Erza and Lucy were the first to wake up seeing no one at the camp, it looked like it was empty.
"Good morning Lucy," Erza said when he saw the blonde.
"Good morning Erza," the celestial magician said looking around. "I don't see Ryker anywhere."
"Did something happen? He didn't come back until we went to sleep," the redhead said in concern.
"Good morning," said a voice over the tree. Ryker was sitting on one of the trunks at the top of the plant looking at them both with a neutral eye.
"Good morning," they said looking at him. "Where were you last night?", Erza asked a little nervously.
"Sorry. I think I lost track of time," she said casually. "When are the sleeping beauty going to get up?"
"Later. They're not the type to work in the morning," Lucy replied smiling.
"Tsh! We should go soon. The sooner the better, the weather in the mountains is unpredictable ", the new member said irritated by the delay.
"You got up early," the redhaired magician asked.
"Old habits," he said, looking at her. He was bored and decided to find out a few things about them. "Hey! What's the kid's problem with transportation?", he asked to the girls.
They looked at each other with the question and Requip's mage decided to answer. It would make him astounded. "I don't know what really causes it, but all Dragons Slayers are like that in transportation. It must be due to their magic or some other factor, which we don't understand."
He was curious about the answer, especially what she said about dragons. "Wait? What is a Dragon Slayer?"
That question might surprise both of them, but because he didn't know that they were sick in transport, he probably didn't really know what they were. "Well, basically, a Dragon Slayer is a person who was taught by dragons the magic of killing a dragon," Erza said with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Wait! Do you mean dragons, dragons!? Like those reptiles that fly and set fire out of their mouths?", he said without knowing how to react.
"Eh... yes, I think we can put it like this"
"Do they exist !?", he was looking scared and not believing what he was hearing.
"It's a complicated and confusing story, but yes. Well... I don't know if there are any out there yet, but they certainly existed. We struggled with some time ago. It wasn't easy," Erza said.
"Where did you come from never heard of them?" Lucy asked gently.
"Ah ... well, it's ... no. I mean, they were just silly stories, fantasy adventures, children's stories and mythologies. That's it."
The two magicians looked at each other. How could anyone in this world not know what a dragon was? Or think they were just silly folklore? There was more to him than he wanted to say, Erza realized that, but for some reason, he didn't ask. Perhaps at the right time she would do it or he would speak. However, with him, he was thoughtful. That world was strange and confusing to him, but at the same time it felt cool. A universe of things to discover and see, to feel, that made him excited, even though he didn't know why. Everything was new and that world was apparently shaping it, changing so quickly. He just closed his eyes and felt, maybe it was something interesting to witness, and people also seemed interesting.
"By any chance, you don't have vampires and werewolves, do you?", he asked.
Lucy and Erza looked at each other, not knowing what those things were. "What are these things?", They both said at the same time.
He smirked. "Leave it there".
"What!?", Lucy shouted, gesturing with her arms. "We talked about dragons for you. Now you must tell us what that thing you said is," she huffed. "Is not fair!"
"Maybe another day," he said and climbed down from the tree where he was standing and looked at the two of them. "I'll wait in the wagon while the sleepers don't wake up," he went out with his hands in his pockets and got into the wagon, leaving the magicians behind puzzled.
Time later, Gray and Natsu woke up. They packed up their things, dismantled the camp, and went to the wagon to continue their journey up into the mountains, which were only a couple of hours ahead. The carriage went as far as, it could, and it was not possible to move on, the magicians were forced to end the journey on foot. The weather was terrible, the cold was relentless, the winds were sharp and strong. Lucy was at her Horologium, and was complaining about everything, as usual. Gray and the others were fine, Happy was suffering from the cold too, but he stood his ground.
"Natsu, I can understand, but I'm impressed that you can withstand the cold like that," Gray said to Ryker, walking beside him.
"You also look comfortable with the temperature", Ryker said.
"That's because I'm an Ice Mage, so the cold doesn't bother me," Gray replied with a proud smile. "You don't seem to me, to be a cold wizard to be like this."
"Not really, but I trained in an icy region like this, so I can adapt to the temperature," Gray was a little surprised, but I won't let that happen to smile at that.
The journey was long and the day passed halfway through, until they saw the nest, and it looked new, it was being used. They were on a platform, which was connected by a narrow path through the mountains. The problem was that the nest was on the other side of a cliff and was very high, on top of a steep rock wall. Between them and the nest there was a crack more than 30 meters wide and it was very deep. The wind at the top was strong and the stones looked slippery.
"We found the nest, but how are we going to get the egg?" Lucy whimpered.
"Happy is going to take me there and pick up the egg, Lucy. And we can go home," Natsu says confidently, which cheers Lucy up with a sparkle in her eyes.
"I don't think so," Gray interrupts the party.
