Chapter Seventy: Crimson Rivals
The first battle of the exam had come to an end. Owen soon arrived and instructed the capital mages to bring the members of Team A up for healing, all while Team B continued to ascend up to the platform. Upon reaching it, they were met with mixed results of attention.
"Asta!" one such result was happiness as most of the Black Bulls ran to their squadmate.
"You did great out there," Vanessa congratulated.
"What she said, Rasta, those guys didn't stand a chance," Magna added. "My fight's up next, I hope I can do as good as you,"
Asta scratched the back of his head. "Thanks you guys, but you're giving me too much credit, I did the least amount of incredible things,"
"That's not true," Oxanna walked up to them, Dante beside her. "You were the prime source of defense, not to mention that you were able to catch on to Team A's sniper tactic and keep the crystal,"
"And after their first strategy was rendered null, the second strategy was clearly meant to accommodate for your anti-magic, which led to them falling into the trap," Dante added with a small smile. "Your power will always be something the enemy needs to account for if they want to win, not doing so will surely lead to defeat, that will never not be incredible,"
Oxanna slung her arms around her brother's back. "Aw, is that a smile I see?" she squealed. "Consider yourself lucky, Asta, Dante has hardly smiled when complimenting people," she shifted her attention back to the steel mage. "Has Kuro been rubbing off on you?"
Dante's face turned red with embarrassment. "Perhaps a little bit. Now let go of me,"
The other result was pride, directed at the plant mage as her regular trio of squadmates approached her. "Mimosa, you were amazing!" Klaus cheered. "Even with the minimal amount of help I provided, your new spell turned out great,"
Yuno was next to give in his input. "Great isn't the right word to use, more like…phenomenal!" he added. "The power behind it was on the level of a high-strength attack spell. Seeing that your repertoire contains only support spells, that makes the accomplishment even more impressive,"
Mimosa put her head down, not wanting the others to see the goofy smile forming on her face. She wasn't used to the attention by her squad. "Oh, I never really thought of it like that, I just wanted to have a different kind of spell under my belt,"
"It was a good idea you wanted to, that spell changed the entire flow of the battle," Letoile joined in. "Whatever strategy they were using to attack your crystal from afar was immediately abandoned the moment your cannon made a dent in their crystal. After all, that caused them to come out into the open which let those traps finish them off,"
"So, will you be making another attack spell?" the wind mage inquired.
"I don't know. I guess I'll just see how far this spell takes me for now, and whether the challenges of the future need me to step up my game," she replied with a thumbs up.
As for the last result, and by far the least desirable of the three, was disdain. It was that look some gave as they glared at Xerx, immediately breaking into whispers.
"Did you see what that guy did?" one asked the mage beside her.
He nodded in response. "Better believe I did, what a dick, stepping on a knight's head like that and taunting him. I don't care how good his magic is, that was uncalled for,"
A third mage joined in on the silent discussion. "Tell me about it, the two of us are in the same squad, but I never thought our vice-captain could act like that,"
Xerx couldn't hear what the knights were talking about, but he could hear their growing whispers, so he turned to them and pointed a finger. "Hey, all of you, enough with the whispering. You guys are all fearless magic knights, right? Then whatever you're saying about me over there, come say it to my face!"
His sudden exclamation made the other knights back away, all of them avoiding eye contact with him.
"Yeah, that's what I thought, what a joke," Xerx put his hands in his pocket and walked away, not noticing the eyes of Augustus on him.
Normally, the look in the eyes of the king would be disgust or anger when they locked on someone, but for probably the first time ever, the look was one of awe. "Amazing, this Xerx is my type of fellow! I thought he was some ungrateful wretch, but he's absolutely ruthless, and his words strike fear into even Magic Knights! Teach me your ways!"
"Hey, Xerx!" Asta called, waving a hand.
The ash mage motioned towards him. "What do you want, shortie?"
A vein popped on the swordsman's head, but he decided to not say anything this time. "I just want to thank you,"
"For what?"
"What do you mean 'for what'? It's like Mimosa said, it was your magic that gave us the win. You were the MVP of that battle," Asta replied.
"I agree, those traps of yours were off the charts, especially that reflector trap. I can only imagine how much effort it took to make them," Oxanna added.
The ash mage looked at the girl, his gaze falling on her pendant for a few seconds, but then he faced away from them. "Thanks, I guess, here, a present," he said, flicking a bug their way.
"Oh hell no, I'm not letting that stink bug of yours get me!" the magicless mage jumped and slapped the colorful insect away.
"Wasn't expecting him to do that, seems I gotta get sneakier,"
"Or just not do it at all!"
Mimosa stood in between her two teammates. "Let's not argue with each other, instead, we should focus on the teams fighting next. According to the bracket system, we'll be fighting the winning group in the second round. That just leaves the question of who will win,"
"What a great question to ask. I'm delighted to provide an answer," a new voice raised, it was filled with joy, but that joy had a strong hint of flamboyant sophistication. The large group of knights turned in the direction of the voice and were met by a decently tall young man with long side-parted hair of a vermillion color that was tied back with a braid in the back, the thin green band on his head bringing out his golden eyes. Covering his chest was the robe of the Coral Peacocks, with his attire consisting of a white top and bottom, divided by a brown belt that connected to his satchel, which was finished off with a coral-colored cape.
The man had a proud smile on his face, but his presence made the smiles of Mimosa and the Rossiu trio disappear, replaced with looks of comedic annoyance.
"Uh, Kirsch," they thought in unison.
The one known as Kirsch placed his hands on the plant mage's shoulders. "Have no fear, Mimosa, as a member of Team C, victory will surely be mine, after all, in the presence of one with such strength and beauty as myself, all opposition has no choice but to accept defeat,"
"Of course," she said back, unamused.
Magna, on the other hand, clutched onto his head. "He said he's a member of Team C, that's my team. Does that mean I actually have to fight alongside this self-absorbed bastard?!" he thought.
Kirsch continued speaking. "I saw your fight as well, that new spell you created was good power-wise, but it lacked the beauty your attribute normally possesses. You must train more if you wish to reach my level of grace and poise that my magic has, but alas, it may be an impossible task,"
"Of course," the plant mage replied once more with the same tone.
He then set his sights on the Rossius. "Ah, Kenos, Dante, Oxanna, it has been forever since we've last spoken,"
"Yes, since the banquet," Dante answered, an even more unamused tone found in his voice.
"That's correct, have you missed me? What am I saying? You definitely have, it's probably such a burden for you to not be able to see this beautiful face every day,"
"Sure, why not," Kenos and Oxanna spoke, their tone matching their brother's.
"Then you may worry no longer, for I am here," Kirsch placed a hand on his forehead, striking a graceful pose. "Oh, why must I be so beautiful? And why must the things around me be so ugly?"
"Good shit, this guy's a grade-A narcissist. I should've jumped him and assumed his identity instead, it hasn't even been five minutes and I'm already sick of his crap," Xerx thought to himself.
Asta began to approach the new guy. "He's certainly an…interesting character. But, who is he?"
Kenos took it upon himself to answer. "Yes, him. Well, Asta, this is Kirsch Vermillion, Mimosa's…," he trailed off, dreading to continue, but did so anyway. "...Big brother, and somehow, the vice-captain of the Coral Peacocks,"
"What?! Mimosa, you never told me you had a sibling," his voice showed clear surprise.
That surprise was contrasted by the lack of emotion in her response. "I believe you can see why," she eyed her brother, who hadn't heard their exchange as he was busy striking more poses.
"How the hell does someone like that even become a vice-captain?" the ash mage wondered aloud.
"That's a question I've asked myself many times," Kenos replied. "Xerx, you're a vice-captain, what's your opinion on him?"
"From what I'm sensing, his magic power is incredible, but there's more to a vice-captain than power, like how you bring out your squad's potential, and going by his personality, I'd say it's a nightmare for them. I myself already can't stand him,"
"How you bring out your squad's potential, aye? I wish Langris was here to hear that," Yuno told himself.
Kenos raised a brow at his response. "Those are solid words, but the way you treated Team A leads me to believe they aren't put into practice,"
"Of course they're put into practice, no matter what I say or do, I always tell those I defeat in battles what they screwed up. There are many ways to bring out one's potential, cruelty is a good option to achieve that in my book, the anger they feel as a result of it makes them want to be stronger so they never have to feel it at the hands of someone again. After all, we live in a world of cruelty, so why not be taught by cruelty?. Or does the Rossiu have some idealistic view saying otherwise?" the ash mage explained before asking.
"No, I know firsthand what cruelties the world is capable of, along with the people in it. And in a way, being a Rossiu has only made me see it more," he replied.
