The Current King
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of The Fallen! Asta is healed up and ready for the next challenge, which is an awards ceremony? You'll just have to keep reading and find out how that could go wrong and speaking of reading, for info on this and my other stories along with scene samples, commissions and even the occasional exclusive, why not swing by my Pat reon and see about becoming a patron! And that's about it at the moment as far as announcements go and with no guest review questions this week, on to the story!
Daytime: The Clover Kingdom
Asta checked in with the nurse as requested on his way out of the medical ward and proceeded out of the castle shortly after that. Under ordinary circumstances he'd try calling Finral or someone else from his squad to come pick him up, but the recently healed magic knight wanted to see if he really was doing well physically. That's why he chose to trek back to the Black Bull's Headquarters on his own two feet. Due to the base's location, it took him a full day and night to get there even with his enhanced physicals and by the time he showed up the sun was rising.
And the first one to greet him was none other than his pet dragon, Aithusa. She clearly missed him over the last few days because the moment she caught sight of him the large reptile jumped over her pen and ran towards him, roaring joyfully. Naturally even Asta couldn't quite stop her when she was like this and Aithusa knocked him down, licking his face while cooing happily. "Hey girl," Asta patted her muzzle as she continued to lick him, "sorry I was gone that long, had some unexpected complications."
"Dad," a voice sounded in his head after a moment. Asta looked around before the word sounded in his mind again.
"Megicula, that you doing that?" The ashen-haired boy questioned.
"That's not my voice you're hearing in your head right now," the winged woman corrected. Asta looked at Aithusa who seemed to be smiling happily.
"So you can communicate telepathically," the anti-magic boy thought at the dragon. She turned her head in slight confusion but had definitely heard him. Asta spoke his next thoughts aloud. "Well this is definitely something we'll need to look into later. But for right now, my squad's expecting me."
He patted Aithusa's head one more time and led her back into her pen. After that, he entered the Black Bull's headquarters. "HEY! Asta's back!" Luck cheered as everyone else looked up from where they were at. It was currently breakfast time but that didn't stop the group from practically smothering Asta with hugs and pats on the back before he was finally able to sit down and get some food of his own.
"It's good to see you made it back," Finral spoke up, "I thought you'd give me a call once you were better."
"Sorry Finral," the ashen-haired boy apologized, "I wanted to put my body through a few paces and make sure I was back to one hundred percent. In hindsight, I probably should've checked to see how long it would take me to get back here."
"We're just lucky you showed up when you did," Vanessa giggled somewhat mischievously, "Noelle was going to head over and check on you first thing after breakfast like she's been doing the last four days. She's been so worried."
"I wasn't worried," the royal girl denied with a slight blush, "I was just wondering what would happen if he never woke up was all."
"That's textbook definition worrying right there," Finral pointed out.
"I want to know how in the world your arm's back," Magna spoke up, "the doc said he couldn't regrow limbs and last I checked none of us went back to the dungeon to get it."
"Just another boon of my healing ability," Asta shrugged, "apparently if I concentrate and have enough energy I can regrow limbs."
"But what kind of enemy did you fight," Luck asked excitedly, "he must've been super strong!"
"He was," the anti-magic user nodded grimly, "a man that specialized in light magic or something similar. He attacked with whips that struck with unbelievable power and speed and his control over his magic was so great that he could reform his whips quicker than I could cut them down."
"Did he have spatial magic too?" The Smiling Berserker asked, "that Mars guy we fought had a grimoire with dual attribute magic, so maybe yours had the same thing!"
"Dual attribute magic," Asta repeated with a raised eyebrow, "how is that possible?"
"We've been trying to figure that out ourselves," Vanessa shrugged, "based on what Noelle told us the guy's grimoire was somehow two combined into one. But that should be impossible."
"I personally think it was some weird mutation from birth," Finral proposed his own theory, "it's not unheard of for someone to wield two types of magic, but it's so rare that there are only a few recorded instances in history, at least last I read."
"Close theories but not quite," Megicula spoke up in Asta's mind, "that Mars person likely had crystal magic from birth, based on his mastery of it, and only gained the spell of the phoenix recovery robe from a piece of someone else's soul being transplanted into his body. That's why his grimoire changed to have some aspects of another person's grimoire. It's definitely troubling that the Diamond Kingdom has the capability to transplant any amount of a person's soul into another person's body. They're lucky they only managed a piece of that soul or this Mars person would've had another personality in his body fighting for control."
