Chapter 9: Baptism

A/N: Longest chapter yet

3000+ Words, finally reached the 15k mark woooooo!

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"With pleasure!" Luck smiled crazily as he replied to Suzaku's taunt with a charge.

"Alright, that's enough!" Yami said with a glare as he got in-between the two and stopped Luck with one hand, "Save the fighting for another day, we've got introductions to do" He then looked at both Suzaku and Asta as he calmly said, "Let's go" 

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"HELLO! I'M ASTA FROM HAGE VILLAGE!! IT'S GREAT TO MEETCHA!!!" Asta bellowed as he introduced himself to the black bull members who were in front of him thanks to Yami's orders.

Standing next to him, Suzaku then added "Hello, I'm Suzaku Kirin, pleasure meeting you all!" He said with a smile, barely containing his excitement.

Yami then clapped his hands together, "Good job. There're more people in this squad but they're either out or on a mission, you'll meet them soon... probably" He then walked past everyone as he waved without turning back, "I'm taking a shit, no one disturb me

Or I'll kill you"

With Yami having left to go to the toilet, the black bulls members approached the two newcomers.

Vanessa, a pink-haired beauty, approached Asta with her bra exposed to show off her curves, which Asta forced himself to resist looking as "His heart was with Sister Lily".

She then moved away from Asta as she began touching up Suzaku's arms and chest as she seductively brought her flushed face (Due to the drinking before they arrived) closer to his.

"My~ Looks like we've finally got a hottie in this barbaric squad..." She flirted as she put her fingers on his chin, "How about me and you go to my room... together... alone~"

A notification had popped up asking if Suzaku wanted to copy Vanessa's magic, but he quickly denied it. He then looked down at her (She's 5'5/170cm) and accidentally took a peak at her boobs... accidentally.

"Uh..." Having little-to-no experience with real women, Suzaku was speechless as Vanessa made her seduction moves on him.

"Urp!" Suddenly, Vanessa gagged, causing Suzaku to step back in a flash as she threw up all over the floor.

"Hey! Hey! HEY!" Magna, a delinquent-looking boy, approached Asta and Suzaku, attempting to look as intimidating as possible, "You two are new black bulls!? One a wussy little runt from the back end of nowhere, and the other a no-name who's let his 'oh-so-famous 4 leaf clover grimoire' get to his head" He then stood a good metre or two away as he kept talking

"I dunno how you sucked up to mister Yami... but if you want to wear our robe and become official black bulls... you gotta earn some respect from me, mister Yami's top underling, a man amongst men, Magna Swing!" He pointed at his black bulls robe with a proud and confident smirk

Asta's eyes turned into stars as he really wanted to receive a robe.

Meanwhile, Suzaku was looking at it and began thinking: 'Hm... I wonder what clothes I'll wear to match with the robe...' He drifted into this thought, not thinking for even a split second that he would fail the 'baptism' Magna would mention in a few seconds.

"I get it, I get it... you want it that bad, huh?" Magna smiled devilishly as he targetted at Asta heavily, "In that case... if you wanna become a Black Bull, you have to become baptized!" 

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"The short newbie will be up first!" Magna stated as he pointed at Asta, "Step forward"

Asta followed his order as the two now stood opposite each other, with the other black bull members spectating from the side - even Yami himself had come to watch after taking his dump.

"I'm about to launch an attack at you. Block it, avoid it, do whatever you want, as long as you survive!" Magna then pulled out an extra black bulls robe to entice Asta, "Do that, and you'll become a black bull, free and clear. And I'll give you this robe as a bonus"

"Yes sir!" Asta replied, confident that he'd pass the 'baptism' as he can cut through magic.

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"HERE I COME! READY YOUR GRIMOIRE, YA SNOT-NOSED RUNT" Magna shouted as he opened his grimoire to a page.

"BRING IT ON! I'M READY!" Asta replied as he opened his grimoire and began pulling out his sword.

Magna went into a pitcher's form as a ball of fire formed in his hand.

"DIEEEEE! [Flame Magic: Exploding Fireball]" He threw the fireball with a cry as it flew towards Asta at an inhumane speed.

Within about 2 seconds, the fireball had already appeared in front of Asta, surprising him as he hadn't moved yet.

'Wow... that's fast' He complimented, but then began to smirk much to the shock of Magna.

