Chapter Thirty-Two: Song and Dance by the Sea
Hey there readers, hope you've been staying safe, just wanted to announce that I'm doing another week-long update this week, but this time, it's only from Monday to Friday, meaning you'll only get 5 new chapters this week, I only do 7 on special occasions since the last one was done to celebrate the New Year. With that out of the way, please enjoy this string of chapters. Cya.
"It's finally time, are you ready, everyone?" Yami asked as he turned around to look at his squad members.
The day had come, the Black Bulls were heading to Raquey for their secret special mission to the Underwater Temple. They had all walked outside, ready to leave.
"Yes!" they replied.
"You all have your stuff?" the dark mage asked.
The others nodded, each of them had a bag in which they carried their swimsuits as well as anything else they might need for the trip.
"And do you all have your brooms ready, I know some of you can't use one?" he asked again.
"Yes," replied the ones who had brooms, signifying so by raising it into the air.
"I'm riding with Kenos," Asta called.
"I'm riding with Vanessa," Noelle added.
"And I'm riding with Magna," Grey finished, ironically transforming into the flame mage.
Charmy looked at them and playfully shook her head. "You people and your brooms," her grimoire came up to her. "Cotton Magic: Cloud of Wool,"
Yami looked at her as she jumped onto her spell of transport. "Yeah, I know what you mean, I'd rather use my wheels, but apparently, he's only heard of Raquey, not actually went there," he sent an intimidating glare in Finral's direction.
The spatial mage gulped. "W-Well, what are we waiting for, let's get moving," he croaked as they all mounted their brooms and soared into the sky.
Kenos flew his broom over to Finral. "Hey Finral, where's Gordon, isn't he coming with us?"
The spatial mage shook his head. "No, Gordon isn't fond of the open sea, I remember one time he wrote that it made him feel nauseous or something, so he just decided to stay back," he replied.
Yami, who was in front of them, was listening in and decided to join the conversation. "Don't worry though, as the only available Black Bull until we all get back, any problems that arrive, or any missions that another squad can't do and will then come to us will have to be handled by Gordon,"
The solar mage gave a look of surprise. "Really, are you sure that's a good idea, have any of you ever seen Gordon fight before, because I know that I haven't?"
"You don't need to be concerned, Gordon might not look like it, but he's a 1st Class Junior Magic Knight, I don't let people into my squad who don't have the potential to be great in one way or another," Yami said with a tone of seriousness around the last part. "Despite what others may say about us, I believe in every single one of you,"
Finral and Kenos looked at their captain in shock, they had never heard him praise them like that before, the dark mage felt their stares as his facial expression turned into an aloof one.
"Well, that was a nice talk, I'm heading back upfront," he said as he flew forward.
For the rest of the way there, the members of the Black Bulls either began chatting with people closest to them, while others, like Yami and Gauche, remained silent and thought to themselves, after about what seemed like an hour of flying, they looked down to see a glorious patch of blue and beige.
"Okay, we're here, let's land!" Kenos called, everyone heard and began flying downwards, once they landed, they looked in admiration of the sheer beauty in front of them. The sun shone over the large and seemingly endless patch of sand as well as the vast blue ocean, making them both glisten, but what they noticed the most was the large amounts of people around, all with smiles on their faces.
Asta was speechless for once, it took a few seconds for him to find his voice. "Wow, so this is a beach...it's beautiful!" he said silently, before exclaiming the last part.
"Agreed, so what are we waiting for, let's get changed into our swimsuits and enjoy this!" Vanessa exclaimed with a fist pumped into the air.
"Alright!" some of them exclaimed happily, although all of them pumped their fists up.
Everybody but Captain Yami had gone to the dressing rooms to change into their swimsuits, once they came out, they looked forward, beyond excited for the fun that they would soon have.
"Hey, where's Noelle and Kenos?" Asta asked.
"Noelle's still changing, she said she'd be out in a few more minutes, as for Kenos, I don't know," Vanessa replied.
"Okay then," he said back. "I wonder, what is there to do at a beach anyways?"
"A great question my friend,"
The sound of a familiar voice caused them all to turn around and see the solar mage, he wore orange shorts, a white shirt with an image of the sun right in the center, and black shades with an orange outline, a confident grin was found on his face as he approached them.
"Nice shade game, but…," Magna began, noticing a large difference between the solar mage and the rest of the males present. "Why are you wearing a shirt, are you insecure about your body or something?"
The confident look on Kenos' face was quickly replaced by an angry one. "What, no!" he exclaimed before quickly composing himself and pushing up his shades. "It's just that there's a time and place to show your bare chest, and the beach isn't one of them, if anything, I should be the one asking questions," he looked over at the flame mage and noticed that he wasn't wearing shorts, merely a strong rope tied around his waist with a white cloth covering his unmentionables.
"What the hell is that?" Kenos asked with a deadpan expression.
"This is a swimsuit for a real man!" Magna replied exuberantly.
Kenos was not convinced, and his face showed it. "Sure it is," he commented before turning to the sea, his left palm open as he extended the arm triumphantly.
"And to answer your question Asta, there are many things to do at a beach, you could go for a swim, or perhaps take a leisurely stroll by the shore, you can have barbeques, parties, play sports, partake in activities like making a sandcastle, or meet new people, the possibilities are nearly endless!" he finished with a triumphant exclamation.
