Chapter Eighty-Two: Family Tree

Greeting readers, Day 3 is here and with it, a new chapter, hope you enjoy it. Cya

"Hey, over here!"

It was the next day, but instead of the morning, afternoon reigned over Aqua Deer HQ as Zuka and Shauna sat at a table eating lunch, the latter making the statement to their third friend who was walking around.

Oliver sat down as well, quickly digging into his plate of pasta. "Hey you two," he greeted in between bites. "How's your day been?"

"Kinda boring to say the least," Zuka admitted with a sigh. "Man, these two weeks have really been slow for the squad,"

Shauna couldn't agree more. "Tell me about it, I like having a break as much as the next knight, but a break for that long just becomes tiring. All we've done so far are patrols and the occasional low-stakes mission, there's nothing wrong with them per se, but we need more than that,"

"True, we do need more than that, but it's always important that we don't take this easier period for granted, you never know when you may have it again. Instead of sulking, we should seek to do something productive," Oliver countered.

Zuka whistled in an impressed manner. "Well look at you with the words of wisdom. And what exactly do you suggest we do?"

"I suggest we train, of course," he replied. "Shauna and I may have not been able to participate in the exam, but we can sure as hell help you get stronger if you're lucky enough to join the Royal Knights, and if by the low chance you don't, some training never hurt,"

"Not a bad plan," the two girls said.

"So, do either of you have anything to do today?" the wood mage asked.

"I've got nothing, no missions or anything," Zuka answered.

"Me as well," Shauna gave the same expression.

Oliver finished the rest of his meal and stood up with a pumped fist. "Awesome, let's get moving,"

"Um, are you sure?" the illusion mage raised a brow. "You did just eat, training right now might not be the smartest idea,"

"It's fine, I didn't get that much, and starches digest faster, but if you're worried, we can wait for a few minutes," he sat back down, tapping his fingers on the table. "So…has anything interesting gone down recently?"

Shauna held her chin, thinking of something to say. "Hey, Zuka, I know it's been some time, but how has your village been holding up since the last time we were there?"

"It's going as fine as it usually would, after reparations were completed following our fight with that bitch, Hiroka is doing well. But, I have been in touch with my mom, we send letters to each other just talking about stuff,"

"That's cool, what kind of stuff?" Oliver innocently inquired.

Despite the tone of his question, the commoner's face went slightly red as if she was embarrassed. "Um, nothing much, just talking about my future, and, some other stuff,"

"I see," Shauna said, hiding the grin on her face. "Y'know, it's nice seeing how close you and your mom are,"

"Yeah, it's a relationship I cherish highly," Zuka smiled, but it soon vanished, being replaced by a look of slight uneasiness toward her female friend. "Do you, y'know, ever wish you had a better relationship with your parents?"

"Of course I do, they're my parents, it was what I always wanted as a kid…but it is what it is, I'm done with them, I wasn't going to be their little bargaining chip to marry off for a status boost,"

A smirk graced Oliver's face. "Speaking of marriage, have you kept in touch with Joshua?"

The red-haired teen groaned. "Please don't tell me you're doing this again,"

The sparkle mage was a little lost. "Doing what again?"

Shauna quickly answered before the wood mage could. "Trying to convince me to give Joshua a chance,"

"Why won't you though?" Zuka asked. "He's an okay guy, and when I talked to him during the Star Festival, he told me he wanted to become a better man for you,"

The illusion mage sighed. "Look, Joshua is super sweet and a good person, there's no doubt about that, but he just isn't one I would consider getting serious with,"

"And if that's how you truly feel, I have no problem with it. I just want to make sure you aren't letting the whole debacle with your family cloud your judgment of him," Oliver told her.

Shauna rested her face on her palm. "Well, I guess that's a fair concern to have," she said, remaining in the position for about fifteen seconds, for in the sixteenth second, her head shot up, a thought having just gone through her mind. "Wait a minute,"

"What?" her squadmates awaited a response.

"It's very funny that our conversation has to do with family, it reminded me of something," she locked eyes with the male of the group. "We've never actually met your family before, Oliver,"

The noble froze up a bit. "Well, you see,"

Zuka thought about it, nodding as well. "Yeah, in fact, I don't think you've even told us about them either, or even what they do. If how you acted when we first met tells me anything, the Yggdrows must be a pretty big deal,"

Oliver somewhat regained his composure. "My family aren't really a super big deal like Kenos', but they're fairly important, we're certainly not a minor noble house by any stretch of the word,"

"Why don't you ever talk about them? They aren't…abusive toward you, are they?" Zuka inquired with some concern.

He waved away the notion. "No, nothing of the sort, at least, not to me. Anyways, I think we've waited long enough, let's head over to the training grounds,"

The two girls noticed the tone in his voice, deciding not to persist further as they all stood up and left the hall.

"So how's this going to go? Are you taking turns fighting me, or are you coming at me at once?"

"I think the latter makes more sense, I wouldn't be much of a challenge alone. There's a reason I'm the support mage," Shauna replied.

"That works for me," Oliver agreed.

The sparkle mage pumped both fists in the air. "Bring it on, I'm so ready for this!"

"Ready for what?" someone asked, the three turned around to see Fragil not too far away.

