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.
This wasn’t anything like Noah has experienced before. He has heard about strange territories that don’t belong to neither kingdom, but he wasn’t expecting a literal wasteland. Holding a poorly drawn map ahead of him he wandered through the wastelands being more confused than he normally would. One thing he enjoyed was that there didn’t seem to be any sight of a human anywhere around. That’s actually not a good thing. He realized, mainly because he went here for one specific person. After seeing way too many rocks he was getting a little desperate and decided to take a break and eat something. He found huge rock that had a little cave in it. Did it look safe? Not really, but the cave wasn’t exactly deep and chance of something hopping onto him wasn’t that high. He reached to his backpack and took out a loaf of bread. It was two days old and not exactly good but realistically, who could expect that there were no restaurants in a place called wasteland? After each bite of a bread he took he had to drink a huge amount of water just to swallow it. This wasn’t a very pleasant experience, but considering his goal – this was something he had to get used to.
After half an hour passed, Noah was somewhat full and ready to continue. He made sure to check his pathetic drawing some would call a map multiple times. Walking in nothingness for couple more hours wasn’t exactly helping him staying calm and he tried to focus on his next encounter. What will he say, why does he even want to join the Golden Dawn? Do all the mages walk across the whole kingdom just to impress one guy. He wasn’t sure this was even a good idea, everything would have been easier if he just made sure to not miss Magic Knights Exams. It was getting dark, which was suspicious. According to his calculations he was supposed to reach the Blake estate the same day, but that wasn’t happening. He lost track of time and decided that it was safer to just find a hiding space during the night. By the looks of it, seemed like it was going to be midnight soon; that was suspicious by itself since half an hour ago everything was completely visible like it was just a noon. I am probably exhausted and losing any sense of time, great. His thoughts were currently very discouraging and only thing he was able to focus on was the place to sleep. He was sure that another nice eight hours of sleep would just get him back on track. There was still a floating question mark above his head regarding his plan to get accepted to Golden Dawn, but that seemed like an issue for tomorrows Noah. Eventually he managed to find a somewhat safe piece of ground that was surrounded by bigger rocks. That place looked ideal for spending a night. He didn´t even bother creating a fire; he was alone (or at least he thought) and drawing any unwanted attention was just going to cause trouble he wasn´t ready to deal with. He used his travelling backpack as a pillow and just curled up to one rock that gave him a questionable feeling of security.
The “night” didn’t exactly went as expected. Not only that Noah´s spoiled back wasn’t very satisfied with the raw ground he lied on, but also the night didn’t exactly go away. “I would swear I slept at least five hours, so by this time the sun should have come out already.” He said very annoyed and tired. He just woke up into exactly same light situation. It was still dark and no sign of daylight was available. Confused, he managed to sit down and stare into rock for a brief moment. Something was happening and he wasn’t sure what was it. He drank most of his remaining water and used to last bits to freshen up his face as there wasn’t any other means of getting awake. He stretched his back and hands for a bit to lose the aching pain that came after sleeping on the ground and then opened his notebook and started checking out his writings.
“Oh…” He said very silently. Finally, he realized what was wrong and he felt stupid. He was in the Shadowlands, exactly where he was supposed to be. Due to his inability to sense mana around he didn’t even realize that he was probably in a powerful mana zone and that there was no daylight on a purpose. He just went to sleep and convinced himself it was night, without even questioning the rapid change of light situation. He was a little ashamed and felt awkward, which was little silly; it´s not like there was anyone else who could have seen this. He then jumped up and started moving forward. He made sure to keep his notes open as he was walking and was checking both the path he was walking on and his notes. “Blake estate is a former Magic Knights Base, Zaven Blake equals captain of the Golden Dawn equals Shadow magic…. Okay” He started reading his notes out loud, when he finally saw something in far distance. It was a house, or a mansion probably. He couldn’t see much, however after getting closer he saw very interesting building. It looked a little abandoned, but there were lights inside. The gothic architecture gave Noah chills and he just couldn’t stop thinking how odd this place is. Inside dark nothingness, there is suddenly a very decadent mansion. It reminded him of some old drawings he saw in the books when he was young, but he couldn’t recall what exactly was it. “Nobles are very decadent indeed.” He smiled and started walking little faster towards the building. When being really close, he stopped for a moment and froze. After all the shenanigans he endured while getting to this point he completely forgot to create a plan. Did he want to impress the captain? Or is the fact that he went all this way just to see him impressive by himself? Noah definitely though the latter was true but that was also mostly just him.
