Clover Kingdom Royal Capital

[Bloodedge]

Asher was given a very solid explanation for what this star festival was. He never knew the Magic Knights had such a system they functioned under. He wanted to make a difference, and this merit system was certainly a good place for him to start. 'Stars and ranks. Anybody can become Magic Emperor...' he thought as he walked along. The trio eventually left the district, with the young mages being offered a ride on an eagle made of magic mirrors. Junon rejected the ride, stating she preferred flying alone. Asher was left to make his own choice, and the offer to be rivals rang in head again. He didn't have any immediate desire to have a full-on rivalry with anyone, but he felt he needed to stand on his own as well... despite the strong urge he had to take a ride on a magic eagle. Solidifying his desires, Asher began levitating on the other side of Sibylla. "I think I can keep up."

[Apollymi]

Sibylla watched as the lad with her accepted the information provided him. Junon too nodded her understanding of it. Clover Kingdom worked based on merit which was part of her reason for preferring it over the other offer of becoming part of the Diamond Kingdom. She liked the idea that she'd be able to prove her worth and not have to worry too much about the ethics of the people she worked for. She'd even wanted to join a squad different from the Purple Orcas under the hopes of meeting new people not just the sort she'd been raised with her entire life. As the two newest recruits to the Silver Eagles, figured out how they'd be traveling, a gentle upturn of Sibylla's lips would follow. She'd go about shrinking her Eagle down to size for her own travel before taking off given the pair of individuals claimed to be able to keep up. And off they would go, with Junon on one side of her, and Asher on the other. 'Hm, didn't want a rival, but... seems to be taking the idea of their friendly rivalry seriously enough,' Sibylla thought. She couldn't wait to take them both home but the flight itself gave her an opportunity to watch them both. Junon was performing aerial acrobatics, flying around the mirror bird, shifting directions with the wind. This one was truly capable of the extreme amount of mana manipulation that witches were known to possess (herself included) as she flew in the skies with apparently boundless energy. "Sugoi! I didn't figure you'd be able to fly too, Asher. Well, most people don't without brooms or creation magic," she said thinking about it and paying the lad a compliment just the same. Curiously enough just as Asher had mentioned not really wanting a rivalry it seemed that Junon was more than capable of meeting halfway on this simple appreciation and partnership of their abilities. All of this was pleasing to Sibylla who'd likely be seeing to the pair of them personally when she could. 'Something like the pair of them is a bit more than a handicap. Cross is going to be furious,' she thought knowing that the two of them were without a doubt going to take the Silver Eagles further shine above the rest.

[Bloodedge]

As Sibylla began to move, Asher kept pace in the sky next to her. Junon was content to perform various acrobatics, but Asher had no desire to do such a thing. "I've always been able to fly. The only time I used a broom was during the exam," he said, taking a moment to recall his childhood and the early discoveries of his magic. "I was almost lost as a baby, because I just floated off one day. One of the sisters at our church had to come pull me down..." Over time, Asher found himself flying closer to the eagle, inspecting it directly.

[Apollymi]

The differences and similarities between this pair of individuals was becoming obvious by their movement styles and patterns. A free-spirited show off and a more reserved but equally or higher talented young man. A chuckle escaped Sibylla as Asher explained that he'd been able to fly even as an infant. And shared a story likely shared with him throughout his life. She took comfort in knowing this, but for reasons which likely weren't clear. "I'm sure you would have come down when you wanted to..." mentioned Sibylla because she knew it to be true. It was part of the reason he'd been known to be quite powerful immediately after his birth. Perhaps she'd witnessed such an event herself, regardless Junon seemed to be having quite a bit of fun. "Sugoi!" she mentioned, though whether this was meant for Asher or not would be left up to the imagination as she seemed to be enjoying herself. "Are you curious about the eagle?" she asked the lad taking note of his apparent curiosity. He'd seen it before now, or at least the very small version of it. Soon after this question the Base of Operations for the Silver Eagles would come into view. It looked like a giant waterside castle surrounded on three sides by waterfalls. The nature was pristine, the sky was clear and the whole of the base looked calm.

[Bloodedge]

The day following their return from a recently opened dungeon, a trio of Silver Eagles entered the Magic Knights Headquarters. Of these three, two were male, including the single veteran member of the group, Dior Silva. This man walked ahead of the others, visibly carrying all the authority expected of a royal as he entered the office of the Magic Emperor himself. There the Emperor was, sat as his desk with long, white hair featuring a thick braid cascading over his left shoulder. Visible were at least the clothes he wore on his torso, which were gold plated and topped by a red velvet cape standing out from those worn by traditional Magic Knights. This tanned male looked out unto this trio as Dior took a knee. "Ah, there you are," the Magic Emperor spoke softly, yet with an astoundingly commanding tone that always managed to pass his lips. "I've been waiting. Yours is a story I've been looking forward to more than any I've waited for this year. Go on then... one of the young ones, tell me your story."

