Noelle had gotten better, Asta noticed. Just as she had asked him, he showed how to treat other people. That it wasn't right to look down on them just because they had a different status, or less powerful magic.
That was another thing though. She couldn't control her magic. No matter how hard she tried and trained, her spells would never hit her target.
When Asta discovered that, Noelle was more than just a bit embarrassed. A royal that was unable to control her magic was something that was frowned upon. But Asta and the others assured her that they didn't really care. And they would try to help her gain control over her magic.
The ash blond teen noticed how overwhelmed the other was after that confession. To him it seemed like she hadn't been treated well herself. Like she had been in the position of the bad girl her whole life.
If that was true, he had yet to find out.
But he guessed that this was another reason why she had been treating people badly. To hide her own shame that she felt because of her magic. It was a way for her to conceal it, to hide her true feelings. If he had to guess, he would think that she admired other people for her magic just like himself.
And the fact that, as his mother used to tell him: 'the way people act towards each other depends on how they were raised'.
And this was how she was raised. Believing that royalty was better than commoners. Preposterous, he had thought. He could worry about those things later.
Now though, now Asta had other things on his mind. It was his first mission. Finally!
It was simple enough. Go into a new discovered dungeon, find the treasure room, and get out. With all the stuff in there of course. How people knew that there even were interesting and important things hidden inside, was beyond his understanding.
Luck and Noelle went with him. He was excited, really. He was also a bit surprised when they met three other members of the golden dawn. A girl with vermillion colored hair, ironically called Mimosa Vermillion. Who he also learned was Noelle's cousin. And some guy with glasses that he didn't bother to remember the name of. The teen just decided to call him 'four eyes'.
but every thought he had had flew out of his brain when he saw that boy again. Yes, that boy. The pretty one from the entrance exam. His face was blank and betrayed no emotion.
But in those honey eyes he saw something else. Something that made him shiver. Asta didn't know what it was or what it meant, but he was determined to find out.
Asta knew that he himself was an open book most of the time, but the other was not. He locked his emotions away, hiding them from everyone.
He desperately wanted to find out what the other was hiding. What he was really feeling. And when they decided to split up in groups, he took his chance and dragged the pretty boy with him, who didn't seem to resist at all. And if he was, Asta didn't notice it due to his inhuman strength.
But as soon as he was alone with him, everything Asta wanted to say got stuck in his throat. He just couldn't get a word out. Why though? He wasn't the shy kind of person, always spoke his mind. So why couldn't he bring himself to talk at all?
Was it the aura around the other? The Ki was strong, and he couldn't quite describe it. It was nice, but a bit weird. Like honey. Sweet but with a strong and slightly stinging taste.
Asta felt himself blush a bit at the thought. An interesting comparison. How did he even get such a thought?
"Why did you drag me with you" the voice brought him back to reality.
And oh god, that voice. Why did it have to sound so perfect? Calm and demanding at the same time. It sent a shiver down his spine.
Asta began to think of an excuse. If he said something stupid, everything would go down the drain. They didn't even know each other and yet Asta felt as if he was filling a gap that was there since he could think.
"You have interesting Ki" he said.
"Ki?" the other asked.
Asta hummed. "Ki is like ….. the aura of a person. Similar to mana sensing, but without magic. It tells me where a person is and what they are feeling" he explained.
The teen heard a chuckle from the taller male. And it really shouldn't make him feel stupid. It made sense. This was his way of keeping up in a fight.
"I see. I have to admit that I don't feel any mana from you"
Asta felt the gaze of the other. He was just looking at him from the corner of his eyes, but he felt it clearly. While he himself tried to avoid the gaze. He actually hated to talk about it. People liked to make fun of him when they found out, and even if he's used to it by now, it bothered him quite a bit.
But he still stood proudly. Straightening his shoulders, head held high and the sword on his shoulder.
"Because I don't have any" he answered seriously.
"There must be some. I don't know anyone that doesn't have magic" the sound of his voice was surprised but serious at the same time. Asta didn't understand why.