It was too late to make any plans - he was too close. Another thing coming to his mind was how to actually approach the mansion. Was he supposed to just come to the door and knock? That felt a little creepy given the isolated location. But also the mansion was so large that there didn’t seem to be any better option available. He could try throwing some small rocks to the window or shouting but that felt even more pathetic. He just decided to not think anymore as this wasn’t bringing anything good and just approached huge doors in what seemed to be like the main part of building and immediately spoke loudly. “Hello, my name is Noah and I came looking for the captain of the Golden Dawn, Zaven Blake.” After he spoke, he just took couple of steps back to not be so close to the door and waited in anticipation. I really hope they have toilets though.
[attr="class","zavenreescroll"] Zaven had been doing his best in planning for the emergence of his province. The acquisition of land inside of the Shadow Mana Zone might have been seen as weird and obscure, however such was not the case. Zaven wished to defend his people from all threats foreign and domestic, the mana zones offered a protection unlike that of a defensive structure or an army would provide. Natural armor is how he viewed it. This night the Shadow of Dawn was alone in his estate…he had dismissed the staff so that he may have time to think and plan for what was to come…the training of the Royal Knight Squad, his own spiritual and relic training…he needed more strength. [break][break]
”If I am able to secure and rebuild this area of the settlement I will be able to incentivize more people to come to the land…offering a full defensive wall would also keep morale high…then there is personnel and the army to be built up.”. He sighed as he looked over all the papers. In all honesty it was not really that bad, but it was time consuming…and that was one luxury he did not have. Looking out the window and into the shadow mana zone he could see a figure approaching the gates of the estate. ”This is interesting...not many know of the Blake family Estate...much less this person seemed to traverse an overtly dangerous stretch of land...Let’s see what this is all about.” Zaven said with a chuckle before standing up and making his way down and out of his office just as there was a commotion at his door. The Shadow of Dawn was not rude so he did open it and took a look at the visitor, a male teenager by the name of Noah and he was looking for the Golden Dawn captain...this kid did not even know he was looking at the captain currently and Zaven blinked a moment before stepping back and deciding to have a little fun with the visitor in terms of playing a little prank to blow his mind. ”Ah, Mr. Blake is currently upstairs in his office and I am afraid that he has not come out since nearly four hours ago. Perhaps I can see you to the master’s waiting room and get you a drink while you wait?” Zaven said as he ushered the boy to enter the house of the Golden Dawn captain. [break][break]
Once inside Zaven will of course help to answer the questions of the boy while he explained the mannerisms of placing a house in a dangerous part of the Clover Kingdom, even going as far as to tell the boy that he saw it foolish that the master of the house, Zaven Blake was wanting to make a province in the land and he planned on being a leader as long as he still breathed. The waiting room was a large gothic themed waiting area, lounge chairs with burgundy silk cushions, black oak tables and even a few plants here and there. A peculiar thing was a small winged “beast” was floating about over their heads but making sure not to get too close.
Good, someone opened. Young mage was standing in front of the door as Zaven disguised as a servant opened a door. Noah was little surprised that they even had servants in a place like these, but on the other hand it made sense since the whole building was so monumental and taking care of it must have been tedious. Once the man let him in, Noah did not hesitate and entered the mansion. He was listening to the man carefully but at the same time his eyes were all over the place. Noah had very little experience with extravagant buildings, but he was sure this was one of those. The exterior really matched interior, and young mage just kept imagining how weird it has to be to live here. “I don’t mean to interrupt as I realize me barging in like this must be rude but I found no other way of contacting captain Blake.” Noah tried to smile and be as polite as he possibly could but his bladder had different idea. He was clenching his legs together, as it was obvious he really had to pee. Sadly, due to Noah´s social awkwardness he didn’t have enough courage to ask for a toilet just yet as he arrived. It´s ok let´s not think about it. In order to distract himself from his needs, Noah just listened to what the so called servant had to say.
