After a very refreshing trip to some hot springs and a long rest, Wake and Crysti returned back to the mainland with the assistance of Horncrook and Gunny. Wake lay in discomfort the entire time as Crysti wasn't in the best of conditions to use her magic to ease the dragon slayer, only offering him rest on her lap. While Horncrook made sure the ship was in the best conditions to lead them back to the port town of Hargeon, Gunny explained to them their plan to work for Serpent's Iris guild. Crysti thought it would be a great idea while Wake was unable to give a proper response, just barely giving a thumbs up in his sickly state. Once the ship was perfectly set on its way to Hargeon, Horncrook wrote up a map of the town and pointed to where the only magic shop in town was. Crysti read it over and nodded to the captain, everyone going to do their own thing afterwards.
Once the ship finally reached Hargeon, Crysti dragged her new boyfriend off the boat and waved to the men as they made their way through town. The fresh scent of the ocean helped Wake recover from his motion sickness faster, enjoying the sights as he now had the luxury to actually see the port town rather than rush through the mission, the late morning sun shining down on them. "How much you wanna bet most of the restaurants around here primarily serve fish?"
Crysti rolled her eyes and smiles. "Doesn't sound like a fair bet. You could smell whatever a restaurant's cooking and know what it is." She wraps her arms around his and drags him to the closest restaurant. "How about next time, you just say you want something to eat rather than making some cheap excuse."
Wake blushes a bit as Crysti just grabbed onto his arm, hoping that he can get used to this quickly if he intends to keep her happy. "Geez, way to ruin my chance to be sly and take you on our first date."
Crysti stared at him in silence before slapping herself on the forehead. Of course that's what I was going for. I'm so used to trying to take the lead that I'm probably ruining any chance for him to attempt being romantic. "Sorry, I put too much thought into it. To say I'm sorry, my treat." Before Wake had any chance to argue with her, she dragged him into the restaurant and ordered a table for two.
Wake sat down in a booth across from Crysti, scratching his scalp as he tried to think of a way to take control of this situation. Damnit Wake, you finally had the guts to accept her as your girlfriend and she's already taking the reins. Think, what's the best way to regain control? As the waitress gave them their menus, he looked through it and got an idea worthy of him giving a toothy grin.
Crysti raised an eyebrow as she can faintly hear the sound of chuckling coming from behind Wake's menu. After scouting through the menu and memorizing the prices for everything, she set her menu down as she started to wait for the waitress to return.
Minutes later, the waitress came over to the two mages and smiled. "Have you decided on what you'd like?"
Both the mages looked at each other, reading each others' eyes to gain confirmation if the other had made their decision. After a few seconds of awkward staring, they nodded and turned their heads to the waitress. "Yes, I'd like the grilled salmon with a side of shrimp please, as well as a glass of tea for me." answered Crysti, turning to see what Wake might be ordering.
Wake grinned as he slammed the menu down dramatically and looked at the waitress intensely. "I think I'll take the seafood supreme buffet." As he said that, the entire restaurant turned their heads to look at the dragon slayer, as if he had said some forbidden word. As Wake looked around, seeing that everyone was staring at him, he could feel himself start to sweat as he figures he might have done something stupid. "Is something wrong with that?"
The waitress chuckled in amusement as she simply took the menus from the young couple. "Not at all, you probably didn't see the sign out front. The manager of this place recently posted a challenge for anyone who orders that. If you manage to eat the entire thing within an hour, not only will your name be posted on the wall for all to see, you'll also receive a prize from the manager himself. However, people have more often than not ended up vomiting before getting even halfway done."
Crysti watched as her boyfriend turned to her, likely wanting her opinion on the matter. She couldn't help but chuckle and smile. "I don't see any problem with it. After all, you have the biggest appetite of someone I've ever met, I'm sure if anyone can do it, you can."
Wake grumbled a bit, hoping she would help him out of this situation as he didn't want to become such a target of attention. All I wanted was to buy the most expensive thing on the menu to scare Crysti into letting me pay. He took a deep breath and looked at the waitress. "Alright, I'll take on this challenge, though I'll need a couple glasses of water."
