Asta and I stared at the large building before us in shock. Asta had tried to walk inside the base, but a large explosion of flames sent him crashing to the dirt several yards away.

Asta:"No! I'm not done! RRRAAAHHH!"

He tried charging headfirst into the raging flames before a fire ball made its way through which caused him to duck. We all walked in to see two guys being rowdy. One had a bat made of fire and was launching small fireballs at the other. The other guy happened to be a young looking blonde kid who was laughing and dodging all the attacks.

There was also a small girl eating lots of sweets, a huge man just breathing out smoke, a guy talking about how cute his little sister was, and a lady wearing very little besides her underwear and her Black Bulls robe.

Asta tried to introduce himself but they didn't pay attention to him due to all the noise around.

The woman told the two guys to shut up before she got called a drunk by the flaming bat guy. She retorted quite rudely by calling him a virgin street punk. As they all argued, I watched Yami raise his left hand and bang the wall.

Yami:"Quit breaking stuff already!"

The wall crumbled and I just looked away. This got the other members' attention as they all rushed to be near Yami.

Yami:"Right, let me introduce you to our other two newbies."

"Wait, other?"

He ignored my question and the members looked at us.

Yami:"Go on, introduce yourselves."

"Right. I'm (Y/n). I came all the way out here from Hage Village."

Asta:"And I'm Asta also from Hage Village! It's really nice to meet everyone!"

?:"Hage Village? That's out in the middle of nowhere."

Yami:"Finral, introduce everyone."

He nodded and began telling us about the other squad members. Gordon, who we saw at the entrance exams. Then was Vanessa Enoteca.

Vanessa:"Hage Village, huh?"

"Yep."

Vanessa:"My, to become a Magic Knight after coming from some backwater village is pretty impressive. How about I give you two a reward?"

Asta was having a nose bleed while I tried my best to look away from her.

"N-no! We're good!"

She then threw up out of nowhere. We were then introduced to Luck Voltia.

And then Gauche Adlai.

This guy threatened to kill Asta and I if we even dared to touch his sister.

Charmy Pappitson was stuffing her face with sweets and waved at us happily.

There was also Grey.

And Magna Swing, the so-called virgin street punk.

Finral practically called everyone apart from Yami good people.

Asta:"Like I said before... IT'S REALLY NICE TO MEET YOU!"

Asta's booming voice was enough to push their hair back like wind blowing fiercely.

Yami:"There ya go. Give these two a good workout but try not to kill them."

"Wait what?"

Magna:"Did you hear him? Captain Yami said to get you a good workout. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. A puny runt with no magic power and some plain looking idiot from the middle of nowhere. I don't know what you two did to impress Captain Yami, but it better have been something for you to join our crew! You see this?"

He showed us his robe and gave us a sinister glare.

Magna:"You got to earn the right to wear this! And there's only one way how! I, man among men Magna Swing, will give you a baptism by fire!"

Asta:"Did he say fire?"

"That doesn't sound too good."

* * *

We were all outside the base as Magna held out two robes.

Magna:"Alright village boys, if you want these robes then you're going to have to do exactly as I say."

"Sir yes sir."

Asta:"I'm ready! Let's do this!"

Vanessa:"Oh great, another one of these silly baptisms."

Luck:"Awww. No fair! I want a baptism too!"

Magna:"Here we go, go, go! First I want to see your physical prowess! Give me 5,000 crunches!"

Asta immediately dropped to the floor and began doing the crunches. I just watched him go berserk on the physical trials.

Magna:"5,000 push-ups!"

Asta did them as fast as possible and the next test was to carry a large boulder for a minute straight. He then had to break it with only his head.

Magna:"Man runt, you ain't half bad. Your friend there could've at least tried to do some of the trials, but whatever. We have one last test. The most important one in fact. Using any skills at your disposal, magical or ordinary, dodge or defend yourself from my attack magic!"

"Alright. You ready Asta?"

Asta started to sweat a bit but nodded.

Asta:"Yeah! I'll do my best!"

Magna:"Let me see your friend go first."

Asta stepped off to the side and I backed away from Magna.

Magna:"If you can stand up to me then I'll let you in with no problem!"

He summoned his flaming bat from his grimoire and started to shoot a volley of fireballs at me. I dodged them all with ease which made him grin a bit.

Magna:"Nice moves, but can you dodge this one?!"

Finral:"I wonder what (Y/n) has for protection. He is a lightning user so it could be hard to find a solution."

