Good evening (morning, day, night) everyone! That's me again!
First, I wanna express my thanks to everyone who wished me a good health, that means a lot, thank you people. That update took a bit longer than I expected, but as a result I've got a pretty solid chapter, at least I think so.
Now, for the reviewers:
demigodninja21: Thank you, and I agree with your opinion, but this story is also important to me, and I really want to continue it.
Blue22lightning: Thanks a lot, and I'm doing my best, trust me.
Shadowoel: This is the last one, at least for now, I promise! xD I actually thought about a separate story for world building but I didn't really see how it would change anything. If anything, it will take away from the story even more, IMO.
Blue22 Lightning: No, not really. I'll try to explain the difference between mystic weave and wicked weave more thoroughly in the next chapters.
FanFictionHunter: I'm definitely not going to start a discussion about whose ass is the best in series – too sensitive topic xD. Monster is this and Faity Tail atmosphere is that xD. Natsu complaining mostly because Fairy Tail is no longer the guild he joined, I'll try to develop that, mostly philosophic, idea in the future. And believe me, if I'd knew for sure how to handle the Edolas arc, you'd be reading it by now… And I haven't started reading the Edens Zero, if anything, then Natsu's way of using the sword was inspired by Spirit Blade Mountain.
Rajo: Many thanks. Alias isn't something that can become effective with the snap of a finger. Those are more like desirable direction. As for Fairy Tail – yes, Natsu loves fame, power and wealth, but he always did, and nothing changed. But Fairy Tail was the place where he could rest from all that – and this did change. Thus, Natsu's criticism – he really thankful to Fairy Tail, the guild he did join, so he doesn't want it to stop being Fairy Tail.
I hope I didn't forget anyone, if so – my deepest apologizes. Now, let's proceed. This is the last world-building chapter for now. It consists of three parts: first – the important stuff, second – just a reminder that there's a world outside of Fiore, and the last one – an omake adventure mini arc. In the next chapter I'm planning to finalize the world state after pretty long world building arc, tie some loose ends, and start the Edolas arc.
Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to leave a review!
Chapter XXXIX – Theory of Flame
…
February 23, X785, 23:15, Minstrel Republic, Ivy Bush City, Hotel Room.
As Natsu and Erza have arrived to Ivy Bush city, the capital of Minstrel Republic, they've rented a hotel room to rest before tomorrow's auction.
"Fifty types of flame? What's that?" Erza asked as she read the name of the scroll that Natsu was reading now.
"Just as its name suggests," Natsu shrugged as he passed the scroll to his wife, "That's a copy of the scroll from okā-sama's library, which I made when I was about eleven… It's a list of all types of flame in existence… but that's an exaggeration, of course, at least when it comes to first two parts. Those aren't enumeration but just a summarization…"
Erza unfolded the scroll and began to read it. It was divided for four parts – natural (chemical) flame, magical flame, essence flame and divine flame. After reading it for about five minutes Erza had to agree with her husband, first two parts were just a summarization, they were written here to emphasize the difference between first two types and other two types.
According to the scroll, first type of flame – Chemical flame (also known as normal or common flame) is the product of chemical reaction, it has nothing to do with magic (directly). It requires fuel and an oxidizer to produce flame, nature (and temperature) of which will depend on those two components. As examples – there were listed ten types of flame produced by different fuels – starting with simple wood and coal, and ending with magnesium and hydrogen-free fuels like dicyanoacetylene, which produces flame with temperature about 5 000 °C (with abundant oxygenation). Quite an interesting stuff, but right now Erza hasn't been interested in chemistry lesson, so she quickly skipped to the next part.
Second part – Magical flame. This type of flame is created by magic, usually it requires a mage (or magical device) to release a certain amount of ethernano, energy of which will be used to produce a combustion-like effects. Also, magical flame usually possesses some additional properties. There were listed sixteen examples, among them: purple flame – quite cold (260 °C), but sticky; indigo flame – high temperature (2800 °C), high piercing capability; blue flame – actually burns with below zero (-170 °C) temperature; green flame – average temperature (490 °C), but possesses stopping effect (wall-like); yellow flame – average temperature (970 °C), but produces poisonous smoke; orange flame – high temperature (2400 - 2800 °C), high explosive effect; red flame – very high temperature (up to 5500 °C); black flame – low temperature (60 - 100 °C), incorporates solid particles (harmful effect produced via kinetic energy).
'Natsu was right,' Erza thought, this list really is just a rough summarization, in fact – there are more than a thousand of subtypes of every listed magical flame, and much more of mixed types. As she was reading this, Erza realized that flame, which she used when she only began to learn the ways of a dragon slayer (when he used the wrong grimoire), was a subtype of orange (explosive) flame. Haru, on the other hand, uses some sort of a mix of red and orange flames. "What's this all about?" Erza looked at Natsu, asking why he decided to read this scroll all of a sudden.
"I'm actually thinking about helping Haru to improve his flame," Natsu replied, looking into the window.
"Improve his flame?" Erza asked in surprise, "I guess it's not a charity, is it?" She knew Natsu long enough to know that he's definitely not about helping others out of kindness of his heart…
"Of course not," Natsu snorted. "Just having allies to confront seven guardians isn't enough – those allies have to be strong. I think that that guy is worthy of investments…" He explained.
"But what it means – 'improve his flame'? You want him to learn different magic?" Erza wondered.
"No," Natsu shook his head, "Read the scroll to the end and then I'll explain."
"Okay," Erza nodded and continued to read.
Third group, the Mysterious flames, also known as Essence of Flame, is not a summarization, but a list of fourteen unique types of flame. As long as flame is able to exist for a long time in a remote place, it is possible that it will acquire its own mentality, its own spirit, if you like. Flame Essence can be born in deepest pits of a lava lake, or in the active volcano, or in the normal lake abundant with yang energy. The most important condition though – time. To acquire its soul a flame requires hundreds or even thousands of years. The difference between flames from two previous groups and Flame Essence is that normal flame needs materials to combust and magical flame requires a mage or an artifact to support it. However, Flame Essence is eternal – whilst its soul exists – flame won't cease to burn. It can be used to create a storm of fire – the Flame Essence will not weaken, no matter how much fire has been created.
No wonder that fire users are willing to travel to the farthest reaches of the world, to the most remote, savage, and dangerous dungeons in order to seek out a Flame Essence. Fire elemental, which will be able to refine an Essence of Flame, will get its properties as well as great power boost. Same goes to mages and beasts with inborn fire attribute – fire that they use will have the properties of consumed essence.
There are fourteen know types of Essence of Flame, ranked from 24 to 11 in the list:
24 – Mysterious Indigo Flame
23 – Hundred Birds Flame
22 – Six Abysses Flame
21 – White Amaryllis Explosive Flame
20 – Lynx Spirit Red Flame
19 – Westland Wind Flame
18 – Raging Beast Flame
17 – Burning Cloud Flame
16 – Seven Mountains Living Flame
15 – Ocean Soul Flame
14 – Fallen King Flame
13 – Great Serpent Spirit Flame
12 – Frostfire Mountain Flame
11 – Volcanic Heart Radiant Flame
After each name, there was a description of special effects that each given Flame Essence has. Some effects were quite peculiar, like that of the Raging Beast Flame – its destructive power is quite ordinary, but it can give tremendous boost to user's physical strength.
Erza, however, didn't stop to research those effects in details as her attention was caught by the last part of the list, with even more pretentious names – Ten Divine Flames. They are top ten in the list:
10 – Azure Gates Profound Flame
9 – Myriad Demons Bloody Flame
8 – Primordial Sky Burning Flame
7 – Eternal Sun Golden Flame
6 – Heavenly Wheel Vermillion Flame
5 – Nine Heavens Celestial Flame
4 – Great Undying Purgatory Flame
3 – Immortal Lotus Primordial Flame
As she read the list, Erza had to admit that amount of pathos in those names have just skyrocketed. Like before, there was a description of those flames' special properties, but only for positions 10 to 3. Erza looked at two names at the very end of the list. There was nothing else – no description, no properties – just names.
2 – Death Star Annihilation Flame
1 – Flame of Rebirth
Especially the last one seemed peculiar. Unlike others, this name wasn't full of pathos, just a short and simple name, but scarlet-haired girl couldn't stop thinking about it, she just couldn't divert her eyes from the scroll.
"Erza!" Natsu's sudden and loud scream startled her as god of ruin forcefully snatched the scroll from her hands. Only now Erza realized that, while she was looking at the end of the list, her mana was about to boil as her body actually began to heat up! "Sorry, my bad," Natsu apologized for his inadvertence as he looked into his wife's shocked face expression. She couldn't believe it – just the name, in some handwritten scroll, actually hypnotized her and gained control over her attribute?!
"Well, at the very least, now you definitely realized that forces of nature aren't something to trifle with. If just the name of that flame has such an effect on someone with fire attribute… I can't even imagine what the real stuff can do…" God of ruin sighed. "When I was writing it, I was still unable to fully control my power and I accidentally put some magic into this scroll… I didn't think that it may turn out like this…" He scratched his cheek. "As for lack of definition – apparently, no one actually has seen those two Divine Flames," Natsu commented on missing description for the last two positions, "Those names came from the most ancient mythos. It's just a speculation, but second one probably has something to do with so-called 'electroweak burning'… As for the last one – I do not have the slightest idea what it is…"
Erza closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, to regain her wits. "Honestly, it's hard to imagine that such a thing actually exists here somewhere…" She mumbled.
"It's not only that," Sin noted as he landed on the table near Erza, "Actually, all six elements have similar 'essences' and 'divine essences'," He explained, "Like Essence of Ice and Essence of Darkness, or Divine Wind, for example."
"Understood," Erza nodded as she looked at her husband and then at his familiar. "You said six elements… what about other attributes?" She wondered.
