It has been a week since I was employed here at the Fairy Tail guild as an overall utility. That means I'm the one tasked with mopping the floor, cleaning up broken liquor bottles, and whatever mess the members left behind every end of the day. I am also the one assigned for the groceries which is a drag considering that most members who aren't on a job have their lunch at the guild.

The job itself wasn't all that bad considering that I was the one to do all household chores before Komachi was been able to do some of them herself. It's just that everyone is so damn loud and noisy. In fact, I think this is the loudest place I've been in my entire life.

There's this Dragneel guy who keeps on looking for a fight whenever he arrives at the guild. There's also the stripper known as Fullbuster who always accept the challenges thrown by the former, which always results in a royal rumble that destroys almost all of the guild's lower floor.

Luckily for me, no one actually interacts with me except for the master and my work senpai Strauss whenever she's giving me instructions for my tasks to do.

Right now, I'm all alone having my breakfast at the guild kitchen. Being from another world, I'm trying some stuff that exists from my previous world. This time, I meddled with some of the ingredients stored there and tried to make my own miso soup. As far as I've noticed, everything here is what someone would expect from a semi-historical western fantasy setting, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I have yet to encounter Japanese cuisines.

As expected, my miso soup turned out to be of lesser quality considering the lack of appropriate ingredients to use. However, I'm still a bit proud of how it turned out.

I was about to finish my meal when I suddenly heard someone knocking at the door of the guild. That must mean that a member is already here. I immediately went to the door and unlocked it from the inside.

You see, I'm now tasked of opening and closing of the guild house because I practically live here. As for how trusting they are to me with the guild's property being unguarded from me, it's just that they know how idiotic it is for me who doesn't know any magic to do something against arguably the strongest forces the kingdom has to offer.

"Here, the door is opened. You may come in now." I said to the glasses girl whose appearance heavily reminds me of my classmate Ebina Hina only with a more saturated hair color.

I'm surprised that the first one to arrive here wasn't Strauss and his "Manly" brother.

"Thank you. It seems that I'm the first one here to arrive, huh? That's unusual." she said as she entered the guild house. Her eyes then moved towards my mouth and suddenly looked confused. "Eh, why are you nibbling on that spoon?"

I didn't notice that this strangely tasty wooden spoon was still on my mouth. Now that's embarrassing. With that, I instantly removed the spoon from my mouth. "Sorry about that. I was eating when I heard someone knocking."

"Oh, sorry for interrupting your meal." the glasses girl apologized.

"No problem." I replied as I tried to make my way back to the kitchen and finish my meal.

"You're just gonna leave me alone?"

Tried, that is. Apparently, almost every member of the guild is an extrovert who can't even handle a few minutes of being alone. Unfortunately, I can't just ignore her and proceed to the kitchen as she might report this misconduct to Master Dreyar which may cause me to being fired from my only lifeline here. That may be just too extreme.

"That was the plan, yes. But it seems that you need my aid for something. What is it?"

"No, it's not like that. It's just that it's lonely being here by myself." Wow, such magic words would instantly make my middle schooler self fall in love with you instantly!

"I guess I could keep you company for a while." I replied as went to the table and sat at the chair across her.

"I think I haven't introduced myself to you yet. I'm Laki Olietta. So, you're the new member who works as a utility, Hachiman, was it?"

"That would be me, yes."

An awkward silence fell afterwards. Well, what would you expect from someone like me? To drag the conversation like a suave old spice man? Nope, that would be the job of Hayama, or in this world's case, that orange-haired dude with a blue tinted glasses.

"Can I ask what magic you're using?" Ouch!

"I don't have anything significant as of now." I'm planning to end the conversation with that, but knowing these riajuu mages for a week made me continue explaining what I've just said. "I don't really know anything about magic until master said that I have a decent ethernano reserve so he gave me some grimoires to study from."

"Ah okay. As for me, I use wood molding magic." I don't remember asking for it. "If you want to learn wood magic, just ask me for help, okay?"

Wow, the guild really reeks of riajuu energy, and there's already two nice girls I've encountered. To be honest, I don't want to be involved with nice girls anymore, but the weight of my situation right now demands me to take all the help I can get. Unlike when I was just in school, being completely ostracized by the people here means no livelihood for me. I'm lucky enough to land a job as it is and I'm too lazy to find another.

