New Generation, Magic Knights Entrance Exam!

The great sun shined bright as ever over the entirety of the Clover Kingdom, but more specifically the busy city of Kikka. Merchants from across the Kingdom gathered both inside and outside the city resting in their booths trying to sell their product. Just as there were merchants there were even more reporters. Both occupants taking advantage of today’s events as a chance to increase their income. Most, if not all, of the people of Kikka had been headed towards a single direction in the center of the city. As they made their way to their destination merchants from all over the Kingdom tried selling off their products.

Children ran through the pathways of the city playing with one another all with joyace faces. Some a bit more civilized walking hand and hand with their parents eating the various foods sold from the nearby merchants. In fact the scenery of the entire city was as gorgeous as ever. Nearly every building was clothed in some sort of golden ornament, let it be something as simple as a door. It was decorated with the finest of jewels only seen deep within the treasure grove of a dungeon.

At the core of the city sat a large stadium, no something more cavalierish— a colosseum. Right, right, today was the day of an annual monumental event. It was the day of the Magic Knights Entrance Exam. Mages from across the Clover Kingdom both young and old gathered today to participate in this noble exam to hopefully become member of the illustrious Magic Knights.

“Hey Mommy, do you think I could become a Magic Knight one day?” A young boy screamed out to his mother holding his hands against his chest.

“Of course you can be whatever you set your mind out to be.” She answered.

Another man on the side of the two pitched into their conversation, “Which squad would you join, kid? If I had to choose, I’d join the Blue Rose squad, I mean..” the man’s mouth became watery and he drooled down the side of his chin, “What man wouldn’t want to be surrounded by so many beautiful women?!”

“Oh, oh, I know mister! I’d join the Violet Orc- no no that group that’s always standing on top! It’s headed by the Royal Family; the Golden Dawn! Their leader is so cool and even their Vice-Captain!” The young boy jumped in joy literally pulling himself away from his mother.

“Excuse me.” She apologized to the man for her son’s behavior. “Come back here, Toby!” She screamed going to chase after the boy.

Conversations just like this one had occurred all over the city. As mentioned, this had been the “Cloverian Dream’’ for most citizens of the Clover Kingdom and only a few worthy and blessed with great skill could actually live it. Parents pounded it into their children’s heads “Go join the Magic Knights and protect this great Kingdom.” It became a common goal in many people’s lives.
At the southern entrance of the Colosseum a long line of people stood waiting to enter the place. Both young and old, boy and girl, but they all had one thing they had in common; impressing the Magic Knight captains to secure a spot in their squad. This line was where Magic Knight Entrance examinees would stand to present their grimoire and receive a registration number.

## The Arrivals

*A few hours before...*
"Did you get your luggage bag, Sumz?" A women screamed from a room within a small house.

A young girl came running into the woman's room, presumably the one she'd been screaming out to, swinging her back around her shoulder. "Mom, there's no reason for me to take an entire bag of luggage. Especially since I don't know if I'll even pass the exams." Reaching out to a nearby table she lifted a scarf and placed it over her head and wrapping her hair so that only the front cut portion hung over it.

"Summerella White, do not talk like that. Of course you'll make it! But if you go in there with that sort of attitude, you're sure to fail. If you're going to do something, you should pour your heart into it!"

"Yeah, but mom there's gonna be a ton of people there. Just think about it, nearly everyone there will have been properly trained. All the training I've gotten, was alone. A village where magic is used on in fields to help plow crops. Just get kind of uneasy, ya know?"

"When you get that feeling," her mother placed one of her hands on the girl's shoulder and the other balled up into a fist clinching it in the air. "You just think about the current Wizard King; a young boy who literally had no magic power from a village just a bit larger than our own. It can be done, Sumz." Her speech was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. "Oh, they're here!" She shouted running to the door swinging it open.

Once the door opened completely a man stood stressed in a suit and tie bowing at the woman. "Hello, I'm the Butler for the House of Draconus. I'm am here to assist in transporting Lady Summerella to Kikka City."

"Yes, thanks for coming! Summerella are you ready, it's time to get going!"

Summerella came out from the room and appeared ready to go. She stopped next to her mother and reached for her waist and gave her a tight hug. "I love you mom. Try not to break anything while I'm away!" With that she walked next to the man who called himself a butler and he created some sort of portal.

"Oh wait, and don't forget to thank the Draconus folk. They wouldn't even take payment, so be sure to give 'em a great big thank you from the both of us."

*Present time...*
"Aw, it looks like I got here a bit too early. There isn't even a line yet, wait. Am I seriously the ONLY one here?!" There was nearly no one around side from the people setting up for today. She slowly approached the booth with her hand over her mouth. "Hi, I'm Summerella White." She mumbled.

"Hey! I take it you're here to participate in the Magic Knights Entrance Exam. You're a bit early, young lady. Well, I guess you could be the first one here. Can I get the village you're from and see your grimoire as well?" He responded.

She reached into the satchel thrown over her shoulder and pulled out her grimoire and held it out at the man. "I'm from Lone Village."

"Lone Village? Now that's a place I've never heard of. Regardless," He put his hand forward placing his palm against the front of her grimoire. "You're number 1."

In the middle of the bustling merchant shops one of which was a rather elder man attempting to grab the attention of the passerby's and get them to sell magical products. "Gather around ladies and gentleman we have such fine products built by a expert craftsman. We have magic enhancer jewelry, magic weapons that will let us magic other then your own and even specially crafted items to ensure you a happier life. Common down and find the item of your wishes." He shouted to them as he drove their attention to his products.

As he gathered their attentions many people found fascinated in most of their products "Oh wow i could really use this at home." A woman said as she held up one of the products.

"Haha with this, being a Magic Knight will be more than a dream." A man said holding up another.

More and more of the mans products we're being sold quickly as their supplies shortened bit by bit. As the man was busy dealing with the customers, he called back inside the tent behind him. "Ay boy! Bring out more of the supplies!"

As he was being called, a young boy, no older then 15 years with bright red, spiky hair, placed a wooden box onto the ground. "There ya go. ooff." He whipped sweat off his head. He looked over at the Colosseum which stood in clear view from where he was standing. "The Magic Knights Entrance Exams. I made it." He spoke to himself with an huge excited smile. "This is where my story begins, the story of how I became the next Wizard King!" He shouted in joy.

"BOY!" The man called out again this time he screamed it to grab his attention. the boy looked over to see his master standing in the back exit door way of his shop, angrily staring him down. "Are you still spouting that nonsense?" He said in rather frustrated tone as he slowly made his way towards him. He grabbed him by the hair and shook him to ruffly hurt him to discipline him. "You are a commoner blacksmith that I took in on a whim, do you think i brought you here just to become a Magic Knight? Why would the Magic Knights allow someone like you to join them?" He said as he continued to shake him, yanking on his hair. "Listen to me boy, you are a commoner blacksmith and you will do your job filling the tables to sell to our customers. I forbid you to ever take part in this exam." He then yanked his hair to make him to move his body to follow his motion and hurled him into the shop as he let go.

As the boy stood before the table of their products with a small group of customers check out their items, with a saddened face he looked over at the Colosseum one more time.

After a couple minutes went by but what seemed like forever for the young boy, he stood at the table talking with the customers as his attention was divided by the exams. "Alright boy. Stay here while I go grab more supply crates." He said to the young boy.

As the man made his way out into the back of the store, the young boy found his opportunity. He grabbed a near by cloth that was used to wrap the products so they wouldn't get scratched and wrapped i around his head and leaped over the table, blending himself into the crowd.

It didn't take long before his master came back with another supply crate. "Alright boy, here's more supplies now spread them out on the table and..." He looked up and realized the young boy was gone. "Boy?" He looked around in the crowd for his big spiky red hair but found no sign of it. "BOY!" The man scream into the crowd of people as the young by made his way to the Colosseum.

Once he was for enough, he took the cloth of his head and tossed it away and began running to the building with a excitement of happiness imprinted on his face. "Aw yea! Nothing is gonna stop me now!" He shouted.

He finally made his way to the sign up station. "Next! State your name, where your from and show me your grimoire please" A man behind the stands said with a rather bored face. As if he was tired of his job.

The young boy ran up to the check in stand and threw his face at him. "Hey! I'm Hino Sontara from Saver Village and here's my Grimoire!" He held up his Grimoire to the man's face.

"Alright alright stay back." The man grew irritated by Hino's need to invade his personal space and pushed his book back while also lighting it up with magic. "Your number 38." He said.

"Alright!" Hino cheered and ran into the Colosseum.

What seemed to be metal clanged against the streets' grounds, the sounds pertained to a tall figure, shrouded in a simple armor, as he walked towards the large colosseum. Indeed, this man known simply as Dale came here because he sought to become one of the Kingdom's knights.

His armor had a greyish silver tone to it, its helmet having a flat face and fat-cross on the area for the eyes. The helmet's comb was divided into five smaller ones, and its gorget looked like a normal collar. The chestplate had three layers, positioned vertically over one another, with the pauldrons having a similar design, but not being too large. Its arms and legs were fully covered, with a simple fauld protecting the waist and thighs. Notably, the armor had many joints, allowing for greater movement than it normally should. A large bag hung over Dale's metal back, held through a cord by his right hand.

Dale paid no mind at all the whispers and looks the people gave him. Yet, he wondered why he was treated with such oddity, he was supposed to be a Knight, and as such, he dressed as one. One of a warrior's greatest honours was to wear their very own armor. But, even so, Dale would respect what the others preferred to wear.

As he walked over to the stand before the colosseum, some people simply gasped and got out of the way, prompting Dale to tilt his head. "Good day, sir. I have come here for the exam." Dale said, bowing slightly while putting his left arm in front of his chest. The people around gasped again, not even paying mind to the anti-birds pecking on them.

"Alright." The stand man said, a frown on his face. This was a new one, and respectful, despite the appearance. "Would you inform me your name, birthplace, and your grimoire, please?" The man figured he should retribute the politeness, sporting a smile at Dale.

Dale held out his grimoire from inside the bag and gently showed it to the man, "My name is Dale, from the Aria Village, pleased to acquitance you." He bowed once again.

The stand man nodded at him with a smile, "You are number 40, good luck!" Then gestured for the entrance, which Dale instantly headed towards.

Among the crowd stands a petite and short girl, She was huffing oxygen out of her body as she dropped on her knees on exhaustion. "I'm finally here!" The girl shouted trying to get her stamina back in a short amount of time by her side a slow moving substance followed eventually grabbing on her legs.

She was caught off-guard but got her cool as soon as she saw what it was, "Slime! You shouldn't be just grabbing onto me like that." She opened her palms to the slimy creature and it crawled its body onto her hands, She grabbed her bags arranging the glass containers inside of it. "I might need to use this a little later."

Looking around, She was in awed on the things at the city being born in the lower part of the kingdom you usually can't travel up to the middle part which she has never been on. Eventually reaching the colosseum she couldn't help the breaking smile forming on her face as her dreams were slowly coming true but to achieve that she needs to pass one more problem.

Her jade-colored eyes shined in hope and happiness as she thinks of the way she could help her home village when she passes the test, Looking around she was searching for a stall that was selling magical equipments. In one of the part of the city she found what she was looking for. It was priced highly but she has been saving up all her money to be able to afford one.

"Mister? May I buy this?" She tapped the man with a huge build wearing leather clothing that was standing near the shop. "Hmm, Sure kid get to the counter first." the man ordered as he headed his way behind the counter. She followed swiftly holding the wand she's willing to purchase. "Payment." The man opened his palms gesturing for the payment for the wand. "Yes sir!" She grabbed a small bag that contained gold and silver inside of it which the man quickly grabbed and contained in a box. "Thanks now go kid, You need to show them who'se boss Ey?" She smiled upon the words of the man which overhelmed her to work harder for it, She grabbed the wand and pointed it at him which caught the man off-guard for a second. "I will." the man couldn't help but smile at the amount of determined children that has been participating for the exam. "Atta girl now go!" She nodded and left his stall.

"Alright!" She pumped her fist on the air shouting in determination. She walked towards one of the men near the colosseum reaching one of the stalls that others were taking in line to. "Well, We got another country bumpkin in here huh?" The man sighed which made her eyes twitch "Excuse me?" She retorted back which made the man sigh even deeper. "Let's just get this over with.", "I could do that even without you telling me." the man glared at her which made her smile smugly.

"I'm Angelique Bolt, from the City of Kiten." She informed as she grabbed hold of her grimoire which she showed close on his face. "I'm hoping that you won't complain not seeing my grimoire." Her eyes rolling, this wasn't a new experience for her discrimination wasn't the kind of rare happening especially with her upbringing.

The man pushed the book away on his face and growled at her. "You're number 49, Now get the hell out of here." As he said she did but before not blocking his pathway with her feet which made him fall. "Alright, Going now." She smiled at the man and went on her way inside the colosseum.

Kowairo had no idea why she agreed to this. She remembered showing her aunt and uncle the grimoire she was given, before feeling their swelling excitement. They were predictably ecstatic. However, frustration set in when she couldn't do anything. She tried to see if she could form some magic, but each time she came up short.

That is, until she one day caught hold of her aunt's grimoire. Touching the edge as the two tried to understand why Kowa's wasn't cooperating. She feel something surge into her own when that happened, opening up a page to find a couple spells visualized inside. Water Magic. It seemed ironic and cruel that she could suddenly use that now.

However, upon successfully calling forth the spells and using them well, her relatives had been adamant about her going. They said it was a good way to stick it to the ones who had dumped her like trash. So here Kowa was, standing at a stall as she watched a girl ahead of her trip the man in charge of said stall.

A colorful stream of curses would greet her as Kowairo realized she was next in line. The man brushed himself off before staring her down. "And you are?"

"Um...Kowairo...Kowairo Unabara from the coastal city of Marseille," she responded, albeit haltingly.

"A Unabara? Finally, someone respectable. Didn't think your kind was into this sort of business though. Shouldn't you be out on the seas?" he asked, squinting slightly.

"That...lifestyle wasn't for me. This was the next thing I guess..."

"Well, number 53 is yours. Good luck," he said, the girl seemingly disappearing from his mind as soon as she walked inside. As forgettable as ever it seemed.

*Several Hours Prior*Today was the day. She awoke in her modest apartment surrounded by memorabilia of her home country. Flags. Pictures. Little straw toys sewed together by her grandmother's arthritic hands. Yes. Today was the day she would take another step towards *him*. Surely he would be there, as vice captain of one of the lesser squads. But why did she care? Why'd she even wake up this early to take some dumb test and serve a foreign kingdom? Perhaps it was the obligation. For her brother chooses to deny his heritage and add honor to his father. Or maybe it was the burning sensation within her bosoms which guided her action. The desire to become stronger and overwhelm the man who'd taken her left yet. Who knows. Sometimes she felt she was doing this for her own selfish reasons. As if that eye getting incinerated unleashed a demon she kept hidden since birth. She rubbed her shoulders, covering her bare chest. She stood up from the bed, pulling up her grey sweatpants and rubbing her bed-head.

Kaihime waved her hand, grabbing her unique book from thin air. It was bound in leather with different inscriptions littered across it. Quite the demonic looking book, one would think it would come alive and speak its curses upon humanity. At the center of this old book was a devilish face locked in an eternal grin. The magic of this kingdom was different from that of her homeland. But it felt almost *natural*. As if it had called her from across the oceans. In fact, she remembered sailing across high tides and feeling a string pull her. An invisible hand guiding her to that moment where this book leapt from the shelf and into her grasp. Yes...she recognized this feeling. Destiny. She placed it on the table and jumped into the shower. Emerging an hour later before dressing herself in her usual get up. Sweatpants and a top which covered her chest. She stared at her reflection into the black hole positioned where her eye once was. She smirked.

The day was rather pleasant. Vibrant. The sun shined over the colosseum. Radiating a certain holiness which told believers that their Gods and Goddesses of old were in attendance. It felt less like a test and more like a gladiatorial event. Kids laughed and sang. Played while their parents gossiped. Bets were made. Men spoke of their glory days as Magic Knights and even hinted that this new generation were nothing compared to their squads. Hell, it seemed like *everyone* experienced this. So why was it so special? She climbed onto the chariot and paid her ride a handsome amount. Her stern voice void of all emotion.

*Present*
"Next!" The old bastard's sharp voice snapped her from her daydream. She quietly moved towards the wooden table and placed her grimoire down. "Name and birthplace."

"Kaihime. And I'm from..." That's right! She had managed to evade detection simply by living modestly. Training in secret in the outer rings and performing menial jobs for those noble bastards. They hadn't found out about her **true** origin yet. "I'm from Sosshi."

"Hmph. You peasants are sure showing up in droves. That's what happens when one becomes Wizard King. You piss ants mistake dumb luck with fortune. Anyway, your number is 66."

She nodded her head and took her grimoire, ignoring the ugliness of that balding bastard. *So this is why father left..* She chuckled. Regardless, she sat outside of the group and awaited for introduction. Quietly scoping out the competition...her third eye opened.

A man cloaked in a red hooded robe stood quite the distance from the participants. He stood with a certain air of inconspicuousness, surrounding himself in an enigmatic cloud which would surely cause all who peered his direction to forget he even existed. This man, 5'11 and of a darker skin tone, hid behind an empty dead tree watching *her*. His eyes narrowed. A leisure stroll to view his potential teammates turned into a rather disturbing discovery. It'd been several years. But he would always remember the resemblance to their father. The man who abandoned them for a more *prosperous* life. But his eyes were not the scowl one would wear towards a favored sibling. Instead he stared at her with a gentle gaze. His naturally lowered lids wrapping the young, one eyed girl with warmth. He touched his chest, feeling his heart racing. But why...

Was he excited?

Did he cheer for her?

Perhaps he wished to apologize and squeeze her?

The young Solomon, speaker of a thousand magics, envisioned himself twirling his younger sister in the air. Wishing her the best of luck and promising to root for her. But he felt it radiating from Kaihime. And such he simply turned away and started off. Today would become quite the show. Solomon disappeared into the crowd of onlookers. He would have to tell his wife immediately after her brunch.

"Th-thank you!" Kaihime jumped. She felt a hand reassuringly rub her back which unknowingly calmed her racing heart. But when she turned to thank her supporter, there was nothing but an empty, dying tree. Still, she clutched her chest and awaited for any announcement.

"Your breakfast is ready, Mister Lovelace!" The jovial innkeeper chirped at Simon as he descended from the second floor of the charming little establishment, the Yowling Beaver was a curious Inn that saw to the needs of tourists and travellers of simple means, the rooms were sparsely decorated and the beds weren't particularly comfy but for a man of his rather limited resources it was all he could afford. Lovelace arched his eyebrows in surprise at the woman, meals were separate from lodging in the Yowling Beaver as had been pointed out the evening just before. As the case usually was, Simon didn't have the means to pay for additional luxuries, most of his funds had gone to cover the cost of travelling.

Last night he'd been joined by a charming gentleman however who had succeeded in getting him drunk on wine, and in his stupor he might've announced to the whole tavern that he intended to become a Magic Knight, and not just of any squad. He would become a member of the Golden Dawn, a feat almost unheard of for commoners such as himself, with only handful of exceptions throughout history. Undoubtedly his words of bravado had inspired the commoners who ran this very Inn to send him on his way with a proper breakfast, whether as a hopeful gesture for his success, or a mark of sympathy for the dreams they assumed would ineviteably be crushed.

Simon paid no heed to his companion of the past night, he remembered nothing from the encounter and could with that conclude that their chemistry hadn't been particularly great. Wolfing down the meal presented to him, Simon expressed his gratitude for their generosity and set out to make his way at where the exam was to be held.

As expected the streets were extremely busy, and he had to employ every ounce of dexterity at his disposal in order to even get to the registry center. Where he had to wait a while in line before he finally practically showed his Grimoire in the clerks face.

While the other man looked it over and jutted down some important notes, Lovelace looked around and noticed that he didn't stick out nearly as much here as he had in the Grimoire Ceremony he attended fairly recently, here the majority of the warlocks presented were adults just like him, particularly among the commoners who lacked the raw magical power the nobles took for granted. They, like him, sought to supplement their talent with experience and knowledge to better their chances. Judging by how the nobles present pointed at them behind their backs or whispered amongst themselves, he assumed that their hard effort did little to even the battlefield in the minds of those pampered little nuggets.

"Name and birthplace"

Simon snapped back to the grumpy old-looking fellow, he provided the neccessary details as requested, and wasn't surprised when the man at the desk needed some time jut down something along the lines of a generalized region. Simon was from a remote farmstead far away from the main cities and villages, one which rightly had no real name of its own.

"Simon Lovelace is my name."

The man nodded before he handed him his Grimoire back and spoke firmly. "Very well, you are number 68"

"*Oh please ne'er forget me though waves now lie o'er me*
*I was once young and pretty and my spirit ran free*
*But destiny tore me from country and loved ones*
*And from the new land I was never to see.*"

A young woman sung to herself in a crowd, surrounded throughout by people of all sorts, man, woman, and child, strangers all. She sung of a travel to a world not her own. This city was halfway across the country from her home, a small village at the edge of the forsaken and common areas. Isabella Williams had traveled far to the city, hoping to join the throng of men and women attempting to join the ranks of the Magic Knights. She carried a small suitcase with her, holding it in front of her as she walked, almost as if she carried a shield.

Her eyes of blue, seen through a lens of glass, scanned the crowd, taking in the throngs of people that she never would have seen at home. Young and old, rich and poor. People of all kinds walked around her. She stopped at a street stall, owned by a man who looked as if he was tired of the crowds. Paying in a couple of copper pieces, she bought an apple to eat as she made her way to the arena.

Upon reaching the Colosseum, she saw the line of people waiting to sign up. She waited for the line to run it's course, before reaching the front.

"Name, and place of birth?" the balding man said in a dismissive tone.

"Isabella Williams, I'm from Cerulean Town." Isabella responded in a soft tone. She was used to working with rude customers.

"Ah, Commoners, better than some of the ruffians who've been through here. So many forsakeners have shown up today. Now, may I see your grimoire?" The man finished.

Unlocking her suitcase, she pulled out a golden book, adorned with a three leaf clover on the cover. "Here you go."

"Well, your number is 69, now you should get moving." The balding man concluded as he waved her by.

