I will write an explanatory rules of Toms' magic here:
One type of magic can't last for two days in a row and is changed at midnight.
Each magic has a unique book cover.
I hope you will like this chapter.
Please, give me your feedback at the end of it.
Enjoy
Chapter 3. Exam! A fate throws her dice.
Tom was packing his things for the journey to the Royal Capital. It was the first time he was going to the noble realm. Tom looked at his small flat. Low ceiling. A little kitchen with a vaguely-sized window. Yuki's room with cute little dolls. Henry's room was the biggest in the flat and had well-made wooden furniture. His room, with one desk, chair and a small wardrobe. At the corner of the room was the hammock where he used to sleep. Tom walked around his room, thinking that, maybe, it's the last time he is standing there. He sat at his wooden table where he used to think of his magic theories. Tom stood up and walked to his minuscule belongings, hugged Yuki and Henry, kissed Yuki in the forehead, shaken Henry's hand.
"You are going to be Magic Knight?", Yuki asked Tom looking straight into his soul.
"Yes, I am. Once I become a knight, I will make so much money that you will be freed from the debt.", said Tom.
"You are?", said Henry.
"Yes, and one day, maybe I will become the Wizard King."
"Ha-ha-ha. You are silly. You just don't understand. You can't become an Emperor. Ha-ha-ha.", laughed Henry.
"Shut up! It's not up to you to decide whether I can or not! It's about the path to it!", proclaimed Tom.
"Whoa, whoa. Easy. Okay, you can go now.", said Henry, thinking that boy clearly doesn't understand certain things about the world.
"Well. Here I go! Goodbye Yuki! Bye Henry.", said Tom.
"Bye", responded Yuki and the old man.
Tom was heading to the Royal Capital. He spent a year preparing for the Exam. He knew that his magic is chosen randomly and while some of them are strong and well-suited for a battle, he also had some pretty weak magics. Tom noted all the different kinds of magic he happened to have. Tom was lucky though. During his preparation, he had a lot of monsterlike powers. He had seen great potential in Goku's magic or Roronoa Zoro's. He also began to understand the Dragon Shouts and powers of Gomu-Gomu. However, he was afraid. His magic is random. And he had weak magic. He saw Nami's magic and how without his stick he is useless. Luckily for him, he was smart enough to adapt to different styles of battle, but one unlucky shot and everything is lost.
Royal Capital. Main Gates.
Tom arrived at the Capital. Majesty of the streets and people's grace stunned him. He just stood there and observed.
"Hey! Don't stand where people walk!", shouted Tom some man in the wagon.
" I am sorry ", said Tom quickly getting off the road.
"It is one day before the exam. I should find a hotel to stay in for one night.
This day Tom used to his advantage. He found out how to get to the Exam venue and also a room to rest near the marketplace. While walking in a city he saw a white-haired boy who with his reactions made Tom's thought: "What a stupid guy. Can't he behave himself". But, he also sensed strong magic from the dark-haired guy just aside from the first one. "I don't know who he is, but I need to be careful with him. He is not weak", thought Tom to himself and went to the market to buy some food. He thought about it for a second and then asked:
"Hey, guys. You are on the exam too?"
"Yes! I will become the Magic Emperor!", said the white-haired teen.
"Impossible. The one who will become the Emperor will be me." -, calmly responded a tall black-haired teen, "What's your name?", he asked Tom.
"My name is Tom. And this small boy is your friend?", asked Tom.
"I am not small!", said the small teen.
"Yes, he is. His name's Asta. My name is Yuno.", said Yuno.
"Where are you heading? Can I come with you?", questioned Tom.
"We are going to find the room for tonight.", said Yuno.
"Should I e=invite them to my room? No, I wanted to revise the notes", thought Tom.
"Oh, that's sad.", responded Tom, "I am going to market. Well then, see you tomorrow."
"Yes, goodbye", said Yuno.
"Bye Tom!", said Asta.
Tom headed to the market. Yuno and Asta are going to the Colosseum.
