After we got back from Saussy Village Captain Yami gave us some words of praise. And not only that, but we got our first wages of the month! Asta and I high fived each other before I gave him a serious look.

"Asta."

Asta:"Yeah?"

"Since it's payday then that means Yuno got his wages too, right?"

Asta:"I mean that makes sense."

"But since he's a part of the Golden Dawn, no doubt he's gonna send butt loads of money to the church. We gotta one-up him. Together!"

Asta:"Yeah! You're right! We can't let Yuno show off!"

We clasped our hands together and smirked.

Magna:"Nice! Sending money back to his family is what a real man does."

Vanessa:"Sending money is good and all, but you should use some of that for yourself. I'll take you both with me to go shopping! Noelle, you should come with."

Noelle:"Eh?! Why me?"

Vanessa:"Maybe we can find you something to help you with your magic troubles."

She got a bit red and just looked away.

Noelle:"Fine."

"Sweet. But first Asta and I are gonna go ahead and write a letter to the church."

She nodded and we smiled and ran to our rooms to write out all that's happened recently. Along with sending our share of money. Our day off wasn't that eventful. I bought some toys to send back to the kids at the church and Noelle got herself a wand. Not only that, but some guy tried stealing this old lady's money, but Asta, Sekke (Mr. Haha), and I stopped the guy.

The next day Captain Yami told us we earned ourselves a golden star. We were now sitting at negative 30. And the Golden Dawn had 71. So we had a long way to go before we could even catch up with Yuno. Another thing we did was name that bird that hung around Asta. Luck said Nero and it seemed to like it.

Yami:"Right. A new dungeon has been found and we've been tasked with checking it out. It's in a rough area too. Sitting between the middle of us and the Diamond Kingdom."

"A dungeon?"

Magna:"Heck yeah! That's what I'm talking about! A dungeon is a cool and scary place filled with deadly traps. It's got loads of treasure and magical items inside so this sounds like fun!"

Asta:"Yeah! Captain Yami! Can I go?!"

Yami:"Heh, you were going regardless. Same with (Y/n)."

"Me as well?"

Yami:"The Wizard King requested you two."

Both:"NO FREAKING WAY!!"

Asta was weeping with tears of joys as I was in shock.

The Wizard King himself asked for me to do a dungeon crawling job?! I better not disappoint. And I can already tell how Asta is feeling.

Yami:"Noelle you're going with them."

Noelle:"Why me?"

Yami:"You need experience right? So you can get better at that magic of yours. And who else...?"

He looked around the room before setting his eyes on Luck.

Yami:"Luck. Go with them. Show the newbies how it's done."

Luck:"You got it! This is gonna be so much fun!"

Nolle: What?! We're with that lunatic?! Oh great... Plus the loudmouth insect. And...him...(Y/n).

Out the corner of my eye Noelle was looking at me and I just scratched at my face thinking I had something on there.

Noelle: Well, at least between the three of them, (Y/n) is the most reliable. He isn't obnoxious like Bakasta or a bloodthirsty weirdo like Luck. He's just perfect! Err! Perfect enough for a commoner. Y-yeah! For a commoner! Nothing more!

Finral created a portal and we all stepped through it. We were standing on a hill and Luck began running ahead.

Asta:"Wait up!"

Noelle:"Ugh! Those two act like children!"

"I kinda want to join them."

Noelle:"You cannot be serious!"

"Fine, we'll go slow and steady."

We just started walking after them as Noelle had her arms crossed. I kept mine behind my head and whistled a tune as we walked.

Noelle: We're walking side by side... Alone... Wait! Why is my face heating up!?

We eventually caught up with them as we saw an entrance. We began walking around aimlessly until Luck pushed a brick and the wall around us crumbled. We were then in a room filled to brim with mana. And small rivers flowed left, right, and even up and down.

There was trap magic laid out on the floors and Asta used his sword to cut right through them. Luck was setting them off and Noelle screamed as Asta kept disabling the traps. Luck stopped for a second then chuckled to himself.

Luck:"Okay, you guys go on ahead and look for the treasure room. There's somewhere else I want to check out."

Noelle:"Wait! You can't just leave us here!"

Luck:"You'll be fine!"

He laughed and started jumping around the walls before entering a hole and running through it.

Noelle:"I can't believe he just left us here!"

Asta:"Aw don't worry. We got (Y/n) here with us!"

"What do you expect me to do?"

Asta:"I dunno. Help us get there?"

I sighed and just scratched my head when Noelle set off another trap. The ground exploded and I was sent flying to a wall and broke right through it.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap!"

I was falling down below to some unknown room as I heard Noelle yelling out my name. I crashed down on the hard floor and groaned in pain. I stood back up and used a spell called Flash to illuminate the dark area around me. I found myself in a straight and narrow hallway of sorts.

