Journeys of the Dreamer: Nakama United

by UnitedOsprey1991

Family is Stronger Than Blood. What is Man? What is Magic? In Book 2 of the Journeys Series, the Guardians head to the Land of Fiore. But in the world of Magic, its the march of technology that threatens everything. The Guardians must enlist the help of the famous Fairy Tail guild. Can they find the guardians in this world? T. Read Riders of Aura first. Pairings inside.

21. Learning to Break Your Limits

OSPREY…SWOOSH
UO: Fly Eagles Fly!
Drew: Someone's in a good mood
UO: Damn right! The Eagles got to the Super Bowl, will probably be in a bad mood in the next chapter if they lose.
NSG: And I got Monster Hunter!
UO: So we are both in a good mood.
Friedrich: Well, guess who isn't going to be in a good mood after this chapter. Everyone on the mage team!
Lucy: *Waterfall Tears* Why?!
Friedrich: Because change hurts!
Grey: Yeah flamehead needs all the help he can get.
Natsu: What did you say stripper!? (Brawl starts)
UO: Why do you encourage them?
Erza: Natsu! Grey! Are you (gets cut off as she is Slammed into the wall)
Friedrich: Because its fun. And Erza needs another reality check.
UO: Tori can you do the disclaimer before the studio is destroyed…again?

Tori: UnitedOsprey1991 and NorthSouthGorem do not own Fairy Tail, Kamen Rider and Pokemon. They only own the plot, Friedrich and us respectively and make no money off it.

*Studio blows up*

"Speech"
Text
Thoughts
Inner to Outer
Belt/Dragonforce/Super mode
Spell/Technique/Finisher

Chapter 21: Learning to break your limits

Friedrich blinked his eyes open as the sun peeked through the curtains. Rolling over with a grumble, he glanced around through sleepy eyes. Where's this again…? Oh yeah, Drew and Gabby offered to put up with me until we found another place. He looked around the room, and found various photographs of animals, which he smiled at. Approaching the desk, he picked up a picture frame depicting Drew, Tori and Gabby at an amusement park. It looked like they were having a blast, especially with the plushies in the girls' hands. Something about how they were being held told him that they were a lot closer than what he saw yesterday.

"About time you woke up, it's about 9 in the morning," Drew told him, surprising him.

"Really? That early?" asked Friedrich, "Damn."

"Don't worry about it, we'll set up a proper room for ya eventually," he told the traveller approaching the desk. Seeing the picture, he smiled. "That's from Six Flags. They still around in the future?"

"Yeah, of course, put some really fast coasters up."

Drew chuckled as he gently took the photo. "They wanted to go, I obliged."

Friedrich noticed his eyes change from myrth to fondness. Putting two and two together, he asked a simple question. "You're not just friends with them. You're dating both of them."

Drew didn't even look up. "Officially, we're close friends. Unofficially, yeah; you know the reason why."

"Right…whole Western society against polyamory thing. Gotcha. What about Ash and the others?"

"Similar story, only Misty is the official girlfriend," he answered, putting the frame down. "While my father grew up with the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, he's never judged the LGBT community, something that passed on to me. He understands the relationship and supports it, but still feels a little off about it. As long as we're happy, he doesn't care, neither does Delia."

Friedrich smiled wryly. "The world could use more people like that, especially recently. Well, recently when I left, at least."

"Greaaat," Drew groaned. "I'm sure you have stories, but we want to start training as soon as possible. If you want to shower, its down the hall on the right."

Friedrich nodded, taking a whiff of himself and making a face, before heading towards the bathroom.

A half hour later, the traveller was cleaned up and dressed in what he wore yesterday. Approaching the kitchen, he saw his housemates interact. Gabby was cooking, while Tori helped her with the preparations. Drew was reading the paper, commenting on another incident that Fairy Tail was involved in. "Seriously, it's like they know nothing better than to trash it," he grumbled.

"Well, when you have Natsu and Grey destroying towns, can you blame them?" Gabby asked plating the eggs on his plate.

"Hopefully we can fix that." He replied giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Friedrich smiled at their actions and chuckled. Drew returned the smile. "Come on and sit. We have a long day ahead of us."

"Right. Thank you."

Eating a home cooked meal for the first time in what seemed like forever, Friedrich continued to plan out the training for all of the Riders, with plans being finalized for several.

"You got that look on your face. The constant ideas flowing through your head," Tori told him softly. "Drew gets that way a lot when he's concentrating. It never stops, does it?"

He smiled tightly. "Nah. Even if I wanted to, it wouldn't. See, that's another of my powers." He sat back, "Back on Earth Bet, the PRT- ah, that's the Parahuman Response Team -had a particular system for categorizing powers. Just kind of a shorthand for letting their guys remember how to approach a situation. One of those classifications was called a Tinker."

"Tinker? Like Tinkering?" Drew asked.

"Yeah. Tinkers, unlike most Capes, tended to have one thing in common. They would get ideas, and create technology from that, lightyears ahead of what was physically possible for human society. What differed between them was their specialization. One person focused on vehicles, another on making technology as small as possible, or medical techniques… my power allows me to gain new specializations, according to a number of 'charges' that I'm granted per day."

Gabby whistled. "Damn, that's impressive. Imagine if you somehow got one of these," she commented to Drew. "Your imagination running wild would probably fill an entire warehouse."

"All you need for Tinkering is time, inspiration and resources," said Friedrich, nodding, "Sadly, due to how I came to this world, all my specializations got reset, so I have to reinvest the charges. Not only that, but since the tech level here is so low…" he shrugged, sighing.

"Essentially you became a start-of-an-RPG Protagonist." Drew concluded. "Your powers reset and now you have to get it back."

"Mm…there's a bit more to it than that, but you're not wrong. Anyway, let's out to the training ground soon." Friedrich told them.

Half an Hour later

Once breakfast was finished, the group of four headed towards the training ground. Upon arrival, they saw everyone else had arrived in the blasted out clearing, doing their warm up stretches.

Drew cleared his throat getting their attention. "Good morning everyone, hope you guys are warmed up." He glanced at Friedrich. "Any order you want to do this in?"

"Yeah. I figured I start with the people who will have an easier time adapting to this training and work my way up." He glanced at the mages, Natsu apparently ready to start another fight. "Some people need it more than others.

Drew followed his eyes and nodded. "Right. So how about I start then. Ash!" He called to the Aura Adept. "You're in charge til Fried comes back." He waved his arms to the side. "Lead the way sensei."

Friedrich smirked and led him away from the group. Once a significant distance away, he turned to the fire wielder. "Alright, so I can tell you have a pretty good grasp on controlling your fire element. But one thing bothers me." He pointed to Drew's mouth. "Whenever you used fire, it always came from your hands. You should be able to produce it from any part of your body. We'll start with breathing it out through your mouth, the easiest way."

Drew looked down. "I..I wish I could. I know that's where a lot of my fire comes from. But I got a problem. One I'm sure you might be familiar with." He pounded his chest. "I'm asthmatic. My biggest concern when using my breath is I might scorch my lungs and make my normal breathing harder. Right now, I'm compensating by taking a deep breath before I launch my stronger attacks. You have another way around this, I'm all ears."

Friedrich pursed his lips at his response. "To begin with, you shouldn't have to fear your magic. It's in you, it's a part of you. Your body will adapt to it. Until then, you don't actually have to form it in your lungs and breathe it out. Carbon dioxide won't start a fire anyway. No, the act of breathing is just to help you focus on the flow of energy. Your body takes in air, uses it as fuel, and disposes of the waste, just like fire."

"So…what's the spark then?" Drew asked.

He shrugged. "Well, how do you usually ignite a flame?"

Drew held up his right hand and snapped his fingers, causing a flame to appear. "With my hands, I typically snap my fingers. When I need a more consistent barrage I snap them and then clench my fists. With my feet, I can transfer the heat energy almost instantly, same with my elbows. As for Leonid, he and I are in sync most of the time so when I place my hands on it, it can also ignite at my command."

Friedrich grunted. "Not bad, but that leaves a vulnerability in case your hands are full."

"Even though Lenoid is designed to be two handed sword, I'm strong enough at least with my right to wield it with one hand." Drew told him. He demonstrated by pulling the blade out of its sheath and taking a few swings. "So what's this about not using my lungs?"

He hummed, rubbing his chin. "Right, just trying to figure out how to put it…" He pondered for a moment. "Basically, you're focusing too much on where the fire would be coming from, when your primary concern should be where it's going and what it'll be burning. Just 'breathe' it, but have it only ignite in front of your mouth. Think of it like an actual flamethrower; a spark igniting a stream of gas."

Drew nodded and took a deep breath. "Alright. Think flamethrower…I'm the tank, my mouth the spout, the air the fuel. One…Two…Three!" He let out the breath and increased his energy output. The result was a large fan of flames that Friedrich had to roll out of the way of. Cutting off the energy, Drew watched the flames dissipate. "That…was awesome."

Friedrich grinned. "All it takes is thinking outside the box a little. You've all got so much power in you; a little imagination and so much more is open too. Keep practicing and come up with ways to change the flames in mid-air." He walked back toward the others. "Ash's next. Who do you want in charge?"

"Gabby preferably if Ash is next, then Misty."

"Right." Friedrich nodded and walked away. Drew took another deep breath and spat out some more flames. He grinned at how more natural it felt.

With Friedrich and Ash

This time they they stood near a small pond. "Alright Ash, I know your element is Lightning. You got anything else to bring to the table?"

Ash rubbed his chin. "Let's see…Pikachu funny enough is my only electric type. I've got flying types galore, the water starters except Piplup, the fire starters with the exception of Torchic, the grass starters." He thought further back. "Um…Oh! Gible who is a ground and dragon type. And of course, Lucario. Those are most of the ones I use regularly."

Friedrich hummed. "I see. So do you have a lot of experience in double battling? I remember playing the series up to when that was introduced."

"Is the series still popular?" Ash asked.

"Oh like you wouldn't believe it. They are up to Generation 6 I think, with 7 on the way, I assume."

The Aura Guardian whistled and Pikachu let out an amazed *Pika.* "Wow."

"Yeah. Now then, my idea for this is to combine your element with your Pokemon abilities and use them more freely."

"Really?" Ash asked. "I thought electricity needed a conductor?"

"Normally that would be true. But come on, surely during your many "fights" with Team Rocket, you noticed your attacks combining to blow up their balloon?" Friedrich asked knowingly.

Ash rubbed his head. "Now that you mention it…"

"Anyway, from a sheer power perspective you've got way more power than someone like May or Dawn. As Coordinators, they needed to combine their abilities to show off their Pokemon. In combat, that lends themselves to support boosts. That logic easily applies here; instead of making it flashy, we're gonna focus on make it strong. Let's start with your blade, Raikou. Got any moves that power it up?"

