Lucas simply looked at him with his Magic Vision to find a core that held less mana than his own, and he was at the beginning of Rank 2. To Lucas, there was but one conclusion, the man didn't put in any effort into his journey on the path of magic. He was a sleaze, and lazy man who avoided hard work.
He felt a little insulted that they both were Rank 2 and were given the same status, despite such a big difference in quality. But then he immediately threw his thinking in the trashcan the moment he felt like he was acting like a haughty noble.
'No wonder those nobles think so lowly of others, they never knew anything else besides their own standers. To them, all commoners are lower beings, not only in status but everything.'
'Except the bastards have their head so far up their own ass they can't tell left from right.'
"Listen carefully, we're here on the orders of commander Kasto to help defend this place for the coming two to three weeks. We have full authority over the forces stationed here.", Asta spoke with an arrogant and yet almost bored kind of tone.
The man couldn't help but feel furious. Two seemingly random men walked in and claimed to be able to order them around. They were well aware of their situation, but that only turned their feelings sour the moment they mentioned they were here on army duty.
"You have no authority here! We are our own people! We do not support you!"
Asta looked at the man with a critical eye, almost unleashing his aura, luckily holding back. Or else he might've hurt the normal humans around them.
"Well, might makes right, follow us, we'll show you who's in charge now."
Leaving without much fuss, Lucas followed him silently. He didn't fully agree with his methods, but also knew that trying to cooperate would take longer than two weeks. Besides, even if they got their help, all they would gain was a weak Rank 2. There was no point in bothering.
He understood why Asta didn't even bother being friendly, still, he would at least try to keep up the façade.
The only reason Asta even asked the man to follow them was because he wanted to see how much Lucas had grown and show off his own powers.
On their way to a nearby hill, Lucas felt the need to ask him something he had been wondering about.
"Did you mind that I hid my name for so long?", a question long overdue, yet still felt the need to be answered.
"Hmm?", Asta turned his head and simply laughed his comment off, "Why would I? A name is just a way to be distinguished among others. Besides, I can't criticize you for things I do myself, that would be quite hypocritical.", chuckling slightly as he made his way forward, there was confidence in his voice and steps.
Hearing that, Lucas felt some relief, knowing that he wasn't the only one hiding things. Normally, he wouldn't care in the slightest what others thought about him, but since he acknowledged Asta as a friend, there was a strange need in his heart to ask.
And it was then that Lucas realized how Asta felt. To him, the name Asta was simply a way to call for him, if he had another name, so be it. It wouldn't really change anything for him. He appreciated Asta's being, not his name. His worries were put to rest.
Arriving at the top of the hill. They found the village to the south, and a pretty basic field of grass before some standard woods in all other directions. Asta stopped in his tracks to check behind him only to find nobody there.
"He didn't follow us.", there was a strange sense of surprise in his voice.
"Why would he? It's clear he hates us, for all we know he'll sell us out to the surrounding forces."
"That would only give us the power to succeed.", Lucas frowned hearing that. It was clear Asta had a plan laid out before him, not giving Lucas any hints annoyed him quite a lot. Being involved would resolve a lot of his current irritation, but asking so plainly felt weird.
"Well, now that we're here, we might as well see how we both improved over the years.", Asta had a big grin on his face as he stared at Lucas.
Just as Lucas was about to nod, he felt someone approach him with a rapid speed. Turning around, he found the mage from before with a disgruntled face. He was almost panting from running after them. Lucas felt his approval of the man plummet downwards, reaching rock bottom.
"We don't want your presence here, please leave our village alone. The longer you stay here the more attention we'll gather. We don't want to fight nor do we care who owns the land we live on. Just leave us alone."
Asta stared at the man and found no redeeming quality to care for him. He looked average in every way and his magical abilities paled in comparison. "We don't want to be here either, but we're being paid to defend this place."
"Then leave! If there are no forces here, we won't get attacked, and then you won't have to defend us.", the man spoke true, his idea wasn't wrong.
"I know, that's why we'll be staying here.", Asta's response shook the man. The best way to defend this place was to stay away, yet they wanted this place to get attacked? Lucas didn't like not knowing what Asta had planned, but he patiently waited.
Seeing that his passive method didn't work, the man raised his arm, quickly spouting out his runes, a crude Dark Spear formed that was fired towards Lucas.
