“Asta, Yuno!” Ichigo yelled out.

The trio were currently enroute to the Royal Realm, something that sounded quite obnoxious to Ichigo.

Last night had been quite the time for him. While, Yuno hadn’t said a word, Asta had spewed on and on about how he got his Grimoire, among other stuff.

Now, he was no expert in Grimoire’s but one just appearing out of thin air wasn’t the norm.

Also, something was seriously wrong with Asta’s Grimoire. It was very faint, but still present, like a slow pulse. The Grimoire itself didn’t give off any energy, but more like a footprint that had been left behind.

A footprint from Hell.

After the story-telling, Ichigo had gotten a wink in, before he’d set out to train. At least that went successfully.

They’d set out quite early in the morning, leaving Ichigo, a bit cranky. The trio had been walking since then but…

Ichigo wanted to part ways from them. For 2 reasons, really. One, was the fact that they were still really kids. 15 year-olds, while act quite mature, some of their actions innocuously display their age.

Like the fact that Asta and Yuno were currently racing on ahead, competing to reach the Royal Realm, first. And irritated as he already was, Ichigo felt like plucking his hair off.

But he also did not want to leave them alone. The church had helped him and it felt like he owed them.

So here he was, racing after the two boys, getting them to slow down.

The bag he carried billowed against his back, carrying his Shihakusho and Sandals, which were graciously swapped for a normal attire.

“Asta! Yuno! Stop already. Getting there first really won’t make a difference!” Ichigo yelled out for the final time. He was almost ready to whip out Zangetsu to teach the two a lesson.

Finally, Yuno heard him. In embarrassment, he stopped altogether, Asta soon following suit.

Ichigo caught up with the two, absolutely glaring.

“Did you somehow forget that I was tagging along with you?” He scolded in huffs of breath.

Yuno looked away, while Asta, being who he was, began scratching his head, smiling sheepishly.

“Sorry, Ichigo!” Asta apologized. He even bowed out, making Ichigo feel a bit conscious.

“That’s fine, but don’t leave me like that… Now, how many days will it take to reach the Royal Realm?” Ichigo asked.

“Two” came the sharp reply of Yuno.

And there was the other conundrum. Two days to get to the Royal Realm. For a student of Yoruichi, who prided himself on how efficient and fast his flash-step had become, let alone Hirenkyaku and Sonido, he could’ve reached his destination in just under 30 minutes. Not 2 whole days.

But then, he’d reach far earlier than the test was scheduled for. That would mean accommodation problems and such, something that required money.

Shaking his train of thoughts, Ichigo quickly delved back into the real world. He looked around, for the first time, merely staring at his surroundings. Even he had to admit, this world was beautiful. No pollution, no overcrowding and no impending doom. Only if Orihime were here…

Finally, after two long days, Ichigo entered the Royal Realm. And royal it was. Compared to the Hage village, it was nothing less than heavenly. Especially for his company. The two, even Yuno stared at the extravagant displays of the city.

Though Yuno was less conspicuous about it. Asta, however, yelled every two seconds over something he hadn’t previously seen. And the vendor’s incessant shouting did not help matters. He even tried the purple snake thing, that both Ichigo and Yuno had warned him against.

The trio continued walking in the same manner for the next few minutes before coming across quite a long queue.

“Is this queue for the Magic Knights Exam?” Ichigo asked the one nearest to them.

“Yeah. There’s so many people!” The person exclaimed.

Ichigo smiled at him, nodding before joining the queue and beckoning the two to join him.

About 15 minutes of waiting later, it was finally his turn.

The man in the booth was terribly disinterested. He didn’t even look up at Ichigo, simply outstretching his hand.

Ichigo, confusedly asked,

“What do you want?”

At this, the guy looked up. “Your Grimoire, idiot.” He answered condescendingly.

Ichigo’s eyes slightly crinkled but he controlled himself.

“I don’t have one.” He stated, staring back at him.

“No Grimoire, No Entry! Next!” The person yelled out.

“Well, I did—” Ichigo tried to reason, but the man cut in,

“Any grievances can be solved there.” He pointed Ichigo towards the distant dingy-looking stall with a flashy sign that read, ‘Exam Help Centre’.

Ichigo, clearly frustrated, stomped off towards it.

As expected, the booth was empty and Ichigo was pissed. He was about to turn back when he spotted a broad, well-built man, walking towards it. So, Ichigo quickly intercepted him.

“Excuse me?” he asked, standing in his path.

But the man just stopped in his place, puffing his cigarette, not paying any mind to Ichigo.

