.

CHAPTER 25
TAMING THE DRAGON

The past couple of days had been fairly uneventful. It didn't help the weather hadn't been that great either. While Magnolia never really got that cold, even during the winters, it was still noticeably less pleasant to spend time outside, now that summer was over. I had been using my free time working on improving my magic abilities, but mostly I was just hanging around in the guild hall, usually at a table, alone. I liked to observe the other guild members doing their things. I hadn't felt like doing a whole lot else lately… maybe I should go do something today.

I noticed Gajeel standing at the request board, looking like he was taking his time choosing what job to take. That wasn't something I saw very often. He was often pretty decisive when it came to picking up jobs.

"Yo, Gajeel. What's up?" I asked as I approached him. It was nice to have a chance talk to him again; it had been a while since our last time. He was often away on solo jobs, or looking like he was asleep while standing in a corner of the guild hall, so I didn't get the chance to talk to him that often. Not to mention, he simply wasn't exactly the most sociable guy.

"Urgh, nothing good's on the board these days." Gajeel grumbled. "Now that Salamander's back, he's been picking all the good jobs from under my nose."

"Hey, what do you think about forming a team?" I casually asked in an attempt to take his mind off the lousy jobs that were available. Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to get back on this topic with him.

"We need three, you stupid. Don't you remember?" Gajeel said irritatedly.

"Wendy will be our third." I said. I had been thinking about it for the past couple of days now, and I'd come to the conclusion she would be our best option as third member of the team.

"Pfft, the little girl? Didn't I tell you I don't want wimps on the team?" Gajeel responded, clearly unimpressed with my idea, and returned his focus to the request board. I could somewhat understand him, though. I still had no idea what Wendy's abilities were, but if she had been part of the main operation of taking out the Oración Seis, surely she couldn't be weak? Besides, her friendly personality could potentially soften up Gajeel a little, and maybe help him cheer up a little.

A moment later, I returned to the request board. I had brought Wendy with me, but hadn't explained to her yet what for. Luckily, Gajeel hadn't left, and it looked like he regretted having not decided on a job sooner when he saw me bring Wendy to him.

"Look, I'm not interested. I'm outta here." Gajeel stated bluntly and was about to take his leave.

"You're not going anywhere." I said as I stepped right in front of him, and looked him in the eyes. He looked right back at me; I felt intimidated by the intense gaze of his blood red eyes, but I would not allow him to go.

"Move, or I'll crush you." Gajeel was about to snap.

"Don't think I'll let you judge her before even giving her a chance to prove herself!"

Gajeel didn't bother with a response. In an instant, he rammed me in the gut with his arm turned into a metal club. I felt crushed by the impact of his hit… I couldn't breathe and gasped for air.

"I'll consider it if she can beat me in combat." Gajeel said as he walked away.

"Roth!" Wendy shouted, and came up to me. I was lying on the floor, feeling as if a hole had been punched through my stomach. I hadn't expected him to hit me like that.

The pain in my body quickly faded away as Wendy used her magic to heal me; I had never experienced something like it before. After only a minute or two of her healing, the pain from Gajeel's punch was completely gone. So, that's the kind of magic she was able to use. I was amazed at how effective it was.

"I… I don't really understand what just happened between Mister Gajeel and you, Roth…" Wendy spoke softly. "But I know it had something to do with me… I'm sorry…" She was on the verge of crying.

"It's not your fault, okay?" I said, and then told her about my idea of forming a team with her and Gajeel. "… I'm sorry for getting you involved like this. If I'd known Gajeel would've been so difficult about it, I would've prepared myself better for dealing with him."

"I'd love to join your team… but I could never…"

"Don't worry. I won't let you fight him on your own. Although I highly doubt I would be able to defeat him on my own; I'm going to need your help."

"I–I'm not much of a fighter, but I can use all kinds of support magic." Wendy said without showing much confidence.

"That'll be just fine, Wendy." I reassured her. "I have faith in your abilities as a Fairy Tail wizard." I continued, and gently placed my hand on her head. She looked up with a smile.

Now all we had to do was beat Gajeel in a battle to win his respect. Knowing him, he would agree with a fight against the two of us. Fighting tough battles was what he lived for, so a tough fight was what we needed to give him. However, that was easier said than done. While I had learned Wendy was able to use healing magic, it was too slow to be of use in the middle of combat, and I had no idea what she meant by 'all kinds of support magic.' That implied she knew more than just healing.

As for myself, I hadn't been sitting still since the last time I fought alongside Gajeel. I might be able to take him by surprise if he continued to underestimate my abilities. It surely wasn't a tactic I was hoping to rely on, but considering how strong Gajeel was, I would have to take advantage of everything I could if I wanted to have a chance at winning this.

The next morning… Apparently, the rumour of a fight between me and Gajeel had been spreading, and people looked with excitement as I entered the guild hall that morning. Were they looking forward to seeing us fight? I ignored them, and went straight to Gajeel, who was in his usual corner, leaning back against the wall with his eyes closed as if he was asleep.

