Over-relying
Sekke who was unconscious was not that injured thanks to Anna who scared off all the girls who were trying to harm Sekke.
Sekke regained consciousness a day later and wasted no time using the full power of his shit-urge-enhancing spell on Yami making the captain of the black bulls spend one and a half days straight in the toilet.
A few days later the guidelines for the Royal Knights exam came and Sekke was immediately put at a disadvantage.
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Rules for the Royal Knights Exam:
1. Magic tools are prohibited during the exams.
2. The Magic Knights are only allowed to use their grimoires and wand/staff if necessary.
3. Killing another Magic Knight during the exam will result in severe punishment which might range from suspension from the Magic Knight to Execution based on the judgments passed on by the court.
4. Any sort of external help during the matches will not be tolerated.
5. Not Revering the King of the Clover Kingdom, Augustus Kira Clover XIII will not be left unpunished.
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"...Looks like I cannot use Extase-chan," said Sekke once he was done reading the rules.
He picked up his sword and looked at it. Sekke knew that Extase was by far the strongest thing in his arsenal, so not being able to use it already lowers his strength to around 80%.
"That is really, concerning. You just lost your strongest trump card. With that relic, your victory would have been guaranteed." said Vritra.
'Yeah...it sucks. I am sorry Extase-chan!' thought Sekke as he held his sword tightly.
"Well, without your sword you will surely need me to win. So better...my other half?"
'Now, wait a second. Technically I am not allowed to use you as well. Sure everyone else knows you as my magic. But the dark lord is not going to win the exams by cheating, you know.' thought Sekke.
"...You cannot be serious."
'Oh, I am very serious. A victory gained through creating-'
"That is considering if you will get a victory, my other half, limiting yourself even further by not using my power...you will essentially be at 50% of your prowess. I might not be at the level of that relic yet, but I am certainly your trump card as well," said Vritra.
'...Are you doubting me Vritra?' asked Sekke.
"It's not about that my other half, I am saying that there is a far greater chance of our victory if you use my powers as well," said Vritra.
'Sounds to me that you are doubting my power.'
"My other half, think logically. I certainly know that you are powerful, I have seen you train and know how strong your spells can be. But you have to accept the fact that dealing with situations that require more than just brute strength is not your forte. You cannot deal with that anti-magic wielder without your relic. Not to mention, your base form is weaker than his black form, you will need the
Sekke fell silent after hearing Vritra's words making the dragon think that his host was thinking about what he just told him.
Soon Sekke took a deep breath and stood up from his seat and put Extase back in its sheath.
'...Looks like there is one more person who I need to show the true might of the dark lord.' thought Sekke.
"!!!My other half!"
'Vritra...thank you for reminding me that I was over-relying on you two. Extase can't speak unlike you, so I didn't notice that I had stopped mastering new spells.' thought Sekke as his grimoires started floating and appeared in front of him.
Sekks held his two grimoires in his hands and smiled.
"Sorry, I have been neglecting you two...I was blinded by easy and fast improvement," said Sekke in an apologetic tone.
As if trying to respond to his words the grimoires gave a bright glow seeing which Sekke's smile widened. Soon a determined expression appeared on his face as he gripped his grimoires tightly.
"Let's do this the old way," said Sekke making the grimoire glow once again.
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"My other half, don't do things recklessly," said Vritra as he tried to make Sekke change his mind once again.
'You can stop Vritra, I am not changing my mind. Not when there is a lot to prove this time around.' replied Sekke as he jumped out of Finaral's portal and soon all of them appeared in the arena where further information about the exam will be given.
"...The amount of mana in this place is amazing," said Sekke.
"It is to be expected. Currently, most of the strong dumbasses amongst the magic knights are gathered here," said Yami as he looks around the arena as well.
Soon Sekke noticed a familiar person and decided to talk to her.
"Anna,"
Hearing her name being called Anna turned around and smiled once she saw Sekke.
"Sekke-kun,"
The two stood silently as Sekke felt a bit nervous.
