Ch. 11

"Okay son. Let's see what that bird taught you." Natsu and his son stood in the middle of the Fairy Tail training arena, which was little more than a dirt and grass field with a few benches lined up along the edge. The few benches there were, however, were crowded with people, excited to see what kind of magic this wayward son had learned. The two mages preparing to fight were wearing work out shorts, and not else. Sweat mixed with dirt as their shuffling feet filled the air with it.

A few days had passed, and after Marcus had gotten settled in, he insisted that he start training again. For 6 years he had trained every day, and taking even a couple of days off made him feel uncomfortable.

""Fire dragon's roar!" Natsu said as he let loose one of his most powerful spells, starting the sparing bout. Marcus easily dodged the blast of fire, and moved to begin flanking his dad, using the smoke and dust cloud as cover. Natsu's senses and years of fighting prepared him for his sons move. The dragon slayer charged to his left, where he sensed Marcus. His flame covered fist shot out at lightning speed, but only connected with air. Marcus had already leaped into the air, anticipating his dads move. As he landed lightly on his feet, just behind the Salamander, he spun and sunk low, using his foot to knocking Natsu to the ground as his legs were swept from beneath him.

There were gasps coming from the on looking crowd.

"Natsu's down, from just one kick!"

"So fast."

"He didn't even use magic."

"So I guess that bird brain training wasn't completely worthless. Let's see if your flames are as powerful as your kicks." Marcus helped his father off the ground, and the two faced off again. Natsu shot a fireball right at Marcus. The blue eyed boy calmly watched as it came toward him. When it was less than three feet away from his face, Marcus held up a hand, intercepting the attack. Immediately, he was engulfed in flames. The fire ball Natsu shot exploded with immense power, burning the arm hair off any of the spectators who were sitting two close.

"Shit! I over did it! Marcus! Someone help! Get Juvia!" As Natsu and the other mages sprinted towards the fiery inferno that had surrounded the boy, they were stopped in their tracks when the flames began to recede at an unnatural pace. As more and more flames disappeared, those who had previously been rushing towards Marcus were greeted with the sight of the young man, sucking in the flames of his father like they were food.

"You can eat fire?" Natsu cried incredibously.

After Marcus had finished off the rest of the flames, and showing to everyone that he was perfectly fine, he responded to his dad, "Well, when I told my teacher about how you ate fire, we didn't know if it would work for me, not being a dragon slayer and all. After talking about it, we decided to try it. Not only do the flames give me more power, but I am healed and given more physical strength. You had your shot. Now its mine. If you think you can take it," Marcus replied to his father with a cocky attitude.

"Im all fired up now! Lets go Marcus! Everyone else, back away. Get behind him so you don't get burned.

Marcus centered himself, gathering his power. His body then became engulfed in golden flames. He then channeled his power into his core, preparing the attack.

"Fire Phoenix Shriek!" and with that, he opened his mouth as a rush of flames left his mouth, accompanied by a sound like a hawk, only deeper and much, much louder. As the golden flames rushed towards Natsu, they grew larger and larger. Power behind them kept building and building, more powerful than any attack Natsu had launched at Marcus so far. The dragon slayer didn't even have time to defend himself, and something told him that the flames his son had just launched would not be edible, the same was the flames of a god weren't. They were just too ancient and too powerful.

Natsu could only dive to the ground as the flames roared above him. His back felt hot, almost painfully so, despite his immunity to normal fire. When the flames subsided, Natsu pulled himself up off the ground, and looked behind him. A path about 20 feet wide and very, very long had been cleared from the thick forest of trees. Natsu and the rest of the wizards watching were dumb struck.

"Um, sorry. I guess I went a bit over board." It was Marcus who broke the stunned silence. "Don't worry though. The trees will grow back faster, and be stronger than before, reborn from the ashes." He scratched his neck sheepishly and chuckled a bit. Natsu then rushed over to him and lifted his son in a strong bear hug.

"He did it! Marcus has found his path. He is officially a wizard! My son, the Phoenix slayer!" Natsu and the others lifted Marcus into the air, carrying him around on their shoulders, cheering for the boy. One little girl, much too short to help carry Marcus around, looked towards the scar that had been burned into the forest. Already, saplings were popping out of the ground.