"Wendy and I will fight you!" I confronted him, and pointed my finger at him. "If we win, you'll let her join as member of the team."

"That sounds good to me, geehee." Gajeel had woken up in an instant, and showed a bloodthirsty grin. "But don't think I'll be holding back."

"Neither will we."

We decided the best place to fight would be outside the city walls, where it would be unlikely for us to cause collateral damage. Wendy had come, too, and some other guild members were following as well, not wanting to miss out on the chance of watching a Dragon Slayer in action. I felt nervous about going up against Gajeel, but I had to put on a mask of confidence for Wendy. She would have to be the key to winning this fight, as I wouldn't be able to do it alone; the only way for that to happen was by preventing her from losing spirit.

We found a nice and open field of grass, not far outside of the city. This would be our arena. Gajeel and I stood a distance away from each other; Wendy was a little behind me, ready to back me up with her support magic.

Max, who was one of the guild members that followed us to this place, had decided to take up the role of judge and commentator. He stood in the middle, between Gajeel and me. "On the left, we have the fearsome metal Dragon Slayer, Gajeel! For sure not an opponent you'd want to mess with, just look at those eyes!" Max shouted, really getting into his role. "On the right, we have two of Fairy Tail's most recent rookies. The cool-headed lightning wizard, Roth! And on his side, the lovely Sky Maiden, Wendy! Who will win this battle of steel, lightning and air! We'll find out soon enough!" He now took some steps back, getting ready to let us fight. "Both sides look ready for combat! Let the battle start in three… two… one… go!" With that, he quickly jumped backwards, not wanting to get caught in any fighting.

Gajeel transformed his arm into the metal club I was used to seeing him with in combat, and immediately charged right at me. His hits were powerful as ever, but his fighting style was straightforward and predictable. I was able to cast Prequip onto myself, and get out of the way of Gajeel's first attack that was aimed at me. Gajeel made it obvious he wasn't interested in fighting Wendy, as he purely focused his attacks at me. I had expected no less from him, and it made things easier, as I wouldn't have to worry about her getting hurt.

Each of Gajeel's swings using his metal club were strong enough to deal serious damage to me if they were to hit me; I put all my attention on making sure that wouldn't happen. It just made it difficult for me to find an opening in which to counterattack. I wouldn't be able to win if all I did was avoid getting hit.

"O swift winds that speed through the heavens! Vernier!" Wendy shouted as she cast a spell. A glow appeared around my body, and suddenly I felt much lighter and swifter. This must be part of her support magic. I sped away from Gajeel's attack zone, and sped in a curve around him. He hadn't realised what happened just yet; his back was wide open to an attack. I channelled a powerful Lightning Shock, which struck him right where I wanted. Gajeel was hurt, and instantly turned around to face me. He figured out my speed had been greatly increased, and that he had to get serious if he wanted to hit me now. I attacked him with my sword, but he parried most my strikes using his arm of metal. I was still getting some hits in on him; he had a hard time keeping up with my speed boost.

"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" His attack came out of nowhere and landed against my shoulder as I failed to fully dodge it. His attack knocked me back; I stumbled and fell down on the ground as I lost my balance. I was lucky my armoured shoulder pad softened the blow somewhat, but it still hurt. I had been careless by staying so close up to him. In the corner of my eye I saw Wendy looking shocked; she wasn't focused. I got up and prepared to get back into the fight.

Wendy's spell had mostly been vanished due to her lack of focus after I got hit, but the little bit I had left I'd make sure to use to my advantage. Gajeel still wasn't fast enough to keep up with every attack I dealt at him, and I noticed his growing frustration as he was forced into defending himself. This time I just had to be more careful with keeping my distance.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!" Gajeel's arm was now a heavy metal blade. It looked even more dangerous the club version he'd normally been using. I was already somewhat weakened by his punch from earlier, I didn't think I would be able to stand up again after getting hit by an attack from his blade arm. I cast Photon Shield in response, which would make it more difficult for him to get up close. But Gajeel seemed to be ignoring the effects of my shield, and forced me into fighting close combat with him again. This wasn't looking great. The effect of Wendy's spell had now completely vanished, making it much harder to keep avoiding getting hit. I blocked his attacks using my sword, but he put so much force into every attack, that it still hurt my arm and hand in which I was holding my sword. It was only a matter of time before he would hit me now.

As I failed to react to his next attack, his sword arm struck me with the overwhelming power of a dragon. The blow sent me flying backwards. I didn't want it to end like this, but in my current state I wouldn't even be able to get up again. I was on the brink of losing consciousness as I lied in the grass. I heard Wendy's footsteps coming closer. Was she going to try to heal me in the middle of combat? I had told her not to; it would be too dangerous. I felt her healing magic taking effect and the pain was already beginning to fade away.

"Geehee. I should thank you for saving me the trouble of taking you out separately." I could hear Gajeel saying. Oh, no. He was planning on attacking us both at the same time. I wanted to tell Wendy to get out of the way, but I was unable to move or speak.

