Awakening the Dragon: Natsu

Natsu blinked, not having expected this call. The boy looked down from the top of the mountain Naruto had called him to, the male Dragonslayer blinking at the height. They were up extremely high. It was rare for mages to ever go so high, and not just because the oxygen levels were low, but because there was really no need. Natsu turned, seeing Naruto stretching like he was completely fine. He likely didn't feel the effects of the change of atmospheric pressure. Natsu rolled his eyes. Stupid Sky God Slayer Magic hacks. That was totally not fair.

Then again he was totally immune to all forms of fire, so he supposed he couldn't necessarily complain about overpowered abilities granted to someone based off of their magic.

The Dragonslayer looked at the Godslayer, confusion on his face. "Why did you call me up here Naruto? You said you wanted to spar, but I doubt you'd bring me up to a place where I'm weaker to spar."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I didn't bring you here to spar," the blonde stated. "I just needed to get you up here in the first place and the fastest way to do that was to say that I was going to spar you."

"Then why did you call me?"

"It's simple really," Naruto stated, blinking. "It's time for you to learn how to activate your Drive. You're strong, stronger than you were when we fought the Bijuu, but you haven't grown significantly. You still have quite a decent bit of room to grow, and that's before you even reach your Drive. You have to attain that hidden potential. That's why we're here. Although I'm not a Dragonslayer I'm the only person here who has a Drive. Therefore, I'm going to help you attain your own."

Natsu blinked before he grinned, flames licking his body. "Yes! Let's get started!"

Naruto smirked. "Of course you want to get stronger. Well before you can activate your Drive you have to close the final gap in your power to reach the level required for it. But before we do that we have to set up some ground rules."

Natsu frowned. This was unusual for Naruto. Ground rules? The rules he followed with Naruto were pretty much the same he followed with everyone else. Just don't actually mean anything you say, or be a colossal dick, and generally speaking you were fine. In fact, just due to his natural disposition, he was pretty nice. What ground rule could Naruto possibly want to set up?

"The training I'm going to be putting your through will be brutal. When we spar Natsu I won't be holding back. You need to get stronger, and fast. We don't really have time for whining, I think the Tower of Heaven demonstrated that. Danger seems to come to us, so we need to be ready. No whining. Just hard work. Do not give up on any exercise are we clear?"

"You know I never run from a challenge Naruto!"

"Swear it Natsu," Naruto stated, his eyes cold. Natsu blinked, not having expected to see that look in his eyes. Maybe the Tower of Heaven had done more to him than he thought? He wasn't there after Etherion struck, but maybe Jellal had done or said something that had struck a cord with him? The man was planning on sacrificing Erza, but neither S-class mage had spoken on how close he had gotten to achieving his goal, he had just assumed Jellal had been stopped. He had but...how close had he gotten to achieving his goal? What had Erza and Naruto seen on that tower?

"I swear on Igneel," Natsu stated, getting Naruto to nod. It was good to know the Dragonslayer was taking this seriously. He had no intention of having another raving madman trying to take away someone that he cared about. He would rather die. And knowing the situation around him it was likely that he would die if he didn't regain his past strength. Jellal wasn't much of a challenge, it was his rage that had clouded his judgement, but if he continued to fight opponents like Cobra or Jose he would struggle. Those two were powerful, that much was sure. He could tell that Cobra hadn't gone all out against him, and he had a feeling that Jose would have defeated him if Makarov had not shown up. He had to get stronger himself, and he couldn't afford to worry about Natsu during that time. The battles that would be coming would be life-or-death, and worrying about Natsu was simply a luxury he couldn't afford. The boys personality was likely going to get him involved in very dangerous situations, and he needed to be powerful enough to come out on top by himself.

Naruto nodded, sighing before winds swirled around him. "Alright Natsu. Let's get started. Give me everything you've got. We're going to burn you out before we really start training."