'Sorry, mister Magna... but my sword does a bit more than just cut through magic!' Asta thought as he swung his sword with the flat side being aimed at the fire projectile

'It can also DEFLECT magic!' He shouted in his mind as his sword collided with the fireball, sending it flying back to Magna who had his eyes widened in shock seeing his own fire coming at him, something he wasn't expecting in the slightest.

*BOOMM!*

An explosion was created where Magna was, worrying Asta as he panicked thinking that he had just killed his own teammate.

Fortunately, appearing from the smoke was Magna who had his clothes torn and burnt as he took slow yet big steps towards Asta.

"I was THIS close to getting hit by my own magic..." He spoke in a low tone, "Fortunately, I stopped my spell in time..." His voice turned darker, "You..." He was now in front of Asta

"You actually blocked it!" He laughed

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"Wow, you did that, and you don't even have magic? That's way too awesome!" Magna said as Asta's announcement (Being manaless) shocked the black bulls.

Magna then turned to look at Suzaku as the other black bull members pounced on Asta as they took interest in him.

"Now... it's your tur-" Magna smiled, but was cut off by Luck's magic power increasing as he walked up to Magna.

"Magna... it's time for MY own baptism test..." Luck smirked as he walked closer to Suzaku who didn't back down.

Luck had arrived face to face with Suzaku and looked up at him, "You're strong... and you're a lightning user too, I can feel it...

You and me, we're gonna have an amazing and bloody fight!" Luck stated as he started shaking in excitement with his well-known and memorable crazy smile.

"Sure... I also want to fight you... uh-" Suzaku replied, but realised he didn't get Luck's name and knew it would be suspicious if he just knew his name somehow.

"Luck"

"Suzaku"

"Woah woah woah" Magna then suddenly intervened between the two with a panicked expression, "Kid, I know you've got a 4-leaf grimoire and passed the exam, but you can't just fight Luck!" He said as he looked at Suzaku before turning to Luck, "And Luck! You should know by now to stop tryna fight every new member!" He complained, "Captain, back me up on this-" He then looked to Yami for help

Unfortunately for him, Yami puffed his cigarette as he replied, "I don't care, just let 'em fight, it'll happen one day anyway, may as well do it now"

"But sir!-" Magna was about to refute but was cut off by Yami

"I said what I said... if the fight gets too serious, I'll stop it myself. Now shut up and let 'em fight"

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Suzaku and Luck now stood opposite each other with a 10 metre difference between them.

Yami then stood up, whilst the others sat down in anticipation, worry and excitement, acting as 'referee' for the fight.

"You can fight when this coin drops, or something" He deadpanned as he pulled a coin out of his pocket and flipped it high into the sky.

With the coin flipped, Luck and Suzaku simultaneously pulled out their closed grimoires. Luck bent his knees slightly whilst Suzaku kept his guard up.

*Tin-* Before the coin could fully make a sound, the two activated [Lightning Magic: Godspeed] and [Lightning Magic: Thunder God's Boots and Gloves] respectively. *-g!*

Instantly cutting off the 10 metre difference between the two, Luck had appeared in front of Suzaku as he went for a face grab.

With a simple yet quick side step, Suzaku dodged the grab and went for a slash towards Luck's face with his thunder claws.

*Zip Zap Swish Zip* The sound of electricity and air filled the base as the two lightning users kept going for punches, kicks, grabs, etc but kept dodging which caused the other to hit nothing but air.

After a minute or so, as they realised their normal attacks would never do anything, the two jumped back to their original positions as they stood still.

"Woah..." The crowd gasped in awe and excitement, and even Yami looked at the two with a smile. 

Without warning, Luck jumped back much to the surprise of the crowd as a column of purple lightning struck in the place where he stood previously.

"Kahahaha! This is fun! So fun!" Luck laughed as his eyes became more bloodshot. He then raised his right hand and placed his tip of his fingers together they pointed themselves at Suzaku.

A ball of lightning was summoned before Luck shot it at Suzaku.

'Fast!' He thought as he dodged the ball of lightning with a jump to the side, but was surprised to see a smiling Luck appear in front of him as he was still in the air, 'Crap!' He saw Luck reel his arm back as he sent a punch to his face.

As a self-made rule, Suzaku decided - before the battle - that he would only use his lightning powers. The reason was because he still wanted to improve it (Due to some moves still being at a bottleneck for so long), and as this wasn't a life-or-death situation/battle anyway, he didn't have to use his new spatial magic. Obviously, he wasn't neglecting it, he just didn't want to use it for this spar/battle and would train it in his free time.