"The three of us are about to do some training to help me improve if I'm picked for the Royal Knights," Zuka answered before a thought came to her head. "Fragil, you participated too. Wanna train with us?"

"Hm, I guess it wouldn't hurt, I was just going to go to my room," she accepted as the four made their way to the outdoor grounds.

Standing a fair distance apart, Fragil and Zuka were in the north while Shauna and Oliver were in the south. The four mages all silently pulled out their grimoires, the only sound being of them flipping to certain pages before a new sound rang out, the sound of a single word being exclaimed by the knights.

"Go!"

Strangely, Shauna was the first to cast a spell. "Illusion Creation Magic: Creature of the Unknown!" she declared, releasing the beast.

Oliver followed her lead. "Wood Creation Magic: Pine Edge Wolf!"

Zuka was undeterred by the pair of charging animals. "I got this, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" she gripped her weapon and charged as well, lunging for the illusion beast first, who in turn lunged back at her, but she was faster, shifting her feet at the last second to be by its side, having the chance to pierce it cleanly.

"Impressive footwork!" Oliver called. "But can you do it again?!"

The wolf neared Zuka, but that didn't stop her from smirking. "Can I do it again? What kind of question is that?" her grimoire flipped to another page. "Sparkle Creation Magic: Shimmering Bow!"

With great concentration, the girl aimed at the creature and pulled on the bowstring, and just as the wolf jumped at her, she shot an arrow through its mouth, destroying it.

The black-haired teen whistled. "Shit, well, looks like it's my turn. Wood Creation Magic: Wood Hammer!" he too gripped his signature weapon and ran forward, Zuka reequipped her lance and did the same.

The two clashed with decent force, engaging in a struggle, but the struggle ended as they backed up and instead opted for quick, spontaneous strikes. "You aren't doing too bad," the girl said.

"Likewise, but this scuffle of ours will end in my victory," the boy said back confidently.

"Will it now?" she countered with the same air of confidence. "I must disagree. Sparkle Reinforcement Magic: Rampage Force!" she cast the spell and did a quick backflip, getting good airtime.

Oliver was confused by the action, staring up at her. "What are you-," it was then that he saw it, from his lower peripherals, he caught a glimpse of Fragil in the back, her hands up, a spell already forming.

"It was a coordinated attack!"

"Snow Magic: Sleet Shoot!" two projectiles were fired.

But rather than backing up to protect himself or dodging, the wood mage skillfully twirled his hammer around as if it were a staff, deflecting them in opposing directions.

The three girls were all momentarily stunned by his feat, such a movement wasn't easy with a weapon of that size, but the stun didn't last long as Zuka was the second one to regain her focus. "Take this!" she positioned her lance for a mid-air drop.

However, her attempt was thwarted by the first girl to regain her focus as a large stone wall suddenly appeared out of nowhere, concealing Oliver from sight.

"Damn it!"

Just then, the wood mage emerged from the far left of her, phasing right through the illusion as he jumped and reeled his hammer back.

Unfortunately for him, Fragil came to Zuka's aid, launching an array of large snowballs to act as cover for the sparkle mage to land and back away.

Oliver landed as well, a new spell ready to go. "Wood Magic: Gale of Splinters!" he launched two sets of attacks as both girls dodged.

Zuka was in initial relief, but it vanished upon seeing the wooden needles were in hot pursuit. "Crap, I forgot, this is the spell that follows you around!" she broke into a sprint.

"Zuka, come over to me!" Fragil called as she obeyed. "Snow Creation Magic: Igloo Shelter!" the snow mage exclaimed, protecting them both before dropping down her guard.

And Oliver was fully ready to take advantage of that opening. "Wood Magic: Forest Upheaval!" a pillar of wood arose from under him at an angle, shooting him toward the two. He quickly positioned himself and reeled back his hammer.

"Nice try, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Barrier!" Zuka exclaimed, the weapon instead hitting the forcefield.

Surprisingly though, the noble didn't appear worried in the slightest. Using the barrier as leverage, he thrust himself back into the air, his grimoire flipping to a new page. "Wood Creation Magic: Forest Spear!" the pointed log manifested in front of him, and with a great swing, he shot the spear, piercing the barrier on impact, causing it to slowly dissipate.

"No freaking way!" the two girls thought as Oliver landed.

"Shauna, swarm me!" he called to his partner.

"On it, Illusion Magic: Illusionary Multitude!" she exclaimed, forming ten clones of him that quickly moved to encircle the enemy.

The eleven Olivers all raised their hammers. "I hope you're ready for this," they all said.

"It's a pointless attempt, trying to hide among duplicates won't work if you can't move," Fragil fired back. "Snow Binding Magic: Trapping-,"

"Oh, there you all are!"

The four all stopped what they were doing at the sound of the familiar voice of their captain, and lo and behold, there he was, standing at the entrance to the training grounds.

"Sorry for interrupting, but I have some news for you four,"

"No worries, we were just having a friendly spar," Zuka told him. "What do you need?"

"Well, for Fragil, there's a solo mission I need someone to go on, and your magic is perfect for it," Rill began.

"Yes sir," she clover-saluted.

