158 Royal Knight exam-1
Cold water from the ocean touched the bodies of Asta, Yuno, and Noelle waking them up.
Despite waking up, they were too tired to move their bodies.
On a nearby rock, Julian and Secre sat enjoying the night sky.
[Blessing of great wind spirit Sylph obtained]
"Thank you Bell" Julian thanked the wind spirit floating beside him.
"Hmp! Don't get the wrong idea, I only helped you because you made Yuno stronger," Sylph replied, puffing her cheeks.
'Kirin would have bullied her so bad if he was awake' Julian thought and shook his head.
Julian snapped his fingers as the three of them felt strength returning to their bodies.
"Get your things, we are returning back," Julian said to them.
For the last week, Julian and Secre had taken Asta, Noelle, and Yuno to the beach in the Grand Magic zone to prepare them for the upcoming Royal Knight exam and war against Eye of the Midnight Sun.
The Royal Knight exams start the next day so Julian would make sure that they are in their peak condition.
It was time for Noelle to evolve her magic so Secre undertook her training.
There are numerous paths a person can take their water magic.
For example, water has the property to take any shape or form. If this path is followed, a person can create weapons and summons to fight for them.
Next is the property of sharpness, it compresses to its highest degree, it can become the sharpest blade.
To evolve their magic, one must first understand water so Secre took Noelle to different water bodies like lakes, waterfalls etc to understand them.
Secre made Noelle observe different mana beasts with the power of water to take inspiration from them.
Finally, Noelle decided to take the path with a mix of shape-shifting and sharpness just like her mother.
Since Julian now was a Grand Mage, he dug some records about Acier Silva and gave them to Noelle so Noelle took a lot of inspiration from her.
Aside from this, Julian took Yuno and Asta's training.
Unlike Noelle, Yuno had already evolved his magic towards sharpness.
All of his spells are aimed towards tearing his opponents to shreds.
So Julian taught him Mana zone and Spirit assimilation.
Julian also knew wind magic so it was easier to teach him.
Yuno was shocked that Julian could use wind magic better than after having it for a few months while Yuno had it for his entire life.
Since the time was less, Julian drilled everything into Yuno with constant combat.
For Asta, the only thing he needed was combat practice to counter every situation.
During the entire training session, Julian made Noelle and Yuno undergo physical training since huge stamina was required for the spells they were trying to create.
**********
The next day:
Magic Knights Examination Stadium:
A crowd of magic knights stood in a proper line.
All of them there were there to participate in the Royal Knights exam.
Some note-worthy people were Yuno, Langris, Mimosa, and Klaus from the Golden Dawn.
Annie from the Blue Rose.
Leopold from the Crimson Lions
Asta, Noelle, Finral, Luck, and Manga from the Black Bulls.
Lucis (code name Yagami ) from Wizard King's personal squad.
Solid and Nebra Silva from the Silva Eagles.
Noelle made eye contact with her siblings but instead of showing fear, she had a smile of malice.
"What do you think happened to her ?" Nebra whispered in Solid's ears.
"She must have lost her mind staying while staying with the Black Bulls" Solid whispered back trying not to attract Julian's attention.
Lastly, the most noteworthy people were Julian and Captain Rill from the Auqa deer from whom everyone maintained a distance.
Since the tournament was open to everyone, Rill decided to join too.
"Julian~ what do I do ~ my squad is falling behind !!
I thought that giving my squad members plenty of time to follow their hobbies but it turns out that they slacked off in the name of following their hobbies.
I feel like crying~ " Rill cried to Julian shaking his shoulder.
"Captain Rill you should be more strict with your squad members.
Of course, they will slack off if you give them too much freedom.
You must set a time limit for those activities. " Julian replied.
"My vice-captain said the same thing.
I should really try to become more strict " Rill said making his eyes pointy to make himself look angry.
As Julian and Rill continued to talk, Wizard King walked up to the stage drawing everyone's attention.
Behind them were the blond-haired Queen Tiona and blue-haired Queen Vivi.
The crowd of Magic Knights immediately cheered up after seeing them.
Unlike the King who was universally hated, the two queens were loved by people since they frequently appeared in public and could be seen helping everyone be it by themselves or by making donations.
"I thank everyone gathered here to participate in the Royal Knights exam.
I am grateful to every magic knight who keeps their life on the line to protect this kingdom" Queen Tiona announced.
