"I am the KING! THE KING!! THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY!! Look! LOOK AT THIS SUBLIME MANA, WHICH HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN FOR GENERATIONS! MY THOUGHTS! MY LOOKS! EVERYTHING ABOUT ME IS CORRECT! I AM GREATER THAN AN MAGIC EMPEROR!" The King barks in order for some praise.

I wish the Magic Emperor was the King...

I look back the audience, they were probably thinking the same thing as I was. The King looks down in beads of sweat, as if he's ready to really snap.

"Your majesty, please calm down. Be calm."Julius advises him, calmly.

"Ahem! Citizens, I have an announcement to make. The Hideout of the Eye of the Midnight SUn has been located!"The King announces.

That was fast!

I look up with my full attention as the crows 'awed' and 'oohed'.

"Until now, we have been subjected to many of their attacks, and they held the intiative in every battle. However, this time things are different! We're launching a full on attack on the enemy at last! To that end, I have decided to gather an even more select group from among the Magic Knights and form the ultimate hand-picked unit!! They will be called...

The Royal Knights!"

"One week from now, a test will be held for all Magic Knights, only those who past this test will be allowed to join the Royal Knights, and 

My Royal Knights will annihilate the Eye of the Midnight Sun! Magic Knights, offer up your grimoire in service to this country!"

The audience cheers even louder.

"Why is the king doing all the choosing?"

I look beside me in shock as Asta blurts out those words.

"The ones we think are awesome are the Magic Emperor and the Magic Knight Captains, not the king."

And he dares to CONTINUE?!

I was about to blow it when Asta suddenly turns to Yuno and I.

"I've never heard of the King doing anything big before now. Not even once. What about you guys?" Asta asks.

"O-oi! This isn't the time to-"I start before Yuno cuts me off with a reply.

"No." Yuno answers.

"That means he hasn't done one good thing for the people, even though he's got all that mana, right?" Asta asks again.

"Hey! This is the King we're tal-"I start again.

"I guess it does." Yuno replies to Asta's inquiry.

These jerks....

"I don't have magic so I don't really know, but that King is kinda..it's like he's got no aura, or he seems kinda petty, or..."Asta continues as he thinks thoughtfully, I elbow Yuno's arm from the side and give him a side glare that says, 'You better shut him up, or this is going to be a bloodbath'. He stares at me with a blank expression before looking back at Asta.

"Hey Asta. Read the mood, would you? This is no time to be telling the truth." Yuno states.

"Huh? Wait, so I'm right?" Asta thinks again. Jack snickers on the balcony before commenting.

"This is classic!" He snickers. The King stands with shock before pointing at finger at us.

"EXECUTE THEM! EXECUTE THAT REVOLTING TRIO IMMEDIATELY!!"He barks at us.

ME INCLUDED?! I DIDN'T DO NOTHING.

"GO ON, KILL THEM HURRY!" He barks again, the crowd behind us start to whisper among themselves.

"Please calm yourself, your majesty. And, out of consideration for me, I ask that you pardon these three. They may become the shields that protect you someday. Besides, if you recklessly brandish your power over something like that, you'll make the king's authority look cheap." Julius states, the King grits his teeth as Julius turns towards to crowd.

"The Royal Knights! I'm looking forward to this as well! Magic Knights, show us your courageous strength!"Julius declares, the crowd cheers loudly. The city center soon disbanded as everyone goes over to celebrate the festival, Julius motions for us to come over to the balcony. Yuno, Asta and I make up way from the stage and stand in front of Julius, waiting for him to tell us what he needs to tell us.

"Magic Emperor, sir, I'm really sorry about that." Asta apologies.

"As you heard, the Royal Knights will be a chance for you to achieve even greater things. Do you feel like taking at shot at it now?" Julius shrugs off Asta's apology and asks us.

"Yes sir!"We all reply.

"You three may be amazing, but you're still rookies, crowds of tough veterans are bound to show up for the selection test. But, go forward and don't get ahead of yourselves. I'll be waiting for you."

"Yes sir!"

We bid our farewells and walk down the stairs towards the festival.

I can't wait to try out all the delicious food! Come to think of

  "The Royal Knights huh?! I dunno what kind of test it's gonna be, but I'm totally doing this!" Asta beams.

