Chapter 21: The Ceremony of Trouble

The group of six which included Lucas, Asta, Yuno, Noelle, Mimosa and Klaus were being guided by the Wizard King, Julius Novachrono, towards a special decoration ceremony that was being held.

The Magic Knights walked past many important looking buildings. From the Magic Library, to where the kingdom would hold its criminals in the dungeon. Lucas got accustomed to where different things were and learned about them from Klaus's explanations.

Eventually, the four Golden Dawn members as well as the two Black Bulls reached their destination. A large pair of brown doors separated them from what was inside. The two guards that were outside the building slowly pushed the doors open and what the group met were two large lines of security guards that were stood facing the Wizard King.

"I've never been in such an expensive looking place. I mean… the base is very impressive but there's something a bit more prestigious about being here", Lucas commented as he turned his head around to look everywhere around.

The Light mage looked at the many double-glazed windowpanes that had gold trims as borders. He then turned his head to look at the thick, white pillars that supported the structure and saw that they were patterned with various different magic writings and inscriptions.

"A pretty impressive area, don't you think?" Julius asked as he kept walking forward.

"It definitely is, Wizard King", Asta replied, his voice quieter and calmer than usual probably due to the environment he was in. Though, that personality change was short lived as what he saw next brought back the Asta that everyone was used to.

"WOW! That looks so cool!" The ashen-haired mage jumped up and down. He was pointing at the line of medals and trophies that were sat in different display cases to each side of the room.

"Keep your voice down, shrimpy", Yuno spoke in a quiet tone. The Wind mage was still wary of what and who was around him and didn't want to draw attention to himself.

"Haha! Your excitement sure is nice to see, Asta. What you see there is the various different accolades that I've gathered in my time as the Wizard King. From protecting the kingdom from foreign attacks, to keeping the citizens safe from enemies from within. Everything I do is in the spotlight, though that isn't the best thing but getting the medals sure do help in that sense", Julius replied.

"The spotlight, huh?" Lucas thought. "I never really thought about it but if I become the Wizard King then everything I do will be seen by the public eye", he then shivered. "Phew… that's definitely something I'm going to have to get used to. My fright and my clumsy nature… maybe those aspects of myself have to disappear for the kingdom to like or take me seriously", he frowned. The dual mage then shook his head. "Ah! There's no sense in worrying about it now!" He corrected himself.

One person who was quieter than usual was the royal Silva. She was walking back alongside Mimosa, and she was visibly distraught by the entire situation.

"A special decoration ceremony. It celebrates the achievements of Magic Knights… will THEY be there? I really do not have a good feeling about this", Noelle muttered.

"We're here". Julius stopped.

Another set of huge, brown doors were in front of him. The Wizard King turned around and looked at the group of six Magic Knights who had been following him.

"The people behind this door… can you bring me better results than them?" The Wizard King then slowly opened the door.

A bright light enveloped the area. Lucas and the others closed their eyes in response but then slowly opened them again. The light that shone through now highlighted the 10 Magic Knights, with five of them on either side of the red carpet on the floor, that had now been revealed to them.

There were many strangers that Lucas did not know but there were also a few that the Light mage had known about ever since his first day as a Magic Knight. To the right, the people he knew were three of his Golden Dawn teammates with two of them being friendly with him. The other, not so much.

Lucas mouthed the word "hello" to the duo of Hamon Caseus and Shiren Tium to which they nodded.

The other mage was Alecdora Sandler who didn't have the best of relationships with the Light mage. Ever since the dungeon exploration with Letoile, Alecdora had seemingly disappeared as Lucas had not seen him for a few weeks.

There was also the Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings, Fuegoleon Vermillion. "Woah, he's a royal and a captain! He even put his hand up for me at the Magic Knights Exam. I wonder how amazing he really is? I guess him being here answers that question", the Light mage thought.

To the left, there were only two people Lucas knew about and both of them were captains.

"The Captain of the Blue Rose Knights, Charlotte Roselei… she was the first person to put her hand up for me back then. I wonder how things would have turned out if I chose her?" Lucas then remembered the cheery and upbeat girl that had spoken to him back at the Entrance Exam.

