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kofi.c om (slash) christophernagura

Devin Devin: Well, it's actually based on the monsters he fights, most of them aren't at his level, but I do admit that I make it seem like he's struggling a tad bit at a few of them.

NPrime: Will probably need to go through that. It's an interesting concept, but it definitely disrupts the entire story as a whole.

Robert (Guest): Aiz is NOT in love with Natsu, she's admiring his strength. I apologise if it seems like she's enamoured by him, but she's not. It'll take a long time before that happens.

Not-BCCHP7: I highly appreciate it dude. I genuinely didn't know this and from all the other FanFic stories I've read, all of them have used "brunette" for both males and females. I thank you.

Chapter 10: The Blacksmith's Request!

Location: Guild's Headquarters (Private Room)

"…Are you listening to me, Natsu?" a brunette with elongated ears asked as she stared at the pinket before her with narrowed eyes.

"Uh, yeah I am." Natsu responded with an awkward smile on his face as he sat on his knees, shifting his body uncomfortably to the unfamiliar position that he was currently in.

"Good, now where was I… Ah right, didn't I mention it before that whenever you find yourself up against a dangerous monster by yourself, you are to NOT engage in fighting it, and-" The Dragon Slayer couldn't help but zone everything else out of his mind as he thought about the situation he was in now.

It had been only a few hours since he managed to defeat the Irregular Infant Dragon that was roaming around the streets

It was safe to say that he didn't get off scot-free as the half-elf soon found out about him being the one responsible for fighting the Irregular and it immediately led to him being lectured for what seemed like the umpteenth time since he first became an Adventurer.

'I can understand that she's worried about me and all, but she doesn't have to make it seem like I'm so fragile that I'd die from fighting monsters.' He thought unhappily to himself.

It reminded him of the times when Master Makarov and Erza used to lecture him when he was younger about going on missions which were way above his level and the consequences of doing so.

Well he wasn't a kid anymore damn it! He was a man!

"Natsu! Are you listening to me?"

"Yes ma'am!" The so-called 'man' squeaked out in response as the brunette continued with her lecture for the next hour or so.

After somehow managing to calm his advisor down, with the help of her fellow guild worker who had entered the room, the roset stretched his arms out and sighed as he began walking through the city that was currently being repaired. While the damage had been cut down to a bare minimum due to the quick actions of the adventurers who were in the city, there were a couple of locations, especially near the entrance of the Colosseum which needed fixing.

As he walked through the city he noticed a familiar brunette walking through the streets while carrying a box in her hands.

"Hey there Naaza!" the pinket greeted as he walked up to his partner who turned back at the sound of someone calling her name as she placed the box down on the ground and greeted him back.

"Where were you the entire time? I was waiting for you yet you didn't show up at all." The chienthrope all but pouted as she stared at him while the Dragon Slayer bowed apologetically at her.

"Sorry about that, I was planning on heading over but I was just… caught up in something." He said, intentionally not mentioning about the fight he had with the monster, so as to not worry her.

"You mean you had to fight an Irregular monster that had wandered in the streets?" Natsu's eyes widened in shock when he heard that.

"Wait a minute, how did you-"

"Rumours spread around Orario faster than you expect you know." She said before sighing to herself as she recalled hearing the people talk to themselves about the incident.

After all, it was no ordinary one. While the sheer thought of monsters roaming around the streets was terrifying, it was different when compared to Irregulars. This is because most Irregulars were born with the ability to think, which made them more frightening than regular monsters.

And the moment she heard about a pink haired adventurer who was capable of using flames, she just knew there could only be one.

"I dislike the fact that I'm not surprised that you'd somehow be caught up in something like this again." Natsu couldn't help but rub the back of his head sheepishly as she said that.

Guess he couldn't deny that.

"Uhh, I'm sorry?" He apologised as he internally winced at the way things were going.

He really didn't want to be lectured for a SECOND time within a couple of minutes. That wouldn't be fair to him at all!

