Chapter 4: A New Mission: Part One

The day following Ichigo’s dream had been about as eventful as he’d expected.

Magna had assigned the newbies, namely Ichigo and Asta, chores that took them almost half the day to complete. Chores that included cleaning the entire mansion and washing all of their laundry. It had taken them a while.

Currently, Ichigo and Asta were sprawled out on the dining table fervently awaiting dinner time. Ichigo especially was quite tired. Or bored, would be the better term for it.

It’d been quite some time since he’d to do menial tasks such as this. Everything back home had become almost entirely mechanized.

However, Ichigo’s wish of being left alone was quickly squashed by Magna. He approached the two looking quite pensive, a look that somehow did not suit him at all.

“On your feet, the both of you. Y’all need to meet another of our newest additions to the squad.” He ordered.

The two stood up begrudgingly and Ichigo was still half-asleep.

They followed him through different parts of the mansion. Once in a narrow tunnel, Magna turned around to warn them,

“She’s a royal, so please think before you speak.”

“A royal, in our squad?” Ichigo quickly spoke up, now fully aware of the squad’s reputation.

“As weird as it sounds, yes. I don’t exactly know what her backstory is but the Captain deemed her worthy enough to join, so here she is.” Magna explained.

The two quickly nodded before proceeding further.

As the group neared the tunnel’s mouth, the setting sun illuminated their surroundings. They quickly spotted a figure standing to the side.

After walking a bit further, her features came into view. A white-haired teenager wearing a short purple dress with a white overcoat that was held together by a waist belt. She also carried a small handbag to the side.

Purple eyes stared at the incoming group, calculating. Ichigo too stared at the teenager, experiencing a wave of nostalgia at the look she sent their way.

“This is Noelle Silva of the Silva family. And these two here are Asta and Ichigo.” Magna quickly introduced the two.

Ichigo was somewhat confused as to why he was feeling nostalgic. However, it faded the moment Noelle began speaking.

“Nice to meet you, Noelle!” Asta quickly piped up. Noelle ignored him completely, not even meeting his eye.

“Noelle! This is no way to be communicating with your squad mates. One day, your life will be dependent on them.” Magna spoke up seeing as Noelle was ignoring them.

“Shut up, insect. I am royalty. I can speak to them however I wish to.” Noelle spoke in disdain.

Ichigo’s eyebrows shot up as he heard her. But his initial anger quickly faded as he realized that the girl’s words held no real venom.

Magna however was somewhat dumbfounded. And to Ichigo’s surprise, for a second, he quickly bowed his head in compliance.

He soon realized his mistake and began shouting at Noelle.

“I am your senior, you understand. You can’t speak to me like that.”

Noelle turned her face away refusing to acknowledge his words.

Before things escalated, Ichigo decided to intervene.

“It’s getting dark. We should head back inside.”

Magna’s anger slowly dissipated as he turned towards Ichigo.

All four of them began moving back in with Noelle staying far behind them.

‘Well, this is as awkward as it gets. I don’t know whether to laugh or weep at the thought of being near a ‘Byakuya’ incarnate.’ Ichigo sulked.

The group soon dissipated as they went about their work, Ichigo and Asta sprawling out once again on the dinner table while Noelle vanished out of their sights.

“Noelle doesn’t say much, does she?” came Asta’s muffled voice as he lay face-down on the table.

Ichigo slowly turned towards him, thinking whether he should tell him the truth.

He doesn’t need to know… just yet. Or maybe he does, but I can’t be the one to tell him.

“Yeah. Maybe it’s because her first time away from home. Aren’t you missing Yuno and your family.” Ichigo deflected non-chalantly.

“Yeah I miss them a lot!” Asta explained before delving into another story of his childhood.

The boy may be a nuisance but his annoying habits were quickly growing on him. Except the loud voice, his mind supplied helpfully.

Dinner came exactly on time and it was just as delicious as it had been yesterday.

Soon enough, Ichigo found himself once again left to his own devices in his room. He had nothing to read so sitting in the room alone was not an option. He wasn’t tired just yet despite the work.

‘Exploration time it is’

Ichigo opened his window and set out into the dark night. The moon shined brightly above him, though nowhere near bright enough for Ichigo to spot anything below except the forest.

He thought about where he could go but his mind soon buzzed with White’s voice.

“King!”