"It does sound interesting." I state as I look over to a group of my brigade being loomed over by a strong looking woman. My eyes travel to the person in front.

Leopold?

I feel myself well up with warmth and start sprinting.

"LEOOOOOOO!!!!" The woman suddenly booms as Leopold stares at the ground in cold sweat, he mutters a small hesitant 'yes?'.

The woman lifts up her fist and smashes it into his face.

Eh?

I slow down my pace as I see the scene before me.

"YOU UTTER IMBECILE!!!!" She booms again, her mana completely letting loose around the area, making the ground she stood on crack under her pressure.

"THE CRIMSON LION KINGS RANK FIFTH?! WHAT SORT OF TRAVESTY IS THAT?! DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU ALL HERE?! BEFORE YOU DIE ON A MISSION?! FOR GENERATIONS, THE CRIMSON LION KINGS HAVE NEVER RANKED WORSE THAN SECOND PLACE! NEVER! AND YOU FOOLS WENT AND PLACED A LUDICROUS FIFTH?! TO THINK THIS HAPPENED JUST BECAUSE MY WITLESS YOUNGER BROTHER WAS CONFINED TO HIS BED?! ARE YOU PEOPLE INFANTS?!" She booms over.

I just walked into a bloodbath....Holy-

I'm apart of the Crimson Lions, rest in pieces me, someone save me.

"I SWEAR THAT IDIOT FUEGOLEON! WHAT A SPINELESS BUNCH HE'S RAISED! LEAVING USELESS LOUTS LIKE YO U BEHIND, THEN SLEEPING FOR AGES! HOW DARE HE!! THAT MORON ISN'T FIT TO BE A CAPTAIN!"She yells again with a angry sigh, my breath hitches at the last sentence.

No Captain Fuegoleon isn't a moron...I can't even think of anyone else who would be a better captain than Captain Fuegoleon....!

I grit my teeth as I was about to snap.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! FUEGOLEON'S A BETTER CAPTAIN THAN ANYBODY!" Leopold yells.

"He's right! Captain Fuegoleon taught us how knights should be!"

"He treated us more strictly, and more warmly, than anyone else. He's the ultimate Magic Knight! He's always has this country's best interest at heart!"

"EVEN IF IT'S YOU, SISTER, I WON'T FORGIVE ANYONE WHO TALKS ABOUT FUEGOLEON LIKE TH-"

Leopold yells again before being punched again in the face.

"THEN DO MORE THAN TALK! PROVE IT WITH YOUR OWN POWER! SHOW ME THAT YOU ARE THE STRONGEST BRIGADE LEAD BY THE ULTIMATE CAPTAIN!! THAT IMBECILE WILL NEVER DIE OR ABANDON YOU OR THIS COUNTRY!! UNTIL HE RETURNS, SHOW ME THE STRENGTH OF THE PROUD CRIMSON LIONS! " She yells, they all gulp.

"There's no helping it. While my idiot brother is away...I'll put you through the mill, personally!" She mutters.

That chill did not feel too good...

"WHAT DO YOU SAY?!"

"YES MA'AM!" They answer.

"All right, then it's time for a hot spring training camp." She explains, murmurs go around. Asta and Yuno talk behind me, I spot the woman looking our way. I elbow Asta in the face to tell him to shut up.

She walks over.

"You must be the newbie (Y/n) I've heard so much about, let's see what you can do." She smirks before letting off some fire and a fiery paw grabs me by the head.

Eh?

She looks behind me at Asta and Yuno before Leopold runs up to me.

"Yo (Y/n)!" He yells.

"Leopold! Long time no see! You had me worried!"I smile as he smiles with a small tint on his cheeks. I look behind me and see Asta and Yuno being captured as well.

"Once she catches you, there's no escape. She has no interest in war, or politics, so she's stayed out of the public eye. The hidden yet terrifying mage...Once she starts fighting, she's probably stronger than my brother! The uncrowned, undefeated lioness, Mereoleona Vermillion!" Leopold explains to me.

"Let's see what the top 3 rookies are made of." She smirks looking at the three of us.

We've been caught up in some serious trouble....

We were taken to one of captain meeting rooms with Mereoleona, she enters and spots Yami.