He then set his eyes on the trio. "As for you three, can you stop by my office in about an hour?"

"No problem," they replied.

"Awesome. You can get back to your spar, I just wanted to inform you," he said, leaving the area.

"Nice, it's about time we get to do something," Oliver said before he gripped his hammer.

"Now, where were we?"

An hour had passed and the trio was currently walking down the hall, Fragil having separated from them to prepare for her mission.

"Damn Oliver, you were killing it out there," Zuka said, playfully punching her squadmate's arm.

He was taken aback by the sudden words of praise. "Really?"

Shauna nodded. "Yeah, you were holding your own great. It makes me wish you got to participate in the exam so everyone else could see you in action,"

An embarrassed blush formed on his face. "Um, thanks. So, what do you think Rill needs us for?"

The sparkle mage shrugged. "I don't know. Seeing that he wanted us to come to his office in an hour, I doubt it's a mission,"

"You think he just wants to talk to us?" Shauna suggested. "I'm pretty sure we're, like, his favorite knights,"

"What? We're not his favorites," Oliver challenged, only to be met with a deadpan from the older girl. "Okay, maybe we are his favorites, but I don't think he'd just want to talk,"

"Well, we'll find out right now," Zuka said as the three arrived at the door to Rill's office, the girl wasting no time knocking.

"Come in," the captain called from the other side, the trio taking it as their cue to enter, finding the teen sitting by a painting board. "Perfect, you're here,"

"What did you need us for?" Oliver asked.

"It's about something I've been working on,"

"And what exactly are you working on?"

The picture mage grinned. "I'm so glad you asked, behold," he replied, revealing what it was, which was a 32x32 portrait with a person on it, and oddly enough, the person present was Yuno. The portrait showed the wind mage in his Spirit Dive form, floating in the sky with his glowing left hand over his right eye, a calm and stoic look on his face.

The three knights gasped, with Shauna being the one to speak up. "Rill, this looks incredible, but why are you painting a picture of Yuno?"

"I know that my battle with him was two weeks ago, but I'm worried he may still be bummed for losing to me. Our match in the finals was the most fun I've had in a while, so I made this to cheer him up. And the best part is, he doesn't even know I'm doing this, he's going to be so surprised," he explained.

The wood mage crossed his arms. "That's cool, what are we needed for then?"

"Silly Oliver, I need you three to deliver it to Yuno personally,"

"What? You really need all of us for this?"

Rill nodded. "That's right, this portrait needs to be transported with the utmost care to Golden Dawn HQ, and you're the ones I trust the most. I'm counting on you,"

"Hey, it beats having nothing to do," Shauna shrugged. "We got this, leave it to us,"

"Thank you so much!" Rill got up and pulled them into a hug. "You guys are the best,"

"Don't mention it," Zuka said as the three lifted the portrait from the bottom and started to exit the office, eventually arriving at the outside of the base, but now only the younger duo were holding it as Shauna took the liberty of carrying their brooms.

"It seems like that easier period you mentioned earlier will go on for a little longer, Oliver," the illusion mage mused.

"I wouldn't…call this easy, per se," he said back, a notable struggle evident from his tone of voice. "This is not light, how the hell are we going to deliver this? Flying with one person holding it is virtually impossible, and there's no way in hell we're getting there on foot,"

"Relax, there's a way to do this," Zuka told him. "If the two of us fly close to each other while holding the portrait, it should work out just fine,"

"Not a bad plan," the other girl agreed.

Oliver did as well as he started walking backward while his lifting partner walked forwards. "That's a relief, then let's get moving, the quicker we arrive, the better,"

"Better sounds great to me," Zuka began. "Let's bust out the brooms and-, Oliver, behind you!"

"Huh?" was all he could mutter before he bumped into someone, luckily, the speed of his movement prevented either party from being knocked off their feet.

"Oh, sorry about that," the wood mage calmly apologized.

"It's alright, but this isn't how I was expecting to find you,"

Oliver's eyes widened once he heard that voice, but he couldn't believe it, however, when he turned his head around, he realized his ears weren't deceiving him as he came face to face with a man with flowing black hair who wore a black and white suit.

Shauna turned to the man as well. "Hello there, you said you were looking for Oliver. Do you two know each other?"

"Of course we know each other. Has Ollie not told you about me?"

The two girls deadpanned. "Ollie?"

"It's just a childhood nickname, that was never supposed to be uttered in public," he said, facing his squadmates, but back to the man during his point of emphasis.

"What, it's a fine nickname," the man shrugged.

"That doesn't mean you can just say it around other people," the boy retorted. "Anyways, girls, meet my…older brother, Magnus Yggdrow,"

"Brother?" Zuka repeated. "Just when we were wondering about his family. It's nice to meet you, Magnus, we're Oliver's friends,"

The man's face contorted into a playful smirk. "Friends? With two girls? Not bad, is my little brother a little Casanova? Tell me, which one are you dating?"

Zuka and Shauna burst into laughter while Oliver became a tomato, wishing his hands were free so he could bury his face in them. "Why are you here?" he managed to ask.

"I finally have a little time off, so I thought I'd visit you here before I head home,"

"Is that so, well, I'm a little busy with something at the moment,"

"I can see that," Magnus eyed the portrait. "What are you doing with it?"

