Chapter Four: First Mission (Part 1)

"And over here is the beast room," Asta said as he and Kenos entered a room with purple lighting and caged beasts, banging on their metal prison.

The next day had come, and Asta decided to give Kenos a tour of the hideout, he had shown him every place Magna had shown him, the final place was the beast room.

"These are Yami's pet beasts, it's up to me to feed them every day," Asta cheerfully exclaimed as he took a large piece of meat and tried to feed to one of them, but as well as the meat, the beast took half of Asta's body into its mouth.

"Ahh, help!" the magicless mage exclaimed as Kenos rushed to his side.

"Let go, boy, or girl, let go, you don't want to eat him, I bet he tastes bad," Kenos said as he tried to open the beast's mouth.

"Yeah, I taste terrible!" Asta added from the inside of the beast's mouth, the beast then relinquished its grip on the boy and ate the meat.

"Thanks for your help," Asta thanked Kenos with a bow of joyous gratitude.

"No problem, do you go through that every day?" Kenos asked with shock.

"Yup, I've been doing it for as long as I have been here, which hasn't been long, but I'll get used to it," he replied.

"Well, anyways, thanks for showing me the hideout, I thought Magna was going to do it since you said he did it for you," Kenos said.

"Yeah, but he and Captain Yami said they had something to do, so Magna told me to do it," Asta explained.

"I see...so Asta, I was thinking about the whole getting to know everybody here, would you mind if I started with you?" Kenos asked.

"Oh, sure, I guess I can start with my sword," he replied as he drew it out. "From what I can tell, it can erase any spell it comes in contact with,"

"Wow, I couldn't feel magic from it, so I guess it's sort of like, anti-magic," he said before holding his chin. "Anti-magic aye, that's strange, my staff did disappear after our fight, but it was still around when I attacked him with it, must be something about the spell I don't know yet," he thought.

"Yeah, you could say something like that, as for something else," he continued, breaking Kenos' train of thought. "I was raised as an orphan in a church in Hage Village, me and my foster brother, Yuno, are the oldest ones there,"

"Yuno?" Kenos asked.

"Yeah, he's a member of the Golden Dawn, but he's my rival, we're both striving to be the Wizard King!" the teen exclaimed.

"The Wizard King aye, I can tell you it won't be easy," Kenos stated to his squadmate.

"I know, but we have something to prove," Asta began as he looked up. "That whether you're rich or poor, royalty or commoner, anyone can shine in this world, that you're not trapped to live the life you were born in,"

Kenos looked at his squadmate with new respect. "Now that's a dream a Wizard King should have,"

"Oh yeah, your family are personal friends of the Wizard King, next time you see him, you mind telling him about me?" Asta asked.

"Don't need to, if you want to become the Wizard King, you'll meet him soon enough, and trust me, I know him, if the two of you were to meet, I already know you'd become immediate friends," Kenos reassured him.

"You really think so?!" he exclaimed with his signature starry eyes.

"Yeah, you two almost act the exact same," Kenos said as he then scratched his head. "And there are times that can be a bad thing," he mumbled the last part.

"What was that?" Asta asked.

"Oh, nothing, just talking to myself," Kenos quickly replied. "But I wonder where did Magna and Captain Yami head off to, and when they'll be back,"

"Hey Rasta, I see you showed Kenos around the hideout, nice work," the two rookies heard Magna's voice from behind them, they turned to see him and Yami approaching them, but they weren't prepared for what they saw next.

The two Black Bulls were completely naked, only their robes protecting their upper halves, leaving the bottom half exposed.

Kenos was a boy, and that comes with being used to seeing other boys naked, but even he was surprised to see them like that, and what shocked him even more, was that they didn't even seem to care, they were laughing in fact.

"What the hell happened to you two?!" Kenos and Asta asked.

"We went out gambling and lost our clothes," Yami simply replied. "Oh, and now we have to do a favor for the winner. Asta, I'm sending you, Magna, and Noelle to Saussy Village to handle some wild boars,"

"Boars?" Asta repeated.

