Elara was lying in her bed that night with an arm covering her eyes, trying to get some sleep but can't because of something that's been bothering her lately.
Actually, a lot has been bothering her lately.
It's been five days since the dungeon mission and Elara's mind had been working overtime since then.
In the morning, she was always thinking about a certain lightning mage. She just couldn't help it. Whenever she'd see the blonde, she'd find herself staring at him with a goofy expression on her face, her mind going nuts as she admired him. And even when he wasn't in her range of sight, she'd still end up thinking of that day when he carried her in his arms.
~
It was three days after the dungeon mission and the Black Bulls were just doing their own thing inside the base.
Elara —who was supposed to be training with Noelle that day but was cancelled as the Silva refused to leave Asta's side, who still hadn't woken up since the dungeon mission— was eating her chocolate beside Charmy, who was eating sweets on a table in the common room. The two became close eating buddies ever since Elara found out that Charmy's sheep cooks could make chocolate as well.
The two were peacefully eating with contented looks one their faces when Magna suddenly entered the room with Luck, who was teasing the former, trying to get the delinquent to fight him.
Elara's hand stopped midway from plopping another piece of chocolate into her mouth and suddenly held a dreamy look on her face as she placed her cheek on her palm which was propped up on the table.
"La?" Charmy said, confused as she witnessed Elara's aura and demeanor change drastically.
She looked at where the young Lunate was staring at and was even more confused as she was only seeing Magna yelling at Luck, who was laughing in return.
After that day, Elara's behavior whenever the lightning mage was around only started to get more noticeable and obvious as the days passed to the point where the members of the squad (with the exception of Luck) were able to conclude one single thing. Elara likes Luck.
"Ara ara... what do we have here?" Vanessa said with a smile once she figured it out. She was actually the first one to do so.
"I can't believe my cute and pretty kouhai likes someone else!" Finral cried with comical tears streaming down his face like waterfalls.
"Luck? Seriously? Why would Miz Dynamite like that battle maniac?" Magna said but on the inside, he was actually secretly shipping it.
"La!? Lara-chan likes Luck!?" Charmy said, shocked with her mouth filled with food.
"I'm happy for my bestfriends." Gordon mumbled.
"Tch. She should be begging me for permission to marvel at my angel, Marie, instead." Gauche said.
Grey just puffed out smoke like usual when he found out.
"Elara likes Luck? Well... it'd be fitting considering they're both very lively and destructive... though if Luck does return her feelings, they'd be a very dangerous couple— oh no!" Noelle had a look of horror and alarm on her face as she thought of the possibility of Elara and Luck getting together.
"Zzzzzz..." Asta couldn't have possibly noticed considering he was still asleep and even if he was awake, he's not actually the sharpest person out there.
"Kokokokokokoko" Nero chirped as she sat on top of Elara's head while she was staring at Luck.
"Oh! Lara-san! Do you wanna fight me instead?" Luck asked her when she was caught staring at him while he was in the middle of trying to convince the others to fight him.
~
Everytime she'd see him, her heart would flip. Everytime he'd talk to her, her mind would go blank. And everytime she'd see him smile, especially when it was directed to her, her whole body would heat up and she'd go as far as to say that her insides would melt.
She wasn't dumb. After two days of constant admiring in the day and analyzing her feelings at night, she knew that she had developed a crush on the cheery mage. What baffled her was that how she got these feelings so suddenly. From what she had read in the romance novels in their manor's library, you'd catch feelings for someone either on first sight or gradually starting to like that person the longer you know them.
Her case was neither of the two. She didn't start liking him at first sight nor did she know him well enough yet. She'd just randomly started finding him interesting in the middle of a mission!
She'd had her suspicions that she'd probably hit her head too hard when she collapsed and it caused some sort of damage to her brain wherein she'd find the first person she sees attractive, but deep inside, she just knew that that wasn't the case.
On the other hand, on the times when she wasn't thinking about Luck, she's been thinking about her battle with the diamond mage.
Elara removed her arm from her eyes and lifted it up along with her other arm so she could look at her hands.
She felt it.
Thinking back to when she fought the mineral magic user, her magic felt stronger. Her magic felt complete and yet the moon wasn't up. Why did it feel like the moon was up? Did it have anything to do with the curse going berserk? Come to think of it, her magic did feel slightly different. Could it be, that the reason why her magic was strengthened was because the curse merged with her magic?
