Chapter 5: The Five-Leaf Clover Grimoire
"Run!" Yuno shouted.
Asta gritted his teeth. "There's no way I'm running from someone like this!"
Revchi smirked. "Someone like me? I used to be a member of the Magic Knights. You think a useless brat like you can defeat me? Keep dreaming."
Asta shouted back, "It's not over yet!"
Revchi sneered. "No, it's already over."
Chains shot out from his grimoire, slamming Asta against the wall. The impact knocked the air out of him. Pain burned through his body as he realized — physical strength alone couldn't compete with magic this powerful.
Revchi stepped closer, his chains rattling. "I'll tell you something, since you're struggling so much. My chains can sense mana — and you, boy, don't have a single drop. You're a natural-born magicless fool." He pressed his boot hard against Asta's shoulder.
"Hey!" Yuno snapped. "Who are you calling a fool? Asta is my rival."
Revchi laughed mockingly. "That weakling? Don't make me laugh."
Asta's voice rasped from the ground. "I said… it's not over yet!"
In that instant, the wall behind him began to tremble. A dark book pushed its way out from between the bricks — dirty, battered, and covered in dust. Its black cover bore a faint pattern in the center — a five-leaf clover.
According to ancient legend, the three leaves of the clover represented honesty, hope, and love. The fourth leaf symbolized luck.
And within the fifth leaf… resided a demon.
A dark shadow loomed behind Asta — a monstrous silhouette with claws, wings, and sharp fangs, laughing with its jaws wide open.
Revchi's face twisted in terror. He stumbled backward, his foot slipping off Asta's shoulder.
Yuno's voice was steady. "It's impossible that Asta wasn't chosen."
The black grimoire opened, and from within, a massive sword emerged, slamming into the ground with a heavy clang. Asta reached out and grasped the hilt.
At that moment, Leo, hiding nearby, thought to himself, It's about time. He poured nearly ninety percent of his mana into a stone — his Silence Technique. It couldn't seal such a powerful opponent, but it could interrupt spellcasting for a brief moment.
As Asta gripped the sword, Revchi's chains lashed out in a frenzy, filling the air like a web of iron. From behind, Leo hurled the charged stone.
Asta swung his sword. With a roar, the massive blade cleaved through the chains, shattering them one by one.
Revchi's eyes went wide. "My magic… it's been nullified!"
The Silence Stone struck him squarely on the chest. His spell collapsed instantly, his mana cut off. Asta charged forward.
With one final swing, the great sword slammed Revchi into the wall, pinning him there.
Breathing heavily, Asta lowered his weapon. "Even without magic… I'll still become the Wizard King. Never giving up — that's my magic."
Yuno stepped closer, smiling faintly. "Do you remember our promise?"
Asta grinned. "Of course I do."
The two raised their fists and bumped them together. "Let's settle who becomes the Wizard King."
Leo stepped out from behind the wall.
Asta and Yuno turned at once. "You were here too?"
Leo nodded. "When Yuno was chained up, I was behind the door. My magic isn't offensive — and I couldn't aim properly — so I stayed hidden until the right moment. When Asta showed up, I used that chance to interfere."
He pointed toward the shattered stone on the ground. "When Revchi lost focus fighting Asta, I hit him with a mana-sealing stone. That's why his spell broke before your strike."
Asta blinked in realization. "So that's why his magic stopped first! I thought it was my sword that broke it."
Leo smiled faintly but said nothing more. If anything had gone differently, he thought, the entire Clover Kingdom might have been destroyed.
That was why he never preached to Asta or tried to change him. With Yuno, he talked strategy. With Asta, he simply trained — side by side.
Asta clenched his fists and said with fire in his eyes, "Then let's all become rivals on the path to the Wizard King!"
Leo paused for a long moment. "My goal isn't to become the Wizard King. Don't force your dream onto me."
Asta looked confused. "Why not? The Wizard King is amazing!"
Leo met his gaze steadily. "My dream is to become strong — stronger than anyone. I want to protect myself and my friends from the unreasonable and the evil. So no… I won't be your rival on the path to the throne. But I'll be your comrade on the path to strength."
He placed his hand on theirs. Yuno followed, and the three of them stood together — hands stacked, eyes united.
Yuno smiled. "Alright."
Asta laughed. "Fine by me! It's all the same — we're rivals anyway!"
Under the glow of the setting sun, the three of them laughed together. For the first time, Leo realized how much their bond had grown.
Three young men, standing side by side beneath the fading light — like a new brotherhood sworn beneath the heavens, their laughter echoing through the crimson dusk.
Leo suddenly remembered something important — a thought that made his heart skip. This was the perfect opportunity.
He turned toward Yuno and Asta. "You two go ahead," he said calmly. "I still have some business with the Tower Master." He pointed toward the unconscious thief, Revchi, still embedded in the wall.
After Yuno and Asta left his sight, Leo approached the man, pulling him down from the cracked wall and laying him flat on the ground. Revchi's breathing was shallow, his body limp.
