The Magic Knights' Entrance Exam was six months away and was to be held in Clover Kingdom's royal capital. So it was without saying that the trio were training their hardest to be able to stand a chance against other talented youth of the kingdom.
Gray chains bound a wide tree in a forest and tightened around it, but after only three seconds, the chains couldn't tighten further.
A shirtless Kojo overstretched his arm and firmly planted his feet on the ground, more beads of sweat forming on his frowning forehead, but the chains only tightened slightly in addition.
He let out a tired breath and released hold of the tree. The tree bark had only caved in slightly.
"Controlling them in opposing directions is still quite annoying," he said, and wiped the sweat on his forehead away.
"This won't do."
Kojo summoned two chains, one his left and the other on his right, and they shot outwardly. Following their directions, they stabbed two wooden boards with circles drawn on them for accuracy measurement.
One hit the corner of the circle, while the other stabbed the tree bark below the wooden board.
Despite seeing that he couldn't hit the bullseye still, in a quick succession, the grimoire floating flipped its pages, and he twisted to his left and swung his right hand, releasing a green wind blade!
Swish!
It was quick as it moved through the air and stuck the lower left side of the wooden board and the tree bark.
With a thud, the cut part of the wooden board landed on the grass.
"Sigh… I really am aimless."
He let his grimoire float down to his hand, and he watched as the magical symbols and words on the page evaporated into green specks of light, leaving the page white and blank.
Kojo grinned. "But there is hope!"
Ever since he got his grimoire and it upgraded, he had been trying things he always speculated would be that case with his grimoire due to his magic's 'copying' nature.
Aside from being able to absorb an individual's magic entirely, he could also just absorb an ample amount of mana and feed it to his grimoire, effectively saving the magic for whenever he wanted to use it. However, the spell that is written down depends entirely on the amount of mana he absorbs.
The only downside to this spell-storing technique was that he leaves the mage feeling weak from mana loss. He knew this because his experiment involved Sister Lily and Yuno. Sister Lily was so tired she had to take a nap, and Yuno, due to his immense mana pool, didn't really feel a thing. He only said he felt a bit weakened.
"The more amazing individuals I meet, the stronger I can become too… even if I only get one-time use spells from them. Haha, how amazing can I get?" Kojo almost blushed at his flattery.
"Right, let's get down to business. I know the tests that'll be given on that day, so I need to work on them all. My broom flying isn't too great—still, despite practicing for longer than I can remember. Dammit. I doubt I'll ever be able to stand atop my broom like Yuno does. I never thought controlling mana was this hard," he lamented. Before now, because of his immediate release of the magic he 'copied', he never really learned to control outward mana control (as his absorption ability is mainly an inward mana control technique).
In summary, he was still a complete amateur in using magic.
"But I'm awesome regardless. Aaaarggghhhh!" Kojo raised his grimoire to the sky and let out a battle cry.
His eye focused on the tree ahead, and he summoned the chains again.
…
At the Grimoire Tower, in the Tower Master's study.
"Well, Yuno, I can understand. But encouraging Asta and Kojo to take the exam? Really? Are you certain?" Father Orsi asked, looking concerned and a bit baffled.
The Tower Master smiled. "Why not? They insist on taking it, so what else should I do? The ones I was counting on, unfortunately, had a change of heart."
"Okay, Yuno, I understand. But does Asta have a chance of succeeding? And is it really wise to leave Kojo out of sight?" Father Orsi rephrased.
Sister Lily nodded, looking even more deeply concerned than Father.
"Kojo is a good boy, but if his magic is exposed to the wrong people or he's influenced by bad company…" she trailed off to a halt.
The Tower Master just caressed his beard and said, "Well, they insist on taking it, so what else should I do?"
"Again, Yuno, I understand. But I don't really see the point in letting Asta go too, and frankly speaking, Kojo drained that former magic knight of his magic ability, had his grimoire eat his grimoire, and rendered him magicless. This is quite unprecedented, and he doesn't understand his magic himself. Isn't this a concern that requires more thought?"
The Tower Master just repeated once again, "Well, they insist on taking it, so what else should I do?"
He stood up and added, scrutinizing Father Orsi with a mocking smile, "Oh, I see the problem here. You're going to be lonely when they leave for the capital, aren't you?"
*Aw, that's so sweet, Father," Sister Lily said.
"W-What? That's not… He's totally off the mark! I just believe that if Asta's going to fail anyway, he's better off not taking it in the first place. And as for Kojo, I don't want him to get roped into something harmful because of his unique magic. A-And you know… the little ones will miss them terribly, I'm sure! This isn't about me! I'm just thinking about the children, that's all!"
Father finished and glanced at Sister Lily, who had an amused smile.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked her, but felt mocking taps on his shoulder. "Not you too, Tower Master!"
"Well, I'm going to miss Yuno, Asta, and Kojo when they leave for the city, too. You're not alone," Sister Lily said, as cheerful and graceful as usual.
Father Orsi harrumphed and turned away.
"Well, I've raised them since they were infants and spent all these years training and living alongside them. It's only natural that I'd miss them a bit," he said.
"I understand," Sister said. "If possible, I'd like for them to stay at the church. But I also want to let them do what they want to do."
The Tower Master nodded.
"Yes, exactly. I understand your concerns about Kojo's magic, but what better place for him to be than the magic knights? So look at it like this, Yuno and Kojo may well succeed but in all likelihood Asta will fail the exam and come right back anyway."
Father Orsi's face beamed. "Yes, you're right. He probably will. Okay then. Yuno and Kojo may be fine, but Asta's sure to come back."
He paused and continued, "Now, about that book of Asta's, is it truly a grimoire? It seems so unlikely. How was he able to get one when he can't use magic?"
The Tower Master walked to the window and answered confidently, "No clue."
"Huh?"
"However, that book…"
Father Orsi raised an eyebrow in anticipation, as if to say: "Go on."
"Nothing," the old man said. 'The five-leaf clover… who would've thought?'
….
"Aaargh! Training doesn't stop until I'm back in the church!" Asta screamed, holding his large sword on his shoulder.
Two seconds later, he ran past Yuno and Kojo and added, "Eat my dust!"
Yuno frowned and began running too.
The trio were tied, gaining against each other in succession.
But then, Kojo raised his hand slightly, and two chains emerged from the ground, binding Yuno and Asta's right ankles.
"Haha!" Kojo laughed and sped past them, giving them a short gap before Asta used his Anti-Magic Sword to strike the chain on his ankle. Yuno summoned a slicing gale and cut the chains.
"You cheater!" Asta screamed, leaving Yuno behind.
However, Yuno used his wind to hasten his running, zooming past Asta and even catching up to Kojo.
Asta increased his speed. He was the most athletic, of course.
A few seconds later, the three zoomed past the church fence and panted.
"Hey! Welcome back! How was training?" One of the little ones asked.
"Well? Who got here first?" asked Asta as he panted heavily.
Nash walked forward with his arms resting behind his head and said, "Hmm… It's a close call. But Yuno was a bit faster."
"Seriously?! Were you even watching?" Asta retorted, but turned to Yuno and added, "Then, let's see who's first into the church."
Chains immediately emerged from the ground and bound both Asta and Yuno's legs, and then calmly walked past them.
"Jerk!" Asta cursed.
"I accept," Kojo said and opened the door of the church.
"You have got to stop using these chains on us," Yuno said.
Kojo nodded as he attempted to enter the church with a sly smile.
"I should. But will I? No—eh?"
Asta and Yuno had stretched and held him back too.