Magic Knight Entrance Exam!

"Magic tree, descend!" Out of nowhere, the sky above everyone had immediately darkened with dark-green roots seemingly forming from the heavens. They outstretched towards the colosseum where the Magic Knights exam was taking place.

The Captain of the Golden Dawn looked almost like some sort of God with how he could summon an immensely powerful spell just like that.

"Wow... so, this is a C-C-Captain...". Lucas stared at the magic, mesmerised by what was happening.

As the Magic Tree descended, the branches that were connected to the trunk all formed into broomsticks and were handed to each and every one of the examinees. As everyone looked at each other, confused at to what this entailed, Captain Vangeance started to explain.

"Now, there will be a set of exams that all of you will have to go through. The nine of us Captains will examine how you fare, and by the end of them, we will decide on who joins the Magic Knights. The first exam... you must get on those brooms and fly". He sat back down with the rest of the Magic Knight Captains.

There were people around Lucas who were worried about themselves.

"I haven't had enough practice!"

"I've never flown on a broom before!"

Lucas was also worried, but he remembered his goal to become the Wizard King. "If I can't do this... then I cannot call myself a Magic Knight, let alone the Wizard King!". He set his broom forward in front of him and went to get on it. Lucas, with his clumsy nature, started to wriggle and wobble as he struggled to balance himself on it. He saw others having the same problem as him but then saw Yuno.

Yuno was effortlessly flying on his broomstick. The crazy thing was that he wasn't even sat on it, he was stood up and flying through the area with ease.

On the other hand, Lucas looked towards Asta, and saw him struggling to even take off from the floor. Lucas saw how hard he was trying and felt bad for him, but he had to carry on.

"These two are polar opposites...". Lucas shrugged as he said to himself. He then focused on and eventually, albeit a few minutes went past, sat on the broom and started to fly with a relative ease. The Light mage actually got so comfortable with it, in those few minutes, that he tried to stand on it just like Yuno and he did, before losing his footing and stumbling back to his sitting position. He eventually decided that flying by sitting down was the way to go.

Without Lucas realising, he was being laughed at by a few of the other candidates at how he failed to stand up.

Also unknown to the Light mage, the Captains were also conversing amongst themselves. "Why are they laughing at him when he at least tried to do something different?" Charlotte asked, whilst scratching her chin.

"Are you interested in taking him, Prickly Princess? He does have balls to try that sort of thing, though!" Yami teased Charlotte, and commended Lucas for his willingness to try different things.

"O-of course not! We do not accept men to be squad members... and even if they are, they're errand boys". The Blue Rose Captain retorted, though she was blushing as she turned her face away.

The other Captains were instead focused on other the other peasants. Fuegoleon and William, both spoke about the talent Yuno had, even if he was a peasant. They also spoke about Asta and how he seemed to have little to no mana from what they could see. Nozel was missing though.

Lucas had partially got the hang of flying normally, but he started to descend as he lost his grip and landed on the floor. He sighed as he just couldn't get the right trick in staying afloat so he decided to take a very short breather and leant against one of the stone pillars. As he was about to try again, he heard two people talking, or rather, one person talking and the other listening. He then slyly looked over and saw them.

"I told you. There's no need for royalty to take the same exam as the peasants. Your destination has already been decided. Your existence itself is unnecessary". The Silver Eagles Captain spoke with a menacing tone and started to walk away.

Lucas, upon hearing those words, started to feel anger burn within himself. He set his mind back to that day where he revealed his Time Magic to his Mother and Father and subsequently felt their wrath. Lucas was made to feel unworthy and unnecessary to even exist. So, hearing those words made him feel anger.

The ginger-haired mage thought to intervene but then his body felt weak as he moved towards them. He hated confrontation and the idea of even speaking back to a Captain sent shivers down his spine, so he, instead, left the situation alone. As Lucas walked back towards the middle, he peered over his shoulder towards the silver-haired girl and felt his heart drop from the sight he saw.

She was crying.

The flying exam had concluded, and the contestants moved on to the next one.

It was now the magic control exam. All you had to do was some target practice with magic which was easy to do for Lucas. He remembered all the times Iris would set up Earth Magic golems for him to fire into. "This... is finally something I've practiced!" He sighed in relief, but at the same time had eyes full of stars and hope.

He put his left arm forward and shot out little bullets of Light that met their targets with ease. For once, Lucas was actually confident in his abilities and, rightly so. The targets were destroyed and exploded into little wooden pieces that scattered everywhere. Even Yuno didn't hit all of his targets and Lucas kept an eye on that.

"Woah... even that talented guy didn't get all of them". The 15-year-old internally screamed of joy. He didn't mean to, but he was unintentionally comparing himself to Yuno. He also compared himself to Asta. Even though it was clear that the ashen-haired boy was struggling, a part of Lucas sensed and believed that he could pull through somehow.

At the Captains railing, more of them had started to take note of Lucas.

"That kid there, the peasant. He's interesting". Gueldre commented.

"There's no way a kid like him would survive with a ham roll like you, keh keh!" Jack replied and licked his lips. He was also wondering about Lucas.