The speed of his attack was miserable, the fact that he also had to say his runes out loud only gave away what kind of spell he would use. From start to finish, Lucas calculated that he would've been able to shoot the same spell twice in the same time.
It was a terrible attack, but that was only true for Lucas and Asta. Any other onlooker would find it fast.
Raising his hand, Lucas snapped his fingers, conjuring up a small burst of Light, illuminating their surroundings. Being blinded, the man rubbed his eyes before realizing his attack had vanished. Darkness was the strongest element, and yet it was destroyed in less than a second.
"Never thought I would be the one saying this, but Dark Magic is only useful if you're certain it'll hit. Or if your opponent can't react fast enough.", Lucas said as a Dark Beam shot out of his chest, surprising both Asta and the man, for different reasons of course.
Asta was surprised Lucas had a gateway on his chest, and if his memories were correct, he was also able to shoot out magic through his back. To the man, the attack was simply too fast, he couldn't react in time as the beam passed by the mage's ear, obliterating it in a mere instant.
Clutching his head, the man was in pain as fear started to take over his mind. The attack was so fast he could barely react to it. Seeing such power, he knew that Lucas and Asta weren't to be messed with.
"Tch, you both are elemental users, but at least one of you has the prowess to be one. You, on the other hand, are a waste of space, but lucky you! You can help us out. For example, the Rank 3 that lives here, he's retired, correct? Have you seen him use mana?"
The man healed his wound, but his ear wouldn't grow back fully, only closing the wounds. He stared at Asta with an angry and fearful look, switching between them multiple times. Seeing both Lucas and Asta wait for his answer, he scrambled his being together.
"The.. Malek is a retired Rank 3, I have not seen him use mana, but his wisdom and knowledge is what helps this village prosper. He's a good man."
"Great, you may leave. You can bring him to us in a bit.", turning around, Asta ignored him completely, they didn't even ask for his name or standing in the village, as if it all didn't matter in the slightest.
"Now then, let's get back to it, seeing you have reached Rank 2, can you let me experience your aura?", Asta asked with a big smile as if he wasn't about to experience the worst things imaginable, not that he knew of course.
"Sure, but say something if it gets too rough.", Lucas didn't wait for a response or permission as he unleashed his aura, bathing Asta in a scarlet red. Asta stood completely still as the images before his eyes tortured his mind, yet his composure was normal. Lucas was amazed he didn't react in the slightest.
'That means only one of two things. He's not bothered by gruesome scenes.'
'Or the dude's gotten used to them before.'
Waving his hand, Asta signaled for Lucas to stop, who followed his request. "As I expected, you have a powerful and emotional aura."
"I hope you didn't experience too bad of a time?"
"I've had worse. I hope you realize that you've gone down a hard path to tread.", Asta said, hinting at his aura. Lucas still remembered what Simon mentioned during the national competition.
"If you're worried that my emotion will die out, I'm sorry to say that won't happen anytime soon.", Lucas simply had to look at the Scarlet Moon in his Mental Sphere to get all heated up again. The mere idea that he would get used to it felt impossible.
"I'm just saying, the man who we're about to meet couldn't keep his emotions as powerful, and lost his aura. Now he's retired because he's unable to use his magic. Look at me for example.", spreading his arms, a light blue aura appeared. It wasn't oppressive or choking, it simply covered everything.
"I'm someone who studies everything in detail, this desire to learn will stay stronger than some emotional outburst I had some time ago. I don't wish for you to fall, so try to change your aura. You have time until you reach Rank 3, then it'll get stuck."
Feeling the aura around him, Lucas could tell it wasn't exactly powerful, but extremely useful. If he used any kind of spell, he felt that Asta would be able to figure it out in an instant and replicate it, something he needed a ton of time for.
Yet Lucas could tell that Asta genuinely cared for him. He didn't want to lose his only friend on the path due to something as fickle as emotions. Lucas shook his head and simply reconfirmed his belief to Asta. "Don't worry, I'm quite certain I'll hold strong."
"Whatever you say. Now then, let's see how much stronger you've gotten, shall we?", Asta said as he flicked his finger and small swords around him appeared. They floated around him, each one moving slightly differently.
"Dodge.", sending the swords at Lucas, they all went their own way. Keeping track of them all was extremely difficult, they each had a mind of their own. Firing off a lightning spell, he broke one of the swords, but the others instantly moved towards him.