After roughly ten minutes, the waitress returned with Crysti's dish, a freshly grilled salmon sauteed with butter with several shrimp surrounding it on the plate in a fancy flower-like pattern with a variety of sauces for her to dip her shrimp in. Wake was forced to wait a whole half hour before his order finally reached him. There was an assortment of different fishes on plates surrounding a a whole cooked octopus. Despite his original feelings on not wanting to do the challenge, his mouth began to literally water as he stared at such a vast amount of different fish, his enhanced sense of smell making it impossible to resist his primal urge to eat, grabbing one of the fish and biting down on it, bones and all.
Crysti could see from the expression on the people who couldn't resist watching her boyfriend take on the challenge that they were initially bothered by his barbaric eating habits. That changed within twenty minutes as they were more that he could still eat with zero hesitation as nearly all of fish had already been devoured entirely, barely any bits left of them. It's been a long time since I last saw him like this. Maybe I should improve on my cooking so I can make him this happy myself.
Another twenty minutes went by. Wake had completely finished the fish and had eaten 7 of the octopus' tentacles as well as drank 5 whole cups of water to wash it all down. He groaned as he couldn't manage to take another bite. He had another twenty minutes left to finish so he figured he'd be able to do it, he just needed a little time to concentrate before finishing. It became increasingly difficult as he could hear multiple screams coming from outside, entirely women's screams. He knew he didn't need to get involved as he could discern that they were screams of excitement, but his enhanced sense of hearing made it incredibly frustrating. "Crysti, could you please go see what's going on out there?"
Crysti nodded, the screams also bothering her as well. She got up from her booth and slipped the waitress the cost of their meals as she stepped outside to see what the commotion was. She noticed several women surrounding a singular man outside the restaurant. The man was rather tall and slim, sporting blue hair and a dark blue cape. She couldn't understand why so many women would faun over someone like him. Even as the man looked her way and gave what she surmised was supposed to be a charming smile, she didn't feel anything at all.
Seeing that the young lady before him wasn't reacting like the other women, he walked over to her. "Well aren't you a pretty little number. Quite a unique hairstyle, tell me, do you dye such lovely hair or do you naturally have such white strands of hair?" He reached out to brush his hand through Crysti's hair.
Crysti glared at this complete stranger and grabbed hold of his wrist. "Look, my boyfriend's trying to finish his meal and your obnoxious fans' screaming is making it hard to enjoy it. So just take them somewhere else."
The man pulled his arm back and stared at the young beauty before him. Boyfriend, huh? We'll see how long she clings that word. "I'm afraid I have no reason to leave. After all, I am the great salamander of the Fairy Tail guild."
Crysti crossed her arms as she was quickly losing her patience with this guy. "Is that supposed to impress me? Sure the Fairy Tail guild is pretty famous, but us serpents don't feel anything towards the fairies. Just take your fan girls and move elsewhere." As she turned around to go back into the restaurant, the destroyed book of Noroka fell out of her bag. Oh no! She knelt down to grab it and tried to put it back into her bag.
'Salamander' grinned as he watch the woman kneel down to go grab a book. This is my chance. You won't be able to break free from my charm and sleep magic with your back turned. He reached his arm out, aiming to place it on the back of Crysti's head. His arm was stopped as he felt a rather painful group grab his forearm. "Ow, hey! What do you think you're doing?!" He turned to see a very angry guy who looked around the girl's age.
"So pal, what do you think you were doing with my girlfriend, huh?" asked Wake, doubly pissed off that his meal was interrupted by this guy, but he was also trying to lay his hands on Crysti.
'Salamander' tugged his arm away from the angry mage, taking a notice to the unknown guild emblem on the side of the apparent boyfriend's neck. They're wizards? She's not worth it then, especially not with this many people around. "Sorry, your girlfriend dropped something and I thought I'd help her out."
"She's plenty capable of handling herself. Now, mind taking your little fan club out of here before I do something to scare them off?" Wake narrowed his eyes, surrounding his fists in water to show that he's serious.
The man claiming to be from Fairy Tail groaned as he turned around. "Alright, geez. You're not even worth the time and effort anyway." As he walked off, the excessive number of girls fawning over him began to follow him.
Wake sighed as he was a little disappointed. Man, I was actually hoping for a good fight. Might have helped clear some room in my stomach. Well, priorities first. He turned around and knelt down to Crysti, noticing her slip something into her bag but wasn't interested enough to ask about it. "Hey, you okay?"
Crysti turned her head to look at Wake and nodded, standing up while locking her bag shut. "Yeah, but what about you? Aren't you disqualified for stepping outside the restaurant?"