“I must admit, it was the first time I entered a magic zone and the road wasn’t easy. It was indeed an interesting learning experience.” Noah said in attempt to keep the conversation with the man going, it looked like he wasn’t so fond of the idea working in a Shadowlands and frankly, Noah could understand that. “It must be really hard for you, employees, to work at such a remote location as well.” He was just speaking his thoughts, but he deliberately didn’t use the word servants as he wasn’t fond of it. Once they reached the waiting room, Noah wasn’t surprised anymore. The decadence was so obvious you could smell it, it smelled like a clothes that have been locked in a wardrobe for twenty years. I do love that they have a waiting room though, maybe it´s not so unusual for people to visit here after all. This made Noah felt a little less dumb for marching in the house of a captain and persuading him to join the Golden Dawn.
“Living here must also have its perks - given the fact that this mansion is so isolated, it is only natural that enemies would have harder times approaching it, or maybe even locating.” To be fair, Noah had hard time approaching it and wasn’t even an enemy. He wasn’t trying to argue with the man as he wasn’t even looking at him, his eyes were still spectating the whole room as there were a lot of details Noah wanted to pay attention to. “Creating a province is another thing though, I don´t see a reason for that but I also don’t know a lot of things.” He was just spitting his thoughts, there was something magical about this place and Noah started enjoying it. “To clarify my arrival, I have come to meet mister Blake in order to join The Golden Dawn as I have not managed to arrive to Royal Capital in time for the Magic Knights Exams.” He said as he looked directly to Zaven´s eyes, probably for the first time they entered this room. Well, the reason I missed the exams was that I didn’t have a broom back then but he does not need to know that. Noah only hoped that the man couldn’t read his thoughts, otherwise this could get awkward really quick.
“Oh?” Noah´s face expression changed as if he saw a ghost. What he thought was a chandelier was actually a creature, flying beast. Noah rose his head up as he started observing the creature, what was that? He couldn’t really tell but it looked like a bat to him. That actually made sense, given the fact that bats do enjoy dark environment with minimal light, but also why is it flying around there acting like a pet? Good thing was that the creature was keeping its distance and Noah planned to do the same. “I don’t mean to be rude but is that a bat?” He asked, while pointing his finger onto the flying thing. Maybe it was normal and Noah just never experienced it, he also never saw a real bat, only some drawings from children book so his idea of bats might be a little inaccurate. After resolving the issue with the little beast, Noah just sat in very comfortable chair and came back on topic. “I am sure mister Blake must have a lot of business now, if its inconvenient I could come back later.” He said, but also regretted it a little cause he really didn’t have anywhere to go in Shadowlands Grand Magic Zone.
[attr="class","zavenreescroll"] As Zaven led the young man he could tell that there was something bothering him, and when they arrived at the waiting room and he could turn and speak to the young man he noticed that the legs of this one seemed to indicate that he was in desperate need of relief and Zaven almost had a laugh. He had walked him around the manor and for a while it was just fun to play the part of someone that was without much of a name. When asked if Hraban was a bat Zaven merely shook his head. ”No, that is the master’s spirit, A raven shadow spirit named Hraban. A curious thing that will constantly be at your heels if he can feel anything from you, he is also a bit of a trickster so be wary.” Zaven then pointed up at Hraban, the spirit looked back at Zaven and just laughed a little. ”The master of the house will be down momentarily once I send Hraban to fetch him, but while we wait...perhaps you need to use the restroom...you have seemed awfully fidgety since your arrival. There is no sense in having to hold it in while you wait, otherwise you might make a mess on the carpet.” He then pointed at the door at the east side of the room. ”The restroom is just on the other side of the door there. Please feel free to use it while I go fetch Zaven.” He said Zaven’s name almost as a clue as he would leave the room. Hraban would watch the young man for a moment before enveloping itself in shadows...the next moment it was beside Noah. [break][break]
”So what is your favorite color...Noah? Do you have any friends? Are you rich...or poor?” Hraban said, his form taking shape as he looked like a bandaged lanky human (for his size) wearing a cloak of a raven’s hood and feathers. Hraban was silent after the sudden barrage of questions. If Noah answered them, or if he did not and fled for the bathroom was his choice...the spirit would linger around the newcomer as Zaven would prepare to come back downstairs from his office, waiting to see the surprise on the young man’s face.
