章 5: Clouds of War
"You're late," Amanda said as she sat atop a boulder. Solid looked at the old woman. He was pretty sure he came here before dawn. It was 5 am. The sun hadn't even shown itself. "Didn't you tell me to arrive before dawn?"
"I did. And you failed."
"But the sun hasn't even risen yet," Solid looked straight into Amanda trying to figure out what the hell she was saying. He had woken up early, brushed his teeth and even worn warm cosy clothes since he knew there would be a lot of freezing. And now she was telling him that he was late?
"Who said anything about the sun?" Amanda narrowed her eyes looking at Solid as if he was an idiot.
"..." Solid was utterly confused. It wasn't dawn yet and she told him to be here before dawn. His mind couldn't process the situation. 'How am I late?'
"Dawn is my maiden name," Amanda said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And you failed to arrive before me. Hence, you are late. Come on, if you can't even understand this much, you will never make it as a magic knight."
'Huh.' Solid looked at his tutor, convinced that at this point she was just fucking with him. Who the hell refers to themselves like that? But knowing it was a losing battle he just sucked it up. 'Is this what you felt when you argued with your wife, Gareth?' He thought remembering the young couple that lived beside him. He used to have the same defeated expression that Solid was currently sporting.
"And since you are late, I have to punish you." For the first time since Solid met her, He saw her with a full-blown smirk. A shiver passed through his spine. "Four laps around the field."
"What?" Solid couldn't believe it. The field was large. He didn't know how large exactly but he had eyes, he knew it would suck. "Um… Master Amanda." Solid said. Trying to flatter his way out of this. "I know for you it must be an easy task but… I couldn't do something like that."
"Are you making fun of my age, young Silva?" Amanda glared at him with her signature icy look and it was at this moment that he knew… He fucked up.
"N- no, Of course not?" 'Damage control, damage control' Solid desperately tried to think of a reason. "It's just… well um… Yeah, I am already so lean, I think running around like this is going to do my body no favours." Solid said attempting to diffuse the situation. Amanda observed his body for a good while before nodding, "You are right."
A wave of relief passed through his body. 'Did I do it?' Solid rejoiced internally but it was short-lived. "Do they kick you out before dinner or something? I will suggest you increase your food intake. You will need it. Now, enough chit-chat get going you have five whole laps to run."
"Five? But you said four!" Solid cried at the injustice that had taken place. She couldn't just change her mind like that. He was royalty. He wouldn't stand this. Not even by his own teacher. It didn't matter that she was a retired magic knight, that she could easily kill him in a heartbeat. Such insolence against the prince of the Silva? It would not be forgiven. Just as he was about to open his mouth to give her a piece of his mind, a sudden chill ran through his spine. The temperature around him seemed to drop exponentially but unlike before, it was focused on him.
"Solid Silva," Amanda said, this time her voice wasn't merely cold and indifferent, no, this time her voice was… The only word that he could use here was 'scary'.
"No ma'am" Solid blurted out almost unconsciously, "Don't make me say this again young Silva," Amanda said tapping her staff impatiently, "Get going. We don't have all day." He sighed internally and prepared himself for the inevitable pain that would follow.
'One.' Solid ran around the field. At first, he thought he could get away with a simple jog but after a few 'encouragements' from his tutor, he was now in a full-blown sprint. 'I am going to die…' He thought as he continued running. It was the first day and he was already regretting his life choices.
'Two' At this point, he felt a searing pain in his legs and chest. He was starting to have difficulty breathing and his legs had started to give way but somehow he could push on.
'Three' He couldn't even think properly. Every part of his body hurt. Every breath required more and more effort until breathing itself was becoming impossible. He could feel that his pace had decreased but Amanda did not say anything. So, He continued.
'Four' To call this a run would be an insult to running. He was merely dragging his feet across the field. But he had to push on. 'Just one more lap'
'Five.' His entire body slumped to the ground. He didn't even have the energy to stand at this moment. 'Fucking finally!'. A tear of joy formed in his eyes. Finally, he had completed his training. No more running never again.
"All right." Amanda clasped her hands. "Now we begin our class." 'Oh right… The classes haven't even begun yet.'
…
Castle Clover
The room was lit with fluttering blue torches mounted on stone walls covered with ancient runes enchanted with various spells that made sure that no sound from inside the room could escape. The same runes also isolated the room spatially, the only way to enter the room was through one door. Various trophies from the countless wars throughout the kingdom's history were placed around the different tables.
