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Chapter Text

...

"It's a four-leaf clover grimoire." the crowd whispered in shock.

A boy standing at the far corner of the tower raised his brow in surprise. The four-leaf clover grimoire was a rare occurrence and he did not expect Yuno to get it. A slight proud smirk curled on his lip; his green eyes locked on the tall figure of his childhood friend.

Suddenly Yuno grabbed his grimoire from midair and turned around, his golden gaze clashing with Asta's as he loudly declared his next words.

"I will become the wizard king." he said his voice laced with determination and conviction.

A short silence fell in the tower with the two of them staring down at each other.

Asta snorted out a sarcastic laugh," Well, you better hope that your four-leaf clover can get you enough luck for that."  he said and started to walk out of the tower.

"Wait, isn't that the boy that can't even use magic?"

"They say he is cursed to not have magic, that's why he was abandoned at the church."

"Isn't he our age? Did he even get a grimoire?"

"As if? Useless people like him can't get grimoires"

"What are you saying? Everyone gets a grimoire once they are old enough!"

"Hah, guess that doesn't work for a magicless runt like him."

Their words were followed by a smirk from the ash haired boy as he leisurely walked out of the grimoire tower, completely unhurried and unaffected by the taunts of the crowd.

He anticipated that he might not get a grimoire since he didn't have magic. What good would a magical spell book do to a magicless boy? He only came to see if there was the slight chance of him receiving one and also because it was a very important day to his friend.

He didn't get a grimoire in the end but he was there when Yuno was awarded his.

But he wasn't concerned about not getting a grimoire in the slightest, after all, he didn't need a stupid magical book.

"Asta! Wait up!" a voice called.

The ash haired boy turned to look at the source of the sound.

"Sister? What's up?" he asked, when she caught up to him.

The nun panted, slightly out of breath," Where are you going? Would you like to celebrate with us?" she asked.

He shrugged his hands stuffed in his pockets," I'll drop by the church later, but I gotta do something important now." he said.

The blue-eyed nun furrowed her black brows," Wait! You are not upset, are you?" she asked.

Asta let out a boisterous laugh," Why would I be?" he asked waving at her as he turned to leave," See you later, Sister Lily!" he said.

Sister Lily watched as he walked further away from her with distress clear on her face.

Asta had always been a peculiar child, even as a little boy. Every living being have a certain amount of mana attributed to their existence, but he was different, with not a lick of mana in his body.

Asta had shown her the tattoo like marks on his wrists, and told her that they were curses, limiters the stop him from being too powerful. She reckoned that it was the curse that stopped his mana so unnaturally.

Magic meant everything in a world like theirs. Growing up without having magic while everyone else had it must have been hard. A crippled person would be accepted better than a magicless person, the stigma behind it was simply massive.

But ever since she met Asta when he was a small child, he had been a bright kid, his inability to use magic never seemed to bother him, in fact it seemed as if it thrilled him. Even without magic, Asta always had a vivid and eye-catching presence. An out of this world kind of dignity and pride that no one could taint. For someone who is deemed worthless by many, he had the sort of confidence and self-esteem that no one understood. She couldn't understand his train of thoughts, but she admired his unbreakable will and determination.

She wasn't too worried about him though, even if he had no magic, Asta was a natural born combat genius. She did not think that his apparent lack of grimoire would be a hindrance to him. His affinity to weapons would make up for it.

Asta smiled.

He was in high spirits. This was the day he was waiting for, for the past eight years. He was finally old enough to get his grimoire. He was thrilled.

This was the day kids his age receive their grimoires and he was no exception.

He just happened to know his grimoire ever since he was a kid.

Silently walking his way through the all too familiar trail through the woods, Asta made his way to an area remote from the village. He walked further and further into the woods until he reached a small clearing hidden in the depth of the forest. In the middle of the clearing was a small cottage.

Smiling at the small house, the teen made his way around it to a small grave under a relatively large tree behind the house.

"Hey mom," he greeted his eyes locked on the tombstone," Today is the day." he said, a happy smirk on his lips and fire burning in his eyes.

With that short massage, the boy turned around and walked into the empty house. The furnishing in the house was simple and minimal, but it was clean and tidy. The boy walked further into the house, stomping on the ground a bit hardly to stopping his steps from skipping as he walked into his bedroom.

The moment Asta walked into the room, a rusty old book that was sitting quietly on a dresser floated towards him with an eerie red hue surrounding it and stopped right in front of him, indicating that it had chosen him as it's next master.

Suddenly a wave of anxiety and relief crushed over him and he looked at the grimoire wryly. Even though he anticipated that the old grimoire would choose him as its own master he didn’t know what he would've done if it hadn't.

"What the hell am I doing?" he asked himself, feeling silly to be anxious and quickly flipped the grimoire open.

The ash boy then suddenly found himself floating in a familiar endless eerie violet void with a creepy large black shadow in front of him. A void he visited quite often in his sleep. The shadow in front of him smiled creepily.

"It's been a while, your highness." it called, sounding smooth and seductive.

Asta's eyes were glossy, overwhelmed with emotion as a slightly shaky smile stretched on his lips.

"Y-yeah, it's been a while." he said, his voice breaking a bit.

The shadow laughed, shrinking in size as a dark silhouette stood in front of him," This subject of yours waited for this day with anticipating breaths." it laughed," Your highness, I am most grateful to be in your presence."

Although the voice of the shadow was eerie and goosebump inciting, it cracked a bit at the end, unable to hide the emotions the owner felt. The shade started to transform, taking the shape of an adult woman, with a proportional part.

Four black horns.

Deathly pale skin.

A set of massive bat like wings.

Predator like sharp canines.

And violet eyes with black sclera.

The woman smiled gracefully, joy glittering in her eyes," It's good to see you in good health, your highness." She said bowing to the ash haired boy.

"Right." Asta said pulling the she devil up and embracing her," Welcome back, Noir."

Letting go of the other, they both examined the burning seal that had reappeared on both their wrists in glee.

Noir looked up at the boy with a reverent smile, “It is time, your highness." she said gleefully.

"It really did break." Asta's voice was laced in excitement as he examined the seal on his wrist closely.

 " I can finally bust out you of this place!" Asta said, his voice shaky with excitement along with a spectrum of other emotions. His voice made it clear that this was an important moment he waited his entire life for.

"I would've waited for you for centuries to come, your highness. I had barely blinked; fifteen years is but a fleeting moment for a devil like me."

Noir was excited. She had been in the confinement of the old grimoire for years ever since her lord had sealed her inside of it. She was glad that she could finally look after her new lord in the physical realm, instead of contacting him only in his dreams.

She could understand why her masters sealed her in the grimoire, as her presence would've been a risk for the young prince's safety. She did not know of the conditions for being sealed, but she was glad she would be set free now that her prince's grimoire returned to him.

"Shall we, your highness? " She gracefully asked, her sharp canines poking out as she smiled.

Shaking his head at the other's antics, Asta woke himself back to his house and immediately looked down at his wrist for confirmation.

The slightly familiar bracelet like seal was still on his wrist, the pitch-black ink contrasting against his slightly tanned skin. This was the seal that stops him from taking on his devil form, a limiter of sorts that enables him to live among humans.  A seal that is now broken.

"How are you feeling, Sis Noir?" He asked, looking at the devil that was stretching her massive bat like wings out.

"Fabulous, your highness. Thank you for your concern."

Asta smiled brightly at her, “Next is the hardest part. Yuno already knows that I'm a half devil, but it would be a bit of a hassle to break it to Father Osri and Sister Lily. I've been dropping hints ever since I was a kid, but we will need to deal with a bit of an opposition."

"I also want to thank them for raising you, my lord." Noir added.

Asta winced, "You might want to tone down the formalities."

"That I can not do, my apologies." She spoke.

Asta was about to mention that she did not look the least bit apologetic when the five leaved grimoire floated up to his face. The next moment it flipped itself open and something started to emerge from it.

"Huh? What's this?" Asta asked pulling at the handle of the object.

"I believe it’s an Anti-Magic sword." Deidamia said.

"Where did you get it? Did you make it while you were inside?" Asta asked.

Pulling the full size of the sword, the boy reveled a rusty broad sword. It looked old beat up and dull.

"Anti-magic is your attribute, your highness. It is only natural for your grimoire to match your attribute. Though I do believe that the sword belonged to the person who owned the grimoire before it became five leaved."

"Whoa, that's pretty neat. Anti-magic is a bit hard to channel on its own, a sword is the perfect solution for that." Asta said standing up and swinging the heavy sword around a bit," Can it cut through any type of magic?" he asked.

"As far as I know, it should be able to do it." Noir answered.

Asta snorted out a laugh, shoving the sword back in his grimoire," Alright, Sis Noir. Time to go out." he said.

"Your highness as much as it pleases me to be held in such high regards by you, as your governess I am compelled to mention that it is also a bit improp-"

Asta tilted his head," Either you drop the formalities or stick to the name, your choice." he said mockingly, opening a drawer in the dresser and pulling out his mother's old leather grimoire holder and strapping it to his waist.

Noir pressed her lips stubbornly, but she reluctantly chose to accept the nickname.

After strapping his grimoire to his waist, the green-eyed boy turned to look at the devil standing in all its glory," You should take on a subtler form. Horns and wings are a bit too eye catching."

She smiled, her massive wings retracting to her back, and her four horns shrinking until they look like black stumps in her pale hair.

The duo of the devil and half-human visited Asta's mother's grave and bid her farewell before quickly setting out to walk around the remote village of Hage. By the time Asta finished showing Noir all his favorite places the sun was already setting.

"Your highness, do you still wish to become the Wizard King?"

"Of course, I will become the Wizard King."

"I do think that it would be a brilliant way of living out your first century."

"Then I'll go down to the underworld and take my rightful throne."

"One step at a time, is it? How much longer?" Noir asked as Asta started to walk towards the church.

"Six months until the Magic Knight entrance exam. It might take a while for us to find that guy." Asta said.

Noir frowned slightly," I am still a bit apprehensive of exposing your devil-hood to the people here." She said.

Asta smiled at the clear displeasure displayed on her face, “They deserved to know, we can keep it from the kids, but we have to tell Yuno, Father Osri and Sister."

"As you wish, my lord."

"Don't worry. They'll probably be taken off guard and apprehensive for a while but will ultimately except it."

"I trust your judgement, your highness."

"Besides, if I plan on taking on Lucifero, I’ll need all the backup I can get."

"Your highness." Noir said solemnly.

"Let’s be real, even if I could kill Lucifero with my own hands. I can't take on Lucifero, Beelzebub and Magicula together." Asta said, "Even father couldn't."

"It is a wise choice, your highness."

"Don’t worry, I'll never stop. I promised mom after all." Asta said looking down on his fists, “I’ll kill Lucifero and avenge mom and Father."

"I'll be standing behind you when that inevitably happens." Noir inputted.

Asta smiled at his support, “Thanks."

Their momentary peace was disturbed by a commotion nearby. It was unusual because Hage is a usually very quiet village.

Asta blinked," What's going on?" he said walking towards the direction," Hey Sis Noir, stay here, will ya? I'll check this out real quick."

"Yes, my lord."

When Asta rounded the corner his green eyes fell on Yuno, who was literally chained to the ground with his hands bound and unable to cast any spells, along with another teenager who was chained to the wall of the alleyway. In front of the Yuno stood a cloaked man, holding Yuno's brand new four leaved grimoire and laughing manically.

"What the hell is going on here?" Asta asked, walking towards them his eyes locked on the four leaved grimoire in the man's hand," Hey, that's Yuno's grimoire, give it back. He won't stand a chance against me without that."

"Huh?" the man said stopping his manic laugh to glance at the new arrival behind him. He had a creepy face with a nasty scar.

"Whoa, whoa, man, that's one seriously messed up face." Asta said with mock shock.

"Who is this magicless runt?" the man said, "I can't sense any mana from you, leave now before I decide to kill you." 

A snort escaped the magicless boy as he shrugged," Words with no power to back them are simply wishes." he said," What are you gonna do with a grimoire that isn't yours in the first place.  The only place a grimoire belongs is with it's true master."

The scarred man laughed," You must be a really sheltered if you think that that kind of reasoning is gonna get you anywhere. Allow me to change your mind a bit." he said opening his own grimoire.

"Run Asta!!" Yuno yelled out in alarm as a bunch of chains with sharp ends manifested midair next to the scarred man.

" From a waste of space like him?" he scoffed," Not a chance in hell."

The next moment the chains shot towards him at phenomenal speed. An excited smile climbed over Asta's face as the chains approached him and got closer. He dodged the first chain and twirled out of the second's way.

"You can't dodge forever!" the scarred man laughed.

'I should probably try my anti-magic sword.' Asta though.

A smile climbed on his youthful face," You are right. I can't." he said, opening his grimoire and pulling out the dusty sword just a moment before the sharp chains could puncture his body.

The moment his dull sword came in contact with the chains, it swiftly cut through the chains as if they were made out of butter before they disappeared completely.

"Check this out! It actually works." Asta yelled out gleefully, before swinging his heavy dull sword at the man's torso and flinging the man away making him slam into a wall, knocked unconscious.

The magic chains spells binding Yuno and the other two boys disappeared, letting them go.

After checking his sword out for a few seconds with a satisfied expression, Asta shoved it back to his grimoire and walked towards the unconscious man.

"I can't believe you let someone like him beat you, Yuno." Asta said picking Yuno's four leaved grimoire along with the man's grimoire.

"Guess, I owe you again." Yuno said taking his grimoire and glancing down at the man," He said his name is Revichi, and that he was a senior magic knight before he got expelled."

Asta chuckled," Guess being a magic knight won't be hard after all if the seniors are only as strong as this guy." he said," Mind binding this dude, Yuno?" he said.

Yuno's apathetic figure shrugged," Sure." he said, his golden eyes falling on the grimoire strapped on his friend's waist," I didn't know you got your grimoire." 

A grin climbed onto Asta's face," Yeah, just picked it up earlier." he nonchalantly said, turning to look at Yuno over his shoulder," You know, Yuno, You won't become the Wizard King if I have to save your ass all the time."

A small smile brock through Yuno's apathetic face," I won't lose." he said.

Asta grinned raising his fist," That's a promise, let's race to see who will become the next Wizard King." he said.

Yuno bumped his fist with Asta's, pride shining in his eyes," I'll be the next Wizard King." he said.

Asta gave him an apprehensive look, “Means nothing coming from the guy I save all the time."

"Go to hell." Yuno said with an apathetic face, but his exasperation leaked into his tone.

Asta gave him a flat look, “Defeats the purpose when I'm half a devil."

"You are impossible." Yuno rubbed his temple with a smile.

Asta smiled, “Come on, I have an important thing I want to tell you and the guys in the church." He said waving his hand.

"Today? Of all days?" Realizing what Asta is talking about, Yuno's eyes widened.

"No time like the present." He smiled.
....

Chapter Text

...
The awarded grimoires were celebrated with a hefty feast of potpotatoes. By the time the meal was over, the younger children were knocked straight into sleep. It was a fat order for them to wake up anytime soon.

It was the perfect setting to have a calm adult conversation.

"Sister, Father, do you have a moment? I have something really important to talk to you about."

Sister Lily looked at Asta with a worried gaze," Asta, are you okay?"

Asta smiled at her, his upturned eyes pinching, “Yes, it's just a really important thing I want to tell you, Yuno and father."

"Alright, what is this all about?" Father Osri said, sliding into his seat.

"First of all I want you to keep an open head while listening to me."

Sister Lily smiled wryly, “Well that doesn't make me feel even the least bit assured."

"Just stay calm and listen to me." Asta inputs.

Sister Lily and Father Osri exchanged nervous glances," Alright, we will try."

Asta gazed at them for a short moment before taking a deep and starting," So you know about the myth of the clover leaves on your grimoire, right?"

They nodded.

"The first three signify love, hope and loyalty." Asta said, pulling out his grimoire, “the fourth is for good luck and in the fifth," he put down his grimoire in front of Father Osri and Sister Lily, watching them ominously," resides the devil."

Sister Lily gasped, staring at the five leaved clover on the cover of Asta's grimoire. Her eyes widening with morbid shock.

"Asta, you-"

"Asta! You made a deal with the devil?!" Father Osri yelled, holding up his rosary, his fingers shaking.

"What?" Asta asked, clearly taken off guard.

"Asta, I understand that having no magic living in a world where magic is everything is hard, but you shouldn't have turned to the devil." Father Osri continued.

"What?" Asta repeated.

"Asta, I am very disappointed in you. We raised you better than that! How could you go out and make a deal with a devil?"

Asta slapped the table top, “For the love of-, just shut up and listen to me! Who said anything about making a deal with the devil. I did not make a deal with the devil!" He yelled; his face contorted with displeasure due to the hastily drawn conclusion.

"Oh?" Fortunately, Father Osri abandons the notion as quickly as he latched onto it.

"What I'm saying is that I am a devil."

"WHAT?!!"

It was a very high-pitched scream.

***

It took an eternity to calm Father Osri and Sister Lily. And even by the time they stopped screaming, they were still on the edges of their seats, on guard. Sister Lily even had a hand on her grimoire just in case.

"It's true, Asta is a devil." Yuno confirms," And before you say anything else, he has always been a devil. It isn't a new development."

Sister's hand rested on her mouth, which was gaping with shock.

'A devil cursed me.'

'Sister, would you hate me if I was not a human?'

'I don't think that devils are just pure evil, some of them could be good, you know.'

'Sister, there is no such a thing as an absolutely evil person.'

Pieces were falling into their place, hints Asta dropped as a child and stubborn arguments he had about devils when either Sister Lily or Father Osri taught the scriptures of their church. Everything was falling into place so perfectly that it was terrifying. Even as everything was starting to make sense, it was a nasty pill for the two devout believers to swallow.

How could the bright child they raised into being an upright and caring person turn out to be a terrible devil?

"You remember me telling you guys how the marks on my wrist are my limiters?" Asta continues, rolling up his sleeves and reviling the bracelet like seal.

"These marks actually keep me from looking like my devil form. They are seals that make me look more like my human self, it's easier to blend in with them on. They are here to ensure my safety." He explained slowly.

"But they broke since I finally got my grimoire. Now I can turn into my devil form." As he spoke, Asta's olive green eyes gradually turned red, his ash colored hair bleeding into a black color.