The others sweatdropped at their squadmate's rather enthusiastic remark about the beach and all the things you could do. "Um, thanks, you must really like the beach, don't you Kenos?" Asta asked.
The solar mage nodded. "You bet, I used to come here all the time with my family when I was little, before…," his happy expression fell a bit. "...Things changed between us,"
"Oh," the swordsman said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything,"
Kenos shook his head before a small smile was present. "Don't worry about it, no matter what might be going on between me and my family, it will never dull my love of the beach," he said. "So what are we waiting for, let's go have some fun!"
"Yeah!" they all cheered.
"I think you forgot to mention something to do at the beach, Kenos, flirting with the nearly endless amounts of ladies here, all in their swimsuits, hell yeah!" Finral exclaimed with starry eyes as he ran in a direction.
"Hey Magna, wanna chase me around?" Luck asked.
"No, we practically do that all the time back at the hideout," Magna replied as a grin crossed his face. "I know, why don't we send attacks at each other and see who can still stand?"
"Ooh, that sounds like fun, bet I'll last longer than you," Luck said.
"As if, victory will be mine!" the flame mage exclaimed as they both ran to an isolated spot.
"I know what I'm going to do," Gauche said as he summoned a mirror. "I'm going to call my beloved angel, Mirror Exchange Magic: Reflect Transmission,"
Marie appeared on the other side of the mirror. "Hi Gauche, are you at the beach?"
"That's right, I wish you could be here," the mirror mage said.
"Hey Marie, are you talking to someone?" a voice asked from Marie's side, the person then stuck their head into the mirror's view, it was none other than Marco Scarlet. "Oh, it's your brother, hi there Gauche,"
"Marco, you and the old hag better be keeping Marie safe, or else I'm going to-," Gauche began before being met with a stern look by his sister.
"Gauche," she said with crossed arms.
"Right, never mind, now behold, before I called you, I crafted this," Gauche said as he turned his mirror, letting the two kids see a sculpture in Marie's likeness. "I made a sand sculpture of you,"
"Wow, it looks so detailed," Marco commented.
"Of course it is, I would never show it to Marie if I didn't think it was perfect," Gauche said. "So Marie, do you like it?"
"I love it! But is Asta or Kenos around, I want to say hi," Marie replied before asking.
"Me too," Marco added.
"Um, no, I don't know where they went, I'll see you later, gotta go," Gauche replied before the transmission ended, his eyebrow then twitched violently. "So, she wants to see Asta and Kenos instead of only talking to me, once I see them, they're dead," he said before he stopped, thought about it, and sighed. "You know what, never mind, Marie wouldn't like it if I did so, besides, I still owe them, well, back to sculpting, time to make one of me,"
"If we're at the beach, then I know the perfect thing to do," Charmy said as she pulled out a watermelon from seemingly nowhere. "Play the watermelon smashing game!"
"Hey there, mind if I join you?" Grey asked as he transformed into Charmy and walked over to the cotton mage.
"Why of course, but who's going to guide us if we're both blindfolded?" Charmy asked.
"I can do that!" a voice called, the two turned to see Vanessa a few yards away, she was sitting on a beach chair, under an umbrella, with a cup of wine in her hand. "Come closer to me so I won't have to yell!"
"Okay," the two said as they brought the watermelon closer to the thread mage, they then took a cloth and tied it around their eyes before grabbing a club.
"Alright then, Charmy, you take a left, Grey, you take a right," Vanessa instructed, but she had gotten the two confused, causing them to walk in the wrong direction, further away from the watermelon.
"Oops, I mixed them up, I should tell them...or, maybe I shouldn't," she thought with a mischievous grin. "You two are doing great,"
"How close are we?" Charmy asked.
"Pretty close, both of you make a left and walk forward, then you'll be right in front of it," Vanessa instructed, doing her very best to not laugh.
The two did what she said, but felt around and concluded the large fruit wasn't around, Grey turned to where he thought Vanessa was. "Hey, I don't think the watermelon is here,"
"Oh, my bad, both of you turn around and keep walking, when you're close enough, I'll tell you to take a left," Vanessa replied.
Charmy and Grey did what she said, but the two of them internally groaned. "She's totally playing us," they thought.
"Ah, now this is relaxing," Kenos said with a sigh of relaxation as he laid down on the sand under the sun.
"Hey there, is this where you went?" a voice asked, the solar mage moved up his shades, seeing Asta in front of him.
"Yup, need something?" Kenos asked as he put his shades back down, crossing his arms above his head.
"No, just wanted to know where you were, I'm a bit confused on what to do, mind if I join you?" the swordsman replied before asking.
"Sure, lay down," Kenos replied as Asta did so.
Asta shielded his eyes from the sun and turned his head to his squadmate. "So, do you like to just lay down here?"
"I do, I enjoy just lying here, feeling the warmth of the sand on my back and the warmth of the sun on my chest, it gives me this feeling of peace to think to myself, if I was able to, I could stay like this for hours," Kenos replied with a simple and relaxed tone.
Asta nodded, he too liked the feeling of the sand on his back, he had never felt anything like it in his life. "Wow, this does feel nice, I never knew the beach could be this extraordinary,"
"I know, say, after we're done here, wanna go for a swim?" Kenos asked.
"I'm going to have to pass, I actually don't know how to swim, I never really had a chance to," Asta replied. "Could you teach me?"
