Chapter 10 - Dysfunctional

'So this is the black bull's hideout...'

Walking over a downed Asta, Grim couldn't help but look at the weirdly misshapened building in front of him.

'How... peculiar.'

"You okay Asta?" He turned to look at him.

"Yeah." He smiled and stood up. "Never better!"

"Pretty magnificent isn't it?" Yami's voice sounded out from behind.

"It kinda looks run-down." Grim muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said it looks nice."

"Hmm... Welcome to the Black Bulls."

Looking up at the large building, Asta couldn't help but feel like his journey was finally starting.

"Oi Yami." Grim suddenly called out. "Are the people from the Black Bulls strong?"

"Tch, go in and find out yourself."

While Grim definitely wanted to fight strong opponents, he really wanted to fight against someone he felt he had a chance of winning against. With that being said, fighting Yami and the other captains would be nothing short of suicidal for the current him.

Nodding his head, both he and Asta approached the big wooden door.

*Deep Breath*

'Lets do this.'

Just as the two were about to go in, the door suddenly exploded into a burst of flames as Asta and Grim were engulfed in the inferno.

"Yahhhh!!" Asta screamed as his body was launched back.

"Ahahahahahahahahahaha." Yami burst into laughter again. "Welcome to the worst Magic Knights Squad!" He grinned.

*Sigh* 'I knew I'd regret this...'

"It burns! IT BURNS!!" Asta's screams could still be heard in the background.

Surrounded by an orange glow, Grim stood in the sea of the flames without looking too concerned.

"Is... anyone gonna put him out?"

"He'll surpass his limits and force the flames away."

"He'll what?"

After his six months of training, Grim had discovered one of the benefits of using the Breath of Flames was the fact that he gained a certain degree of fire resistance. While he wasn't immune to fire itself, this level of flames weren't enough for him frown at.

While Asta was still screaming over being lit on fire, the bird that had made a nest out of his hair flew over and nested itself on top of Grim's shoulder while his attention was drawn to what was going on inside of the Black Bull's hideout.

"STAY STILL YOU PUNK!!" A screaming man in shades yelled as he batted flaming balls of fire at a smiling blonde kid whose legs were covered in armor made out of lightning.

"Whoo Hoo!!" He laughed while evading all the attacks. "C'mon Magna! If you get any slower I'll kill you."

"JUST TRY IT!!"

"Urgh, what time is it?" Waking up to the sound of chaos exploding all around her, a pink haired woman in nothing but her bra and pȧntɨės woke up with one a mug of alcohol in her hand.

"This hangover is killing me~" She said before downing the contents of her mug.

'Seriously... what the hell have I gotten myself into!'

"Whoa, so this is a magic knights squad." Asta rolled up next to Grim after managing to put the fire out.

Seeing this, the bird perched on Grim's shoulder flew off and nestled itself back on top of Asta's hair.

---

By the time things finally calmed down, Yami had gathered the rest of the squad members and pushed Grim and Asta to the forefront.

"Introduce yourselves brats."

Clenching his fists, Asta took a deep breath before stepping forward.

"I'm Asta from Hage village! Its a pŀėȧsurė to meet you all, my dream is to become the Wizaed King!!"

After Asta finished shouti- introducing himself, Grim took a step forward to stand should to shoulder with him.

"I'm Grim from Nairn, I was blackmailed into joining this squad but I hope we can all get along. I guess you could say that my dream is to beat the wizard king."

"EH!!" Asta turned to face him. "Why'd you want to do that?!"

"Because the wizard king's the strongest." Grim smiled before going into further detail. "Just imagine it Asta, the person everyone considers the strongest writhing beneath your feet, doesn't it just fill you with joy!" He started breathing heavily.

"No..."

Hearing the conversation between the two, Yami took in a deep drag of his cigarette before turning to Finral. "I'm gonna go take a dump, introduce them in the mean time."

"Yes captain." He replied and watched as Yami disappear down the hallway.

'Phew, that guy's gonna give me a heart attack.'

"Anyway, I'm sure you've already met, but I'll introduce you." He indicated towards the guy in the white makeup and black lipstick.

"This is Gordon Agrippa, he's pretty gloomy and you never know what he's thinking, but he's a good guy."

"Nice to meet you." Gordon greeted them in a quiet voice.

"Moving on." Finral continued. "Over here we have Vanessa Enoteca, she'll probably get in your face when she's drunk and probably try to molest you, but she's not that bad of a person."

"I won't try to molest them." She denied and held back her urge to vomit.

"Carrying on with the introductions, next on the list we have Luck Voltia." He looked at the blonde kid that was previously fighting the dude with the mohawk.

"He's a battle maniac and for some reason he never stops smiling, but he's a good guy."

"Nice to meet ya." He smiled before suddenly getting up in their faces. "Do you guys like to fight?!"

"S-Sure..." Asta answered.

"Only against strong opponents." Grim smiled back.

"ME TOO!! We should fight later!!"

"Definitely!" Grim agreed without any hesitation and felt a weird kind of kinship. He was quite curious as to how he would face off against a lightning mage.

'I think we'll get along.'

While the two of them we're busy bonding over their love of fighting, Asta was ȧssaulted by a picture of a little girl.

"This is Marie, touch her and I'LL KILL YOU."

"Eeeppp!!"

---

"The adrenaline man! Its the best part!"

"Are you kidding me?! Its definitely the feeling you get after crusing your enemy!" Grim argued back.

"No way, you only feel that good thanks to the adrenaline you get from the fight!" Luck retorted.

"You only feel that way because you're determined to beat your opponent!"

Ignoring Finral's introductions, Grim and Luck went back and forth until Magna broke them up and adressed both Asta and Grim.

"Two weaklings from the scrubs are newest members of the Black Bulls? Don't make me laugh!"

'Who the hell is this guy?' Grim wondered forgetting that he had ignore Finral's introductions.

"Until you get one of these robes, I Magna Swing won't accept you!" The Mohawk dude proclaimed.

'But Yami accepted us... Does his opinion really matter?'

But before Grim could voice his suspicions, Asta had already started speaking.

"Oh my god! Its a magic knight's robe!" He grabbed onto Grim's shoulder and started shaking him before turning back to look at Magna. "Please Let me have one!!" For some reason his eyes started sparkling.

"You want one? That's good." Magna made an amused expression. "Because you're about to experience the Black Bull's welcoming ceremony."