“Sorry I called you a bat, Hraban.” Noah said embarrassed, while scratching his head as meeting spirits was quite rare for him. Once the Zaven in disguise said everything and left the room, Noah got a little relief as he could finally go to the toilet peacefully, that was until little spirit scared him when he appeared right behind Noah and started asking personal questions. Well at least I am not the only socially awkward creature here. Noah had a little smile on his lips, since these questions were really out of place and hilarious given the gloomy atmosphere lingering in the waiting room. “That´s a lot of questions, let me think.” This made him stop his journey to the toilet, as he was generally interested in the questions asked and this was also the first time someone asked him something personal since his arrival to Royal Capital, and that was refreshing. “Well, my favorite color would be black, although some say that black is not a color but rather a mix of all colors together. In that case I would have to say blue gray.” This was the easiest question and Noah didn’t really have to think that much. Given his outfit and overall appearance, his favorite colors made no sense but a lot of things about him didn’t really make sense. In terms of friends, Noah had to think for a hot minute about any friends he had. What surprised him a little was realization that only friend he could even consider would be his teacher Josephine, with whom he spent the childhood but that was also more of an idol situation. “I don’t have friends, not that I don’t want them.” Noah stopped for a second and tried to think about how to formulate what he had on his mind. “It´s just I have spent childhood being trained as a mage who would eventually join the Magic Knights and there was not much more space left for any friendships. And I just recently moved to Royal Capital and I hardly know anyone there, so I guess I will have friends eventually.” Last thing he imagined was getting deep with a raven made of shadows, but Noah liked it. Stupid little thoughts he used to distract himself were quiet and Noah was just thinking about the last answer and also contemplating on how honest he could be.
“We were rich, or to be more precise my father was; until he got arrested for selling some counterfeit items. So I am pretty much poor now.” Noah was speaking with brutal honesty, and it was also apparent that he wasn’t embarrassed talking about his father being in prison, it looked like Noah didn’t have any hard feelings about his situation whatsoever. “But it´s great, I am doing missions and things for myself now and the feeling of independence is liberating.” This ended his weird monologue and he looked onto Hraban and realized he has been probably speaking a lot. “What about your favorite color? I am not sure how spirits perceive friendships and wealth. And uh… Excuse me for a minute.” This was the last thing he said before he quickly rushed to the toilet where he did his business and came back to room in anticipation for Hrabans answers.
[attr="class","zavenreescroll"] Hraban already forgot that he was called a bat, little things were just that...little and the spirit had lived far too long to let such things bother him so all he did was blink surprised and waved it off, it was no big deal to him. When Noah answered and said he would need a moment to think, and when he finally answered Hraban was satisfied with the answers he received and when he was asked his favorite color he was about to answer when the boy said he needed to step away. Hraban shrugged as Noah went into the washroom and soon there was the figure of Zaven coming back down the stairs, so the spirit went back to him. He was going to ask why Zaven was toying with the kid, but he was given an answer before he could even ask. ”I am just having a bit of fun, there have not been many times where I could pretend to be someone else...even though I can...in fact do that.” He looked lost in thought for a moment before finally continuing. ”Next time I need to actually change how I look, damn illusion magic is in my blood yet I have not used it really at all.” He said with a chuckle before finally shaking his head and walking back into the waiting room where he would make himself a glass of bourbon. [break][break]
Once Noah would eventually make his way back out into the room, Zaven would be there, lounging on a couch with a glass in his hand. He would then reach his hand out in an attempt to make contact with the young man. ”Noah is that not right? My servant has told me a lot about you...in such a small amount of time. I hope you were not waiting too long?” He asked and spoke with eloquence and confidence. The Shadow of Dawn had a reputation, and was known far and wide as someone that was quite larger than life, but the man in front of Noah was brought up from a humble stand point, and it could be said that he had at least taken time to have fun even in times such as these. ”Since you took your time and traversed the shadowlands just to get here to see me, I am intrigued in the very least in what you could possibly be seeking me out for. So please, you have the floor.” He asked a follow up question, he was at least being nice in a sense and was not unaproachable.