"Is she not here?" He slowly looked around the Blue Rose Knight Captain but found that she wasn't there. "Perhaps it's because she was new".

Finally, another captain that had put his hand up to choose the teen from the Town of Hoffvol. It was the Captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel Silva. The royal had an overwhelming presence about him that made even looking at him difficult.

"His presence is similar yet entirely different to Captain Fuegoleon's…", Lucas gulped.

The Wizard King kept walking ahead and then he sat down on the large seat by a table that was covered in a royal, red rug. The sun shone down on him from the large glass window above and three huge trophies were just behind him, decorated on a platform for all to see.

"I apologise for keeping everyone waiting. Now then, shall we start the ceremony?"

Lucas, along with the rest of the group, were stood to the side and looked on as the Wizard King awarded everyone with their rewards. Some Knights went up in ranking and some got extra medals or ribbons for their collections.

One after the other, every Knight collected their accolades and slowly walked back to their position.

"These are the people I have to surpass?" Lucas clenched his fists. "Our levels are too different… they're… nobles and royals… To go from Junior Magic Knight to Intermediate Magic Knight, then Senior Magic Knight, and finally a Grand Magic Knight? Can I really do that?", he gulped. Sweat fell from his head as he watched on.

From next to him, Mimosa saw how nervous Lucas was becoming due to the pressure he was putting on himself. Instinctively, she reached her hand out.

Lucas felt a gentle touch to his left hand that was shaking in fear. He slowly looked down and saw the touch that had caused him to calm down almost immediately.

"Don't worry, Lucas. You'll be fine" Mimosa whispered and smiled.

Lucas's face started to go red from embarrassment, but, as he didn't want to cause a scene by reacting weirdly, he kept hold of the Vermillion's hand and calmed himself down.

"Thank you", he mouthed to Mimosa.

"Well guys, that's the end of the ceremony! It's a shame that William couldn't be here, but his last-minute mission was too important to pass over. There's a banquet with food prepared by the royal chef and so I hope you guys enjoy it. Oh, and make sure our guests enjoy themselves too". The Wizard King then walked away with his attendant as the Knights entered the hall full of food.

Everyone walked in and sat down, though Asta wasted no time in rushing over and picking out the various exotic foods to eat and choosing different drinks to taste as well.

"This food is amazing!" He shouted, his voice ringing throughout the entire room for everybody to hear. His plate was full of different versions of chicken. Chicken strips, chicken nuggets, chicken wings. His plate was full. "This meal would be perfect with some Hage 'tatoes, but I guess nothing can be perfect!" He scoffed his mouth as he sat down to enjoy his meal.

Lucas looked to Asta and sighed. He then looked towards the food and felt a rumble in his stomach. "I haven't eaten too much today so I guess I'll take something", he looked over to Mimosa who was just behind him. "Hey, you want to join me in getting our meals?"

"W-with you?! Oh, s-s-sure!" Her confidence that she showed when she calmed Lucas's nerves down had completely vanished and it had been replaced with that same nervousness, she had felt all day. However, this time she actually acted on it instead of running away.

Just behind the group was Noelle. She was keeping to herself and noticed how Lucas and Mimosa were enjoying themselves. "Mimosa really does like him then. She's already eating with him! Maybe I should do the same with Asta?" Her face then turned a huge shade of red and her eyes started to go white as if she was about to faint. "Wait, n-n-no way I could do that!"

A few minutes passed and Lucas, along with Asta, was enjoying his meal. That was it though. It was only Lucas and Asta that were eating.

"Huh? What's the matter g-!" Lucas suddenly felt many intimidating presences shadowing over him and the rest of his group. It wasn't everyone but a large handful of people were quietly murmuring and disrespecting Lucas and his friends.

"Hmph. Why would the Wizard King bring people like that here?"

"I know two of them are royals, but they aren't very good, are they?"

"Three peasants. They're really bringing the quality of Magic Knights down these days".

