Challenge

Writing everything he could remember in his notebook, Grim looked at a leaflet filled with magic knight propaganda. Inside it were the names and pictures of each squad's captain and vice captain members.

'If I want to reach captain level of strength, then I first need to be stronger than their vice captains.'

Looking over the list, his eyes were attracted to the section about the Purple Orca's squad. From what he could remember, the captain of the Purple Orca's had been arrested and his position had been taken over by some chubby dude with a weird hairstyle.

'Xerx huh.'

Looking at the squad's vice-captain, there was a section detailing his rank and magic type.

'Currently stationed along the kingdom's border with other members of his squad... I guess I should go pay him a visit.'

Snapping the notebook shut, Grim used the transparent world to sense Finral's location.

---

'Should I dye it?'

Standing in front of a mirror, Finral practiced some poses while playing with the tips of his hair.

*BANG!!*

Kicking open his door, Grim walked in and grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"Eh! What are you doing!?"

"You're taking me to the kingdom's border."

"What!"

"You have spatial magic right? Might as well use it."

"But I don't wanna go!"

"...I'll put in a good word for you with Rebecca's friends."

As soon as he heard that, Finral quickly changed his tone.

"So which part of the border do you want to go to? The north? West? East? South?"

"What are you guys doing?" Seeing Grim hovering off the ground and dragging Finral by the back of his collar, a roaming Luck couldn't help but ask what was going on.

"Finral's gonna take me to fight a vice-captain."

"Wait what!?"

"Cool!" Luck said.

"Wanna come along?"

"Hell yeah!!"

Seeing Luck's enthusiasm, Grim told Finral to open up a portal.

While Finral was busy doing that, Luck asked a question that had been bothering him for some time now.

"Why are you hovering?"

To which Grim responded with. "Why walk when you could fly?"

---

Stepping out of the portal with Luck and Finral in tow, Grim took in the sight of the border.

'This place... looks really boring.'

Pulling out the leaflet, he looked at the address and showed it to Finral.

"I think that's over there." He pointed.

Looking in the direction he was pointing at, a massive grin appeared on Grim's face.

"Lets go say hello then."

---

*BOOM!!*

"Lord XERX!! We're under attack!!" Bursting into the room of the vice captain, the scene of a man with long light purple hair reflected in the man's pupils as the purple haired man elegantly took a sip of his tea before placing it down on the saucer.

Raising his head, the purple haired man known as Xerx looked at the purple orca member that had burst into his room and in a gentle voice he asked. "How many?"

"1 sir!"

"One?" Now if this was a normal person they would be extremely worried over the fact that they were being invaded by a single person, but as a noble Xerx clearly didn't think the same as the others.

"Very well, let us deal with this peasant."

Getting to his feet, Xerx left his room followed by the purple orca member.

By the time they got outside, the sight laying before them left them shocked.

Sitting on top of a mountain of passed out Purple Orca members, a black haired boy no older than 15 looked down at them with a grin plastered across his face.

"Took you long enough, I was getting bored of stacking bodies."

Seeing the unconscious faces of his squad members stacked on top of the other, Xerx started shaking with anger.

"How dare you..."

"What was that? Can't hear you from up here." Grim cupped his ears trying to enrage the vice-captain.

"YOU DARE MOCK ME!!"

"What? I still can't hear you. Give me minute, I'll lower myself down to your level."

"My level!!"

Jumping down, Grim landed with a loud bang.

"Better, now you were saying something about wanting to be mocked?"

Seeing his vice captain being looked down upon boy a commoner, and a boy at that, the purple orca member stood in front of his superior.

"Do you know who you're talking to!"

"A dead man?"

"HE IS LORD XERX LUGNER! AND YOU WILL SHOW HIM THE RESPECT HE DESERVES!!"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Fufufufu." Xerx startled chuckling.

"Lord Xerx?" The purple Orca member said concerned over his laugh.

"Step back Joshua, I'll show this boy what it means to mess with a noble."

Opening his grimoire up, Xerx pushed Joshua back.

'Finally starting huh?'

Knowing that Xerx used ice magic, Grim's grimoire glowed blue as he switched to [Breath of Water].

"Come."

---

"He doesn't seem that strong."

Watching the fight take place from on top of a building in the distance, Finral and Luck commented on the action.

"I wanna go hit on some girls!" Finral cried looking at all the women in the distance.

"Nope, Grim said I need to make sure you stay close so we can leave when he's done."

"C'mon Luck, I promise I'll be quick." He pleaded.

"Nope."

---

*Swoosh!!*

*Swoosh!!*

*Swoosh!!*

Mimicking the fluid movement of water, Grim used [Flowing Dance] swerve through all the ice shards being shot at him.

'He's evading lord Xerx's attacks! Who is this boy!'

Not wearing his magic knight robe, the current Grim resembled any other commoner that could be found anywhere.

"Is this all you've got? I thought a vice-captain would be stronger.'

"You!!"

Thrusting his hand forward, spikes of ice burst out of the ground and charged towards Grim.

[Ice Magic: Ice Slicer]

Stopping in his tracks, Grim stomped down hard on the ground and using the physical enhancements granted to him by the base [Breath of the Beast] power, he shot forward above the ice spikes.

"What!"

"LORD XERX!!"

Flying through the air and tightening his hand into the form of a fist, Grim pulled his arm back and body shotting Xerx's stomach with the force of a canon ball.

*BOOM!!*

"Kyah!!"

Involuntarily bending his body forward, Xerx's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he shot backwards. Crashing into the wall of his base, cracks spread from his point of impact before completely crumbling.

"LORD XERX!!"

Watching his vice-captain foam from the mouth, Joshua ran to his side.

'Was that it?'

Looking at the crying face of Joshua and the unconscious Xerx, Grim felt disappointed by the power of this vice-captain.

'Could he be faking? Is he trying to catch me off guard!!.'

Paranoid over the fact that a vice-captain went down so easily, Grim assumed that he was faking his unconscious state in order to attack him when his guard was lowered.

[Breath of Flame]

Switching breath styles, Grim got into a sword stance and slashed his sword upwards.

[Rising Scorching Sun]

Slashing his sword upwards, Grim released a large spinning wheel of flames that tore right through the middle of the purple orca's base splitting it in half.

'Hmm... He's not getting up... Did he really pass out?'

Resting his sword on his shoulder, Grim shrugged his shoulders and took to the air.

---

"H-He just destroyed one of the kingdom's bases.... Yami is gonna kill us!!" Finral cursed.

"Hahaha, yeah." Luck laughed.

"Why are you so cheerful! This could be seen as treason!!"

"It'll be fine." Luck reassured him.

"Yo guys." Grim called flying towards them. "I'm ready to go."

Looking at the smoke in the background and hearing Joshua's cries, Finral sighed and opened a portal.

"Lets... just go."