Upon entering the room, Noah saw quite a different scenery. Zaven was sitting in a chair and drinking something, Noah was just a little confused and had to think for a hot minute how long was he exactly on the toilet. However, it seemed like the actual captain of the Golden Dawn has finally arrived and this was Noah´s time to plead his case. “Hello sir.” Noah waved and smiled in a friendly manner, trying to hide his anxiety about talking to him. It was obvious that the reputation of the Shadow of Dawn was widely recognized, and Noah did some research before he arrived but he still wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I hope he´s not an alcoholic. Watching Zaven sip his liquid was actually a little soothing, even though the smell of the raw alcohol in the room was making young mage a little nauseous. Noah blinked his eyes for a couple of times and then straightened his pose as he was preparing to give a small lecture, which in fact he was.
“First of all, I would like to apologize for barging in your estate like this, I realize it is very impolite of me.” Noah said calmly while looking down on Zaven´s feet, as if he was afraid to look him directly in the eyes. “However, the reason I came to visit you was to join the Golden Dawn.” After finishing this sentence, Noah looked directly into shadow´s mages eyes and continued. “As you already know, my name is Noah, I come from the Common region. Under normal circumstances I would take Magic Knights Entrance Exam, but several things occurred to me while making my way to Royal Capital.” Noah smiled a little, as it was visible that by talking more he was also getting more comfortable with the whole situation. “The reason I want to join the squad is rather simple I would say. Ever since I was growing up I noticed many inequalities within the class system and find the whole classification of people based on their blood troublesome.” Noah was actually very careful when choosing his words, as he was still speaking with a noble and he really didn’t want to offend him or play victim. “I realize we have come a long way and general perception of people who are not born of Noble blood has gotten much better, this however does not solve the underlying issue. I feel like the organization of Magic Knights no longer evaluates people based on their heritage, but on their skill. I decided that my goal is to apply this evaluation to everyday life outside of Magic Knights.” Noah stopped for a second and looked a little confused. “Sorry, am I making a sense?” He wasn’t sure how comprehensive he was since he didn’t really talk about his goals with anyone before. “Anyway, I was thinking about the ways I could make this happen. One way was to become a rogue and boycott the class system from outside. This seemed counterproductive, mainly because I believe that violence is not the answer. The second option was to join the Magic Knights, work my way up to the top and gain a public recognition in order to work on a changes our world needs.”
Noah was really hoping that he would not have to explain himself again as he felt like he was losing a thread here. “The Golden Dawn is the best option for my goals, and I believe I have everything it takes to be a member of your squad.” This was his ending statement, when he pulled out his four leaf grimoire, which might have seemed like a bragging but Noah wasn’t really sure how else could he prove that he was really a worthy of being a Golden Dawn member. “I also realize that I am very young and lack a great deal of knowledge, but I am willing to train, improve myself both in magic usage as well as education. I believe your guidance would help me a lot with that.” He said quietly, as it was obvious Noah was overanalyzing everything he said, in order to not sound too much naïve, which he probably was. He decided to stop here, to find out if he actually made any sense to the captain.
[attr="class","zavenreescroll"] Zaven noted the first thing was when Noah picked up the scent of the alcohol and he could almost feel the small unease, which was not uncommon so Zaven did not pay much attention to it. Zaven was, however, quiet as he listened to the words from the young mage, because it was not an everyday occurrence that someone would bother coming all this way to talk to him without a prior motive. Noah wanted to join the Golden Dawn, but not for prestige...no the young man wanted to join in because he was looking for a change in how society ran. This gave Zaven quite the surprise, as it usually did when he heard this because he had to think of two paths in this case...either the person inquiring about this was genuine...or they knew a little about Zaven’s past in order to try and gain sympathy from him. Giving him the benefit of the doubt though, the Captain of the Golden Dawn finished his drink by the time the young man pulled his grimoire and showed it to him. It was not every day that someone would be strolling around with a four leaf grimoire, much less a high ranked one. When he was finally finished talking Zaven sat his glass down and looked at the young man with a serious look. [break][break]
”You cannot do it…” Zaven started in, he was rather blunt and it was better that he heard this from the captain of a reputable squad than from some know-it-all noble. ”That is...with your current strength you cannot ever hope to change a single thing, you are not the first to want change...and you will not be the last, your conviction though...is yours alone and if this is what you wish to do. Then who am I to say your dreams and goals are dumb...I too share that same dream, to change the standing of nobles and commoners.” He motioned to the room they were in. ”Besides the place being sparsely populated, have you given a thought to why the estate is mostly empty and what lies around the shadow mana zone? When I was growing up in a family of nobles, there were rogues, knights, etcetera...I MADE this place, designed it and lifted it from the ruins of an old military town...all to get away from them, to fix the current system. I am starting my own province to take care of the people, but the reason I am telling you this is not to dissuade you...I want you to show me your worth, show me your convictions are worth the time of the Golden Dawn sponsorship, show the Clover Kingdom that you are the best of the best.” He said as he stood up and looked at Noah before grabbing another drink. ”I thank you for coming all this way to ask to become a part of my legacy...however, I know nothing of you. Without fighting you and holding back to the point that it would be insulting to you I cannot grant you what you are looking for. Once you can demonstrate to me your strength, you can earn your place. As for helping you to achieve that. You are welcome to stay here at the Blake Estate and learn from my own training.” Zaven said this almost with a double meaning, he was offering a chance at being mentored by him, for nothing...if what Noah said was true and he wanted to make change, then Zaven needed to see it.
