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*****
"Spatial Magic: Fallen Angel's Gate!"
Inside the Black Bull squad's hideout, Finral pulled out his three-leaf clover grimoire and opened a spatial portal.
George and Yami stepped through the threshold, traveling instantly from the Black Bull castle to the grand arena in the Royal Capital, the designated site for the Magic Knights Entrance Exam.
"Not bad control."
Having spent the last few days with the squad, George had gained a much more detailed understanding of the members' abilities. Along the way, he had studied the magic of every member, including Captain Yami's.
How did a newcomer manage to extract everyone's intelligence so quickly? And how did he earn enough trust for them to willingly demonstrate their magic for his research?
Naturally, there was a reason.
By subtly exercising the authority of a Visionary—employing a few psychological suggestions paired with the right rhetoric—it was a simple task to accomplish.
Finral Roulacase hailed from the Vaude family, a renowned noble house in the kingdom. The family was world-famous for their offensive spatial magic. Finral was originally the heir and the future head of the house, but due to a personality that neither wanted to inflict violence nor endure it, he was considered a disgrace by his family.
Furthermore, his spatial magic wasn't offensive; it was a transport-type magic with zero combat power, suited only for support. Consequently, the position of heir fell to his younger brother, who was now the Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn.
Despite his noble upbringing, Finral had the best temperament in the squad. He was one of the earliest members to join, yet he carried no elitist attitude toward his juniors. His only real flaw was his lechery; he adored women. Even then, he was all bark and no bite—at most, he would flirt or try to hold a hand or a waist, but he'd lose his nerve when things got serious.
Because he was frequently used by Yami to run errands or transport members to mission sites, he was jokingly referred to as Yami's "chauffeur" and the "porter" of the Black Bulls.
"I'm gonna go take a dump. You guys head to the stands and wait for me."
The moment they stepped through the portal, Yami, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, headed straight for the arena's latrines.
Gambling, smoking, and defecating—these were Captain Yami's three great hobbies. George had realized this Captain truly seemed to go eight times a day. In the Black Bull castle, if you ever went to the restroom, there was an eighty percent chance you'd find Yami squatting there.
Yami wasn't actually a native of the Clover Kingdom; he came from a distant land called the Land of the Sun. At the age of thirteen, while out fishing with his father, a violent storm and massive waves washed him ashore in the Clover Kingdom. As a foreigner, he faced constant discrimination, holding a status lower than even the lowliest peasants.
Later, he was discovered by the current Wizard King, Julius Novachrono, who invited him to join the "Aqua Deer" Magic Knight squad. He eventually rose to become one of the kingdom's top powerhouses and one of the nine squad captains, earning the nickname "God of Destruction."
In addition to his rare Dark Magic, he could also utilize "Ki" from his homeland. George was quite interested in this power. Through his research, he found it to be an energy-based manifestation of life force. The stronger one's physical training, the easier it was to extract and apply this energy.
Currently, Yami mainly used it to predict and sense enemy positions and attacks, but George felt this energy had many more potential applications.
"Oh, beautiful lady! You are truly adorable! I wonder if I might have the honor of dining with you after the exam..."
No sooner had Yami left than Finral grabbed the hand of a passing female examinee and began his routine. George shook his head at the sight and started wandering around the venue on his own.
The arena was designed like a colosseum, though on a much larger scale. Hundreds of examinees had already gathered, waiting for the proceedings to begin. There was no upper age limit for the Magic Knights Entrance Exam; as long as you received your grimoire at age fifteen, you could sign up.
Many people waited until their twenties when they felt more confident before attempting the test. Those who dared to participate and pass right at fifteen were invariably rare geniuses.
However, even without an age limit, only a handful of the hundreds of applicants were typically accepted each year. Most of those few were nobles who had received magical education and training since childhood and possessed naturally high mana. Commoners and peasants were accepted only on the rarest of occasions.
The Magic Knights exam was fair in theory—nobles weren't given preferential treatment—but in reality, nobles were simply stronger in terms of raw power and foundation. That said, it wasn't guaranteed that someone would be recruited every year. The nine captains watched the entire process, and if none of them saw a candidate they deemed worthy of their squad, it was possible for no one to be selected at all.
"Ah! What's with these birds?"
"These are the famous Anti-birds of the exam grounds. They like humans with low magic power; the lower your mana, the more likely they are to swarm you."
Suddenly, many small brown birds flew into the arena, landing on various examinees. Some had one or two, some had three or four, and some were covered in five or six. By simply looking at the number of birds, one could gauge the amount of mana within a candidate.
George didn't have much mana himself, so five birds flew toward him, intending to perch on his shoulders. George simply released a faint trace of Dragon's Awe from his body, and the birds immediately turned tail and fled in terror.
"And here's one with no magic at all."
As he circled the exam grounds, George spotted a short boy with grey, spiky hair. He was covered in at least thirty Anti-birds. Extending his spiritual sense, George discovered the boy possessed absolutely zero mana.
Despite the total lack of magic, the boy was incredibly hot-blooded, shouting about becoming the Wizard King. His personality reminded George of Natsu, whom he knew from elsewhere.
"Wait, that's not right... that's the power of a devil."
Closely inspecting the boy's body and locking onto the grimoire he carried, George sensed a faint, lurking demonic power within the book.
"A devil residing within a grimoire... it seems devils aren't just legends here."
George had some interest in the devils of this world, but not much. After all, he could create demons himself, and among the twenty-two God Pathways, there was the Abyss Pathway that allowed one to become a devil. In his eyes, the value of a devil was currently lower than that of Yami's "Ki" energy.
Still, devils from different worlds varied, and it might be worth investigating if he had the time.
Boom—Pop!
Brilliant, colorful magical fireworks exploded in the sky, signaling the official start of the Magic Knights Entrance Exam. George stopped wandering and regrouped with Finral and Yami—who had finally returned from the latrine—and headed toward the section of the stands reserved for the Black Bulls.
(End of Chapter)