Isabella looked a bit annoyed as she walked by, her number given to her. "Every since Uncle put those stupid books in there... It's been following me everywhere..."

There was a small house in a small town somewhere in a no-name part of the Clover Kingdom. In this house slept a white haired male, lounging across his bed with his limbs splayed every which direction and his face buried in a mound of pillows. He seemed peaceful...that was until a redheaded woman stormed into his room, lifted one of his pillows from the pile and slammed it down on his head.

"OI! GET UP YOU LAYABOUT!"

Zahra rolled from the bed, shocked, and fell right on his backside in a tangle of pillows and blankets. He looked around bewildered and confused for a few moments before his eyes refocused on the woman, her green eyes blazing with fury "Huh? Es? What is it? What time is it?"

"Half past time for ye to git up and git ready. The exams are today and it'll take ye close to an hour to get to the Colosseum. Up ye git!" She flicked her wrists rapidly until he got up and situated himself on the bed with his pillows and blankets "I'll make ye a bit of breakfast and then you'll be on yer way. Don't go back to sleep!" She swept from the room with a curt nod, leaving Zahra alone with his thoughts.

He sat there for a few seconds before flopping back onto his bed with a soft exclamation of "*Fuck*". Which earned him a pillow to the face (Esmeralda had carried it out of the room), and a scream of "WATCH YER MOUTH!!" Zahra simply rolled his eyes and mouthed curses as he milled about, getting ready.

That was a bit over an hour ago, now, and Zahra couldn't be any more *bored*. He was simply standing in a line that seemed to stretch into eternity, with nothing to entertain himself with but watching the person in front of him sway from foot to foot as they waited as well. It was agony incarnate.

Fortunately it passed quickly once he turned his eyes to watch the clouds, though he had almost tripped over the male in front of him more than once. He reached the balding man with the awful attitude and gave him a wave as greeting.

The man rolled his eyes and said "Name, place of birth?" Zahra had a few choice words for him, but none of them were his name or place of birth so he kept them to himself.

"Zahra Caeserion, from the town of Rubau."

The male looked like he wanted to say something to Zahra, but the white haired male narrowed his eyes threateningly and all the other said was "Grimoire?" Zahra nodded and pulled it from the satchel at his side, showing it casually "Alright. You are number 86. Head in."

Zahra placed his Grimoire back in his bag and moved forward, thinking about getting something to eat once he was done here. He had a feeling these exams would take an unnecessary amount of energy. But then again, he thought a lot of things took an unnecessary amount of energy. Like waking up in the morning.

"Grimoire out, plea-" Before the man could finish a book was held out completely obstructing his view. "Well then," he carried on placing his palm over the boy's spellbook. "Name and village of origin?"

"Indra Draconus from Ichar Village." The boy stated with his mouth full of food. In his free hand he held a clear container nearly empty, but with what was left one could make out that it was previous filled with a variety of fruits. He called this dish a Fruit Bowl one of his favorites and almost always seen with no matter the occasion.

The man removed his hand from the book and took a good look at the boy. "*That* Indra? Didn't expect to see royal participating in the Magic Knights exam, I wish you good luck my young noble friend. You're number 92."

Answering back with a simple nod, Indra placed his grimoire back into the inside of his jacket. "A few of these guys I've seen before. At the Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony. I didn't think they'd ALL want to become Magic Knights."

"Excuse me..." A soft voice from behind Indra called out. "I overheard your name while you were checking in. You're a member of House Draconus." This voice belonged to Summerella, one of the many mages to appear at the same grimoire tower as Indra.

Indra placed his hand in the air. It was a form of telling Summerella to quiet herself. "Tch, keep it down? I ain't tryna' draw unnecessary attention."

"I'm sorry to be of hinderance. I just wanted to thank you. The butler belonging to House Draconus transported me here from a far away village and I was told to thank you all." She bowed to him thanking him respectfully.

Placing his hand on his shoulder lifting her from a bowing position he responds, "Yeah yeah yeah, you're welcome. But I thought I said no unnecessary attention." Turning his back for a quick second he launched the container into a nearby trash can. "You were there during the grimoire acceptance ceremony on the same day as me, right? I didn't quite get your name."

"Summerella.. Summerella White." She was a bit hesitant, it was the first time she'd ever had a full conversation with someone outside of her home village. So her nervousness began to overshadow her shyness.

"Summerella, I'll call you Sumz."

"Oh."

"Is that a problem? I can call you Summerel-"

"No no, it's just my mother also calls me Sumz. Weird hearing it from someone other than her, ya' know? I know this is a bit sudden, but it appears as though you have knowledge of this place and know where you are going. Do you mind if I keep you a little bit of com-company until the exams begin. I mean, it'll it'll only be for a short while! And I promise to not bother you much!" Summerella hesitated, trippen over, and repeated more words than she could count. Again it was her first time interacting with someone outside of the village and she'd been trying a bit too hard to *act* normal.

The teen boy began to head towards a set of double doors near the check-in area. "Yeah and try to not act normal and instead just do it. What'd just happened was weird, don't do it again."

Dale glanced around briefly at the Colisseum, there were many participants here, not that it was a surprise. He had tried the exam once, six years ago, when he was only sixteen, and failed at passing. Ever since then, Dale only intensified his training regime and sought to become even stronger, he wouldn't give up because he failed once.

Some participants glared at him, some with frowns and some with wide eyes. Dale stood with his arms crossed nearly in the middle of the place, only waiting for the following instructions of the exam.

As the two continued to walk more and more familiar faces popped up. Indra had come across many of his friends, but chose to keep conversation short. He succeeded at not making eye contact with those he had been unfamiliar with but at the same time, did what he could to wrap up a quick analysis. "Hey Sumz." He called out to the girl by his side who'd vanished into thin air. "What the-"

"Hello mister." Summerella found herself standing "face" to face with a man clad in armor from head to toe. "Are you already a member of the Magic Knights?"

Dale's head instantly turned as he looked at Summerela, who had a much more petite frame. "Good day, miss." He bowed, a calm and loud enough tone, "I'm afraid that not yet, Miss. Just like the other magicians here, I am taking the exam." Dale turned his whole body this time, not uncrossing his arms as he talked to her.

This girl oozed of kindness, and seemed to be pretty brave, something Dale relished. Most of the people present simply ignored his *Good day*s and greetings, it was nice to see not everyone were like that. Appearances were not everything, even the most evil looking person could turn out to be the kindest. Maybe she came from a humble place, just like him.

Dale suddenly let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Oh, where are my manners... You may address me as Dale, miss." He put his right arm in front of his chest and properly greeted her. "What is your name?"

"Oh, I'm Summerella White!" She shouted of excitement to meet someone new. This wasn't Summerella's usual way of acting. In fact she was known for being shy towards those she'd never met before, yet now she approached someone for he first time. She began to back peddle towards Indra who'd already been making her way towards him, gripping his wrist "And this here, is Indra."

"Summerella, I thought we agreed on not drawing in unnecessary attention."

"Oh, come on Indra, it's just one person. And don't call me, *Summerella* once you've given me a nickname, it makes me feel like I'm in some sort of trouble. Besides, I can tell he's pretty familiar with this place already. Amirite?" They say a woman's tuition was never wrong, and her voice was filled with confidence.

The young Draconus mage tossed his head into the palm of his hand. "Trying to press someone ain't the way to make friends with 'em, Sumz." Indra extended his hand outwards for a formal handshake. "Indra Draconus."

"HAAAHAHAHAHAHA." Dale unmistakingly smiled at Summerella's enthusiasm, he certainly liked jovial and optimist people. They were honoured, tried living to the fullest, and followed their own directives.

His arms uncrossed as Summer brought in another person, someone dressed a bit more casually, Dale deemed. "Ah, of course some people here know each other, being the same age and whatnot." He rubbed the temple of his helmet, as the duo walked over to him, "Oh, yes, indeed! I have tried the exam once, some years ago." Dale responded at Summer and rose his left hand with a pointed finger. He would never feel shame of that one exam, even if he failed.

At Indra's greeting, Dale happily extended his corresponding hand and shook his, "Pleased to meet you, Sir Indra! My name is Dale."

This person was strong, Dale could feel it, he had always had a high enough skill with sensing mana, maybe due to his affinity. He could measure the mana coming from the each of them, but he had not let that define them in the slightest. "It's pretty nice to see so many young people trying to become Knights, I applaud you two!" Dale beamed and gestured with his arms.

At the moment of physical contact Indra's hand felt a spark of electricity. His facial expression completely changed into a more speechless expression. He politely removed his hand from Dale and threw his hand behind his head.

"Hey, Indra you okay?" Summerella nudged Indra's side.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He stated out loud but then though. *"What was that?"*

Summerella took his word and went on with casual conversation. "Indra, ya know. Since the day at the grimoire tower, I've always wondered.. Why do you dress so casually? I don't mean to be in someone else's business, but I've never seen someone of Royalty so, well, casual. In fact, last I checked, royalty didn't need to partake in an exam as their seat was definite."

Pressing, just as Indra had previously stated. "Tch, I won't let a single being tell me how I need to dress. And I ain't into tight clothes either." He dropped his head towards the ground and clenched his fist. "I'm going against royalty, I have a promise to keep that I made to someone and I'll be sure to fulfill it."

Flinching slightly at Indra's bare reaction, Dale's eyes widened a bit, and he gently recoiled his hand as well. He wondered if he had said or done something wrong. Even so, he really hoped that Indra had been okay.

"Oh, you are a noble, Sir Indra? Shouldn't be surprised, many try this exam." Dale said calmly, while crossing his arms once again. Even without Summer's comment, Dale already knew it was true, Nobles had their seats guaranteed. But, Indra's following comments just cemented it, Indra seemed to be going against his birth family. Dale made sure to not comment anything, not that he had anything to say.

"Oh wow this armor is incredible!" A voice shouted behind Dale. The source of the voice came from Hino as he examined the armor closely. "The crafted steel is like nothing ive ever seen before. And this whole thing is made from magic?" He said in excitement as he examined the armor closely.

Hearing such a compliment, Dale turned to look at Hino, "Thank you, young sir." He beamed and bowed at Hino. "This is the Bastion Armor, created through my Ash Creation Magic." Despite Hino's intrusiveness, Dale didn't mind it at all and freely let him analyze the armor. "My name is Dale, pleased to meet you."

"Ek!" Summerella shouted jumping behind Indra hiding from the boy who'd just approached the trio. It was Summerella's shy persona kicking right back in. She continuously poked her head out while the two spoke to each other before finally stepping from behind Indra's shadow. "He's well, excited." She mumbled nudging Indra's arm.

Hino watched as the girl ran behind Indra but didnt give it to much thought. He let out a huge grin "Hehe I'm Hino Sontara, and I'm gonna be the Wizard King." He stated confidently and without hesitation.

Dale tilted his head as Summer hid and Hino declared himself, truly this place was filled with determined and odd people, "Work hard, Sir Hino, I'm sure you can reach it if you try!" He snickered, holding out his right hand into a fist as he looked at Hino. "I hope the three of you rise to achieve your objectives!" Dale waved his arms, dramatically gesturing at them and then at the skies.

Hino pumped his fist into the sky along with Dale "Yea! Lets give it our best, theres no easier way to become the Wizard King after all. Hahahaha!" He continued shouting in excitement.

“Wizard King?” Indra questioned young Hino. “What a weak goal.” He went on placing his hands into his pants pockets and walking off in the opposite direction. “Fool.” He called out one last time. His words were directed to Hino.

Hearing someone insult his goal rang through his ears. "Hey!

Without so much as a single care in the world a young man could be seen walking throughout the crowded area paying little attention to those around him as he only had on thought in mind along with a single destination something he couldn't afford to be distracted from no matter the cost. Upon reaching the front of the Colosseum, Arthun eye's quickly scanned the area around the entrance taking in the many Magic Knights Hopefuls and other people who are merely there to watch the event and witness the next rising legends.

Feeling that he wasted enough time, Arthun made his way towards the entrance before being stopped a man at the entrance.

"Name and place of birth please." spoke stated the man without looking up from his writing.

"Arthun Pendrake, Hailing from the Forsaken Village of Hage" Spoke Arthun in a non interested voice as many around him glanced at him at the mention of his Village with numerous others laughing and openly mocking his chances at succeeding.

Nodding his head the man wrote down the information that was giving before finally looking up to Arthun and giving him a crooked smile.

"Now Mr.Pendrake, I will need to see your Grimoire". asked the man as he briefly glances around the area before returning his eyes back to Arthn who had already placed his Grimoire in front of the man.

"Well, It looks like everything is in order here, you may proceed you number is 96" spoke the old man, as Arthun picked up his Grimoire as began to make his way inside however he was once again stopped by the same man who once again gave him an crooked smile.

"It's always good to see another person from Hage, I'll be rooting for you Mr.Pendrake" spoke the man as Arthun gave him a small smile before making his way inside the Colosseum.

"I apologize for the delay!" A young man, with white hair and dark skin spoke. "I lost track of time while selling jewels!"

"Name and birthplace." The stoic guard spoke.

"Nolan Carnagione, heir of the Carnagione Jewels and a resident of Kikka." The youth responded with a somewhat serious tone.

"Your Grimoire, Mr. Carnagione?" The guard asked, not letting his sights off the young man.

Nolan took out a dark green tome, adorned with a single clover at its center, and branching downwards from it was a long, thick stalk unlike most other tomes.

"Very well. Your number is 131. I wish you luck, lest you stay a jeweler forever, Mr. Carnagione." The guard responded, this time with a small smirk.

"..." Nolan heard the guard's snide remark, and it stung him. But he moved forward with a genuine smile. "I'll try not to displease you, sir."

## Introductions

### Guthrie's Speech

Eager spectators gathered in the hundreds at the stands of the colliseum, looking down to those who would comprise the kingdoms future and become the next generation of Magic Knights. The residents took in the forms of the esteemed Captains that sat seated at the tribune, overlooking the spectacle and the massive numbers of hopefuls here assembled, who knew how many of them would make it through? The audience looked to each of them, wondering perhaps if any of these newcomers might one day sit where the Captains now sat.

All sat on the very edge of their seat, their excitement barely contained as they awaited the opening of the Magic Knight Examination, it was that moment that he chose to make his entrance, as the sound of trumpets turned everyone's attention to the massive doors into the castle proper, positioned at the back of the tribune where the captains now sat.

King Guthrie Clover II stepped out of the shadows, and no sooner had his foot crossed the treshold before the entire colliseum roared with adulation and awe, the roar of the crowd was simply deafening, rising like a crescendo as the King of the Clover Kingdom made his way down to the very forefront of the tribune, his wore his most adorned ceremonial armor beset with symbols of the Clover Kingdom and decorated with gold and silver woven into intricate patterns, his clothes underneath were a regal purple and of extraordinary tailorship. But his cloak was as always the most stunning part of his assemblage, it was longer than the average cloak, so long in fact that were it not for his magic he'd probably have required servants to carry it like a bridal train.

It billowed out behind him, darkening the nearby seats and almost stretching across the colliseum to reach all of his subjects, as if a symbol of the greatness of the King and his ability and willingness to protect his loyal people. Other more politically savvy onlookers than the stunned crowd however might notice how it spread above the Captains assembled directly.. one might easily make the argument that the King meant to shelter them as well, but as with much of what Guthrie did it was a reminder to everyone that although the Magic Knights were extraordinary, paragons of their kind, they were still fully subordinate to the crown, and therefore under King Guthrie Clover II's full sovereignty.

Men and women shouted the King's name as a mantra, for he had brought them much honor. Contrary to what many thought, expanding ones own territory was not something that required a reason, for victory kept the populace of ones kingdom happy as surely as any great deeds. Through the actions of Guthrie and his forces, the Clover Kingdom had risen tremendously in power and most of the citizens were filled with pride at being part of something so much greater than themselves.

Unclasping his cloak, Guthrie spun the brilliant garment about and hurled it into the air above the assembled Magic Knights to be, whereupon it scattered into a flock of at least a hundred purple doves that soon spread across all the four cardinal directions of the sky, their wings sheltering the remainder of his kingdom and proving his reach. His actions elicited another tremendous roar of approval from the crowd as the vast majority of them chanted his name unison, this roar continued for a while until the King himself raised his royal hand, at which point it died down almost immediately.

Guthrie turned his attention down to the men and women assembled, he couldn't help but find himself a tad dissapointed at the lack of obvious talents, but he supposed the diamonds would show themselves in the games to come, he would ensure that such was the case. Unlike his predecessor, Guthrie knew how to inspire his people and maintain his control over his own kingdom, Augustus had been a fool of rare make indeed, to have allowed himself to be outdone by a mere pretend-king. Guthrie had vowed never to allow the same to happen to him, and his efforts had bore fruit.

"This humble King has a heartfelt confession to make, my chest burns with pride at how many wish to answer the call to protect our glorious country. It is a beautiful sight to witness such undying love and loyalty in ones subjects, not for me but for the vibrant fields, the majestic mountains and lush forests that we call our home. Nevermind my stature, care not for my crown, I am but a fellow citizen of this bountiful land. Some of you will fail the ardous trials that await you, talented though you surely are.. but know this, even if you are turned away the Clover never turns his back on his people, and each of you may comfort yourself with this. Your willingness to defend the greatness of our nation marks you as men and women worthy of respect and adoration from your peers, a commitment to the squads is not one made lightly, and for that alone I applaud you."

Guthrie's hands clapped together in respectful applause and was soon joined by a chorus of resonant voices and hands moving in unison, a boon of honor upon the brave hopefuls who would risk their lives for their kingdom had they the chance. Finally he made another gesture as the applause quiteted down and he declared loudly.

"With that, I, King Guthrie the Second of House Clover, bid this years Magic Knight Entrance Exam to begin in earnest, good luck to all of you!"

The utter appearance of King Clover halted all chatter and movement. Those within the walls of the Colosseum, as well as the ones watching it from a display projector knelt at the sight of their illustrious King. Summerella followed suit and bent to her knee holding her head down while also looking out the corner of her eye to check on both Dale and Indra. Dale followed suit, but Indra did not.

His eyes fixed themselves on King Clover, the left filled with hate and the right resentment. Like last time his fist clinched, but not just one, both. The veins in his arms showed themselves and menacing frown. *"King Guthrie Clover II, the King of the Clover Kingdom. And without a doubt, the man responsible for Zakari's disappearance."* This was the thought continuously echoing through Indra's psyche.

"Hey, Indra get down... I thought you said no unnecessary attention." She whispered out, pulling along his pants leg.

Kaihime guessed that this was her king now. Her sovereign and her ruler. The one responsible for her career as a Magic Knight. Although she vowed to never bow her head for another man, this one stood above all other mortals in the realm. So she followed along and bowed, listening carefully to his words. Ignorant to the politics of mankind, she felt the legitimacy of his speech. Was this what it felt like to serve a kind ruler? The emperor of her homeland lived in selfishness. He kept the kingdom beneath his rule through holy doctrine. This was, perhaps, the first time she served a human ruler. She looked to her flank and noticed a boy standing against the king. Even she knew, in her foreign knowledge, this would cause for attention. And the last thing she needed was some superior mistaking affiliation. So Kaihime punched Indra's hamstring. A powerful, impactful strike. Filled with strength one could only achieve after almost several months of sailing across rough seas alongside seasoned seamen.

The roar told her the King had arrived. People stamping their feet, cheering his good name; it was overwhelming for Kowairo. Finally, they quieted when he began to speak. She felt the presence he exuded, his ability to command attention. It unnerved a girl used to quiet days and silent nights. While she despised being the center of attention, he controlled it. Dominated it even. Did that make Kowa a little jealous? Probably, but she had been dealing with emotions like that for a long time now.

What surprised her though was when he began to speak. Humble, beseeching. Was it a ruse? She didn't know, as she had blanked out most of his speech, nerves setting in as she knew what would immediately follow. Part of her wanted to whimper, but she had the good sense to keep her mouth shut. Then the announcement came, cutting through her nerves and melancholy. "Good luck to you!" meant the time had come. She wasn't sure how to respond. Would it delve into a free for all? She hoped not...wasn't there supposed to be other tests before this?

As the king made his announcements, the crowd roared and cheered his name, Hino however stared at him in confusion. "So who is this guy again?" He asked to the people beside him completely unaware of the man standing in all his glory as he was unamazed towards him compared to the crowd of people that surrounded him.

### The Nine Paths

Behind the king stood a group of mighty individuals which represented the nine potential paths offered to each occupant. Before the young sorcerers and sorceresses was a collective destiny diverged into nine extremely different trails. Each color represented an ideal upon which their squad valued, guarded by the philosophy of the animal that symbolized their obligation. But the collective captains, headed by the high King himself, created a singular dream. Nine different pathways converging into an extraordinary dream held by every past, present and future soul of Clover Kingdom. These nine pathways, their predecessors and their potential successors, were the gateways to achieving paradise. And such they stood to represent this ideal. Each captain existed as a representation of a foundation for this magnificent kingdom. They were referred to by thousands of titles. The Nine Pillars which held up the heavens and guided humanity forward. The Nine Divine Animals that were tasked with the duty of protecting the borders of Clover Kingdom against invaders and those who wished to demolish this holy dream. And the most recently bestowed namesake, the Nine Swords of the King of Clover meant to protect all that is good! There, they stood in their unique glory, peering over their potential subordinates.

At the end of the lineup was perhaps the most famed beauty of Clover Kingdom. A dark skinned woman who stood with a curvaceous frame. She who melted the hearts of thousands of warriors. Sex appeal radiated from her glorious queenlike body. A divine spectacle, the nobles and royalty lusted after her body and chased her heart. Her silky, black hair flowed in a gentle breeze. She possessed golden eyes which complimented her darkened, exotic, chocolate skin. Smooth to the touch. She smiled. The hearts of hundreds sunk beneath their chest. Men ignored their angered wives and woman envied this gifted beauty. And surely, the participants of todays exams would feel inspired that they could potentially serve beneath such a goddess. She wore the signature pink robe of the Coral Peacocks around her usual dress. A strong color that radiated kindness and warmth. The two aspects that guided members of her particular squad. All knew of her. Few possessed the courage to even speak her name...

Scheherazade. The Captain of Coral Peacocks and user of Alcohol Magic.