"Well, metal and wood are special… just like metal and wood elementals, which use kill shots instead of spells. In similar way, metal and wood essences won't fuse with one's magic conducting system but instead fuse with physical body," Sin replied. "Due to this, wood and metal essences actually called Heart of Wood and Heart of Metal. There are twenty types of wood hearts and eighteen types of metal hearts."
"By the way, I was always wondering…" Natsu thought aloud as he looked at his familiar. "Have you noticed that yin-based elements (darkness, water, rock, wood, void) have more essence types than yang based (light, fire, wind, metal, thunder)… I wonder why?"
"Not really," Sin replied, meaning that he never thought about it. Though, truth to Natsu's words, yin-based elements usually have more types of essences. For example, there are 27 water essences compared to 24 flame essences. Other elemental pairs have about the same ratio.
"Anyway," Natsu decided to get back on topic, "Despite their peculiarity, wood heart or metal heart is as important for corresponding attribute owners as essences for other attribute owners."
That was a truth – for example, if Mirajane, whose magic primarily depends on strength of her metal attribute, will be able to find and refine a heart of metal, both offensive and defensive capabilities of her blood will drastically increase, and it may also get some special properties.
"And the last two – thunder and void," Natsu continued, "They do have objects like essences as well, though they're also called differently – those are Soul of Thunder and Hollow of the Void. Probably those names are different to emphasize their rarity. There are only eight Void's Hollows and seven Abyssal Void's Hollows, at least those known to wizards. Also, there are seven Souls of Thunder and six Holy Souls of Thunder, known to mages of this world," Natsu explained. "Thunder souls and void hollows require much more time to form, comparing to other elemental essences. Finding one of those souls or hollows is an extreme luck, and the attempt to refine them is an immense risk," Natsu concluded.
"Understood," Erza nodded with serious face expression. No matter which attributes she herself has – she definitely needs to know the general idea. "I think I got the gist of it," She added, "You have some book about those essences, which I can read when we get back?"
"Of course," Natsu confirmed, "I'll show you."
"Alright. Then, for now, I have a question," Erza said, looking at her husband and his familiar. "You said Haru can improve his flame… but what about me?" She asked. Natsu always was doing everything he could to help Erza get stronger. Yet, now he wants to help Haru, not her – he definitely has a reason for that.
"Because you don't need it," Natsu replied simply. "You already have all that you need," He added and looked at Sin.
"Now we came to the last keystone of knowledge about essence," Sin nodded and started to explain. "What's the main difference between essence flame and divine flame? Virtually they are the same, it's not about those flames being the 'top ten'. Those ten essences called divine because they can be inherited," Familiar spoke out.
"Huh?" Erza actually was surprised as she heard that.
"Let's take you as an example," Natsu suggested, "Your 'guest' probably knows more, but since she's in slumber now, I'll tell you what's known to me." God of ruin looked into the window, "Eternity Golden Dragon tribe is one of the youngest among grand magical beast tribes – current (Andromeda's parents) generation should be 7th or 8th. Also, according to a legend (or rather, according to rumors), Eternity Golden Dragons actually are quite close relatives to the Windstorm Demonic Dragons. It is so because, again, according to rumors, the ancestor of the Eternity Golden Dragon tribe once was a member of Windstorm Demonic Dragon tribe."
Natsu sighed and continued, "However, during one of his journeys, he came in contact with one of divine flame essences – Nine Heavens Celestial Flame Essence – 5th in the list. I have no idea what did transpire during that encounter, but in result, he emerged as a top tier being, with different appearance and attributes, and, most importantly, with ability to use Nine Heavens Celestial Flame. All of Avalon's descendants have inherited this ability together with his blood, including Andromeda, and through her – you. After your third re-origination your flame will gain all the properties of Eternity Golden Dragon's flame, which essentially is Nine Heavens Celestial Flame."
Sin landed on the table in front of Erza, "Divine Flame users are immune to all other types of flame that don't belong to Divine Flame list… though, the same goes to all other essences. For example, divine wind users can only be hurt with another divine wind," Boney creature explained. "Since you've already passed first re-origination and got dragon's body, you should be able to get better understanding of the flame you've inherited. Get better understanding of it and you no longer feel cold when attacked by low-grade flame types."
"So, you don't need to bother about looking for flame essence, you already have one of the top-tier essences – just continue to train to gain its advantages," Natsu concluded.
"Understood," Erza nodded again. "…Honestly, that huge world doesn't cease to amaze me…" She added, red-haired girl really seemed amazed.
"You can't imagine…" Sin agreed. "By the way, Heavenly Wheel Vermillion Flame, 6th in the list, belongs to Mysterious Flamehail Bird tribe (Suzaku's descendants), and Undying Lotus Purgatory Flame, 4th in the list, belongs to Purgatory Flame Bird (one of two branches of Simurgh's descendants)."
"However, I'd like to clarify this," Natsu noted, "The Divine Essence itself is a powerful being with its own consciousness and spirituality – when refined, it can provide a huge boost of power in addition to powerful flame. The descendant only inherits the flame, but power he or she must acquire with his or her own efforts and talent."
"Seems fair to me," Erza nodded in sign that she understood what Natsu meant. "But since I have dual-elemental attribute, what about those… metal hearts?" She looked at her husband questioningly.
"Oh, you have that as well," Natsu replied as if it was nothing special. Erza blinked in surprise. "Oh, no need to be so surprised, of course such a powerful being as the founder of the Eternity Golden Dragons would handle everything. How should I explain this… Well, you see, if you have a single element attribute – you just need an according essence, and when you get it, you can live happily ever after. But those with dual elemental attribute (and that is 90% of mages in the world) should balance their attributes according to magic they're using."
Sin continued Natsu's explanation, "For example, if you have light/wind attribute, but your magic uses only one of them – you can look only for an according essence. But real experts will never do something so foolish such as choosing magic that uses only part of their potential – with variety of magic schools it isn't too difficult to find magic that will benefit from both parts of your attribute. In that case, however, you can't get one essence for first part of your attribute and be done with this – you'll need to balance it with essence for other part of your attribute."
Natsu nodded and continued, "For instance, let's take your magic as example. Your spells are controlled streams of plasmatized metal – but if you'd try to apply a divine flame to generic metal – it won't be turned into plasma – it will be simply evaporated. Only divine metal heart can withstand the divine flame essence, and since your spells working just fine, obviously metal part of your attribute incorporates divine heart of metal. According to the properties I've seen – this is Invincible Subterranean King Metal Heart – 6th in the list of Hearts of Metal," Natsu guessed, though, he was quite sure about it. Metal is his dominant attribute, so he is quite knowledgeable when it comes to Hearts of Metal. "As you continue to train, your scales will become impossible to penetrate with anything but other divine heart of metal, effectively rendering any cold weapon and metal projectile-based weapon useless against you," Natsu elaborated.
"Such heritages are the main reason why large and powerful tribes guard their legacies so zealously," Sin commented.
"I see…" Erza just nodded slightly. She seemed a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information that she received this evening, definitely she'll need some time to process it.
"I wonder what exactly happened with lord Avalon," Natsu thought aloud. "Unlike humans, who can change their inborn elemental attributes using Magical Avatar Physique, other races usually cannot do anything about it. But there are exceptions, it seems…"
"Seems so," Sin nodded. "Well, considering the power of divine-class essence, that shouldn't be surprising, really…"
"So, when he still was a member of Windstorm Demonic Dragon tribe, lord Avalon somehow found the Nine Heavens Celestial Flame essence and managed to refine it, despite his attribute had nothing to do with fire… ain't a small feat, I have to admit," Natsu continued to speculate. "But more so, after that he found teachings of magical art Covenant of Stars, and in order to use it he also found and refined the divine heart of metal? Or even more, he found and refined the divine heart of metal, and then developed a magical art to utilize those essences? No matter how it was, it seems that predecessor of Golden Eternity Dragon tribe was an immensely talented individual…"
"That's to be expected from the founder of one of the great magical beast tribes," Sin noted.
"Agree," Natsu replied simply as he put off his coat. "Oh well, right now it is not one of our concerns anyway," He added, time was already past midnight, so he decided to go to sleep.
"Wait, Natsu, one more question," Erza asked her husband.
"Yes?" God of ruin looked at his wife questioningly.
"I'm just wondering," Erza said with light tone, indicating that it's not a serious matter but she's just curious, "Considering your origin, I assume you also have no need to look for essences for your attribute?"
"Ah, yes, of course," Natsu replied as if it was pretty obvious. "All members of okā-sama's bloodline, including me, possess Heavenly Devil Fallen Heart of Metal, 4th in the list of metal hearts. Also, I've inherited otō-sama's thunder – the Divine Punishment Annihilating Thunder Soul – 4th in the list of Souls of Thunder. Well, I am a Crown Prince of Arx Tenebris, after all, so don't be surprised," Natsu added, not even trying to hide his arrogant smile.
"Sometimes you're really driving me wild…" Erza noted, looking at her husband with narrowed eyes. "Just like a spoiled rich kid…" She added quietly, but Natsu managed to lip-read that.
"Excuse me?" He asked with slightly surprised expression.
"No, sorry," Erza shook her head, regaining her wits, "I'm just thinking… This world really is unfair, is it? People from those mighty clans are bound to become powerful experts just because they've born in those clans, while others can get nothing in the end, no matter how much efforts they've made…"
"Members of those clans have their own load of hardships," Sin noted. "Even the most powerful clans don't have nearly enough resources to nourish everyone on equal basis. As such, there's a very strong competition among clansmen, with a lot of backstreet intrigues among elder generation being involved. Though… it usually doesn't concern children of clan's leaders, who receives the best possible treatment," Boney creature commented with quite sarcastic tone.
"You were a member of royal lineage as well, so I don't want to hear such remarks from you," Natsu looked at his familiar with narrowed eyes.
"Unlike you, I wasn't the only heir of my clan!" Sin retorted.
"Ahem!" Erza coughed, gaining attention, "As much as I don't want to interrupt your arguing about who was more loved by parents, I suggest to postpone it until tomorrow."
