THE FOUR ACES

CHAPTER 5: THE ENTRANCE EXAM PART 1

Six Months Later

Entrance Exam Venue, Coliseum

The Royal Capital

Asta and Yuno were making their way through the jam-packed street of the Royal Capital for the first time in their lives.

Asta could not help but think that with his Grimoire he could make it to a Magic Knights Squad and beat Yuno finally and then Hermione-nee could brag about him in front of Daphne-nee who was always going on about Yuno's achievements.

But as they neared the venue where the entrance exam was being held, both he and Yuno heard two unsavoury characters whisper while pointing towards them.

"The Boonies are where those two belong; they are just going to waste the Captains time."

"Yeah, the short one looks so weird"

Asta was about to give the two-men a piece of his mind when a palace official announced: "Please form a line and get your registration number." The registration officials were loudly instructing the crowd which had formed to participate in the Entrance exam for the Magic Knights.

"What are these things?" One of the other participants asked his friend while trying to remove a small fat black and white bird which was stubbornly sitting on his shoulders.

"They are anti-magic birds; they love to surround people with less magic, more the birds less the magic you have."

"That guy over there does not have any birds around him, Wow must he have a lot of Mana." One person in the crowd shouted while pointing at Yuno.

While many were in awe of Yuno, plenty of the gathered teenagers were busy having fun at Asta's expense as he was covered head to toe in Anti Magic birds.

"Here is your registration number 697. Your Grimoire is very special young man, Good Luck" Asta felt jealous at the compliments being showered at Yuno but he swallowed his envy and gave his Grimoire to the official for inspection.

"Is this some kind of joke kid?" "This dirty piece of trash is not a Grimoire; you can hardly call it a book." Asta then tried to placate the condescending official by pleading,

"It is, please it is a Grimoire, believe me." "If you say so, fine, your registration number 698, I might have to wash my hands after touching that thing."

'I want to kill these birds' Asta thought as he ran from the venue as he was being chased by a flock of Anti Magic Birds after getting registered.

In his distracted state, Asta did not see where he was going and suddenly crashed into someone. Asta was about to apologise when he noticed that all the Anti-magic birds had fled and he was now facing a tall muscular man who was giving of a deadly purple aura'

"That kid is dead, Yami is going to kill him" Asta heard a nearby shopkeeper mutter to his customers and dread-filled Asta.

Yami then angrily hissed after picking Asta up from the ground by his head "I am going to destroy you, you little shit."

Asta's forehead was now covered in sweat when another announcement rang through his and everyone's ears "Magic Knight's Entrance Exam is about to commence all participants, Captains and Vice Captains are requested to be present at the Coliseum within five minutes."

"Your lucky day, have a nice flight," Asta screamed as Yami threw him towards the Coliseum.

"I hope that kid survived." The guy with a maw hawk standing next to Yami said.

"Something is not right with that boy, Magna" Yami replied with a grave face which worried Magna even more.

Same Time

The corridor behind Main Coliseum Gallery

"This is going to be so boring, I truly hate exam day" Blaise complained to Hermione and the rest as all of them were waiting for William to start Entrance Exam.

Hermione than knocked him on his head as usual before saying with a delighted smile, "Oh Please! Grow up you cry baby, you should be excited it's finally Asta and Yuno's time."

"Blaisey-kins cheer up! We can cut and rip the ones we select later, my treat." Jack said with a sadistic expression and to Hermione's horror Blaise laughed and followed Jack to the Gallery before she heard him replying loudly,

"Jackie-pooh, you know me so well" Hermione was about to reprimand Blaise about his behaviour when she heard Charlotte saying,

"Hermione don't waste your breath on these hooligans, God knows how can you even be in a relationship with a Praying Mantis" Hermione was about to defend Blaise and Jack but she was beaten by Daphne who said with a smirk,

"Charlotte dear are you feeling jealous, that Mione has a boyfriend and you don't?"