These derogatory statements were being made common by some of the other Knights that had gathered around. A lot of these harsh comments were coming from one of Lucas's own teammates, being Alecdora Sandler, the Sand mage.

With a loud voice and a proud posture by raising his arms, Alecdora spoke again. "Honestly, the Wizard King must have pitied these failures by inviting them here. I mean… two Black Bulls? Really?" He scoffed just by looking at them.

Lucas heard the insults and wanted to retaliate but knew that going against his Senior would not be a good look for him. Even so, the way his friends from the Black Bulls were being insulted didn't sit right with the Light mage.

"The disappointment isn't even limited to the worst squad showing their faces here, it's also shown with people like Klaus and Mimosa being here", he laughed. The Sand mage slowly walked towards the group and projected his feelings towards them.

At this point, something inside Lucas lit up. He stayed silent as both Asta and Noelle were being insulted but to hear Mimosa, as well as Klaus, being talked down to was seemingly the last straw for him.

"Someone who got injured in one of her first dungeon explorations… she's here? I heard you couldn't even support the rest of the group well. Your only purpose is to be a Support Mage, yet you failed at that!" The Golden Dawn Senior Knight chuckled to himself.

This comment got a few laughs from two of the Silvas too.

Lucas felt anger in his heart towards someone for the first time. His eyes started glowing a bright blue ever so suddenly and an eerie presence overshadowed him for a brief moment. This presence was strong enough that it made Lucas retaliate for the first time.

"That's rich coming from you, Alecdora". Lucas spoke in a monotonous voice. He turned around and what others could see was a personality that completely differed from how they normal perceived Lucas as.

"What is that supposed to mean, peasant?" Alecdora replied in a tone of disgust.

"I'm just saying, you're complaining about Mimosa being injured in one of her first dungeon explorations but if I recall correctly… didn't you actually get injured in your own explorations whilst Letoile and I had to protect you? I haven't seen you at the base for weeks since then… were you hiding your face?"

There was an air of silence one Lucas had stopped talking and revealed what happened to the Sand mage in one of his missions. The Captains around didn't comment but Solid and Nebra started giggling to themselves whereas the other Golden Dawn members were shocked at the change in Lucas.

"Why you…!" Alecdora walked forwards and looked down at Lucas.

The Light mage was smiling. Suddenly, he felt a slight shake on his body which snapped him out of the trance he was in that had altered his personality for a brief moment. His eyes stopped glowing and returned to their usual blue colour.

Lucas stepped back abruptly and felt his face as a reaction to what just happened. "What… was that? I felt so angry and next thing I know is that I blacked out… and when I came to… I'm in this situation", he thought to himself. He looked up and saw an angered Alecdora.

"How dare you speak like that to me, worm! I'll teach you manners, right now!" The Sand mage brought out his grimoire and he flicked through some pages.

"Sand Magic: Whirlwind Encampment!" Alecdora summoned many grains of sand that started to swirl around and target Lucas to trap him in.

"A battle? I was not expecting this! What on earth happened?" Lucas thought. Alas, he had to respond by defending himself. However, just as he thought this his reactions weren't quick enough and he was about to be hit with the attack.

The dual mage closed his eyes and awaited the impact of the attack. Though, it never arrived.

Lucas opened his eyes and what he saw in front of him completely surprised him. In front, he saw a bundle of green briars with glowing blue roses, as well as sharp thorns that had separated Lucas from the Sand attack.

As Lucas looked around, he saw that Asta and Yuno both had their hands on their grimoires, and they were ready to defend the Light mage if circumstances had escalated even more.

"This magic… it's not any of theirs. It's…", he turned around and saw where the defence had come from. "… The magic of the Captain of the Blue Rose Knights!"

Everyone turned to Charlotte Roselei and saw that she had defended the mage.

"Leave him alone, Alecdora", she spoke in a serious tone.

"C-Captain Charlotte!" The Sand mage slowly backed away.