"…Ah, yeah, you're right, it's already late," Natsu agreed as their talking went completely off-track. Erza grew up in orphanage, so discussions about parental love probably isn't very fun for her.
"I'll go look around," Sin announced and flew out through the window.
"Erza?" Natsu asked as he looked at his wife. He was a bit surprised because she undressed, but instead of joining him in bed, sat on the floor in the middle of the room.
"Sorry, but as much as I'd like to make love, I'm not in the best condition for that right now," She admitted. "I need to think all that through – I feel a bit overwhelmed with all that essence stuff. My thoughts will become messy if I'll get distracted now," Dragon slayer elaborated.
"Oh, I see," Natsu nodded, "Of course – by all means." Erza wanted to submerge in meditation and process all that amount of information she just received, and maybe better understand the flame and metal that she inherited. Natsu strongly approved her decision. And before Erza could ask, he added, "But no, I won't be doing the same, I want to sleep," He smiled insolently, "I'm just a spoiled rich kid, after all."
"Hump!" Erza snorted, assumed pose for meditation and closed her eyes, ignoring Natsu.
God of ruin just shrugged and laid on bed. For a few seconds he thoughtfully looked at the runes on his left arm – they were mysteriously glowing with dark blue light. But then he just closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
February 24, X785, 9:35, Minstrel Republic, Ivy Bush City, Hotel Room.
The day of the monthly auction has come. Natsu already woke up and got dressed, but… Erza still didn't come out from state of meditation. Usually, it is considered a very bad tone to interrupt someone's meditation (if done at wrong timing it can cause a setback in one's training), but actually Natsu and Erza have plans for today, and Natsu really needed to attend the auction. He actually began to think what he should do – wake Erza up or leave her here with Sin and go to the auction house alone. But before he could come to any conclusion, she-dragon slowly opened her eyes.
"Umm…" She moaned sweetly as she stood up and stretched her limbs. Her perfect body seemed so beautiful in the rays of winter sun that Natsu couldn't withstand the temptation to embrace and kiss her. "Mmhm… that will do… for now…" She smiled as their lips parted. Metallic luster of scales on her hips, elbows and shoulder blades seemed bewitching… too bad that there's no time to enjoy that beauty. "Wow, it's already this late?" Erza seemed surprised as she saw that sun is already above the horizon, despite now is still winter.
"How's your training went?" Natsu asked his wife about results of her meditation.
*Sigh* Erza sighed as her shoulders hung slightly. "I've managed to remember and understand everything that you and Sin told me yesterday about essences, but when I tried to examine the flame element in my Mahōhenkō [magic change]… It seems that I haven't even scratched the surface…" She admitted. Despite she was meditating for almost nine hours, she couldn't come in contact with divine flame that she possesses to better understand its properties.
"There's nothing to be surprised about," Natsu shrugged. "If the Divine flame essence is powerful enough to change the inborn attribute of a primordial dragon – you definitely can't understand it with just a quick glance. To feel the divine flame, you need to fully focus your consciousness on your Mahōhenkō, and to do so, you need to submerge into deep meditation for a week, or maybe more…"
Magic Conducting System (MCS) is not a simple thing. Magical energy (ethernano) is stored in Mahōsui [magic sleep] (sometimes it's called 'lower dantian'). When a spell is cast, magic passes through Mahōhenkō [magic change] (so-called 'middle dantian') – there ethernano become attuned to person's inborn attribute. After it, magic passes through Mahōton [magic release] (sometimes called 'upper dantian'), where it takes shape, according to magical formula (spell). Quality and capacity of all three, as well as carrying capacity of a person's meridians, is very important for wizards. Currently, to better understand properties of the fire essence that she's inherited, Erza must focus her consciousness on her own body, on her Mahōhenkō, to be more specific, and explore it – that's not a fast process.
"Thought so…" Erza sighed. She definitely wasn't looking forward to spending more than a week in meditation, but, apparently, she has no other choice. Inherited flame essence aside, she has to thoroughly explore her entire Magic Conducting System to prepare for second re-origination, during which she'll have to reconstruct the MCS. That exploration will require months of meditations…
"Well, this is why we're here," Natsu tried to cheer up his wife. "I hope to buy here some materials, necessary to complete my Sphere of Inverted Reflections." Natsu needed materials to deploy the wood zone, which will allow him to deploy the metal zone as well, but that's not all.
As it was said – currently there are two issues with Natsu's SIR, which aren't allowing to stay inside for long – time flow difference and ethernano density. Both actually quite beneficial for training, but it's a double-edged weapon. Time flow difference can completely shatter person's internal clock, and high ethernano density can make person addicted to it, resulting in big issues with magic in the real world. Due to these circumstances, Natsu limited the time for training inside of SIR with about 90 hours per week. However, during deep meditation, the sense of time is dulled heavily, so time flow difference ain't an issue for those meditating. But ethernano density is still a big problem. To address it, Natsu wanted to create several platforms for meditation in each zone, which will keep the ethernano at bay, imitating the real-world environment. With such platforms, those who need to meditate, can do so inside of SIR for as long as they need.
"Let's just hope that my information is correct and what I need will be on sale today," Natsu pronounced.
February 24, X785, 11:30, Minstrel Republic, Ivy Bush City, near the auction house.
Natsu and Erza arrived to the trading sector that was located at the heart of the city. This should be the most flourishing part of not just Ivy Bush City, but entire Minstrel Republic. All sorts of magical artifacts, spell books, and various other treasures are on sale here – as long as you can afford it, it's yours.
To Erza's great displeasure, Natsu made her to wear a long, hooded robe, which was covering her almost entirely, leaving only her face partly visible. He also hid her horns with magic. "Sorry, my dear, but as much as I'd like to boast, showing off my peerlessly beautiful spouse, let's refrain from doing it today. This place is a huge trading center, and such place usually is a gathering place for all sorts of creeps and freaks, who think that their money can buy just anything. Beautiful woman is a walking disaster in such an environment. It wouldn't have been surprising to get assassins following us with task to kill me and kidnap you to be delivered to one of those imbeciles…"
"What?!" Erza almost jumped as she heard that, her eyes widened in shock.
"Don't get me wrong, you know better than anyone that I'm a Wizard Saint not for show, but killing a bunch of fools once a week ain't the change of lifestyle I'm looking for," God of ruin added.
"Don't be so surprised…" A quiet man's voice said from behind. "Fiore is small country that prospers thanks to magic, it's not like larger countries in the middle of the continent, which thrives on trade and financial capital. Organized crime, syndicates, slavery and other atrocities are parts of every day's life here…"
Erza abruptly turned around and stared at the owner of the voice in surprise. It was a tall young man, dressed into the same long, hooded robe that Erza was wearing now, though his was light-gray in color. His face definitely was beautiful, his face features were soft and alluring, though a bit pale. His eyes were slightly glowing with somehow ethereal light. "How's it looking?" Natsu addressed that unknown young man, who appeared as if from nowhere, like they're well know each other.
"A lot of hyped people from all over the continent, who came to attend the auction, but nothing out of ordinary," Young man replied.
"Alright then, let's go to the auction house," God of ruin waved his arm.
"Wait, Natsu!" Erza called for him, she seemed completely lost, "Who is this!?" She pointed at the young man. Not only he appeared out of nowhere and she didn't feel his presence, she also couldn't get any scent from him, despite her draconic sense of smell! Though, his voice sounded somehow familiar…
"It's me, Sin," Young man replied as if it is obvious, his sight made Erza feel that actually it is she who's a wierdo here…
"Huh?!" Sin's reply didn't calm down Erza, in contrary, she seemed even more shocked.
"Oy, right, this is the first time when you're seeing Sin's humanoid form," Natsu realized.
"You have a humanoid form?!" Erza exclaimed.
"All members of primordial beasts' tribes can assume the humanoid form," Natsu shrugged. "You saw Andromeda's humanoid form just the other day, remember?" Natsu reminded her about the moment when she just finished her first re-origination.
"Though, this isn't sound right… Actually, it is the human's form I had before I was kidnapped and turned into fleshless monstrosity," Sin said darkly. He came closer to Erza and leaned forth, at that moment he let his power to weaken a bit and his face became half-transparent, revealing a fleshless skull and two sphere-shaped pieces of blue flame, which were floating in empty eye sockets. That sight creeped Erza out a little. "I'm using my cursed flame to create this illusion of sort," He explained as his face again became solid.
"Un… understood…" Erza stuttered a little. 'I guess it's a bit too much for a village girl like myself…' She thought.
"You'll get used to it, don't worry," Natsu lightly embraced his wife, by her face it was obvious that she's having some weird thoughts.
"I'm fine," Erza smiled as she quickly regained her wits. "And since when you can assume this form?" She wondered.
"Well, probably I was capable of doing so since the moment when Natsu acquired his domain and my curse completely returned to me… Though, it took some time to remember how to do it, and develop a way to form this illusive flesh," Sin admitted, "So let's say I can use this form for a month or so."
"You've been isolated from the world for more than fifteen weeks (about ten weeks in real world), that's quite a long time, you know?" Natsu reminded.
"Haaah…" Erza sighed, rolling her eyes and guessing what else she doesn't know and what else she missed, sitting in that cocoon.
"Alright, c'mon – trade session opens up soon," Natsu waved his arm and headed towards the auction house.
February 24, X785, 11:50, Minstrel Republic, Ivy Bush City, auction house.