*BANG!* Luck's fist collided with Suzaku's right cheek, which sent him back a few metres.

'Hm, not too bad' Suzaku thought as he wiped his cheek which only had a small mark with barely any blood, and was a bit dirty, 'I can quite easily firm these punches... If this is his strongest, this battle will be quite underwhelming... hopefully he's got a few more spells and can go faster'

"Not bad, Luck..." Suzaku smiled, making the crowd think he was some masochist or something, "But you'll have to do a lot more if you want to have a chance to win" He taunted.

This caused Luck to become even more crazy and hungry for the win as his smile reached its peak, "My chance to win...? Kahaha! I'll definitely win!" Luck replied as he started his speedy assault on Suzaku.

*Swish Swish Pah! Swish Swish Pah!* Most of the hits were dodged by Suzaku, but some attacks were still hitting, causing Suzaku to frown in dissatisfaction as he thought, 'I need to go faster!' 

His godspeed's lightning then began to vibrate slightly. 

Deciding to finally retaliate, Suzaku decided to copy Luck as he summoned another Heaven's Judgement to separate them before rushing Luck with his own attack.

*Swish Swish Swish Pah!* 

'Damn it... I'm barely hitting him!' He internally complained as he noticed his attacks rarely hit Luck due to him avoiding most of it, 'Faster...!'

The lightning around him began to vibrate some more. Unfortunately...

"Hey, how long has this match gone on for already?!" Magna asked as his ass was starting to hurt from all the sitting.

"I'd say about... 55 minutes or so" Vanessa replied, causing Magna to sigh in complaint.

Meanwhile, Yami kept looking at the two fighting with a smile as he thought 'Good...

Help each other grow, become stronger as you both aim to overwhelm your opponent and be stronger than them... By doing that, you will have surpassed your limits!'

And so, the match was still ongoing, with Suzaku's face being slightly more bruised compared to Luck's.

"Haa... Haa..." 'Crap, my Godspeed can't run out yet! Not now...! If it does... I lose!' Suzaku thought as he began to realise he was now in a struggle, 'The only thing I can do now is use my other spells... but if I do my mana will deplete even quicker... fuck! I can't lose! I don't want to lose!' His mind began to swirl and his urge to win began to grow and go crazier as he went for another Heaven's Judgement.

*Zip Zap BANG!* The lightning struck, but unfortunately missed, causing Suzaku to go wild.

'Damn it! Go faster...! Faster! My lightning needs to become...

FASTER!' 

He then went for another Heaven's Judgement and realised there was no for this attack. Furthermore, the lightning held more power as the attack was bigger and its power could be sensed by anybody. (Upgrades will be at the end of this chapter)

"Uh oh" Luck's smile became smaller as he noticed he couldn't dodge this

*BANG!*

The lightning struck.

[User has increased 'Heaven's Judgement' mastery to (Advanced), congratulations! 5000 Points has been awarded!]

[User has upgraded a spell to the Advanced mastery for the first time, congratulations! Double Points has been awarded!]

[Points: 20,000 -> 30,000]

He smiled as soon as he saw the word 'Advanced', but instantly stopped reading that as he looked at his stats.

'My mana's close to depleting... Fuck it, I can get more points later!'

[Points: 30,000 -> 0]

[Magic: 33,080 -> 63,080 Points] [Magic Rank: B- -> B]

Suzaku then felt rejuvenated as his mana reserves went back to what they were previously (Because it doubled, it means he now has half of his full mana reserves after increasing it with the points. A/N: Hope that makes sense)

'This kid... he really is getting stronger!' Yami's eyes widened as he looked at Suzaku with both excitement and light suspicion.

"Ahh... that's a really strong spell kahahaha! That makes this fight more FUN!" Luck laughed as his bloody body leaped at Suzaku, "COME ON! SHOW ME MORE!"

Luck then began to speed up more, causing cuts to appear on Suzaku's face and body.

After a few minutes though, unfortunately for Luck and much to the delight of Suzaku...

[User has increased 'Godspeed' mastery to (Advanced), congratulations! 5000 Points has been awarded!]

Due to the length of the battle reaching over an hour, Godspeed had already broken its limit. But now that Suzaku needed the strength to speed up and outspeed Luck, it had evolved further and become faster.

"It's over!" Suzaku confidently called as he sent a barrage of slashes, punches and kicks at Luck who couldn't dodge any. He attempted to hit Suzaku as a response, but it all came to naught as Suzaku was too fast for him.