Ash took out the blade. "Normally, I use Iron Tail or Leaf Blade as a finisher. Something tells me I should be taking this further."

"Alright, definitely a good starting point. Now then, let's try…Thunderbolt and Flamethrower."

Ash nodded and concentrated on his blade. Instantly the blade sparkled with electricity, then ignited. The two elements danced around each other like two lovers. Ash took a few quick slashes, embers and sparks trailing in its wake.

"Wow. Now that's cool." Ash commented.

Friedrich nodded. "That it is. But that's only part of it. What happens when your disarmed, other than fall back on your other skills. Let's take that same move and remove the blade."

Ash nodded, sheathing Raikou and concentrating on the same moves. His body glowed blue as his electrical power flowed into his hands. Then the blue turned slightly purple similar to when he Overlayed with Drew. Clenching his fists leaned back and thrust the power forward and shouted, "FLAME BOLT!" A ball of flame appeared in his left, a bolt of lightning in his right, before merging together. The intensity of the fire, combined with wild nature of the electricity, made for a mesmerizing sight, the colors mixing together to make a bright purple flame, which crackled and flared randomly. The force of the blast knocked Ash to the ground with a yelp, unprepared for the amount of force he used.

"Hehe, ow." Ash moaned sitting up. Pikachu grumbled as the blast knocked him off his favorite spot.

"…Okay! That was something!" Friedrich replied amazed. "Anyway, the lesson here is that you should combine your attacks as best as you possibly can. Some elements, as you know, won't work well, but other combos can surprise you. Start with combing two attacks, then work your way up. Every set you can think of, and even some that might not seem like they work."

Ash nodded standing back up. "Thanks Friedrich."

"No problem. On to my next student." He grinned as Ash began thinking up other combinations for his attacks.

Next to set of stumps.

"Alright, based on your weapon, you're a long range fighter I'm guessing?" asked Friedrich.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah, for a while I was the only real long-range attacker we had. Anabel also fits the role but because she's focusing on defensive spells, I'm normally the only one for long range attacks." She split her bow into her short swords. "Doesn't mean I can't fight up close. So what do you have for me?"

"Alright then, I got three things for ya, all pretty simple in theory," Friedrich offered. "First thing, your element is Earth right, same as Natsu and Brock?" At her nod, he pointed at the ground. "Try channeling that power from the ground into your arrow, then fire at the ground."

"Okay," she replied, reforming her bow. Taking aim at the ground, she loosed the arrow, letting it sail through the air before it struck the ground, the impact forcing the ground up from the crater.

"Using your magic infused arrows, you can surprise many opponents. Most Earth magics are bulky tanks, favorable for close quarters, but your arrows give you an edge. Speaking of bulky, turn towards the trees a bit and pull out another arrow." She did so and pulled the string back. "Now focus your magic into your arrow and let it go, I want to see how much you can punch through."

The Knight nodded and took a deep breath, aiming at the tree in front of her. Pulling the string tight, she released her breath and loosed the arrow. The arrow flew true, striking the tree trunk in front of her. It pierced clean through the first tree before punching holes through the next five behind it. While she watched, stunned at how far it went, Friedrich gently clapped her shoulder. "You've got more power than you realize. Focus on using your arrows as a way to extend your reach." He turned around to head back to the others. "Oh and I would suggest looking at ways to improve your eyesight. There's bound to be something to enhance your vision. Also Archery magic, surely if there's Sword and Gun magic, there's got to be something for bow and arrows.

Gabby nodded and began practicing her shots again. The sound of a tree falling indicating that the forest was at her mercy.

At the pond where Ash was practicing

Considering that Misty and Tori shared the Water element, he decided to tackle both of them together.

"So, even though you two are the same element, you each embody different sides of it." He pointed to the Misty. "Your offensive abilities embody the sheer power of water, able to smash through buildings and cities without even trying and to erode anything over time." Then he pointed at Tori. "While you represent the life-giving, protective and purifying aspect. You guys have the power, but now we're gonna go further."

Misty hummed as she stretched her arms. Friedrich blinked as the grey tank top slip up a lot, revealing her flat belly, and had to bite down his reaction. Damn, all that swimming did her good. He grimaced and slapped his cheeks. Bad thoughts, she's taken!

Misty noticed his reaction and giggled. "Sorry, we normally do specialized training privately. I like to train in a little less than this." She gestured to the tank top and short shorts that showed off her long legs.

Tori snorted. "You pretty much dress in a bikini or a swimsuit 24/7."

The red head stuck her tongue out as Friedrich recovered from the mental images. "…Right. Anyway, Misty, other than Water types, any other types you regularly deal with?"

Misty hummed. "Mostly Water and Ice types. A couple of Psychic thanks to Starmie and…" She looked away. "Gyarados. A few of his moves are strong…but I feel like a monster when I use a move like Hyper Beam."

Friedrich hummed. "I remember those Gyarados were monsters, creating a massive cyclone that nearly killed you." He looked up into the sky. "But, having fought him…they pale in comparison to Leviathan."

"A giant shark?" Tori asked remembering one of the arcade games Drew liked.

"No," he said, eyes tightening as he stared off into the distance, "Leviathan was an Endbringer."

"That…does not sound good," Misty commented.

He nodded. "Yeah…you know 9/11?"

Tori flinched, but nodded.

"Earth Bet didn't have that; we got the Endbringers instead."

Tori sat down and held her head. "What created them?"

"Not sure, but the Entities like Scion brought them with them. No clue what they were gonna use them for."

"I guess whenever he showed up…destruction followed?" Misty asked.

"And then some. You know Japan? Land of the Rising sun? One of the more powerful economies in the world? Created all the cartoons and games we like?" At their nod, Friedrich dropped the bomb. "He showed up in Kyushu, sank it, killed 10 million evacuees and all of its parahumans. Overnight, Japan went from top of the food chain to being worse-off than Haiti!"

Tori gulped. She knew from news reports that Haiti was one of the countries in the Western Hemisphere that was doing very badly. If Japan was brought to its knees by one of these…Endbringers, then they were really bad news.

"Fortunately, after Gold Morning, I was able to capture and banish all of the Endbringers. But…these things are still bad news. They can make ANY area uninhabitable."

He immediately noticed the shiver in Misty's hands. He walked over and gently took them in his own. "You're not gonna be Leviathan, Misty. That's…not why I brought him up. He was a monster that was made only to destroy and ruin lives; you only want to use your powers to protect your fellow Riders and your family. You choose to use them that way, and you are who you choose to be." He smiled. "It's as simple as that."

Misty looked up and nodded, a smile appearing on her face; the shivers having settled down, Friedrich let go and stood up. "Now then, what we need to do is get you to use the water as extension of your whole body. In essence, you become your element."

Tori laughed. "Misty, you practically live in the water, now he wants you to become it? May as well be a mermaid at this rate."

At Friedrich's raised eyebrow, the redhead blushed prettily. "My nickname is the Siren or Mermaid. I'm one of the best swimmers in the state, and the fact that I wouldn't look out of place on a runway made the name stick," she said proudly.

"Never saw the true appeal of them, but to deny their beauty is sacrilege," he agreed, snorting. "No, the idea is that you can form the water around your body, essentially creating armor, and then use it as if it was your own body. Try wrapping it around your arm."

Misty nodded and held out her hand. Like a puppy overjoyed to see its master, the water came to her hands, only to continue up her arm and engulf it, wrapping around it in a thick, rippling bubble. Friedrich walked over and poked it. "Feel that?"

"Y-yeah," said Misty, wide-eyed with astonishment, "This is so cool."

"Yeah. Obviously, you can use it in and out of water. Try to form around different body parts before going for full body. Once you get the hang of it, I'd suggest trying to form different objects or forms in the water." He snapped his fingers in remembrance. "Oh yeah, and ask Juvia if she can teach you anything else, she is a Water Mage after all." The redhead nodded as the water swirled around her.

Satisfied with Misty's progress, Friedrich turned his attention to Tori. "Alright, now what to do with you, Miss Healer?"

"Um, I'd like to continue focusing on healing," she answered, "While Dawn has more offensive spells, I want to focus on support magics." She rubbed her arm nervously. "I made a vow to always be the healer, even if I could learn offensive spells. Most of my Rider changes are more for defense and support than offense."

"That's all well and good," said Friedrich, frowning, "But then what happens if you have to fight alone for some reason? Or the enemy targets you specifically, like I did with Dawn the other day? I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase, 'Jack of all trades but master of none?' There's actually more to it. 'Jack of all Trades, master of none, but still better than a master of one.'"

"When you put it like that…When I made this promise, it was just us three. Someone had to be the healer."

"But time moves on Tori," he reminded her gently. "None of you should be fit into a defined role." He closed his eyes in thought. "In the future, there are a set of games that become really popular. They have hundreds of different heroes and most aren't designed to be played in one role. What we need to find is the right role that you can fit into, outside of being a medic and shielder." He hummed in thought. "Water is great at illusions, at least if you use it the right way. Perhaps creating illusory clones or something related, like distorting someone's vision using vapor."

"Oh yeah. The seas can mess with people when someone is weak minded from hunger and dehydration," Tori muttered.

"Exactly. Now because you've been focusing on healing, you might have the control for this." He glanced at Misty. "Mind being the test dummy?"

"Of course not," she replied.

"Alright then. Seeing as the air has some moisture in it, I want you to focus on distorting it, make Misty see something that's not there."

Tori nodded and pulled out her staff. "I know I should be able to do this without Aquarius, but it's a good focus." Seeing Friedrich nod, she twirled the staff so that it lay parallel to the ground and concentrated. Misty watched as she concentrated, wondering what she could be doing. A few moments later she noticed that the healer's body was distorting, like waves dashing across her body. Blinking and rubbing her eyes, Misty watched as Tori's body distorted again, this time even beginning to dissolve away.

"Anything?" asked Friedrich, noticing Tori's body disappear into vapor.

"Y-yeah, her body was dissolving, breaking away. It was almost like my eyes were dilated, like I needed glasses.

Tori gasped as she let go of her magic. "I…I found a big issue. With the amount of power I had, it was exhausting to maintain for very long. The…the only reason I got Misty…was because I was putting it all into that."

Friedrich hummed. "Makes sense, you're manipulating some very fine molecules in order to bend light. Although, the fact you could still get Misty to see things is a great step. Focus on improving the amount of magic that you can control, then focus on your range, variety and casting speed. Again, Juvia is a great source for this type of magic."

The two Water mages nodded and began to practice while Friedrich headed off to his next student.

On a small hill top

Friedrich starred as Anabel finished her stretches. Her purple top and shorts left most of her slender body in display. Based on what Drew told him, Anabel was a dancer and a DJ in her spare time, and the amount of work put into her dancing really showed as she bent over backwards to stretch her back out.

