It was an important day throughout the Clover Kingdom. This was the day that dreams could be made or shattered. Even though you could come back another year, that's the way this day was treated by a pair of foster siblings and rivals who just arrived in town after a long journey throughout the kingdom. These two, known as Asta and Yuno, may seem normal if you know absolutely nothing about them, but their rivalry has made them two of the most driven individuals out there. They were about to start on a journey neither knew where it would take them.
Of course, they weren't the only ones hoping to change their lives be means of the Magic Knights. There were some 100 peasants growing up in the forsaken realm with almost nothing to their name, hoping to better their family's lives with a stable income as a magic knight. Though the salary seemed small to the nobles who tended to make up the ranks, it was quite literally a life-changing amount for a peasant family. One of these peasants was from Tolsa village in the forsaken realm, famous for having the first ever peasant magic knight, Zara Ideale. After that one major advancement in peasant rights, the people of the village were more inspired than ever to follow in his steps, in the hope that someday, peasants could have equality in the magic knights.
In yet another distant place, instead of peasants, this time it was royalty questioning where their paths would lead them. As royals blessed with insane amounts of mana, it was near assured they would end up on the magic knights. This group however included the likes of Mimosa Vermillion and Noelle Silva, who both lacked the offensive firepower usually seen in royalty. Mimosa has healing magic primarily, so it was unsure if the higher squads would accept her. Even then, the value of healing was well known by the captains, and she would keep up with the expectations of royals. Noelle was a different matter. As a child, she had always struggled in controlling her excessive magic and that continued to this day. Unlike the others, she already knew where she would end up. The Black Bulls, lowest of the magic knights, seen as failures among the rest, was her destination. How unfitting for royalty, she thought to herself. Then again, she also believed herself to be a failure of a royal. As a magic knight, she would still have a long and bright road ahead of her.
In the Golden Dawn base, captain William Vangeance thought to himself about what kinds of people would arrive today to join the magic knights. This also included if there would be any new additions to his squad. William only accepted those with the most potential into his squad, and despite common belief, he was not opposed to commoners in his squad. Even though he was born in a noble family, his deformity caused him to be exiled to the forsaken realm, where he lived his childhood among the poorest people. He knew their struggles firsthand having lived in peasant villages. Still, he had standards to keep, and besides the voice in his head would tell him of the mages that reminded him of his friends. This was a surprising motivation to those he selected, as he kept the secret of his best friend from everyone.
To decide all that, he would attend the magic knight's exams today and oversee them. First, he was to see Julius. He was a man who would no doubt be exited to watch the trials, as he fawned over seeing new types of magic and loved watching youths achieve their dreams. Not that William didn't also do that, but he was a lot less extreme in his excitement, if he showed any that is. He arrived at the palace and walked into Julius' office.
"Oh, William, I was waiting to see you, you're overseeing the exams today, right?"
"That's what you told me to do. I did wonder why you said you wouldn't show up when you're so excited about magic?"
"Oh, that. Marx is keeping me here. Says that the wizard king being present may intimidate the kids. I can't believe that, I just want to see all the cool new magic!"
"I'm sure you'll see it eventually lord Julius."
"But it's so boring in here, why can't I have the excitement of the trials." At this point, Julius was almost bawling. Right, William may have forgotten to mention that his dear Wizard King could be a child at times.
"Uh, beside that, did you have any last-minute instructions for how I should conduct these trials?"
"Nothing that special, though I want you and the rest of the captains to try and take in more commoners. I've been pushing for this change quite a while and we have to keep making progress."
"Ok, I'll keep that in mind. I'm going to head over to the arena now so enjoy your day lord Julius. I'll be sure to report on anything interesting that happened."
"Ok go on ahead, this should be a bright day for the kingdom."
William proceeded to leave the room, but he caught Julius looking depressed before he left. He could never resist missing out on the exams, no matter how many times it happened. Well, he had to be off.