"Damn it Damn it Damn it! Let me hit you! I need to win!" Luck cried out in anger and sadness as he started to recall the memories of his mother, "I NEED TO WIN!" His bloodlust then raised through the roof to the point where everyone could sense it, even a silver-haired royal who was secretly watching the battle from above in awe and envy.

"Oi oi oi, isn't this fight starting to get a little TOO serious?" Magna asked as he looked at Luck.

"This battle was ALWAYS serious, virgin delinquent" Vanessa replied, "But it's seriously starting to take a turn..." She added as she ignored the cursing Magna on the side.

"I don't care... all I care about is seeing my angel little sister, Marie" Gauche creepily said as he looked at the picture of Marie with a bloody nose.

"Pst pst pst (Someone should really stop this fight)" Gordon whispered, though unsurprisingly no one heard or acknowledged it.

"Woah... so this is what strong magic can really do... even I haven't beaten Suzaku once, yet Luck is going toe-to-toe with him..." Asta looked at the fight with a smile, only he had watched the fight fully and kept his attention on it along with Yami whilst others were either talking, went for a shit, or something similar along those lines.

"Yeah... that newbie's a really strong one, he's probably already claimed the spot as one of the strongest with just this fight alone, though he's still slightly weaker than a few of our own if that's his strongest" Magna stated, to which Asta giggled, "Huhhh? The hell're you laughin' at, did I say somethin' funny?!"

"No no no! It's not that, Magna, sir!" Asta waved his hands about to show his innocence, to which Magna impatiently looked at him for an answer, "It's just that... that's not Suzaku's strongest" Asta said seriously, shocking everyone, even Yami himself.

"WHAT!?" The black bull members simultaneously shouted in shock, "Whaddya mean, how's this not his strongest?!" Magna shook Asta for a response

"Well, first of all he hasn't used all his lightning spells in this match... then he's got this cool purple sword which he got a while ago that he uses... uh, what else..." Asta replied, but couldn't remember what else so he just shrugged it off.

"A sword, ay? What type of sword?" Yami joined the conversation a little as he asked.

"Uh... it's a small and kinda thin sword... I think he called it a 'Katrina' or something...?" Asta replied.

"A katana, interesting..." Yami muttered as he looked at Suzaku overwhelming Luck still before looking back at Asta, "What do you think of his sword skills when it comes to his katana?"

"Well, I mean, he's better than me as I just use my body strength to swing mine. But I remember him complaining and saying that he wanted to learn an actual style for his sword" Asta answered.

"Really now...?" Yami then went silent and went back to watching the fight as he noticed the boys breaking their limits some more.

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"Haa...Haa... I... Win..." Suzaku said as he plopped to the floor as he was covered in dry blood and bruises.

"I... Lost... I'm sorry... Mother..." Luck sighed as his eyes began to water.

[User has defeated a major character. 2500 Points has been awarded!]

[Points: 0 -> 2500]

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A/N: The power scaling in black clover is a bit iffy (mainly with the knight ranks, since obviously magna and luck aren't 5th junior magic knights), especially at the start of the anime/manga (I'm following manga when writing this fic). So while the MC may seem quite weak even though he has B rank stats (Intermediate Magic Knight Level btw - finally starting to reveal what each rank is), this was mainly for MC to grow and for his abilities to grow. 

Godspeed and Heaven's Judgements upgrades:

[Godspeed (Advanced)] - Godspeed, at its advanced mastery, allows for Suzaku to keep the form for 1 hour minimum easily. Every minute his mana will deplete, but he can release the form at any moment, hence stopping anymore mana being taken. His speed with Godspeed allows for hypersonic speed currently (Not including Magic and Agility stats), and will only increase with every mastery and stat increase.

Purple lightning claws are tougher and stronger, and are able to grow with enough concentration. The claws are now sharper, allowing for stronger slashes.

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(El Thor) [Heaven's Judgement (Advanced)] - This spell at its advanced mastery allows for more lightning to spawn and strike down the designated spot/person with a column of lightning that's about 30cm-10 metres thick (Controlled). The current mastery at the minimal level allows for a small house to be destroyed with relative ease. Range increased from 100m to 1000m (Can be further, but uses up more a bit more mana). Currently takes 0.2 seconds to start up before striking down the bundle of lightning. The strength of lightning increases with magic stat. 

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