Rarest of the Rare

The next morning, you got up early, even earlier than Asta. You headed over to where you first met Asta after weeks of traveling upon running away from your now former home. You were almost to the demon skull when you heard familiar snickers coming from behind you. Instantly, both rage and fear washed over you like a tidal wave. You turned around to see your older brother and sister approaching with their grimoires open and ready.

"Well, well, well. It looks like the rumors we heard from yesterday were true. Our little sister was hiding among the lowest of the low, in a peasant village." Solana, your sister, scoffed.

"This is the Clover Kingdom's territory. Why the hell are you even here?" You asked your older siblings with aggression in your voice.

"Isn't it obvious? We heard from the ambassador representing our kingdom in the Clover Kingdom that our dear Lilith was at the Grimoire Tower near Hage Village yesterday. After no contact from you for nearly five long years, we just had to investigate it for ourselves. You see, it's been quite lonely back home without you. So we traveled all this way to say hi and see how you've been doing. That's all, I promise." Solana cooed in a sarcastic way. You knew she was full of shit. She actually thought you were stupid enough to believe her ambassador lie. She should know better. Back in the day, you spent a lot of time in the castle library. The Spade Kingdom didn't have ambassadors. This meant there was at least one spy here in the Clover Kingdom and possibly other territories in the kingdom too. You just scoffed at your older sister.

"Ooh, looks like someone's got a bit of an attitude. Seems like you've gotten a little sassy since we last saw you, huh Lilith. Perhaps the filth of this scrubby area has infiltrated and poisoned your brain." Solana responded with a sassy tone of her own.

"Solana, don't be an idiot. But you do have a point. A royal that nests with the scum living in a poor village will eventually fall from grace and become a slave to their customs and lowly way of life." Your older brother, Zephyr, said firmly.

"I left home because of your abusiveness towards me! And I don't care if this is a poor village. The people here that I stay with are more like family to me than you ever were or ever will be! Why do you even care if I associate with what you call scum? You always treated me as such anyways!" You yelled back in anger and hurt. You didn't get as much of an attitude when dealing with Zephyr as you did with Solana. Both of them tormented you equally in the past but they had their own way of doing so. Solana's style of bullying consisted mostly of snarky comments and verbal teasing loaded with conceited sarcasm rather than physical abuse. She also used spells to mess with you. Zephyr, on the other hand, was very blunt and cruel with his words as well as physically abusive towards you through both direct contact and magic spells.

"Silence Lilith! Because you were born without any magic power in a world where magic is everything, you are worth nothing. Even so, you are still royalty! It is an absolute disgrace for a member of a royal household to leave home and go live with peasants even if said royal was born without magic and is worthless. And for this, you must be punished." Zephyr raised his voice as he flipped through his grimoire.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?! That made absolutely no sense! It's too contradictory. You sound like a crazy stuck-up moron!" You yelled at your older brother who just ignored you.

"Wind Creation Magic: White Gavel of Punishment!" Zephyr cited as air began to swirl and form into an opaque white large courtroom hammer which swung sideways in your direction and nailed you right in the stomach. The impact of the blow sent you to flying backwards into a huge tree, briefly knocking the wind out of you. As you regained your breath, Zephyr cast another spell.

"Wind Creation Magic: Binding Ropes of Imprisonment!" Zephyr said as tendrils of air currents formed around your torso and the trunk, holding you steadfast to the tree. The air ropes tightened around you which made it hard to breathe. Even though your physical strength far surpassed the average girl and even some guys, you couldn't break free of your brother's wind magic restraints. You were beginning to feel light headed and your vision began to blur. Then you heard a voice that gave you hope and lifted your spirits.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing to Lil?!" Asta yelled at your older siblings Zephyr and Solana. You saw Asta running onto the scene and he was pissed. He glared at your older siblings as he stood there defensively.

"Oh? So you know our little sister, huh? You must be pretty close to Lilith here. You've even given her a nickname. Hmm, you're pretty cute. Say, how about you forget all about Lilith and date a real royal. If you come with me, I'll introduce you to the lavish lifestyle of royalty. You could live the life of luxury." Solana flirted, tempting Asta whose expression darkened. You couldn't tell if she was flirting with him just for show to mess with you or if she actually meant it and planned to steal him away. But the fact that your sister was trying to flirt with your best friend/crush at all enraged you. Fortunately, Asta wasn't having any of it. He opened his mouth, about to demolish Solana's pride and harshly decline her offer. But your older brother spoke before he had a chance to. What a bummer. You really wanted to see Solana's reaction to being rejected by a commoner.

