'My magic is restrained' Yuno thought to himself while struggling against the chains
The man in front of him watched the struggle and simply laughed
"Sorry kid, my name is Revchi and I'm a former magic knight under the purple orca squad so you really don't have a chance here" he boasted with a smirk
"I can't understand your obsession with my grimoire, only the person chosen by it may use it"
"Ah ah ah, first off that was rude. If I introduce myself you should do the same, and second who said anything about using it? You wouldn't believe how much an asshole noble would pay for this, honestly I wouldn't steal it otherwise but as they say, the market dictates"
Yuno caught a glimpse of movement in his peripheral, and knowing what it was he decided to play for time
"my name is Yuno jackass, and you are a seriously unmitigated asshole" unleashing a tangent of creative slurs at Revchi had the man impressed with his dictation ability
But just as he was scratching his chin and thinking of a witty comeback, he was pushed forward by something hitting him from behind
Having been a magic knight, even this surprise attack wouldn't be enough to break his spell on Yuno but upon digging his face from the dirt, the brat was somehow free and that left him trapped him between Yuno and the newcomer
"What the shit! I made sure there was no one patrolling" Assuming it was another capable magic user he turned around just to see another kid
"Give that grimoire back to Yuno shithead" Asta stated with an intense look in his eyes
'That look is incredibly unsettling' Revchi thought with a shiver, but even two against one these kids didn't stand a chance at beating him
Yuno took the opportunity of an open back, and pushed out both his hands causing a large wind blast to rush at the thief
Responding to the threat, Revchi used two chains from his hands to swing out of the path of the blast while it faded to a calm breeze by the time it hit Asta
'He just programmed his wind magic to disperse after reaching my location so it didn't hit his comrade, that sort of thing should be impossible for anyone short of a magic knight' Revchi thought in surprise
"Fancy move, but if you think a little pizzaz is going to take me down, think again" regaining his footing he readied his next spell
"Steel Chain Magic, Chainmail Prison!" Chains burst from the ground causing both to start dodging
Yuno moved calmly, using as little effort as possible to dodge the trap spell but knew he couldn't keep this up forever
Taking a glance in Asta's direction, he was moving like a wild animal. Somehow predicting the movements of the chains and then sporadically throwing his body in a different direction
That glance cost him, as a well hidden chain tripped him. Losing his footing, and causing him to be trapped once again
"Shit!" He complained, causing Asta to get out of his flow state and wind up trapped as well
'It wasn't just that the chains were overwhelming, we just had no chance to counter attack' Yuno thought and noticed a black substance rising from Asta's skin setting him free
"Compress, and release!" Asta yelled while holding one of his arms out like a gun
A burst of Anti magic shot from his hand and enveloped Yuno, setting him free just like before
Both now free, but heavily breathing with exertion turned to look toward their opponent
'So this kid can wipe my spells eh? That must be why I sensed he had no magic. Well it doesn't matter, both look exausted anyways and now that I think of it...' Revchi suddenly turned tail and started running
Even if the kid with the black magic was exhausted it was just too big of an unknown to risk a head on fight, especially when he didn't have to since he already had what he was after
Yuno and Asta immediately set after him but realized quickly they wouldn't be able to catch up, dodging those chains had already tested their physical limits
"You fucking coward!" Asta yelled keeping his eyes on the target
Yuno being the less physically inclined one quickly started to fall behind, but he supplemented his running with wind magic as a way to give him a boost but it just barely let him keep up
"SHUT UP LEGS AND DO WHAT I TELL YOU!" Asta yelled louder this time but his body had been used beyond its limits and all he could do was keep up with Revchi
"WHAT KIND OF MAGIC KNIGHT RUNS AWAY!" Revchi started to pull ahead and the frustration really started to pour onto Asta and Yuno
The feeling of hopelessness, after all that training and dreaming of getting their grimoires it looked like it would end up with neither getting one
That internal darkness quickly grew until it finally became too much to bear
Without a Grimoire they would be at an even further disadvantage to becoming the Wizard King, and while setbacks are a part of life having your future literally run away from you was too much
Responding to the negativity, a book that had been lost to time twitched before suddenly disappearing
In front of Asta and Yuno a dark flash of red drew their attention to the book now floating beside Asta, his very own Grimoire!
With no time to celebrate he quickly selected a spell and pulled a massive sword from the Grimoire that he could only barely carry
'I've only got one shot at this' he instinctively knew that he was rapidly approaching complete exhaustion
"Anti-magic, Final Slash!" Asta slashed the massive black sword and a half moon of black magic energy came flying from it
Glancing back to check if they were still following him, Revchi was instead met with a wall of black. And all he knew then was darkness
They quickly took Yuno's grimoire back and tied the man up with his clothes so he wouldn't try anything funny
Dragging the man back to the building to be detained, they finally had a moment to celebrate
"With this grimoire, I will become with wizard king!" Asta said in a nasally voice while holding up one of his fingers
Yuno just glanced over and sighed, it was going to be a long walk back but he kept a secret smile
'No rival of mine wouldn't have a Grimoire'
After Revchi had been delivered to the proper authorities, Asta and Yuno were walking back to the village as the sun went down
"You know what Asta, I really do owe you one. But just know, I'll be the one to save you next time" Yuno said honestly thankful for the lengths his friend went to help
"Don't worry about it Yuno, after all you wouldn't be very good competition without that shiny grimoire" Asta returned with a smile
In six months the Magic Knights exam would begin, so they both had that long to hone their skills and pass with flying colours
But that experience with Revchi had taught them both a lesson about how far they would need to go in order to become Magic Knights, let alone the wizard king
As the sun slowly sets, the eye of the tiger starts to play