Chapter Sixty-Eight: Beginning of the Exam

"Ah, sir, it's good to see you,"

The sun was shining over the Clover Kingdom as a man stood on a street at the edge of the capital, the main thing of note being the robe of the Purple Orcas. His mouth opened to speak the statement as another man walked toward him.

The second man too wore a robe of the squad, his most notable characteristics being his long white hair, and the blank look on his face.

The first man wasted no time clover-saluting his white-haired squadmate. "Vice-Captain Xerx Lugner, it's an honor, I've been sent here to escort you back to base,"

Xerx looked at the man, a brow raised. "I see. Say, who are you?"

The man put his hand down. "Oh, forgive me, my name is Dale. I hope you don't mind me asking, but did your mission on the outpost of the kingdom go?"

"Charmed," Xerx replied, his tone not hiding his slight lack of interest. "The mission didn't go too bad, but two months isn't the amount of time I prefer they last for. No worries, we shall head to the base so I can give my report to Captain Gueldre,"

Dale's head nudged in his direction. "Oh, I take it you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Gueldre was arrested for treason some time back, he was caught aiding a terrorist group," Dale explained.

The white-haired man's expression contorted to one of minor surprise. "Is that so? Have we gotten a replacement?"

"Yes, a man named Kaiser Granvorka. From what I've seen, he's a nice enough kind of guy,"

Xerx's expression returned to its blank look. "I see. But I'll have to determine that myself when I meet him. Is there anything else I missed?"

Dale held his chin before an answer came to his head. "Ah yes, there one more thing, there's a special exam taking place and you may-,"

"Purple Orcas, I wish to speak with you!" he was cut off by the sudden exclamation of a voice. The two turned their heads forward, an old lady falling into their line of vision.

"Uh, what do you want? Can't you see we're busy?" Dale growled. With the way he replied, one would think the elder slapped him right across the face.

"Please, I just wish to ask for a favor," the lady began.

"We're not giving you money, so don't even try, just get-," the man would've continued his tirade had not Xerx raised an arm to silence him.

The vice-captain scanned the old woman with her eye. "What is this favor you need?" the action seemed kind enough, but his tone was anything but kind.

Get it over with. He'd listen to whatever her stupid favor was and get it for her, then he could leave and not have to worry about the foolish elderly woman who had the audacity to waste his time.

The lady ignored his tone of voice, just glad he was willing to listen as she got on her knees. "Thank you so much. For my favor, please return my daughter,"

Dale and Xerx raised a brow. "Return your daughter?"

"Yes. About 2 days ago, two members of your squad came to her store and took her away. They said she was accused of stealing from a rival business, give her back, I know she's innocent,"

"If your daughter was taken in, then she's guilty, plain and simple," Dale gave his answer.

"No, I know she didn't do it, please, you must do something, I'm begging," the old lady pleaded further. "I want to see her and know she's okay,"

Dale facepalmed. "Good grief,"

"This is already getting tiresome, if you want to see her that bad, I can arrange it, but then again," Xerx started, using his magic to create a lone ice shard. "For committing the crime of wasting my precious time, you deserve to die here!"

With a wave of the hand, the shard flew through the air, ready to impale her forehead in a matter of seconds…but the attack never came as it was shattered to pieces.

The shard was moving so fast, the lady didn't have time to react, nor did she have time to react when said shard was broken, but she did have a chance when she felt something land on her face.

"Is that…water?"

"Well well well, if it isn't a pair of Purple Orcas acting like a bunch of pricks. Why am I not surprised?" the voice of the elder's hero spoke up as they walked beside her, that person being Arbus, the general forgoing her previous attire, opting for a basic short-sleeved light blue shirt with frills on the shoulders paired with a frilly white skirt complimented by black leggings. But at the time, she wore a white bandana over her head to disguise herself.

The two orcas raised a brow. "Who are you?" the vice-captain demanded.

