Chapter Twenty-Nine: Helping an Old Friend (Part 1)

"Good morning everyone," Chamy greeted as she walked out of the hallway.

"Morning Charmy," the others greeted back.

The cotton mage let out a yawn, yesterday had been one of the greatest days of her life, spending time with Yuno and Bell, she was almost worried that it was just a dream, but when she saw the white and green bracelet on her desk, she knew it was real.

"Okay everyone, it's official, Charmy's the last person to wake up today," Yami stated, followed by a nod of everyone who was present.

"Wait, what?!" Charmy exclaimed. "I'm usually one of the first people to get up, you all must be starving since I didn't make breakfast, don't worry, I'll whip up something quick for you all,"

"Don't worry about it, there were leftovers from yesterday's late-night dinner, so we just had Magna reheat it and ate it for breakfast," Finral explained.

"Well, that's a relief, I better fix up something for myself," Charmy said as her Sheep Cooks appeared and made her breakfast.

The cotton mage took a bite when Vanessa walked up to her. "How odd, Charmy, this is the first time you've ever woken up last, I guess you must've really tired after the outing with your boyfriend," she whispered in her ear, putting emphasis on the last word.

Charmy's face turned red as she put her food down, something she's never done. "I-It isn't like that," she said, turning her face away from the older woman.

"You don't have to lie, Charmy, it's okay, I won't tell anyone," Vanessa whispered again with a giggle.

"O-Okay, maybe I do like him, a little bit," Charmy said back nervously, her face only becoming redder.

"Just a little bit?" Vanessa raised a brow.

"H-Hey, where's everyone else, some people aren't here?" Charmy asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

The thread mage internally sighed, already seeing that she's teased the girl enough. "Asta and Kenos went out to train again, and Noelle is getting some fresh air outside," she replied before walking away.

"Damn you, Vanessa," Charmy thought as she dug into her breakfast.

Outside, Noelle was walking not too far from the base, taking a leisurely stroll, enjoying the light of the sunny day.

"What a beautiful day, I just feel like doing nothing today," she said aloud as she walked to a patch of flowers and kneeled down in front of them.

Picking one up, she smiled at its sweet scent. "I can't wait for our trip to Raquey, I'm going to have so much fun, and I can't wait for Asta to see me in my-," she started musing, but stopped herself midway as she realized what she was about to say.

Her cheeks went red and she held her face. "Wait a minute, what the hell am I saying?! I'm not excited about that at all, besides, it's not that he would care anyway, he would be off doing something else...shirtless," she thought.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, what's going on with me today, is this about what happened with Charmy and Yuno yesterday!?" she mentally exclaimed, crushing the flower in her hand.

"Um, excuse me," a voice said from above Noelle, the water mage didn't recognize it and decided to look up.

But once she did, her eyes widened in shock.

In front of her was a grown man, he was pretty tall, had short messy red hair, and a stubble beard, but that's not what shocked Noelle. It was the fact that this man was completely naked, leaving nothing to the imagination, literally nothing.

The man lightly chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry to bother you, miss, but if it's possible, can I-," he was beginning to say before he was met with an ear-piercing shriek.

"PERVERT!" Noelle exclaimed.

The man looked baffled. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Get away from me!" she continued to scream, getting up and running towards the base.

"Hey, wait, don't run," the man said, quickly running behind.

"You better stay back!" Noelle exclaimed, taking her wand out, she quickly turned around and pointed it at the man. "Don't come any closer!" she yelled, making sure not to look at the thing in between his legs.

The man obeyed and stopped. "Just wait a minute, this is just a big misunderstanding, let me explain, you see, I've come here-,"

He didn't get to finish as the door to the base burst open, and standing there was all the present Black Bulls, even Gordon and Grey were there, their gazes immediately fell on the red-haired stranger, widening a bit once they noticed he wasn't wearing any clothes.

"What's the matter, Noelle, we heard a scream?" Vanessa seriously asked.

