A/N:
" " : Speech,
' ' : Thought,
"Bold text" : Spells.
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Narrator POV
Four years had passed since the three boys were dropped at the front door of the church, and they have all grown to be healthy toddlers. However, the differences in their bodies was starting to make itself more apparent.
Dante had grown to be vastly superior in physicality to other people around them, even being strong enough to lift some things that adults would have great difficulty moving. Yuno had awakened to mana usage at such a young age, making some people in the village wonder about his origins.
Asta on the other hand, was on the opposite side of the discussion, at least when mana was involved. He had already begun attracting a species of bird that is known to be attracted to things that either have a small amount of mana, or things with no mana whatsoever. But unbeknownst to others and himself, his body has absolutely no mana.
But despite that, he was still quite energetic, often seen playing with Dante, and more commonly seen professing his love for the sister, Lily Aquaria, that took him in along with Orsi Orfai and saying he would marry her. Dante had grown to be somewhat of a mischievous child, pulling light-hearted pranks and being a bit of a showboat.
Yuno remained the more calm and collected one of the trio, acting as a more mature big brother to Asta, and a little brother to Dante that constantly asks to be spared the occurrence of any trouble.
Dante had also awakened to mana usage, but unbeknownst to others, he had also awakened another power, one that would cause an unimaginable degree of ostracization if it were ever found out. He had awakened demonic power within himself, as if it were fully a part of him.
He didn't want other people to harbor hatred for him, as he had heard of the stories of ancient demons that once brought disaster to the Clover Kingdom, but he also felt that the power contained within the demonic energy wasn't something to ignore. So away from the eyes of others, he practiced using both mana and demonic energy. To him, the energy felt sinister and dark, as if it was tinged in evil, but at the same time, it felt more robust and powerful than mana, seemingly improving not only his physicality, but also enhancing his sensitivity to and efficiency in using mana.
Time continued to pass, and Dante continued to grow stronger and more familiar with mana and demonic power, Yuno continued to improve his mana usage, even unlocking his innate element of wind, Asta had gotten physically stronger due to his hyperactivity being used for chores or exercise, but he remained magically inert and inept.
For Asta, this was something that caused him to feel downtrodden multiple times, as his, Dante's, and Yuno's collective dream was to become the Wizard King, the most powerful and most respected Magic Knight in the entire Clover Kingdom. To do so without mana felt like an impossibility to Asta.
But if there was one thing about Asta that was special, it was his innately high tenacity that seemed so close to obstinacy. One didn't have to look further than the fact that he continues to consistently and loudly confess his love for Sister Lily and ask her to marry him, despite the fact that as a Sister of the cloth, she was essentially a nun, sworn to never marry.
Dante had also found out something else about himself, he could regenerate from wounds and fatigue far faster than anyone else. At first, he just thought that he just had a bit more energy than others, but on one fateful day, he happened to get injured while helping with chores.
It was painful, and for a child who had never experienced the pain of a cut, it was even more so. But before anyone could come to him to see the damage, the wound began closing up, and soon fully healed.
Dante, like Asta, had his own special behaviors, apart from just being a mischievous child. He liked to read, so it wasn't strange to hear him ask for stuff to read whenever he helped other members of Hage Village.
Yuno just acted like a quintessential good child, almost never being caught in trouble, helping around and being obedient, not being too rowdy or too quiet. Although he had awakened to mana usage, and even his innate element of wind, he couldn't do much with it, seeing as the level of his mana wasn't high, and was only impressive for a 5 year old.
...
Some time passes, and the wintertime had begun approaching, but Hage Village's church wasn't in the best of straits. Orsi had already thought of different ways to get them through this, and so he had two things that needed to be done today. He had to visit the mayor of a nearby village, and he also had to deliver a letter, but he knew that he didn't have enough time to do both things by himself.
He knew that he couldn't postpone his meeting with the mayor, and he couldn't ask Lily to go, as she had to take care of the younger children staying in the church with them. And so his options came down to Asta, Yuno and Dante.
Sighing, he took his broom and flew out to the back of the church, to see Dante holding Nash, a baby boy that had been taken in by the church a few weeks ago, along with Asta, Yuno, Lily and Recca, a girl with frizzy red hair and green eyes that had been taken in about 2 years after the trio of boys. Nash looked like he had been crying for a while before Dante held him, coaxing him to stop crying.
"Hi there. I was wondering if one of you would run an errand for me." As he said that, Dante looked at him with a raised brow. "What is it, Father?" Dante asked. "Pick me! Me! Me! Me! Me, me!" Asta shouted from beside Dante, who was weighing the pros and cons of smacking Asta upside the head.
"Would someone deliver this to the mayor? It's a really important letter, you see." Orsi says in the midst of Asta's shouting. He considered giving the letter to Dante for a second, but felt that he might get distracted on the way, so he made his decision. "Yuno, could you do it?" He says, surprising everyone, enough so that Asta's shouting stopped.
