Chapter 6: Day One
Sol woke up to a beautiful sunrise. It had been several hours since he had confronted the pumpkin man, who he learned during breakfast was called Mato, and entered the Grand Magic Games. He had used his powers after meeting him to find a local group of criminals, wiping them out with ease and stealing the money they had. Jewel, it was called. Considering that the currency had no ties to actual jewels, Sol found the name a bit peculiar. He used some of the Jewel he had confiscated to purchase a room at an inn close to Domas Flau, making sure he had easy access to his things in case he ran into trouble at the coliseum. Putting on a set of Daedric Armor and a silver hood glowing orange with solar energy, Sol used his light to shoot through the nearest window and toward the coliseum.
Landing in his physical form in a tunnel leading towards the inner battlegrounds, Sol waited for his cue.
"And last but certainly not least, it's the team that came in first place in the preliminaries. That's right, you know them, you love them, now get on your feet and scream for the most powerful guild in all of Fiore: the one and only Sabertooth!"
Sol looked through the tunnel to see a group of mages entering the arena from the opposite side.
A strong looking group, to say the least, but we'll see if they live up to their name.
As the crowd went wild, the announcer took a minute to let them settle before introducing him. "Now folks, we've got one more surprise in store for you. There is a lone individual who the organizers have decided to let participate in the Grand Magic Games this year as a ninth participant. Turn your attention to the tunnel to my right as our mystery guest joins the competition!"
The crowd, along with the eight teams already inside, were in a state of utter bewilderment. It was now his time to shine. Sol started to walk down the center of the tunnel, determined to win the Games and demand his reward.
I promise I'll win, Serana. Whatever it takes.
_Reactions to Sol_
As the mysterious man walked steadily through the tunnel, Natsu felt a powerful wave of energy flow over his body. His senses picked up on an intense magic, one he was all too familiar with.
The rest of the wizards seemed to notice as well. "I'm sensing a great deal of power from this man." Erza remarked, her gaze locked on the man. "Jellal, is this the power you've been sensing?"
"No. It's actually completely different. Whatever it is, it can't be good." Jellal responded.
"How the hell do the game organizers expect one guy to fight by himself? This is ridiculous." Gajeel coolly remarked, fists clenched.
"This guy must have some serious abilities. Keep an eye open." Gray said as he pivoted his foot into a fighting stance.
_Normal POV_
It was at this point that Sol finally reached the end of the tunnel and entered the light. His presence struck fear into most of the audience, and even some of the contestants were taken aback.
"This guy looks like a demon!"
"Who the hell is this guy?"
"It looks like he's glowing!"
"I wonder what's with the outfit." Lucy exclaimed, her eyes scanning Sol up and down, fearing him. "The crowd is right; this guy looks like he's straight out of a book of Zeref."
In the stands above them, Makarov was taken aback. "I've never seen anyone like him in all my years in Fiore. First Master, do you know who he is?"
Mavis did not answer Makarov, simply looking down at Sol, remembering their encounter on Tenrou Island.
I hope your mission wasn't one to bring more violence into this world.
"That magic energy, it feels like he should be a dragon slayer, but it's off." Natsu frowned in confusion, looking at Sol with caution.
"You mean this guy is supposed to be another Dragon Slayer? That's so manly."
Elfman shouted with excitement. "I can't wait to fight him."
Sol, who had listened to the conversations he was approaching with little interest, spotted Mirajane amongst one of the groups of Fairy Tail wizards, catching her gaze, their eyes locking. The darkness that covered his face was soon replaced with eyes that glowed a dim orange, causing Mirajane to become frightened.
"Mira, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Juvia concernedly asked.
She snapped out of it. "What? I'm fine, sorry. Just spaced out for a second."
Sol turned his gaze away from her, the orange glow of his eyes fading with the move. He faced Fairy Tail B, who he was now standing in front of. Lifting his hood, they saw the face of what looked to be a young teenager, no older than Natsu, whose dark brown hair resembled Laxus's, minus the tuft at the center of his forehead, and glowed with the same orange color as his eyes, although it was faint. He had a slight scar running from the lower part of his left eye down to the cheekbone. The eyes themselves were brown, with a shape almost identical to Sting's. His eyebrows were thin, and his smile was small. He stood an inch or so taller than Gray, but it felt like he was a giant among ants. Natsu was the first to ask questions.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" He yelled, his fist engulfed in flames.