"I am not jealous, Daphne!" Charlotte screeched before making her way towards the gallery.

"Daph, you really love to push Charlotte's buttons," Hermione said a bit sheepishly.

"Of course I will not deny it," Daphne replied as he looped her arm around Hermione and both of them sat down on the seats behind the Captains in the Main Gallery and watched William Vengeance announce his position as the Head Examiner and commence the Entrance Exam.

Main Gallery

Coliseum

"Welcome everyone, myself William Vengeance, Captain of Golden Dawn; I would be your Head Examiner today.

There will be many tasks that we expect you to perform so that the Captains, as well as their team members, can properly assess your Magical prowess and determine whether you are a right fit in their Squads. Each individual would be judged on how well you do in each part of the exam, so I wish you all the best.

The first portion is to check how well you can ride a broom, an essential for any Magic Knight."

"Magic Tree: Descent!"

A humungous magic tree descended from the clouds above the Coliseum, its gigantic roots soon started to form brooms.

"I love the theatrics, this never gets old," Harry whispered to Blaise who was sitting beside his as both of them observed the participants attempt to ride the brooms.

"True, but the best part is watching these fumbling idiots," Blaise replied in a hushed tone.

They continued to watch when Harry heard Fuegoleon, "Potter, that boy over there has powerful wind magic; he is going to be a great asset"

Harry then noticed Fuegoleon was pointing towards Yuno. The boy was giving them quite the show with the various stunts he was pulling.

"Harry, even William is paying attention to Yuno and that is saying something," Blaise whispered.

"That was inevitable, can't say that I am not feeling proud but do you see Asta anywhere?"

"Nah, I hope the little squirt is okay."

Than Daphne leaned in towards them and said, "Pipsqueak can't get the broom to leave the ground; he has been making futile efforts for quite a while now."

Charlotte than motioned Hermione to come forward before "The boy with Wind Magic I would like him with us even if we are an all-girls Magic Knight Squad."

"Yuno has great potential; the boy is very close to Daphne and Harry."

Hermione's reply was heard not only by Charlotte but other captains as well. Whispers broke out throughout the main gallery and then Fuegoleon and Nozel got up from their seats to confront Daphne and Harry about Hermione's statement.

"Potter the boy thinks of you as a father figure, this would surely motivate him to join Crimson Lions," Fuegoleon said while giving a stink eye to Nozel.

"Daphne is the boy's mother in all but blood and everyone know's sons prefer their mothers to fathers." Nozel countered while giving Fuegoleon a death glare.

Before either Daphne or Harry could respond William got up and announced the next part of the examination, "The first part is complete the next part is to judge your Mana and spell power, please shoot the maximum number of moving targets with your magic."

"Nozel, Fuegoleon, Yuno wants to join Golden Dawn if William would have him, I am sure he will get a hand raise from each squad just like the four of us did at our time but we are not going to force him to join our squads," Harry replied with his lips in a frown.

This dissuaded any further intimidation tactics by the captains but a smile did appear on William's face.

"Also, why didn't that short boy over there could not lift his broom at all, he should have some Mana to levitate the broom a bit?" Magna questioned Yami and it seemed to resonate with others in the gallery as well.

"Blaisey-kins, do you know that boy?" Jack asked Blaise after looking at Asta.

"Yeah, Jackie-Pooh, he comes from the same orphanage as us. Unfortunately for some unknown reason, the boy was born without any Mana." Blaise answered with sympathetic eyes.

"Let's wait and watch, I think Asta might surprise or shock all of us," Harry said with confidence which shocked most of the gallery including his other three companions.

The evaluation continued with Yuno acing every portion from his ability in creation magic to pouring magic into a seed and which he ended up converting into a mighty oak. As well as his powerful blasts on the wall did not go unnoticed by any Captain, whereas Asta's failure looked almost comical in comparison. The other examinees managed some tasks but no one was as bad as Asta.

