Warmth of Ice

Chapter 3: Magic Knights Exam

"Wow! Look at this place!" "Asta, please calm down." Asta ran off as Y/N and Yuno chased after him. They were in the royal capital to take the Magic Knights Exam. It had been six months since the three of them had received their grimoires. After training for all that time, they went to take the exam. Y/N had planned their journey and they arrived a few hours before the exam so that they could sightsee. Asta was currently running around, taking in all the sights of the royal capital. Yuno and Y/N were following him closely, afraid that they might lose him in the crowd if they let him get too far away. Asta pointed at one of the stalls, "Hey, they're selling some purple snakes. I'm going to buy one to eat." He rushed to the stall. Yuno let out a disappointed sigh, "What a little kid." Y/N chuckled, "Well, that's not saying much coming from us. We're the same age after all." Yuno hummed in agreement. A few moments later, Asta returned with the purple snake on a stick. Y/N said, "Asta, please don't run ahead. There's the chance that we might lose you and we won't be able to make it to the exam site in time." Asta gasped, "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to bother you." Y/N smiled, "It's fine. Just try to stay in our sight for now. It's best if we stick together. Speaking of the exam, it looks like it's almost time. We better get going to the exam site. Asta, finish your snake." The gray haired boy nodded and quickly finished his snack.

The three of them lined up at the booth to register. Asta was excited as he gave his grimoire to the attendant. Y/N followed after him and entered the stadium. The three of them looked around. Y/N saw that there were a bunch of black birds flying around, some bothering other candidates. A few were even pecking at him. The only person they seemed to avoid was Yuno. Y/N hummed, "I guess these are the anti birds that I heard so much about. They're suppose to be attracted to people with low levels of magic, which means..." He turned to see that a large group of anti birds were pecking at Asta. Y/N let out a sigh, "As I suspected. Well, he'll be fine. Asta's tough and won't be hurt by such small creatures." He started walking towards Yuno. The two of them waited for Asta to return until they heard a commotion. Y/N was the first to see what was happening. He was surprised to see a full grown man nearly crushing Asta's head with his bare hands. Yuno asked, "Asta, what are you doing?" Then, the announcement that the exam was starting came. The man released Asta and left with two others. Y/N rushed to his friend, "Asta, are you okay?" Asta smiled at him, "Yeah. It'll take more than that to hurt me." Y/N smiled, "Well then. We better get to the front. That's where we'll get the information about the exam."

The captain of the Golden Dawn, Captain Vangeance, gave the instructions for the exam. He used his magic to create a tree that descended to the coliseum and provided each candidate with a broom to ride on. Y/N got on his broom and slowly started to fly. He had only flown on a broom a few times before, but it was easy enough. He managed to fly a few feet of the ground without losing control. Meanwhile, Yuno was flying higher than anyone, catching the attention of the captains. Y/N turned to where Asta was and wasn't surprised to see that Asta was still on the ground. It made sense since he had no magic. Another candidate approached Asta and fly off. Y/N eyed the other candidate suspiciously.

