Local Bar…

Asta sat at the bar, with Yuno on his left, the duo enjoying a fruity beverage. Mimosa and Noelle had both gone to the bathroom.

“You guys really pulled out all the stops to win the top spot,” Yuno decided to speak up, “So… that guy Edward… he’s your blood brother…?”

“We barely won that, and if we hadn’t had black stars, we wouldn’t have had to bust our asses. But, at the time, it's that effort that makes the victory all the sweeter,” Asta took a swig of his drink, “And yeah… He is… What of it?”

“He’s pretty powerful,” Yuno said, “What is his magic?”

“My older brother is a sage, Yuno. He doesn't have a set magic like we do with grimoires, but he instead has many magics that not even I know of. He doesn’t need a grimoire, either,” Asta held up his hand and ignited a fire in it with his bending. “And it’s not just magic, either. He has any number of treasures and powers at his disposal that far exceed mine,” he clenched his hand and caused the fire to fizzle out. “He was originally an alchemist,” Asta explained, as he pulled a charcoal pencil out of his satchel and drew a basic alchemical circle, and placed his drinking glass on it after he finished off its contents.

“Alchemy?” Yuno raised an eyebrow, “Not an uncommon thing. So, he researches and develops artifacts.”

“Not the whole picture in this sense,” Asta tapped the edge of the circle with his finger, and in a spark of blue electricity, the glass mug morphed into a sparkling glass statue of Sylph.

“You finally managed to appreciate the beauty of my form!” the fairy gushed over the statue, while Yuno marveled at his brother's actions.

“It's not magic, but a form of science, though it does have magic applications, from what I’ve heard from and seen him do. But, I can’t use it all the ways he can. It takes a more scientific mind, who knows what elements and shit are about,” he tapped the circle again and turned the statue back into a mug, severely displeasing the fairy, “Basically, my older brother is an incredibly powerful being who you shouldn’t mess with let alone be involved with, or let alone go looking for.”

“The tone of voice you’re using,” Yuno noticed. “It sounds like you respect and fear him, while also,” he said as he took note of his brother’s face and smirked, “...wanting to fight him.”

“You’re not wrong, brother,” Asta chuckled as he placed his money on the bar, “But… he’s so strong that I know I would never stand a chance against him as I am now, but that’s just for now…”

Yuno smirked, and then a stray thought crossed his mind, “If he’s your older brother, doesn’t that make him mine, Twi’s, and everyone at the church’s older brother, too?”

“In short, yes,” Asta looked over his shoulder. “This is a warning, Yuno,” he looked over his shoulder, “Don’t cross Edward and don’t go looking for him. He’s not someone you can go against, and killing is not hard for him to do let alone something he’s against. Death is a mercy from him.”

“Hey,” Noelle said coming over, “You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Asta smirked and noticed Mimosa was gone.

“Before you ask, she was tired and went with Rebecca,” Noelle crossed her arms under her chest, which she seemed to do a lot in front of him these days, “She did more of those performances than we did with Kahono, after the ceremony.”

“I never took her as one for performances,” Asta scratched his head, “But, I’m glad she was enjoying herself.”

“Headed home?” Yuno asked while walking up.

“Not quite yet,” Noelle uncrossed her arms, “We’re going to see Kahono and Kaito off first.”

“Okay then,” Yuno smirked, remembering Asta’s reaction on stage.

“I’m going to kill you if you mention it!” Asta yelled with a raised fist, as he knew what the black-haired boy was thinking.

“TRY IT, PIPSQUEAK !” Sylph roared, “Yuno will mop the floor with you!”

“Mind if I tag along?” Yuno asked his growling brother's girlfriend while said brother and the wind spirit glared at each other with electricity sparking from their eyes.

“Sure,” Noelle immediately answered.

The trio went and said their goodbyes to the Temple siblings and then started back into town. Noelle and Asta had decided to stay at Rebecca’s house, instead of heading all the way back to the base. They both knew Finral had either already left with a girl he managed to successfully hit on, only to be shot down, or he just got shot down and decided to curl into a ball and hide somewhere.

“Ready?” Asta asked.

“Yeah,” Noelle breathed out, “Tonight was far from the ordinary, even for us.”

“Tell me about it,” Yuno said flatly.

Noelle noticed Asta was thinking about something, “Something on your mind?”

“Sort of,” Asta rubbed his chin, “I feel like I’m forgetting something…”

“THIRD PLACE?!” a woman roared, “HOW CAN YOU IDIOTS GET THIRD PLACE!?! YOU LOST TO THE BLACK BULLS! THE BLACK BULLS! FROM NOW ON< I’M TAKING OVER AS CAPTAIN, AND YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO TRAIN YOUR ASSES OFF!!!!!”

“Oh yeah…” Asta slapped his forehead, “Let’s get out of here… quickly…”

“Hey!” the woman called out as three fiery lion claws reached out and pulled them in, “You’re the brats from the stage. It’s rude to eavesdrop. As punishment, you’re coming, too!”

