In this world, Magic is Everything. All people, all races, are granted with the power to perform mystical and magical feats via grimories, mystical tomes granted to each and every child on their 15th birthday. Those blessed by the mana can have their names written down in legend.
Shattered Grimoires is the work of the mind(s) of Ardere & Shattered Grimoire's staff. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. Black Clover is owned by Yuki Tabata and published by Viz Shonen Jump. All images belong to their original owners. The theme you are currently viewing was made by Eliza of ElizaCodes exclusively for Shattered Grimoires.
Description: The Shattering has hit everyone hard, but there has been actual destruction of important political buildings in the small village of Hage. They have asked for extra hands to help repair and reconstruct these important locations. Aid the people in their time of need.
Arjuna’s first task since joining the Purple Orcas was to head to the city of Hage and help them with reconstruction of various places that were damaged from the weather, creatures, and the past war. While it had been a few years since the war had ended there were still plenty of places torn asunder from the fighting. Arjuna was quite use volunteering so even if this hadn’t been an official request through the Magic Knights he might have discovered it naturally, it was one of his pastimes to travel a bit and help out who he could with is magic or just with some physical labor. It wasn’t unusual for the young Shengxiao to be gone for days on end during one of these random trips of his, his family was pretty happy with his devotion to helping those weaker then him and the squad took it as a young mage trying to live their squads values.
He gathered his things from his room, his Magic knight Mantle that would identify him as a member of the Purple Orca Squad, his grimoire and his work suit which was pure white with navy blue undershirt. Most people thought of him as weird to wear such an easily stainable outfit out in public and especially to actually do his day to day work and requests, but Arjuna was brought up to present his image and uphold that image as needed while raised as a noble he was taught that it wasn’t the items that made the man but the actions that the person did. So he dressed well and proper but didn’t allow it to keep him from getting dirty when needed. He felt properly prepared for the journey and task ahead of him so he closed his room door and headed towards Hage.
Upon arrival he asked around for the designated meet up spot and made his way there so that he could report in and begin his task, he wasn’t sure if there would be any other magic knight and overall he didn’t truly care not out of arrogance or anything malice but because he wanted to focus on doing the task in front of him to the best of his ability. His ability to move earth with his magic would be greatly needed in situations like this and while he didn’t have any spells he could still move a bit of earth enough to be helpful to whoever needs it.
Xero's mind was a bit of a flutter as he stepped through the grassy fields of Hage. That black haired boy seemed to stop in his tracks to admire just how far off the village was. Originally he wasn't expecting much as the people from the capital seemed to call this place the boonies. Although Xero had no idea what that meant he assumed it was something said to insult a place, and so he decided to check for himself after mentions of the shattering having done a considerable amount of damage to the area. Although Xero wasn't sure what he would be paid he knew that the coin he had on him wasn't enough no matter how he looked at it.
As Xero walked forward and grew closer to the small town with grimace in his eyes. 'They weren't lying when they said that the shattering did damage' Xero thought to himself calmly as building laid on their sides, and even the political structures most likely praised for their masterwork crafting seemed to be unable to shake off this unnatural phenomenon as portions of political buildings littered the streets. 'I guess I should consider myself lucky I wasn't here' Xero thought to himself with a huff of impatience. He wanted someone to come up to him and ask him to help, but as he stepped forward. Unluckily for the magic swordsmen the rubble littered on the ground seemed to cause him endless ordeals trying to pass them by time and time again even having to climb over toppled buildings in pursuit of someone to speak with.
Eventually as time went on Xero's outfit became littered with dirt marks and stains from both dirt and sweat from the sun beating down. yet even in the small town he was unable to find a single person willing to speak with him. He didn't let himself be bothered by that, however just when the young swordsmen was about to give up he seemed to noticed a mantle flapping around in the wind. Xero gave a bit of a huff as he realized it was another magic knight, however as time went on Xero no longer cared. Quickly pacing his way towards the man as he walked towards a oddly specific spot.
As the man finally stopped moving Xero gave a long breath. His pace steadied and slowed as he walked towards the man. As he grew closer he could see the man seemed to have much tanner skin than his own, and to Xero that seemed a bit more settling for an odd reason. once Xero managed to get within ten feet of the man his hand would wave in front of himself lacking a bit of enthusiasm as he did so. "Hey there Mr.Knight I got a question for you" Xero would begin to hum for a second pondering his next choice of words "I was wondering why you might be here? I'm a bit low on coins so I was wondering if you'd share some work with me" Xero questioned. His voice oddly smooth and his posture at ease. It was clear this wasn't the boys first time asking people for work, and frankly the young swordsmen didn't expect the knight to help him much, but perhaps he could point him in the right direction.