"He is something, alright!" Fuegoleon spoke up. "What do you think, Nozel?" The Flame mage turned to his fellow royal.

Nozel seemed uninterested though. "Hmph. There's no way a peasant will enter a squad like mine".

The only one who wasn't involved in the discussions was William Vangeance. He was just stood up, looking towards the contestants. "He's... interesting. I sense something... familiar from him". He thought.

The final exam had arrived. The Captain of the Golden Dawn had tasked every contestant to engage in actual combat. Then, the Captain of the Crimson Lions had started to speak, or rather shout.

"You will pair off and fight with your partner. You may use your grimoires to attack!" He roared. It seemed like the royal was excited to see everyone face off against one another.

Lucas was scared though. It wasn't that he didn't have practice with sparring and fighting, he did it plenty of times with Iris and David. The reason why Lucas felt so uneasy was because they had to find partners to spar against. Lucas, already having problems with speaking to others, couldn't fathom having to ask someone for a fight.

Eventually, there were only a few people left and Lucas had no one. He then turned his head around to try and find that silver-haired girl from before. Even though he didn't know her, considering they both had some family problems, Lucas thought it would be easy to approach and relate to her. However, she wasn't anywhere.

"What do I do...? What do I do...?" Lucas started to fidget and twirl his fingers in nervousness. He tried to look around and saw that everyone had found partners.

"No way I'm going against him... that peasant has some strong magic!"

"Hmph. I'll do it then... I'll show the likes of them a lesson".

"Wait... aren't you f-from...!"

A young-looking man, around the age of 16 walked up to Lucas and spoke down on him. His towering stature made him seem like a monster to Lucas who started whimpering. The person then grabbed Lucas by the collar and intimidated him, staring down into his eyes.

"You think you're some kind of a big shot, don't you?" He spoke in a rude manner, his eyes piercing through Lucas.

"I-I-I... I didn't d-d-do anything!" The Light Mage teared up to which the young man started to laugh at.

"The name is Richard Kira... and you'll be my opponent for this final exam, got it?" Richard spoke, sending shivers down the Light mage's spine.

As Richard let go of Lucas's collar, he slowly walked away from him and stood in the distance. He had a doublet with alternating black and blue stripes embroidered onto it. He also wore dark blue trousers that had a gold thread running on the seams, as well as having golden-brown boots to finish. Over his doublet, he wore a dark-green mantle that formed into a light-green cape, that was swaying in the wind, at the back.

Lucas, trying to calm himself down from that abrupt interaction, realised that Richard was dressed very differently from the other exam candidates and wondered why that was the reason. As he thought about the encounter, someone else walked up to him and asked if he was okay. That person then explained who Richard Kira was.

He was part of one of the royal families of the Clover Kingdom.

"Wh-wh-why does a royal want to fight me?!" Lucas screamed internally, scratching his head in confusion. "I thought royals got a free pass on these ex-exams...". The mage thought back to the two silver-haired siblings' conversation by the pillar earlier.

Lucas gulped and sighed. He eventually accepted that he had to fight a royal and decided to patiently wait for his turn whilst looking at the other battles. "Let's see... Oh! It's Asta against that weird laughing guy. I hope Asta wins". He eyed the two opponents and saw that Sekke had walked up towards Asta and said something in his ear which didn't seem very nice, considering Asta's facial expression.

"Bronze Creation Magic: Sekke Magnum Cannonball!" The man against Asta summoned a creation spell and encased himself in it. The blue-coloured magic formed to defend himself from any attacks, but also created a few cannons to serve as offense.

"Woah... that seems pretty useful. The name is a bit self-centred though...". Lucas deadpanned with his bright blue eyes. He was impressed, yet unimpressed at the same time. Lucas then looked towards the ashen-haired mage as he started to respond.

Asta quickly brought out his big sword from his grimoire and rushed towards Sekke without hesitation. Lucas had blinked once and as he opened his eyes, Asta had already won. The Bronze mage's spell was in pieces on the floor.

"A-Asta won!" Lucas jumped in the air and fist pumped. He didn't know why he was so happy for someone he hasn't even spoken to, but there was something about Asta that made Lucas feel good. After celebrating for someone he barely even knew, he heard what the winner had to say.

"I'm going to work my ass off and become the Wizard King!"

Lucas perked up at the comment. "Oh yeah, he did mention it briefly back when he bumped into me in Hage... d-does this mean I have a r-r-rival?" Lucas blushed, thinking that becoming friends with someone is very much possible, but there was still that feeling of fear that stopped him from being fully happy.

After a few more battles, it was Yuno's turn to fight against a noble called Salim Hapshass. Lucas had heard the name floating about and focused on the battle that was starting.

The noble turned out to be a Lightning mage and he fired off a huge ball of bright-blue electricity towards Yuno, but surprisingly, it didn't seem like the tall teen was phased at all for the incoming attack.

The Lightning magic was vibrating throughout the entire colosseum and all of the Captains above were entirely focused on the fight at hand.

"Wind Magic: Towering Tornado!" Yuno summoned a tornado of wind that countered the ball of electricity that was homing in on him. Within a few seconds, the wind spell wiped out the opponents spell and consumed Salim within it as he floated up and then fell down onto the floor. Yuno's tornado enveloped the entire colosseum as everyone was in awe at his power.

