Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Town in Trouble
"Are you sure about this boss?" a scruffy looking man asked with a tinge of trepidation as he looked over the town of Ginville in the distance, remembering what they had learned a few days ago. "They got two wizards in town now. One of them even has some kind of cosmic magic." He looked behind him at a skinny, almost sickly looking man in a long black cloak as he said this. The man didn't say anything at first, but simply laughed, causing the scruffy man to flinch.
"Those two won't be any problem to us. Its two wizards against a whole gang of opposing ones, sure one might have a powerful form of magic, but that doesn't mean he knows how to use it. I have a good feeling about this raid. We'll be fine." The man in the cloak said, his face and expression hidden, but the confident grin could practically be heard in his tone.
"If you say so boss."
Edmond skillfully danced his cosmic-made whip about in the air for his small crowd of onlookers to see, their eyes alight with wonder. Most of the crowd were all girls, Edmond having an unnatural ability to attract those of the opposite sex with relative ease. He had become something of an entertainer to the people of the town, learning how to move his magical whip of light in ways that made it look as if it were dancing, even being able to make it move in seemingly unnatural ways due to its magical characteristics. As an added plus it gave him the opportunity to practice his magic more often. Although, he had yet to master making and using two whips at once.
"That's so amazing! Your magic is so beautiful!" One girl said as she watched his whip dance, it's soft blue, sparkling form dancing in the air. Edmond smiled proudly at the praise. other girls copied this sentiment.
"Can you make more than one?" Another girl asked, curiosity on her face. Edmond didn't respond, attempting to focus on his performance. He did hear her however, and attempted to form a second whip in his free hand. He opened his palm and stretched out his hand. As he pulled back, he felt the magic flow through his arm, and as he attempted to grab the whip, a blue flash of magical energy suddenly burst into the air, his attempt at forming a second whip failing. The crowd, on the other hand, oohed and awed at the sudden burst of magic, clearly entertained by the bright flash and loud crack that came with it.
Harry smirked. "That's new" he thought to himself, entertained by his friend's theatrics. Harry had reserved himself to a more quiet day to day, studying his magic in the quiet of their "house" rather than in the open amongst many people. The two were very drastic in their differences indeed, but there were no two closer friends.
Although that's not to say Harry wasn't practicing with his magic himself. While the enchantment process was slow - and to him, inefficient - it worked. and now he had an actual way of defending himself in a world full of wizards and sorcerers. With a grin, he approached Edmond from behind, having been watching the performance opposite to the crowd. He withdrew his newest creation and with a thought and brief pull of his magic, altered the enchantment slightly. He approached right behind Edmond and lightly poked him with the magically enchanted piece of wood.
"Youch!" Edmond yelped as a sharp bolt of electricity coursed through his body, the magical taser working perfectly.
"Works like a charm, doncha think?" Harry asked smugly as he saw the annoyed look on his friend's face. Then Edmond seemed to realize what exactly had happened, and a look of surprise covered his features.
"Wait, that was your… taser?" He asked to be certain, and Harry nodded confidently, presenting the object to his friend, who took it cautiously.
"Correct, capable of paralyzing a man with a single touch if need be, and adjustable to anyone that holds it." This caught not only Edmond's attention, but the attention of the small crowd as well. "While the cost is a small amount of magic, it can be adjusted anywhere between a harmless static shock, to a paralyzing jolt." As he said this Edmond sneakily began to turn the amperage up slightly as he realized that most of Harry's attention was on the crowd, almost like a salesperson. "And I plan to make more as well. The one you see here is a prototype, only being able to be used by someone who can input magical energy. I intend to attempt to make the final product self powering by utilizing a magic power source of some kind." At that, Edmond swiftly thrusted the taser into the middle of Harry's back, and while he was surprised, he didn't give much of a reaction.
"Hey, what gives?" Edmond complained, now trying to jab the taser into his friend a little harder.
"I've made it to where it won't affect it's creator. I'm immune. Rather cheap magical cost to make it that way as well." Harry said, his smugness gearing into overdrive. The girls in the crowd seemed to giggle a bit as Edmond became a bit frustrated. "Don't worry, I have an idea for something you can use too. Although that may come a bit later." This piqued Edmond's interest as he looked to his friend before handing the taser back.
"Really? What was it?" Edmond asked, now interested in what Harry might have in store for him.
"Like I said, that'll probably come later. for now though, I have quite a few more projects to work on." Harry said this time with thoughtfulness on his face before he began to leave again. "If you need me, I'll be at the library."
"Your always at the library!" Edmond shouted as Harry walked further away, heading towards the center of town.
The library was considerably impressive considering the kind of technology that this world has shown. At least that's what Harry thought when he had first found the building. Currently he had three large books out, each one on a slightly different topic. The one he had open at the moment, and the one he was almost finished with was the history of Fiore. It had been relatively easy to discover the country he was in, and was trying to read up on it's history to not seem ignorant when talking to people. The other two though, might wind up being even more valuable.
The first of the other two books was called 'Common and Uncommon magics of the world' while the second was named 'The Lost and Forbidden Magics of the World'. Funnily enough, both were by the same author. That didn't matter too much to Harry, instead he was interested in seeing what those books said about his and Edmond's magic. If he could find them. At least he didn't need to worry about learning a new language. Everything seemed to be in english.
Another hour later and he was done with the History book, and began on the first of the other two books. These were less like a straight read, and more like a list of all the different magics with descriptions below each one. thankfully they were all sorted alphabetically, and had an idex by the type of magic as well, so he quickly searched for both his and Edmond's forms of magic.
Unfortunately, his search was fruitless. While he did find several different kinds of maker magic, such as Ice Make, and Wood Make, he could not find Cosmic Make. and upon searching further, he could not find Over-Enchant magic either, the closest thing he did find was rune magic. But that functioned a little differently than his own magic. While disappointed in the lack of relevant information in the first book, he did learn quite a bit about different magic types, and was fascinated by the versatility of some of them. of course, he was nowhere near completing the book, it was like a dictionary, seeing all the different magic types, but he hadn't intended to sit and read this one book all day anyway.