"You comfortable stretching out like that?" he asked watching her stretch somewhat provocatively.

"Hm? Oh this? Yeah, it's no problem. Oh." She realized her top had ridden up revealing her sports bra. "Sorry." She stood up and straightened it out. "I hope that didn't affect you."

Friedrich had to turn away, rubbing his forehead. "No, no, it's fine. Are you girls always so…open?"

"Kind of," she said, shrugging, "The guys don't mind, obviously. Actually, the fact we've spent a lot of time together, kind of makes us desensitized to how skimpy we dress. Trust me, if you spent any time around May, you'll see what I mean."

Friedrich raised his eyebrows. "I've already seen Misty. She said she trains in less than what she wore then. May's worse?

Anabel shrugged. "Probably. May has no boundaries."

Friedrich sighed. "Right. Anyway, your training is gonna be all about using your mind. You know about Star Wars, right?"

The empath giggled. "Who doesn't? Max loves the expanded universe books. I personally like Return of the Jedi."

He grinned. "Good, that makes things a lot easier. So, the two most obvious things to take from that are moving stuff and the mind control. I noticed that you have some of the telekinesis stuff down already. You use Psychic types, don't you?

"Correct. I use my abilities primarily to expand the reach of my chakrams," she replied, "With my dancing, I can move them in sync,"

"Right, let's expand that a bit. Telekinetics can move a lot of things if they are powerful enough. Good example is Jean Grey from X-Men."

"I'm not gonna get possessed by a space firebird am I?" she asked, amused

Friedrich snorted. "I dunno. I wouldn't discount the possibility. Anyway, she could lift trees and cars with little effort. Here, we're starting small." He pointed at some rocks at their feet. "Project your aura and try to lift these rocks with it."

Anabel nodded and concentrated. As she concentrated, Friedrich noticed her eyes glowing purple. "Question, do all of your eyes glow when you're using Aura?"

"Sometimes, it's especially prevalent when we're using a lot of power. I'm just showing you that I'm doing it." As if to emphasis her statement, eyes dimmed to their normal color, while a transparent aura of the same color seeped out of her body. Extending tiny rudimentary limbs, the energy grasped at the rocks, lifting them up, and brought them to her hands. Twisting her wrist, she watched in curiosity as the pebbles moved around her hand without any external input. Feeling her Aura mix with the minute magic, she casually flung them up and started to juggle them with her right hand, not even paying attention. "Now what?"

"Now try to fling them around using that same power."

Without even thinking about it, Anabel let the rocks fall into her hand, more aura pooling in her palm to cushion them. She adjusted her grip to set one on her finger and flicked it towards the ground. The power behind the flick kicked up the dirt from the impact.

"Well you definitely have some practice with it. Fine-tune the control and slowly work your way up to heavier stuff. Now we get to the fun part. You know how the Mind Trick works, now let's see it in practice. Think of a simple command and project it towards someone. Question is who do you want to do it on?"

Anabel hummed as she scanned the field below; she could do it to Misty or any of her partners, but they were firm believers in pranking back. Gabby was also out, mainly because if she lost concentration now, someone was gonna get hurt. The same could be said for Drew as she spotted a large plume of flame coming from his direction. This left the mage Riders, and seeing Grey practicing his magic off to the side, she had a brilliant idea. She held up her hand, focusing on Grey. In her mind's eye, she could see his outline, her destination glowing blue. Focusing on his mind, she easily melded with it, making her feeling like she was in a cockpit. Running through her options, she settled on one command. Attack Natsu with an Ice Make Knuckle.

She watched with a frown as Grey kept practicing off to the side, seemingly unaffected by her intrusion. Then, her frown turned to a smile as he stopped and stood still for a moment, then summoned a magic circle in his hands. Slowly, he turned and fired off a barrage of blue fists at the dragon slayer, knocking him down and causing him to sputter madly, scrambling back up with a glare. Grey's look of confusion quickly turned to anger as Natsu threw a punch at him igniting another brawl.

The empath couldn't help it and busted out laughing. "Oh my god, that worked better than I hoped!"

Friedrich recovered from his own laughing fit. "Got that right. This ability is perfect for when you need stealth. Best way to practice it is meditation and, you know, exercising it. Also, I may have an idea to incorporate your music into all that as well. Just need to plan it out."

"Music as a weapon…" Anabel pondered. She twirled around, lifting up some more rocks with a sweep of her arm, having them orbit around her. "I always know music is a great motivator. But to actually influence a fight is something I'd love to explore."

"You have no idea how many abilities can do that. Trust me, when I have the time, you're gonna love what I make," Friedrich told her sincerely, smiling, before turning and walking away.

Near a group of trees

Friedrich stared at the brunette in front of him as she finished her warm ups, gulping. When Anabel had said that May dressed less than she did, he'd failed to really comprehend what she'd meant. Now though, he understood. The only thing the girl wore was a strapless, black sports bra and a pair of green short shorts, leaving everything else bare.

I knew that Fairy Tail had some busty girls, but damn, what did May do to get this figure!? He wondered, his thoughts straying into R rated territory.

May noticed him staring and giggled. "Enjoying the view?"

Friedrich stumbled over himself and quickly glanced. "Um…uhhhhh…"

"Relax, I don't mind if you look," she assured him. She straightened herself out, breasts jiggling in their confines. "If you couldn't tell, I have a bit of an exhibition streak. Unlike Grey though, I can keep my clothes on if you want."

Shaking his head, he slowly, haltingly replied, clearly flustered. "If it…makes you comfortable, I won't stop you. A-anyway, what I'm gonna show you is something that most Wood Mages should know how to do. First, though, I'll need to actually copy your power, so that I have a better idea of what we should do." He held out his hand.

The brunette furrowed her brow. "Didn't you already copy all of us when we fought? And why do you need that?"

"No," denied Friedrich, "I can only copy a power that I either see being used, or by touching the user. Since I never got close enough and you didn't use your Wood power, I didn't get the chance to replicate it. As for why…copying the power is only part of that particular ability." He rubbed at his left side. "When I copy someone's power, I also become able to understand how it works; the nuances in its functioning, how to apply it in different ways, where the power comes from, all that fun stuff. That's why I'm able to give you these sorts of instructions." Then he glanced at his hand and back at her. "…Well? Don't leave me hangin'."

May looked at the hand and hesitantly reached out to grab it. As she grabbed on, for a moment she thought she saw something dark flicker at the man's side, only for there to be nothing when she looked down. After a second or so, Friedrich let go and rubbed his chin. "Hm…very interesting…While it definitely has the quality of 'wood,' it isn't limited to just plantlife." He narrowed his eyebrows in intrigue. "I see…Interesting…you guys are more dynamic than I thought. Okay, I got it."

"Anything stand out?" May asked curiously.

"Yeah, you definitely have some power and potential with your Aura. What do you do with it specifically?"

May smiled. "We all try to specialize in using our Aura in different fields. My focus is inflicting various status conditions and illusions; in short, I specialize in debuffing."

"Right, but you don't use your Wood power more efficiently. You can expand how far you can use it, even seeing things that aren't there." He pointed at her feet. "You're essentially stepping on your element, and while you should be wearing shoes for this, I won't force you."

"Okay…" May answered confused. "How are we doing that?"

Friedrich grinned. "We're going truffle hunting."

"Like the sprout?"

"No that's Brussels."

"Like the country?"

Friedrich snorted, remembering a similar line. "No, just follow me. I know what we're doing." He motioned her to follow him deeper into the woods.

"Truffles are a mushroom, a delicacy enjoyed in many European dishes. One of the reasons they are considered valuable is because it's really hard to find them," He explained. "The only reliable ways to find them are trained dogs and pigs. Dogs are more likely to be distracted and pigs will eat them because of the pheromones." He reached a group of trees and looked around.

"So, how are we gonna find them?"

"We're not, you are," he revealed, surprising the girl, "Using your Aura, you're gonna find them. Here's a picture of what they look like." He held up a picture of a black and brown mushroom. "Now, relax and let your Aura seep into the ground."

May nodded and closed her eyes. Her Aura slowly trickled towards her feet, then spread out through the ground. She gasped in amazement as her Aura revealed what was underneath her feet. Roots from the grass, trees and flowers stretched out for what felt like miles, showing a vast network of life. She tilted her head upwards to watch the leaves and vines swaying in breeze, traces of magic mixing with her Aura.

"Wow. This is amazing! It's like a whole other world," she exclaimed excitedly.

Friedrich nodded. Then he sensed something of to the side. Glancing to his left, he noticed that the flowers and some of the ivery were slowly turning towards the brunette. "Hm…"

"Hm?" she echoed. Then she giggled. "Friedrich, that's not nice, tickling me."

"I'm not," he deadpanned, "Open your eyes already."

May opened her eyes in confusion. Looking where she felt the tickling, she squeaked as the grass seemed to be moving towards her.

"What…what's going on?" She asked in surprise.

Friedrich hummed. "My guess, the plants like your Aura and they want more of it, like sunlight. Take that as a good thing, since you can command them at will like this."

May smiled and held up her hand. A vine on a nearby tree reached out and gently wrapped around her arm. "They're…affectionate!" she giggled. She released her Aura and the plants slowly retreated from her grasp. She pouted as the vine retreated and fell limp. "That felt really good."

Friedrich scratched his head. "Hmm. Well that's different. Anyway, did you find any?"

"Any…? Oh, mushrooms, right. Um…" She closed her eyes again, her aura pulsing out more quickly this time. As her senses sank deep into the ground, she gasped as she suddenly became aware of a vast network of what seemed like roots, stretching out densely all through the earth but as fine as a spider's web. Concentrating on them, she realized that they belonged to countless numbers of different fungi, and that they were connected to every plant in the area, transferring nutrients all over the forest. "They're all…connected!" she exclaimed in awe.

"Yep," Friedrich told her. "Fungi and plants work together to share nutrients. If you spread your aura through them, you can also use them to transmit your senses. You're unique in that your element is actually alive. Most of the rest only look alive when they're being directly manipulated. He then noticed the flowers turning towards her again. "Being able to control plants like this is great for attack and defense. Grass Pokemon are similar; most of them, from Bulbasaur to Sunkern and even beyond that are part plant in someway. In the wild they live in similar colonies to survive. Grass, in the games is seen as one of the weaker types, but that's because of all the types that can destroy them. But plants haven't survived for millions of years without the tools to overcome obstacles. This is what I wanted to teach you. Your element is everywhere, what you do with it is your prerogative." The brunette nodded as the vine from before twisted around her arm. "You have fun with your new friends, I'm gonna go find someone else to train." He walked away, leaving May to enjoy her new ability.