"I doubt that I'll need to introduce myself," she answered, removing her bandana with no hesitation. "This poor old lady just wants to see her child and make sure she's safe, but of course you degenerates would give her trouble," she continued.

Dale recognized the typhoon mage and wasted no time pointing at her. "You! You're Arbus Howzer! How dare you show your face here after what you did to our own?! And how dare you mention children when you yourself tried to murder some?! Then you betray us for the Diamond Kingdom, bottom of the barrel scum like you have no right saying that to us!"

"I'm pretty you're the scum here, trying to murder a citizen because she wasted your so-called 'precious time'. Get your heads out of your asses and tell her where her daughter is or I'll make you tell her,"

Xerx took his grimoire. "You won't make us do anything, filthy traitor. I will handle you swiftly and avenge our fallen comrade at last,"

Arbus stood in front of the old lady and entered a fighting stance. She had forgone her grimoire as her stitched tome would definitely catch people's attention, regardless, she trusted her skills. "You have nothing good to avenge, that comrade of yours was crazy,"

"Enough with your lies, Ice Magic…-,"

Whistling.

The white-haired man stopped his cast midway…upon hearing the sudden sound of whistling. They all listened as the sound got closer, and eventually saw who it was coming from: a tall man with spiky red hair, he was shirtless and wore black pants, but wore some strange material over the top half of his torso and his shoulders, the material going up to his neck and around his jaw.

The mysterious man walked past the old lady and Arbus, standing in front of the general. "What do we have here?"

"Another person has come to interfere, although I don't recognize you," Dale voiced.

"Of course you wouldn't recognize me, I'm just a wandering mage going wherever I feel like, and right now, I feel like putting some scummy magic knights who think they can harm innocents in their place," the man said back, his tone of voice incredibly snarky.

"Nonsense, that old lady is the mother of a thief, and that lady next to her is far from innocent," Dale pointed. "She's a killer and a traitor of this kingdom, she left us for Diamond and became a Shining General. And how dare you call us scum?!"

"If you want to protect them, then fine, you can be the first to fall by my wondrous ice magic. You'll regret making an enemy of Xerx Lugner!"

"Oh really?" the man's two right fingers started to glow before he used them to draw a circle. "Then show me what you got, and I'll judge for myself if it's something I should regret," he looked over to Arbus. "Turn around and keep the woman's body safe, this might get messy,"

The typhoon mage was a bit confused about what was going on, first, she was supposed to take the two orcas on, and now, this man who appeared out of nowhere had taken up the task, but she obeyed.

"That confidence of yours will fade fast, Ice Magic: Rigid Tundra!" Xerx declared, sending waves of ice spikes towards the red-haired man.

Arbus held onto the woman and created a small typhoon wall in front of her to block whatever debris may fly their way, seconds later, the sound of a large crash was heard, and after that, all she could hear was a gasp. She eventually put down her wall and turned around to view the result.

And as she did, her eyes widened.

A large crater in the wall of a nearby building, and the cause of it was Xerx's now unconscious body, bloody and bruised. The lone gasp had come from Dale's mouth, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

"W-What? B-But how? I can't believe it," Dale stuttered.

"You better believe it, guess I won't be regretting anything anytime soon. Now, you better scram and bring back the lady's daughter before you're the one with regrets," he threatened, throwing a glare his way.

"Damn you!" Dale yelled as he ran away frightened.

"Whatever," the man said as he walked over to Xerx, looking down at him in disgust, his eyes focusing on his robe. "You don't deserve this," he stripped the piece of clothing off the ice mage and walked to the two females.

"Hey, not that I don't appreciate the save, but I didn't need your help, I could've taken him out myself," Arbus stated.

The man's gaze was on the robe, but it rose to meet hers. "Of course you could…after a few minutes of destruction which could expose you to others. Unless there's a spell you got which could knock him out in a matter of seconds?" he countered.

"I…yeah, you have a point," she accepted, not having a rebuttal.