“Hello? Can you not speak English?” Ichigo asked, a bit frustrated.

“I can speak just fine, boy. You’re in my way.” He replied in a gruff voice.

“Uh… Are you a Magic Knight?”

“…Yeah. You’re still in my way.”

“This will just take a minute. Is it necessary for all candidates of the exam to have a Grimoire?”

At this, the man looked straight at Ichigo,

“No, not really. But you’d have to exceptionally strong and rare for that to happen. You’d be the first. Now if it’s settled, get out of my way.” He replied menacingly.

Ichigo merely rolled his eyes at him before continuing,

“Then could you remind the guy at the booth? He’s being really obnoxious.”

“Just what do you take me for? A chauffeur? I’m not here to help wimps out.”

“How long do you think it would take for you to just order the guy to let me in!” Ichigo rebuked, obnoxious.

The man glared at Ichigo, menacingly as if contemplating the repercussions of killing a candidate.

However, a melodious voice abruptly caught his attention.

“Ladies! Come on, please!” He murmured desperately, as a group of young women dispersed giving clear sight of the guy in question.

Ichigo followed the man’s sight towards the teary eyed guy.

“Finral!” The obnoxious magic knight called out to him.

“Captain Yami!” Finral cried out in fear. He quickly rushed over to them, clearly afraid of the captain.

“A Captain, eh?” Ichigo surmised, astounded. He was now also quite interested.

“The next time you wander off from your duty, I’ll find you and kill you myself.” The captain leaned over him menacingly.

“Y-Yes Captain!” Finral yelled back, clearly unsettled by the threat.

Saying this, the Captain began to leave, only for Ichigo to clear his throat out loud.

“Isn’t it your duty as a Magic Knight, to help the citizens of this Kingdom?” Ichigo tried the high road. Finral tried to butt in, but quickly sensed that it was better for him to be quiet.

Captain Yami paused mid-strut, turning back around slowly. After giving Ichigo, a long cold look, he strode towards the booth. Ichigo silently followed suit.

“Hey you! Allow him in” He ordered, slightly pointing at Ichigo.

The guy at the booth, utterly terrified for some reason, simply nodded back.

Ichigo silently chuckled a bit before turning back towards the Knight, but he’d seemingly vanished out of sight.

“Your number’s 186… P-Please go in” he spoke, trembling severely.

Murmurs began behind his back, but Ichigo paid them no mind. He walked in to the stadium.

Inside, he found almost all of it was open space, except for a stage high up above them.

A crowd was already gathering up, anxiously waiting for their exams to begin.

Ichigo soon found the duo, and waved at them. At least, at Yuno. Asta was currently being chased by the Anti-Birds, or so they were called.

A few minutes later, a burly looking man entered the podium.

“Alright everyone, listen up!” He yelled out.

“The Magic Knights Annual Selection Exam will begin shortly. For now, let me introduce the captains of the Magic Knights Squad.

They’ll be the one to decide if you’re fit enough to be in their squad, so tidy up.”

Ichigo had heard rumours about them already, having had one escort him to the entrance. They were supposed to be the strongest Mages in the Kingdom, only second to the Wizard King. Kinda reminded him of the Soul Society.

He’d also heard others talking about, how scores and scores of candidates failed this exam. Many were here for their, 3rd or 4th attempt. It kind of unnerved Ichigo a bit, since the only bit of Magic he could perform was attack or binding spells.

Having blinked out in his own thoughts, Ichigo missed most of the introductions. Not that he cared much. The last ones, however, did manage to gain his attention.

“The Captain of the Strongest Magic Knights Squad, Golden Dawn, William Vangeance…

And lastly, The Captain of the Black Bulls Squad, Yami Sukehiro!” the man announced.

Captain Yami quickly took his seat, not even bothering to pay attention to the candidates that had gathered.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Alright, now we shall begin!”

The Captain of the Golden Dawn Squad, William Vangeance stood up and began explaining the exam in further detail.

The first test, and Ichigo was faced with a difficult task. Riding a broom.

‘Sure, let me just whip out my wand too while I’m at it!’ he cursed, mentally.

However, suddenly a bright idea cropped up in his mind.

He quickly raised up his hand, waving towards the burly man from before.

“Yes, what is it?” He asked a bit irritated.

“Is the main purpose of this test, to see if you can fly or just ride the broom?” Ichigo questioned back.

The man deferred the question to the Captains, looking up at them.

The weird masked captain, Ichigo had dubbed him, answered,

“Both. Since riding the broom requires a good control on your mana.” The answer was short and precise, exactly how Ichigo liked it.

“Since what I’m about to do also requires a good control, will it do?”