"There isn't. I have never used any magic. Not until I got this" he gestured towards his Grimoire that was floating beside him, glowing an eerie red color.
"So you do have magic?" the other raised an eyebrow. Asta began asking himself if he would eventually tell him his name.
"Not really. I call it anti magic. Every magic that touches my sword disappeared. Even if others just touch it, they start to feel weaker. Without it I'm kinda useless" the teen raised his sword a bit higher.
"Don't say that!" the other stopped. He glared at Asta, hands clenching into fists.
Viridian eyes looked into honey-colored ones in confusion and surprise. He didn't expect this reaction. They didn't know each other and yet he seemed very mad about that sentence.
"Even without any magic you made it into the magic knights. This is something you should be proud of"
"Says the one with all the mana of the world. Maybe I can't really sense that, but I saw you at the entrance exam" Asta huffed, rolling his eyes. "You must be from some kind of noble house, even though I've never seen you before."
The other smiled mysteriously. "I'm not"
"Huh?" the teen looked back in surprise.
"I'm from the end of the kingdom. I grew up in a church. I'm an orphan."
Asta hummed. "Didn't see that coming. Guess Mom was right. Status doesn't matter." He started walking again and heard footsteps following, meaning, he wasn't going alone.
"Usually I'm not one for prejudice, but with your magic it just seemed right. Sorry" he still kept his smile.
"It's fine. As long as you don't have a problem with me being here."
Asta raised an eyebrow. "Why would I?"
"I know who you are. Who your parents are. You're practically part of a noble family yourself. Normally those people think that people like me don't deserve to be in this position" he could hear the venom in the voice of the amber-eyed teen.
Yes, a lot of nobles and royals were like that. But he himself liked to believe that everyone was the same and deserved the same chance. That no one should be looked down on just because they weren't royalty.
"I don't really know if I count as nobility. Mom never taught me those things. I grew up mostly with Dad. And he's….." Asta trailed off, not knowing how to describe his father. There were many fitting words but none of them were really friendly.
"A buffoon, a mountain of muscles, addicted to cigarettes?" the other helped out, smiling slightly.
Asta laughed. "Yes maybe. But he took good care of me. Mostly because Mom would've killed him."
Silence was between them once again as they trailed down the halls of the dungeon. Stone caverns were everywhere, but none of them seemed to lead anywhere.
Eventually though, Asta knew that, they would find something. They wouldn't have been sent there if nothing important was inside. Something that would assist the kingdom. Or maybe just money.
"Yuno" he heard the other mumble eventually.
"Hm?"
"My name. It's Yuno"
Asta smiled. So he finally did tell him his name. He guessed that he just didn't want to tell everyone. Or he just didn't bother to think about it enough.
"I'm Asta. But you probably already knew that" he laughed nervously. He was blushing again, he could feel it.
But to his luck, the walls of stone finally led into a big room. Water was flowing down the walls, a pond forming at one end of the room. The air was clean, never been touched by anything but the nature itself. Since no human had entered the room before, everything inside was pure and natural.
Asta beamed. To him it was beautiful. A place where he could stay for hours. He loved nothing more than the nature. It looked similar to the lake near the base, where he used to play when he was younger.
The teen laughed, running deeper into the room. He looked all around himself. The air around him felt like it was sparkling.
"Someone's excited" he heard Yuno chuckle.
"You should be too" he grinned back at the other. "This is one of the only spots in the kingdom that has never been touched by anything but nature! This is beautiful."
"Indeed it is."
Surprised, Asta turned around. Mimosa and Klaus were walking into the room from another entrance. Now he noticed, that, the room had indeed more than just one entrance. Looking around, the teen counted six in total.
Mimosa smiled. As a mage with nature-based magic, she loved the nature too. The way plants grew out in the open, in the woods.
"You have an eye for such things, right?" she asked.