There was only one way to find out, and that was to...
I'll just sleep on it. Maybe I'll get some answers tomorrow.
Elara rolled over on her side and hugged her pillow close to her, trying to get some sleep. It was quiet for a couple of minutes as the crickets outside sang to the moon and Elara had finally found peaceful slumber.
...or she hasn't.
"Nope! I'm not sleeping on it!" She sat up abruptly and yelled before clapping her hands to her mouth to shut herself up, not wanting to wake up the others.
She slowly pulled her hands away from her mouth and stared at them.
Noelle's been busy looking after Asta so we hadn't had time to train.
She clenched her fists and looked towards the door.
Then I guess I'll just have to train on my own for now.
She climbed out of her bed and changed out of her sleeping attire. She then tied her hair into a high ponytail instead of her usual braid before grabbing her grimoire and walking out of her room.
She found a spot to practice on in the forest just outside their base. She made sure to be far from the base so she won't disturb the others' sleep, but not that far to actually get lost.
Elara looked around, suddenly feeling unnerved being inside a dark, creepy forest, alone in the middle of the night.
Come on Elara, suck it up. You're a Magic Knight now for pete's sake! This is nothing to be afraid of.
She closed her eyes, hugging her grimoire to her chest before inhaling deeply. She exhaled slowly, smoke coming out of her mouth from the night's cold air, and opened her eyes, looking up to the moon.
She smiled upon seeing the glowing light of the moon above her. It was a Waxing Crescent tonight.
The moon always had a calming effect on her. The phases of the moon was actually the very first thing her parents taught her.
The New Moon signifies new beginnings.
The Waxing Crescent Moon signifies intention.
The First Quarter Moon signifies decision making.
The Waxing Gibbous Moon signifies refinement.
The Full Moon signifies release and sealing of intention.
The Waning Gibbous Moon signifies gratitude.
The Third Quarter Moon signifies forgiveness.
The Waning Crescent Moon signifies surrender.
Then the New Moon would make an appearance once again, signifying a new beginning as the cycle begins again.
She was told by her grandmother that the first thing her parents did when her mother finally recovered from pregnancy was go out to the garden and admire the moon with their newborn daughter.
Intention, huh? Seems quite fitting. Elara thought, still staring at the moon.
After a few moments of basking under the moon's light, Elara finally looked away and opened her grimoire.
Alright, let's begin.
The moon is up so I should be able to use my magic without limits, and if I'm correct about the curse, then it should strengthen my magic even if it's at its full capacity.
"Okay, I guess it's time for some emotional training."
She knew, that she had to do something to trigger an emotion and the easiest one to trigger at the moment was excitement. So she decided to go hunting. Luckily for her, she came across a herd of huge wild boars as she was looking for something that might excite her.
As she expected, the thrill of using her magic and fighting the boars definitely brought out her excitement. The excitement only grew as more boars charged at her and soon explosions could be heard echoing throughout the area.
Elara laughed, happy that her plan worked. Though this only added more fuel to the explosions, but for once she didn't care as this was her intention.
It's just like when I was fighting that mineral mage! The explosions are happening everywhere instead of just centering on me.
With the curse in action, Elara tried her hardest to channel its power to help her.
But it didn't seem to work... the number of boars alive were rapidly decreasing but her magic didn't feel at all any different. The curse was just around her with no intention of helping strengthen her magic at all. It was only causing pointless destruction to her environment.
As the last boar dropped to the ground, her excitement turned to frustration and the explosions only grew in size.
"GAAAAAH!" Elara screamed in aggravation, creating one last giant explosion and for the first time that evening, this one was centered on her.
Once the smoke cleared, Elara could be seen panting heavily. She was standing in the middle of a giant crater which was filled with a lot of dead and burnt boars with light arrows sticking out of their bodies.
Tch. At least Charmy senpai would be happy.
"Waaaahh! It's a major blood bath in here!" A familiar cheery voice was heard. In fact, it was rather too familiar to her.
Elara's heart skipped a beat and her head immediately snapped towards the owner of the said voice.
"L-L-Luck senpai?!" Elara's face immediately turned beet red as she stiffened, feeling extremely embarrassed to be caught in this situation and by her new crush no less.
Luck laughed before jumping down from a nearby tree which was out if the explosion zone. He ran towards her and patted her head, which only made her even more embarrassed and flustered.
"You did great!" He praised, still patting her head with a closed eye smile.