"That guy said you're a traitor, meaning you're wanted, I'm surprised you were that confrontational, other people in the same position would've kept a low profile,"

Arbus sighed. "I know, it's just…the lady needed help, and when I saw the Purple Orcas giving her trouble, I just had to do something. That squad ruined my life, I won't let them ruin someone else's,"

The man raised a brow. "They ruined your life you say? Then it appears we have something in common,"

"In common?" Arbus thought to herself, but decided not to ask aloud as something more important needed to be addressed. "So, you know I'm wanted, are you going to call the authorities? To virtually everyone in this kingdom, I'm just a woman who murdered an innocent magic knight,"

The man walked past her and stopped. "Why would I try to turn you in for a crime that isn't fully true?"

That response elicited a surprised response from the typhoon mage. "You…you know I'm innocent,"

"Call it a hunch, based on how you protected the lady, you don't seem like the one to harm kids," he replied, beginning to walk away, but not before saying one more thing.

"Oh, and if you ever see Joey again, tell him he's got serious guts,"

The former nun's entire expression was pure shock, unable to believe what she just heard the man say, but it slowly went back to normal, her face showing a small smile. "I will,"

"Thank you very much for your help miss, both you and that young man. My daughter should return later today if the boy's threat worked," the lady bowed her upper half gratefully.

"It was my pleasure," Arbus returned the gesture as the lady walked away. Afterward, she picked up her bandana and wrapped it around her head. "What an odd start to the day,"

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you,"

Arbus turned around, coming face to face with a man, he stood at a decent 6'9, his striking yellow eyes complimenting his lighter skin tone, he wore open-toed sandals, his main attire, however, was a strange blue piece of clothing that covered his body from his neck to the top half of his legs, covered with designs of raindrops and flowers. Then there was his hair, long, curly, and pink, signifying him as the one who saved the general the day before.

She walked over to him. "Sorry there, Mr. Kyo, there was just something I had to handle,"

"Wait, we already talked about this, don't call me Mr. Kyo," the man told her. "You're an adult, and I'm an adult, if you address me like that, it'll make me feel old,"

"I apologize, but even though you're young, you give off this elderly man vibe,"

He dramatically clutched his chest. "Elderly man? Arbus, you're breaking my heart,"

The woman put up her hands in a casual defensive manner. "Ok, ok, fine, no more honorifics, I'll stick to your first name, Teiko,"

A playful smile came to Teiko's face. "Why thank you, that makes me feel so much better. Now that I've found you, want to get back to buying groceries?"

"Yup, lead the way," she answered.

"If you insist," Teiko smiled as he walked forward, the general following behind, but suddenly, his smile disappeared, and his head turned to the woman.

"Arbus, there's something I'm curious about, when I found you yesterday, the clothes you wore had the flag of the Diamond Kingdom on it, but your grimoire had a clover on it. I understand if you don't want to answer, but-,"

"Don't worry, I don't mind," Arbus cut him off to explain. "I'm a native to the Clover Kingdom, but some…circumstances, forced me to relocate to Diamond, there, I joined their forces, the only reason I came back was to visit a friend,"

"I see, what I don't understand is that I was able to heal your injury yesterday, but when you woke up, you didn't mention that you'd be leaving soon. Why?" Teiko inquired.

"Why?" she repeated, as if to think about it, but she already had her answer. "I've been recently reminded that I still have a home here, so I want to enjoy it again,"

The day had finally come.

"Oh yeah, the Royal Knights Exam is today!" Asta exclaimed with joy as he and some of the other Black Bulls, along with many magic knights, entered a large colosseum, the same one used for the yearly entrance exams.

"I really hope I get selected to participate," the swordsman continued.

"Well, if you think about it, it's likely," Kenos replied. "After all, both you and Yuno were the top-performing rookies, not to mention you two really showed everyone during the Awards Ceremony,"

"That's right, but that also means you have a high chance too, after all, you were up there with us,"

"I suppose,"

"Quick question though, I know the captain won't be here, but where's Finral? Or Noelle?" Asta then asked.