Asta nodded eagerly. "I used to play in the woods often when I was younger" he decided to leave out the part where he wasn't allowed to go out alone anymore.
Klaus adjusted his glasses, clearing his throat. "Well, we should go further and find the treasure hall. As fascinating as this place is, we have more important thing to do."
Asta pouted. He'd rather stay inside this chamber and watch the water run down the walls. Listen to the drops that were falling into the pond. But he guessed that the other was right. They couldn't stay forever.
Mimosa was about to follow her superior when she felt a pain in her chest. She gasped, looking down to find a crystal piece stuck in her stomach. Her eyes widened. The pain had been intense enough to travel through half her body.
"MIMOSA" the others cried out.
Reacting as quickly as she could, heart beating fast from the shock and the pain, she forced her Grimoire to turn to a certain page. Her own breathing was shallow. It hurt it really did. She was afraid that maybe blood would start collecting in her lungs.
"Flower healing magic: dream healing flower basket" the young Vermillion forced the spell out of her throat. Speaking hurt even more.
The red flowers surrounding her were held in the basket. It almost looked like a lantern with the way the stems were connecting at the top.
Mimosa felt her eyes growing heavy. Breathing was hard. But she would be fine now. She knew she would be. Her own magic was fast when it came to healing. It was what she could do best. Within minutes she would at least feel better.
"Who was that" Asta growled, looking around.
"Out of my way wealking's" a voice said deadly calm.
Turning around, everyone was surprised at what they were seeing. A man with spikey white hair and pink eyes. An armor made out of crystals on his whole body. Asta guessed it was made from his magic. But the detail that struck them most were the three gems on his forehead. Diamonds, it seemed. One larger in the middle and two smaller one above and below it.
"I don't know who you are" Asta started, taking his sword out of his Grimoire. He pointed it at the stranger. "But I have a big problem with you if you hurt my friends!" he shouted.
Mimosa was surprised. Asta already considered them friends when they barely knew each other.
Through burry eyes she watched her cousin create a shielding spell around her.
"You've always been so clumsy" Noelle smiled.
"I know" the Vermillion responded weakly. "Thank you, Noelle."
The next thing she saw was Asta, throwing the diamond mage into the wall. A cloud of smoke formed around them. The mage was out cold. Klaus took the opportunity to bind him with his magic, taking the Grimoire into his hands.
"Strange" he mumbled.
"It looks like two Grimoire's sewed together."
"Whatever" Klaus grumbled. "Now lets go to the treasure room."
And when they stood in front of the immense door, Mimosa wondered how they were going to open it. It was huge. There was no way they could just climb over it, with how smooth it was.
Luck placed a hand against it, lightning sparking around for a second. "This is magic. Asta, I'm sure you can cut through it" he smiled.
"Alright!" the teen grinned, stepping forward.
Klaus scoffed. "As if someone like you can do such a thing."
Asta ignored him though. He knew what people thought about him. Even when his parents had so much magic, he didn't. It was frowned upon, even by other nobles. He didn't know why it was this way either.
Swinging his sword, a triangle was cut out of the door, allowing them inside.
Asta was tempted to tease Klaus about it but decided against it. He was more fascinated by the amount of gold inside the room. It made everything around them shin brightly. Some other things were lying around too.
Most of them being stuff he had never seen before. The teen would've loved to just dive into everything and find out what these things could be used for. Despite what people were thinking about him, Asta himself was very interested in things like this.
The mysterious objects could be used for everything. When he was younger, his mother would show him some of the things she found on missions. Even when they were only activated by magic, meaning nothing happened when he held them, she would use all of the time she had to entertain him with them.
She would stay hours longer than she had time, just to see the stars keep shining in his eyes.
The most interesting thing she had ever brought, in Asta's opinion, was something that came close to a music box. Apparently, it played the song the user was thinking off. So, sometimes Charlotte let it play songs she heard when she was younger, and other times songs Asta liked to hear.
She still brought it sometimes. It wasn't important to the kingdom, so she was allowed to keep it.
