Temperate Seasons Bring About the Greatest of Storms
Act I: Rivalry of Eons
Bruised and scarred; he hid behind a gigantic stone pillar etched into the ground who knows how many years ago. The young man had a head full of rose hair, spiked and left to jut out in several directions. It was complimented by his healthy complexion, a very toned and lean build along with jet-black eyes that stared out at his horizons. He wore a chipped and ripped black shirt with short sleeves, which was left open to expose a muscular chest and abdomen; orange lining had been on the tips of the sleeves and the collar, causing it to make him slightly more exposed to the harsh environment around him. Underneath this he wore a pair of white pants, slightly loose and comfortable enough to be worn with a pair of similar white joggers with orange and black lining at its edge.
"Argh, I have to reach the top of this damned thing, and these monstrosities are blocking my way. I can't let that stripper beat me to the final!" The man was Natsu Dragneel, or simply known as Natsu most of the time. He was a mage of the Fairy Tail Guild, one of the most prosperous within the country of Fiore.
He had scanned his environment, looking for something he could use to his advantage without destroying himself. He noted the various constructs, and realized he could make a flaming boundary and pathway to where he needed to go. All he had to do was break down a few trees, and make sure that they were enough to support his weight whilst he burned them as he ran on them. That would allow the flames to spread rapidly enough to cause an explosion immense enough to disable all the monsters he had to face…right?
"Well, better than nothing!" Natsu leapt out of his hideout, and began to swiftly race to the pile of debris that was in front of him. With a bent back knee, he jumped and somersaulted onto the debris; in that instant he also caused the branch's uprooted roots to combust! Without any prior hand motions, they began to envelop the tree and caused it to be alight with searing hot flames that simply continued to burn through the tree without any remorse. Within the next three seconds: he jumped onto the concrete arch that was in front of him, did a swift roll and had already caved a pathway to the last construct by burning down three more trees. As he raced through them, he realized his life was on the line with the flying beasts' talons barely missing his body.
"Tch. What a bother." He vocally expressed his disdain as he caused a brief combustion surrounding him. He soon jumped into the air, beating the beast into submission with an explosion-powered kick. As he did so; he landed onto the remains of the concrete stairs that were here before, and that headed towards his last destination on the harsh Tenrou Island.
He looked back towards the chaos he made and had been pleased by the result. With a smirk that revealed his unusual fang-like teeth for a glimpse; he made a quick snap of his fingers accompanied with the name, "Castle of Fantasia."
Magic built up into a central core; before an explosion was detonated at its epicentre. The explosion continued: short, sharp sparks created a spherical core that continued to detonate rapidly. Explosions deafened the species that surrounded it, when eventually a spherical explosion caused catastrophic destruction of the surrounding environment. Everything was left in tatters. Bones had sprawled upon the ashen ground, and tearful screams of surviving creatures were rampant in the air.
Natsu's solemn expression only told a few words," Rest in peace…"
And he left peacefully. His long, slow strides indicated at a heavy battle up ahead.
"It's so hot, and then these things show out of nowhere? This is just great, more things to slow me down." The young man groaned after climbing several hills repeatedly. There really was no moving forward until he had beaten these things, something which irked him. After stripping off his purple, floral-patterned shirt and wrapping it around his waist, his Fairy Tail guild insignia was revealed to be stamped near the region where his heart was.
This was Gray Fullbuster, another mage from Fairy Tail and a very skilled one at that. He had been in the S-Class Trial multiple times thanks to his experience, but had never been able to reach the finals thanks to people such as: Cana Alberona, Erza Scarlet and the most famous, Laxus Dreyar and Mystogan. "I will win! No matter the cost…" He thought to himself; out loud for some apparent reason, and then wondered. "How exactly will I get through these waves of monsters?"
He looked onward: past the tree he was hiding behind, and noticed a number of different monsters. Some of them had large horns and tails, but were small and feline, while others were simply monstrosities in their raw form. He was alone, trapped in this circular forest until he was able to get through these…things. So, how would he do it?
Gray realized from the explosions before that Natsu had gone ahead, and he really didn't like that, not at all. So he tensed his already defined muscles and immediately sprinted forward…into the middle of the den of beasts. Nobody had known what he was planning, but he planned something, something exhilarating and spectacular.
"Ice-Make: Floor." He silently chanted whilst forming the gesture for Ice-Make. Immediately his palms were slammed onto the ground and the entire floor had been covered with a sleek azure crystal-like matter, though it was clearly ice. The ice spread quickly and across the large distance that the monsters covered.
By the time the monsters had noticed the ice, many of them lost their grip and had fallen to the ground. The flying monsters had begun to charge towards Gray from every direction. Gray's plan was in motion, and the ice surrounding his immediate direction began to crumble. Magical energy oozed out of him, and Gray softly whispered, "Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer."
In that one moment, the ice surrounding Gray reconstructed into many spear-like objects which began to immediately pan out in a formation which caused the monsters surrounding him to be trapped within a flurry of spears, and eventually killed.
The other monsters released heavy levels of magical energy, destroying the ice they stood upon. Gray looked around and momentarily moaned, before getting into his next position. "Ice-Make: Eternal Damnation." The ice on the ground and air which the monsters destroyed began to reconstruct itself while Gray concentrated in the middle of the arena-like area. Each and every fragment of ice that Gray created transformed into multiple, intricate cages linked through a single chain that surrounded Gray in an almost circular pattern.
Gray let go of his position, and as he began to run forward towards his next destination, a single human-like monster, similar to a Gargoyle, appeared before him. Gray was momentarily stunned and knocked back, before he grasped himself and then chanted, "Ice-Make: Death Scythe." A large scythe of ice was formed within Gray's hands, as he rushed the monster and cleaved it with a single, large swing of the scythe he created.
"Ice Dungeon: Crumbling Passion." Gray chanted, and as he leaped from the area, the ice that was placed around all the monsters in the area began to rapidly freeze them. And as suddenly as the freezing began, the ice was crushed, into nothing but the vapour in the air and all the monsters non-existent. Gray tilted his head down slightly, before his eyes stared with determination at his next destination, and target. The finals of the S-Class Trial.