"If it doesn't bother you then I'll take that offer if wood magic suits me."

"Sure! Just tell me when to start." she said with a flashy smile on her face. Feels weird to be the receiving end of it.

After another period of awkward silence, more members arrive at the guild, giving me the que to start my normal activities. It's not like the mess are gonna clean their selves.

"I'm gonna return to my work now. Bye."

"Okay, see ya!"

With that, I'm finally out of the awkward atmosphere. It's not like I'll just magically turn into a sociable person in one week spent inside this riajuu guild. But I guess being a bit more sociable just for the sake of survival won't hurt. So this is what Hiratsuka-sensei meant about living with the people around me.

My vacant hours from nine to eleven o'clock is what I spend for reading grimoires. Before when I was still at my chuuni phase, I imagine myself being some kind of fire wizard while wearing my father's long coat and my mother's fur scarf. Wow, did I really imagine myself to be similar to Dragneel? I'm lucky I gotten over my fantasies unlike Zaimokuza. But yeah, as much as possible, I want to stay away from fire magic for that very reason.

The contents of the books I've read so far are your basic everyday spells like some minor transformations and low level elemental spells. I haven't read the books about holder-type magics yet because I simply have no enough money to buy magic items.

Fortunately, it seems that I somehow have an affinity to wood magic as it's the most successful element I've tried from the books. And maybe, if my luck is high enough, I can get Olietta to continue teaching me wood magic for longer. Molding magic is a very practical magic and someone just offered me to be taught with that kind of magic. I would be the biggest idiot if I were to decline such offer.

Standing at the backyard of the guild, I tried to follow the instructions written at the book for wood magic. I'm surprised that there are actually just few magic spells in need of chanting. You don't even have to recite the name of the spell, though most magic users I've seen do it anyway. I think I also want to recite my magic spell name just for the fun and excitement it brings

Bringing my right hand forward, I visualize a magic circle appear in front of it. With enough concentration, I managed to make it appear. Then I visualize a spike of wood shoot out of the circle. It did happen as the wooden stick with the girth of a standard coin launched and hit my target sandbag, though it only dealt a damage equivalent to when I throw it normally myself.

As for the other spells, I still yet to learn transformation magic. This one is just for fun only as doesn't really have that much use. Also, I'm trying to learn invisibility magic just to upgrade my 'stealth hikki'. Other than that, I wanted to learn the requip magic but there's no available books for it here yet, though I'm planning on buying one because its practicality is something that I want.

I repeatedly tried to create various objects with wood, but all I could create was simple shapes yet they're not even that polished. Because I'm not some sort of prodigy, it is to be expected, though I'm still thankful for this progress within this week.

"I see you took a liking to wood magic. That's great!"

I turned towards the sound and saw Olietta watching me. "Yeah, I think this magic works well for practical use."

"Hmm, let me know when you need my help about wood magic, okay?" That's the second time she offered me her help today. Is it normal?

"Will do."

And with that, Olietta left me at my lonesome with all these scattered woods from me practicing magic. Maybe I should keep all of these at the back as a firewood. They do have the same flammability as the normal firewoods, right?

I carried all those wood chunks to where the firewoods are stored. During my time here at Magnolia, I have yet to see the use of all these firewoods stored here at the back of the guild house. But I think I don't have to worry about that.

Speaking of something to worry, I hurried back inside of the guild. That is because I haven't cleaned the upper floor yet. Well, it's not like someone is frequent up there, except for that bastard Dreyar who looked like an edgy teenager despite his age. He also had some kind of superiority complex, maybe because he's the grandson of the master.

Anyway, it seems that the people inside the guild are afraid of someone who's coming today. For me, I have no idea who they're talking about because Master Dreyar isn't gonna come back to guild this day because of guild masters' meeting at Clover town. They kept on saying about a certain woman's name so maybe she's the one they're all afraid of.

Thankfully, the blond prick is absent today so I could freely clean up the mess here at the upper floor.

Thud!*

The door opened, showing a rather well-built woman clad in an armor and has a decorated huge animal horn in tow. Well, I guess everyone's fear was justified after all. Even a complete newbie such as myself could tell that this woman is dangerous as hell.