He was brought out of his thought rather quickly. The bird that had been annoying him since he got back from the entrance exam seemed to want his attention. He didn't know why it was following him, but in reality, he didn't mind. They had decided to call the bird Nero. After a ridiculous amount of ridiculous names.
When Asta followed the bird, he was brought to a wall with a shining golden ring on it. He leaned closer to inspect it. "What is this?" he asked himself.
As if to answer his stupid question, Nero began pecking his forehead again, him trying to swat the bird away.
Suddenly there was a rumble, small stones on the ground began to move in their place. Asta looked around in surprise. The others were looking at the entrance of the treasure room. The Grimoire of that guy was glowing and then, Luck, Klaus and Yuno were trapped by crystals.
There was an explosion, some fire leaking through. Noelle raised her wand.
"I'll put it out" she said.
But it wasn't ordinary fire, Asta could see it. He didn't know why, but he could just see it. It didn't matter though, because before she even had the chance to do anything, she was hit in the chest by more crystals. The young royal flew a few feet backwards, hitting the ground harshly.
"NOELLE!" he screamed.
He saw Mimosa acting instantly. The Vermillion woman sat down beside her cousin. She began glowing a faint green color, activating her most powerful healing spell.
He wanted to do something. To attack that guy and avenge Noelle, but before something else happened, he found himself smashing through the wall he had just ben looking at.
Asta didn't know how long it had been, but he was unconscious for a moment. Judging by the noise he heard, it wasn't very long.
He sat up, ignoring the aching of his muscles and his bleeding wounds. It wasn't much blood anyways he could still fight.
"But my sword is to heavy" he said to himself.
Nero flew by, landing on a different sword behind him. It looked similar to the one he had now. It was thinner though, with a line running through it that ended in some sort of star-shape. He grinned.
Grabbing the sword and pulling it out of the ground. Choosing the easiest way, Asta charged out of the hole in the wall, right into his target. With the speed, the blow was strong enough to force Mars back a few feet. But not enough to break his enormous armor.
He was using flame recovery magic permanently. Asta didn't know how he could have two affinities, but if what he had heard Klaus mumbling about the experiments in Diamond kingdom, he wasn't very surprised. And it was disgusting to him. Using their own people like that.
"Asta…" Noelle mumbled.
The teen turned towards her. She looked better with Mimosa healing her deep wounds. She was scrunching her eyes a bit, a bit of pain visible in them. "Kick his ass" she smiled.
Asta returned the smile the best he could. He could see how much it hurt her to even talk. Looking down, he noticed how the line in his sword was glowing blue now. Why though? Did it have something to do with Noelle? He got an idea.
The teen swung his arm hard, a blue line swinging out and hitting the diamond mage. Crystals flew everywhere. He tried to block them as good as he could. Most of them flew past him and he hoped the others weren't hit by them. But with their magic it would be fine, right?
Asta was finally able to take a breath when he noticed a stinging sensation in his stomach. Slowly, he looked down, fears being confirmed. A large crystal-piece stuck in his stomach. And then the pain exploded in his whole body.
He didn't know what happened after that. When he was awake for just a moment, he begged the others to take the diamond mage with them. That they couldn't just let him die there.
Next time he woke up, they were already outside. The diamond mage wasn't with them. He concluded that they didn't make it in time with the dungeon collapsing around them.
"Though as a stone" Yuno joked.
Asta was about to jump on him when the pain racked through his body again.
"I'm sorry. I didn't have enough magic to heal you fully" Mimosa apologized with a smile.
It was okay though. He was glad to be still alive. The next sweet moment was when Klaus hugged both him and Yuno. He didn't really know why, but when he apologized as well, he understood. Though he didn't see any reason for it. A lot of people treated him like this.
And it hurt his whole body. Training would not be a thing during the next days.
His Dad was going to kill him.
▀▄▀▄It went down, my gosh▄▀▄▀
𝟛𝟜𝟛𝟠 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