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Chapter 7: The Strongest of Contenders

The Twilight Ogre guild master, Banaboster, laughed at Jellal's boldness to challenge him, unaware Jellal was affiliated with the Ten Wizard Saints. He mockingly laughed, "This kid will beat the crap out of us? I'd like to see him try."

Jellal raised an eyebrow, "You will regret saying that."

Erza requipped into her Giant Armour, "You'd be wise to run."

"I'm so scared!" Banaboster howled, to which Natsu fisted his hands.

Natsu was beyond angry, "You ruined my dinner."

"Oh, did I?"

"I will avenge my meal! Fire Dragon: Wing Attack!" charged Natsu, destroying the building while Erza tried stopping him.

"Idiot! Are you trying to destroy the entire port?" demanded Erza, grabbing the Dragon Slayer from his scarf.

Natsu had tears in his eyes, wailing like a child, "They ruined my food! I won't forgive them!"

Natsu released himself from Erza's grip and drew in a large breath. "FIRE DRAGON: ROARRRR!"

Jellal joined him in the fray, appearing behind the guild members before they could even notice. He extended his arm behind him before sending magic from his palm, "Heavenly Arrows!"

All the rays struck the members simultaneously, causing them to collapse from the spell.

"Aw man, I thought you'd do that seven meteor spell," whined Natsu.

"If I did that, it would destroy the entire area. I'm not trying to get fined, Natsu."

"Well suit yourself, I'm going to show everyone how great of a Wizard Saint I can be!"

Natsu overexerted himself, pulling out all the stops to defeat the members while Erza just stood there, stunned. She let the two handle the handful of mages, returning to her original attire.

Jellal overwhelmed the members by moving around them at an incomprehensible speed. The easiest way was simply kicking them, and Jellal went overboard when he booted one member across the town.

"Who is he?" gasped the guild master, only the stare at Natsu in shock as he attacked him with full force. "GAH!" he tried dragging himself away from Natsu.

"Now I'm all fired up!" howled the Dragon Slayer.

Erza noticed there was still one person left, and they were trying to ambush Jellal from behind. "Jellal, look out!"

She summoned a sword and rushed towards the intruder, not recognizing them. She held a sword at his throat while Jellal jumped away from the threat whimsically.

"Transformation magic?" whispered Erza, caught off guard that the mage turned into a waitress yet again. She clutched her weapon even tighter, "You can't fool me, speak! Who are you?"

The mage revealed themselves as the Chairman of the Magic Council. Erza jumped away from the mage when she realized who it was. The S-Class wizards gaped as they witnessed the rest of the ordeal unpleasantly. Natsu finished off the mages with an attack that destroyed an unoccupied building.

"Jellal," greeted Crawford.

"Chairman," Jellal cleared his throat, "might I ask, what are you doing at this hour dressed as a waitress?"

"Well, I couldn't help but wonder what you were doing—letting prisoners out at midnight."

"Fairy Tail was not aware of the trial, so they're going to be worried if we don't return by the morning."

"Very well, your trip to the guildhall will be delayed to tomorrow afternoon, seeing the destruction your fellow member has caused. He might even exceed the number of times Gajeel appears before the council."

The three mages were not going to be sleeping cozily for the remainder of the night.

Fairy Tail was on edge when the three mages hadn't returned to the guildhall the next day. Why? Last night's events resulted in more destruction, which meant the guild had more outstanding charges. This included the Wizard Saint, who was found kicking Twilight Ogre out of Hargeon and back to Magnolia.

Being in a courtroom as the person being trialed was dreadful, to say the least. The older raven-haired councillor was giggling at Jellal's antiques, to which he gave her a deadly glare.

Natsu was on the stand, but fell asleep, having had no sleep from the night before. This frustrated Erza, so she smacked him awake.

Belno and Org gasped at the young lady's audacity. But if they thought Natsu could lay a finger on her, they were dead wrong.

