Black Clover: Nah I'd Lose

(Guys, this week's goal is 550 Powerstones, you will get the Bonus Chapter for the goal we reached last week on Wednesday.)

"Well, what's up?" Akeru rolled his eyes at her mention of the word 'boss'.

He would have normally argued or said something about how she was addressing him, but he was currently too tired to do that.

"Well, I was waiting for you to come out so that we could have a team meeting, but you were taking your time, so I decided to train," Erza shrugged.

"My bad, I forgot that we are supposed to have a team meeting," Akeru said while putting on an apologetic expression.

'Uhh, how troublesome,' Akeru internally groaned.

"It's fine. I just thought that it would be better to get to know each other, as we will be working together. The other two shouldn't have had dinner yet. How about we have dinner together?" 

"Sure," Akeru instantly agreed.

It would be more efficient to get this done while eating so that he could immediately sleep afterwards.

Akeru started walking beside Erza, not knowing exactly where they were going, as he had gotten his food in his room in the afternoon.

"So... you were training your mana enhancement?" Akeru asked to start a conversation.

It was mainly due to him being curious, as he had noticed the residual pure mana around her body.

Normally, this kind of detail is hard to notice, and in Akeru's case, it's impossible because he does not let any unnecessary mana leave his body.

However, with 'Still Spectator', such things are possible.

Enhancement could be classified into two types: Internal and External.

Internal is when an individual enhances their muscles or internal organs through some means to get more output and hence drastically improve their abilities.

External is when an individual does enhancement through their mana outside the body. It is generally used for defence properties—like Mana Skin.

However, some applications like Akeru's 'Moonwalk' could be considered external enhancement too.

"Yeah, I am surprised that you could tell," Erza said while raising an eyebrow.

"I am a man of many talents," Akeru shrugged and in the next instant chuckled at his own joke.

"Hehe, I am really anticipating how many more talents you have," she said with a teasing tone.

However, unlike before, Akeru was too tired to care about such things.

"Anyway, I could give you some pointers on pure mana applications if you want me to. I actually specialize in those. Heck, if I just use pure mana applications without my mana zone, my combat prowess would still be around the peak of the Intermediate level."

"Damn, that's ridiculous," Erza said, shock evident in her voice.

Her surprise was expected, as he was directly implying that without his grimoire and elements, Akeru is at Peak Intermediate Level.

Though, for a senior knight like her, some could replicate such prowess without a grimoire, just saying that he could do so with pure mana applications is a feat never heard before.

One may be reminded that Akeru's mana control is at a level such that if he says he is second best, then not many would claim to be first if they knew his exact abilities.

This was due to his ridiculous talent, along with the fact that his mana reserves were not that high.

'I wouldn't have reached this level of mana control before reaching the age of 20 if I had the mana reserves of an average royal,' Akeru thought about his prowess without the Mana method of the Heart Kingdom.

His mana control also helped him significantly in learning different attribute magics—like water and lightning—which are normally considered a very difficult feat if one trains in another type of magic other than their own.

"Well, it is, though I guess it is also a reason for my current strength," Akeru shrugged.

'Though my mana enhancement doesn't give me more outward advantage, it does currently reduce mana wastage to almost zero, which is way less than if we compare it to, let's say, Yami-san or any other captain using mana enhancement of the same level. However, this advantage of my control was rendered useless when I started using the Mana method.'

"Well, I will be counting on you then," Erza said excitedly.

Akeru nodded.

"Also, is it an effect of a spell that I can't sense your mana?"

"I guess," Akeru shrugged.

'Silent Nobody' did give that effect, but even without it, he had had it for a very long time.

They reached a building with a sign that read "Cafeteria" and entered it.

"I will just call the other two. Why don't you order in the meantime?" Erza said after Akeru took a seat.

"Sure," he said while looking at the menu.

He was currently sitting alone in a room, with a table and four chairs in it.

'Did she book this previously, or do they have such a configuration ready beforehand?' Akeru thought as he looked at the food.

'Well, I guess I can't expect much from a restaurant present where technically a war is happening. I am still disappointed,' Akeru sighed as he decided to order what the restaurant claimed to be their best dish.

He pressed a button, and in a few seconds, a waiter came to take his order.

He immediately told him what he wanted.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Akeru looked at the clock as he waited for either the waiter or his new team to arrive.

'I miss Charmy-nee-chan's food. Why was I sent for a mission that doesn't even have a proper time limit?' Akeru sighed while remembering the dessert he had eaten once.

"We are here!" Erza slammed open the door.

Akeru was startled out of his daydreaming.

"Oh, I was waiting for you guys," Akeru said while addressing the two males present behind Erza.

Ren just nodded while Kaiser excitedly greeted him.

"Good Evening, Boss!"

Akeru just looked at Erza with a deadpan expression, the latter acting like she was clueless about this.

The trio took their seats.

"Why don't you guys first order your stuff while we talk?"

"Sure~" Erza said while pressing the button to call a waiter.

It seemed she already knew the menu of this restaurant.

The other two briefly looked at the menu, before putting them down and giving their order to the waiter who arrived in the room.