"That's right, it's a nice and simple first mission for a pair of rookies, so get ready, and tell Noelle, you're leaving in ten minutes," Yami answered.

"Alright!" Asta exclaimed as he and Magna ran out of the room, leaving only Yami and Kenos.

"So, um, Captain Yami, will I be going with them as well?" Kenos asked.

The captain blew out smoke from his cigarette. "Nope, I'm sending you on another mission," he reached into the strap of his robe and pulled out a piece of paper. "We got a complaint from someone in Rielzu Village, but the exact problem isn't specified,"

"Rielzu Village?" Kenos asked, never hearing of such a place.

"Yeah, it's a village a good amount of miles away from here," Yami replied. "You're going to go there, see what the complaint is, and take care of it, then return here when you're done, I don't think it'll take long, so be here before sundown,"

"Yes sir, so who's coming with me, Vanessa, Luck, Finral?" Kenos asked once more.

"Neither of them, you're the only Black Bull going on this mission," Yami simply replied.

Kenos looked dumbfounded. "What?!" he exclaimed. "I'm a rookie, you're sending me to complete a mission I know nothing about and I'll be by myself, are you crazy?!"

Yami glared at the solar mage. "No more complaining from you or you're dead,"

Kenos gulped, not wanting to raise the mage's wrath. "Right, sorry sir,"

"I said you're the only Black Bull going on this mission, not the only person, another squad got a similar complaint, so they're sending someone to go there as well, you'll meet up with that person and complete the mission together," Yami clarified.

"That will make things a lot easier, don't worry captain, you can count on me," Kenos said as he clover-saluted him.

"Good, now you better get a move on, I'm going to go put on some clothes," the mage said as he left the room.

Kenos was so caught up in the info on his mission that he forgot the Captain was still naked, but the thought returned as soon as he mentioned it. "Yeah, you go and do that," he mumbled.

Kenos left the room and grabbed his flying broom, heading outside, there, he saw Magna, Asta, and Noelle, all sitting on a jacked-up broom with a skeleton on it.

"Hey Kenos, where are you off to?" Magna asked.

"Yami sent me on my own mission, I'm kind of excited, but still a little nervous," Kenos replied before looking at Magna. "Um, is that your broom?"

Magna grinned. "You know it, I call her Crazy Cyclone, isn't she a beaut?"

"Well, it's pretty…," Kenos began to say.

"Lame," Noelle interrupted.

"I told you, it is NOT lame," Magna growled.

"Well, I said it is, and I'm royalty," Noelle crossed her arms and turned her head.

"Whatever," Magna whispered before turning to the solar mage. "You're going on your first mission, all by yourself?" he asked.

Kenos nodded. "That's right,"

"Well, good luck then, don't do anything crazy," the flame mage said as Noelle and Asta got on Crazy Cyclone, it then flew away.

"Off I go," Kenos mumbled as he got on his broom and flew in the opposite direction. "This is it, my first mission!"

Half an hour passed as Kenos flew toward the village, as time passed, he noticed that he saw fewer and fewer buildings and trees, it all seemed to be replaced by what looked like a vast wasteland.

"Is there really a village around here, I don't think this is a suitable place for people to live," he wondered aloud as he continued flying, but then, he saw it, in the distance, a village, short stone walls acting as a border, Kenos noted its round shape.

"Ah, there it is, Rielzu Village, not too big, but then again, this is most likely Forsaken Realm territory, I just hope I can help them with whatever problem they have," he said as his broom increased its speed slightly.

"I'm almost there, so where is this other Magic Knight that's supposed to help-," Kenos began before being interrupted by a loud scream.

"Ahhhh!" the voice exclaimed, it got louder, meaning the source was getting closer.

"What the hell, that screaming is so loud, did Asta follow me, or is his scream reaching me all the way from here," Kenos mused with a small look of annoyance.

"Hey you, watch out!" the voice exclaimed again, Kenos turned to his side to see a girl on a broom, racing towards him.

Kenos' eyes widened "What the!?" was all he got to say before the girl crashed into him, causing both of their brooms to spiral downwards towards the ground, neither of them could do anything and they crashed into the ground, a loud cloud of dust following their descent.

