Chapter 8

The next morning, Vanessa, Asta, Noelle and Elara could be seen flying through the sky, on their way towards the Castle Town. Since Asta and Noelle couldn't ride a broom, Asta rode with Vanessa while Noelle rode with Elara.

"Have you ever been to the castle town?" Vanessa asked.

"I haven't." Noelle answered.

"I used to go there with my parents when I was a kid, but I haven't been able to go there the past few years." Elara said vaguely.

"I guess royals and nobles wouldn't really have a reason to go very often." Vanessa stated. "How about you, little boy?"

"I just passed through when I went to take the Magic Knights Entrance Exam." Asta said.

"Then let's have a lot of fun today." Vanessa said.

When they arrived, the Castle Town was already lively and bustling with people everywhere. There were shops, stores, restaurants, and most importantly, there was chocolate!

It was the first thing Elara saw once they've landed and she immediately made a dash for the cute sweet shop that had chocolate on display.

Ever since she was little, she had this huge obsession with chocolate. And her parents, who were the loving mother and father they were, always spoiled her with it, so the obsession just stuck with her as she grew up.

Her three other companions entered after her and immediately sweatdropped as they watched Elara go from isle to isle, display to display in the speed of light, taking a pack of every kind of chocolate the store offered.

"Uhm... should we stop her?" Noelle asked.

"Nah. Let her stock up. It would be a while before Captain would give us another day off, so let's let her have her fun." Vanessa said.

~

When they finally got Elara to leave the shop, they went off to look around the place.

"It's still amazing!" Asta said looking around with stars in his eyes.

"It's very lively." Noelle commented.

"Mhm!" Was the only thing Elara was able to say as she was busy stuffing chocolate into her mouth.

"Oh?" The four stopped walking when they noticed Gauche flying on a broomstick above them, holding a pile of folded clothing.

"Marie, my goddess, I'll be there soon. I want to see your smiling face as soon as possible. I can't contain myself."

"Mister!" The four heard a familiar voice yell.

"That voice..." Noelle trailed off.

Noelle and Asta moved towards a window of a restaurant out of curiosity with Elara following them, still munching on her chocolates.

They peeked inside and saw Charmy sitting on a stool in front of a counter where a man was standing behind of.

"So you've come again." The man said.

"I have." Charmy said challengingly.

"I'm not going to lose this month!" The man stated.

"I won't, either!" Charmy retorted.

The man suddenly took out a large plate full of every dish they served in the restaurant, all piled together. "The ultra ultimate super large serving of everything!"

"I dare you to eat all of it!"

"Thanks for the nummies!" Charmy exclaimed, taking out her knife and fork. She then started to eat in an inhumane speed, "Munch, munch, munch, munch, munch..."

Outside the window, Asta could be seen covering his mouth, as if trying to keep his own breakfast in.

"I'm getting heartburn just watching her." Noelle said.

All the while Elara was still eating her chocolates, happily.

I haven't eaten any chocolates in a while... it's all Benjy's fault! He confiscated my stash! Elara thought with comical tears at the corner of her eyes.

No matter, he won't be able to stop me now! Mwahahahaha! Elara then continued to munch on her chocolate contentedly.

Finral, on the other hand, had gone wild trying to ask out every women that he thought was cute and pretty.

"Don't get too far ahead, little boy." Vanessa warned Asta, who was getting more excited as they looked around more.

"I'm so excited!"

"Don't you two want to buy something? It looks like Elara's already content with hers'" Vanessa asked Noelle, as they looked at Elara who was still munching on her chocolates with a sparkly aura surrounding her.

At this rate, she'll end up finishing all her chocolate before we could even return to the base. Vanessa and Noelle sweatdropped.

Asta suddenly stopped and turned around at that question, "There are just so many things, I don't know what to get."

"I don't really... " Noelle trailed off.

"Hey, those robes... They're Magic Knights." They suddenly heard somebody say.

"That mark... Ugh, it's the Black Bulls!" Another person commented.

"That's the lush witch Vanessa."

"Are the cute girls next to her and the little kid also Black Bulls?"

"It's probably best to stay away."

"They're starting to get a bit restless." Noelle commented eyeing the people around her.