“Ah… Asta…” Noelle looked to her boyfriend.

“Who is this?” Yuno asked.

“Captain Fuegoleon’s older sister and former captain of the Crimson Lions,” Asta explained with a flat look on his face. “Mereoleona Vermillion. Also known as the Crimson Lioness. It looks like the poor performances on missions have gotten under her skin enough to come out of retirement.”

“You’re pretty well-read, for a brat,” Mereoleona smirked.

“Got to be,” Asta said, “Especially when such a person worth fighting like you exists.”

“HAHAHAHAHA!” Mereoleona laughed, “I like you. Now, where are the other idiots?” She looked around, before turning down a nearby alley.

Captain’s Bar…

Yami was busy laughing his ass off, while gloating to the other captains. “BWAHAHA! I BEAT ALL YOUR ASSES LIKE DRUMS!!!” he belted, before downing a whole mug of ale, only to slam it down as he started laughing again.

Nozel silently stood at the bar. “How could we not even be in the top three…?” he murmured.

“What’s with the long face, fancy pants?” Yami smugly asked.

“Yes, we get it,” Nozel said with a bit of an annoyed tone.

“Was that jealousy I heard?” Yami held his hand to his ear.

The duo jumped apart and opened their grimoires, only to have the barkeeper come up and set a couple of martinis down. “You break anything, and you’re banned for life.”

The captains immediately sat down and drank their drinks.

“I can’t believe I lost to that drunk,” Charlotte whined.

“You’ll get him next time, Char!” Sol said as she tried to cheer up her captain slash love interest.

“It would be a waste to not drink such a delicate beverage,” Nozel said as he sipped his drink.

“Can’t fight with such good booze put in front of me anyway,” Yami picked up his drink, when there was a sudden explosion, as the door flew across the room.

“There you are,” Mereoleona said with a wide grin and her hands on her hips. “You’re all coming, too!” she said as she reached out with flame magic lion claws and grabbed everyone in the bar, except the barkeeper.

“So noisy,” the keeper said, as he wiped his bar down while being left alone.

“I agree,” Ed said as he walked in and sat down. “The usual, please,” he said with a twirl of his finger, and the bar was immediately reassembled.

“Thank you for that,” the barkeeper said, as he placed a bottle of bourbon down with a pair of glasses.

Ed held his hand over the glass, created ice, and used levitation magic to pour the liquor. “We need to have a nice long talk, Julius.”

They both enjoyed each other’s company for the rest of the night.

Grand Magic Zone, Magma Fields…

“This is where we’re going to train?” one of the crimson lions asked, as they all looked over the molten rock pools.

“Be grateful!” Mereoleona called out. “This is the Vermillion family’s private training area, and your goal,” she pointed to the top of the tallest volcano, “is to reach the summit by your own power!”

“Pass,” Asta said, as the flame claw holding him and his friends all burst, and they landed on their feet.

“You could’ve done that sooner,” Yuno commented.

“I didn’t say you had a choice,” Mereoleona smirked evilly.

“I don’t remember asking for permission,” Asta returned the woman’s glare with one of his own, “I have much better things to do than play a glorified version of King of the Mountain.”

That comment caused a vein to bulge in the red-headed woman’s forehead.

“You really shouldn’t have said that,” Leo said to himself with a smirk as he watched the show.

“I said I didn’t give you a choice, you little brat!” Mereoleona said as she lunged at Asta with a flame magic-empowered punch aimed right for the boy’s face.

Asta didn’t even flinch as a loud thud was heard. Everyone was just gawking as they stared at Asta holding on to Mereoleona’s fist.

“So, there's some truth to those rumors about your strength after all…” Mereoleona smirked.

“Captain’s punches are harder,” Asta said with a sharp tone as he reeled back and hit the red handed woman with a thoom, causing her to be knocked back, leaving twin trails in the ground from her feet.

Mereoleona’s grin only grew, “You really are a lot stronger than you look, kid.”

“He sent sis back with a counter punch,” Leo said with sparkles in his eyes, “I’d expect nothing less than that from my rival!”

“Asta’s gotten a lot stronger than the last time we saw him, for sure,” Fuegoleon said, as he stalled the lump in his throat.

“That’s a definite,” Yami rubbed the back of his head.

“This is the same kid we fought three to one, right?” Charlotte asked.

“Wait, those rumors were true, Char?!” Sol said with immediate disbelief, “I mean, I know he’s strong, but he can’t really hold his own against three captains…?”

“Call me Captain, and he’s no ordinary knight,” Charlotte didn’t even look at her subordinate, “You know this all too well, too, having fought him yourself.”

“Ehehe,” Sol nervously looked off to the side.

“Still,” Nozel said, as he eyed Asta and the marks left in the ground. “To think he sent one of the most powerful magic knights of our current roster that far back with a single punch on mere physical strength alone… It’s clear he’s someone who shouldn’t be taken lightly, no matter who you are.”

