Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
December 1, x791.
While Elicia, Erza, and Mirajane were fighting the chameleon demon in the forest outside of Kunugi, the members of Fairy "Tail were engaged in their usual morning training. And today, something unusual was happening.
Well… Calling it unusual was a bit of a stretch, as finding Laxus, Natsu, and Gajeel fighting was quite the common occurrence. What made it unusual was the fact that Wendy had joined them. Even more than that, the fact that the fight was happening in a training room rather than the middle of the main hall was quite different, as well.
"[Fire Dragon's Wing Attack]!" Natsu shouted as he whipped both arms at Laxus and Gajeel.
"You're too loud." Laxus said in a bored tone. "[Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist]."
"The blondie is right." Gajeel added while gritting his teeth. "As much as even saying those words makes me want to throw up. [Iron Dragon's Spiked Club]."
*Boom!*
The Collision of the three attacks caused an explosion that sent all three Dragon Slayers sliding backwards.
"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Laxus asked as he snapped his head in Gajeel's direction.
"Exactly what it sounded like, Blondie." Gajeel shot back as he flared his magic power.
"It seems I need to teach you some manners, metal head." Laxus growled.
"Bring it on." Gajeel said with a sneer.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Then, without another word, Laxus and Gajeel charged towards each other, throwing punches at high speed. However, despite the fact that neither took a step back, it was clear to anyone watching that Gajeel was at a disadvantage.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Natsu, watching Laxus and Gajeel fight, shouted indignantly.
After shouting, Natsu intended to charge towards Laxus and Gajeel. However, before he could take his first step, he felt something was off. Then he spun around towards the feeling he was getting. And when he did…
"[Sky Dragon's Roar]!" Wendy chanted loudly after taking a deep breath.
*Swoosh!*
In the next instant, a cyclone originating from Wendy's mouth swept over Natsu, blowing him off his feet towards Laxus and Gajeel.
"Huh?" Laxus, after taking a punch from Gajeel without flinching, exclaimed in confusion.
"Urgh! What the…? Wha~~~~!" Gajeel, after a punch to the gut from Laxus folded him over the older Dragon Slayer's fist, also exclaimed in surprise before he and Laxus were blown away with Natsu.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
A moment later, all three slammed into the barrier surrounding the ring before picking themselves up at varying speeds.
"Whoa!" Natsu shouted. "Wendy, when did you get so strong?"
"Yeah." Laxus said while dusting himself off. "You're a lot stronger than I remember, Pipsqueak."
"I bet your enchantments will be even stronger now." Gajeel said with a grin. "Say, munchkin, how 'bout you give me the full package and let me kick in the blondie's teeth?"
Meanwhile, Wendy, who had just sent the trio flying, began to blush after receiving all their attention.
"I… I don't know." Wendy said while lowering her head. "I've just been spending time with Master Tsunade. She's been helping me improve my magic power control."
"Ah! That makes sense." Laxus replied with a nod. "With good enough magic power control, you can make your spells even stronger for the same cost."
Laxus then took a fighting stance as his expression stretched into a battle hungry smile.
"Now, I'm curious to know just how far she's helped you grow." Laxus said as he flared his magic power. "Show me. Show me how much stronger you've gotten, Wendy."
"No! I'm gonna be the one to fight her." Natsu said after rushing in front of Laxus and taking his own fighting stance.
"Pipe down, Salamander." Gajeel interjected as he tried to step in front of Natsu. "This fight is mine."
Unfortunately, that just led to the three male Dragon slayers beginning to argue, leaving Wendy standing there, her embarrassment turning into confusion.
"Wendy! Go! Go! Go!"
Meanwhile, a somewhat out of place voice cheered for Wendy, drawing the blue-haired Dragon Slayer's attention, making her smile in the direction the cheering came from.
And at the end of Wendy's line of sight, Shizuka, who was asked to be present just in case… Or rather, when Laxus, Natsu, and Gajeel inevitably took things too far, was standing in the spectator area of the training room with her son, Calvin held in her arms. And the one who cheered for Wendy was Calvin, who was waving his arms in excitement while watching the ongoing Dragon Slayer free-for-all.
"You can do it, Wendy." Shizuka added to Calvin's cheering with her usual, sleepy-eyed smile. "Show those boys what girl power looks like."
