The Medical area…

Noelle walked into the place where Asta, Kahono, and Kahono’s older brother Kaito had been placed, after the battle with Vetto. She was carrying a tray of tea and snacks the locals had made for the patients. When she came in, she looked around first, before she saw Kahono sitting up and looking out the window near her bed into the sea, bandages wrapped around her neck.

“Kahono!” she called out as she came over and set the tray down.

Kahono looked over at her friend and simply softly smiled, while Noelle just looked at the bandages and started to tear up.

“I’m so sorry!” Noelle cried into her friend’s lap while Kahono reached out and stroked her head. “I couldn’t save you from him… It’s all my fault this happened to you! If only I was stronger…”

Noelle looked up, and Kahono just kept smiling and then closed her eyes as she slowly shook her head.

“She’s right,” Kaito said, agreeing with his sister while he struggled a little to sit up, “We’re the temple’s priests and were the ones charged with protecting it. So, something like this isn’t beyond what could happen, and don’t let it make you think we’ve given up on our dreams of being idols either!” He held up a fist. “We’ll just have to find some way to counter this curse or do something different!”

Kahono raised her fist in agreement with her older brother with a fire surrounding her.

Noelle couldn’t help but crack a smile while laughing a little at the siblings.

“You two don’t really let anything bring you down, do you?” Noelle asked. “Reminds me a little of someone else…” She recalled all the times Asta kept pushing on.

“He’s still passed out?” Kaito looked over at his new rival slash friend, “I can’t dance, but that’s just cause my leg was cut off. Asta’s arms were completely crushed, bone and all. With the curse in effect as well…. as a fellow swordsman and affectee of this curse, I… know it'll be hard on him.”

Suddenly, a seashell knocked the boy on the head. He looked over to see his sister glaring at him.

“Now, don’t you start that thought,” Noelle distributed the snacks and tea to everyone before, as she moved over and made sure Asta was tucked in, “I know Asta, and he won’t even stop to think about the loss of the use of his arms. If anything, this’ll motivate him to get even stronger and find a new way to use those swords of his. You all get some rest. I’ll be back in a bit to check on you.”

Noelle looked at Asta, who showed no signs of reacting to anything going on, before letting out a slight sigh of concern.

Kaito’s eyes never left Noelle’s form the whole time she was there until the second she left the chamber.

“So, that was the sea goddess,” Kaito mused with a bit of a blush on his face. “She’s even more beautiful than the doctors and grampa were gushing about. Goddess doesn’t even do her beauty justice,” he smiled goofily, “And she came to check on us herself…”

Kahono let out a strained sigh as she held her head, ‘Brother, you’ve already lost a fight you didn’t even get a chance to start.’

Elsewhere…

Both Yami and the Grand Priest had stepped away from their subordinates for the magic stone exchange and to have a private conversation about the fight, or more appropriately, what happened during the fight.

“That beast mage was extremely strong,” the grand priest stroked his beard, “Even by the Clover Kingdom standards, he was beyond most mid and high tier knights. It’s almost like he was one with mana itself. Then, there was that ominous mana that came when the sea goddess took him down the first time.”

“I’d say the top tiers of the damn cult are more than on par with the strongest of our top knight captains,” Yami puffed smoke, “And thanks to whatever that weird magic is, they're actually above that. I don’t know what kind of magic that is, but it’s far from natural.”

“I’ve been around for a while myself, and even if my people rarely leave this place, I can tell you that we’re far from cut off down here,” the priest continued, “I’ve been around the block a few times and seen quite a few rare types of magic, though today was my first time seeing dark magic, light magic, and even beast magic, let alone that demon beast magic that was used. Whatever happened to our furry friend was no ordinary type of spell, let alone magic. It must have been some sort of forbidden magic that can only activate when the host feels unimaginable rage. The rage fills their mana and even alters their magic, it seems.”

“I gotta agree with you there, old man,” Yami said as the ice in a nearby glass clinked as it melted.