The three of them quickly moved through the trading sector, only stopping once they reached the heart of it. Here stood a majestic hall, with almost endless streams of people moving in, out and around. At the entrance stood fully-equipped guards, they didn't seem like wizards, but their equipment definitely was magical Anyone who wanted to enter the auction house would have to pay 35 000 jewels. This standard was clearly of that this is not your small auction house that happens once in a while in Fiore. But still… comparing to the auction house in Pandemonium, that Natsu once attended with his mother, this one was absolutely pathetic…
Anyway, Natsu paid the entrance fee for three people as he, Erza and Sin entered into the huge hall. As they entered the hall, their lines of sight expanded. They could see a vast auction hall at the end of the other passage. Currently, the auction hall was filled with people, clearly showing how popular the place was. Actually, Natsu had no intentions to buy anything on auction itself, materials that he requires for his SIR should be available later, on general trade session, that will begin after the auction. Seriously, no one will be selling like… seven tons of magical tree seeds, for example. Auction itself sells a more… exclusive stuff (but, probably, not exclusive enough to pick up Natsu's interest). This time, Natsu wanted to see what goods are in demand, what sells best, and the level of prices – he has a plan about it as well. Also, Erza never been present in such a big auction house, and she was very interested to see what's this all about – and of course Natsu was willing to pay a few coins to satisfy her curiosity.
The party moved towards the front and found seats. Natsu swept his eyes around. Usually, one has to possess quite a bit of wealth and status to sit in these kinds of seats. As of now, there were already people lazily slouching or idly staring at nothing, waiting for the auction to begin. Natsu actually knew a few of them – as a bounty hunter, he did quite a lot of jobs, and wealthy people usually have no shortage of enemies.
Finally, the sounds of bells and drums echoed throughout the huge auction house. Many people sat up in an instant, straightening their bodies as they directed excited expressions towards the auction stage. They knew the sign — the auction was starting soon.
Some remnants of the war that happened 400 years ago still could be found here and there. Besides, there was no shortage of modern artisan workshops and independent masters, who'd like to sell their creations. Once the goods have passed the inspection, most of it ended up at the auction house. Many people had come here for that. After all, a properly chosen magical artifact could save a life in a desperate situation. To many of the smaller teams or mediocre-ranked wizard it was absolutely crucial. In the end, life is the most important.
The atmosphere in the hall seemed a bit tense, but there's nothing unusual in it, it doesn't seem like anything out of ordinary can happen here.
Watched by a hall full of eyes, a slim, good-looking, blonde-haired lady in her late twenties slowly walked onto the spacious auction stage with a face full of smiles. She bowed towards the crowd and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Alessia Romano, Chief Auctioneer of the Silver Star Merchants' Ivy Bush City auction house. First, allow me to thank everyone on behalf of the Silver Star Merchants for attending this event."
"The Silver Star Merchants are famous in the Ishgar Continent?" Erza asked in a quiet voice.
"Yes," Natsu replied in a low voice, "They are sponsored by the Minstrel Republic government."
"She's not simple," Sin noted in soft voice, meaning the lady-auctioneer. "She's on par with Jura Neekis, I'd say…" He added. Actually, she is masterfully hiding her strength, but eyes of tower's guardian can see a lot of things, hidden from common folks.
"Someone with strength of one of the Ten Wizards Saints actually working as an auctioneer?" Erza was looking at the blonde-haired lady in surprise. To think that a Tier-12 (or even Tier-12+) expert actually is working for auction house…
"No need to be surprised – after all, she's a first line of defense for all the items that are on sale here," Natsu commented. "Attempts to snatch the desired item right from the auctioneer hands aren't that rare… I wonder if her name is the real one… (Alessia means 'defender')"
Fortunately, the auctioneer named Alessia Romano didn't get too long-winded with her speech. She made a quick transition and moved over to the main topic. With a wave of her hand, a weapon case appeared on the stage.
The case opened, revealing a five-feet-long green spear, rippling with a dense green luster. As the green energy poured out, it showed the image of a large green crocodile on the blade. The reptile seemed so real, as if it is alive… This was a relatively strong artifact (by local standards), it wouldn't be weak in the right hands.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the Emerald Crocodile Spear. It's a rank 6 magical weapon, made of bones of the Emerald Water Crocodile. As everyone knows, the Emerald Water Crocodile is known for the sharpness of its teeth. With that, you should have no doubts about spear's armor piercing capability, empowered by the reptile's might. If there's any one here today who's an expert with spear, don't miss out on this opportunity!" Blonde-haired lady announced with her eyes narrowing as she smiled. "The starting bid for this spear is 380 000 jewels."
The auction hall was briefly silent by such an expensive price. However, the silence was soon broken with all sorts of voices. A rank 6 magical artifact was indeed worthy of such a price. Since the Great Schism, the common artifact ranking system has been long forgotten, so now a simpler system was in use, where artifacts were simply ranked from 1 to 10. A rank 6 artifact is about equal to white-tier magicforged items (like Erza's old Morning Star Armor).
Natsu looked around the auction house, hearing all the yelling and slightly shook his head in disappointment. All those spoiled kids now are fighting for this artifact with their parents' money because they want some flashy and trendy item. Those who'd gladly use that spear in battle, on the over hand, probably can't afford it.
The yelling continued around the auction house for several minutes, before slowly dying down. in contrary with Natsu's expectations, the Emerald Crocodile Spear was sold for 490 000 jewels to a skinny middle-aged woman, who seemed like a seasoned wizard. Well, probably the spear isn't trendy enough – if that'd been a sword – the final price would've been higher.
Once the Emerald Crocodile Spear had been sold, the atmosphere in the auction house gradually rose. The auctioneer Alessia Romano was clearly experienced with this sort of auctions. Next came a series of decent quality items. Most were spellbooks and lacrimas of different types, all of those were rank 6 and higher artifacts, some of them being priced over a million jewels. Natsu was quietly making notes to himself.
Spellbooks were rather good treasures to many people of this area, however, Natsu who'd come from the outside of the Magicscar Triangle would find them below average. But such things actually not too difficult to acquire, but they seem to cost quite a lot…
"There's nothing good," Erza muttered, even for her, rather unsophisticated, taste, there was nothing interesting.
"Agree," Natsu nodded, "But that's what I was expecting…"
The auction gradually wound towards its end, however the atmosphere became increasingly excited. Natsu's group was among minority that wasn't satisfied with the goods. Alessia Romano stood onstage with a full smile on her face as she swept an eye over the people who have gathered here, as she waved her arm and another weapon case was delivered to the stage with exasperating slowness.
"Oh?" Natsu straightened his back as the case's cover has been removed. Everyone in the hall was able to see an ice-colored bow. The bow itself was shaped like feathered wings and decorated with patterns of a four-winged bird-like creatures. As the bow appeared, even Sin, who was sitting next to Erza and who hadn't moved at all until this point, became focused.
The moment strange bow appeared, it started to shine. As powerful lights were emitted, what seemed to be the angry cries of some monster tore through the hall. It was an anger too strong for words, like a tsunami bearing down upon everyone here.
That feeling quickly permeated the hall. Within a few moments, almost everyone's faces were white, as if ethernano in their bodies had stopped flowing. The pressure was filling them with a dread born from the pits of their hearts.
"What's going on?!"
"What is this?!"
"What terrifying pressure!"
Cries of alarm rose and fell. Everyone eyed the ice-colored, wings-shaped bow with shaken hearts. Was this the last item left for the end of the auction?
"It is something uncommon, huh?" Erza wondered. She wasn't an artifact expert, but you don't need to be the one to realize that this is something special.
"That certainly is," Sin nodded slightly. "I believe this has something to do with the Four-winged Ice Phoenix tribe…"
"Really!?" Erza exclaimed as she felt a light jolt in her heart upon hearing those words. She quickly covered her mouth as she realized that she's drawing too much attention, but actually, no one even noticed her exclamation – everyone's eyes were focused on the artifact. As for Erza – she only saw a picture of an aforementioned creature, in a book about great magical beast tribes. And now something related to the tribe actually appeared here?
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this Ice Meteorite Bow was discovered on remnants of an old battlefield at the other side of our continent. We have concluded that this Ice Meteorite Bow is the lost artifact, that was most probably created more than 400 years ago," Alessia Romano said as she lifted the case, with the Ice Meteorite Bow inside, with great caution.
"The Lost Artifact?!" The entire auction was shocked.
"The Lost Artifact?" Erza looked at Natsu questioningly.
"This is how locals call the indestructible artifacts," God of ruin explained.
"Huh? Something like that actually appeared here?" She-dragon seemed quite surprised.
"Apparently," Sin nodded slightly. "The creature, whose essence was used to create this bow, was quite a far relative of a Four-winged Ice Phoenix, its bloodline was very diluted. This bow is much weaker than your Astrum and Eclipsis, which were made with the essence of a pure-blooded primordial dragon…"
"But still, this is the genuine indestructible artifact – this bow will allow its user to perform kill shots, and it can become a sun-tier indestructible artifact and develop its own consciousness," Natsu noted. "Though, I don't think that an artifact with such a weak essence can become a Saint Artifact without large investments into essence's strengthening…"
But of course, among everyone present here, only Natsu and Sin could look at this bow as at something average. For the rest of the auction attendants, word-combination 'lost artifact' was more than enough to make them go crazy with greed.
Alessia Romano gave the auction crowd a narrow-eyed smile and said, "Surely our honorable guests know the value of the Lost Artifact, so let's start bidding. The starting price is 2 000 000 Jewels," She announced as she waved her neat hand and slightly raised the case with Ice Meteorite Bow, spreading and shrouding the hall with its radiance. The faintly discernible pressure seemed to have traces of freezing the air inside the auction hall.
"2 500 000!" The white-clothed youth from the second row was the first to display the desire to get the bow.
"3 000 000!" The one who spoke was the middle-aged man with eyes as cold and sharp as the edge of a steel blade.
A lady in black dress parted her lips. She flashed her white teeth and said with a sweet smile, "3 500 000."
"4 000 000!" The old man wearing a yellow robe made a bid.
A collective sigh seemed to pass over the audience as they watched some major forces engage in a bidding war. Absolute majority of guests understood that they don't stand a chance against those wealthy and influential forces.
"Pathetic people…" Natsu said quietly, "What's the point in getting a treasure on auction?" Erza couldn't suppress a smile as she heard his mumbling – she was well aware that items, which he didn't acquire himself, has little value for Natsu.