She then scolded almost everyone at the guild for their "wrongdoings". That pretty much sealed it, she's way too terrifying that she even made Dragneel and Fullbuster embrace each other like a bunch of queers.

I was too distracted by what's happening at the bottom floor that I didn't notice that her eyes were already pointing at me. Due to my fear of these kinds of women *ahem* Hiratsuka-sensei *ahem, I actually wanted to just avert my eyes and go back to cleaning but her stare is like "dare doing what you're thinking and you're dead" kind.

"You! Why are you up there? Get down here immediately or receive punishment!"

"I was tasked on cleaning the whole guild house and this area is of no exception." Damn, this mouth of mine will be the death of me.

Just when I needed help the most, the older Strauss came to my rescue. "Now, now. Don't be too harsh on him, Erza. And it was Master who allowed him to go up there to clean the area."

Finally, the redhead calmed down. I should be thankful to Strauss for saving my butt there because although I'm not guilty of anything, I don't think my charisma is high enough to tell this 'Erza' about my job here if not for her. Ah, so this is Erza Scarlet, the strongest woman of Fairy Tail.

The redhead then discussed about the mission they're going to take with Dragneel and Fullbuster, apparently because they're the two strongest mages present right now. It was about a dark guild called Eisenwald and their acquisition of a dangerous magic item called Lullaby.

Just because it has nothing to do with me doesn't mean that I don't want to hear discussions about something related to dangerous magics. I have to because they might be holding the key to a portal to my own world or something.

After cleaning the upper floor, I immediately went down to avoid the wrath of the redhead. I then moved towards the kitchen to get something to drink when I suddenly caught in the conversation with Strauss and the blondie.

"Lucy, why don't you go with them? I can tell that you wanted to go with Natsu so why not?"

"I... If it's okay with them, I would like to join them." the blondie replied.

"Great! This will also be a great experience for you as a newbie. Speaking of newbie, why don't you also join them, Hachiman?"

Forget what I've said about being interested in it, that is basically suicide for me. I mean, what could a guild janitor whose only magic is to throw twigs around be useful to a mission where the enemy are those who's plotting some kind of murder. Please, I'm basically just a teenage schoolboy who doesn't really know much about life and I'm not fond of throwing it away.

"No, I choose life. From what I've heard, this is practically an S-rank job. I know when I'm outclassed." I nonchalantly replied.

It seems that what I've said made her frown for a moment before wearing back her usual sweet smile. I think nobody noticed the sudden change of expression but me based on the looks of others. Well, if I accidentally stepped on one of her landmines, I'm not the one to announce it to everyone.

"I guess you're right. Besides, why would I even want to chase away my little assistant here? That's dumb of me, eh?"

"Oh, uh... yeah, that." was all the reply I could muster.

With that, Scarlet, Dragneel, Fullbuster, the blond whose family name is still unknown, and Happy exited the guild house to go to their mission. Well, I must commend the blondie for her bravery. While I'm here doing some chores because I'm a coward.

"By the way, Strauss, is there anything else I need to do today? Because I'm planning on spending the rest of my free time to learn magic." I asked to my senior.

"Hmm, the groceries are already covered so there's really nothing else to do right now. Well, unless they'll start a brawl again, in which case I'll need you to help me clean up the mess. Other than that, you're free to do what you want right now."

I guess that settles it. I'm now going to continue my training. But before all of that, I need to change my clothes because these ones I'm wearing are already drenched with sweat. That's because I'm now taking up Olietta's offer to train me, and as what Komachi taught me, I should be considerate whenever I'm interacting with a girl. Don't get me wrong. If I were still at my home world, I won't give a damn about appearances, but now that I'm not and I'm trying to get back to my own world, I have to try hard not to get on their bad side as they might be the ones that could help me return to my world.

Wearing a gray long-sleeved undershirt under a white T-shirt with an "I love Magnolia" print, I made my way to Olietta and asked her to help me train.

"Sure, let's go to the backyard then." she responded.

And training she did. Molding magic really isn't really something so complicated if all you need is it's practical uses. From what she taught me, imagination determines one's proficiency in this type of magic. And with my regrettably high imaginations due to my previous case of being a chuunibyou, I pulled off the basics rather easily.