Then he came to smallest of the books. The one that 'detailed' different lost and forbidden magics. Of course, most of the book discussed rumors and legends, often only having tales of what a magic could do, but not even a name to go with it. The lost magic half of the book was far more detailed than the forbidden magic half. For obvious reasons, Harry assumed. At least this had some source for their magic. Edmond's specifically. Apparently there was some form of order of cosmic make wizards that lived in a far away mountain and studied the stars, but rarely interacted with those down below unless it was to trade or defend those they knew. "According to this though, there hasn't been a recorded instance of a cosmic make wizard in one hundred and fifty years. Very strange."
What was even stranger though, was the complete lack of information that related to Over-Enchant magic. "So how did that… Celestial Spirit King… Know my magic? Maybe these books simply aren't expansive enough?" As this thought ran through his mind, he wondered just where he might find such information.
Once he was finished with his trip to the library, Harry went back to his and Edmond's abode to continue his experiments.
Edmond walked throughout the town of Ginville with a thoughtful expression on his face, once again going through a plan to travel to Fairy Tail. "Hmm, we need 10,000 Jewels to buy a single train ticket. With the two of us, that'd be 20,000 Jewels to travel to Magnolia. From what I've gathered about Jewels, a single Jewel is about 1 U.S. cent. so that means that one train ticket would cost about $100. The Mayor gave us an up front payment of 40,000 Jewel between the two of us, which is about $400. So we have plenty, but I doubt the Mayor would be very happy with us if we just up and left."
Edmond began to get frustrated with his situation. He understood that Ginville had been good to the two of them, but he was in the same universe in Fairy Tail, and the guild was just a few miles away. He was so close he could taste it, and that made him all the more eager to fight these bandits and get it over with.
After briefly going over their situation, Edmond decided he would get a little more practice with his magic in before he went back home. He wasn't sure when the bandits would attack, but he knew he had to be ready. Something he had found out about his maker magic was that it was particularly unstable if he didn't focus hard enough. His goal as of late had been to create and use two cosmic make whips at once, but he had also decided to branch out by trying some different constructs with his magic.
"No time like the present." Edmond said to himself as he walked to the outskirts of town and chose a suitable location for him to practice. He placed his open right palm on top of his left, outstretched hand. "Cosmic Make: Sword!" At his command a shimmering bluish sword appeared in his hand. For a moment he sighed as he felt a bit more magic leave him than he had expected. Granted, this construct was much denser than the whips he makes.
He gave the sword a few test swings, the straight sword swishing about easily through the air. "It feels easy enough to swing." Edmond thought to himself. Of course, he had never properly used a sword before, so he wasn't trained in the arts of swordsmanship. He couldn't rely on this as an effective weapon. He released the handle of the sword and watched as the cosmic energy dissipated into the air. "I wonder if there is any way for me to learn effective cosmic make spells. Too bad there aren't any cosmic make wizards in town besides myself."
He knew he needed to get creative with his magic, he was a maker wizard after all. Edmond thought for a minute, then noticed a tree not too far away. He pictured an idea in his mind, something rather silly he thought, but hey. He readied his stance, and called out his spell "Cosmic Make: Anvil!" immediately, a large anvil appeared before him. However, unlike flying towards the tree as he had imagined, it merely fell to the ground like a brick. "Hmm. Perhaps I need to instigate velocity into my technique?"
Edmond again readied his stance, although he shifted it, this time readying to thrust his hands and body towards his target. "Cosmic Make: Anvil!" he called out a second time, this time adding a half spin into his technique and lunging forward, thrusting his hands in front of him. As he had hoped, the anvil was launched at his target, albeit with not as much accuracy as he would have liked. Still, he managed to strike the tree, leaving an anvil shaped hole in its side. The tree then collapsed, making Edmond feel quite proud of himself. Then he flexed his hands, the feeling of so much magic being pumped through him still rather different, and sometimes uncomfortable. "I'll just have to get used to that feeling." Edmond thought to himself, before he decided to leave the area and return home.
Harry whittled away at his most recent project, the wood being slowly formed into the shape of a common handgun. While not perfect, Harry was certainly sending a silent thanks to his scoutmaster for teaching him how to whittle and carve. The sun was beginning to approach the horizon as he continued his work on the porch of the house, almost done with the wooden weapon. "If this will work like I hope it will, I hopefully won't be as defenseless as I am right now."
Edmond walked up to the house and saw Harry sitting on the porch, whittling at another piece of wood. "You look like my grandpa sitting on the porch like that." Edmond called out to his friend. The two were clearly exhausted from the day, pleased with themselves for believing that they had accomplished some of their higher, more challenging goals.
Harry merely hummed as he finished with one final stroke of his knife, and deciding that was enough, he folded the pocket knife back up and stowed it. The familiar cyan and gold glow of his magic came from his hand as he began to enchant the piece of wood. "Could your grandpa do that?" Harry asked smugly as the glowing words appeared on the handle of the gun, the glow being maintained. He then moved his hand to the barrel and continued his enchantment. Edmond looked on, his curiosity piqued.
"Making a gun huh? Well, I've never heard of the expression: 'never bring a gun to a magic fight' but now might be the time to coin it." Edmond said as he approached his friend, looking over his work. "There is actual gun magic. Just to warn you." Harry seemed to freeze at that, an incredulous look on his face as he slowly looked over to Edmond to see if he was joking.
"Are you serious?"
"Very." Harry stared at Edmond for a moment longer before he shook his head and continued enchanting.
"I must have missed that then." Harry said absentmindedly, the glowing words continuing to spread on the barrel, his face scrunched up in concentration. The words soon stopped though as Harry breathed a sigh as he looked over the design again. "I'll have to look over that book some more." he said before holding his hand right over the business end of the gun, and continuing to enchant, carefully choosing the words he etched into the soon-to-be weapon.
"So when do you think they're coming?" Edmond asked his friend as he sat down on the edge of the porch.
