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kofi.c om (slash) christophernagura
Keybladelight: Like I hinted at the start of the story, Freya is interested in Natsu's soul, while it might not be pure like Bell's, it's still different than others'. As for Natsu's title, well he'll need to be in a Familia before anything.
Xavier Arias Gonsalves: Natsu has never beaten Laxus in a 1v1 fight before so I have no idea what you're talking about. If you're referring to when Natsu AND Gajeel beat him then yeah. Other than that, it has been factually proven that Laxus has beaten Natsu numerous times whenever they fight. So, please research before commenting such things on the story.
Chapter 6: Battling the Fear Within!
Normal POV
Location: Orario Main Streets
Natsu yawned tiredly as he walked along the streets of Orario with his hand behind the back of his head as the skies were painted with an orange hue.
A week had passed since his encounter with the girl in the alleyway and currently he had just finished another mission in the Dungeon and was on his to a restaurant to satiate his hunger. He thought about heading over to the Hostess of Fertility, but decided that he wanted to save some money with him as he still hopes of finding a place to stay and not out on the streets.
'Then again I could build a place outside this place just like in Earthland,' Natsu thought back to the small house he built alongside Lisanna and Happy back when they were younger.
After it was decided that he would take care of Happy, seeing as he was living alone, the trio decided to try and build a house for the pinkette seeing as he was living in the guild, and it was safe to say that he was incredibly and undeniably useless when it came to things like that, with his abilities mainly for fighting.
In the end, it took everyone's effort to finish the construction and both the Dragon Slayer and Exceed have lived there ever since. However, now that he was alone and more mature(?), the pinkette was more than capable of building a house on his own after continuously helping out to fix the guild.
Deciding to put those thoughts behind him for the time being, the Dragon Slayer broke out of his train of thoughts and realised that he was no longer on the main streets, rather he was in a completely brand new road.
Though he wasn't all that worried since he had the scents of the people from the Hostess of Fertility, meaning that he could just follow the smell and find his way back.
'Well, I might as well explore this place out a bit.' Deciding to put his hunger aside for the time being, the pinkette decided to roam around the area and hope to find a restaurant nearby and kill two bird with one stone.
As he walked, he suddenly came across two figures in front of him, one of them being a male with dark black hair equipped with full leather armour over his clothes while the other was a girl with long brown hair and what he assumed was a pair of dog ears on her head, as the man stood over the woman who was on the ground.
'What's going on?' He decided to get closer to listen in with his enhanced senses, not wanting to quickly jump to conclusions.
"So, how are you going to pay us back?" he heard the man say.
"I don't think I understand what you're talking about."
"Are you kidding me, it's because of your damn potion that my friend was put in a worst spot than before!"
"Right, blame your incompetence on us that always seems to work." The girl responded sarcastically, angering the man further.
"Why you-!" The ravenette raised his fist, ready to strike the girl beneath him when a hand suddenly grasped his wrist tightly, pulling his arm back in the process which caused him to cry out in pain.
"I don't think so." The adventurer turned back and felt he immediately shivered in fear upon staring into a pair of black orbs filled with anger.
"W-who are you?" The ravenette asked, trying to pull his arm back, but the rosette's grip on his wrist prevented him from doing so.
"I'm Natsu Dragneel, and I'd like to know why you plan on hurting someone out in the open like that." Natsu said with a dangerous tone.
Upon hearing his reasoning the man growled, "I wouldn't need to if she wasn't ripping me off!"
While he was confused by his words, the pinkette released his grip on the man before glaring at him.
"Whatever the case, if I see you attacking her again, I'll make sure you'll regret it." The man wasn't about to risk it as he shot one last glare at the girl on the ground before scurrying off.
Natsu sighed tiredly after seeing the man run off, 'The people of this place sure are more hostile than in Earthland,' he then turned his attention to the girl on the ground who was watching the man run off as well.
"Hey there, are you alright?" the pinkette asked the downed girl with concern laced in his tone as he extended his right hand out to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine…thanks." She responded, as she used her left hand to pull herself up and of course this confused the Dragon Slayer but he decided not to pry.
"So, why did that guy attack you anyway? And what did he mean when he said you were ripping him off?" The brunette looked conflicted for a while, almost as if she were debating telling him or not, before sighing as she turned around.
"Follow me and you'll find out." Seeing as he had nothing better to do, the pinkette nodded his head and followed the brunette.
They eventually arrived near the outer edges of the western side of Orario where a rather small shop lies.
"We're here," the girl announced as she entered the shop, the Dragon Slayer unhesitatingly followed in suit and he stared at the inside in awe. Much like the Dian Cecht Clinic, there were numerous bottled liquids on shelves, though the number wasn't as large.