Eeeeeep! At this point, smoke could be seen coming from her head from how hot her face had gotten.
"Uh-uhm... Th-thank you..." Elara stammered, blushing a deeper shade as she stared at Luck's face which was incredibly close for her weak heart to handle.
"Now it's time to make another one, but with people this time!" Luck suddenly said, his smile and the patting not ceasing.
"E-eeehhhhh!?" Elara's eyes whiten in shock after hearing him say that. She shook her head hastily before saying, "No! I couldn't possibly bring myself to kill a person!"
Luck abruptly stopped patting her head and looked at her in confusion, "You can't...? But what if that person wants to kill you too?"
The blush on Elara's face disappeared as she smiled her closed eye smile at him. "I'll beat them up before they can of course!" she said this as if it was obvious.
"But if you were gonna beat them up anyways, why not just finish them off?" Luck retorted, his face showing absolute puzzlement.
"Because killing people is bad." Elara stated. "My parents told me that everyone should have the right to live their lives to the fullest."
"If that's the case, then why'd you kill them? They also have the right to live, don't they?" Luck asked, gesturing to the dead boars all around them. "Besides, if we don't kill the ones with bad intentions, they'd just end up killing people weaker than them. The people we're tasked to protect as Magic Knights."
"It's like these boars. Even if the main reason for killing them was for food, if we don't kill wild boars, they'd just cause trouble and kill those that are weaker than them."
Elara was quiet for a while, trying to process what Luck just told her.
"..but what if we could just talk some sense into them after beating them up instead of killing them?" Elara asked, stubbornly. "And just like you said, the main reason why we kill boars is for food, anyway."
The smile on Luck's face disappeared as his face turned serious, "It's not that easy, Lara-san. The world is just cruel that way. There are just some people that can't be reasoned with. You haven't met them yet because you're just a newcomer, but someday, you'll be able to meet bad guys that kill just for fun, for their own benefits, or they kill for no reason at all."
Elara didn't know what shocked her the most; his statement that somehow chilled her to the core, or the fact that this was her first time seeing Luck without a smile.
"I-I... " Elara then suddenly remembered a certain ice mage that she, Asta, Noelle, and Magna encountered on her first mission.
"Most of those who inhabit the Forsaken Realm are an inferior race that can only use enough magic to complete daily tasks. They're basically mindless beasts. I was only trying to get rid of the mindless beasts that might steal more of my precious time." The ice mage had said.
Then she remembered the mineral mage that they fought only a few days ago.
"The strong will survive, and the weak will die." The mineral mage had said.
Elara looked away from Luck and clenched her fists. She already met those kinds of people.
But still...
"I'll admit, your statement does hold some truth in it, but... It doesn't make killing that much easier."
Luck laughed, making her snap her head in his direction, baffled. "Well, of course it doesn't... especially if those kinds of morals were embedded in you since you were a kid. But one day, there'll be a moment in which you'll have to choose between what's right and what's easy."
Elara stared at her crush's smiling face, taking in the advice he just gave her before she, too, smiled. "I guess you're right."
It was quiet for a while as the two just smiled at each other under the moon's rays. While they did so, an image suddenly appeared before their eyes. A memory.
A small lavender haired girl was sitting next to an equally small, pale blonde boy on a grassy cliff in front of the full moon. They were both smiling at each other, with the boy's hand on top of the girl's.
Elara and Luck's eyes widened at the image that just popped up inside their heads.
What was that? Why did they look so familiar? Who were they? Elara thought.
That girl is the same one that's been appearing in my dreams lately! Luck thought.
The two decided to shake it off for now and in attempts to clear it off his mind for now and because he's actually quite curious himself, Luck decided to ask, "So why're you here on a wild boar killing spree in the middle of the night?"
Elara blushed, feeling embarrassed for some reason. "I-uh... *clears throat* I actually came here to train." She answered sheepishly while scratching her cheek with her forefinger.
Luck's eyes sparkled, "Really? Wanna fight me then? Yes? Yes?" He asked her eagerly.
Elara sweatdropped. I really don't understand how I started to like him... but then again he looks really cute right now with that expression on his face. Gaaah! Am I really thinking about this right now!?
As Luck kept persisting to joining her in training, she eventually relented after thinking about it.