"The bandits?" Harry asked, his face still expressing his concentration on his project. "How should I know?" Edmond shrugged at his friend's comment, watching him work curiously.
"Well, I don't expect you to know, but I just thought I'd ask." Edmond said nonchalantly. That however seemed to cause Harry to freeze his progress on the small gun. Harry looked over his shoulder with a curious expression.
"Shouldn't you be the one that knows when they're coming? Speaking of your foreknowledge, how far into the series are you? Does it even have an end yet?" Harry asked curiously, now putting all of his attention on his friend, crossing his arms in an expecting manner.
Edmond shrugged "There is an end to the show, and I've seen a lot of it but I never got to the end. I imagine that there's a lot of stuff I won't remember either. I certainly can't remember anything like this happening in the show."
Harry looked back down to his work, a sigh escaping his lips. "So what you're saying is, we won't be able to rely on your foreknowledge to help us out of bad situations all the time."
At that Edmond shook his head "Not reliably at least."
"Well, can you at least remember the important arcs and events? maybe give me a little warning before they happen?" Harry asked, his magic flaring up again as he continued on his project.
"I'm sure I can manage that… but don't expect me to tell you all of the villains weaknesses or anything." Edmond said with an exasperated grin, disappointed at himself slightly, but he knew that he couldn't be expected to remember everything. Harry nodded in understanding, catching his friend's expression out of the corner of his eye. He then held up the small gun, glowing words on both the grip and the barrel, often in varying shapes or sizes, forming basic patterns on the object out of words. Harry then pointed the 'gun' at a nearby tree, and pulled on the trigger. A brief humming sounded as the words on the grip lit up briefly before a sudden blue glowing projectile fired forth from the gun and slammed into the tree, leaving a small scorch mark.
"Good, because even with this, I feel… almost powerless. If the magic and characters are anything like what you've told me that is…" Harry said somewhat despondently as he looked down to his gun, a sense of pride coming to him, but also a sense of slight dread. How long will it be before this is rendered useless and I'm forced to make a bigger and better one? Harry's thoughts were interrupted as Edmond suddenly slapped him on the back.
"Dude that was awesome!" Edmond suddenly exclaimed, his eyes fixed on the mark left on the tree. "How did you do that?" Harry looked at his friend wide eyed for a moment, before he looked down to his creation.
"You see these?" Harry asked pointing to a circle formed of words on the top portion of the gun's grip. Edmond looked closer to see that he could read them.
When the Trigger of this device is pulled, gather magical energy and transfer to the chamber of the same device.
"Whoa. I can read it. This other one says the same thing." Edmond said, pointing to the other circle of words on the same side of the grip. Harry nodded with a smile.
"Correct, when the trigger is pulled, magic is pulled from around us, and transferred into the chamber." Harry then pointed at the 'chamber, but edmond bore a slightly confused expression upon realizing it was still just a solid block of wood. "The 'chamber' is actually just another enchantment meant to hold magical energy for the discharge which is created by the receiver, and refined by the barrel. This way, the magic is kept stored in the gun and will always fire from the end of the barrel where another enchantment directs the projectile out of the barrel. The enchantments on the barrel make it into an actual projectile instead of just being discharged into the air like a shotgun or something."
Edmond's eyes brightened slightly "So this means that anyone can use this right? you wouldn't have to be a wizard?"
Harry nodded happily "Exactly! Since the gun itself can absorb its own magic energy, there isn't a need for a wizard to supply their own magical energy into the gun." Harry then looked somber for a moment, despite the implications. "Although I doubt I'll be able to get the whole town armed or anything. It takes me a while to make these, and I'm already feeling the strain from it. I might be able to make one more today, but I can already feel my magic being strained. I know this is probably helping me with my abilities, but I don't want to push too hard."
"Of course not man, but it's still really cool that you're able to do this. One day, we'll be strong enough to contend with everyone at fairy tail, I swear." Edmond said confidently, which only causes Harry to shake his head with a grin.
"You and your happy-go-lucky attitude. Maybe one day, but right now, we're just novices." Harry then looked out over to the horizon, as the sun began to set, he once again was in slight awe at the beauty of the countryside. Edmond joined him, a happy smile on his face. "We really are stuck here…" Harry said somewhat somberly as all of a sudden, memories of home resurfaced, both happy and sad. Edmond yawned, breaking Harry out of his reminiscing.
"Welp, I'm going to head to bed. I'll see you in the morning buddy." Edmond said nonchalauntly as he walked into the house, soon closing the door behind him. Harry looked back at the sunset with a slightly more determined gaze. Even if I am stuck here, at least I'm not alone. And I'm sure as hell not going to let this new world have its way with me. Harry thought determinedly as he briefly got up and searched for a sizable piece of wood, quickly finding one big enough. He sat back on the porch and began to whittle once again, intent on making another one of his 'guns'.
Edmond walked through the streets of Ginville, a clear goal in mind as he eyed the various shops around him. The town was small enough to walk around easily, so he didn't bother to ask direction for where he was aiming to go. And soon enough his eyes laid upon the store of his desire. "Bernard's Tailoring" was the name of the store, and he believed that they might just have exactly what he's looking for.
"Bingo." Edmond said to himself as he sauntered confidently up to the door of the establishment. The smell of fabrics and dyes hit his nose as he entered the clothing store. He briefly looked around, seeing that the mens and women's sections were split between the two halves of the store, with shoes being in the center, albeit it was a rather small section of the whole building. Then he noticed a receptionist that was now looking at him with interest, and upon moving his gaze to hers, she smiled.
"Welcome to Bernard's tailoring!" She said happily, as Edmond approached. "Is there anything I can help you with today?" Edmond nodded suredly, a pleased expression on his face.
"Yes, I'm looking for a duster, preferably leather and black." Edmond requested, and the receptionist nodded with a smile.
"Of course sir, I imagine you'd look rather dashing in a duster." She said, a small wink in her eye, causing Edmond to pause for a moment to register that. Was that flirting? He asked himself, the receptionist walking around, out of the counter, and towards the men's section, with Edmond following all the while. Soon they came upon a small rack of various dusters of different sizes and materials, all of which interested Edmond, but only two stood out, both of which the receptionist pulled and held out in each hand to give him a better look.