"It's fine. Magic Knights being in town helps deter crime." Vanessa said. "Not to mention, some fine gentlemen might approach us."

Noelle just sweatdropped at that statement while Elara, who turned into a chocolate obsessed version of Charmy, could still be heard munching on her chocolate.

~

"I've bought some healing herbs, as well as some shique ointment, which acts as a poison antidote. That should do it." Vanessa said approaching them after purchasing her stuff. "I bought what I needed, so why don't we go somewhere a bit more quiet?"

"Oh!" Elara, for the first time since they came to the town, finally put away her chocolate (which was already half of what she bought, by the way), "I was wondering if I could stop by somewhere, Vanessa senpai. I promise I won't be long!"

Vanessa smiled, "Of course you can go darling! We're going to go to the Black Market, do you know where that is or should we meet up somewhere else?"

Black Market? Asta and Noelle thought, curiously.

Elara gave Vanessa her closed eye smile, "No need senpai! An old friend took me there when I was 9 so I know where it is!"

Vanessa nodded in approval, "Okay! Just find us there after so we could go back to the base together."

"Yes, ma'am!" Elara then mounted her broom and took off.

~

"Lady Elara, you're back! What brings you home, young mistress?" Benjy was immediately at her side the moment she landed in front of Lunate Manor.

Elara smiled her closed eye smile at Benjy, giving her broom to a maid that was conveniently beside her. "It's my day off, so I decided to visit!"

They then started walking through the manor.

"Madam Reighan is inside, young lady." Benjy said opening a set of double doors, revealing the manor's largest drawing room.

A wide smile graced Elara's features at the sight of her Nanna, peacefully drinking tea while looking out of one of the large windows.

"Nanna!"

"Ella dear! You came!" Reighan stood up from her chair as her granddaughter walked over to hug her.

"Yes nanna, I had a day off."

The two Lunate women than sat together and drank tea, catching up on what they've been doing while Elara was away. Elara told her grandmother about how her squadmates were fun and taking good care of her, how not a single day was dull at the base, her first mission, and what happened after that.

Reighan was beyond thrilled about her granddaughter's achievements, although being the high class noble she was, disapproved of the mission she was sent to (boar hunting), saying that it wasn't fit for a noblewoman like her. But Elara assured her grandmother that it was fun and challenging as the boars weren't normal boars.

"Oh!" Reighan gasped in remembrance as she put down her tea, "Julius came by this morning and asked for you."

Elara's eyes widened, "He did? It's been a while since he last visited. Did you tell him that I've become a Magic Knight?" She inquired.

Reighan nodded with a smile, amusement evident on her face, "I did and I must say, he is one strange boy. One moment, he was so thrilled and had this sparkly aura around him, then suddenly he was crying on the ground, asking why he wasn't informed about this as soon as you got in."

Elara covered her mouth while giggling, "Yeah, that's uncle Julius alright. I was planning on telling him the next time I see him. You know, cuz we're both Magic Knights now and we'd probably be seeing each other often."

"Hmm.. about that, he's not actually–" Reighan cut herself off, shaking her head with a soft smile, "Nevermind" she said trying to change the subject, but Elara was already leaning in a bit, looking curiously at her grandmother.

"Yes? What do you mean by 'he's not actually'" Elara pressed with her curious, bright yellow eyes.

Reighan chuckled and shook her head lightly, "You'll find out eventually, dear."

"Awwww! But eventually's too long!" Elara whined, pouting.

~

Asta, Noelle, and Vanessa were talking to Sekke Bronzazza, a blonde male with green eyes that wields Bronze Magic and is part of the Magic Knight squad, the Green Praying Mantis that Asta apparently met on the Magic Knights Entrance Exam.

The guy was telling them that he received his second star the other day when they suddenly heard a plea for help.

"Th-Thief!" They heard an old lady yell, "My winnings! Stop!"

Asta immediately took action and started chasing after the thief while Noelle and Vanessa stayed behind to keep the old lady company, deciding that Asta would be able to handle the thief just fine. Sekke, on the other hand, decided that he wouldn't let Asta steal all the glory so he flipped open his grimoire.

"Bronze Creation Magic: Sekke Shooting Star!"

A motorbike that had Sekke's upper body on the front made out of bronze suddenly appeared in front of them with Sekke jumping onto it almost immediately.

