Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail

Perhaps Invel had stated he would not hold back, but thinking about it now, he realized he had little choice. With the plans for war in the making, he could not reveal the true extent of his power even in a playful spar such as this. So, he had to either end this battle efficiently, or falsify weakness in this battle that did not exist. "I recall you saying that you were amused by the idea of losing to one of us. Are you still so confident now that you've seen our abilities with your own eyes?" Rufus smiled as he stood across from Invel, looking ready for battle.

Remaining calm, Invel simply nodded. "I predict a swift end to this battle of ours. Then again, it would be foolish of me to assume victory when there are certain variables even I cannot predict occurring." Would he be willing to swallow his pride and falsify defeat? Invel rejected the idea immediately. It was not befitting a member of his majesty's guard to fail in any task, no matter how pointless. Their strength was meant to be unrivaled and feared by all. Should his true identity ever be revealed, he would not let it be known that he lost in a mere spar against a wizard such as this. So, Invel would win. Revealing his true strength would be a better option, even if strategically it could hinder their battle. Inspiring fear in their enemies would make them nervous in battle, which could lead to future mistakes in their war.

"I'll show you just how correct you are…by defeating you quite efficiently." With a smile, Rufus swiped his hands out towards Invel. "Memory Make: Shrine of the Turbulent Fang!"

Whirlwinds filled the battleground, moving at high speeds towards where Invel stood. Watching them, Invel sighed and shook his head. "You've only worsened your own fate." With that, snow began to fall around them, the wind picking it up and transforming the battlefield into a furious winter blizzard. Normally, the snowfall he could create would not have such an effect on visibility, but Rufus' own spell worked to his advantage. By freezing the air around him, Invel was then able to block the true blunt force of the winds as well, rendering the actual attack useless and advantageous to his own actions.

"So a snow mage, are you? I've memorized techniques to use against wizards like you." The Sabertooth wizard seemed to be rather confident, despite the lack of visibility created by Invel's own power. "Memory Make: Karma of the Burning Land!"

The ground became flames, spreading from a singular spot in the battlefield. As the fire expanded further out, the flames seemed to grow more intense with every instant. Watching them, Invel narrowed his eyes. Without even moving, he unleashed the chill stored deep within him, freezing the entire battleground and coating the flames in ice. "Flames to melt my snow? I suppose against a normal wizard, such a tactic would be wise. However, I have overcome such simplistic strategies for counter attacks."

He had yet to become offensive yet, but Invel was wondering if he should. Offensive attacks on his behalf were often designed to be deadly. Creating a strategy for one that would merely incapacitate his opponent was an unusual plan, but one that was necessary given the circumstances of their spar. Against August, he would not have to limit his power so much, but this was a far lesser wizard. "Interesting. I've memorized that technique now." The vortexes of wind had faded away with the flames, leaving them standing in a snowy battlefield, surrounded by oddly shaped pillars of ice from the frozen flames. "Perhaps a more recent technique will prove more effective against you. Memory Make: Sword of Frozen Black Lightning!"

From above, Invel saw numerous flashes of black lightning begin to rain down towards the ground. Already prepared, Invel began to freeze the attack, however Rufus smirked at the sight. "Forget." In an instant, the ice vanished from sight, leaving Invel blinking at it with wide eyes. Seeing the lightning still raining down with his spell canceled, Invel began to move. The strikes were fast and unpredictable, each strike creating spiky frozen formations on the ground. One nearly hit his side, just as Invel collided with one of the icy structures formed from the attack.

Looking towards Rufus, Invel studied the man closely. That spell was far too similar to August's cancellation abilities for his liking. In fact, this battle was taking on an odd similarity to his spars with the older wizard that unnerved him. Was it possible for Rufus to achieve a similar strength level as their most formidable member? Likely, there would still be a difference between the two, considering Rufus lacked full mastery of the magics he memorized. However, it was still dangerous to underestimate, and he could see Rufus at least managing to grow to become a challenge for the newer members of the generals such as Ajeel.

Deciding it to be best to observe for now, Invel made no move to attack again. He needed to gauge this man's potential for their plans. Rufus might not seem like much at first, but in battle, he could achieve great things. "No counter this time? I must admit, your technique intrigues me. Let's see if you like this as well. Memory Make: Showering Ancient Wisdom!" Light flashed over Invel's head, making the winter general glance upward. Suddenly, his body felt incredibly heavy, unable to move with the force of the magic weighing down on him. "Combined with Memory Make: Colorful Slashing Attack Flames!" A massive red wave of fire with sparks dancing along in it flashed towards Invel.