Almost as if she understood what he was thinking, the girl sighed,

"I'm not mad at you… I was just concerned, that's all." Naaza said as she bit her lip and tightly grasped her left arm… the very same arm she had lost in the past after a trip to the Dungeon.

While she had somewhat overcome her fear of the monsters from the Dungeon thanks to the pinkette, but that hadn't meant that all the trauma and pain she had experienced that day had vanished entirely.

If anything, now that she had a partner again, it reinforced the idea that she needed to be extra careful to ensure that the both of them would be safe after each venture down there. After all, the Dungeon is known to be alive and aware.

"I just… don't want to recall that feeling ever again…" she trailed off softly as she looked down in shame, but due to his enhanced hearing, he was able to pick it up and frowned.

It would seem like he had misunderstood her intentions. Of course she would feel that way.

It was only understandable considering she had lost her friends that day.

'After all, it was the same way for me.' Natsu clenched his fists, recalling the day Lisanna had died.

Ever since that incident occurred, the Dragon Slayer had blamed himself for her death, blamed himself for being weak, for not pushing Mirajane further about letting him join them in their mission.

It was always a regret he harboured deep inside his heart.

Which was why, after that day, he would always train himself to the point he had overworked himself if only to ensure that he would never have to experience such a feeling ever again.

Though by doing so, it had only worried the rest of the guild, and it took the combined efforts of Erza and Makarov to stop him. However, the person who was able to snap him back to reality had been Mirajane herself who slapped him in the face; yelling at him about how Lisanna would never want him to do such a thing before breaking down in tears.

Upon seeing such a sight belonging to one of the strongest woman in the guild, caused him to reduce his training regime and try to return to how he was normally, as difficult as it was. Eventually years had passed and he was able to move on.

Though that hadn't meant he forgot about how he felt that day, and he should have realised that the girl was probably experiencing the same thing.

The pinkette then walked up to the girl and placing a hand on her head causing her to slowly look up at him.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Naaza."

"I-it's fine, you don't need to-"

"I know what it's like to lose someone important to you, especially in a fight for survival." He said with a wry smile as Naaza's eyes widened in shock as she immediately quieted down after seeing the sombre look on her partner's face.

"She was the first person who accepted me and was my first best friend, and I was only able to change after meeting her. Perhaps it was for that fact that it was more painful knowing I couldn't be by her side in her final moments…"

'Would things have ended up differently if I had been there?' Such thoughts used to plague his mind, but even he couldn't give a definitive answer to that. But one thing was certain-

"I know I can't convince you with words but I can definitely say one thing." The pinkette then placed a hand on his chest.

"That I promise that I'll never let you feel that way ever again. I promise." Natsu said determinedly as he stared straight into her amethyst orbs, each word he uttered were laced with honesty in order to prove to the girl just how serious he was.

"You know, saying stuff like that makes you sound like a narcissist you know?" The brunette cracked a smile as she began giggling slightly to which the pinkette responded with a smile on his face while he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

The chienthrope slowly turned away from the pinkette in order to hide her face, with her cheeks tinted with red.

'I thought I had feelings for Lord Miach, so why…?' She slowly placed a hand to her chest.

So why was it that his words were able to tug her heart strings the way it did?

That was when, Natsu turned to the side and noticed the large number of boxes "Hey, how about I help you carry that?" the pinkette offered and when he received a nod, he proceeded to pick them up without any struggles whatsoever.

The two then began walking through the city while chatting with one another.

"So, how was the festival?" The Dragon Slayer decided to ask and the girl responded with a deadpan look on her face.

"Well…" the girl gestured him to look around her to stare at the numerous damaged stands behind her as well as the miserable looks on the owners' face.

"It ended up in disaster, as you can see." Natsu could only chuckle uneasily when he witnessed this.

According to Eina, it hadn't been just the Irregular Infant Dragon that had been causing chaos within Orario, it was numerous monsters. Though, fortunately they weren't able to cause as much chaos as predicted due to the quick actions of numerous adventurers.