"Lame!" "Gross" Vanessa and Noelle commented looking affronted by the atrocious looking motorbike. Although the old lady looked like she was entirely fascinated by the spell.

Sekke then went after Asta and the thief, but not before sending a flying kiss, which produced floating hearts, towards Noelle and Vanessa that they immediately avoided, looking disgusted.

The thief was on a some sort of cloud, dashing away with Asta right on his trail.

"Hold it!" Asta yelled while running.

The thief rounded a corner, snickering, "Just try and catch me."

"Stop, dang it!" The thief was startled as he heard the persistent yells of the ash blonde.

The thief took a hard turn left, which Asta almost didn't pull off, but managed to by running on the wall before landing on ground again, on hot pursuit of the thief.

The thief looked apprehensively at Asta before he saw an opportunity up ahead. He knocked on a window while passing by, which opened a few moments later, making Asta bump into it, breaking it.

"Sorry!" Asta apologized.

"I finally lost him." The thief stopped after taking another turn, thinking he finally got away, but started dashing away again after seeing Asta turn the corner too.

"He's so damn persistent!" The thief said, looking back at the ash blonde.

Bad move on his part because when he turned back to the front, his eyes widened and he let out a scream before colliding with a cart full of hay, officially blinding him for a few seconds as he passed.

"I-I can't see!"

Asta used the cart to jump up and used the ropes where they hang the laundry to get up to the roofs. "I'm not letting you get away!"

"How is he catching up to me when he's only running?" The thief asked incredulously to no one in particular.

"I have to do something with that cloud, or I'll never catch up." Asta said to himself. "If it's a cloud created by magic..."

"Right!" Asta pulled out his sword from his grimoire and jumped, swinging his arm back before throwing his sword, blade first, towards the thief.

"Do you really think you can cut through my Bandit's Could Wind—" the thief wasn't able to finish his sentence as Asta's sword came flying straight through his cloud, completely nullifying it.

The sword landed on the side of a random roof while the thief fell through the sky, but still managed to land on his feet.

Unfortunately for him, Asta wasn't done yet as he jumped from the roof, his sword over his head, ready to swing at the thief. "You're not getting away!"

The thief managed to dodge the sword and started to run this time. Asta was about to follow when Sekke suddenly passed him on his bronze motorbike.

"Bah-ha!"

I'm going to take the glory on this one! Sekke thought.

But before Sekke could even catch up to the thief, a strong and fast force, that basically made it invisible for the naked eye to see, suddenly whizzed from above them and went straight towards the thief.

Sekke abruptly stopped when the thief was suddenly pinned to the ground by four arrows made of light.

"Bah...ha?" Sekke said, unmounting from his bronze motorbike, confusedly looking at the light arrows.

Asta finally caught up to them seconds later and stopped right beside Sekke, panting heavily.

"You caugh— eh?" Asta was about to praise Sekke when his eyes finally landed on the four familiar light arrows that were pinning the thief to the ground by his clothes.

"That's—" Asta abruptly turned to where the light arrows seemingly came from, his eyes widening at the sight of his comrade. "Elara!?"

Sekke turned to look at where Asta was looking at and saw a girl standing on a random roof, her hand gripping a bow made out of light.

"Asta-san! Can't be letting you have all the fun!" Elara shouted from the rooftops, waving her free hand exaggeratedly at the ash blonde.

The shrimp also knows that cutie? Why does he get to know all these pretty girls!? Sekke thought, thinking back to when he found Asta with two other pretty girls in the Black Market.

He watched as Elara jumped from the roof, landing gracefully on the ground. Sekke's eyes then zoomed in on her black robe that had the Black Bulls insignia on it. Bah-ha!? She's also a Black Bull?!

"I'm sorry if I stole your prey, I just couldn't help myself.." Elara said, walking towards them with her usual closed eye smile, an innocent and flowery aura surrounding her despite the fact that she just pinned a thief to the ground easily, not too long ago.

"No, it's fine! You were amazing! That bow of yours' is pretty cool too! I'm so jealous!" Asta shouted, staring at Elara with stars in his eyes.