"Lucas was simply defending his friend and squad mate from what you were saying. I'm not one to interfere with pointless scuffles, but when someone is defending the pride of another, and rightly so, then that person should not be attacked. Besides, talking to a royal from House Vermillion in a way that you did? How disrespectful", Charlotte added.

"I… I'm terribly sorry, Captain Charlotte", he lowered his head and looked down on to the floor.

"Do not apologise to me. Apologise to the young girl you just insulted. Teammates are supposed to help each other, not put them down. Also, it seems to me you were entirely hypocritical so think about that next time. I'll make sure your captain gets word of this", she retracted her briars and looked away.

From beside her, a very tall, brown-skinned woman who wore a white tube top with white arm warmers as well as white shorts with detached pants, started patting Captain Charlotte's back. The woman also wore the robe of a Blue Rose Knight.

"Men are so problematic! I'm glad you showed them who's boss, Sis!" She smiled.

With clear annoyance, Charlotte responded by moving her Knight's arm away from her back. "Of course… and call me Captain, Sol".

"Sure, whatever you say, Sis!" She continued.

"You're 18, Sol. Listen to instructions", Charlotte replied.

"Sorry, Sis!"

Charlotte face palmed.

Back where Lucas and the rest of the group were, they were left in awe at what Charlotte just did and Lucas was entirely grateful.

Alecdora stood before Mimosa. He had to swallow his pride for once and just as the Blue Rose Knights Captain told him to, he apologised to Mimosa.

"I… apologise for what I said to you", he bowed his head to the Vermillion and then walked away back towards his table.

"That's good then…", Lucas commented. He was about to turn to face his food but then Mimosa started to speak to him.

"Captain Charlotte Roselei taking action for someone from another squad? My, my, you've softened up, haven't you?" Nebra Silva spoke to her in a sarcastic manner. This Silva sibling had messy silver hair that joined into a thick ponytail at the back.

Unlike Alecdora, who was a lower ranking Noble compared to that of Charlotte, Nebra was a royal, so Charlotte had to take care in how she spoke to them.

"I just did what was right", she sipped on her drink, seemingly unimpressed with the argument that Nebra was trying to start.

"Sure… besides, you take pride in your squad's abilities without having any males involved, but how come only one person from your squad managed to get invited here?" She giggled. The Silva was clearly trying to tease and get a reaction from the helmet-wearing captain.

"Why you!" Sol stepped forward in an angry manner. Though, she calmed down as she felt her captain's hand on her shoulder.

"Stop it, Sol. I'll answer your falsities, Nebra. Another one of my squad members was supposed to be here but due to certain circumstances, she couldn't make it. Let me make it clear that my squad is improving everyday so do not try to meddle with our affairs", she sat back down and continued with her meal.

"Tsk", Nebra clicked her tongue. She was frustrated as she did not get the reaction she was hoping for.

Back with Lucas and Mimosa, the Vermillion asked her teammate a question. "What happened with you back there? It's like your personality changed completely. I appreciate you defending me but that… gave me an uneasy feeling", she asked. Her yellow eyes showing visible worry.

"I… I don't really remember what came over me. I felt anger and then – ", Lucas's explanation was interrupted by one of the Silva siblings approaching this time.

Noelle looked in Lucas's direction and felt her worries growing as she saw who it was.

"My, my, that was an interesting performance from you! Lucas, was it? The way you stood up for your teammate just showed confidence… if only that confidence was the same for…", he turned and saw Noelle enjoying her snack "… our little Noelle here", he smirked.

Noelle stopped her eating and noticed a tall presence behind her. She turned around and before she managed to speak for herself, she felt the first few drops of water on her head.

Solid stood behind Noelle and emptied a full glass of water on her hair. The cold liquid dripped down her silver hair and fell to her clothes.

"Solid… why…?" Tears started to form in her eyes.

Asta widened his eyes in disgust at what just happened with Noelle. He stopped chewing his food and looked in anger.

"Wh-why? How could you do that? She's your sister!" Lucas spoke quietly, though it was loud enough for Solid, as well as the others to hear.