Noelle put her wand away, and ran into the arms of the thread mage. "That pervert came up to me, I don't know what he wants, but I don't trust him,"

"Is that so?" Yami said before looking at the man. "Didn't think there would be any perverts around these parts, I've always wanted to kill one,"

"Got that right, nobody messes with one of our own," Magna added.

"You must have been so scared, Noelle," Vanessa said softly as she caressed her squadmate's head, she then turned to the cotton mage who was beside her. "Hey Charmy, do you want to tie this sicko up, or should I do it?" she asked in a more menacing tone.

"Don't worry, I got this," Charmy replied in the same tone.

The man began to back up. "I don't think you understand, I'm here to-,"

Once more, he was interrupted as Charmy took out her grimoire. "Cotton Binding Magic: Restraining Coils!" she exclaimed as the man was bound, quickly dropping to the ground as he tried to escape.

"There's no point in trying to get away," Yami said, before he gave his signature intimidating glare. "Magna, Luck...bring his ass in, we're going to teach him a lesson he'll never forget,"

"You got it, captain," the two mages replied in unison as they zoomed to the man, each grabbing a leg and dragging him inside the base.

"Wait, no, just hear me out, no, NO!" he exclaimed as he was pulled inside, the doors to the base then closed.

The red-haired man was about to face the wrath of the Black Bulls.

"Here I go!"

Kenos exclaimed those words as he ran towards Asta, his staff in hand, while Asta was currently holding the Demon-Slayer sword, with the Demon-Dweller sword lodged into the ground a few feet away from them.

"Bring it on, Kenos!" Asta exclaimed as he dodged the solar mage's multiple strikes. "Okay then, get ready!"

Kenos nodded, preparing himself, but soon found himself on the ground, beneath Asta's sword. "Damn it, it happened again, I wasn't expecting you to swipe my legs," he said.

Asta helped him up. "Learned that one from Sylvester, that is how he beat me during our fight,"

"It seems I'm not the only one learning from Ves," Kenos said.

Recently, the solar mage had been trying to learn how to properly read Ki, so he enlisted the swordsman to help him, their training would include sparring, then Asta would tell Kenos he was about to attack, but not how or when, it was Kenos' job to try to use Ki to figure that out, but unfortunately, he's fell short every single time.

"I still don't know what I'm doing wrong," Kenos sighed. "Based on what Captain Yami said, along with the training we've been doing, I thought I would've gotten the hang of it by now,"

"I'm not too sure either, but we have to keep trying," Asta told him

"Or maybe..I should just give up," Kenos said with a defeated tone.

Asta's eyes widened. "Give up?"

Kenos nodded. "That's right, perhaps learning Ki just isn't for everyone, there are things that people could train their entire lives for and never learn, maybe that's just how it is with me and Ki, it's alright, I can still learn other stuff,"

Asta dropped his sword and held his squadmate's shoulders, looking him firmly in the eyes. "Don't say that, you already said that at the cave when we fought Valtos, you just need to keep trying, if you give up, how will you ever know if you can do it or not, I know it'll be frustrating, but you can't give up, not giving up is the rule I've chosen to live by,"

Kenos turned his gaze away from the swordsman. "I did it again, I doubt my own ability, and once more, he's here to help me, a commoner with no magic whatsoever, he knows firsthand how cruel life can be, but he never gives up, my struggle to master Ki is nothing compared to what he's faced in his life," he thought. "Okay,"

Asta raised a brow in confusion as he let go of the solar mage's shoulders. "Excuse me?"

Kenos turned his head back to look the magicless mage in the eye. "I promise that from now on, I'll never doubt myself, I'll do my best to learn Ki, and most importantly, I'll never give up,"

Asta grinned. "That's the spirit, then it's a promise," he said, fashioning his hand into a fist.

"Um, what are you doing?" Kenos asked with a confused look.

"Giving you a fistbump, so that you don't forget your promise," Asta simply answered.

"But...isn't that what you do with Yuno, to remember the promise you made to each other that you'd fight to see who would become the Wizard King, and take Julius' place after his time is over?" Kenos asked once more.

