Julius was having a great day. Marx had reported an all-time low in crime that day, and so the issues that usually required him to sign off at least look at a piece of paper were cut in half as he was finished with his work by lunch, a rarity.
Today was also his son's birthday! When they had their ritual breakfast that morning, Julius had been able to sneak Mimosa, Mereoleona, Fuegoleon, Leopold, Leonidas, and Noelle into the estate before Alucard had time to sense them coming.
Although he risked the silent treatment for breaking something that was usually just them, Julius enjoyed the look of surprise on his son's face when he saw everyone present.
Sadly, he'd had to finish his food and leave for his duties, but as soon as he was done, he'd return to enjoy the day.
As usual, Alucard and Mereoleona spent the day arguing or fighting as Leopold and Fuegoleon tried not to catch any strays, and Mimosa prepared lunch. Leonidas had only stayed for breakfast, but gave Alucard a present in the form of a ceremonial sword.
It was mostly ceremonial, but Alucard took it with joy as he swore to take up forging to remake the blade into something he could use to fight the world with.
Fuegoleon and Leopold had taken the day off from their Magic Knight duties to spend time with their cousins as they all donned disguises and ran around the Capitol. They even dragged Noelle with them. The poor girl needed it since two of her older siblings still make life miserable for her.
Nozel seems to have woken up after the whole Alucard fiasco, as he usually just ignores Noelle rather than talk down to her. Nebra and Solid are stuck in their ways, however, so I kept an eye on them as they toured the town, only to smile as they all unleashed their mana to keep anyone with sense away.
As for gifts, they mostly consisted of trinkets and baubles since Alucard could easily buy whatever it was he wanted. Leonidas obviously gave him the sword. Fuegoleon gave him a robe emblazoned with the emblem of House Vermillion and House Novachrono, a physical manifestation of his union with Mimosa, which he seemed to appreciate.
Leopold was the more pragmatic one as he took the group out to eat in various shops around the kingdom. They went to places in all three realms, and they all seemed to enjoy the different tastes of each realm. Both Leopold and Fuegoleon encouraged Alucard to join the Crimson Lions as well, but he said he had yet to decide.
Mimosa had given the sweetest gift by far, a basket of baked goods she had made with Noelle's help. Alucard had been slightly moved by the gift and even saved one for Julius, who would return later.
"Now, where are we going?" Alucard asked as they exited a restaurant in the Common Realm. Leopold and Noelle had been against souring their 'noble' tastes, but Mimosa and Mereoleona dragged them out, and they had ended up enjoying a great home-cooked meal.
"Let's go to Hage, the view is nice, and we can watch the sunset." He suggested as Mereoleona rolled her eyes. "You would live there if Julius let you. I still don't get why you're so obsessed with that place."
Noelle and Leopold didn't say anything as they'd never been to 'Hage', so they were quite surprised when Alucard opened a portal, and they found themselves in the Forsaken realm.
"This place is too dirty, not befitting my Royal status at all." Noelle pouted as Alucard took off towards the demon skull, as they raced to catch up.
The people of Hage briefly stopped to watch as they flew through the sky, "Looks like those nobles are back. Still don't see why they're so interested in the demon." A few said as Yuno watched them fly through the air, 'They aren't much older than me, to think the nobles had that much mana. That idiot Asta better leave them alone.'
Touching down on the skull, Alucard glanced down where he could see and hear Asta leaving his training ground, still shouting about Yuno and not being left behind. Mereoleona was the first to catch up as Leopold, Noelle, and Mimosa arrived last.
"Oh, now I see why you came here. That's the Wizard King statue Fuegoleon showed up!" Leopold recognized it as Alucard nodded.
"Alright, enough talking, more fighting!" Mereoleona shouted as the four took off. Mimosa silently prepared their food as another person arrived. "Hello, how's the day been?"
MMimosa turned as Julius emerged from a portal. "It has been good, Your Majesty." She rose and bowed slightly as Julius waved his hand, "Call me Julius! We've seen each other too many times now for you to be calling me that. You're marrying my son after all!" He grinned as Mimosa relented.
"So how is my boy? I don't get to see him much with my duties, but he always has good things to say about you all." Julius asked as he watched Mereoleona fight Alucard and Leopold at the same time.
