Bzzz.. Fwoosh-bzz.
A singular flash of lightning was zooming around in the darkness of the lower regions of Brimstone city.
The flash was dancing, running around in haste like there was tomorrow for it. However before it could go much further into the darkness, a hand grabbed it.
"Luck... I told you to stop being a damn nuisance!" Yami said as he lifted Luck with a firm grip over his head.
"Hahaha, I can't help it, Captain! It's not everyday we get to fight a wizard king!" Luck laughs away the warning without care.
Eventually Yami had to give in to Luck's madness. He let go of his blonde hair, lettting him fall to the floor and then brought out a cigarette from his pocket.
Yami looks backs for a second, waving his hand into the darkness, "This was supposed to be stupid stealth mission or whatever. But who cares. You brats can do whatever you want."
"Really!?" Magna was the first jump out in excitement, "We can go wild!? "
But before Magna could say further, a annoyed figure with white hair followed him out into the light. "Is that all you boys care about? We are not here on a field trip! "
Crunch
However Noelle cold front soon shatters as Vanessa walks out half drunk from drinking. Meanwhile Charmy comes out behind Noelle, offering her a cookie while herself munching on one.
"You are just too serious. *chomp* It's not like we are going on a suicide mission."
"Tch, " Noelle hesitatingly accepts the cookie, "it's you guys who are too relaxed! *bite* be arw in aa Ions den (we are in a lion's den)" Noelle Gulps down the cookie, "... Can I get another? "
Charmy happily hands over another cookie which Noelle chomped down again in one single bite.
The white haired Tsundere princess then proceeded to devour through 8 more cookies to drown down her stress under the chocolate and sugar. Then, She finally took a gulp of relief, her eyes wandering around all serious, looking for any clues.
There were all members of the black bulls present in her sight, all except Finral and Henry who were busy helping the citizens with their transportation and transformation abilites.
However she also felt something missing, like a hollow central part of a puzzle that has been lost somewhere.
"Asta... I wonder if he would have liked this place."
Noelle was lost in her thoughts and failed to notice as Nero walked right in front of her, her straight face staring at her from ahead.
Then with the slightest touch.
Pok
Noelle jumps, her face pale black from being startled.
"NERO? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"It's amusing."
Noelle couldn't understand but still retorted, "Amusing!? What's so amusing?"
Nero wanted to Answer but Vanessa spoke first.
"It's you, miss royalty. Are ya Missing your boyfriend already? "
"B-Boyfriend!?! What the hell are you talking about!?" Noelle blushed.
However Vanessa's drunk expression vanished the next second, revealing a sad face that was hidden behind the cloudness of Alchohol.
"We know how you feel. All of us...," Vanessa points at Luck and Magna arguing in the distance with Zora just sitting at the side. " but we can't just waste the rest of our lives grieving can we? Asta wouldn't want that, would he?"
Noelle was at lack of words. She wanted to say something, anything but couldn't. It took her a second to recompose herself but, Vanessa's moment of clarity was long gone by then.
"I—"
Vanessa continues in a drunk voice, "But seriously. You had so many chances to confess but you couldn't. The poor guy died not knowing someone had a crush on him."
The earlier atmosphere of reassurance and clarity was instantly replaced with constant teasing. Eventually the comments of Vanessa even forced Noelle to hide her face in a corner while Nero smirked at her beneath her blank face.
"Amateur. " Nero thought. She mentally compared herself to Noelle and soon joined her in the corner after finding not a single superior difference from her.
Then suddenly-
Click Click~... Click. Click.
Yet just as the Black bulls were getting comfortable, the giant Hall they were in began lighting up with translucent light that flooded into the room from above.
One after another, the hall's ceiling began opening at different spots, each spot glowing with a light as the darkness was immediately removed from all places in sight.
"You guys sure are taking your time... I almost fell asleep from watching all this drama."
A stern voice broke into the room, silencing everyone.
Yami tossed away his cigarette, Gauche and Vanessa pocketed their wine bottle and pictures. Grey turned into her old disguise and within a second everyone was looking at a source of the voice.
In front of them was a gate and in front of the gate was a person, The person had Ashen hair and wore a red hairband that held that hair together, he was also wore a sleeveless white shirt, a pair of elastic pants and a blue jacket that reached up to his knees.
