It was a peaceful day at the beach today. There were no random quaking of the ground, no burning trees nearby, and no area-specific heavy rainfalls. Just a plain old sunny day as what someone would expect at the beach.

It has been already a month since Natsu, Juvia, and Happy arrived here in this unknown seaside. Miraculously, the place isn't all that damaged compared to what a Fairy Tail mage's training ground commonly is. Well, aside from the forest that receded in almost fifty meters from it's original position.

However, their trainings for this past month has never been on the slacking side. In fact, their training was getting more difficult and violent after every session. So intense that them improving is kind of an understatement. So it is safe to say that Natsu's guess on this training camp being a lot effective than normal is definitely a fact.

But for now, the three of them are sitting under a huge umbrella on a makeshift fishing dock about a hundred meter away from the seashore. Yes, the three of them are fishing. It became a habit to them that whenever they are on their training day off, they would spend it by replenishing their protein supply by either hunting wild animals in the forest or fishing here on the sea.

"Natsu, I got a bite, and I think it's a big one." Happy whispered.

"Nice. Tell me if it's too heavy for you so that I can reel it for you."

The float started running around the sea, extending the reel to an alarming rate. Seeing this, both Natsu and Juvia took their own rods back to avoid entangling with Happy's. Happy reeled it and caught a rather small fish only about the size of a human's palm.

"Eh, this small? I thought it was something bigger."

"Maybe it's the sign that we've already caught enough and that was the last fish to catch for today." Juvia commented.

"Oh well, a catch is a catch." Happy sighed and put the fish inside the 'ice box'.

Although it's been only four hours since they started fishing, the three left the dock, satisfied with the totality of their catch. Both Natsu and Juvia caught ten fishes of different sizes each while Happy caught twelve. Overall, they caught a pretty decent amount.

The three ate a leftover meal that is taken from the 'ice box' so it still looks like a freshly cooked meal. As usual, Natsu and Happy ate at a concerning rate that threatened their food supplies. Thankfully, they love to hunt for food as much as they love to eat.

"Ah that hits the spot as always."

"Yeah Juvia, I usually like my fish raw but your cooking makes it even better!" Happy added with a grin.

"Alright! I'm ready for training!"

However, the two sent him a disproving stare as it's a common knowledge to train or fight with a full stomach. For Natsu, this isn't much of an issue as he always eats fire every time he is at a fight. But only because he is able to do so does not mean the others can.

"Ah right. Rest up first while I go ahead and warm up."

For a while now, Natsu got used to their interactions as a group. Sure he forgets some things about Juvia every now and then like now that she doesn't want to train on a full stomach. He now also knows that any sort of physical attacks don't work on her, and that ability of hers keeps on improving to the point that she can now evade some of his attacks no matter how fast if he didn't make them strong enough.

That is why he always wanted to push himself even further as he is inspired by everyone around him who keeps improving.

Even Happy managed to obtain his own battle form similar to Panther Lily, although it is a bit more humanoid and of similar build as Natsu. This happened when he wished to be strong enough so that his fellow Exceeds won't be underestimating him any longer. For the longest time, he was treated as a joke by everyone at the guild, something that Natsu can relate to some degree that's why he trained him.

Now, his hand-to-hand combat skills also improved as he's able to somewhat keep up to both of the mages, although still far from them. His flying speed and distance also improved greatly, saying that he now has more sea area to cover for fishing.

As for Natsu, his Lightning Flame Dragon Mode is now complete but just not to the level of strength as when he fought Hades because that time he also had the raw power of Laxus. This time, his lightning is self-sustained that is why it is weaker. But due to his intense training, he's now already nearing towards that level of power.

But the more he uses his lightning, the more he's thinking about all those other magics he ate. As far as he remembers, there are a total of four magics that he successfully ate. Those are the Etherion, Jellal's flame, Zancrow's godly flame, and lastly, Laxus's lightning. He's now able to sustain his own lightning but what about the others? Will they just vanish after all of that?

"Okay, let's try this!"

On his left hand, he tried to call the powers of the godly flame, the one he successfully used before. He tried to force it but his flames are still the same old orange.

He tried again and again but the results are still the same. He tried to concentrate his flames but it only resulted to a powerful flame of his own, not the black flame.

"Ah, this isn't working! Let's try again!"

Again, he tried to summon the flame. But this time, he desperately tried to remember how that flame feels in his hands, how it feels when they hit him, and lastly, how they taste when he ate them. He remembered it all, it's not a pleasant flame but a destructive one, stronger than his own.