With Dawn

Dawn waited patiently in her pink training clothes as Friedrich approached her. "So what we are we gonna do?" She asked.

"Well unlike May, I did happen to copy your powers during our fight. Gotta say, you have a lot of potential as an attacker, but you're a supporter like Tori. If anything, you and May should be swapped."

Dawn looked away bashfully. "I was the last one to join up, and I kind of fell into the role when they found my element was Light. Considering that up until that point, Tori was our only reliable healer, I actually liked being a medic."

"But it leaves you vulnerable when someone gets through the front line; your weapon isn't really made for strong attacks," Friedrich pointed out. Noticing her flinch, his eyes softened. "That attack that nearly crippled you, it still hurts, doesn't it."

"I get…phantom pains. It was one of Ash's rivals that took the offer of power; he was furious that we got that way," Dawn replied. "I feel like he took Glenn's place, I know for a fact the General was incinerated."

Friedrich hummed. "Well I was gonna do something else for you, but I believe what you need is something can enhance your defensive abilities. We can work on expanding your Light powers later." He rubbed his head. "Now, what should we do…"

The girl furrowed as she remembered something. "By the way, the other day you said that Sylveon looked just like a weapon from a series you watched. What was that about?"

"Ah…. Right, yeah! Myrtenaster, the Multi-Action Dust Rapier," he recited, "Used by one of the show's protagonists, Weiss Schnee. She didn't deal physical damage like her friends, but channeled her power through her blade, which was fitted with…" He trailed off, eyes widening. "There we go! Crystals!"

"Huh?"

"Your power is light, yeah?"

"Yeah…Where are you going with this."

He sighed. "What I'm saying is, you should load your rapier's chamber with various crystals, magic or otherwise, and channel your Light through them to see what comes out." Green light flashed from under his coat and suddenly he was holding an identical weapon, which he held up for emphasis. "Weiss used crystals as well, or rather a powdered version, but since your power is light, I figured we should go with a material that will act as a prism."

"What sort of material?" she asked.

"I dunno," he grunted, shrugging, "I just came up with the idea. I guess I'll come up with something if necessary. Meantime, we're gonna focus on precision. Concentrate on focusing your Light energy into your sword.

Dawn nodded and focused her power into Sylveon. Friedrich watched with a keen eye as pink energy travelled down her arm to the tip of her blade. "Now, thrust."

She reared back and stabbed forward, and a beam of pink light blasted from the tip of her rapier. The blast burst through three trees in front of them, leaving scorched holes in the bark.

"Whoa…:" she uttered, amazed.

"Lasers are cool, huh?" Friedrich chuckled. "Light is at its most powerful when it's focused, like with a magnifying glass. Perhaps using the different Auras from your Pokemon will create different effects. Anyway, I'll come up with some different things for you to use."

"Would jewelry work?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Um…Yeah, if we can find some that can be enhanced," he replied, shrugging.

"Well…" Dawn began shyly. "When we were travelling through Sinnoh, we found these temples that were supposed to be tests. When we passed them we got a new form and a whole lot of treasure, like gold, jewelry and books. I remember my stash had a lot of gems. Not as much as Misty's though, considering she's a Guardian and had way more than us Knights. Hers and Ash's could fill out the guild hall three times each."

Friedrich blinked, eyebrows raised. "…Okay then. You show me some of them, I can see what I can improve. For now focus on improving your focus and power. Also don't be afraid to mix up your Pokemon moves in them."

"Hold on," Dawn called out to him. "What's the deal with your weapon? How could you copy mine so quickly?"

He glanced down at the rapier that he still held, taken aback. "Hm? Oh, right. That's one of the powers that I copied way back in the day. Basically, it's more of a quantity of energy that can transform into any man-made weapon I want. Got it from a hero named Miss Militia." The rapier dissolved into green light and shrank down into a combat knife, which he then sheathed. "Really handy when it comes to my inventions." He glanced up at her. "Or training my comrades with their own weapons. Anyway, keep it up."

"Good luck!" Dawn called out, waving as he walked away.

Friedrich sighed. "Considering who's still to come…I'm gonna need it.

With Max and Brock

Considering that their issues were pretty similar, and the fact that he'd had time to process their powers, Friedrich decided to bring the two boys together.

"Alright, let's see here…Max is a Wind user, but you don't have a lot of Pokemon. And that's…why, exactly?"

Max nodded. "Yeah, I have Gallade. However, my belt is powered by the Ditto card, which lets me use any Pokemon we have. Drew, Tori and Gabby let me use their Pokemon to attack. So while I have only one Pokemon, I can still fight with my friends."

"Right…Ditto can transform into any Pokemon, that's a good base," Friedrich mumbled to himself. Then he turned to Brock. "You've got more variety, but your main element is Earth, weapon is a Poleaxe, you're more of a tank. However, at the moment, you take too much damage, with nowhere near enough defensive power to justify that. Max at least has the speed to avoid things, as expected of a Wind-user, but you don't. Fortunately, that's what I'm here for."

He stepped back. "Alright, so, Brock, we're gonna do something similar to Misty. I taught her to use her element as extension of herself. Unlike her, your ammo is all around you and about…eight times out of ten, is always going to be. Once she has the control, she can pull stuff from the air. You don't have to worry about that."

"So, I summon the rocks and they become part of my body?" Brock guessed.

"Exactly. Let's start with your arm. Focus on it and the earth beneath you," Friedrich commanded, "The earth is your power. It is a part of you, just like your arm. Think on this mindset and let the two parts come together."

"But it won't budge! It's the ground."

"Then you can't budge either. Make it join with you, not the other way around."

Brock looked unsure, but nodded and knelt down. He tapped the ground, feeling the vibrations from his knuckles underneath. The vibrations bounced off the rocks like radar, indicating the stronger ones in comparison to others. He reared back with a shout and slammed into the ground. Instead of hitting the dirt and hurting his hand, the ground swallowed his arm without resistance halfway up his elbow. Slowly pulling it out, he watched as the ground came up with him, the earth and rocks compacted around the arm like body armor in a cracked pattern.

"Wicked!" Max cheered, running up to him. He took one of his sais and poked it, getting metallic pings for his efforts.

"Using your Aura and Earth Power, you can create a defense and an offense. With some training, you can become the tank you're supposed to be," Friedrich told the gym leader. He turned to Max. "Now for you, I got something in mind. Follow me."

Curiously, the young boy followed Friedrich off to the side. "So, I got two things to show you. First is something that might seem pretty obvious: the air, the atmosphere, is all one big, fluid mass. Ever heard of aerodynamics?"

"Yeah, that's the physics behind flight, or at least efficiency of how things move. The more aerodynamic, the less energy it needs," Max replied.

"Correct. That's all part of fluid dynamics. When you move a particular 'part' of a fluid, such as water or air, the surrounding parts are likewise affected." The man slowly thrust out his hand, fingers splayed. "Let's say you created a rush of air, about as wide as your hand. While the fastest part would certainly be at that width, the air around that column would also be dragged along." The air swirled in his palm, growing steadily longer. "Likewise, if you charged it up like this, you'd have to pull the air from the surroundings to fuel it."

"Yeah, that looks like a miniature storm. You're creating low pressure to suck in the air."

"Not just that," he corrected. Turning, he thrust out his hand again, sending a swirling blast of air roaring out across the clearing. Even though he'd fired in the opposite direction, Max and Brock felt the wind tugging at their hair and clothes. "When you're pushing the air in one direction, it often means that you're pulling it from the other way as well. It's just like with water, pushing and pulling." Friedrich drew himself up, hands rising, and wind swept across the ground and surged up around him. "Not only that, but you can pull it from every other direction to focus it at one. Wind has less substance to it than water or earth, so you have to gather it and create higher pressure with every move," he explained, "Do that as smoothly as you can: gather air pressure and release it, quickly, until the process becomes a single move."

Max nodded and closed his eyes. "Push…and pull. Action, opposite reaction," he chanted. Friedrich watched as the younger boy took a deep breath and raised his arms. Snapping his eyes open, the WInd Rider slashed his arms forward. Friedrich's coat whipped back from the burst of wind coming from the boy, the traveller smiling as his lesson took hold. Max quickly went into a complex kata, before the boy spun around and thrust his hands forward. The force of the blast blew the grass backwards, even knocking some leaves loose.

"…Are you sure you're not a Guardian?" Friedrich asked him, "Because that was some serious power, there."

Max shrugged. "Simple physics, once you explained it to me. My math skills are really good, Gabby's about the same level. And no, I'm not a Guardian. I don't have the gem, and by the time I got my gear, Misty and Ash had theirs."

Friedrich snorted. "I know that. But when I fought you guys, I had no idea how much you were holding back. If some of the so-called weaker Riders put in some effort, you could easily take down some of the mid tier Capes back on Bet."

"Really?" Max asked surprised.

"Remember, they don't have the all around training you guys are trying for. Not only that, their powers couldn't exactly grow, just their ability to use it. Anyway, the other thing I want to show you is enhancing your weapons." He pulled out his knife for demonstration. "While Drew can ignite his sword, he needs to keep it constantly ignited, you don't. All you need is a conduit, like your Sais," he explained, summoning a gust of wind to surround the weapon. The light reflecting off the blade began to change, gleaming with a shade of green. "Fire burns, Earth crushes, Lightning pierces, Water saturates and Wind cuts. By infusing an edge with wind extending its reach, you can chip even the sturdiest of weapons." He pointed to Max's weapon. "Your weapon…"

"Cyclonic Wind or Emerald Avenger."

"Right, Avenger is designed to break weapons by going against the grain of the blade. All you're doing is adding ways to weaken them and even cause chip damage," he explained, "You have the smallest area of effect outside Dawn, so you need as many advantages as you can get. Experiment in expanding your reach and damage. And keep practicing in changing the wind."

With that, he walked away, the breeze picking up as Max kept training.

Where the Mages were

Friedrich had debated how to train the mages and in which order to train them, because he could spot their flaws a mile away. For a practicality sake however, he chose to start with Grey. He was the only one that had a Knight element that matched his magic and his flaws were somewhat simple to solve.

"Grey! You're up!" he called out, "Grab your weapon and follow me, you're gonna get a crash course on handling it."

The shirtless mage grunted and followed the man. Natsu snorted. "Yeah, you need all the help you can get, stripper!"

Friedrich gave the dragon slayer a sidelong look. "I wouldn't be talking, pinky. You need just as much!" He retorted.

He led Grey to another set of trees. "Alright, can I see your weapon? I saw you use it during our fight."

Grey raised an eyebrow before taking it off his waist and tossing it. Friedrich immediately caught it and scowled. "Easy! This is a loaded weapon!" He cast his eyes over the barrel. "This can easily hurt someone. And-!" he flinched and quickly clicked the safety on, "For fuck's sake, ALWAYS put the safety on when you're not using it!" He pulled the slide back to make sure there wasn't a bullet in it. "Geez, I thought Drew would've taught you this!"

