Now that I'm a part of the workforce, I know what my parents felt during those day offs of theirs which are always spent on sleeping or lying down on the couch. Just imagine straight five days of cleaning up the mess made by all these drunkards which are also my guildmates, carrying massive groceries for the equally massive appetite of everyone. Wow, Strauss did these on her own before? Now that's a dedication worth of everyone's respect.
But sadly, I don't have the luxury of lazing during my day offs as those days will be spent on finding any clues for returning home. With my busy schedule during work days including Olietta's magic lessons, my only option is to put it on my day offs.
Speaking of Olietta, I noticed that during her training with me, she has some "interesting" quirks that shouldn't be said flat out in the open. I mean, why would she demonstrate to me how to create a pair of handcuffs and a literal wooden version of iron maiden? I'm aware that I told her to teach me how to create some things with complicated structures but I'm certainly not in the need of learning such things.
Back to what I'm doing during day offs, I tried to hoard some books about travel magic and other documents related to space and time magic. Unfortunately, there's only a few of them and they contained little to no relevance to my situation. I also scanned several newspapers if there was a reported strange magical activity during my time of arrival but all I could find is about the port of Hargeon being destroyed.
With that, my only option is to survey the area around where I arrived. Maybe I could find some clues there.
And that's just what I did. I told Master Dreyar that I'm filing for a few days of leave as an extension of my day off so that I could investigate this forest for longer. Being as easygoing as he is, the master allowed me to do so, saying that it's what he could only do to help me with my case.
So yeah, after I spent my original day off at some libraries across Magnolia, I'm back again at this part of the forest about a few hours of walk from Dragneel's house. But unlike last time when I have to settle with just one piece of fruit for nourishment, I now just have to break some random tree branches to eat something.
The forest itself isn't all that special, just the eerie feeling which is normal being in a dark area in the middle of nowhere. As disgusting as it sounds, I tried to taste a lot of the trees here just to know if there's some residual ethernano scattered here from my arrival here. Yes, it's one of the few things I've learned this past month. Most spells leave few residual ethernano particles around the place of the magic being cast, with the amount increasing in relation to the intensity of the magic cast. So if that's the case, me being transported from another world must have left a huge amount of them in the air or surrounding objects.
And yes, there are really some strange magic embedded to the old-looking trees. However, if I were to relate it to my arrival here, it wouldn't make sense because the young trees should also have that strange magic if that's the case. Though I have to admit it, these old trees taste so great that I might bring home a few branches of them to eat later.
While munching an old bark, I saw an individual clad in an RPG costume approaching me. There's only one person I know with this style of fashion. Sure I've only caught a glimpse of him before being knocked out by his sleep magic, but I can't go wrong with his identity.
"I figured you would be here, Hachiman." the man with many staves said.
"Huh? Mystogan, was it? What about it?" I asked him.
"I was informed by Master Makarov about your situation. Being an otherworlder myself, he thought it would be best if I was to help you with your problem." Well, that's nice of you and the old man. "I trust you won't tell anyone about me being an otherworlder, yes?"
Finally, there's someone here who could at least try to help solve this mystery of mine, even if that someone looks more chuuni than Zaimokuza. Although I have to admit that he looks very threatening with that getup.
"You got it, only if you do the same."
"That would be my intention. So, back to the topic at hand. From my research, this place is one of those rumored to be a place where the dark wizard Zeref was spotted. Although a few hundred year old rumor isn't credible enough if you ask me."
I see. From my own research, I'd always stumble across the topic about the most evil wizard to ever walk the continent of Ishgar and possibly to the whole world. This Zeref guy is also documented to be the creator of many demons but there are only few documents that provided proof. And just recently, Scarlet and her group just defeated one of those demons called Lullaby.
So maybe, a dark mage so infamous might have something to do with my transport here. However, the dark mage in question was believed to be dead for a few hundred years now so he can't be the cause.
"Still following me?" Mystogan snapped me out of my monologue.
"Huh? Um, sure."
Wow, I'm pretty sure he'd already talked about a lot of things and I just didn't heard them because of me being lost in the thought. Okay, I have to listen attentively to him now or else I won't hear a vital information here.