'I guess they run the same type of business?' Natsu thought.
"Welcome to the Blue Pharmacy." He turned his head to the source of the voice and he saw a man with long dark blue hair emerge from the back room with a gentle smile on his face.
"Are you here to purchase some potions?"
"Uh, not really…" With that the Dragon Slayer explained the situation to the blue haired male who sighed at the end of the story and gave the brunette a disappointing look, "Again, Naaza? This is the third time this week. Didn't you promise to stop this?"
The brunette, whose name was now revealed to be Naaza, scoffed at what she was hearing.
"With all due respect, Lord Miach, but since you're continuously giving potions away to girls as freebies, what else do I have to resort in order to pay off our debt?" she shot back causing the man to frown.
He understood her distaste of him doing it, but he truly believed it would benefit them in the long run. However, now wasn't the time for such things as he turned over to the pinkette who was sporting a confused look on his face, "Thank you so much for your assistance, Natsu. I highly appreciate you helping my child." Miach bowed respectfully.
"It's no problem…but can I ask something?"
"What is it?"
"Are you two related or something?" The pinkette asked and this caused both Miach and Naaza to stare at each other before turning back to face the pinkette in confusion.
"No, we are not related, why do you ask?"
"Well, didn't you call her your child?" Understanding what he meant now, the God shook his head.
"That is normally what we Gods call the members of our Familia is all, it doesn't mean we are related by blood at all." He smiled as Natsu nodded his head in understanding.
"Did you come from a Familia in a distant land?" Miach inquired curiously.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that." The pinkette laughed awkwardly, as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I guess that makes sense, I have a friend who lived in the Far East before deciding to bring his Familia here in Orario," Natsu was immediately reminded by Mikoto and her two friends and wondered if they were related in the matter.
"Anyways, what do you mean, by paying off your debt?"
"You don't need to concern yourself with such a thing," The girl snapped but Miach gave her a small glare which got her to settle down with a huff.
"Sorry about that, Natsu, but that topic is a bit of a sore topic, but yes we are indeed in debt to another Familia and are trying to pay it off," The God explained.
"If you're having trouble financially, then why not just go to the Dungeon or do missions? Isn't that a sure fire way to earn money to help with your debt?" The Dragon Slayer asked curiously.
"Well you see, Gods aren't able to enter the Dungeon, it's a sacred rule that we must never break, and as for Naaza…" The blue haired male sent a look to the girl who nodded her head as she reluctantly removed the glove from her left hand and Natsu's eyes widened at what he was seeing.
Rather than seeing fleshy limb, a silver, metallic arm greeted his eyes.
"A couple of years ago, I was the same as you, making money by killing monsters, but one day…" While the girl was explaining, she gripped onto her artificial arm tightly as her body shook slightly.
"…I made an error and lost my right arm in the process." Miach placed a comforting arm on the girl's shoulder and sent the Dragon Slayer a sad smile.
"I knew I didn't have the right equipment to help Naaza, so after that, I begged the Dian Cecht Familia to build an artificial arm for Naaza. But the damage had already been done, and she developed a fear of monsters and could not enter the Dungeon ever again,"
"Then the reason you guys are in debt is because of that silver arm?" Miach nodded his head.
"That's right and in order to pay back the debt we owe, we need to earn money without going to the Dungeon. Thus, we resorted to selling potions, as you can see we haven't been as successful." Everything was slowly coming together to the pinkette.
"So, what that guy from before said was-"
"True? Yes, he was. I was selling him low quality potions for the price of regular ones," The girl cut him off, though she didn't look guilty about what she did.
The Dragon Slayer thought about it for a split second before turning over to the blue haired God, "So, what's going to happen if you're unable to pay back your debt?"
"Well, if it comes down to it then all we can do is close down the shop and hope to rebuild from there." The God said with a rue smile on his face.
The Dragon Slayer closed his eyes as he crossed his arms. He was never good at thinking and would always leave it to the others to do it for him. However, since he was all alone, he now needed to make a decision on his own.
Nodding his head, Natsu opened his eyes and stared determinedly at the two in front of him, "If that's the case…I want to you guys."
"What?" the two asked, almost as if they didn't believe what they were hearing.
"I said I'm going to help you. If you need to earn some valis then leave it to me. Every day, I'll give you guys half of what I earn." Natsu offered and the two stared at the Dragon Slayer incredulously.
As Miach was a God, he was able to tell if someone was lying to him or not, and seeing as he wasn't getting that feeling from Natsu meant that he was genuine with his offer, which truly made it all the more surprising.