“That can be decided after we see it.” He replied again. This time though, he was looking directly at Ichigo, as if he’d piqued his interest.

Ichigo smiled internally, before jumping off into the air. The others stopped somewhat, staring at Ichigo floating in the sky.

Many expected him to come straight down. But Ichigo didn’t fall back down. He simply halted mid-air, eliciting gasps from many of his competitors. Even the captains were solely paying attention to him.

He jumped around a few times, before walking back down to the ground.

From the top, he’d noticed that quite the number of people couldn’t ride their brooms. Unfortunately, Asta was one of them. And Ichigo kinda didn’t understand why. He knew Asta did not have any magic, but shouldn’t the Grimoire be helping him?

As soon as Ichigo touched back down, he headed towards Asta, to help him out.

On his way, people cleared the path for him. He could hear them whispering behind his back.

The most common among them were, ‘he did it without a grimoire!?’ or ‘He must be a foreigner.’ The former was with respect, but the latter was spoken with utter disdain.

And Ichigo agreed with the term, ‘Foreigner’. But the tone, was another story.

“Asta?” Ichigo called out.

“Yeah?” Asta replied back, turning around to face him. It was apparent that he was flummoxed. For someone who wanted to become the Wizard King, not being able to fly on a broom must’ve been too insulting.

“You were amazing, Ichigo!” He remarked, with his usual tone.

“Thanks, Asta. What seems to be the problem?” Ichigo asked pointing towards the broom in Asta’s hand.

“Don’t know. I’m trying. Maybe it’s because I don’t have any magic?” He answered sheepishly, all hints of irritation wiped away.

Ichigo smiled at this. Even without Magic, the kid simply had the guts. That was rare.

“A’ight. Well, at least Yuno seems to have fun?” He pointed towards the teen who was standing on his broom while flying.

‘That must be uncomfortable.’ Ichigo thought out.

‘It’s worlds better than sitting on that thin a rod. Think about it…’ White slowly replied back.

Ichigo soon realized what White was talking. His hand subconsciously moved to protect his underside. He stopped midway though, shaking off a shiver.

Asta, once again went back to trying out the broom, but it was all in vain. Soon, it was announced that the current task had ended, and the next would be beginning shortly.

The next ones too, were quite difficult for Ichigo, not because he couldn’t do them, but because he did not know what he should do.

Like, show the captains, your best technique. And there was no way he could show them anything too flashy and destructive.

Limiting his ability caused his techniques to appear really subpar. He still had the No Grimoire edge though. Hopefully, that would be enough.

After a series of tests, the Captain of Golden Dawn stood up once more.

“We now proceed to the final test. You’re going to engage in a one-on-one combat with each other.

Once you’ve chosen your opponent, please come forward at once.”

He sat back down graciously, beckoning the candidates to proceed.

Everyone looked around in naked reluctance, gauging each other’s strengths.

Soon enough, a pair had come forward. Ichigo was not surprised to see Asta and some other guy along with him. Whoever that guy is, he’s either a really good friend or an enemy.’

The two spoke for a while. It was clearly visible that Asta’s opponent was saying something antagonizing, seeing as Asta’s smile slowly disappeared.

After a few more seconds of intimidating stares being thrown around, they finally took their stances, though Asta was quite open.

“Bronze Creation Magic: Sekke’s Magnum Cannonball” His opponent yelled out.

‘I take it his name is Sekke.’ Ichigo rolled his eye. The amount of narcissism wafting out of the guy was smothering.

A clear blue crystal sphere formed around him, leaving only one small opening for the air.

As Ichigo’s eyes drifted towards Asta, he could clearly see that the teen wasn’t even phased.

Asta’s Grimoire flickered to life, the winds around them picking up pace. And even though, Ichigo could tell the tattle-tale signs of power flaring to life, he knew he was the only one who could sense the demonic power.

Had the others sensed this, Asta would not have remained alive for far longer.

Ichigo could almost feel himself choking, not because of the strength of the energy, but because of the intense hatred he could sense emanating from within.

Now more than ever, it was clear to Ichigo that Asta could not be left alone to his own devices with that dangerous a Grimoire.

The Match ended quickly after that, Asta having destroyed the Magnum Cannonball in an instant, along with Sekke, as the latter lay buried into a crater, unconscious.

“Excuse me?” A soft tone sounded behind Ichigo. He quickly turned around to find a young girl, about the age of Asta, looking up at him unsteadily.

Brown orbs stared at Ichigo, determined yet unsure of themselves. It reminded him of her.