"Please let this work. Fire God's Fist!"

With an excruciating pain from forcing the magic, he screamed as he pushed his magic output even further. With all his efforts, he saw his flame darkened but still not close to black.

"Come on, just a little bit further! Haaa!"

He forced his magic to heights that he didn't know existed, letting a guttural scream. He continued to do so until his fire successfully turned into the fire god's black flame. The flame stayed in his hands for a few seconds until it vanished into nothingness.

Despite being tired from using a fourth of his magic all at once, he was laughing like his usual self for his success.

All that screaming and the laugh were loud enough that Happy and Juvia who were still napping under the shade of a tree, causing them to be awakened.

"Woah, What's Natsu-kun doing?" Juvia asked the cat beside her.

That is right, Juvia became already close enough to the two that she already changed the honorific she uses to both of them as an acknowledgement to them as a close friend. This change happened after the first week they spent here training.

"Um, training? He did say that he was going to train before we took a nap." Happy replied.

"Let's go check him out, Happy-kun!"

"Aye sir!"

'But Juvia is a woman though."she thought to herself but just accepted the fact that this just Happy's tagline, like her third person way of talking.

They stood in front of Natsu who was panting heavily after his dangerous stunt. Natsu looked at them with an excited expression that really contrasts his earlier screams. That leads to them wondering if all of that screaming from earlier was just from his training or something else unknown happened to him.

"Natsu, what was that all about that you have to interrupt my dream of having a fish empire?"

The man in question just smirked as he started powering up. "Happy, do you remember that yellow-haired maniac back at Tenrou Island?"

"You mean the fire god slayer?"

"Yeah, watch this!"

Undergoing the same process as last time but with the clear picture of what to do, he unleashed a scream of power as the flames on his hand started to turn into the black flames again. This time, the toll on his body was still the same but the black flame formed much faster.

Again, after just a few seconds, the flames dissipated, but the display left his two audiences with their mouths open. Happy specifically was overwhelmed as he witnessed the power of the fire god slayer firsthand and saw how Natsu struggled against him. Juvia, on the other hand, was simply amazed of the feat he just shown.

"Woah! Did you just used Zancrow's flame like what you did to Laxus's lightning? Awesome!" Happy praised his partner.

"Yeah! And for the next month, I will be practicing this flame along with my dragon slayer one until I master it!"

...

And that he did. After another month of training, he achieved the same mastery with the fire god slayer as his lightning dragon slayer aspect. However, the two were still just an addition to his fire dragon slayer magic that is actually getting stronger at an alarming rate.

Really, Juvia's water was responsible for his flame's growth in power. And with that also came with Juvia's massive improvement as an adaptation to her parter's growth trance. She's now able to add pressure to her water to a multiple of what she was capable of before the training camp began.

However, the most impressive improvement from her is her voluntary activation of Water Body. Now, she is able to instantly counterattack while still getting attacked by her opponent. Natsu also wasn't able to evaporate all her water as she's able to constantly regulate the temperature of her water.

As for a plain hand-to-hand combat, the three was able to be on par with each other, though Juvia was at the advantage as physical attacks simply just won't work on her. But when she would force turn off her Water Body, that's when everyone was on par with each other.

They really worked as what a team should, to not leave a single person behind. Even Happy who started to be a lot weaker than the two is now a real capable warrior in his own right.

The the sat at the sandy ground of the seashore, watching the crimson sunset in front of them, or in the case of Happy, sleeping on Natsu lap from being tired from training. This is one of the things that they would miss after this training camp.

"Natsu-kun, Happy-kun, thank you for inviting Juvia on that quest."

Both Natsu was startled by the gratitude they received from Juvia.

"Eh, what was that all about?" Natsu asked.

"You know what Juvia means. You pulled Juvia out of depression from Gray-san's rejection of her."

She really is thankful for them, not only because of the thing she mentioned, but for the wonderful time they spent here together, and for the heights of power she gained with them that she could only dream of reaching before.

"Oh that? Really, it's no big deal."

Natsu wanted to just shrug off the idea that he did something important to her but he just can't. Just hearing from her that he contributed greatly to her happiness really warms his heart. However, it was a bit different from the joy he experienced from helping his friends. This time, he's somewhat more inspired to make her smile in the future whenever she smiles at him, something that he's seeing from her more and more often ever since that job of theirs from Oak Town.

Suddenly, Juvia did the unthinkable. While they're watching the reddening sun, she leaned her head to his right shoulder. This caused him to flinch for a moment, then he relaxed his shoulder so that she can lean on him more comfortably.