"Well, if you can't stand him, then it seems we have something in common," Oxanna chimed in. "He's the epitome of pompous narcissism that could hardly give a damn about anything not regarding himself,"
"All those things don't really sound like the best qualities, but I want to judge him for myself, who knows, perhaps there's a way I can tone down that personality of his," the swordsman said, nearing the older vermillion. "Hey there, Kirsch, I'm Asta, Mimosa's teammate, nice to meet you,"
Kirsch stopped his action to look at the mage in front of him, scanning him with his eyes, and after doing so, those eyes became that of disgust. "Why are you speaking to me? An ugly peasant such as yourself shouldn't be in the presence of a royal of such beauty,"
"Ugly? How?"
"Where do I start? These clothes look so worn out and raggedy, then there are those abhorrent muscles, very unappealing," Kirsch replied.
Mimosa stood beside the swordsman. "That isn't true, Asta's muscles are very appealing, as well as the rest of him,"
Asta eyes her. "You really think that? Thanks,"
"No problem, just telling the truth,"
"If that's what you view as appealing, then your taste is even odder than I first thought, sister," he retorted.
"If it's different from yours, I'll gladly accept it," she fired back.
Xerx joined where his teammates were, intrigued by something he heard. "Wait, that guy said he was royalty," he then faced the plant mage. "That makes you a royal, right?"
She nodded. "Yes, it does,"
He turned his head away. "Is that so? You don't really act like one, but I suppose that's a good thing,"
Mimosa looked at him strangely, but decided not to inquire about it.
"Hey, other members of Team C, get your asses over here!" a voice from afar exclaimed, everyone looked over to see Sol standing next to the capital mage and the mages of Team D.
"Looks like we better get going, c'mon pretty boy," Magna said, heading over.
"I must take my leave, wish me luck Mimosa," Kirsch said, following him.
"Good luck, I hope you win," Mimosa wished, a smile on her face, but then it contorted into a rare dark grin. "So when we fight in the next round, I can enjoy the satisfaction of beating you to a pulp," she then began giggling evilly.
"Woah, that's kinda cold-blooded. I've never seen this side of you before, ginger, but I must say, I'm a fan," Xerx spoke up.
"Thanks...I guess. In all my life, only my brother could bring this part of me out, and when it does, I just want to destroy him," she said back with dark composure.
"You sure know how to keep a lady waiting," Sol complained.
"Our bad, we-," Magna was saying before he noticed something. "Damn, you're kinda tall,"
"Is there a problem with that?" she asked.
"No, it's just that you're standing at a good height, and you've got a pretty decent build, it looks like you were born to be a fighter," he answered.
The earth mage placed her hands on her hips. "Thanks, I've thought the same thing about myself, and it wasn't just me, the people at my village thought so too,"
One word caught the shaded mage's attention. "Village? You're a commoner too? I thought the Blue Rose Knights only took in nobles and higher,"
"They do, let's just say I was an exception, it's a long story,"
The royal narcissist then arrived. "So you're our last teammate? Greetings, I am Kirsch Vermilion. It's okay if you've been stunned to silence by my beautiful face, the occurrence is nothing new,"
Sol's face immediately cringed in response. "I know I've just met him, but I'm not a fan of whatever...that is," she whispered to Magna.
"Join the club," he whispered back.
The capital mage was the next to speak up. "Alright, now all members are present, we can begin the second fight of the first round. On Team C, we have Magna, Sol, and Kirsch. On Team D, we have Claire, Adrian, and Willy,"
Both teams wasted no time leaving the platform and spreading out.
"You can do this, Magna! You too, Sol!" Asta cheered.
"This match has a chance to be interesting, with how much that bastard talks about himself, he had better bring his best. Then again, he is a vice-captain," Xerx thought.
"Both teams are in position!" the capital mage exclaimed before raising his arm.
"Ready! Begin!"
The flame mage took a few seconds to scan where their team was, which was on a tall rocky area, and behind them was a well-sized lake.
"I got to hand it to you, Sol, you chose a great spot for us. The higher vantage point will prevent us from being snuck up on," he praised.
"I know, but it won't decide everything, I'll be counting on you to pull your weight," she returned.
Magna grinned. "You don't have to worry about that. But I gotta admit, I'm a little taken back, from what I've heard about the Blue Rose Knights, they aren't fond of guys, I assumed you would act the same, spouting some misandrist bullshit, but so far, you've been quite chill,"
"That is true, but I've toned it down a bit. During the Star Festival, I met two of your squadmates, Kenos and Asta, and they're pretty cool. I still think women are better, but guys aren't that bad either," she replied.
"It's a good thing that you think like that, because our foes are on the move!" he called, pointing downwards, seeing that Willy and Claire were running towards them, with a large bronze object of a familiar shape behind the latter.
Sol crossed her arms. "So, they've chosen to fortify their crystal, smart play, but it's not enough to stop us, let's go!"
She and Magna jumped down from their high point and ran to meet their enemies. Kirsch, on the other hand, didn't advance. "They seem to have things under control, but then again, they could use my assistance, along with my beautiful company," he decided before his grimoire opened in front of him, as he did, petals emerged and encircled him, and with a leap, he flew off.
On Team D's end, they noticed the two knights approaching them. "The plan's working," Claire said.
Willy nodded in response. "Then let's initiate the next phase," upon saying that, the two began to run in different directions.
Magna and Sol noticed this and we're visibly confused. "I don't get it, why scatter when the crystal is what we're after," the male of the two wondered.
"Maybe they have some plan," the earth mage speculated. "You go for the girl with the crystal, I'll take the guy,"
"Alright, but make sure not to rough him up too badly," Magna joked.
That earned a chuckle from the blue-clad knight. "I make no promises," she said back before the two went their separate ways.
About three minutes of running took place before they were each able to catch up with their target. "You were smart to protect your crystal, but against the great Magna Swing, it's a futile effort! Flame Magic: Exploding Fireball!"
"Oh, trust me, that's not the only smart thing we did, Bronze Creation Magic: Bronze Shield Gardna!" Claire responded by creating a large shield of a decent width, effortlessly blocking the attack.
"Crap, my fireball was stopped so easily, and with the way that shield is, my Explosive Scatter Shot isn't going to hit anything. Well, all I can do is keep attacking and break through her defense," he mentally cursed before coming to an answer. "Flame Creation Magic: Grand Slam!"
Magna equipped his trusty bat and with it, launched fireball after fireball, but the guard didn't yield. "Okay, why don't I change it up a bit," he then quickly ran to the side, pleased to see the shield didn't cover it. He wasted no time swinging a larger fireball her way.
Unfortunately for him though, it was an attempt in vain as Claire quickly shifted her body, at the same time, moving the bronze spell which successfully blocked the attack.
He clicked his tongue in frustration. "Damn it,"
"So this is how you use your magic?"
Magna was startled by the nearby voice as an arm rested on his shoulder, the arm belonging to Kirsch. The royal, instead of wearing his usual look, instead was looking intently at his teammate's Grand Slam.
"If long range attacks aren't working for you, just use your bat and fight in close quarters," he advised.
"I don't know, I've never used Grand Slam for something like that,"
"Then what better time to try, after all, there is beauty in versatility," Kirsch told him before flying off. "Ta-ta,"
Magna stared at his bat, then looked up. It was worth a shot.
Claire too stared at something, but it was the sky, and her sights were set on Kirsch. "What just happened? First, he lands in, then he leaves without doing anything, the hell,"
"You're done, lady!" her eyes were fixated back in front of her, just to see Magna charging forward.
"Flame Reinforcement Magic: Risky Stolen Base!" he declared, as a pair of fiery shoes appeared on his feet, increasing the speed of his sprint, faster than Claire could respond, neither could she respond when he jumped into the air and past her shield.
"Beauty in versatility, aye?" Kirsch's words came to mind as he slammed his bat right into Claire's side, sending her flying. "I could work with this,"
The flame mage wasn't done yet, now his opponent was defeated, he could finally claim what she was protecting. "Victory is ours!" he cheered, striking the fortified exterior with his bat, putting a sizable hole in it, destroying what was inside.
But that was when a problem arose.
"What, there's no crystal in here?!" Magna yelled. "Then why even protect it. Maybe it was…a decoy?"
On Sol's side, she had managed to catch up with Willy. "I don't know what the hell you guys are planning, but I won't let you get in the way! Earth Creation Magic: Raging Mother Goddess!" she exclaimed, creating a large earth golem, standing on the golem's right shoulder.