"Dear God." Father Osri said, his hands closing on his rosary tightly.

Large bat like wings tore through Asta's shirt and hung above his head, and two sets of horns started to grow out of his pitch-black hair. A pair of ram horns from the side of his head and a pair of oryx horns shooting out of the top of his head. Black streaks decorated the side of his face, and his canines extending into sharp predator like fangs.

"This is me; I am half a devil. Sorry for keeping it from you." He said with an expectant smile.

His facial structure didn't change much, but the new features made him look like a completely different person. Sister Lily didn't know what to say, so she settled for staring at Yuno for confirmation.

"Since when did you-"

"When we were around 6 or 7, give or take." Yuno casually answered.

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Father Osri asked.

Yuno shot them a cold look, “Would it have made a difference?"

Father Osri clamped his mouth shut, looking conflicted.

Sister Lily started to speak hesitantly after a while, “I’m not sure, I think it might have made a slight difference." She flinched slightly when she met Asta's disappointed gaze,” I understand why you had to hide it, but I think we would've liked to know earlier, so that we could pay more attention to the way we raised you."

Asta transformed back into his human form when he noticed that Sister Lily wasn't looking at him in the face.

It was a bit disappointing, but nothing he didn't expect.

"But why did you decide to tell us now?"

Well might as well rip the bandage.

"Well I'll be leaving to prepare for the Magic Knight entrance exam. I'll be stay-"

"You are still trying to be a Magic knight?!" Father Osri asked, looking enraged.

Father Osri was reluctant to let Asta take the exam, even as a human. For him, it was absurd that Asta still wished to be a magic knight as a devil. A devil? Protecting civilians as a knight? What a big joke.

What they should do is keep him in front of their eyes, lest he gets caught and prosecuted. It was bad enough that he is a half devil, and now he wants to join the Magic Knights and live under their noses?

Asta shot him a hard look, “Why the hell not? The requirement says that any citizen of the clover kingdom can try out. I was born and raised in Clover, and as much as I am half a devil, I am also half a human. Why wouldn't I want to be a magic knight?" He spoke, raising his voice as he progressed.

The room fell into a tense silence Asta and Father Osri glared at each other. Disgust and indignant rejection filled Father Osri's eyes as he stared at the child he raised since he was an infant. It was as if Asta became a person Father Osri did not recognize. Just what is this horned, red eyed being siting in his church?

How could such a gaze escape Asta.

Asta felt disappointment grab at his soul. He did expect them to be apprehensive, but he did not expect ignorant rejection from Father Osri of all people.

Perhaps this has been a mistake.

His stomach flipped; he shouldn't have told them.

He should’ve kept his mouth shut and lived his life as Asta the helpless magicless boy with dreams too big for someone of his status. He could have lived with the suffocating guilt and just stayed the boy they new.

Asta let out a bitter laugh, breaking their staring match as he looked down at the tabletop in dejection. Suddenly, the church he grew up in seemed to be awkward and unwelcoming. Suddenly, the gazes of the people who raised him was unbearably searing.

"Yeah, well I guess I expected too much out of you. Of course you won't look past your faith for me, I must have overestimated what I meant to you." He said as he chuckled in self-depreciation.

His eyes looked aside, not meeting their gaze as he regretfully said, "I shouldn't have told you, my bad." His voice cracked a bit.

"Asta..." Sister Lily looked at him with concern in her eyes.

Asta slowly stood up, “I wanted to introduce you to someone, but I guess that could wait. I'll see you guys around." He said, walking towards the door without looking back.

Sister Lily and Father Osri didn't try to stop him.

Noir, who was listening to the conversation while waiting on the roof, gracefully dropped down next to her liege.

"Let's go home, Noir." Asta said without looking at her.

If Noir saw the tears threatening to spill over his face, she didn't comment on it. Instead, she stayed a respectful distance behind him as they silently walked towards Licita's small cottage.

...

"What a letdown." Yuno commented after Asta left the church. His golden eyes pinning Father Osri and Sister Lily with contempt and displeasure.

"Asta told you because he trusted that your care and affection for him was unconditional, but look at you now, I guess that it isn't really unconditional." He said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his seat.

Sister Lily looked down in shame, while Father Osri looked conflicted.

"How did a devil even make it to this realm?" Father Osri asked.

Yuno felt himself heat up in silent rage.

A devil?

It was heartbreaking how quickly Asta was demoted from being a child in Father Osri's guardianship to just a devil.

It was as if Asta did not grow up running around the church.

As if Asta did not risk his life for them over and over.

As if Father Osri did not bounce him on his lap and fly him on his broom.

As if it wasn't Asta who went out to hunt in the middle of winter just so that the children did not have to feel hungry or cold.

Instead, he was degraded to just 'a devil', uttered in such a contemptuous way.

Yuno was seething in anger.

"Asta said that his father had a considerable sway in the underworld before he was attacked during a regime change." Yuno said.

This was what Asta had wanted to share with them. To tell them his origin and share with them what he shared with Yuno. It was all for a naught, they crushed his hopes before he could tell them anything significant.

Yuno was the only one that realized how guilty Asta felt during the time he kept such a major part of his identity from them. How out of place he felt. Especially when they were children, when he would ask Sister Lily and Father Osri out of blue, “Would you still love me if I am not a human?"

It might have seemed like an ordinary question any insecure child would ask of their parental figures, but only Yuno knew how much these words meant to Asta, how much they assured him and how much they contributed to him confessing today.

But look at how that ended…

He knew because Asta would confide in him, excitedly telling him what 'Sis Noir' told him in his dream. About his parents, his past, his bloodline and his race. Enthusiastically talking to him in hushed tones in the middle of the night when everyone else was asleep.

Yuno left out important information as he filled Father Osri and Sister Lily about the essentials.

They did not need to know that Asta's father was the king of underworld, or that Asta is a prince that is striving to avenge his parents and to reclaim the throne that is rightfully his. Why his mother had to give him up after his father was killed and why they chose a church of all places to throw their pursuers off.

Just the bare minimum.

"On the brink of death, Asta's father developed a spell that allowed him to cross realms, that's how Asta's dad ended up in our realm." Yuno explained.

Sister Lily attentively listened to what he said and Father Osri reluctantly did not storm off of the table, but his face was still painted with apparent disgust.

It made Yuno think that there is still hope, maybe they just needed time to process the revelation.

"Asta's mom saved his dad's life and nursed him back to health. She lived alone in seclusion somewhere in the forsaken realm because of a curse she was born with. They got along and they ended up having Asta." Yuno said, “They are both dead, that's how Asta ended up in the church."

Right, just the bare minimum.

"I can't believe you reacted like that to him confessing to you." He muttered, shaking his head in disappointment.

Asta is the type of guy who would stare at death in the face without flinching. His was always the bravest of any of the children that grew up in the church. But Yuno knows it must've taken Asta months to conjure the courage to come clean and tell them, and they still reacted poorly.

"We just-" Sister Lily started.

"Would you have reacted the same way if I was the one to confess?"

"That's enough out of you! “Father Osri yelled, slamming the table.

Yuno stared at Father Osri stoically before standing up, “You better fix this by the time Asta comes back. Before the children pick up on what is going on."

It was not odd for Asta to be gone for weeks at a time because he regularly goes out to hunt for food, or go to the nearby villages to sell what he hunted to spoil the kids. They won't suspect a thing for a couple of weeks but they will start to worry after a while.

He could only hope that they work it out before then.

The morning of the next day, Yuno woke up early. He finished all his chores before grabbing his broom and flying towards where he was sure Asta would be.

His mother's old cabin.

Stopping by her grave for a few seconds to offer his respect, he knocked on the door of the cabin.

Instead of Asta, a woman with long midnight black hair, violet eyes and unnaturally pale skin opened the door. Yuno wasn't surprised to see her and guessed that she is the 'Sis Noir' Asta spoke about.

She was a bit different from what he expected.

"You are Noir?" He mentioned.

She smiled, “You must be Yuno, it's a pleasure to meet you." She bowed politely.

Yuno nodded, walking into the house, “Where is Asta?"

"His highness went out for his morning exercise. Would you like me to show you where he is?" She asked.

Yuno shook his head dismissively, “No, It's fine. "

"Then have a good day, Sir Yuno." She said before walking out of the door.

It wasn't long before Yuno found Asta at the demon skull, where he usually trains. It was always easy to find Asta, he wasn't exactly the quietest person out there.

"532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537-Oh, morning Yuno-, 538-" Asta greeted him between his push-ups.

"Morning." Yuno bleakly replied, watching Asta work out for a few more minutes.

Asta has no mana.

Defying the laws of the universe, Asta has not even a drop of mana. In this world, every creature, even rocks and dry branches have mana. He is the definition of being despised by mana.

So, at a very young age, he knew that he would have to compensate for his lack of mana by his physique. So, he started training his body as a child, and never once skipped a day of his training.

He is just hardworking and dedicated like that.

"Where did Noir go?" He asked.

"Sis Noir said she had some things to prepare before she starts my training. She won't be back for a while." Asta looked up from his position and added, “I told her you'll be joining by the way."

Yuno scoffed, “Like hell I'll let you get the upper leg." He agreed.

"That's what I thought!" Asta hopped up from his seat up and pulled his broad sword out of his grimoire and swung it at a tree. In one smooth motion, the tree toppled to the ground. Asta's swing did not stop there, adjusting the position of his foot and twisting his wrist, his swing continued on like a river in constant flux, cutting up the fallen tree into smaller pieces fluidly.

Yuno raised his brow; impressed.

Asta had only gotten his sword yesterday, but he has already figured the ropes of handling a broadsword. His form was ugly work at best, but it was also only his second day of handling it, his progress is a testimony of his affinity to weaponry. You can give Asta any weapon and you would find him using it efficiently within a week.

If Yuno is a genius mage, then Asta is a genius armorer.

Yuno looked away, thinking that maybe he can shove a training session later today. God forbid Asta surpasses him after only getting his grimoire yesterday.

"I told Sister Lily and Father Osri that your father is a devil fugitive that escaped to our realm and that he was caught and killed after he had you with your mother." He confessed, out of the blue.

Yuno didn't know what came over him last night when he told them that, but he had no right to do so. After calming down and thinking about it carefully, he realized that he had no right to tell Asta's story, it was none of his business and it was also a breach of Asta's trust.

He normally keeps out of these types of things, but he had been blinded by rage that he wasn't thinking straight. Just thinking about last night makes him want to cringe.

"Why in the world would you say that?!" Asta yelled in mortification.

"Well, I didn’t exactly lie." Yuno weakly defended himself.

"It was a coupe! A coupe! He was ambushed! You made him sound like a criminal on the run!" He screamed.

"I paraphrased what I said, I did not exactly say that." Yuno argued, feeling indignant.

"But you implied that!" Asta shouted.

Yuno was frankly getting tired of all the screaming, “Well you better come back and clear that up before they get a bad impression of your father."

Asta studied his face and a smile broke on his face, “Sure will!"

Yuno sighed pushing himself off of the tree he was leaning on, “Well stay away for about two weeks before you go back, Father Osri and Sister need time to digest."

Asta grinned at the concern unintentionally leaking into Yuno's voice, “Okay!"

"And I told the kids that you went out on a hunt, so make sure to bring something back."

Asta enthusiastically agreed, “I’ll get some meat before coming back."

Yuno straddled his broom and flippantly bid Asta farewell, “Later."

"See ya."

Chapter Text

After an insightful crash course on swordsmanship from a fugitive of a neighboring kingdom, Asta returned to the church.

Of course, he did not forget that the children in the church thought that he went out to hunt, so he made sure to catch a boar on his way back.

Sadly, Father Osri had been actively avoiding him by staying out of the church while Asta was there. But at least he didn't chase him away, so Asta had reasons to stay optimistic.

Sister Lily acted as if nothing had changed and treated Asta the same way she always treated him, but she also acted as if the conversation with Asta had never happened in the first place.

Asta isn't the type of person that would overthink things, so he just played along with Sister Lily. As long as it made her more comfortable, then he can stick to it. He won't be staying around for too long anyway.

Soon, it was time for Asta and Yuno to leave for their training. Of course, only Sister Lily and the children came to see them off. Father Osri was nowhere to be found.

"Stay safe."

"Take care of yourselves."

"We can handle everything at the church so leave it to us!"

Sister Lily smiled as she bid them farewell, “Take care, bundle up well. It'll be winter soon."

Asta smiled, ruffling the kid's hair," Sheesh, don't act like we are going forever. We will be back before the Magic Knight entrance exam. Look after Sister Lily and Father, okay?"

Nash grumbled, “I don’t get why you even try, you have literally no mana. You won't ever make it into a Magic Knight squad."

Asta smiled down at him, “Why don’t we leave that for them to decide, okay big guy?" He said.

Nash frowned, “Good luck chasing your pipe dream." He said before he stormed off.

Asta looked at Nash's back, "Haaa, why can't he just say what he honestly thinks." He murmurs.

He looks at the rest of his siblings who were biding Yuno farewell before looking at Sister Lily.

Neither of them said a thing for a while with Sister Lily looking a bit awkward. Asta breaks into a smile, he had no intention of pressuring her. He was always the type of person that takes things in strides, a hiccup like this one amounts to absolutely nothing. He knows Sister Lily and Father Osri will get past it, they only need a bit more time.

"We will be off now." Asta said.

Sister Lily smiled back, “Be careful."

Asta waved at them as he and Yuno walked to the meet up spot with Noir.

Noir appeared in Asta's dreams and told him to go to his mother's cabin with Yuno. When they reached the rendezvous point, Noir was already waiting for them.

"Allow me to apologize for far too long, my lord." She said, bowing.

Asta smiled waving her off," So, what's the plan?"

"If you two would please follow me." Noir said, walking into Lichita's cabin.

Asta and Yuno followed suit, walking further into the kitchen of the cabin.

Noir bent down and pulled at a wooden plank, revealing the door to a small cellar.

"We had a cellar?!" Asta yelled in surprise.

"Indeed, your highness." Noir said gently, “Please go ahead."

Asta smiled wryly, “You are acting very suspiciously, Sis Noir." He said, jumping down into the cellar. Yuno wordlessly followed after him.

Looking inside, Asta's jaw dropped, “This is even more suspicious!"

Yuno made a face in agreement, glancing wryly at Noir, who was closing the cellar door behind her.

Inside the cellar, a pentagram was drawn on the floor in eerie red, enclosed in a circle with candles at each corner. On a closer inspection, strange symbols, undoubtedly devil letters, made up the lines of the pentagram.

"Please step on the port." Noir said, gesturing at the pentagram.

"Wait a minute!" Asta yelled, “You gotta explain these kinds of things first! What is this thing? Whose blood is this?!"

Noir paused for a moment, “Certainly." She said, “This is a port that will teleport us to his majesty's castle. The blood is his highness King Astaroth's, used as a catalyst for this teleportation sight. It is a completely safe transportation mechanism thanks to his majesty's magic and efforts, made to ease her highness Lichita's transportation between her cabin and his majesty's castle."

Asta's eyes widened, “You could have said that from the very beginning. Don't be super vague about things."

"Yes, your lordship. I apologize." Asta made an uncomfortable face at her words.

"Is the castle in the underworld? Are we going down there?" Yuno asks.

"No, his majesty's domain, Babel, is in the strong magic region between the Clover Kingdom and the Spade Kingdom." Noir explains.

Asta and Yuno finally stepped on the pentagram and Noir handed Asta a small knife.

"The pentagram only functions with the blood of the royal family. Allow me to trouble you with a drop of your noble blood, my lord." She said pointing at the center of the pentagram.

Without making a fuss, Asta took the knife and pricked his finger, pouring a few drops of his blood on the center.

The port started glowing a bright red before Asta's vision started to swim. Feeling dizzy, he stumbles a bit, and he distantly hears Noir telling him to take on his devil form. Feeling a bit confused, he obliges, only for his vision to straighten out immediately and for the dizziness to disappear.

'Noir should have mentioned that it's only perfectly stable for devils.' Asta thought, glancing at Yuno, who looked like he might throw up any minute. Asta guessed that this was how his late mother felt when she moved between the castle and her cabin.

""Welcome back, your highness!!""

Asta was startled out of his thoughts by the chorus of greeting uttered by a small crowd that suddenly appeared in front of him. A hundred or so devils of various standing were all bowing down in greeting, not daring to look up at him.

Asta shot Noir a confused and panicked glance only to see her fold her hands and bow, “Welcome back, your highness."

Confused Asta could only say, “It’s good to be back?"

Noir stood up and gestured towards the door, “Please come this way, your highness."

Without raising their heads, the devils parted away, making a path for Asta to take. It took Asta off guard that apart from the initial confusion, walking amongst the devils was natural to him. He glanced at Yuno who was walking a step behind him. Even though Yuno made it a point to stay nonchalant, he looked pressured with sweat trickling down his cheeks. It was only natural for a human to feel threatened while walking amongst devils.

Maybe the confidence Asta felt came from his bloodline, or his race, either way Asta did not care.

"What the hell was that, Noir!?" Asta hissed as they made it out of the first room.

"Those were your loyal subjects, your highness." She said, easily.

Asta made some noise in exasperation, “I get that, but it's so not cool of you to spring it on me like that. A warning would be nice." He said, “Where did they come from, anyway?"

As far as he was aware, He and Noir were the only devils in the human realm. These are a lot of devils for Asta not to be aware of.

"They were sealed away along with the Castle after his majesty's death. It took loads of magic to release them. That was why it took me too long to get back to you, your highness." Noir explained.

"I see." He supposes that made sense, given his father's attribute, Time Magic.

"This is where you were born. This is where you spent the early days of your infancy." She glanced at him, her massive wings twitching as she gestured at the massive castle, “This, my lord, is your birth right."

Asta gasped soundless, his eyes finally looking around the castle. Babel, as Noir called it, is a massive castle, that is made up of pure black bricks and is decorated with red and grey. It has towering pillars, which had devil letters carved into them, wide staircases that led to god knows where, black and red glass adorned windows and more. The castle let out an eerie aura but still looked majestic.

Asta's eyes couldn't help but wander about, but then they abruptly stopped at the top of a wide staircase.

"These are portraits of you with his majesty and her majesty, it was painted only a few days before his majesty's passing."

