Black Clover: Nah I'd Lose (UPDATED)

(Guys, Today was supposed to be my off-day, yet to keep the new momentum I am uploading, this is the bonus chapter for the review deal, though we are still 3 reviews away, I believe that you will achieve that. Also, This week's goal for the bonus chapter is 400 Powerstones as you guys are clearly killing it. Whether this fic will continue or not will depend on the support I am getting which is decided by the number of Powerstones this fic receives or the number of Patreon members.

Also, don't forget to keep the review deal :)

"Now that looks kind of good," Akeru thought while wearing attire that was more noble, like blue clothes.

"Indeed," the man who had escorted him said.

Suddenly, Akeru felt a large amount of mana enters his sensory field, startling him.

The mana signature was slowly but steadily coming in his direction.

"I forgot to mention, but it's kind of rude to have your sensory field on in the house. However, if you want to, you could keep it at a radius of 5 meters," the old man said.

"It's fine; I don't mind keeping it completely off. Still, I was startled by the amount of mana. I have never seen this much mana for one person to have," Akeru said. 'I still can sense people with Ki, so that's fine. He probably gave me the offer of 5 meters due to me being cautious of my surroundings.'

"Haha, I believe that Lady Mereoleona has more mana than our Sir here, but it seems you hadn't learned to sense people with mana at that time," the old man said and bowed as Fuegoleon came into the room.

'Should I bow too? Or would kneeling be better in this case?' Akeru was confused with the etiquette due to not being exposed to it before.

So, he mentally decided to bow.

"It's fine," Fuegoleon told him off before Akeru could bow, so he stopped.

"It's my pleasure to meet the captain of the Crimson Lions," Akeru said while scanning him with his eyes.

'I just noticed, but the pressure he gives is different from Captain Yami. No blue lines on him either.'

Suddenly, Akeru felt his world turning red.

He instinctively used Moonwalk and stuck himself in one corner of the room.

'Damn, that was scary. It was like I was going to be attacked from all directions or something.' Akeru noticed that the red lines on him had disappeared.

"It seems what my sister told me about you was right. I am impressed. Most would have been frozen in their place when they felt that. Yet, not only did you retreat, but you were on the cusp of breaking the wall and running away," Fuegoleon said while looking at him.

Akeru got down from the wall. "Yeah, it's not my first time meeting a captain. I met one recently, so I guess that played a role in me not getting frozen."

"Oh? Which captain did you meet?"

"It was Captain Yami."

"Interesting. How did you encounter each other?" Fuegoleon seemed to be interested in the matter.

"Well, it was just a coincidence, I guess. He helped me train a bit, I suppose." 'And took money from me.'

"I didn't think Yami was the kind of person to teach kids out of nowhere. I guess everyone has their hidden sides."

'No, he was actually on a mission and even charged a poor kid like me.' Akeru really wanted to say that but refrained, not wanting Fuegoleon to become aware of the stunts he'd pulled in the last year.

"How old are you?" he suddenly asked.

"I don't really know. I am also curious," Akeru answered honestly.

Fuegoleon looked at the old man in black on standby, who nodded.

"I have a spell that can check your age if you don't mind."

"Sure," Akeru said, knowing that if they wanted to harm him, with Fuegoleon's strength, it wouldn't be hard.

"You are a little over 13 years old," the old man said.

"Oh, you're around Leopold's age. You guys will definitely get along," Fuegoleon said.

"Yeah," Akeru replied absentmindedly.

'Thirteen years, huh? This is my first time reaching this number in both lives... I'm nervous about puberty now.' Akeru thought but didn't let it show on his face.

Fuegoleon, along with Akeru, made their way outside the house into a forest-like area.

'Hmm, it's more like a training ground. It's quite bizarre to see royals being close to nature. Then again, it kind of makes sense. Even in my previous life, organic stuff was expensive, and people who were relatively rich used to consume that,' Akeru thought while seeing a face similar to that of Fuegoleon.

The boy was stretching.

"Oh, Brother, you're here. And who is this?" Leopold asked.

"He is Akeru, the one she was talking about."

"Ohhh, I always wanted to meet you! I challenge you to a battle," Leopold immediately declared.

"I don'—"

"It's fine. I'm at my peak state," Akeru reassured Fuegoleon that he wasn't tired from traveling.

"Awesome! Let's have one here?"

"Yeah," Akeru said while moving to the other side of the training ground.

He could see a lot of blue lines on Leopold.

Despite facing a commoner, Leopold took the battle seriously.

It was a person who had been acknowledged by his crazy sister, of all people.

So, despite his status, Leopold had acknowledged Akeru as a person to surpass.

"Well, I will act as a referee. The match will be over when one of you surrenders or if I deem you're in fatal danger. Begin!" Fuegoleon declared.

'Let's see... I don't remember much about this guy. Hmm, his mana capacity is a few times mine. I guess I can't go for a battle of attrition,' Akeru thought while sidestepping a fireball aimed at him.

He had activated his sensory field.

'His reinforcement magic shouldn't be that good, as he learned mana skin for the first time in that training arc or something. But I think that's due to his high mana reserves. I can feel him able to augment his legs, but there's too much wastage of mana,' Akeru analyzed while observing the number of blue lines he could exploit.

Another fireball came at him, but this time, he countered it with a smaller water ball. To Leopold's surprise, it easily extinguished his fireball and continued toward him, forcing him to dive aside.

'Hehe, I can see the weak parts of a spell. It's all thanks to training my mana skin to a very strong barrier. Still, I feel like he's testing me with these spells.' Akeru didn't let his guard down.

Despite the other party not having a grimoire, he didn't underestimate him. He himself was a product of abnormalities.

Plus, nobles—or especially royals—are just trained like that from a young age.

"Hehe, I didn't expect you to specialize in water. Now it's going to be more fun. I've increased the notch of my training since I heard about you," Leopold said while kicking the ground and reaching Akeru almost instantly.

Akeru was surprised for a second but sidestepped as a cross kick was aimed at his head.

Before he could use the opening, a fireball was launched at him point-blank, forcing Akeru to Moonwalk backward.

'Was that Moonwalk? No, it wasn't as fast as that. Plus, he was using fire instead of pure mana. That technique is not even mana-efficient; it's all brute force. Yet, he can afford to do so due to his large reserves,' Akeru cursed at his lack of mana reserves.

"Woah, aren't you fast?" Leopold said while trying to close the distance. However, Akeru didn't let him.

'He's waiting to use some of his other cards. I'll deal with him after he reveals those.' Akeru could sense that Leopold hadn't shown his bag of tricks fully.

"Quit running and fight me honorably!" Leopold yelled.

"Hey now, there's no dishonor in running away. I'm just decreasing your mana reserves while doing that. It's called smart tactics," Akeru said while jumping from a branch, which got engulfed in fire the next second.

They weren't worried about deforestation here, as some Vermillions knew Plant Magic.

And even if they didn't, they were filthy rich.

"Well, you asked for it," Leopold stretched out his hands, and a laser beam of fire rushed at Akeru at blinding speeds.

Akeru, who was standing on a tree, widened his eyes.

'That's... slow,' Akeru thought while tilting his head and dodging the laser of fire.

From a third perspective, it seemed like a very close dodge, but Fuegoleon could tell that it wasn't instinctive.

'I've faced that Green Mantis's fire mage. His phoenixes were much faster than Leopold's beams,' Akeru thought while jumping from the tree and crouching on the ground.

Suddenly, Akeru felt nearly ten red lights aimed at him from the front.

***

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