In the meantime, the price for the Ice Meteorite Bow has already reached 7 500 000. Natsu thought that it's already a bit too much for the bow (unpopular weapon among mages) made with essence of the beast with such a diluted bloodline.
"8 000 000!" The white-clothed youth stood up and barked. The audience immediately sucked in a cold lungful of air. Who is that person who's willing to spend so much money to get some weapon, even though it's a lost artifact?
"How generous…" A lady in black dress smacked her lips. She was the last one who tried to compete, but seemingly she decided to give up.
Alessia Romano stood on stage with her calm smile, watching the show playing out. She waited briefly, until she was sure that no one else was willing to raise the price. Then, she raised the auction gavel, made the last three calls, and heavily brought down the gavel, "Sold!"
When the auction gavel landed, the crowd knew that this Ice Meteorite Bow had landed in the hands of that white-clothed youth. Natsu actually knew who he is – the second prince of The Pergrande Kingdom, the largest country on peninsula, located in the easternmost part of it, linking it to the mainland.
"That's probably the best possible outcome," Sin noted quietly. "He is talentless, stupid and weak – so even with this bow he won't be able to make too much troubles in the future…"
"Let's go," Natsu rose, called to Erza and Sin, and headed outside the hall. That bow definitely was the last slot, so there's nothing more to look at in this place.
The trio headed to a smaller pavilion, where 'general goods' traders from all over the continent were selling their goods. Natsu spent about an hour and half walking around and buying stuff he needed. Some merchants were surprised about Natsu's desires, but they were professionals, so no one asked why someone need a several tons of a special soil, for example. Fortunately, Natsu managed to get all he wanted… but he spent more than 4 000 000 Jewels.
"We're bankrupt again, huh?" Sin wondered as the three left the pavilion. "I'm afraid our guild has no missions with high reward right now…"
"I know," Natsu grunted. "I guess it's time to look for a bounty contract from the government… but first things first. Erza, Sin, while I'll be busy with my sphere of inverted reflections, I want you two to assist Haru in his quest of acquiring the flame essence," He asked.
February 26, X785, 15:20, Kingdom of Fiore, Samara desert's border.
Samara desert – a very small desert, just about 800 square miles – but temperatures here usually way above 30 °C, around the year, and it also known for very strong sandstorms, which appears out of nowhere. Such a place definitely appeared due to some magical phenomenon. Natsu wasn't 100% sure about that, but probability was still high that this phenomenon was caused by a flame essence that has born somewhere out there.
Haru and Happy met Erza and Sin in Magnolia and four of them headed towards the small desert. Fortunately for the two dragon slayers, both of them had a partner that could carry them by air, so they had no need in renting a cab (and endure torturing motion sickness) or walk on foot.
Since talking while flying in the sky is a bit inconvenient, Haru had to wait until the party arrived to the border of the Samara desert. "Whoa, it's really a desert here!" Happy exclaimed as party approached the appointed place. He's never been here, so it was really surprising for him to find a desert in the middle of the moderate climate zone.
"No kiddin… Alright, put me on the ground there and let's ask what's going on," Haru replied.
"Aye!" Blue winged cat agreed.
"So, what's this all about?" Haru asked as Sin descended an put Erza on the ground beside him and Happy.
"Has Natsu explained anything?" Sin wondered.
"Not really," Haru shook his head. "He only asked if I'd like to 'strengthen my flame', and that I should met you two in Magnolia if I'm interested…" Of course, Natsu also mocked Haru about him being weaker than the girl he's interested in (unlike Nelliel, Haru still can't use Dragon Force at will), and told the fire dragon slayer that if he doesn't like such state of affairs – he should follow his (Natsu) plan.
"I see," Sin nodded. "Well, let's start with the basics then," Lil boney creature said. "First, try to remember one thing. You father's flame – how was it like? Was it special somehow? How did it look? And then compare it with the flame you're using now. Is it different from your father's?" Sin asked Haru.
"Igneel's flame?" Happy seemed surprised with the question.
"That way it will be easier to explain," Erza commented.
"Okay…" Haru also seemed puzzled, but he did as Sin requested – fire dragon slayer closed his eyes and strained his memory, trying to remember. Even though he was very young back then, it wasn't impossible as Haru saw Igneel using his power on several occasions.
"Haru…" Happy said somehow worriedly, probably thinking that remembering Igneel, who abandoned his foster child, will be difficult for Haru. But the latter didn't show any sign of that – he actually has an earnest side, which always kicks in when it is about getting stronger.
Several minutes have passed whilst Haru was gathering his thoughts. Finally, he opened his eyes, "Well, my memories aren't too clear, but I remember that father's dark red flame was powerful and extremely hot. It could melt down the sand just by appearing, without taking form of an actual spell! Also, sometimes it seemed as if other flames were… I don't know… were afraid of father's flame! Comparing to his, my flame is… rather ordinary…" Fire dragon slayer added as he lowered his head. He outstretched his right arm and engulfed his palm with fire – it seemed bright and hot… but there was nothing really special about this magical flame, aside from that it has some barely existing traces of mystic weave in it. But that is because Haru's a dragon slayer – it has nothing to do with the flame essence.
"Well, it seems that Igneel actually did possess one or even several flame essences, though they were not of high enough level for you to inherit them," Sin came to a conclusion. "Anyway, that means that you have to start from the scratch… but that's not necessary a bad thing. You just have to look for a flame essence for yourself," Lil boney creature announced.
"Flame essence?" Happy asked as he soared into the air, "What is that!?"
"A natural phenomenon that can appear in certain places," Sin gave a vague answer. "And there's a chance that one of those essences can be present somewhere in this desert," He added. Since Happy has no non-disclosure pact with Natsu, Sin was unwilling to tell him anything important. "Well, this is as far as me and this cat can go with you," Sin informed. "From here, you should use your affinity with fire to find the source of heat in this desert, and let's hope this is what we're looking for. Erza will go with you to provide assistance," Lil creature announced.
"What, you won't come with us?!" Haru and Erza asked simultaneously, both seemed equally surprised as they've heard Sin's statement.
"Why I can't go!?" Happy also didn't understand why he can't assist Haru.
"If there's really a flame essence somewhere in there…" Sin replied to Happy, pointing at the desert "…Then you'll turn into fried cat long before you'll be able to see it." He turned to Erza, "And flame essence's energy is harmful for me as well, since I don't have fire affinity. Also, due to this reason, I won't be of any help to you," Sin replied as if it was quite obvious.
"I know… It's just…" Erza said uncertainly. She didn't need help in desert exploration, she was more worried about that if there will be only two of them – things between her and Haru may become quite awkward.
Haru, seemingly, had similar thoughts. During last few weeks Haru interacted with Natsu several times, but Erza was performing re-origination during that time. As such, last time they saw each other was the day after Erza kicked Haru's ass, atop the temple of the moon on Galuna Island. Haru actually had no idea how to hold a conversation with Erza, about what he could talk with her?
"Haru, I'll be fine, I can go with you!" Happy announced – he more or less realized Haru's situation.
"No," Haru retorted. "This is really dangerous, besides, probably this is something I have to do by myself," He added. Happy was Haru's best friend for years, they were doing together almost everything. But, lately, Haru got some thoughts that there are certain things which he must carry out alone, as a man. Does it have something to do with beautiful lady with turquoise hair that appeared in his life recently? Haru decided that improving his flame is the task that he must perform alone. He needs Erza as a guide, but there is no need to risk Happy's health just to keep him company. "I'll be fine. Just wait for me, buddy, will you?" Fire dragon slayer asked cheerfully.
"Alright…" Happy reluctantly agreed as he dropped his shoulders (and ears).
"Let's go, Erza-san," Haru turned towards desert.
"Alright," Erza nodded. Both dragon slayers could feel the direction from where the heat is coming from, so they headed that way.
As Haru and Erza went away for about half a mile, Sin addressed Happy, who seemed somewhat depressed. "Thing will never be as they were before, you know this?" He asked winged cat with somewhat mocking voice.
"Haa?! What are you talking about?!" Happy exclaimed indignantly.
"You're perfectly aware about what I'm talking," Sin replied. "Not only he found himself a girlfriend, who wants to spent time with Haru, she's also a mother, so he must become a worthy father for her daughter. In that construction you're definitely gonna be a fifth wheel. Besides, I have a reason to believe that Haru will be training much more than he was doing so until recently. In the future, he'll have a pitifully little time to play with you, so I'd suggest you to focus on training as well… or find yourself a hobby," Sin sneered.
Happy probably knew that, but he wouldn't be himself if he'd just agreed with Sin. Blue cat almost exploded with indignation, and arguing continued for more than an hour.
February 26, X785, 17:50, Kingdom of Fiore, Samara desert.
"So, Erza-san, what's this all about? What is that 'flame essence'," Haru asked as he and Erza went away from Happy and Sin. Haru more or less realized why Sin didn't explained anything when Happy asked him earlier. That definitely has something to do with the pact that Haru signed with Natsu, but Happy didn't. But now Happy won't be able to hear their talking, and Haru really did want to learn about what's going on here.
"You may drop the honorific," Erza noted, she really didn't like that official addressing style.
"If you don't mind, I'd rather keep it for now…" Huru said uncertainly, he felt that excessive familiarity will make this already awkward situation even worse.
Erza sighed but didn't insist, she also felt herself out of place. She learned about essences just a few days ago and yet Natsu assigned her to help Haru. Erza knew about his reasons (she has a fire affinity and Natsu do not), but still she herself was quite uncertain about that she'll be of much help. But she couldn't show her hesitation now – that was an important task that Natsu asked her to perform, she couldn't fail him.
February 26, X785, 18:15, Kingdom of Fiore, Samara desert.