"Okay, so basically, the rumors might be true about this area being Zeref's 'hang-out' spot because of these dark magic emanating from the very old trees here." The what now?! Does that mean those strange residual ethernano from those old tree barks I ate were from Zeref?
"Hey, don't joke about something like that! You're aware that I just ate a few barks from these old trees, right?"
"Sadly, I'm not joking. Wait, why would you even eat a tree? Are you a dragon slayer or something?"
"I don't know, maybe, though I know for myself that I wasn't been raised by a dragon."
"Well, in any case, I think you should research more about Zeref because I'm sure our arrival here on Earthland are from different methods."
"How are they different?"
"That's because I'm aware of my arrival here and it's because of a portal called Anima. And by the way, I'm from a world called Edolas."
So that's why Master Dreyar assumed before that I'm from Edolas. He's one of the two otherworlders that the master encountered.
To be honest, I'm pretty worried about myself right now, not just because I somehow just ate a few tree barks with some faint amount of Zeref's magic, but because my very arrival here on Earthland might have anything to do with the evil wizard himself. Well, I just have to believe that those strange magic residues weren't really from Zeref because I'm still alive right now.
With both of us being not so fan of talking and social interactions, we parted ways. He went to who knows where while I went to a neighboring town to scan their library for some further clues about Zeref and his potential involvement in my predicament.
...
Wow, all I did was leave for not more than a week and this happened to the guild?! Damn these hooligans and their lust for making trouble.
I stood in front of the wreckage of the Fairy Tail guild hall, watching the other members of the guild try to rebuild it. One in particular was there at the corner using her magic to produce lumber. Yes, that girl is my teacher and my first friend here on Earthland, Laki Olietta.
"Olietta, what happened here?" I asked her.
She stared back to me with a somehow relieved look on her face. "Good, you're here. Please help me create some wood slabs."
Wow, so the first thing she would say to me is to make wood slabs instead of filling me with the details? Great. "Okay, but tell me first what happened here."
"Hmm, to make things simple, a war broke out between us and Phantom Lord. We won but the guild house and the team Shadow Gear became the collateral, although they're now somehow recovered from their injuries."
She pretty much said enough because I didn't need a full explanation.
With that out of the way, I started making some lumbers myself. This time, I can produce the lumbers without being afraid of them being deformed because their shapes are simple enough for me. However, if they want a wooden decorations, they just have to go to Olietta for that.
Of course I'm aware that Olietta is a nice-looking girl and of the stares from few of my male guildmates. They might be jealous that I'm this close to her that I'm working alongside her. Well, they only have themselves to blame because they all act like a pervert towards her even when they know that she hates perverts. Though I'm thinking that she also a pervert in her own right. That sadist...
Creating a lot wooden construction materials is now taking a toll on me. With each cast of my nameless wood make spells, I feel the lowering quality of wooden planks, a sign to stop what I'm doing right now and take a rest.
"Imma go grab a food for a moment. I'll be back shortly."
She immediately understood what I meant and let me go rest for a while.
Now that I'm at my free time, I picked up some random wood pieces from the remains of the guild hall and brought them to a secluded spot at the back. As for what I'm going to do with all these wood pieces, of course I'm going to eat them. There's literally a whole building worth of free food lying around everywhere and I'm not the one to waste them.
As I eat the wood pieces, I noticed that they taste rather bland compared to when I directly bite them fresh from a living tree. Well technically, these are vegetables so it's to be expected that fresh ones will be tastier than these in front of me. Though I wonder what would be the taste of a pickled wood.
What I didn't took account for was if there's also someone sneaking here to have their early lunch. And that I'm correct. Sitting beside me is a blue cat who's munching down a fish of almost his own size.
I wanted to run from him knowing that he'll tell his partner about my secret but it's already too late. He caught me in the act of eating wood. Crap.
"Hachiman, you're eating wood?!" Happy exclaimed.
"No... I just... Yes, I am."
The cat looked amazed by what he's seeing from me. Of course it's not everyday you'll see a giant termite such as myself. But as I've said earlier, he will instantly assume that I'm a Wood Dragon Slayer and tell it to his partner.
"Please, don't tell anyone about this. I'll buy you a fish if you keep this a secret."
However, there's one thing that slipped out of my mind. It's that Dragneel and Happy are inseparable. Yes, he's actually just a meter away from his partner and he also saw what I did.
