2

The sword descended and stabbed on the ground right in front of Asta.

"I knew it. Like you wouldn't be chosen, Asta? There's no way." Yuno said with a proud smile.

Yuno, Mora, Ares, and Athena watched as a large demonic shadow formed over Asta, who clutched the sword on his two feet.

You have a way of making the impossible, possible. Yuno thought.

Mora, Ares, and Athena stared at Asta and his sword with wide, surprised eyes.

I-I can't believe it. Mora thought with a gasp. He finally got his grimoire.

[Flashback]

A six-year-old Mora and Yuno sat together against the church wall under the sunny day.

"What?" Mora said with a surprised expression on her face. "You and Asta want to become a Wizard King?"

Yuno nodded.

"Asta wants to be the Wizard King, so he can keep us and everyone in the village safe." Yuno said. "He wants to prove that even a poor commoner can do great things in this world. And after hearing that, he inspired me with that same goal." He clutched the jewel on his necklace. "I'm going to work hard to become the Wizard King too."

Mora looked at Yuno for a moment and then put on a soft smile. She rested her head on Yuno's shoulder, making him startle with blushed cheeks.

"And I'll support you two all the way." Mora said. "Besides, I'm going to work hard on my magic too."

"To become the Wizard King?" Yuno asked. "Uh, I mean, the Wizard Queen?"

"Not exactly." Mora answered. "I wanted to become a Magic Knight."

"A Magic Knight?" Yuno repeated.

"Yeah, I want to become the strongest Magic Knight there is, so I can help and protect all the realms in the Clover Kingdom." Mora grinned. "And who knows? I might be captain one day."

"I'm sure you will." Yuno smiled.

[Flashback Ends]

10 Years Ago

Anika searched everywhere for a six-year-old Mora with a bright smile on her face as they were playing hide-and-seek together in the open area of the forest.

"Where are you? I'm coming to get you!" Anika said playfully as she looked around for her niece.

Mora giggled as she hid behind the tree, but Anika heard her niece giggling. Mora noticed that her aunt stood next to the tree, and she quickly moved out to hide somewhere else.

"Where are you, you little rascal? You can't hide from me." Anika with a mischievous smile.

Anika knelt down to look behind the tree, but Mora wasn't there. She stood up and closed her eyes, sensing her niece's mana and detecting her hiding behind another tree halfway close to her position.

"Hmm. I wonder where my little niece has gone." Anika smirked with a pretentious ponder. "I'm going to gobble her up when I find her."

Mora slowly came up behind her aunt with a giggle. Anika spun around and saw her niece staring at her with wide eyes, but she caught her close before she could run away as Mora let out a playful shriek.

"I'm going to eat you!" Anika smiled as she lifted the giggling Mora into the air.

Anika made loud chewing noises while playfully biting Mora's neck, making her niece giggle madly as her little feet were kicking in delight. Mora then stopped giggling when she sensed a strong mana coming from afar.

"Where is this mana coming from?" Mora wondered.

Mora moved from Anika's grasp and sprinted off.

"Mora? Mora, where are you going?" Anika called.

Mora reached into the edge of the forest and stared at the view of Hage Village. Anika finally ran up to her little niece.

"Mora, don't go running off like that." Anika said.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Anika." Mora apologized. She pointed her finger forward. "But I was sensing a strong mana coming from that village over there."

"I see." Anika said as she looked at the village. "At least, I can pick up some food and supplies while we're here. You can play with the children and stay out of trouble."

"Okay." Mora nodded.

Anika drifted towards the village, leaving Mora running to the fields. Mora concentrated on detecting the strong mana until she stopped and caught the sight of two boys racing across the field. The ash blond-haired boy was running up ahead while the black-haired boy was trailing behind as if he was having a hard time catching up to the other boy.

"W-Wait up!" The black-haired boy yelled.

The black-haired boy then tripped and fell straight to the ground.

Mora gasped as she started running towards him. She jumped forward and landed gracefully in front of the black-haired boy, who had tears coming down from his eyes when he lifted his head up off the ground.

"Are you alright?" Mora asked as she offered her hand out. "Are you hurt?"

The black-haired boy looked up and started to blush upon seeing Mora's face.

"Yeah, thank you." The black-haired boy replied as he took Mora's hand.

"I'm Mora, by the way." Mora said. "What's your name?"

"I'm…Yuno." The black-haired boy replied.

When Mora helped Yuno up on his feet, they exchanged silent gazes at each other for a moment.

"Oh, jeez! Are you ok?"

Mora and Yuno turned their attention to the ash blond-haired boy, who was running towards them.

"It's alright, Asta. I'm fine." Yuno replied.

"Sheesh. You're such a crybaby sometimes." Asta said.

"I know." Yuno said as he wiped the tears with his shirt sleeve.

"Come on, you're gonna be okay." Asta smiled. "You know I've always got your back, right?"

"Yeah." Yuno nodded.

"Anyway, thanks for helping him up." Asta said, turning his head to Mora with a friendly smile. "I'm Asta."

"No problem. I'm Mora." Mora smiled back.

"Well, Sister Lily is planning a picnic for us." Yuno said shyly. "Maybe you can join us. I mean, if you want to."