"I could try, I'm not the best teacher, Ves taught me how to swim when I first came here, but his instructions were pretty vague, I just learned it pretty fast," Kenos replied.
"Don't worry, I'm a fast learner too, I did learn Ki pretty fast," the magicless mage said.
The solar mage nodded. "True, and that reminds me, I still have to learn Ki, after I teach you how to swim, wanna do some practice?"
"Of course, I look forward to it,"
But unbeknownst to the two, just a small amount of feet away, Noelle stood there, hiding behind a tree, in her swimsuit, looking at Asta and Kenos, more specifically, the former.
"C'mon Noelle, just walk up and ask him what he thinks, wait a minute, I don't want him to see me, this is just to prove that I'm better than Rebecca, she thinks she's won just because she kissed him," the water mage thought nervously as she slowly approached the two, but then, she stopped. "No, I can't, it's too embarrassing!"
Unfortunately for her, Kenos heard footsteps on the sand, he bent his head, seeing her right there. "Oh," he stated, doing a kip-up before he turned to her. "Hey there Noelle, I haven't seen you,"
"Yeah, but, why are you wearing a shirt?" she asked.
"I like wearing shirts to the beach," he explained quickly, not wanting to have a similar thing happen as it did with Magna.
"This is it, I have to say something...wait, I have an idea, I'll just find out what Asta thinks by asking them both, that way, I won't draw any suspicion," she thought. "Hey, can I ask you two something?"
"Sure,"
Noelle nervously brought her hand up to her bra. "I w-want to know your opinion...what do you t-think of my swimsuit?"
"Your swimsuit?" Kenos repeated as he scanned his squadmate, looking up and down, he shrugged. "I think it looks just fine, yellow really suits you, and those diamonds add a nice touch too,"
Asta nodded. "He's right, I like it, it looks really fancy. Is that what a bikini is, it looks great on you,"
Noelle lightly blushed. "W-Well of course I do, I am royalty after all," she said as she regained her composure and flicked her ponytail.
Kenos raised a brow. "If she was sure that she looked good, why did she ask us for our opinion so nervously, is this a girl thing I'm just not understanding or what?" he thought.
"That wasn't a bad attack Magna, now it's my turn!" the voice of the lightning mage exclaimed, the three rookies looked to see him chasing Magna, quickly getting closer to where they were.
"You can try all you want, but there's no way I'm losing to anything you got!" Magna exclaimed as he continued running.
"Let's see if that's true!" Luck exclaimed as he fired a blast of basic blue lightning at the flame mage.
But Magna dodged them both, he laughed. "Is that all you got?!"
"Fine then, no more playing around, time I get up close and personal," Luck said with a grin as he bent down, preparing to use his magic to zoom over to this target, however, as he moved forward, his foot slipped a bit on the sand, causing his body to go lower and he raced towards Magna.
"Damn, I didn't think I'd lose my footing, now instead of racing towards Magna's chest, I'm racing towards his legs, I guess it's alright, as long as I can touch him and give him a rather electrifying gift!" he continued with a thought as he got to where he wanted in a matter of seconds.
But once more, a problem in his plan had occurred, due to the loss in proper footing before Luck's movement, when he had gotten right next to Magna, he was actually a good amount of inches away, meaning he couldn't fully touch the flame mage, however, his arm span was just long enough to pull at the rope holding up Magna's 'underwear'.
Unfortunately, the pull was strong enough to undo the knot causing the garment to drop to the ground, leaving nothing to the imagination, as boys, Kenos, Asta, and Luck saw nothing new, but that wasn't the same for Noelle, her face glowed bright red.
"What the hell!?" she exclaimed as she pulled her wand out of seemingly nowhere and blasted water right at Magna's little friend.
"Damn...it," he muttered as he held his thing with both hands as he dropped on the sand, crouching in pain.
"Sorry, it was a reflex," Noelle said.
Kenos turned to her. "It's alright, that's something a girl your age isn't used to seeing,"
Noelle's face grew even redder as she thought back to what happened with Fanzell just a few days prior, she pointed her wand at the solar mage, the red on her face not disappearing. "Kenos Rossiu, one more word and you face the same fate,"
The solar mage playfully put up his hands in a surrendering manner, his face aloof as he turned his head to the side and averted his gaze, but that aloof look quickly turned into a chuckle, then a smile.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Nothing much, it's just so hard to take that threat seriously when you have that look on your face," he replied as another chuckle escaped his mouth.
"Take this!" Noelle yelled as she fired water from her wand, but Kenos ducked, evading it completely, he laughed as the water mage chased him around, trying to get a hit in.
Asta watched them as he walked to Magna and Luck. "Now they're acting just like you two,"
Magna pulled himself up and put his garment back on. "I'll take that as a half-compliment, but now for the more important matter at hand," he said, turning to Luck, clenching a fist as fire engulfed it. "Luck, you bastard, because of you, I got my thing shot at, I'm so going to kill you!"
"Would it help if I said that it was an accident?" Luck asked, but Magna only got closer. "Okay, I'm taking that as a no, I guess it's your turn again,"
"Hey!"
The five Black Bulls stopped what they were doing and turned in the direction of the voice, it was Captain Yami, he was looking straight at them, beckoning them to come over to him.