As they were walking, both Haru and Erza could feel increasing heat, which meant that they're getting closer to its source, whatever it actually was. During the walk, Erza almost perfectly recited everything that Natsu and Sin told her about essences, and also added a few things she learned when she returned home and read a few books. Haru was really amazed, he never thought that Igneel's flame actually was so powerful because he consumed and refined several fire essences. Apparently, his way to become strong will require much more than just training and fighting…
"Erza-san," Haru called for fellow dragon slayer, "It seems we've missed it."
"Yeah," Erza nodded, she also felt that heat actually weakened a little, apparently, they passed by its source. They turned around and returned to where the heat felt stronger.
After wandering around here for about twenty minutes, they've determined the hottest zone in the desert. The problem was – there's nothing special around here. Haru looked at she-dragon and asked, "Erza-san, is it possible that what we are looking for is somewhere beneath us?"
"Seems likely," Erza nodded. "Well, there's no point in making guesses, let's check it out," She suggested. "Step aside please," She asked as she knelt and put her arms to the sand.
Haru looked at her questioningly at first, but then he noticed that bright purple lines began to appear from the point where Erza's palms made contact with the sandy surface. Haru quickly realized what she wants to do, and he didn't try to stop her or something as his self-preservation instinct kicked in and he ran for his life, just in time.
"Eru Auera: Warifumi no Keishō!" [El Auela: Runic Crystal] Large, light purple dome made of pure light appeared in the middle of the desert as ground shattered due to Erza's S-rank rune.
"Bwa! Cough! Cough!" Haru coughed as he crawled out from beneath the mound of sand. He perplexedly looked around and noticed Erza, who stood on the edge of a huge crater that she just made with her spell. It was about 500 feet deep as its walls were covered with melted sand. Even though she used it without Ryū no Chikara [Dragon Force], that was still an S-rank spell.
"Hmm…" Erza looked at result of her efforts. "I feel that heat's definitely coming from down there," She noted to herself as she jumped down, to the crater's bottom. "Maybe it's not deep enough? Alright, one more time!" She announced as she again knelt and began to draw a rune.
Haru didn't try to stop her (obviously she won't listen to him), instead he just leaped aside and hid behind the nearest sand dune. Another blinding flash lit up the desert, as loud sound of explosion shook the surroundings. The crater became 900 feet deep. Erza stood at the very bottom of it, she clearly could feel the increase of temperature, but couldn't localize the heat source. However, just as she sighed in disappointment, the ground beneath her feet trembled, and this time it has nothing to do with runes. As Erza leaped aside, a stream of hot gases bursted out from the ground just where she stood a moment ago.
Eruption of hot gases lasted for about two minutes, after which the flow weakened a bit. Strong smell of sulfur spread around. At this moment, Haru left his 'cover' and approached the edge of crater. "Erza-san, look!" She pointed at the bottom of the pit. Erza also noticed this – the point from where hot gases erupted – the stream of gases actually opened an underground passage of sort. Apparently, Erza's rushed and irresponsible actions actually opened a way from the surface to some sort of a network of underground caves. Haru and Erza approached the hole, from which the underground hot gases were still erupting.
There was a completely dark tunnel. This tunnel was clearly extremely long. When their gaze looked over, there was only a profound darkness. Erza could not help but frown when she noticed this situation.
"The heat source is definitely down there…" Haru said uncertainly – are they really have to dive underground?
"We can't turn back now," Erza slowly noted, "There's definitely something weird here…"
The atmosphere in this tunnel contains a lot of sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, as well as carbon oxide and dioxide, whilst the percentage of oxygen is much lower than on the surface. For a human such an environment is deadly, but dragons (and dragon slayers) with fire affinity gonna feel themselves just fine. The most strange thing about that tunnel, however, was ethernano density, which was higher than on surface.
"Looks like there is something unusual down there," Erza softly muttered as her lotus-like irises glowed lightly. The stranger this place was, the greater the chances of it actually possessing a flame essence. For Haru, who had been having a hard time trying to become strong enough to use dragon force, this was undoubtedly an exciting and good piece of news.
"We've come this far, no sense in staying here and staring at this cave," Haru shrugged and jumped down into the tunnel. Erza had the same thoughts, so she followed him. She knew that this trip will be dangerous – underground passages could be unstable – if something goes wrong, they'll be buried alive who-know-how deep beneath the ground. Besides, who knows what may lurk down below? But becoming a real expert is impossible without taking some risks…
February 26, X785, 19:40, Kingdom of Fiore, beneath Samara desert.
Two figures slowly walked within the pitch-black tunnel. Eyes of dragon slayers can see much better than humans' but even they have difficulties determining the right way. As they were unsure of what kind of dangers there were, both maintained an unusual silence. Throughout the journey, other than the faint rustling of their footsteps, everything was quiet. As for the tunnel, it appeared as though it was never ending and no one could see anything at the end.
Despite initially he was quite skeptical, now that he learned that this 'flame essence' actually can help him become much stronger, Haru became very enthusiastic. Especially since there's a good chance that this 'flame essence' is about to appear in front of him. This kind of sudden feeling of anticipation almost caused Haru to tremble in excitement… However, as he looked at his fellow dragon slayer, he noticed that Erza is also trembling slightly, but by her face expression it was obvious that there's actually something not right.
"Erza-san, what's going on?" Fire dragon slayer asked worriedly.
"I'm freezing…" Erza admitted as she trembled again.
"Huh?!" Haru exclaimed as his eyes widened in surprise. As they were walking down, the atmosphere around was gradually becoming hotter and hotter. How come that Erza is trembling due to cold?!
Erza looked at Haru for a moment, thinking about telling him the reason. 'Probably, since he signed a pact with Natsu, there should be no harm in telling him,' She decided. "Apparently, I've inherited the flame essence from Andromeda-san, the dragon who taught me," She explained. "That's a very hot flame that burns on stars' surface. In theory, it should grant me immunity to fire-based magic, but due to my lack of knowledge and experience it actually makes me feel cold when I'm affected with any flame that is magical in nature and colder than my own… I'm sorry," Erza apologized for not being as good of a guide as Natsu hoped (apparently) when he asked her to assist Haru.
"No, no, please, don't apologize!" Haru swung his arms as he felt himself quite uncomfortable when Erza apologized. He really thought that she has nothing to apologize for – she's already making him a huge favor accompanying him in his searches. Wandering here all alone would've been quite depressing, it's really good to have another living being at your side in this situation. However, if she actually feels herself bad… "Erza-san, please, if it hurts, turn back – I'll go on my own," He suggested.
'How noble of you,' Erza thought as she smiled slightly. Well, she already knew that, despite his occasionally bad judgement, Haru actually a good man. But of course she had no intentions to abandon her duty. "No, this is also an experience," She replied, "I feel that I must endure this to better understand the nature of the flame essence that I've inherited, in particular, and the nature of the flame in general. Let's go," She said and headed down the tunnel.
Haru wanted to say a lot of things, but instead he just sighed helplessly and followed the star dragon slayer. He already learned that women's determination must never be underestimated. Besides – aren't Erza's reasons are about the same as his own? Natsu is a genius, if she'll relax for at least a second, she'll fall behind and won't be a reliable partner anymore, wont' be able to stand on equal ground with him – and of course she can't allow this to happen – she must constantly move forward.
Haru's motivation was about the same – the woman he likes is stronger than him (Nelliel already can go into dragon force mode at will, but Haru still cannot). To become her equal, Haru is willing to put his life on the line in attempt to acquire this 'flame essence'.
On the remaining part of the journey, the surrounding fire type energy grew increasingly dense as two dragon slayers went deeper. Although it was more and more hard for Erza to endure the cold, the descent continued. "We're almost there…" Haru noted as, after taking a turnaround another corner, a red colored light appeared at the end of the tunnel a short distance away. Seeing this, his body shivered excitedly as he wiped off the perspiration on his face.
The two people increased their speed for the final stretch. They swiftly passed through this short route and finally arrived at the end of the tunnel. Standing at the end of the tunnel, the two of them watched the fiery, red world in front of them with their faces filled with amazement.
Fiery red magma was slowly flowing within the enormous underground cave. Occasionally, there would be huge bubbles of gas emerging out from within it. A moment later, there would be a soft explosion as the bubbles burst apart. The hot magma would shoot out from within, appearing as a fiery, red, burning blood.
"I didn't expect… that hidden under that small desert, so close to Magnolia, there would be such an amazing place…" Erza pronounced slowly as she again shivered due to cold. The air around here was filled with fire-attuned magic – that sea of lava was very rich with ethernano. This is a perfect place for flame essence to be born.
"Yes, what a majestic underground magma world…" Haru nodded. He also was trembling, but not due to cold or something – he was really excited – his chances of finding a flame essence just went up quite a lot! "What do we do now?" Haru wondered, "Should I… dive into this lava sea?"
"Seems so," Erza nodded. "I'm sorry… but, for now, this is as far as I can go," She apologized.
"Please, stop apologizing!" Haru pleaded. He felt himself quite uncomfortable each time when he heard Erza's apologies. She already is doing much more than she should've.
"Alright," She smiled slightly. "I'll stay here and train, as uncomfortable this environment for me is, it should help me a lot in my training," She said as she sat down and assumed a pose for meditation. "Don't do anything reckless, good luck," She added and closed her eyes.
"Right…" Haru mumbled. 'Not doing anything reckless' wasn't about him, actually. He approached the edge of the cliff and looked down – at the fiery sea of magma. Since he's an heir of the fire dragon, this lava isn't harmful for him. In contrary – he probably can consume it to replenish his magic and stamina. But he still needs to breath from time to time… "Alright, staring at this won't get me anywhere," He said to himself. But just as he was about to jump down into the sea of lava, he thought of something – about his clothes. They're fireproof and can withstand his magic to some extent, but if he's going to swim in lava – his clothes probably won't endure (except for his scarf, of course).