Leo's grimoire opened on its own, its pages fluttering rapidly until stopping on the one he sought. The glowing words read — Sealing Magic: Grimoire Seal.
The moment the spell activated, Leo felt mana flood from his body like a breaking dam. It rushed into his grimoire and then out toward Revchi in a blinding stream of power. The drain was unbearable; in just a second, it felt as if his entire body had been hollowed out.
"Yin Seal — release!" he shouted.
A surge of energy burst from the mark at his forehead. It poured through the grimoire and into Revchi's body. The sheer force made the ground quake, and in that instant, every drop of mana from Leo's Yin Seal was consumed.
Astonishingly, the spell had reached full efficiency — one hundred percent utilization. That had never happened before.
When the light faded, Leo collapsed to his knees, gasping. His Yin Seal was gone, emptied completely. His own mana reserves had fallen to less than one-fifth.
But Revchi had vanished. In his place lay a grimoire, its cover bearing a crystalline seal. Inside the crystal, Revchi's image was frozen — motionless, lifeless.
Leo picked up the book with trembling hands. "Exhausting," he muttered. "But the result… worth it." He sighed in relief. "Time to go home."
The next morning, sunlight streamed into the church through colored glass. Leo stretched stiffly and sat up, mind already focused on his next task — testing the results of his experiment.
His magic's nature was to merge one object into another, but that alone wasn't enough. The Magic Knights' entrance exam would involve combat, and his current power was far below even Asta's physical ability. He needed to develop a practical combat form of sealing — one that could let him fight.
Rebuilding the Yin Seal was the first step. There were only a few days left before he had to leave for the capital. He told Sister Lily he'd be gone for a day, then isolated himself.
For ten hours straight, Leo sat cross-legged, neither eating nor drinking, concentrating all his energy on reforming the Yin Seal. When the ritual ended, his body throbbed with the weight of stored mana. After regaining his strength with a few church-grown potatoes, he began the next phase.
Placing Revchi's Chain Magic grimoire atop his own, Leo whispered, "Sealing Magic — Seal Within the Grimoire."
He had already activated the Yin Seal beforehand to avoid a repeat of his near-collapse.
A flash of light erupted between the two books, and waves of mana collided violently in the air. When the glow subsided, Revchi's grimoire was gone.
It had fused into Leo's.
Not completely — most of Revchi's spells had been destroyed in the process. Only three had successfully transferred.
The obtained spells were Chain Control, Chain Trap, and Mana-Sealing Chain.
It wasn't much, but for Leo, it was everything. At last, he had offensive magic.
When he returned to the church, exhaustion hit him like a hammer. He fell into bed and slept until noon. When he woke, Asta and Yuno were both staring in disbelief.
"You overslept?" Asta said in shock. "That's a first."
Leo rubbed his eyes. "Sorry. I was training all night."
Asta sighed dramatically. "Typical."
Sister Lily stepped forward with a soft smile. "It's time to depart."
The three young men set off together, packs slung over their shoulders.
Sunlight filtered through the forest canopy, breaking into patches that danced over their faces. The air was thick with the scent of moss and wet leaves. Each step on the fallen foliage made a faint crunching sound.
They stayed alert, gripping their weapons as they made their way through the woods. Venomous snakes slithered beneath the undergrowth, thorns and hidden traps lay scattered along their path. Sometimes they climbed steep slopes; other times, they waded across cold rushing streams.
Wild beasts attacked more than once, but they fought back together, never retreating.
When they finally emerged from the forest, the sight before them made them stop in awe. The royal capital's walls rose high into the clouds, vast and magnificent — a symbol of the Clover Kingdom's pride and power.
Their faces were tired, but their smiles were full of hope. The long journey had ended; a new one was about to begin.
They arrived exactly on time for the Magic Knights' entrance examination.
The Magic Knights were divided into nine squads — the strongest mages in the kingdom, serving directly under the Wizard King. They were warriors who risked their lives to protect the realm, heroes admired by all citizens.
The exam grounds were immense, filled with young mages from every region. Flocks of Anti-Birds hovered above, circling like vultures. These creatures were drawn to low-mana individuals and were infamous for pestering them during the exam.
None came near Yuno. A few circled lazily around Leo.
Curious, Leo extended his hand toward one. It fluttered away. Thinking for a moment, he focused mana control and covered only his hand with Zetsu, suppressing his magic flow there while keeping the rest of his body's mana visible.
The Anti-Bird tilted its head, confused by the mixed signal — it sensed mana, but not from the spot before it. Then, slowly, it landed on his palm.
Leo smiled faintly and stroked its feathers. The texture was soft, warm — strangely comforting.
He couldn't help but chuckle under his breath. "So this is the bird I was named after."
For the first time in a long while, Leo felt an odd sense of peace — a quiet reminder that even in a world ruled by magic, simple moments could still carry meaning.