It had been a few years since then and now, both Yuno and Asta were old enough to participate in the magic nights exam. Over the years, Asta and Yuno trained nearly every day. This increased their proficiency while using their magic, as well as increasing their mana levels. Asta had communicated with Mael and Escanor on separate occasions other than training like when they explained their powers, where they came from and how they got here. This time they went more in depth. Mael even went as far as showing Asta how to open and close his wings. Asta also learned how to separate both of his grimoires. Both he and Yuno decide to travel to Clover Kingdom early and set of the next day. They arrived two days later with an extra day to spare so with the money they were sent with, they checked into a local inn before they went to wander around the kingdom. They saw many venues and stands selling food and souvenirs. They eventually lost track of time and to their surprise it was now night. They went back to the inn and slept. Though it was difficult for Asta because he was so excited.
They awoke the next morning and realized they had an hour to spare until the exam, so they decided to take the long way around. When they arrived at the arena where the exam was being held, there was a long line of people waiting for entry. A few minutes later, they reached the front of the line. "I'll need your name, village, and I need to see your grimoire." the clerk stated. "Yuno of Hage village." Yuno stated before handing the man his grimoire. Once the man looked at how many leaves his grimoire had, he was in utter shock. Other participants were able to catch a glimpse of Yuno's grimoire and had emotions that ranged from astonishment to disbelief, to even envy. Some royals even decided to voice their thoughts saying that a filthy commoner from the forsaken realm has no right to weld such a grimoire. in a shaky voice, the man responded, allowing Yuno to enter the arena.
Asta was next and once again, the clerk told Asta the same thing he told Yuno. "I'll need your name, village, and I need to see your grimoire." "Asta, of Hage village" he said before he handed the clerk both of his grimoires. The clerk didn't even bother to look at them before he said "There is no way for someone to be able to wield two grimoires. It's just impossible." the clerk was about to say something else before both of the grimoires in Asta's hands started to fuse together. He then gave the man the newly formed grimoire. The man was hesitant, but took it anyway. He then proceeded to examine his grimoire and saw that it had two different four-leaf clovers. One on each side. This was so much of a shock, the man almost passed out. He let Asta enter while also silently hoping that no one else had any more surprises for him. Once in, Asta started to wander off while looking for Yuno. He ended up bumping into a large man who was nearly his size. "Watch it twer-" the large man started to say before he turned around and looked at the mountain of a man that was Asta.
He was startled to say the least. Asta turned around and apologized for not looking where he was going. "Y-Yeah. just make sure it doesn't happen again." the man said before he was called over by one of his subordinates. " Captain Yami! There you are. Come on we have to hurry, the exams are about to start." At the behest of his subordinate, the now dubbed Captain Yami, begrudgingly walked away to join his fellow captains up in the rafters. All of them were there, save for one. All the participants heard footsteps, turned quiet, and looked towards the rafters where the sound of footsteps were heard coming from. A tall, lean figure with a mask covering his face could be seen exiting a hallway. "Greetings young ones. I, the captain of the Golden Dawn, William Vangeance, hear by commence this year's Magic Knights Exam!" he said before using his World Tree Magic to make a large tree sprout from the ground and give everyone a broom.
"For the first exam we need to monitor your control over your mana. To do so, we shall see how well you can fly on these brooms. If possible, you may also use any other method of flight if you deem necessary. " Vangeance said before everyone started to fly on their brooms. some people flew high while others struggled to get ten feet of the ground. Yuno however, was able to effortlessly stand on his broom and fly high above all of them. Asta saw this and said "You show off. I won't let you get all the attention." before sprouting wings and gracefully taking flight. Everyone was astonished, including the captains. But some of them didn't show it. Asta looked at Yuno and gave him a cheeky grin, annoying him because of how much of an attention hog he could be sometimes seeing as how his pride wouldn't allow him to be outdone.
"For this next test you will have to make a plant sprout using your mana." said William. He moved out of the way and in groups of five, participants started to come up and make a plant sprout. After a few more groups, it was Asta's turn. 'I shouldn't show all of my tricks just yet' he thought. Asta infused the seed with just enough mana to make it sprout five multicolored flowers. which was two more than Yuno did. For the next test they had to create an abject out of the magic. Many people went up and created things like flowers and weapons. One person even created a replica of himself made out of bronze. When it was Yuno's turn, he created an Eagle made out of wind, which received a bunch of oohs and ahh's of admonishment. When it was finally Asta's turn, he already had thought of what he would make. Using his magic, he created a lion made out of red flames and a panther made out of black flames, both with yellow eyes. To most people, it was almost as if they were, alive.
The next test they participated in was accuracy. They had to shoot their magic at a target and get as close to the bullseye as possible. Everyone that went was average at best with a few shooting just shy of the bullseye. when he went, Yuno shot three Wind Arrows at three different targets and got a bullseye in all of them. "Beat that Asta" he mouthed towards the white-haired teen who just grinned and stepped into range of the targets and shot three small fire balls at his targets getting bullseye's. They also had the unintended effect of causing the targets to melt. There was one captain who was particularly interested in the boy. He was the captain of the Crimson Lion kings, Fuegoleon Vermillion. Asta just looked back at Yuno and grinned. The next, and final test was a one-on-one battle where competitors got to choose their own opponents. Everyone started to pair up with one another. Yuno was going to challenge Asta but before he could do so, he was challenged by a very cocky royal.