Noah carefully listened to everything Zaven had to say, occasionally smiling as he was happy that he was most likely understood. What the captain said made more sense than what Noah thought at first, and after he finished talking Noah looked like he was lost in his thoughts for a moment, before he made eye contact with the man again. “To be completely honest with you, I originally thought this estate was some sort of vanity, as if you wanted to have your own place away from the Royal Capital.” Noah was trying to be careful, as his intention was not to insult captain in any way, he was just thinking loudly as he sometimes does. “Building a province is indeed an interesting idea, seeing how much you have already achieved I am most certain this province will once thrive.” Noah smiled and it was obvious that his initial anxiety has disappeared. He would always perceive the captains of magic squads as people who had only one goal, which was to defend the Kingdom of Clover. It never occurred to him that each one of them also has their own aspirations and dreams. It made sense and Noah felt a little dumb for not thinking about it before, as he usually overthinks everything.
Once Zaven was talking about the further steps Noah would have to make, it he was actually relieved. By no means was he looking forward to fight the Shadow of Dawn, however Noah could see how much of a great experience this could be. “I would be honored to be your guest.” Young mage was a little on the edge, as this whole building made much more sense to him now, it was still inside a heavy mana zone with barely any daylight. To be fair I hate sun and already know where the toilets are. It was decided, Noah would stay here for a while, as long as it was okay for the captain and himself. “In terms of proving myself, the offer you just gave me is hard to resist.” The idea of being able to witness an archmage training was exciting, and not something that would happen regularly. In a brief moment of silence, Noah started thinking more about everything that was said by both sides. He would always think that the main key to success was diplomacy, that mixed with a power and prestige would make the leaders. “I am also self-critical enough to know that my strength is weak at the moment. I wouldn’t be surprised if you thought I was just some delusional brat thinking he can change the world by a snap of the finger.” Noah stopped, because this would usually be the part where he says he is not. “Well, I am happy to prove you otherwise.”
Noah then started looking around the room, even though he has already scanned it multiple times, this was mostly just to make a clearer picture of a province Zaven was explaining before. “If you don’t mind me asking, I am having trouble thinking about several practicalities regarding the province. Given the geographic situation , logistically speaking, how would people get here? How would you make sure there was enough food supplies?” Noah started overthinking everything, maybe this was not the best place for those questions. “Well, I am sure we can talk about that later. I just never thought about the idea of autonomous zone that would be operating outside of reach of Royal Kingdom, and the idea is…” Noah stopped for a second, took a deep breath and continued. “…. brilliant.” It was obvious that young mage was very excited, it almost looked like he started thinking about creating his own province. He probably wouldn’t call it a province since it felt a little too regal, but this certainly opened some new possibilities in his future. One thing was working inside the system, operating and trying to achieve a change, but boycotting it and creating a new safe space felt just different and Noah was intrigued by the idea.
Noah snapped out of his slightly manic speech, as it was obvious he got really excited from this talk, which frankly didn’t happen very often. He realized that now would be the ideal time to plan the next moves. “I have so much more questions, but they can wait. I am ready to fight, observe, learn and have further discussions.” Young mage wasn’t very sure as what he could now expect, and also given his combat capabilities he probably should not have put such an accent on the fighting part.
