Black Clover - By My Side (Asta X Noelle)

Chapter 19: The Royal Knights Exam (Part 1)

[It appeared as though humanity would be destroyed by demons. But a single mage saved them all. He was called the wizard king, and he became a legend.]

Asta POV:

The day is finally here- it's time for the Royal Selection. Everyone has been working hard, so now we finally get to show the fruits of our effort. Currently, I'm in the common room of our base, waiting for everyone to gather. Last night, I was super excited, which made it hard to sleep. Because of that, I was the first one up. I've been here waiting for a while, but eventually, people start to trickle in. 

"Good morning, guys," I say, waving at Gauche and Grey, who walk in.

"D-D-Don't look at me! It's embarrassing," Grey screams while hiding behind Gauche.

"Hey, Grey, what the hell are you doing? Don't start this crap so early in the morning," says Gauche with a scowl on his face. 

"Well, aren't we lively this morning," Finral walks into the room, "Oh, Grey, you look as beautiful as ever," he grabs onto both of Grey's hands, causing her to transform into her bigger form. "Oops, I'm sorry, Grey."

"You really don't know how to treat a woman, Finral," says Vanessa as she walks in, holding a bottle of liquor accompanied by Noelle. Finral makes a witty retort, sparking a conversation between him and Vanessa. Seemingly uninterested, Noelle walks over to me.

"G-Good morning, Asta," Noelle lunges forward and hugs me.

I wrap my arms around her and hold her close, "Good morning." Last night, we were cuddling. But after a while, Noelle fell asleep, so I tucked her in and left to go to my room. 

"Are you ready for today?" She asks me while letting go.

"Of course, I'm pumped, how about you? You aren't nervous at all, are you?" I say, smirking and getting close to her face.

Noelle pushes me away, "o-of course I'm not. Royalty, like me, would never be nervous." She then takes a deep breath and her face turns red, "by the way, what happened last night?"

Shocked by her sudden question, I feel myself get flustered, "um, you fell asleep, so I tucked you in and went back to my room." 

Seemingly disappointed by my answer, a small frown appears on her face, "Oh, alright, then."

"Hey, is everything alr-"

"Looks like everyone is here," Captain Yami walks into the room along with the rest of our members, "the exam starts soon, so you lot are gonna head out now."

"You're not coming, captain?" Vanessa inquires.

"Huh," a scowl forms on the captain's face, "of course not. I got my own business to take care of." The captain readjusts the cigarette that he had been smoking, "but that doesn't mean you lot get to slack off. You guys that are participating, make sure you surpass your limits."

"Of course, captain!" I instinctively shout out. 

The captain smiles, "now, Finral,"

Finral spikes up in response to the captain, "yessir!" Finral opens up a portal using his spatial magic, "alright, everyone, let's go; I can't keep this up forever."

One by one, we all file through Finral's portal. The other side of his portal leads to Kikka, the town where the Magic Knights entrance exam took place. It's been a while since I've been here. This is the place where my journey as a magic knight started. Now I'm here again to get even closer to my goal of becoming the Wizard King. I can't help but feel excited. 

As a group, we make our way to the colosseum, where other magic knights are gathering.  Many people from other squads are here, aiming to become royal knights. Seeing my competition gets my blood boiling. Everyone here looks strong; I'll have to work hard. 

"Asta, you're here!"

I hear a familiar voice behind me and quickly turn around to see Klaus. "Hey Klaus, it's been a while. You look a bit muscular. Have you been working out?"

"Yeah, I figured it would be good to train my body as well."

"He's trying to be like you, Asta," says Mimosa as she walks up from behind Klaus.

"Hey, Mimosa! How have you been?"

"I-I've been doing well." Her face flushes to a light red, and she slowly starts to make her way to Klaus, almost like she's hiding behind him.

I look around to see if I can spot Yuno; however, I don't see him anywhere. He has to be here. There's no way he'd miss this chance. Feeling somewhat worried, I part ways with Klaus and Mimosa to look for Yuno. This is our chance to get closer to becoming the Wizard King, and he's missing it? There's no way. I refuse to believe it. I make my way through the crowd of magic knights, and finally, I find Yuno. He's talking to Noelle. I wonder what's up. I walk towards them and can feel the tension in the air. 

"Hey, whatcha guys talking about," I say cheerfully.

"Oh, it's you," Yuno says coldly while brushing me off.

Somewhat annoyed, I get in his face, "Don't be like that, Yuno, come on!" In response, he just backs away without saying a word, "ugh, whatever, what were you two talking about." I say while turning my attention to Noelle. 

"Oh, um, it was nothing. We were just saying hello. I spotted him by himself, so I just went to say hi," Noelle says. 

I let out a small laugh, "that sounds exactly like Yuno." 

"Whatever," Yuno says while walking away, "I better see you in the finals, Asta."

"Of course, I'll make sure to beat you. And I'll become the Wizard King while I'm at it!"

"Not a chance," Yuno says as he disappears into the crowd. 

I'll make sure to beat him. I turn back towards Noelle, "you make sure to do your best too,"

"Of course, I'm royalty after all."

Suddenly, the sound of cheering fills the colosseum, and the Wizard King finally appears. 

[Chapter 19 end]

{Author's notes: I'm back!}