"Oh, Earth Magic? Then our attributes aren't too far off from each other," Willy commented. "Mud Magic: Jagged Mire!"
At his call, mud covered his hands before he made wave motions, sending slashes of mud at the golem.
"Defend!" Sol instructed, causing the golem to cross its arms, but it didn't do too much as the slashes managed to damage its arms. "Shit, go on the attack!"
The golem then charged and launched punches at the mud mage, but an obvious problem has shown itself: he was too quick.
"That spell of yours is slow as hell. Don't tell me this is the best you can do? Mud Binding Magic: Dirty Quicksand!" he slammed a hand on the ground, causing a puddle of mud to form under the golem's feet, it didn't take long for it to start sinking.
"Crap," Sol cursed.
"He's not right, is he?"
Similar to the flame mage, the earth mage was shocked to see Kirsch, floating above her golem's left shoulder.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"He asked if this was the best you could do. It's not, is it?" he clarified.
Sol clenched her fist. "Of course not, but Raging Mother Goddess is my strongest spell in terms of power,"
"In the predicament you're in now, power isn't what's important, but tactics. If speed is what you lack, do what covers it. You have a spell that can do that?" he told her.
"Um, yeah,"
"Then use it, remember, there's beauty in broadened possibilities," he said before flying away, but once in the air, his eyes narrowed. "Strange, I haven't seen their third member. Could it be what I think it is?"
Sol was taken aback by the vice-captain's advice. "Who would ever think he'd give tips like those, I guess there's more that meets the eye with him. Now let's give his idea a shot, Earth Creation Magic: Divided Mother Goddess!"
At the call of her declaration, the golem shot ten globs of earth out of its body, and from those globs emerged ten smaller golems.
"Charge!" their controller commanded. "Beauty in broadened possibilities? That's pretty cool,"
"What the hell?" Willy was taken aback by the number coming at him. He used his prior attack, but only managed to take out one before he was restrained by two of them.
"Awesome!" she cheered, watching the quicksand vanish. "I wonder how Magna's doing?"
"Sol!"
"Well, speak of the damned," she mumbled, seeing her teammate run her way. "Did you destroy the crystal? We should've been pronounced the winner,"
"No, the thing she was hauling behind her was a decoy, their crystal is somewhere else!" he answered.
"What?!"
Meanwhile, back where Team C's crystal was, something emerged from the lake next to it, and it was Adrian.
"Our plan went exactly according to plan, Claire makes a decoy crystal, they move towards it, and that leaves their crystal unattended, and a perfect target for destruction," he mused, before turning his grimoire to a page. "Water Creation Magic: Climbing Coelacanth!" he exclaimed, summoning a large water fish in trajectory with the enemy crystal.
"So this was the last part of your plan I presume?"
Like before, Kirsch appeared, but this time, he was floating in between the crystal and the spell. "In all honesty, your lack of presence made this outcome kind of obvious, as such, I can't allow you to win," he began before reaching into his satchel and pulling a closed fan, quickly opening it. "Cherry Blossom Magic: Raging Magic Cherry Blossom Storm of Petals + Beautiful Illusion!"
With a flap of his fan, a blizzard's worth of petals emerged, covering the entire battlefield.
"No damn way, what kind of spell is that?!" Asta exclaimed, voicing what everyone thought. "I can't even see what's going on anymore,"
Within the storm of petals, Adrian gasped as he then saw multiple copies of Kirsch appear, doing a variety of actions. "What the?"
"Are you awestruck by my beautiful magic combo?" every copy of Kirsch asked. "The first spell blocks attacks and hides the whereabouts of our crystal, the second spell makes good use of petal illusions to keep my whereabouts hidden from you,"
Adrian was still confident though. "I will admit, it is impressive, but you can't find our crystal,"
"Oh, that's where you're wrong. My petal storm spell can also let me locate whatever I want, as long as there's magic in it, be it mages, or crystals," one of the Kirsch clones informed, immediately making the confidence leave the water mage's face.
As he said this, elsewhere, with Magna and Sol, a straight path had formed before them, and at the end of it was Team D's crystal. "Go on, my teammates, tread the path I have made you, bloom into your true selves," another clone told them.
"If there's a path, I'm not wasting time!" the two exclaimed as they launched everything they had on it, shattering it in seconds. "Full Bloom!"
The capital mage spoke up. "Though it may not be visible, I can sense that Team D's crystal has been destroyed, so Team C are the winners!"
Right as he said so, the petals all disappeared, and standing close to the main platform was Team C, Kirsch standing while Magna and Sol knelt, each striking a pose.
"There are but two sins in this world: the lack of beauty," the cherry blossom mage began.
"And the failure to realize it," the other two finished, seemingly on board with the royal's shenanigans, but their minds told a different story.
"How the hell did I allow myself to get roped into his bullshit?" Magna asked himself.
"I know I'm going to regret this later, but for the time being, I'm feeling kinda pumped about all of this," Sol thought as well.
Mimosa, on the other hand, facepalmed. "Kirsch, why, just why,"
"May the two teams exit the battlefield! The next teams up will be Team E vs Team F!"
Kirsch waved his fan, enveloping the three of them in wind and petals, carrying them back to the platform. "What a beautiful ending to a fight,"
Everyone walked over to them. "I couldn't see the last part at all, but you guys did awesome out there," Erika commented. "Especially during your individual fights, but for a while, it looked like you were struggling,"
"Because we were," Magna replied. "Things weren't looking so hot, but then, out of nowhere, this guy right here shows up and tells me how to come out on top,"
"Same with me, it actually did wonders," Sol added.
"Is that so?" Xerx mumbled. "He was able to help them drastically change the flow of their fights, even though none of them are in the same squad. It seems I may have underestimated this guy, he's the real deal, I'll have to be careful against him, luckily for me, I've got countermeasures,"
Magna pumped up his fist. "The Black Bulls are two for two in the victory game! Are any of us playing in the third match?"
"Um, yeah, I am," Finral raised his hand. "I'm fighting with Leo and someone named Hamon as Team E,"
"I know Hamon, he's our squadmate, an incredible glass mage. I'll help you look for him," Klaus offered.
"Thanks, I'll see you after the match," Finral waved as he and Klaus walked off.
Noelle held her chin. "If they're forming Team E, I wonder who are the members of Team F? Perhaps it's another unknown trio?"
"I'd say you're wrong about that," a voice answered her question, they all turned around to see Rama and Kuro standing together.
"Tiger Cub, Kuro, you're fighting next? Then this next battle will be very interesting," Oxanna said. "But wait, where's your third member?"
"We haven't seen her yet, but then again, it's someone we don't know, it said her name was-," Kuro was explaining before a voice cut him off.
"Um, excuse me?" the voice said, making them all turn around to see a woman, her height was around Vanessa's, she had long, dark pink hair tied in a single pigtail that rested on her left shoulder with a braid of hair in the back. She wore the same attire as Kirsch as she too was a Coral Peacock, but her white shirt was short-sleeved with a crest of a bird above her D-cup chest, and her cape was purple, complemented by her knee-high dark blue boots.
"Yes?" Rama asked, not recognizing the knight, in fact, hardly anyone there did and as such expressed looks of confusion, all except for the Rossiu trio, especially Kenos.
The woman started to fiddle with her fingers. "I, um, hey there. I couldn't help but overhear you talking about Team F. So, well, are you Rama and Kuro?" she asked a little timidly.
The lightning mage answered her. "Yeah, that's us,"
She let out a breath of relief. "That's great, I can only imagine how awkward it would be if you weren't. I'm your third teammate, my name is-,"
"Alice!" Kenos interrupted this time as he ran and hugged her.
"Oh my gosh, Kenos, it's so good to see you," Alice hugged back.
"You know her?" the sparkle mage asked.
The solar mage released himself and faced the group. "I do, this is one of my close friends, Alice Thisavros,"
The introduction of her name caught the attention of some. "Thisavros? That family name sounds familiar," Noelle voiced.
Alice looked a bit uneasy as she prepared to respond, but Kenos beat her to it. "The Thisavros family are one of the families responsible for why the kingdom is rich, they're in charge of every form of trade regarding Clover, without them, we'd lose about a third of our economic growth. But their work is behind the shadows, they don't get much public limelight like my family, but those of us who know greatly cherish their contributions,"
"That along with her incredible magical skill is why I had Captain Dorothy select her," Kirsch spoke up.
"True, but it's a shame the captain isn't awake long enough to keep you in check," she said to him before addressing the others. "Hey, um, I apologize if he's bothered any of you. He can be much, but he means well…sometimes,"
"It's not a problem, if it gets unbearable, ginger here will take care of him," Xerx waved it off.