However, the event still played in everyone's minds and nobody, not even the Ganesha Familia who were in charge of the event, knew what happened or why it occurred the way it did. Apparently, the guards who was in charge of watching over the monsters was knocked out but even he didn't know who did it, so the only responsible for the chaos managed to get away scot-free, though the guild were still on the lookout for any suspicious character around the area.

The pinkette couldn't help but wonder what the culprit's intention had been when they decided to cause chaos within the city.

Though unknown to him, he had been the main reason why there had been a riot in the first place. However that'll be a story for another day.

"Well other than that, we managed to sell more potions than we ever have in the past few months, so I guess that can be counted as a success." Naaza pointed out.

"That's good to hear." Natsu responded and upon seeing the dark blue hair God, the two began walking towards him.

While it may not have been the most memorable Monsterphillia for all of Orario, at the very least they were able to look at the bright side.

Location: The Dungeon (10th Floor)

The Dragon Slayer was currently walking down the stairs of the Dungeon and as he stared at the thick smoke surrounding the area, an excited grin on his face.

A few days had passed since the Colosseum incident and currently the Dragon Slayer was in the Dungeon, all by himself as Naaza told him about how they were a bit busier after promoting themselves during Monsterphillia.

Of course Natsu was perfectly alright with this as he didn't want to force the girl to come along with him when she had to help out her own Familia.

Besides, while the two were partners who'd go down to the Dungeon together, that didn't mean they needed to do that every time.

Another reason was because he wanted to dive in all by himself.

As much as he appreciated having someone with him, there were times he just wanted to rush straight into a horde of monsters and just battle it out with them.

The Dragon Slayer suddenly stops walking and a smirk begins to form on his face.

"Alright, it's time to get this show on the road!" That was when four Imps lunged at him through the smoke, however, because of his enhanced smell, he wasn't caught off guard by this and was able to retaliate by sending a punch at one of them, causing it to disappear into dust, before jumping back to avoid the attacks of the remaining three.

Natsu immediately charged in towards the monsters as he grabbed one of their legs before tossing it over to another Imp who was about to jump at him again. This gave him the opportunity to strike at the last Imp who cried out in pain before disappearing.

The Dragon Slayer quickly rushed in to finish off the last two Imps who both vanished into dust.

Due to the commotion he was causing, more monsters began to spawn in front of him as Natsu smirked as he inhaled some air.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" The rosette fired out a torrent of flames at the enemies in front of him, killing them all in an instant as they cried out in pain before they were engulfed in the sea of flames.

The monsters all disappeared into dust and the only thing they left behind were their cores which dropped to the ground with a soft thunk.

Natsu sighed to himself as he walked over to the scattered magic stones on the ground, the Dragon Slayer couldn't help but think to himself, 'Now that I think about it, I should probably ask Eina if she'd allow me to go further down the Dungeon. As much as facing a horde of monsters is fun, but dealing with the same ones each day can be a bore.' The pinkette thought to himself as he picked up the purple crystals from the ground and placed them in his pouch.

Initially he had planned on asking the half-elf sooner, but since Naaza had joined him on his excursions, he decided to take it easy and slow in consideration of the brunette who had a fear of the Dungeon.

He didn't want to force her into going further into the Dungeon with him for that reason alone. Though, perhaps it would be fine if he could go down by himself?

'Well I'll just think about it another day.'

However, as he was busy collecting the stones…

"Ahhhhhh!"

Natsu's eyes immediately widened when he heard the scream and turned towards that direction before running towards it. It took him a short while but he finally arrived at the scene before he notices someone, most presumably an adventurer, on the ground surrounded by monsters.

After witnessing this, the rosette immediately rushed to action.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" With his fists engulfed in flames, the Dragon Slayer sent a fiery punch at the closest monster, which caused it to vanish into thin air.

This caused the other monsters which were surrounding the downed figure to turn their attention to the pink haired male who had a smug look on his face.

"Yo, it looks like you're having fun. How about letting me join?" The monsters all began to charge at in response to the man's taunts, enraged that someone was disrupting them of their meal.

A Hard-Shelled Armadillo immediately curled up and began rolling towards him while the two Orcs behind it lifted up nearby trees and charged at him as well.