"What !? Why not ice head? Happy is capable of that. He is not Happy", the Dragon Slayer says looking at his friend, but what he sees is that he is shivering with almost freezing cold. "I don't think I can ...", says the tremendous exceed.
"Happy, what happen!?", The fire wizard puts his hands on his head in disbelief.
"This absurd cold was too much for him," observes Erza.
"And now !?", Lucy cries again.
"We have to formulate a plan," the redhaired magician says with her hand on her chin thoughtfully.
"I'll take it," Ryker says calmly, as if he already has a plan in mind. Everyone looks at him, wondering what he was going to do.
"And how do you intend to do that?" Gray asked looking at him with a frown.
"Climbing that wall. Look, there is a crack that leads directly to the nest," he says, pointing to the other side of the mountain. There was clearly a crack that ran up the vertical wall, narrow enough for a person to sneak through.
"This is dangerous, there is no guarantee that you will achieve it," Erza replied.
"Do you know how to climb !?", Lucy said with wide eyes.
"Do you have any better ideas? I don't see any other solution," the newcomer replied looking at both. "And we have to get the egg, don't we?"
Erza crossed his arms and sighed reflecting for a moment. "In this situation, not really. And how do you intend to cross this canyon?", She asked him with a serious look.
He walked to the edge and took a look. It was wide and deep, the platform they had reached and were wide enough to take a momentum and jump, he thought. It could work.
He turned to the redheaded magician, and smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "I'll jump".
Everyone looked at him in astonishment. Was he going to jump to the other side? That wouldn't even be the problem, but how was he going to hold on to the slope? It was slippery and very windy, jumping that distance there would be no guarantee that he would be able to hold himself somewhere and there was no guarantee that there was a place to grab. It was suicide!
"Are you crazy !? It's impossible!", The ice magician shouted. "Do you want to die, you bastard !?"
"There are some bumps on the other side that I can hold on to," he said quietly. "Is it dangerous? With a small chance of success? Well, yes. But what to do?", And he shrugged.
"Tsh!", The ice wizard sawed his teeth, turning his face and made a serious and angry face in disapproval. "Another crazy in the guild".
"I need you to keep an eye on this bug. Due to the size of the nest, it must be big and I don't want it attacking me when it's up there", asked Ryker with everyone and with a serious look.
Everyone nodded. There was no other way and this was the best way. They knew it, but they still showed concern, after all it was really dangerous.
As Ryker went to the other side of the platform to get a boost Natsu took his arm and looked at him seriously. "Take care, idiot. I still want to fight you." He just shook his head in confirmation, and headed for the position.
Ryker closed his eyes to concentrate for a minute, controlled his breathing and heart rate, took a deep breath, knew he was ready. He opened his eyes and darted across the platform, hitting its ledge, used a small amount of energy on his legs to get more momentum, and jumped, making a parabola through the air until he reached the point where he wanted to. He stretched out his hands and gripped the ledges perfectly, but they were not firm and broke, causing him to fall a few feet down. Sounds of despair were heard on the other side, but stopped when they realized that he had managed to hold on to other points. What followed were sounds of relief.
The magician started his slow and gradual ascent, looking for the best points to support himself, always trying to maintain three points of support and only moved another member when he was safe. It wasn't fast, but he managed to hit the crack.
He looked for the best position to enter it and sneaks upwards, with one foot on each side of the crack the magician used his hands to look for places to hold on to when he used his legs to lift his body. The legs have stronger muscles and are better for this type of activity, it was done his for a long time. He knew he could not hurry, since he was not using any suitable and safety equipment. Each step had to be well thought out, and it takes time. The climb was taking time, but that was how it should be done.
Halfway up he started to feel the signs of fatigue, his legs were shaking and his arms were burning with so much effort. He needed to stop and get some rest. That's what he did by standing there for a few minutes.
"It's impressive, I have to admit," Gray said admiringly.
"Yes, he is very strong," Natsu agreed with a twinkle in his eye. "I'm getting more excited. I can't wait to fight," he said, smiling.
"Would he like a fish?", Happy said, imagining having a fresh fish.
"But, what is he doing now?", Lucy asked, intrigued.
"He's resting. Going up all this, the way he is ... without using magic ... he must be tired," Erza replied, looking serious.
"No magic !?", the others said frightened and looked at the climbing wizard.
"He said he liked to do certain things without magic. He sharpened his skills. I think this is one of them," Erza said seriously, without taking his eyes off the other side of the slit. "He only used it a little when jumping, now he is using only muscle strength."
After a few minutes Ryker started to climb again. It was not long before and when he arrived at the nest he noticed that it was bigger than he imagined. "What the fuck is that," he told himself. "Look at the size of this thing". He realized that the nest was made up of branches thick enough that he could grab hold of them and climb up the side and into where the egg would be. That's what he did.
