A/N: Welcome to my first attempt at a novel in many years. I've been thinking about writing a story for quite some time now and after finishing the Manga some time ago, felt the time was about right to give this a go. To preface, this story will be mainly centred on the FT universe, though will contain many references and possibly some crossover elements with various games and TV shows. The OC will most likely have a relationship down the line, though I've not decided with who yet, so I'm open to suggestions. So without further ado, let's begin this adventure.

Speech Key:

"Normal Speech"

"Thoughts"

"Large Creature/Booming Voice"

"LOUD SPEECH"

Magical Abilities

The chaos of the battlefield surrounded him, friend and foe alike fighting for their lives in a war where death was the only victor. He fell to his knees, exhausted by the throes of battle; darkness began to cloud his vision…"Devlin… DEVLIN!"

He sprung from his sleep in a cold sweat, eyes wild with panic at the recurring nightmare, taking a few moments to collect himself; he soon recalled where he was. "That dream again kid?" A raspy voice called to him from the corner of their camp. "Heh… I wouldn't exactly call that a dream Larius, there was a severe lack of dancing girls". The man, now identified as Larius, sniggered as he adjusted his hood slightly to shield his eyes from the dawning sun, and using magic, ignited a small spark on the tip of his thumb, lighting his smoking pipe. "Never gets any easier does it…" he said to Devlin in between drags of his pipe. "Wouldn't be any fun if it did", he replied as he began to stretch, the morning sun revealing his scarred form as he stood up. Devlin was a tall man in his mid-twenties, various scars adorning his torso and arms; he has eye length spiky dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a short beard the same colour of his hair. "Gonna head to the stream and cool off before we head out, I'll see if the traps caught anything while I'm there" Devlin said to Larius, which earned a slight nod in response.

Arriving at the stream, Devlin splashed his face with water, the coolness both calming and refreshing him. After taking a few moments to have a quick wash, he set about checking the traps he and Larius set the night before, hoping at least one of them would contain breakfast. A slight grin formed on his face as he approached the final trap, seeing a rabbit caught in the snare, "well, we'll finally have a decent breakfast" he said to himself as he approached the rabbit, calming it as he whispered a few words, dispatching it quickly, as to make the death as painless as possible.

Upon his return to camp he could see Larius had begun re-stoking the campfire, almost as if he knew Devlin had found something. Using his knowledge of the wilderness, Devlin had also gathered a few nuts and edible berries to go along with the rabbit, needless to say, the two acted as if they ate like kings. "Damn, that was good!" Devlin shouted as he began to light his smoking pipe, "yeah, been some time since we've had a feast like that" Larius replied, as he lowered his hood, allowing the fresh morning breeze to caress his face. Larius was an older man in his forties, with shoulder length black hair, with a few streaks of grey. His eyes were a bright green, and almost appeared to shine in the morning sun. He preferred to be clean shaven; however he had a decent amount of scruff due to being in the wilderness for so long. His attire consists of a dark leather breastplate, the likeness of a dragons head embossed into the chest plate, with the left arm being fully armoured in Damascus steel, and the right mirroring the appearance of the left, his lower half consisted of dark leather trousers which followed the same style of the chest plate, with plated leather boots completing the look. "We should head out soon, we need to reach the border by sunset" he said to Devlin as he tied his hair into a ponytail "Yeah, gimme a sec to get dressed and we can go." A bright flash of light engulfed Devlin as he used to magic to change into his gear. The attire was not too different from the one that adorns Larius, dark leather being the core of the outfit; however Devlin's gear had more metal plating along the legs and left arm, while the right arm was completely unarmored, revealing a number of tattoos, markings and a few scars, finally he wore an armless black leather trench coat, completing the look. "Pisses me off how you can do that…" Larius said in a somewhat annoyed tone, staring at Devlin who has just done in seconds what took him the good part of half an hour to achieve. "Do I detect a hint of jealousy, old man?" Devlin said in a sly tone, glancing at Larius who simply grinned in response.