The hole I came from was blocked off by large heaps of rubble which made me growl in annoyance. Back on the surface, Yuno arrived and helped Asta and Noelle out of the trap they were caught in.

Yuno:"Hmph. Looks like my debt has been repaid, Asta."

Asta:"Hey, Yuno."

They smiled at each other as Yuno's team members walked over to them.

Noelle:"Wait! We need to help out (Y/n)!"

Asta:"Yeah!"

Yuno:"What happened to him?"

Asta:"When that trap was set off, (Y/n) was knocked into a wall and fell to one of the lower floors."

They rushed over and saw all the rubble.

Asta:"(Y/n)! Can you hear me?!"

"Yeah! I can hear you! Pretty hard not to!"

Asta:"Hey!"

Noelle:"Are you hurt?!"

"No! I'm doing fine. Look, I'll catch up with you guys soon. I promise. I'll find a way out."

Asta:"Are you sure?!"

"Yeah don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Yuno:"(Y/n), I can't believe you got caught slipping."

"Yuno?! You guys are here too?! Alright Asta, new objective!"

Asta:"What?"

"Beat Yuno to the treasure room!"

Asta:"Sir yes sir!"

Yuno:"So it's like that huh? Just try and keep up."

He and his squad got a move on as Asta smirked.

Asta:"Okay (Y/n), we're off now!"

Noelle:"Are you certain you'll be okay?"

"Yeah. You guys will be fine."

Noelle: Great, I'm stuck with the loud one. I would've rather been stuck with (Y/n). Wait! What am I saying?! I don't want to be stuck with that commoner!

I began running down the hall looking for an exit. But since it only lead in one direction I just kept going straight. Nero began flying away from Asta and Noelle and they followed after it.

With Luck he managed to track down some of the Diamond Kingdom mages and got ready to beat them to a pulp. Yuno and his crew were making excellent headway towards the treasure room as Noelle and Asta traversed through several rooms.

I kept running for what felt like 10 minutes and I was starting to get annoyed.

"If there's not a door or if this hallway keeps going on for like 5 more minutes I'm going to scream."

It seemed as if my prayers were answered because there was a wooden door just a few steps away. I pushed it open and the room was dark. I was about to use Flash, but torches inside the room lit themselves and illuminated the area. There wasn't much apart from a dusty old throne with some skeleton in armor sitting on it.

I fully stepped inside and the door shut behind me and a magic barrier kept me from opening it. The skeleton knight began twitching before arising and staring me down. It took out its sword and began charging at me immediately.

"Crap!"

It brought its sword down, but I managed to dodge it and grit my teeth.

"Guess I have no choice but to fight!"

With the others

Yuno and his team reached the treasure room, but they were suddenly attacked by a powerful mage from the Diamond Kingdom. Asta and Noelle were helping Luck fight a guy known as Lotus of the abyss.

Each group had their own battles to face, with Yuno's being definitively harder than the others.

Back with you

"Flame Burst!"

I shot a blast of fire that connected with the skeleton's chest and the fire burst into smaller balls of flame that began burning parts of his body. It even caught his cloak on fire. It let out a roar and I gulped.

"I'm gonna end this, quick!"

My grimoire began flipping through pages before settling on a spell.

"Shadow Claw!"

I charged forward as a giant purple claw appeared over my left hand. I slashed at the monster and it let out a pained scream before dropping its sword.

Skeleton:"You have passed. Take this as your prize."

He summoned a small box and gave it to me. I took it and opened it. Inside was a strange looking candy.

"What do I do with this?"

Skeleton:"Consume it and your strength will increase. You have proven yourself worthy. Farwell."

With that, he began to disappear in a series of sparkles and I paid my respects before picking up the candy. I stared at it confused before biting into it. It was hard but it had a deliciously sweet flavor to it.

A/n: Imagine eating a blue Jolly Rancher.

I ate the rest and suddenly my body burst with a magical aura and I saw my grimoire filling up empty pages with new spells as I even felt myself getting stronger.

"Phew! What a rush."

The throne he once sat up began sliding backwards as a series of steps began floating upwards in a spiral motion. The ceiling above simply opened up with magic and the steps kept swirling around and going up.

With the others

Asta and Luck helped fend off the Diamond Kingdom mage with Yuno and his partner. It was a tough battle, but they succeeded and captured him before entering the treasure hall. They were amazed by the sheer amount of gold and cool stuff in there.

Yuno found a strange scroll with weird writing and upon opening it, a massive burst of wind magic was released. Once it ended, the words simply disappeared and his grimoire glowed after that. They were simply walking around before they felt a strong surge of magic.

Yuno, his partner, and Luck were encased in diamond as Noelle was hurt from an attack by the mage. He switched attack style and sent Asta crashing through a wall. The only one that could do anything was the other member of the Golden Dawn. She looked on it worry as magic diamond daggers were pointed towards her and Noelle.