Next to the Coral Peacock Captain, there she was; the ultimate lioness. A woman whom had fought through the ranks of her own squad to eventually reach the position she was at today. The Lioness was a woman for great beauty; sex appeal radiated from her. As expected as a descendant from the royal House Vermillion. Her long crimson hair reached her knees, a feat considering her towering height of six feet. Her garments were simple, they always had been in her own opinion. A tight black bodysuit with accentuated her curvaceous and voluptuous body. To top her outfit off, she adorned a white fur coat.

She rose, her stormy gold eyes staring down at all that dared to look at her. Men and women alike shivered under her glare, a glare that could kill anyone who stares towards it for too long. When eyes looked to her forearm, individuals would see it, the symbol of the Crimson Lion engraved onto her forearm.

She was Rosanne Vermillion, user of Acceleration Magic.

Commanding, dominant. An ice queen by nature as her blue-gray gaze raked across the populace. A striking beauty that stood opposite of Scheherazade on the spectrum; sexual appeal replaced by an elegance that exemplified her standing in society. From the neatly tied bun to the pressed blue overcoat, she embodied nobility. Magic power poured from her in droves, aqua tinged as it demonstrated her might and willpower. She was known first for the ones who sired her: two Yami Sukehiro. Two figures that loomed large in her worldview. One's fire and another's cold merged into the solitary figure that stood before the crowd today.

Tucked in her right hand was her beloved Álíesend, honed to a lethal edge. Ready at a moment's notice yet held in a comfortably loose grip. There was nothing to fear from the masses that assembled below her. The Iron Maiden and heir to House Roselei, her reputation needed no further proof with the results she had earned on the battlefield.

Elizabeth Roselei. Captain of the Blue Rose and holder of Metal Magic.

Among them all, the most youthful, and perhaps the most unknown of them all was next to Roselei. Although he had the presence of a Captain, his shorter stature and petite build, with his face masked by a white veil, made him a mystery to all who viewed him. His magical presence, while undeniable, lacked the same ferocity as the other Captains. Its violet tinge distorted the appearance of everything surrounding him for but a moment, being a master of illusions, such a reaction to his magic was common.

The man had everything to lose if he had not proven his worth through these encounters today. Even if he was an example for the masses on the sheer possibilities one possesses if they try their hardest, none had ever seen the man in combat. And what was a Captain without his strength? Today, he had to gather the same sort of brimming talents as his own, and rise beyond the depths of the ocean in the eyes of the world.

Cecil Lambert. Captain of the Violet Orca, and holder of Illusion Magic.

On the opposite side of the Matron of the Crimson Lions stood a tall, willowy male with glacial blue eyes and similarly colored hair. His demeanor was cold and elegant, his chin raised high and his gaze looking down at those below as if he wanted to freeze all of the lesser folk with but a look. He seemed to be dressed in his royal best, though that was always the case, with billowing robes in shades of light blue and white blanketing his form, while his long hair was pulled into a high ponytail. His magical power flowed away from his person like a creeping mist, tinted a pale blue to match his over all color scheme. With it came a thin layer of frost, coating the ground and most of what his power touched. Being one with his magic meant that even his magical power held the touch of winter.

Snowflakes were floating down gently around the male's body, disappearing into nothingness before they touched his form or even the ground, but adding a rather stunning visual effect. One hand held tight to the shawl that was draped around his shoulders, bearing the insignia of the House Hivernal across its surface in several places. Despite being unseen, his other hand was placed lightly on the hilt of his trusted nagamaki, caressing the weapon absentmindedly. The reclusive Sovereign of Winter had a reputation, like any other captain, but it was one steeped in almost as much mystery as the captain of the Violet Orca. He rarely left his stronghold in the sky for anything other than official business, after all.

Wynter Hivernal. Captain of the Azure Deer, master of Ice Magic.

Sitting to the right of Wynter Hivernal, the literal embodiment of the season for he is named after, who was sitting to the right of Cecil, a master of illusions, who was sitting next to another person who was then next to another person, was a man whose physical presence was hardly intimidating or worth remembering. He was one of those people who wasn’t too ugly, but not too handsome. His raven-black hair was messy, but of course it wasn’t the messiest. His glasses were way too nerdy, but of course they weren’t the nerdiest. However, his magical presence was on par with that of the other captains, his magical cloak seemingly radiating mana from his very pores. He sat in his chair, his grimoire and pen in hand, as he wrote down what seemed to be odes and poems about his very experiences here, taking in the faces of the people down in the pits below who would eventually become legends, forever immortalized in his poetry. The sheer excitement in it sparked his desires, and a big smile occupied his visage as he jollily created.

Iolo Goch. Captains of the Green Mantis, and holder of Bardic Magic.

Sitting in the far end of the line of seated captains there sat a man with ragged clothes and a long black cape. His red messy hair framing his face with three scar marks on his left eye. Many people find him and his squad repulsive but seeing him in person after remembering the many stories they heard throughout the years about his ruthlessness made many of them quiver in fear. Being the most destructive man among the Magic Knights captains. His squads many failures in missions and their repeated performances being more harmful than the threat of the missions themselves has given this man the nickname **The Screw Up**. He sat there on his chair, resting his head on his arm which was placed on the balcony in front of him as he looked down at the crowd with a boorish look on his face with his two trusted comrades standing behind his seat Alana Merle and Haruhi Watatsumi. He pulled out a flask from under his cape and started chugging from the container. "Ahhhh! Alright, lets get this over with so i can go home already." He said.

Korag Gildamesh. Captain of the Black Bull, and holder of Break Magic

"Does it really matter where you are if you will drink wherever you are dad," Haruhi said with a playful smile. Haruhi, or as she was known by everyone else; Raijū, was wearing her usual attire and of course had her trademark absurdly long scarf wrapped around her neck, which was fluttering in the wind. Haruhi wore an impatient expression and she tapped her foot impatiently. She was eager to be done with this and go on the mission with Morgana and Kazuma that they were given yesterday.

"Hahahaha! That may be true." Korag said with a laugh and continued to look down at the crowd. Alana who was wearing a highly revealing and open fur collared long coat that mostly covers over her breasts and reaches down to her legs with the bottom part cut in half, with heart shaped buttons, very short shorts with a heart on it, and thigh high boots. She didnt say anything and just let out a faint grin at their short exchange.

Seizare Silva. Captain of the Silver Eagles, and holder of the "Theory of Flow".

"Ah, sorry. Seems I'm the last one here." spoke the long-haired male, his words somewhat muffled by the piece of onigiri hanging from his clenched mouth. It seemed as though the Captain was eating his lunch while making his way to the exam, wearing the standard classic kimono he was often dressed in; a casual yet elegant look to suit his matter-of-fact demeanor. Taking a moment to finish the rice ball, Seizare had lazily made his way toward the stand where the other Captains had joined together. Compared to many of the others, he was a Captain who presented himself with a commoner sort of look as opposed to the more grandiose attire worn by his peers. Rather ironic, given that he himself belonged to one of the highest noble families in the kingdom, yet few dared to call him out on it, given his tremendous strength, even by the standards of the other squads.

Yet the Silva head was modest for all of his power, greeting the other Captains with a subtle bow of his head. "Greetings, Captains. It seems as though we have a spirited group participating in the exams today, huh? Should be a good show." the silver-haired Captain proclaimed before setting his sights out toward the crowd.

And then there was Golden Dawn, the squad thought to be the mightiest among the nine. Golden Dawn had the complete trust of King Guthrie Clover II and always carried out his most personal of orders. Their entire existence was the physical embodiment of, magic power, wisdom, and courage. Only elite nobles and royalty ever found themselves landing a foot into the Golden Dawn. Those that got in that fall under neither of these categories possess tremendous magic power.

Still kneeling down, a man of brown skin bowed his head until King Clover turned to sit at his seat. He rose to his feet and stepped up to King Clover’s former position. His entire body became seeable by all Magic Knights Exam participants. He was dressed in black kimono of sorts with a jacket hanging over his shoulders. He turned around to face the King and bowed once more. Once he lifted back up the insignia of the Golden Dawn sat in the center of jacket. This man was squad’s captain and current head of House Draconus. A battle expert and war general, killing more enemies by his own hands than the other eight captains alone with his noble Gravity Magic. It is said that he has just as man enemy heads than stars the Golden Dawn has gain. A beast in humanoid form; Zakai Draconus.

“I would like to thank the great King of this Kingdom for allowing me to be the one administering this year’s Magic Knights Entrance exam. I am Zakai Draconus, captain of the Golden Dawn squad. Usually our test consist of first showing us how you, the examinees, can utilize and control your magic with a series of futile trails. This year we will rid of the such trivial trials and get right to what his highness is looking for.” Zakai took a pause then continued on.

“This years exam will be a single round consistent of pure combat. Our rival Kingdoms of Spade, Heart, and Diamond have all increased their military mights nearly on the same level as our very own home. King Clover and myself are both looking strong combatants from this years examinees. Those that will be able to hold their own in a battlefield without needing their hand held.” He banged his hand softly on his chest to clear his throat. “The trail this year is simple. You all with be paired in teams of two, to compete in a two on two match. Your partners will be chose based on your registration numbers. This isn’t a simple defeat the opponent match. It’ll be something along the lines of capture the flag.” A woman of silver haired stepped from the shadows. Holding his hand out in front of her he went one, “This woman is a member of the Golden Dawn, Selah Silva. Once the matchups have been made, each team will be given a metal pillar, created by Selah, that they must protect from the other team. The first team to touch the other team’s pillar, wins.”

"Angelique will be partnered alongside Isabella. Their opponents will be Dale and Kaihime. Next, Simon and Summerella will but matched up against Nolan and Arthun...." Zakai's list was long but he'd finally reached the last four examinees. "Lastly, Kowairo and Hino versus Indra and Zahra. You maybe step forward when you wish to begin. I wish you all luck!"

## Capture the Flag?

### Simon and Summerella vs Nolan and Arthun

"A-already...huh..." Nolan was somewhat stunned at the lack of build up to the combat section of the exam. Although he had heard rumors of the Magic Knights becoming significantly more combat-oriented as of late, he didn't expect a complete turnover in the exam tradition. Nonetheless, as matchups had begun to be announced, noise among the crowd of examinees increased and finding his partner would prove incredibly difficult.

"*Arthun...*" Nolan thought to himself, trying to not let his thoughts be drowned out by the noise. "*How do I call for him?*" Nolan tinkered a solution in his head, until a lightbulb popped. "Aha!" He remarked, before clenching his right fist, in which a ring with a beautiful emerald glistened.

"Arthun Pendrake!" Nolan's voice echoed, creating a vibrating pulse from his being that seemed to be carried by the wind, reaching the ears of nearly every participant. "I am Nolan Carnagione! If you can hear me, follow the direction of this voice!" Nolan continued to speak, before stopping the spell, not wanting to waste further magical power before his battle. He had no doubt his opponents would be formidable.

Having already been looking out for who his partner was for the event, running into numerous people he dismissed as nothing more than a waste of space Arthun was mildly caught off guard when a rather loud yet friendly voice called out to him slightly hurting his sensitive hearing in the process. "Well at least I know where he is now" muttered Arthun as he made his way towards the central location the voice originated, catching site of teen with white hair adorning a small golden Diadem upon his forehead.

"I take it your my partner for the event, Nolan Carnagione ?" questioned Arthun as he made his way towards the other teen with a rather calm and nonchalant disposition while glancing around trying to scope the abilities of those around him and trying to determine who their opponents are.

"Yes I am. You're Arthun Pendrake? Nice to meet you...or so I would say, but this noise makes it very difficult to communicate." Nolan sighed, looking around in this crowded area. "Before we exchange pleasantries, I shall explain the nature of my abilities." Nolan said, before showing the rings on his fingers. "I use Pulse Magic, and can induce vibrations in anything from the air to human bodies. By channeling my magical power through these jeweled rings, I can temporarily have my pulses possess elemental properties." Nolan explained very matter-of-factly. "Yourself?"

Giving a slight bow of his head to acknowledge and greet him, Arthun quietly and efficiently created a thin and almost invisible yet powerful sphere made of water to surround both him and Nolan effectively blocking out all the surrounding noise granting them a quiet location in which they could talk and strategies without being bothered. "Now that the noise is taken care of." Muttered Arthun as he return she his vision back to Nolan giving him a slight smile. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nolan." Spoke Arthun as he gestured to the almost clear water sphere surrounding them. "As you guessed I utilize Water Magic." Finished Arthun with a friendly smile.

"Looks like I'm off! Good luck to the both of you!" Summerella shouted throwing her hand up at both Indra and Dale fading into the large crowd in search for her teammate. *"Simon Lovelace..."* She thought to herself. *"What a sweet name."* Just the thought made her giggle on the inside. Just over the short period of her being within the vicinity of the two she felt a bit more at ease and began to adapt.

"Simon!" She screamed but her low voice would make it difficult for her to be heard. Slowly teams would form clearing out the center of the coliseum where only a few now stood. "Simon!" she called out one more time.

Simon groaned at the fact that they would be put into teams, he really preferred to work on his own where possible, and didn't feel like being burdened with a stranger. He had assumed it would be a traditional fight between two participants, but here he was, mired down by a teammate he knew nothing about and who might very easily turn out to be completely incompetent. Lovelace knew full well that many young hopefuls signed up for this exam far before their skills as mages had been given the chance to mature properly.

His siblings at home needed him get a position within the Magic Knights, or they wouldn't be able to attend school or lead a proper life, his homestead was simply too isolated otherwise. When he heard his name being mentioned he turned around and walked towards where the voice was coming from, waving his hand in an awkward gesture.

Fortunately he was a tall man, and stood out due to his unusual clothing and blonde hair, he wanted to make another grimace once he saw the twig of a girl who evidently was meant to be his teammate. She looked like she was no more than fifthteen.. probably someone who got her grimoire recently, it was dissapointing that so many children seemed to consider this a game.

Concealing his poor first impression he nodded in affirmation that she had found her teammate and presented himself. "I'm Simon Lovelace, you must be Summerella White and since I don't enjoy chit-chat why don't cut right to the chase. What kind of spells do you employ, and what are your primary role in combat?"

Summerella had no time to recoup or properly introduce herself. *"He's the one from the grimoire tower."* She thought to herself hesitating before answering his question. "Light Magic. Primary role in combat? I have a spell or two on the offensive side but nothing to decide a battle. I'd have to say a healer."

Healing? It seemed his hunch had been correct, his ally would be of comparatively little use without proper offensive spells. Still, this did not concern him overmuch, he was confident in his own destructive power as a warlock, it was after all the primary advantage of darkness magic. Perhaps this might be a blessing in disguise assuming that his ally had the ability to protect him well enough to allow him to cast the most powerful spells in his repertoire, if so he hoped to impress a Captain or two into accepting him as part of their squad.

"Very well. Our elements are opposed it seems, my magic is that of darkness.. my spells are extremely powerful when cast in full, but are unwieldy to cast and often leaves me vulnerable to enemy retaliation. Healing is well and good, but my hope is that your talents also extend to defending your allies and perhaps even impeding the enemies progress where possible. If so, you can focus all of your efforts on shielding me from our adversaries magic, and I will compose our offence on my own. I may not look like much, but I have practised my magic for a good ten years longer than most present here today."

The young girl stood in awe. She knew there had been a few people there that had tried the exams once before, but never anyone who'd been a decade over their age. He looked older than the rest, but she didn't allow looks define someone. Especially since they'd proven her wrong once before. "Sorry that I'm not some great powerhouse." Holding her head down she began to play in her hair showing a sign of her nervousness kicking in.

"Arthun and Nolan please step forward. Simon and Summerella please step forward." Selah shouted look down on the battlefield. Behind both of the teams a pillar made of metal formed. Standing at about 8 feet tall. "You may begin!"

Lovelace wasted no time acting when he received clearance to begin, his grimoire shimmered into being next to him, opening on its own accord and turning pages until it stopped on the fastest spell in Simon's repertoire, Flux. Taking a single step forward, he raised his hands up in front of him and wove a string of black symbols into the air, an umbral trail flowing from his fingers.

To Arthun and Nolan's eyes, the surrounding air all around them would become dotted with pulsing black motes of concentrated darkness. Faintly reminescent to sky filled with dark stars, within the large area where the spell took effect, the two younger boys might feel its presence weighing down upon them in the form of accelerated gravity, a common property of darkness magic. It was in that moment that Lovelace fully coalesced his spell and uttered its name out loud.

"Erebomantra - Flux!"

From each of the dozens upon dozens of black motes a thick tendril of solidified darkness emerged with impressive speed, coiling like a sea of writhing serpents as it converged upon Nolan, Arthun and most importantly the metal pillar that served as the primary objective. While only a quarter of the tendrils were unleashed upon Nolan and Arthun, each tendril struck out with great concussive force from multiple different directions at once, from above, the front and their sides as neccessary, aided by the increase in gravity imposed on the affected area. Lovelace assumed it wouldn't maim them, at worst it should only give them a good pummeling, which he supposed would be a lesson in not treating this examination process as a game, he supposed.

Many would likely expect the main target of the spell to be the two boys, but the vast majority of the the tendrils all converged upon the metal pillar that they were protecting, striking out with far greater force than what Simon had employed against the boys in an effort to break the object apart in one fell swoop and he hoped, end this battle before it truly began. Flux was a simple spell by all accounts, yet Simon had practised it dilligently and mastered its core functions and applications, even before he got a grimoire it had been a potent piece of magic in its own right, but with his grimoire its power rivalled spells of significantly greater scope.

Following this opening piece of omnidirectional attack magic, Simon's hand gleamed with trails of black energy as he without awaiting the result of his attack automatically went into the motion of preparing to cast another spell. For he'd learned over these past ten years that he couldn't afford to be indecisive when he wielded a force as powerful and cumbersome as dark magic.

The immediate reaction of Nolan following the announcement was to gather mana in his hands. As the youth held out his green grimoire, a white, wispy energy coiled around his fist. This energy was unstable, shaking in his hands, and ready to be released at any given moment. What Nolan did not anticipate was the age and experience of his opponent. His opponent named Simon immediately took the first move, causing Nolan's preparations to immediately be put to use.

"Wait a minute..." Nolan observed the direction of the tendrils, and his eyes widened in awe as he looked behind him. Nolan focused for a moment, before sending a pulse from his foot to the ground that pulsated outwards in the shape of a white circle, cracking the ground and allowing him to leap upwards to reach the same height as the pillar. The process of this leap enabled him to narrowly avoid the tentacles that were directed towards his person, although they redirected to still try and attack him.

The white energy covering his right hand made contact with his emerald ring, transforming his mana into a beautiful emerald. Stretching his arm out in front of him horizontally, Nolan chanted boldly, "Emerald Ripple!" Green energy pulsated out of his clenched fist in the form of concentric circles following each other, reaching all directions both in front, and behind Nolan, reaching towards all the aerial tendrils that intended to target both himself and the pillar, including those behind the pillar. Nolan's ordinary shockwaves were now imbued with wind, courtesy of the magic emerald in his possession, granting those rippling shockwaves a cutting effect. As the ripples made contact with the darkness sent out by Lovelace, a howling sound could be heard as plenty of tentacles headed towards himself and the pillar were cut apart by the force of his wind, while the others not directed towards the pillar explicitly would hopefully be dealt with by his partner.

"Arthun! Break through and touch their pillar! Don't give them time to target ours!" Nolan roared to his partner. He hadn't much battle experience, but he figured that, in this case, responding with defense would only prove to let him continue to bombard the pillar and tire the two youngsters out.

Watching in slight awe at the magnitude of Lovelace's magic for a split second, before snapping out of it as his eyes moved on towards Nolan who utilized his pulse magic to destroy the tendrils of darkness aimed at him before calling out towards him. Acting quickly Arthun summoned his grimmorie before him as he encircles his body with three rings of constant moving blades created out of water in a formation reminiscent of an atom which works as both an offence and defense as he made a dash towards the enemies pillar utilizing his his senses and reflexes to dodge, bend and avoid the tendrils that followed him.

Allowing his body to take control and acting on it's natural instincts for a while Arthun allowed his mind to drift about the area taking into account of everything as his eyes lands on Simon himself, he quickly began to analyze him hoping to find a weakness to exploit before his eyes drifted over towards Summerella, an note right away that she was quiet beautiful before regaining his focus trying to predict her magic and how she will act on their counter, Finally his eyes went back towards Nolan as he bends his body to avoid being caught by a tendril that came rather close, hoping to catch his eyes to convey a message as his eyes briefly went towards Summerella and back towards Nolan's, before he straightened his body and continued to dash towards their pillar but not before allowing on one the rings to branch out like a whip before splitting into numerous pieces and charging towards both Summerella and Simon.

Arthun's fixation on Sumerella and Simon quickly proved to be his downfall as while he protected himself from the tendrils aimed at his own person, he failed to see the threat looming just behind him, as the remainder of Simon's tendrils not destroyed by Nolan surged forth and struck the metal pillar from behind with great force, causing it to visibly crack and begin to shatter from the sheer forces so exuded. It would seem as though inattentiveness had dealt their charge a bitter blow.

Summerella made no move. I mean, technically she couldn't. Before she could make proper preparations to lend aid to Simon the battle had already been over. She dropped to her knees and clinched her fists holding her head towards the ground. *"I-I didn't even get to do anything."* She thought to herself in disbelief. *"Is this what "real" power is. It was all over in one move, I couldn't even prepare my protection spell."* Still on her knees she glanced over to Simon. "I guess this means we win."

Reacting to the incoming whip of water, Simon raised his hand and made a sudden gesture as the projectile impacted with a towering wall of darkness, scattering into a shower as the distorting element destablized the magic that composed it. Arthun's magic was potent, he noted, for a boy his age, but he'd practised against warlocks who'd had decades to master their element and although he suspected that the boys potential surpassed theirs, it would likely require years for him to reach that point.

In that moment, three massive spheres of concentrated darkness slowly took form around his charging adversary, their gravitational pull tremendous, as they sought to violently pull his body in numerous directions at once, slowing his movement to a crawl and immobilizing him at their very center. He was just about to follow up this action in an attempt to ensnare and capture Arthun within a vortex of collapsing darkness when he saw his earlier spell shatter the pillar into numerous pieces, signalling the end of the match.