Said Dragon Slayer woke up from the agonizing slap on the cheek, eyes alert. "Who did that!?"

"Ahem," Erza cleared up her throat, which wasn't a good sign. Natsu shivered at his impending punishment, and became even more mortified when he laid eyes on Jellal, keeping his cool.

Jellal decided to stir up the conversation, "Dragneel, do you have anything to say before we get started?"

Belno snorted, "Surely not, considering all the damage the three of you caused last night."

"Huh?" groaned Natsu. "Why am I here?"

"You fool!" yelled Erza, bringing her head up to face the now frightened Dragon Slayer. "How can you forget what went down last night!?"

"Food, Hargeon, Twilight Ogre," listed Jellal, "need I say more?"

Natsu was in a daze before the chronicles of last night hit him with realization. "Oh yeah, they didn't give me my supper last night, so I decided to beat it in them."

That statement wasn't doing Fairy Tail any good. The Magic Council was convinced that this guild was past the point of no return for their sanity. "So you destroyed a few buildings in order to avenge a measly supper?"

"I was so hungry, I could eat ten cows," he said without a hint of sarcasm. "You don't happen to have any food right now, do you? My stomach's growling."

Natsu knew how to embarrass himself. Erza and Jellal turned away, letting Natsu continue to ramble on to the councilors.

The only time the two mages paid attention was when Crawford declared, "Fairy Tail must submit a handwritten apology with a fine of a hundred thousand jewels."

"Makarov's going to have a heart attack," said Jellal, to which the S-Class mage nodded.

The fire mage snorted, "Time to steal Lucy's rent money."

Everyone made way for Erza as she entered a guildhall, holding a sleeping Natsu by his scarf. She pitied him somewhat for his meal getting ruined. Erza couldn't bring herself to beat him senseless after the commotion he caused. Jellal followed behind, not faring any better. He sat on the bench occupied by his team and sighed, while Erza went to the second floor to discuss the trial with Makarov.

Simon put down the cards he was playing with, "You're usually at the guildhall early, did something happen?"

Jellal restlessly sighed, "Tell me about it. First, there's the trial meant to use Erza as a scapegoat for Fairy Tail, then Natsu was tried for destroying a few buildings over food. He blabbered nonsense to the Magic Council, and now they're convinced we've gone mad."

Millianna grinned, "That sounds eventful. Everything was quiet because Erza wasn't around."

"Don't forget Macao, he pretended to be Natsu, so everyone thought he was the salamander in the glass." Explained Sho.

"Then you realized he ran to the Magic Council," concluded Jellal. "Which made matters worse. We were supposed to be back at the guildhall by yesterday, but then Natsu showed up in a barrel and a shirt and feathers, trying to imitate Erza's outfit. It was a hideous costume if you asked me."

"Councilman's all worked up, huh?" Wally chuckled, to which Jellal weakly smiled.

"I had enough of Era for a week. Just thinking about it makes me sick."

Erza joined them shortly, with a strawberry cake in her hand. Millianna scooted over so the Requip Mage could sit beside her. "Someone's stress-eating." Teased the cat lover.

"I'm sure you heard all about it." She sighed as the cake melted in her mouth. "Now I understand why the Magic Council hates us so much."

"Jellal, you won't be there for a bit, right?" asked Sho.

"That's right."

Erza raised an eyebrow, "A mission?"

"No, the king has requested my presence, I'm allowed to bring a few people with me. Did any of you want to come along?"

Millianna shook her head, "Sorry, Wally, Sho, and I are going on a mission for the next few days."

"That leaves Simon and Erza. What about it?"

The two mages nodded, excited for the upcoming days. "I heard Crocus is a beautiful place."

"They're also in the midst of building a huge coliseum for the king. That's probably why they want me to visit Crocus."

"It seems the Magic Council oversees a lot of things." Said Simon.

"That only applies to things that use magic. It seems the king wants to use the stadium for magic. Though, I'm not sure what he'd do with it."

