then Salim comes walking towards them.
His eyes glance towards Venta, and then towards Yuno.
"Good day, I am glad that you could join us Vice Captain of the Black Bulls. Are you leading this mission?"
"Ask..." Klaus narrowed his brows. "This guy here...Klaus-san."
Klaus looks over Venta, he didn't think he would be the Vice Captain and now was questioning on what he was supposed to feel at that moment in time.
"You are the Vice Captain, even if it is not of the Golden Dawn, I have to defer to your leadership. So what are we going to be doing from here on? I would like to know my role immediately, and I shall be watching."
Venta held a small smile on his face, finding rather funny the way that Klaus was acting.
"That's good to know Klaus-san. Please lets all work together towards our common goal." Venta glances at Mimosa who holds a similar smile to the one that was on Venta's face. "Right, lets begin. Mimosa-san, our location we're going to, do you have that?"
"Aah yes of course, it is here." Mimosa brings out a map. "It seems by using our Magic, it shouldn't take us more than half a day to get there. If we take this route here, we should avoid all of the hot spots that bandits tend to gather, or enemies that could cause us problems. Since this is a mission to simply collect items that only grow out in the Forsaken Realm, it would be good if we took this route Venta-kun."
Venta smiled at how assured Mimosa was, showing how she was truly growing.
"Great work Mimosa-san, I agree with your judgements, lets avoid unnecessary fighting for the time being since our mission is to protect, Salim-san." Mimosa smiles cutely. "Then next, mode of transportation, Klaus-san, your Steel Magic shall suffice, yes?"
Klaus was taken aback.
"Y-You know of my Magic?"
He didn't expect Venta to know that.
If anything, he thought that Venta would be flip flopping on the mission.
But something was different now.
The way his eyes looked, and his general demeanour had changed.
"I always do what information gathering that I can before a mission, both the mission itself and who I'm working with. So if you'd be so kind, would you please make us some kind of mode of transportation, preferably big enough for us all, but not too large that it could become hindering to us to maneuverer if we're attacked in the air."
Compared to his jokey attitude before, seeing Venta acting...like a Vice Captain, a leader that drew on the strengths of the others, it was something Klaus was happy to see.
"I-I see, then yes, I shall get to it right away."
"Thank you." Venta turned to Yuno. "Finally Yuno-san, your Wind Magic, it can propel us on the transport that Klaus-san is setting up, okay? With the way you control the winds, you can easily change the way we move, and how fast or slow we can go, yes?"
"Yes, that's fine with me. Leave it with me Venta-kun."
Venta nodded with a smile.
Salim looked on, his eyes dancing between the people in the area.
He looked at Venta, and wanted to know what his role would be, so he could exploit it if he had the chance.
"By the way Vice Captain, what role are you going to be playing?"
"Me? I'm simply here to watch over you, that's all. Two newbies are out together on an important mission, so it's my job to evaluate them and see how well they handle this first mission of theirs. Any questions, then I'll answer them, but please look to these three for your protection."
Klaus looked at Venta, and thought that was shocking.
"But you're our leader, you aren't going to fight at all...?"
"Magic Knights will face situations on their own without backup, and they will have to be prepared. I'm here, so if things do go truly wrong and I believe that you guys can't handle it, then I'll step in. But please think of me as if I'm not here at all. Do the mission to the best of your ability and if you have any questions, please ask away, it's better to be sure than not, you know? I'll provide any answers to questions you have, but when it comes to fighting, I'll leave it to you three, okay?"
He believed in them, he knew Mimosa and Yuno well so knew they'd be able to handle this, he wished to encourage that growth and help them become even stronger than they are now.
Mimosa and Yuno understood what he was saying, he was preparing them, giving them advice, but not doing it all for them. It was something a leader did, placing trust in those under them to help them gain experience, help them be better at the job that they have.
Klaus had to admit that was a little impressed with what he was hearing. Venta's words came off as someone that cared, but also wished for those to gain experience in their mission, someone that would help, but not do everything for those that are trying to learn, he thought that it was rather good that Venta was encouraging them.
Salim on the other hand was rather annoyed, he didn't like the idea of Venta being at full alert. He thought with a job, that he would be a little distracted for his friends to attack, the people that he had hired.
But now he would have to think about it once more.
Going towards the location that Salim wished for, riding on the chariot that was made thanks to Klaus, Yuno used her Magic to fire them through the air while Mimosa was guiding them in the location they were supposed to be going. Flying over a forest, Yuno's eyes glanced down at said forest, and was reminded of how her and Asta made the trek from Hage to the place they did the Magic Knight exam.
Salim was being watched over by Klaus, while Venta seemed to be casually reading a book.
"Venta-kun, I have a question if you don't mind."
