Zeldris snored happily as Wendy and Erza shook him awake.
"Come on already!" Wendy said. Erza stood furious, ready to just kick him.
Soon she was shouting nearly at the top of her lungs. "Now wake up, otherwise we're going home!" Zeldris yawned and stretched.
"What time is it anyways?" Zeldris asked rather grumpy, rubbing his eyes. "It shouldn't even be 6 in the morning!" he objected.
"It's past noon already," Erza barked. "You wasted half a day of training by sleeping." Zeldris sighed, climbing out of his sleeping bag, stretching, and twisting as he was still grumpy.
"So, now that I'm awake what shall we do first?" Zeldris asked, Erza frustratingly relented, still wanting to help Zeldris after all.
"Well, I wanted to do a physical test of your sword skills first off, so a decent non-magical sword fight with me should be fine." Erza responded, Zeldris shrugged and nodded, grabbing his backpack and sheathed swords.
"In here, or out on the sand?" Zeldris asked, walking out into the warm sun.
"Out here right next to the water is fine since it's almost low tide anyways. Why don't you follow us Wendy?" Wendy nodded, and followed the two out to the hard sand.
"Now, requip!" Zeldris stared in awe as Erza's body shone a bright light and her clothes changed right in front of him. Now she changed from silver armor and a blue skirt into flame red pants and a white tap bra, holding a long silver sword with a black and green grip.
"So, this is your famous requip magic!" Zeldris said in amazement as he unsheathed his sword, bright silver almost white in color, with green outlines on it. "I'm ready when you are," he said, lowering himself in a fighting stance.
Erza nodded, soon charging at him. "Don't worry about flattery and worry instead about the enemy in front of you!" Erza said.
Time slowed to a crawl and the sound of clanging blades could be heard all along the beach. Both Erza and Zeldris swung their blades at each other; the swords clashed, and they were locked in their spot. Eyes and swords locked, neither gave an inch in their intense stare down.
The two then jumped back about 6 feet away from each other. "I see that despite your modesty, you're quite the swordsman" Erza said.
"Well thank you, and you are a worthy opponent Titania." Zeldris said.
Erza glared at him, quickly requipping a second sword. "How dare you call me that name!" Erza grunted, soon charging at Zeldris again, but this time would be different. In the blink of an eye, a double of Zeldris formed right beside him and soon a three-way sword battle formed between them. Swish, slash, cling, clang as swords clashed together, bodies moving at almost light speed. The intensity of their fight had taken a turn. An uptick so strong that poor Wendy sat there pale as a ghost, muttering "he's way stronger than he lets on". A white cat now floating beside her looking just as pale. Wendy had now had enough.
"Stop this fight you two!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs. The two jumped back, the body double merging back into Zeldris. Erza looked over at Zeldris rather shocked, now regaining some composure. "What on earth was that attack!" Erza asked.
Zeldris chuckled a little, panting as he sat down on the hard sand. "It's the special ability of my sword known as Lostvayne, an ancient sword that's been with me since birth which can allow me to create clones of myself. My full counter doesn't take up all that much magical power, so it allows me to be able to counter multiple spells at the same time." Zeldris paused, attempting to catch his breath. "While it can create clones of myself, it takes up a decent amount of my physical strength, plus in terms of magical power they are quite diluted from myself".
Erza nodded. "I see, so where I can requip and use multiple swords to attack, your Lostvayne allows you to create multiples of yourself to attack." Zeldris nodded, laying out on the sand and finally catching his breath.
"Also, I can only create a total of 4 copies, and uh, can we take a small break? I've only just caught my breath," he sighed, "and this is the most intense training I've ever had".
Wendy looked on still horrified, but Erza finally seemed to calm down, letting out a sly smile. They started walking back towards their base camp.
"Oh, hi Carla, nice of you to join us", Erza intoned. The white cat seemed to regain composure.
Zeldris raised up from his spot laying on the beach, shaking his head in disbelief. "What on earth is that?" he said, staring at the floating flying cat. Wendy finally broke from her horrified look, still quite worried about the fight she just witnessed.
"Oh, this is Carla; she's my talking, flying exceed" she said, attempting to hide her concerns with a cheerful tone.
"Exceed?" Zeldris asked.
"Exceeds are a race of cats from the alternate world of Edolas. A few years ago, Edolas ran out of magical power. Wendy, Natsu, Erza here, and some of the other guild wizards fought a major battle in Edolas. Long story short, all the exceeds came to live here in Earthland back in 784. They are common partners of dragon slayers. Wendy, Natsu, Gajeel, plus Sting and Rouge of Sabertooth have one each," Carla said.
"Thank you, Carla, and it's very nice to meet you. I would greet you face to face, but that fight took a lot more out of me than expected," Zeldris said, laying back on the sand.
Erza interrupted. "I'll cook us some lunch, and we can have a magic battle. Maybe Wendy will fight you in my place." Wendy chuckled, once again worried, as she happily grabbed Carla, holding her in her arms.