Strange use of Magic (Black Clover AU)

[Third Person's PoV] 

The Day of Magic Knight exams: 

Stephen sat down by Demon Skull, holding a half-eaten apple in his lap. Around his hands, a green magic circle appeared. As Stephen rotated his hand clockwise, more of the apple seemed to disappear; counterclockwise, the eaten part returned until the apple was whole again.

Nero, who was perched on his shoulder, softly pecked him.

"Hm? Oh right, I was racing them to see who would get there first, wasn't I?" Stephen reached to his side and hooked his finger onto a ring hanging from his belt.

"You know, for some reason, I'm strangely excited about this. I don't know why... it feels like a new chapter in our lives."

Stephen noticed Nero staring at him with a straight expression. He rolled his eyes. "I wasn't making a pun."

Stephen bit into the apple, holding it in his mouth, and twirled his hand in a circle before him. He began to levitate through the swirling portal and ended up above a group of people. They looked up at him in surprise, while others clicked their tongues, unimpressed by his showmanship.

As the portal closed behind him, the wind picked up, and Stephen floated down toward the others.

Yuno appeared next, surrounded by a small tornado, before landing in front of Stephen. "Cheater."

"It's only cheating because you lost," Stephen smirked proudly. "And to be fair, I gave you and Asta a good 20-minute head start. If you lost with such a handicap, it might be a skill issue, which means it's not my fault." Stephen shrugged as the Cloak of Levitation (CoL) extended toward Yuno and began patting his back to comfort him.

"It doesn't change the fact that you cheated... Are we going to wait for Asta?"

"Is he close?"

"Surprisingly, he's not that far behind," Yuno replied, a bit apprehensive. "He'll be here in a couple of minutes."

A few minutes passed Stephen finished his apple, and they saw a dust cloud in the distance. Stephen held up three fingers, then two, and finally one—

"YUNO! IF I'M NOT FIRST, I'LL AT LEAST BE SECOND! STEPHEN UNDERESTIMATED—" Asta stopped running and collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. "I'm dead last..." he said, seeing Stephen and Yuno waiting for him.

Stephen's cloak flew from his body, pretended to crouch down, and patted Asta's back. "You're such a good cloak, trying to comfort me," Asta cried.

The cloak then flew back to Stephen's body as he looked amused. They all headed inside the giant stadium in the order they had arrived.

At the entrance, they had to show their grimoires before receiving a ticket. Stephen cracked the space in front of him, surprising the receptionist, and revealed his six-leaf clover grimoire.

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Y-Your grimoire... It's..."

"Can I just get my number?" Stephen asked in a plain tone.

"Right, sorry..." The receptionist blushed as she handed him number 163.

Next was Yuno, who showed his grimoire.

"The Four Clovers..." she said with awe and respect in her voice, handing him number 164.

Then came Asta, who proudly showed her his rusty-looking grimoire.

"Five... What is going on with this kingdom?" she muttered, handing Asta number 165.

As Stephen entered, Nero flew away from his shoulder to avoid the appearance of an Anti Bird being attracted to him, instead landing on Asta's head.

While all the birds kept away from Yuno and Stephen, Asta was surrounded from head to toe by a flock, with only his eyes visible.

Yuno sighed, while Stephen laughed, wishing he had a camera to capture the moment.

Asta ran off, swatting at the birds, until he bumped into a man wearing a white tank top and smoking a cigarette.

After a brief exchange, Asta was already being lifted into the air. "You wanna die, runt?"

"Ow! Ow! I'm sorry!"

Suddenly, an Eldritch whip flew through the air and wrapped around the man's forearm. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't give Asta any more brain damage. He's already quite dumb as it is..." Stephen said, holding the whip.

"HEY! That's just mean!" Asta protested, still suspended in the air.

The man, Yami, looked at the whip, then yanked his arm, but Stephen stood his ground and raised an eyebrow.

"You're pretty strong," Stephen said with a smile.

"I could say the same about you, grandpa."

"What did you just call me?" Stephen asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Aside from growing white hair, are you already going deaf, too?" Yami released Asta and turned toward Stephen.

"Yami... Please stop getting into fights with the examinees..." A teen with blonde hair said apprehensively.

"That's Finral Roulacase, a rare spatial magic user!" one of the examinees shouted.

"And that's Yami Sukehiro! The Lord of Destruction and captain of one of the Magic Squads... Captain of the Black Bulls!"

"So, are you going to release me, gramps?"

"Since you let Asta go, yes, yes I am," Stephen said, undoing the whip. "And don't call me that."

"Thank you for waiting, invited examinees!" a voice resounded through the stadium as large birds began to appear.

Yami clicked his tongue. "Those bastards didn't wait for me... You got lucky, runt and gramps," he said, walking away.

The crowd soon erupted into cheers, excited to see the Magic Knight Captains, shouting out names like the Golden Dawn, Silver Eagles, and Crimson Lion.

"I will be in charge of this year's exams," the captain of the Golden Dawn announced as the examinees cheered.

"It's William Vangeance! Captain of the Golden Dawn and the next candidate to inherit the title of Wizard King!" someone shouted.

Both Asta and Yuno narrowed their eyes, seeing him as their competition for the title. Stephen narrowed his eyes for another reason. He's also strong...

William pulled out his grimoire. "Magic Tree, Descend."

The sky folded in on itself as tree roots extended from the tear in the sky. The roots reached everyone and transformed into brooms. Then, the roots retracted, and the hole in the sky closed.

William smirked as he closed his book. "Let the Magic Knight Entrance Exams officially begin!" he announced calmly. "You will all go through a series of tests, and by the end, we will call you up and decide which Magic Squad you will join. The first test is to fly those brooms..."

Stephen ignored the brooms entirely, floating up past everyone. He sat cross-legged in the air, resting his face on his fist.

"Show off..." Yuno said, appearing next to him while standing on his broom.

"Says the one trying to act all aloof and mysterious," Stephen scoffed in amusement.

They were both shocked to see Asta suddenly appear between them. "Hey guys—"

But before he could finish, Asta dropped back down to the ground. He kicked off again, momentarily flying up to join them before falling back down.

"Pfft!" Stephen covered his face, shaking his head in laughter, while Yuno managed a small smile, rolling his eyes.

"Do you guys think—" Asta started before dropping down again. "—that this counts?" he asked with a wide grin.

"No," both Stephen and Yuno said simultaneously.

Test after test, Stephen moved through with little effort. When asked to hit targets, he flicked his wrist, sending precise bolts of mystical energy that struck dead center every time. When it was time to lift heavy objects using magic, he waved his hand, and the objects floated effortlessly into place. While others struggled and strained, Stephen barely broke a sweat, completing each task with a bored look.

Where others conjured large, flashy spells, Stephen's subtle hand movements yielded perfect results. He didn't need to summon great storms of magic—he simply performed each task with flawless precision, as if it required no effort.

The examiners exchanged glances, but said nothing, watching as Stephen breezed through every challenge with an almost casual ease, making it seem as though the entire process was beneath him.

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