Blue: Asta, one more thing

Asta: Yes?

Blue: When the time comes, be ready

Asta:.....You got it!
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3rd POV
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As the Royal Knights Exam final crackled with anticipation, the audience buzzed with excitement. Despite it being a team match up, everyone was focusing on one member from each team.

On one side, stood Blue, a mysterious boy with an aura of darkness swirling around him. Someone on everyone's radar, especially when he defeated Langris, the vice captain from the Golden Dawn.

On the other side stood Yuno, a prodigious mage from the Golden Dawn with wind magic at his command. Even though it was only a tournament match, Yuno did best a captain by breaking his crystal first.

It was the Black Bull's Shadow Vs The Golden Dawn Prospect!

Velvet: Are you ready?

Blue: Always

The referee mage raised his hand, signaling the start of the match. Without hesitation, Yuno made his way to Blue with the crystal.

Blue allowed Asta and Mimosa to protect their crystal from Noelle and her other teammate while he deals with Yuno.

Yuno unleashes a barrage of razor-sharp wind blades towards Blue, who effortlessly dodged and weaved through them. Blue taps into his shadow magic, causing tendrils of darkness to emerge from the ground, ensnaring Yuno's feet and slowing his movements.

Seizing the opportunity, Blue launched a counterattack, sending shadow arrows hurtling towards Yuno. Yuno's eyes narrowed as he summoned a cyclone of wind to deflect the incoming attacks.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent gusts of wind slicing through the air towards Blue, who responded by creating a shield of shadows to block the onslaught.

The two mages circled each other, each waiting for an opening to exploit. Yuno unleashed a barrage of wind enhanced punches, each strike carrying the force of a hurricane.

But Blue was unfazed, effortlessly evading the blows with his nimble footwork and shadows. Sensing an opportunity, Blue struck back with a powerful wave of darkness, engulfing Yuno in shadowy tendrils that threatened to crush him.

Yuno gritted his teeth, channeling his magic to create a vortex of wind that dispersed the darkness, sending it scattering in all directions. But Blue wasn't done yet as he pulls his hand back and unleashes one of special attacks.

Blue: Curse of Erebus

Blue fires the Curse of Erebus at Yuno, and it connected. Yuno almost slams into his own crystal, but slows his movement. With a burst of determination, Yuno channels his wind magic and enters his new form, the Spirit Dive.

Yuno: Blue, show me your full power

Blue: My full power? Fine, but only for a few seconds

Yuno: Why? Can you not hold it for long?

Blue doesn't say anything and taps into his shadows as they surround him, once again, everyone had a bad feeling as they witness Blue's Shadows cover Blue and change him completely.

Once he was fully covered, they see hints of blue appear on him, his hair was now white and long. He had grown two different horns on the side of his head, and his clothes changed as well, part of it covering his mouth.

Finally, his eyes were now glowing blue.

Luck: Woah! Is that the transformation Blue used against that Despair guy?

Vanessa: Yes, he somehow unlocked this form and power. But it looks different

Nebra: That's because he changed how it looks, he did this during the Witch Forest Mission, from what Noelle said

Magna: Man, this kid never stops surprising us!

Gauche: It's over now

Mimosa: What is this? I've never seen Blue use this before

Noelle: It's his new transformation

Mimosa: T-Transformation? It looks scary!

Klaus: T-This mana....

Leopold: It's immense! Once again, the bridge between us has been widened!

Zora: Heh, this is new.

Fragil: W-What is this cold feeling?

Constance: I'm going to assume that this is the transformation that Yami told me about. It looks different from what he described, but it must be because he evolved it. He must've swapped this with the Guard of Nyx, if he can control this better than that, then there is no need of concern

Charlotte: So he continues to show his strength

Sol: Sis, you can still beat him, right?

Charlotte: Of course, but it will be a lot closer than you think....but that's without the transformation

Sol: A-Are you saying that-?!

Charlotte: I'm not saying anything, Sol. It's just an assumption, but his ceiling is higher than mine

Sol: I....didn't think that would be possible

Julius: Now this is interesting, he is on the level of a Captain.

Yuno: W-What is this?

With this form, Blue gains the ability of flight as he hovers high in the air and in line with Yuno.

Blue: A friend gave it a name, the Azure Nightmare

Velvet: I wonder who that friend is?~

Yuno: This power, it's incredible.....