"Woah Hachiman, you're a Dragon Slayer too?" I'm sorry Master Dreyar, your efforts of keeping me alive for this past month is now wasted because of my carelessness.
"I don't know, maybe?" I replied while trying hard not to hint any nervousness on my part. "Please do not tell anyone about this."
Dragneel then idiotically posed like he's thinking of something. Well, I guess I should be thankful that he's considering it at the very least. He then suddenly jumped like he just thought of a brilliant idea, and I don't like where this is going.
"Yeah sure! But first, you have to fight me!"
"There's no talking you out this, am I right?"
"Yep! We promise to keep your secret after this!" he replied with a background "Aye!" from his cat partner.
So this is it. The city boy with no fighting experience whatsoever is going to fight someone whose power is comparable to that of an S-class mage and is trained by a literal dragon. And what's even worse is that his fire element is super effective against my wood magic. This is just the most unfair matchup I've ever seen in my whole life.
I guess I should just leave this fight to the magic of Nakama. Maybe it will prevent him from inflicting a severe injury on me because I'm a member of the guild, an thus his nakama.Without anyone noticing, we took our stances, facing each other with anticipation and excitement for the fight- Ah, screw this. I'm really afraid of him right now.
Actually, with my small but vital knowledge about this guy, I may have a chance of winning this fight. That is if he would let me have the first move. The most famous weakness of the great Salamander is actually just his weird case of motion sickness. It's weird because he'll instantly be rendered useless if he's placed on a moving vehicle, yet he can't get the same effect if he's carried by Happy.
"Wait, let me set up a fighting ring first. Wood Make: Ring!"
With that, I created a wooden version of a boxing ring. It wasn't that special in terms of appearance but it has what a ring should look like; a wooden square platform surrounded with roughly made fences. This is to bait him to the atmosphere of the fight so that he won't notice about my plan.
We then entered the ring like a boxers.
"Cool! So this is your magic, huh?" Dragneel commented.
"Well, I eat wood so... Okay, what's the rules?" I asked.
"First one to give up or being down for ten counts loses!" Happy declared in a somewhat loud voice that could be heard by the other guild members who were currently taking a break. Ah fuck it.
So much for subtlety. This is another one of the things I fear the most. The guild members started gathering around the ring like there really is a serious fight going on. Last time I saw them like this is when Dragneel challenged Scarlet to a fight, which was cancelled due to the Magic Council arresting the latter for property damage.
"Really Natsu, you're gonna fight the newcomer?"
"Come on guys, taking all bets!"
What made me feel irritated about this setup is that the members are now placing bets on who will be the winner of this fight. Although it's quite flattering that few of them actually betted on me, courtesy of Olietta and some other members whose names I couldn't remember, I feel like I'm just one of their playthings.
"So, can I just give up right now and lose this fight?" I asked my opponent.
"Come on Hachiman! Be a MAN and punch Natsu in the face already!" I think I don't need to tell you who said that.
"Okay fine. Ready when you are, Dragneel."
He released an aura of flames, indicating that he's now ready to engage anytime. Now if what I planned is correct, all I have to do now is evade his first attack and win this dammed fight. My plan is to make the ring move to induce motion sickness. Then I'll strike him with whatever strong attack I have like a wooden hammer or something. It's not a guarantee that I'll win but there's a chance compared to fighting him head on.
However, now with everyone's here watching our fight, I can't just win the fight. That is because there will be more questions for me if they'll see a fighting maniac being defeated by the guild's janitor. And with them questioning me, it can't be avoided that they'll know about my ability which is kinda similar to that of Dragon Slayers.
"Here I go!"
Hearing him, I immediately changed my plans. This time, I'm just gonna block his upcoming attack so that I won't be severy hurt. Then after I got hit, I'll just have to lay on the ring for ten counts so that I'll immediately lose. This will also indirectly tell them that I'm incapable of fighting by letting everyone here see how easy I am to defeat, which is actually the truth.
Dragneel launched his fiery fist at me, at which it directly landed at the best wooden shield I created. As expected, the shield instantly shattered. But what surprised me is that it completely absorbed the threatening power of Dragneel's flaming punch, letting me receive only the equivalent of a punch from a normal person.
