'.....' (Character's thoughts)
"....." (Speech)
[…..] (Voice Transmission)
{.....} (Spell Names)
<….> (Telepathic Communication)
(LONG CHAPTER)
While Asta had run into the bathroom due to the Grilled Violetsnake he ate, I saw Ha ha getting ready to do something to him.
Yuno was going to go over until he saw me walking over so he knew that Asta had nothing to worry about. Ha ha was about to sick his poison lizard on Asta when suddenly a giant wind golem appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the lizard.
"What do you think you're going to do?" I asked as I released my magic pressure along with having my wind golem crush the bronze magic snake.
Ha ha gave the same stupid reason for it as he did in the show, but I am not as merciful as Yuno, so I would give him a more strict warning. I walked up to him and as I was taller than him, he had to look up at me, I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up so we were eye level as I glared at him and said.
"If you think I'd believe that flimsy excuse, then you're even dumber than I thought. Listen closely, if you ever even think about harming Asta, it will be the last thing you ever do. If I find out you harmed him then I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." I said menacingly before letting him go and my wind golem dissipated as he ran away.
I then went off to the side to wait for Asta who came out about three minutes later.
"AHH I FEEL SO REFRESHED!!" Asta shouted.
At that moment I walked out of the spot I was waiting and walked over to Asta.
"Ugh, Asta again with the screaming?" I asked.
"Sorry bro, I forget sometimes." Asta said guiltily .
"It's alright to do it in private or even in the middle of a fight, but try to keep the screaming to a minimum when we are just in public." I said.
"RIGHT!" Asta shouted to which I just sighed.
We then headed toward where Captain Yami was waiting for us.
"You got a lotta nerve making me wait like that, just how long was this dump you took?" Yami asked angrily.
"OH CAPTAIN YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS....." Asta started before I interrupted by covering his mouth.
"He had a bad reaction to some food sold at one of the stalls, I will try to make him choose better options next time." I answered.
Yami just shrugged and turned toward Finral who he was getting ready to ask to open a portal. At the same time I was speaking to Asta in a hushed whisper after I smacked him on the back of the head.
"You idiot, I know what you were about to say, what made you think he was actually asking about the size? Seriously think before you speak bro." I said to him in a hushed whisper and Asta looked at me embarrassed and nodded his head vehemently.
"Go on Finral." Yami said.
"Okay." Finral replied as he created a spatial magic portal.
I waited until they were all ready until I picked Asta up with wind magic and we both went through the portal.
When we made it to the other side, Captain Yami came through next followed by Gordon then Finral.
As the portal closed behind us Asta was still floating with my magic, at which time I promptly stopped using my wind magic.
"Ahh oof. Ranto! A little warning would be nice." Asta said.
"Wouldn't the supposed future Wizard King be able to deal with this kind of situation?" I replied calmly.
It definitely perked him right up as he said "Right!!"
'We were finally standing in front of the Black Bulls hideout and I have to say, the anime doesn't do it justice, it is a lot bigger than what is shown in the anime.'
Asta ran up and opened the door announcing himself as the newest member of the squad before getting launched back from some kind of fire attack which lit the ground on fire. When Asta finally landed Yami turned around with the fire raging behind him and looked at us.
"This is us, the worst of the worst Magic Knight Squads, welcome to the Black Bulls."
"Thank you Captain Yami." I said.
"YES THANK YOU CAPTAIN YAMI SIR!!" Asta screamed.
"Stop screaming you idiot, he's right there you don't need to shout." I said as I smacked him upside the head.
"Right, sorry." Asta replied.
I walked over to where the fire was and used my wind to disperse it so I could finally get a look inside, only to see a fireball headed toward me. I simply created a wind barrier and it dispersed the fireball easily. I saw Magna and Luck having a spar and could hear some of their conversation. Evidently they were fighting over how Luck stole Magna's flan.
Asta got ready to announce himself again but I just stopped him as I really didn't want to see that cringey scene up close and personal. The scene got more and more chaotic before I could see the mana building up on Captain Yami before he slammed his fist on the building as he shouted.
"Quit breaking stuff already!!"
All the black bulls stopped what they were doing and rushed in front of Captain Yami, knocking Asta down in the process as they began chattering excitedly about a bunch of stuff. The captain got serious and made all the squad members calmly sit. In which Grey sat on Asta without realizing.
"This here is our... Where'd he go?" Yami started then paused when he didn't see Asta
Captain Yami looked over and saw Asta stuck under Grey.
"Hey come on stop fooling around." Captain Yami said.
Asta was able to get out from under Grey and stood next to Captain Yami.
"As I was saying this shrimp here Is one of the other members of the Black Bulls." Captain Yami said.
"What do you mean 'one of the other'? Isn't it just me and Ranto?" Asta asked mostly to himself.
