Chapter IV

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*** Encounters ***
I stood there for a minute, chilly from the night wind blowing in my direction. It was quiet for a
moment as everything became completely still, and I reveled in the calmness. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the cool night air, and a small smile found its way to my face. This was the kind of peace I hadn't experienced in a long while. The memory of the first night I had been told to run an errand resurfaced in my mind, and I remembered standing just like I was now. 
Staying there, I thought about just how different my situation was from what had been, and I found it almost laughable. I was now a magic knight, which I didn't quite understand what exactly that entailed, but I was still apart of something.
Breathing in another calming breath, I opened my eyes and watched as the building suddenly caught fire. Smoke rose from the flames in large clouds and everything blazed a bright orange, and to my surprise, so did my grimoire. New information filled my head, just like it had before, and I scrambled to open it. On the second page appeared the words "Extended Time," in large, cursive letters. The details were written underneath the title in a neat, elegant writing, but everything about whatever this was had already been instilled into my brain.
Apparently I could slow the time down in a certain area for a short period of time. Confusion struck me for a quick moment before I finally put two and two together and realized that I really did have magical powers, and so did everyone around me. I flipped through the blank pages of my grimoire half out of shock and half out of curiosity. What kind of magic is there? Is a person limited to one kind of magic or is there other kinds of magic you can wield aside from the magic you already have? What kind of magic do I have? How am I supposed to use my magic if I don't even know what kind of magic I have?
Jumbles of questions swirled around in my head, blurring together, quickly giving me a headache. With a sigh, I decided to make my way towards the burning building, but before I could move an inch a loud yell pierced the air and an extremely heavy object rammed into my back.
I fell forward, following the momentum of whatever had fallen on top of me and landed with a loud thud on the hard ground. I grunted and tried to roll the object off of me but before I had fully freed myself, it groaned, "Geez that hurt,"

"W-would you mind getting off of me? You weigh a ton." I wiggled around underneath a kid that sounded like he had just hit puberty. He glanced down at me and in one swift movement, got to his feet, helped me up, and began apologizing profusely. It was awkward not only because everyone else was watching this interaction, but the kid kept bowing every time he apologized. After about the umpteenth apology, I quickly became annoyed and interrupted his little routine.
"It's alright, but can I ask you something?" I watched him with a raised eyebrow. He stopped bowing at me, met my eyes and nodded with all seriousness.
"How much do you weigh? I'm gonna get back pains because you landed on me." My comment sent him into another spur of apologies and I couldn't help but laugh a little at the boys sincerity.
After a second round of constant bowing and,
I'm sorry's, the kid looked toward the hideout, which at that point had become perfectly intact, and murmured something about being a, "black bull." With a determined look, he strode up to the large, wooden doors, opened them and shouted, "I'm the newest member of this squad, fresh from Hage Village, Asta-" I wasn't quiet sure if he was going to say more, but before he even had the opportunity too, a large explosion blew him back all the way into the forest. I watched him fly over head and land next to Finral and some strange looking dude with makeup on who was oddly whispering to himself. Before the boy or I could properly react, Yami took hold of his cigarette, turned around to where the kid had landed, and spoke with pride, "This is us, worst of the worst magic knight squads, welcome to the black bulls!"
I wanted to laugh, and I wanted to keep laughing until my sides were heaving and a couldn't breathe. This was what I had gotten myself into. From a slave trade to a magical knight squad. What the hell even is a magical knight squad?
Another strange voice interrupted my thoughts screaming something about being, "real mad," but before I had even processed the strangers words, a fire ball shot through the front doors and two men followed suit. One of the men was tall and lean, while the other was short and lanky. The two men were a complete juxtaposition of the other. The first looked slightly intimidating, his wild Mohawk and metal bat were the first things that gave away his "bad boy" persona. He wore all black and a large scar on his forehead suggested he had seen some action. The latter had bright unkept blonde hair and electric blue eyes that matched his outfit. He looked almost childlike because of his feminine features and ecstatic presence, but he intimidated me more than the first man had. There was something about the look in his eyes that told me the kid wasn't right. If the first guy was wild, then he was something primitive. Before I could look away, our eyes met and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. The boy couldn't have been more than 5'4 and yet, he utterly terrified me.
Unable to look away, I held his gaze and watched as a smile formed on his face, making him look even more frightening than he already was. I quickly broke eye contact and looked toward Yami, trying my best to calm the nerves that were forming a knot in my stomach.

These were the black bulls.

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A/N: Thanks for reading you guys. I'm sorry for not posting in awhile, I've been traveling soooo much over the summer break and I haven't had anytime to sit down and write. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll try my best to post more, but I appreciate your patience with me.

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