Chapter 7: Magic Knight Exam

A/N: I saw a comment about MC being able to actually train his physical stats WITHOUT just the system points, and to be honest, I didn't think of that and don't think it's a bad idea. And so:

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It was finally the awaited day of the magic knight exam. 

Having woken up with a lot of energy from excitement, Suzaku went out on a run and stretched a little to warm himself up before the exam.

'Hm, it seems that my physical stats decided to increase randomly last night, I wonder why' Suzaku thought, obviously hinting his thoughts towards the system.

[User has spent the last 6 months training and sparring with both Yuno and Asta, the physical stats increase is merely a result of all the hard work the user has put it, so congratulations!]

[Points: 18,000]

[Strength: 2000 -> 8000 Points] [Strength Rank: C- -> C+]

[Agility: 2000 -> 8000 Points] [Agility Rank: C- -> C+]

[Vitality: 2000 -> 8000 Points] [Vitality Rank: C- -> C+]

[Magic: 11,080 Points] [Magic Rank: B-]

'Cool, let's even everything out a little, shall we?' He smirked as he used up his points to prepare himself for the exam.

[Points: 18,000 -> 0]

[Strength: 8000 -> 10,000 Points] [Strength Rank: C+ -> B-]

[Agility: 8000 -> 10,000 Points] [Agility Rank: C+ -> B-]

[Vitality: 8000 -> 10,000 Points] [Vitality Rank: C+ -> B-]

[Magic: 11,080 -> 23,080 Points] [Magic Rank: B-]

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The magic knights. Nine squads of mages specializing in battle that work directly under the command of the wizard king. This army of heroes risk their lives in order to protect their kingdom, and are respected and admired by their nation.

Today was the day of their yearly exam, and taking part was the trio of Asta, Yuno, and Suzaku.

Waiting outside the venue, the three were in the queue that lined up to sign up for the exam. In front was Yuno, followed by Asta then Suzaku. Eventually, the line died down as the three were next up

"Next-" The receptionist at the front called out in a dead voice, causing Yuno to step forward, "-Name?"

"Yuno"

"Present your grimo-" The man asked, to which Yuno put his grimoire in front of him, showing off the infamous 4-leaf closer, "A-A four-leaf..."

This shocked the people behind as they started gossiping about Yuno's grimoire.

"Number 164, sir!" The man said with sudden respect, allowing for Yuno to put his grimoire back in his waist grimoire-holder, "Next! Prese-"

"Here!" Asta excitedly showed his dirty grimoire, which caused the receptionist's face to go back to how it was.

"Number 165, next!" Asta followed from behind Yuno into the venue, "Present yo-" The receptionist fainted as he had foam falling out of his mouth once Suzaku presented his grimoire.

"Another 4 leaf!?"

"What the hell?! Are they actually rare!?"

"Uh..." Unsure of what to do, Suzaku just walked into the venue, "I guess I'm 166"

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Walking into the venue, Suzaku saw the flock of anti-birds as they pecked most of the contestants, especially Asta... poor guy.

"Woah, look at them! Neither of them have any anti-birds around them!" A guy said in awe as he noticed both Yuno and Suzaku having no birds pecking at them.

"Can't say the same about that guy, hahaha!" A guy mocked Asta who had about 30 birds pecking at him.

Ignoring the negativity he clearly heard, Asta confidently walked up to Yuno as he declared "This is where our legend starts, Yuno! Only one of us will become the wizard king...

Time to show off our results from the 6 months!"

"Pft-" The spectators couldn't help themselves from laughing.

"..." Asta's face started twisting and turning until eventually he folded, "AAGHHH! THE HELL ARE THESE BIRDS' PROBLEM!?" He screamed in complaint, running away from them as an attempt to make them stop.

"Oof-" Asta felt himself collide with a burly body, not noticing the birds fly away in fear, "-Oh, sorry for bumping into you, eheh" He rubbed the back of his head with a giddy smile.

The guy in front of him to reveal a scary face smoking his cigarette as he glared at Asta, "You wanna die, runt?" He threatened with a hint of murder intent.

Taking a few seconds to process what he was seeing, Asta eventually calmed down and thought 'It's alright... just be friendly!'

"Whoa, you look really old for a kid! You must have suffered so much hardship!" Asta said.

'This guy's dead' Everyone in the venue thought as they watched the funny scene.

"Looks like you're REALLY ready to die!" The man said, grabbing Asta's head with his big and strong hand.

"AHHHHH! IT HURTS IT HURTS!" Asta yelped.

And so, a guy came from behind as he said "Ah, there you are, Captain Yami!- Uh... what are you doing, exactly?" The guy asked

"What does it look like? I'm about to snap this guy's neck" Yami stated, causing Asta to panic.

"Uh, please don't, a captain really shouldn't be killing the new examinees... besides, why are you even down here with them?" Finral, a member of Captain Yami's squad, asked in confusion.