"We should definitely mention that in our report," he thought back. But before he could voice his thoughts, Captain Yami entered the room, by literally kicking the door down.
"Alright," he sighed loudly, "gonna grab some chow and then it's back to bed."
"Good Morning Captain!" The squad all greeted to one degree or another.
"So kid," the captain sat down at his place at the table, not seeming too surprised at Asta's presence, "it looks like you didn't die after all."
"Not for lack of trying," Asta remarked, "but I'm fully healed and ready for the next mission."
"That's the spirit," Yami smiled while lighting and taking a drag on a cigarette, "not everyone's so eager to get back in the field after getting wrecked but I guess you're a glutton for punishment. Unfortunately, you'll have to hold your horses a little longer. You did a good job back there at the dungeon and now Knight's Headquarters wants a report on it, ASAP. Since you can clearly walk, you're going."
"They want us to deliver the report in person at headquarters," Noelle asked in mild confusion. It's not that it never occurred, but usually when one was asked to go to headquarters it was pretty important.
"That sounds neat," Luck smiled. But it wasn't the good kind of smile, it was the smile he gave when he was about to get into a fight.
"I know that look, Luck, and it usually means trouble," Yami deadpanned, "no way you're going."
"Aw man," the blond boy pouted.
"Relax, I'm sending you on a battle mission with Magna babysitting," the Black Bulls Captain assured. This cheered the battle addict right up but made the flame wielder nervous for obvious reasons. The other Black Bulls either weren't fit to send or were busy doing something else. In the end, it was just Asta and Noelle going to the capital the next day.
The Time Of Demons: Megicula's Home
The view outside of the window was incredible! The young Megicula could see a thick layer of snow everywhere she looked. Adding to her excitement was not only the snow that came about as a result of it being winter but her school was currently having winter break! Though not everyone was quite as thrilled with the change in weather as the winged girl.
Turning around, Megicula saw Makura hidden in a mass of her own web that had been spun into a practical cocoon. As it turned out, her spider didn't like the cold very much even despite possessing fur. "Megicula!" Her mother called from another part of the house, "if you don't hurry and get ready it'll be dark before we get back!"
"Coming mother," the demon girl called back, already running to her room. It didn't take her long to throw on the appropriate winter attire of a coat, hat and gloves. She also donned a thick shirt under the coat, large boots and baggy pants instead of one of her usual dresses. "We'll be back, take care of the house, Makura!"
The only response she received from her spider was the arachnid shaking violently within her cocoon. In another couple of minutes, the family had left the house and was walking throughout the neighborhood. Expectedly, Megicula was running around happily, enjoying the feel of the weather and the snow crunching beneath her feet. "Come on Shemihaza," the winged girl called excitedly as she scooped up some snow into her gloved hands, "it's been forever since our last snowball fight!"
"That's because I'm a professional with important duties now," her brother reminded, "I can't go around doing such childish things anymore."
"Sure you can," Megicula pleaded, "no one will think you look silly if they catch you playing a game with your sister."
"Look, I'm not in the mood," Shemihaza crossed his arms and turned his head away. This turned out to be a mistake as a now pouting Megicula hit him in the head with a block of snow out of spite. "Alright," he spit some snow out of his mouth, "have it your way." With a gesture the older demon man activated his gravity magic.
"Hey, WHOAAAA!" The demon girl yelped in surprise as she was levitated off the ground and dropped headfirst into the nearest snowbank. Even though they knew they shouldn't her parents laughed a little at the sight of their daughter kicking her feet about in the air. But the family eventually pulled her out and continued their walk.
A few minutes later, after stomping on some more snow and ice, Megicula found herself wondering what to do next. That particular question would answer itself when a snowball suddenly came flying into her head. "Hahahaha," an all too familiar voice laughed, "what'd you think of that, shark teeth?" It was Zagred, who'd also taken the opportunity to get out and enjoy the snow.
"Oh, so it's you," Megicula quickly gathered up and formed a snowball of her own, "you made a big mistake challenging me of all people to a snowball fight, featherweight." And then it began, the most legendary snowball fight the neighborhood had ever seen. While it started with only Megicula and Zagred, it would soon include many other children as a warzone of flying snow would encompass an entire section of the neighborhood. At least that's the story the two of them told their friends when they got back to school.
But whatever the case, it gave Shemihaza relief as he and his parents were able to step aside and let the winged girl have fun for a while. That is until he heard a strange sound. It would be after the snowball fight ended that Shemihaza would turn to see his sister with her tongue sticking out and a piece of icicle stuck to it. 'Ladies and gentleman, my sister,' he sighed loudly while putting his hand to his face.