"I… I won't let you! Roth has put his faith in me, we won't lose to you!" Wendy shouted back at Gajeel as she still channelled healing magic to me. Just what was she planning on doing?

"Iron Dragon Roar!" That was one of Gajeel's most powerful techniques. Wendy would be finished if she wouldn't get out of the way now.

"Sky Dragon… Roar!" What? Was she a Dragon Slayer, like Natsu and Gajeel?

I could feel the blow of the two forces of magic clashing with each other. It was followed by a huge explosion. Had she managed to successfully cancel out his finisher spell? Not only that, but she had continued to heal me at the same time she'd defended us from Gajeel's attack. I got myself on my feet again, still amazed by how effective that healing magic was. Gajeel couldn't believe his eyes when he saw us both still standing after he had used one of his most powerful techniques. He quickly prepared himself for another round. However, this time, it seemed we were having the advantage. Gajeel was running out of magic, having cast a great deal of spells in a short period of time, while I had been conserving most of my magic and was healed back up again by Wendy. This was our chance to finish him.

I looked at Wendy, and nodded at her with a smile. She knew this was going to be our moment to strike back. With the last of her power she cast Vernier on me again. I felt completely reenergised after being healed and now under the effects of her support magic again. While Gajeel had been drained of quite a lot of his magic, he was still not to be underestimated. I had to use a new technique I'd been working on for some time now. An advanced spell that consumes a great deal of magic, but should be effective at putting an end to this fight. I cleared my mind, focused on the flow of energy and channelled it towards my hands and feet.

"New Advanced Lightning Technique! Echoing Thunder!"

I Lightning Stepped through Gajeel, striking him with my lightning-charged sword as I passed him. He should now be paralysed and unable to defend himself for a full second. It would be enough to follow up with the rest of my technique. I immediately Lightning Stepped back to my previous location, striking him once more. Every step of this technique required full focus, and drained a lot of magic at once, but if kept going, it would manage to deal massive amounts of damage to the target. I repeated the same two steps several times over again, Lightning Stepping back and forth, stunning Gajeel with every strike. I was almost out of magic now, this would be the finishing blow. My final Lightning Step was followed up by a large explosion, right at Gajeel's location.

I was out of breath after I finished my technique, but as the dust of the explosion cleared, it had proven to be successful. Gajeel was down on his knees and trembling.

A moment of silence followed. Was Gajeel still able to get up after my finisher attack? The hand holding my sword was shaking. I had pretty much used up all my magic with Echoing Thunder; I didn't think I'd be able to fight back if this was not the end of our fight. It was the same for Wendy I noticed, she looked completely drained from healing me and countering Gajeel's attack earlier.

"Hehee… Geheehee." Gajeel began to laugh all of a sudden as he was still on his knees. "That…. That was great!"

Max made his way back to the battlefield. "C–Can you believe it!? The Dragon has been tamed! Roth and Wendy are the winners of this fight!" Applause and cheering followed; it seemed everyone was impressed by our performance in battle. I let out a sigh of relief, glad it was over, and happy that we had managed to win. That meant our team would finally be complete.

I walked up to Gajeel and offered him a hand to help him get up, but he refused my help and got up on his own. "Does this mean you'll accept Wendy as our third member?" I asked him, just to be sure he would keep himself to our agreement.

"You two weren't as weak as I thought…" Gajeel replied. "... So, sure. She can join for all I care." He tried to sound indifferent, as he usually did, but I could notice he'd really enjoyed his battle against us. After I got approval from Gajeel to let Wendy join, I turned to her.

"Wendy, will you join my team with Gajeel?" I had to ask her, even though I knew she would agree to join us.

"No way is she joining you barbarians!" Carla came between us and looked me angrily in the eyes. "Wendy, I do not approve of this!" She said as she turned back to Wendy.

"Carla, I know you care deeply for me..." Wendy said to her companion. "… but these are my friends, I want to be part of their team!" She tried to reason with her.

"To think they dragged you into taking part in a senseless battle. Some nice friends you have!" Carla wasn't going to agree with Wendy's decision.

"Be that way, then. I'm still joining Roth's team!" Wendy said, upset by the argument with her cat companion.

I looked at Gajeel, unsure what to do about the two. He looked back and silently shrugged. He didn't seem to know either, or just didn't care. Maybe I should try talking to the cat…

"Carla, with Wendy joining us, you know you're part of the team now, too." I said as I sat down in front of Carla, and tried to be as friendly as I could. "We'll be really–"

"Look, I don't care about you and your stupid team. But don't think I'll leave Wendy's side just because she's with you primitive brutes now." She said to interrupt me.

Nope, for now, there was nothing more I could do to convince her we weren't as bad as she thought we were. But at least she would be staying with Wendy, that was good enough for me.

We all went back to the guild hall to rest from the battle we had, and a small celebration was held, dedicated to the three of us having formed a team. It had been just over a month since I'd joined Fairy Tail, but I'd already made lots of friends, and from today on, I was officially part of a team. I felt happy and excited about what the future would bring.