However, it's not that I can now create anything made of wood right away. Finding something easy at first try doesn't mean that it will be a smooth sailing ahead. Trust me, I know the feeling because it's what I've said about learning mathematics until they decided to add the letters to the equation.

"Okay, try to make the best wooden sphere you can. I'll be the judge of your output." she instructed.

With that, I focused on an image of a stress ball in my head and slowly materializing it to my hand. It went smoothly until I suddenly smelled the sweet perfume of the girl in front of me, making me lose my focus and resulting to an oddly shaped chunk of wood.

Are Fairy Tail girls really this defenseless if it's their guildmates? Actually, no. A lot of them may wear skimpy clothing or frequently invading other guild member's personal space, but they're capable of defending themselves in case some of them are being sexually assaulted, nor anyone here is actually brave enough to do so.

However, it doesn't mean that it can't have any effects on a hormonal teenager like myself. I mean, I only managed not to instantly fall head over heels to Yuigahama is because I'm constantly on guard when it comes to interacting with people.

Luckily, Olietta here isn't the one who wears a highly revealing outfit like Hiratsuka junior, I mean Alberona. Like seriously, why does she thinks that wearing just a bra in front of everyone at the guild is a great idea? Well, back to Olietta, her outfit is more on the conservative side even by normal standards.

She looked disappointed on my output. Who wouldn't?

"Wow, you were performing good up until now. What happened?"

It's not like I could just tell that I was distracted by her smell because that could be interpreted in two ways, both yielding an undesirable reaction. First is that she might think that she smelled awful, or else she'll think of me as a pervert.

"Just distracted by a stray memory. I'll do it right this time, I promise." A little lie won't hurt.

"Okay, proceed."

This time, I tried to imitate what I did earlier but without focusing on my other senses, which were actually enhanced these past few days for some reason. The making of the wooden ball was successful, at least for a newbie like me.

"Great! The ball isn't exactly spherical and there are a few unrefined spots here and there, but overall, it's a decent performance for a beginner."

"Uh, thanks."

"So, now what I want to teach you is about the basics in fighting using wood make magic." I think I have to stop you right there, missy.

Nope, that isn't what I want to learn because it will only be a waste of my time right now. Why? Because I'm simply not planning on taking up missions when being a guild utility is safer and a more stable source of income for me as of now.

"Uh, is it okay if I would try to master the basics first before that?"

"I'm fine with it, but why would you want to postpone learning how to fight? I thought that's what boys are excited about."

Oh, that. It's actually normal to think that way if you're surrounded by the likes of Dragneel and the others whose life is about fighting.

"Uh, not really. All I wanted was to make a living." And to go back home.

"That's new. Most of men here only care about the power behind their magic." she commented.

"That's probably why I'm assigned as a utility. Master might have seen it in me to not wreck havoc as much as the others."

"Well then, if you wanted a practical use for wood make magic, then try creating this."

She stood up then stretched her hands forward. A magic circle appeared in her hands and when it dissipated, a wooden spoon and fork took its place. Now that's what you call practical. Wait, does that mean the wooden spoon I was nibbling this morning was made by her?

I decided not to entertain the thought and just focused on imitating what she did.

After a few seconds of concentrating, I successfully managed to create a wooden spoon out of my magic alone. As expected, the spoon looks very unrefined and not suitable for eating as of yet but it certainly is a start. Maybe if I master this wood make magic, I should consider opening a furniture shop.

Instinctively, I put the spoon on my mouth like a lollipop, thinking that it might have the same taste as the other wooden spoons I've used previously. However, what I've tasted is exactly like biting a tree bark, with an extreme bitterness that I couldn't explain.

"Bleh! It tastes horrible!" I exclaimed while throwing the spoon directly to the trash can. That throw was kinda impressive.

Olietta just laughed at me like I did something very idiotic. Well, in my defense, putting a spoon in my mouth is a very normal thing to do. However, she has every right to laugh at me for doing it to an unrefined spoon.

"Hahaha! Why would you even do that?"

"Why wouldn't I? Aren't spoons supposed to be inserted in the mouth?"

"Well yeah, but what's with the reaction?"

"It's way too bitter to be used as a spoon."