Vanessa walked between them. "Finral will be getting here a little later, we were taking care of something last night. Noelle though, that's the mystery,"

"We'll all be in the same spot, so it's not too much of a problem," Kenos said.

The wave of nine colors all eventually entered the colosseum before the gate was closed. Asta was taken aback by how many magic knights were around, in every direction he looked.

"I've never seen so many magic knights together in one place like this, it all feels so cool," he said aloud.

"You're not the only one," a voice joined in, which turned out to be Yuno, with his regular trio of squadmates behind him.

"Hey there," Charmy was the first to react.

"Charmy," Yuno returned as Bell flew over to the cotton mage.

"Give me five, sister," the spirit said as the two females shared a high five.

"What up there man," Kenos greeted as the wind mage fist bumped him and Asta. "Good to see you too, Klaus, Mimosa,"

"Likewise," the steel mage greeted back.

Mimosa waved. "Same to you Kenos. Where's Noelle?"

"She's off somewhere doing something,"

Luck ran over to the compass mage. "Letoile, it's so good to see you again, it's been too long," he hugged her quickly before throwing air punches. "How have you been?"

"I've been just fine. You?"

"Great. Have you been in any good fights?"

Letoile pointed to her chin. "As a matter of fact, there was one yesterday, it was a very tough fight, barely got out alive,"

The lightning mage's eyes became starry. "Woah, awesome, who did you fight? How did you win? C'mon, spill it,"

Upon seeing his anticipation, the green-haired closed an eye and gave a sly smile. "That's a secret,"

"What? No, why are you doing this to me?" he whined.

Letoile softly pulled at his cheek. "Consider it payback for shocking me after our team up,"

"About time someone put that jerk in his place," Magna snickered.

A voice then came from behind the flame mage. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

Magna recognized it and began turning around. "Ah Finral, you'll never believe what happened to-," once he saw him, he became speechless. The spatial mage's hair had gone through a major change, instead of its normal unruly look, it was combed to the right, and the tips were dyed a light green.

"Awesome makeover," Charmy commented.

"I agree, his other style wasn't bad, but I could get used to this," Gauche added.

Grey, who was currently in her large disguise, shifted to her true form. "I-It looks c-cool," she managed to get the words out before she reverted back.

Gordon was already writing words in his notebook which read. "I think it looks incredibly fashionable,"

"Thanks everyone, I asked Vanessa to do this for me last night, and she really outdid herself," he informed.

"It's no problem, this exam could be the beginning of the new you, I'm just helping you look the part," the thread mage slung an arm around Finral's shoulder.

"Is that my rival I see?!"

A grin came to Asta's face as he looked to his left and saw a familiar royal coming his way. "Leo!"

The vermillion reached him and the two bumped arms. "How's your training been?"

"Awesome, we've all been getting stronger. What about you?"

"Never been better, my sister is really pushing us to our limits," he replied.

"I'll say, Mera has never been tougher," Oxanna jumped in on the conversation as she and the other two arrived.

"Oxanna, Erika, Rama, hey there," the swordsman greeted.

"Hey there Asta, hey there everyone," Oxanna cheerfully waved before her eyes fell on her younger brother, her happy demeanor partially diminished. "Kenos,"

The solar mage bowed his head. "Oxanna,"

"Yo, crimson quartet, look who I brought!" a voice yelled out, catching the attention of the crimson-clad knights, who noticed Kuro and Dante in the distance.

"If it isn't our favorite pair of Silver Eagles," Erika grinned.

"Who's the guy next to Dante?" the solar mage wished to know.

The second spatial mage heard his question and answered it. "Kuro Takayama's my name, I'm Dante's friend, pleased to make your acquaintance. You must be Kenos, the little brother,"

"Yeah that's me, I'm sort of impressed Dante managed to make a friend on his own," Kenos replied.