"I saw what you did back there too! Throwing your sword at the cloud! You have really nice aim." Elara commented, before finally noticing Sekke, who was slightly behind Asta.

"Oh? Who's this? That's a Magic Knights robe! Were you planning on catching the thief too? Sorry I interfered!" Elara rambled with wide eyes.

Sekke suddenly turned his 'charming mode' on, raising a gun sign just below his chin while winking at Elara, "I'm—huh?"

He was, however, interrupted when he suddenly felt something stab his foot.

All three Magic Knights looked down to see the thief stabbing a knife on Sekke's foot, who was the closest to the thief.

"Bah-ha?" A dark blue hue suddenly appeared on the eyes part of Sekke's face. "That's..."

"I'm taking you down with me..." The thief said.

A sudden ominous purple glow engulfed Sekke's foot, making the owner let out a horrified yell. He then dramatically fell down with his injured foot raised in the air.

"What's wrong Bah-ha?" Asta frantically asked the dramatically wailing Sekke.

Sekke shakily pointed at his raised foot, "Poison... Poison's coursing through me." He said weakly.

"Oh?" Elara popped up from behind Sekke's foot, examining it with a question mark floating beside her head.

A smile and a laugh escaped her lips once she realized what kind of poison it was, "Ehh... it's okay mister! This won't kill you! I think I heard Vanessa senpai say she bought some ointment for poison so I'll go get her now!"

Elara left, leaving Sekke and Asta having their dramatic moment. Apparently, the two were too engrossed in their own dramatics that they didn't hear anything Elara just told them, so they still believe that Sekke was about to die.

When she finally found Vanessa and Noelle at the entrance of the Black Market, she noticed an old lady beside them who looked nothing but exceptionally familiar to her.

But that's...

"Vanessa senpai! Noelle! I'm back!" She waved at them, entering the alley that leads to a 'supposedly' dead end.

"Elara Darling!"

At the mention of her name, the old lady snapped her head to Elara's direction, her eyes widening as she saw the lavender haired girl's eyes narrowed at her.

Vanessa saw Elara staring at the old lady so she decided to explain, "Oh right! This sweet old lady over here is Chronovala. She got robbed so Asta's chasing the thief with this weird guy from the Praying Mantises. They should be coming back any second now."

Elara smiled at the old lady, "Oh! Nice to meet you ma'am!"

I'm telling nanna that you've been gambling again, uncle Julius.

Julius as the old lady, saw right past Elara's polite smile and paled significantly, his eyes turning white.

I'm doomed.

Julius' eyes then widened as they landed on the black robe with the Black Bulls' insignia on it.

The Black Bulls, huh? He internally smiled. She'll definitely be able to grow there...

Elara then turned back to her comrades in remembrance, "Oh! Vanessa senpai you need to come with me! I've come across Asta with the other Magic Knight as they caught the thief while I was on my way back, and the thief kind of stabbed a poisoned knife on the other Magic Knight's foot. Don't worry it's nothing serious, but could you maybe help him? He and Asta seemed to believe that he's dying."

Vanessa nodded, "Alright then! Let's go."

Back with Asta and Sekke, Sekke had just accepted his fate, closing his eyes as he welcomed death.

I guess going out like this isn't so bad. Sekke thought. Bah...ha...

Asta, who didn't want to believe that Sekke was dying, started shaking the guy, "Bah-ha! Bah-ha!" He called out, desperately.

Huh? I'm not dying? Sekke thought, questioningly.

He then suddenly felt something hit his eyes, making it throb and the dark blue hue on his face turning red. "Bah-ha!"

"Wh-what are you—" Sekke spoke, slowly opening his eyes.

"Don't leave something so important to me!" Asta told him with conviction. He then grabbed the front of Sekke's shirt with both hands, "Survive and make your own dream come true!"

"Don't give up you idiot!"

Sekke finally noticed Vanessa, who was spreading some sort of cream onto his poisoned foot. "Come on. There's no way this would kill you."

"Bah-ha?" Sekke asked bewildered.

"See? I told you Mr." Elara, who was back to eating her chocolates, suddenly spoke from behind Vanessa.

"It's just a momentary numbing poison." Vanessa explained. "Put this Shique ointment on it, and you'll be better in no time."