To say that Simon was surprised would be an understatement, Flux was his weakest spell by far, the most basic expression of his magic in his repertoire yet it had succeeded in achieving victory singlehandedly. He suspected that a critical lack of teamwork and attention was what brought his foes low. Dispelling his magic with a single intricate gesture and a whispered word, he let out a sigh.

"It seems so, Summerella. Our adversaries made a fatal miscalculation.. their teamwork was lacking, and their ability to deal with my spell was incomplete. This is why I believe an age requirement of eighteen years should be imposed on these exams.. so that we don't get idealists like these."

Taking a few step forwards, he directed his full attention to Arthun. "Mages who charge recklessly into battle, especially when they know they are outmatched in terms of raw power tend to live short lives. We warlocks deal with forces that can wipe out villages, raze mountains to the ground and obliterate huge obstacles in our path, have you the faintest notion of what such powers might DO to a frail and squishy boy like you? Do not presume to think that engaging in melee combat is desireable or even efficient, it only worked for the current Wizard King because of his Anti-Magic, if you opposed my spells with your body, it would break you and render you a cripple unable to save or help anyone. Harbor no suicidal notions of engaging in melee combat.. for that is a road to your own destruction."

Zakai stood up his seat to look down over the four examinees. "Simon." He said under his breath before taking a short pause. "Simon Lovelace, you're battle tactics are beyond anything I've seen within any of the few Entrance exam we've held. By touching the metal pillar, I meant physically. It seems as though you were able to find a loop hole in that and utilize magic to not only touch it but completely destroy it. Without even the aid of your teammate." Zakai stopped in his tracks and held his hand to his mouth and let off a slight cough. He chose not to go on any longer about the mage's methods of winning.

"Nolan, I commend you for having concern for your teammate despite his reckless charging forward. Regardless, the battle between Simon and Summerella versus. Arthun and Nolan has been decided, Simon and Summerella are the victors!"

"..." Nolan looked on absently while the events surrounded him took place. The announcement of his loss, no...the announcement of his utter *defeat* had broken any control over his power. He fell to the ground, knees buckling and body refusing to move. Visions of his family taunting his aspirations appeared before him, and tears strolled down his face. "I...can never be a Magic Knight again..." Nolan began to cry, publicly, without shame, his crippling loss expressed as screeching tears.

The heir of the Carnagione Family would have to bear his fate as the Magic Jeweler...now, and forever.

Blinking as the announcement of their lose was announced, Arthun glanced back towards their crumbling tower before glancing back towards Nolan who crumbled to the floor with tears streaming down his face. *"Is this is my fault"*? thought Arthun before looking up towards Simon as he spoke to him causing him to drop his head in shame as he recalls all that was running through his brain was to attack Simon feeling that by taking him out he could become a Magic Knight rather easily never once considering working together as a teamwork.

Walking over towards Nolan, Arthun silently dropped to the floor in front of him bowing his head to the ground with tears now streaming down his own face something he was unaware of with his mental distress. "Forgive me Nolan, This is all my fault if only I payed more attention and tried to work as a team instead of thinking with my ego and attacking someone who was clearly beyond our level of combat without a plan or strategy" begged Arthun as shame began to hit him in waves as he mentally cursed his antisocial traits that won't seem to leave him.

"In my haste to win I have shown that I am not ready to become a Magic Knight and dragged you down with me, If only you had a better partner than I" Finished Arthun as he clenched his fist in anger for the fact that he destroyed Nolan's dream due to his own stupidity.

### Angelique and Isabella vs Dale and Kaihime

Dale's gaze moved around as soon as his name was mentioned, seeking to find whom would be his partner for this. "Miss Kaihime?" He called, having begun to walk around and look for his partner, "Excuse me, are you miss Kaihimi?" Dale nudged someone's shoulder, receiving a no. "I apologize for the bother." The scene repeated itself many times over.

Kaihime snuck up behind Dale and tapped his shoulder. She looked into his eyes with a certain fierceness. Her one eye sharp enough to separate his head from his shoulders. Just by the look of it, one would know that she was indeed a fierce one who shouldn't be overlooked. But besides her tranquil fury, she radiated a certain foreign energy. "You shouldn't go around like that." She spoke. His energy was quite different...Calm. Honest. Something she hadn't seen lately in this god forsaken country. Regardless, she took several steps back and tried her hardest to muster a smile.

"Looks like you're my partner today. I hope you don't hold me back."

With his attention caught, Dale instantly turned to look at Kaihime, "Oh, pleased to meet you, Miss!" He had found his partner at last, or, better, she had found him. Kaihime had sure made a good first impression on him, not that she even needed, she seemed fierce, direct. Truly, this place was filled with determination, and he hoped it wasn't just a sensation.

"Indeed, I am, and I shall make sure to not do that!" Dale held both his arms out, "Now, where are our opponents?" He only knew about that one friend he had made earlier, the quiet girl, so, they had almost no clues. Turning to Kaihime once again, Dale asked, "What is your magic? I assume we can work it out better if we know what the other is capable of."

"My magic?" Kaihime asked. How dare this stranger ask about her magic so abrasively. They literally *just* met. She understood strategics, but from the smell of him, she wouldn't need anything he could offer. "Don't worry about that." She brushed off nonchalantly. "In fact, stand back and let me handle our opponents. I can't afford to have you slowing me down." She spat. Her aura was one of a cold warrior. A demoness who traversed quite the distance to reach her journey's end. Hey eye was sharp, cold, and empty.

"Yes, I was thinking we'd build something to win." Dale said, not bothered at her response. He truly believed that they could have tried working together, but, maybe his wording struck a fatal blow to what teamwork they would have gotten.

"I'll honour your request to handle them both, if so, I will make sure to handle the pillar." Dale added, rubbing his metal chin. Even though he said so, he truly wished she had been more integrative. Or, maybe it was something he did.

Shaking his head, Dale bent both his knees, "Let's get to it then!" He announced, particles of smoke and embers coming out of his arms, as he found his presumed opponents chatting. "Let them just finish, and we shall start!"

Angelique was nervous. She hadn't done something like this...ever. She decided to mask her nervousness with her facade of confidence. She began to walk around, searching for her partner. "I-Isabella?" she would ask strangers, wanting to find her partner as soon as possible. She had no idea what her partner looked like, and what magic she had; but Angelique would try her best to succeed.

Isabella could have been patient, asked around to find her partner like everyone else. But she realized that in this throng of people that would have taken forever. It'd be easier just to make herself more identifiable to the people around her, and hope her partner would notice.

She opened her suitcase again, pulling out a large sheet of posterboard, about three feet across and a foot tall. Pulling a marker out of her pocket, she wrote her name across the board in perfect script, easily legible to anyone who could read. Holding the sign above her head with one hand, hopefully high enough to be visible to her partner, she projected her voice around her to ask, "Is there any Angelique here?"

Angelique had found her mark. She walked up nervously to the young woman, patting her on the back. "A-Are you Isabella?" she asked, lifting her hand up for a handshake. "My name is Angelique, and I hope we can work together to win." she murmured, her face red from embarassment.

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you. Angelique. Isabella." Isabella said in response to the pat, her voice full of warmth and light. Her plan had worked, and her team mate had found her rather quickly. "However, I can't say I've ever been in a fight unfortunately. Home was always rather peaceful. But let's cooperate and win this, what do you say?"

Angelique nodded in response. "Teamwork makes the dream work!" she exclaimed, her grimoire appearing next to her. "I can defend the metal with my magic," the young girl began, manifesting small blue orbs into her hand. She handed them over to Isabella. "Just try to avoid and throw these at her feet. I can slowly put more of my magic into the ground, and grab the pole without them noticing!"

"Well, I guess I can be a distraction then. I can do that." Isabella said as she pulled her own grimoire out. "I'm probably one of the brightest people here," she finished with a smile. "I am a light mage after all."

"Now that the participants have gathered, please begin!" A man screamed from above the gathered four. Suddenly the earth beneath them seemed to separate from the cluster of other participants. Upon closer inspection, they would realize that the other teams had already began their match. How troublesome. Regardless, the two teams stood across one other on a rather large space dedicated for combat. "Battle as if your life depended on it. We have expert healing magic users on standby. Fatal finishers are strictly forbidden!"

Kaihime glared at her partner with an empty visage. "Provide support. I'll handle everything else." She ordered before stepping forward, looking to the two women standing before her. Her body radiated a tranquil fury. *Two girls?* She thought venomously. *How insulting. But I hope you're watching, Solomon.* She turned her head to the red hooded figure who stood besides the curvaceous beauty and then back to their opponents.

Dale nodded, "Affirmative!" He exclaimed, standing back and his backside touching the pillar. Large amounts of black particles surrounded both him and the pillar, this was his Ash Magic, something he had developed even before he had gotten his Grimoire. Dale had spent a good amount of these past years developing it, alongside his physical prowess. Hunting, training, defending others.

Using his sensory of Mana, Dale would keep track of everyone's movements and all the while, he made sure to think on developing a tactic. While he believed in Kaihime to hold them off, Dale couldn't be left to do nothing, they had to win this together.

After setting her suitcase off to the side, it's contents useless in a battle, Isabella took a moment to stretch her arms and shoulders while observing their opponents, the two small balls of magic in her left hand. The girl in the pairing seemed to be taking the lead, while the man in the armor seemed content to play defense with his cloud of dust. She was nervous, this being the first true fight she had ever been in, though she had had numerous spars with her father and uncle to prepare for this day. But she quickly pushed the butterflies to the back of her stomach.

"Guess it's time to start," she said to no one in particular before holding her right hand up to the sky. Then, with a far louder voice she exclaimed, "Light Magic: Bright Seven Body!"

A shining haze seemed to shroud her for a moment, the area brightening around her before fading, leaving a golden aura hugging the contours of her body, outlining it to all who could see. Then she brought her hand down to the side, before continuing straight into her primary combat spell, speaking with a soft voice this time "Light Magic: Revolver Ocelot."

Six lines of light surrounded her outstretched hand, mirroring her other, which was behind her back at the moment. Her fingers were curled into that of a gun, which in a flash was pointed dead center at the Kaihime. "Aim small, miss small," Isabella chanted to herself as she took aim. Her fingers flashed three times, each one launching a bolt of light straight on at an almost imperceptible speed. While such an obvious motion as aiming made it unlikely her opponent would stay still long enough for the bolts to land, it'd provide valuable information about her reflexes and agility, both of which would be needed for this match.

"Impossible!" Kaihime screamed. Faster than one could process, there was a small hole in her shoulder. Still, linear attack patterns would never work on a battle-ready opponent after initial reveal. A beastly girl whose magic transformed her into a literal demon. Her brain started working immediately. Basically the concept *You don't wanna be where she points.* allowed her to evade the following flickers. However, there was no way she could naturally dodge these sharp blast. No. She couldn't stop moving. As she darted across the battlefield, Mana began to literally bleed from her skin. A dark energy swirled around her, thickening until it became a cloak of liquid goop which took a hound-like shape. Massive ears hung above her head. Her arm ended in gigantic clawed appendages which stretched well beyond her fingers. The cloak was thick and strong with each one of her steps slamming into the earth.

"Phantasmal Beast Magic: Hellish Hound!" Yes. She could feel the mana amplifying her physical prowess. Soon she soared across the earth on all fours. Kaihime made a sharp turn and started zagging towards Isabella - making sure to avoid linear paths. She took an erratic count, every several seconds dashing from left to right flank. Her teeth baring...almost starving to rip out Isabella's throat. With a powerful release, Kaihime soared through the air with the clawed cloak swiping towards her neck.

From atop the stands, next to the curvaceous beauty known as the Coral Peacock Captain, the red cloaked man sat leaning over his wife. "So that's her magic...Scary as hell."

Angelique was focused on pushing Gel Magic into the ground, into all of its cracks. Hopefully Isabella would draw Kaihime to their allocated location, where she would spring the trap. She turned her head back to the pillar, sending her Slimes to protect it with their very lives. Angelique took in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to remain calm.

With his sensory of mana, feeling the particles in the air shift, Dale's eyes widened and he almost smiled in sheer surprise. Yet, he managed to push the pillar out of the way before the light bullets were even finished charging, doing so with his arm ducked around the pillar. It was the first time he had seen light magic in action... well, not seen it, but, tasted it.

Looking at the spectacle, Dale was in awe, truly these people had some honourable skills despite their ages. He couldn't fall behind, as much as he would not go back on his word for his partner, Dale had to take action and help. Their opponents wouldn't just do frontal assaults... something quickly proven to be true as the other girl used her magic. This was it. He would not interrupt Kaihime's fight, yet, he would still support her in a way that it would make it seem he was not there.

Dale's Grimoire had flung open ever since Angelique used her Gel, and landed on a specific page. Ash had gathered as a small ball on his right hand while his arm darted backward and his left leg stepped forward, "**BASTION SHOOOOT!**" Dale exclaimed, an explosion came off from his elbow, giving it impulse as his arm ripped through the space and sent the ash-ball aiming for the magic gel. Upon impact, it would generate an explosion that could cancel out the gel ready to attack Kaihime, while also not doing any harm to her, due to where it was supposed to land.

Isabella stood her ground while the demonic girl charged her. Everything was going according to plan so far. She had the spotlight for the moment, and she hoped the stadium was watching. As Kaihime charged in, bringing her claw up and around as if to take her head off, Isabella felt strangely calm. Almost as if she wasn't in a fight at all. All she could see was the claw rising up her neck, all she could hear was the rapid beat of her heart, all she could feel was the rolling of sweat down her back.

Then she moved. Isabella did the opposite of what most would do in her situation, she leaned into the attack. It seemed to the world that she had fallen forward, stumbling in the face of the ferocious assault in front of her. Her left wrist flashed downwards for a second right before the attacked connected. The bestial claw took her right on the side of the head, and people would see her head rock around from under the impact. She rolled around the outside of the swipe, falling outside of the much smaller girl's line of advance.

As she rolled though, something seemed off. The aura surrounding her body pulled and stretched, moving with the attack even as Isabella herself didn't. Part of it eventually pulled off her entirely as she continued moving past Kaihime. A golden figure, an outline of Isabella made of pure golden light, was dragged by the claw that had struck her even as Isabella's aura faded somewhat. It persisted for a few moments before shattering under the force of the blow. She had six bodies left to spare.

Now it was time for her counter-strike. She was in Kaihime's blindspot, and she was going to make use of it even as she finished regaining her balance. She raised two empty hands in the shape of guns as she pointed them at her opponent's side, before simply stating, "Unload." She had nine shots left before she had to reload her spell, and all nine rang out in an instant, having all fired at once at point blank range.

But now it was time to open the distance. A surprise attack was all and dandy, but she wasn't great at close range. Isabella briefly looked around, seeing the magic intent on breaking her trap even as her opponent had been intent on breaking her.

"Now that just won't do," Isabella said to herself as she saw the situation. She raised her left hand up in the direction of Dale, before staring at the space directly on the other side of her ally's gel magic.

Even the spectators who had been paying specific attention to her wouldn't see what happened next. Isabella disappeared, blinking out of sight for an instant, before appearing right next to the Gel in such a short time that even the experienced wouldn't see her move. Her left had was raised to oppose the ash magic that was now aimed right at her. "Light Magic: Bright Wall," She stated in a assertive voice. A bubble formed in her hand, before expanding out as a wall of light.

The ball of ash slammed into it, with a resounding crack. The resulting explosion through up dirt and debris as the ash attempted to smash through the Light Wall. The wall held up at first, but eventually started cracking and buckling, even as the explosion faded, before shattering from the last remnants of the force, leaving the trap fortunately intact.

Isabella just continued her soft smile even as she took in a few deep breaths. "Wow, thought I was a goner there for a second." She said half seriously. She had known she'd be fine, but her body didn't believe it, being rather tense right now. "You two sure are talented."

She was doing her job for certain, she just hoped Angelique could hold up her end of the plan.

Kaihime froze. She felt Isabella's neck crumble beneath her grasp. A crazed animal hungry for victory. But...but...how? How could someone survive having their throat crushed. She spent several years training her physical body. Even as an adolescence, she would practice this spell and spend several nights hunting alongside wild beast. This cloak had reached a point of feeling natural. A second skin of sorts. So how could someone survive having their throat clawed out by a rabid hellhound?

*An attack.*

The extra sensory principle taught by her grandfather from her home country. It seemed like few possessed knowledge of its existence...Quite weird considering the normalcy of the knowledge of this energy among those who raised her. But it served as a secret advantage. She felt Isabella's urge to attack. A physical tingling which, when combined with her enhanced physical prowess, allowed her to seemingly vanish from the light beams before she fired them. Still, she realized that blood fell from her thigh profusely...maybe she hadn't dodged them all.

A blink.

Isabella disappeared. One thing after another. She searched frantically for her prey that vanished just as she was about to launch another onslaught. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. She cursed. How could someone possess firepower, insane defense and instantaneous movement at 15? Were all magic users of Clover Kingdom this powerful?! How the hell did her father succeed!? This...anger. This boiling passion and jealousy and rage...Her energy reacted to it as the cloak grew hotter. But there was one thing she couldn't deny. "I'm enjoying this shit." She took her primal position and launched herself once more - ignoring Dale completely. Zig-Zag. Uncontrollably bouncing from Isabella's left flank to her right once more. Each jump followed by a slight slide. Another attack. However, just before making contact, she leapt high into the air and spun into a devastating heel kick.

"This bitch is the one with the dangerous magic! *I'll* deal with the other one after..."

Solomon watched in amazement. But he felt more than the simple amusement that the captains and spectators radiated as they cheered at their awesomeness. Amidst the roar at Isabella's amazing feat, Solomon bit his nail. Kaihime's initial attack was quite fearsome. She deduced the trajectory based weakness of her opponent's magic and crafted a skillful plan against it. Hell, one could say her style of combat mimicked his own...A more personal approach to combat rather than the stationary form of battle utilized by mosh warlocks. Maybe this connection was why his heart resonated faster than Isabella's magic. Rapidly thumping against his skin. A deep breath. Yet no amount of meditation could betray his true feelings as he gripped the railing tightly. "Come on." He whispered. "You need to utilize your partner."

Scheherazade, although amazed by her seemingly infinite potential, looked towards her eternal partner with a slight troubled visage. They always shared a connection. She just always *knew* when he was troubled. Even though she lacked his refined mana sensory, they could speak without words. Did he want her to win? No. She knew that much. Solomon would never accept anyone with such magic power within the Coral Peacocks...especially someone as brash and cold as her. But there were bonds which one could never sever...

Once again, Dale had let himself momentarily be amazed by the show put on by not only his opponent, but also his partner. He couldn't even see the light mage move, she had done it just like when she attacked with her rays, and to defend their trap from his own attack even. Dale felt like clapping, this was truly nice, even if he failed... he was glad.

However, instead of proceeding to do so, he had seen Kaihime's attempt to intercept the opponent once again, it was then that his eyes sharpened and his body darted forward with a leap. He positioned his left arm behind his back and opened his hand. Just as Kaihime attacked, Dale did the same, but to the space around him, by generating an explosion from his left hand he felt his whole world swing, a gust of wind came from it and he was wheeled through the arena. He wouldn't waste this chance, he would be grateful for Kaihime's attack.

Even with this speed, Dale bent his knees and lunged for the opposing pillar's direction, generating even more embers from his hands to make his flight become erratical, and make him dodge-block whatever interceptions could come. He had already been too close with the first explosion. Teeth gritted, his arm stretched in order for his armored hand to touch the opponent's pillar.

"Gel Magic: Sticky Trap!" she exclaimed. In the moment that her partner had flicked her wrist downwards, she had tossed those orbs she had given her. Instantly the orbs shot out, searching for the nearest mana signature; Kaihime. If the Gel made contact it would trap her in the Gel to such an extent she'd be unable to move, which would lessen the stress on her partner.

Then she noticed Dale jumping in towards their pillar. She had no idea what to do. Thankfully, her slimes did. A few of them jumped towards Dale, hoping to distract the man. Not only that, the slimes that stayed by the pillar exploded outwards, and if they touched Dale, he would stay stuck mid-air.

*"Such quick thinking!"* Dale smiled at Angelique's usage of her magic, definitely not holding back with his explosions now. He had never meant to dart too forward at the pillar, and he wouldn't go back on that, after all, Gel just came from all angles to try and trap him.

His magic power continued to take the form of embers and explode outward. These bursts were already fierce before, but now that he added much magic to them, they would serve to not only maneuver him out of the way, but also blast some of the gel away with their sheer strength. However, Dale gritted his teeth... due to the explosions' increased force, they could properly damage the Bastion Armor and hurt his flesh, even if not by a large margin. Yet, he needed not to mind it at that very moment, if it meant he could carry on with his honourable task, Dale would honour the harm.

Dale's body swam through the air itself and past the gel that tried to glue onto him, he didn't need to destroy them. Explosions sent the rest of the gel flying away, as once again, his hand was inches from touching the pillar, now bare.

A smirk formed on Angelique's face. At the moment of the explosion the girl dropped to a single knee and smashed her hand on the ground. In front of the pillar a walk of slim sprung up blocking Dale from being able to make contact with their pillar. Her grimoire began to float downwards resting near her shoulder. The spellbook flipped through a single page and lit up. "Gel Magic: Gel Grab!" The mouth of a venus fly trap like construct rose from beneath the ground. One side of the mouth on her left the other on her right quickly closing to create a dome over both herself and Dale. "Gel Magic: Slime Slam." A fist made of slime formed at Dale's side thrusting itself at great speeds looking to deal severe damage. Had Dale chose to continue along the path of pushing himself through the wall of slime, he'd surely be hit by the fist.

With a wall surging in front of him, Dale pondered at the other options, he was still flying, "Very well!" Dale cheered, despite having almost hit the wall head-on, even if his enemies were younger, he would not let his mana guard down. Even if one spell came from below and another from the side, he still had another option. Grunting, Dale produced an explosion from his free hand, which had been aiming for downards, and sent himself erupting through the air once again. He had hoped that this explosion also managed to hit the upcoming spells.

With nothing to block him from above, Dale wasted no time and produced explosions from both his hands, so that he would land on the enemy pillar this time around. These made him rupture his path to his destination, sending a loud noise across the place.

Isabella's head was knocked towards the ground by the impact of the kick, another one of her outlines smashing towards the ground as her aura dimmed again. She then raised her hands to fire off another round of bullets before realizing something very crucial. She had forgotten to reload her revolver.