"Yeah, so?"

"The fistbump between you seems important, we should try to do something else for my promise," Kenos replied before he thought of something. "I know, Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Blade!" he exclaimed as the weapon quickly materialized, he then raised it up and brung it down to strike the swordsman.

"What in the?!" Asta exclaimed as he quickly pulled the Demon-Slayer from the ground and met his attack. "Are you trying to kill me or something?!"

"No, this will be the way to remember my promise to you: two blades clashing, neither one giving up, it'll represent the fact that I won't give up either," Kenos explained as he undid the spell. "Should we head back?"

"Nah, you can go if you want, I still have to do my workout, I'll meet you back at the base," Asta replied.

"Alright then," Kenos said as he started walking away from their training spot. "Two blades clashing, neither one giving up, I'll never give up, I'm going to learn Ki, and once I do, I'll-," he began thinking, but stopped when he felt his foot hit something.

"What the?" he asked aloud as he bent down to see what he hit, his eyes widened once he saw that it was a pair of brown boots, beside it was a long-sleeved white shirt, long blue pants, and a green coat.

"Clothes, do these belong to somebody?" Kenos asked himself as he picked them up. "Well, once I get back to the hideout, I'll organize a search for the owner,"

He kept walking forward, but ended up bumping into something else. "What did I hit this time?" he said, but as looked down, his eyes widened.

In front of him was a grimoire, inside of a satchel, the grimoire was turned around so he couldn't see the clover on it, the solar mage walked up and took the item. "Now I really need to organize that search,"

The solar mage kept walking, smiling once the base was visible, he opened the door. "Hey everyone, I'm back, how's it-," he began saying, but stopped as he noticed everyone together in the center of the room, moving up, he gasped to see a man tied up, a towel was laid on his lower area, and he was covered with an assortment of bruises.

"Um, who is this, and what are you doing to him?" Kenos asked seriously.

The man noticed what Kenos was holding and widened his eyes, but didn't get to say anything as Luck stepped forward. "This guy is a pervert, he was trying to assault Noelle outside butt naked, so we dragged him in here and beat the crap out of him, we were going to kill him, but then we remembered that you and Asta haven't gotten a hit in yet," he explained.

Kenos looked menacingly at the man. "Is that so?" he asked, dropping the things he was holding before taking out his grimoire. "Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Gauntlet!" he exclaimed as he equipped the weapon.

"There we go, get a good few hits in," Magna told him.

"Will do," Kenos responded as he walked to the man, raising his fist into the air. "Prepare for the pain, you disgusting bastard!"

Just then, the door burst open behind them and a voice shouted. "Hey there everyone, what're my squadmates up to today?!" it was Asta, but the man's eyes widened again once he heard that voice.

"Asta, what're you doing here?" Kenos asked. "I thought you were doing your workout?"

"I was, but then I realized that I forgot something for one of my exercises in my room," the swordsman explained before realizing his friends were all congregated together. "What are you all doing?"

"Oh, from what I've been told, there was a naked pervert trying to assault Noelle, so we're all taking turns beating his ass," Kenos replied.

"What, a pervert?!" Asta exclaimed, his grimoire coming out as he drew the Demon-Dweller sword. "Let me at him!"

The swordsman charged forward, ready to attack, but once he got close enough to see who the man was, he stopped, his eyes widened with surprise. "No way,"

"Um, is there a problem Asta?" Yami asked with a raised brow.

"Old man Zell?" Asta said in a soft tone, putting his sword down as he put it back into his grimoire.

The man called Zell weakly chuckled. "Hey there Asta, long time no see,"

"Wait a minute, you know this guy?" Gauche asked.

Asta nodded. "Yeah, this is Fanzell Kruger, an old friend of mine, he's no pervert,"

"Then why was he naked when he came up to me, I don't think I'll ever be able to remove that image from my head," Noelle challenged.

"That's just because being naked is a thing he does, it'll happen randomly, trust me, he's not a threat," Asta told them all.

