"How long have you known about me?"
"Ever since the dreams started appearing. It was clear at first glance that those aren't dreams but someone's memories."
Sitting cross-legged on the head of the demon skull, Varre lazily gazed up at the vast expanse of the starlit sky, conversing with the voice he could hear inside his head. Two grimoires lay on his lap while he rubbed his hand along the surface of the other one he ended up receiving from the tower itself.
The second grimoire was a plain-colored grimoire with pointed rapier and sword designs inscribed in the cover. In the center was a three-leaf clover symbol drawn with a yellowish-golden shade.
"And were you never curious about why you were seeing these memories?"
"I assumed that someone was trying to show me something." Varre casually answered, not even bothering to show any sort of surprise or shock at this point. "Is that not the case? You are not showing me these memories intentionally?"
"No." The voice denied without hesitation. "You can see these memories as dreams only because our minds are linked. My spirit resides in your subconsciousness."
'I know that better than anyone.' The mage thought to himself. Feigning his lack of knowledge about the spirit's existence in a smart manner paid off to him in ways more than one.
The results of this tiny experiment were all in his favor. Not only was he able to gain Varre's 'original' grimoire thanks to the spirit's interference, he was also able to deduce the fact that while he has access to the spirit's thoughts and memories, the same couldn't be said for the latter. Which meant that Varre's knowledge was safe with him. This would give him more room to act on his own and since it would end up in this particular spirit's favor in the end, he won't have any obstacles.
The only thing left to do is win this spirit's cooperation. If he plays his words carefully, he might score another win.
"Sharing the same subconsciousness? How?" He curiously inquired.
"Reincarnation Magic." The voice answered in a serious tone. "The demon you saw in my memories used a forbidden Reincarnation Spell to transfer our souls to another era."
"So to summarize, I am your reincarnation?" Varre asked, earning an audible "hmm" from the spirit.
"To summarize, I am seeing memories of my past life while also being able to talk to who I was in the past. Is that how it is?" He almost did a double-take at his own explanation, wondering how he was able to complicate his words to this degree in a span of seconds. 'I wonder if I myself can understand what I just said.'
"Pretty much."
'He actually got all of that.' Keeping his thoughts to himself, the brown-haired mage further inquired. "Is that demon still around?"
"He could be. From what I remember my friend wasn't able to kill him and nor was the demon in his real form." The spirit went on. "There are chances that it might be hiding around somewhere."
"Not like we can do anything about it right now. Not until the demon shows itself." Varre shrugged at the information shared to him. "All we can do right now is train and get strong enough to kick that demon's ass."
"It is our only choice at the moment." Varre swore he could hear the spirit sigh at his comment but chose to ignore it. His eyes traveled down to the more pressing matters in his hand right now.
The two grimoires in his possession.
He is sure about one thing that he cannot publicly show off or use both his grimoires at once. It would not just raise questions or suspicions about him but also put him in quite the precarious situation. A person using two different kinds of magic and having two different grimoires is unheard of, at the current point of time. At the later parts of the story, it would make sense itself but right now, the last thing Varre wants, is to be in the spotlight.
With his current level of strength, being in the spotlight would only mean trouble for him and to those around him. He could also be kidnapped by the other kingdoms around Clover for research and experimentation if him possessing two magic attributes is revealed. There was also the chance of the Magic Parliament of Clover acting up on this and restricting his freedom.
'Those are some crappy predicaments I don't want to end up in.' He stared at the magic books in question, as if they would themselves personify and give him the answer he needs so desperately right now.
"Having two different grimoires seems to be more troublesome than having a four-leafed one." To Varre it felt like the spirit gave off a grave sigh and his tone seemed to carry some amount of irritation. He couldn't exactly blame the spirit though, knowing full well about his circumstances. "If only there was a way to hide it in a manner where it is usable and not seen by others at the same time."
He couldn't keep it hidden away from himself as then the grimoire would turn pretty much useless with him not being able to utilize it to cast magic with it. The grimoire in question was a grimoire for Rune Magic, a very rare magic attribute mostly seen in Heart Kingdom, one of Clover's neighboring kingdoms.
Even so in the Heart Kingdom, the runes aren't used as attributes but rather they are used to strengthen and control spells of other attributes by the mages in that kingdom. It isn't used as a single attribute in itself and a person having Rune Magic as their magic attribute was pretty much unheard of even in the Heart Kingdom.
'It would be a waste to not use this.' Varre thought before the red colored grimoire opened up and started to float in the air, with a thin layer of mana keeping it afloat. The pages began to turn themselves as Varre read through them. 'Let's see if there is something use--!'
The turning of pages stopped at a particular page as Varre's eye lit up with excitement. "JACKPOT! To think the solution would be this simple."