"Let's not keep you all waiting and start the exam….
This exam would be a team-based event where three Knights of different squads will form a squad.
Each team will be given a crystal which they have to protect from the other squad.
The team whose crystal breaks first loses. " Queen Vivi announced.
"The Evaluation will be done on the basis of the following
1. How fast the opponent's crystal is destroyed.
2. Teamwork of an individual with other two team members
3. Attack, defense, and support capabilities
So even if a team is eliminated, the members can still pass" Tiona announced.
As the speech continued, Julian walked towards Lucis.
'I wonder what happened to the King since he wouldn't miss such an opportunity to make himself feel important' Julian thought.
"If you are thinking about what happened to that useless father of mine…..my mother had tied him to a chair so that he doesn't make a fool of himself any further" Lucis whispered.
"That's a scary mother you got there Lucis " Julian replied.
"Scary is an understatement for her, even the king has no power against her in my household, " Lucis said shaking his head.
"Is your mother aware that you are participating in this tournament?" Julian asked.
"Yes...I only got permission to participate in this but I can't take part in the attack" Lucis said.
"She is right, can't have the great prince of Clover Kingdom~ Lucis Kira Clover injured "
"Stop! I don't wish to hear it anymore !" Lucis covered his ears.
*********
Images started to appear on everyone's heads announcing their teammates.
The teams were not completely random but decided on certain criteria.
Team A: Julian
Team B: Rill Boismortier
Since Julian and Rill would outshine any teammate , they were not assigned any teammate.
Team C: Magna Swing
Sol Maron
Kirsh Vermillion
'Magna Swing....although he is a peasant, he should be useful since he is from the Black Bulls' Krish taught while Sol and Manga already got into an argument.
Team D: Luck Voltia
Pluly Angel
Kalus Volita
Klaus and Luck were happy to be in a team since they worked together in a few missions after the dungeon exploration so they were familiar with each other's battle style.
Team E: Yuno
Noelle Silva
En LinGuard
Noelle and Yuno looked at each other and immediately had an understanding.
Team F: Leopold Vermission
Jamon Cesus
Finral Roulasae
"You must be Finral, I have heard a lot about you from Julian.
Let's give out the best!!" Leopold said shaking Finral's hand.
"Brother of vice-captain Langris….I heard that you can't use any attack spatial magic but your support abilities are top notch
Hope we get along" Siad Jamon who was a member of the Golden Dawn.
Team G: Asta
Mimosa Vermillion
Xerx Lunger
"Who is this guy ?" Asta looked around for the person named Xerx
A tall red-haired man walked up to Julian and put his hands around his shoulder.
"Yoo~seems like I was a bit late," the man said in a leisurely manner.
People's eyes widened with shock seeing Xerx's attitude with Julian.
'He is dead ' One of the Crimson Lion members who saw Julian's match with Mereleona shook his head with regret.
Contrary to expectation, Julian didn't do anything.
"Haven't seen you in a while, hope your skills didn't become rusty" Julian said.
"Keke! You would be surprised by my improvement " Xerx replied.
"Then it's fine.
My friends are on your team, hope you take care of them properly Magic Knight of Justice…. Zora" Julian whispered as Xerx removed his hand from Julian as it caught on fire.
"Tsk! You are still that cheeky brat"
**********
One by one everyone passed through a portal and reached the exam site with was a custom build battle area in the forsaken realm with a lake, miniature forest, desert, and hills.
Since this exam was open for the Magic Knights to view, most of the Black Bulls were here to cheer everyone.
The first match was Team A whose only member was Julian against Team J whose members were Knights from Squad Golden Dawn, Praying Mantis, and Silva Eagles.
One of them used his magic to cast multiple defensives layer around the crystal while one of them prepared some spells to defect and lastly one was on the lookout for Julian.
They were standing on the top of a hill giving them a view of the entire examination area.
"Looking for me ?" Julian's voice rang from above catching the three of them off guard.
The mage with attack spells attacking Julian with water magic but all of them stopped mid-air.
The spells reversed their direction and hit the caster back with even greater force.
"Let's end this fast"
Coating Mana in his legs Julian plunged towards the Crystals immediately destroying the defensive spell and shattering the Crystal.
With a loud noise, the entire hill was split in two.
The face of the other two mages immediately became white after seeing what a single kick from Julian could do.
'He never changes ' Lucis face palmed.