"Alright then," Charmy said as she undid Fanzell's restraints.

"Please accept our sincerest apologies," everyone said as they bowed in front of Fanzell.

The man waved a hand. "Please don't worry about it, I'm not holding anything against any of you, I'm just glad Asta came when he did," he said before turning to the swordsman. "So Asta, I see you've become a Magic Knight, and you joined the Black Bulls, good for you,"

"Thanks, old man Zell," Asta said back. "And these are my squadmates," he continued as he introduced everyone.

Fanzell sighed. "It's nice to meet you all, but Asta, you know you don't have to call me an old man, I'm only 28," he said before wincing in pain.

"Oh, let me heal your injuries," Kenos said as he walked to him, his grimoire flipping through pages. "Solar Recovery Magic: Healing Rays of the Dawn," he placed his hands on Fanzell's shoulders as he glowed orange.

"Thanks, I'm starting to feel better, oh, and those clothes along with the grimoire you found belong to me, thanks for bringing them here," he said gratefully as Kenos let go of him and let him put his clothes on.

"So, how exactly do you know this guy, Asta?" Finral asked.

"Old man Zell and I go way back, he was the one who taught me how to use the Demon-Slayer sword when I first got it back in Hage, before I became a Magic Knight," Asta replied.

Kenos' eyes widened. "He taught you, I thought you taught yourself,"

Asta closed his eyes and gave a carefree wave. "Oh silly Kenos, I'm from the Forsaken Realm, do you really think I'd know how to use a sword on my own?"

The solar mage thought back and remembered that this was the same boy who didn't know what a beach was. "Yeah, that makes sense,"

"It's true, I remember when I first met Asta, it's good to see that he hasn't changed," Fanzell said as he thought back.

[Flashback]

Some Months Ago. Hage Village.

"1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000!" Asta exclaimed as he brought his sword for the 2000th time.

It had been three days since he obtained his grimoire and defeated the Chain mage Revchi who had tried to steal Yuno's four-leaf clover grimoire. Now the newly appointed swordsman was in his usual training spot, within the skull of the ancient demon god.

"Now that I have this sword which can nullify magic somehow, becoming the Wizard King just became possible, now I have to train with it until I become a master!" Asta exclaimed, raising his sword into the air before bringing it down for the 2001st time.

He sighed. "I think that I need a more complex way to train with my sword, thanks to my previous exercise, I've become accustomed to the sword's weight, but that isn't enough, I need something else,"

Just then, the magicless mage heard a voice, he turned around to see that it was coming from a different part of the skull not too far away.

"Is someone else here, perhaps it's one of the kids trying to scare me," Asta thought as he walked in the direction of the sound.

"Nice try, but you won't scare me!" Asta then exclaimed, jumping to see who it was, but was surprised to see that it wasn't one of the kids, but a man with messy red hair and a stubble beard, but the immediate thing Asta noticed was that the man wasn't wearing any clothes.

"Holy crap, who are you?!" the swordsman exclaimed, backing up, readying his sword.

The man put his hands up. "Sorry there, I didn't mean to scare you,"

Asta looked at the man, he didn't look like a threat. "Okay then, why are you naked?"

"I was taking a bath near here when I heard someone screaming, so I came to check it out, but I forgot to put my clothes back on," the man explained before bringing his hand forward. "My name is Fanzell Kruger, but you can also call me Zell,"

"Nice to meet you old man Zell, my name is Asta," the boy said, bringing his own hand forward as they shook.

"So Asta, what exactly are you doing here?"

"This is where I train, I've been coming here for years, but now I'm training extra hard to take the Magic Knights exam in a few months," Asta replied.

"You want to join the Magic Knights, well, good luck," Fanzell said before taking note of Asta's large sword. "That's a pretty rusty sword, do you use blade magic or something?"

"Nope, I don't have any magic power, but somehow I got this grimoire three days ago that gives me a sword which can negate magic," he replied.