"Kenos, if you two know each other, do your families know each other too?" Asta then asked.
"They do, remember back during the Star Festival, when we ran into Ves, and he told Noelle that my family didn't interact with her family, but instead with two other families?" he asked back.
The water mage responded this time. "That's right, one of them were the Vermillions,"
"Well, the second family was the Thisavros House. My uncle's the one who works with them," he began before turning to his friend. "Say, how is my Uncle Marcus?"
"He's doing just fine, and as usual, his work is exceptional," she replied.
"So, Kenos, how long have you been friends for?" Zuka inquired.
"About 8 years. I met her when I was 8 and she was 16. My uncle took me to see their family, she saw me and invited me to play with her, and we hit it off,"
Asta turned to Dante and Oxanna. "The three of you are so lucky to have such a cool friend,"
"Um, correction on that, she's Kenos' friend," Oxanna corrected.
"Yeah, we know her and have talked a bit, but that's just about it, nothing substantial," Dante added.
"They're right, she's all mine, oh wait, no she isn't. Alice, have you seen Ryu anywhere?" Kenos wanted to know.
"Have I seen Ryu?" Alice repeated, but her eyes noticed something, causing a small smile to appear on her face. "As a matter of fact,"
The Rossiu was confused by her response, but that only lasted for a few seconds as he felt two hands on his shoulders.
"Did someone say my name?"
Kenos instantly recognized the voice and rotated his body, coming face to face with a male who stood at six feet, his hair was short and consisted of two colors, with one side being crimson, and the other side being hollow purple. As for what he wore, the color palette almost directly contrasted Alice's, whereas she wore bright colors like pink and white, he wore a black hooded trench coat, black boots, a navy blue shirt and pants, and over his shirt was his squad robe, the robe of the Crimson Lion Kings.
"Ryu!" Kenos cheered as the two bumped arms.
"Kenos, my man, great to see you, you too, Alice," Ryu said.
"Oh, you're a part of my squad, but I've never seen you before," Erika noted.
"Our squad is big, it's not impossible that he's gone by our radar," Rama told her.
Like before, the solar mage introduced the teen. "Everyone, this is another friend of mine, Ryusei Kaiyo, the final member of our friendship trio," he pulled Alice to them. "The three of us go way back,"
"You're pretty tall, how old are you?" the swordsman asked.
"I'm 19, three years older than Kenos, five years younger than Alice," he answered with a happy grin. "Thanks for the compliment, although you're pretty short,"
"Pretty short?!" Asta screamed comedically as he fiddled with his fingers, comedic tears falling down his face. "Why do people keep saying that?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, it just kinda came out," Ryusei apologized.
"Don't worry about him, I'll let you in on something," Kenos began. "Throughout our friendship, Alice and I have learned that he has no filter. Take brutal honesty, add in some kindness, and you've got Ryu over here, he couldn't keep a secret to save his life,"
Those last words put a look of uneasiness on Ryusei's face. "Y-Yup, can't keep a secret, not at all, I am a terrible liar,"
"And speaking of secrets, that reminds me, I didn't see you at Yultim, not at the climb, or in the hot spring. Were you doing something?" the solar mage asked.
"Nope, I was just having a massive headache, so I stayed at base all day. I even had to miss the Star Festival, a real bummer," he replied with a hint of comedic sadness, his friend patting him on the shoulder for support.
"So you can't keep a secret? That has got to suck. Has that ever come back to bite you?" Kuro questioned.
Kenos jumped to answer. "A few times have come to mind, but I think the most awkward of them was when Ryu used to have a crush on Alice and let her know right away,"
That last part had Zuka's attention. "A crush? How did it turn out? Tell me, tell me," she begged Ryusei.
Alice jumped in between them, her face a little red. "Woah, we are not continuing this conversation, I'm right here! Kenos, how could you bring it up?"
"Sorry, it's just that I was a bit sad nothing ever came out of it, I always thought the two of you would make a great couple, but you rejected him," he told her.
"You don't have to feel bad, Kenos, I was 12, it was nothing more than a simple crush I had on a close friend, it wasn't anything deep," Ryusei intervened, his voice casual.
Asta walked over to him. "Well that's a shame," he said before something caught his eye, and it was something below him. "Ryusei, is that your grimoire?"
"It is," he pulled it out and showed it to the magicless mage. It was primarily golden with fire signs at the ends of the front cover, in the center of it was a three-leaf clover and surrounding the leaves were two dragons, one flying up, the other flying down. The one flying up with a crimson red color, but the one flying down completely contrasted the color scheme of the tome as it was pitch black.
Asta's eyes displayed awe. "Wow, it looks so cool, especially the dragons,"
"It really does, and I like the dragons too, after all, I've got Dragon Magic,"
"Now there's an attribute you don't hear about every day," Rama expressed. "We should team up for missions sometime,"
"He's right, it is something new, we should totally have a fight, what do you say?" Asta asked ecstatically. "So what Team are you on? We can duke it out in a later round,"
"Oh, sadly, I didn't get picked to participate. Why don't we have a fight after the exam, my Dragon Magic vs your Anti-Magic?"
"Works for me,"
"Awesome,"
"Hey, you guys!" Finral shouted from afar, Leo and Hamon next to him. "I got my team, wish me luck,"
"We're starting, let's go then," Rama said as he, Kuro, and Alice went, cheered by their friends.
"Good luck, Tiger Cub," Oxanna started.
"Do your best, Kuro," then to Dante.
"Go Alice!" it finished with Kenos and Ryusei.
Team F soon caught up with Team E.
"Hey, Rama, we're fighting your team?" Leo asked.
"Looks like it,"
"Nice, this is going to be incredible, two rivals going head to head, but only one can come out on top," the flame mage pumped his fists. "I'm glad you're the one I'm battling, there's something I wanted to show you,"
"Cool, and to be honest, there's something I wanted to show you too," Rama said back.
The rivals then shared a fistbump before they stood on opposite ends of the capital mage. "The third fight of the first round between Teams E & F will soon commence. On Team E, we have Finral, Leopold, and Hamon, and on Team F, we have Rama, Kuro, and Alice,"
The two teams started to descend onto the battlefield, Leopold turned to his golden-clad teammate. "So, you're Hamon? I saw you at the Merits Ceremony. What kind of magic do you have?"
"Glass Magic,"
"Not bad," he then motioned to Finral. "And you?"
"Spatial Magic,"
He was satisfied by the answers. "We've got a good set of attributes on us, we should do great. But I want to take on Rama, I'll leave you two to take care of their crystal,"
"Sure, you can count on us," Finral gave him a thumbs up.
"Thanks a bunch," Leopold said before he stopped, seeing that they were a decent distance from the starting point. "This isn't a bad spot. We're fine over here!" he called to the enemy trio.
"We're good here as well!" Rama called back, his team surprisingly only about 40 meters away.
"Hey, um, Rama…don't you think we're a bit too close, a lot closer than the other teams that fought previously?" Alice asked.
"A bit, but I want to get to the battle quickly. Is that okay with you? We can move back a bit more,"
The woman waved her hands in a denying manner. "No, it's fine, I was just asking, that just means that the actual fighting will start sooner, it kind of gets my heart pumping," she clarified. "In fact, this gets my heart really pumping, the blood flowing, and the adrenaline going. The first fight of a super important exam, can't let my teammates down, gotta do good, gotta…survive, gotta…come out on top, gotta…,"
"...Win,"
"Both teams are in position! Ready, and, fight!"
"Alright, it's started, I hope you guys don't mind if I square off with Leo, he's my rival and I-,"
"No way in hell," the lightning mage was saying, before the prior statement cut him off, said statement coming from Alice as she approached him. Her demeanor had totally changed, instead of being used to fiddle with her fingers, her hands proudly rested on her hips. Instead of the kind and somewhat timid expression her face had majorly worn, it now wore a look of cold seriousness, and her grimoire was out, already flipping through pages.
"Here's how it's going to play out: I move in to destroy their goddamn crystal in a minute or two, and you two be good little boys and provide support. Easy enough for you to understand, or should I dumb it down further?" she commanded, her tone having changed to, becoming more confident, but just as condescending.
Rama for one, was very taken aback by the sudden shift in, well, everything regarding his female teammate, but decided to address something she said. "Wait, about your plan, I understand wanting to destroy their crystal ASAP, but first, you don't know anything about our magic, and second, I want to fight Leo, we're rivals and there's something I've been preparing to show him,"
"I can learn your attributes along the way, an important thing to keep in mind when fighting is to be spontaneous. And as for your so-called rivalry," Alice began to respond. "Behold the garden where I grow the fucks I could possibly give about that," she motioned to a part of the field that was devoid of plant life. "Look now and you shall see that it is barren,"
Kuro motioned to Rama. "Damn, talk about a major attitude adjustment. I was already planning to keep her off my flirt radar since she and Ryusei have some history, but now I'm really glad I dodged that bullet," he whispered.