‘Yes, White. I can hear you loud and clear. No need to be shouting this loud. Especially after a long day spent with Asta.’

“Yeah? Did you hear me the last 8 times?”

This alarmed Ichigo. ‘What do you mean, the last 8 times? I only just heard you right now.’

‘Exactly. I don’t know what’s happening but something’s messing with my power and I don’t like it.’

‘What do you mean messing with your power?’

‘Hollow powers, King. There was suddenly a huge influx of weird energy into the world. It’d be best if you stay on guard.’

‘What do you mean ‘weird’?’

‘In general, the opposite of what you’d attribute to Hollows.’

‘Wait. So how’s that bad?’

…

Ichigo could feel White’s poker face staring down at him.

‘Not all Hollows are bad! Regardless, what worries me is the sheer amount of it.’

‘How didn’t I sense it then?’ Ichigo asked surprised. For White to acknowledge a power, was blissfully rare.

‘It wasn’t concentrated at all. It was spread over the world. That’s why there was no way of sensing it.’

‘Shouldn’t we investigate this? I mean, we’ve got the time.’ Ichigo suggested.

‘I wouldn’t recommend it. Facing something strong when a third of your powers are misbehaving and without any information isn’t wise.’ The Old Man had finally joined in the conversation.

‘We couldn’t have been the only one to sense something of this magnitude. It’s safe to assume, this world’s authorities must be on their toes to find whatever must’ve caused this.’

Ichigo agreed. ‘Free roaming, then?’

‘It’s time to take it a bit slow on the training Ichigo. There isn’t much left to teach you and whatever’s left will take decades to master. You can rest for now.’ Saying this, Zangetsu and White returned to the deep recesses of his mind.

“Huh.” Ichigo sighed. He looked up to the crescent shaped moon shining, unable to shake off the creeping sense of foreboding that snaked up his spine. Shrugging, he set off on his adventure.

Ichigo woke up with a groan as the cool breeze swept through his room. He shivered involuntarily. ‘Winter’s coming.’

As he made his way towards the common room, an onslaught of commotion reached his ears.

He spotted his squad-mates barring Asta and Noelle gathered around the Captain looking somewhat upset.

“You can’t be serious, Captain. We’ve been cooped up in here for so long and you’re sending the rookies on the mission?” Semi-naked Lady complained.

Captain Yami, however, menacingly turned towards her,

“Try saying that again.” He scolded. “It’s just a spike of energy that needs investigation. Nothing too fancy. It’s the perfect mission for the rookies.” He spoke to everyone present.

Magna spotted Ichigo standing off into the corner, eavesdropping.

“Come on in newbie. You’ve got a mission. Take a seat, I’ll get the others.” Magna ordered setting out to find Asta and Noelle.

Within the next ten minutes, Magna had rounded the two up. Asta looked determined while the girl refused to meet anyone’s eyes. What was interesting was the fact that both were covered in sweat.

‘How in the world did they manage to get sweaty, this early in the morning.’ Ichigo thought flabbergasted.

‘Are you that forgetful of your own teenage years? You were almost exactly the same when you were their age, training and getting into trouble’ The Old Man piped up, emphasizing on the ‘getting into trouble’ part.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, secretly wondering ‘Why do I feel so old?’

All three of the newbies looked onto the Captain expectantly as they awaited their orders.

The Captain picked up a scroll and started reading from it,

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“There has been an influx of energy throughout our world that has been making our sensors go haywire. We’ve narrowed the origin point to a general area on the outskirts of the Kingdom.

We request the Squads: Black Bulls and Coral Peacock to send Knights to investigate this phenomenon at the earliest.”

The Captain took a deep breath, turning his gaze towards the three before continuing,

“That’s your mission. There’s a map here that tells you where to meet up with the others from Coral Peacock and your destination. Don’t shame your squad.

Now, off you go.”

Ichigo stared at the Captain with a blank look. His mind had actually stopped working, only a single thought running through.

‘So they did a very good job at learning the origin of the mysterious power. But they’re deciding that newbie Magic Knights are enough to tackle whatever obstacle we may find there?’

Sensing the distress, Zangetsu rose up but Ichigo’s brain quickly stepped on the gas.

‘I know what you’re about to say, Old Man. Its only investigation, for a good reason and the administration doesn’t actually know what knights the squad will be sending out. But still.