“Um, if you don’t mind, could you battle with me?” The girl stammered.

Ichigo, clearly hadn’t anticipated this. He looked abashed at the thought of fighting a young lady like her, but gave in nonetheless. At least, no one else would be able to hurt her if I end it quickly.

“Sure.” Ichigo quickly answered. The teen’s face lit up, as she quickly walked forward. Her long, flowing red dress danced to the wind as she readily took her place opposite Ichigo.

Ichigo, on the other hand, quickly unstrapped the shorter Quincy blade from his hip, unsheathing it for the first time since they had arrived in this reality.

The pale white blade, shined brightly as it basked in the late afternoon.

Ichigo let out a sigh. The Grimoire of his opponent also fired up, a warm orange glow surrounding it.

“I’m Ichigo. What’s your name?” Ichigo called out to her.

The girl smiled back at him, answering,

“Macy. Gaeins. Nice to meet you, Ichigo.”

He heaved another sigh, this one in anticipation of her first move.

Both of them, stared long and hard at each other, before Ichigo grew tired of waiting.

He charged at her at an average speed, nothing too fancy.

The girl quickly sprang into action,

“Earth Magic. Stone Hail!” She yelled out.

The Magic took effect, quickly forming many stone shaped bullets, pointing at Ichigo.

Ichigo slowed down, warily staring at the stones.

They launched upon him, though each and every one of them buzzed by Ichigo.

Macy looked utterly disappointed as all of her stones failed to hit the mark.

Ichigo hadn’t even felt the need to use flash-step. The girl’s magic was clearly not strong or fast enough.

Time to end this.

He was about to flash-step behind her, when Ichigo stopped dead in his tracks.

Macy having already sensed the imminent attack, acted on pure instincts.

“Earth Magic! Hurling Ground Wall!” She cried out, putting everything she had in it.

A large wall of soil rose up from the very ground, hurtling towards Ichigo at break-neck speed. The very ground began trembling in anticipation as the Magic neared its target.

Ichigo simply sighed. Guess it didn’t turn out as easy as I hoped it would be.

Ichigo concentrated on his white dagger blade, forming a very thin layer of Getsuga Tenshou around it, before looking back up at the wall.

He was gonna have to be careful not to overdo it.

In the next moment, Ichigo had vanished from everyone but the Captains sight, as he sliced up the huge boulder with his Quincy Blade. However, he didn’t stop there. He flash-stepped behind the girl, and seamlessly knocked her out.

Since mere moments had passed as all of this happened, it appeared to each and every one of the candidates as if it’d all happened simultaneously.

The boulder split in half, falling to the ground with a monstrous clap of sound, mimicking the motions of its caster.

Ichigo, menacingly loomed over his fallen opponent, but his face was anything but menacing. A myriad of emotions was apparent on it. Sympathy, Guilt, and a very small bit of pride, if only in his abilities to end things so smoothly.

He was about to pick Macy up, but stopped as he spotted the paramedics present, quickly making their way towards them.

‘I guess they’ll be called healers, here.’ His brain supplied helpfully.

Ichigo knew one thing for sure, now. People were afraid of this foreigner. Not all of them, but a fair amount.

It must’ve been an added surprise since none present could’ve actually sensed his power.

That’s gotta earn me some major points.

Soon enough, the chatter quickly died down as Yuno made his way to centre-stage, along with another stuck up guy.

This should end quickly. Ichigo remarked mentally.

And that it did. The other guy was no match for Yuno’s Wind Magic. There was also enough rumours going about Yuno, that Ichigo no longer felt conscious of himself.

The exam ended an hour later after all of the candidates had a chance to fight it out.

The battles were quite exquisite. Especially for Ichigo, as he witnessed all the various types of Magic being casted.

It was finally time for the results.

The Captain who’d like the candidate to join his/her squad need only raise their hand. In case multiple hands are raised, the decision rests upon the candidate.

As was expected, the sun had almost set before the announcers reached anywhere near 150.

Soon enough, Yuno was called forth. There was palpable tension in the air as Yuno marched forward without an ounce of doubt.

All of the Captains raised their hands. Each and every single one of them. Though some, looked as if they were just fulfilling a formality. He noted snidely.

Yuno quickly choose the Golden Dawn. The smart choice, if someone was also trying to become the Wizard King.

Next came Asta, whose result Ichigo had almost dreadfully predicted.

None of the Captains raised their hand, leaving Asta in despair.

Ichigo could almost relate to him. The utter feeling of helplessness.

Though Asta was not one to give up so easily. What Ichigo did not expect him to do was shout out at the Captains in despair, mouthing off that he was going to become the Wizard King.

