"Through Fire and Flames"

Seige gradually made his way up the steps then the upper levels of Jose's throne room. He slung the rifle to his other shoulder as he pulled out the Lacrama. It sat in the palm of his hand, only ever so slightly smaller than before due to the decay that his magically created lacrama created. He focused the lacrama until it grew smaller and smaller, now the size of a small pebble. He could only keep it this small for an hour or so or the decay would tear the small gem apart. He pulled back the bolt on the rifle and inserted the pearl-sized gem into the chamber. He slid the bolt back into position until it locked firmly.

Bisca had told him to take good care of the weapon as it was her favorite so he kept his touches gentle.

He set his spot up and waited for the distraction crew to take care of their targets.


Natsu entered the cannon's concentration room. It was responsible for the absurd strength of the machine, but Natsu only knew he had to mess some shit up and a huge lacrama… that was the perfect target for him to test himself. He would have loved to test it on Gajeel or Totomaru, but he would make do.

"Now… let's see… what should I use?" He asked himself before considering, "I know!"

"FIRE DRAGON'S I-" His lit fist collided with his face

"I would think you would learn… but apparently not." The suave man in the corner stated in disappointment

"Just the guy I was looking for!" Natsu cheered

"You shouldn't be so happy considering how this went last time…" Totomaru sighed out

"Don't worry. I've got this all figured out. So, you wanna fight?"

"If you want to sprint into your death at record speed… then fine."

Natsu's fist lit up again, this time it had a lighter color to it. It rushed towards his face like Totomaru had expected as he was controlling it. A shockwave echoed throughout the chamber as the fist appeared to collide with Natsu's face for the second time in under a minute. Totomaru sighed out as his shoulders dropped in boredom. This kid was stupid.

"What's got you so down?" A devilish grin appeared unscathed behind the fist, revealing it had stopped a mere inch away from his face

Totomaru's eyes widened in shock. He'd never met someone wrangle control back from him. His eyes hardened, squaring towards the slayer. A frown formed across his smooth features.

"How did you do that?!" His voice grew violent

" 'nuff talking! Let's fight!" Natsu charged forward with a grin, fists alight

Totomaru drew his hand forward as the slayer jumped, trying to use the man's zeal against him. The fist stuttered a moment before Totomaru felt a blinding flash of pain across his cheek. He slid back a few feet, away from the grinning idiot. Totomaru regained his bearings and wiped the dribble of blood that left the left corner of his mouth.

He was pissed.

With a single fluid motion, he drew his katana, a metallic screech accompanying it. He grabbed it firmly with two hands, settling into a stance familiar to him. It was the Ono-ha Itto-ru Style. It was traditional his lineage, so he maintained it and perfected it. There were none that could compete with this blade.

Natsu got into a self-taught stance. One could compare it to mixed martial arts but would come to complete confusion at the positioning of his feet. He stood with his feet seemingly off balance, his body lulled about matching his footwork to maintain his balance. His arms were wide, opened into what looked to be makeshift claws that trailed behind his forward-leaning body. It resembled less the makings of human martial arts, but more like a beast.

Totomaru stood his ground either way as the flame-haired teen rushed him with apparent glee. He brought his sword up and brought it down to meet the slayer's skin right between his eyes. He was surprised when instead of splitting Natsu's skull, his sword produced a shower of sparks and slid to the side. His eyes widened as Natsu's forehead slammed into his nose, breaking it. Totomaru's head whipped back at the force behind the blow. Tears clotted his vision as he brought his head forward to maintain his balance. He got what he wanted in the form of a debilitating gut punch followed by a flame infused knee to the face that sent him flying.

He recovered fast enough to stop the Slayer's pursuit, but only managed to a slight gash on the slayer's right arm. It infuriated him. How had the boy gotten so strong in such a short amount of time? He quickly went through the previous fight and what he was facing now and realized.

"Your fighting style relies on your fire. Without it, you're completely open."

"You got it! Now you aren't hijacking it… I can fight like normal." He said with another infectious grin

"So, while I've been trying to kill you… you weren't even really fighting me, but yourself?"

"Yep! Thanks by the way. I wouldn't have thought about any of this stuff if you hadn't beaten me!" Natsu thanked

"You honestly confuse me." The Element 4 member sighed out

"Then let's get to what we both understand?" Natsu asked with a raised eyebrow

"Fine. You have earned at least that." Totomaru submitted with reluctance

On cue, both clashed in a burst of flames. Totomaru's sword locked with Natsu's forearm. Natsu brought his other arm and swung a fire clad hand at the Phantom Lord mage. The recipient dodged the blow, loosening his grip on his sword and slipping it under the Slayer's guard. He prepared to slam the handle of his weapon into the slayer, but before he could the flame-haired teen twisted his body out of the way with the application of flames. He slammed his elbow into the swordsman's nose, further blinding him. Natsu grabbed the Totomaru's hand and gathered the leverage to throw the mage over his shoulder. With a crash, he sent Totomaru into the stone flooring. Natsu's cheeks bulged.

