(A/N: Lots of pictures for this chapter, almost hit the limit this time. Leave a comment of any kind of constructive criticism of anything else. Buh-bye!)
Royal Capital; Castle Town Kikka
Our heroes had finally reached the Royal Capital and were currently exploring the castle town of Kikka. Lines of shops and stands with people using magic to display their wares amazed the Hage Brothers as they made their way to the place where the Magic Knight Entrance Exams were being held. Many people walked by, either minding their own business or heading towards the exam.
Asta was fascinated with every little thing they passed by, even a guy using magic to peel an apple.
"Man, this place is even busier than when me and grandma visited this place last time. Must be nice to live near a place with so much excitement." Y/n said as he looked around.
"You've been here before?" Yuno asked.
"Aye. Passed by here to deliver an order to some noble. Didn't know their first name but their last was Sil-something. Never paid attention."
They stopped in front of a store window.
"Wow! They have so many different kinds of staves and items!" Then he saw the price. "But they're so expensive!"
"And those swords don't even look like they're worth that much." Y/n held his chin as he examined the swords.
Yuno walked to the two. "It's so different from our village."
They then turned their attention to the large castle that overlooked all the towns in the capital.
"Is that where the Wizard King lives?"
"And the king as well." Yuno said.
"Does anyone really care about him?" Y/n pondered. "Ah, doesn't matter. I'll be up in that castle soon enough."
"No way! That's my castle, Y/n!" Asta yelled at the male.
"It's mine, you mean."
Y/n walked past Asta, holding a playful smile. "Don't fret you two, they'll be some space for you guys to live there."
"Oi! Don't walk away!"
Yuno let a small smile come to his face. "That's my line."
Some crying was heard and made the boys turn to the sound.
The lady left with her train of kids. It vaguely reminded the three of them of the kids back at the church. Well, they'd just have to write them once they passed the exam.
"I'm sure Sister and the others are lonely now that I'm gone."
"Don't act like a cool guy. It doesn't suit you." Y/n said as he and Yuno began to walk away, prompting Asta to catch up to them.
On their way there, Asta was at a stand that was run by an old lady selling fried purple snakes. Y/n seemed suspicious since he heard something about eating those kinds of snakes did something weird to the body, but couldn't remember what it did exactly.
'Eh, it's probably nothing.'
"So where do they hold the Entrance Exam, anyway?"
"At the colosseum over there." Y/n pointed to the circular structure that was gaining lots of attention. "Grandma said there are always people cheering for future Magic Knights when the Exams roll around, so be sure to play with the crowd just a bit."
"Got it. Want some?" Asta offered some of his grilled snake.
"I'm good."
The three boys approached the colosseum and began to walk into it. Multiple people were cheering loudly from the sidelines.
"Do your best on the exams!"
"You're the hope of the Colver Kingdom!"
"The future of the kingdom is in your hands!"
"Stay focused!"
Yuno didn't do anything while Asta and Y/n interacted with the crowd a bit.
"I'll do my best!" Asta waved to the crowd as he passed by.
"Your future is safe in my hands." Y/n gave two-fingered salutes to some people in the crowd.
"You don't know them... You don't know them..." Yuno tried ignoring his rivals.
---
Inside the colosseum were lines of mages registering for the exams. They presented their grimoires and a mage cast a spell on them to register them for the Entrance Exam.
"You're #165." The man said after registering Asta's grimoire.
Some weird guy with a lock of blonde hair sticking out was holding up the line as he talked to himself about Asta being from the boonies.
"We don't have all day, buddy. Some of us actually want to be a Magic Knight." Y/n said as he moved past the guy. "Name's Y/n from Hage village. Here's my grimoire."
"Another Hage hillbilly? Where do these peasants get the nerve to think they can become Magic Knights?"
Y/n turned to the source of the comment and found a female the same age as him and of average height with dirty blonde hair. She was a bit more on the plumper side and had decent looks. Her eyes were closed and her arms crossed when Y/n's grimoire was registered.
"You're #166. Next."
With an annoyed look, Y/n walked toward the girl.
"You better accept it, noble. Because this peasant has the nerve to aim for the Wizard King!" Y/n declared.