“Now,” the grand priest turned to Yami, “About that boy of yours… That beast mage, Vetto, was an outright monster in terms of power, but your little bull, Asta, was able to match him, while also using two types of magic and three elemental abilities without any magic at all. That’s something I’ve never witnessed before, let alone heard of, not to mention that black power he used, as well. He fights like a seasoned veteran and can also dominate fights with little to no effort, let alone without even using an ounce of his magic power. He’s so strong, even for a sixteen-year-old kid. It’s not natural…”

“Not gonna deny you there either, gramps,” Yami nodded as he picked up his glass and took a swig of his whiskey then looked at his own reflection as he recalled his own fight with his recruit, where he did solely use his magic, “Asta’s always been off: the mentality he shows, the ability to fight with or without a weapon, and hell… even his magic is weird. He has two contrasting magic powers and even an ability to counter all magic, not to mention those other powers we saw, too…”

“I agree it's not a naturally occurring thing for a kid his age to wield so much power, let alone be fine with killing someone without even batting an eye,” Yami thought back to the fight Asta had with the Eye of the Midnight Sun and him and his fellow captains, “But the kid has a good head on his shoulders and a loving heart in his chest. He’s powerful, there’s no doubt about that, but at the same time, he’s still our loving goofball, who does what’s right.”

“Do you think he’d be willing to teach our people that ability to commune with water?” the grand priest practically begged.

“That’s something you’ll have to ask the kid when he wakes up, old man,” Yami held up a hand, “Now, about that magic stone?”

“Ah, yes… I haven’t forgotten,” the priest reached into his sleeve and pulled out the stone in question before handing it over to Yami. “Thank you and your squad for the help. I would also like to ask to speak with the young Sea Goddess, if it’s not too much of a bother to her?”

“Track her down and knock yourself out,” Yami stood up. “She’s probably going to be in the medical area, next to her boyfriend while he stays unconscious,” he waved as he walked away.

“Wait… Boyfriend?” the grand priest looked at Yami in confusion as he left.

Medical Area…

It was well into the night at this point. Asta suddenly opened his eyes, and soon, Raava appeared next to him with Liebe there in his spirit form, so no one else would see him.

It was a trick Asta picked up during his training with manifesting his zanpakuto in this world. Liebe had picked it up and learned how but was limited to the spirit plane. He could still interact with the living world if he tried hard enough. The most he did was to help control the swords during battle, but he didn’t waste his mental strength on manifesting.

Asta soundly sat up with a slight groan.

“Damn elf,” he angrily growled. “That fight was the hardest one I’ve ever fought. This damn body regression has really helped me realize just how strong I really was in Equestria...”

“Displaced are mostly like that,” Liebe pointed out, “Especially seeing as how you were originally a stuntman who was already in shape to begin with and knew his way around a fight.”

“The fact you grew up in a world that never knew magic helped you immensely as well,” Raava added, “Even in my world of origin, we had forms of spiritualism and spiritualists that had abilities akin to it.”

“True,” Asta sighed as he gathered his magic to specific areas of his body…

“Are you sure you should be training right now?” Liebe raised an eyebrow.

“You have been through a lot,” Raava nodded as she agreed with the demon, something that came to be quite common in recent times.

Suddenly, two arms made out of dark magic with a golden outline around them appeared on either of his shoulders. This action thoroughly shocked both the spirit and demon, as neither expected him to be able to manifest this in his state.

Asta looked over and saw Noelle sleeping in a chair next to his bed with a blanket on the floor. With his magic arms, he literally stretched them out and picked up the blanket, before wrapping it around his girl.

“Well, that was unexpected…” Raava finally spoke. “I didn’t think you could do this with your magic…” she curiously poked at Asta’s newest appendages.

“I have the ability to use Dark Creation Magic, so it’s not beyond my skill set,” Asta said as he raised the dark magical construct, noting it was the right choice to use dark magic as the bases, due to its stronger and dense nature but it made his reactions and overall motor control a bit slow. “Looks like just a little light magic infusion isn’t quite enough to make up for reaction speed,” he said as he saw the light golden aura fade away.

“This’ll have to do for now,” Asta said as he grabbed a nearby robe and went for a walk. Before leaving the area, he looked over at Kahono and then to Kaito. “I can at least give them something to help.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Raava said. “It could drastically change things here if you do,” she warned.

“I’m sure,” Asta sighed as he went back and walked over between the siblings and stretched out his dark magic arms again to touch the young priest and priestess’s foreheads as they slept. “Teach, Waterbending! Waterbending Basics! Low-Grade Martial Arts…” In a flash, the knowledge was deposited directly into their brains.