[Apollymi]

The day after they'd returned from a Dungeon, Asher, Dior and Junon were all making their way to an audience with the Magic Emperor. Junon seemed to be rather excited about it, mostly because she wondered what kind of person, the strongest Magic Knight was. Beyond this the girl seemed to have pulled herself together rather easily, even given her inability to sleep the night before. She was a bit tired, but managed to take a knee when Dior did. She tended to just go with him in these moments but rather strangely she was soon confronted by a soft but commanding tone. "Sugoi..." she murmured. Only a few seconds after that it was stated that the Magic Emperor wanted to hear the story of the pair directly from one of them. This was a bit surprising, as Junon had been under the impression that they likely wouldn't do much if any talking during this ordeal. In fact she almost immediately blanked on what she should be saying. "I didn't expect this, uh..." she paused trying to gather her thoughts. "We went to the Dungeon. I assume it was weird, I don't know, it was the first one we ever went to," she said gesturing between herself and Asher. "The dungeon had a weird loop in it. I figured that one out. And we killed some goblins... those are kinda gross. Warnings should come with those, seriously. We wandered around for hours and killed like hordes of goblins. Asher figured out a light puzzle and disappeared for bit. Silva-senpai and I braved the dark and killed some more goblins. Asher helped us out with the darkness though, eventually found the way to the treasure room. And I got a weird spell out of it. Asher got a thing too..." she said with a curt nod. Her explanation included the main parts of the adventure but she didn't seem to be too hung up on the details. But this was the sort of person she was in general.

[Bloodedge]

Pure warmth radiated from the Magic Emperor as he viewed this trio, or more specifically the duo of newcomers. As he recalled, these were two individuals who became Magic Knights simultaneously by different means, both possessing the legendary four-leaf clover on their grimoires. The girl from the Witches' Forest would be the one to begin the story. She managed to cover the more crucial parts of their expedition, but omitted what he figured one could consider minor details."Time loops, more goblins, and a puzzle. Interesting. And you've both gained something from it; you, a spell... and you," he said, pausing to look toward a rather distracted Asher. "A relic, I assume. May I?" he asked. Asher hesitated for reasons unknown by the Magic Emperor. Soon though, he opened his golden grimoire, and out came the staff he'd used to manipulate the dungeon. The sprites appeared alongside it, prompting the Magic Emperor to look onward with a grin. "Sou ka. The power of creation that held the dungeon together, and you've sealed it in a compatible grimoire. And you?" With his final question, he shifted his gaze toward Junon.

[Apollymi]

Junon managed to get through her whole spiel without it being much of a problem. After she finished speaking she exhaled, relieving a tension she didn't know she'd been holding. She straightened up afterwards and grinned, seeming to feel the warmth coming from the Magic Emperor. He seemed to understand what she meant by the information she'd relayed and went on to question the things the girl had Asher had gotten from the Dungeon after summarizing the whole thing. At the turn to her after Asher revealed the staff he'd gotten she pulled forth a second four leaf grimoire and it glowed golden as she turned to the page she could see. Though most of the writing of it was still unclear she managed to cast the spell, creating a small fairy creature who seemed to be a bit older than the toddler form she'd had the previous day. The little fairy opened her eyes and looked at the Magic Emperor as if confused and managed to yawn. "Sugoi, you're a bit older than you were yesterday..." Junon said seemingly amused by the prospect as the small fairy sat in the palm of her outstretched right hand.

[Bloodedge]

The Magic Emperor had seen all he needed to see for the sake of understanding what Asher received. Now, it was Junon's turn to show and tell. When she produced her grimoire, she called forth a spirit that he looked at with some strange level of familiarity. "Hoh?" he said calmly with an upward inflection as he leaned forward at his desk, placing his elbows atop it and lacing his fingers to rest his chin atop them. "Your first day as a Magic Knight, and you happened to spend it going to a dungeon where you manage to bond with Sylph the Wind Spirit. The stories were true as well. Both of you have four-leaf clovers on those grimoires of yours. I also hear from Silva-kun how much more difficult this dungeon was than others have been recently, and that you two cleared it alone. I have half a mind to promote both of you right now."