"Shit," was all she said with a wide eyed stare, realizing her mistake

Even as she raised her head, she tried creating some distance again. Her body rippled from top to bottom as her legs unfurled, leaping away from the smaller woman. While nowhere near as fast as her previous leap, Isabella was still one of the fastest people here, as all light mages were. She leaped nearly fifteen back in a flash towards where she had stood earlier, gaining the time she needed to assess the situation as the other woman was still reaching the ground. She could sense her partner's actions, as well as that of the other opponent. She divided her attention once more, attempting to fill in the gaps as best she could with a hand outstretched towards both opponents. "Light Magic: Grand Ocelot!" she shouted as a single pillar of light stretched out above her, pointing towards the man of ash falling towards the pillar. She'd normally create six as well for this spell, but speed was more important than ammunition right now. This spell was much stronger and destructive than the bullets before, but she had the need to force him to dodge instead of taking it.

The pillar of light flashed out, aiming to hit the man shortly before he'd make contact with the pillar. She'd force the man in armor to move away, hopefully giving his ally enough time to stabilize her defense of the pillar.

"God damn these two are tough..." Isabella gritted to herself as she held her hand up towards Kaihime, mulling over her next move.

Dale's eyes widened as a large quantity of magic got absorbed in a single area, the same eyes looking to the side and noticing that forming pillar of light. She wasn't seeking to prepare any other, she would attack now.

He didn't even think. Before the pillar shot forward, an explosion flared from his left hand, "WOAH!!!" He yelled, coughing some blood as the nigh borders of the attack managed to graze his figure, burning through his armor and scorching the skin of his ribs. Such explosion sent him rocketing past the pillar, and it only worked because he sensed the attack's formation, but even so, Dale couldn't stop there, Kaihime had been counting on him, even if with a snarl.

The pain was immense, but as an aspiring Knight, that was something he would experience over and over. Dale would crouch and cry in pain after this was done, he had not the time for that now, if another attack of those hit him again, he wouldn't continue, he was only dodging because of his affinity. With his right hand pointing forward, he instantly fired off another explosion from it, stronger than the one which barely made him evade Isabella's attack. She hadn't prepared a second shot, and even if she would do it now, even if Angelique encased him in her gel, he had already threw himself back to the pillar, closer than ever.

"No..." Angelique mumbled still bent on one knee trying to accumulate enough mana to cast a last ditch spell. Her grimoire flipped through a couple pages halting itself on her next spell. "Gel Magi-" Angelique's sentence was interrupted by her own inability to even keep herself up. She flopped over on her chest, he face now planted into the ground with her grimoire falling to the ground automatically closing herself. "I'm out of magic energy..." She mumbled once more. "Please, don't fail me now..."

Kaihime was overcome by anger. Another burst of mana escaped her body as the cloak separated and repaired itself, leaving the gel attached to her body on the ground below. She took the bullets head on, blood escaping from her wounds. Regardless she continued to move with anger and ferociousness. Her mouth fixed in a growl, she had transformed into the very hellhound which her mana had shaped itself after. But she also felt her body slow considerably. She knew the troublesome upkeep of her Phantasmal Beast Magic threatened her victory when she began training. And without a proper guide, she lacked the resource to develop an actual method of secure usage. No. She planned on going full power from the beginning in hopes of securing a quick victory. Little did she know there existed someone capable of dying numerous times. And the numerous wounds inflicted by her "bullets" started to hinder her movement.

Yet Kaihime continued on. Although Isabella was fast, she lacked the continuous speed that a physical combatant possessed. And such, the earth cracking beneath her feet, she dashed towards Isabella. Each strike faster than the previous. She targeted the girls skull with a fatal chop. A organ rupturing punch to Isabella's stomach. There had to be a secret behind this annoying magic. Her own personal vendetta and desire to prove herself overcame the overall wish to actual *win* the match. She only had enough time to finish this battle. And Kaihime would exhaust all her magic attempting too.

Angelique roared as she forced her Gel Magic to propel her towards Dale. The man was only a fingertip away from their pillar, and Angelique would not allow herself to lose without trying her best. She didn't fly towards her pillar but instead towards Dale, wanting to intercept the man mid-flight. Part of her knew that she probably wouldn't make it, but the other half of her urged her on, forcing her to try and stop the much larger man.

Her aura had faded further, as Kaihime's attacks became more and more ferocious. The fight reaching it's fever pitch as she fought for her life while her partner desperately tried to stave off her opponent. Her attacks had reached the point where one of her barriers was no longer capable of stopping the blows by itself. She simply wasn't fast enough, nor experienced enough, to dodge these blows. Bright Seven Bodies was her mainstay defensive spell, but it had it's limits.

The first blow snapped her head around, even as the chop slid off her, as two of her bodies smashed against the ground. Isabella's aura faded further, reaching less than half of it's original brightness.

She jumped backwards again, aiming for some distance to launch a counter attack against the berserker in front of her. It didn't work this time. The second stroke of Kaihime's fist slammed straight into her stomach. She doubled over as the blow knocked her back farther, pushing her away from the pillar and her teammate as two more bodies blew off her back. Her aura barely remained at this point. She barely had time to straighten herself upright and move to the side, before the third claw came in.

Isabella tasted true pain for this first time this fight, her side having been rent open by the claws of the smaller woman, even through her last barrier as her glow faded completely. Only her quick movement had stopped the blow from going even further in. She bit back a groan of pain as Kaihime began to turn around for another stroke. She stepped back once more as the assault continued. She raised a hand towards the smaller woman as she came in for the finishing blow.

"Light Magic: Bright Seven Shield" Isabella declared with what resolve she had left. Her side was on fire, and she had never truly be hurt before. She was choking back the pain and tears as she cast her spell, her other hand grasping her bleeding wound. A wall of light formed in between the two, followed by another and another. Seven in total, seven walls of light to protect her from the monster in front of her.

The final claw smashed into the barrier with a resounding crash, sparks flying off the shield as it attempted to stop her momentum. The first shield, the first wall, cracked and creaked under the force of the blow, before collapsing under the blow. But there were more. The second wall lasted longer, but ultimately failed as well under the ferociousness of the blow.

"GET AWAY!" Isabella yelled in a panic as her strongest shield started to crack under the pressure. Her hand came off her side, touching the back of the closest wall of light before pulling back. A string of light appeared between her fingers, attached to the shields in front of her. As her arm pulled all the way back, she let go. "LIGHT MAGIC: BRIGHT RAIN!"

Kaihime would find that her blow seemed to shatter all the remaining shields at once. Which was true, all the shields were broken, because they were shields no longer. The shards of light moved forwards, propelled by the spell behind them. A hurricane of light shards pelted forwards and full speed. While each had less penetrating power than one of her prior bullets, the shear number of them more than made up for it. A cone of light bullets shot forward, with Kaihime unfortunately to take the vast majority straight on.

Isabella wasted no time waiting to see what had happened to her opponent. She just trusted the spell to have put her down this time. She turned around and moved towards the opponent's pillar. She was holding her side, still flowing with blood from her wound, draining what strength she had.

"I just have to reach, just hold on a bit longer Angie. We're going to win..." Isabella said to herself through clenched teeth, trying to win this for herself and her team mate. She just hoped Dale would take longer to reach the pillar before she did.

Despite having been in awe at Kaihime and Isabella's clash earlier, Dale didn't pay it any mind in the recent seconds, nor did he worry about Angelique's struggle. As much of a nice person as he was, he had to try and win, for both himself and Kaihime.

Due to the sudden explosion, shortly after barely evading Isabella's spell, Dale's back smashed against the opposing team's pillar in the subsequent second. "GHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He gritted his teeth, as both him and the pillar made the ground crack. Maybe he shouldn't have put so much force on that explosion, it just ended up damaging him even more...

Even so, he chuckled, "W-WE TOUCHED IT!" Dale gasped out, giving a thumbs up with his left hand as he laid on top of the pillar. He had done it, even if he didn't know what they did was teamwork or not, but, Kaihime's ferocious onslaught allowed him to approach the opponent's pillar and touch it. Dale looked around for his partner.

#### A Friend's Aid

Without a thought, completely losing all grasps of reality, Summerella dashed onto the battlefield at the moment of Dale's touch of the pillar. Her body glowed and she shot across the dusty terrain appearing on top of the pillar. Her face was drenching in sweat without her doing a single thing. Yeah, that's right. In fact, she didn't even lift a single finger in her battle. So why?

Lifting the latch holding her grimoire on her side, her spellbook levitated to her side as she sat on top of the pillar at Dale's side. The speed at which it flipped through pages were blinding. She held two fingers up and swiped across Dale's entire body. Using her left hand to grab her wrist she held her palm out in front of herself. "Shine over thy target and cover them!" A light of *cover* spread across Dale's body. Near instantly, Dale's wounds would begin to heal.

"It's okay Dale." She smiled, remaining in her same position. "T-this is one of my many healing spells. **Cover of Light**, depending on how long the wounds have been there, the time of healing is determined. Isabella's light ray damaged you no more than five minutes ago, in about half that time, you wounds will close up. So just, just sit tight for me!"

Dale's eyes widened as the figure of Summerela filled his vision, "Miss White-" He burtled, coughing due to how much discomfort he had been in. He had observed her fight, and she hadn't done much, Dale could feel it, her tension at not doing much, similar to another participant, he would have to talk to that boy afterwards.

"What are you-" He frowned and interrupted himself as Summerella's magic aura enveloped his being. Dale smiled, "I trust you. Thank you, Miss Summerela." The tender look in his eyes was such that it could probably be seen through his visor. It was warm and comfortable, almost as if his back wasn't laying against a silver pillar at all, he cherished Summerella's friendship not for healing him, but for how much kindness she had shown.

"I didn't mean to intrude, honestly. But I couldn't standby and see my friend out injured and there was something I could do." She responded rebuilding her own self-esteem. "You were great out there, Dale. I didn't know you were so strong."

"Strong, huh? Do you really think so?" His eyes glinted at her compliment. "Even with your kind of magic, I had wished to see you more in action, as well. But, I'm glad you are fine."

### Kowairo and Hino vs Indra and Zahra

When Hino's name was finally mentioned he looked around desperately to try to find his partner he already almost forgotten. He walked around to try to find this person he was assigned together with. "Hey uhh is there a Kairo here? Anyone?" He called out into the crowd. Most people have already found their partners so he tried to find the one person who didn't have one.

Kowairo's thoughts were interrupted as she heard her name called. She would realize that everyone else had emptied out, pairing with their respective partners. "Here," Kowa whispered. She then remembered that such a low tone wouldn't be heard. "Here," she repeated, her voice louder. She waited for him to move to where she was located, as the others began staring each other down. Kowa had a feeling she was one of the few not looking forward to this.

"Hm?" Hino turned in the direction of the voice. There he saw a girl standing by herself. "Haha!" He quickly ran towards her in excitement assuming she was his partner. "Hey! Im Hino Sontara, and i'm gonna be the Wizard King! Lets all do our best!" He shouted at her, already pumped for the up coming test.

"My name's Kowairo Unabara," she responded, balancing out his enthusiasm with her own unexcited state. She would remember the matchups. While she wasn't sure about the Zahra character, she knew the Draconus name, and to face one of them meant trouble. Especially when using the magic she had in her possession. She then remembered something. "What magic do you use Hino?" Kowa asked, hoping for a display of some sort. Especially with one critical piece.

"My magic?" Hino repeated. With his excitement flowing through he held his fist up as fire ignited on his hand. "I use Fire Magic." He said in a serious yet eager tone. "I can use normal spells as well as reinforcement spells to." He continued. "What can you do?" He wondered.

She was understandably impressed. "You can use it without a grimoire?" Kowa asked, "I use Water Magic, nothing too fancy though." Kowa remained somewhat nervous as she felt the seconds and minutes tick by till their matchup began.

The exam participants were all clustered together, and they literally numbered into the hundreds, so it was impossible for two people to find eachother easily in such a crowd. Zahra knew this, and realized it was pretty idiotic to just call for your teammate, in such a large gathering, so he summoned a light cloud of sand to raise himself up into the air. The gathering of granules was enough to carry his weight, but also sparse enough so that it looked like he was just...flying unsupported. He didn't want to give away all of his secrets afterall "OI!!! INDRA?! WHERE ARE YOU?" He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled over the heads of the kids below him, hoping his partner would raise their hand or give him some form of guiding beacon.

Indra emerged from the shadows, grabbing Zahra by the collar his shirt dragging him up the pathway. Honestly, Indra had no idea of the changes of this year’s trials. Yet, as the younger brother of many war veterans he was prepared for all changes. “Aye, listen I ain’t too fond of all that damn screamin’. What kind of magic do you use?”

Zahra blinked a few times at the sudden change from flight to being dragged after someone else. After a moment he just shrugged and went with it, letting some sand move beneath his so he slid smoothly along the ground. Anything beat walking "Oh, I use Sand Magic. I can turn things into sand and drain the moisture out of things. And I have spells that do some pretty cool stuff. What about you, Mr. Noble-guy?" Zahra hadn't actually met anyone from a noble family before. They wouldn't have any reason to visit his home village, let alone converse with an orphan therein. His curiosity was piqued enough for him not to fall asleep enroute to their task.

"Tch, nobility ain't got no meaning to me." Indra continued dragging Zahra along until they both reached the battlefield. "Lightning Magic, it may not be extraordinary like Zakai or August's. That Hino kid ran into a conversation I was havin' with someone else. His magic control ain't the best, so his magic was leaking out. He uses some type of fire magic. From that little time, I could tell he ain't too smart on his toes either." A simple and quick deduction, a skill Indra had picked up from his training with his elder siblings. It wasn't something he did often, not that he even like doing it, but for something that would decide the fate of his future he had no choice.

"That leaves his partner, Kowairo Unabara. She's from a sea merchant family, which if I ain't mistaking James wanted to hire them to do some work at our manor. He blabbed on about some type of water going family." James was Indra's father however, he often called him by his first name. "Mismatch on either side, no matter which one we go for. Regardless, I ain't losing to either one of these nerds. And I damn sure ain't 'boutta let some desert dress up chump drag me down either."

Zahra crossed his arms and rolled his eyes dramatically "Maybe you should see what someone does before you label them a 'chump'. For someone who says they don't care about nobility, you are pretty condescending. Much like someone who does care. Well...at least from what I've heard. You're the first noble I've met face to face." He gave a small shrug of his shoulders and looked over his shoulder at the Draconus youth "Do you want to come up with a strategy or are we just going to chose one of them to take at random?"

"This something Zakai devised, the King is too selfish. A one on one ain't the goal here, it's probably teamwork. Aye, quick question... is your body extremely frail by any chance?"

Before Zahra could respond, a woman from above the four shouted. "I have placed the metal pillars behind both teams. There is no time limit and do not hold back. The greatest of medics are on standby ready to heal all wounds. Begin!"

Kowairo turned as she heard the announcement; looks like there would be no time for an answer to that question Her stomach flip-flopped predictably. "We're fighting now, oh god. How good are you in a fight?" she asked.

"I dont know, I never fought anyone before." He states confidently and dashes towards the arena ready to begin the match. "Haha! lets get this started!" He shouted at the group.

As Korag noticed the boy run onto the field, a shocking expression slight rose to face. "Uh this kid." He mumbled to himself.

At the woman's words, Zahra shrugged out of Indra's grip and started to walk with his own two feet. He decided that answering the other's question would be good at this point "I'm not frail, per-say. I can take a couple hits, but I would rather not. My strengths lie in my control over my magic and my brains, if I'm being honest." He looked at the other male closely now, his emerald orbs calculating "You? What about your strong points?"

The boy lifted opened the right side of his jacket and husband Grimoire came out flying to his side. “Lightning Magic is more than enough. It shouldn’t take you long to create a pool of sand right? The battlefield itself is dirt. Signal me when it’s ready and I’ll give you the plan. Until then I’ll hold them both off.” Indra’s Grimoire began to flip through a couple pages before suddenly resting on a single page. He held his hand out aimed at both Hino and Kowa electricity began to form around it. Before they two knew it, a bolt of lightning shot from it. “Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt.”

Zahra gave the other a silent nod and crouched, opening his satchel so that his Grimoire floated out and positioned itself to the young male's side. He touched the ground with his right hand, spreading his magical power across and below the surface of the earth from his fingertips. It was easier to convert pure dirt into sand, so Zahra was able to conserve his mana and focus on what Indra was doing, just in case the other male needed backup "Should only take a minute or two."

Kowairo stared as Hino shot forward. She couldn't fathom how he was so cocky if not outright reckless. "Hino! Watch out!" her grimoire appeared in front of her as water coalesced into the form of a serpent. "Water Magic: Malleable Serpent." The beast charged forward, clashing head on with the lighting bolt. She knew that she was at an elemental disadvantage, but she had to do something. Even if it was stalling for time. She painfully aware of the metal pole they needed to protect as well. Heart beating frantically, she attempted to flag Hino to come back.

After the two attacks canceled each other out, Hino let out a large grin. "Is that all you got Indra?" He called out to Indra, he held out his hand as fire emerged from the palm of his hand as he did his Grimoire hovered behind him and swung around his body stopping in front of him. The Grimoire flipped open while turning through a bunch of pages until stopping at a certain page. "**Fire Magic: Fire Ball**!" The fire in his ball grew greater until it covered his entire hand in flames. He held his fire back and then threw it with his might behind it.

Kowairo was already moving as soon as Hino stopped, her nervousness and a fury giving speed to her legs and feet. She skittered to a stop next to him, tapping him and his grimoire simultaneously as she berated him. "We need a plan!!" she said, surprising herself with the vehemence in her voice. Kowa's mind wondered back to their own pole, vulnerable at the moment as the fire ball flew towards Indra. Part of her noticed that the second combatant had yet to join the foray.

With his two hands up Indra's grimoire flipped through a couple of pages towards the front. *"So she does use water."* Shortly after his grimoire landed on the correct page both of his hands lit up with electricity. "Twin Sphere Bolts." He stated punching his left hand forwards shooting a bolt of lightning from it aiming it at the fireball thrown by Hino. The two techniques colliding caused a small explosion kicking up debris on the battlefield. It was minimal and before you know it, it cleared. Indra began to jump backwards landing next to Zahra, his partner.

Leaning closer to his ear, Indra began to whisper into the boy's ear. Once again his grimoire began to flip through pages but this time, it went backwards to where it was once before. He thrust both his hands forward and lightning shot towards his two opponents. One for Hino the other for Kowa. "Roar through the clouds and pierce the earth!" He called out, summoning forth a thunderbolt which was aimed towards the opposing sides of the two. The speeds at which it ripped through the air looking to smash whatever was underneath it was amazing. By doing this he restricted their movements. The only direction the two would be able to go and dodge successfully would be backwards.

Zahra listened to Indra's whispered words before nodding slightly, mumbling something back to the other could hear but their opponents could not. Zahra was content to play this little game that Indra had proposed, if he was being honest. It entailed him resting and waiting, things he did best, so he had no complaints. Nothing was coming his way either, so it allowed him to focus on what he was tasked with instead of splitting his attention between defending and set up. He only needed a bit more time and everything would be perfect...

Kowairo skirted backwards as the thunderbolt came roaring down, her expression perturbed from the close shave. She could sense their metal pillar behind her. The girl's mind kicked into overdrive as she noticed how only one was attacking them still. The clock was ticking as her grimoire opened once more, water surging around her as another malleable serpent formed. She needed another tactic, especially against the one foe facing them.

Hino wasted no time and launched another **Fireball** spell at the **Thunderbolt** which resulted in their attacks canceling each other out again and charged forward towards Indra, his arms held out to the sides with his palms open and his grimoire floating beside him as he ran ready for his next spell. "Your gonna have to do better then that if you want to beat me!" He called out to Indra and began running to the side, circling around him. "If that's the full extent of what royalty can do compared to a commoner like me, i'm surprised your family's lasted this long." He mocked his family status as he continued to hold his determined grin.

Zahra was waiting, waiting, waiting....and then he acted. As they both too their steps he ripped his hand from the ground quickly. As the opposite team touched the ground during their movements, they would notice that the ground just wasn't right. Kowa's would sink in to her knee while Hino would sink down to the middle of his thigh due to the momentum of moving forwards. There was a simple answer for what they were caught in: quicksand. Should they try to use their other leg or either of their limbs to free their trapped appendages, they would find that the quicksand spread wider, trapping them further "Indra! You know what to do!" Zahra moved back onto a cloud of sand and flew into the air, aiming to give his teammate aerial support.

Kowairo felt her body sink, beginning to panic as she sunk a bit deeper. However, she then remembered the figure above her. Calling it back mentally, the serpent would hover lower, the young girl latching onto the water beast's tail before it hoisted her out. She would scramble higher before having it circle around, the tail wrapping around the non submerged area before ripping him out of the ground. "Get on!" she yelled, noticing she wasn't the only one who chose an aerial approach. A strategy started to form in her mind. "I need you to unload! Fire those flames like your life depends on it!"

Dodging the spell, the bolt of lightning smashed against the breaking what portion of the earth tried halting it from its path create a large gust of debris. Indra quickly hid himself into the gust, relocating himself to a position where he was out of his opponent's view. There were no words to exchange with his opponent, Indra wasn't the talkative type. Once his teammate activated his technique the young mage knew it was time. Both of his opponents began to sink down into the sand, but Hino much quicker than Kowairo due to his recklessness. Indra took no time to hesitate as the moment the began to sink he shot towards their pillar at great speeds.

However, it seemed as though Kowairo wasn't finished by such a simple move. With the aid of her serpentine companion she began to wiggle her way out of the quicksand, but it may have already been too late. Indra's grimoire flipped through two pages and his body came covered in slight sparks of electricity. With his next step his speed increase drastically and he closed the gap between himself and the pillar in no time. From what was just seen, it was possible that not a single one of his opponents matched the current speed he moved at. He held his hand out reaching for the pillar that was literally there in his face.

Time was all that Indra needed. The quicksand technique blessed the mage with all the time he needed. He was aware that while spell may have not been able to hold them completely. Ten seconds was more than enough time he needed in order to get himself into a *winning* position and without the help of his teammate the chance would have been impossible.