With this, Devlin used his magic to create a small gust of wind, extinguishing the campfire while Larius packed up the rest of their camping equipment, handing Devlin a satchel containing his supplies. Seeing they were ready, the pair nodded at each other before setting out on their journey to the kingdoms border. The pair of men had been walking in relative silence for hours until Devlin decided to spark a conversation, "So, when we get to Fiore, what are you gonna do?" Larius looked at Devlin with a serious expression, one that made Devlin wonder if he should have asked, when Larius suddenly burst out laughing, "HAHAHA, you should see the look on your face kid!" Devlin, slightly annoyed by this, responded in kind "Very funny you old prick, but seriously though, we've been travelling together for months now, I'm curious", "First of all, I ain't that old you little shit, but honestly I've been thinking I might find a place to settle down, you know maybe build my own house, start a family" Larius quickly responded, with a thoughtful look, causing Devlin to burst out laughing "HAHA, settle down? Come on Larius we both know that won't happen, I'd give it a week at most before you'd start getting cold feet" Larius looked to the sky, not wanting to accept what Devlin said as the truth, but knew deep down it was, he just wasn't cut out for such a peaceful life, the life of adventure was his true calling. "Damn, am I really that transparent?" Larius asked Devlin, causing him to laugh a little, and follow with a reply "hehehe, nah we've been through hell and back, fought, bled and almost died multiple times, I'd be surprised if we didn't know each other inside out by now" Devlin said, causing the smallest smile to appear on Larius' face "It's good to see you laughing again Devlin" Larius thought to himself as the pair approached the village of Honnleath, a small village on the outer edges of Fiore's eastern border.

As the two entered the village square, Larius inquired for directions to the local tavern, while Devlin took the time to observe the villagers and their surroundings, which concerned him greatly. "Taverns this way kid, you coming?" Larius inquired, however he then noticed the look of concern upon Devlin's face, causing him to then look around and noticed the same thing Devlin had. Each of the villagers met them with fearful stares, some running into their houses, bolting the doors and windows. "We're not alone here Larius, I can sense a small force of men in the hills overlooking the village, around twenty or so, some appear to be mages", as Devlin finished his statement a small fireball flew towards the duo, Devlin reacted quickly, answering with his own magic, expelling a small gust of wind which dispersed the fireball.

"Well, looks like things are about to get interesting" Devlin said with a slight grin, requipping a katana as he readied himself for battle, "So, loser buys the drinks?" Larius asked Devlin as he requipped his own weapons, a two handed flamberge style blade and a pair of daggers, while taking combat stance. Devlin sniggered in response "heh, so you then?" which caused Larius to grin as the pair readied themselves for combat. As the two prepared for combat, a small girl appeared from behind a building crying as she attempted to run to her parents' home, as she ran another fireball targeted the girl. This greatly angered Devlin as he used his magic to accelerate his speed and once again disperse the oncoming fireball, "Bastards, they don't care who they hurt..." the child grappled on to Devlin's leg, looking up at him with tears flowing down her cheek "sorry kid, but I'm gonna need my leg to fight these guys, where's your house?" Devlin asked as the girl hesitantly pointed at a building across the street, as Devlin began to look in the direction of the house, an older man came into view, running wildly and screaming his daughter's name "PETRA, PETRA WHERE ARE YOU!?", the girl quickly released Devlin's leg and began to run to her father, meeting him just outside of the family's home, "Petra, I thought they'd got you" the man said as he held his daughter in his arms, "I don't know who you are, but you have my eternal thanks for saving my daughter" he said to Devlin as he quickly hushed his daughter into the house, "Please I know I have no right to ask this of you, but these dark mages…" Devlin cut him off mid speech "Don't worry, we're gonna make sure they won't trouble you again" His somewhat cocky expression from before becoming completely serious. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's assholes like these that target kids…"