Meanwhile, down at the arena, all the candidates were filling in the arena. "Oh you're royalty girl, number 80, you're good to go." The attendant called out to Mimosa Vermillion, who just entered. "Next!" Lucy Heartfilia stepped forward."
"I'm Lucy Heartfilia, from Magnolia, here's my grimoire."
The attendant took one look at it and said, "No clover on the front, but a star. You're from a different kingdom?"
"I am," Lucy said nervously.
The attendant turned around and asked a supervisor, "Hey, is this allowed?"
"Yeah it is, her paperwork's been filed by a golden dawn member and affirmed by captain Yami," was the response.
"Ok, you can go on in."
In the background, she could hear people whispering, "They're really letting a foreigner in? This is the Clover kingdom's magic knights." Or even, "What even is she wearing, didn't know they made clothes that revealing. Somehow, it got worse, "Guess she's inviting people to look is that it?"
"Oh please don't mind them, unruly individuals like those won't make it in."
"Thanks for that, who are you?"
"I'm Mimosa, from the royal Vermillion house, nice to meet you. Even if you're not from here, you still seem really nice. As for the people behind you," She suddenly got more serious and turned to the commenters, "You don't have to be that mean. I'm royalty and I accept her in Clover, so you should do that too."
"You didn't have to go that far for me," Lucy responded.
"I can't stand mean people like them too much. I had an idea, let's be friends."
And so, a new friendship was born.
A few hours later, and all the candidates were processed and in the arena center. I was standing in the back room, with the other captains at our side. Of course, there was bickering. "Hey Yami, you think you're gonna get anymore losers to join you? I hear there always some around." jack taunted.
"Hey, respect my squad a little, or I'll slice you like a green bean in a kitchen." Yami replied.
"Shut it both of you, this is an important day for the youths, not a day for more of the same bickering," The Crimson Lion King's captain Fuegoleon vermillion called out.
"ZZZ"
"You might as well wake up for one day," Nozel Silva said.
At that moment, trumpets fired in preparation of the ceremony. I told my fellow captains, "That's our cue, we go out together and united." With that, I walked out onto the balcony in the center of the group, with my fellow captains to either side. I finally got my first view of the hopefuls for this exam. Immediately, I noticed a black-haired kid with absolutely no anti-birds near and a grey-haired kid that had had all the birds flocking to them. It did seem like the two knew each other. Already, that kind of behavior from the birds wasn't something we saw every time. Most the other people had a standard amount of bird presence around them, other than a blond-haired girl who stood out among the crowd as no person was near her.
The other captains had their assistants arriving. I had chosen to go without any other squadmates since I would need to preside. I could keep a good idea of those I was willing to invite, and anyone else worthy would be noticed by my best friend in my body. The other captains took their seats, but I had a job to do first. I started my speech then, "Sorry to keep you all waiting. I will be conducting this exam. World Tree magic. World tree descends." I summoned my tree to give brooms to all the contestants. "I announce this magic knights entrance exams to have begun. The trials will be formatted as a series of tests which will test your magic capacity and control as well as intelligence and teamwork. Once the tests are over. the captains will select those they want to invite to their squads. If no captain selects you, then you are not qualified to join. The first test will be to fly on a broom. This test will challenge your control. A good mage must have good control over their magic. Now begin."
With my speech done, I took my seat and began to observe. Charlotte was commenting on just how many people were here, and she was right. it was a larger crowd than usual. I looked to the sky and found the dark-haired boy standing on top his broom and flying around comfortably. He was impressive to say the least. That showed a ton of potential for a 15-year-old. He also had a four-leaf grimoire, how interesting. I may invite him should he continue to do this well.
"Oh the foreigner girl is actually taking the trials, guess she may have what it takes." Yami said.
"Which girl are you talking about Yami?" I asked.
"The blond one, you know, flying high and fast, no birds near her. She's good, I saw her magic a year ago, Julius would've liked to see it. her name's Lucy."
"I'll have to keep an eye on her. If she could already impress you, I may just invite her."