A training partner really does sound great, and considering the fact the Noelle refuses to train with me while Asta's still sleeping, Luck senpai's a nice substitute. He's really strong and his way of fighting puts me in a disadvantage. His speed and his ability to sense mana could also be a great challenge for me. Maybe the curse will cooperate with me again if I'm facing off really strong opponents that could possibly lead me to my death.
"Alright Luck senpai, let's battle!" She told him with her closed eye smile.
And so the two distanced themselves from each other, looking at each other calaculatingly, waiting for who would make the first move.
"I must warn you senpai and this might not even make any sense to you unless you know but... the moon is up and I'm not holding back." She said, her light bow appearing between her fingers.
Luck laughed and grinned, "I don't really get the first part, but I'm not holding back either!" Blue lightning crackled around him before his feet was suddenly clad with his lightning boots.
"Let's fight each other to death!" Luck yelled as he speedily ran forward, straight towards Elara.
Just when he was about to land a kick on her she disappeared and reappeared a few feet behind him in the air, aiming her bow at him.
"I told you that I'm not killing anyone! Especially a comrade!" She said, releasing an arrow.
Before the arrow could hit him, Luck dodged and came right at her, his hands now clad in lightning gloves, ready to swipe at her.
She once again dodged, disappearing and reappearing back to where she first stood earlier. "I got to admit, I haven't fought with anyone as fast as you before." She said.
"I know! That's what's gonna make this even more fun!" Luck lunged at her again, aiming for another kick but missed again.
And so it went like this for a while, the two returning attacks but had never actually grazed each other. Elara even tried her new spell on him, summoning a lot of arrows at once, but Luck was still fast enough to dodge them. She couldn't even use her Supreme Archers to blind him, because unlike Noelle, Luck moves around a lot.
To the others, their fight would only seem like a blur of blue and yellow dots, zooming around and chasing each other because of how fast they were.
In the end, neither of them were able to land a single hit on each other. Though I couldn't say the same for their surroundings. The trees that were out of the explosion zone before, definitely took damage now and were emitting smoke from their attacks. The same goes for the crater, some parts had holes and smaller craters with smoke rising from them.
The reason why the battle ended even when they both couldn't land a hit on one another? They were simply just exhausted. Using enough mana for one night, plus the fact that they've been speedily running, jumping, and dodging a lot. Of course, they were tired.
"Hey, about what said earlier... when you told me that the moon was up... what did you mean by it?" Luck asked between ragged breaths as he layed beside her in the middle of the huge crater.
"Oh, it's just the nature of my magic. Lunar magic is weaker and has its limits during the day. Lunar magic users can only use their true magic at night when the moon is up." Elara explained.
"Really? Well that sucks... I can't imagine not being able to use my full power at day. Most fights happen during that time." Luck said.
"It really does get annoying at times, but you'd get used to it when it's what you've been born with." Elara shrugged.
Luck was quiet for a minute, thinking about something. "Though if that really is the nature of your magic then that makes you even stronger."
"Wh-why would you think that?" Elara blushed, feeling flattered.
"Well you're already really strong in the day. If that's your weakened power, then that means you're even stronger at night!" Luck elaborated.
Elara was rendered speechless at the major compliment that her crush just told her. She could just feel her face heating up despite the cold air of the night.
"Luck senpai?" Elara asked the boy laying beside her after a short silence, while staring at the night sky.
Luck hummed in response, his breathing slowly going back to normal.
"Why were you awake? And how'd you find me? Did I wake you up? I made sure to go far away from the base, though." She asked curiously.
Luck gave out a short laugh, "I sensed really powerful mana and woke up! It was the same mana signature I felt when your mana overflows and explodes, so I came to check it out!"
"Oh.." Elara mumbled, "You could feel that from that far away? I'm sorry if I woke you up senpai." She apologized.
"No, it was fine! I had a lot of fun, tonight! You're really strong, Lara-san. We should fight each other again sometime." Luck suggested.
Elara smiled, "Sure! I actually had fun too."
Even though I couldn't bring out whatever that power I felt in dungeon, this was really nice.
She turned her head to the side to look at Luck's side profile.
And I got to fight with Luck senpai! He was really strong and cool! Elara blushed as she reminisced the battle they just had. How Luck didn't stop smiling and it was all directed towards her.
Elara's face burned even hotter and smoke once again could be seen coming out of her head. She shook her head aggressively, trying to rid of these feelings before Luck could notice. The last thing she wants to happen right now would be Luck finding out about her crush on him.
Get yourself together Elara!
It's not actually that easy if your crush was laying right next to you!