The man nodded in response hurrying into the house his daughter had previously retreated into. During this exchange, Larius had taken the time to perform a quick scouting of the village, making sure there were no more stragglers for the attackers to target. As soon as he re-joined Devlin in the village square, the small force of men began their assault in full, some charging towards the village with weapons in hand, others staying at the back line charging magical spells. Two of the men charged directly at Devlin, who remained completely still, just as their attacks were about to land, Devlin drew his katana at lightning speed, dashing forward a few meters striking both of the assailants before they had a chance to react. The rest of the men stopped unsure what to make of what they had just witnessed; the two men who were struck by Devlin's attack were no longer moving, frozen in place as Devlin moved to sheath his sword, he stopped just as the katana guard was about to reach the scabbard, waiting for a few seconds before sheathing the blade fully, causing the two men to collapse on to the floor.

This caused the rest of the bandits to waver in uncertainty; they simply looked at Devlin who began walking toward the rest of the group. During Devlin's display, Larius had used his own magic to cloak himself in shadow, as he moved towards the group of mages who were currently gawking at Devlin, one of the mages came back to reality and had noticed the disappearance of Larius, who shouted "WHERE'S THE OTHER ON…", he was cut off as one of Larius' daggers found its way through the mages throat "Right here" Larius said as he removed the dagger, causing the nameless mage to slump to the ground. Devlin and Larius quickly cleaned up the rest of the attackers and reconvened in the centre of the village thinking the fight was over, however this quickly changed when one of the villagers shouted "HE'S HERE, GHORROK IS HERE".

The atmosphere grew eerily quiet as the cloaked man named Ghorrok approached the village square, both Devlin and Larius could sense the magical energy being released from this man, and prepared accordingly. "So… I have you two to thank for cleaning out the trash in my guild?" This statement angered Devlin as he moved to strike, however Larius placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to back down for the moment "You refer to your comrades as trash?" Larius asked, causing Ghorrok to laugh hysterically. "HAHAHA, only those I deem strong are to be called such, and you two… how would you like to join my guild?" Devlin having none of this quickly responded "How would you like to kiss my ass?" Larius couldn't help but snicker at the bluntness of Devlin's reaction, which enraged Ghorrok "THEN YOU BOTH DIE!" Ghorrok threw off his cloak, revealing his muscular form with various tribal tattoos placed upon his skin, wearing only a loincloth and some straps made of leather; he sent a glare at Devlin, as magic circles began to form around his hands.

Earthcall: Boulderstrike! Ghorrok shouted as huge pieces of the surrounding earth began to compact and form into a boulder, which Ghorrok launched at Devlin whose fist made contact with the boulder shattering it, causing Ghorrok to once again glare at Devlin. "Kind of a weak first impression after all that bravado" Devlin said which enraged Ghorrok even further.

Earthcall: Shattered Mountain! This time a boulder the size of a small mountain began to form within the sky, all the while Ghorrok was laughing manically at the situation, knowing this attack would likely destroy the village and everything in it. "THIS ENDS NOW" Ghorrok shouted as he threw the attack at Devlin who simply grinned in response. A flash of black energy surrounded Devlin as his features became more demonic, small sparks of lightning flashing every few seconds about his form, he grasped his katana and readied his attack "You shall die" Devlin said before disappearing momentarily, causing a massive number of dark energy streaks to appear around the boulder and on Ghorrok, before returning to his original position, kneeling and sheathing his sword both destroying the boulder and mortally wounding Ghorrok.

Devlin returned to his human form, and approached Ghorrok who was weakly laughing before coughing up a decent amount of blood. "The Balam Alliance will know I've fallen, they will exact revenge" he said before finally succumbing to death, leaving Devlin perplexed at his final statement. While Devlin dealt with Ghorrok, Larius had been gathering the bodies of the fallen dark mages and moved them away from the village, hoping that the children hadn't seen what he and Devlin had just done. "They deserve their innocence…" he thought as he gathered the last of the bodies then used his magic to set them aflame. "May the fire purify your darkened souls…" he said before walking off toward the village centre to meet back up with Devlin. As he arrived back, he saw Devlin was talking to a group of men dressed in robes which had a cyan coloured tabard adorned with a cross. "Some kind of military force?" he wondered as he approached his comrade, the commander of the squadron addressed both Devlin and Larius. "We are Rune Knights of the kingdom of Fiore's magic council, we were sent here to apprehend the dark guild known as Scarred Earth, and its leader Ghorrok the Cataclysm, who had recently fled from the kingdom, yet we arrive to see villagers cowering in their homes and traces of lingering magical energy… care to explain?" Larius signalled to Devlin that he would handle the talking, so he went and sat down while Larius talked to the commander of the Rune Knights.

