Tom's grimoire rule:

Any advancement in any magic positively affects his abilities in other magics.

(He's abilities are not separate. For instance: If Tom accesses gear 2, he is more likely to achieve another advancement in the rest of the magic).

Enjoy the chapter)


Chapter 4. New Knight!

Reveal itself! Magic tree!

Every examinee was given a broom.

"The Magic Knight Entrance Exam has started!", announced Vangeance.

"Now, we will carry out a few tests to see if you fit for the position of the magic knight. We, the nine captains will judge you and pick to our squads only the best of you by our opinion. If you were picked by more than one captain you are allowed to choose the squad to join. If you weren't picked by any captain, you can't be a magic knight.", he continued, "Your first task is to fly on the broom", he said.

"I didn't do that before", Tom thought.

"If the mage can control his magic power he will be able to fly on the broom instinctively. This is the main transport for mage", William explained, "Let's begin!".

Tom took the broom. He prepared to fly and easily managed to get up. Tom and Yuno were the fastest to control it and fly.

"Despite the fact they are kerns, they are quite cool", someone said and he was right. Two wielders of 4-leaf quickly got into the spotlight by their abilities.

However, Asta was struggling to get off the ground.

"How can that be?", thought Tom. Tom was given random magic and that made him dive into magic theory at a very early age. He was thinking, "A broom is responding to the mana, so if you have any, you must at least levitate. What kind of magic does he have?"

The exam continued. Tests of the magical abilities and control of the abilities were passed just like the test of the magic creating. Tom was doing great but not as good as Yuno. His slingshot "Kabuto" was no match for Yuno's wind magic. Tom had a weaker slingshot, called "Ginga Pachinko", but he upgraded it while he was training before the exam.

Even though he showed his well-trained sniper skills Tom was out of favour in the captains' eyes.

"His magic is strange.", thought Fuegolion.

"Yeah, probably not all 4-leafs are equal", thought Nozel.

"Is this even magic?", thought Yami, "Well, he certainly has it, since he nave a 4-leaf but this? I thought every wielder of 4-leaf grimoire is special."

"He is no match for this wind mage", thought Vangeance, "His magic can't help the weak and far inferior to others, he is very dependable on his ammo and slingshot...Well, let's see how it goes."

An afternoon came...

"It is time for the last test.", announced William, "You will have to fight in the real battle!"

"SO", candidates were surprised with this sudden Fuegolion's speech, "Everyone will fight with their opponent. The usage of the grimoire is allowed. Battles are a vital part of our duty. Show everything you can!"

Contestants were a bit surprised. Asta thought that he will try his best. Yuno calmly looked at Tom, the only guy that has a 4-leaf grimoire except himself. Tom, however, wasn't scared. With these words, he was thinking "Well, it's better to fight someone slowly. I saw that one guy, he seems to be the best shot."

"If you can't for some reason fight or move, an exam for you is over. Our healers will help you immediately.", added William.

"That's why you have to fight in your full strength!", ended Fuegolion.

Tom smiled. He walked to that guy confidently, like a champion, approached him and asked:

"Hey. Will you be my opponent?"

"Heck no! Go fight with this 4-leaf wind guy. Don't drag me in!"

"Okay", said Tom.

"WHAAAT?", thought Tom.

After a few more attempts to challenge opponents, Tom was left alone. Among candidates the idea that two 4-leafs should clash with each other was strong. "Damnit. The more I challenge the faster decline I get. It leaves me no choice." Tom thought to himself.

"Any volunteers?", asked one of the organizers.

"We are.", shouted Asta.

Asta and Sekke were fighting. After this short flight and a few others, Tom approached Yuno.

"Hey, can you be my opponent?", asked Tom.

"Yes, I can.", calmly responded Yuno.

The current fight ended. Tom and Yuno stood against each other. The crowd were intrigued by this fight and so were captains. Both of them prepared their grimoires.

"And... Fight!"

A/N (Authors note): Tom has Usopp's abilities on the level of Enies Lobby.

Tom quickly drew his weapon, calibrated his sniper goggles and launched a shot on Yuno:

Kayaku Boshi!

A bomb flew to Yuno. Yuno quickly redirected to the side. Yuno, willing to end this fight fast, created a tornado:

Magic of the wind creation: Tornado!

"Oi, oi! I have to think of something! But for now, I have to stay away from the tornado!", Tom quickly thought to himself simultaneously getting behind the columns and grabbed them to not get into a tornado and continue the fight.