They flew right at her and she braced for impact before hearing the daggers shattering.

Yuno/Luck:"(Y/n)!!"

Your POV

I heard Yuno and Luck yell out my name and glared at the guy before me.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

Mars:"Mars. And I'll destroy every one of you!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

I looked over my shoulder to see a girl healing Noelle.

"You're a member of the Golden Dawn..."

Mimosa:"I'm Mimosa. And thank you so much."

"I'm (Y/n) and it's no problem at all. Just make sure Noelle gets healed up."

Mimosa:"Be careful, that mage is using two spells at once. He has that giant diamond armor you see around him plus a flame magic recovery spell."

"Two different magic types! Hey! That's my gimmick! Well, mine is far better than his by a long shot!"

Yuno:"(Y/n)! This guy is strong! Be careful!"

?:"The other Black Bulls recruit?"

"Nice to meet ya. I'm (Y/n)!"

Klaus:"I am Klaus. We can worry about the proper introductions later! Just stall him until Asta gets back up!"

"Well, you hear that Mars? I'm your opponent now!"

Luck: (Y/n), his magic power increased. In the short time we were here he has gotten stronger. Did something happen with him when he got split up from Asta and Noelle?

Yuno: (Y/n), it's been too long since I've seen you fight. Let's see those skills in action.

Mars:"It makes no matter to me. You're still weak! The weak shall die while the strong survive!"

He created more magic daggers and shot them at me. I grabbed my grimoire and it flipped through the pages before settling on an attack.

"Razor Shell!"

I created a shell made solely out of water and began using its incredible slicing power to cut down all the daggers. I smirked and began running towards him.

Mars:"Begone!"

He used his giant armor to throw a punch directly at me. The fist was slowly closing in and I released a burst of wind to dodge it.

Klaus:"What?! He used wind magic after using a water spell?!"

Mimosa:"Incredible!"

Mars:"Tch! So you have two different elements, so what?"

"Who said I had two? I said my gimmick was better than yours! Thunderbolt!"

I released a stream of electricity down at him and he groaned in pain as I landed back on the ground.

Klaus:"Just how many attributes can he use?!"

Yuno:"He says he has 18 different types."

Klaus:"18?!"

Yuno:"Yeah. His grimoire is strange and the fact he can use so many without trouble is simply incredible."

Klaus:"No doubt..." A girl from house Silva, a boy with no magic with an anti-magic sword, and a boy with so many magic types at his disposal. The Black Bulls have quite the roster.

Mars:"Your attacks mean nothing! I will crush you!"

He raised his hand to the air and created a giant sword of diamonds.

Mimosa:"No! Not that attack!"

Mars:"Do you have any magic to stop this?! Your only hope is that runt's anti-magic sword!"

He began laughing and brought it down as my grimoire flipped pages and my right hand started glowing orange. Magic power swirled around it before it created a blade like shape.

"Sacred Sword!"

I swung my arm upwards and cut straight through the sword and everyone gasped.

Mars:"No! This can't be!"

I looked at the magic sword formed around my hand and smiled.

"So that's what that spell is? Gotta say, I like it."

Mimosa: (Y/n)... If what Yuno says is true then I think we have a chance at winning here! And after he mentioned the 18 magics he can use I felt his body swirling with so many different energies. It isn't noticeable at first glance, but after fighting Mars those energies started swirling around.

Noelle:"(Y.../n...)..."

Mimosa:"Noelle!"

She looked down at her as Noelle sat up a bit and looked at my back as Mars growled and tried using more of those daggers to attack.

Noelle:"(Y/n)..."

I cut them down and looked over my shoulder and smiled at the two girls.

"Don't worry Noelle! We got this! Isn't that right...ASTA?!"

Asta:"You're goddamn right!"

He jumped out the hole and sliced at Mars's armor and landed beside me.

Mars:"Where did you get that sword?!"

Asta:"I was gonna ask (Y/n) the same thing."

"It's a new spell I got. First time using it."

Asta:"So cool! But hey! Why didn't you show up earlier?! We could've beaten this guy easily if you just showed up!"

"Well I'm here now aren't I?! Plus haven't you heard of a dramatic entrance?! And either way, the freaking stairs just kept going on forever! It pissed me off! Tell him Noelle!"

Noelle:"Would you two...shut up?"

Asta:"Glad to see you're doing better."

Noelle:"Heh. You two...you're the first commoners I've accepted... So don't you dare disappoint me and lose this fight."

Asta:"Don't worry Noelle! We'll get some hits in for you!"

"Of course, Madame Royal. I'll do this in honor of you."

I playfully winked at her and her face suddenly went red as Asta and I faced Mars.

"Let's go!"

Asta:"Yeah! With (Y/n) at my side there's no way we can lose!"