Yuno was declared an out-and-out winner.

After a few minutes of repairing the stage, due to it being destroyed by Yuno's intense magic, it was finally back in usable condition. This also meant that it was time for Lucas to step forward.

Lucas walked ahead and Richard Kira, the royal, was on the opposite end of the stage. There was a chill in the air as both opponents locked eyes with each other. Though, Lucas's eyes were more trying to avoid direct eye contact, but still tried to look towards Richard to not seem rude.

Richard flicked his light brown hair that was knotted into a small ponytail at the back. "I'm sure you wondered why a royal like me is even standing in the same space as you, let alone taking part in this stupid exam... well, I just wanted to have a bit of fun, but then I saw you..." he pointed his finger at Lucas who stood frightened "... showing off with your weirdly powerful magic. Then I thought I should beat some sense into a freaky looking peasant such as yourself... I mean, what the hell are those stupid scars on your face? Did you get beat as a kid or something?" He laughed to himself.

This horrible speech struck a chord in a number of people around Lucas who were on the sidelines.

"Hey... I know he's a peasant, but isn't that too far?"

"There was no need for that!"

It also annoyed a few Magic Knight Captains who had now stood up, due to their anger.

"How rude!" Fuegoleon roared as a mini flame formed in his palm.

"Okay, Finral. Teleport me down there so I can kill him". Yami stood up but was protested against by the brown-haired mage.

Even Dorothy, although she was still asleep, had brought out her grimoire, ready to fight.

The person who it affected the most was obviously Lucas. His face was pale with fear and he peered his right arm over the right side of his face as he felt his scars. He then realised he was using his right arm, the one used for his Time Magic, and cursed himself with anger, and even sadness. Lucas began to feel sick to the stomach and his knees felt like they were going to give way any second. That is, until a familiar shout from the audience brought the Light mage back to his senses.

"Hey! Don't worry what other people say about you... Use your magic and show him what you've got!" The shouting came from none other than Asta. He was trying to psyche up the ginger-haired mage who clearly needed some words of encouragement. Yuno was also there, next to Asta, and he simply smiled as he looked towards Lucas.

"That's right... my dream is to become the Wizard King, I will achieve it... and if this guy is in my way, I'll have to move past him!" Lucas took a big breath and focused on Richard. He brought out his four-leafed grimoire and readied himself for the battle.

"Tsk. I thought he'd start crying and run away after that... guess I have no choice". The royal took his brown-coloured grimoire and stood ready. "Earth Creation Magic: Ground Golem Squad!" The 16-year-old mage summoned a group of huge golems, that formed from between mud in the cracks on the floor, and they started to run towards Lucas, one after the other.

"Earth Magic?" Lucas cracked a small smile. He realised the amount of practice he had against Iris's Earth Magic and knew that he was prepared, especially since they both used golem spells.

"I don't have that many spells, but I guess I'll try this one". Lucas stretched his left arm forwards and summoned his first spell. "Light Magic: Angelic Strike!" The 15-year-old's entire left arm started to glow a bright yellow colour as it became enveloped in Light Magic. He then ran towards the first golem and gently placed his left hand on the golem's stomach. As soon as he did, the golem disintegrated into a pile of ash and dust.

There were oohs and ahs from the audience that was watching him, causing Lucas to become flustered. He tried to calm himself down but, due to his clumsy nature, his right foot hit a crack in the ground, and he fell to the floor. He quickly got up, his face red with embarrassment, and his clothes dirty with dust.

The Captains, however, were amazed by Lucas's display in the battle.

"He... uses Light Magic?!" Rill shouted as he ran around the other Captains. "I- I need to get down there and see if he can help me paint the ultimate painting!"

"Stop right there, kid". Yami grabbed the young Captain's head and sat him back down on his chair. Yami took another cigarette and lit it up "this kid... there's something more to him than meets the eye".

Nozel, even though he didn't want a peasant in his squad, had stood up with his hands leaning against the railings. "Lucas, was it? Hm."

"Ha... haha! You cannot defeat all of my golems!" Richard shouted as the remaining earth warriors homed in on Lucas, but the Light mage was ready.

He got up and summoned the same spell again, but this time he wasn't clumsy at all as he focused really hard on his footing. One after the other, the golems were destroyed, and Lucas had finally come face-to-face with his opponent. "Sorry, I d-didn't mean to offend you, but what you said was r-really mean...". Lucas teared up, but still focused on his task. "I will pass this exam, Light Magic: Angelic Strike!" He, instead of placing his palm to disintegrate the opponent, just punched him in the stomach and Richard was sent flying into a stone pillar.

"That spell... it has immense destructive power. His Light Magic is quite slow though...". Charlotte wondered, interested by the peculiar peasant.

That was that. Lucas had won as he placed his grimoire back into his satchel. He looked over to Richard who lay defeated, his tooth was missing, and he had a few deep cuts on him. Ironically so, with one on his eyelid and one on his neck.

"I will... b-become the Wizard King. For my family's sake and f-for other families too!"