Not to brag, but if something can mess with us, nothing short of an army would be able to stop it.’

‘Good thing we’re here, aren’t we?’ White joined in.

“Hello? Earth to Orange-hair? Are you still there?” Magna yelled at Ichigo, getting up in his face.

Ichigo broke through his thoughts, looking incredulously at Magna.

“Hell yeah! Our first mission as Magic Knights” Asta cheered, moving towards Noelle but she quickly backed out, the slightest hint of worry showing on her face.

“What’s got you thinking, Orange-hair?” Magna asked, looking on towards Ichigo.

“Nothing. Wait, do we leave like right now?” Ichigo asked in surprise.

“Is there something more pressing than a mission?” Captain Yami questioned back.

“Don’t we need to pack anything? How long will the mission last for?”

“A few days. Now go before I start killing you.” Captain Yami ordered tiredly.

Noelle pawned the map off the Captain and the three quickly set off in the general direction.

“Don’t bother coming back if you die.” Captain called out to them.

Ichigo numbly shook his head in annoyance. He couldn’t wrap his head around the Captain’s casual stand on his underlings being killed.

Noelle kept quiet for the first few minutes of Asta’s rambling. She walked to their side, keeping to herself. However, as Asta got progressively louder, she snapped.

“Hey peasant. You mind not talking so loudly. Or do you just have a death wish?”

Asta gave her a confused face.

Noelle rolled her eyes, “Stop talking so loudly or the predators of the forest just might come looking for us. You may not want to live but I do!” She exclaimed.

“Oh, yeah! I’m sorry.” Asta whispered back. Ichigo kept out of their argument, not really worried about predators finding them.

Ichigo soon found that he himself had no idea where they were heading. While that would’ve been just fine in his own world, leaving directions to a 15 y/o didn’t seem like the best plan.

“Hey Noelle? Hand me the map please. I wanna see where we’re heading.” Ichigo asked politely.

Noelle gazed at Ichigo as if analysing his worth before handing over the map without a word.

Ichigo quickly took the map and started analysing it. From what he could tell, they were a day’s worth of walk away from their destination. Their destination being a forest of a mile-wide radius.

‘This might just take us more than a week!’ He cursed mentally.

The meeting point however wasn’t as far. In about 3 hours, they’d find themselves in a small village called ‘Caerdyyd’ where they’d meet up with the others.

If the other squad captains were anything like their own, he’d likely be seeing other newbies as well.

The walk to the village was uneventful and quiet after Asta was admonished.

The village was about as big as the village Ichigo had met Asta and Yuno at.

“Keep a lookout for Squad capes, guys.” Ichigo advised as they entered the village.

The village had only about a handful of houses, almost all of them adjacent to a farm field.

The residents were milling about on their work. The three of them attracted attention, each time someone passed them on their way.

Ichigo found Noelle looking around in open curiosity as she looked around the village. Probably her first time coming out here.

“Look at this.” Asta remarked gleefully. “It’s no bigger than Hage village. I feel like I’ve come home.”

Noelle’s eyes danced around the village, stopping on almost every and anything that moved. She wasn’t as much as interested as curious as to how the people lived out in the ‘boonies’.

“I think it’s safe to say that our counterparts haven’t arrived yet.” Ichigo remarked dryly.

“We can wait at that temple over there.” Asta exclaimed, instinctively walking towards the only building that was double storeyed.

‘We shouldn’t impose like this.’ Ichigo thought but failed to voice his thought as he walked behind the two teens.

Asta talked up with the priest who seemed more than eager to let Magic Knights rest up in the temple, though he did scrunch up a bit at the name ‘Black Bulls’.

As Ichigo and Asta drank some much appreciated water and Noelle sulked to the side, Ichigo’s eyes caught the silhouette of a group of 2 approaching the temple.

“I think the others just arrived” He motioned towards 2 figures making their way towards the church.

Ichigo quickly took note of the Knights. A female and a male.

The girl was in her teens, brown hair tied back. She wore a simple white garb, a faded pink overcoat draped around her shoulders that sported the squad emblem. Something about her was familiar.

Her company was also about the same age, maybe a year or two older. He wore a white shirt that matched the blue pants and black boots well. Though the pink squad cape butchered that combination to smithereens.

The two smiled as they spotted Ichigo and Asta, waving to them.