Smiling at Shizuka's strange brand of encouragement, Wendy took a deep breath. Then, she returned her focus to the three on the other side of the training chamber. A moment later, she sprinted towards Laxus, Natsu, and Gajeel with her fist cocked back and magic power flaring.
"[Sky Dragon's…]" Wendy began to chant while running towards the trio of male Dragon Slayers.
"She's coming!" Natsu shouted before ignoring Laxus and Gajeel to face Wendy.
"I said she's mine!" Gajeel growled as he tried to muscle Natsu out of the way.
Meanwhile, Laxus narrowed his eyes while watching as Wendy leapt into the air. And thanks to the use of [Magic Power Detection], he could see Wendy concentrating a large amount of magic power behind the knuckles of her right hand. At the same time, she was moving her magic power in a way that was somewhat familiar to him.
'I didn't think there was an [Iron Fist] spell in Sky Dragon Slayer Magic.' Laxus thought to himself.
["That's because there isn't."] Elexion replied from Laxus' inner world. ["Or… There wasn't. But it looks like that little girl and Grandeeney have come up with something new to suit her new fighting style. Oh, and by the way, you'd better drag those two morons out of the way if you don't want to see them get shredded apart."]
Hearing that, Laxus' eyes widened in surprise. Then, he changed into his [Lightning Form] and flashed behind Natsu and Gajeel, grabbed them by their shoulders, and tossed them to either side before once again transforming into his [Lightning Form] and fleeing the area.
"[… Buster Fist]." Wendy finished her chant just before her fist struck the floor where Natsu and Gajeel had been arguing.
"What the hell, Laxus?" Gajeel asked angrily.
"Wait your turn, Laxus!" Natsu shouted from the opposite side of the ring.
*Dong!*
The sound Wendy's fist made when it collided with the metal floor sounded like a large bell tolling and successfully cut off Natsu's and Gajeel's complaints. In fact, Natsu and Gajeel were not the only ones who were shut up, as every conversation in the guild hall came to an abrupt stop, as well.
But even more surprising than the sound and force of the impact was the way Wendy was covered in a dome of high speed wind blades.
"Whoa!" Natsu shouted energetically. "What was that? That was so awesome!"
"I didn't know she could do that." Gajeel muttered to himself. "Would my [Iron Dragon Scales] be able to handle that?"
A moment later, after the dome of wind blades dispersed, Gajeel got the answer to his question.
In a perfect circle, about ten feet around Wendy, an uncountable number of thin gashes were carved into the floor of the training chamber, causing both Laxus and Gajeel to widen their eyes in surprise.
"*Gulp* This room… It's made of adamantite and Orichalcum, right?" Gajeel asked after gulping audibly.
"Yeah…" Laxus replied. "And I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be almost as tough as adamantite and just about as magic resistant as orichalcum. Yet, she punched right through the magic resistance and damaged the alloy."
"Wendy, you're so awesome!" Natsu shouted loudly. "Yeah, we definitely gotta keep going! I'm all fired up!"
However, Wendy was not nearly as impressed as the other three. Instead, she was waving her arms frantically with a panicked expression on her face.
"Oh no! What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?" Wendy asked while almost in tears. "Alfonzo and Lici said that no one was allowed to damage the guild hall, but I… Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"
At that moment, the training chamber's door opened, and two more spectators walked in.
"Come on, Happy." Carla, Wendy's best friend, said as she floated through the door. "You have to start training. Otherwise, you're never gonna be able to fight if Natsu isn't around."
"But Carla~, it's hard." Happy whined. "Besides, I'm always with Natsu. So, there's nothing to worry about."
However, before the conversation could continue, both happy and Carla noticed that the atmosphere in the room seemed off. Especially since they knew that all of Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayers were supposed to be having a free-for-all sparring session right now.
Looking towards the four wizards in the ring, Happy and Carla tilted their heads to one side in unison at the sight in front of them.
First, Natsu was cheering wildly while spewing fire from his mouth… not too surprising, Natsu was easily excited and he set everything around him on fire, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.
Next, Laxus and Gajeel were staring at something with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. For Laxus, that was within the realm of possibility. Though, it was unlikely since he was quite full of himself, even after mellowing out. But for Gajeel, who thought only a marginal amount more than Natsu… Yeah, something had to be wrong.