Natsu nodded, flames blossoming around him, causing Naruto to grunt. With a mere shout Naruto's form had changed again, the blonde taking the form of his Sky God's Drive, glaring at Natsu as the winds around the duo howled, carving into the mountain. Natsu grunted underneath the power of the winds, barely managing to keep his flames wreathed around his body. The wind was too powerful, it was knocking away his flames. The Dragonslayer grunted, trying to retain control of his flames before his eyes widened as he saw Naruto merely appear in front of him, his punch already flying out, slamming into Natsu's face and sending the Dragonslayer flying. A boom finally occurred, the sound barrier having shattered from Naruto's movement.

The blonde appeared behind the spinning Dragonslayer, black winds swirling around his form as the sky roared its cry, a black whirlwind swirling downwards, smashing into Natsu and pinning him against rock. Naruto growled, screaming his war cry to the heavens. "Sky god's Boreas!" Natsu cried out in pain as the whirlwind lifted him into the sky once more before smashing him onto the ground, the pain almost unbearable. He couldn't get control over his flames. The force of the wind was too great.

Natsu grunted, standing as the whirlwind disappear, although the tornado of wind that surrounded him and Naruto still remained. Flames tried to form on his fists, only for them to be blown away by a particularly strong current of black wind, causing Natsu to grunt. The fiery Dragonslayer leapt towards Naruto, smashing his fists together, trying to form flames.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

Natsu let loose the orb of flame, the ball smaller than usual. Naruto rolled his eyes, waving his arm, winds smashing into the orb and destroying it before he shot forwards, grabbing Natsu's head before he smashed the Dragonslayer into the ground. The blonde raised his leg, bringing it down with a cry. "Sky God's Second Sky Arrow!" Natsu cried out as the blow smashed into his stomach, the attack spearing his stomach and sending a shockwave so violent that it caused a massive crevice in the mountain. Naruto grunted, wind swirling around his arm.

"Come on Natsu."

Naruto dropped his hand, wind roaring downwards before smashing onto Natsu, causing him to cry out in pain. He couldn't handle this. The pain was unbearable. Was this what Jellal had to deal with? No wonder he lost! Natsu screamed, winds pushing him deeper into the crevice Naruto had formed, the blondes cold eyes watching with disappointment in his eyes. He had expected the fire from Natsu to be able to withstand his strength better, but it appeared that he was wrong.

A roar came from Natsu, flames sprouting from his body, the flames barely able to force the winds off of the Dragonslayers body. Naruto watched in interest as Natsu slowly stood, glaring at the Godslayer. Natsu snarled, flames swirling around his body. "It won't be that easy," the Dragonslayer hissed before he leapt forwards, flames coating his body. Natsu shot forwards, his fist blazing forwards, only for Naruto to catch it, the winds instantly shutting off the boys flame.

"That's good, but not nearly good enough. I expected more."

The blonde grunted, wind swirling around his hand in a form eerily similar to a sphere. "Sky God's Rasengan!"

The blow smashed into Natsu's gut, the boy crying out in pain, before he was sent flying, completely unconscious from the blow. Naruto sighed, letting his Drive disappear, catching Natsu and gently lowering him to the ground. He would have to wait for him to wake up before they could start training again. It seemed the boy wasn't as strong as he thought he was. They had more work to do than he thought. Naruto grunted.

He had his work cut out for him.


The second Natsu woke up Naruto got to explaining, a sigh escaping his lips. "I was testing you," the blonde began, grumbling. "And you were below expectations Natsu."

Natsu groaned, the world around him still spinning. He wanted to shout at how unfair it was that Naruto had used his Drive from the get go. There was no way he could have matched that, but he remembered his promise. He couldn't break it, especially not after the first training session. He merely nodded, Naruto smiling in response.

"That's okay though. We can still build you up. You showed commitment. Your flames are as powerful as ever, which is good. You can still use the white flames, which is something that we will be working on. Increasing the temperature of your flames is obviously something that needs to happen. I don't think we've really worked on it since you were a kid, so we should catch up on it. As for your fighting, well you do have an issue. This wasn't seen in our fight specifically, but I know how you fight Natsu. There is no style. To many mages that's fine, but to someone like me, or to any S-class mage really, that's a serious flaw. Having a fighting style is useful."

