Time slowly passed as the rumors started to spread like wildfire. The entire western front had apparently fallen. The local commander got into a fight with The Holy Kingdom's forces and the Demon Archer that went around punishing the evil.
Both sides took massive losses, to the point that there were barely any fanatics left that were actively fighting. The Prince instantly brought more resources and reinforcements to the western front to patch up the holes, but he was too late as many of the remaining forces of the Holy Kingdom barged right in.
Still, up to now, The Holy Kingdom had never declared war. This was all from a few loyal citizens willing to take up their weapons to remove a stain on the world. Whether the Demon Archer was alive or not depending on who you heard the rumors from. Either way, the true culprits were left unheard and untouched.
Travelling back to the headquarters down south, Lucas and Asta spend their time leisurely studying and practicing their magic. They were strong, but found plenty of faults within one another.
Just by being near each other, they improved at a rapid pace. Their ability to be candid and critical pushed them to improve as fast as possible.
By the time they were almost back, Lucas was even capable of flying at a stable speed. Approaching the headquarters from afar, Lucas' eyes suddenly focussed on something in the distance. Holding his arm out, he stopped Asta.
"Is there a problem?", Asta brought his willpower out, but Lucas instantly stopped him. "Don't!"
Standing in the open air, Lucas squinted his eyes. "The headquarters has visitors. Look at their garments."
Asta focussed on his vision as much as he could, piercing the air in the distance. "There are two groups. One is wearing dark green uniforms, the other light blue with gold tints. I can't make out their faces or gender."
Lucas stayed silent as he lowered himself to the ground, Asta following suit. "I'm not sure, but the light blue with gold is a sign of royalty within Frigus, I think. The dark green... I've no idea."
"Considering they have guards flying in the sky with the ones from supposed royalty, it can only mean two things. A mercenary group hired by those of royal blood to enforce their protection. That or a high standing noble family. One with enough power to patrol with the ones from royalty."
"Why do they have to appear now?", Lucas scratched his head as he tried to figure out what he could do.
"What? Are nervous in front of some random noble and a nepotist?", Asta felt baffled seeing Lucas so serious. There was nothing to truly worry about.
"Ah, don't you remember, I killed some random mage during the school's national competition. His parents now have it out for me. I've been avoiding them all the time, they even sent assassins after me."
"And yet you still stand, so what's there to be worried about?"
Lucas stared at him, but he waved him off. "I jest. I fully understand what it means to have entire noble families breathing down your neck. While it might not seem like it, I've had my share of troubles in the past."
As they simply stood around, Lucas conjured a large rock to take a seat on. "You? I'd guess you went off and insulted some kid and got their entire family on your back?"
Following Lucas' example, Asta conjured a plain chair made from pure mana. "I never insult someone, I'm just stating objective facts. It's just that people can't bear to hear them. But no, that was not the reason they hunted me down."
"Then why are you so free now? What happened, you kill them all?"
Waving away the idea, Asta shook his head. "I wouldn't be able to do that even if I wanted to. No, I come from far away. My family is in a fight with one another to gain some title. They're too blinded to see reality."
"I see, so the moment you were born you were basically engineered to hate your siblings?", Lucas had little experience with people, but knew how they worked. Even just the treatment of nobles and commoners taught him plenty about people's way of thinking.
If Asta's family were fighting each other purely for some title, it must've meant the tensions were always there from the beginning. The royal family of Frigus was a prime example, just to get the throne, the king's children are at each other's throat from the moment they were born.
"No. Well, yes. They obviously trained me to fight the others, and because I saw fault in their techniques, I had no problem trampling over them. Though that did come with a generational hatred towards me, I presume."
Lucas needed a second to think. He knew Asta quite well, and if his heart told it correctly, there was no way Asta would just scrutinize the spells from a single rival. "Let me guess, you also saw mistakes in your own father's or mother's techniques, and they threw you out?"
"What? Why would you think so? My family is quite important to me, mind you," Asta crossed his arms as he took a defensive stance. "But yes, they also made plenty of mistakes and when I pointed them all out, all I got were glares for some reason. It's like they can't handle the truth."
Their conversation kept going, and after some time, Lucas couldn't help but laugh out loud. Enjoying the strange antics Asta went through as he grew up back home put him in a good mood. "Enough about me. I'll tell you more when I ask you for that favor, which will be in a bit. What about you?"
"Me? My story isn't that funny sadly. I just come from a small forgotten village that was ransacked by monsters. As the only survivor, I was kidnapped by some mage and experimented on."
Hearing that Asta felt his hart soften, it was hard to describe, but he felt sad, somehow. "How did you get out then?"
"I killed the bastard. Then I ran towards the nearest town. Since I didn't have anything but my magic, I looked for a place where I would be able to use it. I was naive frankly, but I didn't have much of a choice."
"So you ended up at the academy, and that's why you got those teachers, because they were cheap or free."
"That's right. I didn't know much about nobility or stuff, so I just went along with the flow for the most part."
"Hmm, you seem pretty normal from my point of view, ther's just one thing I can't place, your aura. Since it's meant to represent your being, mine is useless in direct combat, but the best at analyzing things. It shows I don't need any additional weapon since my Pure Mana spells are already at the pinnacle. Why is yours so destructive?"
"To be honest, this was the result of my work with Elam, my teacher back in the academy. He put me under constant pressure from a Rank 2 and told me to stand up."
"That's pretty sadistic, I didn't know he was like that. He looked pretty lazy from afar."
"Well, he taught me that runes were signs containing emotions or a meaning, a declaration, perhaps. In order to fight back against the aura, I created my own rune."