At the top of the stairway, a massive painting is put on display. A woman with soft olive-green eyes and smooth ash grey hair, sitting in a chair smiling down at a laughing child with eyes like hers along with spiky ash grey hair. Behind them stood a man with striking red eyes and spiky black hair, black streaks marking his deathly pale cheeks. His eyes were looking at the woman and child adoringly, his soft smile conveying the affection he felt for them.

The painting looked so natural and harmonious; it brought tears to Asta's eyes.

'These are my parents. My mom and dad.'

Smiling a bit, Asta walked past the painting, following Noir down the hall. Many other paintings greeted him along the way, mostly of his parents before their little party stopped in a room that looked like a study.

"At your request, we will start your training for the Magic Knight entrance exam today. The training will last for the reminder of the year, so prepare yourself." Noir said.

Asta nodded, looking around the room, “What are we doing in a study?" He asks.

"My lord, you will not be able to use the spells on your grimoire without learning demon tongue, although you know the basic alphabets, I will teach you, to increase your fluency." Noir said.

Despair flashed across Asta's face, “I’ll only learn devil language?"

"Certainly not, my lord." Noir said, walking up to a smaller door inside the study. Opening it, she revealed a room lined with weapons. Weapons that started from knives to maces and axes.

"Whoa." Asta gasped.

"While I was sealed in your grimoire, I discovered that anything you coat with your anti-magic could be stored inside your grimoire. So, we will be working on expanding your arsenal, while increasing your proficiency with your attribute." Noir inputs.

Asta smiles, “Sick."

"And with Sir Yuno-"

""Sir Yuno!?"" Asta and Yuno looking weirded out, but Noir carried on.

"My servants will train you inside the castle, then outside in the strong mana region while oversee his highness' education." She continues undeterred.

"Wait, your servants?" Asta asks.

In reply, Noir opened her grimoire, her tone changing as she casts her spell in her native tongue.

"Mind Control Magic: Night Demon Manifestation."

Right then, a small portal opened in the ground, from inside of it a humanoid creature appeared. It had a single white horn emerging from its forehead, with pale hair that went down it's chin and violet eyes and black sclera. It looked eerie and flawless at the same time, as it bowed in front of Noir. Even without mana, Asta could tell that this creature was strong.

"This is my puppet, His name is Azaz and he will be in charge of your training." She said, running her hand in Azaz's hair.

Asta tilted his head, “I knew this already, but you are super strong, Noir."

She smiles," I am undeserving of such praise." She says.

She looked at Yuno and Asta," This is my spell, Night Demons, where I can summon various demons with various specialties, mostly related to sleep infiltration and mind control, Azaz happens to be one of them. He will be at your beck and call so do not hesitate to order him." She said, leading them out of the armory and into the study.

It would only make sense for Noir to be strong, as she was the Governess of Astaroth before she become his. An ancient devil like her would have to be insanely strong to live for as strong as she did. The Devildom was not a place for the weak to exist.

She closes the door of the armory and turns to the two of them, “Shall we start then??"

Chapter Text

....

"Yuno!" Asta called out, looking down at the black haired boy from the top of his Demon Dweller sword," You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's go." the boy mildly answered.

Asta grinned down at him," Don't tell me you can't even fly a broom. That's the most basic skill for a mage." he mocked lowering himself so that he is just above the ground.

Yuno deadpanned," Can you even fly a broom?" he asked.

"Why would I? I'm not technically a mage, I can't even use magic remember?" he asked, looking smug.

"Why are you so proud of yourself?" Yuno asked and the only respond he got was a carefree shrug.

Yuno sighed," Wait a moment. Let me get a broom." he said, starting to make his way back to the church.

"Here you go, Yuno." Father Osri said, bolting out with a wooden broom.

Father Osri looked up at Asta with a complicated expression before sighing and calling out, “Take care."

Asta smiled gleefully, “You bet."

The small group in front of the church sent the duo off warmly with encouragements and wishes of fortune. It was nowhere near the level of harmony they had before Asta revealed the fact that he is a devil, but they were getting there.

Little progress is also progress.

Asta and Yuno were not hurried on their way to the capital but they still acted like their trip was a race. Noir's training regimen was exceptionally competitive, which ignited their rivalry. There was simply no other way to have it.

Yuno and Asta spent most of their time camping on the road and hunting for their food. As hectic as the racing was, it was a relaxing trip for both of them. It eased their nerves before their entrance exam.

"Are you nervous?" Yuno asked.

Asta balled his fist," A bit, there is still the small chance of them not accepting me since I have no mana." he said," I have to play my cards right." he said.

"It's their loss if they don't accept you. Your Anti-Magic is so versatile and useful." Yuno said.

Asta smiled bitterly. The awkward expression felt out of place on his usually carefree and arrogant face.

It won't only be their loss. He needed to join the magic knights for his own reasons and it was not only to chase after his goals of becoming The Wizard King.

He had to build his power.

Noir said that she felt traces of Lucifero's magic far into the North, deep in the Spade Kingdom, which meant that Asta didn't exactly have unlimited time like he had imagined at first. His time was limited, it was only a matter of time before Lucifero came to know of Asta's existence, or the existence of the 103 devils staying in Babel. Asta needed to work harder.

For that reason, his best bet is to find devil contractors. As Noir had mentioned, four of their loyal devils have contracted a magic knight in one of the squads, he will have to find that guy first.

That knight who supposedly knew a lot about devils.

The man that knew about devils and how to harness their powers.

The man who knows about Lucifero.

He needed to join the magic knights to find that guy and avenge his parents’ death. He will also have to fulfill his goal of becoming the Wizard King along the way. He refused to give up on that one.

They made it to the Capitol just in time for the entrance exams to start.

The duo soon stood in the queue for the examinees and had themselves registered quickly before going into the arena. Given the consecutive numbers of 164 and 165 respectively, Yuno and Asta walked into the examination arena.

"Whoa there are so many people here." Asta mused, looking around the arena.

Soon a swarm of Anti-Magic birds flocked around him. As the contestant around him mocked him for not having any mana to chase the anti-magic birds away, the green-eyed boy smiled to himself.

Not having magic never bothered him.

After all his Anti-Magic is a great counter for any type of magic.

A way to counter any type of magic.

It practically feels like cheating.

After being pecked by the anti-magic birds for a while, the boy deadpanned. He couldn't see anything. He had to get rid of the birds.

"Yuno! Where are you?" he called out, blindly walking around the arena with the extra weight of the birds. The weight didn't bother him, but their pecking sure did.

"Geez, get off!" he muttered, swatting some of them away," Ow, hey that hurts. Stupid bird." he said.

In the middle of his blind walk, he bumped into someone and it looked like the person had a large amount of magic power because all the birds flew off.

Asta sighed in relief, smoothing out his clothes," Good riddance. Thanks man, I appreciate the help." he said smiling at the buff man in front of him.

"You got a death wish, boy?" the man asked, his voice dripping with malice.

Asta swallowed. The muscular man was really intimidating and even the way he carried himself was powerful.

The green-eyed boy paused when his eyes fell on the robe the man wore. More specifically the bull insignia on the black robe.

"Hey, that robe..." he muttered looking back up at the man, his carefree face becoming serious," Do you mind if I ask you a question, sir?" he asked.

"Looks like I was right about that death wish." the man said emitting an intimidating aura as he clasped his hand on Asta's head, squeezing hard.

"Woah, wait a moment. I really need to ask something important. Why are you so aggressive? I was totally polite!" Asta complained, trying to pry the man's hand off of his head before he had his head crushed.

"Ah, there you are." a second voice said as a brunette wearing the same robe as the man pushed through the crowd," What are you doing here anyway?" he asked.

"Right now, getting ready to wring this kid's head." the man answered in a monotone.

"Can you even wait for a moment and listen. I said I have something really important to ask." Asta scowled, prying two of the man's fingers and escaping his hold.

'Impressive.' the man thought to himself, recognizing Asta's physical prowess.

"What's your deal anyway? Does asking a question warrant a death sentence with you?" Asta muttered to himself, rubbing his abused head as he backed a few steps up. The muttering of the crowd gained his attention and he looked back at the trio that were wearing the same robe.

'The Black Bulls, huh. So that's the squad's name.' Asta thought, going over the information Noir drilled into his head,' And this man is the captain huh, Yami.'

Before he could open his mouth to ask his question, he was stopped by fireworks exploding right above the arena.

"Oh, wow, look at that. The exam is about to begin." The brunette said.

Yami blankly looked back to the boy," That was a close one boy, you’ve got a second chance in life, better do something with it or I will come back and kill ya." he said walking away.

"Wait, Sir, you didn't-"

Asta stopped himself mid-sentence. His path was decided the moment his eyes locked on that robe. He didn't need to hurry. He will just have to make it into that specific magic knight squad.

"Hey, you okay?" Yuno asked.

Asta's serious face switched back to his relaxed smirk," There you are Yuno. I bumped into some bigshot while looking for you earlier." he said.

Yuno nodded," Yeah, the entire arena witnessed it." he said dryly.

Asta looked up at the balcony, where the squad captains gathered," I can't feel magic power, but man, all these people feel powerful." he said, tucking his hands behind his head.

"Yeah," Yuno nodded," Their magic power is impressive too."

Asta's green eyes fell on a man wearing a mask and he nudged his head towards him," I heard that the man with the mask is the captain of the best magic knight squad. If it comes to the front runner to the position of the Wizard King, then that guy is next in line." Asta said.

Yuno raised a brow," For someone who lives alone in the sticks, you sure are well informed." he said.

Asta shrugged," There is no way I stayed in the same place all the time. I traveled around a lot, y'know." he said.

Of course he had to travel around a lot , both to provide for himself and to learn more about devil magic. Even with Noir teaching him in his dreams, he needed to learn on his own. He picked up a few things along the way.

"Attention examinees." the masked man said," Thank you for waiting. I will be administering today's exam." he said grabbing his grimoire and casted a grand spell.

"World Tree Magic: Magic Tree Decent." he casted.

Everyone stood in awe as clouds formed over the arena and giant tree roots started to descended towards the examinees from the sky, handing each and every one of them a broom.

"You have waited long enough. Let the magic knight entrance exam begin." the man said closing his grimoire," In just a few moments we will start with the first of a series of tests. The nine Magic Knight Squad Captains will be serving as your judges. And when the exam is complete, we will be choosing the individuals we want on our squads. If chosen, you are in. If more than one squad chooses you then you will decide which you want to join. However, if none chooses you then that means you are deemed unqualified to join the magic knights. " The man explained.

'That won't happen' Asta thought, looking at the broom in his hand skeptically.

"And now for your first test. You must use the brooms you are given to fly."

Asta narrowed his eyes. He knew the tests were designed to test out magic power. Magic power that he didn't have.

"A mage who is in control of his or her magic power can do it on instinct alone. It is our most basic way to get from one place to another. If you can not fly on a broom then you are not worth our time." Captain Vangeance said," Enough talk, now let the exam begin!"

Asta hummed, abandoning the thought of flying on his broom as he looked around the place in search for a solution to his problem. You can't control magic power if you don't have it. Frankly, he shouldn't be taking this exam since it focused on showing off magic power, but this was the standard way of entering a magic knight squad. So, what other choice did he have.

He smiled when his eyes fell on a spear leaning on one of the pillars in the arena and he casually tossed the broom in his hand away.

"Excuse me! Captain Vangeance, sir~!" Asta called out, cupping his hands around his mouth dramatically.

Yuno subtlety turned away, trying to separate himself from Asta.

Asta's green eyes locked on the balcony. His loud voice gained the attention of most of the people in the arena," I have a question!" He declared.

"Oh, my god." Yuno muttered in shame.

"What's with this kid and questions?" Yami muttered to himself.

"What is it!?" Captain Vangeance said.

Asta smiled," You said that flying a broom was important for transportation. Does it necessarily have to be a broom?" he asked.

The captain of the Crimson Lion Kings raised a brow," What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, just as loudly.

Asta awkwardly smiled," Well the nature of my power doesn't allow me to fly a broom. Would it be considered as breaking the rules if I used this spear?" he asked.

Captain Vangeance smiled slightly," I see. No, it isn't considered as breaking the rules. Feel free to use the spear."

"Thank you." Asta smiled. Flying on the spear would be a piece of cake as long as he coats it with Anti-Magic.

Focusing for a few seconds, the green eyed boy had the spear coated in a layer of a black substance, and soon he easily levitated himself over to his childhood friend.

"You should have stayed down there for a while." Yuno blandly said.

Asta laughed," You don't get to look down on me a lot, do you? I feel sympathetic cause I get to do that a lot. I might let you do it once in a while." he said standing proudly on the spear.

Yuno deadpanned, “You are literally shorter than me. I see the top of your head all the time.”

Asta’s jaw dropped,” That was uncalled for. I’ll make sure to stay above you from now on.”

Yuno scoffed," Don't worry, I will be living at the top soon enough."

Asta grinned," Good luck." he said then looked down at the people around the arena," Help me out Yuno. Which one of these guys have the strongest magic?" he asked.

"Me obviously." Yuno answered in a heartbeat.

Asta was stunned for a moment before laughing," Sure, second strongest then?" he asked.

Yuno looked around a bit before pointing at a guy who was dressed luxuriously," That guy." he said," Why did you ask though?"

Asta smiled mischievously," I heard that the final test is a one-on-one battle. I want to have a strong opponent, a noble would be more desirable. The stronger my opponent the better I would look when I win." he said.

Yuno casted him a side glance," Why not battle me then?" he asked.

"Simple, really." Asta said," I plan to wipe the floor with my opponent and I don't think dirt is a good look for my rival." he said lowering himself to the ground.

Yuno rolled his eyes at Asta's audacity, if it was anyone else, they would say that Asta is arrogant, but Yuno knew,

'There is a difference between arrogance and confidence.'

The next test was a magic power test (another one), where the examinees had to shoot out their magic power at a brick wall and break it. Asta couldn't help but smile, the brick wall was made out of a magic spell, so his anti-magic would be the perfect counter for it.

Asta condensed his anti-magic into his index finger and fired it, cutting a clean hole in the magical brick wall.

After that was the Magic Power control (magic power this, magic power that, what is with these people and magic power) test, which was similar to the previous one, only that they had to hit a flying target.

For someone who had been hunting for his own food most of his life, shooting a moving target was an easy task.

On the Creation Magic test, the ashy haired boy faced a problem. He was unable to create anything impressive from his Anti-Magic so he settled for creating an arrow of pure Anti-Magic. He had to avoid all the other examinees so that he wouldn't destroy their work by mistake.

He failed on his Evolution Magic test(obviously). There was no way for him to use his Anti-Magic to make a seed sprout so he tossed the seed away at the end. Also, there was mana in every living thing, his attribute sucked out all the life out of the poor seed, turning it to a husk.

"Now onto the next test, the final and the most difficult. A display of combat skills." Captain Vangeance said.

Asta grinned,' Finally, something I'm good at.'

"Prepare to duel!" Captain Fuegoleon said standing from his seat," You will break into pairs and fight each other. Use your grimoires to attack and defend!"

"Man, I bet losing will tank your chances of getting chosen," A boy said.

"Yes, better choose an easy partner. Choose someone weak." Another said.

"As Knights battle is our business. We want to see everything you are capable of!" Captain Fuegoleon said.

"The exam will end when either one of the combatants surrenders or is unable to fight. We have recovery mages standing by for the injured." Captain Vangeance said.

"So don't hold anything back!" Captain Fuegoleon finished.

Asta smiled, walking towards the boy Yuno pointed at earlier and tapping him on the shoulder. The boy had ash blonde hair and orange eyes, his face was pinched into an expression of disgust, as if he was repulsed that Asta dared to touch him.

"Hey, I'm Asta from Hage. Mind taking me on?"

The boy looked Asta over and smirked," I suppose I can do you the honor." he said.

Asta had to stop himself from snorting. He was gonna have fun beating this aristocrat to the ground.

"Thanks." he simply said.

'Honestly, my Anti-Magic is proving to be more convenient every day. People will immediately decide that I'm weak once they can't feel any mana from me and the fact that I'm from a village way out in the sticks is all the better.'

"We are ready for the first bout." the referee announced.

"We are coming!" Asta said, leisurely walking towards the middle of the arena, following behind the proud noble.

"We are both here to join the magic knights so let's have a fair fight. Come at me with everything you've got." Asta said, staring right at the guy's face.

The noble chuckled," I can't feel an ounce of mana from you. You sad poor little commoner, better give up now while you still have a chance." he said mockingly.

A relaxed smirk climbed on to Asta's face," That's a hard pass, thank you for your concern." he said turning around and walking to his side of the arena.

The referee raised his arm," Begin!" he yelled.

Asta's eyes locked on the noble boy, who didn't even bother to open his grimoire and simply created a big chunk of ice and shooting it towards him.

"This is it for you, filthy peasant!" the boy said.

 Asta smirked, pulling out the heavy sword from his grimoire and slicing through the glacier neatly.

It was a bit anti-climatic.

"Impossible! My ice-" the noble was stunned.

"I suggest you use your grimoire if you don't want to look like a fool because of this peasant." he said putting his sword on his shoulder and tilting his head mockingly.

"That sword..." Captain Vangeance muttered.

"If it's as heavy as it looks then we have to commend the boy for being able to swing it around so easily." Fuegoleon said.

"Reinforcement magic?" Nozel inquired.

"No magic there, Braids," Yami said," The kid is just crazy in shape."

"You commoner! I will send you back to whatever back ally village you came from." Asta's opponent yelled angrily opening his grimoire.

'Why is he so hung up on my social status?'

"Try your best!" Asta said confidently smiling.

"Ice creation Magic: Rime Guardian!" he casted, reading off of his grimoire with an irritated smirk," Try to beat that!" he said.

Just then a giant ice golem manifested in the middle of the arena and bolted towards Asta.

"That's more like it." the ashy haired boy grinned, pulling his sword off of his shoulder and charging at the ice golem and slicing right through it diagonally as if he was slicing through butter and continuing to make his way to his opponent.

'This is kinda disappointing.' Asta said, thinking back to his spars with Yuno and Noir's puppets. The fight was way less stimulating than he thought, so he decided on ending it.

"No-" the noble denied, but he was cut off when the blunt but heavy sword crashed to his side, knocking the breath out of him. The force of the hit had him stumble and roll a few feet on the ground.

"Heh~ What a lame noble. Getting all beat up by a magicless commoner." he said.