[attr="class","zavenreescroll"] Listening to Noah he was reminded of his own ambitions, thoughts of a time he had long forgotten about. Hraban could pick up on this and floated over towards Noah and as he heard about his choices of his estate he almost chuckled aloud, but kept it to himself as he did not wish to give off the wrong impression. When he accepted the offer he said he was ready to prove himself and Zaven just gave a simple nod in response, he did not wish to take away from Noah’s words with anything more he would say. However when he was asked about the logistics of the shadow mana zone and how his province would operate, The Shadow of Dawn pointed out an exquisite oil painting that showed the Blake family crest, being flown on a flag upon the mast of a mighty galleon on the rocky waters. ”My family is consistently involved in the trade around the world and I have been over the family for a little while now. When I took charge and moved the family estate and started the process of bringing the province to light...I was a little worried at first as well, but throughout my own working and some ideas being passed to me, I have secured supply lines from ports and have started up using innovative creations learned from some researchers to provide sustainable farming in or near the shadowlands so that we are not without our own produce.” After answering Noah he gave the young man a smile. ”Please allow me to show you to a guest room and you can stay there during the time you are here training.” He said as he sat down his liquor glass and started to lead him towards the guest wing of his estate.
Noah listened to everything very carefully, in some ways he was sure that the questions he asked were not new as it obviously had to be something Zaven thought about before he decided to transform this land into his own province. After hearing the answers, Noah just nodded with smile, as he was apparently satisfied with the answer and his curiousness was fulfilled for now. “Oh yeah, I can imagine that being of noble blood must have its perks.” He smiled, this wasn’t meant to be offensive in any way, however Noah was still very aware that this estate and its plans were made possible partly thanks to the privileges a lot of people didn’t have. He still somehow resonated with Zaven and his intentions as it was obvious that they were pure and in the end very similar to something Noah is aiming to achieve. He could use this opportunity not only to improve his combat, usage of mana and spells, but also to get introduced into politics, diplomacy and other means which were just as important as the former. Young mage started to think about further questions he would ask, partly of curiosity, but mainly so he could use the knowledge of the Shadow of Dawn for his next development. He was sure there will be plenty of time to talk about those things as the training would unfold, therefore Noah just quietly followed Zaven when he was about to show him his guest room. Given the fact that Noah never really lived in a place that had its own guest wing or even a single guest room, this already felt little fancy and he felt a little guilty for enjoying this feeling. Before they would arrive to the room, Noah spoke softly as he wasn’t sure if it was the right time to ask the questions. “So, the training. Could you tell me how you plan to proceed? Not that I would be so eager, it´s just that I like to plan things ahead.” Noah was a little anxious as the fear of unknown was very present in his mindset, not that he really had something to be afraid of, he just needed to know what he was going into. “Do we start now, tomorrow or any other time?” He asked these practical questions in order to plan his further steps. Given the environment he was not familiar with; he couldn’t imagine just going to sleep or just staying in his room now.
[attr="class","zavenreescroll"] That remark of Noah’s hit him and he honestly just had to crack a smile...just who did this young man think he was with that comment. Other nobles might have already killed him, but even if he was to have made it to this moment...that comment would have got him a one way ticket to the end of a lethal spell without a doubt. Turning around to look at Noah he heard his last question and he thought for a moment before answering. ”Training will be...difficult with me, you will need to take a run through the grand mana zone, help with cleaning the ruins of the ruined city the Estate is a part of, and finally there is practicality training inside of a magic array. It will allow you to strengthen yourself rapidly, but I will also be there...so there will of course be a challenge. If in a month’s time you have persevered and have managed to land a hit on me, you will be worthy of the Golden Dawn.” Zaven said as he showed him around the guest wing, there was a small library and an office for personal use, a bath house and access to the training area outside, it was lit with several lanterns and even had a garden surrounding it, with blackened roses that seemed to be alive in the darkness of the shadows...it was almost poetic. [break][break]
”If there is no other questions, I will see you at dawn, don’t worry...the clock will let you know when it is time...or Hraban will.” Zaven said as he waited to hear anything else Noah might have to say, it was time to turn in for the night...there was plenty of work still to be done.
