Aquarius emerged from the water stream. Violently swinging her water bottle, she sent the lake monster fish flying cleanly hundreds of meters away.
"You damn brat! Summoning me from such dirty water?! You want another spanking?!"
Aquarius turned into an irritable older brother, scolding Lucy directly to her face. Her blue fish tail angrily slapped the ground.
Probably because she had been interrupted while on a date with her boyfriend, she showed her master no kindness. Not that she ever did anyway.
"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I know I was wrong!"
Lucy dared not defy the noble Aquarius. She just kept bowing and apologizing.
Her submissive demeanor made Chase, watching from a distance, shake his head repeatedly.
He knew their dynamic was like this, but every time he saw Aquarius's vicious expression at Lucy, he found it somehow amusing.
And this was precisely the bond between them — more unshakeable than with other spirits!
In a sense, Lucy could almost call Aquarius "Mom"!
But still...
Chase's eyes narrowed.
To her credit, Lucy's gate-opening speed and split-second judgment had improved considerably compared to before.
The most intuitive comparison: if she faced Vidaldus from the Three Crows again, she wouldn't be captured so easily!
As expected of the super genius who had immersed herself in magic for ages. The Dark Magician's training guide was really something.
Just as Chase was thinking this, he noticed a malicious gaze fall on him.
"So you're the damn card addict Leo (Loki) mentioned?" Aquarius, having finished scolding Lucy, slowly floated over.
"Ah ha. That's probably me..."
Chase scratched his head in annoyance, silently cursing Loki for his malicious slander. He smiled and extended his hand to Aquarius. "Nice to meet you. I'm Chase. I guess I'm like a brother to that silly girl over there."
After all, his relationship with Lucy had been defaulted by Jude. No problem using that in a self-introduction.
"Silly girl? Okay. I approve of you!"
Aquarius's menacing expression immediately transformed into a friendly smile Lucy had never seen before. "I'm Aquarius, the Aquarius spirit."
Watching them happily shake hands, Lucy's mouth twitched stiffly.
What kind of recognition reason is that!
You're my spirit! Shouldn't you be defending me?!
And Chase is too mean! Why add the adjective "silly" to his introduction?!
Suffering a double blow, Lucy wanted to fight back. But seeing Chase and Aquarius both look at her, the words that came out were an inexplicably harmless, sweet smile.
Whatever. Better to avoid trouble.
She couldn't afford to provoke either of these monsters!
When feeling utterly helpless, one always masks embarrassment with a smile.
Saying she had a date to go to, Aquarius's body gradually dissolved into specks of light.
In her last second before disappearing, she turned her head and gave Lucy a threatening look: Summon me again and I'll kill you!
Lucy was too scared to speak.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
Before she could relax, the ground beneath her feet suddenly trembled violently.
Trees around them bent and fell. Amid the flying leaves and gravel, a massive shadow slowly fell. A smelly odor hit her.
It was a purple spider the size of a small hill. Its front legs alone were as thick as tree trunks. The bristles on them were like spears.
"Another one!" Lucy screamed again.
Not wasting time wondering how such a giant creature had hidden in the forest, she quickly pulled out a Golden Key. "Open! Gate of Virgo, Virgo!"
Virgo, wearing hand chains and a maid outfit, appeared. She looked up at the spider monster. "Princess, I'm sorry. Please punish me."
"So fast! I haven't even said anything!" Lucy shouted.
"Against an opponent this size, I may not be able to maintain this form as requested."
"Whatever! Just take it down!"
"Understood!"
SWOOSH~!
After a flash of purple light, Virgo transformed from a delicate, pretty masochist maid into a red-eyed, muscle-bound gorilla battle servant.
The moment the spider monster raised its front legs to attack, Virgo spun around, digging several holes in the surrounding ground, damaging the spider's balance.
BOOM!
The heavy front legs consequently missed their target, piercing the rock beside Lucy and shattering it into gravel.
Thanks to experience from teaming with Natsu, Lucy quickly jumped away to avoid the shockwave. At the same time, she complained, "You just changed your size!"
She had thought Virgo was going to go toe-to-toe with the enemy.
"Against large monsters, you can't lose in momentum."
Gorilla Virgo popped out of the ground nearby like a gopher. Her expression was extremely serious.
Lucy: "..."
"Princess, behind you."
"Huh?"