"Tell me about it. What's gotten into her?" Rama whispered back.
"Hey!" Alice shouted to the other team. "Enjoy being in the exam while you can, shitty bastards! Because it'll be over once I get over there, obliterate your crystal, and shove the remnants right up your asses!"
Team E was surprised by the words too. "The fuck?" they thought in unison.
And it wasn't just the two teams, the knights up on the platform were caught off guard by the profanities she shouted. "The hell happened to her?" Yuno wondered aloud.
"Yeah, she was a lot more polite just about a minute ago," Asta shared his foster brother's bewilderment.
"It appears that she's come out," Ryusei commented, getting everyone's attention.
"What do you know? Tell us,"
The dragon mage prepared to do so. "What you're seeing right now is the other side of Alice," he began. "Under normal circumstances, Alice is a cool, kind, and somewhat timid woman, but when she starts to get excited, that's when she's competitive, rude, and starts swearing like she's a sailor mage having the crappiest day of their life,"
"I see, how did that exactly start?" Zuka asked.
"We don't know, it's been a part of her for as long as we've known each other," Kenos answered her.
"Hey, cocky ginger guy, you're a Coral Peacock, have you seen Alice's other side on display?" Ryusei inquired from the vice-captain.
"C-Cocky ginger guy? My name is Kirsch Vermillion, the most beautiful sight gifted to humanity, a sight that-,"
"I didn't ask for your life story my guy, just asked a simple question," he stopped him midway.
The royal was clearly crestfallen, but answered the question. "Yes, I've seen her other side, mostly during tough missions, but I disapprove of it, that feistiness of hers is quite unsightly,"
"Speak for yourself, back when I was beginning to develop feelings for her, seeing that feistiness only made her more attractive," Ryusei retorted.
Kirsch looked away in exaggerated disgust. "Uh, your taste is just as bad as my sister's,"
"If it's different from yours, I'll take it,"
"Okay you two, enough back and forth, we have the fight to watch," Mimosa ended the argument.
Back to the fight, Alice's grimoire stopped on the page it needed. "Let's not keep this fight delayed any longer! Wind Creation Magic: Battlefield Dancer!"
Upon declaring the spell, wind came out from her grimoire and wrapped around her, solidifying to form gray armored gloves that went up to her elbows, gray armored boots that reached up to where her physical boots were, gray armor covered her from her neck down to her waist, said part of her armor adorned with intricate linings along with a breast implant for her chest. She quickly passed two fingers by her forehead as wind gathered there, forming a tiara. The wind then covered her cape, the gray overlapping the purple to match the rest of her armor, and finally, wind condensed into a medium gray sword which she held firmly.
"Wind magic? We have the same attribute then, hey Kenos, what do you know about her-," Yuno was saying, turning his head to ask the solar mage a question, but stopped as he saw something else.
Noelle's eyes lit up in awe as they looked at the female wind mage. "She looks…incredible,"
Yuno decided not to ask in the end, instead eyeing the royal. "Never seen that kind of look on her face before. Not sure what's there much to admire, it's an armor spell,"
Alice didn't say another word before she zoomed forward.
"She's coming in hot, I'll handle it, Flame Magic: Spiral Flame!" Leopold exclaimed, firing his iconic spell.
"Don't worry, I got you!" Kuro formed a portal for her to go into, avoiding the attack, reappearing next to Team E's crystal.
"Easy win!" she exclaimed, raising her sword.
"We won't go down that easily!" Finral quickly responded by making his own portal in front of her, sending her right back to her teammates.
Kuro and Finral exchanged quick glares. "So, their team has a spatial mage as well," they both thought.
"Kuro, make a portal in front of me, and make sure I don't get hit!" Alice barked as she bent her legs down and took to the skies, not noticing that Noelle's eyes were still locked on her as she descended en route to the enemy team.
"Taking to the skies this time, Glass Magic: Verre Shards!" Hamon exclaimed, firing a barrage of jagged shards her way.
The silver eagle reacted quickly with a portal in front of the woman which absorbed the shards, and just like before, a new portal opened next to the enemy crystal.
But the black bull wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice.
"Spatial Magic: Fallen Angel's Gates!" he exclaimed, using the first portal to take in the shards, and the second one to attack their crystal, and this time, the attack was successful, chipping a piece off.
"Crap, my bad, he was faster than me," Kuro apologized.
"Shake it off, we can get them back for it," Rama told him before his grimoire flipped to a page. "Lightning Recovery Magic: Susanoo's Omen!" he declared, creating a cylindrical guard of electricity around their crystal. "This will heal its injuries and keep it protected for about 3 minutes. I'm heading into battle,"
Leo saw his rival running forward, a grin creasing his features. "Here I come. Finral, a portal if you will, to Rama,"
"On it," he made one, the flame mage jumping into it arriving only a few feet from the Asterius, making the white-haired teen stop in his tracks.
The two exchanged looks at one another, their glares filled with intensity, and though neither spoke a word, in their minds, the same thought rang out.
"It's just you and me,"
As the rivals were having their stand-off, Alice was still in the air. "With the speed I'm going at, if contact is made, the fight is over," she muttered.
Unfortunately for her, Hamon still had her in his sights and acted accordingly. "Glass Magic: Mur de Verre!" he exclaimed, forming a tall and wide glass wall.
The wind mage contemplated her options. "I could easily fly around it, but then it would restrict the actions of my…partners. So it seems I have to take the wall down," she changed course and flew downwards, once she descended enough feet, she flew straight for the spell.
"Wind Creation Magic: Ventus Hunter!" she exclaimed, forming a wolf of wind that was able to match her speed.
"Ram that thing down. You'll need some help too," she instructed the beast, and as it sped up its charge, she released the grip on her sword, letting it float in front of her, she then spread her hand out, the sword spinning faster and faster until it became like a buzzsaw, she reeled her whole body back and launched it.
Though sent at different times, the sword caught up with the wolf, and together, they hit the wall at full force, creating a sizable crack, but couldn't break through. "Seems I have to deal the finishing blow," Alice called her sword back and increased her speed, positioning a single leg into a kick to do the deed, and it succeeded, breaking the wall.
"Cower in fear, bitches, defeat has come!"
"She's too close, I need to establish distance right-," Finral thought in a hurry, trying to send her back, but it was cut short as a fist suddenly collided with his face and sent him to the ground.
"Who?" he winced while looking up, only to see Kuro.
"Weren't expecting that? I don't use my magic for solely support, I use it in tandem with fighting. You, Finral, are the key to your team's mobility, once you're handled, the advantage will be ours,"
"Tough words, seeing that the damage the crystal suffered was under your watch," Alice scoffed. "And now who's guarding the crystal?"
"Rama cast a spell to keep the crystal safe for about 3 minutes that can also heal the injuries it sustained," he explained before he raised a brow. "So, what happened to beating them in a minute or two?"
"Whatever, these guys are stronger than I gave them credit for," she admitted. "So I'll kick it up a notch," her sword turned into its buzzsaw state and shot it, but a sudden action derailed her attempt at an attack.
"Spatial Magic: Helix Cancel," Kuro said, capturing the weapon and subjecting it to his infinite loop.
Alice was none too pleased, going as far as to grab Kuro's robe. "What actual fuck is wrong with you?! Why'd you do that?!"
"I've got a plan, and that plan is going to need your sword. Going by how you've been acting since the match started, it didn't look like asking would do much, so I took matters into my own hands. You can make another sword, right?" he explained.
She responded merely by making a new one. "Y'know, cooperation isn't impossible with me, anyone who can prove themselves by overcoming tough challenges is good in my book. Anyway, whatever plan you have set up better work,"
Kuro nodded. "You can count on it,"
"Glass Creation Magic: Verre Epée,"
The two knights of Team F started to feel rumbling from under them. "Move!" Alice grabbed Kuro and flew up, narrowly escaping the glass swords that came from beneath.
They landed close by. "That was close, thanks," Kuro said.
"Don't let it become a habit," Alice got into a fighting stance, with Finral and Hamon standing together a few feet away. "Get ready, the fight's starting. Make sure I don't have to save your ass again,"
Kuro got into his own stance. "You won't,"
Rama and Leo continued to glare at each other, but then, the former started to chuckle.
