I do not own Black Clover or any of the characters.
Trial by Combat
Dane narrowed his eyes as he stood across from his opponent. His and Asta's introduction to the other Black Bulls had been hectic, to say the least. They'd walked in on a fight between two of them, Magna Swing, who had a fire magic consisting of fireballs and a flaming bat, and Luck Voltia, who could generate and manipulate lightning. As they fought, a behemoth of a man named Grey sat off to the side, sighing out grey smoke and doing nothing else, a man named Gauche sat off to the side professing his love about his sister, though Dane wasn't sure if it crossed the line fully into incest or just danced along the border of it, a small girl named Charmy stuffed as much food as she could into her mouth happily, and a gorgeous woman named Vanessa Enoteca was just waking up on the couch in only her red bra and panties, evidently having no memory of where she'd been. However, once the captain had gotten everyone's attention, it had been decided that Magna would test Asta and haze him into the Black Bulls. Meanwhile, Dane was to be hazed into the Black Bulls by Luck, who was obsessed with fighting. While Asta's trial had started with a list of meaningless physical exercises and tasks that he was still doing, no amount of repetitions being less than five thousand, Luck's was more simple. Give him a good fight.
"I'll do you a favor and only use my magic for boots and gloves," Luck promised. "No point in making things too easy for me. Oh, but you can go ahead and go all out."
"I'd be careful what you wish for, if I were you," Dane said. "I'm not like Asta. I've used my magic in combat for years even before getting my Grimoire. In fact, I've never even opened my Grimoire."
"What!?" Luck gaped. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Dane nodded. "Grimoires are just spells books, but my magic responds to my will to do anything I want. What's the point of using it to replicate spells? It's a part of me, not someone else. If I hadn't needed a Grimoire to take the exam, I wouldn't have even bothered."
Luck shook his head, then grinned as lightning formed around his feet and shins as boots. "This is gonna be fun."
Dane huffed, kneeling and placing his hands on the ground. "Ready when you are."
"Go!" Luck said, instantly streaking to the side.
However, as he did, the ground before him erupted, debris flying up to greet him just as a wall shot out of the ground on the far side as Luck was shielding his face. Then, Luck spun, slamming a kick into the wall and shattering it. He kicked off the ground, exploding toward Dane directly, but Dane ripped an arm upward, the ground flowing upward from him. However, as it did, it changed, turning a pale, opaque white and reflecting the light of the setting sun, and when Luck's kick struck it, it cracked, but rebounded the force of Luck's strike, causing his lightning boot to burst apart as he was hurled away. He flipped, landing on his feet, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Diamond!?" Luck gaped.
"My magic allows me to manipulate whatever I make physical contact with on a molecular level," Dane explained. "I can form virtually anything from the ground, most places."
Luck grinned widely, reforming his boot, and took off. "This is gonna be fun!"
Luck circled Dane rapidly, but Dane made no move to try and change his location. Finally, Luck shot inward, only for Dane to form a wall of stone spikes. Luck changed direction at the drop of a hat, circling them, only to then snap a kick up as a cluster of stone pillars shot up at him like battering rams. His kick smashed them and knocked him away from them, but as he landed, the end of a bo staff connected with his jaw, sending him stumbling away. His boots vanished, replaced by clawed gauntlets reaching up to his elbows, as Dane swiped a hand along the stone staff, transforming it into a metal one. Dane began to spin and twirl the staff, striking out at Luck rapidly, only for Luck to use his gauntlets both to defend and counter, Dane evading or deflecting the strikes rapidly. Then, just as Luck lunged into a slash, Dane's rear foot shifted and a stone pillar exploded into his gut, hurling him into the air. Luck groaned, his gauntlets fading, and Dane hurled the bo staff like a javelin, catching Luck in the side. He crashed to the ground, bouncing and rolling for a few feet before flipping to his feet and right hand. Except, just as he did, he sank up to the hips and elbow in the ground before it solidified around him, trapping him. Dane, who had a hand on the ground, smirked, twisting sharply, and a flood of massive, square beams of stone erupted from the ground around him, all of them tipped with a stone fist.
Luck swore harshly, forming his left gauntlet and smashed the ground around him, then formed his boots, exploding out of the way. However, as he did, a fist curved around from the side, exploding into his crossed arms and sending him crashing to the ground again. He flipped, landing on his feet and narrowed his eyes, then exploded forward again. Dane sent a wave of stone spikes flying at Luck, and he formed his gauntlets, exploding through them and swiping at Dane, only for him to spin out of the way, suddenly wearing a pair of diamond gauntlets tipped in claws, similar to Luck's own lightning ones. He slashed at Luck's back, but Luck ducked under it, then lunged. They began to trade blows rapidly, Dane's diamond gauntlets allowing him to block and deflect Luck's own safely as they traded strikes. However, after a few moments, Luck spun around Dane and slammed a devastating punch into his back, sending him crashing along the ground. He sighed, letting his gauntlets fade and dusting his hands off, only to dive to the side away from a stone fist.