'That button is really an ingenious use of an array system. Maybe I will create something for my house, or maybe for the hideout of Black Bulls,' Akeru thought while looking at the button.

"Well, how about we start with names, hobbies, and dreams?" Akeru said after the waiter left the room.

"Great idea! I will go first!" Kaiser took the initiative.

"I am Kaiser Claymore. I like interacting with people, especially people from my squad"—Kaiser pointed at the emblem of Green Praying Mantis on his clothes—"I plan to regain the noble title of my family when I reach first class."

"Awesome, I am really looking forward to you reaching First Class," Akeru said with a grin.

"I will go next. Name's Erza Doughnout. I like fighting, especially life-or-death ones"—a maniac-like grin came on her face—"Though, I also like food and my squad Blue Rose. My goal is to have an epic battle before my death."

"Damn," Akeru said. 'Woah, though I like fighting, not to this extent. I guess people like Mereoleona-san do exist after all,' Akeru thought while moving his gaze to the oldest of the bunch.

"I am Ren Dove. Though there are not many things I like, I love researching Arrays and learning more about mana. In my free time, I do like playing strategic games—like chess, though that's rare. My goal is to understand mana fully," he said with a calm tone.

"Woah, that's awesome. I also really like researching arrays and knowing more about mana. I guess we will get along well," Akeru said, already knowing the guy in front of him is an Advanced Level Rune-Array expert.

"Oh, what level are you in that?" Ren asked with slight shock in his voice.

Unlike Akeru, he didn't have a file on other people in this room.

"Intermediate level, though I haven't touched it much in a while," Akeru said while rubbing his head sheepishly.

He really had been slacking off on that. He might have to increase his focus on it before he is forced to do so by circumstances.

"Oh, that's good. It's rare to see anybody going beyond Junior Level these days. It would be really interesting to exchange ideas with you, Boss," Ren said.

'Why the hell is everyone calling me "Boss"? I bet there is a better term. It feels... so weird,' Akeru's bafflement finally overcame his tiredness from his training.

However, before he could voice his opinions, the waiter came with the food.

Akeru instantly dug into his food.

"How about we have a spar tomorrow so that I could get a better idea of your abilities?" Akeru said suddenly.

***

NOTICE:

Okay, I need to address two things. 

First of all, about the naming issue that I have seen, here's the post that I made on Patreon, so if possible, just vote there, otherwise, just mention in the comments:

Guys, it has come to notice that the OC names I have created are kind of named in the wrong style, as Black Clover or more specifically the Card Continent(Spade+Clover+ Heart + Diamond Kingdom) is based on the European setting and I have clearly used Japanese names for a few, which kind of align with the name of Land of Rising Sun's naming conventions, as I had overlooked this aspect, so it's completely my fault.

Now, I could try to patch it up, by saying that some people had arrived on this continent like how Yami had come to this continent, in the past, and had been mixed with the populace, hence the naming style could be said to come from there. This would also explain why Yami didn't try to come in contact with any people who had accidentally come to this continent as nobody who came is alive as they are long dead and their descendants are completely integrated into this culture.

So, I have some options for you guys:

Go with my patch-up

Change names for all the OC's with Japanese names in all the chapters(53+).

Change names for all the OC's with Japanese names, but instead of changing names in all chapters, just mention the name change in a later chapter and use those changed names from that point.

I don't have any problem with any of the options, so you can choose whatever you are comfortable with.

The Second Thing is a minor issue, but I am going to address it now only instead of later, as I don't want that issue to spiral into something like what happened with the grimoire magic Akeru got into. 

Okay, so basically I saw some comments about how MC is attracted to beautiful women physically and mentally and so so, in a world where terrifying individuals and devils run amok and even a normal person won't be concerned about this, along with some of my character interactions and scenes(Ayo, not that kind of scenes) I created in latter chapters in this Volume. 

I would like to just say that, first of all, MC was 12 when he died and it is practically his first time experiencing puberty and adolescence. So, I think it's completely normal for him to feel those hormones, especially now that he has started seeing mature women. 

Secondly, if you hadn't noticed before during the first time Akeru was introduced to rune and arrays, he had mentioned cramming for university exams. This point was to elaborate on the absurd genius he was to shed light on his talent. 

Now, if he was that kind of genius and 12-year-old, then he obviously hasn't much interaction with his peers of similar age as he had definitely skipped grades, which also means that, he is lacking on the aspects like getting first crushes or things dealing with love. 

Plus, in his second life, for the first three years, he had only interaction with one human and was training in seclusion. For the next three years, he had interaction with few individuals and only three people of the same age, which also limited interaction as he was focused on training. Why? Coz he is focused on survival in this new world. 

So, I think, at this point, he is going to first time experience some of things any normal teenage would have long ago multiple times. 

Does that make sense?

Anyway, such interactions would be brief only, their main purpose was to shed some light on his character, along with teasing you guys(for those in ch 57, you will latter see why) xD. 

Also, I am not going to make Akeru a simp... at least for anybody other than fmc(I am going to put a poll for this when Volume 2 ends). 

***

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