"Jack-wha?" The spirit's concern and question was pretty much left unattended. Seeing that his host found a solution to the problem, he removed his consciousness for the time being. It was another one of the effects that came with sharing a same body.
The other grimoire opened up, floating beside the red-colored one while Varre spread out his left hand and mana begin collecting in his palm before taking a definite shape. A silver rapier was formed from the mana with a small red jewel attached in the circular hilt.
"Rune Magic: Objectia Enchanto!"
A series of crimson runic-letters formed around the red grimoire and the rapier which now floated above the red grimoire before revolving around both of them, binding both the objects like chains. Following with a red glow, the grimoire was nowhere to be seen and only the rapier remained. The red jewel on the rapier was now bordered by a thin golden frame. The jewel glowed for a second before eventually dying down.
"Time to test this out." Varre grinned before swinging the rapier, with mana flowing through the weapon once again.
"Wings!"
A pair of red runic wings emerged from his back before he leaped off the demon skull and soon was soaring through the sky.
"Ain't I a genius?"
_______________________________________________
Six Months Later
The next half of the year passed like a breeze and soon enough came the day of the Magic Knights Entrance Exam. The mages that had received their grimoire this year had devoted all these six months into training to their utmost limits in order to get selected in a squad of their choice. While the final choice of selecting a squad member rests with the captain of the squad, if the examinee is lucky enough, he or she may get into the squad of their choice.
The entrance exam takes place in the Royal Capital of the Clover Kingdom in a large, colosseum-themed stadium built in the city. Around the stadium was a bustling marketplace where people from all three parts of the Clover Kingdom had gathered to sell off their products and also witness the newcomer Magic Knights.
For this one day, the Royal Capital is open to all citizens. Small and big traders set up their stalls around the stadium where they would be attracting the maximum crowd. They attract the buyers using every card in their sleeves, advertising their merchandize via magic.
"Damn." Varre muttered in awe as he looked around all the vendor shops and the crowd that had gathered in the city. The exam had yet to start and he could see several other participants roaming around.
"This is my first time visiting the royal capital." Altria spoke up, putting her hands together. "I had no idea it would be this big and beautiful."
"It won't be our last time if we get selected in a squad. Majority of the squad headquarters are placed around the Noble Realm." Varre informed, after having failed in bargaining with the nearby shopkeeper for the snack he was selling. 'I swear both my moms are disappointed at my bargaining skills, or lack of it.'
"By the way, someone is actually looking good with the rapier." Altria stopped to take a better look at the boy. The aforementioned weapon was attached to his waist on the left side. His grimoire rested on a leather bag on his right.
"Looks good? You don't think this is kind of lame?" Varre asked just to make sure that he heard it right. Having made necessary arrangements for his second grimoire, he was concerned whether he was maintaining a proper appearance or not. It is not that apparel matters to him that much but he still doesn't want to stick out like a sore thumb.
"I don't see anything lame with a sword mage carrying a mana-created sword with them." The blonde shrugged. "You look more.....knightly."
"At your service, my queen." Varre did a playful salute, followed by a bow while touching the hilt of the rapier with his left hand. The blonde sported a slight blush on her cheeks, impressed at the way Varre worded it.
"You may rise, Knight Swallowtail." Altria responded, trying her best to sound more dignified and similar to someone from the higher class of the society. She pulled it off well enough for her first attempt.
Both the teens then burst out laughing at each other's antics. The subtle nervousness they were feeling about the exam was now gone. Laughing and joking around helped them ease their nerves and readied them to face whatever challenges will be thrown at them from this point on.
"Nervous?" Varre asked out of concern.
"Not anymore." Altria responded with a shake of her head before giving a reassuring smile to her friend.
An announcement soon broke through the streets and the surrounding area around the colosseum, calling in the participants. The contents of the announcement also mentioned that the judges for the Entrance Exam, the Magic Knight captains would be arriving soon.
The moment the announcement concluded, a line formed in front of the entrance to the colosseum. A person from the Mage Department of the kingdom sat in front of the entrance, providing the entry number tags to the participants.
"Let's get going." The blonde spoke up.
"Right after you milady." Varre teased with his lips quirked with amusement.
"Can you not do that?" Altria gave a quick retort.
"Not for today. I will have fun with this one." The brunette grinned, earning a visible sigh from the girl.
____________________________________________
Having received their number tags from the person outside the colosseum, both the mages entered the said structure, welcomed with the sight of the examinees who had entered before them. Some of the examinees seemed to be either in groups or pairs, conversing with another and there were those who were content with themselves. The duo didn't get involved with anyone for the time being and just looked around to see the kind of competition they were having.