The girl just huffed arrogantly. "Like that'll ever happen. Peasants like you can only dream of even becoming a Magic Knight. You should only stay as nothing more than filthy peasants. Don't bother trying."
As the girl started to walk away, Y/n's blood was beginning to boil as his teeth clenched together and he balled a fist. He wanted to sock her in the back of the head so hard with a flaming fist. But he remembered his grandmother's words. Reasoning that it wouldn't do any good to fight now, Y/n took in a deep breath and exhaled. He calmed down and walked to where all the other candidates were grouped up at.
The exam venue soon had some avian guests.
Fun fact about them: The weaker one's magic power was, the more they flocked to said person. Some hovered around people or perched themselves on their heads or shoulders.
Someone pointed out that Yuno didn't have any of them on or near him at all. Y/n was looking through his grimoire while some merely hovered around Y/n but never went up to him.
"That guy must have some strong magic."
"Isn't he from the same village as the four-leaf guy? What's up with those Hage people?"
The girl from before actually opened her scarlet red eyes to examine the two, as she was hidden amongst the crowd. She liked the four-leaf clover holder, silent and easy on her eyes. Somewhat reminded her of a storybook prince. Too bad he was a peasant.
Then there was that other one who had the gall to talk back to her. The only notable things about him were his strong physique and the fact that the birds didn't like him so much. Nothing else.
She sighed before someone else caught everyone's attention.
Asta confidently laughed as he approached the two. "One of us is going to become the Wizard King. Our legend's beginning now, Yuno, Y/n!"
What in the hell...
Asta was covered in anti-magic birds. He then began to scream in pain as he tried to run away from the birds, only for them to give chase.
Everyone was getting a kick out of this as the venue was filled with laughter. Yuno looked away while Y/n facepalmed.
"If your legend is to be the guy who can't run from birds, you're doing a great job so far, Asta." Y/n said as Asta passed by him. "Hey, watch ou-"
Asta had smacked the back of a very rugged and burly man. What the hell was this guy doing here? The birds were frightened by the man's magic power and immediately flew away.
"They finally flew off somewhere. Hey, sorry for bumping into you."
"I'll kill you, brat."
Asta was immensely terrified by the threat and his thoughts rapidly came through. One thing Asta got right was that he looked too old to be a teenager. Then he realized to not judge a book by the cover and attempted to smooth things over by being friendly. Oh no.
...
Grab
Y/n was ready to go and save Asta but he noticed something. A cloak on his shoulder with the emblem of a black bull was attached to his right shoulder. This man was a Magic Knight. And from the aura he gave off, this man was dangerously strong.
Thankfully, no blood was shed. As Asta used his trained muscles to try and remove the man's grip from his head, the mess was cleared up by two members of the Magic Knight Squad: The Black Bulls, a squad of borderline destructive Magic Knights. The man was their Captain, Yami Sukehiro. He got lost trying to take a dump. Why did that excuse sound familiar?
Fireworks were set off to signal the start of the Entrance Exams. The three Black Bulls left the scene. Y/n went over to Asta and used Wind Magic: Regenerative Breeze to stop the pain coming from Asta's head.
"Man, that sucked. Thanks, Y/n."
"No problem. Just don't get your head nearly crushed again."
"Bah-ha! You okay?" A familiar voice asked.
"Y-Yeah..."
"Must've been rough, having Captain Yami of the Black Bulls in your face like that."
"Hey, your that guy who held up the line earlier." Y/n bluntly stated while pointing at him.
"Nice to meet you. Bah-ha!"
'Is that some sorta vocal tick or something?' Y/n thought to himself.
"I'm Asta. Nice to meet you!"
"Name's Y/n."
The anti-magic birds suddenly flew off as eight figures appeared at the top of the arena. The Magic Knight Squad Captains.
(I have no idea why people like this guy, he's got a really weird hairstyle that makes zero sense. Eh, to each their own.)
"That's..."
"...one of the captains of the Magic Knights Squads/someone who kinda looks like the guy I punched back then." Asta and Y/n had vastly different endings for Yuno's beginning.
"That's some hairstyle! Isn't it hard to see with that thing in his face?"
"Must be a noble or royal thing." Y/n answered Asta's question.
