Chapter 41

Strength

"Um… Dad?"

Zeke was facing his first opponent. He stopped in his tracks, considering his next move. He wasn't scared, his immediate reaction was to go to his dad for insight, but he knew the quicker he took this thing down, the quicker this would all be over. He and the creature locked eyes for what felt like several seconds, both getting a feel for their foe.

Gajeel didn't say anything; he knew his son was strong and perhaps just as smart. He watched as Zeke carefully thought out his next move which intrigued him. 'So, this is where he's more like his mother,' He thought to himself. He would have just dealt with it by brute force and called it a day. It was even more interesting that the creature seemed to be waiting… but for what?

Zeke slowly moved to the side, as if starting to circle it, all while never losing eye contact. He figured it was waiting on him to make the first move. He came up with the best plan he could at the time after taking in his surroundings and taking into consideration that they were underground.

"Heh," the boy smirked, his fangs on display as he stomped his foot, causing several iron pillars to sprout from the ground and to the top of the tunnel, creating an iron cage around the creature leaving only a sliver of space in the front. Zeke then got into his battle stance to channel all of his magic energy, just like his dad taught him.

"IRON DRAGON: ROOOAAARRRRR!"

Zeke blew with all his might into that little sliver of space he left, to make sure he completely obliterated the threat, and as the tunnel rumbled and cracked, the iron pillars he created crumbled around the now dead creature.

Gajeel and Levy were the exact definition of proud parents. Though, they were more surprised than proud; they had no clue he had that much power. He sure never showed it in his training sessions.

Zeke laughed and ran toward the mess as if he still had enough energy to do that ten more times with no issue.

"That was easy, Dad!"

Just as he said that, the tunnel started rumbling behind them and rocks fell, just behind Jade, trapping them in.

"Looks like we'll have to just push through," the dark-haired woman said, slightly startled.

She, on the other hand, wasn't too surprised at the small show the boy put on display. She knew how much power he had. She knew he could have beaten that thing in his sleep if he wanted to. She stayed behind as they went to congratulate their son.

"Zeke!" Gajeel said as he approached his mini clone. "What the hell, bud! Where was this when me or your mom trained ya?"

Zeke shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really know where it came from, it just happened.

"Well, no matter how you did it, you still did amazing!" Levy said, practically gushing.

She picked him up and pinched his cheeks. "Who's my strong little man?"

"Well, ya gotta be careful, bud," Gajeel motioned toward the now caved in tunnel.

"Sorry," Zeke said, his face turning a slight shade of pink.

"No worries," the script mage said. "We just have to keep going, that's all!"

They pushed through, walking about another ten minutes or so.

"So, Zeke," Gajeel started. "Ya didn't feel tired or anything after ya did all that?"

"Nope," the kid said, shaking his head. "I dunno where it came from."

Levy looked at her mate, a bit confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked, curious.

"I dunno," the boy said again. "I just thought about It and kinda knew what to do."

They didn't have much time to respond, as the tunnel started rumbling again.

"More trouble," Gajeel said, putting a protective arm around Zeke and Levy.

It made sense that there was more than one offender terrorizing the crops, but today was the day their reign of terror would come to an end. The creatures made themselves present before them, growling and snarling, almost daring them to attack.

"Wanna show 'em who's boss, son?" Gajeel said, sharing his trademark smirk with Zeke.

"Yeah!" The boy exclaimed, more enthusiastic than was expected.

Levy stood back with Jade as the two boys went at it with the unfortunate creatures. Iron and rocks went everywhere, and it looked like Zeke was having a blast with his dad. He didn't struggle or falter one bit.

"Did he even need to be trained?" Jade asked, now equally impressed as he was completely in sync with his father.

"It doesn't look that way," Levy said with a smile. "I do wish he were a script mage, sometimes."

Jade watched the young boy continue to fight with his father. She couldn't see him being a script mage.

"He doesn't look like a script mage. It would be weird for him, I know," the blue-haired mage said, breaking the silence.

"Does he want to be one?" Jade asked.

"Yes, at least that's what he tells me."

"It looks like dragon slaying comes naturally to him, instead."

"Yes," Levy said, a look of disappointment flickered in her eyes for no more than a second. "But it's really refreshing to see him so into his abilities, now. At first, I thought he was never going to be happy as a slayer."

