Black Clover: Nah I'd Lose (UPDATED)

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'Why hasn't he brought out his grimoire yet?' the guy thought, sending a fast-moving water ball toward him.

The masked dwarf let his body fall backwards, while one foot still clung to the branch, narrowly dodging the projectile by now standing upside down on the branch.

He smoothly shifted his foot from the upper side of the branch to the lower side.

The transition was fluid and seamless.

'Don't tell me... he's from another country, that's why he's afraid to use his grimoire. But does he really have the confidence to take me down without it?' the knight in purple thought.

It wasn't unusual for some individuals to suppress others without the use of grimoires. It was entirely possible if they were high-ranking mages.

The reason the knight didn't consider Akeru to be a child was that it was very rare for children under 15 to have the capability to cast spells with real combat effectiveness. Such prodigies were usually found in noble families, and if that were the case, this encounter wouldn't have occurred.

'Also, he hasn't used any elemental spells yet. Is he planning to surprise me with that later? I need to be careful.' The knight's thoughts revealed he wasn't completely inexperienced.

What he didn't know was that Akeru couldn't use any spells at all. His control over water could barely be considered a borderline spell, but it lacked offensive power.

It might have been useful against a fire mage, given the nearby stream, but that wasn't the case.

'I can't escape. His spells are dangerous. I'm sure one of them would knock me unconscious if not outright kill me,' Akeru thought grimly behind the mask.

"I'd advise you to give up now," the knight said, "A lot of mages are coming after you. The current Wizard King is gracious enough to spare your life. This is your last chance—a golden leaf could be given to you."

"..." Akeru was completely speechless, his mind momentarily blank.

'Is it true that the magic knights and even the Wizard King oversee something as trivial as a pickpocketing trial?' From that point onward, Akeru dismissed everything the guy said as complete nonsense.

The knight was indeed lying about reinforcements coming behind him. However, everything else—the warnings, the threats—was genuine.

The Purple Orca knight had a hunch that Akeru wasn't from this country but rather from a neighbouring one, possibly Diamond, which had a history of sending spies who would later be captured. So, from his perspective, he believed he was telling the truth.

'Even if his spells could one-shot me, it wouldn't matter unless he hits me,' Akeru decided.

He knew he couldn't outrun the knight. Despite having a top speed faster than any automobile from his past life, it paled in comparison to the velocity of a mana bike.

He leapt away from the tree, and that's when the knight hurled dozens of water needles at him.

'I knew it. He has no intention of capturing me,' Akeru thought, planting his foot on the bark of the tree.

The bark momentarily stuck, giving Akeru a secure footing.

BOOM

A loud crash echoed through the forest.

The spot where Akeru had placed his left foot was now a gaping hole—a large enough one that one might mistake it for a woodpecker's nest.

The water needles tore through the surrounding trees, making countless holes as they pierced successive wood.

But that didn't faze the knight in purple.

'He definitely specializes in pure mana attacks. That mana burst was controlled—what a monstrous opponent. That technique he used to cut my pythons? That too was mana-driven. He must've been trained to be a spy. With his grimoire, he has to be at least an Intermediate Level knight, if not more...' The knight's expression darkened, unable to look ahead, as that possibility was too frightening.

He was just a regular Junior Knight, having recently joined due to his noble heritage, which wasn't particularly prestigious. Caution was his nature.

'I need to escape,' he thought, quickly casting a defensive spell.

A water barrier surrounded him just as another loud crash resounded.

CLANG

The sound of metal striking metal rang through the air. However, if someone carefully observed, they would see only water colliding with a human hand.

At first glance, it would seem illogical, but it was the reality of this world.

The water barrier withstood Akeru's hand.

'I need stronger offensive power,' he thought.

In the next instant, as the tips of his palms clashed with the water barrier, mana began to vibrate furiously, turning blue.

'Oscillatory Dysfunction: Maximum Output'

The water pythons rushing toward Akeru instinctively shifted their direction and collided with his palm after he shattered the barrier.

They were sliced through like butter. Akeru felt as though his hands were piercing through a pipe of water aimed at him.

'What the fu—' Akeru's hand struck his body, hitting him squarely in the chest.

The magic robe of the Purple Orca wasn't like the cheaper ones from Black Bull. It was a full-body garment, imbued with proper runes for decent defensive properties.

'Ouch. I need to at least take him down with me,' the guy accepted his fate, deciding to bring Akeru down with him as his robe began to weaken.

Unfortunately for him, Akeru was prepared. Before the guy could initiate a counterspell, Akeru destroyed his grimoire.

'Noooooo!' the knight thought as his robe was eventually shredded by Akeru's vibrating blade.

But unlike what the knight had expected, Akeru didn't slice through his chest. There was no blood.

At the last moment, Akeru deactivated his technique, letting his fingers gently graze his chest.

Due to his momentum and mana-enhanced fingers, the internal damage was significant. The knight fainted on the spot.

'Finally, he's down,' Akeru sighed in relief.

Had he known this guy would've retreated had Akeru escaped after the first mana burst, he would've done exactly that.

If the knight's caution level was 10 points, Akeru's was at 100. It could even be called cowardice, but Akeru valued his life the most. He didn't want to die.

'Just in case,' Akeru stomped on the guy's groin area.

Fortunately, the stomp wasn't mana-enhanced. Otherwise...

A few more stomps later, he sighed in relief as the guy remained unconscious.

Akeru dropped his guard slightly but kept his mana-sensing senses alert, fearing the knight would wake up at any moment.

It was too cliché, and Akeru didn't want to face such a scene.

'I've already consumed half of my mana. I bet this guy hasn't even reached half of his reserves. Such is the difference between nobles and commoners,' Akeru thought enviously, looking at the knight lying bare-chested on the ground.

'Mana control is just one aspect. I need to delve deeper into traps and runes. They're underrated. Magna and what was the red-haired guy's name? They both took down that gravity devil holder—quite baffling if you think about it. Two mere commoners brought one of the upper-tier existences of the Spade Kingdom down. He wasn't just a glass cannon; he was overpowered.'

Akeru tried to cheer himself up, recalling some relevant knowledge from his past.

Given enough time, even before his own death, and watching Black Clover, he couldn't remember all the minor details—just the important ones, and he hadn't even finished the manga.

'I think there was something in the Heart Kingdom too—a way to use nature mana or something...'

***

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