Next was the Captain of the Crimson Lions, Fuegoleon Vermillion
"As the name 'Crimson' suggests, he's a user of flame creation magic."
"Mantis? Like those bugs with the weird arms?"
"Yeah. Apparently, Captain Jack's severing magic can split the earth in two."
"Woah, that's awesome." Asta let out.
"But I don't want to be a Mantis. Bugs are super lame."
"I don't know, bugs have weird things them, you have a weird thing on you..." Y/n gestured to his hair.
"Like you're one to talk. Bah-ha!"
Y/n rolled his eyes as Sekke continued his introductions.
"She's so beautiful." Sekke had a dumb smile on his face and a light voice.
There she was. The Captain of the Squad Y/n was going to join. He wasn't hoping to be picked, he was going to do whatever he could to get picked. Nothing was going to stop him from following his grandmother's legacy.
Sekke had no enthusiasm in his voice, unlike the other times he's introduced a Captain.
"That's all?" Asta asked.
"I have no interest in seamy guys like him."
"Then allow me to enlighten you three." The girl from before walked up to them. "His permeation magic makes him nigh invincible to attackers. Not to mention his vast wealth."
For some reason, the girl and the Captain seemed to resemble each other somewhat, she had tanner skin than him and had red eyes. Was she his daughter? If she was then it seems everyone has to do this Exam.
The girl walked away before any of the boys could ask her anything else. Y/n could tell both of them were trouble.
"The Captain of the Coral Peacocks, Dorothy Unsworth."
"Apparently, all she does is sleep."
"How is someone like that a Captain?" Y/n asked.
"She probably has an amazing power you'd never expect her to possess." That was something relatable to Y/n.
"Isn't he pretty young?"
"Captain Rill is nineteen, I heard." Shocking!
"Nineteen!? He's only four years older than us? The path to becoming the Wizard King might be shorter than I thought."
"You got that right, Asta." Y/n said.
"Bah-ha! Wizard King, eh? That's a pretty big dream. But for the next Wizard King..."
Sekke faced the front. Multiple cheers erupted from the crowd of examinees as the last Captain came out.
"They say he's the most promising candidate. The Captain of the most powerful Magic Knights Squad, the Golden Dawn,"
"The members of his squad have the utmost faith in him, and it's said that in the last battle, it was Captain William who took the enemy's general head."
"You mean the people from the Crystal Kingdom? I heard from my grandmother that the enemies they faced were the most notorious army of bandits from that kingdom, not the kingdom itself."
"Yes, the very same bandits. I'm surprised you knew that, news about it shouldn't have reached Hage yet."
"You can still hear the cheering of the capital from Hage."
"Where's the Wizard King?" Asta asked, interrupting the two's conversation.
"Bah-ha! The Wizard King wouldn't bother coming down to the exam. It's a miracle in itself that all the captains have gathered in one place."
"Candidates."
Captain William had gotten their attention and silenced the area.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I will be conducting this exam." William pulled out his grimoire and flipped through the pages.
"Magic Tree, descend."
A bright, green light came from his grimoire as the clouds above the arena darkened and swirled. The wind blew violently as the sky shone another bright light of greens and yellows as roots began to grow from the sky. The roots extended and began to change themselves into brooms, handing one to each examinee.
'So this is the man who's closest to the Wizard King.'
The three boys thought to themselves. After the tree disappeared and the clouds were normal and cleared from the sky, William closed his grimoire.
"We will now begin the Magic Knights Entrance Exam."
---
"We will now have you all take several tests. The nine of us will evaluate your performance, and then we will select the candidates that we would like to add to our squads. If chosen, you will join that squad. If you're chosen by more than one squad, you may choose the squad you would like to join. On the other hand, those who are not chosen by any captain are not qualified to join the Magic Knights." William explained.
The first test was to fly on the brooms given by the magic tree from earlier. Mages who could do that can control their magical powers. Easy enough, since it was how must mages travel.
Some people struggled to get into the air or even hover while others did get in the air but were thrown off their brooms for improper control. Yuno easily rose into the air as did the dirty blonde girl.
"Heya, wind prince, how's it going?"
Y/n asked while he was flying on the broom, effortlessly hanging off of it using his legs to stay on.
"Take this seriously, Y/n." Yuno criticized him.