This one of the moments when he witnessed the near invulnerable woman of the battlefield showed weakness to him. For the whole training camp, it is very rare to see her in need. In fact, that time when he found her crying about Gray and during their first battle were the only real times she showed a sign of weakness until now.

"Can Juvia stay like this for a moment?" she asked in an almost whispering voice.

"Sure, no problem."

Upon hearing his permission, she snuggled closer to him, feeling his heat in her sides. It's one of the things she liked about being close to him, the comforting heat he gave off.

He kinda wished that this training camp of theirs would last longer. But the time doesn't allow them as they have to participate at the Grand Magic Games, whether as a fighting member or as a supporter along with Master and the rest of the guild.

This upcoming whole month will be their last month of training and they're planning to go all out. To prove to the whole kingdom that Fairy Tail is the best guild and to prove to their teammates that they wasted a good friend and ally out of them.

With him gaining enough control over lightning dragon and fire god slayer aspects, it's time for him to finally focus on that powerful mix of elements. The one that that is feared throughout the whole Ishgar as the Magic Council's ace weapon, the concentrated magic that first made him feel what being a dragon feels like: Etherion.

...

Finally, the day before the Grand Magic Games has arrived. Every participating guilds are now assembled at the various parts of Crocus, enjoying themselves before the day of the big event. The busy streets are filled with both tourist and mages alike.

Except for one guild who for some reason were still together at their inn and not enjoying the free day before the event. Yes, Fairy Tail was being uneasy with the absence of the two strong members of the guild. Gildarts was also absent but no one actually expected him to attent events such as this.

"Isn't Natsu supposed to be here now?" one of the members asked.

"Heh, I hope he doesn't come here at all! He might just destroy everything and have the prize money as payment to the damages!" Lucy, who was still salty about the last job they took together, whined in anger.

Makarov, who heard the whining of his child, cleared his throat and stood in front of all his children. "Ahem. This is it my children. Today, we will be reclaiming the title of being the top guild in Fiore. So wreck havoc all you want at the battlefield to let everyone know that Fairy Tail is the number one!"

He gave the speech just as a retort to what he heard from Lucy. However, he can't just defend him flat out as it might show favoritism on his part. And besides, seven years before, Fairy Tail is most well known by its destructive tendency, an indirect way of showing other guilds of the power at their disposal.

The short speech elicited a cheer from the members, even Lucy who didn't know that the speech was about what she just said.

"Now I'm going to announce the five participating members. As I call your name, please step forward. First is Erza!"

And soon followed Gray, Lucy, Wendy. However, the last member Makarov wanted to attend wasn't around yet. As much as possible, he wanted him to participate because of how competitive he is, something that every participant of the games must have.

He looked around for a suitable substitute, someone who is just as competitive as Natsu, when a familiar laugh was heard among the members.

"Gihi. If a dragon slayer is what you're looking for, then you don't have to choose Salamander for it." Gajeel said.

The master heard his words. If he is able to release those words, then he just have the competitiveness that he needs to complete the team, though he was actually planning on putting him on a different team.

"Okay Gajeel, you will be the fifth member. Now you go make this old man and the guild proud!"

Everyone cheered for their representatives then scattered around the capital, taking the time to enjoy themselves while waiting for the midnight to come. All except for a few members who stayed with the Master. Yes, unbeknownst to the main team, Makarov was planning on letting two teams from his guild participate.

The inclusion of another team was a newly added rule of the Grand Magic Games, probably because the audiences wanted to witness more of the defending champion's greatness. If there are two teams of Sabertooth, then the crowd will surely flood on Domus Flau and on Crocus, increasing their income from tourists alone. And to make things fair, they applied the rule to every guild so that fan-favorites such as Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus might also appear with two teams.

What they didn't calculate is that Fairy Tail is taking this opportunity to put their two best teams, each with an S class or a mage with strength of the same level.

Making sure that the other guild members are absent, Makarov started his agenda. "Now I think you know why I retained you brats here. I will be selecting a few of you here as a branch team for the games, but not for the reason of winning, though you may do it if you want to."

The members who remained with the master are Laxus and the Thunder Tribe, Mirajane, and Cana.

"You can show yourself now." Makarov called to the person behind them.

"Mystogan?" The members asked.

"No, It's me Jellal. I already talked about this to Master Makarov and Erza, but you need to know that there's an ominous energy similar to Zeref that my guild sensed here in Crocus. We're thinking that it's related to the games that's why I asked Master to participate on the games as Mystogan while my guildmates will investigate from afar." the masked man explained.