The Present: Outside Magic Knight Headquarters
The headquarters where all the magic knight squads received their orders from was, unsurprisingly, not far from the royal castle of the Clover Kingdom itself and looked almost like a miniature version of it in many ways. As one might expect it was a massive structure with numerous spires sticking in the air with decorated red roofs. Due to its size one could see it from nearly any point in the capital if they were in a place with little obstruction. "The ironic thing about us going here is that I was within walking distance of this place just two days ago," Asta mused aloud.
"Yeah, nearly dead in the medical ward," Noelle remarked, "I still think you should've at least let us know you were coming back. You could've stayed here and waited for us to pick you up."
"Hindsight is twenty-twenty," the anti-magic user shrugged, "speaking of which, look who we got in front of us." It was a pleasant surprise to all involved as they'd somehow wound up walking behind Yuno, Klaus, and Mimosa. And it was about that time the members of the Golden Dawn noticed them as well.
"Oh, Asta, Noelle," Mimosa looked back and waved, "good morning!"
"Good morning," Asta greeted back with a wave of his own, "you all look like you're doing well."
"We were more concerned about you," Klaus, surprisingly, smiled, "all of us were injured to one degree or another but you lost an arm and were hovering at death's door. How are your wounds?"
"Healed up," the ashen-haired boy answered while demonstrating that his new arm had full range of motion, "I even tested myself by walking back to my squad's headquarters."
"You could've at least let us know you were alright before you left," Yuno remarked, "Mimosa almost panicked when we got there and found out you were gone."
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Asta rubbed the back of his head, "thanks again for the emergency medical aid back in the dungeon, Mimosa."
"You're welcome," she responded in mild embarrassment, "Uh, Noelle, can we talk for a minute?"
"What is it," Noelle raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Her cousin signaled for them to move away from the boys and as soon as they were out of earshot she asked an unexpected question.
"You like Asta, don't you," Mimosa made it sound like more of a statement than a question.
"WHAT?!" The silver-haired girl blurted out before speaking again in a whisper. "Why would I like that muscle-brained peasant? He might have a good head on his shoulders but he's, well, he's crude."
"But he also saved your life and proven himself a capable knight, right?" The orange-haired girl countered, "That Luck boy isn't very good at keeping secrets."
"He," Noelle felt her face flush for a different reason now, "he told you about what happened my first day at the Black Bull's base?"
"Yes," Mimosa nodded grimly, "he also had a lot of praise for Asta. He's been a valuable member of your squad and the first person to accept you despite the trouble you've had controlling your magic. It's no surprise that you'd care for him as more than a friend."
"Well even if I did think about him like that, which I don't," Noelle put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side haughtily, "why are you so interested in it?"
"Because I'm telling you to give up on winning Asta's heart," her cousin advised seriously.
"I'm not trying to win his heart," the royal girl denied, "if you fancy that oaf, you try to win his heart!"
"You don't understand, neither of us could win his heart, nor could anyone else," Mimosa looked to the side somewhat sadly, "Asta's heart already belongs to someone."
"What?! what makes you say that?" Noelle just stopped herself from barking the question. Seriously, why was she getting so worked up over this?
"It's subtle, but there were a few instances where I saw it," the Golden Dawn girl revealed, "he had this look from time to time, as if he was thinking fondly of someone. I've seen it before, on other people who were in love."
"He never mentioned having anyone like that," the silver-haired royal frowned, "not that I ever asked, nor do I have reason to."
"You're right," Mimosa nodded, "someone else will come along eventually, Noelle, but Asta isn't the one."
"Is this all you wanted to talk to me about," she raised an annoyed eyebrow.
"Just trying to keep you from getting your heart broken," her cousin responded.
"Well you're wasting your time," Noelle noted the boys seemed to be done catching up, "I've got no love for Asta, we're just coworkers." Mimosa simply shook her head, seeing the lie behind her words. The group continued on to the headquarters entrance then.
"So it's true that we're rarely called directly to headquarters," Asta noted as they arrived.
"Indeed," Klaus nodded, "because all the magic knight squads have their own bases of operation, and we have an efficient form of communication there's almost no need to report to headquarters in person. It unfortunately makes it easy to forget where the entrance… no, it couldn't be!" A tall man was standing in the entranceway, much of his body hidden by a giant red robe with white fur lining and some medals hanging off of it, though the left side was lacking a sleeve. The bespectacled magic knight member dropped to a kneeling position. "I never dreamed you would meet us personally, sir."