"Our captain wants us to bring it to one of the knights over at the Golden Dawn," his brother answered. "So we better get moving,"

"Hold on," the older Yggdrow directed his attention to the girls. "I didn't catch your names,"

"I'm Shauna Trixxton,"

"And I'm Zuka Glitenia,"

"Ah, I've heard a little bit about the Trixxton House, can't say the same for Glitenia though. Is that a minor house?"

The sparkle mage shook her head. "I'm not from a noble house at all, I'm a commoner,"

"Commoner?"

"Shit," Oliver thought, acting quickly. "Magnus, you better not,"

"What?"

"You better not question why I'm associating with her. I know we were brought up to think people like them are below us, but it's a mindset that does more harm than good. I admit, Zuka and I didn't have the greatest start, but we're friends now, and I wouldn't trade it for anything,"

Zuka smiled warmly. "Aw, the feeling is mutual,"

Magnus raised a brow. "Um, that's great, but I wasn't going to say that,"

His brother's eyes widened. "You…weren't?"

"No. You see, I've been trying to be more…mindful of the things I said and thought regarding the subject, and I too have seen some flaws in that part of our upbringing. As long as Zuka is a good friend to you, she's okay in my eyes,"

"I, um, thanks," the wood mage told his brother.

"It's no problem, if you're busy, I should take my leave, but before I do, I'd like to leave you with a parting gift," the man took out his grimoire. "Wood Creation Magic: Servant Hands," at his commands, six hands of wood appeared, grabbing onto the portrait and holding it up, freeing the two deers from the task.

"I assume holding an object that cumbersome would be difficult, though the spell will undo itself in an hour and some change. I hope you don't mind?"

Zuka stretched gratefully. "Not at all,"

"Perfect, then I must be off," he turned around and began walking away.

"Magnus," he turned again at the sound of Oliver's voice.

"Yes?"

"It was nice seeing you,"

"You too. Say hi to William for me," with that, he left.

"Wait, your brother knows the captain of the Golden Dawn?" Shauna queried.

"Yeah, they've…met a lot. Can we get moving now? We've already lost a good few minutes," he responded as they mounted their brooms and took to the sky, the hands following behind them.

Zuka flew closer to Oliver. "Y'know, your brother is kinda cool, the two of you have quite an odd relationship though,"

He sighed. "Look, I love my brother, but he really knows how to annoy me sometimes, thankfully it doesn't happen too often since we don't see each other much,"

Shauna also flew closer. "He did say he had some time off. What does he do for a living?"

That question made Oliver go silent, slightly worrying her. "Well?"

"He's a diplomat," he quickly replied.

Zuka was unfamiliar with the word. "What's a diplomat?"

"An official that represents a country in affairs. In Magnus' case, he represents Clover when it comes to matters with other kingdoms,"

"Woah, that sounds like a cool job,"

"...Yeah, real cool, my family thinks so too with how much they gush about it," he said with an underlying venom that the others didn't detect.

The blue and magenta-haired girl smiled. "Doesn't your family gush about you and your job? Being a Magic Knight is just as cool,"

He eyed her with a deadpan, looking back straight. "Pfft, I wish," he flew ahead, the smile on her face becoming a frown.

The rest of the ride there was silent, ten minutes passing until they could see Golden Dawn HQ in the distance, landing by the entrance.

The illusion mage crossed her arms. "And we're here, do you think we should just walk in?"

"I'm not too sure, can we?" the sparkle mage was unsure.

That uncertainty wasn't a problem for Oliver though, who just started walking, the portrait floating behind him as he opened the gate.

"I guess we'll be fine," the girls headed on after him.

The three wandered around inside, immediately taking in the splendor of the base, the decorated ceiling, the golden windows with images of the sun, and the many sculptures and paintings and such that littered the massive space.

"Wow, this place is amazing," Zuka was in awe.

But her awe was overshadowed by the wood mage's wonder. "Amazing isn't a good enough word to describe this place! It's incredible, stupendous! Our base is great, but there's just something about this place which is fantastic,"

Shauna giggled and lightly bumped his arm. "My, you seem really excited to be here,"

Oliver twiddled with his fingers. "Well yeah, I did initially want to join this squad. Speaking of this squad, where is everyone? You'd think the top brigade would have tons of people,"

Zuka held her chin. "True, there's very likely a reason,"

"Why yes, there is," despite the new voice behind them being soft and welcoming, the aqua trio nearly jumped at the sound of it, but their surprise only increased when they turned around to see who it was. They were expecting it to be just a regular golden-clad knight, but never were they expecting the one before them to be the strongest one of them all.

"Captain William Vangeance!" they gasped at once.

The world tree mage nodded and began walking their way. "Greetings, knights of the Aqua Deer, I wasn't expecting a visit from anyone in your squad. May I ask why you're here?"

Shauna took the initiative and responded to his question. "Captain Rill sent us here to deliver a gift he has for one of your members," she motioned to the portrait.