And lastly, there was Wendy, standing at the point where Laxus' and Gajeel's lines of sights intersected. She was completely in panic mode, something that no one had seen since she started training with Tsunade, waving her arms, tears welling in her eyes, and squealing about being in trouble.
And just like how Wendy had not showed her old self in a long time, Carla, as soon as she saw Wendy panicking, went back to her overprotective self, spreading her wings and trying to fly into Wendy's arms to comfort her.
Unfortunately…
*Bang!*
In her panic, Carla forgot that the barrier around the ring had been engaged. As a result, she ended up flying into the barrier at full speed, looking like she just slammed into an invisible wall… Which was exactly what happened. Then, she slid down the wall before landing on her butt on the floor.
Happy followed Carla to the barrier shortly afterwards. All the while, he was trying to stifle a bout of laughter. Because he knew… If he were to laugh at Carla right now, she would probably beat him up.
'No, she would definitely beat me up.' Happy thought to himself as he helped Carla to her feet. 'Maybe I should start training like she said. I don't wanna be the victim of domestic violence if I ever slip up.'
"Hey, Natsu!" Happy called out. "What's going on? Why is everyone acting so weird?"
Hearing someone call his name, Natsu finally stopped yelling and spewing fire. He then turned to look in the direction his name came from and smiled when he saw Happy.
"Happy! Good to see you, Little Buddy!" Natsu said excitedly. "How did training with Carla go? Make any progress?"
"Uh… Not really?" Happy said uncertainly. He then gestured to Laxus, Gajeel, and Wendy as he continued. "Anyway, why are they acting so weird?"
"Huh?" Natsu intoned in confusion. Then, he turned towards the other three Dragon Slayers, and his eyes lit up before he continued. "Oh, that! Happy, you should have seen it! Wendy is super~-strong now! She used this new spell, and it was amazing! Look! She even damaged the floor of the training chamber!"
Knowing what they did about the guild hall and its materials, hearing that Wendy damaged the training chambers floor naturally surprised both Exceeds, causing them to whip their heads towards Wendy, who was still panicking at the center of the damaged area of the floor.
"Wow…" Happy muttered in disbelief. "I've never even seen Alfonzo break the floor. Does that mean that Wendy is the strongest member of the guild now?"
"Of course not."
In response, the voice of someone who was not there only a moment ago caused everyone in the training chamber to turn towards the chamber's entrance. Though, everyone already knew who the voice belonged to.
"Daddy!" Calvin shouted happily from Shizuka's arms. "Daddy's home!"
*Zap!*
In the next instant, Alfonzo, who was standing in the doorway, smiled brightly when he heard Calvin's voice. Then, cloaked in violet electricity, he flashed from where he stood, revealing that Rika was following him, stopping next to Shizuka. He then took Calvin from his wife's arms, planted a kiss on Shizuka's cheek, causing the ditzy healer to smile brightly, then started spinning around with Calvin raised above his head.
In fact, Alfonzo, Lisanna, and Rika returned from their quest not too long ago. They then reported to mavis about the completion of their quest. And while Alfonzo and Rika went to find Shizuka, Lisanna left to find Miyako, who was spending time at the Mansion on the Lake with her cousins.
Because to be honest, although Lisanna really loved Natsu with all her heart, she did not trust that they would still have a house if she left him and Miyako alone.
"That's right, I'm home!" Alfonzo said with a big smile on his face. He then, after holding Calvin up for a few more moments, brought his son back down and turned to Happy. "The reason you've never seen me damage the training chambers is simple."
Hearing that, everyone, except for Calvin, who was still laughing happily, focused all their attention on Alfonzo. And when Alfonzo noticed that, he shrugged his shoulders before he continued.
"I just fix it after I break it." Alfonzo said nonchalantly. "I mean, that's what you're supposed to do when you break stuff, right?"
With that, an awkward atmosphere fell over the room.
"Of course that's what he does." Laxus said, breaking the silence while shaking his head. "He made the damn tower. So of course he can fix it."
"That guy gets it." Alfonzo said while shooting a finger pistol at Laxus.