~

"Bah-ha! Make sure you stay diligent until the next time I see you, Asta!" Sekke, who's foot was now healed but still had the red mark on his eyes from Asta's chop, said.

"See ya, bah-ha!" With that, Sekke drove off with the thief tied to the back of his motorbike.

"Bye, Bah-ha!" Asta waved back to the Praying Mantis Knight.

Meanwhile Vanessa, Noelle, and Elara watched from the side.

On the outside, our little boy definitely looks younger than him, but it seems our little boy is much stronger on the inside. Vanessa thought before giggling to herself.

Munch, munch, munch... Mmmm! This is sooo goooood! Thought Elara with stars in her eyes and a sparkly aura surrounding her.

The Black Bulls went back to the entrance of the Black Market to return the stolen money back to the old lady.

"Don't let it get taken again, ma'am." Asta said.

The old woman chuckled in gratitude, "Thank you, Magic Knights."

"See ya, ma'am!" Asta said, waving.

"Be careful." -Noelle

"Live a long, happy life." -Vanessa

"Bye, bye!" Elara said with her mouth full of chocolate.

Vanessa, Asta, and Noelle started leaving, not noticing that Elara stayed behind.

Elara swallowed the chocolate in her mouth before speaking, "Really, uncle Julius? Gambling in the Black Market..." Elara shook her head disapprovingly towards her honorary uncle.

The old lady smiled before turning into a tall middle-aged man with blonde hair and purple eyes, dressed in red robes fit for royalty.

"Come now, Lara. I won't tell Benjy about you eating chocolate again if you don't tell your grandmother about this." Julius Novachrono cheekily told his honorary niece, giving her his own closed eye smile.

Worried for his mistress' health, Benjy decided to put Elara on a Chocolate diet for a year. If word gets to him that she's been eating chocolate again, he'll surely appear wherever she is just so he could confiscate her chocolate.

Elara gasped dramatically, "Are you blackmailing me!? Shame on you, uncle Julius! Shame on you!" She said, pointing dramatically at Julius.

Julius only chuckled, "Yes, yes, shame on me. Though, you already know the reason as to why I'm here in the first place."

Elara dropped her finger and sighed before smiling in defeat, "Okay fine.. I won't tell nanna."

"Thank you, dear" Julius said, still smiling at his niece.

"You and your obsession with magic..." Elara muttered, "I don't even know why you go around in disguise all the time. Can't you just walk around and look for magic like a normal person would?"

Julius inwardly sweatdropped at this, I forgot that she doesn't know.

"And what's with the outfit? Is this your squad's robes? Isn't it a bit too much?" Elara commented, eyeing his his outfit.

Julius' eyes widened as he looked down at his robes, I TOTALLY forgot that she didn't know!

The man shook his head frantically at his niece, "Oh no, it's just the new robes I got from your grandmother." He lied skillfully.

Elara nodded her head in understanding, a look of pity coming across her face, "Oh right. Grandmother did always have a weird sense of fashion. Oh, you poor creature. You don't have to wear them, you know? Don't worry, I won't tell her if you decide to get rid of them."

Julius' eyes whiten at the unintentional jab towards his sense of fashion. She just dragged both me and her grandmother at the same time!

"Still as blunt as ever, I see..." Julius sweatdropped with a small smile. "And the Black Bulls?"

Elara looked down at her robe and grinned widely, nodding at her uncle, "Mhm! They're all so nice and funny, despite being very violent. They don't even seem to mind that much when I accidentally explode."

Julius smiled at Elara's happiness, "Glad to hear. Yami and his squad are quite a unique bunch... if there's anyone who could help you grow stronger, it's them."

Julius' switch suddenly clicked as a sparkly aura surrounded him, his eyes turning to stars. "And that kid with the sword! What's his magic!? It looked like he was negating magic! Can you tell me more about him!?"

"Bye uncle Julius, I'll see you around!" Elara took this as her cue to leave. She didn't want to get stuck with her uncle in nerd mode.

"No wait! Elara! You still have to tell me about that kid!" Julius whined dramatically, reaching for his niece's quickly retreating figure.

~

"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Lair!" Noelle casted her water dome around herself as a barrage of light arrows came speeding towards her at an alarming speed.

The light arrows were destroyed as they made contact with the water dome, failing to do any damage at all.