"What do you mean," Natsu questioned. "I've been working just fine without one."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah you have, there's no denying that, but you've also been fighting people who are about as wild as you in fights. Gajeel is no different than you frankly. He should work on it as well, and he was your toughest fight up until now. You beat Fukuro with relative ease. But you can't just rely on that. Part of the reason Erza is so easily able to beat you is because of the fact that she trained her ass off with weapons. There's actual style and skill behind her moves, but with you it's just instinct. That makes sense, considering how you were raised. I was much the same. It took a long time for me to develop a style, and even then I eventually just got strong and fast enough that it didn't really matter what style I used."

"So why can't I do that?"

"You can, but you have to gain that level of strength and speed first. I can still use all of my martial arts styles if I need to. In fact, I tend to blend them together."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you need to develop a fighting style. Knowing how you fight I think it should be centered around your upper body, although you're still agile so using your legs would be advisable. Something that emphasized punches, clawing, and grappling, would probably be your bread and butter. I can teach you a bit of this, but you'll likely have to improvise. I'm by no means master of a martial art like that style. Elfman would probably be helpful with this, considering a lot of his Beasts use claws. Anyways, there's also something I want you to add to how you fight."

"Something you want me to add?"

Naruto nodded, standing before he quickly formed small twisters underneath his feet, speeding away from Natsu into the sky before circling the fiery Dragonslayer. "I want you to be able to use your fire to propel yourself. You can probably already do this, but I want you to work on being able to increase the intensity so that you can essentially fly at the speeds I'm capable of. I don't actually need twisters to fly, two of my magics give me the ability to fly without any difficulty, but if you could do that you'd definitely gain a lot more power behind your blows. And it would only increase your good mobility."

Natsu nodded, slowly standing, forming small jets of flame beneath his feet. Naruto nodded.

"Let's get started."


Cana grunted, having finally managed to grab a rock steadily for the first time in two days while using her magic. The girl grinned. This was what she needed to see, improvement. She had been hoping to see something like this, and she finally could. She was getting stronger, and gaining much more control over her magic. Soon she would be ready for the S-class Trials.

Ready to tell her father who she was.

Cana nodded, clenching her fists, setting the rock on the ground. She finally had managed to pull it off. She could tell the delicate balance of energy she needed to hold something. Of course she also knew what was necessary to break it so she didn't over exert herself, it was a part of her training. The girl turned, stretching, surprised to see a form standing behind her. Gajeel blinked, frowning.

"Where the hell are we?"

Cana frowned. "Outside Magnolia," she girl muttered. She did not want to talk with this guy of all people. He was a jerk, and he also attacked Team Shadowgear. That was unforgivable. He shouldn't even be in the guild. Gajeel frowned, scathing the back of his head.

"How the hell did I get here?"

Cana rolled her eyes. "Are you coming back from a job? The guild is that way," Cana muttered, pointing in a general direction. Gajeel blinked, following her finger until he saw the guild in the distance, nodding. The teen continued walking, brushing past the girl, causing her to growl.

"Why would master even let you in the guild anyway," she hissed quietly, but she knew Gajeel had heard it. The teen was a Dragonslayer, like Natsu. He probably also had enhanced hearing.

"I don't know," Gajeel grumbled out, getting the girls attention. However, before she could respond the Iron Dragonslayer had disappeared behind the trees, his footsteps echoing throughout the area. Cana waited until the sound of his footsteps disappeared, her eyes wide before she grit her teeth, shaking her head. She had work to do, she couldn't afford to be distracted. Punches and kicks.

Punches and kicks.


Azuma grunted, sitting down on the nearby table. None of the strong members, notable members, of Fairy Tail were currently in the guildhall. The Gods were absent, as were the Dragons. The only truly noteworthy person was the person causing the long period of rain over Magnolia, although many of the residents didn't seem to notice it. Azuma stared at Juvia. How would he fare against her he wondered? It would be hard to convince her to battle him to actually find out, she was still too afraid of people who weren't those she met at the resort, but he could theorize.