Haru nervously looked at Erza. Undressing in front of a woman he barely knows doesn't sound like a good idea for him… like, at all. For about three minutes he stood still, warily looking at red-haired lady, as if to make sure that she won't be peeking at him. Then, suddenly, he finally realized just how much of a moron he is. This girl, she's meditating, enduring a very harsh and uncomfortable environment to better understand the nature of the flame. She's doing all she can to get stronger, whilst he's thinking about such a petty thing? "Gah!" Haru punched himself in the face (he overdid it a bit, as he knocked himself from feet). But that helped him to throw away all unneeded thoughts. He got back on his feet, quickly removed all of his clothes, except for scaled scarf, which he wrapped around his waist, and jumped into the sea of lava.
"Ugh!" Haru grunted as he fell on the surface of lava. It seems that Igneel never taught him metal science… Apparently, local magma wasn't your common andesite magma – it has very high iron content. As such, its density was about five times higher than density of water, so, instead of diving into the sea of lava Haru just crashed on its surface. His dragonized body could withstand the extreme heat, but his weight was just like of any normal human. "Unexpected issue…" Haru scratched his head, looking at lava beneath himself in puzzlement.
February 26, X785, 23:15, Kingdom of Fiore, underground lake of magma.
It took quite some time for Haru to realize that he actually can use his magic to control magma (to some extent), and to understand how to do it. Finally, after almost three hours of struggling, he started to explore the depths of this magma lake. As he covered his entire body with flame, he was swimming beneath the surface of magma. Even with his dragonized eyes he couldn't see a thing in lava, as such, he has to rely on his other senses to find anomalies in these depths. At the very least, fortunately for him, it seems that there are no some weird creatures lurking here…
Still, since the heat was all around here, it will be quite difficult to sense the source of it. Searches of the flame essence can take a while…
March 2, X785, 4:30, Kingdom of Fiore, underground lake of magma.
Erza still was in deep meditation. Still sitting where she was, she got covered with a layer of ash (which was produced by magma lake below), so from aside it seemed as if she just turned to stone.
Haru, on the other hand, was still looking for the flame essence. Thanks to magma all around him (and high ethernano density), he could easily replenish his magic and stamina, but mentally he was quite exhausted. Here, deep underground, he couldn't say how much time has passed, how long his fruitless searches already lasted. However, just as he began to feel desperate, he found an underground flow of magma that was more hot and more volatile than the rest of the lake.
Haru didn't follow it right now. He already wasted a lot of time here – so being reckless now is senseless, even for him. He returned to the surface and regained his breath first, then gathered his thoughts and dived again. As he again felt that hot and volatile magma, he strained his senses to find the direction from where it is flowing. As he headed that way, the flow of magma was becoming more and more volatile. That find revitalized Haru's hope, which he actually started to lose.
March 2, X785, 5:05, Kingdom of Fiore, underground lake of magma.
'Damn, where is that thing?!' Haru thought worriedly. He can hold breath for about an hour, and he already spent about half an hour beneath the surface of lava lake. He has to return on surface and take a breath, or he may suffocate, and he has to start returning now. However, just as he was about to swim back, he actually felt… something. Not a wave, more like an impulse of sort, that just passed through his body. That impulse carried an extreme stopping force, strong enough to partly dissipate the flame that was coating Harus's body. 'What?' He was startled for a moment. He really needed to get back to surface, but he wasn't sure that he'll be able to find that place again if he'll leave now. For a few seconds contradictive thoughts were tearing him apart, but then, 'Shit, it's now or never!' He decided and rushed to the depths, towards the source of that impulse.
He was swimming for about ten minutes, and just when situation was about to become dire (he began to feel urge to breath), suddenly, a bright white light hit his eyes, right through Haru's closed eyelids. At the same time, he literally fell out from magma to… somewhere. It took about one minute for his eyes to more or less adapt to this bright light. As his vision more or less returned, Haru perplexedly looked around. He found himself inside of spherical place (about half a mile in diameter), surrounded by boiling magma, but not a drop of it could get inside… no, more like it was afraid to get inside. What's even more surprising – Haru actually could breathe here. Temperature of the surrounding air also was relatively low – about 200 °C.
As his eyes got more used to bright white light, with which that strange sphere was filled, Haru was able to get a better look at what was in the middle of it. I large white amaryllis flower (about 3 feet in diameter), made of pure white flame, was calmly, gracefully floating at the very center of the sphere, radiating white light. Haru's heart shipped a beat (or maybe even two) as he got excited.
He made a deep breath to calm down. Now, when he finally found something, he can't screw up due to reckless and rushed actions. He remembered – before they parted, Sin let him examine a certain scroll where several types of flame were described (though Sin only showed him a part with normal flame essences, not divine ones, to not make him overexcited). Fire dragon slayer remembered every word from that scroll. Also, Haru was told to not attempt anything if the essence will appear to be of higher rank than eighteen, no matter what. High-ranked essences will burn him to ash despite his fire dragon legacy. But the essence in front of him was № 21 – White Amaryllis Explosive Flame Essence. And although he hoped for it to be rank nineteen or twenty, he wasn't really disappointed or something. In contrary – he was very excited – this actually is a flame essence, the real one!
Logically speaking – the lower rank of the essence – the better it for starters, as even the lowest rank essence is still a flame essence, with all its benefits for fire magic users. On the other hand, the estimated chance of success with rank seventeen essence, if Haru will attempt to refine it with his current level of strength, is about 10%, i.e. chance that rank seventeen essence will consume Haru himself, instead of him consuming the essence, is about 90% – this is why he was strictly prohibited from attempting anything higher than rank eighteen. Though, even with rank eighteen the chance of success is about 30%... Haru was reckless and somewhat arrogant, but not that much to play with certain death. As such, he decided that his best options are ranks from twenty-two to nineteen. Thus, with this rank twenty-one essence, he just won a jack pot. His chance of successfully refine it is about 65%. That's still a big risk, of course, but anyone who wishes power must take risks.
Haru looked around again. 'So, this is essence's domain, huh?' He thought as he again examined his surroundings. Normal flame isn't allowed here… "Alright, let's try it!" Haru shouted bellicosely. "Damn, I feel like some pervert…" He added as he tried to adjust his clothes and remembered that he doesn't have them. Being naked (except for scarf) was making Haru quite uncomfortable… but this isn't important now.
Haru jumped up and flew towards the essence, but just as he approached, the flower made of white flame trembled and shot a pure white fireball at Haru. Fire dragon slayer had no chances to avoid it in jump, besides, he was taken by complete surprise. The fireball hit him and immediately exploded, as Haru shot backward and flew out of the sphere, submerging back into magma.
'WTF?!' Haru thought as he didn't even realize what exactly happened. He quickly covered himself with flame and rushed forth, to not let the flow of magma to drag him away from the essence. At the same time, he was assessing the damage he got from the attack. That white flame was of quite low temperature (about 400 °C), however, when the fireball hit Haru, he felt as if he got hit by a cannonball. Apparently, that white flame has very high density, in other word it is 'heavy'. But of course, the explosion produced by the fireball hurt much more than the impact. 'What a peculiar flame… this is an explosive flame, alright,' Fire dragon slayer thought. Haru again entered into the essence domain. And just as he appeared, another fireball was shot at him.
This time Haru was ready and avoided the attack, however, as fireball reached the edge of the domain and exploded, and resulting blastwave reached Haru. Actually, Sin warned him that such a thing may happen. Unlike Divine Flame essence, common essence doesn't have a real consciousness, but it still has a beast-like self-preservation instinct.
'It seems that to consume it I have to beat this thing up first,' Fire dragon slayer realized. "Alright, that's where fun begins!" He announced – Haru would never turn down a fight with a worthy foe. "Karyū no Hōkō!" [Fire Dragon's Roar] Haru quickly created a huge quantity of flames and released it in form of a focused stream, targeting the flower. Several months of intense training didn't go in vain – Haru's fire became much more condensed yet much quicker at the same time.
The fire stream quickly reached the flower, creating a massive firestorm. However, the firestorm quickly began to die out, and Haru's orange flame completely disappeared within just a few second as a white flower appeared completely unperturbed. "Huh?!" Haru exclaimed – he didn't understand what happened. "That thing… consumed my flames?!" He speculated. Usually, he's the one who can devour other flames, so seeing his own flame being devoured actually startled him… However, he had no time to think about it as flower made of white flame elicited a loud sizzing sound and shot several fireballs at Haru. Apparently, until now, the flame essence just wanted to kick an intruder out of its domain, but Haru's attack actually made it angry…
"Oh shit!" Haru quickly coated himself with flames and jumped into magma that was around the sphere, in hope that it will mitigate the blastwaves, but magma suddenly became volatile and formed a powerful stream that quickly threw Haru back into the domain, exposing him to the attack. "GAAAAAH!" Haru screamed as he's been hit with three consecutive explosions, whilst dense and volatile magma didn't let him to be thrown out of flame essence's domain.
But Haru definitely wasn't among those who give up easily. 'Let's try something different,' He decided, "Karyū no Kenkaku!" [Fire Dragon's Sword Horn] Haru lighted his entire body ablaze and tried to attack the target with a headbutt at high speed. Haru thought that he can utilize the physical attack. However, just as he approached the flower, the flame that was coating him went out of control – instead of propelling Haru forth it made him to almost freeze in mid-air, turning him into an easy target. "HUUUGH!" Haru almost fainted due to excruciating pain as white flower attacked him with a stream of white flame, which almost crushed Haru under its weight and then almost tore him apart with powerful blast. "No! I won't back down!" Haru shouted, "Metsuryū Ōgi: Guren Bakuenjin!" [Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade] He swiped his arms in a circular fashion, creating a powerful and highly destructive torrent of flames that attempted to barrage his target.
But even before Haru's spell could reach the target, it actually changed its direction and turned around, as Haru's orange flame gradually became white. Common magical flame is powerless against the flame essence – the essence subdued Haru's flame and turned it into its own. "Oh fuck!" Haru screamed, but he still was in mid-air, so he had no chances to avoid his own spell that was redirected back at him. His own dragon slayer's secret art, drastically empowered by the flame essence, crashed down on him with full force.