William took a glance at the painting. "What a skillful painting of Yuno, it was nice of Rill to make this, but Yuno isn't here at the moment. As your friend said, there is a reason most of my knights are gone, you see, we all attended a party one of them threw for her birthday yesterday, essentially going two days without doing anything, so they're on missions, keeping themselves busy, in fact, only a handful of them are still here,"

"The opposite is the case over at our base, we've hardly had any missions," Zuka confessed. "And I suppose we know who's responsible for today's drought,"

The captain chuckled. "Yes, we seem to be the guilty ones, but don't worry, I'm sure things will go back to normal for you," he told her. "As for Yuno, he should be returning from his mission soon, would you like to leave his gift here, or wait and give it to him yourselves?"

Shauna was about to accept the former, this was the only task they had been sent for, and waiting was unnecessary, but before she said it, she caught a glimpse of Oliver, a look of controlled, yet noticeable awe on his face directed towards the man making the offer, and she thought about what he had said to her just a minute ago. "Actually, I think we'll stay, this is such a nice place your squad has. If you could, may we have a tour?"

"A splendid idea, of course you can, especially after what Rill has done, one good action deserves another," he smiled, eyeing a nearby knight. "David,"

The knight turned in his direction. "Yes, captain?"

"When Yuno returns, can you tell him to meet me in my office ASAP?"

He clover-saluted. "You can count on me,"

"Thank you," William said before directing his attention back to the trio. "Shall we?"

They nodded as he led them through the hallway, soon arriving in a room with a tall staircase and a space at the top, painted windows behind the space. "This is one of the most important places in the building, it's where we all meet for daily announcements, I along with my vice-captain would stand at the top and relay information,"

"Cool, it must go a bit like this," the wood mage took a few steps back and kneeled. "We await your announcement, captain,"

William walked to him. "That isn't necessary, please get up, after all…I'm not your captain," he spoke the following words in a polite manner, but there was a feeling behind them that was anything but, the boy detecting it as he stood up.

"Wait, this is really all this room is used for?"

The captain faced Zuka, who made the statement. "Yes, really. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just that I'm surprised, our squad doesn't do daily reports or anything of the sort, if Rill needs us, we just meet him at his office,"

"I do that too sometimes, but I didn't know it wasn't something other squads did. Although, would you like to see something I know the others don't do?"

She nodded. "I would, lead the way," with that, he directed them to another room that was just as large, loaded with an assortment of boxes and contraptions.

"This is the uniform station. When a mage joins the Golden Dawn, they wear whatever clothes they have for as long as they're juniors, and once they reach the intermediate level, a special uniform is made here for them," he explained.

"What an amazing concept," Oliver complimented. "I wonder how I'd look in one,"

"They don't appear to be your color, I recommend you stick to aqua," William retorted once more in that kind tone that hid hostility. "Anyways, let us continue,"

The tour went on, with them visiting nearly every spot in the building, and after they finished, they came to William's office, where they all were sitting down.

"Thanks again for the tour, Captain Vangeance," Shauna said.

"The pleasure was mine, it was nice doing something like that for once," he said back.

"It makes me wonder how things would be for me if I decided to join this squad," Zuka mused aloud. "But then again, I like the Aqua Deer, and I don't think Rill would be happy,"

The world tree mage raised a brow. "He wouldn't be happy?" he muttered before it clicked. "Hey, you do look familiar, I remember you, back during this year's first exam, you were the one Rill begged us not to take in,"

The sparkle mage laughed. "That's me,"

"He was very much mostly interested in your attribute, but I can't imagine he didn't note your skill as well, your fight was amazing, such a show of talent and a plethora of decent spells to boot, and all belonging to a commoner no less. You're an exceptional knight,"

The girl blushed and giggled. "Aw, stop,"

He directed his attention to Shauna next. "And I remember you too from a while back. Your fight to this day still remains one that's as impressive as it was hilarious, using your illusions to trick the opponent into knocking himself out, you should've seen Yami, he was hardly keeping it together,"

The illusion mage adopted a proud grin. "It was pretty funny,"

"I used to be part of the Aqua Deer, at least, back when it was known as the Gray Deer, and I'm glad to know it has two very capable members,"

"Oh, I think you mean three," Zuka pointed out, jerking a thumb to her male squadmate. "You can't forget Oliver,"

In an instant, the friendly demeanor William had vanished. "Ah yes, Oliver, his skills are, serviceable, but from what I've seen, I wouldn't call them impressive by any means,"

Zuka wasn't expecting a remark like that. "Sir, with all due respect, I'd have to-,"

"That's it!" a rageful exclamation came from Oliver as he stood up and marched to the captain's desk, slamming his hands on it. "What's your deal?!"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You made jabs at me during our entire tour, and now you're doing this! Why don't you take me seriously, why don't you acknowledge me?!" he yelled. "You saw my fight during the entrance exam,"

"You're right, I did, and it was sloppy to say the least, I'm surprised you got the outcome you did. I take it you remember the day as well?" his voice remained calm.

[Flashback]

Clover Kingdom. A Few Months Ago.

"Woah, did you all see that?!"

"I know, what a quick victory! That guy is pretty skilled for a commoner,"

"What were you expecting though? He does have a four-leaf clover grimoire,"

Conversations like that had risen among the crowd, the Magic Knights Entrance Exam was already in full swing, but things got even more lively following Yuno's victory against a noble by the name of Salim.