Still, the punch is strong enough that all I need is a little bit more acting to convince them that I was actually knocked out by the attack. Yep, just like that and I'm already down for the count. Even though I still have enough magic power to shake the ring and induce motion sickness to him, I decided against it.
"Eh, that's it? I thought you would last longer." Dragneel said.
"Well, what can I say? There's a reason why I'm only a janitor." I replied back while still lying on the ring. "So now you'll keep your end of the bargain. Can I take your word for that?"
"Sure." he responded as he left the ring.
Others soon followed, muttering about how disappointing the fight was. There are also people who scolded Dragneel for him asking me to a fight when they know that I'm no match for him. However, the main topic of everyone is about how patheticly weak I am that it only took one half-assed punch to defeat me.
Although they're annoying me, their words have no effect on me other than that. I've always been the receiving end of those kinds of words that I've already developed an immunity from it. So much that I sometimes intentionally make them say so just like this.As what I've already stated in the past, when it comes to losing, I'm the strongest. No matter what they say, I will always be true to my words.
Besides, just because they considered it as a loss doesn't mean it's also a loss for me. In fact, this is one of the best victories I've experienced so far. I've made Dragneel keep his promise of not telling anyone about my secret, and I let the other guild members know that I'm not capable of fighting like they are. I've made things go my way. Isn't that what victory is all about?
Everyone already left and continued their work of fixing the guild hall, all except Olietta. Oh yeah, I forgot that we're actually friends and it's natural for her to worry about me.
"Why did you even let Natsu fight you? You know your injuries could get worse with that stunt of yours, right?" she asked as she help me stand up, which is actually not that difficult to do so.
"He found out that I'm able to eat my element. I told him to keep it a secret but he would only agree to it if I fought him. He didn't specify that I have to win so I went to the easier route."
Besides, the only time that I think winning is a must is when someone's life is at stake. In that case, not doing your best to win is basically commiting murder to the person who's life is in danger, even if that person is yourself.
"And that's why you didn't put up a fight and just lose? Wow, I didn't know you were such a masochist." she commented.
"Hey, it's not like that. I just chose to take the easier path. That could be called laziness but it definitely isn't masochism."
I then disassembled the wooden ring so that they can be used as a regular lumber. It seems that I just wasted a valuable ethernano particles for this and they didn't even served their purpose. At least no one commented about it or else that would be an embarrassment on my part. Yes, I would still feel embarrassment about this because this is for a plan that I didn't use.
"By the way, what's up with the ring?"
"It's actually intended to be a secret weapon in defeating Dragneel. I'm planning on making him motion sick by shaking the ring so that I could easily bring him to submission."
"I'm pretty sure the ring didn't shake earlier. Did something go wrong?" she asked
"Technically yes, everything was going smoothly until everyone decided to watch us. Of course my only choice is by not proceeding to the plan and just lose the match. Just think about what would happen if I managed to win against Dragneel."
After a short moment of thinking, she finally understood what I meant. "You'll be challenged to a fight by the likes of Gray, Elfman, and the others."
"Exactly. Remember that my fighting capability is actually just next to nothing. I only managed to plan a trick to defeat Dragneel because his weakness is known throughout the guild. I won't have any chance whatsoever if it was another guild member."
Knowing that I'm not injured, Olietta left me by my lonesome and went to her other friends.
Now that the parts of the ring are nicely organized on one spot at the back of the guild, it's time continue my meal which was previously interrupted by the cat. However, there's something on my right hand that looks like a dirt or something. In any case, the markings look disturbing, especially because I'm about to resume to my meal, so I have to wash it now.
I scrubbed the greenish black markings but they just won't come off. When I touched them, they feel just like the area where I put my guild insignia. Does this mean that they're permanent? That's not even the real question because the real one is about how I got these markings in the first place.
But I guess this isn't much of a problem when I saw the black markings slowly dissipate after taking a few relaxing breaths. Maybe that's just a sign of me being too tense about things and for using too much magic...
...
A/N: I hope that gave you guys enough hint on what magic Hachiman will have in this fic. I also made Makarov know about Mystogan's case here unlike in the canon where he has no idea about his identity on this part of the story.
This update came a bit too early because I have to write what's on my mind before they slip out and become useless.