"I see, so you and you comrade destroyed their attacking force, and then killed Ghorrok… While I cannot say I condone your methods, you have done us a service by protecting this village and eliminating the dark guild, allow us to take things from here" As Larius and the commander finished conversing, Devlin approached Larius and told him of Ghorroks final words. "Balam Alliance huh? Can't say I've heard of it kid, wouldn't take the threat lightly though", Larius told Devlin as they approached the tavern, "Yeah, knew it would be a long shot, I wonder if there's any of these guilds in Fiore that might know, could be worth checking out" Devlin said as they entered the tavern, a look of relief on the villagers faces as the barkeep welcomed them, "Ah the saviours of the village! Anything you want, it's on the house today!" The two men sat down at the bar, both ordering a pint of the taverns finest ale, and some roast pork to go along with it. "So you're thinking of joining one of these guilds then?" Larius inquired, knowing that Devlin had been thinking of it for some time. "Yeah, way I figure it'll be a nice change of pace from all the crap back home" Larius smiled in response "Go for it kid, as for me, when we get to Fiore's border I think I'm gonna go sightseeing, maybe look into sacred Mount Zonia, hear there's some kind of treasure there"

As the two carried on talking, the barkeep approached with their order of roast pork, and also offered some knowledge of the guilds in Fiore to Devlin, focusing on one in particular, Fairy Tail. "They're the strongest guild Fiore has to offer, always featured in the news about how they blow this up or destroy that, rambunctious lot" the barkeep said as he began laughing, "Well that sounds like fun, where's this Fairy Tail located?" Devlin inquired, his curiosity sparked by mention of a guild, especially the strongest one. "Hmm, give me a moment; I have a map around here somewhere… Ah! Here we go" The barkeep then showed Devlin and Larius the map and where the respective places they both wanted to go were, the duo were eager to continue on their journey and pass the Fiore border.

As the two prepared to leave, the villagers gave them one last farewell and thanked them once again for saving the village. After saying goodbye to two reached the Fiore border, passing a few military checkpoints along the way and finally entering the kingdom of Fiore itself.

"Well we're finally here, took long enough with all those checkpoints" Devlin said as the duo stood on a hill overlooking the Fiore countryside "Yeah… you'd think there was a war going on with all the security" Larius responded, both of them grimacing at the thought, old memories resurfacing which caused both of them to remain silent for a while. "So… you're heading off towards Mount Zonia?" Devlin said, breaking the silence, "Yeah, and I guess you're gonna head towards Magnolia?" Larius responded, to which Devlin nodded in response. "Well then, guess this is where we split, good luck kid, maybe I'll come see you when I'm rich!" Larius said as he began to head off in the direction of Mount Zonia. Devlin looked at his comrade one final time, and set off in the direction of Magnolia. "Cya around old man, and remember you still owe me a round after that fight in the village!" Larius instantly spun around and shouted at Devlin "WHAT!? I got way more of them than you did!" "hehe, you may have got more of the grunts true, but I stopped that huge-ass boulder and got their leader, so I win" Devlin said as he continued walking, waving one of his hands in the air "'Till our paths cross again, Larius!" causing Larius to smile as he once again embarked on his way towards Mount Zonia "'Till our paths cross again, Devlin"

Chapter End

A/N: So here we are, at the end of the first chapter. Not quite sure if there was too much going on here in one chapter, but it'll work out. If you like the story, please feel free to follow/favourite, maybe even a review, it'd help me out a lot xD

Thanks for taking the time to read, and I'll see you in the next chapter.