"Hey I met her first, don't go stealing my scouted recruits."
Yami never changes, but I could tell he actually cared. Lucy was indeed flying high and comfortably, clearly showing good control of her magic. I could also sense great magic reserves in her. There were shaping up to be a lot of people I had to look out for.
Fuegoleon was pointing elsewhere, pointing out a kid who seemingly couldn't raise up above the ground at all. That was the one who was completely swarmed with anti-birds earlier. Interestingly, I could sense no magic from him. I'd never seen that before, though what a person with no visible magic would be doing at a magic knight's exam was beyond me.
"This test is over, please leave your brooms on the ground," I called out before summoning another tree to clean up all the brooms.
I continued with administering tests. There was offensive magic, another control test, a creation magic test, a defense test, and more. I noticed someone on the next test stand out. It was a test to grow a seed, which was intended to tell who could have a talent for healing, and I noticed a royal girl, I think it was Mimosa, blow away the competition. I didn't have any healers on my squad and could always bring in another one. Since she was royalty anyways, I was sure her magic would develop nicely.
Soon, all the quantitative tests were over and I was ready to move on. "Attention everyone, this next test will be your final test. Here, you will show your skills by battling with another participant. We want you to show everything you have. There are mages well versed in healing magic on standby."
Fuegoleon stood up and started a speech of his own, saying, "YOU'LL BE BATTLING. You will pair off and fight against a partner. Use everything you have to attack. Fighting evil forces is our duty, show us your true abilities."
There was commotion as people scrambled to select the right opponent. I waited 5 minutes before continuing. "First match, step forward." The grey-haired kid and a noble stepped forward. The noble immediately began taunting and making fun of his peasant opponent. "Yeah I'm not going to be inviting someone of that attitude," I thought. The fight began and the noble set up a strong-looking shield, daring the peasant to attack. He responded by drawing a sword out of his grimoire. "That's my master's grimoire!" I heard my internal friend tell me.
"Is that his sword as well."
"It is, just how did that magicless kid get his hands on those. I'll find out how he stole them." He was sounding angry at this point.
"Calm down Patry, he doesn't seem to know of it either."
The next second he was moving like a blur, using nothing but his brute strength and speed to cut straight through the shield and knock his opponent unconscious.
"That's not a power Licht ever had. He could cut through some spells but not completely nullify a barrier with a touch like that. You should keep an eye on that one, I think he'll become important later on." Patry told me.
"Should I invite him to my squad?"
"No, he shouldn't be near us. There was something ominous about that power."
The kid spoke out, "I'm not here to have a good time and relax, I'm here to work my ass off and become the wizard king!"
At least he had the right mindset. I wasn't sure what Patry had against him, but I didn't see anything wrong with him.
Soon after, more fights were happening but I didn't see anything else too interesting. Mimosa Vermillion did surprise me my bringing an offensive spell when I thought she mostly used healing. I did see many more nobles go out and win their matches, but none of them impressed me enough to get an invitation. The next fight I could tell was going to be quite interesting. The boy with the four leaf grimoire was going up against the foreigner Lucy. Both of them had impressed throughout the trials, but I had yet to see anywhere close to their full abilities yet, especially given that Lucy hadn't used her grimoire on a single spell yet. They greeted each other quite well. Honestly, I could invite both of them to the Golden Dawn, it would work.
"Yuno, was it. Where are you from."
"I'm out from Hage, don't tell me you're a stuck-up noble too. I've had enough of those already."
"Oh I'm not. I mean, I was technically a noble back home, but now I'm just the foreigner here. I've dealt with them too."
"Good to meet you Lucy, I didn't think too many other's would understand. My rival and I have dealt with a lot of nobles already. You saw what happened in that first fight."
"I saw that, your rival almost reminds me of an old friend of mine from back home. Never mind that, let's have a good battle!"
"Right!"