But the crowd wasn't the only group talking. "Are you sure he's a commoner? Skill like that from their kind is unheard of," Nozel voiced.

"Hey, don't knock us commoners down!" Jack fired back. "That kid has potential,"

"I must agree with Jack," William joined in. "He must've trained incredibly hard to get where he is,"

Yami rested his chin on his palm. "Perhaps, but whatever amount of training he did can't compare to that last kid we saw fight," he said. "He's an enigma,"

"Yes, very strange indeed," Fuegoleon nodded. "To use your words, Nozel, a mage without magic truly is something unheard of,"

The mercury mage crossed his arms. "If you ask me, that boy shouldn't even be a part of our ranks, but if he must, the Black Bulls will do him nicely. They are a pack of useless rejects after all,"

"Useless rejects?" Yami repeated. "You know your sister will be joining my crew, right?"

"I know what I said,"

"Damn, I forgot how brutal you higher-ups can be sometimes,"

Charlotte entered the conversation. "Keep it down, another fight is starting,"

The captains watched eagerly as two more participants stepped forward. One was a young lady, and the other, was Oliver.

"Hold on, look at the crest on that boy's tie," Gueldre pointed, the others following his finger. Indeed, he was correct, in the middle of the wood mage's tie, was the silhouette of an oak tree.

"If I'm not mistaken, that's the crest of the Yggdrow family," Charlotte said aloud.

"Of course you all would notice that," Yami yawned. "Is their family a big deal or something?"

"Not exactly, they stand quite well in the status hierarchy, but they aren't super incredible," Fuegoleon told him. "Granted, a member from their family does act as a Clover diplomat, and a fine one at that,"

"It may be an important role, but it has no relevancy here, this is the place for battle," Nozel ended the conversation as they all looked down.

The capital mage raised his hand. "Ready! Match Begin!"

Surprisingly, the girl was the one to make the first move, already outpacing her opponent. "Paper Magic: Sharpened Storm!" she declared, firing a multitude of sharp pieces of paper, already sending Oliver back, parts of his skin being cut.

"Shit, I wasn't expecting it to start like that," he ignored the stinging pain and stood up. "My turn, Wood Magic: Gale of Splinters!" he fired his own projectiles. "You can try to escape my attack, but it'll be no use!"

"I don't plan on escaping," the girl retorted. "Paper Magic: Layered Protection!" she summoned three large pieces of paper layered together in front of her, the splinters sticking themselves onto it.

Oliver was shocked. "What? But that spell has never failed me,"

"Never failed you? How weak were the opponents you've fought?" the girl mocked. "Anyways, enough of long range, I say we get up close and personal. Paper Creation Magic: Sharpened Daggers!" at her call, paper flew around, folding itself into two small daggers that came to her hand.

"Up close and personal? Now you're speaking my language," the boy gave a confident look. "Wood Creation Magic: Wood Hammer!"

As he equipped his signature weapon, he pointed at his foe. "This is where you meet your defeat, my hammer won't lose to those puny excuses for weapons!"

She didn't waver though, just assuming a stance. "Bigger isn't always better,"

"We'll see about that!" the wood mage charged, reeling his hammer back for a mighty slam.

He smirked, assuming the battle was over. "So, you were saying, I guess-," he was cut off as he suddenly began feeling pushback, the match wasn't over, the girl had perfectly blocked the attack with her daggers. "But how?"

"It's like I said, bub, bigger isn't always better!" she pushed up, forcing him back and quickly going on the offensive, opting for a multitude of quick strikes, contrasting her opponent's style.

Oliver wasn't ready for her moves, suffering multiple cuts, quickly resorting to swinging his hammer around to keep her at a distance. Up with the captains, Yami let out a whistle. "Damn, that girl isn't bad. I wonder if she'd join my squad?"

"I think we all know that answer to that question," Jack mocked.

Charlotte was in agreement with the dark mage. "She is quite good, but I'm struggling to say the same for her opponent at the moment. He has yet to land a single hit,"

"It's not really a good matchup for him," Rill gave his first input. "That hammer is pretty big, and he doesn't appear to be accustomed to using it fast, it's slowing him down significantly,"

"Compare that to his foe who's using lighter and smaller weapons, it really isn't looking too good for him," Gueldre added.

"I have to take her down soon, I can't endure much more of this," Oliver mumbled to himself as he charged again, maintaining the horizontal swinging motion, but it proved useless as the girl jumped and did a mid-air front flip, landing behind him, attempting to go for victory.

But now it was her turn to be too slow as the wood mage backed up just in time. "Mark my words, by the end of this fight, I'm the one who will come out the winner,"

"Why don't you actually manage to hit me first? the paper mage turned to a page. "Paper Creation Magic: Sharpened Dagger Barrage!" many daggers appeared, floating in front of her as she grabbed them and began rapidly throwing them.

He used his hammer the best he could to protect himself, but it wasn't easy, more cuts riddled his body the longer the onslaught. "Why is this happening? I'm a noble for crying out loud, I should be dominating the fight, but she's making a fool out of me instead. Well, I've had enough, I won't except this any longer,"

Gritting his teeth, Oliver began his last stand, deflecting as many daggers as he could, he then proceeded to slam his hammer on the ground, a small shockwave passing through the entire area, but then he did something to his weapon that genuinely shocked all that were watching.