The one in her right hand was a bit short for a duster, the ends of it coming down in spike shapes, the leather having been cut that way, roughly above knee height. The sleeves were currently rolled up, obviously meant to be worn that way. Finally the collar was short, but sharp looking as it hugged close to the neck area of the duster. The second one was much longer, potentially reaching down to below the knees, ending in a solid strip of thick leather that bound it. The sleeves were long, but lacked any additional details. The collar was much bigger than the first, and stuck out past the neck slightly. These seemed like the best choices Edmond had among the rack of dusters.
Edmond smiled "The longer one," he said proudly. The receptionist smiled back at him.
"A fine choice, and might I say one that would compliment someone as striking as yourself."
Edmond froze for a second. What the heck? He thought to himself as the woman looked at him slyly. Why is she getting all flirty? After that brief bout of confusion, the woman placed the smaller duster back on the rack, before walking over to the counter, with Edmond following. "Thanks!" he said to the woman, who he now realized had quite a rack on her chest "How much'll it be?"
"Hmm, let's see here." The lady said, examining the fine piece of attire. "The tag marks it at 25,000 Jewel."
Edmond was taken aback. 25,000!? "Umm…" he said "That's a little more expensive than I was hoping it'd be." His voice a bit downtrodden, believing he would be forced to give up on his purchase.
"Oh, well that's not a problem at all for not only a first-time customer, but also the guardian wizard of Ginville." The Receptionist responded, setting her arm on the counter and leaning her chest into it "I think for someone like that we could put together some kind of special discount."
Edmond became a little flustered "uh, yea. That'd be great!" he said "How much of a discount could I get?"
The receptionist began moving her finger in a circle on the surface of the desk, looking up as if in thought "Oh, I'd say maybe cut the price by about...10,000 Jewel, which would come out to around 15?" She said, moving her eyes to his "How's that sound?"
"T-That sounds good, I could d-definitely do that." Edmond said slightly nervously as she inched her face closer to his, being able to smell the sweet perfume off her person. She smiled seductively as she slowly leaned back, a sly smile once again gracing her face.
"Alright, well, just this once, I'll give it to you for the discounted price. That'll be… 15,000 jewels." She said, her tone becoming even more provocative as she finished her sentence. As Edmond began to fish out the required funds, she bit her lip as she stared at him. "So… Do you have any plans toni-"
"Violet! Are you flirting with the customers again!?" A gruff voice suddenly called, causing Violet to nearly stumble over herself as she was literally called out. The voice in question was joined by the sight of a large round man, wearing a rather finely made causal suit. He was bald, but sported a rather impressive beard that covered his face, completing his appearance.
The large man walked over to the register where the two were standing "I deeply apologize to my good sir for any discomfort my employee has caused you. I'm afraid that sometimes when she has her eyes set on something or someone she gets a little out of hand."
Violet merely shrugged "What can I say? A woman has her needs."
Bernard glared at her vexely "Would it be prudent for me to offer you a discount on this fine garment?" he offered, lifting the duster on the counter with his hands as if in presentation.
Edmond waved his hand in protest "No sir, she's already offered me a decent enough discount as it is."
At that Bernard stepped back in realization "ah, is that so," he started, glaring back at Violet "Then I suppose she was intending on obtaining her sales commision in another manner."
Violet rolled her eyes, although Edmond seemed oblivious as to what Bernard meant. Thankfully Edmond already had the agreed upon amount, and the transaction process from then was short, with Edmond leaving the building wearing his new leather duster and a confident smile on his face, albeit still with a hint of pink from the interaction with Violet.
Harry sighed as he placed another completed 'gun' on the ground next to him as it joined the three others that he had made earlier. He winced as he stood up from his place on the porch, realizing he had been sitting there for far longer than he should have. He stretched briefly as he thought about what else he could do today. While the prospect of just continuing to enchant did enter his mind, he could feel his magic reserves had been near depleted from his efforts. So instead, Harry once again made his way to the town library, intent on looking through the list of magics once again to see if there was anything that might help him.
The trip to the library was short enough, and he once again found the book, pleased that it's location had been undisturbed since he last put the book up. 'Common and Uncommon magics of the world' was proving to be a treasure trove of information for the young mage as he once again delved into its contents. Although one magic in particular had been on his mind ever since Edmond had mentioned it.
"Gun Magic." Harry said to himself, an excited grin on his face as he read the contents on said magical type. While he wasn't sure what to expect, the contents were rather ordinary, which made him slightly disappointed. While there seemed to be special magical skills one could learn being a 'gun wizard' the majority of the section described how it made firing with gun weapons much easier, and made them much more powerful. Along with this, it often involved replacing actual ammo with magically created ammo which one could replenish with their magic, effectively making their weapons not require ammo. "Generic, but definitely useful. Perhaps I could expand my horizons a bit…" He remembered that the introduction to the book explained that those with magical abilities could learn other forms of magic, but it was often more difficult than learning and experimenting with one's own natural magical type.
"I'll have to consider that later… for now…" Harry began, before his stomach suddenly finished his sentence for him, the low grumbling sound carrying rather embarrassingly well in the quiet library. He got up from his chair, returned the book to its rightful place, and left to visit a restaurant. Normally he would be buying groceries or at least something to fix at home, however due to their house's lack of any kind of decent cooking equipment, Both he and Edmond had more or less been forced to just eat at the local establishments. He had thought about potentially enchanting his own appliances, but considered that he could test if his enchantments were safe for food when they weren't expecting bandits to attack at any time.
It was easy enough to find a place to eat in town, as most of the local restaurants were all on main street. As he picked a place though, he noticed a familiar figure also walking around, looking curiously. Harry decided to approach, his movement being noticed by the figure, causing him to smile.
"Hey man, I guess you were looking for something to eat?" Edmond asked as Harry got closer, and responded with a nod.