Leo couldn't help but chuckle too. "What's so funny?"
"I was just thinking about what your sister would say if she saw how the fight was going so far," he replied.
"She'd probably yell at us for not using what we've learned in training and keeping the battle pretty uneventful," the flame mage said. "And speaking of yelling, what was up with that Alice girl?"
"I'm not too sure, she was a lot nicer before the fight started. I'll just ask Kenos when I get the chance," Rama told him.
"Oh, Kenos knows her?"
The lightning mage nodded. "Yup, apparently, the two of them along with another guy in our squad were childhood friends,"
"That's cool, but we should really cut the chit-chat, the two of us are here to fight," the vermillion punched his palm.
Rama's grimoire flipped to a familiar page. "Agreed, better to do that after one of us comes out on top. Lightning Creation Magic: Voltage Polearm!" he declared as he equipped the weapon and stood ready.
The royal was minorly shocked. "Is that all? Just your polearm? Neither one of your amplifier spells?"
The white tiger only grinned. "It's a surprise," the grin then vanished as he charged forward, doing a wide slash with his polearm, forcing Leopold to back up, but that's when Rama sped up and jumped, performing a mid-air tornado kick, to which his opponent ducked his head. What he wasn't expecting was for his rival to perform a sweep kick immediately after landing, which succeeded in sending the royal to the ground.
"Impressive," Leo remarked, quickly rolling away before getting up. "Now it's my turn, Flame Reinforcement Magic: Nimble Fire!" flames covered his feet as he blitzed towards Rama, leaping into the air for a one-legged kick.
Rama crossed his arms in response as contact was made, managing to push him back a considerable number of feet, but the flaw mage wasn't done yet, he sprinted up the side, attempting to catch him off guard.
But the snow-haired teen wouldn't be taken down by that. Once Leopold was about two yards from him, he spun his body around, positioning the blade of the polearm his way, ready to inflict damage when the distance was closed.
"Crap," the flame mage cursed, but had a plan to get him out of the situation. "Flame Magic: Flame Tempest!"
He brought his hands together and spread them out, releasing the blaze, said action stopping Rama's counterattack dead in its tracks and at the same time providing both sides to jump back, but Leo was the first to capitalize on it.
"Flame Creation Magic: Inferno Lion!" he summoned the fiery beast and let it loose.
"That lion is no match for a tiger. Lightning Magic: Electro Barrier!" he responded, protecting himself.
Up on the platform, Oxanna looked with amazement. "Leo and Tiger Cub are doing pretty good, and are evenly matched,"
"For now at least, Rama hasn't used that boost spell that makes him stronger or even Peaceful Sorrow," Dante pointed out.
"True, but Leo's been training too, even if Tiger Cub starts to power up, it might still be a close fight," she said back.
Back on the battlefield, Rama dropped his barrier and took a deep breath. "If I want to use what I've been saving, I can't be expending too much mana. It'd be better to do it sooner rather than later," he thought before speaking a mere pair of words. "It's time,"
"It's time? Wait, are you going to show me what you mentioned earlier?" Leo questioned.
He nodded. "I am, and I must say, learning this was very difficult, but it was worth it,"
[Flashback]
Crimson Lion Kings HQ. One Year Ago.
"A good place to begin is our library,"
A day had passed since the entrance exam of that year, and the sound of two footsteps echoed throughout the base. Suddenly, a door to a library opened, letting a younger Rama enter, beside him was Fuegoleon, who had made the prior statement.
Rama was in awe. "This place is huge, almost twice as large as the library at my house,"
"It's not just large, our library has a wide variety of books, ranging from ancient texts to the most up-to-date works. When I first became captain, I would come here a lot in my free time to think and read. Say, do you like to read, Rama?"
"Do I ever? Books are so fascinating, they can inform and enlighten us with the past of our history, and they're just as capable of entertaining us with stories birthed by the human imagination," he replied.
A smile came to the flame mage's face. "Not a bad way to look at it. In the case of the latter half of your statement, stories created by humans, all with different backgrounds and skill sets, have taught me that we're all capable of doing great things,"
"Agreed," Rama said back before a question came into his head that he wanted to ask. "Um, captain, I hope you don't mind, but…why are you showing me around HQ? You must be a very busy man, I wouldn't want to be the reason you aren't getting work done,"
Fuegoleon placed a hand on the youth's shoulder and gave an understanding look. "Don't worry about it, I chose of my own volition to oversee your tour, after all, you are the first commoner to ever join this squad, I wouldn't want my other knights to give you trouble,"
The two then left the library and were on their way to the courtyard when Rama spoke up. "Does that mean…they don't want me to be on their squad?"
"It is an unfortunate subsequence of how our society is, but you are from a notable common household, and your skills are legitimate, it may make some of them come around. But remember, I'm always here to support you, I did want you in my squad,"
"And I'm grateful that you were impressed by my magic," Rama said.
"It wasn't just your magic, I was amazed by your usage of martial arts," the captain added. "It isn't a technique used by anyone I've seen. Tell me, where did you learn it?"
"Well, the kind I use was cultivated by my ancestors about 100 years ago," he answered.
"100 years ago? I wasn't aware that the Asterius family was around that long," Fuegoleon expressed his surprise.
"Yeah, family history isn't something we go out of our way to share with other people. We-," Rama was saying before a sudden exclamation caught his attention.
"Flame Magic: Spiral Flame!"
The new knight followed the sound and found its origin at a corner of the courtyard where a younger Leopold was, blasting his spell at a trio of dummies five meters away.
"Alright, new distance record!" he cheered, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Who's that?" Rama asked.
"That's Leopold, my younger brother. He's a rookie like you, but since he's royalty, he was allowed into the squad a month earlier than the rest of you,"
"I see. So, is he…training? I thought training was something royals looked down upon," the lightning mage in an almost careless manner, before realizing who he was talking to. "Um, no offense,"
To his surprise, Fuegoleon only chuckled. "It's alright, but I'll have you know things are different on our side of the family. When it comes to the Silvas, they don't really practice much, the only exception being the eldest child since he's a captain. The Kira family, however, completely relies on their high magic power, that's why they're the weakest royal family. With us, or at least, me and my sister, we had a teacher to help us hone our power, and we became stronger, but with Leopold, it's a different story,"
"How so?"
"He never had a teacher. He would occasionally come to me for advice, but other than that, he's self-taught. He spends hours a day training, and always gives 110% to be the best he can possibly be, and I've always been proud of him because of that," he explained.
Rama's eyes widened. "I didn't know any royal could be inspired to push themselves that hard just for their own sake," he thought to himself.
"Who knows, perhaps the two of you can even become friends," Fuegoleon stated, regaining Rama's attention. "You're the only commoner on this squad, and excluding me, Leo's the only royal on the squad, but you two are quite alike, so something tells me you'll get along just fine,"
The rookie looked at his captain before taking one more stare at the mage from afar. "If you really think so,"
"C'mon, keep going, you can do better than that!"
It was three days after the team-up mission the Crimson Lion Kings and Silver Eagles did at Chasmar Village, the former squad had returned to their daily training at Yultim. But while everyone else was training at the bottom of the area, Rama and Mereoleona were at the top.
"Lightning Magic: Voltage Polearm - Slash of the White Tiger!" Rama jumped in the air, ready to strike, but Mereoleona merely jumped to his level and quickly punched his face before he could bring the weapon down, sending him to the ground.
She landed seconds after. "You have to be faster than that, tiger. So, are you ready to try it again?"
The lightning mage got up and nodded. "I am. Lightning Magic: Force of Raijin + Presence of Byakko!" he cast the two spells at once and charged with great speed, launching a punch with one hand, which his captain managed to block, but was pushed back a considerable number of feet.
"Now we're talking," she grinned as the younger knight took to the sky once more, this time much faster, and brought his polearm down, but she was able to back away.
"You won't get away!" Rama exclaimed as he immediately zoomed forward, and while in mid-air, he turned his body around, ready to use the momentum to increase his polearm's attack.
"I don't intend on evading this time!" Mera yelled back as he rushed to meet him. "Flame Magic: Calidos Brachium!" her fist ignited, punching the blade head-on. "It has a good amount of strength behind it, but it isn't enough!"
With that, she won the clash, sending the white tiger back, but he quickly rose. "If it isn't enough, then I'll keep going," he was about to move again, but he dropped to the ground, the two spells fading. "Damn," he muttered.
The captain walked over to him. "You seem to have the same problem, you can hardly maintain the boost,"
"Well, double spells already expend a good amount of mana, and I have to keep the spells active for the duration of the fight, it isn't something my body is used to handling," he revealed.