He let it go.

"What the hell is he doing?!" the crowd gasped in near-unison.

The paper mage was so taken aback, she temporarily stopped her barrage. "You were hardly managing to stay on par with me while you had your hammer, if you think you can somehow win without it, you're dead wrong!"

Oliver assumed a running stance, his opponent taking it as a cue to continue firing, but none of them hit as he hopped onto his hammer, using it as leverage to jump higher, out of her line of fire.

While in the air, he created another hammer. "Like I said, victory is mine!" he shouted, slamming it right into her side, sending her flying, and managing to knock her out.

Once he landed, the capital mage spoke, pointing at him. "Winner!"

"Yes!" Oliver cheered for himself.

"Not a bad move," Rill complimented.

"It was luck," Nozel scoffed, sitting back on his chair. "If it failed, he'd lose, simple as that,"

The wood mage took one last glance towards the captains, especially at one in particular before talking to himself. "I won my match, and that last attack was pretty impressive if I do say so myself, there's no way you won't pick me, I will join your ranks,"

"Participant #249. No hands,"

The examinee in front of Oliver had just failed, but it was of little to no concern to the teen. He was instead thinking about the strange stuff that had happened during the squad selection portion, the most shocking of the bunch being that fact a mage, and a commoner at that, had managed to get every captain to raise their hand, an unprecendted event, and another followed it in the form of an examinee refusing to leave after failing, instead declaring he'll be the best, which actually managed to get him on a squad. But before either of those occurred, one examinee had even got the captain of the Aqua Deer to beg for her to join, even the girl he defeated had been welcomed into the Coral Peacocks.

He grinned. "Excluding the four-leaf guy, I did way better than those peasants, and they all managed to join a squad, common sense should only dictate I get into the best one. Golden Dawn, here I come!" he thought.

"Participant #250, advance!"

The wood mage stepped forward upon being called, looking up at the group of powerful mages, he knew which one he wanted to join, but it wouldn't hurt for a few others to want him as well, all he had to do was wait for them to remember his display and raise their hands.

.

.

.

.

.

"What's going on?" Oliver's inner voice was no longer confident as five seconds passed and not a hand came up for him, it was now worried.

The captains all held indifferent gazes at him, except for one though, who at least somewhat appeared to be giving it some thought, but despite the nine faces looking at him, he could only pay attention to the lack of care in the eyes of the masked captain.

The teen put his head down, disheartened. "T-This can't be happening, I won my match, you were supposed to notice that, you were supposed to accept me. Was I not good enough," he muttered.

The capital mage spoke up soon after. "Participant #250. No-, wait, hold on, a captain has raised his hand!"

The Yggdrow was filled with hope upon hearing those words, he lifted his head up, hoping to see the hand of the one he expected, hoping he'd have a chance to achieve the goal he set out to complete.

But…once his eyes came back up, the joy in them had faded, for it wasn't William who raised his hands, but rather, Rill.

There was nothing else that could be done, if he refused the offer, his chance would be lost for another year, so, swallowing his pride, and his disappointment, he said the following words.

"It would be my honor to join the Aqua Deer,"

[End Flashback]

"Well, maybe it was a little sloppy and I could've done better, but things are different now, I've gotten stronger!"

"Even if you have, is it really worthy of note?" the captain asked.

Zuka and Shauna continued to stay quiet, almost afraid to butt into the argument.

"Of course my improvement is worthy of note, in fact, if I displayed it back during the exam, there's no doubt you'd let me into your squad!"

"The Golden Dawn is the best squad in the Clover Kingdom, our ranks are only to be filled with the most exceptional of mages with the most exceptional skills, a type of skill you don't possess, perhaps if you were like Yuno, I'd reconsider, he made it to the finals of the Royal Knights Exam while you didn't even participate," his calm tone never once broke. "I don't take you seriously because I can't take you seriously,"

The two girls watched as their friend relented a bit, clenching his fists in frustration.

"And there's one more thing,"

Oliver's rage died down in volume, but not ferocity. "What?"

"You ask why I don't acknowledge you, but why should I?"

That question reignited the wood mage's passion. "Why should you?! Why wouldn't you, after all, w-we're…,"

"...We're brothers!"

So far, Zuka and Shauna had stayed quiet, but it was those two shocking words that had brought them to speak. "Excuse me?!"

"Half," they didn't go any further as William cut them off. His voice was still calm, but that meant nothing, with the amount of cold seriousness coming from it, it might as well have been a scream. "We're only half brothers, Magnus is your only full brother, don't confuse the two,"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on," Zuka suddenly interjected, still unable to believe what she just heard. "The two of you are related?"

Oliver was the one to explain. "We are. You see, it began with a man who was a noble and a woman who was a commoner. Before the man got married, he and the woman had a one-night stand, but neither knew the woman was pregnant until she started showing signs, eventually the baby was born, and that baby was William, a bastard child. He lived with his mother until he was 9, he then came to live with his father, who had gotten married in the meantime, but when he arrived, he chose to refer himself by the last name of his commoner half, Vangeance, instead of his noble half…which is Yggdrow,"

"T-That's insane," Shauna stuttered.