“Hey, I remember you. You’re Ichigo.” The girl quickly deduced as they approached the black bulls. Ichigo flashed her a confused look, surprised that someone from this world recognized him.

“We fought in the Knight’s exam, remember? I’m Macy Gaeins and this is Daniel Ruettiger” She introduced themselves.

Noelle joined the other two, checking out the knights before turning the other way.

“Oh, yeah. I remember.” Ichigo turned towards her counterpart,

“I’m Ichigo Kurosaki, this is Asta and the one staring off into the distance is Noelle Silva.” He quickly introduced.

“Wait, as in from the Silva family? She’s a royal? In Black Bulls…” Rudy spoke without thinking earning a pointed glare from Noelle. He quickly came to a stuttering stop after that.

‘I’m the oldest here? I don’t like this kind of responsibility.’ Ichigo thought randomly.

“Alright, let’s not waste more time and head out.” Ichigo suggested and all of them agreed.

The walk towards their destination was not so silent as the one before. With Asta in full swing and Noelle being quiet, the group chattered away.

From their conversation, Ichigo quickly memorised the backstories of Macy and Daniel.

Macy was born and brought up in a trading city far up north, close enough to the Royal Realm to not be scorned by the nobles.

Daniel however, was somewhat like Asta, raised in a village.

They’d both received their grimoires when they were 14 and were quite excited to join the Magic Knights.

At first, Ichigo found it weird that a trader’s daughter was interested to join something like the army in the first place. But then he quickly admonished himself for applying fiction clichés to real life.

Being a Magic Knight came with the prestige like no other job could offer.

The day passed as such, in loud and comforting banter that thankfully didn’t make things more awkward.

Currently, they were walking in almost pitch darkness with Ichigo and Dan lighting their way with magic.

Macy, as Ichigo remembered, possessed Earth magic i.e. the ability to manipulate the ground beneath them to form attacks or defence.

Now, Daniel on the other hand had fire magic. Just like the weird-hairdo guy from our squad, Ichigo remarked.

Though from what he could tell, Daniel was much stronger than Magna. Which was weird considering the experience and age difference between the two.

“How much longer till we get there?” Asta complained, his eyes dancing around the forest.

“We don’t know, Asta. However, I do suggest that we set up camp here for now and continue on tomorrow. We’re close enough to be worried about being spotted.” Ichigo suggested.

A rounds of affirmations later, Dan started a small camp fire and the others began setting about, looking for good places to sleep.

Macy brought out the food that the villagers from Caerdyyd had given them.

Ichigo began munching on the food, thinking about his encounter with whatever the energy source was. He hoped that whatever it was reasonable enough to not want to destroy the world with it.

‘Waking up on the ground in a forest is not the kind of new experience I was looking for.’ Ichigo snarled mentally, awoken by the assaulting sunlight that bared down on him.

He groaned twice, his back all messed up from the hard ground he laid on. Shaking his head, he looked around. Macy was already awake and Noelle was nowhere to be seen.

He sighed, straightening his bed hair, before walking up to Macy.

“Hey, Macy. Good Morning.”

“Good Morning Ichigo.” She greeted back, sipping water from her container.

“Where’s Noelle? Please don’t tell me she wandered off.” Ichigo hoped that wasn’t the case. They were too close to their destination for them to be jovial about it.

However, as he turned to look at Macy, he found her face flushed and the absolute refusal to look back at him.

‘Change the subject. Change the subject! Change the subject!’ rung through his mind.

So he blurted out whatever came to his mind in that moment,

“I wanted to ask, Macy, why did a trader’s daughter join the magic knights?” Ichigo regretted asking the question. However, in this day and age, whatever it was, he supposed it was a valid question.

Hearing this, the blush on Macy’s face lightened. She giggled a bit, as if she was almost expecting the question.

“I guessed you’d ask that. Well, ever since I was little, I was told that my magic was very strong.

For earth magic wielders, it is almost unheard of for someone to be able to manipulate the earth without their grimoires to help them. Of course most could form little pebbles, but that was the extent of it.”

Ichigo moved to sit beside her, somewhat invested in her story.

“But I was able to manipulate to such a degree that I was told that I’d be a great addition to Magic Knights. Even then, I had little to no interest in being one. After all, why would I desert my luxurious life to go join the army.

Then, one day, when I was 13, an extremist group raided our part of the town and razed almost everything with fire magic. They had absolutely no reason to do so other than fun.