"I took a shit and got lost, obviously" Yami replied.

'That's meant to be obvious, how???' Everyone in the venue thought with a sweat drop.

"Hey, aren't they..." A spectator whispered loudly to his friend as they saw who the guys confronting Asta were

"Yeah... that's Finral Roulacase, a rare spatial magic user! And that guy over there's Gordon Agrippa!"

"So that means that must be..."

"Yeah, captain Yami Sukehiro, the captain of the worst magic knight squad: The Black Bulls" 

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. (I think everybody knows how the rest goes)

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"Thanks for waiting, examinees..." A projected voice spoke out, catching the attention of everybody in the venue.

"No way!"

"WOAHHH!"

"IT'S ALL THE MAGIC KNIGHT CAPTAINS!" The crowd fangirled in awe as they looked at the 8 people approaching them from the stage above.

"Tch! You're in luck, runt. You better appreciate your saved life, before I kill you" Yami threatened as he walked to the captains stage with Finral and Gordon following behind.

"I'm going to be in charge of the exams this time" The captain in a mask spoke

"OH MY GOD, IT'S WILLIAM VANGEANCE... THE CAPTAIN OF THE STRONGEST MAGIC KNIGHT SQUAD: THE GOLDEN DAWN! THE TOP CANDIDATE TO BECOME THE NEXT WIZARD KING" Someone in the crowd shouted, informing everyone.

'What a kind fella' Suzaku thought.

William pulled out his grimoire and opened it as he spoke the words "Magic tree, descend!"

Suddenly, a massive amount of mana filled the sky until a tree began to form in the sky. The magic tree grew branches that kept growing until eventually every examinee had a magic broom made from the tree in hand.

William closed his book shortly after as he announced "We shall now begin...

The magic knights exam!" The crowd cheered for a few seconds before William silenced them with a wave of his hand as he carried on speaking

"We're going to have you go through a multitude of tests. These tests will allow us captains to judge your progress and see whether or not we want you in our squads.

Those not chosen are simply not qualified to become a magic knight, and therefore will be sent home and may either try again next year or give up. 

The first test is to fly the broom that each of you have been given" The golden dawn member beside William then proceeded to demonstrate flying on the broom, "Any mage who can control their magic will be able to do this instinctively. It is the most basic method for a mage to travel. So, if you can't fly on your broom, there's no future for you...

You may begin" William stated, allowing for the contestants to try their best to fly on the broomstick

The captains then began to speak amongst each other as they observed the examinees.

"Flying on a broom is the easiest way to see a mage's potential..." William commented, "And it appears we have a few good candidates this year" He said with a smile as he looked at Yuno and Suzaku, who instantly got the hang of it and began to fly on their brooms with ease.

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The next test was a power tester, where a brick wall was made in front of examinees, allowing them to use their strongest spell to damage the wall.

Suzaku had aced this test with a controlled Lightning Spear that easily decimated the wall.

The third test was an aiming test, with both stationary and moving targets for the examinees to hit.

Suzaku also aced this one, and started to worry, 'Is it meant to be this easy?'

The fourth test was a creation test, this allowed for the examinees to show off their imagination, control and talent in creation magic.

Suzaku decided to make different weapons with his lightning as he alternated between a sword, spear, trident, bow, and spear at a relatively fast pace.

The second to last test was a simple test where the examinees had to infuse their mana into this magic root. When doing so, the root will grow based off the person's mana that they input.

"What the..." The captains all looked at Suzaku in shock as his root grew way too large for a normal examinee

"That boy... his mana appears to be around that of the high-class junior magic knight..."

"And that doesn't even appear to be his full strength, I wouldn't be surprised if he's already at the strength of a low-class intermediate magic knight..." The captains deduced after reviewing Suzaku's current test and all his previous ones.

'I want that boy!' They all thought.

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"Next... Is the final test" William announced, much to both the excitement and worry of the examinees, "In this test, you will engage in actual combat. You must partner up with someone and fight them.

You may use your grimoire... after all, I'm sure you've got a few spells mastered, right?" 

'No.' Suzaku both sarcastically and honestly replied in his mind.

"The main job of magic knights is to battle. Feel free to show us what you're fully capable of with this final test" William finished as he sat down, "You may now pair up. Pairs will be called up one at a time"

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The first pair called up was Asta and Sekke, and just like the original, Sekke got absolutely blitzed by Asta.

The captains looked at Asta's physical display with shocked eyes. First of all, the boy who showed 0 results in previous results suddenly got a perfect result for this test. Second of all, the fact that he literally cut through and nullified Sekke's magic, and finally

'That boy's fast...! It took me a a second to realise he appeared in front of his opponent and defeated him with easy' They all, with the exception of Yami (He was shocked at Asta's speed, but was the first to notice Sekke's defeat and Asta's speed), thought.

A few battles later, it was now Yuno vs the same noble guy who nobody remembers the name of. Unsurprisingly, the same thing happened as the noble was defeated instantly without retaliating.