"Ah, you're no fun sometimes." Y/n brought himself up and stood on the broom like Yuno.
"Those guys from the boonies are really good."
"The genius picked by the four-leaf clover and the guy with a multi-colored grimoire."
Asta though...
People began to talk bad about Asta as Y/n had to retrain himself a bit. He knew that some people had egos to stroke and physical violence only made it worse for both parties. Most of the time.
Y/n decided to fly around the area and hung by his legs again until the exam would come to an end. But that's when he saw something interesting.
Captain Nozel was talking with another girl that was obviously related to him in some way. He didn't hear anything but from body language, Y/n could tell some things. She had a broom in her hands and seemed somewhat disappointed about something. Y/n got a bit closer to where he could actually hear some stuff.
"Yes, Brother Nozel." The girl with pigtails said obediently.
"Your existence itself is unnecessary."
Those were the last words Nozel said to his sister before walking away. The pigtails girl gripped her broom tighter. Y/n was shocked that someone could say that to their sibling and mean it. The broom exam was over so Y/n left the girl to her own thoughts, but the scene replayed in his head for a bit.
---
The next few exams were pretty easy. The Magic Ability one was a bit difficult for Y/n since his skills mostly revolved around creation magic but he managed to send off a blast that broke the stone wall in front of them.
Magical Ability Control was about as difficult as the other one, he just made a wind-like bullet and threw it at the target.
Creation Magic was in the bag. Creating a magnificent wind rapier of the standard size was child's play to Y/n.
Development Magic was about infusing one's magic into a seed so that it grows. This was easy as well.
---
"All right. The next exam shall be the last one. You will engage in actual combat."
People began to get nervous at the sound of that. But it makes sense. Fighting threats is what knights usually do, so not expecting this was just plain stupid.
"You'll be battling!" Captain Fuegoleon spoke with passion in his voice. "You will pair off and fight with your partner. You may use your grimoires to attack. Fighting is our duty. Show us your true abilities!"
Some began to think about which opponent to fight against.
"As soon as one of you yields or becomes unable to fight, the exam will be over. There will be mages who can use healing magic on standby."
"So fight to your heart's content!" Captain Fuegoleon finished William's speech.
Now was the fun part. Who here seemed strong enough to possibly give a challenge? That was the mentality of some people, like Y/n. Others were looking for someone weak enough to beat but strong enough to make them look better, that was the dirty blonde girl's mindset.
But it seems finding an opponent would have to wait. Asta and Sekke were the first ones up to fight. The two went to the center of the large circle that was formed by people. Asta was pumped to fight Sekke but for some reason, Sekke laughed.
Y/n wasn't close enough to hear most of the exchange but he caught the last words.
"Hurry up back to your village in the boonies and continue enjoying your crappy life. Bah-ha!"
Oh.
This was going to be extra fun to watch now.
"Begin!" A mage announced.
"No holding back, all right?" Sekke's aquamarine grimoire glowed, ready to be used. "Let's do this, Asta! Bah-ha!"
Pieces of bronze began to encase Sekke in a spherical structure with cannons on the outside. "Bronze Creation Magic: Sekke Magnum Cannonball!" Horrible design and name but smart to balance offense and defense in one spell.
He planned to defend against all of Asta's attacks and beat him once he's tired out. Sekke beckoned Asta to come at him with all he had.
But there was one flaw with that plan.
"Sure thing. Here I go."
Asta drew his giant sword from the grimoire and rushed at Sekke. He smashed his sword onto Sekke's body, breaking clean through his bronze magic ball and knocking him out cold.
Asta wasn't about to let some ball or cocky opponent stand in his way of becoming the Wizard King. Nothing and no one was going to.
Shocked gasps rang out from different examinees while Yuno and Y/n just smiled at the sight.
"I'm not joining the Magic Knights so I can have a good time and avoid working hard."
Multiple people began to question what they just saw happen in front of them, much to the nerve of Asta. He gained an annoyed face
"All of you shut up! I told you, I'm going to become the Wizard King! You got a problem with that!?"
More doubts came from the people as Asta walked off to the sidelines. Y/n patted Asta on the back and smiled at him.
"You did good out there, Asta. That was one hell of a match."