Mimosa suddenly spoke, Venta glanced up, and nodded.
"Of course, what is it?"
"Well, I thought that I'd ask, in a combat scenario between the three of us, what kind of action should we take?"
"Hmm, that's an interesting question. First, let me hear your thoughts on the matter Mimosa-san, tell me what you think would be best."
Encouraging her more, knowing she had it in her, he awaited her reply.
Mimosa furrowed her brows.
"Well, since there's three of us...then I think our long range Yuno-san would be best to fight, while I keep us supported with my Plant Magic. Klaus-sans Steel Magic is perfect for making shields so the enemies wouldn't be able to get through, and for keeping our mode of transportation at peak levels."
"I agree completely Mimosa-san, putting everyone's talents to good use there. Good job Mimosa-san."
Mimosa giggled, and blushed lightly while running a hand through her hair.
Salim's sinister eyes went towards Venta for a few moments.
Seeing that he seemingly was distracted by something within the book, he thought that now would be a good time to make a move, so he used some of his lightning to create a small discharge outside of the metal that Klaus had made.
Though even without looking, Venta caught it, and waited for what was to come.
"Wow Yuno-san, it seems that your Magic's been getting faster while I wasn't looking."
Yuno gave a humble expression as she spoke up to Venta.
"Yes, I have been practising after all."
"I see, I'm glad that's the case, because we're about to be attacked, hope you can handle it."
When he said that, they all, besides Salim, gasped.
Shooting up from the forest, several Mage's wearing hoods came towards them, one with flame Magic shot off at high speeds for them, so Yuno paused and placed her hands out, creating a massive tornado before her, and blocked off the flames before they could come close.
But then coming out of the flames, was another Mage that wielder what looked like steel gauntlets across her arms, that she came at Yuno with. Being a rather close range attack, Venta could see why they did that.
"So, Salim is trying to take advantage that Yuno-san seems to be a long range fighter. While that might be true, it doesn't mean she is bad at close range either. She might surprise your guys yet Salim."
As the steel Mage came close, Yuno deflected her attack with a wave of her hand, creating a movement of wind strong enough to blast the girls hand to the right hand side, opening up her body for another attack.
"Eat this."
Yuno calmly moved both hands out, before she released an incredibly precise burst of wind that shot her away, and down into the forest below, smashing into the dirt, and caused her body to blast through a few trees before being crumbled down to the ground fully unconscious.
"No, you couldn't be that strong! Alright, lets pick up the pace! These are my strongest flames, so prepare to be melted alive you bastards!"
The flame user spewed out a good amount of flames which shot forward, and washed over the area they were in. surrounding them from both sides, and going behind them, the front of the compartment they were in was also being bathed in the flames.
Salim looked on, and pretended to be scared.
"We're gonna die if this continues on! Please wont you help save us Vice Captain?!"
Venta glanced at him, seeing the clearly fake expression that was on his face.
"As I said, these three are your protection, lets see how they go about this."
Salim was surprised by that, and also felt angered that Venta wasn't fighting, as if he didn't, then he couldn't go through with what his entire plan was going to be if Venta was on high alert around him, he couldn't do any form of sneak attack.
Klaus saw his Steel Magic beginning to melt from the intensity of the flames, so he called out.
"Vice Captain! Aren't you going to step in?"
Venta glanced at him, before shaking his head.
"Not yet, you have ways around this."
"But we're under attack, and our mode of transportation is melting…! You are the highest level of authority here, aren't you going to do anything?"
Venta could see his point, but he also believed they had ways around this, and knew if given the right amount of encouragement, they'd be able to get themselves out of this.
"Yes, you're right about our transportation, if it continues then we could be left at a disadvantage. However, you have several methods of fighting this off, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something. Think about what the situation is, you're currently being attacked, what can you do together that would counter it? You're a team, play to each others strengths, exploit their weaknesses."
Venta knew they had this.
He didn't want to intervene unless they truly didn't have a chance, but he knew these three, especially Mimosa and Yuno since he knew them more, weren't pushovers, they knew what they could and couldn't do, and knew they weren't stupid either, and could come out of this.
Yuno looked towards Venta who nodded at her.
Seeing the confidence that he had in them, she understood what he was saying right now.
Giving them advice, giving them courage, because he knew they could do this, so she thought and came up with an idea.
"Mimosa-san, your plants, wrap up these melting pieces of metal into a tight cocoon, I'll shoot them above the Mage, and then drop them on the Mage since he's focused on blasting us with his fire at the moment, Klaus-san, keep reinforcing your Magic into this chariot, if we lose this, and drop down, our client could be in danger."
Venta smiled at Yuno.
She sounded like a true leader at that moment.