In the centre, there was a huge round table that showed a holographic replica of the entire Clover kingdom. Around the large table, there were twelve chairs each decorated uniquely. The largest of the chairs looked more like a throne. It was elevated slightly above the others with a golden frame with ornately crafted symbols engraved upon it. This was the seat of the King of the Clover Kingdom On its right was another slightly elevated chair, this was smaller than the last but no less impressive. This was the seat of the wizard king. On its left was another elevated chair. The seat of the head of the magic parliament.
Nine uniquely designed chairs followed them, each bearing the insignia of the nine magic knight squads that protected the kingdom. The Silver Eagles led by Captain Nozel Silva, Crimson Lions led by Captain Fugoleon Vermilion, Grey Deer led by Captain Gellert Dawn, Purple Orcas led by Captain Gueldre Poizot, Blue Rose Knights led by Captain Charlotte Roselei, Coral Peacocks led by Captain Dorothy Unsworth, Golden Dawn led by Captain William Vengeance, Green Mantis led by Captain Jack and Black Bulls led by Captain Yami.
One by one all the captains took their seats. The atmosphere was heavy with no party willing to break the silence. The last few months have been hectic. The Diamond Kingdom had started to move and this time they were stronger than ever before.
The city of Ruestone had fallen. Marking the first time that Diamond had successfully taken over a significant place in the clover kingdom in over fifty years. The kingdom had tried to take the city and had failed. This conference took place after the failure.
Finally, the door opened once again and three men walked inside. First was a short blonde-haired young man wearing a red robe decorated with various medals. He had a soft smile yet his presence itself carried authority. He was the strongest mage in the kingdom, Julius Novachrono. After him was a young man with blue hair in a bowl cut. He carried a large book with him. Marx Francois, the young assistant to the wizard king. Just after them, A man with short black hair wearing long black robes entered the room. His face was completely devoid of emotions as if his mind was preoccupied with something else. He was Damnatio Kira, The patriarch of the Kira family and the head of the magic parliament.
All the captains in the room stood up. It was a gathering of some of the most powerful mages of the kingdom. All of them were here except… "His Majesty will not be able to join us today," Damnatio said. "He is… Busy with some other matters." Julius added.
"Important matters as always," Yami said as Jack scoffed.
A quick glare from Damnatio was enough to shut this conversation. "Captains," Julius said, his tone was heavy and his usual jovial atmosphere was gone. What remained was the sombre, weathered expression that one would expect from the leader of the kingdom who had just lost an important battle.
"I," Julius said standing up. "I am sorry for failing to lead us to victory. I underestimated our enemy which cost us the city."
"No, Your Majesty, You executed your part perfectly." Gellert Dawn, The captain of the Grey Deer spoke. "It was my mistake that cost us the city. I took full responsibility for it."
"We fell into their trap. Captain Gellert. We all share the blame for this loss." The captain of the Crimson Lions spoke.
"Blaming ourselves is unproductive. What happened has already happened, we should be focusing more on the future. How do we deal with the problem now?" This time Damnaio spoke. Julius nodded his head, "Marx" He said.
The blue-haired man beside him walked forward and placed his hand on the table. The holograph in the table started to change to that of Ruestone.
…
"This is the report of the Siege of Ruestone."
In the siege, every squad was given a role. According to the intel, Three Shining Generals were stationed in the city led by the Supreme General of the Diamond Kingdom, Eric Stone. The plan was that Julius would take on General Stone and distract him. Crimson Lions, Golden Dawn and Grey Deers would take the battle head-on through the South gate and Purple Orcas would disengage the barriers of the city and then the other common soldiers would begin their assault.
Silver Eagles, Coral Peacocks and Green Mantis were tasked with protecting and patrolling the Noble Realm, the Common Realm and the Forsaken Realm respectively. The Black Bulls and Blue Rose were stationed around the city to intercept any reinforcements as well as pick up the fleeing Diamond Kingdom soldiers, weakening them as much as they could.
But the plan failed.
The intel was wrong, There weren't three Shining Generals inside the city but six. So, immediately the three initial squads had to deal with four generals from the enemy. The Captain of the Golden Dawn held off two generals simultaneously for a while before Captain Yami arrived. Captain Fugoleon and Captain Gellert could hold off one each.