"No magic? That's something I've never heard of before, so, are you new to swords or are you experienced?"

"I've never held a sword in my life before this one, I've grown accustomed to holding it, but I've never been in a real fight where I needed sword skills," Asta told him.

Fanzell held his chin. "I see, well, you're in luck, you just happen to be looking at a master swordsman, if you want, I can teach you?"

"You can teach me, yes, I would really appreciate that!" Asta exclaimed starry-eyed.

"Okay then, I just have to go back and get my clothes and grimoire, then we could head to the hut I constructed, that's where I'm living for the time being," Fanzell said as he did so, Asta then followed him to his small home.

The swordsman looked in awe at the open amount of space that was around him. "This area is beautiful,"

"Thanks, but now we can begin," Fanzell said as he looked around him and picked up a stick, his grimoire then came up. "Wind Creation Magic: Emperor of Slashing Winds!"

At his call, the stick became enveloped in wind, the wind then fashioning itself into a blade around the stick.

"Wow, that's so cool, and you use wind magic, I know someone who does too," Asta said in awe.

"That's good, then you already have an idea of how my attribute works, come at me," Fanzell said as he positioned himself.

Asta did the same before he quickly charged forward, bringing his sword up. "Take this!"

"So that's how you attack," Fanzell noted as wind surrounded him, thrusting him into the air, letting him dodge the attack.

The wind mage landed a few feet behind the swordsman. "I can already see your first problem, you're too direct, the one thing a swordsman must never do is rush into battle just flinging their swords around with no clear direction, you must add technique to your fighting,"

"Oh, I understand," Asta said.

Fanzell smiled. "Good, now come at me again,"

Asta grinned in return. "Yes sir!"

[End Flashback]

"I've come a long way since then," Asta said with a smile on his face.

"Wait a minute," Noelle interrupted. "If you weren't a pervert, what were you trying to tell me?"

"I was coming here to ask for help, seeing that you're Magic Knights, I'm looking for my wife," Fanzell replied.

"Your wife, you're still looking for her?" Asta asked, he remembered during their training that Fanzell mentioned he had a wife, but didn't know where she was.

Fanzell nodded as Yami stepped up. "Could you tell us her name?"

"Dominante Code," Fanzell answered.

Vanessa and Noelle both widened their eyes at the sound of that name. "Did you say Code?"

"Yes that's right, does it sound familiar?"

Noelle pulled out her wand. "Code was the name of the merchant who sold me this,"

"Yeah, she's a well-known merchant in the Black Market," Vanessa added.

"Yes, Domina was always into selling things," the wind mage said as he sighed with relief. "I've finally found her, it's been months since I last saw her face,"

"Okay then, this shouldn't be too hard, just take this guy to the Black Market, simple enough," Yami said.

"He's right, we better get moving right now," Kenos said as he turned to the spatial mage. "Hey Finral, can you make a portal to the Black Market?"

Finral shook his head. "Sorry, I've never been to the Black Market before,"

"Okay, no problem, we can just fly to Kikka, let's get moving before it gets late," the solar mage said as he started walking towards the door.

But suddenly, a ball of fire broke right through the window to the door's right, shattering it, every single person was on high alert.

"What the hell just happened?" Magna asked.

Kenos pressed his back against the door and started moving towards the window to the door's left, peering out of it, he saw mages in cloaks, standing in the trees and on the ground, the solar mage paid closer attention to what they were wearing. "Shit,"

"What is it?" Noelle asked.

Kenos turned to them. "It's a group of mages from the Diamond Kingdom,"

"The Diamond Kingdom?!"

"What the hell are they doing here?" Gauche asked.

"They must be here after me," Fanzell spoke up.

"Why would they be after you?" Kenos asked this time.

"Well, that's because…," Fanzell began to explain as he took out his grimoire, revealing the front of it, everyone but Asta gasped seeing that the grimoire didn't have a clover on it.

But a diamond.

"...I'm a refugee from the Diamond Kingdom, a former commander of their army, and it seems they've sent mages to come and kill me,"