The blush on Elara's face returned at the thought and she settled for deep breaths while staring at the moon, knowing the calming effect it had on her. She relaxed a bit as she saw it shining brightly down on her, a smile making its way up onto her lips.
Unbeknownst to her, while she stared at the moon, Luck took the chance to look at her. A different kind of smile appearing on his face as he admired the girl's face. How the light of the moon complemented her porcelain skin and made her bright yellow eyes sparkle. How her soft lavender hair, which was out of its usual braid, stood out in the night with some strands swaying with the wind. How there was a faint blush on her cheeks as she smiled at the night sky, which always seemed to bring warmth inside of him everytime he sees it.
Beautiful...
~
It looks like even this soul couldn't resist your beauty, Thebe. Even in a different body, you still look as breathtaking as ever.
~
"What?!" Asta could be heard yelling from inside the Black Bulls base.
The members were all in the cafeteria this morning, explaining to Asta his week worth of sleep.
"I was asleep for a week?" Asta asked, incredulously.
"Honestly, how many days were you planning on sleeping?" Noelle asked with her arms crossed over her chest, acting indifferent.
Elara and Vanessa laughed at this. "Noelle was so worried about you that she kept checking on you."
"Scratch that! She absolutely refused to leave your room, Asta-san!" Elara interjected, looking at Asta with wide eyes. "She skipped five training sessions with me this past week!" She added, shoving five fingers onto Asta's face.
"Now wait just a second! You're over exaggerating it! Of course I left his room once in a while!" Noelle argued.
Elara smiled a smug smile as she gave Noelle a sly look, "Oh? So you're not denying being worried about him or the fact that you've been in his room most of the time?"
"Th-that's not what I meant! Elara!" Noelle yelled at the lavender haired girl who was on the other side of Asta, while the rest laughed at the flustered royal.
"I don't really get it, but thanks, Noelle." Asta told Noelle, not understanding why the others are laughing.
"Yeah, Noelle..." Elara said teasingly, wiggling her eyebrows as she gave Noelle a look.
Noelle just glared back, daring her to say anything else. Elara shut her mouth as she saw Noelle's eyes dart towards the person on Elara's otherside before returning to meet hers. The look on Noelle's face threatened exposure so she just clamped her mouth shut.
"Stop with this nonsense." Gauche suddenly spoke up. "Do you think that my goddess, my sister Marie, would enjoy listening to all this? Talk about something more interesting. I only have 3,214 stories stocked up for her." He said with his nose bleeding as usual.
"When exactly are you going to tell her those?" Finral sweatdropped.
"How are you feeling? Is the hole in your stomach closed up yet? Can you fight me now? Can you?" Luck asked being the eager person that he is.
Elara, who was sitting in between Luck and Asta, just looked down at the table with closed eyes as she gripped her glass of water tightly.
Keep calm, Elara. Calm down... but he's so close right now!༼˵˃̶̀ɷ˂̶́˵༽ ෆ⃛
"It's not completely closed up yet. In fact, my stomach's so empty, I'm starving..." Asta said as he clutched his stomach, looking pained.
"Everyone! The Sheep Cooks made breakfast!" Charmy said as she brought in platters of food along with three other sheep cooks.
"Yum! So good! Delicious!" Asta exclaimed with stars in his eyes, digging in almost immediately.
He suddenly choked as he ate too much, too fast.
"Jeez, calm down." Noelle told the ash blonde, offering him a glass of water.
"Thanks..." Asta barely managed to say as he accepted the glass Noelle was offering.
After drinking some water and gulping down the food that got stuck in his throat, he just went back to eating more food aggressively.
"You're such a pig." Noelle commented.
Elara bit her lower lip to prevent herself from making a comment that might trigger Noelle.
"Now, now. He needs his nutrients." Vanessa said holding up a bottle of liquor. "Want a taste?"
"No, he can't!" Noelle interjected.
"So good!" Asta cried out while shoveling more food into his mouth.
"Nice, nice! Your eating form is excellent!" Charmy complimented him. "The sheep cooks are delighted, too."
"Hey, Charmy senpai. Do you have any chocolate?" Elara asked after swallowing her own food.
"Of course! Here you go, la!" Charmy immediately shoved a bunch of chocolate into Elara's hands with enthusiasm.
Elara's eyes sparkled before she started eating the said chocolate.
"Are you sure you should be eating chocolate this early in the morning?" Noelle sweatdropped.