The girl could turn her body into water, making most physical attacks ineffective. His explosions likely wouldn't be able to effect her real body, as the water would merely scatter and reform into her body. She was actually a threat in that way. He couldn't effectively harm her, but there was no way she possessed the offensive firepower to put him down. He doubted many people in the guild truly did. It would be an interesting battle, that much was sure. It would be interesting to see how they tried to compensate for the others abilities. Her inability to be harmed directly, her inability to effectively damage him.

The thought of the battle got his blood roaring, the mage about to walk up to Juvia to challenge her before he felt a hand clasp on his shoulder. The man blinked, seeing Laxus Dreyar standing there. This was...unexpected. The man was powerful yes, and Azuma had desired to challenge him, but he hadn't expected the man to walk up to him. From what he had heard the man was rather cold to outsiders, and was in a foul mood if the news of him attacking Gajeel Redfox was anything to be believed. When he had walked in the guild Makarov had given him a good talking to, yet the boy didn't seem to much care.

He had the perfect attitude of a Dark Mage. Azuma was tempted to offer him a spot in Grimoire Heart, if he wasn't sure the boy would blow his cover immediately. He had the heart of a Dark Mage, but his eyes still reflected those of a Light Mage, even if it wasn't necessarily a purely good one. Many Light Mages weren't purely good.

"How strong are you?"

Azuma blinked. That question was even more unexpected than the man walking up to him. That was a question more expected of Natsu Dragneel rather than someone of Laxus' stature. The man had a superiority complex for sure, for him to ask him how strong he was was out of character. He was expecting him to merely mock him as some sort of weakling. But here he was, asking if he was strong.

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

Laxus growled, staring down Azuma. Azuma watched him carefully. The Fairy Tail mage was tall, almost taller than him, and he had power to back up his size. That would be an interesting fight. Hades had said to show off so he would be selected for the S-class Trials. What better way to get selected than defeat an S-class mage in a fight?

"You had better be," Laxus said. "You, me, outside right now."

Laxus and Azuma walked towards the back of the guild, the members of the guild who were currently in the guild hall watching with interest. The new guy was about to fight Laxus. Was he crazy? Laxus was extremely powerful, an S-class mage! Levy watched the duo leave with more interest than her fellow guild mates. This newbie was standing up to Laxus. She had to see this fight happen. Walking outside to lean against the wall she could only stare as Laxus and Azuma squared off, the two giants sizing each other up.

"This will be interesting."

Levy glanced to her side, surprised to see Makarov standing next to her.

"Master?"

"The new guy is strong," Makarov stated. "Very strong. He's good at keeping it under wraps, but he's much more powerful than he lets on. I'm not exactly sure how powerful. He should be capable of fighting Laxus. This isn't out of the realm of possibility for him. The question is just how long he can fight Laxus. My grandson is a brat, but he is powerful. And very fast. Will Azuma be able to keep up?"

Levy stared at Makarov, looking back at the two combatants who were preparing to square off, interest in her eyes. "Is it wrong to root for Azuma?"

"Not particularly. Laxus can be a bit of a brat. His hearts in the right place, but he acts so much like his father..."

Levy let the matter drop. She knew better than to touch that subject with a ten foot pole.

The two combatants stared each other down, their magic leaping from their bodies before the world around them froze. And then the battle began, Laxus leaping forwards in a vortex of lightning. Azuma grunted, leaping away from the storm of lightning before raising a hand. "Bleve." The area in front of Azuma exploded, Laxus being caught up in the explosion, causing Levy's eyes to widen.

"He hit him!"

When the smoke cleared Laxus glared at the man, his form untouched. Azuma grinned. Maybe this battle would be more fun that even he thought it would, if the man had managed to avoid that attack what else could he avoid? Lightning sparked around Laxus' form, and the ground rumbled as Azuma waved his arms. The battle was just getting started.

Fairy Tail would not be the same after it ended.

Laxus shot forwards, his body coated in lightning before he appeared behind Azuma, his body taking solid form once more. Azuma glanced at the man, a grin on his face. "Nice try. But still no cigar," the man said, spreading his arms as Laxus' fist reached forwards. "Tower Burst!"