Seeing it coming, Invel frowned slightly. He had endured stronger hits before, but it was not a pleasant thing to experience. Attempting to freeze the attack would be blocked just as before, so he had to be a bit more creative. A wave of snow flashed in front of him, creating a wall and blocking him from view. Hoping to hide his actions from Rufus' sight, Invel froze over his own magic, solidifying the ice into a wall that even his flames would be incapable of melting. "Hmm. You appear to be quite versatile with your snow and ice. To just what extent can you utilize that power?"

Tired of this game, Invel let the wall drop as soon as the weight of the gravity spell faded. The flames were gone, having been stopped as he predicted by his frozen wall of snow. "Now is not the time for you to learn. I believe I have seen enough of your skill to ascertain what ability you can grow to possess. Your power is only as vast as your memory…and no one can memorize all." Rufus smiled, chuckling and nodding.

"True. There are limits to my ability…but if I need to memorize something new, I can simply forget that which is no longer useful."

Inhaling deeply, Invel closed his eyes. He increased the snowfall around them, not wanting this man to memorize any more of his abilities. "Then I will not allow you to memorize anything further of my abilities. One more spell will end this battle, and it is a spell that you will be incapable of mimicking or blocking."

"Oh? You think you can prevent me from copying you? How intriguing. Just what technique do you guard so well?" The snow picked up even further, whitening out the battlefield as Invel took a few steps back. If he could see Rufus, Rufus was capable of seeing him. Still, Invel was the maker of this snow. Everything it touched, he could feel. Winter told him what he needed to know, always keeping him aware of Rufus' location, even if he could not see the man with his eyes.

Keeping his eyes closed, Invel raised his hand towards where he sensed Rufus to be standing. Opening them for a moment to confirm the lack of visibility, Invel glared at his opponent. "A technique designed to stop any battle…to reach success against any opponent, no matter their skill level. I have only ever encountered two individuals able to counter it…I'd be surprised if you would be the third, given the nature of how your magic functions." From what he saw, Rufus needed to memorize a magic to cancel it. His snow was not memorized, thusly it was not canceled. As such, his ice slave spell would remain intact as well.

In an instant, an icy collar formed around Rufus' neck. Invel felt the magic take hold, and with it, he released the snowy storm growing around them. The memory make wizard blinked at him, frowning for a moment as he touched the collar now frozen around him. "What—ice make magic?" His first words were rather foolish, but Invel simply shook his head, folding his hands behind his back.

"Please, come closer so I can explain." Nodding, Rufus seemed to move with an odd mechanical motion to his steps. Then, the wizard's eyes seemed to widen as he realized what was going on. Invel smiled, chuckling under his breath. "As you are likely now realizing, this spell gives you little room to resist my command. It freezes your very thoughts, muddling any free will you might possess to avoid my attacks. Thoughts do not flow so easily, making you even unaware of how unwise it is to do as an enemy requests of you…until it is far too late to react."

Rufus simply nodded, standing obediently in front of Invel as the ice mage sighed. He turned towards the other Sabertooth wizards, seeing them stare at Rufus and Invel with wide eyes. "Was this sufficient for your evaluation of my power? It seems rather cruel to keep him under such a spell when such measures are serving no purpose."

"That was unlike any ice magic I've ever seen…" Sting stared at him with wide eyes. "I could feel how cold it was, and I wasn't even involved in the battle. Not to mention the fact that you've just easily defeated Rufus…I guess I can see why you are so confident in your magic, Invel."

Minerva nodded, smiling at him pleasantly. "Indeed. Your power is worthy of the Sabertooth name. Now, please release our comrade. I tire of staring at him while he has that foolish expression on his face." Rufus truly did look distant and distracted, after all. With a nod, Invel's collar vanished from sight, leaving Rufus blinking in surprise.

The memory make wizard's hand lifted, touching his throat with a slight tremor in his fingers. "That…what was that? My memories…I could not access a single one of them."

"If I informed you, it would defeat the purpose of having hidden the spell from your sight." Invel shook his head, adjusting his glasses with a sigh. "I must admit, you did surprise me. I did not expect you to be capable of canceling out my magic with such ease. However, that technique has limited reach when facing someone with magic like mine."

"He would have had to memorize all of your spells to succeed." Rogue spoke, smiling faintly. "It is interesting to consider. Normally, the ability to create a snowstorm would not be a powerful spell, hence the reason Rufus disregarded memorizing it when you first used it. You seem to understand how to interpret a weakness to an enemy power quite quickly and exploit it with ease."