With that, the ref called for the match to begin, and they were off. Lucy took the first move, summoning her grimoire and a key and calling out Open, gate of the Lion, Loke. A man in a suit and spiky orange hair appeared, saying, "battle time, princess? I'm ready."
I could only watch in shock at that. That wasn't a magic I'd seen before, so I turned to Yami and asked what type of magic that was.
"I'm not completely sure myself, but she can summon people to fight for her. From what I can sense, his magic is directly linked to Lucy's, so they both draw from her reserves." So she wasn't directly using magic, but passing it to her summons to boost their attacks. Interesting.
Yuno took the first attack, calling out Wind magic, towering tornado to crush Lucy. Her spirit Loke was there, and used a regulus blast to dissipate the tornado. While the tornado obstructed Yuno's vision, Lucy lashed out with a whip strike, which Yuno avoided by taking to the skies.
"Yuno has powerful spells, most people would've lost to just that," I said.
"True, but Lucy had both the power to deflect it, then expose it's weakness for her own attack. She's not only powerful, but also strategic," Charlotte added.
"Yuno's already using broomless flight, he's clearly advanced. What can Lucy do about flight, I wonder."
At that moment, Lucy called out a new spell, chanting Star dress, Aquarius. Her clothes shifted to a blue bikini and a tattoo glowed on her chest. She shot a blast of water at Yuno, who dodged at first, but the water shots kept coming.
"First it was summoning, now she's like a water mage. What is that magic?"
"It's versatile. If she can use lots of attributes, she won't have the weakness of most mages," Fuegoleon pointed out.
"Oh I know, everything she's used has been based on a constellation. Maybe her magic is linked to the stars," Rill said.
"It would make sense since she called the spell star dress." I added.
Yuno called for another tornado, this time it started from the sky and created a wind wall pushing all the water back to the ground.
"Loke, can you do anything to get him down?"
"I can't, all my attacks are close range. He's even too far away for you whip, and there's no natural water to summon Aquarius with. That's not good. Ah, look out, he's preparing a big attack."
"You've been good Lucy, but I made a promise to be the Wizard King. I won't lose here today. Wind magic, Tornado of Destruction!"
"That's the end if Lucy doesn't have a way to stop that tornado from forming," I said.
"If she can use other elements, maybe one can counter wind. Fire, for example, could make it less effective," Fuegoleon said.
"Yeah, but does she have a fire spirit. I do remember her having 4 more keys she hasn't used yet. One of those may be the answer," Yam added.
"We'll have to watch. Either way, they both have done well."
Lucy wasn't done yet, it turned out, and she wielded a silver key in her hand, calling out Open, gate of the Phoenix, Phonecis!" The phoenix appeared as a large red bird with majestic feathers. Phonecis, use your fire to weaken that wind." The bird surrounded Lucy in a dome of fire before the wind collided, and it seemed like the whole stadium was getting blown away. The other spectators had to hold on to columns to not get sent flying. After all was said and done, Yuno stayed floating in the air, but Lucy emerged from the fiery dome unharmed.
"How did you survive that?!"
"Heat reduces the density of air, making it harder to control and creating updrafts due to pressure differences. Since you were far away, I could use that to make a shield. Sorry, but I'm not losing that easy."
I whispered to my fellow captains, "That's some strategy, called out the weakness of that attack using science then broke it. She's intelligent."
Nozel finally commented on the battle saying, "She has to be. If her magic is based on summoning beings, she has to be a good tactician to command those spirits effectively. Her magic isn't so much about overpowering your opponent as a soldier on the field. Its almost like being a general commanding troops to the right positions to lay traps. What she's done is using the right personnel to counter Yuno's attacks."
"Good thinking Nozel," I complimented.
Lucy was struggling a bit. Sure, she had defeated her opponents biggest attack. The problem was that so long as he remained airborne, she had no way to attack him. Loke was the only spirit she could use that had a chance of dealing enough damage to win, but he was too limited by his range. His flight was too big of a problem. Time for some planning Lucy, what can you do. It seemed like an idea came to mind. "Loke, ride on top of Phonecis and get close. Phonecis, try to get him closer to the ground. I need a bit of a distraction. If this works, we should win."