"The captain didn't change into anything, I wonder what he's been doing this whole time?" Kenos wondered aloud as they all walked towards him. "What's the problem cap-," he was about to ask, but was stopped as his vision went black, but it only lasted a few seconds as he soon found his body buried in the sand, all the way up to his neck, with Yami in front of him.
"What the?" he muttered as he looked to his sides and saw the others, in the same situation as him, he then noticed the person right to his left, the spatial mage. "Hey there Finral, how'd the flirting go?"
Comedic tears fell down Finral's face, but he was unable to bring his hands up to dry them. "It was terrible, I didn't get a single catch!" he replied.
"Don't worry, you'll succeed one day, I know it," the solar mage said encouragingly.
"Thank you Kenos!" Finral cried.
"No problem," Kenos said back as he looked around again. "So, can anybody explain how we got into this situation?" he asked openly.
"I had you all come to me at the same time, once you all got close enough, I used my speed to bury you in the sand before you could even comprehend what was happening," Yami explained as he blew smoke from his cigarette. "Look, I don't mind you enjoying yourselves, but we can't forget why we're here,"
"We understand, sorry Captain Yami," they all said together.
"No problem, just remember, the full moon is tonight, meaning the strong magic region around the Underwater Temple will be at its weakest, that's when we'll go," Yami explained before turning to the royal girl. "Noelle, as the water mage of our squad, it'll be up to you to get us down there,"
Noelle gave him an uneasy look. "I don't know, the only spell I know is Sea Dragon's Lair, and it's immobile,"
Yami knelt down and looked at her with serious, yet soft eyes. "Then you'll just have to make a new spell, it's time for you to push past your limits, I believe you can do it,"
"Same here, I believe in you too!" Asta added.
Noelle thought about it, the uneasy look on her face was soon replaced with a look full of determination and resolve. "Okay, I'll do it,"
Yami stood up and smiled. "Good, I'll be honest with you, if that didn't work, I was just going to threaten your life," he said with a laugh.
The rest of his squad didn't join him however, as they all sweatdropped instead, Charmy spoke up. "Um, captain, can you get us out of this, I'm getting hungry,"
Yami's stomach started rumbling. "Yup, I'm starting to get hungry myself," he said as he went to each of his squad members, grabbing their heads one by one as he pulled them up from their sandy prisons, he then turned to the cotton mage. "Okay Charmy, make us some food,"
She nodded happily. "It'll be my pleasure, since we're on a beach, I'll go traditional and make some stuff for a barbeque,"
"Oh yeah!" everyone cheered.
Charmy ran over and grabbed her grimoire as it opened. "Cotton Creation Magic: Sheep Cooks!"
At her call, the culinary trained sheep appeared, all with knives in their hands, Charmy looked at them, her eyes showed comedic seriousness. "Alright, let's begin,"
"Man, that was good,"
Asta held his stomach as he gave a look of content as he and Noelle changed into their casual clothes without their robes and took a stroll by the shore, just far enough that the waves wouldn't reach them, but would let some drops touch their feet.
Noelle was silent, she then looked up into the sky, Asta noticed this and did the same, they both marveled at the beauty of the full moon above them.
"You know, it feels different here at night," Noelle said, she and the swordsman looked around, the entire beach area was empty, except for the beach house the Black Bulls rented, it greatly contrasted the packed look during the day.
"You're right, it gives me this weird new feeling," Asta agreed.
The water mage averted her gaze from Asta. "Hey...I just wanted to say thanks for agreeing to help me learn a new spell,"
Asta grinned. "No problem, I'd never say no to you or any of the other Black Bulls, you're like my family,"
Noelle smiled. "I like the sound of that," she whispered. "So, where should we train, here on the shore, or a little closer to the water?" she asked at a normal volume.
"Anywhere's fine as long as it's not close to the water," Asta replied. "I was so caught up in the awesome barbeque, I forgot to ask Kenos to teach me how to swim,"
"I see, then I suppose it's fine if we train here, let's get star-," the water mage decided, but her statement was interrupted midway as she stopped.
"Um, Noelle, is something the matter?" Asta asked with a confused look.
"Shh," she whispered before she spoke up. "Do you hear that?"
The magicless mage stopped talking and began listening, it wasn't too easy at first with the sound of the waves behind them, but eventually, he picked up on an irregular sound.
"That sound, is someone...singing?" Asta asked.
"Don't know for sure, but it sounds like it," Noelle replied as she pointed at the rocks near the water. "The sound came from there, let's check it out,"
The two Black Bulls started running towards the source of the singing, when they got closer, they slowed down their pace so as to not scare off whoever, or whatever was making that sound. They hid behind the rocks as they heard the voice get louder, the two then took a peek, but widened their eyes as they saw the source of the singing.
Standing on top of a rock was a girl, she had long and dark red hair tied in a ponytail that was decorated with seashells, she wore a sleeveless white dress, a red belt, and sandals, but what Asta and Noelle noticed last was the satchel on her left side, with her grimoire inside of it.
"She's a mage, her singing is incredible," Noelle commented as she looked at the girl, the waves crashed against the rocks multiple times, forming short-lasting walls of water behind her, it was as if the sea itself was pleased with her song.
"I know, I want to get closer," Asta said as he tried to climb the rocks.
"What are you doing Dorksta, stay down," Noelle whispered, but it was too late. As soon as the swordsman planted his feet on the rocks, he slipped on them since they were wet, dropping on them.