He was about to reach out to him, but stopped as he saw Captain Yami stand up in his place, before gliding down using nothing but his mana.

“You, wanna be the Wizard King, boy?! Do you even know what that means? You’re gonna have to surpass all the Captains present here. You’re saying, that you can do that?” He asked in his usual tough, menacing voice.

After only a fleeting moment of unsureness, Asta looked up at the Captain’s imposing figure, answering a simple,

“Yes.”

Captain Yami began laughing at this, saying he found the little guy funny.

He offered Asta to join the Black Bulls. Though it sounded and was anything but an offer. It was an ultimatum.

Ichigo sighed, but soon broke out in a smile. Asta was quite the enigma.

The joy however, was somewhat short lived, as it was now his turn to take the stage.

He walked forward a bit nervously. He hadn’t felt this nervous since he’d graduated out of college.

He looked up at the Captains, trying to muster whatever courage he could find.

None. At least that would’ve been the case, until the Captain that’d been sleeping the entire time woke up in a hassle.

“Me! I’ll take the handsome young man.” She raised her hand.

Ichigo wasn’t quite sure what his reaction should be.

“I’m not joking here, you know.” The Captain huffed out.

Ichigo breathed in relief. Guess his no Grimoire trick worked out just fine.

However, it wasn’t over yet.

Another hand slowly hoisted up. Captain Yami’s hand.

Ichigo was flabbergasted. He didn’t expect the stiff Captain to ever select him.

“Hey! No fair! You already picked one!” The lady buffed out.

Yami however, paid her no mind, only replying,

“SO?”

“Well, it’s up to you now.” The announcer whispered back to him.

Ichigo was in a bind. He didn’t know anything about what kind of squads either of them run. Though it was somewhat apparent from their demeanour.

However, a scene quickly replayed in his mind. Asta’s fight. The black energy that he’d sensed was nowhere strong enough, but it was foul enough to capture his attention.

Guess that settles it.

“I’ll join the Black Bulls.” Ichigo replied back, looking straight at Yami.

At his answer, numerous gasps were heard behind him.

Even all the Captains looked at him with ridicule. That included Captain Yami.

‘That wasn’t the right decision to make.’ Ichigo though morosely.

He could clearly make out Asta cheers from behind him, though.

The woman put down her hand, clearly distressed. She didn’t quite go to sleep though. She continued to stare at Ichigo with a renewed smirk, as if a new toy had come to her.

“Alright, the decision has been made.” The Host announced condescendingly.

The results proceeded further without precedent and thus, the Annual Magic Knights Exam came to a close.

After the exam, the selected candidates were supposed to meet up with their respective captain for further instructions.

And so Ichigo and Asta set out to look for Captain Yami. However, that plan didn’t last long when Asta felt his stomach give up.

Yelling out, he ran towards the nearest restroom, leaving behind an annoyed Ichigo.

Ichigo was about to set out to look for the Captain, when he heard a familiar snicker behind him.

He turned around, to find Sekke grinning an evil smile as he stared at the Men’s restroom.

‘Anyone watching him without context must’ve been scarred for life!’ Ichigo groaned mentally.

He knew what the twerp was here for, though. Revenge.

Sekke went on ahead into the restrooms. Ichigo took a few moments before following him in.

Sekke was completely immersed in his evil plan, oblivious to Ichigo standing right behind him. So he cleared his throat.

That had the desired effect, as Sekke almost jumped out of his skin, turning around to face an angry Ichigo.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Ichigo asked, menacingly.

“N-Nothing! I was just…” Sekke was clearly out of ideas. He looked like he was about to soil himself.

Ichigo decided to give him the required nudge.

“Oh, I see. You’re here for revenge, aren’t you?”

Sekke shook his head vehemently. He was silently eyeing the exit, that was currently blocked by Ichigo.

“Don’t…”

A terrible weight slammed down on Sekke, as he crumpled to the ground in an instant under Ichigo’s reiatsu.

“Try that again.”

Saying this, he bolted out of the restroom, quite sure that he’d done the right amount of scaring.

Asta soon followed out, enunciating a story of how he found Sekke on the ground, with a terrible smell wafting from him. Ichigo could barely control himself as he heard his account.

They soon found Captain Yami, who didn’t even bother looking at them, simply ordering Finral to take them home.

Home, was apparently a large shady looking manor, that looked like it’d been abandoned since its construction. Moss and creepers covered almost every wall along with lots and lots of dust. Even the windows were barely transparent anymore.

Ichigo sighed as he realized that this was to be his house for the time being.

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’