"Relax, Natsu. This man is another competitor in the Games, and we need to treat him with the same respect." Erza grabbed the back of Natsu's scarf and pulled him away from Sol. "I apologize for the behavior of my comrade. He's a bit hot-headed."
"No worries," Sol replied coolly, his voice quiet yet deep, "my name is Sol. It's nice to finally meet some of the other competitors. You must be Erza Scarlet?" Sol reached out to shake her hand.
She accepted the offer, noticing as she shook his hand how cold the gauntlet her wore was. "Indeed I am. Word must spread quickly around Fiore."
"It certainly does, doesn't it?" Sol chuckled slightly, nodding his head. "I had heard at one of the local inns that a red-haired warrior was entering the Games. I look forward to seeing you in action."
"You as well. From what I could tell when you walked in, it felt like you were a Dragon Slayer, like Natsu, but that feeling wasn't quite right." Erza looked upon Sol with curiosity. "Are you?"
"I suppose if you wish to call me a Dragon Slayer, you wouldn't be wrong. But I would have to agree with your intuition in saying that I do not quite fit that definition." Sol smirked contemptuously.
Their conversation was interrupted by the announcer, Chapati Lola. "We've kept everyone waiting long enough. It's about time we unveil the official schedule for this year's tournament!"
A massive stone slab with written text emerged from the ground, much to everyone's surprise. On it were seven days, each with an unknown event and a separate battle round each day. The fifth day differed, as it had a tag battle round set up as opposed to singles. Sol walked over to part of the coliseum wall and leaned back, fully taking in the rock and its contents. Today's event was called "Hidden."
Interesting. Seems like the Divines are smiling upon me today.
"Each one of the rounds will begin with a contest. Participants will then be ranked from first to ninth place. The teams will be awarded points depending on how they rank in the contest. Additionally, teams are allowed to select which of their members they want to compete." Lola's voice echoed through the arena.
"After that we have battles. These bouts should come as quite a treat to all you loyal fans, since it was your suggestions that created these matchups!"
Sol looked up and tilted his head slightly.
Hmm. I wonder how they're going to manage creating my matchups, given nobody quite knows who I am.
Lola continued to explain the rules. "The battle rules are simple: Each team will square off as shown here. The winning teams will be award ten points, while the losing teams get jack squat! In the case of a draw, both teams will be awarded five points."
"Our ninth participant has rules differing from the other eight teams. Since he is the lone member of his team, Sol will be participating in every event. First, second, and third place will earn him seven points, while fourth, fifth, and sixth place will earn him three. Anything below that earns him a big old goose egg! Of course, everyone who is placed one rank below him will earn the same amount of points they would have if he hadn't participated."
"As for battles, we have created a random magic simulation device that allows us to randomly replace a team with Sol. This means that over the course of the next four days, half of the teams participating will have Sol representing them. Because of the way points are earned, all of the points Sol earns in a draw will go to the team he's representing. A win splits the points between Sol and the team. And of course, a loss earns nothing."
Seems good enough to me. Guess the organizers thought I should be held to a higher standard since I came uninvited. Fair enough.
"No way! That guy just gets to take half of our points? That's crazy! He shouldn't be allowed to represent our guild, he doesn't even have our guild mark!" Natsu was outraged, his pointed teeth clenched in anger.
"Oh, relax, Natsu. I'm sure this is the fairest possible scenario the organizers could come up with, so let's just roll with it, alright?" Lucy seemed to be a bit embarrassed by Natsu's tirade, and he reluctantly agreed to calm down.
Again, Lola's voice boomed throughout the coliseum. "Ready for action? Let's get things started with the first contest of the Grand Magic Games, one that we call Hidden."
Sol simply stood around and observed the other guilds. Sabertooth seemed to be quite formidable, upon closer inspection. Their participating member, Rufus Lore, appeared to be a scholar of some sorts. Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus were talented in their own right, but he found some of their members to be odd. He found Quattro Cerberus to be particularly amusing, noting the similarities between them and some drunken Nords he had met at an inn about a year back. Mermaid Heel was a puzzling collection of women, but Sol assumed that being female took priority over magical ability. Raven Tail was quite a gloomy group, keeping to themselves and staring ominously at the Fairy Tail guild members.