"What do you mean magicless? You dare lie to a noble, filthy commoner?" he yelled loudly.

"Filthy? I don't know about that, from my point of view you are the one rolling in the dirt and no I don't have any mana so it's only natural I can't use magic." Asta said, slicing through a sharp shard of ice that the noble launched at him.

"He doesn't have magic?" Finral asked in bewilderment.

"Indeed, I don't feel a drop of mana coming from him." Fuegoleon said.

"But how did he get through the exam then?" Charlotte said.

"As far as I can tell he had been breezing through all the tests except for the Evolution Magic test." Yami muttered, narrowing his eyes at the boy in the arena.

Smirking, Asta coated his sword in anti-magic and the sword started to levitate and shoot towards the noble as Asta stood in his place. The noble tried to defend himself with his ice magic but the sword sliced through it easily and all he could do was dodge so that the sword won't hit him.

"No magic my foot! What do you call this?!" the noble screeched.

Asta grinned watching as the noble run around the arena running away from the heavy sword that was flying through the air.

"Anti-Magic." he simply answered, his hands in his pockets.

"Anti-Magic? What the hell is that?!" the boy screeched.

Asta shrugged," Exactly what it sounds like, it's the opposite of magic so no matter what kind of spell you throw at me I will be able to nullify it."

"Impossible! There is no such thing!" the boy said.

" But your spells were useless throughout the entire match, weren't they?" Asta reasoned," If you surrender, I will have to stop chasing you, you know." he said losing interest in the noble within seconds.

"Surrender? To a commoner?" the boy said changing his track and running towards Asta in ire," Over my dead body!" he screeched.

Asta shrugged, taking his hand out of his pocket," Have it your way." he said, staring the boy dead in the eye as he run towards him," I guess I'll have to take you down by force."

The moment the noble was close enough, Asta pulled his fist back and punched the guy in the face, earning a deafening crack before the collapse of his opponent.

"I should've gone for a stronger opponent." Asta said to himself, summoning his broad sword to himself and shoving it into his grimoire," But you gave me a nice introduction for my power so I guess I should thank you. Now all the Squad Captains know what I'm capable of."

'Was it a bad thing that I toyed around with him?' Asta thought, looking down at the knocked out noble, whose face was already swelling from the punch,' Nah, the dude was a jerk anyway.'

Chapter Text

...

"It would be an honor to join the Golden Dawn." Yuno said, his tone carrying his humility and sincerity.

Asta let out a low whistle as he smiled at his friend," Going with the golden boy theme, eh? Shot straight to the moon" he teased.

Yuno only punched his shoulder as he passed by him smirking. Rolling his eyes Asta walked up to the front next.

"Number 165, do we have any hands, captains?" the referee asked.

Slowly and hesitantly, three of the captains raised their hands.

William Vangeance of the Golden Dawn.

Fuegoleon Vermillion of the Crimson Lion Kings.

Yami Sukihiro of the Black Bulls.

Asta raised a surprised brow. It looked like his introduction earned him the interest of the three captains. There was no choice to be made, he knew what squad he would join even before the exam started.

"I would like to join the Black Bulls." he said earning himself a chorus of gasps and murmurs. Even Yami was surprised, leave alone the other two.

To anyone else, it was practically blasphemy to choose the Black Bulls when the Golden Dawn was offering. But Asta's choice was already made, way before he stepped on the arena.

"That is one surprising choice, may we know the reason?" Fuegoleon asked.

Asta smiled charmingly," No offense sir, but I'm from humble origins and have literally no magic what's so ever and I don't think that the people of the high society would take kindly to that. I want to be able to focus on my strength instead of my social standing. I don't think I'll be able to focus on my work and on improving myself if I am in a distracting setting." he said glancing at Yami who casted him a suspicious glance. He flashed him a dazzling smile, which made Yami look even more suspicious.

Fuegoleon and Vangeance nodded in understanding then gestured for the referee to continue with the next person.

"Number 166!" he called, as Asta walked back to the crowd.

"Really? Black Bulls?" Yuno asked as he leaned back on one of the arena pillars.

Asta smirked," Just stands to show that I'm still gonna beat you even if you had a head start." he said confidently as he folded the sleeves of his shirt up, he paused and casted Yuno a glace " By the way, I hope you could have a nice stay with the Golden Dawn." he said his voice holding a slight warning.

Yuno smiled fondly," You don't need to worry, I can handle myself against a few upturned noses. I'm actually surprised you backed down from a challenge, after all those etiquette lessons you had with Miss Noir?" he said, shuddering slightly.

Asta laughed lightly," I didn't. I'm actually after Captain Yami. I need to ask him something very important. Even if the Black Bulls were a bunch of nobles and royals, I would have still joined them."

Yuno raised a confused brow," Did you have to join them just to ask?" he said.

Asta's carefree face turned onto a very serious one for a split second, startling Yuno," Yes." he said shortly and his face switched back to his carefree persona," On the flip side, I won't have to deal with the nobles."

Awkwardly smiling at the sudden change in his friend, Yuno shrugged," You are right. But you can't really be bothered by that kind of stuff if you want to be the Wizard King." he said.

" Oh?" Asta teased," You are finally accepting that I'll be the Wizard King? For trusting in me, I'll be sure to make you my advisor by then." he said.

Yuno snorted out a laugh," You wish." he said.

Soon the Black Bulls and their captain made their way to the two boys.

Finral shook his head as Asta walked closer to them," I can't believe you chose the Black Bulls while you could have gone into one of the fancy squads." he said.

Asta smiled," Why? What makes your squad different? They are all magic knights, aren't they?" he asked.

Yami narrowed his eyes at Asta and grabbed his head," Quit playing dumb, what was the question that was so important that it made you make this kind of decision?" he asked.

Asta smiled innocently," Why rush? I'm in the Black Bulls now, aren't I?" he said," I can-"

"You won't be if you don't ask away in the next two seconds." Yami said blowing the smock he inhaled from his cigarette.

Asta smiled nervously," Alright but can you just-"

Yami squeezed harder cutting Asta off," Okay, Okay. Do you know a man with really long black hair and blue eyes? He can say some really mean things with a cheerful smile and he uses shadow magic." he yelled out trying to pry Yami's fingers from his head.

Yami dropped him on the ground and stared at him through the smoke of his cigarette. Asta was compelled to explain further.

"What was his name again?" Asta hummed, slamming his fist on his palm, "Ah, Nacht Faust. His family is involved in really shady stuff. There is a rumor that says that you two are really close friends, so help me out, yeah?"

Finaral's jaw dropped, “You’re wrong. Captain Yami doesn't have any friends."

Yami narrowed his eyes at Finral, pressuring him with his mana," Finral, let's go to the hideout." he said.

Finral meekly shrank back.

"Oi, at least answer me!" Asta yelled out, darting after them.

He was only met by silence making him roll his eyes as Finral opened a portal. Asta glanced back at an amused Yuno and waved," See you later, Yuno. Don't forget writing to the others in the church." he said.

"As if I'll need you to remind me." Yuno scoffed as Asta walked through the portal after muttering.

"Whatever."

The hideout of the Black Bulls was a weird looking building that looked like it was on its last leg. Its condition made Asta wonder if it was even inhibited. Asta had seen his fair share of crumbling ruins, but this one takes the top spot.

"This is the base?" he asked.

"Pretty magnificent, don’t you think?" Yami asked.

Asta raised a brow," It does have a nice ‘Haunted House’ vibe. You even have the falling bricks and the vines." he casually commented.

Yami laughed," You got it, kid. Welcome to the Black Bulls." he said.

"Thank you for having me!" Asta said enthusiastically," Say, Captain, mind answering me now?" he pressed as they walked towards the door.

As if on cue, a fireball brock through the door and slammed at Asta, taking him by surprise.

"What the hell?" he yelled, patting a small ember that clung to his clothes," I just came here, do you need to kill me right off the bat?"

The boy couldn't help but deadpan at the sight of the chaotic hideout and sighed thinking that he would have to spend the next few months or even years with the rejects of the entire Magic Knights.

He shrugged.

He never had trouble getting along with new people anyway.

"I'm Asta from Hage, it's very nice to meet you!" he said introducing himself to the chaotic group of people with a smile," And I'm gonna become the Wizard King!"

No one even turned in his direction.

A street punk was launching fireballs at a young-looking lightning mage and missing every single time.

'Why are they even fighting in the first place?'

A tiny girl stuffing herself with more food than she had in her whole body in astounding speed.

'There is no way that is healthy. Where is all that food even going?'

A pink-haired woman was half naked on the couch, looking hungover and ready to get drunk at the same time.

'Is she okay?'

A guy was staring at some sleeping little girl through a mirror with a bloody nose.

'Creepy~'

And some big guy was just standing in a corner, growling and blowing smoke out of his mouth.

'What is up with these people?'

What came out of Finral's mouth really surprised him. "Looks like they're at it again." He said with a fond smile.

'This kind of chaos happens regularly!? What's up with that smile?'

'Was joining these guys a good idea?' Asta asks himself,' The only way to get these people to listen is by matching their energy.'

Asta raised his voice once more, "Hey, I'm Asta Staria, I'm a Black Bull now, too! And someday, I'm gonna become the Wizard King!"

They just continued with their nonsense.

The flame mage yelled the lightning mage for stealing his dessert, even though the tiny girl was stuffing herself with a hundred more literally a few feet away from him. Couldn't he just ask for one? Surely, she will share.

The half-naked woman was groaning about having a massive hangover, but she was still holding a booze bottle in her hand. The creep who was staring at the picture of a little girl was yelling at them to be quiet. The tiny girl continued eating an obscene amount of food and the large man just blew more smoke.

'Am I really going to have to turn these crackheads into my allies? How the heck will I manage to do that?'

Eventually, Yami had enough of the madness and smashed the wall and yelled. "QUIT BREAKING STUFF ALREADY!"

This made the wall collapse behind them.

'You are also breaking stuff.' Asta thought, looking at him incredulously.

The Black Bulls ceased their antics and ran up to their captain, greeting him enthusiastically and talking all at once.

'Would you look at that? They are at least a tight knit group.'

"Hahaha haha," Yami laughed "Yeah, yeah. Glad to know how much you've missed me. Now shut up." his tone quickly going from playful to threatening. His subordinates all lined up and sat down.

'Dude, are you bipolar?' Asta's brows quirked.

"Now that's better, now I want you to meet our, uh," Yami said and turned to Asta, "What's your name again?"

Asta's jaw dropped," You literally heard me say my name twice in the last two minutes."

A rough hand landed on his head," You wanna die, kid? Show some respect!"

Asta rolled his eyes, prying Yami's hands from his head. The action was becoming increasingly less challenging as he did it more.

"I'm Asta Staria, I am from Hage Village and I'm gonna become the Wizard King!" He introduced himself for the third time.

Vanessa held her ears, “Is he trying to kill me?!" She groaned.

Yami frowned, "That's something I noticed before, you're as loud as you are short, aren't you?"

"Yeah!"

"Shut up, kid."

"There is something seriously wrong with you." Asta concluded with a tilt of his head.

"Should've figured that before choosing the Black Bulls instead of the Golden Dawn. Are you regretting it now?"

Asta looked at him blankly, “Captain, I was just saying, why are suddenly so defensive?"

"Ha ha, you have quite the mouth on you, huh?" Yami looked at him with eyes glowing with murderous intent," I'll kill you the next time you say something like that."

Asta swallowed, maybe be should stop testing his luck," Yup, Got it, sir."

Yami puffed out the smock from his cigarette," Finral." He simply ordered.

Finral stepped up.

"Okay, now it's time for the introductions, but you already know, this is Asta, our other recruit." Finral said as he turned to each of the Black Bulls one at a time, beginning with the street thug. "This is our squad's fiery wild child, Magna Swing. He is a bit of a delinquent but he is good people."

"Hey rookie, Who the heck do you think you are? Talking to Captain like that?" Magna menacingly said," You are from Hage huh? That's way out in the sticks!"

"Over there is our battle-hungry, even wilder child, Luck Voltia. He is a bit crazy, but he is good people."

"Yo, wanna fight, I bet you're strong if the captain picked you," Luck called out with a deranged smile.

"Then we have the glutton of the group, Charmy Pappitson. She is good people."

"Hello there, just wondering, how big is your appetite?" The tiny human asked, tugging at his pants.

"Ignore her, after her is our mute, Gordon Agrippa. You already met him and he is good people."

Gordon's mouth moved, but his words were inaudible, causing Asta to sweat-drop.

"Well, after him is the mysterious Grey, He doesn't talk much, but he is good people."

Grey just kept on blowing smoke.

"After Grey, there's Gauche Adlai, stay away from his little sister and he is good people."

Gauche shoved a picture of a little girl in Asta's face," Take a moment to appreciate the most beautiful angle that ever graced the face of this world. This is Marie, I'll let you admire her for three seconds straight."

"Like I said, stay away from Marie," Finral says and continues," Okay, next up we have Vanessa Enoteca, a bit of a drunkard, but she is good people."

"Keep your voice down from now on, okay kiddo."

"And then there would be me, I am Finral Roulcase, your superior as well as the squad's spatial mage." Finarl says pointing at himself," I am good people, so ask me anything."

"Sure thing."

"And now to our last introduction," he turned to his side. "We have the captain of the Black Bulls, the great Yami Sukehiro."

Asta waited,' Wait, there is no 'He is good people.' coming up? Isn't that ominous?'

"Alright guys, don't kill him but give him a good workout." Yami said lightheartedly.

At hearing this, Magna quickly confronted Asta. "Ya hear that? Captain Yami wants us to give you a good workout, and that's just what I'm gonna do. A pathetic runt like you and from some backwater village on the edge of the map. Not much mana either. I don't know what some magic-poor hick like you could have possibly done to impress Yami but if you wanna earn your place on this squad and wear our robe, you must earn the approval of Yami's right-hand. Me! Man among men, Magna Swing! This marks your entry to the Black Bulls, a true baptism by fire!"

'Why so violent. Wait a moment-'

"Say what?!" Asta yelled, baffled.

"You heard it, if you wanna get a Black Bulls robe and be a real member, you have to pass the baptism! Now are you ready!?" Magna screams.

"Baptism?!"

"You're kinda slow, aren't you? Do you want the robe or not?!" Magna yelled, getting right into Asta's face.

Asta did not hesitate,"Gi'me the robe, damn it!"

"Now that's the right attitude, runt! Let's start the baptism!"

…

Asta was placed through a series of rigorous physical exercises that were right up his alley. His incredible physical strength and never-giving-up attitude got him through Magna's ludicrous orders and gave the Black Bulls a good impression of him.

It was time for his last trial, the most important part. Using whatever skills he had at his disposal, he had to dodge or defend himself from Magna's attack magic. It wasn't all that hard, compared to Noir's training from (literal)hell.

Magna summoned his flaming bat ready to pallet him with raging fire balls. Asta pulled out a bastard sword from his arsenal. It was a forgotten sword from his father's armory, even if it was destroyed, Asta had no qualms about it. Magna began launching several fireballs in Asta's direction, Asta settled for dodging and nullifying the attacks coming in his direction.

"Huh, you're not bad!" Magna praises.

"Hell nah, I'm not!" Asta said, 'I've got this!'

"Let's take things up a notch, shall we?" Magana remarks. Suddenly things got serious. Magna dropped his bat and turned to a new page. Asta realized he had to get serious too, and so he clasped his fingers around his bastard sword tighly.

Magna yelled, "Flame Magic: Exploding Fieball, now DIE!!!"

Asta was shocked at how far Magna went to test him, the blast was almost too fast for someone who literally had no experience and is new to a squad. Did Magna want to kill him?

Asta naturally relaxed his grip, twisted his hold on the sword and reflected the attack with his blades surface, reflecting it instead of cutting it, sending the attack right back to Magna.

'Baptism by actual fire? You can save that shit to yourself!'

Magna's eyes widened behind his glasses as his exploding fireball hurled towards him. Colliding with him and exploding upon impact.

'See that? Don't try that in the future.' Asta smugly thought for a second.

Asta then began to get worried when Magna did not emerge from the smoke, did he just kill Magna, his senior!?

"What the hell did you just do?"

Asta was relieved to see Magna making his way toward him, partially smoldering.

"I was able to dispel the attack before it did any real damage," he revealed in an angry tone. "But that doesn't change the fact that I was nearly offed by that little stunt of yours. I could obviously handle it but you didn't know that! What if it had killed me?"

Magna began charging at Asta, yelling madly. Asta eyes widened and braced himself for what was to come. As menacing as Magna was, it didn't look like he had any malicious intent, so Asta forcing himself to relax.

"You're really good, wow!" Magna exclaimed while patting Asta's shoulders.

Asta was, needless to say, spooked by the abrupt change in Magna's demeanor.

Magna then started smacking his back hard while praising him. "Here I thought you were just gonna dodge my attack, but you sent it right back at me!? Y'know I think I like ya, li'l Rasta!"

"It's Asta," he retorted, feeling a bit offended. before slamming his mental brakes in mortification.

'Is Noir rubbing off on me?' He could not let that happen.

"Hey sorry about calling you a magic-poor hick, earlier. Hell, to be honest I'm from the sticks myself. Raiyaka Village." Magna revealed, throwing his hand over Asta's shoulder.

Asta's jaw dropped, "Wait, seriously!? Raiyaka's way out in the middle of nowhere!"

"Yeah, sure, says the kid from Hage." Magna retorts.

"Oh, by the way, it's not that I have low magic power, I actually have none whatsoever." Asta drops. He didn't want to create misunderstandings later while working with his squad mates.

"What was that!? You don't have any magic power? And you were still able to send my attack back at me!?" Magna took the revelation like a champ.

"Sure did." Asta chipped.

"That's even more amazing. You're not just some runt, you're a real man." Magna slapped Asta's back.

Suddenly, Asta was praised and accepted by his new comrades. He was finally given his robe and finally earned a coveted spot on a magic knight squad. As a finishing touch, Vanessa embroidered the Black Bulls' insignia in gold on his wrist bands and headband.

Asta smiles contently, maybe this squad wasn't so bad after all.

...

Chapter Text

"Alright," Asta stretches with a pop of his back " first day as a magic knight."

'Hopefully Captain Yami will answer me today.'

"Okay," he breathes "here we go."

He opens the door.