The door was suddenly kicked open, catching everyone's attention.
"I think I'll have some breakfast and go back to bed." Yami said lazily, entering the room.
"Captain! Good Morning!" Charmy greeted, waving her hand high.
"Good Morning!" Asta, Magna, and Elara greeted their captain too.
"You finally awake, kid? I guess you didn't die." Yami said, sitting down at the head of the table. "Good work, even though you always come back banged up." He added, laughing.
"Thanks!" Asta said, standing up politely.
"Oh, yeah. Apparently, Magic Knights Headquarters wants a report on the dungeon, so if you can walk, pay them a visit." Yami informed them.
Elara looked up from her chocolate.
A report?
"Huh?" -Asta
"A report?" -Noelle
"The Magic Knights Headquarters?" -Luck
"La?" -Charmy
Sounds like there'll be lots of strong guys there! I wonder if I can fight them. Luck thought, getting excited.
"You'd probably cause trouble if you went, so you're not going, Luck." Yami said, raining on Luck's parade.
"Aw..."
Kyaaaa! That look on Luck senpai's face is soooooo cuuuttteeee! ₍₍ ( ๑॔˃̶◡˂̶๑॓)◞♡⁰
"Instead, there's a fighting mission, so go on that with Magna." Yami told Luck.
"Fighting mission?" Luck's dejected face instantly lit up at the mention of 'fighting'.
Just like that Elara was daydreaming, leaning on the table with her palm against her cheek as she stared at Luck.
꒰◍ˊ◡ˋ꒱
Noelle, who was watching Elara go goo-goo eyes on Luck, sighed in disappointment. "She's hopeless."
"Let's do our best, Magna!" Luck said, suddenly appearing beside Magna.
"Huh? Creepy!" Magna said with a look of disbelief on his face. "Are you really Luck? Are you sure you're not Grey in disguise?"
Grey made his presence known as he blew a puff of smoke from beside Vanessa.
"Oh, there he is."
"Ooh, pick me! I'll go instead!" Charmy volunteered, raising her hand. Then she suddenly turned around with a dreamy look on her face, "I wonder what yummy things await me in the Noble Realm."
"Uh, there's no way you can go. All you do every day is eat." Yami said.
"La!?" Charmy looked at their captain in disbelief before running out of the cafeteria. "La...!"
"Captain, I have to write a letter to Marie, so I can't go." Gauche said.
"Sure. No one asked you, anyway." Yami replied.
~
Asta, Noelle, and Elara ended up being the only ones who were permitted to go so here they are now, in the Royal Capital, walking towards the Palace.
Though halfway there, something caught Elara's eye that made her take a detour without Noelle and Asta knowing.
"Waaah! There's so many!" Elara exclaimed with stars in her eyes after entering a chocolate shop.
The place was filled with rows and rows of chocolate. It was everywhere! There were chocolate cupcakes, cakes, muffins, biscuits, pastries, normal chocolate, and a lot more! She was in chocolate heaven!
"Good morning ma'am. How may I help you?" An attendant asked.
"Could you give me every chocolate bar you have in stock?"
~
Meanwhile Noelle and Asta had met up with the three Golden Dawn members they went on the dungeon mission with.
"Oh? Is it only the two of you who came?" Mimosa asked once they were done with the greetings.
"Two..?" Noelle and Asta asked confused, before looking around and finally noticing something.
"Ehhhh!? Where'd Elara go!?"
~
"Waah~ It was a good thing I brought money with me." Elara said to no one in particular as she plopped some chocolate into her mouth, walking up to the Palace. "They were even kind enough to send the rest of the chocolate that I couldn't carry with me to the base."
"Charmy senpai better not touch those without permission." Elara mumbled to herself, suddenly feeling worried for her new purchases.
"You fool! That's the current Wizard King, Julius Novachrono!"
"Hm?" Elara abruptly stopped walking, her hand midway up to plopping another piece of chocolate into her mouth as she heard that familiar voice.
Isn't that Klaus senpai? Did he just say Julius—
Elara's eyes lit up once she saw a familiar purple eyed man standing in front of her comrades, who were strangely kneeling on the ground.
"Oh! Uncle Julius!" She yelled, running up to them, while waving her hand enthusiastically.
Uncle..Julius...? The others thought, the words not processing properly in their heads.
Elara ran up to the man clad in red robes and hugged him in greeting.