"I did!" he heard Drew shout from nearby, "Especially when Erza got her gear!"

"Right…anyway. Now this weapon is similar to Erza's, but a bit more modernized. This one is a modified version for civilian use, the normal version used with some of the better equipped militaries.

"Civilian use?" Grey asked.

"Cops, people who wanna defend themselves and more private militias. Anyway, part of the lesson here is that you can use the gun to extend how far your magic can affect the battle. None of you have reliable sniping potential." He lifted Tundra to his shoulders and pulled the trigger. A pulse of energy fired from the barrel, striking the a set of rocks.

"I'm not a gun enthusiast like Drew or Max, but from a generalization, most of these have a select fire mechanism." He looked at the stock and found the lever to flip it to the three shot burst "Let's see here, looks like it has a single shot, three shot burst and full auto. Each option is useful in certain situations." He raised the gun and pulled the trigger, three shots coming quickly out. "Now you try."

Grey took the gun carefully and lifted it up. He aimed at the tree and pulled the trigger. He grunted at the kickback grasping his shoulder. The shot went wide and struck the bushes.

"Yeah, a lot of the bigger guns have kickback, helps with the reload. It takes practice, and a little bit of armor there also helps. Try it again and relax. Infuse your magic into each shot."

The Ice mage let out a sigh and reset his stance. Calling on his magic, he channelled it into the metal barrel before firing again. This time, instead of an electrical burst, a shard of ice left the muzzle at an extreme speed before spearing through the tree.

Friedrich nodded in appreciation. "Good. Very good. Now put more power behind it. You're taking your magic and combining it with technology that is centuries ahead of anything that this world can create. It'll take some getting used to. Now, this weapon has two more forms." He flipped another switch, extending the barrel and forming a metallic curved blue blade from the muzzle. The butt of the weapon dropped to the ground forming a long handle with a small spike ball for counterbalance. "This is called a Guandao, a long pole weapon similar to Brock's polexe; only difference is that this is less for smashing and more sweeping." He demonstrated twirling the weapon around. "That means you should infuse it with magic and create an Area of Effect around you. When something gets cold, it slows down," "To tell the truth, cold isn't a tangible thing. It's an absence of heat, which causes molecules to slow down, forming solids. However, if can learn to control that slow-down, you'll be able debuff your opponent is really important."

He flipped the switch again and the spear extended while the blade split into three."While a Guandao is a defensive weapon, tridents are more like three miniature spears. If the gun isn't working out, use this form as way to channel your magi. Or even use it as a throwing weapon."

"Right…can't believe this thing can do so much damage." Grey muttered looking it over.

"In the wrong hands, a weapon like this can get many people killed. But trained correctly, you have the capacity to do great good," Friedrich explained, "In the meantime, you'll need to be more creative with your ice. Spears and walls can only get you so far; if used strategically, ice can beat someone without even touching them, even shape the battlefield to your advantage. I'd speak with Freed about using Runes in your magic." Then he deadpanned. "And for god's sake, put some clothes on!"

The ice mage blinked, before glancing down and yelping as he was down to his underwear…again. The traveller sighed. "I think one project to work on is a thing that keeps clothes from disappearing…" He grumbled, heading towards the remaining mages.

With Natsu

Friedrich could already feel a headache coming. This was one of the people he had a lot of concerns about, Erza and Gajeel being the other two. During the previous two fights, he noticed Natsu had been striking the Earth with Urvan. While a good starting point, it was clear that control was at the top of the list for Natsu's lessons.

"Now Natsu, I get that your Fire Dragon Slayer magic is strong, but you're neglecting your Guardian abilities."

"Why? I've been fine before!" Natsu boasted. "Nothing can beat a dragon!"

This is gonna be much harder than I thought, Friedrich groaned internally, "First off, not true. Dragons are strong, but there's plenty of stories about knights slaying them. In the Pokemon world, Dragons are one of the toughest types there But as of the current Generation from when I left Earth, three types beat it: Other Dragons, Fairy-types and more importantly, Ice-types."

"WHAT!?" Natsu panicked, realizing the implication, "Stripper can beat me!?"

Friedrich cringed, cleaning his ears out. "Yeah, probably. Trained correctly, Ice-types can destroy dragons. Even besides that, there may be things that are immune to your fire and dragon magic. I know Drew can easily negate them without a second thought."

Natsu fell to his knees as a cloud of woe appeared overhead. Happy flew above his head and patted his partners spiky hair. "Don't feel bad, you can be like Luc- AHHHHHHH!" The cat was sent flying by a kick, Friedrich cursing the cat as he lowered his leg. The traveller looked at the Dragon Slayer. "That's why I'm here. To break your dependency on your magic and brute force."

"But…if it gets the job done, why stop?" Natsu grumbled.

"It may get the job done, but at the end of the day, you're paying for all the collateral damage you cause. And that goes for everyone else on your team! You can't keep doing that; if you pulled half the stunts I heard about on our homeworld, you'd be in jail for life and eternally broke! If you really want to get paid, you're gonna need precision to make better use of your brute force."

Natsu sighed in resignation. "Fine…I'll try to calm down."

"Good! Now then, being the Earth Guardian means your ammo is all around us. Using your Earth Power, kick the ground and bring a rock to your hand."

Natsu, looking confused, did so. Instantly, the ground responded to his commands startling him.

"Unlike Brock, you have the durability to take a hit. What you are learning is a whole new set of magic compared to the one you were taught." Friedrich explained, looking up into the sky, "Fire is an all-consuming element, it feasts on oxygen, debris, wood anything it can get its hands on. Wildfires can ruin lives, but Earth by contrast is very stubborn. Rather than freely moving like the wind, it stays still until someone moves it. You have to force your will on it."

"You mean like what I do with my axe?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, but what you do is too wild with too little results. You're wasting way too much energy," Friedrich explained. At Natsu's look of continued incomprehension, he sighed. "Look, you can make flames with barely any effort, right?" The boy nodded. In response, the man bit his lip and scratched his hair. "Alright, how do I put this? Dragon slayers…your element is basically another body-part, that you can move and summon and transform into at will. Being a Guardian is pretty similar, but not quite. You have to take the element that's already there and move it independently of yourself. Your own movements don't matter as much."

"What do you mean? Wouldn't Natsu moving mean he can move the rocks?" Happy asked.

"Yeah, but he's thinking too hard about it." Friedrich paused. "What I mean is, you don't need to even do stuff like using your axe to split the ground. If you want the ground to split, it'll split. Sure, some movement will help, but you don't need to be so direct about it." He pointed to ground. "Humor me and tear a chunk out, without actually touching the ground. You've seen Brock do it, right?"

Natsu frowned and held his hand out. "Tear out a chunk…without touching…the ground…" Friedrich curiously observed the dragon slayer's fist glowing brown. Happy stared wide-eyed as a two foot circle of earth lifted out of the ground and up to Natsu's eyes.

"Am…I doing this?" he asked in awe.

"'Course you are," confirmed Friedrich, smirking, "You can feel it, can't you? Your magic coursing through the rock. THe power that's comes from your Guardian heritage. With enough training, this power can crush anything in its path. Combined with your Dragon Slayer powers, you can beat anyone and protect your family."

Natsu glanced over to see his Lucy practicing with Erza some distance away. Clenching his fists, he nodded. "Teach me more!"

Friedrich saw his glance over at the gorgeous ladies and smirked. "I always knew Dragons were protective of their treasure. Who's the lucky lady?"

"Lucy…and Erza."

The answer actually threw the traveller off balance. "What…Your saying your dating both Lucy AND Erza?"

"They're so gross when they act all lovey dovey!" Happy chimed in.

Friedrich rubbed his head, grumbling. "Good grief… are there any hot girls that aren't claimed? Like Mira?" He stopped when he realized something and grimaced. "No, wait, she's gonna end up with you, if the other girls are any indication."

Natsu sputtered. "W…What?"

"Nothing," he grunted shortly, "Now then, work on your control and come up with creative ways to use your surroundings to turn the tide of battle. It a gradual process, do not rush it, otherwise you will hurt yourself or someone you care about."

Realizing the implications, Natsu nodded and raised his hand again, summoning more rocks to his hand. Friedrich walked away with a smirk. He'll be fun to watch.

With Gajeel

Unlike Natsu, Gajeel was going to be a lot harder to train properly. Part of the issue was that Lightning, his Knight element, clashed with his Iron magic, resulting in the inevitable self-electrocution. The other part was that the Iron Dragon mage was more inclined to do things on his own

"Alright metal head, do you know what your element is?" Friedrich asked.

Gajeel grunted. "Its Lightning, same as that prick Laxus. And I don't know about you, but I don't feel like getting zapped every time I fire from this!" He waved his gun for emphasis.

"OI! Stop waving that thing around!" Friedrich growled swiping the gun away. When the dragon slayer tried to get it back, he pulled it away. "Do you promise to wield this responsibly?"

"Why? It's just a gun, I've seen those two cowboys use it, it shouldn't be a problem."

"And they only use it because they've trained to use them safely and correctly!" Friedrich snapped. "These things have a safety for a reason! An accidental discharge can and will kill an innocent bystander! You do not wave it around like you're Jack fucking Sparrow!" He took a glance at the gun. "And this is a one shot gun. You fire it once, then you reload. Definitely gonna upgrade that. What do you call this?"

"Hm?" Gajeel asked confused.

"Your weapons. Everyone who is a Rider has a name to their weapon." Friedrich explained. "Giving your weapons a name means you share a personal connection to it."

The dragon slayer stared at his sword and then his gun. After a few moments, two names came to mind. "Redemption and Condemnation."

"Hm?"

He pointed to the gun. "Condemnation, a weapon that brings ruin to those who wrong us." He raised his sword. "Redemption. I've been trying redeem myself in the eyes of not only the Guardians, but also the guild."

"'Kay," deadpanned Friedrich, "That'll work for now, but come on, there's definitely a better name for those two. Anyway, we have a few things to learn. Top of the list is using lightning with your metal."

"Yeah, well, Iron ain't exactly protective against bolts. Makarov's boy nearly killed me!"

Friedrich squinted at him. "Were you expecting it to? Nevermind… Do you know how conductivity works?" At the slayer's raised eyebrow he sighed. "Alright, physics lesson. Conduction is the process of transferring energy through a surface. Some materials, like metal serve as great energy conductors, especially electrical. Thermal conduction is how cooking on a stove works, transferring energy from the flames through the water to cook the food. Electrical conduction works pretty much the same way, but more focused. What we need to do is create an alternating current."

"Alter-what?" Gajeel asked dumbly.