And is immediately met with a brick wall.

Asta was fairly certain that this brick wall did not exist the day before.

He blinks confused, he's pretty sure that wasn't there yesterday, which means that someone had put it there as some sort of prank, or that the hideout moves on it's own.

Asta shrugged, he will have to ask someone else about it.

"Hey newbie," a voice calls down the hall, Magna is making his way towards them "you slept okay?"

"Just fine thanks."  He looks back at the pillar "This may sound strange but I don't think this was here yesterday."

Magna chuckles "It probably wasn't."

"What do you mean?"

"This whole building shifts and moves around all of the time, you'll get used to it."

It was just as he guessed.

That did align with the outer appearance of the hideout, a moving building, huh? A conglomerate of other smaller buildings.

"You'll get used to it." Magna shrugs "Come on I'll show you around."

"Is there much of a point seeing as everything will just move again?" Asta reasons but follows him anyways.

"Not really but hey it'll be good for you to know what rooms we actually have here, seeing as this is probably the biggest building you've ever been in right?" Magna explains casually.

Asta hums "Not really."

Babel was way bigger than the hideout.

"Well then, come on newbie," Magna laughs as he suddenly bolts down the hall "see if you can keep up!"

Asta looks after him blankly, he's a bit confused by the childish nature of the Black Bulls but at the same time it's enjoyable. At least he won't have Noir breathing down his neck for not following proper etiquette.

It's familiar.

Like he is back in the church with his siblings.

Asta liked the lack of formalities between him and his senior.

Asta runs after Magna.

Magna chatters away as he explains the various rooms, nooks and crannies of the base. Magna's not nearly as scary or unruly as Asta had initially assumed, he's actually quite nice; complimenting him every now and again and taking the time to answer any questions Asta may have. His demeanor yesterday was probably just to scare Asta a bit and this is actually his true self.

The tour goes mostly smoothly, the dining hall is massive especially for a squad with so little members, the bathes are communal and separated by gender, they are also far larger than the ones in Hage, but way smaller than the ones in Babel.

The wreck room is...something, he doesn't know what the Bulls would need with some of the equipment held behind those doors and the sight of the sharp objects makes Asta grow wary.

His father's armory had a lot more weapons and Babel probably has a room like the Black Bulls' wreck room tucked away somewhere. Asta was glad he was able to avoid it up until now.

After a small incident in the beast room, Asta and Magna continued their tour.

"I was 'bout to ask, how come you have zero mana? How is that even possible, how are you still alive?" Magna asks.

Any living thing in the world have mana in them. Even rocks and trees have mana. Mana is a sign of life and nature and by not having mana, Asta naturally became a freak of nature for not having it.

Asta had no problem answering that question. He had no qualms about it. He made peace with the fact that he had no mana ages ago.

Asta shrugs," Apparently, my mother had a curse that made her suck mana from everything around her. I just wasn't able to develop mana because of that."

"Oh, Shit. Is your mom okay?" Magna asked, his face turning awkward after asking such an insensitive question.

Asta let out a chuckle that sounded a bit bitter, “Not really, she died a long time ago."

Magna looked even more uncomfortable with the answer.

"Crap, sorry for asking, li'l Rasta." Magna slaps his back.

It looks like Magna couldn't handle sensitive conversations, which was a bit refreshing.

"I know you know my name Magna."

Magna just laughs before taking off down the hallway once more.

"Come on now we got a tour to finish!"

"Right," Asta chases after him.

'This is nice,' a small smile is spreading on his face. The Black Bulls were a lot more less intense than he initially made them out to be. They were a relaxed group of people who looked like they somehow ended up becoming magic knights.

But sooner or later, he will have to tell them that he is actually half a devil prince and that he intends to go down to the underworld to kill the devils that staged a coup on his parents. That he intends to reclaim a throne that is his birthright.

All due time though, because he plans on procrastinating for as long as he could. His plans would earn him a good talk down from Noir.

Magna stops mid run and Asta has to hurriedly dig in his heels to prevent himself from running into his senior.

"Magna sir?" He asks as he looks over his shoulder "Is something wrong?"

"Nah," he clicks his tongue "It's just our other new recruit."

Asta follows his gaze and blinks.

A girl about his age dressed a in regal sleeveless, short purple dress covered by a silver-colored blazer with sleeves that attach to the back and extend slightly beyond her elbows with gold-colored cuffs.

Her hair is a brilliant silver color that looks soft to the touch, pulled back in to two long and silky pig tails. Her beautiful features drenched in entitled dignity and arrogance.

This girl is the new recruit alongside him?

Asta walks out from behind Magna and marches towards her. This girl, her posture and her demeanor screamed out that she is of a high social standing, but none of that mattered to Asta. For now, she is only his squad mate.

"Hi, I'm Asta Staria, I'm also a new recruit, so let's get along!" He took the initiative to extend his hands in greeting.

She's looking at Asta with a raised eyebrow, her eyes filled with open disgust and contempt. She made no move to shake his hand.

Ah, a noble supremacist.

How lovely.

"Um," he tries to remain calm "it's nice to meet you." He pushed his hand closer.

Which is quickly slapped away.

Asta stiffens.

"Don't you dare try and touch me so casually," the girl spits.

Asta looks at her with a baffled expression. He only extended his hand, she was the one that slapped his hand, thus touching him.

"Hey what the heck was that for!" Magna shouts.

"Don't speak to me so casually either!"

"Excuse me?! I'm your superior! Show some respect." Magna was equally baffled.

The girl huffs "That doesn't matter, don't you realize who I am?"

The two boys share a look.

"I am Noelle Silva of the Royal House Silva."

"ROYALTY!?" Magna barks in surprise and Asta feels shock run through him. His squad mate is another royal.

A royal supremacist.

Even better.

Noelle crosses her arms "That's correct."

Asta scowls at her "Royalty or not we joined the same squad that makes us comrades."

He is also of royal blood, but you don't see him going around shoving it down everyone's throat and making it everyone's problem. Royals or not they are just new members, which makes them comrades and squad mates, status aside.

Noelle scoffs "You can't possibly expect someone from a royal house to acknowledge you as anything more then what you are, little insect."

Asta's jaw dropped, he was tempted to tell her that he was also royalty, just to see her reaction.

Noelle's gaze narrows and Asta see's what looks like disgust in her eyes "Especially not a commoner with no mana at all. You are even worse than all the other miserable rejects, magicless welp."

Oh boy, Asta might have a problem getting along with this little spoiled princess. Now more than ever, he thanked whatever deity up there that he chose the Black Bulls instead of the Golden Dawn or the Crimson Lion Kings. If every noble out there acted the same way as Noelle, then Asta would lose his shit.

"Careful now royal," Asta says, his hands in his pockets, his posture relaxing as he stared right back at her, "You might anger our senior and get kicked out of this squad. Maybe you might get accepted into a better squad where you don't have to run into insects like us."

She raises an eyebrow "Was that a threat?"

Asta smirks at the girl, confidence and dignity oozing from him," I'm just saying, you should shove that supremacist shit right where it belongs. Why is a little royal princess like you even in the Black Bulls if you want to be pampered by your squad?"

"Excuse me?!"

Asta rolls his eyes," Oh, I'm sorry, did you want us to drop on our knees and worship the ground you walk on the moment you tell us that you are royalty. Get over yourself."

She clicks her teeth "How dare you insult royalty!"

"Social status doesn't matter inside a squad, maybe if you were a high ranked knight, I would've given you some respect, but you literally are a rookie like me. Get off your high horse."

Noelle's looked baffled that Asta kept on talking back to her. She clearly wasn't used to it.

Magna steps between them "Alright cool it you two!"

He turns and sends a sharp glare towards Noelle.

"Listen here, princess," his superior smirks "you're in the Black Bulls now and there's something you should know about us-" he points at her "no one here gives a damn if you're a royal or a commoner! We're going to treat you the same way as we treat Asta, and you know what? I think it's time for your baptism."

Asta can't help but smirk in satisfaction, about time someone stood up to these stuck-up rich people. The Clover Kingdom was practically a mess because this mindset permeates through it, someone needs to fix it all up.

Noelle stares blankly at Magna.

Then she grabs her Black Bulls robe and throws it to the ground.

"Save it! I was a fool for even thinking this squad was deserving of someone of my standing!"

She storms off.

Asta rolled his eyes, a spoiled princess like Noelle was the last thing he needed on his mind.

He bent down to pick up the robe she threw away.

He had worked so hard to get here, so hard to wear the robe of a magic knight squad and she just threw it away like it was nothing.

"Good grief," he mutters under his breath.

Magna took the robe and stares after the royal in anger.

"Shall we continue with the tour?" he asks trying to get his friends mind away from the unpleasant conversation.

"Nah, there isn't to much else to see and I need to inform Yami of this...development," he smiles at Asta "You're free for the rest of the day kid, good job standing up for yourself, don't let anyone walk all over you. We might not be a big deal but we look after our own, the Black Bulls's got your back, kid."

And wasn't that sweet.

Asta nods as Magna walks past him.

And today had been going so well...

He starts to walk down the hall but stops when he feels a familiar buzz in the back of his mind.

Noir was trying to contact him. Normally, she just infiltrates the mind of her target but she said that she simply dares not do such a thing to Asta. She was giving Asta the autonomy to refuse her call, out of the respect she felt for him. Her reverence was a bit burdensome to say the least.

Asta walks out of the hideout, he didn't want people to think that he was crazy on top of being magicless. He would talk to Noir alone in the woods.

" 'Sup, Noir." Asta says, feeling a familiar gentle intrusion in his head.

Noir's voice echoes in his mind, “How have you been, your royal highness?"

Asta realized that he did not indeed miss her stiff formalities, “I’m good, thanks. I took the exams by a storm and got into the Black Bulls. I asked Captain Yami about the devil contractor in his squad but he keeps evading me and not answering. I'll ask him again someday later." He told her.

Noir hummed, “I wish you the best of luck, my lord. How are you situating in you squad?"

Asta shrugs, “They are a bit rough around the edges, but good people. I settled well enough into a room, but it might as well be a cupboard by your standards." He chuckled

Noir was just so over the top when it came to him. It's a bit endearing.

"That won't do, your highness." Noir sounded displeased.

"Don't worry, I'll probably get a better room once I climb the ranks. I'm just an ordinary rookie as far as they know and a peasant at that. Anything beyond this is an overkill for a rookie."

"Is that so?" Noir wasn't convinced.

"Yup, I'll keep you updated." Asta said.

"Alright, I shan't take up more of your time. Stay safe, my lord." Noir said.

"You got it, Sis." He says.

The buzz in his head disappeared, signaling Noir's disconnection. Asta's shoulders sagged, he loves Noir, he really does, but she gets exhausting sometimes.

Asta hears a voice distantly yell further into the woods, followed by a booming voice. Feeling a bit curious he followed the voice into the forest only to see that it was none other than Noelle.

Looks like she did not actually leave and was just throwing a tantrum earlier. Asta couldn't wrap his head around her behavior.

The girl shouts in frustration and Asta watches in curiosity.

"Why can't I hit it!?" she screams as she launches a ball of water from her palms.

It swerves from its target.

Oh.

Asta blinked.

He finally understood why a royal family member joined the Black Bulls. Silva also coincidentally happened to be the name of the Captain of the Silver Eagles. He was confused earlier, what is a member of the Royal House of Silva doing in the Black Bulls?

Noelle can't control her magic.

While that explains why a royal was doing in the Black Bulls, it didn't excuse her attitude. She probably couldn't make it into other, fancier magic knight squads. So, she settled for the Black Bulls.

Asta watches on silently from behind a tree.

One of the water balls that she was launching swerves and comes right at him. Asta quickly coated his hand with Anti-Magic and nullified the water ball, but at a hefty coast. The attack didn't land, but it did indeed reveal his spot to Noelle.

She is looking at him in horror.

Asta sighed and took a step forward out of the bushes and raised a hand in greeting,"Yo."

He admits that it might have not been the best step to take, because Noelle staggered backwards, her face filled with humiliation and shame.

Asta gently offered, “Listen, Noelle-"

Turns out, that also wasn't the best option to diffuse the rapidly escalating situation.

"NO!"

The scream that leaves Noelle was shrill and panicked as she raised her hand in an attempt to attack him.

In her panic, the water ball she intended to attack him with went out of control, growing out of proportion. It breaks away from its intended attack spell and turns into an overwhelming pool of water mana that swallows Noelle and begins to swell in size.

Asta grits his teeth.

Damnit. This wasn't what he expected to happen.

The large globe of mana hurls in his direction in an attempt to attack him, but Asta dodges. Noelle looked like she was panicking inside this giant water ball, failing to control it.

Asta took off in the direction of the hideout, the magic ball of water still barreling at him. It nearly struck him as it tore through the forest leaving a trail of wreckage behind them.

Normally, Noelle would need to calm down and reign her mana in.

But it didn't look like she could do it, if her flailing arms were any indication.

"I have to help her," he speaks over the growing winds. If not, she might drown in a pool of her own mana.

Noelle may be a rude, pretentious royal but she was still just a kid, one who didn't deserve to be eaten alive by her own magic.

Besides he's a magic knight now, it's kinda his job to protect the people of Clover.

Also, Noelle is his squad mate that needs his help.

Asta huffs as he leaps over a fallen log, Black Bulls hideout coming into view.

He can see his other squad members standing outside the hideout, watching the scene of chaos, seemingly trying to come up with a plan to deal with it.

Asta breaks free from the tree line, his hand resting on his grimoire, while he pulled his Anti-Magic from deep inside of him.

He looks to his senior squad mates before looking back to the sky.

Noelle is being swallowed alive by her own magic. It has entrapped her and Asta can see that's she's holding her breath, willing herself not to breathe. If they don't do something soon, she's going to drown. In her own mana.

"Alright," Yami mutters "Someone do something."

Asta ignores that their Captain was standing around doing nothing for Noelle. He hates to admit that his opinion of Yami was plummeting. Fast.

But that's beside the point.

"How are we supposed to cut through a mana pool that thick!?" Magna barks in panic "There's no way any of our spells can cut through a mana pool this big!" He says almost hysterically.

Asta knew what to do, but he was already working on it. Anti-magic was just slow to channel without a medium because mana naturally resists it.

He has to nullify Noelle's mana pool.

Asta's grimoire flew open.

"Alright," he murmurs, reading a spell off of his grimoire, thank goodness he learnt demon tongue," Black Thread Cage!"

Asta extends his hand forward, willing a black mass to sprout out of the ground in thin ropes, netting just over the massive mana pool Noelle created. It weaved into a circular basket like cage, not quite touching Noelle's mana pool just yet.

Asta then closed his fist, and Anti-Magic followed his will, closing in on Noelle, making her mana pool disappear and lose shape as if it never existed.

Suddenly Noelle was free falling from the sky. She screams in terror, flailing her hands in the air in a desperate attempt to grab at anything.

Asta ran forward without hesitation," Demon Dweller!"

His broad sword flew out of his grimoire and Asta trustingly jumped onto it, rocketing towards Noelle, who was rapidly falling to the ground at such high speed, racing gravity to catch her before she plummets to her death.

He made it just in time to snatch her out of the air and hold her in his arms.

"I got you."

Her petite body was drenched in water, shaking in fear and shock. Her eyes looked at anything but him, her expression painted in shame and embarrassment, but she held on to him tightly afraid of falling.

Looking at her pitiful appearance, Asta couldn't find it in his heart to be angry at her. What Noelle needed right now was reassurance, not blame.

Asta flew them back to the ground gently and slowly, making sure not to jostle the already spooked Noelle. He steps off of Demon Dweller and puts Noelle down onto solid ground gently.

The royal stumbles out of his hold, unstable on her feet but aside from an upcoming cold, she seems to be physically fine.

Physically, that is.

Well that's also putting aside the fact that she looks as though she may cry or faint or pass-out crying.

"You..." Asta starts, but stops when he sees Noelle's reaction.

Noelle pinches her eyes shut and bites her lip, her shoulders curling into themselves almost as if bracing herself for something.

It couldn’t be...

No way...

Asta bristled at his accusatory train of thought. A royal household? Being abusive? The thought was as absurd as it gets, it could get him executed for blasphemy or lèse-majesté.

But it wasn't impossible.

Asta feels his heart squeeze painfully when he realizes what had just happened.

 Being unable to control her magic probably had more weight to Noelle with her social standing, she probably didn't have it easy either.

Much like how Asta used to be belittled for his lack of magic, Noelle must have faced the same harsh criticism for her lack of control.

Only she must have had it worse due to her status.

He steps over to her and she flinches.

"You are awesome, Noelle!" Asta enthusiastically praises her.

Noelle's eyes snapped to him in shock.

"All you need is a bit of training." Asta gently places a hand on her shoulder "With a little work you'll be unstoppable with all that mana. Can you imagine how strong you would be?! Your potential is infinite!"

Noelle looks at him surprised, tears brimming in her eyes.

Asta's eyes widened.

He will have to shower Noelle with praises in the future. A lifetime of conditioning doesn't disappear in a short conversation.

He will have to work on it dissolving whatever the house of Silva had done slowly.

"What? Is that all? You were running away because you can't control your magic?" Magna asks running up to them, "You should have said something sooner, you royal failure." He jokes.

He smiles brightly at her.

"I mean, come on, this is the Black Bulls after all. We're a whole squad of failures." Vanessa uses her magic to place Noelle's robe back on her shoulders.

Noelle teared up even more, looking at the Black Bulls in wonder and awe.

Asta offers her his hand once more, "We're part of the same team now so that makes us friends. Don't go around attacking me in the future, 'kay?" He jokes with a smile.

Noelle wipes her eyes and takes his hand.

"I'm looking forward to working with you!" She says in a voice that was trying to stubbornly not sound like a sob.

Noelle's pride still shone through, even in her emotional state. Asta shook his head, he sure has his work cut out for him. Noelle wasn't going to make it easy.

He pushes Noelle gently to the hideout," Let's get you changes before you catch a cold."

Noelle gave him a watery smile, "Yes!"

Chapter Text

If Noir knew that Asta's first mission was cleaning up after his gambling squad Captain, she might have exploded in anger.

Asta himself was initially baffled with the audacity of their Captain, before catching himself in the act. Perhaps Noir's indoctrination was actually working and he was slowly turning into a snobbish noble supremacist despite himself.