The ground erupted in flames as Azuma cried out the attack, the pillar of fire extending high into the air. A form shot from the fire, Laxus landing on the ground, his coat covered in flame. With a grunt he threw it from his body, glaring at Azuma, the man staring at him. Black lightning suddenly flashed around Laxus' form before a bolt of lightning surged forwards, Azuma's eyes widening before he leapt into the sky, dodging the attack. Laxus seemed to be expecting this however, appearing in front of the man in a burst of speed, his fist flying forwards. Azuma grunted, blocking the blow with his forearm, although the force sent him flying, the man skidding as he landed on the ground.

Laxus grunted as he stared down at him, yellow and black lightning flickering around his form, its shape changing. "Vajra!" A massive bolt of lightning in the form of a vajra shot downwards towards Azuma. The man frowned, the smell of ozone filling the area as the lightning blurred down at him. He would have to act fast. The man raised his hands, grunting as magic swirled through his body. Fruit suddenly formed, flying through the air towards the vajra before exploding violently, destabilizing the attack, and releasing a burst of lightning through the area.

"He's keeping up with Laxus," Levy muttered, her eyes wide. Makarov didn't respond, staring at Azuma. The magic he was using was strange. It wasn't quite like Explosion Magic and yet it looked like it. The man was...different. Noteworthy. Makarov frowned. The man was too good, too strong, too fast, and too easily keeping pace with Laxus. That wasn't something that a mage that didn't have a guild could easily pull off.

Just who was Azuma?

Makarov would not get his answer as Laxus landed, glaring at Azuma. "I suppose you're strong enough," Laxus stated, grunting before black and yellow lightning flashed forwards. Azuma's eyes widened, having not expected the attack, the bolt of lightning lashing into him, sending him flying. Azuma grunted, flipping to land on his feet as he grinned at Laxus, only for the man to grunt a shoot into the sky in his lightning form.

"Tch," Azuma grunted, swiping at his shoulders. "That was fun and he just left. What the hell?"

Makarov could only watch, his eyes narrowed on Azuma's form.


Natsu blocked Naruto's punch, grunting as the force of the blow tried to send him flying backwards, having to increase the output of his flames in order to stay where he was. Naruto nodded, speeding around Natsu in a flash of golden light before he apepared behind him, only for Natsu to already be moving, swinging his leg through the night air. Naruto grabbed the appendage, winds swirling around his arm as he swung them towards Natsu's knee, frowning at the teen.

"And you just lost your leg," Naruto muttered, dropping Natsu's leg. Natsu grunted, causing Naruto to sigh. "The idea behind the attack wasn't bad, but you're not really familiar enough with such high paced combat or the delicacy on how to maintain your balance when it comes to using propulsion. Still, you're not bad all things considered. You'll get better quickly."

Natsu nodded, flames lightning up beneath his feet once more before he rushed Naruto. Naruto nodded, watching as Natsu rushed him again, only for the golden hue around Naruto to darken to a black one and the blonde dashed away, moving even faster than before. Naruto grinned, appearing behind Natsu, winds coating his feet before he lashed out with a blow that Natsu managed to avoid by increasing the output of his flames, putting him above Naruto's attack. The fiery Dragonslayer came down hard, flames coating his fist as he attacked, only for Naruto to avoid the blow. Still, Natsu's punch cracked the ground, causing him to grin before he shot forwards again, Naruto rushing to meet him.

The duo clashed, their blows moving in a flurry of movement before Naruto eventually gained the upper hand, grasping the Dragonslayers arm and twisting, forcing him off balance before his foot rose to meet Natsu's chest, sending the Dragonslayer tumbling onto the ground. Natsu growled, rising only for Naruto to shake his head, the black winds dispersing.

"We have something else we have to do before we continue this training, although I'd have to say so far you're doing pretty good."

Natsu blinked. This was not something that he was expecting. Naruto quickly drew a Thunder God Kunai, tracing out seals in the sky. Naruto grinned. "You're fast Natsu. We're gonna make you even faster. Even I need to be faster frankly, and I can break the sound barrier when I'm using my Drive." Naruto tapped his Kunai onto the runes he created in the air, Natsu's eyes wide as the runes spread around the field, before he felt the full effects of gravity slam into him, the Dragonslayer trying his hardest not to fall under the weight. The Dragonslayer was only comforted when he saw Naruto struggling to move as well.