The rest of the exam continued, involving usage of creation magic, magic control, and other qualities that were looked for in the Magic Knights. Y/N let out a sigh as he finished the last of the tests. He had been doing well. Yuno had been exceptional. Asta had failed everything. Y/N rubbed his friend's back, "Don't worry. You just need to show off your special power. I'm sure you'll get the chance." Asta smiled brightly at him, "Thanks so much." Captain Vangeance gathered the candidates and told them that they were going to have one on one battles with each other. Y/N breathed a sigh of relief. This meant that Asta had a chance to show his abilities. Asta and that other candidate that he was with earlier were the first to spar. The candidate, whom Y/N had since learned was named Sekke, used bronze magic to create a sphere that worked for both offense and defense. Asta pulled out his anti magic sword and charged. Sekke was so confident that he wouldn't be harmed that he didn't do anything, but Asta cut through the spell and knocked him out. Y/N chuckled happily as Asta claimed the victory and told everyone that he planned to become the Wizard King. Y/N walked away, turning to see Yuno easily defeat a noble. Y/N smiled at the fact that both his friends had done well. "Excuse me." He turned to see a noble lady standing beside him, smirking, "Would you mind being my opponent for this match? I don't want to waste anymore mana than I already have." Y/N bowed, "Of course. I would be honored to be your opponent, my lady." The audience watched as the two prepared. The noble lady took out her grimoire, "Plant Magic: Vine Catastrophe." Vines started shooting out from the ground and completely captured Y/N. Asta yelled, "Y/N!!!" Y/N used his ice magic and instantly froze the vines, causing them to break. Once he was freed, he opened his grimoire, "Ice Magic: Frozen shards." Several shards of ice formed around him and began launching themselves at the lady. She used another spell, "Plant Creation Magic: Vines Forbidden Garden." Vines appeared and enclosed themselves around her. She chuckled from inside the barrier, "Looks like your pathetic ice magic can't reach me." However, the vines instantly froze and broke, allowing for more of the shards to get through. The lady screamed as the shards lunged themselves into her clothes and pushed her towards the wall. Y/N said, "Please accept defeat. I do not wish to harm you." The lady frowned, "How dare you? A vile commoner dare say that he doesn't wish to harm me?! I'll kill you." Y/N let out a sigh of disappointment and cast another spell, "Ice Magic: Frozen State." Instantly, the lady was covered in ice. Her grimoire fell to the ground. Y/N was announced the winner. Once he was , he snapped his fingers and released the lady from the spell. She fell onto the floor and started hugging herself. After a moment of realizing that she was free, she began crying, afraid from what she had just experienced. The captains watched as Y/N joined his friends. 

"That was so awesome Y/N!" Asta jumped happily at his friend's success. Y/N chuckled happily, "Thank you. The two of you were pretty amazing as well." Yuno and Asta looked away as they blushed from the comment. Yuno asked, "Where did you learn that spell? I've never seen you do something like that." Y/N said, "I learned it after the incident at the grimoire tower. I figured that it would be nice to be able to freeze an enemy while they were unaware." Yuno hummed and accepted the explanation. Soon after, the captains began choosing which candidates they wanted for their squad. After a few were recruited and most were rejected, it was Yuno's turn. When he came up, all of the captains raised their hands. Yuno chose to accept the offer from the Golden Dawn. After him was Asta, who received the opposite. None of the captains raised their hands. Y/N began worrying. Suddenly, the man from before, Captain Yami Sukehiro of the Black Bulls, stood up and began lecturing Asta. Asta retorted by saying that he would never give up on his dream of being the Wizard King. Yami laughed and told Asta that he would be joining his squad, whether he wanted to or not. Y/N let out a sigh of relief, 'Asta's got a chance. He has a chance to be the Wizard King.' He was snapped out of his thoughts by someone nudging him. He saw that it was Yuno, who was tilting his head to the stand where the captains were. Y/N blushed from embarrassment as he realized that it was his turn. He quickly walked up to them and bowed, "My apologies." The captains stared at him for a moment. The announcer asked if any of the captains were willing to take him. Y/N felt even more nervous as he stood up straight and was shocked to see that all the captains were raising their hands. Y/N was confused, 'Wait, there's got to be some sort of mistake. I didn't even do that well. I expected one of them to raise their hand, but not all of them. It must be a mistake. Yeah. They must have mistaken me for someone else. But I can't tell them that. They're captains. I doubt they'd be happy to be told that they made a mistake. Wait, which one should I chose? Should I go to the Golden Dawn with Yuno or the Black Bulls with Asta? Should I chose another squad? Ah, why didn't I think about this before?' "Um, excuse me. Can you please pick out which squad you wish to join?" Y/N flinched as he looked at the captains, "Um, I...pick..."