Everyone else all went down to a kneeling position, save for a confused Yuno who Asta had to pull down. "Who's this," his childhood friend whispered in question.
"Julius Novachrono," Asta answered with a stony expression, "the current Wizard King."
A Few Minutes Later: A Watchtower At Headquarters
The group stood by silently as the Wizard King examined a page in Yuno's grimoire. Asta had learned about his childhood friend's contract with the wind spirit, Sylph, after returning to the Black Bull's base yesterday so he hadn't been surprised when Yuno requested that the man look at the new magic. What did have his attention, however, was an oddity he noticed about the Wizard King. It was deep and difficult to grasp, the best way Asta could think to describe it was there seemed to be the shadow of something else hidden behind his figure.
The anti-magic user didn't voice these thoughts aloud, knowing it was far too early to jump to any conclusions and instead kept his stony, emotionless expression for the time being. As for Julius Novachrono, he was internally quite pleased with this turn of events. 'To think I'd be seeing the Wind Spirit again like this,' he mused. It had been a calculated risk, sending the two inexperienced teams to the dungeon, but it had paid off.
Now he had a magic knight under his command with an elemental spirit. "I'm pleased you were able to obtain this," Julius spoke with a friendly voice, "it's very powerful magic. We're probably looking at the greatest relic that dungeon had to offer."
"You can read that script sir," Yuno asked with an actual expression of surprise on his usually neutral face.
"A little of it, yes," the Wizard King nodded while continuing to examine the ancient letters. His eyes had practical stars in them as he did so. 'Such excitement,' Klaus noted while adjusting his glasses, 'so the rumors of the Wizard King being an unparalleled magic nerd were true.' "I'd very much love to see this spell, would you cast it for me, pretty please?!"
He handed Yuno his grimoire back. "I've tried ever since activating it in the dungeon," the Golden Dawn member revealed, "but so far I haven't been able to cast the spell like I did before."
"I believe you must play to this spirit's ego a little," Julius held up a finger, "try saying something like 'oh great spirit of wind, Sylph, I summon thee'."
"Alright," Yuno responded somewhat hesitantly before activating his grimoire, "Oh great spirit of wind, Sylph, I summon thee!" The grimoire glowed green and floated into the air before opening and releasing a burst of wind from it. The next thing anyone knew, a small blond pixie in a green dress had formed out of thin air.
"Good morning, my contractor," Sylph greeted with a cheerful smile, "how can I help you today?"
"Oh, so cooooool!" Julius applauded, again with stars in his eyes, "it's an honor to be in the presence of the great elemental spirit of wind!"
"Who's this guy," said spirit glanced in the man's direction with a look of slight annoyance.
"Young lady that is the Wizard King!" Klaus scolded, "Show some respect-WHA!" He was sent flying into the wall for his troubles by a blast of powerful wind.
"Whoops, sorry," Sylph rubbed her nose, "had a little sneeze there."
"Sylph, Klaus is my superior," Yuno chided, "and these are all my friends. Please don't be so rough with them."
"You should know I tend to forget unimportant people," the Wind Spirit pointed out, "but since my contractor is asking I suppose I can make a minimal effort. Anyway, will that be all?"
"Yes, thank you for your time," the Golden Dawn boy nodded.
"Then I'll see you next summoning," in another burst of wind the spirit disappeared back into Yuno's grimoire.
"Fascinating indeed," Julius nodded, "take good care of her, Yuno. As you grow stronger so shall she. What you've seen so far is merely scratching the surface of her abilities."
"I will sir, thank you," he nodded.
"And you are Asta, the wielder of anti-magic, correct?" The Wizard King turned to him.
"I am," the ashen-haired boy nodded, keeping the stony expression on his face. "Megicula, should I let him see my grimoire?"
"There should be no harm," the winged woman assured, "this man is not our enemy."
"Could I possibly see some of your anti-magic?" Julius requested.
"That's a bit of a difficult proposition," Asta admitted as he opened his grimoire for the man to examine, "from what I can tell most people aren't able to see or sense my anti-magic."
"Or read it," the Wizard King noted, "I've never seen this type of script before."
"The best I can do is show you this," he produced his sword from the grimoire, "It's been imbued with anti-magic."
"Could I hold it, possibly," the sparkling look had again returned to Julius's eyes.