"Alternating Current." Friedrich repeated. "It's a way of transfering power across wires. There are two different types of currents used in power. Direct current only works when connected to a circuit. Remove the circuit, the power gets cut. We have these things called batteries that contain chemicals that produce a charge. Alternating currents can take multiple paths to get the power to its destination

"You mean like when that prick zapped me when I used my arm?"

Friedrich nodded. "Yes. We need to create a way to not only insulate you from the shock, but also a way to send currents out. Now, you can turn yourself to metal, right?"

"Yeah! One of the first things my Dragon, Metalicana, taught me!"

"Alright. When you generate lightning, where does it start?"

Gajeel pounded his chest. "Right where it's supposed to be, the heart of the dragon!"

"Heh," chuckled Friedrich. "That makes things a little easier. So why don't you try lining the inside of your veins with metal?"

"What are you talking about? You asking to turn my blood into iron?"

He shook his head. "There's already iron in your blood. Electricity always follows the path of least resistance, and there's no nerves in your veins. If the positive charge starts in your heart, if you turn that to iron, along with your circulatory system, the charge and current will stay along that path." He paused. "Well, at least as long as you give it a 'destination' with a low charge. But even then, you're controlling it, so it shouldn't be too much of a bother."

Gajeel glanced down at his fists and clenched, veins pulsating under his skin. Slowly, the visible blood vessels greyed, as iron markings etched themselves on his skin up and down his arms.

"Alright, now built a charge and fire off a spell at this rock, like you would your Iron Club spell."

The dragon slayer reared his arm back thrust it forward with a shout. "Iron Dragon's Iron Club!"

"What a redundant name…" sighed Friedrich. Nevertheless, he watched as the pole burst from his arm electrical energy surrounding it. The attack split the rock vertically, before the combined magic shattered it and the two behind it.

"Nice. Now keep that idea and find a way to direct that power into other things, such as your piercings and even your gun." Twirling Redemption, he held it so that the barrel was facing him. "You gonna take care of this gun?"

Gajeel grumbled and grabbed it, clicking the safety on. "Yeah, I will."

Friedrich hummed. "Right. This time, let the electricity flow into the weapon. Infuse it onto the bullet until it's good and charged. Remember at the moment this gun has one shot and needs to reloaded so you need to time these shots correctly."

The dragon slayer nodded and held Redemption to eye level, once more turning the safety off. Cocking the hammer, he charged up his magic, letting the electrical power flow as instructed. As he did so, a blue ball formed at the barrel's opening, crackling with energy. Once he felt enough was built up he pulled the trigger. The hammer snapped down, launching the bolt forward. The recoil nearly knocked him off his feet as the blast went up into the sky.

"And that's why gun safety is a must. If someone was on the other end of that, well they wouldn't have a face. Keep your gun level and practice your shots. Also keep working on directing your lightning in any direction. Ash has been training with Lightning for a long time, so ask him for some tips."

Gajeel grunted as Friedrich walked off with a sigh. This will take a lot of work.

With Mira

Friedrich had three more people to help and they all had their own issues. He had a bone to pick with Erza, and Lucy was way too reliant on her summons. But because Mira was, according to Drew, the newest Rider in their group and she'd just got her magic back, he decided to focus on the popular barmaid.

Walking up to her, he remembered why the white haired girl was one of the most popular Fairy Tail girls, here in Earthland and back home. Her warm smile, currently tinged with slight nervousness, beautiful eyes and a figure to die for, just drew everyone to her. Shaking his head, he smiled. "Hello Mira. Ready to learn some more skills?"

The maid nodded. "Yep. It's been a while since I used my magic, gonna take a while to get back to full strength."

Friedrich hummed in agreement. "That's a given. Of course, in that case, this makes it the perfect time to add stuff to your repertoire. May I see your weapon?"

Mira nodded and summoned it to her hand. She gently held it out to Friedrich, who took it with satisfaction. "Yeah, that's how you handle a gun. You're handling it as if it's loaded and your holding it in a way I can't be hurt." He held the sheathed weapon with reverence. "Blake…I hope you're watching this."

"Who?" Mira asked cutely.

Friedrich shook his head. "Blake Belladonna. Remember when I talked about several of your weapons being from a TV show? This was one of them. The Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe, Gambol Shroud." He held up the sheathe. "Did you know the sheathe was also a weapon?"

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. That's your first lesson, learning the multiple forms of your weapon and then using your magic to increase their power." At her flinch, Friedrich sighed. "Strike that: first, we'll need to get you to stop being afraid of yourself."

"I…lost my sister thanks to this, you can't expect me to do suddenly do well after recovering from the trauma, right?"

There was a long silence as he gazed at her, head tilted and frowning, an unreadable look in his eye. "…At any rate, you're not wrong," he acknowledged finally, "That sort of trauma doesn't go away. Believe me, I know. All the heroes and villains around me got their powers from such things. However, one of their greatest flaws is that they couldn't move past those traumas in order to improve their ordinary lives. I know, I tried. With you, however…" He had a look of realization. "Your sister's death wasn't the only trauma you suffered."

Mira looked away. "I…We weren't well liked where we grew up. I saved the town by Taking Over a monster and then they saw me as the monster. We were forced to leave…when we got to Fairy Tail, I was prepared to leave my siblings here."

"So…abandonment and family loss…Fairy Tail really has some messed up stories, don't they?"

"I'm sorry?" She asked.

"Most of you guys had a rough past and you found the guild and everything about it," Friedrich replied. "Anyway…if you'd left them there, that only would've been even harder on them." At her astonished look, he sighed. "Think about it. Not only did they lose their home, but then their own sister abandoned them? It would have devastated them." He looked up to the sky. "I've seen monsters, Mira. All you do is take on their appearance. This is the same advice I gave Misty, but I think it applies to you a lot more. You are who you choose to be. If you see yourself as a monster, then you're a monster and this is pointless. But regardless of how you see yourself, it's not what you are that determines whether you're a hero or a monster. It's what you do. So. What will you do?"

Mira looked at her delicate hands. Underneath her skin laid powerful magic, a power that had seen her family thrown out of their home. It was a power that had been unable to save her sister. But at the same time, she'd used it to defend her brother from Freed… At that time, she'd felt something guiding her, something that wasn't her magic that disappeared after the fight. He's right. I Tsuki made me a Rider, regardless of my past. For Elfman and…and for Lisanna, I have to move on. I have to let go of my fear…I have to…control my magic!

Friedrich saw her eyes narrow and her fists clench. He nodded in satisfaction. "Good." He held up Gambol Shroud in its sword form. "Now then, I'm sure you may have used it before, but this weapon has multiple features. First let's do the normal sword form." He held it up for the girl to take, which she did so hesitatingly. "First thing we're gonna do, is empower your blade with your Rider element. In this case, Darkness."

Mira bit her lip and held her sword up. Friedrich strolled around her, his mind fully in teaching mode. "Darkness is the absence of light. Everything casts a shadow, However, seeing darkness, feeling it, is hard. That's why it always waits for the right moment, then…" He snapped his fingers. "Death. Your power comes from the very shadows that people cast. What I'm going to teach you is how to utilize it, in your magic and in your weapons. First, channel the power into your blade and swing."

Mira nodded and focused on the blade. She watched as a blackish purple aura surround the weapon before swinging down. The resulting slash left a bizarrely transparent dark trail in the air. From the way she was panting, it was obvious that she was a complete novice at wielding a sword.

"You never really used a sword before, huh?" Friedrich asked.

Mira nodded, shrugging. "I've never needed to before. My magic and my Take Over forms were normally enough. Erza was more the swordmistress."

Friedrich hummed. "Despite that limitation, you still became one of the strongest mages in Fiore before your sister was killed. Going forward, that's not going to fly."

"I figured as much," she replied, "I saw you teaching everyone else new things; some of them looks so interesting."

He smiled, running a hand through his hair in satisfaction. "Well, I certainly thought so. Most them have been exposed to things that would make anyone in Fiore lose their minds. All I did was point them in the right direction, and get their imaginations take it from there. Some like Drew and Max were easy, others like Gajeel and Grey are hard. I tackled this in order of who can adapt the best, and worked my way down.

"So…" Mira began, "Who's left? Erza and Lucy?"

"Yeah, and they both have something in common."

"They do?"

"Well, yeah, at least tangentially. Erza and Lucy are summoning their weapons to their hands. Unlike them, you and your brother's Take Over magic is an extension of yourselves. Have you ever tried to partially transform like him? Say…Grow wings or turn your hands into claws or something?"

Mira shook her head. "No…I've seen Elfman do it with his arms and head, but I've never thought to. He always does it because he can't control it, so we thought it was a weaker thing…"

"Well, if the thing you're transforming into requires body-parts that you're not transforming to support the ones you use, then yeah, it would be," agreed Friedrich, nodding.

"…I…think I understood that?" mumbled the white-haired young woman, tilting her head cutely.

He snorted. "Right. Well, basically you're changing you're body's makeup into something completely different. That can mean anything from its skin composition to its muscular structure, magic-wielding mechanisms or even nervous system. If you only change part of it when it requires connections in the rest of the body that you don't have, then of course it's gonna be weaker. The trick is to follow those internal changes and figure out what you HAVE to change at minimum to get the most out of it."

"Um…what?" Mira asked tilting her head.

He slumped over disappointedly. "That was the simplest way to put it…Look, the idea is to focus the majority of your magic on transforming the body part you want, then enforcing its power by changing the muscles near or around that area. When you get better at this, you can expand it to other areas at once. When you do a full transformation after this training, you would waste less and therefore keep it up longer. Not only that, you should come to truly explore what each form does, so that you properly understand it and use its capabilities to their fullest. Of course, you'll wanna keep expanding the amount of forms you have at the same time…"

"Expanding what my forms can do. I only have three, Satan Soul is my most stable form. My other two can get lose control without my input."

"Then let's focus on Satan Soul at the moment. Where I come from, Satan is the master of darkness. I mean, that's one of his titles. There's plenty of interpretations. He doesn't…actually exist. And this was a stupid analogy." Mira giggled at his stumble. "Look, mastering the power of your Take Over's will take a lot of work. Mastering your weapons will be harder. Especially Gambol's gun form."

He pulled the sword back out and triggered a mechanism that caused the katana-like edge to fold back, revealing a relatively hefty pistol. "This particular gun is used by cops, law enforcement if you will. It's a semi auto pistol, which means you pull the trigger and the gun reloads itself." He took aim at a tree and pulled the trigger. A small burst left the gun and impacted the tree. "This is a smaller gun compared to Natsu, Erza's and Grey's. It's not gonna stop a lion, but a guy coming at you with a knife? Plenty of stopping power. Drew's got three similar weapons, have him teach you how to use them. Also, like the blade and sheath, empowering your shots with Darkness will open up opportunities to deal damage." He patted her gently on the shoulder. "You're stronger than you think you are; not just magically, but also emotionally. Don't let your past haunt you. As Monty once said, 'Keep Moving Forward.'"