Blue: And now you see why I'm only going to use it for a few seconds.

Yuno: Do not think I'm useless in this form

Yuno prepares a wind attack in his hand, a tornado that Yuno sent towards Blue like a horizontal blast.

Blue: You're right, you're not useless in that form

Blue summons the weapons of this form, one of the duel swords that he used last time, and slashes the wind attack away.

Blue: You're just not on my level

Blue takes out the second sword and slowly flies in, with Yuno using every wind spell he had to keep Blue at bay. But it would be useless as Blue would either slash them away or fly around them using his advanced speed and flight.

He flies in with his swords ready, so Yuno creates a wind barrier. But Blue's slash attack had proved to be powerful enough to destroy the barrier.

The force of the attack knocked Yuno and his crystal back while Blue remained at a distance. Yuno recovers and sends a tornado towards Blue, the Black Bull's Shadow avoids this and swings his blades in front of him, this sends out blue slash waves that targeted Yuno.

Yuno defends himself well, but didn't realise that one of the slash waves had targeted the crystal.

It connects and deals some damage to it, Yuno looks back at it but didn't realise that another slash wave was homing in. It strikes Yuno in the back and knocks him into his crystal, dealing a little bit more damage.

Yuno: He distracted me twice?

Bell: Yuno! You need to focus! How are you letting him humiliate you like this?!

Velvet: We should come up with a name for that attack

Blue: Not now

Velvet: Later then! Hmmm, I wonder? What could be a good name?

Then Blue decided to stop using his transformation, seeing as how his plan was falling in place.

Yuno was surprised that he stopped using it, before remembering that Blue had stated that he would only use it for a few seconds.

Blue looks behind Yuno and saw that his crystal had taken damage from the his assault, but now, Yuno was starting to defend it well.

Blue: I could easily take out the crystal if I force it, but I think I'll let him seal the win.

With his quick thinking, Blue uses Umbra Manipulation on Asta's shadow, tapping him on the shoulder. The Anti Magic boy was surprised, but looked at the shadow as it pointed towards Blue and Yuno, more importantly, the damaged crystal.

Asta understood the assignment and transformed into his Black Asta form before quickly taking out En Ringard who he was facing. Mimosa had Noelle preoccupied and did well to defend her crystal.

Noelle noticed that En was taken out, and assumed that she would be next, so she charges a Sea Dragon Roar. Back with Blue and Yuno, Blue created shadow tendrils and made them go for the crystal.

Yuno quickly reacted by using his wind magic to repel them, but was bamboozled when Blue redirected his tendrils towards Yuno.

He morphed them into chains using Dusk Manufacture and wrapped them around Yuno, surprising him.

Yuno: He's restraining me?

Yuno looks around, and noticed that Asta had flown past with his sword ready

Yuno: What? This was a setup?

Asta: Man, Blue is really smart with battle strategies!

Noelle was ready to unleash her attack, but Asta was quicker as he shouts and swings his giant sword. He cuts the crystal in half with all of his might, securing the win of the match and the tournament.

Mimosa: They did it!

Noelle: W-What?

Julius: A great diversion

Charlotte: Amazing teamwork.

Velvet: And that's a 10 out of 10 for tomfoolery!

There was silence before most of the crowd erupted into cheers, it was an exciting finale with all sorts of magic and tactics. Blue removes the Shadow chains from Yuno, and his Spirit Dive form vanishes.

Asta also returns to normal, but forgot that he was still in the air. He falls to the ground but Yuno uses his wind magic to slow his fall down.

Then he stops using his magic before Asta touched the ground, making him bang his head.

Asta: Agh! What was that for?!

Yuno: What do you mean? I slowed your fall, you're not going to thank me?

Asta: Damn you, Yuno you jerk!

Yuno softly smiles and lowers himself to the ground with his wind magic, Blue does the same with his shadows as they have been holding him up in the air ever since he stopped using his Azure Nightmare transformation.
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Blue's POV
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Velvet: You did it, Blue!

Blue: Mmm Hmm.

Asta: Hey Blue! That was pretty smart from you!

Yuno: Yeah, you actually had me fooled three different times

Blue: Let this be a lesson that you should always be on high alert

Asta: Yes sir!

The two teams regroup with the others on the spectator platform, as everyone comes to congratulate my team.

Noelle: Well done, Mimosa. You too, Blue!