Kayaku Boshi!

Kayaku Boshi!

Kayaku Boshi!

All Tom's bombs were sucked into a tornado and just went up flying. To the audience of this fight, it started to look like the end of it. Captains started to be more and more disappointed in Tom.

"His 4-leaf is a mistake", someone thought.

"The wind mage is so strong!", someone said.

"That's my rival!", said Asta with a grin.

No one knows what people can do when they're desperate. An idea that came to Tom's mind required all his training and skill in sniping in this shot:

Sunflower Star!

A little ball with five bombs in it was shot. Tom's idea was this: A fast small ball will get sucked into the tornado, but will be too fast to get fully sucked in it. That's why he will try to choose the right angle and shoot the ball in such a way that it will hit Yuno through the Tornado.

The first shot was missed.

Sunflower Star!

A second miss came up. Yuno's tornado wasn't stopping and was getting stronger. Tom launched his third attack

Tornado Sunflower Star!

A little ball got through the tornado and hit Yuno. A tornado stopped. Everyone was astonished. Tom was feeling great. He almost started to lie that he has 8 million followers but the smoke cleared off. Yuno was standing. Tom's attack was enough to stop the tornado, but it will take more than that to take him down.

Magic of the wind creation: Wind Blades!

Yuno created 5 blades from the wind. Tom's response didn't make the wait for itself.

FireBird Star!

Blades were hitting a fire phoenixes. Yuno created a big wind bow and started to shoot the blades into Tom.

The crowd were shocked. A fight between two young mages was a sight to be seen. Asta was impressed by Tom. A mage that has powers close to not having any magic at all and despite that, manages to stand up to Yuno really resonated with him. Many of the candidates were surprised by Tom's keen mind.

"This boy is quite interesting", thought Charlotte Rose.

"He was going to lose, but quickly reversed the situation. Maybe, he is not that hopeless as I thought", thought Fuegolion.

"Interesting boy, but how long he can keep that up?", thought Yami and he was right.

Tom couldn't shoot them all down and soon he started to run in an attempt to make Yuno's aim harder. Yuno responded by making more blades faster. It didn't work out well, so he started to close the distance between them.

"Oh no! He's getting closer! At this rate, I will lose! I have to stop this blade rain!", thought Tom.

Super Smoke Star!

Tom changed his tactics. Now, he will try to shoot down Yuno's blades with every smoke ammo he has to make a smokescreen so he can attack Yuno by surprise. Tom's plan was somewhat successful. He did decrease the number of Yuno's blades, but Yuno just created a strong wind to the top and Tom's smokescreen disappeared. Tom was breathing heavily. Yuno wasn't. Yuno saw how Tom took his bomb from the bag and at that moment he created a new plan.

Yuno easily pulled aside Tom's bomb and quickly closed the distance with him. Tom started to fire more and more intensively, but Yuno was outdoing him with creating wind arrows. Yuno got close a launched two attacks: One attack was a blade that was targeted at Tom and another one was a wind slash that was cast specifically near the ground to make Tom jump. Tom jumped and Yuno quickly took out all his ammo with his wind. Tom saw this and he tried to close the bag but Yuno's blade would cut his arms if he'd done that. Tom's ammo was taken from him and Yuno tossed it out the arena with his wind.

Wind creation magic: Giant Wind Arrow!

Yuno created a giant bow and arrow in an attempt to finally win this fight. But Tom wasn't going to surrender that easily.

"This is getting intense", captains thought.

"Give up!", shouted Yuno.

"No!", shouted Tom.

"Okay!", responded Yuno, starting to fly closer.

Giant Wind Arrow: Loose!

An arrow has been loosed. The arrow flew straight at Tom. After a moment the sound of an explosion was heard and Tom was laying on the ground. Yuno stood two meters from him. He turned around walked away. Organizers didn't close the fight yet as Tom stood up. Yuno didn't saw the man in ketchup behind him. Yuno turned around to look at the man who fought so bravely and saw Tom with some sort of seashell.

This was a moment of truth. Tom tried to win by pretending he is beaten with ketchup and absorbing Yuno's attack with Skypiean Dial. And now he was going to release it.

Everything was happening in slow motion alike. Tom stretched out his hand and tried to press the dial on his opponent, but Yuno, being the wind mage, was quicker than Tom's hand and cast a wind slash. Tom pressed his attack against this slash and got knocked out. Yuno was lucky he got away that easily. The fight ended in Yuno's victory.