"This guy is weird.", said Asta.
"Not really, he seemed like a nice guy.", responded Yuno.
"It is because he didn't call you small!", said Asta.
"He didn't, but I sensed strong magic from him. He is strong.", said Yuno.
"Strong? We will see!" said Asta optimistically.
Tom rested in his room. He was looking through his notes about his magic and theories. After dinner, he thought to himself for a moment. It felt like this tension is not planning to go anytime soon. What he will face? Does he need to fight? In what order he will end up? He put his thoughts aside and fall asleep.
On the next day, he looked at himself. The boy standing in front of the mirror had black shaggy hair, round black eyes, and a slim muscular build. Tom wore short, blue trousers with cuffs, sandals, and a sleeveless red vest. He looked at himself, thinking "Will this boy become a Magic Knight?". Tom was afraid. He knew he has to look at his grimoire but he wasn't sure. Random magic can be a blessing or a curse. Even though he trained himself well, given his keen mind Tom was able to perform well with different types of magic, he understood that if he has to fight on the exam, he can get in trouble. He stepped forward, leaning to his bag. He grabbed the grimoire and opened it. He's got his eyes widened, he sweatdropped a little and smiled. But his smile was more of the type of smile people have where they utterly astonished. The page started with words:
Usopp's Magic
He dealt with this magic before but now? Tom was furious. From all sorts of magic, he had this? Don't make a mistake, Tom had a sharp eye while this magic was active. But this particular magic is for the strike-and-run fight, not for the fight in the close space. Tom stood up, hoping for the exam without a fight and went to the venue.
The crowd was gathering. Attendants were forming lines to receive their numbers. People around were cheering the mages up. Slowly and steadily the lines were moving. Tom, standing in the queue started to observe and listen to the people he is going to compete with.
"Did you know, in this year there will be two mages with four-leaf grimoire?"
"No way. If it's true I will probably end up with nothing."
"Yeah. Just one mage with this grimoire is a sight to be seen, but two of them?"
"I wonder who these mages might be."
"I have seen one this morning. If I am not mistaken this guy isn't from nobility"
"You don't say"
"Well, I don't know for sure, but he didn't look like one."
Tom listening to this dialogue understood that he won't gain any valuable information from the conversation. Instead, he started to wonder: What this exam is going to be about? The maze with traps? Fight with your opponent blindly? Race? Quiz? Theoretical questions? Magic controls?
After a while, he went down to earth, with Asta's loud voice. Tom saw Yuno coming inside the arena and Asta's grimoire. Tom managed to see that the other mage with a 4-leaf grimoire is a Yuno. "I'd give him a fight with another magic.", thought Tom to himself and turned to the receptionist.
"Show your grimoire please", said the man.
"Here it is", said Tom showing his grimoire.
"Yes. Oh, wait", said the receptionist with increasing interest, "It's 4-leaf grimoire! Your number is 179. Proceed to the arena"
"Here I go!", happily said, Tom.
Tom headed to the arena. After some time, the contestants were gathered at the arena.
At the arena.
"What's wrong with these birds?"
"They're called Anti-bird. The more magic you have, the less they are around."
"These little brats!"
"Look at this two!", said someone pointing to Yuno and Tom. Both of them didn't have any bird around.
"This tall guy is from some village in the north, but he was chosen by the 4-leaf."
"Really! That's cool!"
"The other one is from some town and he was chosen too"
Tom and Yuno stood separately. They were focusing on the Exam.
"He-he-he. Yuno! One of us will become the Wizard King! This is the beginning of our legend, Yuno!", proclaimed Asta.
"Will become the Wizard King?", the crowd were confused.
"I will show how I have grown in this half a year!", said Asta, being grabbed and bitten by anti-bird.
"Hahaha!", Contestants laughed at him, "Even for kern this is too much!".
Suddenly, Asta ran into some big man, with a white shirt. Tom didn't know that this man is Yami Sukehiro. Everyone was silent.