"Go on tell em your name or something." Captain Yami said as he looked at Asta.
"Yes sir, my names Asta from Hage village it's really nice to meet everyone." Asta said.
"You're from Hage? That's out in the middle of nowhere." Magna said.
"Captain Yami who is that boy over there?" Vanessa asked as she saw me standing at the back of the group of Yami and them.
"Oh him, hahaha he's our new secret weapon. Go on newbie, introduce yourself." Captain Yami said.
I nodded and stepped forward and said calmly.
"I am Ranto, and I'm also from Hage."
There were differing reaction with my new squadmates. Vanessa had a smirk on her face as I seemed to be somewhat mysterious and her normal flirty nature was coming out. Luck looked excited as hearing that I was their secret weapon must mean I'm strong so he wanted to spar. Charmy seemed to ignore me for the most part and was just her usual bubbly self. Magna on the other hand, looked very upset as he probably felt that Captain Yami was praising me too much and he wanted to knock me down a peg. Grey just did her signature breathing smoke thing.
"Well Finral, what are you waiting for introduce everyone." Captain Yami said.
"Right. Now where to start, well you already know Gordon Agrippa, he's not the easiest to talk to, but he's good people." Finral stated.
"(Whispers) it's nice to meet you." Gordon said barely audible.
"Nice to meet you to Gordon." I said which caused Finral to pause.
"You can understand him?!?" He asked.
"Of course I can, why, can't you?" I replied.
"(Whispers) that's so great now I have someone who will actually listen to me."
I nodded to him an waited for Finral.
He just shook his head and continued.
"Anyways, this here is Vanessa Enoteca, tends to pick fights when she's drunk, but she's good people."
"Picking fights I don't know what you're talking about." Vanessa said as she looked at Asta and I. Myself being closer to Vanessa after introducing myself.
"So Hage Village? Way off in the outskirts of the kingdom?" Vanessa asked us.
"Yeah!" -Asta
"Yep" -Ranto
Vanessa then got up and walked over to me.
"Mm, to make your way from a backwater little village, to a Magic Knight squad, you must have worked soo hard. Nice, kiddos. What do you say I give you something as a reward huh?" Vanessa asked in a sultry tone.
I just smirked said. "Oh, a reward huh? What did you have in mind?" I said the last line with a wink.
Vanessa didn't know what to do as no one had ever matched her energy like that and she didn't know how to react so she simply blushed and was going to quietly sit back down, but started to throw up.
"Anyways, moving on we have...." Finral started before being interrupted.
"Ooh do me next, do me next." Luck said.
"Luck Voltia, he's a battle freak who's addicted to fighting, but he's good people." Finral continued.
"Nice to meet you. Hey do you like to fight? If you are our new secret weapon I want to see how strong you are" He asked as he walked in front of me.
"Yeah I like to fight, but maybe later when we can find a safe space to fight without risking destroying the hideout." I replied.
"Sounds great, I can't wait. What about you, do you like to fight?" He asked Asta.
"Uh, sure?" Asta said confused.
"Me too I love it, wanna fight? Well, whaddaya say?" Luck asked Asta as I denied it for right now.
Before Asta could really answer, Gauche came up.
"Hey, you see her? This is my sister Marie, if you lay a finger on her, you die." Gauche said.
Asta started to freak out while I just nodded. As Finral continued.
"Gauche Adlai, he loves his sister a tad too much, but he's good people."
He then gestured to Charmy who was munching on a muffin.
"This here is Charmy Papittson, a big eater, but she's good people." Finral said.
"Nice to meet ya!" Charmy said with her mouth full.
"This is Grey, I don't really get him, but he's good people." Finral said as he introduced Grey who had sat on Asta previously.
"Uh, hi." Asta said.
"Yo." I said while waving.
"Magna Swing, a street punk, but he's good people." Finral said while Magna glared at us. Asta was freaked out, whereas I had no reaction.
"And I am Finral Roulacase, Ladykiller." Finral said
"And finally we have the Black Bull's fearless leader Captain Yami Sukehiro." Finral said while gesturing toward Captain Yami.
"I'm really glad to be here sir." Asta said as he bowed.
It was weird for me as someone who was a part of western culture to bow, so I simply nodded as I thanked him for allowing me into the Black Bulls.
Captain Yami nodded back to me then said. "We have other members of course, but the rest are on missions or on leave I don't know, think you can play nice newbies?" Yami asked.
"Of course Captain." -Ranto
"Yes sir!" -Asta
"Hey, string bean, I need to talk with you." Captain Yami said looking at me.
'Captain Yami had taken to calling me string bean, despite the fact that I am nearly as muscular as Asta, but I am taller than everyone else with the exception of the older members and my clothes hude my build pretty well, so.'