"Fire Dragon's-"

Totomaru recovered and rolled to the side, losing his sword in the process.

"Roar!"

Totomaru regained his balance and slammed a fist into the slayer's jaw. Using the fact that it stunned the slayer to his advantage, he comboed several powerful strikes along Natsu's chest. He ended his combo with a single palm strike to his chin which sent the teen flying up. Totomaru grabbed his sword, preparing to finish it with one blow.

"Rainbow Fire Ultimate Technique: Seven Slash Finisher!" Totomaru chanted, glowing magical circle appearing between him and his target

He slashed seven times, each holding just in front of the circle. The S-class mage spun on the spot, away from his attack, coat swirling with the sudden action. His sword spun three times in his hand before he returned the blade to its sheath. His sword clinked into its sheath, signaling the seven flame blades to hurtle towards their target at impossible speeds.

The room shook with the massive blast. The loud rumbling blinded his hearing to the low slurping noise that permeated the air. When he turned around, he was shocked to see the blast shrinking. Where was this fire going?

"I forgot. He can eat fire." Totomaru said blankly, not able to come to terms with the significant drain the attack had dug into his reserves

Natsu emerged from the smoke with several cuts and scrapes from the impact of the spell but nothing more. Natsu rocketed down both hands lit ablaze. Too stunned to dodge, Totomaru barely brought up his guard to the slayer. He was surprised when Natsu stopped an inch out of reach for any type of melee combat. His eyes widened when he realized what the Slayer planned to do.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

The explosion went off a foot from his face. His guard ensured he maintained his footing but as the blast wore on him, he felt his magic reserves running dry. His coat burned away and his hair singed. He grit his teeth as he fought the blast. He gathered energy with the last of his reserves and sent it out in one flash, canceling out the rest of the attack.

His vision blurred and he stumbled, world turning sideways as he fell.

His last sight was a grinning Natsu giving him a loose salute with a cheerful grin before he fell unconscious.


The man known as Arbiter by his colleagues got up from his chair.

After the meeting, he was worn. Mentally at least. His body could no longer decay while under the protection of his lord. It bothered him to no end. He sighed in hopes to relieve some tension brought of this world.

"Arbiter." Alba, one of his closest servants called to him

"Ah, Alba! It is good to see that the meeting didn't take as much of a toll on you as it did me." He fumbled out, surprised by her suddenness

"I can not grow tired." She deadpanned

He smiled genuinely at her naivety.

"What was it you wanted to ask earlier… before the meeting?"

"I would like to venture to the afflicted world. Specifically to join you on your trip." She spoke calmly, but with conviction

He raised his blue brow, curious as to her request.

"You realize that once you see some things, you won't be able to spare yourself. That world changes you. You won't see the palace of your lord the same."

"I understand." She said firmly

He sighed out in confliction. Could he allow her to lose that ignorance? Even if it gave her such great offerings, it was at a cost."

"You are sure." he stated for confirmation

He received a nod.

"Okay then. I'm actually about to do some patrolling in Seven. It's a small peninsula with a moderate trading going on throughout." He said with a weak smile

"I see." She said with stern concentration, making him chuckle

"Don't worry, I can fill you in on the way to any towns. For now, though, let's get going?" He held out his hand which she grasped smoothly

A pale blue glow filled the now empty room. Instead of the traditional magical circle known to most, words spread around him. They floated, shining a brilliant gold. They were foreign to Alba. She had no reason to fear though. The arbiter had served faithfully for thousands of years. She was safe under his protection. Her eyes darted as the mass of letters narrowed to a select few. They lined in place, forming what appeared to be a sentence in this strange language.

This sentence darkened into a deep red as the rest of the golden words faded.

"Sorry it took so long, this spell is incredibly complex. Transporting this distance always takes a chunk out of my reserves."

She didn't speak but watched in awe as the world bled away into a purple abyss. Her vision, hearing, sense of touch and even her voice was taken from her. She felt weightless.

She felt different.

In an overwhelming blur, she gained her senses. Colors flashed across her vision. How could there be so many!? Her eyes darted around, taking a world completely new to her. She finally looked up, hoping to relieve herself of the overstimulation. A light met her eyes and she reflexively shut them. A sensation flared through her skull, mainly centering in her eyes. It was not pleasant, but she had no analog to compare it to. That much she knew.

"Alba, are you alright?"

"Arbiter, what is going on?" She asked hastily, worried

"That, my dear servant is the product of entropy. Change."