Kuro's face became one of comedic doubt. "Eh, I wouldn't exactly say Dante was proactive in the formation of our friendship, it was mostly me pulling the weight and him just sitting around to read,"

"H-Hey, I'm giving it more effort," Dante challenged with a tone of embarrassment, but he composed himself as he remembered something. "Oh, and Rama, I got something for you,"

"What is it?" the white-haired teen asked.

The eldest Rossiu pulled out a sheet of paper and gave it to him. "Here are some of my favorite book titles, they should be at your squad's library,"

"No way, I can't wait to check these out. Thanks a bunch, Azure,"

"My pleasure,"

"I'm sorry…Azure?" Kenos butt in. "You gave him a nickname too?"

The lightning mage nodded in response before Leopold cut into the conversation too. "By the way, have any of you seen Noelle?"

"No, she's somewhere else," Vanessa told him.

Her response made Dante hold his chin. "She isn't here with her squad? Strange, now that I think about it…I haven't seen Solid either,"

A hand slamming against a wall.

Noelle had been on the other side of the colosseum, searching around for Mereoleona. But instead of finding the female captain, the gods of fortune decided to screw her over and make Solid the one she ran into instead. The older brother narrowed his eyes upon seeing her, saying nothing as he suddenly grabbed hold of her hand and guided her into an alleyway-like spot, forcing her back to the wall. The water mage's face was more or less unworried for the most part, Solid couldn't hurt her with witnesses so close to where they were, but once he performed the prior mentioned action, her face shifted to one of uneasiness.

A menacingly sly smile painted itself on Solid's face. "I'll be damned, if it isn't my useless little sister. What do you think you're doing here? The possibility of you being selected to participate doesn't exist, and if by some miracle you are selected, you'll just be a burden, then again, that'll make it easier for the rest of us!"

Noelle tried to open her mouth, but no words came out, her brother noticed this and was ready to take full advantage of it. "Why don't you just walk out?! You're pitiful, weak, a disgrace to our family, and a disgrace to our mother, she would be ashamed of you, so-,"

He didn't get in another word as she slapped his hand off the wall with no hesitation.

"Don't you dare say that about mom, she wouldn't be ashamed of me, I know she wouldn't, she loved the four of us with all her heart. She would be ashamed, however, if I decided to quit, so don't count on it!" she exclaimed, walking away with determination.

"Is that so? Then let the gods of fortune allow us both to participate…so I can put you firmly in your place!"

Noelle kept walking forward, not looking back, and eventually, her eyes picked up on the black color of her squad's robes. "Guys!"

Mimosa was the first to turn at the sound of her cousin's voice. "There she is,"

The water mage reached everyone, but was initially surprised. "Wow, a lot of familiar faces,"

"Where were you?" Leo asked.

"Um, just talking to someone," she replied with a bit of uneasiness.

"Hello, and a good morning to all our magic knights!" a voice exclaimed, making every single knight turn to see an elevated balcony, and standing there was Julius, with Marx and the king beside him.

"It's the Wizard King!" some could be heard cheering.

Augustus' face had a forced look to it as he waved to the crowd beneath, but in his mind, he was furious. "Damn you, Julius, if I were making the announcements, people would be cheering for me, but you stole the praise that is rightfully mine!"

"I'm glad to see you all, I hope you've taken advantage of the period to train yourselves, because the exam will push you to the limits of your magical prowess. Be warned, your performance will be judged by me and another person, we'll decide if you have what it takes to be a part of the Royal Knights. And speaking of another person, I should introduce him, please give a warm welcome to Sylvester Rossiu!"

The lunar mage walked into view and gave a slight wave, receiving roars of applause.

"Sylvester Rossiu, the strongest Rossiu of the generation, what an honor!" some knights cheered.

"Alright Sylvester!" Dante and Oxanna exclaimed themselves.