I follow Captain Yami and we head into what looks sort of like a lounge, there is a couch on one side that Captain Yami sits in. I stared at him strangely wondering what he wants.
"Don't give me that look, I have a few questions for you string bean." Captain Yami said.
"Of course sir, ask away." I replied.
"Your magic, you call it Storm Magic right?"
"Yes sir."
"What exactly does your magic allow you to do, can you use the spells of different magic users like water, lightning, and wind?"
I looked at him before taking out my grimoire to begin my explanation.
"Not exactly sir, the way my magic works, is that each aspect of my magic whether it be the Wind aspect, Water aspect, or Lightning aspect, they all have a specific section in my grimoire for spells. And I can only make spells based off of others, but they would be my own variations of the magic spells. This does inhibit my strength a little, but while I haven't had any successful combinations thus far, I can combine the different aspects of my magic together for stronger spells."
"Hahaha you really will become our secret weapon, you have an immense magic pool comparable to a royal and you can even utilize multiple types of magic. Very well, I had another question regarding your fourth aspect of your magic? I'm sure it has something to do with thunder as you mentioned it at the entrance exam."
"Yes sir, I call it Force Magic, it allows me to duplicate the force created from thunder and I can even enhance my attacks and defense with it."
"That's great, with a little training and making sure to push past your limits, you'll be a major powerhouse soon enough."
All of the sudden, Captain Yami started to exert his pressure and he got very serious.
"Now. How about you tell me about that power your hiding inside you. I have never felt anything like it, it feels like it never ends."
When I heard Captain Yami's words I froze up.
'How could he figure out about it, I thought it could only be sensed when I used it. Is he going to kick me out, I know I could most likely join another squad, but they would definitely be curious as to why I was kicked out of one of the worst squads.'
As I was internally freaking out I heard Captain Yami's voice again and at the same time, the pressure vanished.
"Hahahaha no need to get so worked up kid, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was only able to sense it because of my ability to sense both mana and Ki."
"Ki, sir? What's that?" I asked feigning ignorance.
Captain Yami gave me the same explanation he gave to Asta which essentially boiled down to Ki being vital energy or life energy, it is the natural aura every living being has and for those who can sense Ki, it allows them to read the movement of Ki.
'Oh, okay, I know how he was able to sense my ability now. My ability is closely linked to my magic, but it is also a part of my body so of course my Ki would show it as well. But to sense it completely, you need to be able to sense both mana and Ki as they work in tandem.' I thought to myself, finally calming down.
I realized that out of any of the people who could find out about my ability, Captain Yami is probably the best choice, he doesn't care about any of the stuff normal people would, and him confirming that only he'd be able to sense my ability puts me at ease.
"Well sir, since that cat's outta the proverbial bag, I suppose I'll just tell you, but you have to ensure that no one finds out and I don't want anyone listening in." I said as I gestured to the walls.
"Oh so you could sense Henry's mana huh? Well I should've expected as much from you string bean."
Captain Yami then placed his hand on what looked like trap magic and the whole room glowed purple like Yami's dark magic for a second before it disappeared.
"What was that Captain?"
"Huh? Oh that, it was just isolation magic, it is powered by a user's mana and a magic circle, it is useful to have secret meetings. It is a magic technique unique to my homeland. Now, about that hidden power of yours"
"Yes of course. The ability is called Infinity, no matter the magic power required to cast a spell, I need only activate it once and it will remain activated until I myself cancel it. I can also enchant my ability onto spells making them grow in power exponentially as an unlimited amount of magic is continuously added to it." I explained.
The more I explained the more shocked I saw Captain Yami get. I haven't yet seen any sort of emotion on Captain Yami's face except a blank stare or anger so I know he knew the ramifications of my power and all the possibilities it had.
"Hey Ranto." Captain Yami said.
He used my actual name so I knew he was serious.
"Yes, Captain."
"You need to never explain this power to anyone ever again, also you need to only use it as a last resort when you have to use it or die, you understand?"
"Yes, I understand completely, I never wanted to become reliant on my ability anyways sir."
"Hahahaha, we really lucked out with you string bean, I can't wait to see the look on Vaungence's face when we catch up to them in stars and eventually surpass the Golden Dawn. With your power, it'll be a cinch."
"Stars? What are they?"
"Oh right you wouldn't know, stars are what the Wizard King gives to the Magic Knight squads as they complete missions and the more stars a squad has, the stronger they are said to be. As of right now, with 71 stars, the Golden Dawn is in the lead."
"How many stars do we have Captain Yami?"
"Heh, negative thirty."
'Why does he sound so proud of that.'
"Alright, I guess Magna will be giving his initiation right now, wanna watch?"
"Sure, let's go."