Hino noticed his feet beginning to sink into the arena which has now been turned to sand and was sinking much faster then usual. He then looked over to see Indra rushing to the pillar. "Ugh! Hey! get back here!" Hino cried out to him and threw his arm down, pointing to the sand that swallowing him. He let out a large Fire Ball that resulted in a large explosion and within that smoke came Hino, shooting out with his hands releasing a jet stream of fire. "AHHHHHHHHHHH! IM NOT GONNA LET YOU WIN INDRA!" The grimoire floating beside him flipped through many pages as he was crying out. He held up his right arm and concentrated a small ball that seemed to be mixture of red and orange colors and was half the size of his own palm. "HUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!" He hurdled the small ball randomly in the direction towards Indra while still flying at incredible speed with the momentum he gained before while being assisted with one hand now. "BLAST BALL!" He cried out, his voice echoing in the suspense. The small ball shot through the air at an alarming rate and collided with the ground closely next to Indra's feet, who was mere steps away from touching the pillar.

"Is that all that kids got? Not exactly a desperate finisher." Alana spoke loud enough for Korag to hear.

"I don't think he was using his head with this move, it seemed more like a last ditched reaction." Korag mumbled back(edited)
Once the ball touched the sandy ground beneath Indra it then erupted into a massive wave of fire that swallowed everything in its near by radius including Indra himself. its intense, raging flames, scorching and melting the sand indra had pressed his feet into to make his way through it, encasing his feet in a melted pool of sand. With Hino's moment still going as he made his way straight to Indra his grimoire flipping through the pages once more. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! NOW TAKE THIS FIRE MAGIC: INFERNO PUNCH!" He cried out some more as his two fists ignited fire that swarmed all around his hands. Using the rest of his momentum to carry him the rest of the way as he aimed to deliver a punch straight for Indra's face.

With a simple extension of his hand, Indra smashed him palm against the pillar. *"We win."* Indra thought to himself before finding his back being drove into by the flaming first of Hino sending the young mage flying a few meters. He laid there for a few minutes and the crowd's mood was overshadowed by silence. His body was severely injured and his clothes in tethers. Even his grimoire that once floated laid by his side open to page he'd used his last spell from. He twitched his hand. Then he slowly balled his fists and pushed against the ground lifting himself up.

Sand appeared around him forming into a hand grabbing Indra around the waist assisting him to his feet. A smile formed onto Indra's face as limped to his partner's side.

Korag couldn't resist the urge upon seeing Indra getting a punch into the face and let out a loud laugh among the silence. "pfffft hahahahahaha!" He eyes leaking tears

"It guess our planned worked out." Indra called out to Zahra. "I ain't think it would buy me that much time. He Kowairo tryna' help Hino made it all the more better."

Zakai stood over the balcony once more. "Indra and Zahra, I commend the both of you for your great teamwork. You two formulated a plan that was able to catch your opponents off guard and change the tides of the battle." Zakai then switched over to his thoughts, *"He wrapped himself in lightning. To gain enhancements to his physical prowess. He's never shown that in training. I even was completely unaware of his battle tactics as well. Team battles were indeed worth it."*

"As for you Kowairo and Hino, you two did well also. However, Hino you held Kowairo back severely. You, much like a fellow examinee, charged into battle head first. You had your sights set on Indra too much, he took advantage of that and used it against you. And due to Kowairo's caring nature, she was forced to lend you a hand and protect you from his attacks. He completely removed both of you thoughts from even worrying about Zahra who'd been preparing a quicksand trap for the both of you. Which brings me to you, Kowairo. You kindness and concern for your teammate was admirable just like him, but your naivety blinded you from your goal. Resulting in your defeat. That is all I have to say, please take heed to my words for future situations. In the battle of Zahra and Indra versus. Hino and Kowairo, Zahra and Indra are the victors!"

## Which Path Will You Follow?

The colosseum was filled with chatter. Both viewers and competitors spoke among themselves about past battles, and or the next most important thing to come. Zakai stepped forth again for the near one hundredth time. Swiping his hand in front of himself all chatter ceased to exist.

“This years Magic Knights Exam was filled with breathtaking battles. No matter the outcome. However, the exams have now come to a conclusion. Once your registration number has been called out you will step forward and learn if you have been chosen to join a Magic Knights squad. This is indicated by a squad captain raising their hand into the air once your corresponding number has been called. If you are chosen to join a squad, but feel as though you are not ready to join the Magic Knights, you have the free right to decline their offer and return home. If you are chosen by more than one squad, you can choose which squad you’d like to join. However, if you aren’t chosen at all, you will be asked to leave the premises immediately and return back to your homes. Any defiance will be handled by King Guthrie himself.”

Zakai returned to his seat, while a man who stood on the side of King Guthrie stepped forward. “I will be calling out registration numbers, so listen closely as I will not repeat myself! Number 1, please step forward. Do we have any hands?”

There was a moment of silence, as Summerella stepped into the spotlight. She was nervous and swallowed her own spit. She wasn’t able to show off what she could do in her battle, and to be honest it bothered her. “Y-yes.” She hesitantly answered the man.

Again another instance of silence and the girl stood with her head down. She had prepared herself for the worse possibility and was quite certain she wouldn’t be chosen by a single squad. *”Why’d mother make me come here? I could’ve worked for a nearby farmer in order to bring money in! Why, mom!”* Her thoughts were filled with rage towards her mother’s ability to convince her it was a good idea to go and try out for such an event. Tears slowly began to roll down the girl’s eyes who tried her best to keep them sealed shut. Even though she was prepared, she did not want to face fate.

There were a few gasps around the colosseum. She slowly opened her eyes, and in the air were four hands. “Captain of the Blue Rose, Elizabeth. Captain of the Violet Orca, Cecil. Captain of the Crimson Lion, Rosanne. Then lastly, Captain of the Coral Peacock, Scheherazade.” The young girl’s negatives thoughts were proven incorrect. In fact, not only had she been chosen, she had multiple choices.

Summerella’s eyes were filled with her previous tears. It was as if they stopped right at the edge of her eyes and rested. She sprang to her feet and ran to the door of the colosseum. Neglecting to even chose which squad she’d join.
“What a, um, turn of events. Regardless we will carry on!” With that, he continued on with his calling of numbers.

“Number 38. Do we have any hands?” He question yet again. Like many of the other times there had been a silence. It was broken a captain’s hand being thrown into the air. “Captain of the Violet Orca, Cecil. Hino Sontara, do you accept?”

Alana looked over at Korag, surprised that hasnt raised his hand to him. "Captain?..." Korag interrupted, holding his hand towards her without looking away to signaling her to stop.

Hino was stunned that despite his attempts at trying to be a match to Indra rather then accomplish the test he still managed to get himself a vote. His face lit up with joy. "Eeeee YEAH!" He cried out in celebration.

"Number 40, please step forward. Do we have any hands?" A silence again, then the motion of many captains. "Five hands: Captain of the Azure Deer, Wynter. Captain of the Black Bull, Korag. Captain of the Crimson Lion, Rosanna. Captain of the Silver Eagle, Seizare. Captain of the Coral Peacocks, Scheherazade. Which squad will you choose, Dale of Aria Village."

"Dale, your work was commendable this time. When you were here six years ago I was but a Vice-Captain." Zakai spoke from the cushion of his chair. "You've improved severely this time around and gain the attention of not just one captain, but five. Two at which are restricted to nobles or royalty. Great work, that is all."

Dale did as instructed, bowing once he had stepped forward, "Yes, I am here, Sir." He rose his head once again, waiting in anticipation as memories of years ago, back when he had been the Examinee Number 1, resurfaced within his mind. No hand had been raised. But, this wasn't the case now.

His eyes widened, even when he knew how much he did during the fight, Dale wasn't expecting to see four hands raised. They widened even more as Zakai pronnounced himself, "Thank you, Sir Draconus!" He bowed once again, as much of an adult as he was now, he felt like letting some tears spill out, and was somewhat glad that he still worn his armor. He had finally suceeded, his efforts were paid.

The names passed through his head, in the years he didn't try the exam, Dale also researched a bit about each squad, "Well..." He licked his lips, eyes glancing through all of the Captains who rose their hands. He shouldn't waste their time anymore...

Dale marvelled, "I thank you all for your offers, Captains!" He fisted his chest with his right hand, provoking a small gust of wind and bowed once again. "But, I shall be choosing the **Coral Peacocks**, PLEASE AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!"

"Number 49. Do we have any hands for Angelique Bolt?" Two hands flew into the air, "Captain of the Violet Orca, Cecil. Captain of the Blue Rose, Elizabeth. What will be your decision, Lady Angelique?"

"Number 53, Miss Kowairo Unabara, do we have any hands?" Four hands flung into the air. "Captain of Azure Deer, Wynter. Captain of Blue Rose, Elizabeth. Captain of Crimson Lion, Rosanne. Lastly, Captain of Green Mantis, Iolo. Which squad would you like to join?"

Her head hung; Kowa had long since disembarked from her Water Serpent, disappointed by their loss. She had hoped for victory, even believed that they had a shot when Hino begin displaying the fireworks he was capable of. Yet here Kowairo was, having lost. A failure would always be a failure, even if they had a grimoire.

Stepping forward, she would wait in a fit of nervousness, not daring to hope after being so easily outclassed a few minutes prior. *"Looks like I'll be seeing you soon again,"* Kowa thought, thinking of her aunt and uncle in their small country home.

Her head snapped up as the hands raised were recognized. "What?" Not one. But four. Four hands. Four Captains wanted her on their squad. It didn't make sense. She had been on the defensive for the entire match, realizing the difference between her and those who had trained for this day acutely.

"Um...I..." She struggled to decide, trying to piece together what she knew about the Captains that wanted her. The girl didn't think she had the fire to keep up with Crimson Lions...nor the concerted work-ethic central to Blue Rose. Maybe she could learn them? Her mind dithered between the four, unable to decide. The Azure Deer seemed like nice people....but was she really a researcher? She couldn't even read. The girl realized everyone was waiting on her. "Um...ah...I want to thank you for all your bids Captains but I....choose..." The choice finally crystalized in her mind, the taunts of yesteryear fading away for just a second. "I choose Green Mantis."

"Number 66. K-kaihime." He stuttered having flashbacks of the girl's match. "B-blue Ros, I mean Captain of the Blue Rose, Elizabeth. Captain of the Silver Eagle, Seizare. Captain of the Crimson Lion, Rosanna. Which squad would you like to join beas-, ma'am?"

Kaihime felt her heart pounding. She was sure it would rip from her chest and run away. Did she really want to join ‘’them’’? Did serving alongside her brother really matter so much? After all, there has to be truth to the point that this intense anger and hatred is really the product of unreciprocated love. The only sibling she desired to obtain acknowledgement from turning his back to her. For what? Because the thrill of battle overwhelmed her? Hell, she’d heard things that were just as fucked up about him. So what made him any different? She stepped forward into the silence. The crowd was a mixture of fear and excitement. She stood drenched in a messy cocktail of blood, dust, and dirt. Covered in wounds and scars which would surely leave unsightly marks across her skin. The Clover medics performed a decent job in terms of healing her. But she could feel the extreme soreness erupting from every muscle in her body accompanied by the residual ecstasy of battle. Whether or not these civilians approved of her methods, Kaihime had enjoyed the match against her opponents. Especially that girls unique light based magic. This hellish girl proved strong enough to nearly kill her opponent. Her resilience and power mixed elegantly with a certain beauty. Some cheered and others chewed their nails nervously. She overhead speculation that she would be a shoe in for all the squads. While others doubted that someone with such a violent aura could serve Clover Kingdom successfully.

Either way, her efforts ended in failure. She failed to show her strategic advantage and now she was force to settle for a ‘’different’’ squad. Shit. Even her partner recieved more options. How? Well she figured her little episode resulted in a loss of overall focus. An amateurs mindset. Only wild animals are easily occupied by a fleeting ball. But she felt a sharp pain. Of all people to deny her...for ‘’him’’ to do so?! She clenched her teeth and growled. “Battle’s over.” She remembered. With a deep breath, the young warrior stepped forward. It was in the light of Clover Kingdom’s sun that those familiar with ‘’him’’ could see the resemblance. The tired look in their eyes. Their natural scowl. A look which screamed aggravation. She ignored the speaker who demanded her choice. No. Her energy appeared more malicious. Yes she failed. She failed to show her strategic advantage and now she was force to settle for a ‘’different’’ squad. A noble one nonetheless. But one known for their more fiery members.

“To think my own ‘’brother’’,” She spat venomously. “Would deny me the chance of strengthening our family’s legacy.”

Solomon, with his hooded cloak hanging loosely, sighed as his tired gaze met Kaihime’s. He leaned forward with a playful grin. But contrarily, the sight of that unsightly bandage around her eye twisted his stomach. He retained his composure among the hundred of spectators. He could hear the thousands of whispers erupting from his nosey countrymen. Aristocrats who already hated him for stealing the hand of one of Clover Kingdom’s greatest beauties started their rumors. After all, some slum rat emerged and revealed herself the sibling of the new head of the noble Pavus Household. To think of how House Pavus had fallen! Solomon stood without care. His face twisting with thought. How should he handle this?

“If our family’s legacy involves senseless violence and ignoring the overall objection for selfish enjoyment, then I’ve lost all qualms about leaving.” Solomon joked. His solid gold eyes were heavy on Kaihime’s shoulder. “We follow a path of morals. Your reckless behavior could’ve cost your partner his victory. And besides, you’re way too flashy.”

“Whatever you say, Solomon.” Kaihime disregarded. “I would’ve denied you anyway. Anyone who throws away their father’s accomplishments is not worthy of my servitude. And for that, I’ll choose Crimson Lion. An actual ‘’’royal’’’ squad.”

Solomon smirked...

"Number 68. Simon Lovelace, do we have any hands?" Hands raised into the air. "Five hands. "Captain of the Black Bull, Korag. Captain of the Silver Eagle, Seizare. Captain of the Coral Peacock, Scheherazade. Captain of the Crimson Lion, Rosanne Vermillion.  As well as captain of the Green Mantise, Iolo. Which squad will you choo-" The man was cut off before prompting the new coming mage to decide on his choice.

"Excuse me my King." A voice they'd have heard plenty of times speak throughout the event. "Simon, I did not raise my hand as a choice to join this squad. I have a question. My intention was to have all examinees touch their metal pillars through physical contact. Instead, you went a step beyond and destroy the pillar with your magic and since it is an extension of yourself, it does count. What did you go about it that way? Also, the entire point of this years switch up into two man teams was to see the teamwork from this year's generation. A mam of your stature should have been able to tell that easily, not saying that you didn't of course. How do you feel about your partner, despite her not being able to show her abilities in combat and instead her caring heart for her comrade, not being able to do anything and risk the chances of her not being chosen by the other captains? Before you decide please allow my response to your answer."

Simon was surprised to find that it seemed as though mettle wasn't really appreciated as far as the Magic Knights went, Summerella had done basically nothing aside from healing an injured individual, which was certainly commendable, but he had difficulties seeing how that simple feat eclipsed his own.

When Zakai spoke to him though, Simon felt his temper flare, what the man said sad so absurd that he could hardly comprehend it. But answer he did.

"Fundamentally, this is a test of our magical mettle, it never actually occured to me that you wanted us to physically touch the pillar. What practical use would that serve, we are not here for you to examine our motor functions, we are here because we want to protect this kingdom with our magic. Doesn't it make sense then, to put our magic front and center?"

Lovelace drew another breath before continuing. "In regards to teamwork, I had every intention of working together with my comrade.. allowing her to focus upon her strengths as a supportive spellcaster and healer, without the need of using offensive magic of her own, as that is my specialty. By doing so we would maximize our resources and hopefully increase success, that was my intention going into that fight. However, our adversaries proved to be severely lacking in experience, most likely due to partaking in this exam too soon, and as a result we won without ever having to rely upon teamwork. Flux is the weakest spell in my repertoire by far, it wasn't possible for me to restrain myself more than what I already did."

Simon could still feel his temper flare but he managed to maintain a cool composure nevertheless. "The reason my partner wasn't able to show her abilities were a personal failing of you, Lord Draconus, as the self-styled administrator of this examination. In previous examinations it was customary to have a variety of tests that did or did not involve combat.. the purpose of these additional tests were precisely meant to showcase the abilities of other less combat-focused mages. It has hardly escaped anyones notice that the current years examination lacked anything of this sort and was instead bundled together in a messy affair that left no other avenues for us to excel. Had you included such tests, then surely Summerella would've had a chance to demonstrate her abilities much earlier, and you would not need to shift the blame onto me in order to save face!"

"How dare you speak to Zakai that way boy. You came here not knowing your place. Commoner trash like you, have no place even in the Magic Knights." The man of white hair standing behind Zakai's chair stepped forward to his comrade's side. Despite his vulgar word choice, he bore a calm composure.

Zakai threw his arm out in front of the man. "August, this is my matter." He spoke directing the one known as August back to his seat. "You are correct Simon, this year's events are noticeably different from traditional methods in the past. But, where you are wrong at; is that you feel as though the blame has been placed on you. Everything I said before, were nothing more than questions. I made sure not to blame you."

"I see where you stand and can understand your points of view on the matter. Broom fly, seed sprouting, if you ask me, all of that means absolutely nothing. I don't give a damn about well one how one can fly on a broom, even if it shows ones control over magic. If I had a choice, each and every entrance exam would be strictly revolved around combat. I've lost a brother on the battlefield, like countless others in this world, but I can assure you the person who took him down, was not a man who was out there doing kick flips on a broom. No matter how you view it, that's just what I prefer. Our Kingdom has changed over the years. With a new King comes a new meaning and with times changing comes a new era. Regardless, despite the anger you have built up for me I understand your point of view. So with this, I will add to the list of hands in the air." Zakai placed his hand into the air his four fingers pointing upwards. "I, Captain of the Golden Dawn, would also like for you to join my squad."

"Yeah, sure, I'll be your scapegoat I am sure a great noble like yourse-- wait what?" Simon's eyes went wide in surprise, for this was the first time he'd ever heard about a noble conceding a point to a commoner. Upon receiving the offer he felt conflicted for a moment, because while his village would certainly benefit greatly from being associated with a member of the Golden Dawn, he knew that being apart of such a presitigious squad would bring its own share of hardships.

Even so, it was not an offer he could turn down. For better or worse he would accept their offer, and perhaps get to understand the enigmatic man before him just a little better. The man who had turned his perception of nobles entirely on its head in such a short span of time.

Lovelace then did something unusual, he gave Zakai a short and respectful bow before he spoke with obvious gratitude. "I thank all of you for your faith in me, but my choice must be the Golden Dawn."

"Number 69. Isabella Williams, do we have any hands to raise." Many captain hands flew into the air, a completely rehash in numbers of picks much like her fellow examinee. "Captain of the Blue Rose, Elizabeth. Captain of the Green Mantis, Iolo. Captain of the Crimson Lion, Rosanne. Captain of Azure Deer, Wynter. Captain of Silver Eagle, Seizare. Among these choices, where will you go?"

Isabella was happy, even as she still held the dull pain that was left after the healers tended to her side. While not everyone had picked her, only one other person, one of her opponents, had gotten as many offers as she had.

Her confidence returning from her validation, she stared at the five captains who had chosen her. She had options, which considering her non-noble status she hadn't expected.

She discarded the Crimson Lions immediately, the fiery temper and personality they were known for just didn't fit her rather gentle demeanor and upbringing. The Noble persuasion of the Silver Eagles and the iron discipline of the Blue Rose that she had heard about caused them to follow after.

This left her with two relatively similar options, the Green Mantis and the Azure Deer. Two scholarly squads, both relatively equal inside her mind. So she made the simplest choice, she chose the friendlier looking one.

Isabella lifted the Hem of her skirt a bit as she curtsied for the assembled captains before speaking up. "I thank all five of you for your kind offers, but I must choose one path. So after careful consideration, I choose the path of the Green Mantis."

"Number 86. Zahra." Hands went up, "Captain of Azure Deer, Wynter. Captain of Coral Peacock, Sche. Captain of Black Bull, Korag. Finally, captain of Green Mantis, Iolo. Please make your decision."

Zahra looked a bit surprised to say the least. He hadn't really done all that much, really just being a springboard to launch Indra towards the pillar and secure the win. He laced his fingers behind his neck and leaned his head back as he considered the four captains that had offered to take him on. He seemed to be putting a great deal of thought into this, but in reality his thoughts were....much less deep *"Eeny meeny miny moe, catch a tiger by the toe..."* He went through the rhyme, going to each captain in turn before settling on his choice "I appreciate the offers, Captains of Azure Deer, Black Bull, Green Mantis. But I chose to enter into **Coral Peacock**."

"Number 92. Prince-, I mean Indra Draconus." The man stumbled over his words and in fact forget that he was in the presence of the Great King of this Country. Prince seemed to be a nickname Indra had gained as the last son of the Draconus family. "Do we have any hands?" He asked, as he turned his head to see hands were thrown into the air. "Captain of Azure Deer, Wynter. Captain of Black Bull, Korag. Captain of Silver Eagle, Seizare. Captain of Coral Peacock, Scheherazade. Lastly, Captain of Golden Dawn, Zakai. What will be your choice, Indra?"

*"Typical. I ain't the type to usually be like this, but I honestly thought I'd have more offers."* Indra through holding the backside of his shoulder. Still able to feel the pain from earlier's battle. He held is good hand up into the air but had his index finger upwards while the rest laid down. "Captains of Azure Deer, Black Bull, Silver Eagle, Coral Peacock, and Golden Dawn. I appreciate th' offers. Especially you, big bro Zakai. I won't waste any of your time." He lowered his arm and his finger pointed in a specific direction. "The squad I will go to, is the **Coral Peacocks**."

The silence that filled the Colosseum once before was as ominous as before. He could hear voices behind him, "Wait, did he just choose Coral Peacocks over Golden Dawn." Another, "Isn't he Royalty? He called Zakai big brother."

A sudden gust of wind and in front of him appeared August. "You disgraceful piece of gum."

"Number 96. Arthurn Pendrake." There was a moment of silence. A man flung his hand into the air, "Captain of Violet Orca, Cecil. Do you wish to join this squad."

Blinking in surprise as he wasn't expecting to actually be selected after his disastrous display during the match, he could only just stare before catching himself and quickly correcting himself as to not further embarrass himself.