'Rades, Letoile, Finral, Langris....this is the competition I have knowledge about.' Varre glanced around, having already spotted the persons with the aforementioned names.
After all the participants for this year had entered inside the colosseum, the anti-birds were let out and they flew down towards the mages. This marked the beginning of the exam. The anti-birds are special birds who are able to identify who have low mana reserves and gather around them. It was a method of weeding out those with lower mana reserves right from the beginning. The targets of these birds were mostly the Peasants and few of the Commoners.
This method was considered wrong in some ways because there have been cases of mages who, despite having lower mana reserves, are able to fight exceptionally well with proper mana utilization techniques devised through clear improvisation. Despite this, this weeding process went on throughout the years, creating stereotypes and demotivation among the examinees.
Having done their jobs, the anti birds soon flew away when strong presences rivaling that of all the examinees combined in the colosseum began to fill in. Everyone knew who all were going to make an appearance now.
The Magic Knight Captains.
The first one to enter was a handsome man in his twenties with strange hairstyle to boot. A braid made from his long, smooth silver hair hung right between his eyes with a blue pendant attached to it. This man was the Captain of Silver Eagles and also the current head of the Silva Royal family, Nozel Silva.
"I heard that he does the braid himself." Varre whispered, keeping his voice audible enough for Altria to hear. "The braiding is so complicated that his servants and even the most recognized hair stylists of Clover have failed."
It proved quite difficult for Altria to not snicker at that, when imagining someone as dignified as Nozel braiding his own hair. It took great self-control for her not laugh out loud. Just to divert her attention, she elbowed Varre with quite the force to shut him up temporarily.
Next to enter was the captain of Crimson Lions and head of the royal Vermillion Family, Fuegoleon Vermillion. Same aged as Nozel, he had purple eyes and neatly combed long, vermillion hair with a lone fringe on his left side. There were peculiar red markings under his eyes and diamond shaped mark on his forehead.
The arrival of the two royal captains was followed by the captain of Aqua Deer, Diavel Caesal, a commoner with unique magic attribute and prowess who rose to the rank of the Captain. He had bright indigo eyes and long indigo hair tied into a ponytail.
'I remember making this character....and later offing him down the line..' Varre thought to himself, glancing at the captain of Aqua Deer. 'All for character development..'
Alongside Diavel entered Charlotte Roselei, captain of the Blue Rose squad, an entirely all-women squad where the males are only hired as errand boys. Charlotte was a beautiful woman with upper length blonde hair tied in a bun and only a single lone braid hanging down from the left side of her face. She had a beautiful pair of light blue eyes.
Following Charlotte's entrance, a tall, lean man with golden eyes and loose medium length black hair made himself known to the crowd. He possessed sharp facial features and on the left side of his face was a thin red birthmark. His name was Jack the Ripper, captain of the Praying Green Mantis squad, a squad full of commoners.
The next two captains entered together. One of them was a tall, obese man wearing a purple colored mask over his eyes and showed off his perfectly white teeth. The squad robe on him identified him as the Captain of Purple Orca, Gueldre Poizot.
Along with him entered the Captain of Coral Peacock, Dorothy Unsworth. She was a short, young woman wearing a pointed hat with a garland of flowers at the cone's base. She had lilac colored hair but the most eye-catching feature about her was that she was sleepwalking!
'I want that skillset of sleepwalking..'
The examinees simply watched with their jaws almost dropped to the ground as Dorothy went ahead and took her seat without even bumping into anyone or anything at all! The Captains present were all used to this and with the reaction of the audience who were seeing Dorothy for the first time. The reaction of the examinees never ceased to amuse them.
Following Dorothy's entrance, the Captain of the newly established Black Bulls squad, Yami Sukehiro, made himself known. He was a tall man with a very muscular build. He had grey eyes and medium-length black hair combed backwards. He wore a sleeveless T-shirt and black trousers with two sets of belts, one for tightening purpose and second for wrapping his grimoire. He also carried a katana on the left side of his waist.
"I see someone with the same sense of style." Altria subtly pointed out the similarities between the captain that just arrived and her friend, or more on how they carried their weapon.
"My dressing sense is still better than Captain Yami." Varre gave a quick retort.
The last man to appear from the Captain's section was William Vangeance, Captain of another newly formed squad, Golden Dawn. The captain was a man in his early twenties with purple eyes and had an average height compared to the rest of the captains present. The rest of his facial features were hidden by his elegant looking mask which also served as a helmet.
With all the captains present in the colosseum the exam was finally going to start. The examinees could already feel the pressure from all the captains present even though they kept it under control. William stepped forward while all the other captains took their seats. The Captain of Golden Dawns gazed down at the examinees before clearing his throat.
"Candidates! Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. The official Magic Knights Entrance Ceremony shall now commence!!"