Warned, Lucy faintly heard a terrifying buzzing.
Stiffly turning around with a bad feeling, she saw a dense swarm of red bees flying toward her. Each individual bee was the size of a basketball!
"O-Open! Gate of Sagittarius, Sagittarius!"
Golden light bloomed. Sagittarius, in his horse costume, walked out slowly. He saluted seriously toward a nearby lake. "Moshi moshi, sashiburi da na, Lucy-sama."
"I'm over here! No time to explain, Sagittarius. Can you shoot down that swarm?!" Lucy pointed at the bees.
"Of course. I am a marksman, after all. Moshi moshi~"
With that, Sagittarius drew his bowstring. Several arrows shot out simultaneously, taking down swaths of red giant bees in an instant.
"Nice work!" Lucy gave a bright thumbs-up.
Behind her, Chase stood with his arms crossed, casually leaning against a large tree, quietly observing Lucy's battle.
Dark Magician Girl, who had snuck out for some air, sat on a branch above, smiling as she commented, "Pretty good. Before, she couldn't maintain two Zodiac summons for this long."
Her pink-booted feet casually swung in the air. Her relaxed atmosphere was the complete opposite of Lucy's struggle.
"This kind of progress is still within expectations. However—"
Chase looked up at a one-eyed giant monster walking toward them from another direction. "What we're training this time isn't her multi-gate ability."
Even if she grew strong enough to maintain two or even three spirits at once, it wouldn't change her own fundamental weakness.
As a fellow summon-type wizard, he knew how fatal that weakness was. Whether against a sudden ambush or a speed-type enemy like Jellal, her margin for error was too low.
Especially if the enemy had advanced knowledge.
Therefore, he had to keep watching until Lucy was forced to use Star Dress!
Things happened exactly as Chase expected.
At her limit of maintaining two gates, Lucy was chased relentlessly by a one-eyed giant monster. She had no power to fight back.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The one-eyed giant had terrifying brute force. A light swipe of its palm could reduce a tree to splinters. Each step left half-meter deep craters.
Just dodging these basic attacks was already extremely taxing for Lucy. She held on purely by bursting her potential.
Dark Magician Girl couldn't watch anymore. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Hey, Lucy! You can use Star Dress~!"
"If only Canis Minor works, that's useless!"
Lucy ran for her life, responding as she went. "And why are all these monsters coming after me?!"
Starting with the lake monster fish, the creatures of Bondari Forest seemed completely unaware of Chase. They only relentlessly pursued her!
She didn't know that because wizards frequently took jobs here, these creatures, naturally smarter than ordinary animals, had learned to distinguish the strong from the weak. They knew very well which humans they could and couldn't mess with.
As for those without such awareness, the grass on their graves was already two meters tall...
Virgo and Sagittarius, each held up by their monsters, looked very calm. Normally, they would have quickly eliminated their opponents to protect Lucy.
But now, they clearly sensed Chase's true intention. So they weren't in a hurry.
Thus, the "isolated" Lucy was forced to a corner with a tree at her back, no retreat left.
ROAR!!
The one-eyed giant roared. Its white-haired-covered fist raised high.
A dangerous aura rushed toward her. Lucy took a deep breath, preparing to try Star Dress again.
A golden magic circle bloomed. Rising magic power condensed into an updraft, making her clothes and skirt sway.
Maybe there was some momentum now?
Just as Chase thought this, the magic circle shattered into rapidly dissipating golden light.
She failed...
The one-eyed giant's face also showed disappointment. Feeling tricked, it became enraged and swung its fist down hard.
At that moment, Dark Magician Girl, sitting in the tree, lightly waved her staff.
BOOM!!
The huge fist, its trajectory silently altered, kicked up a tearing wind as it grazed Lucy's side and smashed into the ground, shattering it inch by inch!
The horrific destructive power made Lucy's face contort into a meme. She was grateful it had "missed."
Snapping out of it, she turned and ran, playing cat and mouse with the one-eyed giant again.
But this time, before she could get far, a thick vine suddenly wrapped around her foot.
The vine seemed to have its own consciousness. It climbed up Lucy's ankle, binding her in place and continually tightening.
At the same time, the one-eyed giant had caught up. Its massive body cast a dark shadow, bringing a suffocating sense of oppression.