"Lara dear, it's good to see you again." The man, Julius, greeted as he hugged her back, happily.
That's when it finally hit them with a loud smack on the face. "Ehhhh?! You're the Wizard King's niece?!"
"Elara, you didn't tell me you were related to the Wizard King!"
"Lara! How could you keep this from me!"
"I already knew you were from nobility, but to be related to the Wizard King..."
"I didn't know the Wizard King had a niece."
"..."
"Wait, wait, wait! Hold on just a second. The Wizard King? My uncle? Where'd you even get that from?" Elara asked her comrades, laughing at their ridiculousness.
There was an awkward pause as the others stared at Elara incredulously, while Julius just smiled awkwardly, trying to prepare himself from the explosion that was about to occur (no pun intended).
"Uh-uhm... Lara dear..." Julius decided to speak up after clearing his throat, awkwardly.
"Hmm?" Elara hummed in response, stopping her laughing, though an amused smile was still present on her face.
"They're not actually... " Julius' throat felt dry halfway through telling his niece the truth about him.
Elara turned around to face her uncle with question marks floating above her head, "Not actually what, uncle?"
Elara noticed that her uncle was still wearing the ridiculous robes that she thought were from her grandmother and was about to say something about it when she suddenly started to connect the dots.
Hmm.. about that, he's not actually– She remembered when her grandmother suddenly cut herself off as she was about to tell her something about her uncle.
What the heck? Did you bump into the Wizard King somewhere? Then she remembered when Magna asked Asta if he ever met the Wizars King somewhere.
She remembered herself thinking about it and almost came to a conclusion that she thought was absolutely ridiculous but now doesn't seem to be that farfetched anymore.
Now, even the robes he wore makes sense!
As Elara was quietly thinking to herself while staring at the Wizard King's clothing, the others swore they could see three dots slowly appearing one after another on top of her head.
Julius closed his eyes, silently waiting for the explosion to just happen while the others just stared at the Wizard King in confusion, not understanding why he was making that look on his face right now.
...until it finally happened...
"Ehhhh?! Uncle Julius! You're actually the Wizard King?!"
~
"I can't believe he didn't tell me." Elara sulked, pouting as she gave harsh and intense glares at the Wizard King while he read about the new spell that appeared on Yuno's grimoire. "Everyone else knew but no, he decided to keep it a secret from his own niece!"
"I mean why would he keep that big of an achievement from me? It's not like I'd suddenly act differently with him if I knew."
Is this also the reason why nobody has ever told me that a Wizard King even existed? But why?
The others just sweatdropped as they watched Elara mumbled to herself in the corner with a dark and gloomy aura around her.
I'm so getting a talking to later... Julius thought as he too, didn't fail to notice his niece's demeanor.
Needless to say, Elara threw one heck of a tantrum earlier and he just knew that that wasn't the end of it.
"Well done acquiring this." He finally spoke after taking a look on the symbols and characters on the page. "This magic was probably the most important relic in that dungeon."
"You can read that?" Yuno asked, shocked.
"Somewhat." Julius replied.
"The most important relic! So cool!" Asta exclaimed.
"I see..." Julius mumbled to himself before his inner nerd suddenly made its appearance. His eyes sparkled as a sparkly aura surrounded him while he looked excitedly at the symbols on Yuno's grimoire more.
Even if you are the Wizard King, you're still uncle Julius. Elara sweatdropped.
He's so excited... Klaus thought as he pushed his glasses up. I guess rumors about the Wizard King being a total magic nerd were true.
"Hey, would you try using this magic?" Julius asked Yuno, excitedly as he approached him. "Please!?"
"I'm sorry. I think it activated in the dungeon once, but I haven't been able to use it since." Yuno apologized.
"What? I see... Aw, that's too bad." Julius sulked.
Elara giggled as she watched from the side. Serves you right, uncle Julius!
Sylph, the Wind Spirit of the Four Great Attributes... Julius thought. Apparently she's chosen him this era.
"All I can say for now is that spell will grow with you and, one day, become an extraordinary power." The Wizard King told the ebony haired male. "Take good care of it."
"Yes sir." Yuno said as he took the grimoire back from the Wizard King.
"Wizard King! My grimoire has some weird scribbles in it, too!" Asta suddenly butted in, showing his own grimiore to the Wizard King. "Please look at it!"
"Hey, you're being rude." Klaus tried to reprimand the ash blonde.