Wake smiled as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "Come on, you know I would go through the depths and back for you, girlfriend or not. Besides, it was just a stupid challenge, nothing I had too much interest in."
As Crysti couldn't help but blush from how smooth Wake had just been, they both heard a voice behind them. "Is that so? And here I thought you were doing a marvelous job." They both turned around to see a rather short man, likely four feet in height, dressed in a fancy business suit with a golden fishhook pinned on his chest. "I apologize for interrupting your romantic moment, but I was about to see if you were still interested in continuing the challenge you were so very close to completing.
Both the mages looked at each other in confusion. "But the rules on the sign clearly state-"
The man pulled out a pocket watch and opened it up. "You've still got fifteen minutes left. You could get finish it if you hurry up." He turned around and started walking inside the restaurant.
The mages once more looked at each other and smiled, figuring they weren't gonna pass up on this opportunity and ran back inside. As Wake made himself suffer in trying to finish the octopus, Crysti began chanting in support for him, the entire restaurant joining in. As the final minute started counting down, people were starting to place bets on him as he had only a portion of the head left. He took slow, very large bites, his face turning sickly the more he ate. Within the last ten seconds, he shoved the rest of it into his mouth, filled his mouth with his dragon water and started forcing it down as he chewed it. When an alarm went off, the manager himself stepped up and checked Wake's mouth. When he saw nothing inside, he raised his hands to indicate success, causing the whole restaurant to erupt in cheer.
The manager had the waitress who was serving the mages drag Wake to the back to give him something to ease his stomach. He then turned to Crysti. "I hate to do this to you, but as he is the winner, I must converse with him alone. I promise you he will return to you in one piece. Just meet him down at the train station, he'll be there."
Crysti wanted to argue but she only sighed, watching Wake get dragged into a back room. "Very well, I need to stop by the magic shop anyway." As she turned around and started making her way for the door, she came to a realization and started turning back around. "Wait, how did you know we would be going to the-" She stopped talking as she could see the manager was no longer in sight. Confused, she went out the door and started heading for the magic shop.
Wake chugged down a bucket of water that he was offered by the waitress as he waited for the manager to enter. Whatever medicine he was giving had completely settled his stomach despite the large quantities of food he ate. He watched the door into the room open as the manager stepped in. The short man motioned his hand for the waitress to leave, who closed the door behind her as she did. "Alright, is there a reason my girlfriend couldn't be present for this?"
The manager climbed atop a large box so he could sit evenly with Wake. "Well, she wasn't the one doing the challenge, was she? Besides, I know you were the primary reason why my hometown was saved last night."
Wake stared in confusion for a moment before piecing it together. "So you're from the island that was in trouble huh? Listen, we already got paid for the job and we got a free trip to the hot springs, I won't accept any more favors for the job, such as you allowing me to complete the challenge even after stepping outside."
The short yet stylish man simply laughed. "Dear me, you misunderstand. That wasn't a favor for helping my island, you were merely outside my restaurant, which classifies as still on my property. Besides, you went outside to help your girlfriend. What kind of man would I be to not reward such honorable acts?"
Wake narrowed his eyes as he got the feeling this man was making this up as he went, but didn't push it since it would likely just lead to more lying. "Alright, I guess I'll thank you for that then. So, for what particular reason was I dragged back here?"
The man slips the golden fishhook off his suit and holds it up. "It would be dangerous for people to know what the special prize is, wouldn't it?"
Wake looked completely confused, and honestly disappointed, that it looked like all he'd won was the manager's golden fishhook. "Look, it's a nice fishhook, but I prefer to fish with my bare hands. It's how I was taught after all."
"Oh no no, this isn't simply a fishhook. I simply had an illusion seal placed on it so nobody would try to take it from me." He closed his hand around the hook, opening it immediately after to reveal not the fishhook, but a small key made of carved stone. "It's an old artifact that I found in my old days as a simple fisherman. This magical relic can open any lock up to three times a day."
Wake wearily took the key from the manager and examined it. He could indeed sense some some magic in it, though it wasn't a very large amount, likely drained from age. "This is incredible. I'm not sure where I could make good use of this, but I'll gladly accept it." He stood up and gave a polite bow to the man before him.