The girl turned around with a startled look on her face. "Who's there?" she asked aloud, but it didn't take her long to see the two teens. "Oh, people," she said in a much calmer tone as she skipped from rock to rock in their direction.
"Damn, Asta couldn't keep his feet on those rocks for a few seconds, but this girl is skipping across them like it's no big deal," Noelle thought as the girl was only a few inches from them.
"Hello there," she greeted with a look of slight curiosity.
Asta got back on his feet, ready to introduce himself, but the water mage stepped up, beating him to the punch. "Hi there, I'm Noelle Silva, and this is Dorksta, we heard someone singing and tracked it here to find you,"
"Woah Woah Woah, hold it, my name isn't Dorksta, it's Asta," the swordsman corrected.
"It might as well be Dorksta, I told you not to climb those rocks, but you didn't listen and you slipped," Noelle said back.
The girl giggled. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Noelle and Asta, my name's Kahono, I'm sort of embarrassed, I'm not used to people watching me practice my singing,"
"Practice your singing? Is that why you're here?" Asta asked.
Kahono nodded. "That's right, I love the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks at night, it's my ideal place to practice, one day, I'm going to be an idol, I'll become a great singer and take the Clover Kingdom by storm,"
"Um, what's an idol?" the two Black Bulls asked.
Kahono looked dumbfounded. "You're joking, right?" she asked, the two shook their heads. "An idol is someone who's famous for their singing or dancing, it's my dream, the thing I want to achieve most,"
Asta nodded. "I know how you feel, I have a dream too, I'm going to become the Wizard King and change this kingdom. So, what reason do you have to be an idol, Kahono?"
"I'm so glad you asked, I love to sing, but there's something I love just as much as singing...and that's money!" she replied with a cheerful exclamation.
Asta and Noelle sweatdropped. "Money?"
"That's right, I hear being an idol pays well, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to be financially stable," Kahono replied.
"I suppose," Asta and Noelle said with a deadpan expression.
"Alright then, it's your turn, what exactly are you two doing here...wait, let me guess, two people, a boy, and a girl, nobody else around...AHHHHH!" Kahono said before giving a loud, girly scream.
"What's the matter?" Noelle asked.
"I get it now, just the two of you, by yourselves, alone, at night, under the full moon, a perfect opportunity for a romantic stroll," Kahono said with a sly smile. "I apologize, my singing got in the way of your date,"
"What, it isn't like that," Asta denied rather casually, as if the girl's words didn't phase him one bit.
Noelle on the other hand, was a different story. "W-What he said, there's nothing going on between us, I'm royalty, I'd n-never go out with someone like him!" she exclaimed as her face turned bright red.
"Hey," Asta said with an offended tone. "You didn't have to say all of that,"
"My bad," she quickly apologized.
"So, that's how it is, Noelle likes Asta, but doesn't want to admit it, and Asta seemingly has no clue of her feelings, these two are interesting," Kahono thought as she jumped down from the rock. "My mistake, I guess the two of you aren't a couple, so what are you doing here?"
"We're Magic Knights, of the Black Bulls, we're here for a mission," Asta replied.
"Wow, Magic Knights, then the two of you must be powerful mages, what mission are you here for?"
"We're going to the Underwater-," Asta was about to reply before Noelle covered his mouth with her hand.
"Sorry, but we can't tell you, it's a secret mission," Noelle interjected.
"Oh c'mon, I wanna know," Kahono pouted. "I promise I won't tell anyone,"
Asta freed himself from his squadmate's grip. "We can tell her, I read her Ki, her words are genuine,"
"Fine then, we're going to the Underwater Temple," Noelle answered.
"The Underwater Temple, I've heard of that place, isn't it inside a strong magic region?" Kahono asked.
Noelle nodded. "That's right, but it'll be weak tonight because of the full moon, as the water mage of my squad, I have to get us there, but I don't have a spell to do it,"
"So that's why we're out here, to train," Asta finished.
Kahono held her chin. "Is that so? Then tell ya what, I'll give you a hand as well,"
Asta and Noelle were surprised. "You will?"
"Of course, the three of us are friends now, you seem nice enough, and besides, the full moon is tonight, meaning you only have around 8 to 9 hours to create a new spell, that's not an easy feat to pull, as such, you're going to need all the help you can get," Kahono explained.
"She's right, I say we accept her help," Asta said.
Noelle sighed. "Okay, thank you for agreeing to help us," she said with a smile.
Kahono smiled too. "No problem, I don't mind helping my friends…," she began as she extended her hand. "...For a reasonable price that is,"
"Price?!"
"Hey, what did I say about financial stability," the girl said. "Besides, you said you were royalty, so I doubt that you can't pay,"
"Fine," the water mage said as she reluctantly handed the girl a bag of money.
Kahono gratefully took the money, a smile on her face. "Pleasure doing business with you, friend,"
"Now, where did he go?"
Kenos walked out of the beach house he and the other Black Bulls were staying at, he had on his casual clothes, but had left his robe behind, he was now looking for Asta so they could do his KI training, but noticed that neither he or Noelle were present, so ventured out into the night.
"Wow, the full moon looks beautiful tonight, I don't know why, but it has a different feel here compared to when I'm at home," the solar mage said aloud to himself as he walked along the shore.