Julius looked at the symbols that were on Asta's grimoire, cupping his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "This is..."
"This is?" Asta asked eagerly with stars in his eyes.
"Something I can't read at all." The Wizard King finished.
Asta comically fell to the ground, making Elara snort in amusement.
"Hmm... I've never seen this writing in any documents." Julius said, thoughtfully.
Asta opened his grimoire and summoned his new sword. "This thing pops out of it! Take a look!"
"Ah, a second anti-magic sword!" The Wizard King said, interestedly.
Asta smirked smugly at Yuno with his eyes sparkling, "I got mine to work."
Yuno, on the other hand, just gave him a deadpan look.
"A-anti-magic... C-can I touch that?" Julius asked with his own eyes sparkling with amazement.
"Go right ahead!" Asta said, immediately offering the sword to the Wizard King.
"Thank...you?! It's so heavy!" Elara burst out laughing as she saw her uncle struggling to lift the sword.
"H-hey! Even if he is your uncle, you should still show your respect since your a Magic Knight now!" Klaus scolded.
"I-I'm s-sorry! I couldn't help it.." Elara said, wheezing.
Julius glared playfully at his laughing niece and when she saw, she only returned it by sticking her tongue out at him.
Julius sweatdropped at his niece's childishness (as if you can talk, Julius-sama😅) before turning his attention back to the anti-magic sword he was holding.
"I'm surprised that you can actually swing this around." Julius said.
Is it actually that heavy? Elara thought as she stared curiously at the sword, not noticing how the Wizard King's expression changed.
My magical power... is being absorbed. He thought.
"I see." He mumbled to himself. "Thank you. You can have this back now." He said as he gave Asta back his sword.
"This is beyond my abilities." He added, laughing a bit right after. "It appears you're able to wield it because you have no magic."
"How did you know I don't have any magic, sir? And about my sword that cuts through magic?" Asta asked.
"That's a very good question." Julius said.
"He stalks people a lot just to see more magic. That's why." Elara deadpanned.
"You didn't have to tell them that!" Julius whined at his niece with comical tears in the corner of his eyes.
The others just sweatdropped at the new information they acquired about the Wizard King.
"Well, anyway, you all did splendidly. Good work." The Wizard King said after straightening himself back up.
"U-u-um, d-d-do you have a moment?" Asta asked, hesitantly.
"Hmm? What is it?" Julius asked, curiously.
"H-how..." Asta trailed off.
With one look at his rival's face, Yuno already knew what he was about to say and joined along.
"..do you become the Wizard King?" They both asked at the same time.
Julius laughed at that, "I see. So you both want to become the Wizard King. Any Magic Knight should have that aspiration."
"You two! It's rude to ask the Wizard King that directly." Klaus tried to tell the two newbies. "Listen. The Wizard King must be proud and have the trust of the people—"
"No." Julius cut Klaus off. "It's merit."
This got Yuno and Asta interested, heck even Elara's ears perked up at that.
"You can't protect others with pride, and the trust of others comes with merit." The Wizard King explained. "There is only one thing people want from the Wizard King and that's merit that proves they are the best."
The best, huh? Elara thought as she stared at her uncle.
"Gain merit. Continuously gaining merit is everything. Anyone who can't do that can never stand at the top."
"Bring it on!" Yuno and Asta said, determinedly.
Elara smiled as she heard this. Following your dreams... She looked down at her own hands and clenched them in determination. I have one to fulfill too! Whatever it takes!
"We're actually holding a decoration ceremony for the Magic Knights who've been awarded an outstanding number of stars today." Julius said.
"Deco...?" Asta asked, confused.
"Decoration Ceremony." Julius repeated. "It's a ceremony where we award those who have done exceptionally well and honor them."
"Wow..." Asta mumbled in awe.
"I would love for all of you to join us." Julius told them.
"Huh?"
~
Julius led the group through the palace and were now walking down a hallway with a lot of mages lined up at the sides.
"I wonder what decoration ceremonies are like." Asta wondered out loud.
I could never have imagined this to be happening. Klaus thought with a tense look on his face.
Noelle and Elara suddenly looked at each other with the same look of dread on their faces.
I have a bad feeling about this.
The group arrived in front of two huge double doors.
"Now, then..." The Wizard King said as the doors started opening. "Can you give me better results than them?"
Once the door opened completely, one look at the people inside was already enough for Elara to feel uneasy.
Uncle Julius, why did you bring me here?