They continued watching until all the creatures were gone and it was finally safe to proceed through the tunnel. This time, Zeke looked a little winded.

"That take a little more outta ya?" Gajeel asked, patting him on the shoulder.

Zeke nodded, a little out of breath, but nothing a five-minute breather wouldn't solve.

"See, Zeke! That wasn't so bad, right?" Levy asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"'You guess'," Gajeel said, offended, "Ya mean ta tell me, ya didn't have fun kickin' butt with yer old man? It sure seemed like ya did!"

"It was ok," Zeke said. He didn't hate it, but he also didn't love it. He'd fight if need be. Knowing his parents, that's all he'd be doing. He guessed fighting alongside his dad made it fun.

"Where are we going now, Dad?"

"Well, I'm assuming we've taken care of the problem, so now, I guess, we head back to the lady who posted the job."

"Assuming there's another opening at the end of this tunnel," Levy said under her breath, but not low enough for the two slayers not to hear.

"Sorry, Mom," Zeke said, genuinely sorry for making the tunnel cave in.

The further they got through the tunnel, the darker it became. Levy eventually had to use her script magic to summon light, which got Zeke's attention, of course.

"I wish I could do that," he pouted.

"You can do so much cooler things," she said, hating when her son was sad.

"Nuh uh!"

"Well, first, you're super strong! I wish I was as strong as you," Levy said, trying to make him feel better.

"You're strong too, right Mom?"

"Well, yes, but not as much physically as I am in my magic."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she paused, trying to figure out the best way to demonstrate his strength. "Here, come over here." She grabbed his hand and led him to a boulder maybe five feet tall and just as wide.

"I bet you could crack this with just a punch, easily."

Zeke looked at the boulder and then back at his mom. "You want me to punch the rock?"

Levy nodded. She wasn't quite sure how strong he was physically, but it was never too late to find out. She was sure he could at least crack it.

"Yup," Gajeel said, walking toward them. He was curious as well. He crouched down eye level with Zeke. "Yer gonna take all the force ya have and transfer it to yer fist like I taught ya."

Zeke nodded.

"It's just like punchin' trees," Gajeel said, ruffling his hair.

Zeke stood back, getting in fighting stance. He curled his little fingers into a fist and geared his arm back, gathering all the momentum and power he could muster and landed a solid punch to the boulder with a loud 'THUMP'. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Zeke got a little bummed. All for that feeling to be short-lived after hearing an almost deafening 'CRACK' come from the rock. In a split second, the rock shattered into almost gravel, leaving Gajeel, Levy, and Jade astonished.

"S-see," Levy sputtered. "Your mom can't do that, and that's pretty cool if you ask me!"

Zeke beamed, happy that his parents were proud of him.

"That's my boy! Let's go rub it in Flame Brain's face!"

Gajeel was pretty stoked that his son was a badass. Nashi was nowhere near as strong as Zeke and he wanted to let Hot Head know that his genes were superior. Well, to be fair, he didn't really know how strong Nashi was. They seemed to be going a little easier on her than he and Levy were on Zeke. He was sure they had their own reasoning, but oh well. To each their own.

The group continued through the tunnel, Gajeel walked ahead with Zeke, trying to get him to use his senses to get them out of there. They eventually found their way back aboveground and were grateful to be out of that stuffy tunnel.

"So, what brings you around after so long?" Levy asked, curious.

"Oh, no reason in particular," Jade said, trying to avoid giving away the real reason she was around. Thankfully, the boy came running toward his mother, granting Jade a distraction.

"Mom! Dad says we have to go talk to the lady!"

"Yes, he's right. We need to tell her that we took care of the creatures. Do you remember where she is?"

Zeke nodded then darted off in the direction of the woman. Levy smiled at Jade then jogged off after Zeke, just as ready to get this done as he was.

"You have quite the son, there," Jade said, walking toward Gajeel. "He is very strong."

"Tch." The slayer rolled his eyes.

Jade stood there silently. He had every right to despise her and she knew it.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did in the past," she tried to say. "It wasn't right."

Gajeel scoffed. "What? You think we're just gonna be all 'buddy-buddy' now since you've apologized?" He asked her, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. "Which, by the way, was a piss-poor example of one."