"He did it!", Lucy shouted happily.
Upon entering the nest Ryker was surprised to see the size of the egg. "This is my fucking size!"
"BE CAREFUL!" Was what he suddenly heard.
He turned and saw the big creature coming towards him at full speed. It was not a bird in itself, it looked more like a large flying lizard, its muzzle looked like an eagle, but it was full of sharp teeth, its body was like a reptile and had bat wings. It was a scary figure, and it was huge. Ryker didn't have much time to think, so he produced a small ball of blue energy in his right hand and launched it towards the creature, which exploded upon hitting it. It was strong enough to push the animal away and give it a little time.
"Damn! This crap is much bigger than I thought", he stopped and thought quickly, decided to take the egg and throw it so that his companions could catch it and then he turned around with the harpy.
Ryker picked up the egg and tossed it from the nest towards the wizards below. "GET IT!", he shouted.
"Quick Gray, take the egg and get out of here. You'll be quicker to get away from this animal under these circumstances," Erza ordered.
"Okay ..." Gray, somewhat annoyed, did so. With great difficulty he managed to grab the egg and ran out of the mountain looking for a place to wait for the others.
The harpy saw its egg being taken and flew towards it, but was hit by another sphere of energy, causing it to turn to its attacker in the nest.
"You are mine, you stupid animal," Ryker said, smirking at the creature.
Erza, who was already in her sky wheel armor, started throwing swords at the animal, as did Lucy, who wore her Sagittarius outfit and shot arrows and Natsu with her fire. The harpy was beginning to be confused by attacks from all sides.
She flew higher out of the range of attacks and decided to turn her anger on the one who stole her egg. At incredible speed she launched her huge body towards Ryker, producing a horrible and scary sound.
He prepared for the attack, concentrating a certain amount of energy on his left hand. "I hope your heart will be on the same side as any animal I know, then you won't suffer. I'm sorry ...", he told himself.
The other wizards could only watch helplessly, there was nothing they could do at that moment. The creature was too far away. Suddenly they saw their mate jump towards the harpy. They didn't understand what he was doing. He went crazy and is trying to die eaten!? When the two met in midair, Ryker rested his right hand on the animal's muzzle and with his arm propelled himself by doing a somersault and twisting his body to stay in position. With a smooth movement he looked, aimed right at the animal's back and fired the energy contained in his left hand, right where the heart would be.
A ray of light passed through the harpy piercing his heart with his last scream and then, he died. She hit her nest hard, shattering it, and started to plummet. Ryker had jumped and was falling, too. "I hope someone catches me soon," he said.
He was almost reaching the platform floor when Natsu, being carried by Happy, held him in midair, but it was difficult for the little blue to keep its flight so they plummeted.
"Are you okay?", Erza and Lucy asked worriedly.
"Yes we are," Dragon Slayer replied, scratching his head.
"I will be as soon as you get your ass out of my face!", Ryker shouted at the pink haired magician.
The two magicians looked at the pathetic scene and laughed heartily, having fun at the expense of both.
"Come on. Get up. We have to find Gray and get the egg to the customer today," Erza said. Immediately the two got up and continued down the path until they found Gray, further down the mountains.
The group went to where they had left the cart and tied the egg to its roof and returned to Magnolia, with another successful mission. In the city, late at night, they met the client in the most upscale neighborhood in a large mansion. They handed over the egg and received the reward, despite curiosity no one asked what he wanted the egg for. They left and went to the guild.
They entered the guild, although it was already late it was still full of people. And they headed for the bar, where Mira was.
"Hey, Mira," said Gray in greeting.
"Hi Gray, how was the mission?"
"It was easy, they had the most problems," he replied, pointing to the other members of the group.
"Ah, it was very easy and I have to admit that Ryker was amazing," Natsu said excitedly.
"Really !?", Mira looked surprised and happy at the same time, she looked at her housemate and smiled. He shrugged.
"Yes, it's true," Erza interjected. "I bet you have a lot more to show," she said looking at her new companion.
"You guys are overestimating me, it wasn't all of that," she said, looking back at the redhaired magician. Clearly, he didn't want to continue this conversation.
"And where's Lucy?", Mira asked.
"She went home, she wanted to rest," Natsu replied. "I think we're going too. Aren't you happy !?"
"Yes, there is a lot of fish there and I'm hungry," he said as they both ran for the guild, leaving only the three of them at the bar. By this time Gray had sat at a table and was talking to Cana, who was drinking a bottle of wine.
"Have your brothers returned, Mira?", Erza asked the waitress.
"Yes. They arrived this afternoon. But they went home to rest"
The night went on and the red-haired magician told about the novice's mission and deeds, but he just pretended, not wanting to talk about it. Gradually the guild emptied and everyone went to their respective homes to end the day, as did Ryker, along with Mira, after his first mission.