"Where did Asta go, could he really have gotten that far that I can't find him," he continued, but unbeknownst to him, he was walking in one direction, while Asta and Noelle were in the complete opposite direction.
"If I can't find him, maybe I should try doing the training by myself, that or I could just ask Captain Yami to help me, I'm sure he wouldn't-," Kenos had begun to say, but stopped as he heard something.
"What in the world, where'd that sound come from, it almost sounds like...steps," he deduced, he then listened closer before looking forward, seeing a cascade of large rocks. "And it's coming from there,"
The solar mage walked forward silently to make sure the sound of the steps didn't get lost in the sound of his own walking, once he made it to the rocks, he looked up to find the source of the sound, and his eyes widened once he saw who it belonged to.
It was a boy who didn't look any older than himself, he had long and dark blue hair, a strand of it was braided to the right side of his head and the rest was tied into the form of a kind of ponytail, he wore a sleeveless white shirt and pants with blue outlines around the edges, and by the right side of his waist was his satchel and grimoire. But what Kenos noticed most of all was the fact that this boy was dancing, his eyes closed as he changed from movement to movement all in a graceful manner.
The solar mage was mesmerized. "Incredible, this guy's such a talented dancer," he thought as he involuntarily climbed up the rocks and took a seat, wanting to see more.
The boy gracefully moved across the sand, Kenos took note of the rocks behind him, protecting him from the waves as they constantly hit it, sending short-lasting walls of water into the air, it was as if the sea itself wanted to get closer to his performance.
The boy jumped into the air just as another wave came up behind him, he then landed gracefully and put his head down, ending his dance.
Kenos smiled happily, another involuntary action occurred when he started clapping and cheering. "Alright, bravo, bravo, that was amazing!"
The boy opened his eyes in a startled manner and looked forward to see the solar mage cheering for him, a smile crossed his face.
"Man, what a performance, I wonder if he...wait a minute, am I clapping?" he thought as he looked down and saw that he was clapping, he then looked forward to see the boy looking straight at him.
"Oh crap, damn it," he muttered as he stopped clapping and looked at the boy. "Um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, or to spy on you, it was just that I was walking, then I heard steps, so I came here and I saw you dancing, I just couldn't stop watching,"
The boy walked over to him, the smile on his face not fading. "No worries, I'm actually glad to know that my dancing is that good," he said before extending his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kiato, and you are?"
Kenos took the hand as they shook. "I'm Kenos Rossiu, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kiato, where'd you learn to dance like that?"
"Where'd I learn? I guess I really taught myself, I've been dancing since I was a kid, it's my dream to become a great dancer, one who can mesmerize the hearts of every person in the entire Clover Kingdom," Kiato replied before stating passionately.
"Wow, what a great dream, wanting to put a smile on everyone's face and if you ask me, you can already do it, you were incredible," Kenos said.
"That's true, but it's not just smiles, as well as making people happy, I want to earn a ton of money," Kiato responded.
"A ton of money you say, well, I suppose that's alright, I'm a noble, I know the importance of money," Kenos said.
Kiato happily nodded. "It's nice to see that you understand, so, if I could ask, what exactly are you doing here?"
"I may not have my robe on, but I'm a Magic Knight, I came here for a mission, but it hasn't begun yet, right now, I'm trying to do some Ki training," the solar mage replied.
"Um, what's Ki?" Kiato asked.
"Oh, my bad, Ki is a technique that helps the user anticipate the movements and intentions of their opponent by taking into account their senses, breathing, body language, etcetera," Kenos explained. "I have a friend who's mastered it, but I'm still having some trouble getting the hang of it, so my friend is helping me, but I don't know where he is right now,"
"I see, this Ki has some similarities to dancing, tell ya what, why don't I help you, I can even give you some pointers of my own," Kiato decided.
"Really, that would be great," Kenos cheered.
"But first, I just want to know something quick, what's this mission you're going on?" Kiato asked curiously.
"I don't know, it's kind of a secret, and the two of us just met," Kenos challenged.
"C'mon, you can trust me, and it's a fair exchange, I help you with your Ki training, and you tell me where you're going,"
The solar mage held his chin. "I guess you have a point, but you can't tell anyone, my squad and I are going to the Underwater Temple,"
"The Underwater Temple, if I'm not mistaken, it's a place beneath this sea, isn't going there dangerous?" Kiato asked.
"Yes, but we have a water mage who could get us there," the solar mage replied.
"I see, well, let's not waste any more time and begin that training," the boy said.
"Right...oh wait, you said that you wanted to be a dancer for money as well, does that mean I should pay you as well?" Kenos asked.
Kiato shook his head. "No, we already made a deal and exchanged what we knew, besides, I may like money, but I'm nowhere near as greedy as my little sister,"
"You have a sister?"
"That's right, she's a big ball of energy, and she loves to sing, we're going to become famous together," Kiato replied. "Do you have siblings?"
Kenos nodded. "I do, a brother and a sister, I'm the youngest though,"
"Nothing wrong with being a younger sibling," Kiato said.
"You're right," Kenos said as he took his grimoire and opened it. "Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Staff!" he exclaimed as he equipped the weapon.
"Solar magic? Cool," Kiato stated as he took out his own grimoire and pulled out two short blue blades.
"Is that your magic?" Kenos asked.
