A divine blessing, was it?
Yuuki's eyes flickered thoughtfully.
Even a faint trace of blessing granted a passive ability to recover mana at an astonishing rate. Just how powerful, then, were the elves — those born with nature's deep favor and abundant mana?
No wonder such a mighty race was driven to extinction.
Even without the devils' secret scheming, time alone would have pitted the royal and noble families of the Clover Kingdom against them.
No one could tolerate the existence of another race standing loftier than themselves.
The elves were kind, even aided humanity against disasters?
So what?
After restoring his mana, Yuuki rose from beneath the tree's shade.
Time to test the spell's power.
"Wind Magic — Tower of the Tempest!"
Yuuki raised his hand toward the open field, eyes narrowing.
The silver grimoire floating before him flipped open rapidly, and a powerful gust surged forth, twisting and swelling into a vortex that soon grew into a four-meter-tall tornado.
Whooshhh!
Rustle, crack!
The violent storm tore through the clearing. Dead leaves and dirt were swept into the funnel, trees groaned under the wind's pressure, and branches whipped against one another.
Everything around the tornado was caught up in the chaos — everything except its caster. The growing cyclone even seemed to pull the air around it into its rotation.
"So powerful!"
Yuuki's eyes widened. As expected of the attack-and-defense spell Yuno had developed — it was astonishing.
Suddenly—
Yuuki's expression changed. He immediately cut off his mana, dispelling the tornado.
Boom!
Even though Tower of the Tempest had been canceled, the debris it had drawn up — dirt, leaves, shattered branches — burst outward in every direction once the wind's constraint vanished.
Prepared for this, Yuuki quickly activated his Chain Magic. Several chains materialized before him, weaving into a metallic shield.
Clang! Clang!
The sharp ringing of impacts echoed for several seconds before fading away.
Lowering the chains, Yuuki surveyed the devastation. The ground around him was riddled with gouges and scattered debris.
"This spell eats through mana like crazy…"
He wiped the sweat from his brow, a twitch tugging at his lips.
That one cast of Tower of the Tempest had drained nearly half his mana. Keeping it active — let alone amplifying it — would burn through even more.
That was why he'd been so quick to dispel it.
"The spell's strong, no doubt… but with my current mana, I could only use it twice."
"Yuno's mana reserves must be even greater than I thought…"
Exhaling softly, Yuuki couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
During the Magic Knight entrance exam in the anime, Yuno had cast this very spell with ease — a casual demonstration of strength that now felt almost unfair.
People really shouldn't be compared.
Yuuki shook his head, closing his silver grimoire with a snap.
After half a year of training, he knew his Replication Magic inside out. Copying spells certainly saved him the effort of developing them himself — but it also came with flaws.
Nothing in this world was perfect.
Replicated spells were still just spells.
Yuuki could increase their raw power by pumping in more mana, sure — but altering the structure or properties of a copied spell was impossible.
It was like a fixed skill in a game — simple to use, but impossible to modify.
That, however, wasn't the true problem.
The real limitation lay in how his mana itself functioned.
Unless it was converted into a replicated spell, his mana couldn't interact with the outside world at all.
For example — during his match with Yuno, the scattered droplets from his shattered Water Fist could be easily redirected by Yuno's wind. That wasn't a spell — just Yuno manipulating ambient mana.
Similarly, Revchi's Chain Magic naturally manifested chains around him the moment he exerted mana. That too wasn't a formal spell — merely a passive expression of his magical affinity.
Most mages could do things like that.
But Yuuki couldn't.
Unless he cast an actual spell, his mana did nothing. It couldn't even stir a breeze.
That meant if he wanted to block something as trivial as flying droplets of water, he either had to cast a full-blown spell — or get wet.
Using a spell to dodge water? That was beyond wasteful.
The thought made Yuuki's desire to achieve Perfect Replication grow even stronger.
Unfortunately…
Perfect Replication required devouring another's grimoire.
And in this border village of Hage, visitors were rare.
The surrounding settlements were all small and close-knit — everyone knew everyone. If someone suddenly died or lost their grimoire, it would cause an uproar.
Which meant Yuuki hadn't been able to find a suitable target all these months.
He looked up at the clear blue sky.
"I guess I'll just have to join a Magic Knight squad first… and find a target there."
——Meanwhile——
Inside the Grimoire Tower.
"Well, it took some convincing, but I've managed to secure three recommendation slots."
The elderly mage conducting the grimoire-granting ceremony smiled warmly at Father and Sister Lily, his wrinkled face creasing further.
"Three slots? But isn't our region only allotted two recommendations each year?"
Father sounded surprised, though his tone carried familiarity.
"That's exactly why I said it took effort," the old mage chuckled. "Who would've thought a four-leaf clover grimoire would appear in a place like this?"
"With a discovery like that, it wasn't hard to argue for an extra slot."
A four-leaf grimoire — the mark of exceptional talent.
In all of Clover Kingdom's history, those who possessed one could be counted on one hand.
For such a prodigy to emerge here was an accomplishment worth boasting about.
"So the three are Yuno, Yuuki… and who's the last one?"
Sister Lily's sky-blue eyes shimmered with curiosity.
"Asta," said the old mage.
At that, both the priest and Sister Lily froze in disbelief.
"What? Asta?"
"Yuno and Yuuki I can understand, but you're letting Asta take the entrance exam?"
Father looked as if he'd misheard.
The old mage waved his hand lightly. "Why not? The boy's eager to try, and we happened to have a spare slot. Besides, let's be honest — those three have beaten every other young hopeful in Hage and the neighboring villages. If anyone here deserves the chance, it's them."
In truth, before the ceremony, the old mage had two other promising candidates in mind. The third recommendation slot he'd fought for was originally meant for one of them.
But the two had gone to challenge Yuuki's group — and were utterly crushed.
Disheartened, they'd given up on going to the capital altogether.
And so, the extra slot naturally fell to Asta.
"Don't tell me you're just reluctant to let all three of them leave," the old mage teased with a smile.
"Of course not!" Father huffed, face stiffening.
Sister Lily covered her lips, giggling softly at his reaction.
Seeing the flustered priest, the old mage's eyes twinkled with amusement.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder…
That grimy, tattered grimoire Asta had received — what exactly was it?
If he wasn't mistaken, it bore five leaves.
Was there really such a grimoire?
Or had his eyes deceived him that day?
Half-lidded eyes thoughtful, the old mage pondered in silence.
(End of Chapter)
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