Post by Marcellin Van Arouet on Jul 28, 2020 1:50:17 GMT -5
Marcellin found himself in the village of Hage, staring at the rubble that was the village hall before. It had seemed that the effects of the Shattering could still be found as far off as this village, but it could not be helped as that demon was really a powerful being. Marcellin cursed at his powerlessness to do anything against that demon, being unable to recover from his wounds until just recently. But still as he watched the ruins here of this once beautiful hall, he could tell that most of the populace, especially those not that capable as him, were powerless against that demon, and he was not the only one affected. In fact, he should count himself lucky that he survived the Shattering head-on, as others had suffered worse fates than him. Uttering a tacit prayer to whatever god those people believed in even though he was an atheist, he sighed, and moved towards where he was needed in this village. It was the only way where he could help it, by rebuilding its buildings devastated by the Shattering.
After reporting in and receiving some drafts for the new buildings, Marcellin then set himself to his task. The first thing that he should do was to prepare the bricks so that these, and the resulting buildings from these, could become more durable against whatever catastrophe that could happen. After he was shown towards where the bricks were made, he then generated a huge amount of mercury with his mana, which gathered some of the clay that was used to make bricks, and then after molding the clay with the mercury in the needed dimensions of the brick, he then had the mercury press the tops of the molds he had created; the weight of the mercury aiding him to make the hardest brick that he could make. After some repetitions, he had made quite a number of bricks ready for the kilns for the day, and he had to stop. As he had nothing left for him to do for the day, he then walked around the area while reading the drafts for the buildings.
As he approached the meeting area again, he was met with another one of the Magic Knights, this time from the Purple Orcas. He was about to greet that person, but was cut off by another man, who was asking if there was a work for the Magic Knight in this area, and offered some help for him in exchange for some cash. As Marcellin remembered that there was a separate log for the volunteers in the meeting place along with that of the Magic Knights, Marcellin then said to the man, "I believe that there is a log for the volunteers who wished to help the rebuilding effort, so if you really needed some work, you may scribe your name in that log. I do believe there was some sort of a compensation for those who volunteered."
A small hand appeared in front of Arjuna’s face it belong to another kid who looked around his age but he couldn’t properly tell due to the dirt and grime that covered the young man’s being, he must be either a local who has fallen on hard times or one of the volunteers but when he heard the young man ask him if there was work to be done for some quick yul he settled on the former opinion. Before he could mention the volunteer option for helping another young man shared the info, Arjuna looked over at this one and they were sporting the Magic Knight Mantle of the Silver Eagles. He hadn’t had much interaction with the mainly noble squad, but he had heard they weren’t as anti-commoner as they use to be in the past but that had been due to the captain changing things. Even so Arjuna wasn’t quite sure how quickly that would be changed through the squad on a individual level. Arjuna quickly got rid of that train of thought because it wouldn’t help anyone out in this task and was overly just a negative thought process.
“He is correct young man, I’m not sure how much the compensation is but all you have to do is sign the logbook and complete the tasks given just like us.” Arjuna said politely to boy in front of him, he then begun to travel to where the logbook was so that the boy could easily find it and get all set up without any issues. “Also I apologize for not introducing myself, I am Arjuna Shengxiao of the Purple Orcas. I hope we are able to work together properly and complete our tasks quickly for the sake of these people.” Arjuna also made sure to share the same introduction to the Silver Eagle that had offered the needed information, he was keen on making good relations with fellow Magic Knights. After all it was hard to be the Shield of the Kingdom if your comrades didn’t trust you. Once he had completed those basic respects he begun the tasks given to him which was to flatten out the surrounding area and fix the various foundations in some of the salvageable buildings. It was not anything particularly difficult to do it was just more mentally draining and once he had reached his limit of earth moving he took a short break and readied himself to help out with any physical labor that was needed like removing rubble or moving materials around as need to worksites. He caught glimpses of the other two young men he had met while he worked, he hoped they would be able to interact a bit more but wasn’t going to try and force anything at the moment while there was still plenty of work to be done.