"Despite my horrible match you are still willing to accept me into your squad, I would be honored to join the ranks of the Violet Orca Master Cecil" spoke Arthun loudly while bowing his head and crossing his right arm over his chest.

"Last but not least, Number 131, Nolan Carnagione. Do we have hands?" Two hands flew into the air, "Captain of Green Mantis, Iolo. Captain of Crimson Lion, Rosanna. Captain of Azure Deer, Wynter. Which of the these roads will you take?"

"H-huh?" Nolan's eyes, reddened with his tears, widened. Although he stood with the other participants, he didn't expect to be chosen at all due to his lackluster performance. "U-um...before I choose, if I may ask..." Nolan hesitated in even asking, swallowing down his hesitation while beads of sweat dropped down his head. "W-why me? I didn't even manage to accomplish anything..."

Rosanne stared down at the boy, Nolan if she recalled correctly. He stared back up into her eyes, obvious confusion in them. Why would a Captain select him, especially after that massive blunder of his, breaking out into tears. But it wasn’t out of pity that Rosanne had selected the boy, it was out of potential.

“I’ll be honest boy,” she began, her facial expressions unable to be read. “I picked you of the sheer potential you possess. As well as the reason for which you cried out.” she stated, before a small smirk appeared on her face. “Plus, that emerald thing was pretty cool.”

A smile came across Wynter's face at Rosanne's words and he decided he should speak next "You may not have been able to do much, Nolan, I must admit. But you show promise, something that is invaluable in this day in age. I believe whichever squad is lucky enough to have you would gain the ability to help nurture and mold someone who is no doubt going to be an amazing Magic Knight." The Hivernal turned his head to look at the captain of Green Mantis, imploring him to give his own reasons.

“Trust, that’s why,” Iolo responded quickly following Wynter’s comment, his features curling into amusement. “Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships. When you called out to your partner, you did it trusting that he could stop the attack, or that he would at least help in it, and because of that you lost. Perhaps you could’ve stopped the attack by yourself, or perhaps not; it matters little if you could, because you didn’t try, and for that level of trust, in a complete stranger, you lost.”

Iolo leaped downwards to where Nolan was, extending his hand outwards to the crying child. “You may be deceived, defeated, destroyed even if you trust too much, which you showed us today. However, you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough. So, trust me Nolan,” Iolo addressed directly, “You will not only be a Magic Knight, but you will be something greater. You have the lessons that thousands of men die without knowing, that kings and civilizations have fallen and disappeared into civilization because they lacked; you’re eons ahead of the other children here, and for that, I will work with you, and together we will make you Wizard King, so please,” Iolo continued, “take my hand, and let me make you Wizard King.”

Guthrie's knuckles whitened as they tightened around the glass of wine he was holding at the mention of the Wizard King. Despite remaining the very picture of serenity on the outside, the notion of another Wizard King after that worthless mongrel deeply disturbed the King of Clover. It was an ancient tradition to please the masses, yet it was a threat to his supremacy and his vision of uniting the world into the Guthrean Empire. No matter, the boy was an insignificant gnat that hardly merited his notice.. Iolo fed him lies to stoke his spirit, nothing else.

Yet in his rage he had allowed a sliver of his magical power to slip forth, and the glass of wine shattered into dust in his grip, its contents vaporized through the sheer pressure. Yet there was no outward reaction to this from Guthrie, nothing that gave away his true turmoil and anger, as he calmly turned his attention to the butler. "Samson, I require another glass of wine.. would you fetch it for me?"

"A-ah...I thank you all for trusting in me so much..." Nolan hesitated to speak when before such amazing figures in the world of Magic. "Unfortunately, Mr. Goch, I-I don't think I have the potential you think I have...nor have I ever thought about becoming Wizard King." Nolan bowed, "I have to respectfully decline your kind offer, as I do not want to waste the trust you have in me..."

Head up again, he then stated. "I would like to join the Azure Deer squad. I hope we get along from now and into the future, Captain Hivernal." Nolan gave his respects.

### Turmoil in Royal Blood

A sudden gust of wind and in front of him appeared August. "You disgraceful piece of gum." The white-haired man stated as he looked down to his younger brother in front of him. "You dare embarrass the House of Draconus and at such a grand event. House Draconus has worked hard over the years, prior to becoming a royal family. Each Draconus member omitted into Golden Dawn squad to help build a name for this family. And here after two decades of hard work, the youngest son considered the Prince of the Draconus, enters the Magic Knights exam and turns down an invitation. Even a commoner has more sense."

August took a slight pause as he wasn't even close to finished ripping into his younger brother. "Tch, you walk around the Kingdom without a care in the world, completely oblivious of your status. You throw taint on our name, Indra. Here is where it all will stop. You're coming back with me, to the Golden Dawn's base, as a Golden Dawn member. Even if I have to take you back by force." August's body began to emit a red aura.

"Bloodline, nobility, royalty, that shit ain't got a meaning to me anymore. Only people who want to stand on a pedestal higher than everybody else needs a titles like that. August, I hate you. I hate what ya' turned into too. You a try hard; a sweatie. Tch," Indra grunted holding his shoulder from the attack and pain from earlier. "You tryin' too hard to impress everybody. Stop it."

Indra began to chuckle, maniacally. He held both of his hands outwards as though he had been holding something, but it was nothing more than that air. "You want me to join Golden Dawn and go back with ya'? Ight, go out side of tha' Colosseum doors and bring Zakari back here. If you can do that, I'll join Golden Dawn and aim to be the Magic Emperor myself. Impossible ain't it? Well of course to you. That's why you didn't follow Ezra or Iris. Why.....?" Indra leaned in closer to August, who had already been inches away from him. "Your body is weak, you can't take more than a few punches. You know this. In fact, no matter how much ya try to fit in, you ain't never gonna reach Zakari's level. *Because you are weak.*" He whispered into his elder brother's ear. It appeared as though Indra had been implying something outsiders knew nothing about.

"Anyway, I ain't going no damn where but to Coral Peacock's base. That **is** my squad choice after all."

There was a silence among the entire Colosseum. August's once red aura began to grow outwards. "Does it feel a bit hotter in here?" An examinee stated as his face was drenched in sweat. A fellow adversary fanned himself nodding, answering his friend's question.

"Very well then, Indra. Show me, I'm weak." Lifting his hand to the side of Indra's head, a sphere formed into the middle of his palm. Nearly everyone within the Colosseum had their eyes out on the current event taking place. "Let's see if your body can take a spell then."

"There's no way.." Another examinee stated. "August Draconus, he's the Vice-Captain of Golden Dawn. That heat is coming from his Star Magic! I've heard that his magic is catastrophic and does damage to a wide area that even he can't evade." The man's face was drenched in sweat. "No way he'd unleash any of his spells right here and now."

Follow the young man's words Zakai appeared next August's side. His facial expression completely different from how he'd appeared throughout the entire exam. His glare was much more demonic. Angered. He was much taller than August, nearly towering him. His hand had already been wrapped around August's wrist. The feeling of extreme heat instantly shifted to a new and much more overwhelming feeling. Throughout the Colosseum many people would fall to a knee finding it hard to stand on their two feet. August on the other struggled much more than the others. His once red aura was overshadowed by a black resonating aura that was connected by Zakai. He was barely capable of holding himself on his two knees. The only thing that held him up was Zakai's grip on his hand. Indra, completely unaffected."That is enough, August!" Zakai's voice more thundering throughout the vicinity. "Let he be friend or foe, any man who lifts his hand with ill-intent towards Indra, will be killed by my own hand. You heard him, he chose Coral Peacock. That is the path he has chosen. You and I will both respect that accordingly, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Captain." He responded. The aura from the two lifted. August held his hand out at Zakai while on one knee, with his head down. Zakai scratched August's palm and he stood to his feet. "Good luck, Indra." He called out returning to the viewing balcony.

"Hahahahaha" an out burst of laughter rang through the silence of the stadium breaking the tension the royal Draconus brothers created. Korag laughed with tear drops leaking from his eyes a bit. He pulled out a flask and drank from its container. "Zakai i have to admit, your royal family is just one big circus parade. Your all full of amusement." He said once he finished laughing "Hey kid." He called out to Indra. "You dont have to keep playing tough, we know how much that punch hurts. Go to the healers and get that checked on." He considered his condition.

Hino looked up at the man calling out to Indra. "Thats the Black Bulls captain right? So hes my father that mom has been tell me about."

"August. Zakai" He turned his attention to the Golden Dawns Vice Captain. "You can try to hide it as best you can but i can see right through your calm demeanor. You all don't have to be mad cause Hino hit your brother. Im sure lots of royals gets their ass beaten to a commoner on a daily bases Hahahahahahaha!" He informed followed by laughter as if he told a funny joke.

### A Congratulation to Remember

"Dale," a familiar voice spoke out, following behind it being a rather average-height man that was recognized throughout all of Clover as the captain of the Green Mantis, Iolo Goch. His features, curled in amusement upon his visage, situated upon the recently appointed magic knight, and as he approached him quickly, his hand fell from his side to his front. "Congratulations on making it into the magic knights. You're going to love Coral peacock, you know."

Eyes widened, Dale stopped on his heels, paying no mind to the other Knights or Examinees who may have also stopped to observe. This was a great surprise, he hadn't imagined that Iolo Goch would approach him now, maybe things were calmer.

"Sir Iolo! It is great to see you!" Dale beamed and extended his arm, hand meeting Iolo's in a gentle greeting. "How have you been? Thank you! I do hope so, it also means that I should be capable of talking to you much often!" He retreated his hand, putting both hands on his waist now, "How is the House going?" His lips were wet, he knew it was a touchy subject, but Iolo had always been open-minded with him, despite the situation.

"Oh, the house is great! I can't wait to head back and tell everyone that you've become a magic knights; oh they'll be so proud, especially my wife. In fact, since you'll be closer, you should come visit us more often. Margarette really missed you, and that's not all, everyone in the house does." Iolo continued.

Dale's head tilted, "That's good to hear!...Though, I didn't know your family liked us so much." He uttered, scratching the side of his helmet with his left hand. "Mother did say you were very good friends... but, I'm glad!" Despite having doubts on how much they did like him, Dale liked them, even if he had visited them once as a kid. There seemed to be a person who didn't like or talk to him, he was Iolo's wife's brother... but, Dale paid it no mind.

"Dale, your mother and you are very important to my family. But yes, your mother and I were very good friends, but not only me. My wife, her cousins. Your mother was good friends with us all," Iolo spoke. "Though, she happened to be more than friends with another of our house, someone that you know quite well actually. Margaret's brother. They got along extremely well, almost too well if you ask some."

A frown appeared on Dale's face, he had been sure he was so confused that it was pretty visible, even with his helmet on. "It's reassuring to hear that, thanks." He certainly pondered if Captain Iolo was referring to that one person from his earlier thoughts, that man had always looked so indifferent, on the few times Dale visited them anyway.

"T-They were close...? What do you mean, Sir Iolo?" Dale stuttered, waving his arms around a bit. Had his mother ever done something to that man? Was that why he looked like that at Dale? It must have been... Dale knew that his mother, Rosa, had done a lot of adventuring in her life. As a Sage, she travelled often and sought to join the Magic Knights, something she sadly didn't manage to do. Even at this very moment, she was probably fighting some big monster or whatever...

Dale rose his head and stared into Iolo's eyes, "Did Lady Margaret's brother ever say anything...?" He should have asked if he could even ask it.

"Do you think he has said anything, Dale?" Iolo inquired quickly, folding his arms behind his back. "And if you think he did, what do you think it may be?"

With a huff of his breath, Dale licked his lips, "Honestly, Sir, I don't have any idea at all... mother never mentioned anything about him at all, nor did I ever ask. I didn't want to be rude at all." He looked down, breathed a bit, but rose again, "Maybe, their friendship got apart after my mother got with my father?"

"No...no, it seems that's when they became more friendly with one another. When your mother and father got together," Iolo spoke. "In fact, that was perhaps the pinnacle of their relationship."

Beat.

"No. Do you mean that..." This time, Dale stared even deeper at Iolo's eyes, all the while not trying to startle the man. His eyes were firm, his pupils steady, he couldn't be lying, he didn't have any reason to be lying.

Beat.

"I..." Dale's pupils trembled a bit, and his voice got slightly raspy, he didn't know if it was because he didn't want others to hear, "...am his son?" If such had been true, why had his mother lied to him? Was he... was he a bastard? Lady Margaret's brother had been a Noble too, while Rosa had been a commoner.

"Hush," Iolo quickly begun, a magic infused in his words that worked their way into the world around them, calming anyone who had laid witness to his command, "Let's not do this here. After you meet with your squad, you will return to your ancestral home, your true homes, the manors and territories of House Goch where I will explain everything to you about your father and your mother. For now however, you must remain calm and be prepared for the duties ahead of you, young Goch. Is that clear for now?"

A plump in his mouth, Dale gulped, "I-If you mean it... I'll be h-honoured." His armor felt much tighter than before, much suffocating, as sweat rolled down his body. Dale would have continued and simply walk away, he was sure his mind would swallow this soon and vomit it when he needed to worry about it.

Yet, his step faltered and he offered a side glance at Iolo, as well as a murmur, "Do I... have any name?" It was a simple question, but Dale couldn't hold in his curiousity.

"Interest in a name? Of all the questions you could have stopped and asked, you inquire about your name? Not of any titles, of any deeds, of any wealth, of any land even, but of a name?" Iolo monologued, his features expressing what seemed to be a bodacious, uncontrollable joy that dripped from his very being.

"The story of an ancient king rests upon your mantle, the truths, the values, the expeditions of a man who founded a city renown for its innovation, its pursuit of the arts; a city way ahead of its time whose ruins and remnants serve as a reminder, if not a beacon for prosperity of magic advancement and of truly democratic societies. The oceans that surround this nation are named in the stead of their first king, the great, the protector, lord of all realms; your name is Aegeus. Aegeus Goch!"

It wasn't until Iolo pointed out, that Dale thought on it himself, he had no second thoughts when asking it, so maybe that was why. He had wondered why Iolo had become joyous, but, after he pointed out the following things, realization struck him like a cannonball. Nobles married each other, most of the time, not because of their love, but because of their wealth, they needed it to survive, they forced their children to link the families.

How many lovers may had been separated, how many unhealthy relationships may had been created. How many boys and girls must have have cried.

Even when his thoughts were into those subjects, Dale still listened intently to what Iolo continued to sing. As much as he didn't like the fact that Rosa lied, that he was bastard... he liked how welcoming Iolo had been with him, "Thank you for sharing this... Uncle Iolo." Dale bowed, placing his arm in front of his chest.

Iolo nodded, turned the other way, and begun walking in the opposite direction. “Don’t forget to come home every once in a while, kiddo."

## The Grand Event, The Eidolon of Water

The sound of calm applause could be heard from the balcony overlooking the spectacle, as the King announced his contentment in a most fitting fashion. There'd been some worthwhile aspirants this year, he found himself drawn to those who possessed magic of an elemental nature, for those were most easily turned towards the pursuit of war and battle. Hino was hardly the sharpest tool in the shed, but his destructive force had intrigued the King nonetheless, as had his unfortunately misplaced aggression, it was a desireable quality in a warrior if nothing else, if tempered it could mold him into a worthwhile weapon. Few other aspirants aside from Isabella and Simon had displayed that kind of panache, he didn't find Summerella particularly interesting but he was happy to have her regardless, medics were an important resource after all.

"For all of you who aspired to be a Magic Knight but didn't make the cut, allow me to offer my sincerest thanks for the valor you've shown in your willingness to defend our great country. Understand that this is but one road out of many, and although this might not be your calling in life, all craftsmen, merchants, fathers and mothers are no less heroes of our land than these brave men and women chosen here today. Give them a round of applause, celebrate their valor, but don't hesitate to celebrate your own as well.. for you are all people of the Clover Kingdom and each of you play an important role."

With these words of reassurance out of the way, Guthrie stood up from his embellished throne and once more allowed his cloak to billow outwards dramatically, as it had been specifically enchanted to do. But this time he directed his sight not below at the newly elected magic knights, but to the skies so far above them, as he reached out with a gloved hand bearing the royal signet and made a single gesture, emphasized with a dramatic flourish, sending a ripple of tremendous magical power throughout the colliseum as he cast a spell great magnitude, great enough to momentarily cause the structure to tremble in protest.

For a few moments it seemed as though nothing had occured, aside from the King arbitrarily wasting a significant portion of his magical power, perhaps? But then a shocked spectator pointed to the sky, shortly followed by several more in turn, for in those very heavens, the clouds have turned pitch black and shut out the rays of the sun, casting a pall down at the Clover Kingdom.

Then it began to rain, furiously, almost as though an entire lakes worth of water had been suspended above them, conjured from nothing except for the King's colossal resserves of mana. Yet the rain never reached the ground, instead it coalesced into dozens upon dozens of giant orbs of water in the sky, hovering above the arena as the clouds began to scatter in turn, all except for one particularly dark area of the sky, wherein the clouds gathered into a vaguely serpentine form that then slithered down towards the arena in circular motions, as the belt of dark clouds eventually encircled the entire colliseum, and that was the moment that the black curtains dispersed to reveal a truly monstrous creature.

Gorgeous she was, a massive draconic being of light blue, silver and turquiouse, her impossibly long slender frame cradling the arena and those within it almost like a loving mother holding her child in her protective embrace. Her upper body was lowered towards the floor of the colliseum, deliberately within reach of the aspirants. And it was in that moment that the water dragon revealed her sheer magical power, a force that might've seemed unconquerable and hopeless.. a presence of such titantic proportions that it might feel as though it attempted to drown the aspirants in its overwhelming excess. It was an amount of power easily comparable to, or perhaps even surpassing that of most Captains.

With the Eidolon summoned, Guthrie sat back down into the comfort of his throne as he once more directed himself to the aspirants down below. "This is the Eidolon, Leviathan. In the line of work that you will undoubtedly find yourself in, you may often be forced to face down opponents far greater than any of you individually, sometimes the difference will be manageable with good teamwork, other times not. Regardless I have summon Leviathan to test your mettle when you are forced to band together to survive against a vastly superiour foe, know your capabilities.. understand your synergies and find a way to survive for three minutes without being completely incapacitated. Any questions?"

"There it is." Wulfric marveled, staring at the great beast within the sky. He stood beside his captain, Wynter, the leader of the Azure Deers. "It's marvelous how it swims through the sky like its water." Wulfric had only seen it once before but it was always a treat to see the king's magic. "I can't believe he's sending this thing after those kids now. If they make it through this they're definitely magic knight material." He continued before waving to the competitors in the arena. "You can do it, I believe in all of you." He shouted with a great cheer and shimmering smile. Risk it all competitions always made him so excited.

Kaihime was overwhelmed with shock and amazement. Another test? Nonetheless against a monster of such godly proportions. Who would think that the King could wield such power!? Either way, she could feel the exhilarating rush of battle coursing through her veins. The bestial hunt overwhelming her as she reigned in control of her mana. But she suddenly remembered the painful failure she experienced nought but several hours before. Fighting for a kingdom meant fighting for a single goal. One dream which meant something far beyond petty differences or selfish motives. No. She had to do something greater. So she stepped forward and eyed the demon. She looked to her new comrades and smiled. She had experienced the others battles and had a pretty good idea of who possessed what fighting style. This thing was huge and probably could perform miracles.

"Hey, royal punk," She called to Indra. "why don't we grab that things attention."

"...Wow..." Nolan was stunned at the display of magical power by the King, and could only keep his eyes open in awe of the beautiful creature before him. But once he heard the announcement, he shuddered and kept his guard up. He knew that working on his own wouldn't be able to accomplish anything, but realizing the point of this exam, he tried to find Arthun again. Although the man disappointed him once, ultimately, this was a test of collaboration. "*I doubt, against an opponent of this caliber, he would act so recklessly again...*"

"Arthun!" Nolan found his former partner, standing next to him. "I know we got off to a rocky start, but...I also have the ability to use Water Magic, by channeling my power through a Sapphire. While I know this creature is made of water...if we combine our powers together with the other Water Magic user here, we should be able to make an opening for that guy named Indra to deal a powerful blow with lightning!"

Looking at Nolan with slight surprise in his eye's Arthun merely nodded towards him showing this time he would cooperate as in a situation such as this one trying to act solo would only get him and everyone else killed.

Kowa was rooted in place as she watched the monstrosity appeared from the sky. How did a King gain control of such a monster?? The girl couldn't fathom it's existence: only that the King had to be so kind of monster himself if he controlled the towering thing in front of her; her abusive family suddenly appeared small. Kowa roused herself from her stupor as she realized the element that overwhelming the environment: water. She could use that. The other ability would be pointless here anyway. Water swirled around her, forming several copies of the water serpent; her efforts were made easier by the moisture released from the king's gargantuan storm. She looked for the other Magic Knights as the serpents flocked around her, ready to be used. "Does anyone have a plan?"

The King's speech had certainly been music to Dale's ears, it was pretty nice that people were getting recognition. The sight of Leviathan had left his mouth hanging open, his hands had tightened into fists without his own notice. As much as he had traveled in his life, Dale hadn't encountered that many monsters to fight, but, this should be some experience.

However, even when he had these mannerisms himself, Dale couldn't notice how the others had felt, at all. He had meant to approach that Nolan earlier, glancing at the mentioned knight who had been talking with another examinee, but time had been cut short with this upcoming battle. Maybe, just maybe, they would all speak with their magic and fists in this conflict-

"Oi, oi, my friends!" Dale snapped his head at Indra and Kaihime, "Now, let's not beat each other around and focus on that friendly beast which is wanting to drown us." He smiled, glancing at the each of them while putting a hand on their shoulder. Even when close to them, Dale looked at the other examinee, Kowa, "Hmmm? Well, if we manage to bring together the ones with similar affinities... we could probably try and overwhelm it with team attacks?" His hands gripped tighter, should Indra and Kaihime snarl at each other.

*"Finally."* Indra thought to himself as a smirk formed across his face. It was the first time he'd seen King Guthrie's magic in action. Previous Kings were nothing but measly vessels, but the young mage had heard tales from his elder brother, that King Guthrie was a separate being from his predecessors. Over his head a water beast lay ready to react dependent on it's master's orders. Indra's grimoire slowly levitated outside of Indra's jacket, resting right at his side opening itself onto a random page. Both himself and his spellbook began to emit electricity from their person. A lightning bolt shot down from the existing dark clouds, tearing its way through the subtle winds colliding with the earth near where Indra stood.