What is she planning, I thought. That could get her main firepower closer to Yuno to actually land a hit, but what was the distraction for. I noticed Lucy had her grimoire turned to a new page and she had her eyes closed while chanting a spell. She was glowing golden and her magic was flowing out at a rapid rate. Whatever attack she was charging up had to be powerful. Yuno, sensing catastrophe, rushed close to attempt to interrupt the spell, but the sheer mana she was pushing out protected her, and she continued the spell. As Yuno tried to escape upwards, Loke was in position to intercept, calling out Regulus impact and knocking him backwards, most importantly away from the sky. Lucy opened her eyes with her attack fully charged and yelled, "I'm ending this now, Grand Celestial magic, Urano Metria"
As Lucy continued to scream, the sky lit up bright as many orbs crashed into the ground all around the stadium. Some hit the walls and left holes, whole others homed in on Yuno. He couldn't escape upwards in time, and the orbs hit him, knocking him to the ground. Lucy was screaming at this point, trying to keep pushing out magic and sustain the attack a bit longer. The orbs of mana focused on the now downed Yuno and blew up directly in front of him, creating smoke and an explosion that rocked the arena.
When the smoke cleared, Lucy fell to her knees, but a few moments later got back on her feet, but she was wobbling and unsteady but conscious. Yuno, on the other hand, was knocked out cold.
"Uh, … Match over," called the ref, also unsure of what he just witnessed. This fight was on a higher level than anything typical for a magic knight's exam. Out in the crowd, another voice was heard saying, "There's no way Yuno lost, not after everything he showed me. But he was still so awesome, that Lucy girl was just better. That jerk, it's about time he learned what losing feels like, he'll be back on his feet soon. He's not one to give up on his dreams either." This was the voice of Asta, Yuno's rival.
Back in the captain's balcony, Fuegoleon couldn't help but be impressed. "Both of them were great. Even if Yuno lost, I still believe he was better than any other competitor bar Lucy. That last attack was too powerful, even we could struggle defending against it."
"True. They both showed respect for their opponent, great strength, and great strategizing. Yuno was able to use his flight to negate Lucy's best attacks, forcing her to bet everything on an all-out move that left her staggered and unable to go on. That was a brave move by her." We had talked enough for now, the show must go on. I called out, "Good job contestants, well fought. Next participants, step forward."
The matches continued and soon they were all over. None of the matches since had gotten the captains talking as much as Yuno and Lucy's. I called out, "The tests are now over. I will call out the number of each participant in order. When your number is called, step forward. The captains willing to let you into their squads will raise their hands. Should multiple captains invite you, you have the right to choose which squad you want to join. If no captains raise their hand, you must leave immediately. I ask of all of you to remember even if you do not make it in today, there is always the future to look for. There is no limit to how many times one may take the exam, and some of our best did not get in on their first time. Take the time to hone your skills and come back stronger than before. Now, number 1, step forward." No hands were raised. "Number 2, step forward." Again, no hands were raised.
This continued all the until number 71 was taken by the Purple Orcas. Fuegoleon took number 78. Soon after, number 80 came around. This was Mimosa Vermillion, a royal with great magic, along with being one of the kindest people I have seen and possessing great healing ability. Patry wasn't that enthusiastic about welcoming a royal, but I convinced him otherwise and raised my hand. "I will welcome her." She nodded to me. "Number 80, the Golden Dawn."
Number 81 was Lucy, who had impressed me and many other captains. When she stepped forward, I raised my hand, as did Charlotte, Fuegoleon, Dorothy, Jack, and Yami. Somehow, I was surprised she didn't get all the captains on her side, but it somewhat made sense. She was a foreigner who possessed an unknown magic, and the other captains were nobility who preferred to stay with someone that wasn't a complete unknown. That didn't matter to me or the non-nobles, as we saw her potential. She seemed to be thinking quite hard about where to go. She seemed to befriend Mimosa easily, but she had already developed a companionship of sorts with Yami over their shared experiences. It was hard to tell what she would do. "I'd like to join the Golden Dawn," she said, and I was relieved. Having someone like her in my squad would do wonders to tone down the arrogance of the other nobles in the dawn.