'What the… damn it… I can't see anything…' Haru thought. His consciousness was lingering in the dark gray nowhere, apparently, he was knocked out by the last attack of the flame essence. 'All my strength is gone…' He couldn't muster any power. 'Damn it… Am I really so pathetic?' He thought. 'How am I supposed to beat something that is immune to fire?' Haru complained to himself.
Suddenly, a red-orange glow lit up the gray surroundings. "Haru…" A hoarse and low voice called for fire dragon slayer.
'Huh?!' Haru actually recognized that voice, despite he didn't hear it for more than seven years.
"Haru. What's the matter? Your pathetic control over flame finally backfired at you?" The voice asked, with quite mocking expression.
'Father…? But I… My flame is…' Haru tried to justify himself, but an owner of the voice didn't listen.
"And with such an awful control over flame, you dare to call yourself the Child of Igneel? Some flower controls flame better than you!" An image of a huge red dragon appeared in Haru's mind and continued to mock him.
'But it's the flame essence! Common flame can't…' Haru complained once more but Igneel interrupted him again.
"You should not allow your feelings to get better of you. You mustn't lose faith in your own power! You're human, not some animal! Use your mind! That thing acts only on instincts, yet you allowed it to outsmart you?!" Igneel continued to scold his foster son. "You are the dragon slayer! Do not forget the pride that comes with that title! And never forget that I am, Igneel, is with you!"
The Igneel's image faded, but predatory smile beamed on Haru's face, 'Yes, father, I remember…' As he thought that, his body elicited an impulse, and dark gray surroundings were shattered. Haru appeared inside of magma, as its flow was slowly dragging him away from flame essence's domain, towards the bottom of that sea of lava. That place should've become a tomb for Haru.
"Not a chance!" Haru shouted as his body once again became coated with fire, but this time it wasn't the orange flame he always uses, but dark red flame that felt violent and extremely powerful. A draconian tattoo appeared on his arm, apparently it served as the physical manifestation of Igneel's gift. All surrounding magma trembled, as if it got scared of Haru, but he ignored it. With immense speed he rushed forth and barged into flame essence's domain once again. Without slowing down, Haru rushed right at the white flower, preparing a spell, "Enryūō no Rengoku!" [Flame Dragon King's Purgatory] Haru released a huge amount of fire all over his body, and poured it down on the flower made of white flame.
As it felt an incoming attack, the flower trembled and covered itself with a spherical shield made of white flame. Apparently, the dark-red flame that Haru is using now scared the essence quite a bit. That flame wasn't Haru's, that flame was the one he inherited from his father (at least Haru thought so), and he knew that its amount is finite. As such, he can't always rely on it – he must improve his own flame – about that Haru was perfectly aware. For that task Haru needs this White Amaryllis Explosive Flame Essence. And he's going to use his father's flame to conquer that essence!
As a mass of dark red flame crashed down on the flower, it elicited a hissing sound. Apparently, it was suppressed by the attack. As it seemed – Igneel's flame essence was of higher rank than White Amaryllis Explosive Flame. Most likely it was a mix of at least two essences (probably of three), but, according to some distinct peculiarities of the flame, the strongest of them was the Fallen King Flame – rank fourteen flame essence. That dark red flame was extremely hot and tyrannical.
Of course, one attack wasn't enough to subdue the defiant natural phenomenon, as red flame from Haru's attack has been dissipated. But Haru not only got temporal access to his father's flame, Igneel's voice (imagined or real one, doesn't matter) greatly uplifted Haru's combat spirit.
The flower made of white flame shot a stream of white fire at Haru. Though scared of Haru's newfound power, it definitely wasn't about to give up without a fight. But Haru met the flower's attack head-on, "Enryūō no Kaheki!" [Flame Dragon King's Fire Wall] Haru breathed out a stream of dark red flame that took shape of a dense fire wall.
Two streams of different flames clashed, but white flame quickly died out. It was completely suppressed by Haru, not only because his flame was of higher grade, but also because he could control his flame much better now. Though, his control over flame become better not due to sudden growth of his skill, but due to his current mental state…
"Enryūō no Hōkō!" [Flame Dragon King's Roar] Haru gathered dark red flames in his mouth and released them in a large and destructive blast. Fire dragon slayer's attack came crashing down on flower, and its white flame was partly blown away, revealing something like half transparent white glass. "Huh?" Haru was surprised a bit – apparently, this flower wasn't made purely of white flame, actually its petals were made of this white glass-like material. 'Is this… a crystalized flame?' He wondered.
But whilst Haru was curiously examining those petals, the flower suddenly dashed away from him. "You want to escape?!" Haru shouted as he saw the flower's attempt to dive into lava, "Not a chance! Enryūō no Hōken!" [Flame Dragon King's Destruction Fist] Haru charged his fist, releasing a huge amount of fire, and also coated his feet with flames, and propelled himself towards the escaping flame essence.
BAM! Haru caught up with the flower almost at the edge of the essence's domain, and smashed his flame-covered fist into it. The flower made a layer of flame to protect itself, but Haru's attack broke through and his fist threw the flower back towards the middle of domain. "Let's finish this!" Haru announced, gathering a huge amount of dark-red flame in both of his arms, "Enryūō no Kōen!" [Flame Dragon King's Brilliant Flame] Haru charged up a ball of dark-red fire from his palms, focused the blast in the direction of the flame essence, and fired it akin to a meteor. Already weakened white flower couldn't avoid this attack and Haru scored a direct hit. The dark-red flame caused a massive explosion that resulted in a very hot and destructive blastwave, even the magma that surrounds the domain was forced away from domain's border.
When dark-red flame died out, the flower appeared lifeless. Several petals have cracked, and no traces of white flame could be seen on those petals. Only the middle of the flower was still glowing.
Haru cautiously approached the white flower, but it didn't move an inch. As he confirmed that flower won't attack him anymore, the dragon slayer curiously looked inside of the bud, to where from a glow was coming. "This is…" Haru mumbled as he found a wisp of white-colored lava-like liquid that was squirming in the middle of the bud. 'A seed of the essence!' Haru thought – he quickly realized that this is exactly what he needs. Not the flower, but this small wisp of flame is the essence itself. But as Haru tried to grab it with his hand, he felt a huge pressure – that small essence actually contained an immense amount of energy – Haru realized that it can't be taken just like that, with bare hands.
Actually, the simple method was to just take the entire flower to the surface – in its current state it is not dangerous. However, even though Haru was quite ignorant about essences and stuff like that, he realized that taking the entire flower from here will be quite a barbaric act. If he'll take it to the surface, this flower will eventually crumble and disappear. But here, surrounded by hot magma, within hundred or so years, another wisp of flame will be born, and this beautiful burning flower will bloom once more.
"But how can I store it safely…?" Haru was thinking aloud. But then, he suddenly got an idea – Igneel's scarf! It made of a real fire dragon's scale – of course it should withstand even the pressure from a flame essence! Haru took the scaled scarf and attempted to catch the wisp of flame. It wasn't an easy task as the essence tried to escape several times, but after about twenty minutes of fruitless attempts, Haru managed to wrap his scarf around the essence.
Only then Haru noticed that lava around the domain actually became quite volatile. Apparently, without the seed of essence, magma was no longer 'afraid' of this place – soon this sphere will be flooded. But this was no longer matter, Haru looked at the white flower for the last time, then grabbed his scarf tightly, made a deep breath and rushed into magma, without waiting until this domain crumble.
March 2, X785, 12:10, Kingdom of Fiore, beneath Samara desert.
At last, after almost an hour of swimming through magma, Haru appeared on lava lake's surface. The draconic tattoo on Haru's body disappeared, but he no longer need to borrow his father's flame – all he need now is to refine the flame essence he captured.
Holding his scarf as if it's the most precious treasure in the world, Haru climbed to the shore. As he approached the place where he parted with Erza, he actually was quite amazed as he saw a completely gray, statue-like being. Actually, it was Erza, covered with dense layer of ash, and Haru really was impressed with depth of her meditation – since ash covered her whole, this means that she was completely unmoving all this time.
However, just as Haru was thinking what to do (interrupting other's meditation counts as a very bad tone), she herself opened her eyes. Apparently, even in her state, she felt some pressure from the essence that Haru was holding wrapped in his scarf. She looked around for several moments before her sight focused on Haru. "You're back? Did you succeed?" She asked as she stood up and used her magic to dispose of the ash that was covering her.
"Yes!" Haru announced joyfully as he raised his scarf, "It's inside!"
"Wonderful," Erza smiled as she came closer and looked at the scarf, but she didn't ask Haru to unwrap it and show the essence to her. This is the wrong place to do so – without isolating properties of the scarf, the pressure from the essence can destabilize this cave and it may collapse on the two of them. Honestly, Erza had her doubts about Haru's ability to capture the essence, and she was glad that her doubts appeared to be in vain.
"Seriously, it was nothing I couldn't handle!" Haru laughed, he seemed very satisfied with himself.
"Very good," Erza shook her head. "But remember, this was an easy part – refining this essence will be a real challenge," She warned.
"No problem!" Haru bragged as he showed a thumb up.
Erza looked around once again – actually, she also got some benefits from deep meditation during last three days in this hostile environment. She definitely made some progress in comprehension of nature of a flame. Now she was feeling herself less uncomfortable than when she just came here. But still, there are much better place for training. "Come on, let's go," She addressed Haru. "To refine the essence, you need a place where no one can disturb you, and I know a perfect place for you," She invited him. Since Haru and Nelliel made a pact with Natsu, they both were allowed to enter his Sphere of Inverted Reflections. "But first, before we leave this place, dress up please," She asked calmly.
Only now Haru realized that he actually is still naked after swimming in lava, "GAAH!"
And that's it for now, see you in the next chapter!