Asta retracted his arms and went back to head out. “It’s good to see my abilities can be channeled through my magic,” he smirked as he walked on.

Days Later…

Asta and friends had safely returned to the surface, with help from the Sea Temple inhabitants showing them the much safer route to get to the surface instead of relying on Noelle, something the water mage was more than pleased about, as she didn’t want to go through the currents against, not with how they barely made it the first time.

Currently, Asta, Yami, Charmy, and Final were in the capital to report in on the progress of their mission. Asta was also there to see the magic doctor that Yami often went to when he, as he put it, ‘needed to be patched up, back in the day’. The doctor was the first stop for Asta to have his arms checked, though personally, he knew there was nothing anyone could do, while Yami and the others stayed outside.

The doctor told everyone, while Asta was getting help from Charmy to get his shirt back on, that there was nothing he could do and that his days of using his arms were over, let alone his time as a knight.

After the healing session, everyone went to report to the Wizard King.

“So, I can take it that you were successful,” Julius looked over the group, mostly at Asta, before he looked towards Yami.

“Yep,” Yami looked at Asta out of the corner of his eye as he rubbed the back of his head, “I gotta say the bulls really pulled through on this one, especially the shrimp there.”

“To think the eye had sent its own to the temple at the same time,” Julius let out a strained sigh, “It only confirms we haven’t dealt with all the traitors, and that there is someone still pretty high up in ranks, as well.”

“How are you feeling, Asta?” Julius asked.

“Like I want to gut Vetto three times over,” Asta glared as he let his anger and bloodlust out. Everyone recoiled slightly, “Feel familiar?” he asked, as he reigned himself in.

“Yeah, pretty close to what we felt from the beast boy in the temple, but eviler from him than you,” Yami said as he lit a new cigarette, “And his magic also skyrocketed, but yours didn’t.”

“That’s because I’m not under the influence of a forbidden spell,” Asta added, catching everyone for a loop. “Forbidden magic goes against the very laws of the world itself, thus Vetto was under the influence of one such spell, allowing him the use of magic and power that normal mages wouldn’t even think of touching.”

“It does make sense,” Julius thought. “But how do you know of such magics?”

Asta silently stared and sighed.

“I know about it because I’ve… seen it used before,” he somewhat lied, though recalling the same of the feats his older brother did that pretty much slapped reality in its face. “It’s not pretty, and there is usually a price to pay for the use of such magics. The caster is even altered in some way as they cast the spell,” Asta added, while Nero, who’d been perched on his head the whole time, was silently shaking and sweating.

“You’ve been through a lot,” Julius looked at him with a small smile, “I appreciate all you've done and for what you’ve told us. I’m pretty sure you won’t be in the field anytime soon, but I’ll keep you informed of any further developments that we come across. Hopefully, you’ll find something to help with the missing use of your arms.”

“I did that in the temple already,” Asta said as he materialized his dark magic construct arms and flexed, causing everyone’s mouth to drop to the floor.

“It’s just basic magic control and imagination,” Asta remarked as he pulled his Slayer out of his black grimoire in its magic form, “The downside though is I can’t use most of my anti-magic powers. I can’t still have the blades in their forms, but the best iPhone is my Slayer because it doesn’t suck up my power like a sponge. I’ll still be taking that leave though. That battle in the temple really did a number on me, and I could really use the break to relax and also go check in with… some close friends and my family.”

“O-of course…” Julius said as he was pulled from his stupor.

“SIR!” Marx called out, as an image of him appeared behind Julius.

“Hey, Mushroom head,” Yami smirked slightly.

“I’ve told you before my name is-*Haizzzz*, ya know what? Nevermind… We don’t have time for this right now,” Marx groaned in an annoyed tone, before turning back to Julius. “Sir, it's Kaiten. We have a report that the Diamond Kingdom is attacking with four of the Shining Generals, and the Golden Dawn may need help!”

“Yami?” Julius turned.

“I’m down,” he shrugged and looked at Finral, “Can you get us there?”

“Ah, sure. I’ve been to Kaiten before with you, to help with your gambling and drinking at one of the local bars,” Finral said, causing Yami to ominously start to scowl and crack his knuckles, “But, ah…. Are you sure you want all of us, sir?” he looked at Asta.