“Wait a minute,” one of the crimson lion knights said, “You said physical power alone. I’m sorry, sir, but I find that utterly impossible. That boy couldn’t have done that with sheer might alone.”

“You little fire breathers better believe it,” Yami smirked, “That kid is more than capable of out classing even me in terms of muscle power, and I’m pretty sure, if we were to go head to head on magic alone, he’d beat me this time around, even with my new sword.”

“Then, that means…?” another knight said.

“Yep, that kid’s power is the real deal,” Yami laughed.

“Of course it is,” Yuno smirked, “He’s my rival, after all.”

“So, kid,” Mereoleona flexed her hand, “You have the ability to fight without magic, and are pretty strong, even without your magic disrupting power, but you’re still afraid of your own power.”

Asta’s gaze narrowed.

“You’re too afraid to use your magic, cause you think you’ll hurt someone, or more accurately, too afraid to get to know yourself and what you might turn into,” Mereoleona put a hand on her hip, “If you don’t even know yourself, then you're not even worth the effort.”

“You think….” Asta clenched his fist.

“I’m right, and you know it,” Mereoleona waved off, as she turned to the others, “Alright, let’s move it. I want to see everyone at the summit.”

“How?” one of the crimson lion knights asked, “We can barely stand this heat, let alone climb a volcano in it…”

“Figure it out,” she smirked and took off.

“Asta,” Noelle came over to check on the boy, “Are you going to be alright?”

“I’ll be fine, Noelle!” he gave her a soft smile. “But, sometimes, the truth just needs to be thrown in your face…”

“Control the mana and the body,” Yuno said as he concentrated and formed mana skin over himself.

“I see someone’s been practicing,” Asta said, as Yuno smirked at him and took off, “Go on, Noelle. I’ll catch up. Need to learn how to do this myself.”

“You mean you've been teaching me this, but never done yourself?!” Noelle yelled in shock and anger, before leaving her boyfriend with a few lumps on his head. “Geez… I’ll be waiting…” she said, as she activated her mana skin and took off.

“Kid never learns,” Yami chuckled, before activating his own power, along with the others as they started to figure out the technique.

“You sure leaving him alone is a good idea?” Charlotte asked Yami.

“Yeah. The kid’s going to have a harder time than anyone else here, with his magic attributes!” Yami shrugged, “Asta has used his magic on himself from time to time, but he usually uses it to affect the area around him, to give him an advantage. Not to mention, when he uses the light and dark magic at the same time, the power it puts out is a bit on the wild side, with them being opposing elements. I have full confidence in the boy though. If he digs deep and pushes passed his limits…. He’ll be that much more of a threat to overcome.”

“The speed of light magic coupled with the power of dark magic,” Nozel thought, “Truly, a frightening monster you’ve brought onto your squad of already notable monsters, Yami.”

“No doubt about it,” Yami wildly grinned. “That kid is so much more than just another one of those run of the mill monsters. At times, he’s just an outright demon…”

Meanwhile, Raava held Liebe in his zanpakuto form, with both grimoires, as the two watched Asta from their spot on the outcropping of rock, overlooking where he stood on an island surrounded by superheated mana-enriched lava. Asta stood in his horse stance, as his body sweated, and his light and dark mana raged outward from his body as he struggled to get his internal magic pool under his control.

“Are you sure I shouldn’t be down there?” Liebe asked Raava, as he partially materialized in the air next to her, with her being the only one able to see him.

”You know you can’t,” Raava said with a sigh, as she started to explain, “We’ve both been holding him back when it comes to him fully utilizing his magical potential. Your anti-magic has kept him from using it, coming to solely rely on his magic solely as a sort of crutch to dull his sense of pain or as a quick recovery. My light spirit magic is strong, but he only used it for the strongest ones, leaving me more as a support role, again mostly for healing.”

”He does have a lot of internal magic, thanks to that rider’s mark and his constant use of big spells with it,” Liebe held his chin with his thumb and forefingers, “He only has a handful of spells he’s used, from time to ice, only really using his true magic power even less times than the number of spells he has.”

“And even then, the spells he used were so strong that they used up all the magic he had access to, severely exhausting his body,” Raava added.

”Then, there’s the fact the anti-magic kept him from getting a feel for his own power,” Liebe tacked on, ”Even if I’m not with him, he still has access to it and can make it himself, as long as he has one of the swords.”

“My spirit magic is a different source in a way, as I have to use Asta’s power as a sort of channel and battery at the same,” Raava explained, “I can use my own mana, but there’s not much more I can do without a contractor to direct or amplify it.”

“I see,” Liebe nodded, “Kind of like when I was solely trapped in the book, and in the sword now.”

They felt a surge of mana from below, before it quickly died down. They looked down, only to see nothing but a cloud of burning dust. The island where Asta was was now gone, along with Asta.

”Looks like you did it,” the demon smirked, as he and the light spirit turned to see Asta standing behind them, with light and dark aura covering his body.