After a few moments of asking Xero's patience seemed to pay off as another person came into Xero's vision. It wasn't surprising as Xero literately needed to look down at the person whom spoke first. As the person went on to speak Xero couldn't help but notice yet another mantle wrapped around their shoulders. 'Geez mother wasn't kidding when she said they'd be everywhere even in a place as far out as this' Xero thought to himself for a moment as he began to listen to the newcomer more attentively as she went on about volunteering. Xero lacking the finer education didn't exactly understand their methods, however he wasn't one to turn down the opportunity for paying work. Although Xero hadn't actually asked the smaller male for their word in the matter he wasn't going to waste it, but he also waited and listened to what the original man had to say. To no surprise the man seemed to agree with the shorter one simply saying afterwards he had no idea what kind of compensation would come from Xero spending his time on the 'mission'. Xero gave a bit of a nod to the man before he himself let his lips part a bit.
"Well I guess I'll sign my name then, and hopefully the pay isn't too bad" Xero said simply with a bit of a shrug. At this point The man began to explain himself being a Purple Orca, and that his name was Arjuna. Xero smiled softly before he explained himself. "I'm Xero, although I'm not from a Magic Knight squad I'll make sure to hold up my end of the task" Xero stated with a quick turn towards the log that the magic knights had pointed to.
Luckily it wasn't too far from the group only a few dozen steps away actually. Without much of a thought Xero pulled his sword from it's sheathe before quickly slashing at the log leaving his first name deeply gouged into the bark of the log. He wasn't sure how much room he should take up, and as such he simply choose to put down his first name instead of his name entirely. After the engraving the sword would quickly return to it's scabbard as it had no more use at that time, and Xero would move towards the other two once more.
This time Xero took it upon himself to memorize what the others looked like. Just in case they were to get separated during this small mission of theirs. The first man, who didn't seem all that much taller than Xero, although his skin tone was a bit darker than most, and perfectly matched the hair he was born with. Xero turned his gaze not wanting to stare too long as his eyes fell to the much shorter lad. The boy had a much lighter hair than that of Arjuna with a silver mane on his head. Xero also noticed like most of the people he'd met from clover the smaller lad seemed to have very pale skin much different from Arjuna's own caramel tone.
After looking over the men Xero would snap back into reality in front of the two as he began to speak once again. "I did what you said, and engraved my name." Xero stated simply to the two, however only giving a little pause before speaking again. "Although. I'm not too sure on what exactly they expect us to do here. Would either of you mind explaining?" Xero questioned. He wasn't illogical when speaking to magic knights, and he was hoping to avoid any bragging by making a point not to step on the others toes. He'd give the others as long as they needed to respond after all Xero had no idea where to even start.
Post by Marcellin Van Arouet on Jul 29, 2020 14:04:27 GMT -5
"Marcellin Van Arouet of the Silver Eagles." Marcellin calmly said those words towards the two. "Let's do well in these tasks at hand, for the villagers definitely needed it."
Marcellin then watched Xero move towards the reception area for those who would log in their names for the rebuilding effort, before turning towards the Purple Orca member, who introduced himself as Arjuna... Shengxiao? Now that was a name that he only remotely knew. Although the Shengxiao clan was a fairly large one and had produced a lot of Magic Knights, still the name seemed odd for him. That name sounded like a Far Eastern one, and he could not contemplate much on how they had gained nobility status... except if they were indeed a new family which were recently granted the privilege of nobility in the Kingdom of Clover. It was also a fact that nobles come and go within this kingdom, and it could be said that his own family of Van Arouet was nearing the chopping block if he would not be famous enough to maintain his family's status. But this should not be the reason he should denigrate the person right here; their family rose out of merit, and their clan was known to have produced the best Magic Knights around, and so they were performing better and thus deserved the nobility rank more than his clan did.
"The effects of the Shattering had been felt even in this place, ri..." Marcellin's voice was interrupted by a sound of metal on wood, and as he turned towards the source of the sound, he then saw Xero inscribing his name on a log with his blade, but it was not the log he expected. That brazen display of disrespect pissed Marcellin off, but not to the extent that it would show on his face, which still looked like as disinterested as before. It was one thing to not know the difference of log as in the fallen trunk of a tree and the log as in the document that held a list of names for various purposes; and another to move towards the ones keeping charge of the logs and deliberately pass by them without even asking before doing his own interpretation of signing a log while the record keepers were struggling to dissuade Xero that it was not the log that Marcellin meant. He seemed to have a problem with authority, which he could understand, but he was directing it at the wrong people. He was actually sticking it to the villagers of Hage who were about to pay him for work, and not to Marcellin.
