The night after their first mission was calm — deceptively calm.The Black Bulls' base hummed with laughter and drunken cheer, but Lucian sat alone on the roof, staring into the stars. The wind tugged at his silver hair, cool against the faint hum of mana that always surrounded him.
It had been only a few days since he'd joined this squad — a band of misfits, rejects, and outcasts.Yet somehow, among their chaos, he'd found… peace.
Still, something in his chest ached.
He glanced down at his grimoire resting on his lap.Its cover shimmered faintly — prismatic light rippling across the silver binding. Once, it had seemed blank and lifeless. Now, with every spell he learned, the pages pulsed like they were waking up.
Omni Magic: the power to shape all things, yet belonging to none.
He traced his fingers along the edge of the book.His mother's voice echoed faintly in memory — gentle, reassuring."Your magic isn't a curse, Luci. It's the world itself trying to speak through you."
He closed the grimoire with a soft thud. "If that's true, Mother… then why does it still feel like I don't belong anywhere?"
Morning Chaos
Lucian's introspection didn't last.
"BREAKFAST TIME!" Charmy's voice bellowed through the base, followed immediately by a thunderous crash that shook dust from the rafters.
Asta came sprinting through the hall, tripping over a chair, sword clattering behind him. "LUCI! Hurry, before Magna eats everything!"
Lucian blinked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "You realize you could just… ask her to make more?"
"Charmy says the second batch is for 'premium customers only,' and Magna bribed her with pudding!"
Lucian sighed but followed anyway. Life here is louder than any battlefield.
By the time he reached the table, Noelle was already scolding Magna for spilling soup on the floor. Gordon was whispering something incomprehensible to his plate. Luck had started a lightning duel with a candlestick.
It was, in a word, chaos.
And for the first time, Lucian smiled.
Captain's Summons
The laughter quieted as Yami entered, cigarette dangling from his mouth. "Alright, idiots — listen up. We've got ourselves another situation."
He dropped a crumpled parchment onto the table. The Black Bulls gathered, eyes wide as they read.
"A mana disturbance?" Noelle murmured. "That's near the Silva estate's region."
Lucian's breath caught. The name alone stirred something deep and bitter.
Yami's eyes flicked toward him. "That bother you, kid?"
Lucian hesitated. "…No, Captain. Just unexpected."
Yami smirked. "Good. Because I'm sending you, Asta, and Noelle to check it out. Magna's banned from missions till he pays off the roof repairs."
"Hey!" Magna protested.
"Silence," Yami said, without looking back. "You three leave at dawn. Be ready for trouble."
The Journey Home
As dawn broke, the trio set off through rolling hills and quiet woods. The air was clean, the wind gentle — but Lucian's mind was anything but.
Every mile closer to the Silva estate brought back old wounds. The ridicule. The sneers. The way Solid and Nebra looked at him like he was an insect wearing the family crest.
Asta jogged beside him, breaking the silence. "Hey, Luci? You okay?"
Lucian blinked. "Just thinking."
Asta grinned. "That's dangerous! When I think too much, I end up breaking something!"
Lucian chuckled despite himself. "I'll try to keep that in mind."
Noelle walked ahead, pretending not to listen — though her tone softened. "You don't have to face them if you don't want to. We can handle whatever's happening."
Lucian shook his head. "I do. I need to see it — to see them — as the person I've become, not the child they cast aside."
The Blighted Field
When they reached the outer lands of the Silva territory, the once-lush fields were dying.Crops withered to dust, and the air shimmered with unnatural mana.
Asta crouched beside a blackened vine. "Same thing as Sosshi Village?"
Lucian nodded slowly. "Similar, but denser. This isn't natural decay — it's drainage. Something's feeding on the mana here."
Before he could continue, a ripple ran through the ground. Shadows twisted upward, forming into warped beasts.
"Here we go again!" Asta shouted, unsheathing his sword.
Lucian opened his grimoire — its pages gleaming with rainbow light. "Noelle, maintain range. Asta, follow my lead."
"Got it!"
Lucian's voice was calm, precise. "Omni Magic: Elemental Null Field!"
The air bent, a translucent dome spreading outward. The monsters faltered as the ambient mana stabilized. Asta dashed in, cleaving through them, while Noelle's water magic surged with perfect clarity.
But then, the ground split — a massive pulse of corrupted mana flaring like a heartbeat.
Lucian's blood ran cold. "That's Silva ancestral magic."
A voice echoed through the smoke — haughty, sharp, familiar.
"Well, well. I was wondering when the family disgrace would crawl back."
Lucian turned slowly. His siblings stood across the ruined field — Solid and Nebra, flanked by silver-clad knights.
Noelle froze. "Solid… Nebra… what are you doing here?"
Solid sneered. "Cleaning up our family's mess. Though I see our mess decided to return on its own."
Nebra giggled cruelly. "How adorable. Playing Magic Knight now, little brother?"
Lucian said nothing. The wind carried the faint hum of Omni Magic building in his palms.
"Don't," Noelle whispered. "They're not worth it."
He exhaled slowly. "Noelle… they're not why I'm here."
He stepped forward, eyes glowing faintly. "I'm here because people are suffering. Whether my name is Silva or not doesn't change that."
For a brief moment, even Solid faltered.
Then the corrupted mana behind them exploded — a monstrous spirit formed from the ancestral magic gone wrong.
Lucian's gaze sharpened. "Talk later. Fight now."
Omni Harmony
Asta charged first, blade cleaving through the corrupted mist.Noelle's torrents followed, precise and powerful.
Lucian floated above the battlefield, grimoire blazing."Omni Magic: Harmonic Convergence!"
A ring of light expanded around him — wind, water, fire, earth, and lightning merging into perfect balance. The corrupted mana dissolved, purified by equilibrium itself.
The monstrous spirit screamed as its form unraveled, collapsing into harmless motes of silver light.
When the dust settled, the field was silent.
Solid and Nebra stared, speechless. For once, no insult came.
Lucian landed softly, his mana aura fading. He turned toward them. "Next time you want to judge me… make sure you can match me."
He walked past them without another word. Asta followed, wide-eyed and grinning. "That. Was. AWESOME!"
Noelle smiled faintly. "You've changed, Luci."
He looked toward the horizon, where the sun rose over the Silver Palace. "No. I'm just finally becoming who I was meant to be."
End of Chapter 5: Echoes of the Silver Crest
Themes:
Lucian begins confronting his past and the Silva family's scorn.
His calm composure contrasts his siblings' arrogance.
His Omni Magic shows its purifying, balancing nature for the first time.
The chapter closes the "initiation" arc, setting up his growing confidence and the looming intrigue of ancient mana.
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