“It still needs a lot of work,” Asta chuckled slightly, as he raised his right hand with a slight twitch, as he struggled to keep his mana in check, “I’ll be with Raava for a bit, Liebe. I’ll probably make it a common thing, at least a few hours a day, so I can practice control.”

”You won’t hear us complaining,” Liebe smirked as he raised his hands, “You get this power under control and know how to use it, and even this world’s current wizard king wouldn’t be a match for you.”

”I agree with him on that,” Raava nodded, “Though, perhaps try and spend some of that time with our dear Noelle. She has her own control issues, too, you know, and I know she’ll get a kick out of being the teacher this time,” she mischievously smiled.

“Yeah,” Asta gave a sideways glance.

”Speaking of little Ms. Water Works,” Liebe held up a finger, “Don’t you think it’s about time to play catch up to that lot? It shouldn’t take too long now.”

“Right,” Asta summoned his light and dark magic grimoire to his side, and it opened to allow him to pull his light magic katana. “Let’s play catch up,” he smirked as he took off in a blur, leaving a small crater behind with a single step.

Volcano's Lava Tube System…

Noelle and Leo had encountered a bit of an obstacle, in the form a massive fire salamander who’d woken up and decided to make the knights his breakfast.

“Hey, water girl, douse him already,” one of the knights called out.

“Yeah! You're a royal, aren’t you?” another said as they jumped back, dodging a strike from the lizard’s tail.

“What the hell can I do in this situation?!” Noelle retorted, “Yeah, I’m a royal and water mage mage, but I’m having a hard enough time keeping my mana under control with this mana skin, not to mention if I blast that thing, the steam would probably fill the area around us and boil us before we even get close to taking it down!”

“You guys really are spineless!” Leo scoffed as he rushed and landed a hard fiery punch on the beast, only to be knocked back. “Sis took us here for training, and all you want to do is have someone else do the work for you? How did any of you even get this far in our squad?” He looked at Noelle, “But, they have a point. Our magic is mainly fire based. I’d just be feeding its power. Yours is the only one we can really count on.”

“If I recklessly blast the thing, I could cause a steam explosion, stupid!” Noelle yelled, “I swear, you’re worse at listening than Asta. At least he takes into account things like the effect of spells on his surroundings. And like I said, I’m having hard enough time maintaining this mana skin.”

“Then, you should use mana zone instead!” came a new voice as Asta rushed in. “Light Magic, Blinding Slash,” he said, as he rushed through and was behind the salamander, to everyone’s shock.

The beast froze in place, a look of terror and pain etched into its face, before it fell into two pieces right down the middle, with one falling to the lava pool next to the path.

“He just took down that thing with one spell,” one of the Crimson Lion knights said, “I didn't even see him use it.”

“That’s my rival!” Leo laughed. “He’s gotten even stronger. That wasn’t just his light magic either. Speed plus the power boost from that dark magic!” he said to himself, “I really want to fight him now.”

“About time you showed up!” Noelle rushed over and saw the state he was in, “You look horrible.”

“Yeah… barely maintaining this as is,” Asta nodded, “Let's head out before any more beasts show up.”

“No complaints from me,” Noelle said, as she looked at the lizard's remains.

The group all nodded in agreement and started running for the summit again.

On the outside, the captains and company steadily made their way to the volcanic summit.

“Did you feel that?” Nozel asked Yami.

“Kinda hard not to,” Yami replied.

“How can that kid have so much magical power?” Charlotte asked, “It feels like he has just as much as the royals.”

Sol just stayed quiet, as she remembered how he beat her without even relying on magic.

Yuno silently smirked, as he now looked even more ahead to the day he and Asta would face each other on their shared road to becoming the Wizard King.

They suddenly felt Asta’s mana in force. They all looked back and saw Asta wildly grinning, as he and his group quickly gained ground.

“Out of the way!” Asta yelled in excitement as he planted foot after foot on the ground and burst forward, breaking the ground with each step.

It wasn’t long before he moved past them all, leaving them to try and steady themselves from the shock.

“What raw power,” Nozel swallowed the lump in his throat. Then, his eyes widened, as he realized exactly what Asta was after. “Don’t you think you should stop your subordinate?” he looked at Yami.

“You think I can stop him when he’s like that?” Yami chuckled, “Asta’s always walked his own path. When we first fought, I could tell he was severely downplaying his abillities when he used his magic and spells.”

“You mean that time you two fought that mock battle back then?” Noelle asked.

“Yeah,” Yami nodded, “Asta's never truly been in touch with his real magical power. Anytime he’s used it to its fullest, it would always come out all at once.”

“What?” Leo tilted his head in confusion.

“It’s like when you just eat your whole plate of food all in one go, instead of eating small bites one at a time,” Charlotte commented after she let out a strained sigh, “In other words, he has no control over his magical output.”