"As much as we appreciate your consideration…but I don't think you need to worry about us, we'll find a way to pay off our debt ourselves," Miach politely rejected, but the Dragon Slayer shook his head.
"You say that, but didn't you say that you were struggling with what you're doing right now?" Natsu pointed out leaving him speechless.
"But…" Seeing the look on the God's face then pinkette looked around the store.
"If all you're worried about is the payment, then…" Grabbing the two potions from a nearby shelf, he showed them to the two.
"I'll consider this as my payment." A deafening silence filed the shop before it was eventually broken by Naaza.
"Why are you helping us anyways? We're complete strangers to you, and you even heard about what I've done, surely that's unforgivable." The brunette asked as Natsu closed his eyes.
"You're right, what you did was wrong, but-" He looked directly into the brunette's purple eyes.
"…Where I'm from, we always make sure to put things right and help others when they are in need of help, even if it means not accepting a reward."
The mission to retrieve the Daybreak book from Duke Everlue's mansion instantly came to the boy's mind. While Lucy may have been right about them accomplishing their mission, the fact he snuff out the fact that their client weren't a rich couple made him reluctant to accept such a high sum reward. Though he was fortunate that the blonde didn't push to claim the reward from them.
"That's why I'm going to help you guys, whether you want me to or not," Natsu smiled and both he and the God stared at each other for a while before the blue haired God eventually sighed in defeat.
"While I'm still hesitant of asking you to help us, but seeing as I won't be able to change your mind, all I can do is promise to make sure you'll never have to worry about not having enough potions," Miach said and now it was Natsu's turn to be surprised by such a generous offer.
"Are you sure about that? Won't it affect your business?"
"After what you intend to do, this is nothing in comparison, besides this is all I can do for you," The brunette stiffened the moment she heard those words exit the God's mouth.
"I see…well, I'll see you guys tomorrow around the same time as today then," Natsu waved the two goodbye as he exited the shop while the Miach Familia could only watch.
"That boy truly is a strange one, don't you think?" Miach commented after a while as he turned to face his only member who had remained silent at the end.
She clenched her fists tightly. While she should be over joyous that someone was offering to help pay back the debt they owed.
However, she couldn't.
It was because of her that the Familia was in a struggle and by allowing someone else to solve the problem, she was practically asking him to fix the mistake she made. She couldn't accept it, not unless she played a part in it herself.
"Lord Miach, I have a request," the girl turned to face her deity, her eyes filled with determination.
Later that night, a small luminescent glow filled the Blue Pharmacy as Miach stared at the girl in front of him who was busy sharpening some arrows.
"Are you sure about this, Naaza? You don't have to force yourself to do this." The girl stopped what she was doing and turned to face her God.
"It's my fault that the Familia is in this mess, so at the very least I can't let a stranger handle everything on his own when he isn't even a part of it."
"Besides, you'll never be able to escape the life of an adventurer the moment you become one,"
The Next Day
Location: Tower of Babel (Entrance)
The Dragon Slayer yawned tiredly as stared up at the large tower in front of him. While it may seem like any other day, but on this particular day, he intended to work harder than he's ever worked before.
The reason was because of the promise he made to the Miach Familia and how he'd help them with their debt problems. Most people tend to complain about having to do more work, and the rosette was no exception to this. If he needed to help rebuild the guild or help collect herbs for the scary woman who lived outside of Magnolia, then he was bound to complain.
However in this case it was different, Natsu would be fighting more monsters, and since the pinkette loved fighting he didn't see it as a hassle whatsoever. Though the only issue of it would be that he was beginning to get bored of fighting the monsters in the same floor for the umpteenth time.
'I wonder if Eina would let me descend further down,' he wondered before shrugging it off, and as he was about to walk in…
"Natsu," The pinkette turned around to face the person who called out his name and his eyes widened when he saw a familiar pair of dog ears.
"Naaza? What are you doing here?" Natsu stared at the brunette who was currently fully equipped with tattered, but usable leather armour.
"To help you of course, I won't accept such charity from someone I barely know about." She said with a small huff.
"What about your fear of monsters?" The girl held onto her bow tightly at the mention of that, but she managed to play it off by shrugging.
"I'll be fine as long as I keep my distance. Besides, I'm an archer, so being close to the action wouldn't suit me anyways," she responded as the pinkette gave the girl a suspicious look before ultimately sighing.
"Alright then, but you don't have to worry about anything since I'll protect you from whatever monsters that comes our way," the pinkette said with a grin and the girl could only roll her eyes at the boy's showy attitude.
Based on what she had seen many times in the past, those with the largest mouths ended up being the ones who runs off first at the sight of danger.