"You see, this is a very important letter and I'm a bit hesitant to leave it in Asta's hands, so I'm counting on you." Dante just looked at this, wondering why exactly Orsi had chosen Yuno and not him. "I have to go see the mayor in the next village over, and ask him to spare us some food to make it through the winter. As it stands now, we just don't have enough tatoes." Orsi said.
Dante handed Nash over to Lily, then looked at Yuno with an intense gaze that one wouldn't expect from a child. "Will you be okay?" He asked Yuno. Yuno looked at him, his gaze trembling, but he shook his head then nodded. "I'll be fine. Father asked me to go, so I'll go." He said, then walked away, heading to deliver the letter.
"Asta, go chop some wood. Even if you can't use magic, you can at least do some manual labor. And Dante, go ahead and help Lily get dinner ready, then help Asta out." Orsi said, then bid them farewell as he headed to the nearby village. As he left, Lily looked up, seeing the sky turn dark as clouds came together. "It seems that tonight will be quite chilly." She said, then went to start preparing dinner for everyone else.
...
Some hours passed, and much to Asta and Dante's disgruntlement, Yuno hadn't returned from his errand, and neither had Orsi. Asta had considered just eating dinner without them, but Dante and Recca decided against that, saying that it won't fair to them.
After some more time waiting, Dante and Asta decided that they'd waited long enough, saying that they'd bring Yuno back since he was taking so much time.
When they started moving, Dante complained that they wouldn't get there fast enough if they only moved at Asta's pace, so he suggested something else. "No way! I'm not going to stay on your back." Asta protested. "I'm stronger and faster than you, Asta. And we both know this. I've carried heavier stuff than you, and moved faster than you without any load. So come on, let's go." Dante said as he bent down for Asta to cling onto his back.
Asta protested once again, and Dante decided that he'd had enough. "Fine, if you won't climb, I'll just carry you then." Asta paused, then looked at him with pleading eyes. "Now, get on. And I'm not asking." Dante said, then used an ability that he found out he had, telekinesis, to lift Asta and hold him to his back.
Once he had secured Asta, Dante sped off to get to where Yuno was sent. Thanks to his demonic heritage, Dante was easily stronger than most regular adult men, so Asta was quite light to him, meaning that he could run at his full speed, even with Asta on his back.
They soon reached the place where Yuno was sent to deliver the letter, and while Asta was looking around, Dante was focusing his senses on their surroundings, and soon he heard a voice. It sounded like a man shouting.
He knew Yuno, and so he wouldn't expect him to offend anyone, but he also knew that Yuno's amulet was somethong that would be worth a lot of money if sold. So he went in the direction of the voice, and he found Yuno on his knees, with a man in front of him, holding Yuno's amulet and threatening him.
He lowered Asta to the ground, then immediately dashed to the man. He cocked his fist back and channeled some demonic energy into his fist, then punched the man on his belly, causing him to fold and be hit away from Yuno.
In that instant, the man let go of Yuno's amulet, which Dante caught. Not caring about the condition of the man that he just attacked, Dante turned to Yuno with a frown on his face. Yuno's tears continued to pour, as he felt that Dante had done something bad because of him, and he started apologizing profusely.
"Hey, Yuno. As far as we're concerned, you're our brother, so don't go apologizing because we helped you. Understand?" Dante said with a toothy grin. "Yeah! We've got your back all the way!" Asta said from behind Yuno.
"Besides, we told you already, no matter how things go, one of us will become the Wizard King, and we'll protect you and everyone else." Dante said, the grin still on his face. "Yeah, and then we'll make everyone even happier, so we can have even nicer things. Then that way, we'll prove it." Asta said with clenched fists.
Yuno looks up at Asta. "Prove what?" Dante and Asta look at each other then smile. "We'll prove that even if you're poor or an orphan, that you can still become the Wizard King!" Asta said with a confident voice and a puffed chest. His words stirred up a flame within Yuno, giving him a goal to aspire and train towards.
Yuno wiped the tears that he had shed when he was threatened by the now unconscious man. "I'll... never cry again." He said and stood up with a renewed confidence. "And I'll become the Wizard King, too. I'll get stronger and protect both of you and everyone else! I'll make everyone happier! So we can have nicer things!" Yuno said, his eyes blazing with determination.
"Is that right? Well then, Asta. You know what that means." Dante said with a toothy grin. "You're now our rival, Yuno. So regardless of what happens, one of us will become the Wizard King!" Dante declared, taking Yuno's statement with a great deal of respect.
This interaction between the trio would be the basis for the friendship and rivalry among them. It would be a promise that would push them forward until one of them achieved the goal, to become the Wizard King.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 2,058
Thanks for reading!