“Yeah, something like that,” Yami sighed, “He’s always relied on his raw physical strength and his other abilities to get by, only using magic in small doses to help use those aforementioned abilities. Whenever he did finally pull out bigger spells, they’d always use up so much mana that they'd leave him drained, to the point any normal magic knight would collapse and be in bed resting for several days. Though, he did come up with a sort of workaround… That is, if that workaround can keep up with his magical output.”

Noelle’s eyes widened with a sudden realization as she thought back on their last official mission to the Sea Floor Temple.

“That not only explains why he looked so tired back then, but also why he never really fought without those swords he forged for himself when using his bigger spells,” Noelle whispered to herself, “Those swords were smithed with his mana inside and also during the forging process, so they’d take in the ambient mana from his surroundings and turn it into his mana, to keep him from using his all of his own power. That’s why he was so drained back in the Sea Floor Temple in his fight with Vetto. He kept using light and dark magic spells one after the other.”

“Looks like you figured it out,” Yami noticed his subordinate with a smirk.

“In short, Asta’s body isn’t used to him using his own magic power on a somewhat steady basis, and thus, even simpler abilities like mana skin cause him to quickly run out of magic power rather faster than even standard magic knights,” Yuno said out loud.

“Um…” Leo looked at everyone, as he tried to piece everything together, but only got a headache.

“In other words, his magic power level, abilities, and even spells are on par with that of even royalty like us,” Fuegoleon explained to his little brother, “but his application, use, and overall control of its output of it is only that of lower class knights and commoners.”

“So, it’s not that he lacks power,” Sol realized as she recalled her captain’s earlier statement, “but that he lacks any proper skill to properly refine and use that power.”

“He only focuses on training his physical strength over his other abilities, but never magic,” Charlotte said, “But why? He’s so powerful, and why choose the Black Bulls as his squad, when he could easily rise through the ranks with another squad? Maybe even get the rank of captain and have his own squad.”

“I constantly ask myself that same question,” Yami said as he remembered back. “And I think it’s because he would draw too much attention, with that talent paired with that attitude of his,” he pointed out as he looked out of the corner of his eye at Yuno, “He’s got a big mouth, and he’s not afraid to shoot it off or back up what he says.”

Everyone who’d been there recalled the incident the day of the Award Ceremony with Solid, and how Asta very nearly broke his senior knight’s arm, with no signs of remorse for the repercussions it would bring.

“Not to mention he craves fighting strong opponents nearly as much as Luck does,” Noelle giggled a little.

They then recalled how he stood up to everyone in attendance and made it abundantly clear he was more than raring to fight them all.

“You mean, like now?” Sol pointed down in the crater.

“Oh, for crying out loud!” Noelle yelled.

“Is he actually dumb enough to actually try and fight her?” Nozel raised an eyebrow.

“That’s my rival!” Leo laughed.

“In that case, we better stop here,” Yami said as he stopped and crossed his arms with a smirk on the edge of the crater, “Let’s watch the show.”

Sure enough, Asta had found Mereoleona, standing on an island in the mouth of the volcano. He immediately threw his sword into his grimoire with a wild grin on his face and kicked off the air under him, as he rocketed down to the Flame Lioness.

Mereoleona only returned the same wide grin as the dark and light mage shot right at her, and she reeled back her right fist. Asta mirrored his new opponent, and the two met each other's fists. Thunderous shockwaves rang out and even forced the magic-rich lava back.

“Damn, kid. I heard you were strong, but you even forced me into the ground a little with that blow,” Mereoleona chuckled, “But, if you think one countered punch is enough to push me back, you have a bigger ego than I thought.”

“I didn’t think that at all!” Asta’s thirst for a fight, this fight, had only just started to be quenched, “I was actually thinking ‘How long will this last?’ Because I’m having too much fun to stop!!!”

Mereoleona’s smirk grew into a full-blown wild smile.

The duo of fighters kept smiling as they unloaded blow after blow into each other with such ferocity and fever that neither could stop smiling. Everyone on the side only watched in awe, as the two kept at it for what felt like hours, when in actuality had only been a mere fifteen minutes.

Mereoleona landed back covered in scratches and panting heavily, still wearing her wild grin, with Asta doing the same.

Mereoleona wiped some blood from her mouth. “This kid is something else,” she spat off in the lava. “No one’s pushed me this hard in a long time,” she looked out of the corner of her eye at Noelle, “Not since my fights with the Steel Princess herself.”

“Are we done already?” Asta chuckled as he eyed his opponent.

“Hehe….” Mereoleona chuckled. “Not on your life, kid. You’re strong, I’ll give you that. You definitely have me outclassed in raw strength alone,” she said. It was no understatement either, “But I have the advantage in magic. You’re burning through what little bit of power you managed to save up for this fight every second we stand here and talk.”

“That’s true,” Asta chuckled, “But I’ve learned a lot, thanks to you, and for that, I’m ever so grateful.”

On the ridge, everyone looked down.

“I have to say he lasted a lot longer than I thought he would,” Fuegoleon stroked his chin, “But, why though?”