"That's understandable. So the other four of us here will be chosen as his teammates so that he can enter the games to investigate from inside. Am I coreect?" Laxus asked.

"Yes, but like I've said, you're free to win the tournament if you want to. Just make sure that you pass the preliminaries." Makarov replied.

Then out of nowhere, three individuals came crashing at the closed door of the inn. They are Natsu, Juvia, and Happy, all panting heavily from the distanced they dashed from the terminal to here.

"Phew! I thought we were late but you guys are still here so..." Natsu said but stopped as he try to regain his breath. "Oh, you're also here, Jellal. What's with the cosplay?"

Natsu didn't mistook Jellal for Mystogan because of his smell and the feel of his magic.

Jellal again explained to the newcomers about the circumstances, which elicited a few oohs and aahs from the two childish members of the guild while Juvia just giggled at her companions antics while still seriously listening to Jellal.

"So it's a secret? Like, are we gonna be a ninja team?" Natsu then posed like what a ninja is from what he knew, which is also imitated by Happy.

"It's a bit more serious than that but yes, that's basically it." Makarov replied. "Although I have to admit, I can easily tell that the three of you had improved greatly for these past three months."

"Yes master, Natsu and Happy are great training partners to Juvia." she replied with much smile that somehow made Natsu and Happy feel warm inside.

"I guess I have to choose the members of the team now. It will be 'Mystogan', Laxus, Mirajane, Juvia, and Natsu. Cana will replace 'Mystogan' after he's done with his investigation. Any objections?"

No one objected the decision of the master. Without anything to discuss further, everyone left the inn and enjoyed themselves just like the other guild members. Makarov, Mirajane and Cana went to find the other members while the Thunder God tribe followed Laxus to some food stalls.

"So, what are we going to do until midnight?" Happy asked.

"Maybe go to some attractions?" Natsu then realized that most attractions here are ride-based so he stopped himself. "Or maybe not."

"Juvia thinks that the street foods are nice, though Natsu-kun might eat them all." Juvia suggested with a slight giggle.

"Nah, we're going to pay them anyway so what's the problem? Nevermind, street food it is! Let's go!"

Natsu started running towards a street food vendor while pointing at its direction. The stall didn't have enough customers, means that it probably still has enough food to accommodate him and his abysmal stomach.

"Aye sir!" the two responded as they followed him. Yes, Juvia just said that.

The food stall offered various grilled seafoods, much to the delight of Happy. They bought almost half of the stall's products and left the stall owner with a relatively huge sum of money. The act almost brought the stall owner to tears as their actions attracted the other pedestrians to buy his product.

Each with a hefty bunch of grilled seafoods, three then went sightseeing around the area near Mercurius, the castle where the royal family of Fiore lives. They took their time because it's their first time in three months to explore civilization.

"Mmm, this squid is good!" Natsu exclaimed with delight as he swallowed another stick of grilled squid.

"Aye! I think we should go there again tomorrow." Happy replied. "Come to think of it, we haven't seen everyone yet."

"Don't worry about it Happy-kun, Juvia is sure that we'll see them at the event tomorrow."

...

The first six teams have been already called out to the arena. There have been cheers from the people towards their favored team, although the team who was last introduced, Raven Tail, got a relatively low cheer from the crowds due to it being a former dark guild.

"And for the second spot... Wait, there's two of them?"

The main announcer Lola paused upon seeing the name of the guild who got second spot. The crowds also expressed the same reaction as him.

"Yes and that is very much allowed. In fact, every guild has their two teams but only one guild has successfully entered its two teams to the main event." the supporting commentator and the former Magic Council member Yajima commented.

"Well, let's give it up to the only guild who managed to enter both of their teams to the main event: Fairy Tail team B!"

The crowd was disappointed at first that it's not the Sabertooth's other team that managed to pass the preliminaries. But when the loud cheer from the Fairy Tail members erupted across Domus Flau, other viewers who were just here for the excitement of the games also erupted their cheers.

However, the original members of the Fairy Tail team was baffled by the revelation. Well, except for Elfman who just said about having two teams being manly.

"Eeeh! We have another team and they actually finished first before us?" Gray exclaimed.

When the first member of the team was showed, Erza was surprised but she instantly understood what the team was for.'I guess this the team was made so that Jellal could investigate from the inside of this games.'

But what surprised the Team A was the entrance of a certain Dragon Slayer who's laughing like usual.

"Natsu!"

...

A/N: I guess I will be following this 4k words per chapter format from now on.