"You really think so?"
"Of course I do. I wouldn't expect anything less from my rival!"
Asta gained back his confidence as the two began to watch the matches unfold. This time it was Yuno's and some noble's time to fight. Another match to enjoy.
The noble hyped himself up and talked down to Yuno, saying that even though he was chosen by a four-leaf clover that he wouldn't stand a chance. He created a large electric attack and sent it at Yuno who countered the entire thing with one spell.
"Wind Magic: Towering Tornado."
An ever larger tornado, one that dwarfed the height of the colosseum's walls, was created by Yuno and the two attacks clashed against each other. It lifted the noble into the air. Yuno decided that the noble had enough and dissipated his tornado, the noble fell to the ground screaming afterward and was rendered unable to fight.
"Way to go, Yuno!" Y/n cheered.
Yuno glanced at Asta and Y/n and nodded before leaving cooly. 'What a dork.'
The noble was carried off to the medical ward as the fights continued.
---
The sun was beginning to set and a match had just finished between a guy using plant magic and a girl with ice magic. The girl won.
"Next!"
Someone stepped into the ring but didn't have anyone with them.
"Huh? Why doesn't she have someone to fight?" Asta questioned as he looked over to Y/n. "Hey Y/n, wh- Huh!?"
Y/n was leaning against a pillar and was sleeping. Barely any of the fights after Asta and Yuno were good enough for him to stay awake for, so he decided to take a nap.
"You!"
The girl pointed at Y/n as he woke up. He looked around for a bit before he found the source. Dirty blonde girl.
"I'll take you on as my opponent."
"Oh, so forward. Well, I can't back down from a challenge. Haven't yet so why start now."
Y/n walked to the center of the circle and was face-to-face with the girl. She had a cocky smirk on her face.
"A peasant without magic and another picked by a four-leaf clover. I admit that today had a few surprises appear but I doubt you're anything special."
"Whatever you say, blondie. Can we hurry to the part where I kick your butt?" Y/n asked slightly annoyed.
He might as well have some fun if he was going to beat a noble, but she was taking out a lot of it.
"My name is Masina Poizot!" She snapped as her grimoire floated next to her.
'Calm down Masina, he's just an uneducated peasant. All he needs is to learn his lesson and place. Yes, that's all you need to do.'
Masina regained her composure. "Remember that name well, peasant, as it shall be the name that will defeat you. I should let you know that this match is merely a formality on my end. I didn't even need to take this exam but thought: 'Why not? None of them will even be able to stand against me.' "
Y/n yawned and turned around. "If you're gonna keep yapping then I'll just leave. You're not even worth it."
This snapped something inside Masina as her expression turned from cocky to enraged as her grimoire glowed black.
"Shadow Magic: Death Scythe!"
Masina's shadow melted and rose from the ground as a gigantic scythe, three times her size, which she grabbed and rushed at Y/n who had just turned around at her yelling. She swung it as she screamed but they were both cut short. She had a shocked expression as Y/n caught the blade with a gauntlet made of earth. It didn't seem to take much effort.
"Eh? Is this really what the daughter of a Magic Knight Captain can do?" He sighed and snapped the curved blade. "What a shoddy scythe."
Y/n's gauntlet began producing smoke as it crumpled and was now encased in fire. His grimoire shifted from a brown outline to a red one as he reared his fist and quickly connected it with Masina's gut. The strike sent her flying towards and through a pillar on the other side of the arena.
"I've been waiting since the beginning to do that." He chuckled as the people were shocked once again.
"He can use multiple elements!? How is that possible!?"
"What are they doing with these Hage kids!?"
"No way!"
"That was awesome, Y/n!" Asta yelled as Y/n returned to his side.
"And very satisfying." Y/n said as he waited for the next match to start.
The captains and whoever attended them all had their thoughts about the match. Most were questioning whether what they saw was true. William and Yami had some other thoughts.
'Someone who can use multiple elements of magic and possess impressive strength.'
'What a creepy thing to have.'
---
The sun nearly was set and all the examinees were eager and anxious to hear from the captains about who they wanted. Asta, Yuno and Y/n all stood next to each other as they waited for their numbers to be called.
But this chapter has run on long enough, hasn't it?
Fin~