As they walked in, the brunette noticed something, "Are you going to head in there without any weapons?" she pointed out the pinkette's lack of weapon, but he just waved it off.
"Don't worry about me, these are the only weapons I need," The rosette raised his arms confidently before carrying on walking. The girl was confused by this but decided to trust the boy's words as she followed behind him.
As they entered the tower, Naaza frowned slightly as she looked down into the depths of the entrance to the Dungeon with a small platform overlooking it, watching as adventurers walk down and up from it.
"What's wrong?" Natsu tilted his head in confusion when he realised the brunette wasn't following him.
"N-nothing," she responded as she walked up to him and descended down the stairs with the Dragon Slayer watching her retreating figure. Natsu knew that the girl must still be scared about the prospect of bumping into monsters again.
'Guess we won't be heading down any further today.' He sighed as he walked down as well.
The duo walked through the first few floors without bumping into any monsters, though Naaza kept her guard up the entire time without fail. It was only when they stepped on the fifth floor, a large group of Kobolds spawned before them, each of them growling menacing upon seeing the two.
The brunette immediately froze upon seeing the pair of red eyes boring into her soul, though the same couldn't be said about her companion.
"Finally, some monsters! Bring it on!" The pinkette, who had been bored, instantly charged in towards the mob without any hesitation and collided direct punches and kicks at the monsters without any problem whatsoever.
Naaza stared at her companion in surprise as she watched him demolish the large group of monsters in a flash, all without a weapon as well. Though the real kicker came when she saw him summon flames to surround his arms as he fought the monsters.
'I guess that's what he meant.' The chienthrope thought as she clenched the bow in her hands tightly. The fear she experienced was slowly subsiding.
She needed to keep her emotions in check and keep a steady mind. As an archer, she needed to have a cool head so that she'd be able to attack her targets directly.
She came down to help her Familia earn money in order to repay the debt they owe to the Dian Cecht Familia, and she wasn't about to quit now!
Slowly taking an arrow out from her quiver, she pulled the strings back and focused on a lone Kobold who seemed to be taking some distance from the pinkette.
She hadn't fired her arrow against a moving object in a long period of time, but it was better to do it now rather than later, 'Keep your shoulders relaxed, steady your arms, focus on the target…and release!' releasing her hold on the bow, the arrow whizzed through the air before it eventually reached its target.
The Kobold cried out in pain as the arrow lodged itself into its chest before it disappeared into ashes, leaving behind a magic stone.
The chienthrope sighed in relief as the Dragon Slayer managed to kill the last monster as well before he approached her.
"Woah, that shot you made was awesome!" Natsu said with his eyes shining brightly and the girl was surprised by this.
He considered THAT to be awesome? If anything what he had done was more impressive than hers.
"What I did was nothing…but how did you do that?" She asked, in reference to the flames he summoned.
"Well, let's just say that my father taught me this style of fighting," he said with a strained smile, clearly trying to avoid the topic.
The girl nodded her head and began wondering about the pinkette's past but decided not to pry any further, after all the two weren't friends, just acquaintances.
"Come on, let's go find more monsters to kill!" The pinkette said in excitement, and while she didn't share the same level of enthusiasm as he did, she still nodded her head.
The purpose of going down to the Dungeon was to earn some money anyways.
They eventually went further down into the seventh floor and eventually bumped into a couple of monsters such as Kobolds, War Shadows and even Killer Ants. Though this hadn't deterred the Dragon Slayer at all, instead the large group of monsters made him all the more excited as he fought them all without any fear and with a massive grin on his face. Meanwhile, the brunette would occasionally fire her arrows at some monsters which were far away from the group.
The constant fear of missing her target welled up in her head, but she always made sure to clear that out of her head.
'Calm down, you're far away from the mob and Natsu is dealing with them with ease. We're fine.' The girl reminded herself, trying to keep her heartbeat steady as she gripped onto her bow tighter.
Fortunately Natsu was able to kill all the remaining monsters which spawned as they began collecting all the magic stones, and the occasional drop items from the ground. The chienthrope was surprised at how many monsters they had defeated and wondered just how much they would earn from all this.
'Maybe everything will be alright after all?' the girl thought with a small smile on her face.
Unfortunately for her, after many years of not entering the Dungeon, the chienthrope seemed to have forgotten the one thing she should always remember about the famed labyrinth.
And that was that the Dungeon is a cruel and cunning thing, ready to turn one's hope into despair within a flash.
UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Both Natsu and Naaza's eyes widened in surprise at the loud cry and quickly turned their heads back to the source of the sound and both were instantly surprised with what they were seeing.
Slowly walking towards them was a bull-human hybrid monster carrying a large axe in one hand as its eyes glared menacingly at them.