"He's a lot quieter than usual." She started as she handed him a plate, and he helped set the picnic blanket. "He normally spends his time in our library, but he always takes time to speak or train with me or the others. Mereoleona is usually the one who gets him the most active since Leopold can't keep up with him, and Noelle is still a bit intimidated."
"Ah, and how is Noelle? I heard from Nozel that all the dissidents in the Silva family have been found."
She nodded. "Well, today she's been great. Mereoleona dragged her out of the Silva estate this morning, as she's been forcing her to try everything we eat. She actually has her training more frequently, and she's slowly gotten better with her mana control.
The problem is her siblings." She glanced down and saw Noelle being forced by the others to try to destroy a massive rock with her magic.
"Nozel has calmed down, but Nebra and Solid continue to take out their aggression on Noelle. She actually comes over more than Alucard does, almost every day recently." She looked sad as she said that, as Julius felt disappointment in how Nozel had raised his siblings.
"Well, I'm sure she appreciates you all taking her out today. Alucard does as well. I've never seen his face light up like that when you were all in the dining room." They both smiled at the memory from that morning as Mereoleona, Noelle, Leopold, and Alucard returned.
They greeted Julius, who had to stop Leopold and Noelle from bowing as Alucard and Mereoleona dug into their food. "So chew chew, what's the plan now?" Leopold asked as Mereoleona smacked him, "Chew with your mouth closed!"
"Actually, I was going to take Alucard to do something, just the two of us. As father and son." Julius said as Alucard looked at him, though they had gotten closer over the years, they were more like allies for the same goal, not father and son.
Still, he nodded since it had been a while since they'd done something together. As they finished their meal, they all sat around talking about the various foods they had eaten around the kingdom as the sun set. "Have fun, you two!" Mimosa gave Alucard a brief hug before entering the portal he'd opened for them.
"Ah, young love." Julius grinned, seeing Alucard look mildly uncomfortable from the contact. "So, what'd you have planned?" He asked, shaking himself as Julius took to the sky.
For a minute, Alucard thought they were going to enter Hage Village, until Julius stopped and handed him a map. "Open a portal here." He pointed to a spot as Alucard complied, and they found themselves in front of a derelict Grimoire Tower.
"Impossible, this place isn't marked on any of the maps!" Alucard was surprised to see the Tower, and checking his own location using magic, he discovered he was hundreds of miles to the north of Hage, right at the border of the Grand Magic zone that bordered the Clover and Spade Kingdoms.
"I found it almost twenty years ago, barely standing but still full of Grimoires. Are you ready?" Julius said as he led the way inside.
The Tower itself was almost 50 feet tall, the crumbling stone was overgrown with moss, and a tree was close to bursting through the bottom with its roots. Inside wasn't much better. Dust floated around as Alucard felt the magic; it was slow, as if it were stagnant. It stirred slightly when they entered, but other than that, it was dead.
"Where are the Grimiores?" Alucard asked as Julius sighed. "Gone, I can bring them back briefly, but not for long. Just long enough for you to claim yours."
Before he could ask what that meant, Julius took to the air as he landed on a small platform halfway up, as stairs led up to what must have been the Tower Master's quarters.
Julius then started bringing in mana from the outside, as the magic stirred and vibrated. Alucard couldn't help the smile that crept up his face as the mana sang in joy, happy to be used and to be free for the first time in centuries.
"Faith, Hope, Love. These are the virtues that have made the Clover Kingdom into what it is today!" Julius, proclaimed as Alucard, noticed the massive bookshelves start to glow.
"Faith in the goodness of Humanity, Hope for a better future, Love for our fellow man! Let these virtues guide you on your journey, and may you one day become the Wizard King!"
The Tower shook as a bright flash of magical light blinded Alucard for a moment, revealing thousands of Grimiores, once again, where they belonged. Julius motioned for him to step forward, and as he did, the Tower shook more.
He then lets his mana lose as a book blazed down like a comet, stopping before him as Julius smiled. Alucard nearly recoiled at the sight of the four leaf Grimoire before him, as Julius' voice rang out again.
"There also exists another virtue, LUCK. May your journey be long and prosperous, young mage!"