After Noah saw the Shadow of Dawn smiling to his remark, he got little concerned if he didn’t cross the line. It was general rule that he would allow himself to speak more freely as he got eventually used to people he was around. Well, these couple of hours probably weren’t enough which made sense and Noah just decided to move ahead being more careful with his speech. When Zaven described the training to him, Noah was relieved, not that he wouldn’t be scared but he at least knew what he was going into and could plan accordingly. “That sounds really challenging, exciting and scary at the same time. I look forward to discovering more of the mana zone, sir.” He smiled, while he entered the guest room he was given. “That’s all the questions I had for now, will see you at dawn, Mr. Blake” With a smile on his face being still present, he closed the door and went towards his bed. “Oh my, running, when was the last time I ran? Cleaning ruins? That sounds like a manual labor and my back aches even from wearing my backpack… Hitting the captain himself – the Shadow of Dawn? What if I hurt him?” Noah stopped here for a second, when he realized that the only person who will hurt will most likely be himself and Noah would have to work really hard to even try and scratch him. “Does landing a hit on a person determine one´s suitability to join the greatest Magic Knights squad? Well no, that’s certainly not the point, but…” Noah was all wrapped in his head and he was hoping that there was no way Zaven or Hraban could hear him, because he was in his full-on panic mode.
“How am I even supposed to fall asleep now, maybe I shouldn’t have asked and be just surprised, oh my…” Noah lied on the bed, with his head staring into the ceiling which strangely started to calm him down. “Well the mattress is really nice, I have to give him that.” Finally, something that was just purely positive. Noah started to do his usual list of pros and cons, while it was obvious that this training would make him stronger, there was a lot of suffering and tests of his endurance involved. Back to the days he was still living with his parents, the trainings he would have with his mentor Josephine were quite simple, straight-forward. None of them were as hard as the ones he would take part in the next month, but that wasn’t a bad thing. “Maybe I should have just asked for more…” Noah was thinking loudly, as it was obvious he was getting comfortable in his new room, that he would be living in for a month. The fact that he had something to do for a month was also a nice thing. “I just hope I don’t embarrass myself too much.” He grabbed his grimoire and put it up in the air with its four-leaf clover facing his face. This thing had made people expect so much from him and he usually just did the exact opposite, in order to stay sane and be independent. This has ultimately just made him weaker, in some ways blocking his true potential. “Ok, I probably really need this, not just to prove something to captain Zaven, but also to myself- mostly to myself.” It was funny how his mood changed like he was on an emotional rollercoaster, but he was well aware that what´s next to come won´t me only the matter of his power growing, but also his confidence in himself improving.
“It will be okay, and I will do great.” He said calmly at last. Did he believe these words? Not really, but he believed that repeating them would make him believe. It was also probably really late as his thoughts and speech were getting really sloppy, and without even realizing it, Noah fell asleep just how he lied down on the bed, hugging his grimoire and occasionally snoring loudly.
[attr="class","zavenreescroll"] Hraban remained behind as Zaven took his leave from young Noah, it seemed the spirit was quite the observant one and he could tell that his partner was at least happy with the fact that someone came all the way there to see him...even if he was apprehensive about teaching the young mage...he would still do so out of the kindness in his heart...it was just how he was. As Noah talked to himself, Hraban was intrigued because the upstart mage was nervous yet happy for this opportunity, most would think training with an archmage of Zaven’s caliber would be a death sentence...yet this...kid was happy about it. ”I guess there are just young ones like this throughout every time I am awake...heh.” The spirit said under his breath before finally leaving Noah to relax and hopefully wind down. [break][break]
Zaven had already dressed down for the night and had already given enough time away from his work, so as he sat down at his desk to work on more plans for his province...he of course still carried a heavy heart as he did not know how much longer he could remain with the Golden Dawn...yet for now he would focus on the next generation of leaders before he ever considered stepping down from his position. [break][break]
Still sleep eventually found the Blake leader and he fell asleep at his desk, with some papers strewn about and an empty liquor glass not too far away. In a few hours time he would need to wake up and begin his training, with the addition of Noah joining him in trying to become a member of the Golden Dawn. What exactly had the Captain gotten himself into this time?