"How about that place right there? It looks like it serves italian food. or this world's equivalent to it at least." Harry offered, his friend quickly agreeing. As they entered, Harry decided to ask about something he had noticed different about his friend. "Edmond, where did you get that duster?" Harry asked curiously.
"Oh, uh," Edmond began "I got it at that Bernard's Tailoring store." He pointed towards the establishment a couple blocks away, although his face began to turn slightly red, despite his internal protests. Harry noticed his friend's embarrassment, but decided not to comment.
"So how much was it?" He inquired. Harry didn't know much about tailored materials, but he knew an expensive garment when he saw one. After he asked this, a waiter saw them to their tables.
"Oh, It was actually a really good price since I got a discount." Edmond attempted to divert the conversation, but Harry pushed the issue.
"How much was it discounted?" He asked, glancing at the menu before him.
"Oh, umm." Edmond scratched the back of his head "Admittedly I was a little distracted, so I can't exactly remember."
"Distracted by what?" Harry inquired, his tone becoming more impatient.
"Uhhhhh..." Edmond began to get flustered "A rack?"
"A rack? A rack of what? Sexy underwear?" Harry asked in an amused tone.
"Uh...something along those lines I guess." was Edmond's response. Harry was taken aback slightly.
"Why would you be where the sexy underwear is in the first place? Don't tell me you're turning into a cross-"
"NO!" Edmond suddenly shouted, probably louder than intended. "I-I mean, no, I'm not… I just saw it, and was… uh, transfixed."
"You were transfixed by underwear? I wouldn't have pinned you down as that kind of perv." Harry mocked.
Edmond's face had turned a glowing red at this point "Well...it wasn't quite the underwear I was transfixed with as it was the rack itself."
"I don't-" Then Harry realized what Edmond was talking about, and he couldn't resist the urge to face palm. "Please don't tell me you were caught staring at a woman's boobs."
"Listen, its not my fault! She was practically shoving them in my face." Harry looked at him in disbelief, before he remembered all of the other interactions with women since coming here to Earthland. Once he realized what was going on, he groaned, already knowing where this was going to lead them in the long run. "It seems that something terrible has happened to you Edmond." At that, Edmond's eyes seemed to get wide with slight fear. "You have an unnatural ability to attract the oppistie sex, one that seems to work on nearly every female you've met so far." At this thought, Edmond seemed skeptical.
"Really? I don't think thats whats going on." Edmond said as he crossed his arms, waiting to hear some reasoning behind his friend's 'accusation'.
"I beg to differ. Almost every interaction you've had with women has left them flustered or worse, all without you trying. Take the receptionist from the mayor's office, or the lady on the street on the first night coming here. They were both falling over their own words when they saw you." Harry explained, pausing as he saw Edmond thinking back to it, his face slowly becoming one of realization. "Or with the crowd yesterday, most of them were obviously women who were much more interested in you than the actual show you were performing. and now this other girl was apparently pushing her boobs in your face… face it. You are now the bland protagonist of a harem anime."
At that, Edmond's expression changed to one of shock and horror as he is left speechless as his friend helps him make a realization that should have been obvious. Harry orders their drinks when the waitress returns. And as his eyes drift to the menu, Edmond still coming to terms with his new situation, he eyes the prices of the meals.
"Edmond… how much was that Duster again?"
Emond found himself roaming around just outside the village's perimeter. He had been asked by their captain of the guard to patrol this area and keep watch for any bandits. Edmond, of course, didn't mind the job. It made him feel like he was doing something important. The fact that this particular area was rather scenic was a plus. He felt the brisk wind flow through the green field, the tall grass swaying under its gentle push. As he felt the cool wind lick his fingertips he looked down at the duster he bought not but a few days ago, thankful to it for helping him stay warm on this slightly colder day, despite its 'slightly' controversial purchase.
This place is actually quite beautiful he thought to himself. As that thought crossed his mind though, he noticed some strange movement out along the treeline. He began to walk to investigate, but as he got closer he realized a small group of men rushing towards him out of the forest, more and more following behind him. He then realized that this was one of the raiding parties he had been tasked to protect the village from.
Edmond began to sprint back towards the village, calling out to the village guards in an attempt to alert them. The two that he could see nearby seemed to get the message easily. One ran into the village while the other got into a defensive position, as he withdrew a familiar shaped object from his belt. Edmond got beside him as the raiding party rushed them, about six of them in total, making Edmond feel a little overwhelmed.
While this was the first time he would be getting into an actual fight, he was somewhat confident in the practice he had been doing, and was determined to defend the town. He got into his casting stance, and summoned a simple whip with his magic, making it crack in the air mentally a few times to get himself ready. The bandits did not seem deterred. As one of them got close enough, wielding what looked to be a scimitar, Edmond made the whip quickly snap out to him, the cosmic energy snapping across the man's face, sending him to the ground with a solid thump. Edmond attempted to repeat that result with the next one, but the man blocked the whip with what appeared to be a shield made of solid air. The near translucent shield somehow withstanding the force of the whip, and allowing the bandits to draw closer.
"More will be coming, we need to take these out quickly." The guard next to Edmond said, before aiming down the hand cut sights of the enchanted gun he had been given, and firing. The light blue projectile soared true, and struck the man furthest to the right, hitting him in the shoulder, and causing him to pause and flinch in pain, but not much else. The guard was slightly baffled by the ineffectiveness, but kept firing anyway, almost every shot hit the man, each one making him get slower with his approach.
Edmond smirked as he got into his casting stance once again, dissipating the whip, and pulling his hands back behind him a bit. "Cosmic make: Anvil!" At those words, Edmond thrust his arms forward as a large anvil shaped chunk of cosmic energy went flying towards the bandits, the men's faces going from somewhat excited to quiet dread as the anvil soared through the air towards them. The three men that were in it's direct path scrambled out of it's way, but the one in the center was not fast enough, and wound up getting a facefull of anvil as the heavy cosmic creation slammed into him, sending him to the ground, unconscious. The other bandits looked at this with mild shock as one of their members had just been downed by a single spell.