We began running directly towards him as he tried attacking from a distance and up close. I dealt with the magic daggers as Asta went in for the close up attacks.

Yuno: Damnit. Those two have clearly gotten stronger. And I'm stuck here in this binding spell!

Mars:"GO AWAY!"

He threw a punch directed at Asta, but I used a spell to swap spaces with him and took the hit for him.

Asta:"(Y/n)!"

Noelle:"(Y/N)!!"

I crashed into the ceiling and fell back down. I managed to stand and I felt blood trickling down my face. I touched it and saw it stain my fingers.

"Tch! This is nothing!"

Noelle:"Asta! (Y/n)! You two can do this! We may be Black Bulls, but you two never give up! So hurry and beat this guy!"

Her words of encouragement made us smile and Asta's new sword started flowing with magic power. He did a slash attack and it extinguished Mars's healing spell and knocked him over.

Asta:"Ha! We did it!"

"!"

I looked over at him and he had a dagger in his stomach. He coughed up blood and started falling over.

Asta: I'm dead...

He fell to the ground as Noelle and I cried out his name.

Noelle:"I'm fine! Go look after him!"

Yuno:"Asta!"

Klaus:"Wake up brat! Where did all that arrogance go!?"

Luck:"Come on! You can't die before we fight."

Mimosa:"Please don't die out on us! You aren't alone!"

Noelle:"(Y/n)! Do you have anything to help Asta?"

"I'm afraid I don't but..."

Mimosa:"But what?"

"Asta isn't going to die. He's going to tell Death that he isn't done yet and come right back to kick it with us here in the living world."

Mars:"You still try and defend that pathetic runt! He's weak! And the weak die while the strong survive!"

"That's why I'm still here then, right?! Between all the Black Bulls and excluding Captain Yami, I'm the strongest!"

Mars:"Is that so?"

"Yeah! It is! And you're gonna pay for stabbing my friend in the gut! I've still got plenty of tricks to show you!"

Mars:"THEN TRY IT!"

He went for another punch as I stood my ground and grit my teeth. I took in a deep breath before casting a defensive spell.

"Iron Defense!"

My body shined like metal as his fist crashed into me. I didn't budge an inch and he looked shocked.

Klaus:"Incredible! Those attacks slapped us around, but now with that defensive spell he took the hit like nothing!"

"I almost felt that one! My turn now! Dynamic Punch!"

I reeled my right fist back before it swirled with energy and I threw it directly at his chest. The attack landed and sent him flying into a wall.

Noelle: Is he really the strongest? Now that I look at him I can sense so much latent magic energy within. Plus he has a variety of spells to fight and defend. (Y/n) is something else...

Mimosa: That was amazing! I've never seen someone that strong! Noelle, you've got an amazing friend protecting you.

I fell to one knee and began panting.

"Okay... That took some doing."

Mars:"DON'T THINK THAT WEAK ATTACK WOULD STOP ME!"

He created a pair of giant swords and I gasped.

Yuno:"(Y/n)! Asta!"

As if time had froze, Yuno had broken free and used a strange new spell to completely shatter the swords and Mars's armor. After his defeat the dungeon started to collapse and Yuno used a spell to create a vehicle to escape.

Noelle:"(Y/n), can you move?!"

"Y-yeah..."

Mimosa:"Don't strain yourself."

"I'm fine... Just make sure Asta is fine."

She nodded and we made our escape and got somewhere safe to land. After a while he managed to wake up. His stomach was still in pain since Mimosa didn't have that much magic power to heal him.

Asta:"Thanks so much. If it wasn't for you then I might be dead."

Mimosa:"Of course! I'm always happy to help."

Asta:"(Y/n), you should get fixed up as well."

"Huh? Me?"

Noelle:"Your face is still bleeding."

"Oh uhh..."

My grimoire floated and flipped through pages before a spell was activated on its own and I felt my body getting fixed up.

Asta:"Aw what?! You have a recovery spell too?!"

"I guess so. Pretty cool."

Asta then leaned on Yuno and Klaus approached them.

Klaus:"You two. I have something to say... I'm so sorry!"

He embraced them in a tight hug.

Klaus:"I rejected you both because you're commoners. And for that, I am ashamed. You two are exemplary Magic Knights. The order is lucky to have you!"

"Mimosa."

Mimosa:"Yes?"

"I never got to tell you, but I think you have such a lovely name."

I smiled at her and she giggled before fidgeting around and hiding behind Noelle.

Luck:"(Y/n), you and Yuno just have to spar with me!"

"No way! You and I aren't at our peak condition."

Luck:"Aww. Yeah, I guess you're right."

Yuno:"(Y/n), I haven't seen you fight since the entrance exams. You have gotten stronger no doubt. But I won't lose to either you or Asta."

"That's the stuff, Yuno! Asta and I won't give up either!"

We all shared a smile and bumped fists.

End of page 5