"You found anything yet Yubin? I feel like falling asleep." Asta yawns, "I should find the architect who built these new mechanisms and insult him for death for this."
Standing in the backside of the Royal castle, sitting bored in the grass of the Royal garden. Asta and Yubin simply sat there, tinkering with a century old statue.
Hearing Asta's bored talk Yubin turned back him, 'I am a spirit not a mechanic! That's your job!'
"Fine fine. Just lend me your useless claws then." Asta asked before Grabbing Yubin and shoving him into the mouth of statue without caring.
The entire head of the statue broke away, luckily there were no guards in the garden right now and the only ones present were Asta, Yubin and a old man gardener with bad hearing.
"See it's that easy." Asta scoffed, pulling out a stainless green key from within the marble statue's neck.
He looked at Yubin funny, immediately repairing him with a little machine magic. The little bug was no longer chill as well, Yubin's claw coming straight towards Asta's face, probably wanting to scratch him to death.
"Now you are overreacting. "
Yubin's anger grew higher, 'Overreacting? You used me to break a statue just because you could! I have every right be overreacting!' Yubin yelled telepathically, but only received a blank smile from Asta.
The key now in his hand, Asta begans moving towards the castle, his footsteps echoing before he soon reached a fountain.
Splash
The key greeted water, tossed into the fountain by Asta under Yubin's observations. The water within grew slightly brighter in the moon light, the key eventually slipping with the water flow into the pumping pipes.
Then the sound of clicking came, the mechanical noise of gears and runes slowly coming out until it began speeding, eventually becoming a loud torrent of mechanical voices.
The fountain stopped, the water drained out. Within the seconds everything was gone to reveal the still wet surface of the pipes with something sticking out of it.
Asta reaches out, "welp. Here goes nothing."
He pulled the thing sticking out, the sound of a rubble resonating before the true shape of item came into Yubin's view- a cord made of metal string bound by sap and protected by runes.
"Just what was that? " Yubin asked, immediately obtaining his answer the next second before fountain opened and split before his eyes, "is that?"
Asta looked back, locking his with Yubin's empty eye sockets and slipped into the hidden passage.
'Wait for me!' Yubin called out but his contractor had already slipped into the passage without even a second glance.
...
'I am gonna find someone else when the contract ends.'
"No you won't." Asta pops up behind Yubin.
'AAAAHHHHH! HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?' Yubin screams with terror, making a high pitched screech that only asta could hear.
Disappointed, Asta points at the fountain, "Can't believe you feel our first trap."
'First trap?'Yubin glances at the fountain, 'When did you-, is that what I think it is.'
The fountain was exactly as same as before, still flowing with water and shaped just as it was before. There was no passage that opened up, only a normal fountain with a magic circle carved into one of stone panels, enbedded right into the fountain's supports.
"It's exactly what you think it is. You made it yourself." Asta mocked Yubin for falling to something of his own creation.
Stuck in a tiny insect body, the machine spirit could only digest the disrespect with barely containable rage. Silently he flutters to Asta's shoulder, dejected and prideless for the moment.
Asta saw Yubin's reaction, thinking maybe he should have kept his mouth shut. Nevertheless the deed was done so there was nothing that now could be done.
Deciding to leave Yubin to his own thoughts for the moment, Asta instead settles to actually disarm the rune circle in the fountain with a quick swipe of anti-magic.
The key was now inserted into the runed circle for real, disabling the illusion that Yubin fell prey to just now. The fountain didn't move, it was never supposed to move, instead what moved was the floor, revealing a ladder just near the broken statue which Asta himself broke moments ago.
'That should be the one. ' Asta thought, slowly leaping down without bothering to use the ladder. "Only a fool will trust this ladder."
The ladder was engraved with metal bending runes, one touch and the person's hands or legs would forever be ruined. So whatever Asta was planning would have to wait a little
The entire passage was a death trap for the ignorant, runes hidden not within the traps but the things that didn't look like a traps beside the the fake traps.
Large sawblades in the tunnel? Fake. Small rats in the sewers? Incendiary landmines. The sheer amount of traps would make one think they were going to steal from heavens themselves because the absurdity of the traps made even professional interrogators feel awe.
However there was one thing the traps didn't account for- Anti-magic.
Asta sighs in relief as the traps neutralised from his anti-magic before they even activated themselves, "this is what I call Convenient. Nothing but a normal stroll through the most traps a person could think through."