"We're gonna be training for the rest of the time under this pressure. If you can reach the same speed you were just moving at under this gravity, you'll be much faster in combat. Incredibly so. Natsu roared his challenge to the world, the duo of mages continuing their training.

Three days later Naruto grunted, sitting down next to Natsu, the Dragonslayer breathing heavily. They had just finished their melee training, and Naruto had to admit the Dragonslayer was getting faster. He was already fast enough, even with the gravity effecting him. When he took off the effects he wasn't sure he wanted to know how much faster Natsu had gotten. However, that wasn't why he had stopped their fighting.

Naruto looked the Dragonslayer up and down before he nodded. The Dragonslayer was ready. He had gained quite a decent bit of mastery of his magic over these three days. So much so that it was finally time for the boy to find his Drive. Naruto remembered how he had fist learned how to use it. Kai had grilled him hard that day. But he had finally found it. In practice it wasn't too different than when he faced the Falls of Truth, which is why he had learned it faster than Sasuke had.

"Natsu close your eyes."

Natsu blinked, confused, only for Naruto to sigh. "It's time for you to unlock your Drive. Now sit down and close your eyes." Natsu nodded, closing his eyes, waiting for Naruto's further instruction. The blonde frowned. This next part would be dangerous.

"Natsu, I'm sure you know how fire works. I hardly have to explain it to you, but to make sure you know, give me a basic rundown of how branches of Fire Magic work."

"They're drawn from our inner selves," Natsu began. "Flames are wild, powerful, dangerous. They can give life and help cultivate the world or burn the world to ash. With mages who use Fire Magic it's no different. Our magic can burn everything away or cultivate the world around us, our choice. It's deeply connected to our emotions. The angrier we are, the more destructive and powerful the fire, but the calmer we are the more malleable it is, and the greater ability to adapt that it has. It's a double-edged sword. Both sides have their benefits and their downfalls."

"Good," Naruto stated. "Breathe."

Natsu grunted, taking in massive heaps of air through his nostrils, trying to recover the energy he spent while sparring with Naruto. Naruto grinned. It wasn't long before the ground around Natsu bubbled, flames erupting around the Dragonslayer as he got into a trance, the flames rising and falling with his every breath. The heat rose, causing Naruto to nod. Natsu was getting it. He was controlling his flames. Suddenly the flames flashed an even more brilliant white than what Naruto had ever seen. Natsu's flames had never looked like that before.

"What do you care about," Naruto muttered, raising his arms to protect himself from the rising temperature. "What pushes you to do better? What makes you fight so hard? Is it Igneel and your desire to find him? Is it the bonds you've made at Fairy Tail? Or is it something else? Some hidden reason that pushes you to fight so hard?"

Natsu's mind flashed with images, faces whirling past his mind in a blur. They moved so fast it was hard to recognize many of them, but there were certain ones that he would recognize no matter the situation. Igneel. Lisanna. Erza. Master. Lucy. Gray. Naruto. Sasuke. Who was that? That figure in the shadows? It looked...it looked like the figure was carrying...was that him?

Black hair.

Flames surged upwards around Natsu, the white flames burning brighter than ever before. Naruto grunted, leaping away from Natsu into the sky as the top of the mountain erupted in a dazzling white flame, the temperature to high for even the Jinchuriki to handle. Natsu reached forwards, almost as though he could touch the figure. Who were they? The flames in the world danced, emerald and purple flames mixing in with the white, before blue eventually entered, joined by red and orange. Naruto could only watch with wonder.

Natsu was calling every type of flame there was.

With a roar that sounded eerily like a Dragon Natsu gripped the figure, only for them to disappear through his fingers, his eyes settling on Igneel, Fairy Tail standing right beside the massive Dragon.

Drive.

Flames surged into the sky, submerging the area in flame and lava.