He was by far not the most skilled at such an ability, but he supposed he had trained with one who had perfected such exploitations. Invel had never once seen someone defeat August in a hands on spar, though he supposed if his majesty did not need to hold back in such battles, Emperor Spriggan would have surpassed his general. Still, Invel had only seen Spriggan participate once in such an event, and that had been utilized as a demonstration to inspire the military to improve their strength. It was more of a game than a true battle, yet it still revealed the true extent of both of their abilities, inspiring awe in respect from those beneath his level.

Nodding, Rufus smiled and moved to stand by his side. He seemed to be recovering from Invel's spell, but he looked rather shaken from the defeat. "I suppose he does. Well played, Invel. I will remember our encounter and keep your defense in mind for future battles. It just may be impossible to memorize all of an enemy's attacks…but to truly defend myself against someone of your nature, it would be foolish to consider any spell pointless."

"How did you even freeze fire anyway? It seems like it would be rather impossible, if you ask me." Sting pulled his attention away, making Invel shrug.

"It was a skill that needed to be learned to excel at what I do. After all, is fire not the most common defense used against an ice wizard? Overcoming such a weakness was needed, considering those I often trained with." That had been one of his biggest hurdles when facing August. The elder wizard had excelled at all forms of fire magic, melting away Invel's ice with ease when he first began training. Then, Invel realized that even fire could be frozen. That had been when their battles took on a longer duration, though Invel still failed to win each time.

Grinning, Sting patted his arm and began to guide him away from the arena. "Well, maybe one day I can meet these training partners of yours. I'd love to figure out who managed to help you get to this point. Sure, I saw you fighting earlier…but I had no idea you could manage something like this." He chuckled, shaking his head. "You even made it look just as effortless as the sword fight from before. Were you even trying to win?"

Blinking, Invel's eyes widened ever so slightly. Had it been that obvious that he was holding back? He stopped walking, observing the others as they moved passed him. Still, he would not lie to a direct question. His emperor despised dishonesty, and as such, Invel strove to be honest no matter who he spoke to, albeit deceptive when necessary. "I did not realize you noticed so easily…however, I suppose I was not truly trying."

"Wait…you really weren't even trying and you still won?" Orga blinked at him, before chuckling and shaking his head. "Nice to hear we've got another powerful wizard on our hands. You better convince him to join us, Sting, because we don't want this one going to another guild any time soon."

"Indeed. Simply imagining his power falling into Fairy Tail's hands…I do not think we'd even come close in the next year's competition." Minerva shook her head, placing a hand on her hip. "Though, I still can't help but wonder where it is you learned such skill."

Then, the odd peace shattered. Invel did not even realize how it felt before, conversing with these wizards. It came easily, speaking of his power in vague terms while becoming amused by their attempts to overwhelm him. Why did it feel almost more relaxing than it did with the other generals? Perhaps it was due to the lowered expectations, but Minerva's comment only reminded him that he did not belong. "I suppose you could say I was born with it. Learning control came later."

His gaze had hardened, his smile gone and transformed into a thin line on his face. "It sounds as if it took quite some effort to get to this point. I do believe m'lady was inquiring further about that, rather than the true origin of your magic."

Rogue's comment did not help. Inside his jacket, Invel could feel the chill of the lacrima he had brought with him from home. Why did it suddenly feel cold? Normally, he did not notice such shifts in temperature, so he knew it was his mind projecting the feeling onto his body. "Indeed. I do not recall you ever speaking about this training you keep vaguely mentioning." Even Rufus was joining, making Invel wonder if he had chosen incorrectly. This guild would not be for him, it seemed. His past would not be left alone, not with wizards like them.

"Stop bothering him about it." Sting spoke, surprising Invel. He frowned, glancing towards the white dragon slayer and seeing his blue eyes focused on himself. "Did you ever wonder why he so easily saw how pissed I was before the Grand Magic Games? Maybe he's lost some people of his own in the past. If it were me, that wouldn't be something I'd want to talk about, let alone think about for any duration of time."

It wasn't his true motivation, however Invel couldn't help but stare after the dragon slayer after his words. He made no move to correct the boy, but oddly, the pressure to speak seemed to lessen with his comment. No one asked him to speak further, yet he wondered why he was trusted so much. If this were Alvarez, he would have been questioned until he spoke or fought and proved he was not someone to threaten lightly. Yet, this was not Alvarez. Perhaps Fiore was different in more ways than he first thought, in terms of more openly offered trust and friendships that seemed to form as suddenly as his magic froze over the world around him.

So, Sabertooth is starting to accept Invel...but is Invel really all that comfortable with that? This story is gonna have a lot of internal conflict and drama, so I can't wait to keep moving forward! I hope you enjoyed the spar between Rufus and Invel. More chapters will come after I return from my vacation, which starts next week! Feel free to review and tell me what you think!