Upon seeing the large monster in front of them, the pinkette grinned excitedly, knowing full well that it was much stronger than the other monsters he's faced so far and punched his palm, creating small sparks into the process. However, before he could even take a step forward, he turned towards his companion and he was definitely surprised with what he was seeing.
The girl was completely paralyzed in place, her grip on her bow seemed to have loosed as her legs shook profusely and most notably of all, the brunette's eyes were filled with unparalleled fear as she stared at the monster ahead of them.
The moment the Dragon Slayer stared into the girl's eyes, he couldn't help but recall the first ever time he had brought Happy alongside him on a mission.
They were tasked with defeating a few monsters around a village who were seen damaging the area and robbing some harvest. Compared to all other the missions he normally does, it was considered to be easy.
At first, Lisanna told him to choose an easier mission, especially one that didn't require fighting, in order to ease the new-born Exceed into the missions that they normally do, but of course he reassured her and told her that it would be alright. And it started out perfectly fine of course, with nothing eventful happening in the first day.
However, it was the second day of the mission that everything took a turn. A large group of monsters arrived, preparing for an assault on the village.
He was able to counter the first few waves of attack, but exhaustion caused him to slow down and a few managed to slip by him, and one of the monsters even lunged out at Happy who could only watch everything take place in front of him in fear. Fortunately for the Dragon Slayer, he managed to get back just in time to not only take the hit, but fend off the monster attacks.
In the end, after they returned back to the guild he got reprimanded not only by Lisanna but by everyone in the guild as well. It was one of the worst experience of his life, but on the plus side, after that mission, his blue partner was used to the monsters and would even work to try and assist the pinkette in his battles.
He would have quickly jumped in to shield the girl from the bull monster, had other monsters not spawned behind the brunette, each of them ready to attack at any moment.
'Damn it!' The Dragon Slayer quickly engaged the monsters in a fight, but not before turning back at the girl behind him.
"Naaza, you have to get your grip together!" he shouted.
Meanwhile the chienthrope was having an internal battle within herself. One part of her mind told her to just turn back and run away while the other part told her to just kill them all with her bow. Yet, her body remained unmoving as if refusing to do either task as memories began swarming in her head.
Blood splattering all over the walls of the Dungeon, a group of adventurers dropping to the ground in a puddle of their own blood, a glowing pair of fiery red eyes but most of all was the immense pain which surged throughout her entire body.
The girl instantly shut her eyes, her bow clattering on the ground as she held her head tightly.
I want to go back…I'm scared…
"…"
It hurts…It hurts!
"-za!"
Please…no more!
"Naaza!"
The girl's eyes immediately opened up and realised there was a large shadow looming over her. She slowly looked up and her eyes met a pair of red orbs staring back at her.
The Minotaur roared loudly and raised its weapon, ready to end her life.
Even though the situation was clearly stacked against her, she didn't feel scared, in fact she felt…calm. Despite every single part of her body screaming at her to be terrified. The only thing she could do in such a situation was close her eyes, accepting the inevitable, as a stray tear fell from her eyes, 'Lord Miach… I'm sorry…'
Perhaps now she could make amends with her fallen comrades?
The girl closed her eyes, already accepting her fate.
…
…
…
So why was it that she didn't experience any pain?
Slowly opening her eyes, the chienthrope caught a glimpse of pink strands before she opened them fully and was surprised with what she was seeing.
Standing in front of her, protecting her from the attack was none other than Natsu.
The pinkette managed to prevent the monster's attack from reaching her and was desperately trying to push the weapon back as it was about an inch away from his face.
"Natsu…what are you doing?" she felt ridiculous asking him such an obvious question, but there was a part of her that wanted to hear the answer from his mouth.
"Didn't I say it before? I promised you that I'll keep you safe no matter what…" the pinkette grunted as he held onto the end of the axe with slight difficulty.
"And a Fairy Tail mage…" the Dragon Slayer began engulfing his hands with flames which quickly caused the edges of the weapon to melt before he was able to push it aside.
"ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISE!" The monster roared in pain as it crashed into the ground after receiving a direct punch to its chest.
The rosette immediately kneeled down next to her, "Naaza, are you alright? Can you stand?" The girl slowly nodded her head and the he smiled.
"Great, you have to keep firing arrows at it, but don't worry, I'll keep it occupied and won't let it get near you-"
"…I can't…" Her soft tone cut the pinkette off as his eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the tears which began streaming down her face.
