Black Daybreak

Chapter 12: Dragon's Cradle, Remembering an Old Friend, and Temple Battle

(No one's p.o.v.)

 Asta and Noelle were in awe of the mysterious girl's singing as they continued to listen to her melody. The girl soon noticed the two magic knights and looked at them before squealing bashfully as she asked, "Were you listening?! Oh my gosh!!" Asta and Noelle were baffled by her reaction and thought the same thing, 'Not what I was expecting.' "Well, nothing I can do about! Wanna be friends?" The mysterious girl asked as she jumped off the rock before making her way over to the magic knights. "Alright, I guess I should introduce myself? I'm Kahono, and you?" The girl introduced herself. Noelle responded, "My name is Noelle, and this guy is Dorksta the Musclehead." Asta retorted, "That's not my name and I'm not a musclehead!" "Ah, Noelle and Dorksta the Musclehead? You have such strange names." Kahono commented. Asta replied deadpanned, "You believe her?! Ah come on?! She's actually making fun of me; my real name is Asta." "Oh okay, it's nice to meet you, Asta." Kahono responded before Noelle asked, "So Kahono, what are you doing out here so late?" "Just singing." "Yeah, I gathered that much." "This is the perfect place for voice training. The atmosphere, the acoustics, I just love singing here." "Voice training?" Noelle asked curiously. Kahono replied enthusiastically, "That's right! You see, I have this dream. Between my singing, dancing, and my spellcasting, I'M GONNA BECOME AN IDOL!!!" Noelle and Asta looked at the girl confused while asking, "Uh, what's an idol?" This made the songstress reply in disbelief and shock, "WHAT?! You're joking, right?" "No sorry." "But they're all the rage in the Common and Noble Realms. Come on, you know, idols!!" The two magic knights were still clueless about what she was talking about and Kahono began to ramble on about what idols are to them and explain why she wanted to become one, but they still couldn't see the appeal. Eventually, she dropped the topic and noticed Asta's body was greatly fatigued and opened her grimoire to cast a spell.

 "Song Recovery Magic: Healing Lullaby!"

 Kahono began to sing a relaxing song that caused a faint light to envelope Asta, and he began to feel the soreness and fatigue leave him. Noelle was greatly impressed by her skill with recovery magic as it requires an incredibly delicate touch to direct magic at such accuracy. Kahono stopped singing and Noelle asked Asta, "How do you feel?" He moved around some to see how well he was able to move after Kahono used her spell on him. Asta then replied, "That's awesome! I was sore all over earlier, and I don't hurt anywhere! My body feels so light, goodbye muscle fatigue." He turned to the Song mage and continued, "Whatever you did, really worked! You're amazing, Kahono!" She then said to him, "That's great, I'm glad it worked out. That'll be 100 Yul please!" Asta was shocked and replied, "I'm being scammed!!" 'Just try scamming Kakuzu-sensei, and you won't be recognizable when he's done with you. Hell, even your own mom won't be able to identify your corpse.' He thought as he paid her while groaning. Kahono then changed the subject as she had just noticed something. "By the way, what are you two doing out here at this time of night?" Asta blurted that they were heading to the Underwater Temple on the night of the full moon, which Noelle covered his mouth to shut him up. Kahono teasingly replied, "You know, for a minute there, I thought you two were on a date. After all, the moonlight gives a very romantic setting." The two of them blushed as they retorted, "There's no way that's true!!" The Song mage laughed at their reactions and stopped after Noelle said, "We're out here training if you must know!" "Like with magic?" Kahono asked curious. "Yes, with magic. I can't go into detail, but I need to find a way to control my magic within a week before the full moon." "Alright, I get the gist of it." 

 Kahono looked over Noelle, trying to figure out why she couldn't control her magic and came up with an idea and asked her to show her what she could do. After a demonstration, the Song mage suggested that Noelle should try and not hold back her mana as she was unconsciously restraining it because she couldn't relax without letting her emotions get the better of her. Taking Kahono's advice to heart, the royal decided to give it a try and released all of her magic without restraint. Of course, her power went wild as she began to think about her past and all of the suffering her siblings put her through for as long as she could remember. But then, Noelle began to think about the Black Bulls and how they didn't mock her for not being able to control her magic, and she also remembered Asta's words on her siblings before they met Kahono about not taking her siblings words seriously as they held no real meaning. With that thought in her mind, Noelle successfully gained control of her magic and developed a spell that would help her squad reach the Underwater Temple. She dispelled the new technique and saw that her mysterious friend had disappeared, leaving both her and Asta baffled about where she went to.