"You can try," Asta planted the weapon on the ground tip first. He waited until the Wizard King had a hold of it.
"Whoa!" Julius lifted it off the ground just the slightest bit before it went back down, "you've been swinging a heavy thing like this around the whole time, I'm amazed." 'And a lot of things are making sense now,' he mused, 'I can feel my magic power being sucked away just by holding this.'
"I trained relentlessly in order to be a magic knight," the anti-magic user explained, "my body is at a physical peak beyond the average person."
"I don't doubt it," the leader of the magic knights handed the blade back to him, "you're probably the only one who can handle this sword." And he meant it, too. Julius had seen the reports about Asta's unusual healing ability and he knew the tattoo on his left arm was no decoration as opposed to the star symbol on his left temple. But he also saw the boy's strange circumstances from the nature of his soul.
'What are you up to, Megicula,' he mused before speaking again. "Anyway, well done, all of you. You did marvelous work and I want you to know it's greatly appreciated."
"Sir, I have one question," Yuno spoke up, "one that Asta and I were both wondering."
"What would that be?" Julius raised an eyebrow.
"How do I become the wizard king?" They both asked at the same time. The man looked at them with a serious expression before suddenly laughing.
"Ah, so you two want to become Wizard King," he smiled, "quite a grand goal. To answer your question, it's all about results. A noble heart is good, but it alone cannot protect the people and in order to earn the trust of the people you must prove you're the strongest, that you're someone capable of protecting them. So if you want to be the Wizard King, devote yourself to getting the best results possible."
"We can do that," Asta allowed himself to smile.
"We most definitely can," Yuno added seriously.
"Now then," Julius laughed to lighten the mood, "since you're here why not join me for something a little special."
A Few Minutes Later: Within the Headquarters
The special thing he had in mind was known as 'The Distinguished Service Ceremony'. It was a gathering of magic knights who'd earned a large number of stars. The purpose of the ceremony was to give out awards and commendations to said magic knights. For obvious reasons this made it all the more odd that he'd invite their group to such a ceremony when they had performed only a handful of missions between them. But when the Wizard King makes a request there's usually little reason to say no.
This is why the group found themselves being personally led by the man himself down a hallway lined with mages in light blue robes who were acting as guards. 'Why is he giving us this kind of treatment,' Noelle wondered, 'why us?' That question would be partially answered as they arrived at a large pair of wooden double doors that stood much higher than any person. "Now while we're here ask yourselves this question," Julius spoke up, "can you achieve greater results than these knights?"
He pushed open the doors then to reveal a large room. At the end of it was a type of metallic statue that resembled a miniature church with a person standing on top of it who was half the size of the average citizen flanked by two other statues half its size. But what held everyone's attention were the people present. Knights from the Silver Eagles, Crimson Lions, the Blue Rose, and the Golden Dawn were all in attendance.
Asta and Yuno's groups waited by the door as Julius approached a man with a blue cape with fur lining at the top, his right-hand man, Marx, before turning to face the gathered knights. "Alright, let the Distinguished Service Ceremony begin!" The Wizard King announced. He moved and stood behind a long table with a white cloth and a red banner over the center where he started handing out medals and other awards.
'So this is how they promote magic knights,' Asta realized. He'd studied up on the ranking system of the knights and recalled there were a total of five ranks and five classes for all but one of those ranks before a knight obtained the title of Wizard King. The classes started at fifth and went up to first class while the ranks started with Junior Magic Knight before going up to Intermediate, Senior, and Grand Magic Knight. In order to obtain these ranks one needed to acquire the appropriate number of stars before the ceremony took place and those were naturally only acquired through exemplary performance.
It was like Julius had said, if one wanted to become the Wizard King, they needed to get results. The group watched the ceremony proceed with most knights being promoted to third class, one fifth class, a fourth class, a first class and so on. Interestingly, Asta noted two of the knights promoted had the last name 'Silva'. 'I wasn't aware Noelle had other family members in the magic knights,' he mused.
That wasn't the only strange thing. When the ceremony concluded the Wizard King invited all the knights to a small banquet, while mentioning that he and Yuno's squads were 'special guests'. "What is that man playing at, drawing all this attention to us," Megicula mused aloud.
"No telling," Asta thought back, "we'll just have to play it by ear for now." A task which would be easier said than done. It was pretty obvious their presence was unwelcome even before they entered the banquet hall. Such palpable contempt made it hard to enjoy the food which had been set out on several round tables and one long rectangular table near the back. Throughout the entire meal the two groups felt gazes on them and not the friendly kind.
