Elara snuck into the venue of the Magic Knights Entrance Exam and found herself blending in with a crowd of examinees.
She was hiding behind a pillar, clutching the magic knight robe to her chest as she witnessed a guy being thrown through the air by a huge tornado.
This mana...who could this be-
Her eyes widened when she saw the person emitting the powerful mana.
A four leaf clover!? Whoa...
She looked at the people around her and started pondering.
Am I really cut out for this? There are so many people more capable of protecting the kingdom than an unstable mage who-
Elara closed her eyes as she reminisced that day. She clutched the magic knight robe to her chest and looked up towards where the Magic Knight Captains are.
If there's a perfect place for where you can control that magic of yours' kid, it'll be in the battlefield.
~
When the exam was finally over, Elara walked rigidly around, trying to find the guy who gave her the robe clutched tightly to her chest.
'I'll make life so miserable for you in the Black Bulls that you'll be torn to shreds'. Ehhhh.. That guy sure is scary.
She sweatdropped as she recalled what the Captain of the Black Bulls said to the short boy from earlier during the choosing. The same man who gave her the robe.
Oh!
She stopped abruptly when she finally found the person she was looking for. The Captain of the Black Bulls. He was with two other people; one with blonde hair and the other was wearing a hat.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Suddenly, she saw a vivid image in her head of a man and a woman. They were both smiling at her.
You did it, Elara! You actually did your grandfather's spell!
And at such a young age too.
You're grandfather would be proud! Just like we are.
With how much you and your magic has grown, there's no doubt you'll be able to join the Magic Knights!
She opened her eyes, determination evident in them.
This is how I'll atone to them. I'll make sure that I'll become a Lunate they'll be proud of once again.
She straightened herself and pulled the Black Bulls robe over her head. She then walked over to the group that'll become her comrades from now on. Once she reached them from behind, she exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding in and spoke.
"Captain Yami, sir?"
She called out, remembering what the other examinees called him when she was watching the final test of the exam.
The three men all turned around to face her. Two of them held surprised looks while the one blowing smoke had a neutral face on.
"Do I know you, kid?" Yami asked.
Elara's jaw immediately dropped.
"Ehhhhh!? B-but you just met me earlier, remember!? The girl you stopped from blowing up!? In the alley!" Elara explained frantically, blushing a bit in embarrassment.
I can't believe he already forgot!
"Oh?" Yami let out, tilting his head to the side a bit.
There was an awkward pause before suddenly, Yami started chuckling.
"Oh right! Miz Dynamite! Glad you decided to join us!" Yami said chuckling while patting her hard on the back that she almost fell forward.
Miss Dynamite?
"Ehhhh??? Captain Yami! You didn't tell us you recruited another member!" The blonde guy exclaimed.
He then turned to Elara with a flirtatious smile, "And such a cutie too. Hello there, I'm Finral Roulacase. Do you perhaps wanna join me for dinner sometime?"
Elara awkwardly smiled back at Finral and shook her head slightly, "Nice to meet you too, but uh..."
Thankfully, she was saved from that awkward moment when the guy with the hat spoke -or rather, mumbled-, "Hi, I'm Gordon. Do you wanna be best friends?"
Although, she didn't know what he was actually saying, she had a huge hunch that it was an introduction, so she might wanna just ask someone else for his name later.
Elara smiled back softly at Gordon, "Nice to meet you too! I'm Elara Lunate." She said.
"Lunate, huh? Why does that name sound so familiar?" Finral pondered, holding his chin by his pointer finger and thumb while he stared Elara down.
Elara broke into cold sweat, fearing that he might recognize her and fear or hate her for what she did in her past. She nervously fidgeted in her spot as she mentally prayed that she wouldn't get judged immediately after she just joined the squad.
But then Finral just shrugged and smiled, "I must've heard it randomly from the streets. Welcome to the Black Bulls, Yellow!"
Elara internally sighed in relief and smiled back, "Thank you!"
"Alright, enough with the chit chat, where is that kid? I haven't got all day here." Yami said, looking around, searching for someone.
Must be that short guy who was incredibly persistent.
"There you are, you little twerp. You've got some nerve, making me wait." Yami said as the short guy from earlier walked up to the group. "How long does it take you to take a dump?"
"Actually, it was really something!" The guy started. Then he started to talk about his waste with exaggerated motions, making Elara grin in amusement.
Yami then grabbed the guy's head with his hand and lifted him off the ground as if the short guy weighed nothing at all, adding on to the amusement.
"That's not what I meant!" Yami deadpanned, while the guy just dangled and whined from pain, "Who asked you to start talking about your turds, you moron!"
Yami then turned to Elara and the others, who were watching the whole scene in amusement and pity for the little guy, and told Finral, "Let's go."
"Right-o." Finral nodded and raised his hand to create some kind of portal opening.
"Woah. Is that Spacial Magic? You do Spacial Magic?" Elara asked in amazement.
Finral turned to Elara and smiled smugly, "Why yes, I do." Although he struggled to keep it open while doing so.
While the Captain and the short guy talked about how the short guy couldn't magically fly, Gordon and Elara watched as Finral struggled to keep the portal open.
Huh. I haven't asked the short guy for his name yet. I'm starting to feel bad about just calling him 'short guy'. I'll have to ask later.
Though she wasn't actually that tall herself, she was still short but just a teensy bit taller than the white haired guy.
"Oh, wait. You don't have any magical powers!" Yami suddenly said and started chuckling, which caught Elara's attention
The short guy doesn't have any magical powers?! Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't sense any mana from him at all! Woah. I haven't heard about a person without any magical properties before. How in the world did he even obtain a grimoire?!
"Er, sorry to bug you Captain, but it's hard to keep a gate this size open," Finral started saying with a strain in his voice, looking constipated, "so could you just go through quickly?"
Elara jumped back a bit, startled when Yami's face suddenly turned dark, "Who do you think you're ordering around? Tough it out, and surpass your limits."
"Ehhhh!?" Finral exclaimed in nervousness, shaking.
Yami then threw the short guy through the portal, "Off you go."
He turned to Elara next which made the girl's eyes widen. She raised both hands to signal a surrender and started walking towards the portal, "I'm going!"
She walked through the portal and was met with a different environment. The first thing she noticed was that the short guy was flat on the floor.
"Hello! We haven't properly introduced each other other yet, but I'm a new recruit too." Elara said, as she arrived in front of the short guy, who was just sitting up from his previous position.
The short guy looked up and smiled at her, "Hi! I'm Asta!" He exclaimed, standing up.
Elara pulled out her hand for a hand shake and smiled, "Elara Lunate, let's work hard, yeah?"
Asta grabbed her hand and shook it with so much force which shocked Elara that she almost got pulled in, "Yeah!"