Everyone's matches went by fairly quickly. In Asta's opinion, these other participants were lackluster. It was then Yuno's turn. He and his opponent stood a few meters apart before the proctor began the match. Right from the start, the royal started to shoot fireballs at him. His aim was nearly terrible. and his flames weren't very hot, to Asta anyway. In his head, Asta was thinking that this mage was an embarrassment to flame mages all over the vary many kingdoms. What Asta didn't know, was that Fuegoleon was thinking the same thing. Yuno's match ended after he launched a tornado at the mage. It was now Asta's turn. When he was called up to the center, Vangeance was about to ask why he didn't have an opponent, when Fuegoleon jumped down. "I see you don't have an opponent. Perhaps you would rather face me instead?" Fuegoleon proposed, getting whispers of disbelief from the other competitors and looks of shock from his fellow captains. Asta simply grinned and said " It would be my honor to face an opponent as great as great as yourself, Captain Fuegoleon Vermillion.
Shall we" " Fuegoleon, are you sure this is what you want?" Vangeance asked. Fuegoleon simply nodded. "And you, Asta?" Asta also nodded. Feeling the need to, one of the Magic Knights in attendance used his Earth Magic to increase the size of the arena, while the proctor told every candidate to step away before he began the match. For nearly a minute, neither of them moved, wanting to size each other up. As if reading each other's minds, they lit their hands ablaze and rushed at each other. Meeting in the middle, their fist clash, creating a shockwave sending some people backwards. They then engaged in physical combat. Asta sent a left hook towards Fuegoleon only for him to dodge and attempt to counter with an uppercut. Ast blocked and sent a kick towards his face. Fuegoleon blocked his kick and winced in slight pain, an action that didn't go unnoticed by his fellow captains. This cycle of seemingly endlessly strike, dodge, block, and counter later came to an end as both Asta and Fuegoleon came to the conclusion that they were evenly matched in physical combat. Seeing this they attempted to throw spells at one another. Fuegoleon was shocked to find out that Asta didn't need a grimoire to cast spells.
Asta launched a Spiral Flame at Fuegoleon who fired of a similar attack spell in order to combat against it. The attacks struggled for supremacy for a few seconds before they exploded in the middle causing a wave of heat to wash over everyone within proximity of the arena. The heat wave soon ended, and the smoke dissipated to see a sweating Fuegoleon and an unfazed Asta standing in a similar fashion across from each other that was seen during the beginning of the match. "You are a very formidable adversary if I do say so myself. However, I can sense that you are holding back. " Fuegoleon remarked. "So are you" Asta responded with a chuckle. "If you do not go all out then I won't be able to properly examine your strength. So, once more, I ask you to not hold back." Just as Fuegoleon said this, the temperature started to gradually increase to the point that even he and his brother would be affected by it. "I'm glad you said that because know you will be able to witness my full power."
As Asta said this, his body started to noticeably increase in size to the point that he was now 1.5 times larger than Fuegoleon. His hair ignited into flame and his eyes glowed a yellowish orange as he was radiating heat. "Witness the power of The One.
(Imagine this but orange and red)
In this state, I am the embodiment of invincibility." Asta said a deep tone. He then seemingly appeared right next to Fuegoleon and punched him to the other side of the arena. Fuegoleon attempted to stand, but was met with a knee to the stomach making him spit out blood. Asta grabbed the back of his robe and threw him across the arena. As Fuegoleon stood, he used his most powerful spell, Flame Magic: Fire Annihilation. As the smoke cleared Asta could be seen without so much as a scratch, confirming what he said. In this state he truly was the embodiment of invincibility. He was, The One. This is what was running through Fuegoleon's head as he saw Asta detransform before he embraced unconsciousness.
Seeing this Asta, now in his smaller form walked up to him, and using his angel powers, cried out Invigorate, as in his hand formed a white sphere of energy that quickly made its way to Fuegoleon. The other captains, thinking Asta was trying to kill Fuegoleon quickly made their way down, but weren't fast enough. They were about to attempt to attack Asta before they heard coughing and looked behind them. There, rising up off the ground was a now fully healed Fuegoleon. He walked up to Asta and shook his hand as he and the other captains made their way back to the rafters. After everyone had gotten over their shock, the proctor started calling up numbers with people either getting no hands, one hand, or a few hands. No one got more than four hands. That was until Yuno. When he was called up every captain raised their hands. "I choose the Golden Dawn." Yuno said as he then went out of the Arena to wait until it was all over.
After a few more numbers were called, it was finally Asta's turn. When he was called, much like Yuno, all captains raised their hands. "I choose the......
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Now another chapter is done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to guess which squad Asta will pick. It's pretty obvious when you think about it. Anyways, until next time