To make matters worse, the Wizard King himself had been informed of a matter that needed his attention, forcing him to step out for the time being. Perhaps he had planned to be there in order to curb the attitudes of some of the other knights, but he wasn't here now which meant said knights were free to act as uncouth as they currently were. "Like a rat in a throne room," one of the Silva siblings, Solid Silva, remarked about Asta, "his presence here is just unnatural."
"Truly if he made it through the dungeon it was by pure luck," the man's sister, Nebra, also remarked.
"Hey," Asta finished what he was eating and turned to Noelle, "you related to those two over there?"
"Actually, I'm related to those three," she indicated the captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel Silva, "they're all my older siblings."
"That explains a lot," the anti-magic user mused aloud, "you can spot weak bullies a mile away if you know what to look for."
"What was that?!" Both Nebra and Solid raised their voices.
"Just speaking from experience," Asta didn't bother turning their way, "one of you is just now a fifth class magic knight when you're how old? Not to mention you haven't the slightest idea what happened in the dungeon, assuming it was a run of the mill mission. Were either of you informed that two of the Diamond Kingdoms shining generals were at that dungeon? At your level you wouldn't have stood a chance."
"That's rich coming from the peasant who had to spend four days recovering even with healing magic," a Golden Dawn member with spiky, blackish green hair spoke up, "speaking of, Mimosa, I heard you were taken out immediately. Do you realize you're making the royal house of Vermillion look like a laughingstock?"
"Do you even know what her magic is," Yuno turned and narrowed his eyes, "she's a healer, not a fighter. You're as ignorant of the circumstances as everyone else here."
"You dare speak to one of your superiors-," the man growled.
"With all due respect, Senior Magic Knight Alecdora, Mimosa performed admirably," Klaus interrupted while adjusting his glasses, "she returned to the front lines after quickly seeing to her own injuries and provided much needed aid to all of us along with identifying the enemy's possession of dual attribute magic. She, Asta, Yuno, and Noelle were instrumental in our success at the dungeon."
"Klaus, you surprise me," Alecdora turned a disapproving gaze on his fellow Golden Dawn member, "I would've thought you'd be ashamed to be in the company of such rabble."
"I think he knows capability when he sees it," Asta remarked, "whatever his earlier assumptions about us, he was willing to admit he was wrong when he saw what we could do. You and everyone else will in time too. Or you'll be a stubborn jackass and keep denying what's in front of you. In either case I think I'll value the opinion of someone who actually knows what they're talking about instead of a stuck up prick who's noble in title and not behavior."
"You dare to accuse me of ignoble behavior, peasant," the senior magic knight narrowed his eyes.
"Well how do you classify the behavior of ignorant jackasses?" The anti-magic boy moved to pick up some more food, "I know I don't classify such people as nob-." A sudden wall of sand shot up and tried to grab Asta. But before it could close in, he rolled out of the way and wound up lying flat on the ground, looking up at his opponent.
He gestured to his right with the two fingers of his left hand, causing an invisible force to send Alecdora flying back a few feet. "Please," the ashen-haired boy flipped up and held his hand out to catch the plate and then the food he'd flung into the air before dodging, "we're all trying to eat here. Let's not start a fight that'll waste the best food I've ever had."
"I haven't seen you use that move since we were kids," Yuno remarked.
"You filthy runt," Alecdora got back to his feet, "I don't know what you did just now but you'll pay for that!"
"You attacked me and I defended myself," Asta shrugged, "you want to hash this out, do it after the banquet. I'm still hungry."
"You won't make it until after the banquet," a mass of sand rose behind the man as the anti-magic boy put his plate down and summoned up his grimoire. But before another blow could be struck, the double doors of the banquet hall burst open as one of the blue-robed guards came rushing in.
"The capital!" He yelled, "The capital is under attack!" All issues were forgotten then as the gathered magic knights were called into action. They would settle their grudges later. For now, a new enemy threatened the Clover Kingdom.
So much for a peaceful gathering. Be it ignorant nobles or the enemies of the kingdom, our heroes have got plenty of challenges to deal with. But one thing that isn't a challenge, leaving a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! And of course for info, scene samples, and more, stop by my Pat reon and see about becoming a patron! Last thing, stop in next time as our heroes encounter the first of a strange organization with the Clover Kingdom in its sights! 'Til then.