Erza grabbed the deck of cards from everyone, wanting to play. "Well, who's up for some games?"

Everyone nodded, so she slid the cards to Sho, specializing in Card Magic. He was about to distribute the cards until his hand collapsed on the table. So did his entire body. Erza watched as Simon, Wally, and Millianna started falling asleep. Soon enough, sleep found her as well.

Jellal, however, remained upright, barely feeling the effects of the spell.

Makarov yawned, "He's coming."

Jellal knew who he was referring to and watched as Mystogan entered the guildhall. The guild master hiccuped before snorting, "Why don't you ever fall asleep, Jellal?"

The councilor stared at the mysterious wizard, "It'd be better if you asked the caster of the spell."

He was dimly aware that Erza was almost on the verge of consciousness, kneeling on the floor while grabbing the table for support.

Mystogan cleared his throat, "This isn't a conversation fit at the moment."

It was so odd to know there was a person whose identity was unknown. He watched the mage leave, and noticed he only used holder magic, but held a mastery over it. That's what granted him S-Class in the guild. He turned to leave, to which Makarov protested.

"Wait, lift your sleeping spell."

The wizard obliged, counting down before all the mages would wake up.

Once he was out of sight, everyone's eyes opened suddenly, excluding Natsu, who remained in a deep sleep.

"Was Mystogan here?" asked Levy, holding her face because of the drowsy feeling.

"What a jerk," commented Jet.

Erza turned to study Jellal. "He didn't put you to sleep, did he?"

Jellal shook his head, "He tried, but I guess it's not possible."

"That's because if you use a magical item to cast a spell on many people, it'll only affect the people weaker than the caster." Informed Mirajane, collecting cups from the tables around the guildhall.

"He used his staves to cast the spell, so it makes sense. The fact that he can put so many people asleep is impressive."

"So it's safe to say you're on par with Mystogan?"

"I suppose so. However, his presence…it feels familiar."

"Who is he, anyway?" questioned Lucy.

"For one, he's a contender for one of Fairy Tail's strongest," answered Elfman. "Nobody's seen him except for Master Makarov."

"That's not true, I've gotten a glimpse of him," came a snarky reply from the second floor.

Everyone turned their heads to the speaker. Laxus' appearance surprised many people, while his presence irritated a handful of wizards. Natsu woke up from the voice, furrowing his eyebrows together.

"Laxus," a bewildered Elfman acknowledged, "didn't expect to see you here."

Natsu got up from his seat and fisted his hands, running towards the Lightning Dragon Slayer. "Alright Laxus, you and me right now."

"If you can't win against the redhead, don't even bother with me."

Erza gritted her teeth, "What are you trying to say!?"

"No need to get worked up, Erza," whispered Gray, cautiously backing away from her.

"I'm saying that I'm the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail."

"Then prove it," challenged Natsu.

"You come to me little man."

"With pleasure!" he retorted, trying to run up to the second floor. Jellal watched as Makarov planted an extended arm on Natsu. He groaned, unable to recover from the hard hit.

Makarov opened one eye and studied Natsu, "You're not allowed on the second floor. At least, not yet."

"Think you made him grumpy," taunted Laxus.

"That's even out of you, Laxus."

The arrogant mage ignored Makarov and continued speaking. "The strongest wizard in the guild isn't a chick, a hooded freak, or some council member. You want to know who it is? You're looking right at him!" he declared.

The two S-Class mages glared at him, while the others looked in astonishment.

Lucy sighed as she watched Mirajane clean glass after glass, sitting on a bar stool. "Hey Mirajane, why wasn't Natsu allowed on the second floor?"

"That floor is reserved for S-Class quests," Mirajane placed the last of the glasses in the cabinets behind.

"S-Class quests?"

"They're jobs so dangerous that one wrong can be your last. S-Class wizards take them, that includes Laxus, Mystogan, Jellal, and Erza."