Yubin felt a little envious, it was his creation even if he had forgotten most of it by now, 'atleast put some respect and solve some traps! I put my heart in making these!'
"But you don't have a heart. You are a soul." Asta replies before realising a brewing trouble.
...
Yubin glares, once again regretting to follow these new side of his former king. "
You are one of most cruel people I have seen. Nobody says that to their partner spirits."
It was only now Asta realises he was becoming more and more negative to everyone beside him.
He thought to himself for a second, did he really have to expect things out of everyone, 'Am I... trying to change people to my expectations?'
Immediately Asta's mood fell, all his earlier energy and motivation now reduced to nothing but a severe moral problems. He has changed a little too much, and now he was expecting people to match his changes.
He was talking back to the captain he respected with his heart before, trying to run away from making new friends and even putting money before friendship and others.
'I-I...' Asta looks up at the dripping ceiling, 'These memories are too much.'
Seeing his partner being stuck up in a dilemma, Yubin felt a little need to help him out. However he found himself at loss of words to say, 'Oi Jas-, Asta! How about you get your breakdown back in the hotel instead?'
".. Nice idea." Asta agrees after a brief pause and moves on, leaving Yubin overwhelmed by the speed of his shift in thoughts.
The duo passed through the passage, eventually coming out to the place of their destination within just a few more minutes.
Asta and Yubin saw the passage expend, the small tunnel now merged into a giant Hall with ley lines of multiple colours carved into the walls. Eventually the hall merged a dome like clearing with a big hall in the center of the floor.
The mana here was gathered from all around the entire mountain range surrounding the kingdom as well as fiery mana of a volcanic zone far beneath the city.
The mana of four basic elements, channelled into the chambers for centuries just for one reason.
"I guess we are reached the cote." Asta says walking towards the giant chasm in the center. His eyes stuck on it as he let out a roar, "EVICRADE!"
the voice echoes in the silence, bouncing in every corner before eventually fading Into the background.
...
The ground begans shaking, a mini earthquake as you could say it. The hole in floor slowly lit before a fountain of flames emerged from its bottom.
A face emerged within the flames, the face of dragon's head while the flames vanish into the air to reveal the true colour of the dragon's face.
"The darned spiders just like sticking cobwebs everywhere.. But who even called me?" The dragon Evicrade looks around to find someone but he was looking at the wrong side.
The scene was comedic so Asta let it slide, watching as eventually Evicrade turned to find him chuckling at him from his behind.
"What's so funny you punk? You wanna get incinerated?" A ball of flames slowly formed in Evicrade's mouth. He spew a flames at Asta, expecting him to become Ash.
"Tch tch. Did you really that would work?" Asta voice came from within the flames, his anti-magic rapidly devoured every single of Evicrade's flames within seconds.
The dragon turns baffled, this wasn't a expectation he had but rejecting a good battle wasn't something a dragon like him could do after a century of boredom guarding this city from beneath.
However just when a smile forms in his face, Yubin arrives in front of him, fluttering his little moth wings.
"Another bug?.... Why does it seem familiar?" Evicrade took a second to digest the mana from Yubin, "this mana, is that you Yubin?"
*muffled bug noises*
...
"That ain't helping. Can't you go find some other body to possess? Maybe a eagle?"
Meanwhile Asta was just rolling around on the floor from the drama, clutching on his stomach while he laughed his ass off on the floor.
Both Yubin and Evicrade turn to him, yet before the dragon could fire another flame thrower he spoke, "sorry sorry, *small uncontrollable laughter* It's nice to meet you old friend. Also.
With a small snap of his fingers, the machine Grimoire heeds Asta's command and turns Yubin into his eagle form.
Evicrade turns to Yubin in disbelief, a glint of doubt and shock evident in his eyes, "is that?"
"As much as he has changed. He is still Jassen. But maybe only half Jassen." Yubin spoke honestly of his thoughts, confusing the dragon further.
The dragons looks at Asta for a second, a doubt raising on his mind. "Isn't he too short to be Jassen? The face might match but he looks like a toddler compared to him. "
"Thats why I said he was half Jassen."
"I see." The duo were both in agreement while Asta wanted to puke blood.
Bulge
The cheap shot hit Asta where it mattered, his height was one thing nobody has spoken about since his rebirth but even now it hurts.
It was like a imaginary boulder has fallen on him, knocking him down to his knees where he grovels while holding himself together.