"That's strange", said Fuegolion.

"What's strange?", said Charlotte.

"He didn't use any magic.", said Fuegolion.

"Now, that I think of it, it's probably true", said Vangeance, "He didn't use anything you can't do without magic."

"You think he's so bad at controlling his magic so that he learned how to be a sniper", said Jack.

"We don't know how he is at controlling, but he does have the 4-leaf grimoire and yet his source of power is unknown.", said Nozel and he was wrong. In fact, they all were. Because it's not how it works. Usopp was a handyman. So it's no wonder when Tom opened grimoire with Jolly Roger with a slingshot and long nose just up the 4-leaf symbol, he saw below the name of the magic an instruction on how to create the ammo. Tom was able to create with magic a slingshot, sniper goggles and dials.

Yami thought similarly: "What an interesting man, he has a keen mind which allows him to adapt in the battle and he almost kicked the wind mage despite the fact that he is a sniper. Also, his Ki is very different from anything I saw. But he doesn't use any magic at all."

In the evening...

"An exam is over! A candidate whose number was announced take a step forward!", said William Vangeance.

"If the captain is interested in you, he will raise a hand. Any decision on whether join or not or which squad to choose is up to you", said Charlotte Rose.

"And if no hands are raised, you will leave this place", said Nozel Silva.

The acceptance was going on.

"Candidate number one"

"Candidate number two"

Tom, that returned to this ceremony had his arm broken. His turn was 179. While he was waiting for his turn he saw both happiness and sadness. Some squads were taking in more than others. He was getting closer out of the queue. He saw how easily Yuno got into the best possible squad and now it was Asta's turn.

"Candidate number 165"

Asta stepped forward.

"Those who are willing to take him to raise your hand."

Everyone stayed motionless.

"Number 165, no invitations"

Asta was shattered. He couldn't move an inch.

"Hey, go off the stage!", other candidates started to shout at him.

"This is not surprising at all", said Yami.

"If the source of your magic is unknown, no matter how good your magic skills are, no one will accept you to their squad. And besides, for the magic knights the main thing is their magic", continued Yami.

Asta was speechless. Everyone was silent. Suddenly, candidates felt pressure from Yami.

"How strong! And my arm is aching!", thought Tom.

Yami jumped off the balcony and slowly approached Asta.

"If you don't have any magic, no one needs you. That's the reality. You said you want to become the Wizard King, didn't you? That means you are going to defeat all 9 captains, doesn't it? And right here and now, when I am standing right next to you dare to say that you will become the Wizard King without using any magic?", said Yami terrifying

"Even if I don't join the Magic Squad today, no matter how many times I fail, no matter what the others will say about me, one day I will become the Wizard King!", responded Asta with determination in his voice.

At that moment not only Tom thought highly about Asta. Many of those who were present admired his willingness to stand up, for what he believes in, to the captain. Yami took his cigarette from his mouth and laughed.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! You are a funny guy! Come to my squad.", he said.

"What?", responded Asta.

"I want you to join the Black Bulls.", said Yami, "By the way, you don't get to choose"

"Whaaat?", said Asta confused.

"In the Black Bulls you will go through hell and one day you will become the Wizard King.", said Yami.

Asta saw how his hard work was paid back. He was delighted:

"Yes!Yes!Yes!", he said.

"And you", said Yami to Tom, "You don't have any magic too, right?", asked Yami. He didn't know that Tom's magic is random and seeing Asta made him think that there two opposite guys attended the Exam. One guy is without magic and another guy has loads of magic, but he can't use it or control it.

"Ehm, well, you know...", Tom started to say but he got interrupted by Yami.

"No one will pick you either, so you will join my squad too", said Yami.

"No!No!No!", said Tom with a confused face.

"Those who are willing to take number 179 raise your hand."

Tom saw how no one raised their hand and made a confused face.

"Ha-ha-ha! You are coming with me too. You two, prepare for the hell on earth.", said Yami.

"WHAAT?", thought Tom and Asta.

After some time...

"Number 512, no invitations."

"The Magic Knights Entrance Exam is over!"

Tom and Asta were going to the Yami Sukehiro squad!


How is the chapter?

More importantly, leave me your feedback on the battle. I'd be happy to hear any opinion.

Take care/