"So how exactly do you plan on fixing this problem?" she inquired with crossed arms.
"I'm not too sure right now, but the answer will come to me, I just need it to come fast so I can show it to Leopold if I'm picked for the exam," Rama replied with a determined look.
His answer raised a look of surprise from the woman. "Why would you specifically want to show my brother?"
"Oh, we're rivals,"
That managed to make her uncross her arms and laugh. "Is that so? It seems Leopold followed the footsteps of his older siblings and found himself a rival, although, of the three of us, he has a very different rival," her laughing ceased and a more serious look took over. "Fuegoleon and I found rivals in fellow royals, but you're not a royal, hell, you're not even a noble. There's no doubt your skills are impressive, but it doesn't feel too much like an even playing field. Tell me, what exactly is the nature of your rivalry?"
"The nature of our rivalry? Well, we aren't really striving for a certain goal, it's more like we're trying to prove ourselves to one another," he answered.
Mereoleona raised a brow. "Prove yourselves? How so?"
The lightning mage managed to raise himself up. "When Fuegoleon first introduced Leopold to me, he noted that we were different, and it still holds true now. Excluding you as our captain, I'm the only commoner on the squad, and Leopold's the only royal on the squad, and as such, I wanted to be his rival so we can prove the strength of our side to each other, to measure my best against his best,"
The captain chuckled. "To measure the best of a commoner and the best of a royal, you say? Sounds like a rivalry that will never end, after all, it can take years for one to reach their zenith of power," she then began walking to the edge of the top. "I'm going to go check on everyone else,"
Rama watched as she jumped down. He thought about what she said before a small came to his face. "True, it may take years, but I don't mind waiting,"
[End Flashback]
"It took a lot of trial and error, and a hell ton more beatings from the captain, but I finally did it, a way to not just combine my two prime spells with less mana output, but make the final outcome stronger too," Rama thought.
"Don't keep me waiting man, I want to see what you've got in the bag!" Leo exclaimed excitedly, not appearing to be worried by whatever was to come.
The white-haired teen spread his feet out as his grimoire flipped to a new page. "As you wish, my rival, Lightning Magic: Wrath of the Thunder Tiger!" he shouted.
Rama shut his eyes, opening them to reveal them taking on the look of a tiger's. White lightning started to surge around his body, forming two thunderbolt tattoos on his cheeks and more on his arms, his hair floated up, accompanied by electricity. And finally, the blades of his polearm began to exude an aura, charged with power.
Those on the platform who were paying attention gasped in amazement, with Oxanna being the first to speak up. "So cool, Tiger Cub was able to merge Force of Raijin and Presence of Byakko into one spell,"
"And through that, he has speed, strength, durability, and reflexes, all in one. It's not going to be easy to beat," Erika added.
But none were more amazed than Leo. "So this is it? You never cease to amaze me, I bet it truly took a lot of work for you to create this, but as I said, you aren't the only one with something to debut, and just like you, making it was no simple feat,"
[Flashback]
Yultim Volcano. About One Week Ago.
"Ok, are you three ready?" Leopold asked. He along with most of his squadmates were at the bottom of the volcano. A good few yards away from him were Erika, Oxanna, and Randall, the last two covered in their mana skin.
"Everything's good on our side, waiting for you," Randall replied.
"Alright," the royal muttered as he activated his mana skin, but that wasn't it, he crossed his arms in front of his body and exuded more mana, making the coating brighter. "Bring it on!"
The three knights needed no further invitation.
"Phantom Creation Magic: Malevolent Duppy!"
"Lava Creation Magic: Meteorite Shower!"
"Air Magic: Explosive Air Palm!"
Leopold was dauntless before the multitude of spells coming his way, so he ran to meet them. "Flame Creation Magic: Inferno Lion!" he began, commanding his beast to contend with the spectral abomination. He then squatted down and jumped, going higher than his usual leaps would take him, allowing him to avoid the air bullet, leaving the lava spell as his remaining contender.
"Flame Magic: Igni Impact!" he clashed with one meteorite, overwhelming it, which put him right above his squadmates. "Flame Magic: Spiral Flame!"
"Leave this to me, Air Magic: Air Blockade!" Randall exclaimed, forming a shield of air to block the attack.
"My spell may have ended, but it isn't over yet, I'm coming down!" Leo screamed as he descended.
Oxanna turned to her friend. "Erika, smokescreen,"
"Lava Magic: Ash Torrent!" she declared, forming the requested smokescreen as Leo fell into it.
He landed on his feet, but it didn't matter much as his vision was impaired. "I may not be able to see you, but I can still sense you,"
"Then sense this!" the two girls exclaimed together.
"Phantom Creation Magic: Reaper's Scythe!" she declared, coming from the left side.
"Lava Magic: Magma Uppercut!" she declared, coming from the right.
But even though they came from different directions, it was just as Leo said, he could sense their mana, letting him dodge their attacks without much effort. Although, when he went for a counterattack, he was met with Randall grabbing onto his arm and throwing him out of the smokescreen, the torrent spell dissipating.
"I've got to hand it to you, Leopold, you're doing quite well," Randall praised.
"Stop, you're making me blush, but I gotta say this isn't easy. Using an enhanced mana skin followed by three spells in succession can get pretty tiring, not to mention the environment of the volcano is making the skin difficult to maintain, but if I can get it working here, just imagine how it'll work somewhere else,"
"You better not be slacking," a strict voice said from close behind him.
The flame mage jumped, knowing who it belonged to, but turned anyway. "Hey sis, you don't have to worry about me, I'm not slacking, just taking a break. Anyway, you startled me. Just where did you come from?"
"I was helping Rama about a minute ago, but came to check up on the rest of you," she responded. "I also want to talk to you about something…alone,"
The other three took that as their cue to leave as Leo faced his sister, his mana skin fading.
But she noticed it. "That was a pretty strong mana skin you had going. What were you working on?"
"I was thinking, since I have to maintain mana skin while I'm training, why not try to make something out of it? I've done a little experimenting, and I found out that mana skin doesn't just provide protection, at a certain point, it even begins to increase my physical traits, there could even be a new spell in my future," he explained.
"It does make sense that an enhanced version begins to strengthen you, after all, mana skin is a reinforcement spell at its core. But I'm surprised, you never really showed any interest in this,"
Leo's face became serious. "I'm doing it because I have to get stronger. If I'm selected to participate in the exam and become a Royal Knight, I can make that Licht guy pay for what he did, and avenge our brother. But…it isn't just that, I also want to get stronger so I can keep up with Rama,"
The older flame mage ruffled his hair. "And that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Rama informed me that you guys are rivals, I'm proud of you,"
The serious look on Leopold's face vanished, replaced with laughter. "It's true, but Asta's my rival too, although, we haven't really done much rival stuff, he's off doing that with Yuno,"
"Then that makes Rama your main rival. I asked him about the nature of your rivalry and he said it was about measuring his strength as a commoner against yours as a royal,"
"That sounds just about right, we just want to see which one of us is the best," he confirmed.
She let go of his hair. "If you want to see who's the best, you had better continue training,"
Her brother raised a clenched fist in response. "And that's what I plan to do,"
[End Flashback]
"For my brother's sake, and for your sake, my rival, I will continue to grow stronger!" Leo mentally vowed. "Flame Magic: Mana Skin!"
Kenos raised a brow at this. "He's using his mana skin? Why? It's not going to do much against what Rama has,"
"Don't count it out just yet," Erika reassured him with a wink. "That's only the first step of something amazing. Just wait and see,"
Rama shared the same sentiment as the solar mage. "Mana Skin, aye? Is that what you wanted to show me?"
"Not exactly, this is only the preface, witness now the next level!" he exclaimed, his grimoire flipping to a new page. "Flame Creation Magic: Leo Battleheart!"
At his call, he closed his eyes as violent flames emerged from his tome and neared his body. Two sets of flames spiraled around his hands, extinguishing themselves to reveal two golden gauntlets with crimson markings and a lion motif, another pair of flames spiraled down his legs, extinguishing themselves to reveal two golden boots with the same markings and motif. A larger flame spiraled around his chest, extinguishing to reveal a golden chest plate shield with similar markings. Finally, he opened his eyes, revealing them to have become like a lion's, all the while his mana skin transformed into a soft fiery aura around him.
"Fuck yes, there it is, Leo's new spell!" Oxanna cheered.
Yuno was awestricken. "He incorporated mana skin into a spell too? But it's actually become a concrete spell, lucky him,"
Noelle was the same. "I didn't know mana skin could be used as the base to make a spell. Does that mean it's possible for me too?"
