Chapter 17: Strange Magical Mishap

[Third Person's PoV] 

Feeling a surge of pride, Noelle puffed out her chest. She now wanted to try it all by herself.

"Stand back!" she proudly declared, spreading her arms wide.

"What are you doing?" Stephen asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes.

Noelle pointed her wand in front of her. "I'm going to do it by myself now!"

Stephen was going to warn her about the dangers of overconfidence but decided to let her fail on her own so she could learn from her mistakes.

She grabbed her wrist and shouted, "Haaa!" As a surge of mana rose from her body, the ball of water grew larger, and she started to feel apprehensive as fear took over.

'This is too much! I won't be able to control it!' She turned toward Stephen for help and saw him facepalming.

Before she could say anything, her magic spell backfired, engulfing her in a torrent of water, lifting her off the ground and sending out blasts that destroyed everything they hit.

Hearing the commotion and explosions, the Black Bulls rushed out to see what was happening.

"What's going on?" Yami asked, watching the scene unfold, smoking a cigarette while Stephen rapidly weaved a spell, forming different symbols and rolling them around quickly.

"She was practicing a spell, got overconfident, and it backfired," Stephen explained as a ball of energy formed in his palm. He sent it flying toward the giant water ball, which was now creating massive whirlpools on its surface.

"Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!"

As the spell struck the water, it transformed into beautiful butterflies, causing Noelle to fall.

"Catch her!" Stephen ordered.

From his open window, his Cloak of Levitation flew out, tackling Noelle and wrapping itself around her as she coughed. The cloak then brought her down, dropping her into Stephen's arms before elegantly flipping back onto his shoulders, clipping itself in place.

"Are you alright?" Stephen asked, raising an eyebrow.

Noelle finally stopped coughing and blushed heavily as she realized she was being carried like a princess. She blushed even more upon realizing how close they were.

She quickly jumped out of his arms and looked down in shame, thinking, 'They're going to make fun of me… I'm a noble who can't even use her magic properly...'

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Asta exclaimed in awe. "Once you master that spell, you'll be unstoppable!"

"Huh?" Noelle gasped, looking up in surprise. "But I totally butchered that spell… How is it amazing?" she muttered.

Magna clicked her tongue. "You magic royal failure! If controlling your magic is a problem, you should've said so!" Magna then pointed to his black robe confidently. "We're the Black Bulls! A whole group of failures and weirdos. Your little control problem's nothing!"

Asta gave Noelle a big thumbs up. "And since Stephen's training you, you'll be a master in no time!"

The rest of the Black Bulls chimed in with their support.

Stephen then conjured an Eldritch magic circle with his finger and tapped Noelle on the forehead, enveloping her in his magic.

"It's warm…" she muttered, realizing it was drying her off.

"Just don't get overconfident next time, and take it slow," Stephen said with a smirk.

"Thank you… I really appreciate it," Noelle said earnestly.

…

After Noelle's little episode, they found themselves in the dining hall, eating breakfast.

"So, what does a Magic Knight… really do?" Asta asked, his mouth full of food.

"You moron! It's only the manliest job in the world! We guard stuff... and people. Plus, we do missions for the kingdom!" Magna exclaimed proudly.

As this exchange went on, Stephen was levitating some food into his mouth with Eldritch magic while reading his grimoire at the same time.

Vanessa leaned on the table, her cheeks flushed as she drank from a bottle. "So, what's your deal? Why are you reading at a time like this?" she asked with a hazy look.

"My magic relies on the fact that knowledge is power. The more I study and learn, the stronger I become," Stephen explained.

"I see, so you're the studious type, huh? Scholars are cute too," she said flirtatiously.

"I never did get everyone's name here! What are they?" Asta asked, looking around.

Magna began introducing everyone. "See the guy staring and getting a nosebleed at that picture? That's Gauche Adlai. The guy who fought Stephen yesterday is Luck Voltia. The drunk exhibitionist over there is Vanessa Enoteca—"

"I'm not an exhibitionist! It's a freedom of choice!" Vanessa exclaimed drunkenly.

"That's the difference?" Stephen asked in confusion.

"The difference is that I don't get sexual gratification from this," Vanessa said proudly.

"Uh-huh…" Magna muttered before continuing. "The big guy with smoke coming out of his mouth is Grey."

Grey grabbed his grimoire and transformed into Stephen, causing Stephen to scoff in amusement. He snapped his fingers, using the [Image of Ikonn] to turn into Grey.

"Touché," the fake Stephen said before transforming back, and Stephen followed suit.

Charmy then appeared, accompanied by large sheep wearing chef hats, bringing in more food.

"That's Charmy Pappitson. And you've already met Gordon and Finral at the exam," Magna said as he finished the introductions.

Stephen set up a small place for Nero and gave her some food.

"So, who's the fat little bird? You seem to care for her," Magna asked, intrigued by Stephen's actions.

Nero took off flying and began pecking at Magna as he tried to escape from her. "Get off me, you fat little bird!" he shouted.

"That's Nero, and she doesn't like being called fat. She's pleasantly plump," Stephen said teasingly.

Nero turned and glared at Stephen before flying away from Magna.

"She's kinda cute..." Noelle said with a small smirk, running her finger along Nero's cheek.

...

After they finished breakfast, Magna took Asta, Noelle, and Stephen outside. He stood in front of them with his arms crossed and a large grin on his face.

"As your senior, I'm going to give you newbies your first mission!" Magna declared proudly.

"You're going to the village of Saussy to hunt boars!"

They all stared at Magna, wondering if they had heard him correctly.

"THAT SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A BORING MISSION!" Asta complained.

"I'm with Asta on this—this does sound boring. And not really a job for all four of us..." Stephen sighed.

Noelle crossed her arms. "I'm nobility. Why should I bother with a filthy boar?"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK! HERE, SENIORITY RULES! AND AS YOUR SENIOR, I SAY WE'RE ALL GOING BOAR HUNTING!"

"But why!?" Asta asked, confused.

Magna smirked and said, "The captain and I lost a bet the other day while trying to earn some quick bucks. We promised the old man we bet against that we'd do a favor for him, whatever he asked."

"THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE OUR PROBLEM!" Asta protested.

"He's right!" Noelle shouted in agreement.

"Anyway, since this is our first mission, I'm actually pretty psyched!" Asta said, marching ahead excitedly.

"Can't believe I'm going to a grimy village to get some grimy boar for some grimy old man..." Noelle grumbled as she followed Asta.

"You got a problem with that?" Magna asked.

Noelle blushed slightly and muttered, "I was just wondering if it's okay for me to come along since I can't control my magic..."

Seeing her expression, Stephen patted her head again. "Don't worry about that. I'll keep an eye on you and make sure nothing bad happens. Besides, they say experience is the best teacher—you'll learn to control your magic and spells while gaining confidence as you go on missions."

"Don't touch royalty so casually..." Noelle muttered, blushing as she moved away from Stephen's hand.

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