"Nope, I just store physical blades in my grimoire to use alongside my magic," Kiato replied as his grimoire flipped to a page. "Dance Reinforcement Magic: Assisting Steps!" he exclaimed as a transparent blue aura surrounded him and his blades, as he raised the blades, a bubble-like stream followed it.
"Dance magic? I've never heard of that, no wonder you're such a talented dancer," Kenos noted.
"Thanks, now let's do this!" Kiato exclaimed as they ran to each other.
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Lair!" Noelle exclaimed as the water barrier appeared around her, within it, she had begun panting.
The water mage had shown Kahono her only spell about two hours ago and told her that the thing she struggled with the most was magic control, so Kahono told her that the key to making a new spell was to better her control, so to do that, she had Noelle cast her Sea Dragon's Lair multiple times, each time trying to augment the amount of mana used to cast it.
"C'mon Noelle, don't be so tense, loosen up, you won't be able to control it properly if you try too hard," Kahono advised.
"I'm...trying," Noelle said in between breaths as her spell vanished and she dropped to her knees.
Kahono walked over to her, her grimoire out. "Don't worry, I got you, Song Recovery Magic: Healing Lullaby," she said as bubbles appeared around the water mage, healing her stamina, a smile then came to her face. "That'll be another 90 yul,"
"Thanks," Noelle said as she got up, she then sighed, handing over the money. "Uh, why can't I get the hang of this, we've been doing this for over two hours,"
"You just started, don't worry about not getting it, all you need to do is keep trying and remember to not give up," Asta said while he sat on the rocks closeby, he knew there wasn't much he could do to help in this situation as he didn't have any magic, so he just decided to watch and say what he could for his squadmate.
"Thanks for the words of encouragement," Kahono said as she turned from the swordsman to the water mage. "Just keep trying to loosen up and calm yourself down,"
"I've been trying to, but it's just not working, we only have a bit over 7 hours before the sun comes up, I can't help but be a little tense,"
"Alright then, why don't you try thinking of a good memory, the best ones you've experienced in your life," Kahono advised. "When you think of good memories, you just feel more at ease, it's almost like that exciting feeling of anticipation you get when your birthday's coming up, or when a holiday is near,"
"A good memory?" Noelle repeated as she closed her eyes and began searching her mind for them, she found memories, but not good ones.
"A royal who can't control her magic, you're a disgrace to the Silva Family, get away from me," she remembered Solid say once when she was a little girl.
"What a filthy wretch, how on Earth can you be my little sister, I'm embarrassed just standing around you," she then remembered Nebra saying as an adolescent.
"A failure, that's all you are, the failure that killed our mother, the great matriarch of our family, it should've been you who died during childbirth, not her," she remembered Nozel saying to her just before she went for the Magic Knights' entrance exam.
Noelle opened her eyes, the look of sadness was obvious as she held herself and turned away from the two. "Sorry, I don't really have one of those,"
The song mage walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt that way about your past, we can try some other method to calm you down if that one won't work," she said apologetically.
"Don't worry, it's not your fault at all," Noelle said back.
"Hey, wait a minute, I think I know something you can try, but it doesn't have to do with calming yourself down," Asta suggested as he jumped from his seat and ran to them.
"And what might that be?" Kahono asked curiously.
"You need to let go of your control completely," Asta suggested. "Just like what you did when we first met,"
Noelle's eyes narrowed, she knew exactly what he meant. Two days before Kenos joined the squad, Noelle had gone into the woods to train her magic control, Asta followed her and saw her struggle, but Noelle had noticed him, embarrassed at what he might think of her, she tried to attack him, but it had backfired and she lost control, causing her water magic to form into a large sphere of water with tentacles of water, laying destruction to everything in its path.
"I don't know, it was really dangerous back then," Noelle said with a tone of uncertainty.
"Don't worry," Asta assured her as he pulled out his Demon-Slayer. "Just like last time, if anything goes wrong, I'll just use my anti-magic sword and save you,"
"It sounds foolproof to me," Kahono added.
"Alright then, but don't blame me if this doesn't work," the water mage said as he walked a good distance away from them before taking a deep breath, she put her hands in front of her, an orb of water appeared, it was small, but it got large quickly as it moved towards Noelle and trapped her inside before floating up into the air, tentacles of water began to extend out of the orb and crashed on the ocean floor.
"Wow, is that what it looks like when she lets go, it looks so powerful," Kahono stated.
"I know, but now the only question is if she can regain control from that point and create a new spell," Asta said back.
From within the water orb, Noelle looked down. "Okay, this is it, I have to regain control," she thought as she protruded her hands forward, but the attempt proved futile as nothing happened, she was beginning to panic. "Shit!"
"It's not working, Asta!" Kahono exclaimed.
"I'm on it!" Asta exclaimed back as he readied the Demon-Slayer and ran over, jumping on the rock directly under the water orb. "Don't worry, I'm coming!"
"So this is where the two of you have been, don't worry about her, kid, she'll be just fine,"
Asta smiled as he recognized the voice, but as he turned around, he saw a sight that brought an even larger smile to his face.
"I'm nowhere near done yet, come at me again, Kiato!" Kenos exclaimed between breaths, he tightened the grip on his staff as he stared at the dance mage.
Two hours had passed since the two of them began his training, Kenos had decided not to use the training method he and Asta used wherein Asta would warn him before making a move, this was done in order to get a more authentic feel to Ki. Kiato would merely try to attack and the solar mage would try to anticipate his movements while launching a counterattack, but so far, he wasn't doing too well.