Luck:"Whoa! Is he really?! Haha! I can't wait to spar with him!"

I summoned my grimoire to my side which made them curious.

Vanessa:"That thing looks like it was stitched together by an amateur."

Magna:"Fire magic: Exploding Scatter Shot!"

He launched a ball of fire my way that suddenly burst into multiple balls that covered the sky. They were falling and headed straight for me.

"Alright, here I go!"

The pages of my grimoire flipped and it started to glow blue.

"Whirlpool!"

I created a giant swirl of water around me and it extinguished the fireballs with ease. The whirlpool dispersed and left a large puddle around me.

Magna:"Whoa! Nice one kid!"

Finral:"What the-"

Yami:"Hmm..."

Luck:"Aww, I thought you said he used lightning."

Finral:"He did! Really! I don't understand how he can also use water magic."

Magna:"Here, you earned this!"

He tossed me a robe and I smiled and took off my jacket and put on the robe.

"Sweet! You got this Asta!"

Asta went up and dodged the small fireballs first. Then Magna threw a giant one that was speeding towards Asta. At the last minute, Asta used his sword to deflect the attack right back at Magna. Magna barely managed to dispell the spell.

Magna then started to praise him for deflecting the attack and told us he came from the sticks as well. Rayaka Village which happened to be up from Hage Village. I walked over and bumped fists with Asta.

We got praised by our new squad mates. Asta got his own robe and Vanessa waved a wand and fixed his headband to have the Black Bulls emblem on it.

"Looking good!"

Asta:"You too (Y/n)!"

"Haha! We're the best!"

Asta:"Damn straight! WOOHOO!"

Yami:"Shut up. Both of you!"

Asta:"I'M SO SORRY!"

Magna:"What part of shut up don't you understand?!"

"Yeah Asta."

Asta:"Hey you were yelling too!"

"Proof?"

Asta:"I heard you!"

"I didn't hear it."

Asta:"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Neither does your accusation."

Asta:"HEY!"

Yami:"Shut up!"

As we joked around, a figure looked down below at us with disgust.

?:"So those are the other two new recruits. Hmph. Little insects."

Later

After our baptism, Magna led Asta and I to our rooms which happened to be next to each other.

Magna:"So what do you think, huh? Pretty dank, right?"

"It's got...character I'll give it that."

He simply laughed as Asta began cleaning up his room.

"Hey Asta, whenever you're done we should write a letter to the folks back at the church."

Magna:"Good idea newbie. It's always good to make sure everyone knows you're doing just fine. You should never make anyone worry. That's what being a real man is all about!"

Asta:"Right!"

Magna:"Hit me up if you two need anything."

"Thanks Magna."

He walked off as I went into my room and used my magic to get rid of the cobwebs, dust, grime and disgusting parts of the room. Once it was all done, I sat at my desk and began to write a letter to everyone.

The Next Day

An owl arrived at the church in Hage Village via spatial magic. It dropped three letters into the hands of Sister Lily as she watched the owl fly away.

She quickly gathered everyone as they cheered for Yuno and were shocked by Asta's letter as well.

Nash:"What does (Y/n)'s letter say?"

Lily:"To everyone at the church, all three of us made it into the Magic Knights! It's pretty exciting and a little nerve-wracking. Yuno went into the Golden Dawn, the top dogs of the Magic Knights. Asta and I joined the Black Bulls who are infamous for being the bottom of the barrel squad. In fact, I was asked to join the Crimson Lion Kings."

Nash:"Wait! For real?!"

Sister Lily kept reading the letter out loud.

Lily:"I chose the Black Bulls because my mind was telling me to. And I have Asta here with me so it isn't all too bad. I'll be sure to keep an eye on him for you guys. From, (Y/n)."

Father:"Incredible! But I can't believe he would turn down such a grand opportunity to join the Crimson Lion Kings. Either way, this is great news for all of Hage!"

I awoke and found myself to be in a different hallway than before. Magna told Asta and I that the hideout will switch out the layout every now and then. He then gave us a tour of the hideout.

His tour was practically us having to run around the entire hideout to keep pace with him. In all honesty, it was kind of fun running around such a large building. I felt like a kid. We then stopped near a balcony where we met a new face.

Magna:"Would you look at that? It's your fellow newbie. She also joined around the same time you guys did."

Asta:"Haha! Another newbie, good thing to know we aren't alone. Right, (Y/n)? It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah. Good to meet you. I'm (Y/n) and this is my friend Asta. We came from Hage Village."