"A Lucky shot! Just wait till the others get here, this one won't know what hit him." One bandit said, the same bandit that had been smacked with the cosmic whip earlier in fact, and was now upright again. As he said this, a different bandit seemed to focus on his own sword, the steel weapon now glowing with a bluish tint.
As the one with the sword attacked him, Edmond backpedaled to dodge the swing, attempting to brandish his own sword before he could attack. As he formed the sword in his hand, he felt the magic energy become unstable, and the resulting blade appeared more flame-like than sword-like. The sword-wielding mage swung again, but Edmond was fast enough to keep his distance, if only marginally. Edmond swung his sword towards the bandit's mid-section, but there wasn't enough reach from the blade. He noticed that the blade couldn't hold its own length, and was shifting its size erratically.
Edmond was forced to step back again as the bandit attacked again. Edmond changed his stance to go on the defensive, and put his blade up to guard, but when the two swords clashed, there was a strong magical force that caused Edmond to get pushed back and lose his balance. Losing his concentration, he let loose the handle of his own blade, but as soon as he did, the sword didn't disappear like it normally would. Instead it dropped to the ground and began to throb with intense magical energy. Edmond didn't like the look of that, and hastened the guard to hit the deck.
Just as Edmond's body hit the ground, the blade he had created exploded into an intense explosion of cosmic energy, sending everyone on their feet flying back onto the ground several feet from the origin of the explosion. What the hell?! Edmond thought to himself as he got up from the ground. He didn't seem to be harmed, and due to his quick thinking wasn't sent flying like the rest of them. He didn't have much time to think though, as the bandits clamored to their feet, now wary of this unwarrantedly powerful seeming wizard.
Right as they were about to initiate their counter attack, the bandits heard the sound of footsteps behind them, and turned around, their faces growing more confident. Edmond seems to realize what was about to happen, as does the guard, and the two quickly leave the scene while the bandits are distracted, deciding to continue the fight with more than just the two of them.
Thankfully it seemed the guards had gotten somewhat organized in that time, and had set up a front line within the street leading to the square, some of them having grabbed barrels or crates to use as cover and use their 'guns' to shoot over, Others however were more or less forced to stand their ground in the middle of the street, equipped with spears. Edmond vaulted over a small crate with the guard following immediately afterward. They ducked down, and looked over the edge to see that quite a few more bandits were now slowly making their way towards the line.
"There are a few of them huh?" A familiar voice called to Edmond, and he looked to his right to see Harry up against the side of a store, within an alley, wielding what he could only describe as a replica tommy gun with a drum magazine. "Think we can do this?" He asked seriously, keeping his eyes forward on the approaching mass of wizards. Edmond looked at the mass as well with a building nervousness, a bit unsure himself, but still willing to try.
"I think we can." Edmond said as he stood up, and took the front line with several of the guards. He formed a cosmic whip in one hand, and then attempted to conjure a sword in his other, but quickly gave up on that idea as his whip began to fall limp and began to lose its shape. He re-concentrated on the whip, and got into a defensive stance, ready for any attack. The opposing wizards all held their hands up, various kinds of magic glowing from each of them, a menacing sight to be sure.
"Hehe, they may have two wiz-" Before one of the bandits could even finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a shout from the barricade they were facing.
"Open fire!" Harry suddenly yelled, prompting all of the guards that had pistols to aim at the wall of wizards and fire, causing most of them to lose focus. Harry himself stepped out from the building slightly, and pulled his own trigger. The magical tommy gun glowed with magical energy as the drum seemed to absorb a fair bit of magic and release it in a continual burst of automatic fire, the mass of bodies being a perfect target. Any other wizards that had hoped to get in an attack had their hopes quickly crushed as the onslaught of magical bullets assaulted them.
"Cosmic Make: Anvil!"Edmond yelled, dropping the concentration on his whip, and throwing out another anvil into the crowd, hitting four of them at once, not being able to dodge from the intense magical barrage.
The fire from the weapons seemed to be having a great effect, but the stubbornness of the bandits was evident as they trudged on, despite being severely weakened from the onslaught. The weakened state of the bandits did help Edmond to take out the bandits, and he was able to drastically shrink their numbers.
Eventually, though, the bandits reached the perimeter of the village, and that was when it was time for the guards armed with spears as well as Harry to start taking bandits on mono-e-mono.
Edmond again brandished his whip, facing and circling a bandit. It was the bandit who attacked first, but this one seemed to be from the slow and stupid section of the gene pool. The bandit came in with rather clumsy hands and fists, and Edmond easily outmatched him in speed. As the bandit swung his fist, Harry dodged, grabbing the other end of his whip with his free hand and wrapping it around the bandit's arm. With the bandit's arm secure, Harry forced him to the ground and delivered a rather disrespectful elbow to the back of the head, knocking the bandit out cold. After that, Edmond quickly got up, in search of his next opponent.
As he did, a bandit came running at him with a yell, Edmond preparing to intercept the attack, before a barrage of magical projectiles pelted him in the side hundreds of times before he fell to the ground, clutching his side. Then more bullets slammed into his prone form as Harry walked slow up, not stopping his assault. After a moment, he was forced to change targets as another Bandit rushed him from the side, but he too was overwhelmed by sheer number of projectiles thrown at him. Edmond nodded at his friend as Harry looked his way, who nodded in return, the receiver to the tommy gun smoking a bit all the while.
Bandits seemed to slowly surround the two of them, and the two wizards were suddenly the center of attention for the bandits. Edmond stretched out his whip and began to whirl it around at high speeds, almost daring anyone to try to enter its range. Harry nealt down on a knee, and began to fire relentlessly into the crowd, none of them being able to dodge the incredibly fast shots. A few attempted to rush the two of them, but Edmond's whip smacking them across the road kept them safe as Harry shot into the crowd.
The guards on the outside were doing rather well for themselves, the ones with pistols kept themselves at a distance, and allowed the guards with spears to keep the bandits distracted while the other took potshots. Eventually it seemed the bandits realized they weren't gaining any ground, and were in fact, losing this fight.