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"The final pair, contestants number 166 and 80" William announced, allowing for Suzaku and a random guy who paired up with him to step forward as the stood opposite each other.

Suzaku faced his opponent and saw that the guy was sweating and worried.

'*Sigh*... This is gonna be a quick one' Suzaku sighed, realising his opponent wasn't much of an opponent, 'Oh god, I'm not starting to become one of those cocky and overconfident characters, am I?' He cringed, not paying attention to William's countdown.

"Begin!" Snapping out of it once he heard that word, Suzaku stood still as he saw his opponent open his grimoire

"Fire magic: Scorching Fireball!" The guy shouted as he sent a pitiful ball of fire towards Suzaku.

Putting his arm out exactly where the fireball was heading, Suzaku's grimoire opened by itself as he lightly said "Lightning Magic: Lightning Spear".

A singular purple lightning came out of his hand and shot at the fireball.

*BOOM!* 

The fireball exploded as it collided with the lightning spear, but it didn't stop there as it kept heading towards the opponent who had his eyes widened as he was unable to dodge the spell.

"AHH!" The man shouted in agony as he held his right chest which now had a burn, "I-I concede!" He cried 'This guy's a monster! I'll just try again next year!' He thought as he looked at the nonchalant Suzaku opposite him.

"Winner, Contestant 166!" William announced.

'Damn, that was the weakest lightning spear I could produce as well'

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. (A/N: The reason for these little comments by Suzaku is to kind off show off the power scaling)

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"And that marks the end of the examination" William stood up as he announced the ending of the exam, "Now... Each examinee will step forward when their number is called out.

The squad captains will then raise their hand if they want you in their squad. It is up to the examinee to accept the offer or not.

If an examinee gets offered no hands, that means you will not become a magic knight and have ultimately failed. If multiple captains raise their hand, then the examinee is able to pick which squad to join.

Examinee 1, please stop forward" The suspense was hitting everyone as the number ascended bit by bit.

Tears of joy were cried for the people who became magic knights, and tears of disappointment and sadness were cried for people who had no hands raised and couldn't become a magic knight. 

"Number 164" Yuno's number was called out, so he confidently stepped forward.

"No way..."

"All captains raised their hands!?" The crowd commented in awe and shock as this was a super rare moment, probably more rare than a 4-leaf clover appearing (Over exaggeration just to be clear).

'The best route to take to become the wizard king would be...' Yuno thought as he looked up at William Vangeance

"I'd like to join the Golden Dawn!" He stated, causing William to smile welcomely.

"Number 165" The infamous scene now appeared, Asta stepping forward...

"No hands... Hmph, not surprised" A contestant chuckled as he watched Asta put his head down in despair.

"Of course no one put their hand up, runt" Yami spoke up as he jumped down from where the captains were to approach Asta, "After all... no matter how good you're combat skills are, in the end what matters most for a magic knight is...

His or her magical powers" Yami said as he evoked his mana, causing Asta and the crowd to sweat profusely.

'Damn... that's scary' Suzaku weakly chuckled as even he felt it a little, but that was mainly because of him being right behind Asta pretty much.

"No one wants you because you have no magical powers. You said you were going to become the wizard king... that means you're saying you're gonna surpass us captains.

But how about now? Now that I'm in front of you, can you still say all that, even though you have no magical powers whatsoever?" Yami pressured Asta, who began to shake.

"Even if I can't become a magic knight today..." Asta began to raise his voice the more he spoke and the more his resolve and conviction was returning, "No matter how many times I fall... No matter what anyone says... One day...

I WILL become the wizard king!" Asta shouted, causing the crowd to mutter amongst themselves.

"Heh..." Yami smirked before breaking out into a laugh, "BWAHAHAHA!" You... You're interesting, kid!

Join the Black Bulls!" He pointed at a confused Asta.

"...Eh?" Was all he could say

"By the way, you don't have the right to refuse, you WILL join the black bulls" Yami threatened, "I'll make your time in the black bulls a horrible one that you'll be ripped to pieces. Prepare for it! And one day..." Yami's voice was no longer in a threatening tone, but rather a peaceful one, like that of a father or sensei

"Prove everyone wrong, and become the wizard king!"

'Holy shit, this is even cooler up close!' Suzaku fanboyed as he had tears threatening to fall out his eyes.

A minute passed before William called out, "Number 166"

Suzaku stepped forward confidently.

"N-No way!!"

"Not once, but twice?! And in one day!?"

"This has got to be a record!"

All the captains, unsurprisingly, raised their hand as they wanted Suzaku to join their squad.

Observing all the captains for a few seconds, Suzaku exhaled and inhaled some oxygen as he announced

"The squad I'd like to join is..."

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A/N: From now on, MC's stats at the end of every chapter will be shown in the author's thoughts section for people to look at if they want to keep up with his stats every chapter.

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