Chapter 66: A Trip to the Hotsprings.

"Not bad, you join us as well!" Mereoleona used her mana to grab Aster but the mana grip vanished before it could touch Aster.

"I will walk or rather float there myself, grab Ryu if you want." Aster chuckled as he started walking without sparing her another glance after that final smirk, which provoked the lioness even more.

"He is one of them, the ones who are loved by mana. You can't simply overpower him with mana, try a different approach..." Madoka smiled at Mereoleona and walked behind Aster.

"What a monster, even lady Mereoleona could not overpower him..."

"He really deserves to be the best among the rising stars."

"He is the most popular rookie, despite being a commoner, he is loved and well respected by people from all ranks..."

"Yeah, he is called the Ice Prince, while our Captain is called the Flame Lioness, I guess that's what the tension was all about..."

"No, you idiot, haven't you guys heard about the phrase, 'opposite attracts'? This is clearly the case here."

Mereoleona who was gritting her teeth by now spared her Brigade members a cursory glance and roared again, "Quit muttering like mice, start running. We are going to the Yultim Volcano!!!"

----

"This is the Yultim Volcano, a strong magic region. There is a volcanic belt laced with mana, that ensures that this place is not somewhere people can get close to on a whim. There are monsters given shape and life by mana and the element of fire."

"However, there is a revitalizing hot spring at the summit. I bet you all are really excited right now, aren't you? Come, let's head to the summit!!" Roared Mereoleona.

"Come on Ryu, show 'em how it's done~" Aster chuckled and Koro Sensei just turned into a beam of light and flashed towards the summit leaving the other slack-jawed.

Yami and Charolette <Blue Rose Captain> raced right after while the rest of the bunch understood the principle behind the mana-skin and followed right after despite the searing heat and suffocating pressure from the heavy mana around them.

The Crimson Lion Knights rushed right after with Yuno in the lead and Leopold right after, while Asta was left behind panting and wheezing in the heat because he had no way to insulate himself nor did he have the ability to start climbing.

"Oii Asta, stop being a muscle brain, this is not something you can do with guts alone, use your blade and brain together, feel what you have with all you got. You have it all right at your fingertips, all you have to do is reach out. Can you do that?" Aster spoke softly, like a mother teaching her child, with care and encouragement.

Mereoleona who saw this stood right there with a smile tugging on her lips, while Madoka shook her head and walked towards the summit but no one had seen the beautiful smile forming on her lips.

Asta who was pepped up took out his demon dweller sword and closed his eyes...

"Don't be impatient, take it easy and feel... let it flow freely but don't let it take over. Feel it as it moves, as it courses through your flesh, through each muscle that you have trained till today, feel it strengthen them, and keep pouring more and more till you feel that you can't go further, don't force it..."

"Yes, be gentle, when you feel that your muscles are full, go for your bones, and then the nerves, no no... don't be impatient, let that energy flow with your Ki, delve deeper... Let your senses sink into yourself, breathe out, and relax..."

Aster waved his hand and a coat of mana covered Asta, to shield him from the heat and let him concentrate better. Asta was in his own world as the black wisps flowed around his body, as they slowly infused into him and a shadowy mass of black covered him and were visibly boosting his physique.

Two bat-like broken wings formed on his back and with a flash, Asta opened his eyes, both his arms were covered like they were gauntlets of shadows and two horns appeared on his head as his eyes turned scarlet red.

"Well done, now try to feel the power you have now and remember it well, feel the wings you have now and try to move them. Don't be hasty, yes..... go slow and try to feel them first, and take smaller steps. Good, now try to flap them as your course the black energy in your body through your wings and try to flap them again."

This time Asta started floating and with a smile, he shot right after the Knights who were climbing up to the summit.

He crossed the Magic Knights and saw the magma monster and shot right through it, effectively killing it, anti-magic was not something to sneeze at, the nigh-immortal monsters were small fries before Asta. <Talk about a bad match-up.>

He saw Yuno right before him and pushed harder to compete with Yuno, the latter saw Asta gaining up to him and pushed himself harder to increase the distance between him and Asta who was rapidly gaining on him with every passing second.

"I AM NOT DONE YET!!!!!!"

Asta burst forth with more power that propelled him past Yuno and he shot like a bullet and cruised right to the summit and crashed right beside the rock Yami and Charolette were standing on.

The captains who saw Asta like this as the dust cleared, were shocked to see the form Asta was in, Yami who had heard about it was still shocked to see the thing right before his eyes and it was nothing half-baked like the others had described to him.

'The brat really did go all out and broke his limits right here and now, the look in his eye is much better now.' Yami thought to himself with a smile.

'What is this form? he looks like a vortex that is devouring the mana around him to create a mana-void around him even in a mana-dense zone like this, he is much more than what had caught our eyes in the selection exam, but Yami... He kne, he saw the potential in this boy who did not have a shred of magic in him... Yami...' Charolette was snapped out of her thoughts with a series of claps coming from the figure that appeared right behind them.

"Good job Asta, now all you have to do is practice and the rest is up to up to what you can do with this. This power of yours has not even awakened as of yet, the potential it has to be as great as your imagination, stay true to yourself Asta." Aster smiled warmly, as his cold blue eyes reflected a hint of pride and joy in them.

-----

A minute ago...

"You could be a really good teacher, never knew that the brat had it him, I could bet anything that the brat no idea as well, how did you do it?" Mereoleona asked with a flicker of interest in her eyes.

"It's simple, I know things. Live long enough and you will know a thing or two about this or that..." Aster smiled with a cryptic look in his eyes and vanished from where he stood and left a little snowflake behind that landed in Mereoleona's hand.

"Huh~ trying to be mysterious. I will grind it all out of you, bit... by... bit... It's a hunt and I know I will enjoy every second of it." she mused to herself and rushed to the top.

A/N: Feed my addiction and I will continue to pump more chappies, first with the pending 3 bonuses and then the ones to come from your power stones...

Get me those stones!!!!!