"Solana, don't flirt with the boy. Firstly, he's too young for you. And secondly, as royalty, you shouldn't stoop so low as to elope with some lowly peasant scum just because you think he's cute. But that aside, there's yet another huge deal breaker with this one: I don't sense any mana residing within this boy at all. I guess that explains why he and Lilith are friends. It seems the only type of person our younger sister can be friends with is a magic-less peasant. How pathetic!" Zephyr scoffed mockingly and Solana snickered. This made Asta really, really mad. He rebuked your older sister first.

"There are many reasons why I'd never date you. Reason one: you're not my type. Yeah you're okay in looks, but your rotten personality overlooks everything and makes you ugly. Second: you lack respect. You can't even follow your sister's name preference. Her name is Lily, she doesn't like being called Lilith. Third reason: talking trash about her and people you don't even know is appalling. And the fourth reason: joining forces with your brother to gang up on your little sister like this to cause her emotional and physical pain is unacceptable. What the hell makes you think it's okay to treat people like that?! I don't care if you're royalty! That doesn't make you worth more than anyone else in this world! Yeah it's true that I'm just a commoner with no magic, but I can still beat the crap outta you!" Asta raised his voice as he glared at Solana. He pulled out his grimoire from the pouch at his side and it floated up from his hand, surrounded by its dark blood red aura. He drew his sword from the pages and readied himself to attack. This took your older brother and sister by surprise. Asta also managed to catch you off guard too, but for a different reason: he used your full preferred name for the first time.

"How can you own a grimoire?! You just said you have no magic power! This is preposterous! It shouldn't be possible." Zephyr said, both him and Solana in a state of shock upon witnessing that someone with no magic could have a grimoire. Asta didn't answer Zephyr's question regarding his grimoire and continued his reprimanding. He turned to Zephyr.

"Heh, you know, for being Lil's older brother, you really don't know her at all. You have an amazing little sister, but you wouldn't know because your arrogance and pride blinded you and drove her away. Lil is the sweetest, kindest and most considerate girl I know. It's a miracle she's like that despite the hell she's been through with you guys. And this may be a shock to you, but it's no surprise to me: Lil has many friends! One of them has exceptional magic power and his name is Yuno! Being royalty doesn't determine who you can or cannot be friends with. You need to learn to treat people with respect regardless of social status, who they choose to hang out with or how much magic power they have, especially if they're your own family members!" Asta raised his voice, his moving speech bringing tears to your eyes. He instantly charged at Zephyr who cast his crescent sickle spell at him. But he just cut through the wind blades with his sword and continued towards your older brother at full speed. When Asta got to Zephyr, he whacked him with the flat of the blade, sending him flying against a tree which knocked the wind out of him. Asta then turned his attention to Solana and charged at her. Out of reflex, she cast a wind barrier spell around herself which he just sliced through and whacked her on the head with the butt of his sword, knocking her out cold. He then ran over to you and sliced through the wind ropes that were holding you steadfast to the tree trunk, allowing you to fill your oxygen deprived lungs as you coughed and gasped for air.

"Are you okay Lil?" Asta asked you as he helped you to your feet. He rubbed your back in a comforting manner, concerned for your well being.

"I'll be okay thanks to you Asta." You thanked him with a smile then kissed him on the cheek, making him blush slightly. Suddenly, wind tendrils wrapped around Asta's wrists and ankles so he couldn't escape nor use his sword and hoisted him high up in the air. He struggled to break free but to no avail. You just stared in horror as Zephyr, who had regained his breath, commanded the ropes of air currents to slowly pull Asta's arms and legs off. The fact that he had the nerve to torture your best friend right in front of you without remorse both enraged and sickened you.

"Zephyr! Release Asta! Release him now!" You shouted aggressively at your older brother in a threatening tone. You were just about to charge full speed at Zephyr and attack him unarmed. Due to a lot of intense training, your physical strength most likely exceeded your older brother's. And your above average speed and agility would probably allow you to dodge most of his attacks and only receive minor damage from the ones that would manage to hit you. But unfortunately, he noticed the position you were taking and took action.