Asta glanced at Noelle, a snobbish noble supremacist he happened to know, before shuddering in disgust.

Noelle, as if hearing his thoughts, shot him a fierce glare,” You just had a rude thought about me, didn’t you?”

 Asta smoothly asked," You can't fly a broom, can you?"

True to her nature, Noelle flew off the handle immediately," Got a problem with that, magicless freak?" She said, her eyes alight with hostility.

Asta immediately raised his hands," Whoa, whoa, chill out. I was asking ‘cause we need to travel by broom. If you just happen to have not even a little bit of control over your magic to even do something as easy as ride a broom, then I was gonna offer you a ride, in case you wanted to catch a ride with this magicless freak." He said brightly.

Asta was never the type of person that just endure without fighting back. If Noelle was going to make jabs at him, then he will not hold back.

Noelle's expression was as if she was witnessing blasphemy, which she technically was indeed doing. Asta could very much be prosecuted for speaking to a royal the way he is, not that he cared.

Magna sighed, “Good grief." He marched over to where the two of them stood and separated them," Alright, that's enough, you two." He said.

Of course, Noelle shot him a glare while Asta amiably stepped away from Noelle.

"Can't you two just get along and not fight for five minutes, you are both rookies, there is no point in being hostile to each other."

With just a few days of spending time with their two rookies, Magna was already suck of them fighting over nothing and making jabs at each other. Magna was already sick of their attitude.

Noelle glared at him," You fight with luck all the time, what a hypocrite."

Magna and Asta tactfully acted as if they didn't hear her.

Magna clasped them both on their shoulders," No need to fight! If Noelle can't fly on a broom-"

Cue for Noelle's indignant huff-

"She can just catch a with me!" He smirked.

Magna dramatically flung his arms," Check out my Crazy Cyclone! Isn't she a beauty?!"

Noelle and Asta took a glance at the abomination named 'Crazy Cyclone' and then at each other.

Noelle pressed her lips in displeasure, as she shifted closer to Asta. With great shame, her voice settled for a shaky soft tone," So, uhm, do you mind if I- Asta if you don't wipe that smirk off of your face, I will smack you." However, her tone took a quick turn.

Asta covered his smug smile with his hand, but his eyes clearly showed his gloating expression," What were you saying, your highness?"

Her cheeks turned red in humiliation," Can. You. Give. Me. A. Ride?" She said while gritting her teeth.

Asta's lips spread into a smug smile," Only if you say 'please'."

Noelle's glared at him with wide eyes," Don't push your luck, you insect." She hissed in a low voice.

"Heh." Asta chuckled provocatively, before nodding towards the Crazy Cyclone, inviting her to take a seat.

Noelle's eyes were borderline murderous," Please." She pushed out with great difficulty.

"Sure~" Asta said, opening his grimoire and pulling out his great sword.

Magna narrowed his eyes at Noelle, "What's wrong with Crazy Cyclone?"

Noelle flipped her hair," I will not be caught dead on that thing." She huffed, walking away.

Asta cheerfully slapped Magna on the back," Don't worry, Magna-senpai, royals just have a different taste. How could she understand the artistic charm of your ride?"

Magna immediately cheered up," That's right! There's no way that brat could understand it."

Asta walked up to Noelle, only to hear her say," You were just as repulsed as me when you saw that abomination." She stated with narrowed eyes.

"You have no proof." Asta rebuked, covering Demon Slayer with Anti-Magic and jumping on top of it.

He extended his hand for Noelle to hold onto him and climb on top of his sword. Suspiciously staring at him, Noelle took his extended hand. Wobbling a bit at the unstable footing, she held onto his arm like a lifeline.

"Don't hold onto my arms, I need them for balance. Hold on to my shoulders or waist." He instructed as Demon Slayer started to elevate from the ground.

Feeling awkward, Noelle chastely held onto his shoulders, suddenly feeling hyperaware of his muscles flexing under his robe.

Demon Slayer shot forward and the inertia almost flung Noelle off of the sword. Noelle screamed in surprise as she scrambled to hold onto Asta. Asta quickly shot his hand to stabilize her on top of his sword.

"Tch, I said hold on!" He said, shooting her a concerned glance," Don't blame me if you fall to your death."

Noelle gritted her teeth and awkwardly pressed herself onto him, hugging his waist.

"This is inappropriate." She muttered under her breath; her face hot from embarrassment. If her etiquette teacher saw her, she would definitely faint at the position Noelle was in.

"Did you say something?" Asta asked.

"It's just in your head!" She quickly denied.

Soon they followed their senior to the sight of their mission, Saussy Village.

"I've been meaning to ask; you are a commoner, right? A true peasant from the Forsaken Realm?" Magna asked off-handedly.

Asta shot him a confused glance," That's right, way do you ask?"

Magna shrugs," Y’know, just your get up. No commoner could afford stuff like this. Tell me where you got it, li'l Rasta." He probes.

Noelle glanced down at Asta's loose plane white tunic and blue pants. She didn't pay attention before, but even though the colors were unflattering and dull, the material appeared to be top quality. Something that Noelle might wear while going out incognito.

As if Asta went out of his way to look like a peasant when he didn't need to.

In fact, she could reluctantly admit that if Asta took some time to take care of his absolute mess of hair, he might be able to pass himself off as a noble.

"Right! It's pretty expensive stuff, Senpai!" Asta admitted," It should still be in stock in every Black Union store!"

At that both Noelle and Magna were surprised.

"BLACK UNION?! THERE IS NO WAY I COULD EVER AFFORD THAT!" Magna yelled.

Noelle also nodded," That's right, no commoner could afford going to Black Union."

Black Union was the trading company established by Noir when Astaroth had summoned her into the human realm twenty years ago. Before the Malevolent Arch was summoned from the underworld, Noir, Licita and Astaroth needed a source of income.

At that time, Noir happened to come across an old merchant being attacked by bandits on his way from Diamond Kingdom. She saved him and over time, she slowly manipulated him into handing his business over to her.

After the old merchant mysteriously dies in his sleep, Black Union, named after Noir herself, come to life.

She didn't run it herself in case of being discovered, so she assigned other people to run the business after brainwashing them to submission and loyalty.

She had planned on abandoning it after Astaroth summoned Babel, afterall, what they had in the treasury of the castle toppled what a small merchant Union could make.

But then Noir came to know something.

The shopping stores doubled as the best places to gather intelligence.

So, she kept on expanding the union.

Steadily over the years, the Black Union earned recognition and fame, turning into one of the biggest apparel stores in the continent.

Once again, Asta truly felt that his governess was a terrifying being.

Asta smiled,"Mhm, they are going to open stores in the common realm the next month. You should go and check it out."

Magna and Noelle exchanged glances," How the heck do you know that, Rasta?"

Asta shrugged," The owner of the Union is my adoptive sister." He revealed nonchalantly.

"You liar!" Asta's ears almost bled because of Noelle's shrill scream.

And he was aggressively shoved off of Demon Slayer.

"Noelle, you psychopath!"

Of course, Asta was never one to be bullied in vain. He telepathically pulled Demon Slayer straight from beneath Noelle's feat. In Asta's opinion, Noelle's scream when she started to free fall was one of the most satisfying things he ever heard.

....

'Twack'

"Whoa, you are a natural at this." Magna complimented Asta as his arrow landed cleanly in the boar's head.

"Really, Magna-senpai, I actually have lots of experience in hunting." Asta laughed, pulling a new arrow out of his grimoire.

They were hunting the boars that spontaneously evolved into inferior mana beasts near the Saussy Village. The boars were apparently bugging the village by destroying their crops and attacking the residents.

Captain Yami and Magna lost a gambling match against the chief of the village, and the chief asked the Black Bulls to take care of the boars as a way to settle their dept.

Captain Yami, being the responsible and accountable squad captain he is, thought that their fresh rookies were perfect for the job.

Magna was sent to supervise their first mission.

Noelle had no experience with dealing with boars and even if she had, she has no control over her magic so she was practically useless in the mission. She just stood by the sidelines with Magna as a spectator.

That left Asta, who had experience in hunting and was exceptionally competent, to do the job.

Which he did flawlessly.

'Twack'

The back arrow shot from the bow directly at the unsuspecting boar and impaled its throat.

"Tch." Well almost flawlessly.

The boar let out an animalistic squeal and trashed around in pain.

The black arrow twitched around and as if it had a life of its own, it shot out of the boar's neck and turned to impale it cleanly through its eye.

The mana beast went silent and dropped sideways, its last breath snuffed out of it.

Noelle looked at the withered arrow in Asta's hand, her eyes narrowed in skepticism, “Is it safe though? Doesn't the rust spoil the meat?" She asked.

"Here, check this out." Asta handed her one of his spare arrows, "It's not actually rust, look closely. "

'Twack!'

"What's this?" Noelle asked, inspecting the arrow in her hands closely.

"Everything in this world contains mana, including metal and weapons." He explains," To store a weapon in my grimoire, I have to coat it with Anti-Magic, which destroys the mana inside my targeted weapon. That’s is why it looks beat up."

Asta took the arrow from Noelle and easily bent it over his fingers, "Normal weapons with no mana are naturally physically less sturdy but they are equally amazing against magic. I have to yet find magic that my anti-magic can't nullify." He calmly explained.

Noelle was suddenly annoyed with his arrogantly assured tone and she couldn't help but say," If your Anti-Magic is all mighty why even use weapons to begin with?"

Asta shot her an annoyed glance, which she anticipated, and she braced herself for his reply. For some reason, she knows that no matter how much Asta makes jabs at her less than stellar control in magic, he wasn't actually being hateful with his words. She knows that unlike her siblings, there is no malice behind his words. This just happened to be the way he treats his peers. But it still made her brace for an argument.

But unlike her expectations, Asta took a deep breath and calmed himself down, reminding himself that he can't always return her snide remarks. So, he answered her question honestly.

"Anti-Magic is really hard to channel directly, it's slow and takes lots of focus. So, I use a medium to channel and control it, I chose weapons because I'm good with weapons and once I coat a weapon with Anti-Magic, it will always be effective against magic until it's no longer usable, even when I am not actively channeling Anti-Magic into it. It's simply more efficient and effective." He says.

Magna snapped his fingers," So, you are like Captain Yami, huh?"

Asta and Noelle turned to their senior," What do you mean, Senpai?"

Magna grinned at them," Apparently, Dark Magic is very slow, so Captain uses his sword to bypass the limitations of his attribute. I've never seen him use his magic without his katana." He explains.

Asta glances at Noelle," Your problem is that your mana pool is too large for you to control, right?"

Noelle's nose wrinkled in displeasure, but she answered him in leu of his serious tone," That's right."

'Twack'

"Maybe you should try using a medium to help you channel your magic." Asta suggests.

"No way, I want to control my mana naturally, and I don't want to swing a weapon around." She weakly grumbles.

Asta looked at her with a steady and reassuring gaze," You will get there, eventually. But for now, try using a medium. It doesn't have to be a weapon, maybe a wand or a staff. Witches do it all the time. You can ask, Vanessa-senpai if you want." He said in a persuasive voice, as if he was coaxing a child.

Noelle flipped her hair," I'll talk to her about it if she is sober."

Taking that as her indirect agreement, Asta dropped the subject.

"On a side note, I'm done hunting, let's go collect our game and give it to the chief of Saussy Village."

But what waited for them in Saussy Village, was a horrible sight.

Chapter Text

...

Saussy Village was just an average commoner village with mixed inhabitants of farmers, hunters, merchants and other commoners with odd jobs. Unlike Hage Village which had the giant demon skull as a tourist attraction, Saussy Village didn't have any special features to show for its self.

Asta had travelled around a lot under the pretext of hunting and selling wild game, and he visited quite a lot of places. He could proudly claim that he knew all villages in the forsaken realm and almost all villages and towns in the common realm.

If Saussy Village had always been shrouded in mist, it would've been quite the famous village. But judging from the fact that it was not famous for its dense fog, Asta could already deduce that the mist currently covering the whole village was not a common occurrence.

His guess was further fortified by Magna's gloomy expression.

"It's magic, Asta, can you clear it out?" Magna asked, pointing at the unnerving mist.

Asta wordlessly summoned Demon Slayer, and used it to cut through the fog.

What could possibly cause this fog? Perhaps a child lost control of their magic? Usually, commoners wouldn't have enough magic power to create fog to cover an entire village, but Asta grew up with absolute mana monsters like Yuno, so he can never be sure.

The safest bet to make would be that the village was under attack, and to proceed cautiously.

"It's so quiet." Noelle pointed out.

The village was eerily quiet.

Magna just stared forward grimly.

Seeing his senior's attitude, Asta suggested," Let's go to the village square, that's the default evacuation ground for most villages."

Asta's sword flew ahead, clearing the way for them and Magna showed them the way to the village square.

Asta could never unsee what he saw when they reached the square.

The village folk has been gathered together like cattle, cowering in fear and despair, sharp icicles hovering just above them threateningly, spelling out their impending doom.

"Kill them."

An indifferent and cold voice cut through the mist.

Asta's eyes widen as he sees the towering rain of ice begin to fall. Demon Slayer, covered in Anti-Magic shot forward to their rescue.

"Flame magic," Magna runs forward "Explosive scatter shot!"

Seeing Magna's spell, Asta pulled his sword back in fear of nullifying Magna's spell. Asta's Anti-Magic was nifty and powerful because everyone else uses magic, but it's also tricky because, well, everyone else uses magic, including his comrades.

Fire intercepts the shards perfectly and an explosion boom over the heads of the villagers.

"It's three of the magic knights!" A little boy shouts in relief.

Magna appears to recognize the boy as he calls out to him by name and asks him what has happen.

Asta slowly pulls out a claymore from his grimoire while keeping an eye on the assailants of the village. Demon Slayer hovered above the square, out of the sight of the ice mage and his company.

Asta needed to be on guard as Magna checked the situation.

It turns out that the village chief that had been gambling with Captain Yami just yesterday was dead.

He died protecting his people.

He was brutally murdered by the ice mage.

Magna became furious.

So did Asta.

"You've thrown off my schedule," the ice mage the one who launched the spell they just saw indifferently says, as he glanced down at his pocket watch "I don't appreciate that. Ten seconds from now everyone here will die."

A massive ice spell is shot in the direction of the villagers and Asta sees Magna fumble, he didn't seem to have enough magic to counter a big spell having to use most of it to counter the widescale attack from earlier.

Asta shot forward, his claymore turning black, coated with his attribute. He effortlessly cut through the massive ice attack as if he was cutting through butter.

"I won't allow you to bring any harm to these people," Asta resolutely said, placing himself between the victims and the assailants," Why the hell are you even attacking this village anyway? It doesn't look like you are bandits."

Asta saw that the village was mostly untouched, if they had been bandits, they would've plundered the village and wouldn't have gone out of their way to collect the villagers and execute them.

One of the mages mutters about how no magic knights should be in the area while the other wonders how they broke through his mist spell. Asta pays his words no mind, but he kept an eye on all of them vigilantly.

The leader of the group breathes an icy breath "The Black Bulls, the roughest and most undisciplined of all the magic knight squads-"

"I like to think that we are more free-spirited than undisciplined, but by all means, continue your monologue." Asta sarcastically said.

The ice mage's icy face twitched. It was the briefest and most expressive expression of annoyance Asta had ever witnessed. It gives Asta a bit of satisfaction.

"Dealing with this riff raft would be a waste of precious time." The man looks down at his pocket watch again," Five minutes. Now we will dispose of these useless villagers in a manner befitting of their station and then will find what we came for."

'Great, another supremacist, but it's a psychotic one this time.'

But now, Asta knows these people came to look for something.

"Hate to break it to you, but not going to happen," Asta adjusted his hold on his sword.

The ice mage attacked with his ice blades.

Asta nimbly cut through all of them easily.

"I won't ask you again," Asta glared angrily, "You probably have a reason for attacking these people, psychotic mass murders like you always have a reason to justify themselves."

The man starts, "In this kingdom there are three regions divided by its inhabitance. The noble realm where the nobility reside, the common realm where the citizens live and the forsaken realm."

"Common knowledge, move on." Asta impatiently snaped. Was this man actually explaining the structure of the Clover Kingdom to him of all people?

"Saussy village is in the forsaken realm. Most inhabitants of this realm are of inferior stock, they're capable of performing only a few meager spells to help with the drudgery with their everyday lives. They are much like beasts who cannot use tools."

Asta smiled through gritted teeth. He thought he would hear the man out but he suddenly wishes he never asked.

"You ask why I intend to do away with the villagers? I am merely attempting to dispose of the useless beasts who may waste my time."

Asta's rage simmered just beneath his skin, the Anti-Magic on his sword jumped and twitched as if reacting to his fury.

How can any human being think of others as nothing more than beasts? That simple sentence showed everything that is wrong within the situation.

"Consider yourself," the man continues "you have more than enough magic power to join a magic knights squad you-"

"Save it," Asta's voice was filled with poison as he sends a deadly glare towards the man "I'm not interested in your reasons anymore. Let me show you what this magicless beasts can do."

Cracks appear on the pavement as Asta shoots forward in an inhumane speed. The ice mage was taken off guard by Asta's speed and Asta used it to his advantage.

Asta run towards the ringleader in a clear trajectory but just at the last minute, he sharply turned directions without losing any speed and directly at one of the unsuspecting four underlings.

Asta swung his black claymore at the man.

Taken off guard, the mage failed to react properly and got a deep cut on his chest. The mage yelled out in pain and flinch back, but Asta grabbed his robe with his free hand and yanked the man straight to his awaiting knee.

'Crack'

With a satisfying crunch the man lost consciousness and limply dropped on the ground.

The whole process was very smooth and barely took few seconds, but the ice mage got his bearings back and flung his grimoire open. It looks like the group was accustomed to working together because they all dynamically casted a compound spell.

"Ice and Mist Compound Magic: Endless Ice Cage."

A horde of icicles surround them in an instant.

Asta frowned, he could easily protect himself, but he wasn't actually alone, there are numerous lives at stake.

He knew that the fastest way to defend the people was by taking their assailants down.

The best defense is a good offence.

The single ice shard did not contain much mana, so Noelle and Magna could handle them. But he heeded to take down the source of the spells as quickly as possible.

Asta weaved through the icicles masterfully, cutting them down and deflecting them when they came his way, but he left the rest to Magna and Noelle.