*Zap!*
However, instead of a regular finger pistol, Alfonzo actually fired a bullet of electricity as a reward for Laxus. And just as he expected, Laxus snatched the bullet out of the air and ate it.
"But… you said…" Wendy, still on the verge of tears, said in a trembling tone. "You and Lici said… if someone damages the guild hall, you will beat them up."
Hearing that, Alfonzo could not help cocking his head to the side in confusion, an action that Calvin mimicked with a smile. Meanwhile, Rika had finally arrived next to Alfonzo, Shizuka, and Calvin, giving Shizuka a quick hug in greeting before turning towards Wendy to respond to her concerns in Alfonzo's stead.
"Sweetheart, they weren't talking about the training chambers." Rika said in a patient tone. "They're for training. It only makes sense they would get damaged from time to time once everyone was strong enough. The thing about damaging the guild hall was only meant for the other parts of the guild."
"Wha~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!?" Wendy shrieked in surprise as her face reddened to, a more than likely, unhealthy degree.
And to prove that it was, in fact, unhealthy, Wendy fainted on the spot, tipping over before falling on her back.
"Wendy!" Carla shrieked, worry for her best friend evident in her tone.
AT that moment, Shizuka shut down the barrier before rushing to Wendy's side, Carla following closely after. Meanwhile, Laxus, Natsu, Happy, and Gajeel all stared at Alfonzo with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
"Why are all of you looking at me like that?" Alfonzo asked curiously.
"You never told us that." Gajeel said.
"Not that we were strong enough to damage the training rooms, anyway." Laxus muttered.
"Yeah, I've been trying to be careful not to break anything in the training rooms." Natsu added.
This time, everyone turned to look at Natsu. However, there was no sign of the dumbfounded expressions on Laxus' and Gajeel's faces. Instead, they were looking at him with undisguised disdain. Meanwhile, happy glance at Natsu before turning around in secondhand embarrassment.
"You? Trying to be careful?" Gajeel snorted. "Don't make me laugh, Salamander."
"Yeah, you're way too stupid to think about not breaking anything." Laxus added with his arms crossed.
"What was that?" Natsu asked angrily. "Who are you calling stupid, Laxus? You wanna fight?"
Ignoring Natsu's outburst, Laxus turned back towards Alfonzo.
"But seriously, you never mentioned that the training chambers were not part of that whole 'don't break it' thing." Laxus said.
"Well, I guess I didn't." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "But then again, how many of our guild members were smart enough to keep that in mind? So, instead of wasting my breath, I just kept it to myself. And if anyone managed to break the training rooms, I would just fix it and talk to them about it when it happened."
"As much as it pisses me off to admit it…" Laxus grumbled. "Our guild isn't made of the smartest wizards in the world."
"That's one hell of an understatement." Rika muttered.
Before the conversation could continue, Alfonzo's attention was drawn to Calvin, who was tugging on his clothes.
"What's up, Cal?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.
"I want! I want! Dragon Slayer" Calvin said excitedly. "I want be like Uncle Laxus and Wendy!"
Alfonzo's eyes widened in surprise when he heard that. Then, he turned to look towards Laxus, who was smiling smugly at Calvin's declaration. Next, he turned towards Wendy, who was still unconscious. However, had she heard Calvin, she would probably be smiling sweetly at him.
"Well, that's not impossible." Alfonzo said, returning his smile to Calvin. "We actually have a few Dragon lacrima after that trip to the other version of our world. The only question is… Which one would fit you best. Hmm… I'm thinking Jade, maybe. Yeah, that sounds good. Then, when you're famous, everyone will call you the Jade Emperor, or something like that."
Calvin began to cheer happily after hearing that. Meanwhile, Laxus was wondering if Alfonzo would let him train Calvin when he was old enough to start training if he did, in fact, implant the Jade Dragon's Dragon Lacrima into him. As for Gajeel, he was clenching his fists, determined to get strong enough to be able to break parts of the training chamber. AS for Natsu, he was clamoring around Laxus, trying to pick a fight after being called stupid.
On a side note, Gajeel's desire to grow stronger was not simply for the sake of getting stronger. Instead, it was because if he was able to break off parts of the training chamber, he would be able to eat the pieces. And since they had been soaked in Alfonzo's magic power during construction, he had no doubt that they would be delicious.