"Do NOT move any closer Lilith! If you so much as advance a single step, I will tear the limbs off this peasant boy in an instant!" Zephyr threatened as he continued to slowly torture Asta. Time seemed to slow down as you just sank to your knees. You watched helplessly as your best friend scream in agony, tears welling up in your eyes. Asta was now in trouble because of you and you couldn't do anything to save him. You dug your nails into your knees out of frustration, drawing a little blood, then brought your hands to your face as you began to sob. Your fingernails brushed your knees slightly as you did so, leaving short red trails of your blood behind. Suddenly, a bright blue light manifested before you above your head and a royal blue grimoire with a elegant black border and an embossed black six leaf clover on the front and back of the cover appeared from the light. You removed your hands from your tear stained face.

"Is this... mine?" You asked as your sullen form sparked to life and you wiped away your tears, reaching out with your hands open. The grimoire descended into your hands. Then it glowed brightly again and flipped open. A giant scythe taller than you, emerged from the pages and floated before you. You got a huge boost in confidence accompanied by a sensation of invincibility. Grabbing the handle of the large weapon, an intense zealous energy began coursing through your veins in the form of adrenaline. You wielded the scythe with one hand. Normally, it would have been considered too heavy to be used as a one handed weapon, but your training with Asta allowed you to wield it as such. You raised your voice at your brother to get his attention.

"Heh, you should know something Zephyr. When I say release my friend, I mean it. So I'm going to tell you again one last time. Release Asta at once, RIGHT NOW!" You said loudly, pointing the scythe blade at your older brother. He just laughed without looking in your direction first. Asta stared at you, his mouth agape with awe and shock.

"And I told you another step would render your little friend here limbless. You didn't even receive a grimoire from what I heard. So unless you want this peasant boy to die by your hands, there is nothing you can do." Zephyr said as he turned in your direction. But he froze when he saw you standing there with a giant scythe in hand and a grimoire floating by your side. You gave him a dark sinister death glare, your storm blue eyes blazing with vengeful rage and fury. His face instantly paled as ice cold chills rattled his spine. Back in the day, you had no way of countering his attacks which he took full advantage of and tormented you relentlessly. But now, the tables had turned and you could fight back. While Zephyr was temporarily paralyzed out of fear and shock, you freed Asta by cutting the tendrils of air with your scythe. Your blade sliced right through them just like Asta's sword did with Zephyr's wind blade and Solana's wind barrier. Asta was screaming in terror instead of agony now as he plummeted from a terrifying height after the wind ropes that had bound him there dissipated. He landed right in your arms safe and sound. Thank goodness you had decided to train with Asta all those years back! Otherwise, one or both of you would've been hurt by the impact of Asta's fall.

"Phew! Thanks for that, Lil. I thought I was gonna die! First by bleeding to death from my arms and legs getting torn off. Then by fatal wounds from landing hard on the ground from that high up." Asta thanked you as you set him down on his feet.

"You're welcome Asta. Now let me handle him. I have a looong score to settle with this guy." You said as Asta nodded his head in understanding. Your gaze immediately shifted from gentle and kind to dark and sinister the moment you fixated your attention to Zephyr. The instant drastic change in your expression and vibe actually terrified Asta, sending chilling shivers down his spine. Boy, was he ever glad you were on his side. He almost felt sorry for your older brother.

"B-but how? I thought you didn't get a grimoire at the ceremony!" He raised his voice out of both disbelief and shock. He was also absolutely terrified. Your scythe worked just like Asta's sword. After witnessing you catch a guy with a muscular build slightly taller than you falling from one story high with ease, he knew your physical strength far surpassed his own. His only hope was that your speed and reflexes were slow and your weapon handling skills were unpolished and clunky. But unfortunately for him, you and Asta physically trained your bodies together frequently. Not to mention you guys often sparred with each other in close-quarter combat. You went up against one another either unarmed in hand-to-hand combat or used branches and other objects of various shapes and sizes to simulate different types of melee weapons. So yeah, you were strong and knew the basics of weapon handling. Zephyr was totally fucked.