Magna joins the fight as if he understood Asta's intentions wordlessly, launching a flurry of flames balls at the icicles and even smashing the ice directly with his club.

Noelle attempts to help but her spell doesn't land.

"Stay behind us, Noelle!" Magna shouts, breaking an ice shard with his club.

Noelle let out a soft whimper, Asta glanced at her only to see the children of the village clamoring around Noelle, who had a complicated and panicked expression on her face.

Asta looks away from her, having reached one of the underlings. The cloaked underling, who was complaining earlier about them finding their way through his mist, hastily opened his grimoire to utter a spell.

"Mist Creation Magic -"

-but who in the world said that your opponent has to wait for you to finish casting your spell.

Asta leapt in the air and brought his sword down on the head of the mist magic user. The man collapsed on his knees in a daze. Asta shifted on his feet, delivering a powerful kick to the man's chin. The man couldn't even groan before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.

Asta had purposely went for the mist mage and just like he expected, the mist around them stopped producing icicles, which reduced the number of shards around them.

"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Lair."

Asta glanced behind him when he heard Noelle's voice and his lips stretched into a grin.

A water protection spell.

Asta looks back at Noelle and grins at her "Not bad, your highness."

The villagers huddle together but Asta can see hope springing to their eyes. He swears that he is going to get them out of this. With Noelle taking care of the protection, Asta's could fight with ease.

It was finally time for his trump card.

Asta ran towards the third underling who was funneling his mana to the ice mage. This time, the man was prepared, but he wasn't Asta's only target this time. As Asta attacked the third cloaked underling, he summoned Demon Slayer, which had been aimlessly hovering in the air. Obeying its master's will, the heavy sword shot towards the ice mage at phenomenal speed.

The sword slammed to the ice mage, its sheer weight and acceleration pressing the man to the ground.

The man shouts in surprise and attempts to use his ice to both protect his chest from Asta's remotely controlled sword and to freeze the sword in its tracks.

The ice attempts to crawl up the sword but it cracks apart and disappears as soon as it makes contact with the black sword. Asta made sure to keep pressing down his Demon Slayer on the ice mage, while he knocked the third mage down.

"The hell," The ice mage wheezes as Asta places more pressure onto his chest "what-what are you?!"

"Master Heath!" The last mage shouts.

The ice mage chokes and gasps for breath, his lungs flattening from the pressure. He was unable to breathe, much less move.

Asta flicked his claymore, leisurely walking towards the last straggler. The last underling of the now dubbed, Master Heath. The man staggers back in panic, calling out for his master.

His head flickers to Asta," Don-don't come any closer!" He screamed pathetically, holding his hand out to utter a spell.

Subduing him took Asta only seconds. He was quickly made to join the rest of his fellow underlings in dreamland.

Asta turned to the wheezing and choking Master Heath and sneered," Did this beast perhaps exceed your expectations?"

Master Heath was unable to answer, his eyes rolling from asphyxiation.

Asta apathetically turned towards his senior, who finally beat the last of ice shards.

"Magna-senpai, help me tie them up." He says, putting his claymore away.

Magna ran over to Asta and slapped him on his back, "You did really well, li'l Rasta, like a man among boys! Good job!"

Magna bound the men with a restriction spell.

Asta walked over Noelle and grinned at her," You got a new spell? It looked so cool!"

"I obviously did a stellar job. You shouldn't have expected any less! Humph!"

Noelle flipped her hair and turned away, but from the delighted blush on her cheek, it was pretty clear she was proud of her work.

Asta smiled in exasperation, but he still praised her progress.

"It's only the first mission and you already came this far, imagine how much you would improve in the future!" He said.

"Of course, I am royalty, after all!" She raised her chin arrogantly.

Asta smiled plainly at her," I don’t think you improved only because you are royalty, your hard work is also paying off, just keep it up and never give up!"

Noelle stares at him as if he had just said something incomprehensible before turning towards the children with a flip of her hair.

Asta looked at her back and shook his head. It's better not to overwhelm her with praise, otherwise, his words would lose their weight and sound like fawning and flattery. They would have the opposite effect if it was like that.

Asta turned to Magna, who was pulling the tied mages into one spot. He observed the psychotic murder he just took down and suggested,

"Magna-senpai, I think it's better if we use these instead of a restriction spell." He said, pulling out some chains from his grimoire.

"Hm? Why not leave them-"

"The ice mage have lots of mana, Senpai, and he has the advantage when it comes to attribute. It's better not to take chances, they won't be able to use magic as long as we tie them to these chains." Asta explained," The people who murdered the chief should be brought to justice."

Magna shrugs and takes some of the chains," You are right."

They quickly tied the mages up with Anti-Magic chains and gave them a pat down. After collecting whatever meager magic tools there were on their bodies and making sure the first mage doesn't die from his chest wounds, they finally stepped back.

"Senpai, what now?" Asta asked.

Magna turned towards the grand children of the late chief and sighed mournfully," We just report these bastards to HQ and take care of the funeral. The village isn't damaged, and everyone expect the old chief is alive, so they would be fine."

Asta glanced down at Magna's tightly clenched fists and sighed. He knew the old chief was one of the main reasons Magna even became a magic knight, so the old man's death must hurt him a lot.

If only they had come a bit sooner...

They were in the vicinity so it would've been easy to take care of Master Heath and company.

This was their loss.

But they can only move forward and do better next time.

Chapter Text

...

As usual, it was absolute chaos in the common room of the hideout.

Just your average Tuesday in the Black Bulls Base.

Fireballs being thrown about.

Lightening zapping around.

Food piled up in towers.

Booze bottles littering the tables.

Smoke blowing from somewhere in the room.

Captain Yami slamming down walls with pure muscle power.

The Black Bulls were just a weird bunch.

"Alright you morons, quit breaking stuff!" He hollered.

Everything quieted down, assuming some semblance of order.

"You're the one breaking the most stuff." Noelle murmurs, rolling her eyes.

Captain Yami stared at her menacingly," Wanna repeat that? I couldn’t hear you well the first time."

Noelle shrunk her neck in submission," No, sir." She replied timidly.

"Heh." Asta scoffs shooting her a gloating smirk from beside her.

"And you," Yami growls pointing at Asta," Don't think I didn’t notice you trying to put laxatives in my food just now!"

Everyone made a surprised expression and turned to glance at Asta's. He wasn’t actually going to do it. He didn’t have a death wish. He has much he has to yet accomplish. So, he sensibly smiled flatteringly at the man who was shooting him death glares,

"But sir, I was just trying to help yo-" Maybe he doesn't want to preserve his life all that much.

"Shut your trap, like I'll need help from an idiot like you." Yami said glaring at Asta disdainfully.

"You are almighty, Captain Yami!" Asta cheered throwing his hands up.

"You wanna die, kid?" Yami blankly asked.

Asta then frantically apologized, fearing for his life," Sorry, sir. I won't do it again."

Noelle gave him a slanted glance," Heh."

Asta sneered at her.

"Now then," Yami began. "Believe it or not, the Wizard King himself has acknowledged your efforts, and because of your hard work, he awarded us a star!"

The group immediately began celebrating, showing various levels of awe and glee.

"What does the star mean?" Asta asked.

"It's an honor," Vanessa explained.

"All the squads compete to earn the most annually. Right now, the Golden Dawn is ranked number one with 70 stars."

Asta, once again questioned his decision of entering the Black Bulls.

"How many do the Black Bulls have?" Asta quickly asked, not wanting to be behind his rival. Yuno has enough advantages already; this would just be extra assistance to propel that handsome bastard forward.

The golden star in Yami's hands then floated to a wooden board with several black stars and slotted itself over the black star, the black star disappeared.

"With this, we're now at negative thirty." Yami said, proudly.

Noelle and Asta were shocked to say the least," How is it even possible to get negative stars?!"

Yami and the rest of the Black Bulls pointedly avoided answering the question.

"Anyway, ya want some good news?" Yami diverted his squad's attention.

Asta and Noelle shared a glance at the rest of the group and quietly inched towards each other.

"Your wages have come in for this month!" Yami yelled, holding a bag of yul.

"""Yeahhhhh!"""

The Black Bulls cheered.

Asta was grateful, but unimpressed. "Thanks."

Noelle picked up on his tone. "You don't sound too happy. I thought commoner bugs like you lose their minds at the sight of money."

"Yeah, well I kinda have more than I know what to do with." Asta murmurs.

Between the Black Union and the treasury of Babel, Asta was practically swimming in money.

Noelle cocked an eyebrow at him.

"How can that be? You're a commoner, aren't you?" She scoffed.

Asta rolled his eyes, "I told you; my adoptive sister owns the Black Union."

Noelle still refused to believe him," Again with this lie? Commoners really have no talent in gab."

Asta decided to be the bigger person and ignore her jab," By the way, I asked her to find a few mediums for you to try your luck."

Noelle still eyes him suspiciously," I swear if you hand me a random branch, I'll make you wish you were never born."

Asta rolled his eyes at her," Sure~"

Vanessa walks over to them at that moment.

"Hey! Congrats on your first pay day! What are you gonna spend it on?" She impishly asked, throwing her arm over Asta's shoulder and throwing her entire weight on him.

Noelle answered, "No idea."

"What about you, kiddo?" she asked Asta, poking his cheek.

"Not sure, I've never really spent money on unnecessary stuff. Just minimalist necessities." Asta answered, easily supporting her entire weight.

"Surely there's something you want." Vanessa goaded.

Asta thought for a moment, before running to Captain Yami.

"Captain Yami-" Asta started.

"I swear to god, kid, If Nacht's name comes out of your mouth, I'll bash your head in." Yami promised darkly.

Needless to say, Yami was sick of hearing Asta nag him about Nacht Faust.

Asta raised his hands," Geez, it isn't about him."

"What is it, kid?" Yami asked, his mood switching alarmingly fast.

"I wanna know where you got your sword, Captain! What kind of sword is it?" he said with stars in his eyes as he studied the thin shaft of the sword.

Yami then unsheathed said weapon. "This is a Katana, a weapon from my native country, The Land of the Sun. It only has a blade on one side and is incredibly light and sharp."

"Woah! It's a lot different from any sword I've seen!" Asta hummed," Wait a moment, I think I have something like it-"

Asta hastily opened his grimoire and pulled out a shorter version of the sword.

Yami took the blade in Asta's hand and swung it about for a bit," That's a short sword called the Wakizashi, it's also from my native country. It's mostly wielded together with a katana. Where did you even get it? Get yourself a new one, cause I'm keeping this one."

Asta stopped him," How about I get you a new one. Weapons from my Anti-Magic Arsenal aren't very durable." Asta took out a metal arrow and bent it to demonstrate. His lips then stretch into a crafty smile," In exchange, teach me how to use a katana and tell me where you got it, please."

"Teach you? So that what you were after, huh." Yami said with a raised brow.

"I'm fairly adept at using a wide variety of swords of different lengths and widths, but I'm not sure how to use a katana, sure I could just swing it about, but that would be wasting it's potential." Asta said sincerely.

"You're not the sharpest tool in the shed most of the times but you have a pretty sharp eye when it comes to this stuff, huh. This is the kinda blade that can't be wielded with brute strength. It trains your awareness, teaches you to be aware of your surroundings at all times and is mostly focused on attacking rather than defending and parrying. It's not the easiest blade to master." Yami warned.

"Please teach me how to use one, sir!" Asta said with a gaze sparking with determination.

Yami looked at his body from top to bottom, "You already have the basics and the body type down so it won't be too hard. Get yourself a katana and I could show you a few tricks."

"Yes, Yami-sensei!"

Yami immediately scowled," Don't call me that, you weird bastard. Waste my time again and I'll kill you."

Asta knew what to spend his first paycheck on.

...

Predictably Noelle took a ride with Vanessa instead of Asta, which was a regrettably lost chance to take a dig at her.

Alas, it is what it is.

“I’ll stop by the Black Union before we go anywhere. I have to pick up some wands for Noelle and order my katana.” He mentioned as they reached the capitol.

Asta never really cared about the opinions of bystanders, but hearing the snide remarks and whispers about their squad was a bit discouraging. Not that the general public had it wrong; The Black Bulls were really the worst of the bunch, with negative seventy stars to their name.

If he really planned on using the Black Bulls as his way to reach the position of the Wizard King, he is going to have to work hard to change the public sentiment regarding them.

Vanessa, who looked very much unbothered by the whispers, turned to look at him with a relaxed smile. “Shouldn’t Noelle go there and pick one for herself?”

Perhaps if he wasn’t actually meeting up with Noir and was actually only going to pick up the wands, he would have taken Noelle with him.

“Nah, I’m picking them up for her to choose, not buy one for her. I’ll be back in a while.”

“Sure, lets meet up at the entrance of the Black Market. You know where that is?”

He did not, but he was sure Noir does know.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there.” He threw over his shoulder as he flew off.

Asta had figured that he was already at a level of strength that was far beyond any of his peers (except Yuno, that jerk never had trouble keeping up with him), that could mostly be attributed to the fact that he was special in every sense of the word. Asta was a one-of-a-kind creation that had never existed before and he doubts anything like him would ever come to pass in the future.

He was strong, but not nearly strong enough to take on the threat called Lucifero.

He needed to steadily start building up his power, that included steadily improving the Black Bulls, including their public image and individual strength.

It seemed that Noir was as concerned about his lack of standing politically. So, she took it upon herself to assess each and every one of them. Asta was practically mana-deaf, since he has no mana, sensing mana was beyond his capabilities (He is going to have to look for an alternative for that). Even in battle, he can only rely on his higher-than-average senses and his keen intuition, so he couldn’t accurately gauge the potential of the Black Bulls. He was interested to know what Noir found out.

Without much fanfare, Asta flew in straight through the window of the Black Union. Noir, in her human form, was waiting for him inside.

“Greetings, your highness. This subject of yours is very much delighted to see you.”

Noir, in her high waisted formal pants, frilly blouse and casually draped embroidered blue robe, looked like the picture of sophistication and grace. Although her complexion was still a bit too pale for a healthy human, people could pass it off to it being part of her charm. Her horns, wings and tail were nowhere to be seen, and her eyes looked normal.

No one was likely to suspect her of anything.

“’Sup, doing well, Noir?” He returned the greeting, casually throwing his sword back into his grimoire.

“I’m doing well, thank you for your concern.” She said with a smile.

Noir then handed him a package box that looked too fancy to be a simple package box. Asta opened the box to see a handful of exquisite looking wands carefully arranged inside. Babel’s treasury, which haven’t been opened in centuries, had been opened to retrieve these wands. They were probably a few wands that were pillaged from the many nations his father invaded during his multi-millennia reign.

“I was initially a bit apprehensive about opening Babel’s treasury for such a reason, but my doubts are yet again proven to be unnecessary because of your magnificent insight, my lord. I am in awe of your foresight.”

He smiled stiffly. Noir was really a smooth speaker.

They say that praise makes even a bear dance. Asta realized that he was not much different from a bear. It was really hard not to let Noir’s fanatic praises get into his head.

“Did you find out something important?” He smiled excitedly.

Noir matched his smile,” Your highness might have just stumbled across a diamond mine”

…

There was a minor hiccup along the way to the Black Market, which Asta took care of easily. For working on his vacation day, a kind old woman rewarded him with a unique snake grill skewer for his hard work. It wasn’t the most exquisite delicacy he has ever tried, but he enjoyed the grill nontheless.

“Take care, granny. You might want to go back soon; it’s getting pretty late. Thanks for the grill” He charmingly said as he walked off.

“Take care.” She smiled.

Idly, he couldn’t help but keep glancing back at the old woman as he flew off. Asta couldn’t put his finger on it, but he was sure there was something off about this old woman.

He met Vanessa and Noelle at the entrance of the black market as they had agreed up on. It looked like Vanessa was done with her shopping, whatever witch product she bought with her salary. Asta thought she would spend all her salary on booze, but it turns out you were wrong.

“Asta!” Vanessa waved, walking over with Noelle on her heels, “Did you get the wands?”

Noelle not so subtly looked at the delicate box in his hands with an expression that looked odd.

He patted the box as he grinned,” There are a few wands here. I figured you wouldn’t want a staff, but the options are still open. Let’s go to the hideout and try them out.”

Asta was sure they would find a wand that suited Noelle among the few Noir picked. Noir was through like that.

The trip back to the hideout was quick and as the sun set, Asta and Noelle found themselves back in the forest behind the hideout.

“Well then, feast your eyes upon this!”

He opened the box. Inside, on a red silk cushion, lied four wands, neatly arranged in a row. None of them looked alike, each one with more exquisite craftsmanship than the other. It was indeed a feast to the eyes.

Needless to say, Noelle’s doubt about him actually being connected to the Black Union were all cleared.

“Now, you have to pick one that you like.”

“They are all pretty.” Noelle was having trouble choosing.

“Don’t choose based on its aesthetic. We have to try each of them and figure out which one suits you the best.”

Noelle rolled her eyes,” Well, I know that much. What do you take me for? An idiot?”

“Who knows with princesses like you.” He shrugged, pulling out a description of the wands from under the silk cushion,” We have to choose a medium that doesn’t turn into a crutch over time. You are not like me or Captain Yami, you won’t be using a medium forever, so we can’t let you grow completely dependent on a wand. Let’s see… one that helps you regulate your mana while leaving out enough room for growth…”

One glance was all what was needed to know that Noelle wasn’t familiar with wands.

It was concerning enough that a royal household like the House of Silva didn’t immediately try using a wand when Noelle showed signs of imperfect control.

Was it pride, or was it neglect?

Either way, Asta planned on steadily making Noelle stronger, just as he does with the rest of the Black Bulls.

If what Noir said is right and it probably is, the Black Bulls has enough potential to make Noir excited, which was rare on it own. Asta, who has nowhere near enough strength to stand against Lucifero and his minions, needed strong allies as soon as possible.

Noir had already found traces of Lucifero up in the north, in the Spade Kingdom. And traces of Magicula in the Heart Kingdom. That meant that either someone was capable enough to sign a contract with the defacto King of the Underworld and his minions or worse, Lucifero and his minions were able to cross over to the human realm and physically manifest here.

Based on what he heard of Lucifero’s bloodlust and battle mania, Asta could only conclude that someone in the Spade Kingdome made a contract with Lucifero and was moving about in the north helping Lucifero achieve God knows what.