"Aye, you psycho loli." He called out in response to Kaihime. "You got some kick tho'. Dale. It's so much, we can accomplish with all these varieties of magic here. Gather 'em all together." Indra switched his attention back to Kaihime. "Distraction you say? Didn't you see my battle? That shouldn't even be a question for me." With that, he dashed forward his speed parallel to when he accelerated forward towards his opponent's pillar in his battle. "Better keep up, you loose beast."

Simon Lovelace took an involuntary step back in apprehension at the immense creature, he'd never seen its like, just what was this thing. Nevertheless he could not afford to be overwhelmed here, he'd been chosen to become a member of the illustrious Golden Dawn, an exceedingly rare honor for a commoner to achieve.

He braced himself as he listened to the plan of his fellow Magic Knights, wordlessly he began to prepare a powerful spell preemptively, since it seemed as though Leviathan would not make the first move. The shadows around him began to lengthen and grow darker still, as they whirled and coalesced around his form as he concentrated upon what was perhaps the single greatest spell in his repertoire, unfortunately unsuitable for direct combat due to its sheer casting time.

"Allies! I believe our best chance of completing this test is to hit it with the heaviest hitting spells in our repertoirs, attacking it with less effective offensive spells will likely just be a waste of mana. Therefore I believe that individuals who primarily employ magics of healing, protection or support should use their unique talents to ensure that our mightiest magics are allowed to unfurl in full. If you can fend off the monsters attacks for a while and prevent it from disrupting my concentration I should be able to unleash my most powerful spell upon it. It won't kill it, but it should weaken it somewhat, hopefully making it easier for us to pass the test. Most of us will need to exhaust ourselves to fulfill this harsh objective."

Isabella took a few moments to stop staring in awe at the huge creature. She had known the king was rather powerful, but she hadn't expected anything like this to be at his beck and call. She stared for nearly a minute before her lungs ached, and she remembered to breathe again.

"We have to survive against this thing?" Isabella said to herself, her heart in her throat. She swallowed it quickly though, and then rapidly started walking towards everyone else. She knew they'd have to work together. She reached them right as Simon was going through his speech.

"I may be able to help with that, Mr. Lovelace." Isabella said from the edge of the group. "But I can also add a bit more. My shields should last for a little bit, but I haven't used my spear yet. So if I may, I can head up blocking for you Mr. Lovelace, then if your magic staggers it for long enough, I may be able to drive it further back with my own. Would that work for you?" she finished with a question. She disliked butting in like this, but she'd rather not die to the serpent above. "This may be our best shot at surviving."

Simon looked towards Isabella and nodded in assent and gratitude at her willingness to cooperate with him. "Thank you. It seems as though we thought in similar veins" Redoubling his efforts now that he was reassured of his companions assistance, he was surrounded in a spherical field of clashing darkness as he concentrated upon a single black sphere held between his large hands. He suspected the battle would soon begin and he hoped that his spell would reach its completion.

As if to emphasize this point the tremendous creature lifted its enormous upper body as the air across the arena began to turn humid enough that it seemed to soak the aspirants even in the absence of visible water, almost like being submerged in a pool you couldn't see. Users of water magic would immediately note that their spells seemed easier to cast and empower under these circumstances.

Dale took for bringing both of them into the conversation, seeing as they were planning things on their own. "Pardon my intromission, Sir Lovelace, Miss Isabella, it would be of great help if we could include the others in this!" He gently slapped both Indra's and Kaihime's back-heads, "These two here have some great offensive and agile capabilities!" Dale patted his chest several times. "And I have the Magic of Ash, with it, I can move around and probably limit some of this beast's visibility."

Simon nodded in assent at the statement. He couldn't afford to speak though, for fear of disrupting his spellcasting, but he hoped that they'd paid enough attention to be able to relay it further to the others. He drew upon his significant resserves of mana to begin to form his spell into being, but he needed much more time than this and he could only hope they succeeded in keeping their adversary occupied.

In that moment Leviathan finally deigned to act, for whatever reason she had waited for them to make something approaching a strategy before attacking, whether at her own behest or by the command of the King was uncertain, but she let out a terrible roar that shook the very foundation of the arena and unleashed an enormous amount of magical power, which washed over all of the newly made Magic Knights, threatening to bring them in knee from her power alone. Silence pervaded the air for a moment before Leviathan began her first assault.

A massive wall of water gushed forth up from the ground, conjured into being from thin air, through nothing but the Eidolon's will. It cast a looming shadow over the participants as it blocked out immediate sight of the massive creature and expanded to the full width of the entire arena in the span of but a few seconds. The crest of the summoned tidal wive whipped a frothing white by the wind, and then the massive wall began to move slowly, as smaller waves of water issued from the top and splashed against the feet of the participants, before the miniature tsunami was unleashed upon the former aspirants in a single wet roar.

Leviathan's attack had been telegraphed to great effect in order to help ensure an optimal reaction from the participants, but none could deny the enormous destructive power contained within the wave, mighty enough to crush regular people with ease and overwhelm a larger group of lesser men and women than them, so immense was the scope of the tidal wave though that it would undoubtedly endanger all of them in turn. Gasps of shock and excitement ran through the audience, deeply interested in just what their heroes would do with such a mighty attack. Surely this spectacle would turn heads nationwide!

"If anyone can stop this, NOW would be a lovely time." Isabella said loudly to the other trainees as she felt her heart shake, the beast from above making it's power known. A wall of water, far too large for her to block the entirety of, even if she still had all her mana.

"All right Isabella, you can do this." She whispered to herself as she got between the older dark mage and the wall of water. Her formed a ball between her hands, channeling her mana into the sphere for a moment as the torrent of water bared down upon her. "Light Magic: Bright Wall!" She yelled as she brought her hands forward. As before, the sphere flattened and expanded outwards, forming a flat plan of light nearly twenty feet to a side. As long as it held, the water itself would be blunted and slowed before it hit either of them, hopefully allowing the other mage to continue his incantation.

The water hit the wall hard, pushing Isabella back nearly a foot with her wall of light. It exploded in all directions, causing a rain from above from the water that had lapped above the top, soaking her to the bone quite quickly. But the wall held, barely, it's current routed around the wall before refilling in behind the pair of mages as it approached the coliseum wall behind them.

Kowairo noticed the changes in the environment increased, water magic becoming easier to utilize as she increased the number of constructs around her further. She formed them into a bristling formation as her knees began to shake from fear, the Leviathan making its presence known with an almighty roar. She didn't like her odds at all as the preceding water lapped at her feet and legs. She began drawing on it, trying to work it into her already existent serpents as her grimoire opened.

She sent the motley crew she had assembled forward as the tidal wave crested in front of her, the group solidifying into a counter wall, albeit smaller than the original. In her mind she concurred with the brunette, Isabella if she remembered correctly. "Can anyone else use water magic here?? Because now would be a good time to activate it..." Kowa only hoped to slow down the incoming surge as it rocked her impromptu defense, looking to buy time for the rest of them. Terror at the sheer size of the offensive continued to make her mind tremble.

Dale had actually rushed in as soon as Simon gave his confirmation, and the other examinees proceeded to do their movements. They had focused on defense, using constructs with their magics, "Water, huh?" But Dale had a different idea in mind, standing slightly in front of both barriers as the water came to hit them.

His grimoire raged open, pages skipping, Dale bellowed, "Here goes a double- **Bastion Shot!**" Below his armor, his muscles flexed and his magic power flared offwards, manifesting as a hot crimson aura. Dale's knees bent and his hands held out as ash accumulated in the form of orbs on both of them. "HOW-" Dale's eyes widened and his arms rushed, "-EVER!" The orbs collided against one another, his palms pressing them further until they collapsed into themselves and became one.

A roar was needed to fight another roar, "**BASTION WAVE!!!**" Dale cried from the top of his lungs, mashing both his arms forward as a mix of embers and ash took the form of a large beam, and exploded forward. It brought forth a scorching heat, as the concentrated explosion hit head-on against the water wave of Leviathan, bringing various explosions with it.

But, it didn't just hit any spot, Dale had sensory capabilities, even in a moment such as this one, where he aimed, how he attacked, it was never random. The attack had aimed at the epicenter of the wave's body, seeking to completely disrupt it and possibly evaporate what remained of it. The resulting clash would cause steam to cover a major part of the place, mixed in with the continuously produced ash, but, Dale focused it all on the area around Leviathan. Even if it could sense mana, its senses may have been confused due to the amount of ash and steam it would inhale.

Kaihime had vanished. Retreat maybe? No. Someone so obsessed with combat and victory would never leave her new comrades in battle. A adrenaline filled scream shook the air above as a figure cloaked in black energy fell from the sky. Yes. Her previous statement was actually a ploy. Use everyone else to divert attention, allowing the young psychopath to dash up the wall and launch herself high into the air where she began to fall towards the demonic water goddess. Her roar was filled with the flames of hell, transforming her into a spinning wheel of anger and passion.

"Don't. Touch. My. Comrades!" She barked. It was a weird phrase. Or the weirdest thing one would expect her to say. But the resulting shockwave producing heel kick to the demon's skull possessed enough power to possibly grab its attention. So that instead of launching an even larger blast of water, it might hopefully focus on Kaihime instead.

Zahra had been inactive for a long time, completely shocked by the power of the Eidolon. It was a wayward wave that shocked him out of his stupor. He would kick himself for being so easy scared into inaction later. It was really embarrassing, but he needed to make up for it by doing *something*. He used the power of his left hand to dry himself and rid the water from the area immediately around his body "Sand is good against water!" He called to the others "I can make sure we stay dry..."

He didn't like using the spells from his grimoire. Most of them were immensely draining on his mana reserves, and it was just easier to convert the ground to sand and send attacks that way. But sometimes, he didn't have any choice. This was one of those times. He didn't have many options because he didn't have the mana to dry the entire arena so he could convert the ground to sand. That left one thing he could do.

He took a knee and slammed his hands on the ground at his feet, mana coursing around him in a powerful surge. Strange markings glowed to life on his body, snaking up his arms and shining clearly even through his clothes. The markings seemed to flow and shift like water, elegant and ever changing. More blossomed across his face, centered around his eyes, his irises glowing with the mana he was using for this spell.

"Waters run and fish swim, I beseech thee to lend me your aid, the blessing of the Great River, **Temple Domain: Reach of the River Queen**!" Pulses of mana were sent into the ground in droves for a second before surging back up towards their origin, sand bursting from the ground and into the air around Zahra. He stood at the center of the sand geyser, his clothes fluttering around him with the force. The sand flowed and floated around him as it shot up, as if it were water instead of grains of mineral. The mana within the sand had been used to generate a drying aura, getting rid of the moisture around Zahra almost instantly. With the effort to enact the spell, he felt like he was ready to pass out. He was running on empty, but the spell allowed him to manipulate his sand without expending any more mana. He took to the sky in a cloud of sand and called down to the others again "I'll work on defending you all when you need it." He was able to eye Kaihime from his position and sighed *She is definitely going to need it...*

Nolan knew that this was the only time he had to show off his potential, unlike his abysmal display before. Noting that his comrades' defensive options were being broken through, he decided to do his best to reinforce them. His grimoire flipped to a page in the middle, and he slammed his palm to the ground. "Diamond Fortress!" The ground began to quake, which interrupted the advance of the oncoming tidal wave, weakening it in part. Suddenly, large, thick walls appeared from the earth itself, which soon elevated and surrounded his comrades in an earthen dome with an opening at the top. This would protect them all, albeit momentarily.

"Guys! Let's reinforce our defenses one after the other so when we're all prepared, we can shoot it down with one big attack! Those of you who have powerful spells, make sure you prepare them!" Nolan told the rest of his comrades, knowing that there were a couple of Magic Knights here with outstanding power compared to someone like himself.

Easing her way onto the battlefield, Summerella tried keep her head lowered down. She then remembered Solomon's words, it had been the first time someone outside of her mother had shown sincere care for her. As she lifted her head, her grimoire came rising to her side. Seconds later it flipped itself through a few pages. "Light Magic: Great Wall!" Over her comrades, a bit more behind them than directly over, a wall of white light formed. The wall was wide enough to cover almost the entirety of the Colosseum's width. "O-once all of your attacks are launched, I'll move this wall over us to protect from any counterattack." Light Magic: Great Wall was a spell that relied on "the time of day". The more light outside, the bigger and stronger the wall becomes.

Indra smiled happy to see Summerella back out there. While he locked himself into admiration, Kaihime had took initiative and advanced forward with her attack. She sprang up into action, ready to unleash one of her psycho moves. *"Defenses ready. Loli's attackin'. Guess it's my turn."* Stopped right underneath the great beast he quickly looked back at his comrades who had been launching spells. Dropping to his knee he reached for his grimoire. Instead of allowing the spellbook to change pages on its own, he did it manually. Mumbling he released the book and let float it back at his side once again.

"Let my magic power be the catalyst for a being that transcends all of comprehension. Let that being lend me his power in battle, roar through the clouds and pierce the earth!" The existing white clouds outside of the dark ones created by Leviathan began to light up. Three bolts of lightning made their way out of the clouds, maneuvering around and under Leviathan right in front of Indra crashing against the ground. The bolts ripped through the earth literally kicking the rumble from the violent crash up into the air creating a gust of debris completely concealing Indra from view. Within the debris electricity sparked. Then just a few moments later a thunderous roar filled with bass from within the debris resonated across the Colosseum. The roar's might was defined by it's ability to clear the debris revealing an all new being: a Dragon composed of lightning by utilizing creation magic. "Lightning Creation Magic: Raging Dragon!"

Hopping atop the mythical serpentine beast, Indra directed it towards the belly of Leviathan. "I ain't got too many tries at this." He stated as the dragon fired a bolt of lighting from it's mouth.

Dale's powerful magic caused an entire section of the wall of water to dissipate as though it had never truly existed, turning into a massive plume of steam that was directed around Leviathan herself, as Dale intended for her to inhale it and in so doing be adversely affected. Unfortunately for the warlock however, it didn't seem as though the creature even needed to breathe, neither did it seem as though it had any lungs or organs to effect. Consequently the steam did little to bar the monsters progress and might infact be more dangerous to Dale's allies under these circumstances, especially Kaihime, who swooped down from the heavens to deliver a mighty blow! Perhaps unwittingly inhaling some of the mages steam and ash herself.

Kaihime's attack was a direct hit, the great force of her attack momentarily causing the beast to divert its attention towards her, although it appeared to have taken only minor damage from even this potent a blow. Even so this lapse of Leviathan's defenses this caused was then exploited by Indra who unleashed a blast of lightning at her belly, which coursed through the ambient water in the air and caused her form to momentarily quake with residual electricity.

For a moment it looked as though the Eidolon had sustained heavy damage from the attack, but although she'd clearly felt it, it'd take much more than that to truly injure Leviathan. Still, the spectators expressed great surprise at the phenomena, the freshly made Magic Knights were actually opposing an Eidolon, an impossibility in the minds of most regular citizens of the Clover Kingdom.

Nevertheless the three knights had succeeded in their primary task, as the Eidolon focused all her attention on them and decided to attack them to the exclusion of the other party members. Her eyes gleamed with a flash of blue as the air around Indra, Dale and Kaihime would expand into three large spheres of water, seeking to encase them both from multiple directions and incapacitate them, as mighty currents swirled about on the inside of the watery prisons, intending to keep them immobilized and show them just what it would be like to drown in the sky.

Still atop his dragon-like creation, Indra directed his beast accordingly in attempts to successful dodge being encased by it's water prison. *"Imagine, bringin' out a new spell... Only for it to tickle ya' opponent."* Leviathan was much more skilled than Indra, or any of the mages who currently faced her for that matter, so her control over her magic was like no other. This was Indra's first time using this spell after it's creation and his control over it was poor. The speed at which she commanded her water prisons close, was much faster than Indra's beast could dodge.

Leaping from the Dragon he watched as it was swallowed by the Water Empress' prison. Quickly falling to the ground, Indra's grimoire began to flip through pages before finally coming to a halt. "Lightning Creation Magic: Golden Thunder Bird." Utilizing both Indra's mana and lightning magic a bird composed of electricity formed out on the side of him, flying underneath the mage becoming a safe landing cushion for him. "This ain't going anywhere."

It seemed the distraction was working, which meant her shields could drop for the time being as she switched up tactics. Releasing her hold on the water serpent wall, the girl drew on the newest addition to her repertoire: flames. They roared to life around her, the area steaming as the humid, wet atmosphere was heated. A fire ball formed in either hand before growing larger and larger. She saw Indra escape one prison as his dragon was swallowed, but had no idea what the other two would do. Releasing a war-cry that surprised herself, she launched each scorching fire ball at the prisons forming around Dale and Kaihime, looking to give them any amount of time needed to evade the trap if not stop it.

Despite Leviathan's speed, Dale was not surprised at all as it redirected its attacks at him and two others. Its speed had been blinding, even for Dale, who had foreseen its intention and was seemingly trapped in its water attack, his eyes narrowing and his muscles not bulging. Dale had to think of something, he couldn't just be taken out now after a single attempt at hindering the beast.

Using an explosion, maybe he could fly off the water's caging range, and subsequently push it away... even if it would leave him vunerable mid-air. Maybe not, this was not a simple trap, and he didn't think a simple attack of his could do it. Even if Dale used a strong attack, it was possible that it could harm his person as well. Yet, he couldn't give up-

A sudden cry jolted Dale out of his thought process, as a fireball slammed against the water cage, generating stressful amounts of steam as the trap bulged.

This was it... no matter where this came from, Dale knew this was from an ally and proceeded to take advantage of the scenario. Embers bursted out of his hands, as they directed towards the ground, and sent him rocketing through the air, past the weakened cage made out of water. Dale frantically looked around, "Is anyone going for a head-on attack?!" He yelled, even if not, Dale prepared yet another spell of his with both hands, waiting for any signal or attack from another examinee.

Isabella noticed that the beast above had deigned to ignore the mages who hadn't attacked yet, instead going after those who had dared to assault it.

"Mr. Lovelace, if that creature is going to ignore anyone who hasn't attacked it yet, I am going to switch to offense. This spell shines bright enough you should blend in." She said with a smirk as the rest of the mages began to react to it's assault.

Isabella seemed to blink out of existence again, appearing again a short distance away. She raised her right hand above her head. Her body was awash with light as her Mana surged forth. A ball of light seemed to form in her hand.

"I call upon the light of the sun, moon, and the river of stars that brighten the sky..." She began to incant as her Mana was drawn into the sphere, the aura cloaking her body fading as it too was consumed. The world around her seemed to darken as if the light was drawn into the ever growing sphere.

Motes of light would begin to appear around the Colosseum as the magic power, the auras of all the living people and the remnants of all the spells cast here coalesced into shining light, all formed with the purpose of powering this spell, Isabella's strongest.

"Fall from the heavens as you heed my cry..." She continued as the darkness spread from her, all the surrounding light being drawn into the orb above, as bright as the sun itself.

"Shine brightly as day turns to night..." Isabella chanted as she had passed the half way mark on the spell. The motes of light were moving faster now, shooting towards her as if stars shooting across the darkening sky. She'd never be able to cast a spell of this magnitude under her own power, but this one was powered by far more than just her.

"Let all perish who are pierced by this spear's holy light." Isabella finished as the last of the stars disappeared into the orb raised up high. The world around her had gone pitch black, only illuminated by the miniature star she now held, all other lights irrelevant to it's unyielding shine.

Isabella grasped the orb of light, shoving her hand into it as the arm of her blouse seared away, revealing the bare skin underneath. The orb distorted, rippled, and shined, elongating into a pillar. Detail gave way, as the shape of a spear emerged. A spear of light designed to burn away any and all darkness.

Isabella drew her arm back, almost buckling under the strain. The ground cracked under the pressure of the spell, and she didn't look like she was far behind.

"LANCE... OF... LONGINUS!" Isabella yelled as she brought her arm forward, the spear leaping from her hand at a blinding speed, aiming to pierce straight through the Leviathan up above with all the power it had collected behind it.

At about the same time as this occured, Lovelace's spell was completed and he directed his hands, which shone with a palpable black miasma at the Eidolon as he uttered the name of his spell,

"Erebomantra - Ginnungagap!"

No sooner had he spoken those words before innumerable pitch black motes began to form around Leviathan, pulsing as they grew larger and larger and soon engulfed her entire upper body, their dim causing all other light to fade, all light that is, except for the Spear of Longinus being hurled by Isabella.

So powerful was that strike that it evaporated the entire upper body of the eidolon, empowered as it were by the efforts of all mages who had participated in the exam today or used their magic, including both the King and Leviathan and some members of the Magic Knight captains.

Water rushed to reform the vaporized parts of the creature with mana, but then Simon's spell fully coalesced into its proper form, as each mote of darkness, each pocket of blackness erupted into a discordant explosion of rupturing gravity.

Black and blue flashed throughout the arena, each blast shaking its foundation and causing numerous members of the audience to shield their ears, as Simon's spell sought to unravel everything that the creature before him was. But when at last the spell had ran its course, Leviathan reformed once again, but it was obvious from how she carried herself that she had suffered significant damage, likely far more than the noble king ever expected her to. Although someone of Simon's knowledge could tell that it was Isabella's magic, not his own, that had truly dealt a major blow.

Then came the applause, as most members of the audience stood up to give a standing ovation to magic knights, admiring their tenacity and teamwork and being truly inspired by their sorcerous prowess. The king himself stood up as well and made a dismissive gesture of his hands, causing Leviathan to disperse into a whirling column of black clouds that shot up into the skies and dispersed in all cardinal directions as King unsummoned his Eidolon, marking the end of this surprise round of the exam. He then smiled and joined his subjects in their adulation of the examinees.

"Fantastical work, never have I witnessed such immediate camaraderie from a new batch of recruits. Magnificent, you will all bring our Kingdom glory and today you have proven yourself worthy of the mantle that you now bear.. although it is but a formality, I, Guthrie the Second, Son of House Clover and Humble King of our lovely Kingdom do declare you all Magic Knights!"