As planned Purple Orcas started on their plan. Gueldre with his permeation magic could sneak into the city to disengage the shields of the city but was interrupted by the fifth general stationed there. Gueldre wasn't a combat mage so he had to retreat. The Blue Roses were also called into the city for reinforcements but now the tides had again turned to Clover's favor.
Again in the chaos of the battlefield, Captain Gellert was free to move to the town square to deactivate the barrier. So, he and most of the Grey Deers moved towards the town square. They thought they had succeeded. With the barrier down, The common soldiers would enter and combined with the aerial assault, would overwhelm the city. Of course, they wouldn't be able to pick off the Diamond Soilers as they fled but retaking the city would be enough.
Gellert was interrupted by multiple assaults of Diamond soldiers, but that was expected; but it didn't matter only generals could stop a captain. Quality mattered more than quantity, and the Clover and Diamond each perfectly represented each aspect. Diamond Kingdom was more numerous, whereas Clover Kingdom had better individuals.
Another one of the Shining Generals had appeared in the battle which turned it into a complete stalemate.. But it seemed that Diamond had another secret weapon. A kid who barely looked sixteen joined the fray. The enemy called him Baile. Baile had more magic than most Royals, and he also wielded two different attributes of magic simultaneously. He was strong, absurdly so. Strong enough to break the stalemate.
It was Six Generals against Six Captains but with the addition of that individual and the superior number of Diamond soldiers, the battle was inevitable. A retreat was called. Officially ending the battle for Ruestone.
The Clover Kingdom had managed to retreat but not without heavy casualties. Most squads like the Golden Dawn and Black Bulls did not have many casualties, Crimson Lions and Purple Orcas had lost many knights but they weren't unrecoverable. Grey Deers on the other hand had lost about half of their knights.
…
A heavy silence descended on the room as Marx finished his report.
"We underestimated our enemy." William was the first to speak. "We didn't expect them to send six of their eight best soldiers to defend Ruestone."
"It's understandable," Gueldre said leaning on his chair. "Who would have thought they would do something as risky as that? Their kingdom was completely undefended."
"It's almost like they knew what we were planning." Yami said.
"Are you suggesting…" Fugoleon said widening his eyes at the possibility.
"There's a traitor among us." Nozel looked at the room.
The room was once again silent as everyone looked at each other trying to gauge their reactions. Even Dorothy who had been peacefully sleeping had woken up.
"Enough." Julius said with a resigned sigh, "Pointing fingers right now wouldn't do us any good right now. What we need right now is a future course of action."
For the first time in the meeting, Charlotte spoke, "The Diamond Kingdom has also taken heavy losses, they wouldn't take the offensive anytime soon."
"Six of the Shining Generals are in our kingdom, Captain Charlotte." Gueldre scoffed. "I would be surprised if they weren't planning to take the offensive."
"Wouldn't it be better to take the fight to the Diamond Kingdom now that they are undefended?" Jack asked.
Julius shook his head, "The Diamond Kingdom's population is much more concentrated in smaller highly fortified cities. They also have a lot more soldiers. Going for the offensive would require us to spend most of our resources on attack and leave our kingdom defenceless. We can't afford that."
"All we can do is fortify the cities closer to Ruestone. They absolutely cannot be allowed to move south." Damnatio said.
"I agree with Lord Kira." Nozel said, "We cannot allow them to move south."
"Captain William, Captain Dorothy, Captain Gueldre, Captain Charlotte, You will move and fortify the cities near Ruestone. Captain Silva, you will observe the northern border for any unusual movements. Captain Yami will patrol the Forsaken realm and Captain Jack will patrol the Common realm. Captain Fugoleon will hold the Noble Realm. Those are your stations until further notice." Julius said as the captains nodded.
"The meeting is dismissed."
–
A/N:
According to the cannon lore, a foreign invasion happened right before the story of black clover began and the captains were held as heroes after protecting the kingdom from the foreign kingdom. So, this is that war.
Gellert, Baile and Stone are all OC's. I did say I was going to increase the power level of the entire Diamond Kingdom to make them a threat.
One more chapter after this before the story gets juicy.
And the most important note,
Have a nice day.
クリエイターの想い 
Ferzd
Ferzd Gimme stones or Diamond Kingdom will invade your him tonight.
週次パワーステータス
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