"Oh, finally they backed off! Sorry, I ran into you.", cheerfully apologised Asta.
"You are a dead man", said Yami.
"This look, all these muscles! He doesn't look like a mage. Wait, I shouldn't have judged a book by the cover. I have to be friendly.", thought Asta.
"Well, you in your fifteen look like an old man", said Asta placing his hand on his shoulder. "You went through a lot, didn't you?"
"I see you are prepared to die.", menacingly said Yami. He grabbed Asta's head and started to squeeze.
"There you are, captain", said Finral.
"Look, they are magic knights".
Finral and Gordon's names quickly got through the lips of the crowd. Finral, the space mage who prefers ladies eyes to his duty, approached captain:
"What are you doing here, captain?"
"This boy wants to get rid of his life", responded Yami.
"The Captain shouldn't kill the candidate.", said Finral, "By the way, why are you here?"
"I got lost", simply said Yami.
"The captain? Don't tell me it's him! The god of destruction, Yami Sukehiro!"
"It's him? Isn't he a commander of the Black Bulls?"
"Yes, he is. The most chaotic and barbaric Orden in the Kingdom is under his rule. It's the only Squad I don't want to get enrolled", other candidates started to say.
"Black Bulls?", thought Tom listening to the others, "I have to keep that in mind".
"Let's go, the exam is about to start.", said Finral to Yami.
"Damnit, fine.", said the Captain releasing Aster from his grip, "Don't disappoint me kid or I kill you later", he said walking away.
"I should keep the distance between me and this Yami", thought Tom, "I don't want to have any unnecessary problems". "By the way, there are lots of scions of the rich. If the rumours are true and the exam will come down to fight, I should avoid them", he thought to himself, remembered the rumours of the Magic Potential of them.
"Look, the captains!"
The eight figures appeared on the balcony. They were taking their places.
"Hey, do you know who this is?", asked Tom some guy.
"You don't know? It's the captains! This one is a Charlotte Rose, captain of the Blue Rose! She is so pretty!", said him.
"Please go on. Who is this guy?", asked Tom pointing at a strange-looking man.
"This is a Jack the Ripper, the captain of the Green Mantis. I've heard he has some strange powers...", said the candidate.
"Powers, huh?", muttered Tom.
"Anyway, this man with a strange haircut", he said pointing at the man in a white cape, " is the Nozel Silva, the captain of the Silver Eagle. The guy in the red cape is a Fuegelion Vermillion, the captain of the Crimson Lion. The boy right next to him is the youngest magic captain in history, Rill Boismortier, the captain of the Aqua Deer.", explained the contestant.
"Is she sleeping?", said Tom with confusion.
"Yes, this is a captain of Coral Peacock, Dorothy Unsworth. I don't know what her magic like, but it seems she is strong. And this man is a Gueldre Poizot, the captain of the Purple Orca."
"Poizot? Is it him? The one of the richest man in the Clover Kingdom?", said Tom.
"Indeed he is.", responded the candidate, " But the closest man to the Wizard King position is him, William Vangeance, the captain of the Golden Dawn, the best Squad. Only elites and nobles are allowed to join in."
"Thanks for the explanation.", said Tom.
"You are welcome", said the contestant.
The captains sat in their stone chairs. The candidates were looking at them with amazement. Everyone thought about where do they want to be. Personally, Tom wanted to be in Crimson Lion, but his pervert side told him to go into Charlotte's Squad. The ceremonial silence was held. Willaim Vangeance stood up and said:
"Dear candidates, accept my apologies for making you wait. I will be the head examiner.", pronounced William.
Reveal itself! Magic tree!
The clouds were circling. Suddenly, a green light started to shine. From this light, a tree started to grow. It gave each examinee a broom.
"The Magic Knight Entrance Exam has started!"
So it's Usopp's magic!
Where Tom will end up?
Find out in the next chapter!
Take care/
P.S. Guys, give me your feedback. What do you think of the story? I'd be happy to hear any opinion.
Farewell.