Lunch Break

The Main Gallery

Corridor Entrance

"Number 525, the girl is not bad, with some training she can be a very valuable addition" Hermione consulted with Charlotte.

"Hmm, her magic is nothing special though; water magic with no special attributes is not going to add much to our team," Charlotte replied while rubbing her chin.

"I can't argue with that but if you want to diversify the team why not the number 372, she has smoke magic which is rare."

"The girl does have smoke magic; let's see how she performs in combat as her creation magic was weak and for wind magic you know it's essential."

"Another possible option is number 230, I was impressed by her spell power, she decimated that wall and iron creation magic is not common."

"I noticed her also; Dorothy might want her but I think the girl will choose us if given the option"

"My last suggestion for today in this sea of incompetence would be number 300, shadow magic usage by the girl was very creative and her dark cedar tree was quite good," Hermione suggested to which Charlotte nodded.

Lunch Break

Staircase below the Main Gallery

"Number 78, Fire magic and decent power in spells, should be an obvious choice," Harry said to his captain Fuegoleon.

"I agree but you left out the part that his broom riding skills were atrocious and that suggests a lack of control which in case of Fire Magic could be fatal," Fuegoleon replied with critical eyes.

"He could be trained, that's what we are here for." Harry countered.

"We are Crimson Lions; we can't waste our precious time training spoilt Noble brats or destitute Sheppard's boys with no talent. If you have any viable candidates, I am all ears."

"There is always 496 and 128, both of them performed well on brooms if that is your judgement criteria; one has lava magic while the other has wind magic, both would require very less work," Harry replied with a frown.

"Potter, 496 is okay something new to deal with but 128 is another wind magic user who is not the best one out of the current lot, so I am going to pass on her."

Lunch Break

Coliseum Upper Floor Gallery

"The boy with steel magic, I want him," Nozel said with finality to Daphne by crossing his arms and thin lips.

"No more Steel Magic, water, or any type of fluid or metal magic users. Make an unorthodox choice for once in your life, why not try 186, flower magic girl has talent." Daphne hissed back.

"You expect a Silver Eagle member to shower flowers on the enemy in combat, don't mock me, Daphne."

"So choose someone else but please for the love of God, diverge from your predictable practice."

"Care to give me some suggestions rather than passing your ridiculous judgements."

"89 and 356, I want those two and I will let you have your Steel Magic, wonder boy."

"89 is not of Noble blood so No. 356 has shield magic and is a noble's son so fine you can have him." Nozel said with a blank face.

Daphne wanted to argue further but she conceded after releasing a frustrated sigh.

Lunch Break

Coliseum Main Gallery

"Blaisey-kins, so do you have anyone in mind?" Jack asked with delighted eyes.

"Nah, just raise your hand for the one you like with a good amount of Mana," Blaise replied with a grin on his face.

"That is a great idea!" Jack agreed.

Thirty Minutes Later

Main Gallery

The exam was now concluding as William announced: "The last part of the exam is combat, partner up and make your way to the arena, we have healers nearby to cure any injuries caused, so do not hold back."

"Pipsqueak is not going to cut it," Daphne said as she sat beside Harry this time.

"Daph, you are being a bit harsh on Asta," Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

"No need act as Saint Potter, you also were just as tough and distant towards the boy as me since day one, we picked the baby we cared for and that was not Asta," Daphne replied narrowing her eyes at Harry.

"Don't bring that up; I am not in a mood for a fight today," Harry said with a frown.

"Fine, let's watch the combats but remember this Harry that cursed Grimoire which the pipsqueak now carries will come to bite us in our arses someday." Daphne calmly said with a poker face.

Disclaimer: I don't' own Black Clover or Harry Potter

P.S: This is a filler Chapter. I could not write more due to being very busy. The next chapter will come up soon and will conclude the entrance exam with some of my own twists and start with the introduction of the Black Bulls and Noelle. I hope you all enjoy this chapter; I have changed the perspective of the entrance exam and wrote it from the examiner's point of view rather than the examinees.