“You said he burns through his mana in one go,” Nozel pointed out, as he scowled toward Yami.

“He does, or at least, does less now,” Yami said.

“It was the fight,” Sol said, looking down, “He’s been learning how to wield his magic better the whole time he was fighting with Mereoleona.”

“I’m not surprised,” Yuno said, “It’s most likely what he was after from the very start.”

“He learns while he’s fighting?” Charlotte said, “That’s a bit barbaric.”

“But it’s true,” Noelle said, “Asta’s a fighter by nature. He’s not one to ever shirk off on his training and can pick up new moves on the fly, but it’s when he’s in a real battle where this talent of his kicks in. In all honesty, I’ve never understood it.”

“Some people are just built like that, aye, Fuegoleon?” Yami looked at his fellow captain.

“Yes, and my sister is one of them,” he affirmed, “But this battle is coming to a close now. Asta doesn’t have enough mana left in him to sustain an assault like he did for much longer, but he has made a lot of progress in the control of his use of it.”

“The shrimp only has enough magic for one final attack, and I bet he’s goin’ to use a true spell this time,” Belle said, wondering where the light spirit was.

”Your little sparkly bug is right,” Yami said as he crossed his arms.

”I’m not a bug! I'm a beautiful maiden!” Belle growled as she ground her teeth and kicked Yami’s face.

“The kid has been using the fight to get a feel for his powers and see not only what he can do, but to also fine-tune his control,” Yami said as he blew smoke and flicked Belle away, “Could’ve fooled me the way you act like a pest. Still, though, you’re right. The kid’s only got enough mana left for one good spell, but that doesn’t mean he’s out of this fight though.”

”He’s never been one to go down, even when he was on his last bit of power,” Noelle agreed with her captain, “But, I don’t see his black grimoire or sense Raava on him, either.”

”He must have left his extra grimoire with his spirit partner at the start, to test himself,” Fuegoleon thought, “Still, even with his potent spells, there’s no way he can beat my sister.”

”I’m not so sure about that,” Nozel said, “That boy has proved time and again that he’s more than just another capable fighter. I’ve only seen it once, but his entire power comes from when he uses both his magic types at the same time.”

”Is that even remotely possible with two opposing types of magic like his?” Charlotte asked.

”Don't underestimate that kid, Char,” Sol said, “He took me down when I was using my most powerful spells, without even relying on magic, and still didn’t break a sweat.”

Charlotte knew Sol was serious, cause it took a lot to not only impress the girl but to also make her wary of a man’s power.

“I’ve seen it on more than one occasion, too,” Noelle said, “When Asta pours all his strength and magic into a spell…”

”So, you noticed it, too,” Yami said. “I shouldn’t be surprised with how close you two are,” he smirked, causing the girl’s whole face to glow, noticeable even amongst the lava glow.

Nozel couldn’t help but twitch ever so slightly. “What did you two notice?” he asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

”His eyes,” Yuno spoke up, “They took on a black and white swirling symbol, right?”

”Yeah,” Yami nodded, “Where Asta and I come from, it’s called Yin and Yang. It represents the balance of light and dark. It also symbolizes how one cannot exist without the other and how everybody has a little of both.”

”Meaning, no one is completely without evil,” came a new voice.

Everyone turned to see a tall blonde man in a red coat.

”Edward,” Noelle said with a bit of shock, “What are you doing here? You know what?” She let out a sigh, “I’m not even going to ask if you had other plans…”

“Good choice,” Ed smirked as he looked to the girl out of the corner of his eye, “As for the why, I wanted to see how Asta’s handling this training.”

“Ah?” Yami raised a finger.

”He’s Asta’s older brother,” Noelle crossed her arms over her chest, “Don’t bother asking anything else, cause I know he won’t answer you beyond what he wants you to know.”

”Where’d he even come from?” one of the Crimson Lions asked another.

”I don’t know,” the other shrugged, “It’s like he just appeared.”

Below, Asta gathered what magic he could spare of both elements in his arms. “Now,” he said as he opened his eyes to reveal the swirled Yin-Yang symbol. “Dark/Light magic, Arms of Collapse,” he said, as his magic hardened into a black and white accented pair of gauntlets, with a set of seven blue gems. Each gem was set in the wrists, in between the middle and ring fingers, as well as one set placed as if wearing a ring at the base of each finger.

“Hooo…?” Mereoleona she marked, thoroughly impressed he was about to cast the spell while maintaining his mana skin. “Not a bad spell there, kid, but do you even have the strength left in you to use it?” she smirked, as she raised a fist and ignited her crimson flame magic.

“Let’s find out,” Asta remarked, as he shot toward the flame magic and reeled back, “I've given this what I have left, Collapse Breaker!”

”THEN, I’LL DO THE SAME!” Mereoleona laughed, as she jumped forward with her own fist as f;ame magic cover his entire form.