"Now, before I send you to off to go catch a train with your girlfriend, the last thing I'll need from you is your name." He pulled out a pen and pocketbook from his back pocket. "After all, people should know who made it possible to complete my challenge."
"The name's Wake."
The manager wrote it down, finding it a little humorous considering what he heard of the boy's magic. "And your last name?"
Wake choked a bit as he was asked that. He'd never had an actual last name, nor has he ever needed a reason for one. He scratched the back of his head as he tried to quickly think one up on the spot. "Tsunari. Wake Tsunari."
"Geez, with a name like that, it's no wonder you're a water mage." said the manager as he finished writing the boy's name. "Alright, that's all I needed. You're free to leave."
Wake nodded as he stepped out of the room while stuffing the key into his pocket. On his way out of the restaurant, he could hear a mix of people cheering for him and people whispering about him. He could even hear someone utter the word 'leviathan' while describing the way he ate the the fish. He smiled as he actually liked the sound of that. He stepped out the front door and started heading for the train station, not knowing where the magic shop was to go meet Crysti.
Meanwhile, Crysti had just left the magic store with a wad of cash in hand. She'd made a nice deal with the small man for a price of 15,000 jewel for the celestial spirit key. She was roughly halfway to the train station when she accidentally bumped into someone. Both her and the person she bumped into fell onto the ground. "Ow. Sorry, are you okay?"
As she looked up to see who she bumped into, seeing a rather pretty blonde girl somewhere around her age. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."
As both girls realized they both blamed themselves for what happened, they both laughed a little as they helped each other back to their feet. Crysti looked down, seeing a pouch on the girl's hip, seeing what looks like a silver key in a small opening. "Oh, you're a wizard?"
The blonde girl nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I'm currently just travelling around since I'm not in a guild yet, though I do have a guild I so desperately wish I could be a part of." She almost looked like she wanted to go into a full blown conversation about the guild she wanted into. She brings herself into a calm demeanor and holds her hand out. "I'm Lucy, nice to meet you."
Crysti smiled and shook Lucy's hand. "I'm Crysti, a wizard like you. Though the difference between us is that I'm already part of a guild." She knelt down and rolled up her pant leg past her knee to reveal her guild mark. "Proud member of the Serpent's Iris guild."
Lucy tilted her head back as she tried to think if she's ever heard of that guild before. "Serpent's Iris? Weird, I've never heard about it in Sorcerer's Weekly."
"We're a very small guild and haven't exactly made ourselves that well known." said Crysti as she rolled her pant leg back down and stood back up. "Though I can say that we've got some really tough wizards that would be tough to beat in a fight. If you don't have any luck getting into that guild you want, I recommend you come check us out."
Lucy smiled and her eyes glimmered a little. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. By the way, do you know where I can find a magic shop around here?"
Crysti pulled out the map that Horncrook had made for her and handed it to Lucy. She waved goodbye to her new friend and started walking off to the train station, hoping she wasn't too late for the train or kept Wake waiting too long. I probably should have asked to have a look at those keys. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get another opportunity someday.
Around that same time, Wake was waiting around at the train station, sitting on a bench while shaking. Just being around the trains was bothering his stomach. He turned his head to notice that a there was a small blue cat trying to pull a boy with pink hair roughly his age off the train. He walked over to see what the issue was. "Hey, buddy. Is everything okay?"
The cat turned its head to look at the stranger. "Oh yeah, he's fine. He just gets motion sick real easy."
Wake nearly jumped in shock as he was taken aback that this cat was talking to him. That's certainly not something you see everyday. He returned his focus to the guy on the ground, smiling as he grabbed onto the guy's scarf to tug him off the train. "I know the feeling all too well."
As the guy was pulled of the train, he grabbed onto Wake's wrist and tugged it off the scarf. "Thanks pal, I thought I was a goner there." As he stretched his arms above his head, he took notice of Wake's guild mark on the side of his neck. "Oh hey, you're a wizard! What guild you from?"
Wake pressed his hand against his guild mark and smirked. "You can tell just from this huh? Yeah, I'm a wizard. Proud member of the Serpent's Iris guild at that. Name's Wake."
The cat put its paw to its chin as it tried to think if it ever heard of that guild. "Serpent's Iris. Serpent. Sea serpent. Sea. Fish. Hey Natsu, let's go get some yummy fish."
The person known as Natsu turned to look at his cat friend. "Sure thing Happy, though let's check out the lead we got first." He returned his gaze to Wake and grinned. "Next time we meet, let's have a little sparring match." He held out his fist.