"What?" Luck gaped, staring at Dane as he tore the ruined remains of his shirt off and cast it aside, revealing the diamond his skin had become.
"How arrogant," Dane said coldly, directing a glare at Luck. "I warned you that I could change anything I make contact with at will, and I warned you that I'm not some inexperienced newbie. But no. The great, Fifth Class Junior Magic Knight thought he could knock out anyone with a single punch. You disgusting filth."
"Not bad," Luck smiled, then narrowed his eyes as Dane stalked toward him. "You're all done messing around, huh?"
Dane stomped, and the ground before him burst apart, a dozen steel spears spraying at Luck. Luck swore, diving aside, only to roll to his feet and immediately lean back out of the way of a large blade. He slammed a palm into it, the lightning of his gauntlet blasting the blade apart, but before he could do anything else, a stone fist erupted from the ground, crashing into his face and launching him into the air. However, before he could worry, a massive, stone dragon exploded down into him from above, plummeting fast. At the last second, Luck slammed a punch into it, blasting a part of the head into rubble and rolled, getting free just before it exploded to the ground, his lightning boots allowing him to catch himself. Except, just as he did, Dane reached him, hurled by a stone pillar, and drilled a stone-encased punch into his chest, blasting him back to the ground. Luck launched himself to the side, evading Dane's falling strike, only for the ground to explode apart, massive stone spikes bristling from it. Luck swung a kick, shattering the spikes aimed at him, then exploded forward. Dane swiped a hand along the ground, forming a trail of stone into a shield to block Luck's punch just as his other hand swiped along the ground, coming away with a stone gauntlet that he met Luck's own follow-up punch with after Luck's initial strike met the stone shield. Luck's strike blasted through Dane's, hurling him backward, but as Dane struck the ground, a flood of stone fists forced Luck to break off his pursuit.
Luck landed off to the side, only for his eyes to widen as he saw that Dane was gone. Then, he spun as the ground behind him came alive, rolling like the sea before Dane burst out of it, a hundred meters of ground behind him following as a cloud of constantly shifting stone, Dane's palm resting firmly against it with a tendril of the liquid stone wrapped around his forearm to keep it that way. Luck's eyes widened, and Dane swung his arm, sending a massive fist of stone exploding to the ground.
Luck managed to avoid it, but just as he began to stand, Dane caught him by the face, his gaze carrying nothing but disgust and bloodlust, only to instantly go rigid. Then, he staggered backward, shaking his head before clutching at it, dropping to his knees. Luck blinked in surprise, then looked over at the massive mountain of debris and crater the last strike had formed.
"I'm sorry," Dane said. "I got a little...serious for a moment there."
Luck shook his head. "You've got some awesome power. That was fun. But...what happened? Why'd you stop?"
"So that you wouldn't kill each other," Yami said, walking over and holding out a Black Bull mantle to Dane. "You've got murderous impulses."
"Yeah," Dane said. "All the time."
"Luck, head back," Yami said. "I want to talk to him for a bit."
"Sure thing, captain," Luck nodded, heading back to the huge, misshapen building the Black Bulls lived in.
"You're Anna's son," Yami said knowingly.
"Yeah," Dane nodded.
Yami nodded. "That explains it. You inherit her magic, too?"
Dane hesitated, then nodded, raising a hand. To his left, glowing, teal mana spiraled into existence, forming into a wolf made of pale flames. Yami nodded, reaching out and scratching the wolf's head.
"What did she tell you?" Yami asked.
"That she was kicked out because she was using her magic to summon violent and malevolent spirits," Dane said.
"Not quite," Yami said. "She summoned a Spirit too powerful for her to control. When her magic went out of control, it slaughtered everyone around, fucked up my squad, and eventually I had to kill it. But by that time, the damage was done and I had to kick her out. The incident was covered up, but...What'd she do to you to give you your murderous tendencies?"