"Sure. I love to." Mora said.

"Then, let's get going then." Asta said as he turned around and grabbed Yuno's and Mora's hands before sprinting ahead. "They're all waiting for us up top!"

Mora smiled as she paid no attention to Yuno, who kept staring at her with a blushed face.

Later on, Asta, Yuno, and Mora reached the top of the hill. Asta and Yuno introduced Mora to Sister Lily, three year old Recca, and baby Nash. The children began eating small bites of bread while enjoying the picnic together.

"This bread is yummy." Yuno said. He swallowed the loaf with little effort. "Yummy, but a bit hard, maybe."

"I warmed up your bread to make it softer if you want." Mora said.

"Oh, really? Thanks." Yuno said.

"Amazing, Sister Lily!" Asta praised as he tried biting his bread with his teeth. "You're the best cook and awesomest baker ever!" He looked at Sister Lily with a blushed smile. "Hey, when I grow up, we should get married, and you can cook for me."

"Actually, Father's the one who baked that. So maybe you should marry him." Sister Lily said with a smile.

Asta's eyes widened in horror.

"Nuh-uh! He's gross!" Asta exclaimed as he began throwing a childish tantrum on the grassy field. "I wanna marry you, Sister, not some old man! Sister! Marry, marry, marry me! Marry, marry, marry me!"

Mora giggled in amusement.

When Sister Lily held up her blue grimoire, Asta immediately sat up and ceased his tantrum.

"That's a good boy, Asta." Sister Lily said.

"I'm telling you, it'll never work." Yuno said to Asta. "She can't marry. She's, um... Sister Lily is a woman of the cloth."

"I'm not giving up!" Asta yelled. "I'll keep asking her till I'm old and gray! She'll say yes eventually!"

"Well, good luck." Yuno said.

"Your friend is funny." Mora said to Yuno.

"He gets that way sometimes." Yuno said with a sigh. "By the way, thanks for warming up my bread."

"No problem." Mora smiled.

"Hey, Mora. Are you new here in the village?" Yuno said.

"Yeah, but I don't live there." Mora said. "I actually lived in a tower with my aunt."

"A tower?" Yuno repeated in surprise.

"Uh-huh." Mora nodded.

Revchi still couldn't believe what he's seeing as he can't stop staring at the black grimoire and the sword that Asta is currently possessing.

"But you don't have any magic!" Revchi yelled. "How could you get a grimoire? And that sword? What kind of freak of nature are you?!"

Asta lifted his head and looked at Revchi with no response. Just as Asta pulled the sword from the ground, Revchi screamed and unleashed his chains towards him. Asta swiftly swung his sword and shattered the chains into nothingness.

Revchi's eyes widened in terror.

"You took my spell and turned it into your magic power?!" Revchi shouted.

Asta gripped the sword tightly with his hand and then charged forward at Revchi with incredible speed.

"Even without traditional magic power, I will be the Wizard King!" Asta declared as he raised his sword.

Revchi whimpered and screamed at the same time as he didn't have enough time to counterattack nor evade the incoming attack.

"My magic is never giving up!" Asta yelled.

Asta swung his sword and striked Revchi upon contact that sent him flying straight into the wall. When the smoke cleared out, Revchi was completely knocked out. Asta's sword canceled Revchi's magic, releasing Yuno and Mora from the binding chains.

"I always figured, if I can't use magic, at least I can use my body." Asta panted. "I trained to build up strength, and it looks like it's finally paid off."

"Asta." Yuno said with a proud smile on his face.

"That was awesome, Asta!" Mora beamed as she ran up and examined Asta's grimoire. "And you finally got a grimoire! I always knew you'd get one!"

"Thanks, Mora." Asta smiled. He held up the grimoire in front of Mora and Yuno. "Check it out, guys! I got a snazzy new grimoire. Okay, it's a little beat-up, but I'll treasure it all my life, anyway. I will!"

Asta laughed excitedly as he started cuddling his grimoire.

Yuno walked past Asta and Mora.

"Well, you've saved me yet again." Yuno said. "I will repay my debt one day." He stopped and turned around. "Asta, we made a promise. Do you remember it?"

Asta looked speechless.

"I actually can't believe you remember it." Asta said. He then walked up next to Yuno. "The way you've been acting lately, I was pretty sure you'd forgotten."

"Like I'd be friendly with someone I consider my rival." Yuno said. "You showed me it was possible, gave me hope. That even though we're poor orphans, commoners, we can still make something of ourselves in this world. And to prove that..."

"To make Sister Lily and everybody else happy..." Asta added.

Asta and Yuno bumped their fists together.

"We'll fight to see who will be the Wizard King. Whatever it takes." Asta and Yuno said.

Mora smiled at the boys as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You get in here too, Mora." Yuno said.

"Huh?" Mora asked.

"You may not want to become the Wizard Queen, but we know you want to become stronger and become a Magic Knight Captain someday." Asta said. "Besides, we're in this path together."

Mora stared at Asta and Yuno for a moment, but she grew a smile on her face. She walked up to the boys and placed her fist up in the middle of the fist-bumping. Ares and Athena rested on Mora's shoulders from opposite sides.