“He might as well come,” Yami said as he looked at Asta, “He’d probably shoot off on that damn sword and be there not long after we show up if we left him here, but you’re in charge of watching him, Charmy.”

“You got it, boss!” Charmy saluted, but the only thing she was really thinking about was the chance to see Yuno. “I get to see my prince in action, after so long apart!” she giggled while holding her face as she fantasized about Yuno sweeping her off her feet and offering her a plate of cream puffs.

“This’ll be a good chance to see if Yuno has made any progress,” Asta thought as Finral opened a portal. “And a good chance to try and break the ice with Mimosa,” he tacked, on as he walked into the portal, to come out on top of a house.

“No fighting for you,” Yami told Asta as he pointed his katana at his fellow swordsman, “That’s an order.”

“You mean a suggestion,” Asta said flatly, causing a vein to pop out on Yami’s forehead. “Don‘t worry. I won’t physically get involved unless it’s absolutely unavoidable. But at the same time, that doesn't mean I can’t fire off spells that don’t require me to get up close and personal,” he smirked.

“I guess that’s the best I can hope for,” Yami sighed as a massive tree grew from the sky into town. “I got somewhere to be right now. Need to go save my favorite watering hole…” he lied as he jumped off.

“Let’s go, shortcake,” Asta said to Charmy, who immediately started to look around for the dessert. “I meant you,” Asta raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, you were serious when you said you fire spells?!” Finral shouted as Charmy climbed on Asta’s back.

“Come or don’t,” Asta shrugged. “I can make better use of my time than just standing here and wasting away,” he said as he fired a light sword at an incoming diamond mage.

“AGREED!” Finral yelped, as he ran behind Asta as he headed for where Yuno, Mimosa, and Klaus were fighting, all while blasting enemy mages along the way.

All across the village, the inhabitants were running from the numerous Diamond Kingdom mages that had invaded alongside the four Shining Generals.

Klaus was currently locked in a fight against a flame mage who fought using blue and white fire magic.

“You really think you’re good, don’t you, steel boy?!” the mage laughed, “It doesn’t matter how much steel you have. I can still melt it all away with my heat!”

“Perhaps,” Klaus smiled as he looked to the collecting molten metal, “But even if it's molten, it’s still my steel, and I control it!” he held up a hand. “Steel Binding Magic, Steel Foundry Corporal Punishment!” he called out to the molten metal, which quickly surrounded the fire mage before quickly cooling and encasing him in an orientate and rather odd steel statue prison.

“A bit on the nose there,” Klaus heard from behind him. He quickly turned as he’d readied to cast his next spell but immediately stopped when he saw Asta looking down at him from a rooftop.

“Asta!” Klaus smiled as the anti-mage jumped down to land in front of his friend. “It's been a while. How have you been?” he then noticed his bandaged arms. “I see you’ve been even more reckless than usual. Trophies from your last mission or are badges of honor from yet another fight you narrowly won?”

“A bit of all of the above,” Asta shrugged.

Charmy immediately popped up, startling Klaus, “WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS MY PRINCE?!”

Klaus merely stared out of confusion, with his glasses sliding off to one side a bit. He then looked at Asta, who was just giving a deadpan stare.

“She means Yuno…” Asta kept his deadpan look.

“Oh….” Klaus said as he had no clue why Asta’s senior had a crush on his junior. “He’s fighting somewhere in the sky, I guess….” he gave an unsure shrug.

“HURRY!” Chrarmy pulled on Asta’s cheeks, “TAKE TO THE SKIES TO FIND HIM!”

Asta simply used his dark magic hand to pull her off and then throw her high into the sky.

“I FOUND HIM!” the two ground-bound mages heard her shout as she landed on a ball of cotton, then ran off to do her own thing.

“Have you seen Mimosa?” Asta asked.

“Yeah,” Klaus readjusted his glasses, “I’ve… ah… been meaning to ask… Did… something happen between you two? Mimosa has been a bit more… expressive as of late, and not in the shy way she usually is, but the in-your-face way you usually use…”

Klaus asked this just as a massive sunflower burst into the air and began to grab onto fallen mages and fling them at those flying on broomsticks or just outright blasted them with beams of magic.