He walked away, leaving the barmaid to her thoughts. She saw Natsu raising his fists and the Earth underneath him obeying his every command.

I can see why Lisanna liked him, Mira thought blissfully. She blinked. Wait, where did that come from? I thought Natsu was with Erza and Lucy. But…the others are sharing Drew and Ash. This is so confusing. She regained her focus and began practicing with Gambol shroud, taking peaks at Natsu every so often.

WIth Erza

The headache that was building from dealing with Gajeel was now full blown as Friedrich set himself to deal with the most stubborn of the Riders. "Okay…show me what you got. All of it. Go."

The red head nodded and her body glowed brightly. Friedrich's smile turned into an angry frown as instead of her more recognizable Heaven's Wheel or even the Black Wing Armor, she went straight to her Clear Heart gear.

"No, stop that," he sighed aggravatedly, "I said all of it, not none of it."

Erza scowled. "You wanted me to show you my best…this is it."

"No, that's just a straight powerup that lends you no defensive or speed advantages," he countered, "You HAVE armor. Hell, your default clothing is armor!"

"But this is where I'm at my strongest!"

I've been wanting to do this talk for a LOOOONG time. Friedrich took a deep breath. "No, your strongest trait is variety. You have god knows how many sets of armor and weapons, all with different abilities, that you can instantly swap at will and mix and match. Why. The fuck. Are you throwing all that away?"

"I did not get to be an S ranked mage with people questioning my methods!" She snapped summoning her sword.

"Well, you'd probably be even higher if they did," he deadpanned, "Because your methods suck, and if you don't take criticism, you won't improve. I heard the story of how Drew and Ash kicked your ass. That was the first time anyone called you out, and your lack of adaptability cost you and Laxus. Their teamwork probably didn't help either. So. Why are you, for lack of a better word, being so bone-dead stupid? Even Natsu has learned to adapt some of his new tricks!"

Erza winced at the jab. Natsu wasn't the brightest person in the guild, to be seen as worse than that stung. "I…I."

"If you can't adapt, you can't survive, that's the way evolution works. Sooner or later, someone will figure you out and make sure your power can't be brought to bear. Then what? Where's your fall back option? Drew has his blade and martial arts. Gabby can split her bow! The Aura Team have different Pokemon. You have all these armors already! Fucking use them!"

The redhead gritted her teeth. "…What do you…suggest?" she asked with difficulty.

"Well…what armors and weapons do you have? List them. All of 'em."

Erza rubbed her chin. "I have Heaven's Wheel, Black Wing, Giant Armor with a large Lance. I have an Adamantine Armor which is primarily a defensive gear. Um…my Purgatory Armor is gone. I have my Lightning Empress Armor, Sea Empress Armor, and some swords and spears to go with them."

Friedrich nodded, rolling his hand. "And? What do they do?" he asked pointedly, already knowing what they did. Thank you Fairy Tail Wiki.

The redhead flinched, remembering what Drew had said during their fight.

Flashback

"That's the difference between us. You have hundreds of weapons at your disposal, but you don't have one that you truly call your own. Leonid and I have been together for years. I trained with this for hours to the point my body can instinctively know how to strike or defend. Leonid may be a weapon, but it's my weapon and it will be my weapon until it can't serve me anymore!"

End Flashback

Friedrich noticed her downcast, shameful expression and sighed. "Your silence is telling. You have so many weapons and armors, you can't use them to their full potential because you only train them up to the point of efficiency. Not even enough to tell them apart and use their abilities. Start with that. Go over each of your weapons and figure out what make them different from each other." He then pointed to her newest weapons. "Get to know them first. Do you at least know their name?"

She looked at the spear and shield. "The spear is…Milo and the shield Akouo."

Friedrich grunted. "Good. At least you have that down. So let's start with the shield. Did you know you could toss it?" She shook her head, causing Friedrich to groan in frustration. "Okay. Now you know. Your element is wind, right?" At her nod, he smiled. "Alright then we can still do this. The original wielder had an innate ability to control how objects attract and repel each other. We can replicate that with Wind, though it'll be tough. Call it out and see how it's used on your weapons."

Following his orders, she concentrated on summoning her new magic. To her frustration, only a small gust of wind appeared in her palm.

"Not so easy is it?" Friedrich asked, "Unlike Natsu and Grey, you're learning brand new magic. Baby steps is the key. Form a small ball first."

"How do you throw a shield like this anyway? Wouldn't it fall after hitting something?"

"That's where your Wind comes in," Friedrich explained, "See Pyrrha, the girl who used that weapon, used her ability to control her weapons in mid flight." He took the shield and began to spin around building up momentum and magic, then turned and flung it away like a discus. Erza watched the shield bounce of several rocks with a loud clang before it returned to his hands. "Anabel can teach you some moves with this shield; her chakrams function the same way. But for now, I want you to call out your new magic and spin the shield in your hand, or on your finger.

She took the shield from him and looked at it inquisitively. "How do you throw something like this? It doesn't feel like something that fly normally."

"It doesn't normally, but it doesn't mean it's not possible," Friedrich corrected. "Back on Earth we have these books that are collected and portrayed as a story. Matter of fact, your story comes from one on these that came from another country in our world. In our country, we focus on heroes with large universes and all of that jazz. One of them is about a man named Captain America. He was a super soldier that was created during a version of our greatest conflict ever." Friedrich shuddered at the memory. "He eventually got frozen and woken up in modern America, before teaming up with several other heroes."

"What's this Captain have to do with me?" Erza asked

"Getting there," Friedrich grumbled. "Now Captain America stood out because of what he had. He didn't have technology, money, magic or even training as an assassin. He only had his strength, his tactics, and a near-indestructible shield. Just like this," tapping the shield for emphasis. "This shield was strong enough to deflect bullets and break metal doors. A shield can be more than a defense. Now, take the shield, apply your magic and watch it fly."

Erza gently took the shield and turned towards the rocks Friedrich threw at. She took a deep breath and reared back. With a roar she flung the shield as hard as she could. The shield sailed straight for a few feet before trailing off to the right and rolling onto the ground.

Friedrich hummed. "Definitely need to teach you how physics and math work. Cause that was pathetic."

"Sorry, I promise to do better." Erza blushed.

"Yeah, I would think so. Now then, let's take a look at Milo. Are you familiar with how this works."

Erza nodded. "I know Drew said its gun form is an…M1? Whatever it was, it was from something called World War II. I also know it has a spear form, of which I've used to great effect."

"Right. It actually has three forms. The third form is called a Xiphos, an ancient weapon used by the Greeks. It was a close range alternative to their spear." He took Milo and sent a gust of wind into causing it to glow green."This I can see you using a lot. I taught Max how to use his Wind magic to create an extra edge to the blade and invisibly increase its range. But what I want to show you is better seen in the spear form." He turned it into spear before summoning a copy of it. "This is called a Javelin. It's designed to be thrown. Now a shield might be hard to use your magic on. But a javelin is all about the force of the throw." He stepped back and hefted it over his shoulder. "All you need is a bit of strength, some dexterity and a little bit of speed." So saying, he turned and hurled it at the tree. The bronze weapon pierced tree in front of them. "A properly trained wielder can pierce a person's skull. You're gonna go a step further."

As Erza watched, there was a grinding as the spear dragged itself out of the bark and zoomed back into his hand, before he turned and offered it to her.

"When you throw it, move the air around it. Make it fly farther, faster, or change its direction, doesn't matter. You are the controller. Make the Wind listen to you!"

Erza gazed down at Akouo. She had thrown much larger weapons than this before, of course, such as when she'd pierced the veil of Moon Drip at Galuna island. Sure, her magic allowed her to levitate her swords, but she'd never tried anything like what Friedrich suggested. She took a deep breath, pulling back, then, wIth a loud cry, flung it, wind kicking up all around her. The spear raced through the air, whistling as it did so, grass bending from the shockwaves. The weapon pierced through a large oak, landing on the other side. Seconds later, the tree burst from the point of impact showering them with splinters. Raising her hand, she tried to call it back. The javelin shook, before becoming still, causing Erza to pout and Friedrich to chuckle.

"Your magic is powerful, but you seriously need to work on your precision. Focus on properly learning everything you've got first, then work your weapons into a more personalized fighting style. You need to break your one-dimensional offense if you hope to lead others to victory," Friedrich lectured, "Also, mix and match your armors. Don't be afraid to figure out what gives them their abilities, then stack them. Next time you meet a Dopant, you'd better crush them like the S-class mage you are."

Erza looked watched the man depart, biting her lip and furrowing her brow. He's right. If I can't adapt, I have no right to be an S-Class mage. She took a deep breath, her body glowing.

Friedrich smirked at the light show. Good. They all have a long way to go, but everyone here are gonna be monsters by the time I'm done with them.

With Lucy

Friedrich let out a sigh of relief. "Finally got around to you, Lucy. So much to teach, so much understand, so, so little time. Sorry about that. Been a long day."

"It's fine," the blonde assured him, waving him off. "I got to watch everyone else. They all looked so cool."

He chuckled. "Yeah, well, once you get the hang of using your power, it's all a matter of knowing how to work on it. I doubt I need to say it, but you need the most work done."

"Is it that obvious?" Lucy asked.

"You rely on your spirits WAY too much, considering that you can only summon them infrequently," he explained, "You have to arrange what days or time slots are okay to summon them on, right?" At her nod, Friedrich continued, "The Aura Team has a similar issue. They could only carry up to six Pokemon at a time, but they could swap out at any time. What your contracts do is limit your effectiveness. Obviously, we probably can't do it right now, but one thing you should work on is, when you have some free time to summon a Spirit, get to know how they fight, so that you can strategize on how to direct them. In the meantime, we're gonna focus on your weapon."

Lucy pulled out her whip and held it up to Friedrich. "This is Mutsuraboshi. According to Drew, it's another name for my armor, Pleiades

"The Seven sisters," Friedrich muttered. "Multiple cultures back home have a story related to those stars. Most revolve around being chased and transformed to protect them." He took a few practice whiffs with the whip getting a satisfying snap each time. "Anyway, what's your element? Metal?" At her nod, he continued. "Metal has a ton of applications, but they all have to be created. Unlike Gajeel, you don't have the means to create metal yet. However, that doesn't mean we can't use other forces to increase your power."

"Such as?" she asked curiously.

Saying nothing, he lifted up the metallic whip. Suddenly the sections separated and began to float around him. "Most metals are susceptible to electromagnetism, the ability to pull and push each other apart. With your power over metal, you can control this process. In one of the comics back home, there was a villain with such power over metals that they could pull the iron straight out of a person's bloodstream."