Mimosa: T-Thank you, but I only stayed defensive

Blue: You still did a good job, Mimosa. And Noelle, you were good as well

Noelle: [Blushes] O-Oh, thank you

Mimosa: [Blushes] Thank you so much, B-Blue!

Then the others came with their congratulations as well.

Klaus: Well done Mimosa, you too Blue. That was an excellent display from both of you, and that was a surprising but amazing move from you Asta!

Asta: It was apart of Blue's plan!

Mimosa: And Asta's quick thinking!

Asta: Yeah, I know we would win regardless, but it would've been embarrassing if if didn't react quick enough, hehe.

Nebra: Well, Blue is very mysterious in his style of fighting. He isn't really the type to work with others

Leopold: Yeah, but he makes it up with that power of his! What was that transformation?!

Blue: Something to bring out when I fight Licht

Nebra: Are you sure about that? He is most likely as powerful as the Captains

Blue: I've already reached the power of one with this transformation, and I plan to use it against him.

Zora: I'm not surprised, just don't get yourself killed, otherwise it would be embarrassing

Blue: Jokes on them, I'm already dead, literally. I won't

The others move on but then I felt someone grab onto my waist, I look down to see Rill who had tears in his eyes, while Fragil tried to pry him off me.

Rill: Bluuuuuuuue!

Blue: What?

Rill: I wanted to face you in the final!

Blue: But you didn't, because you lost

Rill: Ah come on! What's with the mean words?!

Velvet: I-Is this really a Magic Knight Captain?

Blue: He is the youngest one, to be fair.

Fragil: S-Sorry about him, Blue. Congratulations!

Blue: Right.....thank you

Fragil: [Smiles] No problem. [Blushes] He thanked me....it felt nice to hear that from him.

Fragil manages to drag Rill away, but then I'm hugged once again by my mentor, and from behind as well.

Constance: I knew you would win, my lovely apprentice!

Blue: If you didn't, I would be surprised

Constance: It would be a major sin from me

Charlotte: Maybe you should let go, Constance. I think Blue has heard enough praise already

Constance: You think so?

Charlotte: W-Well I still need to give him my congratulations, I'm always looking forward to his growth

Sol: What about me?!

Charlotte: Of course, you did good as well Sol, despite facing difficult opposition. But I'm also proud of you, Blue

Blue: Are you thinking about taking me as your apprentice?

Sol: EHH?!

Charlotte: N-N-No, that wasn't my attention

Constance: It better not be, he may be my former student, but he won't be replacing me!

I sigh and move on from the three, I was ready to join my squad, but then I was stopped by Julius.

Julius: Blue

Blue: Julius

Julius: That was a brilliant Tournament run from you, I was impressed by all three of your matches, especially the end when you fooled Yuno a few times near the end.

Marx: Indeed, it was definitely a spectacle. We are glad to have you with us

Blue: Does that mean I'm the first name on the Royal Knights List?

Julius: Besides the captains? Yes, I think having you, Asta and Yuno as the first three is the right way to go. Oh, and your teammates as well since they were finalists, including Zora.

Blue: I see, good. I'll be going then

Julius: Good luck, Blue

I leave Julius and Marx and join my squad as I use my Shadows to take them back to base. When we reached back, the group decided to celebrate, dragging me into it.

Yami: Well done, all of you

Vanessa: Thank you, Captain!

Magna: Hey! You didn't even participate! Don't you dare take the glory!

Vanessa: Hehe, sorrrrry~

Luck: Hey Captain! Can we fight now?

Gauche: Calm down! You just fought in a tournament!

Charmy: Gauche is right! It's time to eat! Gain your mana back!

Noelle: I can't believe we are in a happy mood. I mean, we are going to attack the Midnight Sun's base soon

Asta: Yeah, but this is needed! And besides, we're going to beat the hell out of them! Isn't that right, Blue?

Blue: Of course, but don't just charge in and forget that you can take damage

Asta: Okay!

Noelle: I know you're one of the strongest, but I want you to look after yourself.

Blue: You know I will

Noelle: I mean it

Blue: Yes, but did you forget that you're coming as well?

Noelle: I-I am?

Blue: You were in the final, so don't be surprised if you're chosen to be apart of the Royal Knights

Noelle: R-Right...

Blue: But....if it comes down to it, I'll protect you

Noelle: You will?