Naruto grinned as he heard the cry, the comment that confirmed his suspicions that Natsu had achieved Drive.

"Fire Drive!"

A massive claw speared into the air, and Natsu grinned, black winds swirling around him as he entered his own Drive.

"Time to get back to work," the blonde muttered before wind met flame.


Elfman grunted, falling onto the ground as Mira stood over him, her eyes soft. "Elfman, are you sure you're okay? You're not using your strongest Beast."

Elfman grunted, rising to his feet in his Lizardman form, before he clenched his fists, glaring at Mirajane. "I'm fine nee-san. Let's keep going." Mira frowned, but she nodded nonetheless, rushing forwards to launch a blow at her brother that he barely managed to deflect, Mirajane wincing from the contact as the dense scales of Elfman's Lizardman form. However, the S-class mage was not going to give up that easily, darkness roaring in her hands before she fired it off in a beam.

Elfman grunted, raising his arms to defend, however the blast was far too strong for such a defense to have stopped it, the beam sending Elfman flying into a nearby tree, causing Mira to wince. She did not enjoy crushing her brother so, but he had asked for it. She couldn't in her right mind refuse him. Darkness swirled around her form before she fired it off once more, an orb of darkness crackling towards Elfman, the man howling in pain as it struck him. When the dust caused from the explosion finally cleared Elfman could be seen lying in a heap, completely unconscious. Mira landed next to him, retaking her regular form as she looked down at her defeated brother.

"What's wrong with you Elfman," Mira whispered, rubbing her hands through his hair. "What's wrong?"

He refused to use his most powerful Soul, again. The teen could use the Soul he gained when...when Lisanna died. How could he not use it? It was obviously the most powerful Soul he had, considering that it put up a good fight against her when she was a young girl who still fought. With the level of skill he had gained from his battles he surely should be capable of defeating her, at least in this form. Probably not when she started using her stronger Souls. Yet Elfman refused. There was nothing wrong with trying to get better at handling your weaker Souls, but to not be able to use your strongest one in combat? Was there some form of mental block stopping him from using it?

Or was it something else?

Mira frowned, thinking back to the abilities that the creature had. Nothing too spectacular. It was physically terrifying, and could send out waves of unrestrained magic that were absolutely devastating. With its reserves there was no way she would have been able to defeat the creature, at least not without Elfman's attempt to control it one last time even after Lisanna died, giving her time to defeat it. It also had a strange ability to call other beasts to its aid, something that had been rather pivotal in their initial fight. But that didn't seem like it was any form of magic, rather just its supreme authority over the area demanding servants to assist it.

Mira shook her head. Something about that beast was causing problems for Elfman. That was the only reason why he wouldn't use it, and she would have to get to the bottom of it. She had to put him in a situation where he would be forced to use the beast. But how? What situation would cause such a drastic change in plans for Elfman?


Jet grunted as Erza forced him to go through his kata again. He had been doing this for three days now, Erza continuing to push him past his limits, as whenever he finished a kata she had him do physical workouts. It had been a stressful and extremely painful last three days, but it seemed she was beginning to approve of his improvement. Sure, not much had changed, and he could still barely handle a spear, but there were some beginning traits of skill in his movements. The redhead seemed to be appreciating that.

Jet grunted as he finished his kata, waiting for Erza to give the signal so he could relax. When she did he immediately stood straight, dropping his arms as sweat dripped down from his forehead. He glanced at her, waiting for her commentary, only for her to smile, a sword appearing in her hand. Jet's eyes widened. Erza's smile was not as sweet as he had thought it was.

"Let's see just how far you've come," the girl whispered before she blitzed forwards. It was only due to Jet being used to moving at such high speeds that he managed to deflect her blow, although the sheer force behind it sent him flying. When he finally managed to land on the ground he glanced up, Erza already bringing down her sword, forcing him to activate High Speed to dodge the blade. Just as he avoided the strike he deactivated his magic, lunging forwards with a spear strike, but Erza immediately spun, parrying the strike before lashing out with a kick that slammed into his stomach, sending him stumbling backwards. The redhead then raised her blade again, energy flickering off of it. Jet's eyes widened.