That statement made her eyes bulge from shock. Well, I can't really blame her for her reaction because it must be her first time hearing someone commenting about the taste of an eating utensil.

"The what now?"

"Yeah, I'm serious." I then made another spoon using my magic. "You can try if you want."

Surprisingly, she really took the newly made spoon from my hand and shove it to her mouth. Now that's weird. Putting my own magic output to my mouth was one thing, but doing it from another person's magic seems odd to me. For all I know, maybe someone out there will find that sexually exciting. Did I really just thought of that?

"What do you mean bitter? Though it's a bit rough, it tastes rather normal to me."

"No, I'm actually being serious right now. Ever since I arrived here at the guild, I always find the wooden spoons and chopsticks tasty to some extent. I've already tried my share of wooden utensils before and they don't have any sort of taste like when I arrive here."

Wow, that must be the most embarrassing thing I've ever said here on Earthland. It still doesn't compare to the cringe of my previous love confessions from middle school but embarrassing nonetheless. And this next words of mine will probably be more embarrassing than the previous one.

"Try making a wooden spoon and I'll try to taste it if it really has a taste like the rest."

"Eh... You pervert!" she squealed. As expected.

"It's not like that. To be fair, you're the first one to shove my magic to your mouth. If anything, you're the pervert one here." Hah! I'm kinda proud of that comeback.

"That's- Fine. Here, take it!" she hesitantly complied to my request and handed me a newly made wooden spoon.

I quickly took the spoon and shoved it in my mouth. I stopped being surprised by the somewhat sweet and milky taste of the spoon. To take things further to the extremes, I gave in to my urge and started chewing the spoon like Yukinoshita's baked cookies back on Earth. I feel like I'm being an alien right now.

"D-Did you just ate the s-spoon?"

"As weird as it looks, yes. Also, that spoon tasted like cookies."

From what I can see, it seems that she can't believe what she just witnessed from me. I don't understand though. I mean, the guild even has someone who eats fire. It should have been me who needs to be surprised and not her.

"Are you by any chance raised by a dragon?"

"Well, no. Wait, what's that have to do with anything?"

"The thing is, Natsu is able to eat fire, he claims to be raised by a dragon, and uses a lost magic called Fire Dragon Slayer magic. There also a person from a guild called Phantom Lord who eats iron and other kinds of metal. This one is the famed Black Steel, Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer. See what I'm getting here?"

Well, it really didn't surprised me that there are other variants of dragons here besides the fire breathing ones. I mean, I played Monster Hunter before and Alatreon can control both fire, ice, and lightning. Pretty sure there might also be an Alatreon here in Earthland.

What surprised me is that I have a trait that was found on people who are associated with dragons. This world really is filling my chuuni mind with ideas. It's also a mystery how I acquired such a rare kind of magic.

"Well, I least I found out that I now have an alternative food source which is basically free."

"Hey, I won't be providing you food if that's what you're talking about!"

"Not like that. If what you're saying is correct, then gathering wood from the forest is basically me doing groceries. Now that's convenient."

Unlike the other known dragon slayers, I'm the one whose source of food is most accessible, unless there's someone out there who just have to suck air for nourishment. That is if I'm really this what they call 'dragon slayer'.

"I guess you're right. So, wanna announce that to the whole guild?" Olietta suggested.

"Not really. In fact, I want you to keep it as a secret. If Dragneel found out about it, he might challenge me to a fight. Please, I don't wanna die young."

"Hm, I forgot you're a coward." she giggled, much to my irritation.

"Well, I think it's better than dying out of my own idiocy disguised as bravery. It's the cowards who survive."

With that topic out of the way, we continued training with my Wood Make magic. For once, I had my share of fun for the first time ever since I got transported here on Earthland. Olietta is unlike the other people of my age that I've interacted before. It's from her that I first had a normal conversation.

Maybe, just maybe... Olietta and I...

"Hey Olietta... Um... Would you like to be friends with me?" I asked.

"Huh, what are you talking about? Aren't we already friends?"

...

A/N: I'm still undecided about the pairing, but I think with this chapter I've written, I have to go with 8man X Laki. Also, I think you've already guessed by the last part of the Prologue that I'm going to give him Slayer type magic.