"Nice work, Ves!" Kenos added with his own cheer.

Julius raised a hand, silencing the crowd. "Now, before the rules and format of the exam are explained, one important thing should be known: this will be a team exam!"

"Team exam?"

"Yes, those who are selected will be put into teams of three, and those teams will be labeled by letters in the alphabet, ranging from A to P, making a total of 16 teams with 48 participants. Now, observe!" the time mage explained as a projection appeared, showing the teams and those in them.

Everyone started to move closer, inadvertently breaking apart from each other. Kenos focused and looked for his name, a grin then formed on his face. "There we go, I'm in! Seems I'm a part of Team M, time to check out who's on my team," his gaze dropped down to the next name. "Zuka,"

An arm suddenly pressed on his shoulder. "What's that, we're working together? How lucky," Kenos looked to his side, seeing the sparkle mage next to him. "Hey there,"

"Hello, and how are you doing?"

"Just fine, how nice of you to ask. Oliver and Shauna told me to say hi,"

"Are they here?" he asked.

"They are, but I'm no stranger to ditching them," she joked. "Now to see who's our other teammate,"

"No need to check, she's right behind you," the third teammate said from behind them. The two teens partially recognized the voice and turned around, but weren't expecting to see who they did.

Glynda.

Zuka couldn't believe it. "You're our teammate?"

"I am, I hope there isn't a problem with that,"

The sparkle mage shook her head. "Not at all, I'm just surprised we have a vice-captain with us, that'll definitely give us an edge,"

"Did you leave Jack to look over the squad by himself?" the solar mage asked.

Glynda nodded. "I did, but he'll be fine, he is a captain after all. In all honesty, I didn't think I'd be selected, my initial idea was to come and provide moral support for my squadmates that were participating,"

Noelle, from where she was standing, looked up and saw her name. "I'm working with Yuno and some other guy,"

The wind mage came to her side. "Make sure you pull your own weight,"

"I can say the same to you,"

In another spot, Oxanna jumped in the air. "What luck Dante, you're on a team with Erika and me. Team N will come out victorious,"

"What, I'm not in it, no fair," Letoile sulked.

"Don't worry, I got selected, so I'll win for the both of us," Klaus said in hopes to lift her spirit. "I'm working with Luck though, as long as he doesn't go too off the rails, everything should be fine. What about you, Asta, Mimosa, are you in?"

The magicless and plant mages looked ecstatic. "Not only are we in, but we're on the same team," Mimosa replied with a smile, her cheeks a bit rosy.

"We're going to take you all down!" Asta exclaimed. "And our other teammate is someone named Xerx,"

That name caught Klaus' attention. "Xerx? Xerx Lugner?"

"You know him?" Mimosa asked.

"I know of him. He's the vice-captain of the Purple Orcas, known as the 'Saint of Pure Ice'. Most of his missions take place around the edge of Clover, as such, only Gueldre Poizot and a select few have actually seen his face. Such a mysterious figure with a fighting style not many have seen will be a perfect teammate," the steel mage explained.

Asta was pumped by what he was told. "Great, I can't wait to meet him,"

Julius pumped a fist into the air. "For those who are participating, I hope you've gotten a chance to meet your teammates. Now before the rules are explained, let's-," the time mage was declaring, but stopped at the sound of something.

In fact, everyone was confused by the sound, which was loud enough to get their attention. Eventually, one knight in the crowd asked a question the rest all had wanted to know as well. "Is somebody…whistling?"

Once the question was asked, the whistling grew louder, but its origin became focused, making everyone look up at the sky, their gazes quickly finding the target: it was the red-haired man from earlier, he held something by his mouth, most likely a magic item to amplify sound.

Whispers erupted immediately. "Who is that guy?"

"I don't know, but check it. He's wearing a Purple Orcas robe, that means he's a magic knight,"

Strangely enough, when Julius looked at him, a smile came to his face, but he composed himself before opening his mouth. "Greetings, and who might you be?!"