The Magic Knights that did try to stop them were too weak or too inexperienced. And with the sheer number they had on their side, it was almost impossible to defeat them.

I was scared out of mind to do anything other than try and run away with my parents.

However, before we set out, the Blue Rose squad arrived on scene. One of them, used Earth Magic to stop the raiders. The finesse she used to take out the men was awe inspiring.

I stood in my doorway, staring at her as she danced among her enemies, taking them out.

One of the quirks of earth-magic wielders are that we lack the flexibility required for hand-to-hand combat. However, the Magic Knight overcame this and fought like a champ.

But, hardly few things always go according to plan. The raiders soon began overwhelming even the Blue Rose squad.

A stream of fire was making its way towards the Earth-magic knight and she was completely caught off guard by it.

I don’t how it happened, maybe my magic sensed my desire to protect her and responded in kind, but a thick wall of earth rose up ahead of the Knight taking the stream of fire with ease before crumbling away.

Having never done something of this magnitude, I quickly passed out on the scene.

When I woke up, I saw my parents around me, concerned looks on their faces. However, what surprised me was the fact that the Magic Knight was also present.

She moved towards me with a blinding smile, before thanking me for saving her butt. My parents gave her a scorned look for using such language with a child but she paid them no mind and left without another word.

Turns out the Blue Rose knights had won. But not without the help of the other squads that were defeated before. However, the damage had been done. Our business was decimated into the ashes.

And while we would recover from it, there were many who wouldn’t. That made me furious at the group that decimated someone’s life just for fun.

That’s why I joined the Magic Knights. Though I wanted to join the Blue Rose squad.”

She finished with a sigh, sipping some more water from her pouch.

“Was it because of our fight that you didn’t get selected by the Blue Knights?” Ichigo asked somewhat guiltily.

“Probably. Though you shouldn’t blame yourself. I was getting to arrogant for my own good. It was nice to know someone as powerful as you were also going to be a magic knight.” She replied with a smile.

Ichigo smiled back, before sensing someone standing behind them.

“Welcome back, Noelle. I hope you didn’t wander off too far away.” He said out loud.

“No, I didn’t.” She answered back swiftly.

“So, how much of it did you hear?” Ichigo asked non-chalantly, turning to face her.

The question seemed to hit too close to home for comfort, as Noelle gave him a pointed glare before storming off muttering about old peasants sticking their nose in other people’s business.

That reminded him.

“Hey, Macy? At the start, there you said something about expecting to hear that question from me. What did you mean by that?”

“Oh, well…” She hesitated before answering, “People around my age don’t usually ask that question. It’s only elders who do.”

“Elders…” Ichigo quietly muttered to himself. He quietly calmed himself, trying not to act out like his father.

“I’m not that old from you Macy. I’m 21.” Ichigo answered.

At this, Macy somewhat sputtered. “Only 21? I thought you were much older what with your physique.” She stuttered out, her face hiding a blush.

Ichigo let out a chuckle. Hearing a teenager compliment was somehow uncharacteristically funny for him. If only Karin had heard this.

“Why’d you laugh?” Macy looked confused.

“My younger sister taunted me for looking too old. She’d have a fit if she heard you.” Ichigo chuckled once more. Macy smiled back.

“I didn’t know you had sisters. I thought Asta was your only brother.” She asked surprised.

“Asta isn’t my brother. To be perfectly honest, I just met him like a week ago.”

“But then, you guys talk like you have known each other for ages.”

“That’s Asta for you. I don’t actually tell people this, but I’m from another continent. I met Asta and his family when I was lost and accidently found myself in Hage Village.

Since, then he’s kind of grown on me. Though I sincerely wish I could tone down his voice somewhat.” Ichigo looked over the sleeping form of Asta who still slept like a log.

Macy chuckled at Ichigo’s remark. She wouldn’t say this out loud, but she too wished if Asta could speak quieter.

“I think its best if we woke up the two.” Ichigo said, getting up and moving towards Asta.

He gently shook him awake.

The sun was well up in the sky when the group was ready to continue the last part of their journey and finally begin their mission.

“I don’t think I need to remind you guys that this is just an observational mission. Do not take up any fights and if approached, retreat as soon as you can.” Ichigo said out loud as the group nodded back.

The last thing he needed was a fight with the teens around.

As a breeze drifted across, they set out.