"You know....abut what happened at the hot spring, I apologize. Thank you for protecting me while I was unconscious," said Sekke.
Anna shook her head and said, "It's alright Sekke, I told you during our first mission. I will always protect you....also, don't apologize for that...I kind of liked it." a blush appeared on her expressionless face.
"O-Ok," said Sekke as he too felt a bit embarrassed after hearing her words.
"Anyway, best of luck to you today, Anna. Let's pass this exam," said Sekke.
Anna nodded her head and said, "I will do my best...also it's only for today, but please don't hate me. If we are to fight today then, I will be using my full strength. Mereoleona-sama has threatened to kill us if we don't go all out."
Sekke gave a helpless laugh, he could surely imagine the lioness saying those words.
"Don't worry Anna, I won't like it any other way. I don't like people who underestimate me anyway," said Sekke.
Anna nodded as she smiled at Sekke. She then took a step closer to him and held his hands.
"Also, I would like to ask you if it will be fine to invite you just like last time?" asked Anna.
Sekke whose hands were held by Anna looked at the girl who was looking at him with a serious look on his face.
"Um...sure, if I got the time," replied Sekke to which Anna smiled brightly once again.
She then glanced at the bird who was sitting on top of Sekke's head and felt that the bird was glaring at her.
She started at Secre for a while before a slight victorious smirk appeared on her face. She didn't know why she was provoking a bird, but for some reason, she wanted to do that.
Secre who clearly understood the intentions behind Anna's smirk got pissed.
'This fire bitch...and what the hell are you doing you idiot. How can you accept it just like that?!' thought Secre as she glared at her partner and smacked him with her wing.
"Ow. Why?!" asked Sekke as he looked at his partner who just looked away from him with a huff.
"Well, see you later Anna," said Sekke as he walked away with an annoyed Secre.
Anna looked at her hands with a small smile when she suddenly felt an ominous gaze on her.
She followed it and soon spotted the royal girl who was after Sekke as well looking at her with a 'smile'.
Anna stared at her for a while before she 'smiled' back at her and walked away.
Soon Julius and Marx appeared on the floor above and looked down at them from the balcony.
"Thank you all for gathering here today."
Just as he said that all the commotion inside the arena stopped as the magic knights took their positions and saluted to the wizard king.
"Now, let us begin the Royal Knights Selection Exam."
Once Julius declared that the people cheered in excitement.
The King then came out as well and stood beside Julius.
"Let me explain the details about the exam, after all, I am a royal and this is the royal knight's selection test." said the king as he twirled his mustache.
"The exam will consist of a team completion: a magic crustal destruction battle tournament!" declared the king as a magic display appeared above them showing the image of the crystal.
Curious comments started to arise amongst the magic knights as Sekke just prayed that his teammates were not someone whom he needs to eliminate before the opponents.
"The rules are simple! Protect your own team's crystal, which will be placed in your area, and destroy the other team's crystal. The first team to do this wins!"
"If no team can destroy a crystal within the 30-minute time limit, the one that has done the most damage to its target wins."
"We....have....chosen this format because...."
The King started to stutter towards the end seeing that Julius decided to take over.
"In the battle against the Eye of the Midnight Sun, several squads will have to work together. We thought this would be the best way to measure the cooperation and strategy skills you'll need at times like that, rather than simply fighting with brute force."
The people started to discuss amongst themselves seeing which Julius cleared his throat to get their attention once again.
"Now, let us announce the teams," said Julius as an even bigger magic display appeared with the list of teams on it.
Sekke immediately started to look up his name on the list and soon his eyes landed on it.
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Team D:
Adrian
Sekke
Willie
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'Hm....so I will be fighting Asta in the second round...that means my first opponent is.
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Team C:
Sol
Kirsch
Magna
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Sekke looked at his delinquent squad mate who looked back at him with a smile on his face.
"Sekke...hehe looks like you the two of us will be having a blast in the first match itself," said Magna.
"Don't hold back Magna-san. You will not even notice when you lost," said Sekke as sparks started to fly between the two of them.