"That's good Yuno-san, playing to each advantage of your teammates, very well done."
Praising her mentally, Venta watched as Mimosa allowed her Grimoire to float beside her.
"Y-Yes, of course! Leave it to me!"
Mimosa called out, with Klaus glancing at Venta.
Seeing how he was able to encourage the two girls, even got him to be inspired, and reassess how he thought of Venta in the first place, seeing that he was actually helping them in his own way, helping them all to step up and be strong and think like Magic Knights.
"Okay here you go Yuno-san, I've got them."
Mimosa's plants wrapped around the fragmented pieces of super hot metal, making a cocoon as Yuno had suggested.
Yuno then launched it into the air via her Magic, moving above the flames, and then when it was in the right place, she dropped it down, causing the winds to actually appear on the other side, to fire it down like a cannonball.
The pieces of metal burned through the plants, and then landed on the man's body, burning his flesh.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Because of that, the intense flames stopped burning their ride, giving them a moments peace with Yuno shooting out a blast of wind for the enemy, slamming into his upper body and sent him flying backwards a good deal.
Salim was surprised that they managed to do even that, considering how he had hired those that he thought were strong. Even having Mana levels that would be able to match a Nobles own, seeing how they were being handled by these three was shocking, and the fact that Venta hadn't even stepped in yet only terrified him all the more at what could be happening.
"See? I knew you had it. But it isn't over yet, stay sharp all of you."
As he said it, another Mage with glass Magic formed spires out of said glass, shooting them off, aided by a Mage that was possessing similar wind Magic to Yuno herself, combining them to try and pierce through the structure they were in.
Klaus glanced at Venta, who looked at him right back.
"Something wrong Klaus-san?"
He didn't reply, but could begin understanding his methods. Allowing others to grow in power, it made sense.
He wasn't sure where he stood with Venta on a personal level.
But he did get wanting to help increase his allies battle power, and for this...he thought it wasn't so bad.
"No, but I understand your mentality Vice Captain, so I shall do my best as well!" Venta nodded as Klaus focused his Magic. "Steel Creation Magic, Steel Castle Armoured Wall!"
Touching the structure below, he formed new steel that was a thick wall that had enough defensive power that it simply stopped the attacks from getting through, all the while Mimosa saw the flying shards going down, so she created a few plants that wrapped around them, then launched them back towards the Mage.
Venta smiled at the sight, as the glass bombarded the enemies with their own attack, all the while Yuno did a similar thing that they had done, and pressed her wind behind them, to give them enough force and speed to do some cutting damage to them, receiving several cuts across their bodies as a result.
"Have this."
Yuno with a deadpan look, created a spear of wind, launching it at the two enemies, which slid between them, before Yuno snapped her fingers, and released all of the compressed wind that was strong enough to blast them down into the ground.
"Shit...even these guys aren't winning? And that damn Venta hasn't even fought at all...I thought they'd be strong...but, it isn't working damn it...!"
Salim wanted to growl at this.
But he kept his composure for the moment and simply glared on with his annoyance.
However, the flame user didn't quit, and got in close to Yuno. Creating a devastating wall of fire, Yuno moved her hands out, and caused the winds to become a dense sphere that she shot off, and blasted into the fire wall.
Venta looked on, seeing her picking up the flames with her wind, and causing it to augment her attack with the flames and wind mixing together, blasting it right towards the enemy fire Mage, who gasped.
"Damn Yuno-san. She's learning fast, she's going to be a very strong Mage to be sure."
Venta praised the young girl, as he watched on, seeing the flames bathe the enemy within said fire that Yuno augmented with her winds.
But as she did, a man with wings suddenly shot by her, flying at high speeds. She turned to see that the man was firing off several bladed feathers for her, the speed they went was something that even surprised Yuno, so she took off flying back on a broom that she had, and began avoiding them within the air.
As she did, another Mage came up from behind her, that released a wave of water towards her, which turned into spikes that tried to pierce through Yuno, only for Yuno to throw her hand down, and released a burst of wind, which shot her through into the air.
Avoiding the water, the feathers kept going for her, so she held out her hand.
"Wind Magic, Towering Tornado."
Creating a massive tornado before her, Salim had flashbacks to the time that he was beaten by her with the same kind of spell, and saw the feathers being swept up in them, twisting them more and more in the tornado, before she flicked her hand, and sent the spell right back towards the wing user, but this time they moved twice as fast, which the man couldn't avoid them, so they ended up being sliced up with the wings, dropping them down to the ground with a large cloud of smoke appearing around where they crashed.
Finally, the water Magic user went to fire up at Yuno, when Mimosa's plants suddenly come out, and wrap fully around the water user.
"Eeh? What's this?!"