The two met in the center, both of their fists met the other’s jaw and sent them flying back from whence they came. The only difference was that the flame mage landed on her feet, while the light and dark mage landed on his back at everyone else’s feet, with swirls for eyes.

”AHAHAH!” Mereoleona belted as she rubbed her jaw, “Kid’s got one heck of a punch, but he’s got a long way to go before he can match up with me in terms of magic.”

Everyone was crowded around Asta and just looked down at him, some shaking their heads, as they knew this outcome was inevitable.

Sunset…

The magic knights were currently all standing around, having broken off into small groups, with them exchanging the various troubles of traversing the volcanic terrain.

Asta sat off to the side, with Raava providing him with some healing magic, as she still had all over her own magic power to spare, since he never called on her. Noelle was standing next to them, with an extremely grumpy annoyed frown across her face.

“Did you really have to go and fight her as hard as you did?!” Noelle blurted out.

“Ehehe…” Asta nervously chuckled, “I guess I did get into it a little harder than I should’ve…”

”A little…” Noelle scowled as the top half of her face darkened. “YOU COULD’VE BEEN SERIOUSLY HURT, YOU IDIOT!!!” she cracked over his head with her fist, with smoke rising from it, causing a lump to form. “I know you like to fight, but even you should know a time and place,” she huffed, as she waved her hand.

“I know, but I needed that fight,” Asta sighed. “I needed to get a feel of using my magic on my own, so I can start training with it in earnest,” he looked up. “But I appreciate the sentiment, even if it hurts, the way you show it,” he gave a big grin, causing her to blush and hit him again, but this time he was left burning in an Asta-shaped hole in the ground.

”Idiot,” Noelle huffed, as she crossed her arms again.

“You never learn,” Yuno crossed his arms, while Belle laughed and Raava sighed.

Meanwhile, the captains all looked on from their own group, with Mereoleona sitting down on a rock, still covered in shallow scratches.

”Yami,” she looked over at the dark magic user. “That kid isn’t just some run-of-the-mill commoner with exceptional magic, is he? The way he fought, moved, and even the way thinks… It was like I was fighting a highly skilled veteran and not some seventeen-year-old punk whose whole outlook is to bash someone down with just power. What’s going on with him?”

”I got that impression, too,” Nozel added, “Back during the awards ceremony, before the invasion. The air about him is very similar to that of a confident fighter, one who knows they can win a fight.”

”Asta’s never been one to hold back his speech, but during his fight with you, sis…” Fuegoleon looked at his older sister and closely looked her over, “I think he finally showed us what he’s really capable of.”

”Sorry to burst your bubble there, but what we saw, that doesn’t begin to cover half of what that kid’s capable of,” Yami chuckled, “Though, it did show how fast he can learn and adapt in a fight, with abilities he’s barely ever used before.”

“So, it’s as I suspected,” Fuegoleon looked at his comrade, causing Yami to flinch, “That boy’s able to use other abilities, outside of magic.”

“Now that I recall, Sol mentioned that she fought against him once and lost because he was able to counter her earth magic with a power that allowed him to manipulate the earth,” Charlotte looked at Yami, while the others all listened closely.

”So, that boy has three magic attributes?” Nozel asked, then looked at Charlotte. “Don’t you have a mage that came in with his group that can also do that?”

”You mean Twilight,” Charlotte said, “And yes, she can, but that’s due to her magic allowing her to copy others’ spells. The downside to her power is that the copied spells aren’t as strong as the original, but she can combine the spells she gets with others to make new spells of her own. Her mana level alone is just as frightening as those two boys over there, but her magic also combined with her intellect is what makes her a real threat,” she looked at Nozel, “But, what Asta did in his fight with Sol was different.”

”How so?” Mereoleona said with a smirk and interest now.

”He didn’t use magic to move the earth,” Charlotte said, shocking everyone there but Yami.

”Yami?” Fuegoleon’s gaze narrowed.

”Hey,” Yami threw his hand in front of himself, “I’m not really sure how the kid can do all that he does either. I just know it has to do with similar techniques from our somewhat shared homeland,” he sighed and internally told Asta he owed him one, “The kid and I don’t come from the exact same place, but they’re very close, so we have similar abilities. The ability to read our environments for example. But, his training went much more in-depth than what I know. Being able to use the planet's life force and shape the environment around him. I never knew it was possible, honest.”

“Is it teachable?” Fuegoleon asked in earnest.

”From what I’ve seen, yea,” Yami nodded as he pointed to Noelle, “Our little mermaid over there learned how to use it with water, but I’ve never seen her use it on anything else like the kid can do. He once told me that he was the only one who could learn that. I think that spirit has something to do with it, too, as she can use the same skills as Asta can.”

“Hmmm…” Nozel looked at his little sister.

”You can try and ask him to teach you, and I doubt he’ll deny you. But, there is the possibility you can’t do it,” Yami shrugged.

”So, the magic is a bit unique,” Mereoleona thought.