[Apollymi]

After summoning the spirit there was some form of recognition by the Magic Emperor. The fairy within the palm of the pink haired lass seemed to take to hiding behind her outstretched fingers to peek out at all of the faces around her. This little spirit had some strange mannerisms but that was hardly worth thinking about too much. Eventually she'd take to resting in the brim of Junon's hat as the Magic Emperor spoke of their apparent deeds so far. "Sou ka. Slyph, huh..." she said her gaze flicking towards the fairy who'd gone on to watch the goings on from her new perch. Irrespective of this the most shocking thing to come from the mouth of the Magic Emperor was that he thought to promote this pair based on the act of their very first day. "Really?!" Junon was shocked by the assertion. She supposed they had done a more than reasonable of job of their apparent first mission. Still it seemed a bit much for them to just automatically move up. She also didn't really understand why Dior had told the man they'd completed the mission on their own. While they'd handled most aspects of it, it seemed a bit strange for their group leader to remove himself from the situation, given this she looked at him quizzically as well.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. Sylph, one of the four elemental spirits. It seems she chose you in this generation. You may or may not have seen already, but a connection to a spirit will give you access to Spirit Magic... a far more powerful form for your spells. It was once said that he who truly bonded with their spirit companion would become an unstoppable force of literal nature. Treat her well, and she will do the same." The Magic Emperor's posture hardly changed as he spoke with the young witch. He was beyond interested in the goings on here. Junon's interest, though, rested with his comment about promoting the two youngsters. "... No, not really. Well, I did say half a mind. I suppose I'll just promote half of you then. Which one will it be, and why?" he asked as he looked between Junon and Asher, the two of whom he spoke. Dior remained silent even as Junon looked his way, as he felt there were more pressing matters at hand than his earlier passing of credit. It would be Asher to address the emperor first. "If you're only promoting one of us, promote her. She had to deal with those creepy goblins, and didn't back out just because she had the chance. Besides, having that spirit should make her stronger, quicker."

[Apollymi]

The Magic Emperor seemed to be knowledgeable about magic as well as just being good apparently. He explained the nature of Junon's blossoming relationship with the wind spirit known as Slyph and gave her a pretty good idea of what kind of bonding she should be doing with the spirit. "Hai, will do. Arigatou gozaimasu~" she chimed giving a quick bow and acknowledgement of information she didn't have before. She was soon informed that the Magic Emperor had only been kind of joking about the promotion which would have made her relax a bit if he hadn't gone on to claim that he'd promote one of them, and that they should go about figuring out which of them it would be. Before she could open her mouth to speak though, Asher was defending her right to this apparent promotion with quips about her work during their clean up of the Dungeon and her potential to keep growing knowing that she now that she had the wind spirit. She was a bit shocked by this but then a kind smile came to her face. "I mean, that is all well and good, but... bravery will only get you so far. Asher deserves the promotion. He figured out the puzzle of the Dungeon, gave me to cloak off his back so I could feel safe, spent time on his own in the Dungeon, and opened the treasure room. Besides, he has goals and he was more useful over all than I was..." she concluded. She personally felt that Asher had put in more in their endeavor and definitely had more to gain from a promotion than she did. Especially since the girl had no real ambition and as such didn't care about her rank.

[Bloodedge]

Junon argued against what the silver-haired male had to say. He was content to offer the promotion to the other half of this duo, but it seems that other half felt the same way in the opposite direction. Still, he couldn't agree. "I disagree. We wouldn't have even gotten to that puzzle if we didn't get through that loop first. I didn't have anything to do with that. I didn't really do anything when I was by myself, but I saw these two continue the fight. I--" Asher had much more to say, but the Magic Emperor raised a hand to silence him. "I've heard enough from all of you. I've been wondering how this generation would be. This is a bit out of turn, but... Silva-kun, you are now 2nd Class Senior Magic Knight. As for the two of you... 3rd Class Junior Magic Knights. Any questions?"

[Apollymi]

Though Junon was rather quick to pass on anything that could have been perceived as an extra compliment on her part, her partner of the time seemed to do the same. It was actually quite taxing because Junon was content to argue that she hadn't put in that much effort in their endeavor within the Dungeon, which was rather true. She'd only showed up and done a little fighting and figured out exactly one or two things, the others in her own mind had given a greater contribution. Before they could continue arguing this point the Magic Emperor seemed content to silence Asher and then the room. This was done by giving everyone present a promotion which made Junon's eyes widen. They'd been Magic Knights for a very short amount of time, and had already earned to ranks. This was sort of amazing, but she still managed to look confused. "I don't really think I have any questions, so long as everyone else is recognized for helping, I don't really care. Arigatou gozaimasu," she said deciding that she didn't much care about the reasoning the Magic Emperor had for doing this, so long as the contributions of everyone present were considered. 'Everyone I meet is so strange... still, I think it is sort of awesome!~' she mused mentally a bright light present in those teal eyes of hers.

[Bloodedge]

"Iie. No questions from me, either. Arigatou gozaimasu," Asher said to the Magic Emperor. He could hardly believe two total newbies to the Magic Knights were being promoted after a single mission's success, but there were bigger things on the silver-haired male's plate. Dior knew his own presence likely wasn't helping the situation his brother was in, but as these two members' senior, he was here regardless to do his duty for both of them. In the end, even Dior himself received a sudden boost to his rank. "Honored as always, Mahoutei-sama," he said with a bow, after which the Magic Emperor smiled at the trio and waved their dismissal. Acknowledging this gesture, Dior led the way through the doors of the emperor's office. "Come along, you two. Heads high; you've accomplished a lot."