But despite that, there was no way he was going to quit.
"Okay then, Dance Magic: Enchanting Pirouette!" Kiato exclaimed as he danced forward, doing a pirouette after each movement, an aura then came around him, creating afterimages as he drew closer.
"What the?" Kenos muttered as he found it hard to keep track of where the dance mage was.
"Take this!" Kiato then exclaimed as he appeared right in front of Kenos and lunged forward.
The solar mage quickly leaned backward. "Alright, I dodged his attack, although, it was only because of that fact that he exclaimed his attack, which gave me time to avoid it, still, I think my progress is getting-," he thought, but was stopped as Kiato quickly spun around him and aimed a sweep kick at his legs, sending him on the sand.
"Damn it, why do I keep losing to that move," he said as Kiato helped him up.
"You did a lot better this time, Kenos," Kiato congratulated. "I may have gave you a bit of a warning, but your reaction time was still good enough for you to do something,"
"Thanks, but not all my opponents will announce their attacks, besides, Ki isn't just about reaction time, there's more to it," Kenos said back.
"You have a point," Kiato said as he held his chin in thought. "Hey, do you mind if I give a piece of advice?"
"Sure,"
"As I already stated earlier, Ki has some similarities to dancing, so maybe to get the hang of it, you need to look at it from a dancer's perspective," Kiato said.
Kenos raised a brow. "How so?"
"Well, when I dance, the most important thing I pay attention to is my environment," Kiato replied as he extended his arms above his head. "I feel everything that's around me, the sand, the rocks, the waves of the ocean, it helps my dancing, as well as my magical prowess when I fight,"
"Interesting, so how's that supposed to help me?" the solar mage asked.
"Try to remember these words: feel what's around you, and let it make you strong,"
"Feel what's around me, and let it make me strong," Kenos repeated, he then clenched his fist, a determined look on his face. "I can do that," he said before he heard something.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked aloud as he turned around and saw something in the distance, it was a large orb of water, with tentacles coming out as they crashed on the ocean floor.
"That looks like water magic...Noelle," Kenos deduced as he started running towards it, but then he stopped. "Sorry Kiato, I got to go, thanks for your-," he said as he turned around, but to his surprise, Kiato wasn't there.
"Huh? Where'd he go, I didn't hear any footsteps, he must've used a spell to get away...I hope we can meet again someday," Kenos continued as he began running in the direction of the massive water sphere. "Solar Reinforcement Magic: Sunshine Aura!"
The orange aura appeared as his speed increased, he made it to the other side in a short three minutes. He looked up and saw Noelle inside the sphere. "What's happening?" he muttered.
"C'mon Noelle!" multiple voices exclaimed, the solar mage looked down to see the other Black Bulls by the shore, cheering her on.
Kenos caught onto what was happening. "Oh yeah, she's trying to make a new spell, I better go join the others, she needs the encouragement," he said as his aura disappeared and he walked over to the others, but they didn't notice him.
"This is it, time for you to push past your limits, Noelle!" Yami exclaimed.
"We believe in you, we know you can do it, we're here for you all the way!" Vanessa added.
"Do your best, and if you get hungry, I got a snack for you!" Charmy exclaimed this time.
"Give it all you got, make us proud, rookie!" Magna added.
Noelle heard everyone say their words of encouragement, a small smile touched her face. "Everyone, they're all here, just for me," she thought before she remembered what she and Kahono said a few minutes ago.
"Alright then, why don't you try thinking of a good memory, the best ones you've experienced in your life,"
"Sorry, I don't really have one of those,"
The water mage clenched her fist. "I was wrong, I do have good memories, with the Black Bulls, I've lived with my family for years, and despite that, I don't have a single fond memory of them, but after just a few months with this squad, I've formed some of the greatest memories in my life, ones that I'll always treasure. They believe in me, so I won't let them down!"
Her grimoire then flipped to a blank page as text became inscribed on it, a surprised look came to her face, but it was soon replaced by a large smile. "I did it, the new spell, here we go, Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Cradle!" she mentally exclaimed as the tentacles disappeared, the orb looked a lot more peaceful, almost beautiful.
"Oh yeah!" everyone exclaimed as they saw the new spell.
"Thanks for the encouragement, everyone," Noelle as the spell vanished and she began to fall.
"I got you," Asta said as he caught the girl and held her in his arms. "You did great, Noelle, I'm happy for you,"
Noelle brought her hand up, ready to slap the swordsman for touching her so casually, but then she stopped herself, just glad that he was proud of her. "Thanks, Asta,"
The swordsman set her down as they both turned to where Kahono was, ready to thank her for her help, but to their surprise, she wasn't there. "Did she leave?" Noelle asked.
Asta shrugged. "Probably,"
But far away from where the Black Bulls were, Kiato was standing on a rock, looking up at the full moon, he then looked to his side as Kahono approached him. "Hey there sis, I take it you're done with singing practice?"
"Yup, but I got to meet some interesting people, and guess what, they said they're Magic Knights heading to the Underwater Temple," Kahono replied before saying.
"Strange, the exact same thing happened to me, I guess that means we'll have guests soon," Kiato said. "This is going to be fun,"
With that, the two siblings jumped into the sea, awaiting the time their friends would see them again.