"Shit, that hurt, luckily nothing's broken," Kenos mumbled before turning to the girl, the dust cloud was still there, so he could only see her figure next to him. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, nothing's broken," the girl replied.

"That's a relief, and now that that's out of the way," Kenos began. "What the hell was that for, you're lucky we didn't get too seriously hurt!"

"I'm really sorry!" the girl exclaimed apologetically.

Kenos sighed. "It's alright, at least we're both okay, just be more careful," he said before the dust began to clear.

The solar mage rose to his feet. "Nice, the dust is clearing, we'll be able to fly again as soon as it fades," he said as it faded away completely. "Nice, need any-," he was about to offer her a hand, but stopped once he saw her.

He quickly noted her features, from the looks of it, she appeared to be around 5'6, she had magenta and blue hair that was in a neat spiraling pattern tied up in a ponytail, she wore a simple beige long-sleeved shirt and a black skirt that went a little above her knees, she had a well pronounced c-cup chest, but there was something else that caught his eye.

"She's a Magic Knight," he thought, looking at the robe she had on. "You're a part of the Aqua Deer?"

The girl grinned. "That's right, and you're a part of the Black Bulls, I've heard a lot about your squad, but you seem nice enough," she said. "You were even kind enough to ask if I was okay before lecturing me,"

"No problem, but two questions. Why exactly did you crash into me? And what are you doing here?"

"Well, for your first question, I crashed into you because I was being chased by anti-birds," the girl replied as she pointed up, Kenos looked up to see the flock of sparrow-like birds.

"Anti-birds, but aren't they only attracted to people with little magic power?" Kenos asked.

"That and food," the girl said back, taking something out, it looked like a cloth people would use to hold food. "I brought a snack with me, but the smell attracted them, I had to increase my speed to get away from them, and you already know the rest,"

Kenos nodded with a painful look. "And as for why you're here?"

"Oh yeah, I was sent on a mission, my squad received an unknown complaint from some place called Rielzu Village, they told me that another Magic Knight would be here to assist me," she replied.

"That's strange, I was sent on the exact same mission," Kenos said.

A look of realization came to him and the girl, the two laughed. They had found their mission partner, just not in the way they were expecting.

"Well, that's an odd way to run into your partner," Kenos grinned before extending his hand to the girl. "I'm Kenos Rossiu,"

The girl extended her own hand and they shook. "Nice to meet you Kenos, the name's Zuka Glitenia,"

"It's good to meet you too Zuka, I'm relieved, this is my first mission, I hope you don't mind if I take your lead on this one,"

"Um, I don't think that would be a good idea," Zuka nervously chuckled. "I'm only 15, I'm a rookie too, and this is my first mission, I was actually hoping you could take the lead,"

"What, our squads sent two rookies with no experience to handle an unknown mission, they must really think this is an easy one," Kenos stated.

"Well I for one just hope that it is an easy one," Zuka added. "Well, the village isn't too far away, shall we go?"

Kenos smiled. "We shall," he replied as the two got back on their brooms and flew the remaining distance until they reached the village.

"Well, let's get down to business," Kenos and Zuka said as they entered the village, looking around, it was pretty easy to see that the area was very povertous, judging from the rundown buildings to the low amount of vegetation around them.

"I don't know what the complaint this village sent was, but I can already see they need some kind of help," Kenos said.

Zuka nodded. "And look at the people," she pointed to random villagers, it was easy to see the depressed expression on each of their faces. "They look so sad, what could've happened here,"

"That's what we're going to find out," Kenos said to her, seriousness was in his voice.

As they walked by, villagers looked at them, noting that they were Magic Knights, the faces of some brightened a bit as if filled with new hope, but the faces of many others remained devoid of happiness.

"Do you think we should ask around to see who sent the complaint?" Zuka asked.

"That would be a good-," Kenos was about to agree with the mage's idea before something caught their attention.

"Please, don't take it!" a voice exclaimed suddenly, the two Magic Knights ran to the source, they stopped a few feet from the commotion, there they saw a boy dressed in ragged clothes, most likely a villager, in front of him was a man, dressed in all black, he had messy blond hair, and a smug look on his face.