Jade didn't really know what to say, so she just stood there and listened to him rant. She thought she was in the clear until he took a few steps so that he was in her face.

"I don't fucking buy it," he snarled.

"Buy what?" She said, uncertain of what's to follow.

"That you're here for no damn reason," he said, his hands clenching into fists. "You disappear for eight years then come back out of nowhere? Coming with us on jobs and shit? Seems fishy to me." He took a few steps back.

"Life is just funny that way," she said, trying to reason.

"Fuck you," he spat. "I don't want you around me or my family."

"I meant it when I apologized," she said firmly. "I am a woman of word. I'm not here to cause trouble."

"Tch, I'll believe that when Zeke becomes a script mage," he said, dismissing the subject.

As soon as the conversation ended, Levy and Zeke made their way back to the pair.

"Alright, let's go back to the guild and let Mira know we've completed the job," Levy said, taking Zeke's hand.

"I must go, I have other matters to tend to," Jade said, waving goodbye to Levy and Zeke.

"Oh, well, it was nice seeing you!" Levy exclaimed. "Say 'bye', Zeke."

"Bye," the boy chirped, attempting to drag his mom away. "I wanna see Nashi!"

"Maybe she's at the guild waiting for you! Let's go!" Levy said happily.

Jade watched as the small family walked away.

"So, what could you find out?" Ryn asked, lifting her mask to chew on a piece of taffy.

Jade wasn't too sure how she should go about this. She was provided a task, and she'd succeeded, however, she did not agree with 'Operation Phoenix'. She needed to think.

"When did you guys start with the whole mask thing? It's a bit cheesy if you ask me," Jade said, trying to buy some time.

"Eli implemented it when he took over. I honestly don't think he has a real reason for us to wear them, it just makes him feel a little bit better I suppose. I personally don't like wearing it."

"Well it's pointless to have a mask if you're going to openly wear the Tribe's symbol," Jade motioned toward the sleeve of Ryn's jacket.

"Right!" Ryn laughed loudly. "That's what I was telling him, but you know how headstrong he can be!" She shoved another piece of taffy into her mouth.

"Anyway," she said, her mouth full of candy. "What were you able to bring me?"

"Well," Jade started. Not like she had anything major to tell her anyway, and what she was about to tell her, she should already know.

"Not really much to say that you guys don't already know. You've done some extensive research on them."

"Well, when you say you can get up close and personal, we tend to get a bit excited," Ryn countered, trying to read her green-eyed friend's face carefully.

"Ok," Jade sighed. "He's extremely strong, just as you suspected. As luck would have it, whilst I was on my way to the Tribe no more than a few hours ago, I happened to run into them."

That piqued Ryn's interest. "Oh?"

"Yes. Turns out they were taking him on his first job to test his limits." Jade continued.

"How perfect!" The brown-haired woman squealed with excitement.

"I agree. I volunteered to stay with them for the duration of their job."

"So, you got to see first-hand how second-gen dragon slayers operate," Ryn said, completely enthralled with this conversation.

Jade nodded. "He took down four creatures singlehandedly, without even breaking a sweat."

"Oh my gosh! That's super exciting to hear!"

Jade cringed. The Tribe was in way over their head.

"He seemingly has the strength to turn a several-hundred-pound boulder into gravel as well," the dark-haired woman continued. "They were looking to test his strength, so they had him punch a boulder as hard as he could."

Ryn had stars in her eyes. She was amazed that such a young kid could harness that much power. They'd known he was strong. Not nearly that strong, though.

"Well, I guess Eli was right to have his sights set on this kid."

Jade shook her head. "He said he didn't even feel tired in the least after exerting that much energy," she continued. "Although, he did say he wasn't sure how he did it," She now was more or less thinking out loud to herself, becoming startled by Ryn's sudden mood change.

"What?"

Jade looked up to meet pink eyes staring into her green ones. "I'm sorry?"

"What did you say? Something about him not knowing how he did it?"

Ryn's extreme curiosity was seeping into Jade, who was now curious as to why that was so interesting to her brunette associate.

Jade cleared her throat and nodded. "He said he just thought about it and just knew what to do."

"Hmm," Ryn stood up, her eyes fixated on something in the distance indicating she was deep in thought. "Interesting."

'Interesting indeed.'