"The maybe I'll go drinking with myself! Gotta toast my meteoric rise to the top!"Yami laughs.

"You're pretty happy for a fellow who's only made it to the top once." Mereoleona snaps.

"Oh, Sisgoleon." Yami says bluntly as he turns around.

"Who are calling Sisgoleon?" She snaps. Yami looks at the three of us before he bursts out laughing.

"She caught you kid!" He laughs, pointing at Asta. All of a sudden, a paw clutches Yami's head too, he stops laughing and freezes.

"You too." She states.

"Huh?"

"You weren't just late to the announcement, you were absent. You're obviously getting soft, so I'm going to retrain you!" (I laughed really hard at this, shout if you see it XD)

Mereoleon spots Charlotte and grabs her too.

"You too."

I suddenly hear footsteps and turn to see Noelle making her way over to us.

"Hay! Dork-sta! There you are! Come say goodbye to Kahono and Kiato properly! Also, the fact that our brigade came in second wasn't specifically thanks to you or any-" She gets cut off as Mereoleon grabs her too.

"Yo."I say as I put up a hand as she was placed next to me.

"Wait a second! This has nothing to do with me!" Noelle protests.

"We're all linked like grapes!"Asta blurts.

"Quiet."Mereoleona mutters.

Strong Magic Region - Yultim Volcano Trail.

This is a hot spring.....?!

"ALL RIGHT, IMBECILES!!! LET'S GO!!!"Mereleona yells.

Eh?

"This is Yultim Volcano, a strong magic region. There's a volcano belt laced with powerful mana deep underground, and it spews lava constantly, as a rule, it isn't the sort of place people can get close to. However, at the summit, there's a magnificent revitalizing hot spring! Well?! I bet you're all excited now, aren't you?! C'mon now, lets head for the summit!" Mereoleona shouts.

Excited is not really the word to describe my mixed feelings, I mean a hot spring does sound pretty good, I haven't seen one before, maybe I can bring Sister Lily and the children here for a bath, but...

I look back that the lava and volcano.

The mana is unstable and out of control, it's dangerous.

"Since we're going anyway! Let's compete to see who can get to the summit first, Asta!" Leopold yells.

"Yeah! I'll do it! Bring it on volcano!" Asta yells.

"You too, Golden...uh!" Leopold points to Yuno.

"That's Yuno, my rival!"Asta introduces.

"What!? That means your my rival too! Fight me, Yuno! Or whatever you name is! Hey (Y/n), you wanna join?!"Leopold yells at me.

"Sure!"I pipe as I stand next to them.

"Whatever." Yuno states, I elbow him for being so rude, he peers down at me and huffs.

"Eh, you'll get use to him." Asta states.

"QUIT DAWDLING AND GO!" Mereoleona kicks Asta and Leopold and they scramble down the cliff we were standing on.

"Raaaaaaahhh! Let's do this!" Leopold yells as the other members of the brigade goes down with them.

I look at Yuno who looks back at me, he holds out his hand. I give him a questioning look before he takes my hand and jumps down the cliff with me behind him.

"Phew! You could've warned me!"I yell silently.

"Could of." Yuno mumbles.

"You should o-" I suddenly feel the heat reach my lungs.

It's scorching! The mana here is going beserk! My throat is parched!

"Uwah! What is with this heat!?" A voice cries from behind me.

"Revel...pipe down...." I struggle to speak.

I gotta do something about this and quick.

Charlotte and Yami suddenly leap out of our group and go on ahead.

The members cheer in awe.

"I've got it! They're wearing a protective layer of mana! The mana here is unstable, yet they're able to release their magic at a perfectly constant rate!" Leopold notes. Yuno starts walking as Revel wipes his sweat on the rim of my robe. He pulls me with him.

A protective layer of mana...it's like when I draw natural mana from strong magic regions to store it for later, except I'm releasing my mana to stable my condition....maybe if I try....

I control my mana and shape it like a cloak.

It's working...the heat is going away...

I look over at Yuno as he has done the same. He looks over at me and gives me a soft smile.

"You figured it out before I did." He states as he looks ahead at the struggling Asta and Leopold.

"Should we go on ahead?" He asks me.