"Yes, well, many mages eventually create their own spells and runes, but you were quite early. Even I haven't started it yet. But what can a simple rune do against an aura? Were you just spitballing and throwing anything against the wall, hoping it would stick?"
"Can't remember, I think I was just extremely angry, but not at my teacher. It was more an anger towards the world. My rune contains all that anger and fury. After I carved it in my mental sphere, my aura came loose and fought back against Elam's."
"Hold on a second," crossing his legs, Asta looked deep in thought. His eyes darted from one place to another as his aura appeared for a moment. Mumbling something to himself, Asta's mind tried to calculate the possibilities and feasibility.
After some time, he retracted his aura and used a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat. "I've confirmed it, you are an insane individual."
"Says the one who fought against his rivals and personal family."
Ignoring his comment, Asta continued with a strange defiance in his voice. "You were a Rank 1 mage with an aura, which is already outside the norm, but you carved a personal rune into your own dome while being Rank 1? Have you absolutely lost your mind?", he tried to stay calm, but his voice simply couldn't handle it.
"What's so strange about it, you just said that many mages do it."
"Yes, make their own runes. Also, they only start after Rank 3 because the dome gets thick and powerful enough to handle the power of personal runes. A Rank 1 can only write simple, basic runes into their mind because it won't put much strain on the mind. Carving a personal rune into it would shatter the entire dome."
"Well, yeah, it hurt a lot back then, and even now, if I use it I get a searing headache, but it's not like it's life-threatening."
Asta grasped his head as he held back a sigh. "You truly are insane. I did the calculations, there is no way to carve a rune so intense into your own dome at Rank 1 in normal circumstances."
"True, I only worked on it under the pressure of a Rank 2," Lucas spoke as if it was the most natural thing in the world, while being extremely ignorant of his own circumstances.
Asta's mind couldn't help but think back on how his time was in the academy. Most of the time, he sat bored behind a small desk learning how certain spells were made. The reason for his boredom was because he knew it all already, yet the people next to him struggled to grasp the basics. None were subjected to the trials Lucas underwent, which was perhaps why his mental state was so strong and strange at the same time.
"The pressure of a Rank 2 would theoretically temper the dome enough to not make your lines scar your entire mind. It's such a ridiculous way of achieving your aura."
Trying to push the most extraordinary circumstances aside, Asta wanted to reemphasize a point he made some time ago.
"The issue with yours is, it's an emotional one, it'll be impossible to keep that desire so powerful. You need to keep feeling angry to fuel it enough, or you'll end up like Malek."
"I'm aware, but I don't think that will happen."
"How so?"
"Every time I activate my rune, my head gets filled with images of my past that haunt me. All the mistakes I made, all the times I lost something, they come back to life and torture me to the point of insanity. I don't think I'll ever lose that hatred towards the world."
Asta's eyes widened slightly as he thought it over.
'Runes are containers for emotions and thoughts, but when people create them, they don't typically influence the dome.'
As a man whose aura was all about analyzing, he inspected his own dome and mental sphere. 'The dome is strong, and when I reach Rank 3 it will become even thicker, meaning the runes carved in it will also be less damaging. But perhaps that only diminishes their true meaning? If you could carve an emotional rune directly into the dome while at Rank 1, the dome is still thin enough for it to grow with it. This ... this is...'
Asta stared at Lucas with a newfound respect. 'He'll probably never have to change it, and since it's done so early, he could probably change its shape and effect later on... Monster'
Not wanting to let his awe show, Asta concluded his own thoughts. "Either way, you have until Rank 3 to think about it."
"I know."
"Now, what do we do? I can go in alone, but if they are after you, they'll definitely keep me there."
Lucas inspected what he had stored in his ring, hoping it would give him some inspiration before a flash struck. "How about I wear the mask?", pulling out a mask that only left two holes for the eyes and a wide smile, the white mask still looked clean despite all its uses.
"That would only make you extremely suspicious."
"You don't have to remind me. I was just thinking, wasn't there a request to capture some infamous criminal or something? Nobody really knows his actual appearance, so we should be able to sneak in that way."
"Only if you happen to have his name of course, and the mission has to be approved before setting off. Besides, there would be no way of getting out as well."
Having his plan shut down so ruthlessly, Lucas didn't mind it in the slightest as the points against his plan were solid.
"I'll just pretend to have gotten seriously injured instead. While I am studying healing magic from one of those tomes, nobody knows about it, so that's a valid excuse to cover it up."
Asta found reason in it, "Not the kind of stuff that would hold nobles off on checking your face though."
"In the headquarters of the army they don't have any real authority. Especially when the guards of the Royal Family are situated here."
"Then it looks good to me. Let's go."
Donning his mask, they started their flight back to the mansion. Not bothering to hide their presence since it would only attract attention, they specifically chose a spot where the royal guards were flying.
"Halt, state your reason for entry," the man held a basic spear coated in gold, making it look powerful and flashy, but Lucas only saw it as a waste of resources.
"We've returned from our mission," Asta pulled out a piece of paper that held a basic mission on it. "We need to report it to the commander and receive our reward."
The guard read it before nodding. Lucas couldn't help but think that it wouldn't have mattered what kind of paper they showed as long as it seemed official. There was no way for them to know the official proceedings, giving him ideas for the future.
Landing on the ground, the place was infested with guards, draped in their respective colors, dark green and light blue. Avoiding as many people as possible, they hurried inside where there were fewer guards visible. Only the royal guards remained, which made sense.
Making it to the office of Kasto, they were about to storm in before looking at each other. "There's probably a person of royalty in here," Lucas said before he placed his palm on the door.
"You think I'm going to lower my standards for some nepo baby? I don't think so," taking Lucas's place, Asta put his palms on both doors before pushing them open.