After dealing with them plenty of times, Natsu immediately reached out to grab the monster and with the gauntlets receding the pain, the monster was put to a hold before the Dragon Slayer tossed it over towards a nearby Orc who fell from the momentum.

Meanwhile the other Orc slammed the tree down towards him, but he easily managed to rotate his body to the side and avoid it before slamming his fist directly to its face causing it to cry out in pain before he finished it off with a kick.

Using that as an opportunity the Armadillo cried out as it lunged at him, ready to swipe at the pinkette who had already noticed its movement before he crossed his arms to block the attack before slamming his elbow to its back causing it to crash to the ground before it disappeared after a powerful kick.

Turning his attention to the final monster who looked worried after watching its comrade's fall, it hesitated to charge at the Dragon Slayer.

Unfortunately for it, the pinkette held no sympathy for it as he charged straight towards it.

"This is the end!" Natsu slammed his right arm at the green monster causing it to cry in pain as it fell back before it slowly disappeared into nothingness, leaving behind a magic stone in its place.

"Phew, now that was a close one…" Natsu muttered as he wiped off the dust from his clothes and turned over to the direction where the adventurer was. Due to the thick smoke surrounding him, the pinkette couldn't tell the man's features at first glance as he walked up to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" Natsu called out, waiting for the other male to respond as he began walking over towards his direction.

As he got closer, his appearance was soon made clear for the pinkette.

He was a man, who looked to be a year older than him, with spiky red hair and a pair of blue eyes. He was wearing a black kimono with a dark blue undershirt and wrapped around his neck was a blue scarf.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I would have gotten killed had it not been for you." He said gratefully as he pushed himself up from the ground before wiping off the dust from his clothes.

"You have to be careful, some of the monsters around here are much tougher than they look."

"I realised that, you don't need to tell me twice, uh-" the redhead stared at him confusedly as Natsu pointed at himself.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel." The Dragon Slayer introduced himself.

"Name's Welf Crozzo, it's nice to meet you!" the blacksmith now revealed as Welf greeted with a toothy smile as he extended his arm out to Natsu to which the pinkette responded by doing the same.

That was when loud roars could be heard throughout the floor as a sweat drop formed on both male's head.

"As much as I'd like to, we should probably head back up if we're going to talk." Natsu pointed out.

"Yeah, we should head back up before we encounter any other monsters." With that, the two of them walked back up to the surface so that they'd be able to carry on their conversation.

Location: Guild (Lounge)

After trading in the magic stones that he had collected for the day, both Natsu and Welf decided to sit at a nearby chair and talk."

"I know I said this before, but thank you again for your help. I don't think I would have made it through that ordeal had it not been for you." The redhead said as the Dragon Slayer waved it off.

"Don't worry about it, in times of trouble we have to help each other out right?" he smiled toothily as the blacksmith stared at him in shock.

Most of the adventurers he had met would always prioritise in two things, money and getting stronger. It was absurd to hear someone talk about helping one another when it was normal for people to leave you behind.

A smile slowly formed on the redhead's face as he stared at the pinkette.

"Yeah, you're right!"

With that, the two began talking with each other in regards to their experiences as adventurers, with Welf telling the Dragon Slayer about being in the Hephaestus Familia, but not making much earnings due to some issues he had. While all Natsu could tell him was…

"Hold on, you've only been an adventurer for a month?!" Welf exclaimed in shock as Natsu nodded his head.

"Yeah, and I was planning to consult with my advisor if she'd let me head over to the Middle Floors. The monsters in the Lower Floors haven't been as fun to fight against anymore." The pinkette sighed to himself as the redhead could only stare at him in shock.

It was rare to find adventurers who were able to quickly adapt to the monsters in the Dungeon. In most cases, it would usually take a couple of months before they were finally able to conquer the first ten floors all by themselves. Usually it took a group of new adventurers together to be able to venture down to the seventh floor, yet he was now sitting next to a new adventurer who could head to the 10th floor all by himself.

It was astounding!

But before he said anything that was when he noticed the Dragon Slayer wearing a familiar piece of armour.