'Left side of neck, right knee, stomach, head.', part of Lucas calculated the paths while the other thought of which spells to use and analyzed the spell itself. Covering his hands in condensed stone, he pushed two swords away why dodging the remaining ones. The swords flew back up and redirected themselves to attack Lucas again.
'There's a fuck ton of willpower in each sword. Probably to make them move individually.'
'So he's controlling them all at the same time? That's not easy.'
'But that also means you know how to stop this attack.'
'Indeed.'
Waving his hand, he sent a wave of Blue Fire towards Asta, the moment he did so an array on the ground activated and a wall of Pure Mana appeared, blocking the attack. While Asta defended against the attack, it also showed its weakness, Asta couldn't move from his spot.
Lucas smiled as he rushed towards Asta, the swords followed suit, attacking him whenever they got close. Lucas parried, blocked and destroyed the swords when he could, but their movements were hard to keep track of.
Jumping over the wall, Asta stood in the exact same place as before, but this time there was a transparent cube surrounding him. Seeing him inside some kind of protection, Lucas knew he just walked into a trap. Using his momentum, he tried his best to jump away as an explosion pushed him away.
Recovering quickly, Lucas rushed back towards Asta while releasing his aura. If there was one thing Pure Mana needed, it was stability. The moment the swords entered his aura, they slowed down while slowly falling apart. Summoning a Blue Fire Sword, he brought it to Asta's neck.
Asta raised his hands, "That's enough."
"You've improved considerably, but looks like I've got the upper hand.", Lucas felt confident, but Asta simply grinned in response.
"Are you so sure about that?", pointing down, Lucas found a complex array that was hidden beneath him. The power of which definitely would've critically injured him.
"Hahaha, I knew it. You're truly amazing.", Lucas laughed out loud, he wasn't giving it his all, but surely didn't overestimate him, yet Asta was still able to pull one over on him. To Lucas, this was his defeat.
"I could say the same about you.", Asta felt elated to know Lucas didn't slack off on his training. During his time alone he fought against plenty of mages and none were even able to get this close. Having Lucas's sword so close to his neck, Asta felt that this was his defeat.
Asta and Lucas shook hands firmly as they appreciated each other's strengths.
"But that explosion? How did you make it without elements?", if there was one thing Lucas didn't understand, it was that. He didn't know how the other spells and arrays were created, but knew how they worked. An explosion on the other hand felt like it needed elements.
"An explosion just occurs because the total amount of volume rapidly increases in a certain space, causing it to have a large outward release of energy. It can happen with anything, it doesn't necessarily needs fire.", Asta said as he used his lecture-like-tone to educate Lucas.
"I see, also, I think this might interest you.", he said as he conjured up a sword he learned from the Underground. It was more durable, condensed and sharper than the swords Asta used. After all, in the Underground, there were entire research teams dedicated to creating the perfect sword.
Spreading his aura slightly, Asta inspected the sword. "It's indeed a bit better, although also harder to control.", waving his hand slightly, the exact same sword appeared, albeit a tad smaller.
"This is an improvement, thank you.", Asta's appreciation was genuine, making Lucas respond in kind.
"In return, I'll quickly go over what you need to reach Rank 3.", Lucas suddenly got serious as he made sure to remember each word and intonation Asta was about to speak.
"In essence, climbing the Ranks, each one is harder to get. To Reach Rank 3, you need to have a stronger body, gained through using one of the Mana Pools that are available in the kingdom. Secondly, you'll need to absorb higher quality magicules to stimulate your core and upgrade your mental sphere. Lastly, you'll need to have the aid of a Rank 3 to reach it."
Lucas made sure to take all this information to his long term memory, just that fact that Asta give it away at no cost was immense. Knowing that each Rank is being guarded by every power in the world, the price was insane, yet he got it for free. There was but one thing that stood out.
Not just the fact that he probably didn't need a Mana Pool now thanks to the trial. There was one thing that seemed contradictory.
"You said that you need a Rank 3's help to break through, but how did the first mages reach it?", after all, a pioneer couldn't rely on someone who did it first. There was no-one with the experience to teach them.
"There are a lot of strange stories about the first mage, some say he's a saint and helped the world blossom, others say he brought the entire universe down a path of destruction. Either way, he was a genius, far above either of us."
Lucas was about to ask for more intel on the first mage before the man from before appeared again.
"Malek said he can't help you, he's lost his powers. So there's no point in seeing him."