"Lets get outta here!" One bandit yelled as he made a break for the exit from which they came. A few others followed suit. The more stubborn ones kept attacking, mostly focusing on Edmond and Harry, allowing some of the guards to fire at the distracted bandits as their numbers thinned.
"No way! I ain't no coward!" One particularly large bandit said as he rushed the two wizards who were doing most of the damage to the bandit's numbers. Edmond's whip smacked him in the face, but he seemed to keep pushing, even as it smacked him again and again. Harry then focused his attention on the oncoming brute, focusing his rifle at the man's chest, before pulling back on a lever within the rifle. A moment passed, before a solid beam of magical energy burst from the end of the barrely, slamming into his chest, and causing smoke to rise from the impact point. Then the beam stopped, and the man shook his head as he continued his march.
"Okay… now thats just stupid." Harry said, holding his gun off to the side, which was now far blacker and smokier than it had started. He pulled out a pistol identical to the ones the guards were using and began to fire at the brute, keeping the pressure on.
As the brute got closer, Edmond stepped up. He had an idea he thought just might be perfect for this particular enemy. Edmond readied his stance, not flinching at the approaching mountain. "Cosmic Make: Hammer!" Harry called out. He felt the magical energy flow through him as the handle formed in his hands, the head of the hammer becoming almost as big as him. He slammed the hammer down just in front of the charging brute, causing the ground to crack beneath it. The brute finally stopped his approach as Edmond began to spin the massive weapon, smashing it into the side of the mountainous bandit, sending him flying.
After Edmond released the hammer, everything calmed down, the bandits now in full retreat. Harry looked at his obviously tired friend "Pulled that one out of your ass, didn't ya?" He snarked.
"Actually kinda feels like it to be honest." Edmond responded, his voice straining slightly. Despite it being made out of magical energy, Edmond still found the hammer more difficult to wield than he had expected or would have hoped. Nevertheless it appeared they had one, even if it was by a rather thin margin.
Harry could only smirk in amusement as Edmond greedily gouged down on many of the foodstuffs that were provided for the village as a small party took place in celebration of driving back the bandits. They had set up the festivities rather quickly after the guards had been tended to, with the most extreme injury being a heavily bruised arm, which was easily taken care of. There were a few tables of food that were set up outside of the town hall, where the actual party was being thrown. Nearly the whole town seemed to be there, with many family and friends of the guard coming to congratulate them and make sure they were okay. Harry's eyes then caught sight of three women, two familiar, and one unfamiliar, approach Edmond. The two he recognized were the Mayor's receptionist and the then the first woman that they had run into when they were first dropped into this world.
"Good luck brother." Harry said with slight amusement, already imagining how horribly that situation would go. Then another thought came to him. What if all three of them… oh no… Harry thought as he wondered how long it would be until his friend's innocence was stolen from him. Silently he was both jealous and at the same time not jealous of Edmond's 'curse'. At least I don't have to deal with anything like that. Harry thought silently as he sipped on a glass of wine that had been generously provided by the mayor.
"So Harry, what will the two of you do now?" The Mayor's voice prompted the young man to look towards his position as they sat across from each other. "Of course, if either one of you wish to continue your duties here, then I'd be more than willing to continue to pay twice of what a guard makes for you to stay here." Harry pondered those words. While Edmond did wish to go to Fairy Tail, this was a fairly stable job that paid well. Even if one of us sucks at money management. Harry mused frustratingly as he glanced over to his friend, and much to his amusement was now observing the women bicker with one another, and trying to calm them down.
"I don't know. I do know Edmond wants to go to Fairy Tail, but honestly this seems like a great place to kinda… settle, especially with what you're offering." Harry mused before taking another sip of the fine tasting red liquid. Then in the manner of a few short moments, everything went to hell. A yell was heard as a rough looking man suddenly rushed towards Edmond, many following suit, seemingly coming from everywhere. Some from alleys, other from the tops of houses as bandits began to surround the festivities, forcing people to run from the attackers. Some who were braver, or slower got caught by the newly arrived bandits, turning into hostages. Edmond was fast enough to rush past the small crowd by the food tables, and began to activate his magic, ready to fight again.
Harry was forced to put his wine down, and ushered the mayor to the crowd for safety as some of the guards began to make a makeshift barrier around the crowd, while others that had been relatively unscathed during the last fight began to fight back against the new attackers. Damn it. I should have known it wouldn't have been that easy. Harry thought tiredly as he pulled out his own enchanted pistol, now seriously regretting he had used his last weapon's self destructive trump card.
Edmond slung his whip, striking another enemy wizard, before two more took his place, just as eager as the first one. "There's a lot more than there were earlier!" Edmond yells in slight desperation as he uses his whip to wrap around one wizard's waist, before flinging him into two others.
"Seems like it!" Harry called back to his friend "Guess they didn't expect us to put up much of a fight then!" He fired at some of the approaching bandits, but their numbers were overwhelming, and soon they were upon the rookie wizard. Harry sent a swift roundhouse to one bandit that had lightning arching off of his arms, and fired at one that approached his other side, but was caught as some kind of vine wrapped around his torso, and then his arms, and then his legs as he was rendered immobile. Edmond used another Anvil to send three bandits sprawling before a powerful strike hit his back, right into another bandit who reared back a flame covered fist and struck his gut, sending him crashing into the ground, throwing up dust and debris.
With the two wizards sprawled out on the floor, the bandits corralled the rest of the townspeople. They cooed and mocked the townspeople at their victory, and mocked the once proud wizards. Edmond struggled to get to his feet, and wound up being pulled up violently by his arms by two of the bandits, while Harry struggled to get free from his viney prison, only resulting in the vines getting tighter.
Then everything became quiet as a tall slender man carrying a scythe. He wore a black scarf and a black heavily torn skirt, as well as he had what appeared to be tattoos on his chest and stomach. "Well what do we have here?" The strange man said "Seems like we've caught those pesky Wizards we heard about. Guess I was right, they were nothing to worry about after all." At that, the bandits burst out in laughter, causing Harry and Edmond to frustratingly glare at their attackers.