"Please, I'm so hungry, I've hardly eaten!" the boy exclaimed as he hid an apple from the man's view, Kenos and Zuka recognized the boy's voice as the one who screamed earlier.

The man slowly walked towards the boy, his smug facial expression not fading. "But I just got the random craving for an apple now, and yours looks pretty good, why not just hand it over, I bet there's food somewhere else around here,"

"No, stay back!" the boy exclaimed fearfully.

The man cracked his knuckles. "No can do buddy, now toss over the apple, or I might have to hurt you a bit," he said back, his smug grin widening as the boy looked even more afraid.

Both Kenos and Zuka looked in disgust at the man trying to mug a kid who was starving.

"What are these people doing?" Zuka whispered, Kenos looked and saw the other villagers looking at the boy, their eyes were full of empathy, but they turned their heads and stayed where they were, as if afraid of the man.

"We have to do something," Kenos whispered back.

"Damn right," Zuka said as she ran towards the man. "Hey, you!"

The man turned around. "Oh, a girl," he said before looking down. "And you're a Magic Knight, interesting,"

"I don't know who the hell you are and I don't care, get away from that boy, or else!" she yelled.

"A threat aye, not a smart girl it seems, guess I'll have to teach you a lesson," he said as he took out his grimoire. "Now, what spell should I-,"

The man's words were cut short as Zuka quickly ran to him and launched a right hook into his face, sending him to the ground.

"You little bitch, you're going to pay for that!" the man growled.

"I don't think so," Zuka said as she quickly took out her grimoire, which was silver, adorned with what looked glitter, and a three-leaf clover was in the center, it was covered in a cyan aura as it floated in front of her. "People like you make me sick, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!"

The pages of her grimoire flipped before stopping, glitter then came out her grimoire, the glitter then condensed itself into a medieval-style jousting lance, she quickly grabbed the lance and pointed it at the man, only a few inches above his heart, the man stopped, fear was in his eyes.

"You talk a big game, but you're slow as hell," Zuka said coldly. "I'll give you a choice, either you leave that boy alone and get out of this village, or I'll have to get my lance messy...with your blood,"

Kenos looked in complete surprise, Zuka didn't come off to him as a violent person, she seemed quite nice to him, but then again, circumstances change the way a person acts, and the guy looked like he was asking for it.

"Damn, she threatened him like a pro, I think Yami has some competition," he thought before quickly coming to her side. "Don't forget about me, you refuse and we'll both give you an ass-kicking,"

"So, what's it going to be?" Zuka asked again, the man growled.

"Fine, you just got lucky today, I'll be back, and you'll regret it!" he exclaimed.

Zuka grinned. "Somehow, I doubt that," her lance disappeared, the man got up and ran.

"That was awesome Zuka," Kenos said as the two high-fived.

"Why thank you," she said.

"So, your attribute is Sparkle," Kenos then said. "No offense, but doesn't it sound, well, a little bit, girly,"

Zuka laughed before smiling. "True, but my magic is far from weak, that I assure you, what's your attribute,"

"I use Solar magic," he replied.

"Solar magic, never heard of it, but it sounds super awesome," Zuka said.

"Um, excuse me, miss," the two of them turned to see the boy walking up to them, a smile was on his face. "Thank you very much, I was really scared,"

Zuka grinned as she ruffled the boy's hair. "No problem there, just make sure you enjoy that apple,"

The boy bit into the apple, the juices coming down his chin, he grinned. "So good,"

Kenos and Zuka smiled, the other villagers saw them and what they did, but instead of looking happy, they looked afraid.

Kenos saw their looks and his smile faded. "I don't get it, why do they look so scared, you sent that guy packing,"

"I can answer that question," a voice said, the two turned to see an old lady walking over to them, she wasn't too tall, and she wore red raggy clothes.

"Um, what do you mean, and who are you?" Kenos asked.

The old lady smiled. "My name is Louise, and if you Magic Knights are here for what I think you are, then that means you received my anonymous complaints,"