Lucy struggled frantically, but couldn't break free from the tough vine. She could only watch as the one-eyed giant raised its huge foot and slowly panned it directly above her.
If that foot came down on her, she would definitely become a meat patty!
Terrified, Lucy almost instinctively looked toward Chase.
Virgo and Sagittarius, having already dealt with their monsters, frowned. Concern in their eyes, they prepared to support at any moment.
Training was one thing. They couldn't risk Lucy's safety!
Even so, Chase remained with his arms crossed, watching the show. He showed no sign of intervening.
Only a life-threatening crisis could unleash the greatest potential of a Celestial Spirit wizard. He was going to push Lucy to the brink!
No exchange of words was needed. There was no time for it.
The moment their eyes met, Lucy understood all of Chase's thoughts. She fina
lly realized why he had brought her, a newbie, on an SS-Class job.
How terrible. Chase believed in me more than anyone. And I was just thinking that as long as I was with Chase, there would be no danger...
Breathing hard, her face pale from the vine's tightening, Lucy's panicked, fearful heart grew increasingly calm.
With Chase here, even if she failed, she wouldn't die. But...
"I don't want to let Chase down! I can do this! I can definitely do this!!"
Lucy shouted at the sky, gripping the Golden Key tightly in her palm.
BOOM!!
The one-eyed giant's power-filled foot stomped down heavily, crushing Lucy and the area around her!
The earth was trembled. Gravel, sand, and flying vine sap scattered everywhere.
The eye on the one-eyed giant's head shifted, looking at its landing point. Then it was suddenly shocked.
Following its gaze, a gentle forest breeze dispersed the rolling dust. Golden twin ponytails slowly swayed in the wind.
Lucy held red dual swords. Her blue-striped clothes had transformed into a light blue and white wide-sleeved uniform.
Standing tall on the broken ground, she had a hint of Erza's heroic spirit.
Dark Magician Girl jumped down from the tree, her pretty eyes examining Lucy. "So this is the complete form of Star Dress? Not bad, ★"
"To think of using Cancer's power at that moment, cutting the vines and avoiding a fatal attack. Good judgment." Chase smiled.
This silly sister had come through, not disappointing him. Though he had secretly applied the magic buff card "Unicorn Horn" to Lucy.
Star Dress was a magic that used the form of clothing to turn part of a spirit's ability into one's own.
Based on this principle, Lucy, who had already summoned Virgo and Sagittarius, would need to stably open three gates simultaneously to use another spirit's power.
Obviously, she couldn't do that yet!
Lucy didn't notice the suddenly grown horn on her forehead. After briefly adapting to Cancer's abilities, she bent her legs, exploded with powerful force, and counterattacked, stepping on the one-eyed giant's descending foot.
SWOOSH, SWOOSH, SWOOSH, SWOOSH.
Dual-wielding blade light rapidly released, cutting from the one-eyed giant's calf all the way up to its head.
Cut white hairs fell like snow. After her final slash, Lucy leaped and landed dashingly. The one-eyed giant's thick fur was shaved completely clean. It was more exposed than a naked Gray!
Truly inheriting the abilities of Cancer, the chief barber of the Celestial Spirit World. Such superb craftsmanship.
A cold wind blew. The "stripped" one-eyed giant instinctively covered its groin with its legs and hands.
After looking around nervously, the blushing giant bolted, disappearing into the forest depths.
Seeing this, Virgo and Sagittarius breathed deep sighs of relief. Faint smiles on their lips, they turned into starlight and returned to the Celestial Spirit World.
"Success!"
It took Lucy several seconds to process. Then, like an elementary school student wanting to show off after getting a perfect score, she ran to Chase. "Chase! Dark Magician Girl! Did you see that?! I succeeded!!"
"Great fight, Lucy!" Dark Magician Girl gave her a thumbs-up.
Chase turned his body, facing a large tree to the side, and said, "Remember this feeling well. After taking the first step, the rest of the training will be much easier."
"I'm over here!!"
Lucy thought he had been infected by Sagittarius. She kept waving her hand.
Chase still didn't turn around. He just quietly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Pop.
The magic card's effect is instantly resolved. The Unicorn Horn on Lucy's forehead dissipated like foam.
Before Lucy could process what was happening, the uncomfortable feeling of magic depletion swept through her body. The Cancer Star Dress exploded with a bang.
"Ah... AH?!!"
***
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