"Yes, I suppose insane is an appropriate word," William said, glaring at his half-brother. "But I do hope you all have the good sense to keep this information secret, or I may have to-,"

He was cut off by the door to his office suddenly opening. "Captain Vangeance, I heard you wanted to see me," Yuno emerged from the other side, Bell flying beside him.

The world tree mage's demeanor changed instantly as he wore a friendly smile. "Ah, good, you've come,"

The wind mage noticed the aqua knights. "Oh, how's it going you three, what are you doing here?"

"They've come to deliver a gift Rill made for you,"

"U-Uh, y-yeah," Zuka added. "He really appreciated the fight you had with him during the finals two weeks ago," she motioned to the portrait as it floated over to him.

Yuno was completely taken aback. "Holy crap, it's, it's, beautiful," he was at a loss for words.

"Beautiful is right, look at you!" Bell squealed. "You're so powerful and majestic and cool!"

"I don't know what to say, thanks,"

"You deserve it," William said before addressing the trio. "And now that he has received it, you are all free to go, please give Rill my regards,"

Just as he finished, Oliver stormed out of the room, Zuka and Shauna quickly standing up from their chairs, the latter facing Yuno. "I'm glad you like it, bye," she said before they both chased after their friend.

Bell raised a brow. "What's up with him?"

"Not sure, hopefully it's nothing serious," her partner replied. "But into more pressing matters, I need to find a place to put this, I can't wait for the others to see it,"

William watched as the two left his office, leaving the door open, so he got up and walked to it, staring at the hall where he could still hear the girls calling after the wood mage. One last expression formed on his face before he shut himself in.

A frown.

The sparkle and illusion mages arrived at the entrance of the base, breathing heavily. "Where..did he go?" Shauna asked in between breaths.

Zuka pointed up. "There he is!" they looked to the sky, seeing him flying away.

"Why did I even bother?" the boy mumbled to himself, sniffling a bit.

"Oliver!" he shot his head back to see the two on their brooms, in pursuit, but he didn't stop, he only sped up.

"Wait!" they cried, picking up the pace, but that only made him go faster.

"We aren't going to catch up to him like this," Zuka huffed.

"We will if I do this," the red-haired girl opened her grimoire.

Oliver had been flying for four minutes straight, never once looking back, but during that time, there was an odd lack of yelling, so he took a quick glance behind him, finding no one there. "It seems I lost them,"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," an invisible force suddenly grabbed his broom, stopping him.

"What the?" he gasped, but the culprit soon revealed themselves as Zuka and Shauna became visible, holding each other's hands while the former held his broom.

"We finally got you,"

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath, crossing his arms and looking away from them. "What do you want?"

Zuka was not having it. "What do we want? Don't be stupid, you know exactly what we want. Why didn't you tell us you and William were related?"

"It's not something I like sharing, okay!" he screamed, startling his squadmates, but he calmed himself down and went on. "Actually, things about my family are things I don't like sharing, because sooner or later, it'll boil down to learning about my brothers, both of my brothers, one who's an important diplomat of the country, one who's the leader of it's best squad, and then…there's me,"

"You?" Zuka muttered sadly, attempting to reach out a hand to him, but Shauna stopped her, quietly shaking her head.

"Sometimes…a lot of the time, I feel like I'm not good enough compared to them, I feel inferior, like I'm a failure,"

"But that isn't true!" the sparkle mage interjected. "You aren't a failure, you are good enough, good enough for them, good enough for us!"

"Maybe for you, but not for them. Magnus is eleven years older than me, so while I was a kid, it was easy to see how much my family valued him and his accomplishments, as for William, I was born 2 years after he came to live with the Yggdrows, so we didn't spend much of our childhood together, but regardless, I looked up to him when he became a Magic Knight,"

"Wait, so that's why you wanted to join the Golden Dawn?" Shauna asked softly.

Oliver just nodded. "If I couldn't reach Magnus' level, I thought I could at least prove myself to William and make him acknowledge me, but we all know how that went,"

The female aqua knights were quite taken aback by his story, saddened by it, but what saddened them more was that during the entire conversation, Oliver never once looked them in the eye, they couldn't imagine the expression that was on his face sharing something so personal.

Zuka let go of his broom. "I guess that must've been really tough," she frowned.

"Yeah. Look, I appreciate your concern, really I do, but…I need some time to myself," he began to fly ahead.

"We're here in case you ever want to talk," Shauna told him.

"I know, thanks," those were his last words before he flew off.

The other two gave him some distance before they began flying again. For the duration of the trip, no one uttered a single word.

Author's Note

A huge thanks to Warmachine375 for the idea to have Oliver and William be related. When I came up with the character of Oliver, I wasn't entirely sure about what to do with his character in the long run, so before the story reached its 20th chapter, I went to War for some advice, and of course, I was met with quality. They gave the idea to use the coincidence of their attributes being similar to make them half-brothers, and I loved the idea, so I placed snippets of foreshadowing in preparation for the reveal. I just hope you all liked it, that's all I got to say for today. Cya.