I gave her a small smile and extended my hand out to her hoping for a handshake. She glanced down at it before slapping it away.

?:"Don't speak to me so casually. You're just a pair of little insects of commoners. One with barely any mana and the other with some disfigured grimoire."

Asta:"Little insect?!"

Magna:"Jeez, commoner?"

"Disfigured grimoire?"

She flipped her hair aside before continuing her scornful gaze at us.

Noelle:"I am Noelle Silva of the royal Silva House."

"Silva? Then that means you're royalty!"

Noelle:"Indeed."

Asta:"Oh crap! I am completely sorry! An insignificant insect like me shouldn't have spoken out of turn!"

"Asta! Get up!"

Asta:"Wait, yeah! Who cares if you're royalty?! We joined the Black Bulls at the same time didn't we?!"

Noelle:"That hardly matters. I'm above all of you."

"Technically speaking, Magna ranks above us since he's been here longer."

Magna:"That's right!"

Noelle:"I don't care. I'm still above him."

"In what regard?"

Noelle:"As royalty, my magic power should be able to show off the gap between us."

She raised a hand and created a large orb of water and shot it at me. It curved to the left and hit Magna instead. I was slightly confused and she seemed a little angry. Not just at us but I think at herself too. Her and Magna argued before she threw down the robe. She then walked off.

Magna:"Man. That chick was so damn annoying! Let's get out of here guys."

Magna and Asta walked off as I stared in the direction she walked in before following them.

The Next Day

This time my room had a door that lead outside.

"Man, this is gonna get annoying."

I groaned and just walked outside the hideout before hearing the leaves rustle. I looked up and noticed a large water ball flying towards me. I immediately rolled out the way as it splashed on the ground.

"What the hell?"

I got up to inspect where it shot from. I saw Noelle standing in front of a tree with a painted target on it. I hid in some bushes and watched as she struggled to hit the target.

She stopped for a minute and I could see tears forming in her eyes.

Noelle:"I am not a failure! Somehow I will make you accept me!"

I frowned slightly as she kept missing her target. One of the attacks landed right in front of me and caused me to fly up into the air.

"AAAAHHHH!"

I crashed back down and this finally got her attention.

Noelle:"Ugh, it's you. How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long... Ouch. Talk about some crazy strong attack, but I noticed you couldn't hit the target."

She gasped and more tears fell as she readied another attack, but this time directly at me.

"Hey wait! I just want to talk!"

Her attack was launched but the water grew in size and consumed her instead. It surrounded her and lifted her off into the air.

"Noelle! Oh man this isn't good! Better find the others!"

I ran away and saw the other members were already out there.

Yami:"Ah, there's the other newbie. I want you two to do something about that."

"Right!"

Asta:"Yeah! What are gonna do?"

"I've got a plan! First, I'll get Noelle out of all that water before she drowns. And Asta, you'll get rid of it with your sword."

Asta:"Wait, how are you and I gonna get up there?"

"I'll use my magic to lift myself up there and Yami can just throw you."

Asta:"Huh?"

Yami smirked and grabbed Asta by the back of his shirt.

Yami:"Good plan, kid. Wish I thought of it sooner hahaha! Now! Dig deep and push past your limits!"

"Yes sir!"

I opened up my grimoire and it started to glow blue.

"Aqua Jet!"

Water swirled beneath my feet and then surrounded me. I pushed off the ground and the water propelled me upwards and let me stay in motion.

I reached the water and crashed straight through. I went further and reached out my hand to grab Noelle. Her hand was in mine and I shot us straight out.

"Asta! You're move!"

Yami threw Asta and he used his sword to slice through the water. We were falling but Finral used his magic to get us safely on the ground.

Yami:"Damn, you kids really pulled it off!"

Asta and I bumped fists before I turned to see Noelle laying on the floor still visibly upset.

"Hey Noelle..."

She looked at me and closed her eyes tightly.

"Are you alright?"

She gasped and opened her eyes.

Noelle:"I-"

"Your magic power really is huge compared to us commoners. It may be out of control, but with some training you'd be the best there is."

Asta:"He's right. I'm totally jealous of all that magic power you have!"

She looked at Asta then right back at me. I gave her a small smile which made her face have a pink tint to it.

Noelle:"Little in- no. (Y/n)..."

Everyone else started to comfort her by saying even if she was a misfit, she wasn't alone.

I held out my hand and she grabbed it.

Noelle:"I look forward...to working with you."

End of page 3.