Blue: Of course, we are together, correct?

Noelle: [Smiles] Yes we are

Noelle takes off my mask and kisses me, before she leans herself into my chest. It....felt really nice, Noelle was warm when she was pressed against me.

This reminded me that maybe...just maybe....life was actually good.

Velvet: You didn't think life was good?

Blue: Are you surprised?

Velvet:....Y-Yes, I thought you would've been fine not too long ago

Blue: I never really thought about life in a good way, especially since I don't have a life anymore. I just....walk forward

Velvet: Well....at least you're starting to think that Life may be good.

Grey: I-I hope Finral is okay!

Gordon: I'm sure he will be

Blue: Finral will be fine, he's better than his Brother and proved it. He won't let that waste of space keep him out like that

Asta: Yeah! Finral is more impressive!

Gauche: I wanted to punch that little shit, but it was nice watching him get destroyed by Blue

Vanessa: Well, let's all pray that he gets through this.
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3rd POV
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[Earlier]

As the exam was over, Zora decides to leave by himself, he thought he would be alone, but then noticied someone ahead of him.

Julius: Hello, Zora

Zora: Tch....what do you want?

Julius: I just want to thank you for pointing out the mistakes of those that lost, the ones that want to become strong will take your advice and grow stronger.

Zora: I'm not helping them, I'm just telling them that they aren't good enough

Julius: It still was good advice. Your power is good, we will need it since you most likely passed the exam.

Zora: Look, you already knew that I wasn't Xerx, even before the kid exposed me. So don't even think about praising me as an elite magic knight

Julius: There is no problem with that. You are a Magic Knight as well, and a talented one at that. You know, you remind me of another Magic Knight, Zara Ideale...

Zora:.....So?

Julius: Zara was an exceptional person, and he was the very image of a Magic Knight. I came up with the star system to properly value assess the value of people like Zara

Zora: Really now? Why are you telling me this?

Julius: I'm just saying that it might be time to put on your own robe. You don't need to wear one that isn't yours, even if Zara wore it

Zora: I don't know what you're talking about, I've never heard of Zara, just because we have the same last name doesn't mean we were acquainted.

Zora walks away, and Julius smiled because he already put two and two together. He disappears himself, and the focus changes to the Black Bulls Base.

Everyone had gone to bed, and now it was just Blue and Yami standing in the lobby. The reason for this was because Magna had mentioned Blue's insane transformation out loud while drunk, and it caught Yami's interest.

He wanted to talk to Blue about it and so that's why it was just them right now.

Yami: So, I heard about that transformation of yours, the new one

Blue: I will use it to crush the Midnight Sun

Yami: I have no doubt about that, when the time comes, go show that cultist who's the boss

Blue: I will

Yami: And don't you dare fucking lose, otherwise I'm going to kill you and Licht

Blue:.......Right

Velvet: H-He doesn't mean that, right?

Blue: Who knows?

Yami: Man, I know I said that you should all surpass your limits, but you're doing it too much. It already seems like it doesn't hold any value anymore.

Blue: I wouldn't say that, you picked this squad for a reason. You saw that we were outcasts, but you also saw the potential, every one of them have grown, and they will continue to do it. Because they follow your lead all the time.

Yami: What about you?

Blue: I've grown as well, more than the others. But that's because I was cursed as a child for the rest of my life

Yami: Does this have to do with your past?

Blue: Yes....but I'll use that power to grow and beat anymore that comes in my way. I don't care what they think about me, I do what's best for me....and everyone else.

Yami:.....You really have changed a lot, kid

Velvet: He is right, those were some nice words

Blue: I wouldn't say change....it's more that I'm adjusting to life with you and the others.

Yami: Same thing, anyways, I'm going to bed. Go and get your rest too, you earned it

Yami goes up the stairs while Blue continues to stand where he was, thinking to himself for a moment. Instead of going to bed, he heads back to the roof of the base and watches the Moon.

Blue: It's....almost time, to take on the Eye of the Midnight Sun....and their leader Licht

Velvet: Do you think that you can beat him now?

Blue: I'm not sure, even though I did outsmart him in our last interaction, I knew he was levels above me. But now that I have ascended myself, I'll be looking forward to fighting him.
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Royal Knights Exam: Completed!

Elf Reincarnation Arc: 1 out of 3?

Book: On Hold!

See you soon!