"Hmph. Sister? That may be biologically true but when it comes to how we feel in a mental sense… then she is far from being one of us", Solid smirked.

A few tears started to fall from Noelle's eyes at what she just heard. Her heart was starting to break, and the cause was from none other than her own family.

"Are you going to cry? I guess nothing has changed since you were little. You can't defend yourself; you have no confidence, you have no magic control and you're just worthless", Nebra chimed in, adding even more harsher comments.

Lucas was gobsmacked. He knew there was some sort of falling out between Noelle and Nozel, but he didn't realise that it stretched out to her whole family.

The shocked reaction that came from Lucas didn't just come from him. Many others around the banquet hall were disgusted by what they were hearing and witnessing. The Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings, Fuegoleon Vermillion stood up from his seat and you could see anger in his face. The smaller mage that was next to him with fiery ginger hair also looked horrified. Charlotte, Sol, Hamon and Shiren were silent, but their faces showed visible sadness for Noelle. Not to mention, Klaus, Mimosa, and Yuno were also surprised.

Noelle looked at her two older siblings that were in front of her. She then looked behind and saw her eldest brother looking menacingly at her. She attempted to call for him in a bid that he may stop the others bullying her but what he said completely subverted her thought process.

"What are you looking at? You get one little win as a Black Bull, and you think you're the best. Let me repeat this for you. The likes of you do not belong here", Nozel added.

"Begone".

These words had Noelle feel terrible. Her life was filled with mental abuse that came at the hands of her siblings. However, this wasn't the worst thing that was said. What came next caused everyone to be shocked even more.

Nozel then added, "I'm telling you to leave. Failure, that killed our mother", he turned away.

This one phrase angered Lucas so much. He had gathered from those words that her mother may have died through childbirth, but to say that she killed her own mother was abhorrent.

This time Lucas spoke up, his eyes weren't glowing this time, and he didn't feel some strong presence overshadowing him which meant that what he was about to say was from his own heart and that he was sane.

Noelle started to run away, tears rolling down her face.

Lucas stepped forward and was about to speak up in defence of the Water mage, however, his train of thought was interrupted by none other than Asta.

Noelle was running away but she was stopped by Asta. He reached out his hand and gently grabbed her hand to stop her running away.

"Noelle. There's no reason to run away from here. You earned your place here and you definitely belong here", he spoke with a serious tone. The whole time his eyes were staring at the three Silva siblings, and he was seething with anger.

"Asta… they're right", she frowned.

"Right? Right about what? You may not have the best magic control but that is what we can work on… together! Your confidence is low? That's false as I see every day how strong you are. Even though you may be lacking confidence, I will never judge you for it! You can't defend yourself? Well, when you feel like that then I'll be the one to protect you!" Asta shouted.

Noelle, without really thinking about it, started to blush with her rosy, red cheeks. "Asta…", she calmed down and stopped the thought about her running.

Lucas, Yuno, Mimosa, and Klaus all smiled at Asta.

The ashen-haired mage then stood on the table and projected his thoughts around towards everyone, particularly the Silvas.

"I came here thinking that this place would be filled with awesome Magic Knights… but what I find is bastards that only care about themselves! You call us peasants, rats, failures… The Silver Eagles destroy their own sister's mentality and confidence! Well, who cares what you think?!"

"Sand Magic: Whirlwind Encampment!" Alecdora suddenly fired his Sand spell to shut Asta up. "Just shut up, peasant! How dare you make a scene in front of us! That should quieten him".

Charlotte looked from back at her table and towards Alecdora. "What did I just tell him? To attack the person defending another's pride…", she stood up, but it seemed like she didn't need to intervene at all.

Suddenly, the sand spell was dispelled in an instant. The sound of a slash came from within the Sand spell and then the spell disappeared. Asta had brought out his thinner Anti-Magic sword.

"Like hell I'll shut up!" Asta shouted.

The Anti-Magic mage pointed his sword at the group of Silvas as well as Alecdora and made a declaration.

"Listen here! I'm going to gain all the merit I can… and become the Wizard King!"