"You're right, I didn't receive a grimoire at the ceremony. I literally just got it right now. I can finally get you back for all you've done to me and my best friend! You have some nerve harming Asta right in front of me. Especially when you don't know my strength." You said then instantly charged at your older brother, scythe ready. You swung the scythe blade at his neck. Zephyr managed to duck out of the way, but you had cut off a good chunk of his long black hair. You knew he had decent reflexes so you weren't worried about decapitating him, but you wouldn't have complained if you actually did. After all the physical and emotional pain he caused you during the first decade of your life, he pretty much deserved it anyways. You pointed at him and laughed mockingly at his amusing new haircut. Zephyr picked up the hair you cut off and mourned over it.

"You know, you should be thanking me. First of all, in a real battle to the death, there's no time for mourning. If I wasn't so gracious in letting you have a final moment with your precious locks, you would have died by my hands already. And secondly, all that hair must have been a hassle to deal with everyday. Look at it this way: I just made self care easier for you." You said in a sassy way. That really pissed Zephyr off, which is exactly what you wanted: him to attack you by his own choice. Even though you harbored deep hatred towards him, you still didn't want to fight him while he was distracted. It just didn't seem right. Besides if you attacked him now, it could be seen as you acting out of cold blooded vengeance. But if he attacked you out of rage, it'd be seen as you acting out of self defense. Zephyr looked you dead in the eyes with his which were the same color as yours. He gave you a death glare which wasn't nearly as potent and sinister as your death glare since you had more emotion behind yours. Even Asta, who was often oblivious to the air of the environment, could feel the vast difference in intensity.

"Why you...! How dare you desecrate the hair of a royal! You may also be a royal, but you're a damn sad excuse of one! You need to learn to respect your elders you little brat!" Zephyr practically screamed out of anger, letting your provocations get to him.

"Alright, alright! I get it! You're my elder. But seriously, you gotta chill out old man! You should either learn to control your temper or pick on someone at your own level!" You scoffed sarcastically in a disrespectful manner. There was no way you were going to respect someone who never showed you any respect. Zephyr's face grew bright red with rage. You could have sworn there was steam blasting out of his ears.

"As royalty, my magic is practically unrivaled. Our parents are the King and Queen of the Spade Kingdom! What you're asking is impossible. I literally can't pick on someone at my magic level!" Zephyr arrogantly stated his argument. You sighed with disappointment.

"You clearly weren't listening, you deaf bastard. I never said anything about magic level. Which means I was referring to magic prowess, physical strength, speed, agility, and reflexes contributing to level as a whole. Before I ran away, I was not at your level. Now you face me again five years since you last saw me and I'm still not at your level." You said as a smirk crept onto Zephyr's face, despite you calling him a deaf bastard which would have normally enraged him. But he was currently blinded by pride.

"Ha! So you're finally admitting that you're below me!" Zephyr sprung back to life, but only for a brief moment. You laughed at how ridiculously blind his pride had made him. You stopped your laughter so abruptly, it was disturbing. The moment you did, your facial expression darkened and turned dead serious.

"I wasn't lying when I said I'm still not at your power level. But not in the way you're thinking. Your pride has your mind working backwards. No, you've got it aaall wrong Zephy." You told your older brother, calling him a nickname you hadn't called him since you were a toddler because he beat you after the first time you used it. Calling him that triggered Zephyr's rage.

"Lilith, you worthless wretch! You really are a she-demon just like your name implies!" Zephyr screamed as he cast multiple crescent sickle spells at you. Out of reflex, you swiftly leapt out of the way and ran full speed in a wide circle around your brother, swinging your scythe at the wind blades as they got close. Despite its size and weight, you had enough strength to wield it as a one-handed weapon. As you sliced through the wind blades, you noticed something peculiar. There was a slight difference in what happened to the spells after they were destroyed by your weapon. When Asta's sword cut through the wind-based spells, they split before dissipating into microscopic mana particles which dispersed into the atmosphere. But when your scythe cut through them, the mana particles were visibly absorbed into the blade. This gave you an idea that was probably crazy, but you tried it anyways.

"Wind Creation Magic: Crescent Sickles!" You shouted and sure enough, several wind blades formed at your command. A devilish smirk crept upon your face as you glared at Zephyr who stepped back in fear. You then commanded the blades to dart at your older brother who desperately tried to counter your attacks with wind blades of his own as they hurled towards him. He was so focused on defending himself from the blades of wind, he didn't notice you run around behind him. You swung your scythe at his feet, using the handle to knock them out from under him. He landed flat on his back, groaning in pain. Asta had been watching the entire fight and he couldn't believe what he was seeing: you were using magic!