"Is that why it felt terrible when I looked up?"

"That was pain." He deadpanned

"Pain… What of the others?"

"Others?"

"The strange sensations, Touch when I am not touching, taste when I am not eating, these… smells."

"In our lord's land, all things stagnate. How does it feel now?"

Her rapid breathing settled as she hunched over, hand over her heart.

"Exhilarating. How could you deal with soo much information?"

"You learn to tune out what you don't care about." The arbiter said, gold light enveloping his hand

A small, mottled brown cloak appeared in his hand. It was raggedy and had several patches, but it was thick and warm against the cold northern air. He tossed it to her and she caught it with a bit of fumbling and slipped it on, knitting her brows in confusion.

"We don't want to stand out if we want to get a good look at everything." He said, noticing her expression

"What about you Arbiter?" She asked

"I can take care of that myself," he said, same gold light encompassing him and fitting him in a loose purple coat

His hair color had changed too. It went from it's deep blue to a solid black.

"You changed your hair?"

"Yes, It is merely a precaution in case I attract unwanted attention."

She stared at him for a moment before a small leaf darted in her vision. It fluttered about, blowing in the wind. She had never experienced the wind before. It felt pleasantly cool over what exposed skin she had left. She smiled at it.

"Alba? There's a town up ahead. We can head there and get some good drinks."

"A-alright!" She chased after him, pulling her hood over her head


Codex Update!

Larcrama Rifle: Lacrama rifles are rare variants of magical weapons. With complex mechanics, it can hurl a lacrama crystal up to 900 ft/s. While this is normally this is devastating in its own right, the nature of lacrama further increases the damage potential. When a lacrama weapon strikes, if not met by the protection of a strong mage, will shatter on impact. Once shattered, if enough energy is in the crystal it will destabilize returning to its original state. As you may imagine, a lacrama is solidified magic, so when it returns to its natural state, a large amount of magic in the nature of the stored magic is released on site. This causes a explosion proportional to the original size of the lacrama. A lacrama's structure can hold 1 MJ/g, so a 100g slug would be capable of destroying a large building. This factor is inaccurate though when looking at unstable Lacrama. Stable Lacrama can hold energy for well over a century, and as such to remain that stable it has to hold very little of its potential yield. Unstable lacrama vary on how much can be stored before detonation occurs, but it is a general consensus among scholars that the upper echelons of a standard lacrama would be ~12 MJ/g. This is further theorized to increase if a stabilizing factor is introduced such as magical energy that is specifically dedicated to maintaining the crystalline structure of lacrama, then the limits would be the capability of the mage. Though, with an average account for an S-Class' power, it could reach as high as 160 MJ/g through the lacrama would decay shortly after and detonate, killing all but the strongest mages.

Dragon Slayer Fighting Styles: Due to the unique and varied nature of Dragonslayer Magic, it becomes difficult to impossible to teach effective martial arts to them. Due to this fact, natural Dragonslayers (Gen 1 and 3) form their own martial arts. The style often varies heavily between each element and slayer alike. Here is a chronicle of Natural Dragonslayer fighting styles.

Natsu Dragneel: Honō no nagare- This style focuses on fast devastating strikes meant to overwhelm its opponent. This is combined with a loose footing, throwing most experienced martial artists off kilter. This style requires complex footwork and a mastery over Fire Dragonslayer Magic to correct and adjust balance while dodging. Once mastered though, it becomes near impossible to read an opponent as strikes can originate from almost any angle. This style can quickly run through stamina reserves when facing foes that are faster than the practicer.

Gajeel Redfox: Kudaketa tetsu no ken- This style is focused on quick linear strikes and an overwhelming defense. Using the power of Iron Dragon Scales, a user is able to limit the damage of blows and maintain his stamina to sufficient levels in a drawn-out fight. This style is near impossible to overcome without overwhelming force.

A/N:

Hey... about that two-day thing... I forgot yesterday. So yeah?

Sorry about that.

I will say this, I had a blast coming up with the slayer fighting styles. It was a challenge and gave me a legitimate reason to go over both Natsu and Gajeel's fights. I did end up making some modifications that honestly made sense. The trading blows thing isn't in this so well now because that is honestly something that should NEVER occur in a fight between experienced martial artists. So, to be able to have Natsu fight the way he does I had to really look at his fights against tougher opponents. Natsu Vs Zero is a good example. There are several points where he gets tripped in the fight and uses his apparent vulnerability to get off a roar. I kind of extrapolated that idea for him. Natsu is now easy to hit, but hard to nail with any really impactful blow.

Gajeel was much simpler and his style actually made sense in the anime. Have them wear themselves out on you and THEN whup their ass.

Well, that should be it. You guys'll be getting a chapter tomorrow to get me back on track too.

See Ya next time