As Xero then moved towards the two and said that he did what they said while still ignoring the record keepers, Marcellin then stated, "The record keepers say that you are doing the wrong thing, and you are not listening to them. Better listen to them first and write your name on the proper log, you will be paid that way. Much worse you'll be escorted out by some angry villager with some bruises. We are just visitors here, and this is their village."
Arjuna was busy keeping up with the task of leveling the ground as needed and helping out with any physical labor that was tasked to him, he had heard of some raised voices early but hadn’t been able to check it out till now. He walked over to the scene though most had already dispersed and moved about the area Arjuna noticed that there was one log that had someone’s name craved into it and at first it puzzled the young man on why someone would do that but then remembered that the young man from before had been told to right his name on the log and must have taken it literal or didn’t know about the actual written log that was being used to sign in on. Arjuna just simply shook his head and went about his business helping out the villagers, he was sure that the other Magic Knight had taken care of the situation and that there wouldn’t be a need for him to deal with it himself which was refreshing not having to be the mediator for once.
WC: 183
TWC: 1070/1000
Last Edit: Aug 23, 2020 10:33:53 GMT -5 by Deleted
After doing as he thought he was instructed, and returning to the group the first to speak upon his return was the shortest of the group, and a silver eagles member. Xero’s head cocked to the side as she spoke “The record keepers?” Xero questioned finally hearing the sighs and grunt from the men behind himself. The isolated child turned finally realizing that he’d probably applied the wrong way which caused him to pace back towards the men apologizing frantically about not knowing the difference between the log and the entry he was meant to fill out. After conversing with the men and explaining his identity he was quickly allowed to rejoin the rest of the group without much further question, although a constant eye seemed to loom over his shoulder.
After Xero returned he let out a long sigh as he looked towards what the man from before was doing. He seemed to be about helping out the villagers. Xero gave a sigh thinking of his own ways to help as he began to puck up piles of rubble leading them towards designated piles of other mages to deal with. After what seemed like an hour had passed, maybe two. Xero wasn’t sure as he kept hauling large pieces of stone and wood from the ground to piles. After the young boy filled a few piles of garbage and other such rubbish he’d soon begin to look for the people who he met before, and before long Xero would manage to find Arjuna once again, and glanced about to see if the other member would be with him as well.
Post by Marcellin Van Arouet on Aug 14, 2020 11:46:12 GMT -5
As Xero then apologized to the record keepers and wrote his name on the right log, Marcellin sighed. It seemed to him that Xero's situation was not that of a rebel without a cause, but that of an unlettered mind interspersed with somewhat being hard of hearing. That reminded him of an adage, and he realized it to be true. Indeed, he should not attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity, more so if that stupidity can be easily fixed by a little bit of education. At least he had learned it without him being mauled by some villagers who did not know better. As Xero finished logging his name into the records, he and Arjuna set off to work, while Marcellin, who had already finished his daily workload; walked, blueprints in hand, within the village to look at the sites where the new buildings will be erected. Coincidentally, they walked in the same direction towards roughly the same site.
The site that they were moving towards to seemed to be filled with debris from the ruined houses and buildings due to the Shattering. It was a sobering sight that reminded all of the residents about that pernicious devil which ransacked each and every settlement within Clover. The devil was gone after an attack, leaving villages ransacked by its power, and numerous people dead or injured. The memory of the former life that was situated there might have been important for some of the villagers here, but any amount of debris here would be counterproductive in the long run, and so there is a need to remove all of them. And so he also helped the two in clearing out the debris.
As Marcellin had finished the area he assigned himself to clean, he then looked around to see if there were others who also finished. It had seemed Xero also finished his area as well, and was about to move towards Arjuna's direction, apparently to see if he needed help. Marcellin also did so, since he had finished his area anyway and it would not be ideal if they left it undone for the day. As he then picked up the debris there, Marcellin then muttered, in a voice audible to both of the other people in the area, "Looks like the Shattering had affected a lot of areas and not just the capital."
Arjuna received a summoning to report back to the family household so he waved goodbye to the friends he was able to make while doing this mission and headed back home.