"Wind Creation Magic: Binding Ropes of Imprisonment!" You said as ropes of wind tightly wrapped around your brother's body in a cocoon-like fashion, leaving only his head free. You pressed the sharp tip of your scythe blade into his forehead. He screamed in agony as the scythe drew blood that trickled down the side of his face.

"Never come near this village again! Do you hear me?!" You warned your brother who just frantically nodded his head in fear. You then used the blade of your scythe to carve the word "scum" deep into his forehead so that it'd leave a permanent scar. You then went over to your sister who was still unconscious and carved the same word into her forehead before going over to Asta who just sat there astonished.

"That was incredible, Lil! And you finally got your grimoire too! I knew you would get one!" Asta said, beaming at you excitedly and placing his hands on your shoulders.

"Yeah, you and Yuno were right. I never should have doubted you guys or myself. Anyways, let's go home and tell everyone I finally got my grimoire." You smiled as you started heading back to the church with Asta right by your side. On your way home, you two ran into Yuno.

"I've been looking for you two." Yuno said as you suddenly hugged him which took him by surprise.

"Hey Yuno, I finally received my grimoire!" You said, pulling away the hug and holding your grimoire up for Yuno to see. A soft smile appeared on his face.

"I knew you'd get your grimoire Lily. By the way, what happened to you guys? You're both a mess. We were waiting for you at the table for breakfast, but then you guys didn't show up. Father and Sister Lily sent me to go look for you." Yuno said as you and Asta looked at each other before looking back at Yuno and described everything that had just happened.

"Well I'm glad that you two are okay. I was getting worried when you guys didn't show up for breakfast. My older siblings seem like terrible people." Yuno said as the three of you headed back to the church to eat. When you arrived, both you and Asta took turns telling everyone else what happened.

"Congratulations Lily! I'm so happy for you." Sister Lily congratulated you on receiving your grimoire, grabbing your hands in hers. You smiled and thanked her.

"That's wonderful! We shall prepare another feast tonight to celebrate!" Father said enthusiastically.

"I really appreciate it, but don't we need to spare our food rations? We just had a feast last night to celebrate Yuno receiving his grimoire. And I wouldn't want to be the cause of a food shortage." You mentioned as Father put his hand up to his chin as he thought about it more.

"You're right. We shouldn't be going through our food so recklessly. You're so polite and thoughtful Lily!" Father said as he started to tear up, touched by your decision. That night, you guys just had a normal dinner. After all of you finished cleaning up, you showed everyone your new grimoire.

~Time Skip~

The next day, you and Asta ran all the way to the local Grimoire Tower to see Master Drouot and show him your grimoires.

"Hey check it out! Me and Lil received our grimoires!" Asta said excitedly as both of you held up your grimoires for the Tower Master to see.

"Good for you two. Mind if I have a closer look?" The Tower Master asked, holding out his hands. You and Asta handed him your grimoires. His eyes widened when he studied them.

'Hmm, the rare five leaf clover grimoire and the even rarer six leaf clover grimoire. Legend has it that within the 5th leaf lives a devil. But what does the 6th leaf represent? It's so rare that I'm having trouble recalling it. Hmm, oh now I remember! Within the 6th leaf resides the Angel of Death, that's it! I never thought I'd ever see the four leaf, five leaf, and six leaf clover grimoires during my lifetime, much less in the same year. The rarest of the rare all in one year.' Master Drouot thought to himself as he handed the grimoires back with a smile.

"Good luck with your grimoires. Use them wisely." Master Drouot said to the two of you.

"We will, bye!" You said as you both headed for the exit, waving goodbye to the Tower Master.

"Yes! This is the key to my journey! I'm going to become the Wizard King! Just you wait and see, Yuno!" Asta said enthusiastically as he followed you out, holding up his grimoire high in the air.

"Take care children." Master Drouot said, waving goodbye. As you both became small figures in the distance, he chuckled.

"Looks like we have some promising young ones this year." The elderly Tower Master said to himself, heading back inside the tower and closed the door behind him.