After arriving back to the base yesterday, Noelle showed Elara her new wand. Elara was happy for the girl and immediately suggested they train. Noelle, of course agreed, not wanting to pass an opportunity that could help her control her magic. Plus, she'd be able to test out her new wand.

So here they are, the next day.

"I see... that is one truly troublesome defensive spell." Elara commented, eyeing the magical water dome that was just radiating with power.

She then suddenly smirked in amusement,  "...but will it hold out 'till the end?"

Elara's grimoire suddenly glowed brightly in front of her, flipping into another page.

"Lunar Magic: Supreme Archers!"

Archers made out of light circled Noelle, making the royal's eyes shut. The archers aimed at the royal and glowed brightly making the area around them hard to look at. If Noelle were to open her eyes right now, she'd only be able to see a painful white light.

Elara, who wasn't affected by the brightness at all, grinned amused, "Don't lose sight of your enemy when in battle Noelle or they'll might just kill you!"

"Well it's not actually that easy if your enemy's magic is literally blinding!" Noelle retorted, annoyed.

"Oh you'll figure it out!" Elara waved her hand dismissively.

"How are you so sure!?" Noelle asked, incredulously.

Elara smiled her close eye smile and said nonchalantly, "Because if you don't, I might just kill you!"

"WHAT!?" Noelle shouted in shock.

"Release." Elara muttered.

The archers arrows glowed a bright light before being released. With the arrow's force and momentum, they weakened the water barrier around Noelle.

Elara deactivated her spell, making the archers disappear, the blinding light disappearing with them. Elara watched as the smoke cleared and saw that Noelle's water barrier was still standing, though it looked weaker.

"Huh." Elara clicked her tongue, "I guess I underestimated your power."

"Oh well," Elara shrugged before lifting her usual light bow and going into stance, "I'll just have to finish it off."

With that, Elara released a light arrow and hit Noelle's barrier, completely destroying it. As the barrier disappeared, Noelle appeared panting and sweating.

Elara stood in front of Noelle, hands on her hips as she stood proudly, "You've still got a lot to learn Noe."

"I know, I know... I'm still weak. That was the only spell that I could control and yet it didn't even last from a few attacks..." Noelle said, looking down dejectedly, albeit still panting.

Elara shook her head, despite knowing that Noelle wouldn't be able to see it, "Wrong."

Noelle looked up, confused, "Huh?"

"You're wrong. You didn't lose because you were weak, you lost because I made it so." Elara elaborated.

This made Noelle even more confused.

Elara saw the look on her face, making her further explain, "To be honest, that was the strongest defensive spell I've ever come across. If it were a battle of power, I wouldn't even be able to come close to breaking it."

"Yet you did." Noelle stated.

Elara nodded, "I did. Only because the battlefield isn't all about power. The reason you lost was because I momentarily caught you off guard by blinding you. This caused you to lose your concentration. I took that moment to attack and successfully defeated your barrier in its weakened state."

A look of understanding came across Noelle's face as she stared in awe at the girl in front of her.

"You see Noelle, Power doesn't decide who wins a battle. It's how you use your power that does."

Noelle suddenly thought about all the times Solid, her big brother, had flaunted his powers to her, telling her that she would never be able to beat him because she's weak.

"Never be afraid to admit that you're opponent is stronger than you because this is your key to victory. If you know you're opponent is stronger than you, then you can find a way around it. Find a different way of beating them."

Elara walked closer to Noelle, "Even though you already have a tremendous amount of mana and power within you, you should still apply this. Although it's okay to take pride in your powers, it will get you nowhere in battle. In battle, whether you're weak or strong, everyone has an equal chance in claiming victory."

Noelle smiled and nodded, a warm feeling of hope spreading in her body, her confidence slowly rising.

Power doesn't decide who wins a battle. It's how you use your power that does.

With that in mind, Noelle and Elara took a few more rounds of training before calling it a night. Every single round, Elara kept on winning, she gave Noelle different circumstances, different strategies, different ways of winning. Noelle observed and learned, and in the end, was able to stand tall, her and her defenses unharmed.

We're the same age, yet she's far more wiser than me. I guess, this just gives me even more reason to feel gratitude towards her.