Come to think of it, it's kind of odd strange seeing two teams from the same guild competing against one another. But I guess that comes with being Fairy Tail.
Sol walked over to the other contestants and prepared for Hidden. His presence wasn't lost on them, as some of the participants stepped away from him slightly, still fearing his demonic image.
"I'm ready to go. Let's get this party started."
With that, Mato threw his hands into the air, yelling, "Open the field!" With that, various buildings formed out of thin air around Sol. When they finished, he looked back down to notice that he was all alone on an empty street.
Where did they all go?
As he finished his thought, a large amount of people formed around Sol. After a second of confusion, he realized that the other people were fellow contestants. He bowed his head and smiled after noticing that some of the copies were of him.
Ah. So, we're hiding and seeking at the same time. Excellent.
Chapati Lola only confirmed his suspicions by explaining the rules. Once he was done, Sol ducked into an alley and sat in the shadows. A few minutes passed before he decided to act. Transforming into his light form, he shot into the sky and searched for targets. Spotting Beth, Eve, and Yeager, he partially reformed his body, creating a limb where each contestant was and using it to strike them. With three points, he was sitting comfortably at third place.
Don't want to do too much. Best to keep my cards close to my chest. I think that should be good for know.
Sol then reformed his limbs into light and remained hovering in the sky. About fifteen minutes later, he spotted Rufus. He merely observed as the memory wizard called out to the heavens. "Night of Shooting Stars!"
Noticing multiple bolts of lightning shooting out from his body, Sol reformed his right arm next to Rufus, preparing to strike. He swung and missed. Reappearing behind him, Rufus calmly chuckled as he taunted, "That was merely your memory of me."
"Oh yeah? Two can play at that game." And with that, Sol's whole body reformed behind Rufus, the arm in front of him reforming on Sol's body. Stunned, Rufus tried to evade his next attack, but was unsuccessful, being hit squarely in the face and falling to the ground.
"And with that, the game is over!" The town suddenly started to disappear, and Sol finally fell to the ground, landing on his feet with the elegance and silence of a cheetah. Looking up at the scoreboard, he saw that he had managed to keep his third place spot in the game, which also put him at third overall in the competition. Fairy Tail hadn't fared well, with both teams stuck in eighth and ninth place. Receiving a small but acceptable cheer from the crowd, Sol did a small bow and walked back to his viewing box.
Now we'll have to wait and see who I'm up against. Should be fun.
As he walked past, Sol overheard some of the other contestants talking about him.
Beth Vanderwood: "Did you see that? He just appeared out of thin air!"
Sting: "How'd you let that guy touch you, man?"
Rufus: "A simple miscalculation, but nothing I couldn't afford. We still secured first place, and I've committed the attack to memory."
Natsu: "That guy must be seriously strong if he can just appear out of nowhere and hit someone."
Elfman: "That's so not manly!"
Erza: "We've only been through one contest and it seems he's already proven himself to be a formidable opponent. We should be further prepared in case we have to fight him."
Walking through the tunnel and into the darkness, a devilish smile formed across Sol's face. He had shown the world just a taste of what he was capable of. They had no clue what they were getting themselves into.
Reaching his box, which felt rather empty, we sat down and pulled up another chair to rest his feet upon. Resting his right elbow on the ledge of the box, he looked toward the commentator's booth, ready to hear who he would be fighting first.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will now randomly draw a team to see who Sol will represent in today's battles!" Lola then looked down to Mato, who appeared to be holding a cube of some sort. Inside of the cube was a small lacrima, which Sol presumed would project an image through the glass top, displaying the guild he would fight for. Mato simply held the cube at arm's length and activated it. Almost instantly, the eight different guild marks of each team flashed through a hologram-like image no larger than the cube itself. The image then disappeared for a brief second, revealing the Fairy Tail emblem with a letter B in the middle of it.
"Well, it looks like Sol will be representing Fairy Tail Team B in today's battles. Stay tuned for more!"
Sol turned his head to look at the Fairy Tail mages. He saw mixed reactions from each of them. Gajeel frowned, Laxus ignored him, Juvia looked on nervously, Mystogan studied him intensely, and then there was her. Mirajane. She seemed to be completely frightened of him, her cheeks turning red. Not wanting to scare her further, Sol turned his gaze toward the arena, awaiting the first battle with interest.