As the enemy yelled that out, Mimosa caused the plants to swing around the enemy, before sending them flying towards them at high speeds, until they slammed hard into Klaus' shield, knocking him fully out.
Venta looked around and then turned to Mimosa.
"Do you think that's it Mimosa-san?"
Mimosa wondered what he meant.
If he had sensed something that she hadn't yet.
"Eh..." Mimosa furrowed her brows, but then widened her eyes when she looked down. "Someone's on the bottom of the chariot!"
Yuno's face scrunched together, as she launched herself down towards them, and she saw that sticking to the bottom with sand being produced from them. The sand travelled up towards them all.
"Mimosa-san, it seems that he intends to try and suffocate us with his sand. What do you think we should do?"
Venta remained calm, so he could mentor Mimosa even more, knowing that she knew what to do.
"Y-Yes, that's why we should..." Mimosa allowed her grimoire to fly open, and she recited a spell, before flowers enclosed around all of them. "Yuno-san, release your winds into the chariot, so we can blast this Sand Magic out, then Klaus-san, please create an opening in the bottom so I can use my Magic to finish the attacker off!"
Venta nodded slowly, seeing how she was being a rather confident girl right now.
He knew she had it in her, and that she would be able to take charge if it was situations like this.
Klaus was even surprised to see how Mimosa was taking charge as she was.
But it was also something that he had to admit was rather good to see.
So Yuno did just that, creating a whirlwind within the chariot which brought up all of the sand while Klaus opened the bottom of the structure, giving Mimosa the chance to slam her plants into the man's upper body, which sent him flying down into the ground below them.
With that, Venta exhaled.
"Well done team, I can't sense anymore around so most likely you've got them all. But this is the beginning of the mission, lets remain calm, and do this mission to the best of our abilities, okay?"
Salim hated him.
He hadn't even made Venta lift a finger.
And despite that, the trio of Golden Dawn managed to win against his hired Mage's, he was extremely angry.
"Quite a coordinated attack, wasn't it?"
Klaus murmured, Yuno nodding.
"That's the impression that I got. After we went through the trouble of taking a route that others wouldn't necessarily do, they timed their attack against us and they were trying to counter the Magic's that we have."
"Perhaps they were people that didn't like Golden Dawn so they took an opportunity to try something with us?"
Mimosa suggested, with Venta humming.
"That's a good theory, there have been Magic Knights that have been scorned before because they felt inferior to Golden Dawn, but they also seemed to be after something, don't you think so everyone?"
Klaus had to admit that he also did feel like that.
Yuno glanced at Salim without fully looking at him.
"It seems that they had an objective, but I don't know what that would be right now. If it is Golden Dawn, or something else, perhaps they'd be after our Grimoire's, like that man with the Chain Magic, and one did possess Wind Magic, perhaps they thought that a fellow Wind Mage would have some strong spells?"
Yuno did have some ideas regarding Salim since she didn't trust him, but she didn't want to say them in present company, with Salim listening in.
Mimosa placed a hand over her heart.
"Whatever the case, it seems that we managed to repel the enemies and have stopped their assault on us."
Venta nodded.
"Very well I might add. Each played to your strengths, you should be proud of yourselves. So now lets land, and make sure that we're alone before setting off again, since you have an escort mission, we have to take all precautions that we can, okay?"
Venta offered his advice, which was well received.
Salim on the other hand didn't look pleased.
In fact, he looked rather pissed off, in his eyes.
His face painted a different picture all together, and showed that he had trust in them, even if each member present knew it wasn't entirely truthful, and some knowing it was downright fake.
Thoughts that he knew he'd have to act on sooner or later, because if he didn't, he'd not be able to win.
But if he had power…
End chapter!
So this chapter was the beginning of a two parter, focusing in on some stuff to do with Salim, but also with Venta coming very close to being able to release Secre, even if only in parts, still we could be seeing her in her human form quite soon. Mimosa, and Yuno stepped up when needed, Klaus wasn't quite sure about Venta at first, but seeing his ability to remain calm and how he genuinely wishes to teach them and show them they had power and the intelligence to use their powers together, he's coming more round to Venta, seeing his methods as being good for not only him, but his teammates as well. Salim's plan for the moment has seemingly failed. And it seemed like the girls were quite happy about getting into bed with Venta~ Venta and Asta even had a moment together, as did Nebra with her being able to come closer to expressing how she felt, in her own Nebra like way.
Well, until next time, thanks for reading!
Venta; Mimosa, Vanessa, Secre, Dorothy, Rebecca, Asta (fem), Yuno (fem), Noelle, Elf Fana, Mereoleona, Nebra, Sol, Sally, Grey, Charmy, Charlotte, Mariella,