The man stopped whistling and made eye contact with the Wizard King. "Oh, my apologies, I haven't introduced myself…I'm Xerx Lugner,"

"What, that's Xerx Lugner," Mimosa said in shock. "I…wasn't expecting him to look like that,"

"True, I was expecting a more regal appearance," Klaus added.

Xerx jumped down onto the balcony and slung his arm around Julius. "Sorry I'm late, kingy, there was an old lady that needed my assistance, so I had to give her a hand. Think I can get a pardon?" he said very casually.

That tone enraged some knights present. "How dare you speak to the Wizard King in such a manner?!"

"Um, of course you can get a pardon, I can't fault you for helping someone in need despite the consequences, in fact, it reminds me of someone I knew, he used to be a part of your squad," Julius replied.

"I bet he was a great man," Xerx mumbled as he removed himself from Julius' person and motioned for the balcony's edge, but at the corner of his eye, saw an attack coming his way, it was Sylvester, sword in hand.

The red-haired man jumped down, evading the strike as Sylvester stood at the edge himself. "I've got my doubts about you, Xerx, no vice-captain would act like that with Julius. Lunar Magic: Crescent-,"

"Wait, Sylvester!" Julius called. "Don't worry, Xerx is who he says he is, trust me,"

The lunar mage sighed, dissipating his armaments. "Alright, if you say so,"

A devilish grin formed on Xerx's features. "No hard feelings, sword guy!"

"Hey, Xerx!" Asta yelled, running over to him.

"What is it, pipsqueak?" he asked.

"Who are you calling a pipsqueak?!" the swordsman exclaimed in comedic anger, but calmed down. "Anyways, that may have been a weird entrance, but I won't judge, I bet you're a nice guy. I'm Asta, we're on the same team, Team B,"

"Same team, aye? Accept a token of camaraderie," Xerx returned, flicking a bug onto Asta's face before it emitted a gas.

Asta took one whiff before his face scrunched up in disgust. "Good shit, what is that smell?!"

"A Rainbow Stink Bug," was the answer.

Julius continued on with his words. "Now that's been handled, we can go on, and for that, it's time for a change of scenery. Cobb,"

At his request, another man walked into view, a slightly shorter man with messy brown hair, he clover-saluted. "Rightio your majesty, one portal coming up," he extended a hand, forming a large gate that opened to reveal a portal. "Head in folks,"

The multitude of knights entered the portal and came out the other side, finding themselves on a colossal platform overlooking a huge area with differing environments

"This place looks amazing," Kenos mentally commented.

"This is where the exam will take place, and now to explain the rules," Julius said, walking over to a large oval crystal. "This is the most integral component. Two teams will face off against each other at a time, and each team will have one of these crystals, the teams will be free to hide, protect, or fortify their crystals, they've also been made to be affected by recovery magic. To win, a team must destroy the crystal of their opponent, and to count as destroyed, the crystal's structure must be eliminated, but telling so will be easy since the crystal will float as long as its intact, it'll only fall when it's destroyed,"

"Dang, that sounds like a lot, but the concept sounds simple enough," Glynda noted. "Just destroy before you're destroyed,"

"The 16 teams will fight in 8 matches for the first round, those who win will move on, and this will continue until one team is victorious," Julius kept going. "The team that wins will be guaranteed a spot on the Royal Knights, as for the rest, if your performance during the exam is good enough, you'll be added as well,"

"That means that even if your team loses, it isn't over," Sylvester added.

"Let's begin with the first match, and it will be between Team A and Team B!" the wizard king declared.

Mimosa gasped. "What, we're up already?"

Xerx held his chin. "Are the matches going in alphabetical order?"

Asta clenched his fist and gave a determined smirk. "It doesn't matter what order we go in, or who our opponents are, victory will be ours!"

Author's Note

Teiko Kyo was an OC given to me by I mean come on.