Lucy subconsciously grasped her neck. "That…that sounds horrible!"

"Yep. He was…he did a lot of horrible things, but the circumstances around him weren't that much better. Anyway, I doubt you'd want to do that, but the concept is the same. You're taking the metals and bending them to your will. Normally people would do stuff like manipulate magnetic fields, but you don't even need that."

"So how would I do that here?" Lucy asked, "Are the links or fibers in my whip independently powered? Or are they connected to something in the handle.

Friedrich grinned. "You know, you're the first to actually ask an intelligent question like that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Drew and his team were more curious about what they could do, not so much how they'd go about doing it. Ash and his team were talkative and more comfortable being students, so they didn't really ask too much. Your friends, with the exception of Mira, were combative and a bit more rigid in their stances on their magic." Friedrich pointed at her. "You're the first one to really ask about your abilities."

Lucy rubbed her head. "I've always been the curious type. With people like Natsu and Grey thinking brute force is always the answer, someone has to use their head. "

"…Well, you're not wrong," Friedrich conceded tossing her the whip. "Now then, let's see if we can't use that electromagnetism to good effect. Send your power into the whip and levitate the cables."

Lucy held her whip in front of her and concentrated. Friedrich watched as she glowed silver before focusing on the weapon. Note to self, train them in knocking down the glow. A small *click* caught his attention. He watched as the whip separated, connected by her own magic running through the small fibers. "Open your eyes Lucy."

The celestial mage blinked them open and gasped. Floating in front of her was her whip, her magic bringing the fibers to life. The tip turned to her and poked her cheek, making her giggle. "It's like a little dog. So cute…"

"Right…" Friedrich deadpanned, "Anyway, by breaking it up and reforming it, you can increase your range while creating new combos, allowing you to surprise your enemies. Try wrapping it around your arm."

Concentrating, the whip quickly slithered up her arm, around her neck and down her other arm. She shivered at the coldness. "The metal is pretty cold, but it feels like an extension of me wrapping around my body.

"Most of it is," Friedrich shrugged. "Some metals like copper are better at retaining than others. Now, the next thing I would like to work on but can't is your spirits. Your contracts, especially the ones with the Zodiac, limit your effectiveness. Imagine if the spirit you need is on an off day? You'll be defeated in less than a minute. You need to renegotiate them if you want to fight more effectively."

"But…" Lucy started. "I promised them! I can't back out like that!"

"And that's fine." Friedrich explained. "I know that Celestial Mages are big on promises. This isn't breaking them, per se; it's more like making a compromise. My suggestion is, with any spirits you have and will get in the future, you'll learn to use their magic with your own. You've got a lot of variety that you can exploit if your spirits are willing to train with you a bit more. At the very least, they should be willing to come to the table."

Lucy nodded as the whip curled off her and returned to its normal shape. Taking another look at her weapon, she had a though. "You think I could create more chains out of this?"

"Thinking outside the box again; if I were a school teacher I'd give you an A," he complimented her, grinning, "To answer your question, yeah, you probably could and should at least try it. With your weapon and your power over metal, you could be the most dangerous Guardian on our world."

"Really?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah! The other elements are too obvious, both in and out of the cities. But metal is all over the place. Train hard enough and you could overwhelm pretty much anyone, anywhere. But all of that's not gonna matter if you can't take a hit or get out of the way."

Lucy pouted. "Are you calling me soft?"

"No. Well, not in that way," said Friedrich, shrugging, "Like with Ash and most of his friends, you can't take much punishment before you're on your knees. They make up for that with speed and a lot defensive abilities. Your Metal power, once perfected, can make up the defense you need, but speed, I doubt your gonna keep up with the speed demons. So we're gonna go a different route." He held out a hand and the air swirled, compressing into a series of small, but visible orbs of wind. "Dodge these."

"What?"

Instead of answering, he chucked the orbs at her. They slammed into the blonde's stomach and chest and burst, knocking her on her butt. "Ow!" she whined "What the hell…?!"

He looked at her, smirking playfully while the wind-balls orbited his hand. "These things simulate the speed some spells can reach. If you can't dodge them, then you're gonna take a lot of unnecessary damage, and we don't want that."

Lucy winced. "If it's as fast as I think it is, then you're right."

"Of course. Even so, we're gonna start slow, otherwise you'll never be able to work your way up to that speed. Over time, these balls will get faster and hit harder until they become deadly. Maybe find some gear that can take a hit." Friedrich approached her and helped her up. "I don't want any of you to die, you know."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you."

Friedrich turned around. "Remember what I said about your spirits," He told her, "Your greatest strength is your connection with them. Work with them, expand your repertoire and never stop training."

"I will," she promised.

Sunset

Friedrich smiled as the Riders put their lessons to good use. Watching from where he leaned against a tree, he saw Ash and Drew talking briefly, before the swordsman launched what appeared to be a ground type attack, mixed with a water move, into the air. He overheard Drew commenting on something, to which Ash nodded. Over at the pond, Misty had enclosed herself in an orb of water. She looked right at home in it, as she didn't even struggle with breathing. Off to the side, Tori was practicing her water bending, and trying to create objects in the water. Next to her was Dawn and Max, both of whom were using the water as target practice with their lasers and airbending.

Looking at the woods, he could hear trees and branches creaking and rustling as they danced in rhythim, May's power nourishing them with energy, getting him to smile. Down the hill, he spotted Natsu and Brock working on their earth bending while Erza watched over them, Requipping into her Lightning Empress Armor herself and carrying her Heaven's Wheel swords. She was using the rocks the boys created as target practice for not only her own weapons but also Akuho and Milo."

"BANG*

Hearing the distinctive sound of gunfire, he glanced to the left and saw Gajeel lowering his gun as Drew walked over, making sure to have all the shooters have ear phones and safety glasses on. He saw where the shot went and helped adjust his aim. He then walked over to Mira and started to show her his weapon, before firing off a few shots of his own, Mira tried to copy him, but all but one missed the target down range and even then it wasn't a kill shot. A few words of encouragement later, she put more shots on target.

Drew smiled and walked down to Grey, several pulses firing from his gun. Friedrich could see most of the shots had landed short, mainly because the ice hadn't melted yet. He could see the Fire Guardian shook his head and asked for the gun. Setting himself correctly, he unleashed three bursts, with most of the shots finding their target. He told him something before patting his own shoulder where the gun should be, before heading down range. He stopped next to Gabby, who was launching arrows and piercing several targets. The brunette looked at him and turned away, something obviously bothering her, relating to her weapons. He muttered something before kissing her forehead.

Friedrich watched as Drew climbed the hill to meet him. "Hey." He acknowledged.

"Hey." Drew replied. "So what do you think?"

"About?"

He waved his arms around. "What we're doing. Are we going in the right direction?"

The man shrugged. "Sure. You're already producing results, and this is the first day. Of course, that just means that you'll have to work even harder, in order to get everything you can out of yourself."

Drew sighed. "Try telling the mages that. For people who grew up learning this sorta stuff, they don't have much imagination."

Friedrich grimaced. "Ugh. Hate that. Well, that's just one more thing to work on in the future."

Drew hummed as he watched his friends train. "There's a war coming. They need to be ready." He turned back to Friedrich. "This war won't be limited to here. What we did in the Pokemon world were border skirmishes. There is a massive army somewhere in the multiverse waiting to send their full might. There are people here that are willing to side with them. We need all the help we can get. Friedrich, I'm not asking you to fight for us, but I am asking you to help train us. Turn us into the warriors Tsuki expects us to be. She may have been around thousands of years ago, but the way war is fought is different from what she fight. You know what our world can bring. Imagine that hellfire brought here!"

Friedrich said nothing. In a way, Drew was right. One of things he'd mentioned was that they found technology that could be found in World War II, several centuries ahead of Fiore's tech level. They had airships of course, but they could easily taken down by jets of their age. But he also knew what that war brought. It was in constant danger of falling into the wrong hands; if something like those weapons were unleashed here…"

"Yeah, it would wipe out countless people. But you must be out of your mind if you think I'm leaving now. You need me more than you know. If a war is coming, then we need technology; and I can provide it. The entire guild needs to be trained, not just you guys." He stared out to the rest of the field. "But I have a feeling we're gonna need more."

Drew closed his eyes. "That's for another day. When the war we're going to fight finally breaks out. But it doesn't mean other battles are coming. Yuzan is a madwoman and she's got people in position to advance tech here to a level that's unsustainable. I rather that happen naturally.

"War has a funny way of advancing the tech trees. But I know we can beat it. Something brought me here. Something had me in Acalypha Town to save your friends. And now you got me for the long haul. Just don't be surprised if I shut myself up for long periods to make some sort of mad science bullshit."

Drew chuckled. "We're all a little mad on the inside. It's the way we show it that determines whether we're living in Looney Tunes or a horror film."

"'s not even madness," replied Friedrich, shrugging, "That's just people being people. I'm me and you are you. Insanity doesn't even come into it."

"Right," Drew sighed. "Can you whistle?"

Friedrich nodded and let out a shrill noise. Drew cleared his throat. "Alright! Pack it in! I can practically hear your stomachs from here! Take the lessons you learned today and keep practicing as much as you can when your not on missions!" He ordered.

He watched as everyone started up the hill. Some, like Max and Dawn were excitedly talking about their new training. Others, like Natsu. were boasting of how much stronger they were getting already. Lucy and Mira were both giggling at his boasts while talking to Misty and Ash about something they came up with.

Gabby and Tori walked up to Drew and Friedrich. "How do you think we did?" Gabby asked.

"For a first time, not bad. But you can't be lax. This is all the beginning to reach your abilities full potential. Who knows, you could all evolve further than this."

"I hope so." Tori said smiling. "Thank you for helping us."

"My pleasure, Tori." Friedrich said bowing with a flourish. "Come on, I'm starving."

With Erza leading the way, the Riders made their way back to the guild, their goals for future training on their minds. How will this new training affect their battles to come? Find out next time.

End of chapter

UO: BLAME NS! End of story! Monster Hunter apparently is too popular for this. T-T

NS: I believe the word you're looking for is 'good.'

UO: Who was it that got team killed by being sent into a dragon?

NS: Not me. I only lost a little HP. :) And I got to hit that motherfucking dragon with the Dragonator.

UO: Whatever. Point is, he's hunting, not writing. I need to set up traps to keep him here. No omakes this time, it's long enough as is and I want this out.

Preview: As Friedrich settles into the guild, a supplier gets flagged as a potential contributor to Yuzan's war effort. But it takes a turn when one Guardian goes down and the supplies found dredge up bad memories for both Friedrich and the Earth team. How will they take them down? Find out!

Next Time: A Global Menace! The Dark Side of War