"Hold on a minute, you're wearing my armour?!" Welf yelled as he got up, surprising Natsu in the process as he jolted back.

"H-huh?"

'Now that I think about it, the blacksmith who made this armour was someone named Welf…'

"I guess I am." Natsu said as he placed his hand on the arm guards he was wearing.

"Yeah, when they told me that someone bought my armour, I was absolutely ecstatic." He admitted rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before turning over to the pinkette with a serious expression.

"So how was it?"

"Yeah, I normally don't fight with any armour, but it's really useful whenever I fight. It's light and it doesn't hinder my speed." Natsu said as the redhead sighed in relief.

This was after all, the first time he was able to sell his equipment to anyone considering that the people from the shops would always place his armour at an obscure location.

"It was definitely handy against the monster at the surface." If he hadn't been wearing any armour just like how it was in Earthland, the Dragon Slayer was certain that the fight would have been much different.

"Wait a minute, you're the guy that defeated the Irregular monster in the city?" Welf asked in shock and the Dragon Slayer nodded with a proud look on his face.

"That's right." Though that was when Welf placed both his hands on the pinkette's shoulders, "Please make a contract with me!"

"A contract?" Natsu asked in confusion as he tilted his head to the side.

The redhead nodded his head, "Yeah, what that means is I'll personally work for you and make weapons, armours or whatever you want. In fact you don't even need to pay me for any of them." He explained as the Dragon Slayer's eyes widened in shock when he heard this.

"Wait really? Are you sure about that?" Natsu asked in shock. After all, while he had been to the weapons shop with Eina a week ago, he had also followed Erza whenever she was out doing her shopping for new armours or repair work, and he knew first-hand at how expensive it was.

To think he was willing to throw away the opportunity to earn money.

Welf nodded his head determinedly, "Yeah, it's a bit of a long story, but basically there's something I want you to help me with."

"Yeah sure, what do you need me to do?" Natsu asked curiously. After all, the man was practically willing to not earn any money for this.

"I want you to party with me." The redhead said as he placed a hand on his chest.

The Dragon Slayer would have expected that he was joking with him, but one look into the blacksmith's eyes, he knew he wasn't joking.

"If you don't mind me asking, but why?"

"Well, you see, like other adventurers, I also head down to the Dungeon as well, but-"

"So you frequently head down to the Dungeon by yourself?" He interjected.

Welf rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah I can't seem to defeat the monsters here on my own. So I'm always trying to find people to work with in order to get here, but it happens less often than I would like."

"Why not team up with someone if you couldn't handle them by your own?" He questioned as the blacksmith scratched his head in annoyance.

"Yeah, I've been trying to find someone to team up with, but every single time I ask the Guild, they always told me that there were none available." Welf sighed, recalling the numerous times when he walked up to the counter only to be told the same things over and over again.

This revelation surprised Natsu as he compared it to Earthland where everyone was willing to aide each other unless they had something to do that day. To think it was harder to find people to partner

"That's why please let me partner up with you, Natsu. You're the only one I can ask." Welf pleaded as he grasped his hands together.

Natsu scratched his head as he thought about it for a second. While he saw no real reason to refuse him, he wondered about Naaza and whether she'd be alright with it.

"Well, before I can give you an affirmation, I'd need to ask my partner if she'd be okay with it."

"Your partner?"

"Yeah, I'm also partnering with someone else, but because she was busy, she couldn't join me today." Natsu explained as Welf nodded his head in understanding.

"So right now it's just the two of you?" The Dragon Slayer nodded his head.

"I see…"

"I'll let her know about this later but I don't think there'll be a problem anyways." He said as the redhead nodded his head.

"Well then if that's the case…" Welf then got up from his seat and shot a toothy grin at the Dragon Slayer as he extended his hand out towards him, "This might be early of me to say, but thanks for having me in your party, Natsu."

Natsu stared at the limb for a bit before standing up and reaching out towards it with a smile of his own, "It's no problem."

The two grasped each other's hand with a smile on their faces.

End Chapter

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kofi.c om (slash) christophernagura