Alucard stepped forward and grabbed his Grimoire, groaning as mana surged into his body. He'd never felt so alive! 'Almost 40%, not bad for a human.' He thought as his mana kept climbing, as the Tower started to shake even more violently, as the local mana started fleeing in a frenzy.
Julius grinned, seeing that as dark, oppressive mana started to pour out of Alucard as his Grimiore formed another, fifth Clover. 'It worked ahahahahaha!' He cheered inside as Alucard fell to his knees.
Though silent, Julius could see the pain on his face, but he kept the mana flowing, as any deviation now would kill Alucard.
Alucard, for his part, was trying not to scream as he felt his insides being shredded and healed by the normal and devil mana raging through his body. It felt horrible, even worse than when Megicula used his own blood against him, and that was horrendous.
Now panting from exertion, he forced the mana within himself to flow instead of just fighting. Forcing the two different types of mana to flow around each other was by far the most difficult thing he'd done yet, but he refused to die here.
It took nearly an hour, but sheer force of will allowed him to channel his mana throughout his body in a way that fixed him rather than tore him apart.
The two mana types were thoroughly separated now; the only place they collided was near his core, where they were layered under each other in an attempt to strengthen his body little by little.
It was then that he noticed his Grimiore, still floating in the air with five clovers in the middle of what appeared to be a gaping, fanged maw. "W-what is this thing?" He rasped as Julius landed lightly next to him.
"It's your Grimoire, open and see what kind of magic you got!" He said, looking strangely excited as Alucard got to his feet with a groan, taking his Grimoire as the Tower faded back into destitution.
He then opens his Grimoire to see dozens of spells already present. From the devil magic he'd been forced to use in the Underworld, to the normal magic he'd been training with for years now.
"How interesting! Despite your body being completely different from your devil one, everything carried over! How peculiar?" Julius said as he gushed over the various spells inside the Grimoire.
As they pored over it together, Alucard realized he would need to seal most of it and not let people read his Grimiore at all. "How do we seal this? I don't mind using all of the power within, but I'd rather not have Damnatio breathing down my neck if I can help it."
Julius then brought out a spell, obviously prepared for this moment. As they worked together to seal his devil mana, he would still be able to use all the various types of magic he'd acquired, but devil magic would be severely weakened unless he unlocked all the mana within him.
Of course, it should never come to that, but he would always remain prepared in case something went wrong and they had to go scorched earth.
After returning to Hage, they started to return to the Capitol, Kira, the normal way, by flying on brooms. It was a novel experience for them both since Julius didn't need a broom to fly, and Alucard could either use Gravity magic, Space magic, or a variety of others to fly, but they enjoyed the time it gave them to talk.
"So, now I prepare for the Magic Knights exam?" He asked as Julius nodded.
"You obviously don't have to since we are nobles, but many send their children as a right of passage. You just want to shove them down, don't you?" He grinned since he knew exactly what Alucard thought of the current generation of Nobility.
"I look forward to destroying all the little brats who think they can show off." Alucard grinned as Julius almost felt sorry for the beatdown that awaited the next Magic Knight ceremony.
"So are you going to the Crimson Lions? I'm sure Fuegoleon would be glad to have you. Aqua Deer might be interesting since you and Rill got along quite well."
"Well, I'll tell you where I'm NOT going. Silver Eagles, Coral Peacocks, and Purple Orcas.
Eagles for obvious reasons, but I'd rather not deal with Kirch constantly yelling at me since he still thinks I'm not beautiful enough for Mimosa. As for the Orcas, I don't like Gueldre; he runs that squad like a business, too much corruption.
That leaves the Green Mantis, Black Bulls, Golden Dawn, and the others. I'll probably go with the Golden Dawn; there should be plenty of noble brats to put in their place."
Julius knew he should be concerned by the face his son was making, but it was his birthday, and there wasn't much he could do to stop him. Plus, he'd never had such an engaging conversation with his son before!
As they finally reached the Wizard King's estate, just as dawn was breaking, Julius and Alucard were surprised to see Mimosa and Mereoleona still waiting for him, plus Marx, who looked very unhappy with a certain blonde.
"I thought you finished all your paperwork?" Alucard questioned as Julius laughed nervously, "JULIUS, GET DOWN HERE! YOU HAVE SO MUCH WORK TO CATCH UP ON, AND I'M NOT COVERING FOR YOU THIS TIME!"