“It’s complicated right now…” Asta replied with a hefty sigh as a charred mage faceplanted into the wall between the two men. “It’s very complicated….”

“Ooooookay then,” Klaus said as he thought to quickly change the subject, “I noticed you’ve gained a much more refined control over your magic.”

“Yep,” Asta rubbed his nose with a dark magic finger, “I can even use it in conjunction with my sword in their anti-magic forms, as long as I don’t coat them with my black power.”

“Interesting,” Klaus said as Mimosa landed.

“Klaus!” She called out. “I’ve taken care of the ones in this area…” she said as she finally spotted Asta.

“Hey, Mimosa,” Asta waxed causally with his magic appendage. “I wanted to come by and see how you’ve been holding up and to just… ya know… see you…”

He rubbed the back of his head as he looked off to the side.

“I think I’ll… just go see if Yuno needs any help… over there….” Klaus pointed with an odd laugh before darting off.

“What happened to your arm?!” Mimosa shouted as she rushed over and immediately performed a healing spell. “Geez… I take it you and Noelle worked things out…” she scowled as she looked right at him, “How could you tell us all that stuff and expect us to just accept it for the truth…. You’re from another world and a king in another world, and Twilight isn’t a fiance but your third wife!”

“Honestly… I thought you’d all slap the piss out of me then demand to never speak or see me again…” Asta sighed, “I told you girls 'cause I wanted you all to know the truth and not be surprised when we… ya know…”

“Wake up one day and find the man that all three of us fell head over heels for vanishes alongside his first lover,” Mimosa glared.

“No…” Asta countered, “I wanted you girls to know, so you’d be free to make your own choice about this relationship, when the time does come for us to part!”

He pulled away.

“I love all three of you girls equally and wanted you to know who I am, so you could choose to your own paths. Either keep being with me and come with me or stop being my girlfriend and continue to walk alongside me, but remain here in your world when the time comes for me to leave with Twilight!”

“I…” Mimosa started to say but then one of the Shining Generals, encased in what looked like a see-through slug, came out of nowhere, chasing a group of townsfolk.

“That’s right!” the old geezer laughed from inside his magical construct as one of the kids tripped and got stuck in the General’s magic, “Run all you like, but once my Mucas Magic has you, you’re stuck! AHAHAHAHA!”

“Hey,” Asta called out, “Old man, you better let the kid go and retreat, or you’ll regret it!”

The geezer looked Asta up and down, “And what exactly are you going to do, cripple!?! I don’t sense any magic from you at all, and what’s more, your arms are broken! AHAHAHAHA!”

Asta smirked. “I don’t need my usual arms to beat a gross snot blob like you,” his bloodlust grew as did his grin, “But I really need an outlet for some of this frustration I have, and you’re perfect for it.

He reached back with his dark magic arms and grabbed a hold of the Slayer. Taking a stance, he condensed his dark magic around his light magic onto the blade of his sword and took a stance, as he raised the sword above his head.

Mimosa immediately knew the spell Asta was fixing to use.

“Let’s see if you can handle this, ya gross old fart!” Asta shouted.

Mimosa used her plant magic to pull everyone out of the range of Asta’s next attack.

“Light/Dark Magic: Light of Darkness, Overheat SLASH!” Asta said as she sent a swift superheated light and dark slash that boiled the general construct, with Mimosa capturing him with her vines.

Asta returned his sword to his Grimoire and then looked over at his girl, who was busy healing and comforting the child.

“Mimosa…” he called out and got her attention, “I understand you still need more time. I just wanted to see you, is all…” he started to walk away, “I hope we can have a date soon!” He smiled at her, before walking away and meeting up with Charmy, who was hanging off Yuno, while Sylph did her best to keep the glutton off of him, by pushing her cheek.

“I really need that downtime…” Asta deadpanned.

ORIGINALLY, I had intened for this chapter and the next to all be one chapter but it sort of grew as I got into the groove. I split it at a decent part but the next chapter is way off base for BC and all my own writing. Next chapter will explore a bit more on Asta and his relationship with Rebecca as well as some past traumas that Asta never let go of and has become the root for our boy to blames himself for. Hope you enjoyed this and the next one as it won't be long for next chapter to be out.

GHOST ALVASA OUT!_!