Wake grinned as well as he bumped fists with this pink-haired stranger. "You got it. If you ever get impatient for that match, just search for the Serpent's Iris guild, it shouldn't be super difficult to find."
Natsu nodded as he and the cat named Happy started walking away, leaving Wake once again to sit alone in the train station. Luckily, that didn't last long as Crysti showed up just a few minutes after, dragging their stuff along. "Sorry, I didn't make you wait too long, did I?"
Wake shook his head, immediately lying to her so she wouldn't feel guilty. "Nah, I got her a couple minutes ago. They kept me at the restaurant for a while. I met someone rather interesting though."
Crysti raised an eyebrow as she lifted up her suitcase. "Did you now? I met someone interesting as well. We'll just have to talk about who we met. Well, after the train ride of course."
The train ride went about as anyone would expect, Wake's motion sickness started acting up so he ended up being put to sleep in Crysti's lap, the latter using her magic to ease his motion for the duration of the ride. Oddly enough, she found the task to be less exhausting than it had been the other day. Once the train ride was over, the walk back to the guild was very uneventful, mostly just talk between the two mages. As the approached the front door of the guild, Wake suddenly stopped.
Crysti noticed her guild mate's abrupt stop, turning around to face him. "Something the matter? I've never seen you hesitate to enter the guild hall. You usually push the doors open and shout 'I'm home!' with great enthusiasm."
Wake groaned as he scratched his hand through his slick hair. "On most occasions, yes. But those cases don't involve me putting an end to a situation that's been going on for years. How do you think Xander and Trevor are gonna respond when I tell them I finally asked you to be my girlfriend? They'll never let me hear the end of it."
Crysti couldn't believe that was what was bothering him. He killed a demon and had the guts to finally ask her out, yet how his friends will respond to the news is what bother him most? She couldn't stop herself from laughing at the situation. "Look, if it bothers you that much, we can tell them later. I'd say we both deserve a break."
Wake nodded as he took a deep breath. He then ran up to the giant doors and kicked them open. "I'm home!" Unlike last time, everyone came out of their rooms and came to greet the returning duo.
Trevor was covered in sweat, likely working out prior to his friends returning. Xander was carrying a book in his hands, the book being about underwater environments. Grelmor had been asleep and was moving slowly as he came out of his cabin to greet his students. "How did it go out there?"
Crysti looked at Wake for a moment before walking up to the master, pulling out the research notes that Grelmor had given her and returning them to the old man. "It went better than expected. Nobody died and I managed to make my first key. I sold it off though since something told me that someone else ought to have it."
Xander whistled as he set the book into his travel bag. "Our little maiden has finally grown up. If you can make one key, it's merely a matter of increasing your magic power to make more. At least that's what master Grelmor's research says."
Trevor pulls Wake aside, out of earshot of the others. "So, how was it being on a mission with just Crysti? I imagine it was utter hell, right?"
Wake was visibly steaming in his embarrassment. "Well, hell would be a good way to describe the mission, though not for the reason you're thinking."
As Trevor tried to gain details on Wake's adventure, Xander walked over to see what the other boys are up to while Grelmor guided Crysti into the cabin. Crysti looked up and noticed the large bones were nowhere to be found. "Where's that old family relic of yours?"
Grelmor collapsed into an old wooden chair and grumbled. "Underground, along with the arms. Listen, since your magic power has increased, evident that you managed to make a key, I need you to do me a favor. I'll return the favor when I can."
Crysti felt a little sweat forming on her forehead as she was beginning to get nervous. Never had master Grelmor asked her for a favor, even for something little. "W-What is it?"
Grelmor pulled up the side of his shirt, immediately causing Crysti to panic and look away. As she turned back, her eyes turned wide as she could see a frightening side. Grelmor's skinny side was exposed, though there was a large gaping hole in it as if it had deteriorated, filled in with his soul magic. "I need you to use your magic to fix me."
Whoo, done with this one. I actually had a little bit of fun with this one, I initially planned to make this just a short, boring filler chapter but I actually enjoyed making this one. Hope it was as fun a read as it was for me making it. I would have uploaded this yesterday, but the website was freaking out yesterday, so I added a little bit more details. Nothing more to report, feel free to leave a review, would highly appreciate it.