Edmond recognized the man from the show. Erigor! Why the hell is he here? Edmond knew that this wizard was powerful, and that neither he nor Harry would be able to match him. Then one of the bandits dragged the mayor out from the crowd and threw him to Erigor's feet.
"You fiend!" The mayor cried "what are you doing back here! Can't you just let this town be?"
Erigor laughed "And why should I? All I want is to get what I'm owed, but instead I found out that you gave it to these two sorry excuses for wizards instead!"
"Ginville doesn't owe you anything! You never completed your end of the job." the mayor shouted back in protest, making Edmond suddenly freeze up. Why the hell would he hire Erigor for any kind of job!? Emond asked himself in his head, now suddenly very confused about the situation he's wound up in the middle of.
"My end?!" The wind mage jeered "You didn't tell me that the head I was after was a fucking GUILD LEADER! Do you know how much that cost me? I'm just after the damages that it cost me." He hired him for… an assassination? Harry asked himself as he heard the conversation go on, trying to process what was being said. If this keeps going on though… well, that scythe looks sharp.
"Do you understand what's at stake here?! You will never receive one red cent from this village!"
At that, Erigor became outraged "Alright then, I'll put it this way." He motioned for the bandits to lift Edmond off the ground and lifted his scythe to Edmond's throat, causing a multitude of women to gasp. "You're going to provide me with all the payment I'm due, or this sorry excuse for a wizard is going to get a lot of weight lifted off his shoulders!"
"STOP!" A loud yell came from the other end of the area. Both Erigor and the mayor looked over to see Harry still tied up. "You want repayment right? I can get you repayment." This seemed to pique Erigor's interest as he suddenly sped over to the wizard, seemingly disappearing and reappearing in front of him.
"And how might you be able to do that?" Erigor asked in a low voice as he knelt down to get closer to the young man's face. Harry began to sweat from nervousness, knowing that his next few words might be his last.
"I can make you anything you want. A weapon, a device that can transmute gold. Anything! I'll make you anything… just. Don't hurt anyone else." Erigor seemed slightly amused by those words and the desperate tone in which they were said.
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Erigor seemingly mocked as he got even closer to Harry, who was now able to smell the assassin's breath.
"See those pistols? Take a look at them. They're the result of my magic." As Harry said this, Erigor motioned for one of his bandits to get one of the guns from the guards, who did so, and after handing it to Erigor, looked at it with curiosity. After a moment his eyes went wide.
"These are solid blocks of wood. What kind of gun magic is this?" Erigor asked, his attention now fixed on the tied up wizard.
"It's not gun magic, it's my special kind of enchantment magic that allows me to basically make anything I want. Those pistols don't even require someone to be a wizard to wield them to work. Even though they lack a lacrima." Harry said somewhat confidently upon seeing Erigor's mildly shocked face. However it soon turned to an evil grin as he glared down at the wizard.
"Good. Your going to make me a weapon… one that can destroy a city…" Erigor said darkly as he took the butt end of his scyth and slammed it into the side of Harry's head, rendering him unconscious. The bandit next to Harry picked him up easily as Erigor turned back to the rest of the town.
"Today, this wizard will become my hostage. If any of you decide to pursue me…" Erigor began, eyeing Edmond who had now fixed him with a death glare. "...I will personally see to it that he takes a nap he'll never wake up from. Let them go, but take all of the pistols this wizard has made." He ordered, and the bandits that were holding Edmond let him fall to the ground with a thud, and any bandits that had guards held up also let them go. They proceeded to check the pockets of every guard in the town, collecting the weapons with relative ease. Edmond rose to his knees, and fixed Erigor with a furious stare as the wind mage glanced to the mayor. "If his claim turns out to be true, you can consider your debt to me paid in full." He said, before he began to glide into the air, being lifted by his wind magic, and the bandits began to run from the area, their new prize in hand.
Edmond attempted to get up, but a bolt of pain in his back forced him to his knees again, meaning he could only watch as the bandits made off with his best friend.
The next day, Edmond found himself in the mayor's office, the city official leaning on his elbows, his face in his hands "This is all my fault," The mayor said "because of my actions, this town has suffered at the hands of bandits and your friend was taken for as a hostage on my account."
Edmond merely looked at the man with pity "Well, we can't just sit here. We have to do something about it!"
"I can not allow you to do anything that might jeopardize this village or your own life. We need someone more experience to deal with this." The mayor looked up at Edmond "I'm going to send you to Fairy Tail personally to recruit a sharp team of wizards. They are no doubt the closest wizard guild to us, and are famed for their talents." The mayor told Edmond, who's eyes immediately brightened up, despite the situation.
"Then we haven't a moment to lose!" Edmond said as he shot up from his seat, and began running towards the door.
"WAIT!" the mayor called out to Edmond, who was already halfway through the door "Inform them that the town will pay whatever is a fair price for their trouble on completion of the job! Bring them here once it is complete and we'll make sure they are duly compensated." At that Edmond sent a thumbs up towards the mayor, and then began to leave the office and building, making his way towards the center of town, quickly buying some traveling supplies and a backpack. Then he made his way to the end of town, a sign post near the road that had Clover town painted on a pointed sign, with 'towards magnolia' right underneath it. He smiled, but his smile faltered slightly as he remembered the exact reason for his trip to Fairy Tail. I need to focus, Harry's life is on the line. Edmond thought as he began his lengthy trek across the country.
Author's notes
Once again a reminder that this is a joint writing project with Black_Hawk931 and that he's the only real reason this was all able to be put out. This is something that's a little different from my normal style I know, but I do hope you all enjoyed the chapter for what it was, the next one will definitely have familiar faces in them as Fairy tail gets involved. I'm hoping that my upload schedule won't be super effected by this, but depending on what happens, I might put Shop Class on Hiatus. (Fair warning to those that read that). But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and as always…
Thanks for reading!