"I kind of expected Jellal, he's sort of the ace of Fairy Tail. I can't really believe Laxus may be on par with Jellal."

Mirajane gave a sad smile, "It may be true, Laxus has four years of experience on Jellal. But, they both were appointed S-Class wizards the same year. It's an impressive feat for Jellal, he was fourteen when he became S-Class."

"Guess I know who to stay away from."

Mirajane laughed, "Yeah, no kidding. Be sure to get some rest for tomorrow, I bet Natsu will go on another mission."

Lucy nodded, leaving the guildhall and making her way to her apartment.

Wow, Mystogan and Laxus, there's so many famous people in Fairy Tail.

Lucy's eyes jumped out of their sockets as she stumbled upon Natsu and Happy lifting weights.

"What are you guys doing?!"

The two Fairy Tail members were training as hard as they could. "At this rate we won't be able to make it to S-Class, we have to train hard!" Natsu huffed as he quickly transitioned his weight to his arms and started doing push-ups.

"We got a pink one for you," Happy held out a dumbbell for Lucy.

"I don't care what colour it is, I am not lifting weights with you!"

Natsu stopped training and grinned at Lucy, "We're ready for the big one, S-Class!" he held out a paper, which was an S-Class quest.

"How did you guys steal it!?"

"I flew up and grabbed it," explained Happy in a very logical way.

"You cat burglar!"

Happy and Natsu shoved the paper into her face, "There's a gate key as a reward. Plus, it takes place on a tropical island."

"Hm?" she scanned the paper.

"On the cursed Galuna Island!" they both chanted, causing Lucy to shriek.

"No, I don't want to go, get out of here!" she waved her hand as if it would dissipate all the creepy thoughts.

"Well, it's big time money, suit yourself." Natsu casually jumped out the window.

"There's a door! Use the door like a normal human being!"

"AHH! They left the paper here. What am I going to do, now everyone will think I'm the one who stole it!" she thoroughly studied the request, deciding whether to go. Getting a gate key sounded really appealing.

Moments later, she ran downstairs and hollered, "Wait for me! I'm coming as well!"

"The guild's awfully quiet today." Commented Mirajane, noticing several mages absent.

Makarov sipped on his coffee, "Ah, yes. Jellal's gone to Crocus with Erza and Simon to visit Toma E. Fiore. The rest of their group is gone on a mission, they left this morning."

"Sounds exciting, but I'm surprised Natsu and Lucy didn't pick up a job this morning."

"Maybe he's had enough. The Magic Council probably taught him a meaningful lesson."

Leave it to Natsu to prove him wrong.

The barmaid hummed as she gathered the mail from the guildhall, sorting out the recipients. "Hm, it seems Erza got an invitation from the king as well."

"That's fine, she's already gone with Jellal. It was obvious she'd tag along."

"Typical Erza." She laughed, before noticing there was a letter from the Magic Council. "This one's for you, Master."

He continued sipping on his drink delightfully as he studied the letter. "Don't tell me it's a letter for destruction of property." Makarov half-expected one. It was alright. All they had to do was submit an apology letter. But today was in anyone's favour. The guild master gasped as he went through the contents of the letter. "WE OWE THEM A HUNDRED THOUSAND JEWELS?!"

"It was also Natsu's doing according to the Magic Council."

"So that's what Erza was talking about when she told me about the trials. I thought both of them were just for show, but it seems I was wrong. Mirajane, go record the number of S-Class quests taken today."

"Right," she hurried upstairs and ignored Laxus, who was lounging on the second floor. From yesterday's account of S-Class quests, she noticed one was missing. Laxus was still here, so he wasn't a possibility. Neither was Mystogan, since he didn't take an S-Class quest yesterday. Erza and Jellal were making their way to Crocus, so it couldn't be them. The barmaid panicked. One of the large quests were missing.

"Master, one of the quests upstairs is missing."

"Mm," he enjoyed one more gulp of his coffee before spitting it out. "WHAT?"