”Yeah,” Yami nodded, “I asked. He went through it with me, but I couldn’t even manage to move a rock outside regular elbow grease. Luck tried, and he ended up blowing up, as he kept tapping into his magic. The way I figured it, is some have while others don’t.”

“We’ll table it for now,” Mereoleona then stood up. “It’s time!” she laughed.

”Time for what?” Noelle looked over, as the sun had set, and the volcano had grown dark, as a geyser erupted from the center and pooled in the crater, creating a gigantic natural hot spring.

”Time for a bath!” Mereoleona laughed, and Noelle’s face glowed brightly.

”Relax, Noelle,” Asta stood up, “Sol’s on it. You honestly think the most female domineering member of the Blue Rose besides the captain would let guys bath with gals?”

”There’s no way in hell I’d any man see Char’s naked body!” Sol called out. “Earth Creation Magic, Great Wall!” she said, as she placed her hands on the ground and a huge earth wall came up and split the giant hot spring bath in two.

“Do you think you can make a changing area, too?” one of the Crimson Lion knights, asked only to have Sol knock him unconscious.

”So, you can try and peek at us? No way!” Sol yelled.

Raava then used her bending to create two rooms placed on opposite sides of the crater for everyone to change. “You really should give it some more thought before you knock someone out, dear,” she said, as she hid her face behind her fan.

Sol just blinked and then tilted her head.

“We can’t just jump in fully clothed, Sol,” Charlotte sighed as she held her face. “While we’re… Bathing,” her cheeks went flush as she thought about Yami, “We need a place for our clothes while we’re in the water, at the very least. Otherwise that wall you made might as well not exist,” she explained, silently wish her idiot subordinate had pulled that stunt.

”If it makes you feel better, why not make a path down to the water, to block the view of prying eyes?” rhe light spirit suggested.

“Hey! That’s a great idea, shiny lady! I like the way you think!” Sol laughed, as she used her magic to do just that. “Hey, Char, can I wash your back?” she asked, as she drooled.

“I wonder who the real pervert is here?” Noelle raised an eyebrow.

”Enough talking,” Asta called out, as he was tired of waiting and pulled off his shirt to reveal his scars, as he rushed off.

This caught the attention of everyone not familiar with Asta. All of the captains were especially aware of the sheer number of scars this seventeen-year-old mage had.

A few minutes later…

“Ah… so warm…” Asta contentedly smiled as he soaked in the hot water.

”You really showed your stuff today, Asta!” Leo laughed, “I knew you wouldn’t beat sis, but I think that’s the first time I’ve seen her so worn down.”

”Yes,” Fuegoleon nodded, “I haven’t seen her smile like that since her fights with the Steel Princess.”

“You did the Bull’s proud, short stuff,” Yami laughed, “This would be perfect with some sake.”

”Is all you ever think about gambling and drinking,” Nozel crossed his arms.

”I’m surprised,” Yuno looked at his brother, “You got a handle on your mana skin rather quickly.”

”If by handle on it’ is what you’re going with,” Asta sank in the water, “I still have a long way to go, and a lot of work to do.”

“Hey, Asta!” Leo called out, as he and some of the other Crimson Lions gathered at the base of the wall. “Come on, and let’s check out the girls!”

”You can do it if you wanna be blasted,” Asta remarked as he floated by on his back, with his arms behind his head. “I take enough bs from Noelle as is. I don’t need her angry at me for being a Peeping Tom, as much as I really want to,” he muttered under his breath, while Nozel glared daggers at him.

”So, what are your plans now?” Yuno asked his brother.

“I'm thinking of going back home for a few days,” Asta cracked his eye open to look at the black-haired boy, “Technically, I’m still not cleared by the higher-ups for field assignments, so I’m thinking that, before I get called in for my next check-up, I’d swing by and say Hi and show I’m all better.”

”And to do some training away from prying eyes,” Ed said, as he was now soaking with everyone.

“Who is this guy?” Leo pointed, “And where the hell did he even come from?!”

”Edward Elric,” Ed said as he enjoyed the hot bath, “And I come and go as I please, little lion cub.”

”I don't think you know just who I am!” Leo growled, but Fuegoleon placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. “Big Brother?” the younger asked, confused.

Fuegoleon only shook his head, “So, Mr. Elric, what brings you here this time?”

”The hot water,” Ed smiled, “The mana-enriched hot springs of this place really help with those suffering from mana depletion, after all.”

”Why do I get the feeling you’re just here to be here?” Nozel asked.

”Because I am,” Ed cracked a snide smirk, “And to give advice, you all best start training pretty hard in the coming months. Selections for the assault team to counter the Eye of the Midnight Sun will be starting soon.”

Everyone heard that.

”Are you here just to tell us that?” Yami asked.

”Pretty much,” Ed shrugged. “Be wary of those around you. You never know just how strong they really are…” he said, as the wind carried his voice, with the man just vanishing.

”Asta,” Yuno said, “I want to face him someday.”

”Me too, Yuno,” Asta crossed his arms as he looked up, “Me too…”