It was Asta, no disguise. Just him in a fashion of clothes he gathered (threatened) out from Conrad's belongings and had readjusted to fit him.
Least to say, the black bulls were shocked, leaving each of them struck on their spots, puzzled with confusion, disbelief and doubt.
... The room was filled with nothing but silence.
However the silence was broken by the metallic shing of Yamu's katana as the blade's edge was pointed at Asta wirh hostility.
" You had me fooled for a second. But you ain't fooling any of us with such a trashy disguise, you bastard!"
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"
Yami grits his teeth until the sound was hearable to all and sneers, "Asta didn't have ounce of mana in his body. If you were gonna disguise as him, you should've at least tried to act like that."
But Asta didn't try to convince Yami, neither did he try to make a excuse that might lead up to him having to explain every single detail.
He only looked into Yami's eyes, also sensing the hostility that was being pointed at him from all the members of the black bulls with the most being from Noelle and Nero.
Then he stood up, the headband on his head ripping out as the black horns tore through to reveal themselves. The tail also followed soon after, followed by the red pupils as Asta slowly lowers his suppression above the Devil blood flowing in his veins.
...
...
"Come at me then. What are you waiting for?" Asta floods his body with pure gravity magic, "but you will not get the victory against me."
Tapping into a low eerie voice, Asta decides to play the role of a villian to the very core. He flicks his finger, taunting the black bulls from his spot.
And the just like that the empty hall was soon filled with several shades of lights with a sublime dark and a cackling light blue being the fastest in their approach.
Asta sensed two attacks coming and raises his hand. He created a small gravitational field around his palm, using it to redirect an high speed kick from Luck while shifting his head to dodge a stab from Yami.
"Eh? "
Smack
A strong elbow to the chest sent Luck flying back towards the others, his face now filled with confusion as he wondered why his attack missed.
Meanwhile Yami shifted the stab into a slash, aiming at Asta's neck at point blank distance but before his blade could reach it, Asta covers his left hand in toughened mana, then used it to guard his neck while throwing a fist yami with his other hand.
"Scattershot!"
"Water dragon missile!"
The moment Asta tried to strike Yami, he was bombarded from his left and right by Magna and Noelle.
But... He had sensed their attack long ago and immediately crouched before kicking himself back towards the door. He landed sideways, watching the fire and water collide into a explosion of steam.
However he could sense someone coming from the steam and leapt away only to see Luck hit the door with extreme force and speed.
"You are strong!" Luck said enthusiastically as he missed, "But that just makes me want to fight you more!"
The moment Asta landed he was greeted by a barrage of kicks, each aiming at his joints or vitals with ruthless accuracy, forcing him to fight back seriously for once.
He dodged several kicks aimed at his head and chest, blocking many that came swinging at him from the sides as Luck kept speeding up more and more.
Yet Asta didn't get hit once, his movements as fluid as they could while he minimized his movements before at last, he shifted mid dodge and reached out.
Bang.
"-You are as fast as I remember. But that's all you have Luck." Asta said as he finally catches Luck's leg, halting his movements for a second.
However he didn't attack, instead he waited for a second in silence as he used ki sense to his current limits.
To Asta, the battle was training. He could have used Anti-magic whenever he wanted but he would never grow further than that if relied to much on it.
He was constantly noticing the way others moved their mana, observing the way it shifted and hardened to their wills while also being as elastic when needed.
And as felt the attack he was anticipating arrive, Asta let go of Luck's leg, his body turning as he locked his eye with the real Yami amidst the several fake images made by gauche.
Mana throughout his body churned, flowing to his right hand as it formed a translucent purple gauntlet around his arm.
The gauntlet clashed with the katana, sending sparks flying in several directions as a shockwave travelled down Asta and Yami's bodies and into the floor, making a crater below each of them.
But despite the clash, a smile formed on Asta's face as he finally managed to learn another technique, a fine addition to his arsenal for future fights.
Deep down Asta felt a thrill of learning, a yearning to go further past his limits through his own efforts and talents he had formed from those efforts.
It could sense it, the path that was his own– a path built upon teachings and techniques of others that he will merge again and again until he surpasses those he learnt them from.
Sing
[Trait creation is being passively activated]
[Trait: Quick learner (Tier: Basic) is being created]
_________
Author's note: I am gonna make a auxiliary chapter next with a bunch of explanation if anybody is getting confused by what exactly is the power the system has after reaching stage 3.