"I can't do it…every single time I look into its eyes, I'm reminded by my past…of my failures, of my party members...and my failure," Natsu could only watch as the girl cried as he took a quick look back to see that the Minotaur was beginning to get up and a memory instantly flashed into his mind. This had been very much like the situation with Happy in the past. However, back then he made an error by trying to persuade his partner into joining him in the battles, which made him inconsolable until they got back.
He turned away from the girl and faced the beast in front of them, "Alright then…you should go ahead and run back to the entrance,"
"W-what about you?" The brunette felt the need to ask as the boy looked back at her all without any hints of scorn or disappointment. If anything he looked understanding.
"Don't worry about me, I promise I'll return and give you guys half the money I earned today," he said with a reassuring smile and after much hesitation, the chienthrope ran off, without looking back.
Natsu smiled as he watched the girl's figure slowly get smaller before it disappeared entirely.
"Now then…, it's just you and me," The pinkette smirked at the beast in front of him, making a 'come at me' motion with his hand.
"Come on ugly, at least put up a fight for me," As if it understood him, the Minotaur roared angrily and grabbed its weapon before swinging its axe diagonally, with the rosette avoiding the attack by a hairbreadth.
This kept on for a while with the Minotaur desperately trying to land an attack on Natsu who would continuously evade its attacks with no means of counterattacking…yet.
The moment the axe got stuck on the ground, Natsu quickly grabbed onto the axe before the pinkette engulfed his hands with flame causing it to lose more of its form. The monster seemed to have realised this as well since it kicked Natsu away before throwing its weapon aside.
The Dragon Slayer landed on the ground safely as he watched the monster charge at him, closing their distance within an instant. Though this time he was caught off guard when the Minotaur pulled his leg back using its tail, causing him to lose balance before it delivered a direct punch to the pinkette, who barely managed to block it with his arms but the force of its attack still had him crashing into the wall with a thud. The rosette recoiled slightly in pain and was about to push himself forward, but the Minotaur had already gotten the upper hand by standing directly in front of him, blocking all of his passageways.
'Shit,' The Dragon Slayer realised the predicament he was in and was prepared to endure whatever pain he was about to receive.
Yet it never came, as a single arrow managed to lodge itself into the Minotaur's shoulder, causing it to cry out in pain as it took a couple steps back in pain. Meanwhile, the Dragon Slayer turned to the direction of where the arrow came from and saw Naaza holding her bow in front of her.
"Natsu, defeat it!" she shouted and the pinkette snapped out of his small trance and nodded his head before he engulfed his hands with flames and lunged at the beast.
The Minotaur managed to pull out the arrow from its shoulder with slight difficulty and its senses alarmed him about an impending danger and he turned around to watch the pinkette charging at him. The monster intended to move its body to avoid the attack…
However it was already too late.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Even with its thick skin, the force of Natsu's punch was beyond that of a regular punch which was why it was no surprise when a gruelling crack sound filled the halls before the large monster eventually disappeared into ashes, leaving behind a moderate sized magic stone in place.
Though the Dragon Slayer hadn't cared about any of that as he quickly rushed over to the brunette who had collapsed to the ground, her body completely exhausted from all the emotions she had felt in that moment.
"Are you alright?" The pinkette asked in concern to which she managed to muster up a tired smile.
"I guess so, but are you alright? You were fighting against a monster that spawns in the Middle Floors all by yourself!"
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Had you not come in, I would have definitely been in trouble," the Dragon Slayer now sported a confused look.
"Speaking of which, why'd you come back? Didn't I tell you to run away?" The girl was silent as she closed her eyes, recalling back the emotions she felt as she ran.
All she wanted to do was return back home and hide in a corner, the memories of her past haunting her every minute she was down there. It was so easy to do so, but she couldn't…and she knew the reason why. Because she believed it would have led to the pinkette's death.
The boy who had offered to help them the first day they met and the same boy who had put his life on the line in order to save her would die, while she would escape with her life…again.
She didn't want that. She didn't want him to die because of her.
And after managing to muster out enough willpower, the girl turned back in the direction of where the battle was taking place and ran.
"After everything…I just didn't want anything to happen to you, I guess." She muttered underneath her breath, but with his enhanced senses, he was able to pick it up and smiled before rummaging through his pouch for something.
"Here you go, you should take some," The chienthrope easily recognised it as a regular potion.
"Don't you need it?" The pinkette waved it off and told her to use it and as she stared at the blue liquid she was reminded by her God's words.
'You really are a strange guy, Natsu,' though she quickly downed the contents in the vial all in one and sighed in relief when the injuries she had sustained vanished as if it hadn't been there.
Meanwhile, the pinkette picked up the crystal and placed it in his pouch as he pointed at the exit, "Come on, we should head on back. I'm sure we earned plenty today," Not wanting to stay in any longer, she nodded her head and with that, the two began walking back upwards towards the surface.