Damn. Maybe I should try to be less intimidating.
Sol suddenly found himself worrying about what he would say to Mirajane when he got the chance. He needed to be on good terms with her if he would ask her to help him with Serana. All of this thought made him tired, and Sol fell asleep thinking of the white-haired mage from Fairy Tail.
He woke up with a start. The crowd's roar was tremendous. Looking down, Sol saw that Olga was on the field, walking away from a defeated Warcry. Wondering how many matches had passed, he looked up at the scoreboard and took a minute to calculate scores.
Hmm. I must be up next.
Standing up in the box, he waited anxiously to hear who he'd be fighting.
Lola didn't keep him waiting long. "And now, for our final match of the day, it's going to be Sol from Fairy Tail B…" The crowd let out a mild cheer, pleased with Sol's earlier performance. "…versus Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis!" The crowd went berserk.
Damn. It feels like an earthquake is coming on. Jura must be pretty popular here.
Leaping down from the box, Sol slammed into the ground with force. He wanted to remind everyone just how little they knew. Walking forward to meet Jura, who had entered from a tunnel on the far-end, Sol stopped a good distance away from the Wizard Saint and simply bowed in respect.
"I wish you good luck in our fight. I'm sure it will be an excellent one." Jura returned the bow with one of his own.
"I'm sure it will. I look forward to showing the people of Fiore my power." Sol smiled as the words slithered out of his mouth, the subtle venom not lost on Jura.
"Alright you two. You've got thirty minutes. Let the battle begin!"
Jura was the first to attack. "Iron Rock Fist!" A giant pillar erupted from the ground, a stone the shape of a fist at its head. Barreling towards Sol, he simply stood there, waiting. Smiling.
Fool.
Putting out one hand, he stopped the fist dead in its tracks. The crowd went silent. It was unbelievable, this mysterious man blocking a strike from a Wizard Saint with only one hand.
"My turn." Rearing back his right fist as his left held the rock pillar, Sol punched through the middle of the fist, shattering the whole pillar to pieces. Everyone was stunned.
"No way! Could your armor do that Erza?" Gray was in utter disbelief.
"It's unlikely. What's more unsettling is just how hard he can hit. Jura's Earth Magic is unbelievably strong, it would take quite a strong mage to make even a scratch. And he obliterated it." Erza's fist was clenched at her side, unable to comprehend the strength she had just witnessed.
"I can't seem to find anything on the armor. It's totally unique." Levy, as usual, had a book in hand. This one was on various armors found throughout Earthland.
"You're saying there's nothing like it at all? How's Jura supposed to beat him?" Romeo said, his voice faltering at the end.
"Don't count Jura out just yet, children. As a fellow Wizard Saint, I know just how powerful he is. I find it unlikely that he'll simply give up now." Makarov's voice relieved some of the tension, but even he looked a bit worried. "Just be glad that he's representing Fairy Tail this round."
Down on the battlefield, Jura shook off this momentary setback. "Impressive. Now let's see if your strength truly measures up. Supreme King Rock Crush!"
What appeared to be hundreds of boulders shot out of the ground and hurtled toward Sol. Again, he stood his ground. Nobody could tell from far away, but his smile grew.
How long until they learn?
The rocks piled up around Sol, almost swallowing him. Then, as if out of nowhere, Sol was standing on top of the rocks, standing with contempt.
"I grow bored of this fight, Wizard Saint." Sol walked slowly down the rubble, his hands behind his back in a commanding fashion. "In fact, I'm so bored, I'm leaving this fight right now. Take your points and know that, in the end, they are meaningless. I've won in spirit, that's good enough for me."
Jura stood in absolute shock. "You're just going to leave the fight? Why bother joining the competition?"
"Do you not yearn to prove yourself in combat as I do? Perhaps you aren't worthy of the title of Wizard Saint after all."
Stunned, Chapati Lola called the match for Jura, earning him ten points. Fairy Tail was barely able to contain themselves, enraged at the act. Only their fear of Sol's power kept them in the stands.
_Mirajane's POV_
As Sol walked away from the fight, his gaze turned towards Mirajane. Immediately terrified, she ran out of the viewing box, barely holding back tears.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"Mira, what's wrong?"
"Why is she crying?"
Mirajane ignored the voices of her guildmates, running through the halls, away from her fears.
I've gotta get away from him.