Rama whistled in an impressed manner. "Look at you, not bad, not bad at all. Did you take inspiration from me?"
Leo shrugged. "A little bit. But let's stop talking and take these bad boys out for a test drive!"
"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Rama exclaimed as he and Leo ran towards each other, throwing one punch which clashed, creating a shockwave.
"Not a bad level of strength," the two rivals thought.
"This is going to be a fight for the ages," Leopold said before noticing something behind Rama, something important. "But I can't forget the objective of this exam,"
The lightning mage instantly caught on to what he was saying and looked behind. "Crap, my omen's worn off," he ended the clash and raced to his crystal.
The royal raised a hand up to face-level and opened it, watching as a small fire formed on the tip of each finger. "Flame Magic: Leo Vulnus!" he reeled it back and performed a horizontal swipe, sending five slashes of magic his rival's way.
Luckily, Rama was able to make it in time and lock on the crystal's mana before dodging the slashes, the crystal doing the same as it followed him. "You're not going to take me down that easily!"
"I wasn't planning on it! I know better than to think that would be too much for you!"
"Correct," Rama then flashed forward with blinding speed, launching a devastating punch to Leopold's torso, flinging him back a number of meters.
"Shit, what a punch, but I'm out yet!" the flame mage got up and rushed forward at a pretty considerable speed of his own. "One more time, Flame Magic: Leo Vulnus!" he did a swipe with two hands, sending double the slashes.
Like before, Rama dodged it by moving to the side, this time though, he moved in and swiped his polearm horizontally.
Leo quickly limboed to evade it, using the chance to throw a right hook, but the white tiger moved his body to the left, dodging his own attack.
Or so he thought.
The royal grinned as he positioned his feet and spun around, throwing a quick left hook which got Rama dead in the face. "Ah, that was an awesome maneuver," he complimented regardless.
"Thanks," Leo accepted.
"My turn again," Rama sent a flurry of stabs with his polearm, which Leo carefully jumped back to avoid, he then spun around and did a series of low slashes.
Leopold was just managing to keep himself from tripping, he was tired of being on the defensive, so he decided to take the offensive, reeling a fist back to punch Rama in the face.
But to his shock, the white tiger brought his polearm up to defend him, and that wasn't it, he grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back, kicking him again.
Like the last time, Leo was sent back some meters. "Damn, he got me a second time-," he was mumbling, but noticed a shadow jumping into the air.
It was Rama, fifty feet off the ground, he reeled his weapon back, ready to cast one of his trusty spells. "Lightning Magic: Voltage Polearm - Slash of the White Tiger!"
"No way I'm waiting for you to come down, I'll come up!" Leo squatted before jumping high into the air as well. "Flame Magic: Igni Impact!" fire ignited in his hands as he spun his body, clashing with the lightning spell, resulting in a stalemate that caused an even bigger shockwave.
The two crimson-clad knights looked at each for a few seconds in the air before they both descended with a crash, a cloud of dust forming from it, but as the dust settled, the two were seen on their feet, grins on their faces.
Asta couldn't help but grin too. "Damn! What a fight, those two are awesome!"
Rama stole a glance at his crystal, noticing more cracks formed. "Shit, just when I healed it. Most likely caused due to the clash we had in the sky, I gotta finish this quick before there's one crack too many," he thought, getting into a stance.
Leo recognized that stance. "Oh no, he's about to use Peaceful Sorrow. The speed and power on that were ridiculous, and that's without the boost from his new spell, now that he's adding it, I'm screwed if it connects, I have to stop him," he whispered to himself.
"Ok, clear your mind, no happy thoughts, no sad thoughts, just clear your mind, clear your…what?" Rama was telling himself, but then realized something was wrong as he broke his stance.
The flame mage saw this too, partially letting out a sigh of relief, but was just as confused. "What happened?"
"It's Peaceful Sorrow, I can't use it, I'm just…too excited," he confessed.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, I'm excited too!"
Rama found himself chuckling. "I guess you have a point,"
And as that was happening, the battle between pairs continued.
"Wind Magic: Hurricane Formation!" Alice declared, forming two medium-sized tornadoes, and sent them towards the two.
"You shall not pass! Glass Magic: Mur de Verre!" Hamon formed another glass wall.
"We're not getting stopped by that again! Kuro!" Alice called.
The silver-clad knight made two portals, bypassing the guard. The tornadoes then broke apart from each other and began following a knight.
"It's a seeker-type spell! Hamon, I have a plan, run up the other side and meet me a few meters up ahead!" Finral instructed.
"Alright," the glass obeyed, running up the left side as Finral ran up the right, a tornado behind each man.
Eventually, they crossed paths and the tornadoes weren't letting up. "When are you going to enact this plan of yours?" Hamon asked.
"Right now! Spatial Magic: Fallen Angel's Twin Gates!" Finral created two portals at the sides, the two spells entering them, and two portals in front of the pair from Team F, the tornadoes coming out of them.
Kuro stepped up. "Enough of this back and forth! Spatial Magic: Containment Sanctum!" he exclaimed, creating a massive portal, taking the spells in.
"Woah, where did you send them on the field?" Alice asked.
"They aren't anywhere on the field, they're within the space of my portals," he answered.
"What?! Does the spell keep on going then? That's quite the move, you should use it more often," the wind mage was impressed.
"Your tornadoes will eventually disappear, no spell I know can last forever," he informed her. "At least I'm glad to see you not being bitchy, but using this spell a lot isn't easy, it takes the most mana out of any spell I've got when used in excess, that and it can't contain a spell beyond a certain mana level,"
"I see," she said plainly.
"We're back on the offensive!" Hamon exclaimed, launching more shards.
"Wind Creation Magic: Ventus Hunter!" the coral peacock declared, summoning her beast once more. "After Finral," she commanded as she went to deal with Hamon.
Kuro watched as the two mages of Team E were now fully occupied, his eyes then widened. "This is it, this was the moment I've been waiting for. It's…,"
At the same time, the rivals were duking it out once again, trading blows. Fists flew, and attacks were blocked, but a singular thought crossed their minds.
"I'm starting to reach my limit! The fight has to end soon, or I stand no chance!"
"H-Hey, Leopold?" Rama spoke up between heavy breaths.
"Yeah?"
"This fight…has been the toughest one so far for me,"
"Same here, but that's to be expected from a battle between rivals,"
"Right you are, but let's make a vow, it doesn't matter which one of us wins today, just make sure that the one who does win goes on to be a Royal Knight,"
Leo nodded at that. "That's a vow I can keep,"
"Awesome," he said back as the two distanced themselves from each other, before charging forward.
"One last attack!" they mentally yelled, Rama reeling his polearm while Leo reeled his fist, the two getting closer and closer, until they were just a foot apart.
Rama was the first to swing, and that move had cost him, as Leo managed to grab the weapon with one hand and turn his body around, blocking the strike while at the same time putting himself right in front of the crystal.
"Rama's obviously feeling the strain of his spell, he'd never make a mistake like this, but I'll use it to my full advantage, this circumstance which has brought me…,"
"...an opening," Leo and Kuro thought at the same time.
"It may only be with one hand, but I'll give it all I got, Flame Magic: Spiral Flame!" the teen exclaimed.
At the same time, Kuro created a portal, sending the suspended wind sword on its way to the crystal. "Alice, your sword!" he shouted.
The wind mage looked at what was happening, and that's when it clicked. "So that was your plan, well played, Kuro," she said, commanding the sword into its buzzsaw state as it made contact with the crystal.
"Each crystal is under attack, at the same time," Ryusei noted. "But which one will break first?"
"I won't lose, I'm going to win!" Leopold declared proudly as the crystal broke under his fire.
Rama's eyes widened. "No way,"
The capital mage raised an arm. "Crystal destroyed! Team-,"
Before he could even declare the winner, Team E's crystal shattered into pieces.
"U-Uh, Team F's crystal was still destroyed first! The winner is Team E!" the capital mage announced.
"Damn it!" Kuro and Alice exclaimed.
"Seems I couldn't do it," Rama dropped to the ground, his spell disappearing, Leo's spell did the same as he dropped to the ground next to him. Both were pretty exhausted.
"Well Leopold, you won, you're the better one of us for now," he continued.
"What are you talking about? I got lucky and made the most of the chance,"
"Regardless, you came out on top, become a Royal Knight for the both of us," Rama brought a fist up to him.
Leo did the same as they fist-bumped. "I will,"
Author's Note
Alice Thisavros was an OC given to me by Sherry Muhammad
Ryusei Kaiyo was an OC given to me by Xyzdragon1234