As the two began walking back up to the entrance, a single figure stepped out from behind the walls where they were standing.
A young female with blonde hair and golden eyes stared at the vicinity where the battle took place. She slowly walked over to the battlefield and dragged her fingers across the charred ground.
Currently, the Loki Familia were on their way back home after a failed expedition which involved a strange caterpillar monster that none of them had ever seen before, and along the way they bumped into a Monster Party in the Middle Floors.
It was safe to say that because of an error, the monsters all ran up to the Upper Floors.
Of course, they rushed as fast as they could to make sure that no rookie adventurers would get hurt over a mistake that they made.
However, the moment she found the last one, the beast was already engaging in a battle against another adventurer. A pink haired one she had never seen before. If he was new, she would have intervened, yet for some odd reason, she decided to just watch how the battle unfolded.
To her surprise he managed to pull out victorious without taking any significant damage throughout the fight. She didn't know why, but there was something about the pink haired boy that she was curious about.
"Hey Aiz! Have you found it yet?! We need to regroup with the expedition group once we're done here!" A masculine tone resounded through the halls as both Bete and Tiona appeared behind her.
"Great, you defeated it, we can go back now." The werewolf sighed in relief.
The amazon noticed that her friend seemed out of it a bit, "What's wrong, Aiz?" she asked in confusion before the Sword Princess shook her head.
"It's nothing." She said as both the werewolf and the amazon shrugged it off and began walking away.
'That boy…' The girl turned back to the direction where Natsu took before decided that it was best to forget about it before chasing after her fellow Familia members.
Somehow she had a feeling she would meet up with him again.
Location: Guild Headquarters
As per usual, the Dragon Slayer was giving the details of his trip to the Dungeon to his advisor as part of their small routine.
"Oh, by the way I saw a monster that I haven't seen before today." Eina's eyes widened when she heard this. She pushed aside her worry and could only hope that it wasn't as bad as she thought.
"Could you describe the appearance of this monster?"
"Hmm, if I remember correctly it looked a lot like a bull but it was standing on both feet and it was carrying an axe as well,"
'A Minotaur?!' The half-elf's eyes widened after hearing the description from her advisee and decided to gather more information before reporting it to her seniors.
"Natsu, what happened to that monster? Is it still in the Dungeon?" The half-elf asked frantically.
Minotaurs were monsters that only appeared in the Middle Floors and if there was still one staying around the Upper Floors then that would immediately spell the end for lower ranked adventurers.
"Hmm? Well I defeated it of course!" The pinkette said with a proud look on his face.
…
…
…
…
…
"You idiot!" After a few seconds, Eina immediately slammed her fist on the pinkette's head, causing him to cry out in pain as he held it in pain.
"What was that for?!" the advisor immediately leaned down close to him.
"You do remember that you don't have a blessing, right?" she whispered softly, making sure no one was nearby to eavesdrop on them.
"Of course I remember, but I've fought many monsters that were as strong and even stronger before though!" he whispered back and the brunette was surprised with what she was hearing.
Just what kind of place was her advisee living at that he was used to fighting monsters as strong as a Minotaur without a blessing?
She wanted to ask him about it, but after remembering the down stricken look on his face the first day she met him, made her hesitate.
"Well I guess as long as you're safe then I guess it's alright." The half-elf sighed as the pinkette cheered.
"You really know how to make a girl worry don't you, Natsu?" she grumbled underneath her breath, but with his enhanced senses, he was able to hear it with ease.
"Sorry about that, Eina. I promise I'll make it up to you somehow."
"Take me on a date if you're really feeling that way," the half-elf said, though jokingly of course.
"Sure, we can go on a date." Natsu said with a shrug.
"Eh?" a red blush sported across the advisor's face. She had only said it to tease the pinkette, but she never expected him to accept it so easily.
As for the Dragon Slayer, the reason he had accepted it was for one simple reason,
He didn't understand the true meaning of the word.
He'd always heard Lisanna and the other girls in the guild gush about dates numerous times in the guild and always assumed that it meant spending time with someone alone.
"You've done a lot for me during my time here, and I want to repay you for all of it," he said with a smile and the girl seemed to have understood his intentions there.
"Ah, I-I see, of course," she smiled, feeling both relieved and disappointed at the same time, that of which confused her as to what that might be.
"Anyways, I'm going to go and exchange the magic stones now, see you tomorrow!" With a wave, the pinkette began heading over to the exchange counter, leaving behind the half-elf who was shocked at the sudden turn of events.
Though she couldn't stop the small smile which appeared on her face.