"She didn't," Dane said. "She was a loving mother, for all five years of my life she was alive. When my magic manifested, I accidentally turned my mother into a stain on the wall, and my father into a tree. I couldn't understand what had happened, at first, and I was a scared little kid. But the adults in the village where I lived knew, and they had no problem beating me for it. They almost killed me, but then my spirits used my magic as a medium to manifest themselves, saving me. Eventually, through trial and error, I managed to learn to control my magic. Both types. But I was a monster to the village, so they only wanted something to do with me when they were beating me. One day, I was out hunting when several bandits found me. No one ever bothered with my town, which included protection, so bandits frequented the town. This time, they tried to kill me, but I defended myself with my magic, and as a result, I slaughtered them all, and I used it on three directly. And I learned two things that day. Firstly, was that killing comes easily to me, and that my magic makes it easy. And the second thing is that I enjoy it. Killing people, especially by transfiguring them, makes me feel powerful. I hate it. I'm not afraid to kill for defense, but I try not to. And I struggle with the impulse when it's not necessary. Like a moment ago when I almost transfigured Luck."
Yami nodded. "If you're going to stay, I've got several rules. Firstly, you seriously injure anyone, you're out. You kill anyone, you die. And if you use your spirits for combat like your mom, and you make the same mistake as her, I'll kill you."
Dane nodded. "That's fair. I'll follow the rules."
Yami nodded and turned, walking away from him. Dane took a few moments to finish wrestling his impulses under control before releasing his spirit, making it vanish, and headed back to the house to meet the others.
Dane frowned as he finished folding the laundry, save for Vanessa's undergarments. He had run out of clothes pins, but he had a feeling just draping them over the clothes line wouldn't work, since her panties would probably fall off, and the bra would get tangled in the wind. After a moment, he shrugged, holding out a hand and summoning his flaming wolf. Its flames weren't hot enough to hurt anyone, but they were still warm, and it should be enough to dry her clothes. So, he knelt down and draped the garments over its back, scratching behind its ear as thanks for letting him misuse its summoning.
"What'd you have to alter to make that?" Vanessa asked, walking over with an open wine bottle in her hand.
"I didn't," Dane said. "I inherited him and a couple other spirits from my mother."
"You have two types of magic?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah," Dane nodded. "But I don't like to use them in battle, since they were my only friends growing up."
"Aw, I'm sorry," Vanessa said, wrapping her arms around him from behind, pressing his head into her breasts through her bra. "I could be your friend if you like. And you're pretty strong, too. I kinda like you."
"I'm eighteen," Dane said flatly.
"And?" Vanessa asked.
"You're, what, twenty five?" Dane asked.
"So?" Vanessa asked.
"Nothing," Dane said. "I was just making sure you understood that I'm more than a couple years younger than you."
"That's alright," Vanessa purred. "You're really attractive, you're strong, and you're dark and mysterious. I like it. Are you saying you want me to leave you alone? Don't tell me you're secretly in love with a nun back home like Asta is."
"Oh, no," Dane said. "There are no nuns back home. They all moved away when I gained my magic. No, feel free to keep trying." He stepped away, throwing a smirk back at her. "But I'm not going to be quite as easy as the rest of your one night stands. I'm going to make you work for it."
Vanessa's eyes widened slightly before she grinned predatorily. "Who taught you to play?"
Dane stopped, his smile dropping for a moment. "I tried to leave home once. Three years ago, after I got my Grimoire, I left. I thought I could be a Magic Knight right off the bat, so I headed for the city. But I didn't even make it here. I stopped in a little, seedy town where I lost what little money I had managed to...acquire. More specifically, it was stolen from me by a pickpocket. I tried to find an inn that would let me wash dishes or something in exchange for a room, but nowhere wanted anything to do with the dirty, broke little street urchin. At least, not until I nearly killed a drunk who was beating a prostitute. As thanks for saving her, she and the other girls working at the whorehouse took me in and gave me a room for a while and I worked as security in exchange. I spent about a year and a half living there, and during that time, they taught me how to talk to women, as well as eventually teaching me a few other things to do with women. But eventually, I left. I couldn't bear to be around people who seemed to care. I wasn't used to it. It...scared me. It'll probably happen here too, if I'm honest."
"You've had a rough life, huh?" Vanessa asked.
"Well, so far, the only people who haven't beaten me or hated me have been prostitutes," Dane said. "So yeah, I'd say that's fair."
Vanessa nodded, then set a hand on his shoulder. "So, what are we thinking? Next week? I can get you drunk first, if you want."
Dane glared at her, only to see her carefree grin countered by the sympathetic, caring look in her eyes. He sighed. "Drunk, yes. Fuck, we'll see."
Vanessa's grin grew and she nodded, passing him the bottle and linking her arm through his. "Come on. You're hanging out with me today."
Dane smiled, nodding, and allowed her to steer him into the house, his spirit following with her underwear.
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