Just to be safe, Asta could hypothetically assume that the entire Spade Kingdom and the Heart Kingdom were already influenced by Lucifero, if so, he is going to have to start stealthily grow his forces, enough so that he could face an army of mages from the Spade Kingdom. The Heart Kingdom was known for being a quiet and pacifist nation, but they were also known for having the most advanced mana manipulation techniques to ever be invented by man.

So, worst case scenario, he will have to have enough force to defeat a massive army of Spade Kingdom Mages armed with Heart Kingdom techniques.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a large force, just an elite force of super powerful mages.

Noir said that Noelle’s potential is among the best in the human realm.

He will have to capitalize on her potential and help her unlock it.

Aside from desperately wanting her as a comrade he could count on, Asta also wished for her to unlock her potential and see that she was not whatever her family said she was.

He and Noelle spent the rest of their afternoon and evening testing the wands with her most basic spell, the water ball.

“I can’t believe it…it was this simple all the time?” Noelle impassively looked at the golden and blue wand in her had and then back at the hole her basic spell drilled right through the trunk of multiple trees.

Asta himself was surprised at how much of an upgrade the wand was. He was not expecting such a drastic difference.

The performance of the wand, was probably because of its unique history. No ordinary trinket would make it to Babel after all. (Said history was probably shoved somewhere in the Archives of Babel. The Archives he would not be checking anytime soon.)

Before, Noelle’s spells couldn’t even hit their target and would swivel out of their trajectory, and even though they were strong enough, they never had unity and would dissipate the moment they face the smallest bits of resistance from the mana in the atmosphere.

But with the first try of the first wand, Noelle’s spells became more compact and the speed of her spell increased, thus its destructiveness. This led to the same simple water ball spell to pass straight through the trunk of the target tree and topple the one behind it.

“Do you get it now? The right gear could make a drastic difference between your performance. How does that one feel?”

Noelle held the blue and gold wand in her hand tenderly before answering, “Not much different from how I usually cast a spell. It’s like it corrected all my mistakes by itself. I didn’t do anything different.”

Asta frowned, using a small knife to mark a different tree to use as a target,” You probably shouldn’t use that one then.”

“Huh? Why?” Noelle asked.

She probably felt like all her problems could be corrected using that wand. She was right. It would be good for now, but the shortcomings of such technique would show itself later down the line.

“You can’t be too dependent on the wand, remember? We want to know what you are doing wrong so that you can correct it on your own. Imagine you get so used to using that wand and then imagine accidentally losing it mid battle, the results would be terrible.” He explained, shooing an anti-magic bid that was perched on the tree they were going to use as a target.

The damned bird stared at him blankly. Was it retarded or something?

Noelle sighed, putting the wand down and picking up a different one,” You are right.”

They spent a long-time testing before Noelle settled for an ivory wand with silver and blue accents.

Asta would later come to know, that the wand Noelle chose was made out of the tooth of an alleged Sea God.

Chapter Text

 Asta was just coming back from an early excersice when Noir informed him that she would be sending one of her Night Demons to retrieve the excess wands left over after Noelle chose hers. He had been worried about being discovered, but he was relieved when he found out that the Night Demon she sent was an inconspicuous one (a small black dog). He was able to return the wands without fearing being discovered by captain Yami.

Feeling refreshed after an exercise and a bath, Asta made his way to the common room. He pauses at the entrance when he witnesses the usual commotion.

"You little thief!"

He peaks around the corner and sees Magna throwing fire balls at Luck.

Luck laughs in joy and dodges with ease, clutched within his hand is one of Magna's flan cups.

"Would you two knock it off!" Noelle shouts, aiming her wand and trying to strike the boys "you're making a mess!"

Noelle proceeds to make said mess even worse.

That certainly was not the reason he got her the wand. But he shrugs, practice was practice after all and he was glad she was getting used to the wand.

Ignoring the usual commotion, he makes his way to the dining corner to grab a plate of whatever Charmy made. Until the gazes of everyone in the common room stopped in front of him.  

"That's the cutest thing I've ever seen!"

 That is not what he expects Noelle to say. He was almost flattered, but then he realized that although she turned towards him, her eyes were looking at something above his head.

 A few chirps were heard from atop his head.

Asta glances up in confusion.

 It's that damn anti bird again; he realizes with a start. It had started following him around ever since the incident in Saussy Village. It's settled into his hair like some kind of nest and he hadn't even noticed.

(He really needs an alternative for mana detection. He can’t have anti-magic birds making a nest in his head without him noticing and then having other people tell him about it. Not to mention, Noir would go about driving the entire anti-magic bird species into extinction if she came to know about it.)

 Asta yelps and shakes his head dislodging the bird from its perch. It flutters around the room, hovering for a moment in front of Noelle who coos in cuteness before circling back to land on Asta's head.

 "Stupid bird," Asta tries to shake it free once more but the pest curls its talons around two thick strands of his hair and refuses to budge.

 Noelle comes to stand in front of them "Little birdy has been with us long enough now don't you think it's time to give him a name?"

 Asta scowls "This thing just kinda follows me around, it's not like I want to keep it."

 The water mage promptly flicks his nose "don't be ridiculous! Birdy is a part of the Black Bulls now!"

 "Then why not just call him Birdy?"

 "Don't be stupid dude," Magna comes to join them flan and Luck seemingly forgotten "little guy needs a good and proper name!"

 Asta sighs and pushes past the two, if this was going to be a thing then everyone might as well get a say. He comes to sit on his knees in the center of the room with a plate of food and unprompted the rest of the Bulls present come to sit by him.

 "I think Sylvants Schnauzer is the perfect name for this little cutie." Noelle leans in and tries to gently pet the bird with her finger. The avian quickly turns away from her.

 Asta can't help but snort at the name "not happening."

"Why not!?" The royal shouts in offence.

 "Because if I'm going to be stuck with a pet I don't want it to have a stupid name." he rolls his eyes.

Can’t have a pet name that sounds like it would belonge to a noble supremacist. That sounded like a snobby name.

"It's not a stupid name!"

"Yes, it is."

"What would you call him then!?"

Asta hums and thinks back.

What's a good name for a bird? 

“Cerberus.” 

"No."

He glances quizzically at the water mage "Why not?"

"Don't play stupid, isn’t that the name of a demonic dog?! We can't call him, that besides he likes Sylvants Schnauzer better!"

"No," Vanessa slurs from the couch "something like-" she glances down at her drink "Wine! It suits him perfectly."

Gauche shoves a picture of his sister in front of the bird "this is my angelic sister Marie. You may use one syllable of her name; thus, I dub you Ma."

Asta looks at Gauche like he's lost his mind.

"The birdy's tough he needs a cooler name then that." Magna closes his eyes in thought " Let me think for a second."

After a brief pause Magna's eyes shoot open and he leans forward with a shout "Call him Magnum Fire!"

"That's lame."

Asta can't help but smile.

It would seem that Noelle and Magna have not spread what they know about Asta and that they have decided not to treat him differently for it. He's grateful for that.

Luck hums in thought as he kneels beside Magna.

"How about we name him Nero!"

The bird raises a wing and even Asta is surprised to hear it purr in delight.

"See I think he likes it! It means black, cool huh?" Luck smiles cheerily at him and the bird.

"Nero huh?" Asta raises an eyebrow as he offers his hand for the bird to jump on-which to his surprise it does.

He looks at the bird’s blank expression.

Noir would be interested to know about it, since her name also meant black.

"Yeah...I think that works."

His teammates who are not Luck shout their disapproval but before they can present any kind of argument one of Finral's portals opens up.

Out steps both said spatial mage and the allusive captain.

Everyone's attention is quickly grabbed and they fall silent as they wait for the man to speak.

"Okay listen up guys," Yami grunts out as Finral offers his own greeting.

Magna is quick to salute their captain but Asta is currently cupping the newly dubbed Nero in his hands so he cannot mimic the gesture.

"Welcome back," Charmy cheers.

"What'd they'd want you to shove off to the capital for?" Vanessa asks between sips of wine.

Gordon mutters something under his breath and Luck hops to his feet "Well sir, is it a mission?!"

Yami puffs a breath of smoke "Kinda, I was called in because they discovered a new dungeon."

His teams both shout in surprise and excitement, jumping to stand and offering themselves up for the supposed mission. 

"Asta you're going," Yami grumbles out as he takes a drag from his cigarette

 "Me?" He blinks in surprise and jumps as Nero flutters from his palms and settles on his shoulder.

 "Wasn't my call so don't look at me," Yami shrugs "the Wizard King asked for you." 

"What?!"

 His brain can't comprehend what he is hearing. One of the most powerful men in the entire country has specifically requested him for a mission.

 He almost couldn’t help the excitement that spread through his body. He had been wanting to meet said wizard king for ages now, especially since he shared an attribute with his father. But not every Tom, Dick and Harry can meet the Wizard King.

He knows that sharing an attribute isn’t a special thing, but when it comes to a unique attribute like time, it is.

"Wow that's awesome Asta," Magna wraps an arm around Asta's shoulder; Nero having to shuffle closer to Asta's neck to avoid contact with the fire mage "so what's the deal, ya got an in with the Wizard King or something?"

If only.

 Asta is still stunned "no not at all."

"Noelle you should go too," Yami interrupts.

"Me?" Noelle asks nearly as stunned as Asta.

"It's all about getting experience isn't it," he turns away from her and nods towards Luck, "Last but least is Luck. I want you to take the lead on this one."

"Really me?!" Luck's eyes sparkle dangerously. 

"Yup, the newbies are all yours."

Magna looks nervous and that is enough to immediately put Asta on edge.

"The rookies are your responsibility Luck so take care of them."

The lightning mage grins wickedly.

"Yes sir!"

 …

"Couldn't he have just taken us to the entrance of the dungeon?" Noelle complains as she trails behind Asta, allowing the half-devil and Luck to clear the trail of stray branches and cobwebs.

"Nope sorry," Luck laughs, "Finral can only send people places he's already been."

Asta nods, he remembers them having a similar problem during the Saussy  Village mission.

"Whoa looks like he dropped us off pretty close!" Luck cheers as he pulls himself up over a log.

 Noelle and Asta share a look as they begin to follow Luck towards the entrance

Asta raises the lantern Vanessa had half a mind to give him and waits for Luck to make the first move.

His superior grins wickedly before all but dashing into the darkness.

"You sure you want to tag along?" Asta speaks as he dots his eyes to gaze up at the anti-bird still perched on his head. 

Nero makes a small chirping sound before settling deeper into his hair.

Asta just rolls his eyes and begins to follow Luck.

Noelle trails behind him, her movements much more subtle and hesitant. As they continue to make their way down the hallway, he hears her make a frightful noise before he feels her soft hands land on his bicep.

"Did I give you permission to use me as a shield?" He asks as he glances back at her.

Her face flushes in embarrassment "Don't be stupid! You should be honored; I am royalty after all!"

So is he, but he digresses.

"Well then stop stepping on my feet," Asta grunts back tugging his foot away as Noelle's sandal scrapes the top of his shoe.

"It's your fault for having your foot there in the first place!"

"How does that make any sense? What kind of forced logic is that?" He looked at her absurdly.

She haughtily flipped her hair and looked away.

Asta sneers at her.

Noelle returns the gesture. Her hand gripping her wand, ready to resort to violence at any given moment.

"This is it!" Luck shouts and gains the others’ attention.

The lightning mage is slightly further ahead, he's standing against the wall of the corridor, hand raised and placed on a brick.

He shoves it and an entire portion of the wall collapses and light spills into the corridor.

Asta raises his head in curiosity. Noelle looks overwhelmed by something in the air and since he can’t feel anything, he is gonna assume it is mana.

Luck turns to smile at them with a brilliant grin on his face "You two need to see this!"

With that he runs off towards the mana pool.

Asta and Noelle share another glance in each-others direction before shuffling towards the newly made entrance. The only sound is the sound of their steps.

"Whoa," Noelle breathes breathlessly.

Asta can only stare in surprise

It's a labyrinth of stone and rushing water. The rivers flow with no heed to the laws of nature, flowing up the walls and ceilings yet refusing to spill a single drop. The air is thick and balls of light dance as if seeds of a dandelion searching for a place to root.

Asta has never seen anything like it before. Even after experiencing the legendary Babel.

"How is that possible?" Asta asks staring at the rivers running up the walls.

"Looks like the space has been warped because of the magic." Luck shivers, "There's way more then I detected outside; the air is crazy thick!"

Noelle brings her hand to her chest "Yes, I don't think I've ever been in a place so stooped in mana."

Asta hums as he scans his surroundings. He walks further into the room and looks around in wonder.

"Asta, look out!" Noelle shouts just as Asta's feet makes contact with a tainted tile. But it was far too late as Asta already felt the tile displace from under his feet.

He cries out in surprise, lurching back just as a wall of earth suddenly erupts from the stone. Asta thanks whatever toothless cows in the heaven for his fast reflexes.

"That was trap magic!" Noelle yelps as she runs to Asta's side, “That thing couldn’t have been more obvious. Stop gawking and pay attention, you airhead!”

Asta gawks at her, “I told you! I don’t have mana! How am I supposed to sense it! It’s practically impossible for me to feel mana!”

“How can you not do something so basic? Isn’t that equivalent of being blind?” She asks, her face a strange mix of mock pity and disdain. She was clearly glad to find something she was better than him in.

“No, no it isn’t!” He defends. He really needed to look for an alternative.

Luck is still grinning "Hey! Take a look at this Asta!" he points to the earth.

Asta walks away from Noelle and looked down at the tiles suspiciously. The cheerful and mischievous smile on his senior’s face was not helping.

"Good that's it, just a little closer look." Asta doesn't like his tone "Do you see it?"

“Are you trying to prank me?” Asta glared at the patch of tiles before looking at Noelle, “Is there a trap here?”

Noelle awkwardly shrugged,” I’m not really the best at mana detection?”

He scoffed at her, doing a poor imitation of her voice,” ‘Isn’t that the same as being blind?’”

“In my defense, my great mana pool makes it hard to look around it.” She stated.

“By your standards, are you partially blin-”

Before he could finish what, he was saying, Luck pushed him into the suspicious patch of tiles. Asta yells and is forced to reflexively jump back as another wall of stone and dirt breaks free from the ground, he scowls before slicing it in two with a sword.

"Why would you do that!?" Noelle shouts in outrage.

"Are you trying to get me killed!?" Asta places himself in front of Luck," Just what are you playing at!?"

Needless to say, he was not pleased with such a prank, but mostly only because he fell for it.

Luck just laughs and claps his hands, this in turn only causes Asta's anger to increase.

Noelle shuffles closer to the half devil, Asta briefly stopping in his tracks to look at her. The water mage points at the floor ahead of her with a fearful expression on her face "Another one!"

Luck chuckles leaping up into the air before bouncing off the tile Noelle points at.

A whirlwind of flames erupts from the floor.

Noelle screams.

Asta uses his sword to dispel it before anyone gets hurt.

"Heads up!" Luck shouts as he lands behind Asta, a blast of water shooting into the sky.

Noelle squeals again and Asta is quick to curl his body to slash the spell apart.

"Coming in!" Luck hops off a tile in front of Noelle.

More fire.

Another scream from Noelle and another angry slash from Asta.

Luck laughs "Wow! You guys should see the looks on your faces! That was fun, hah!" He lands back on the ground and Asta tenses expecting another trap spell to activate "I could play in this place all day!"

"What is wrong with you!?" Both Noelle and Asta shout.

Luck ignores their outrage and walks smugly towards the half devil.

Luck stops just short of Asta's sword reach, "Oh man, Anti-Magic is seriously something else Asta! I bet that's why the Wizard King chose you!"

Asta looks at Luck in bewilderment.

"With those swords at the ready, we will be able to breeze through this dungeon! Oh man, I can't wait to take you guys on in a couple years!"

Asta frowns sharply, "Not happening."

Luck stretches and closes his eyes "Now let’s see what we got!"

His superior turns his back on Asta.

Without warning Luck's smile warps from unsettling to demented. His grimoire flickers, boots made of lightning form around his feet and suddenly he's in the air.

He smiles down at the two of them "Sorry guys but something important has come up and I gotta get going!"

"Huh!?"

"You three just go ahead and get through the dungeon on your own and I'll see you soon! Lightning Creation Magic: Holy Lightning Boots!" 

Asta hasn't so much as blinked before Luck has bounded out of the room leaving them behind and stunned.

"What in the world is that lunatic thinking?!" Noelle squeals as she pulls at her hair "This can't be happening!"

Asta huffs, sharing her sentiment.

Noelle stomps her foot and crosses her arms, "You have got to be kidding! This is just ridiculous! Captain Yami tells him to look after the newbies and then he leaves us the first chance he gets!? What a jerk!"

Asta nods. He has zero mana detection skills and Noelle isn’t the best at it. That was beyond irresponsible of him, not that he expected much from Luck.

He smiles.

"So," Noelle scratches the back of her neck "What exactly should we do now?"

Asta just shrugs "I guess we should clear the dungeon."

Noelle blinks "You think we can do it on our own?"

Asta smile widens "Between your magic power and my Anti-Magic, I think we can manage."

Noelle returns his grin.

"Yeah...maybe you're right."

Just as Noelle steps to join him Asta feels it through his heightened senses. An influx of ill will that is not caused by the natural mana around them. It's an attack, he realizes as he spins on his heels and raises his hands.

Asta leaps forwards in one fluid motion, pulling his sword and standing protectively over Noelle. The half devil uses a short sword to dislodge the wind attack from its course. The ordinary sword he used crumbles into dust under the clashing influence of anti-magic and magic.

Seems they are not alone.

"Just when I think the Black Bulls standards cannot possibly drop any lower." A haughty voice said.

Three mages stand before them. Dressed in pristine robes and suites, mana emanating off of them in waves.  One of them happened to be familiar.

"Someone with no mana," a man with silver hair and glasses glares at Asta "isn't fit to be a magic knight."

These mages...they aren't enemies...at least they shouldn't be.

“Don’t be rude.” A cool voice said to the one next to him, “That’s my rival.”

Asta grinned.

"Really? It’s been a few months and this is how you say hello?”

"It didn’t touch you anyway. I would have been disappointed if it did." Yuno grinned, standing along with the other two mages.

They were mages of the Golden Dawn.