I didn't raise my hand again until Yuno came forward, and everyone other than Nozel raised their hand for him. He still showed great promise on his battle even it was a loss, it was clear to the captains that Lucy was much more experienced. He called out, "I'd like to join the Golden Dawn, if you'll have me." "Number 164, Golden Dawn"
I could hear some comments from the crowd, "Vangeance really let three people in this year, including a foreigner and a peasant. What's he doing?" "His squad may lose all it's respect" "He's really lowering standards this year" I ignored all those comments. That was exactly what I was trying to do. Julius did tell me today that we needed more peasants in the magic knights to keep making progress towards a fairer kingdom. I had done my part for my squad.
Number 165 was the person who possessed Licht's grimoire, according to Patry. He was completely dead set against me accepting him, even though I liked his drive and potential. However, the other captains didn't feel the same, as no one else raised their hand. Before I could call the next number, Yami stood up, saying "It's really no surprise, is it. The captains are all skeptical of the unknown and don't like taking it in. Look at number 81, who usually would've had everyone fighting over her, only got 5 hands. You did win your fight, that's true, but no one here knows how. If they don't know your power, they don't want any part of it. In the end, the only thing desired of a magic knight is their magical power." Yami suddenly jumped down and threatened the kid.
Somehow, the kid had the balls to stand up and reaffirm his goals to the frightening captain, and that was enough to get one raised hand from Yami. I did feel good for him. He was more driven than anyone to succeed, and that would create a force to be reckoned with if nurtured right, which Yami knew how to do. I called out "Number 165, the Black Bulls."
The selections continued late into the night, all the way until number 512 left with no offers. I left the balcony at last to meet my new squad members. I ended up finding them all in town nearby the stadium. They already seemed to get along well, with Lucy saying, "You were saying bye to your rival? Oh, you two seem like brothers, it's such a good friendship. Let's become friends too, no hard feelings after that battle. I've been doing this for years already since I was part of a version of magic knights back home."
I stepped forward, saying "Mimosa, Lucy, Yuno. All three of you showed not only strength of magic, but also strength of character and kindness. Lucy, your sportsmanship in your battle and intellect was great. Mimosa, your healing magic and support abilities are amazing. Yuno, your friendship with your brother and drive to a goal shows a drive I hope can change the attitudes of my squad. Two of you aren't nobles, and though I do warn that my squad may not accept you at first, I am trying to break the noble superiority belief from them. I ask of all of you to help me in this task. Grab a broom and follow me, let's head to your new home.
All three excitedly grabbed a broom and followed me through the night sky to the Golden Dawn base. They all were talking like friends already. I could tell these three would change the kingdom someday and make Julius' dream come true. Until then, we flew away, off to a new adventure.
AN
This is the longest chapter I've written so far, and it took quite a while to get right, especially with a major battle scene. I was always planning on having that battle end the way it did, as well as having Lucy join the golden dawn. There's a few reasons for this.
First, I can explore the questions of what is the golden dawn doing when the black bulls are on their own. I can also fill in on character development canon missed, so Yuno doesn't appear to OP without showing how he got there. This also lets me switch out some canon arcs for original ones since Lucy won't be there. I also don't have to rewrite canon in places where I don't have changes planned. I don't like works that seem to rewrite canon without a deviation, and there won't be any of that here. If an event from canon appears, it's going down differently in some way. The golden dawn also gets a ton more character development this way.
The black bulls will still be around and play a big role, otherwise I wouldn't have had a Yami POV. They'll still be major characters in this story.
Please let me know how I'm doing; it helps a lot.