Meanwhile, sitting on one of the waiting benches in the guild was the chienthrope as she waited for the pinkette to return with the rewards from today. The girl was locked in her thoughts as she wondered what would happen thereon out.
"Sorry for the wait!" The chienthrope turned back to see the pinkette walking up to her with a sheepish grin on his face.
"My advisor was anything but happy with me after hearing how we faced up against that monster just now,"
"I don't think anyone would be happy to hear that." The girl deadpanned as Natsu chuckled.
"Here you go," The Dragon Slayer handed a pouch of valis to the girl's hands and her eyes widened in surprise at the large sum of coins in the bag and she looked up at the pinkette for an explanation.
"Well according to the exchange counter, they said that bull monster we just fought was worth a lot of money so I told him to split the reward."
"A-are you sure about giving me this much? I didn't do much at all the whole day, are you sure you should be giving me half of the rewards?" the girl asked, feeling guilty with her lack of contribution as her dog ears drooped.
"I wouldn't say that. You killed your fair share of monsters, besides if you didn't shoot an arrow at that monster, I would have been in big trouble! So it's only fair for the both of us to get half the rewards!"
She silently stared at the large bag of valis in her hands. This amount would have normally taken their Familia a few weeks to earn, yet she was able to do so in only a single day.
While her fear of monsters still resided, she knew that if she wanted to overcome it, she'd need to continue descending down to the Dungeon. However, she didn't believe she'd be able to handle it alone…She slowly looked up at the pinkette.
"Natsu,"
"What is it?"
"Would…would you mind if I join you from here on out?" she asked, looking away from him as she didn't want to face him when he rejected her offer.
"Sure." The girl's eyes widened and she turned back to see if he was lying, but she could not detect any shred of dishonesty in his eyes.
There wasn't.
"To be honest, I was planning on asking you that too, but I didn't know if you'd want to or not." Seeing the surprise on her face, he smiled, "Don't you think it's a lot more fun going on adventures with other people? Besides, that way we'd be able to help each other out."
The girl let his words sink in and smiled, "Thank you for this, Natsu." The chienthrope said shyly, her tail wagging slightly to express her happiness.
"You don't need to thank me, after all we're friends, aren't we?" The pinkette said with a grin and the girl's eyes widened in surprise at his words before a genuine smile began forming on her face.
"Yeah…you're right." Her words caused his grin to widen.
"Alright! Let's keep at it and we'll pay off the debt in no time!" He cheered but the girl slowly raised her hand.
"Natsu, if you don't mind, I'd like to take a break tomorrow. After everything that happened today…I just need a chance to relax."
"Sure. I was planning on resting tomorrow as well. Guess it all works out then, huh?" He smiled and she smiled back before telling him that she needed to return back as to not worry her God.
"Guess I'll be seeing you at the shop then." The two waved each other goodbye as the chienthrope began heading to the direction of the Blue Pharmacy.
The pinkette watched as the girl disappeared into crowd of people and he sighed before looking up at the clear skies above him with a soft smile on his face. At first he only decided to become an adventurer as a way to earn money and to find a way back home, but something he didn't expect was the amount of people he befriended and the amount of joy he gets out of battling the monsters day in day out.
'Being an adventurer sure is fun,' He thought with a smile on his face before his stomach growled hungrily.
"Well, might as well head to the Hostess of Fertility for some food. Hopefully I'll be able to keep some money this time around…"
Location: Babel Tower
In the top floors of the tower of Babel, there a lone silver haired female sat on the crimson chair in the room, her eyes remain unmoving at the large window in front of her.
"Ottarl?" she suddenly called out.
"Yes my Lady?" the boaz asked, getting on his knees, with the silver haired Goddess not even turning to face him.
"When will the Monsterphillia be starting?"
"If I recall correctly, the event will occur in a few weeks from now." The boaz responded, feeling slightly confused since his Goddess had never been interested in the event before.
"Hmm…Then could you help do something for me?"
"Of course my Lady."
Quiet words filled the room, as Ottarl bowed towards his Goddess before proceeding to leave the room in order to perform the task that was handed out to him.
The Goddess stood up from her crimson chair before walking towards the window as she placed her hand on it.
'I was just going to watch him for a while, but in the end I just want to play with you.' The Goddess thought as a sultry smile formed on her face, her eyes looking down on the city beneath her.
'Now, I hope you'll be able to entertain me, child.'
End Chapter
P.S. This chapter was slightly inspired by Alpine992's story "A Tricksters Secret Rabbit" whereby Naaza also decides to head to the Dungeon.
Anyways…
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THOSE OF YOU WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THIS CHAPTER!
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kofi.c om (slash) christophernagura