The blade fell just as Jet managed to dive out of the way with his High Speed magic, glaring at Erza as she frowned at him.

"That was way too much! I'm not ready for that?"

"Why didn't you just nullify it?"

Jet blinked as Erza stated the obvious as if it were well...obvious. "At that point you would have just had to contend physically with me, but in a competition of physical strength you would stand a better chance than just dodging."

"But I made it out didn't I?"

Erza sighed. "That's not the point Jet. The point is you're relying on what you're comfortable with, but that's not supposed to be what you're doing. You're supposed to be learning how to use the spear in a fight, not relying on your previous skills. Of course you will still have to blend them together, but you can't just rely on you moving fast enough that your opponents can't react and spearing people. Not that you even used that in this fight. Why didn't you use High Speed to blitz in and stab me with the spear?"

"You would have blocked it."

"I would have, but you could have pressured me. You know the importance of pressuring your opponent. Don't give them time to think. With your magic that is something that you can do literally, and yet you don't."

Jet stood there, silent at Erza's criticism. What could he say? What she was saying was true. He hadn't really thought through his attacks as he should have. He thought of the two skills as separate when it was better to think of them as combined or he just completely forgot to use his newfound skills even when he could easily do so.

"Let's go again," Jet stated, causing Erza to nod. The boy had to get better in real life, practical experience with his spear. Clearly just using a kata wouldn't give him enough proficiency to actually use the weapon in combat. The redhead charged.


Lucy sighed as she sat down on a nearby log, staring up at the sky. What was she doing? In the last few conflicts she had been involved in, she couldn't really say that she had helped much. Phantom Lord was caused by her and the Tower of Heaven was more Aquarius handling her problems than anything else. She had to learn how to be better at handling her magic. She used a branch of Spatial Magic one of the most powerful types of magic around, and yet here she was fumbling around with it as though she didn't know how to use it.

Lucy shook her head. She knew what she needed to do to get better. She had to improve her abilities with Spatial Magic that much was obvious. But she just didn't know how. With the Spirits it was easy, with a mere tug at her magic and by focusing on them, their medium being the key, they appeared. Objects weren't that easy. She had tried to move a rock, but there was no connection that she had to it, no medium to work through. She was too used to working through mediums to work through something that she didn't understand. It wasn't like she had the exact coordinates of the rock and where she wanted it to go or anything.

But maybe she could create some?

Lucy blinked. Then her eyes widened, and a grin split her face in two. She didn't know the coordinates, and she wasn't quite skilled enough to not require a medium to use Spatial Magic, at least not yet. But what if she had a medium? That wouldn't be too difficult. Lucy glanced at her whip, drawing it, a devious look forming on her face. What if she just invented her own form of coordinates? Ones that she could manipulate at will? Naruto did something similar with his Hiraishin, and while what she would be doing was nowhere near as complicated as that technique, she knew that she could do it. The founding principle was the same.

Mark something with her magic, and use that as her medium to teleport.

Lucy let her whip fly, and her magic sailed with it, only for her eyes to widen as she saw her whip suddenly burst into flame, the girl letting it fall from her hands with a yelp, the wind putting it out before the fire could truly get large enough.

She supposed her first order of business would be to get a whip that could handle the flow of magic inside of it. Clearly her whip wouldn't do, but maybe some of the mage shops in Magnolia would be able to hold magic in them. It shouldn't be too difficult. Magic items were common.

The blonde nodded, turning on her heel and walking back towards Magnolia, preparing to get a whip. She would have to do some more jobs to make up for the loss of money.


Gajeel grunted as his client tossed a bag of money at him, the Dragonslayer catching the money before storming back towards Magnolia, ignoring the farewell of the client. He didn't care. He was focused on other things. Like Oracion Seis. What were they doing at Raven Tail? When he had told Makarov the man had seemed puzzled, curious as to why Oracion Seis was making moves against other Dark Guilds. They were either recruiting or making power plays, and the latter seemed less accurate. They couldn't afford to make power plays by growing their power as long as guilds like Grimoire Heart and Tartarus were around. The two other members of the Balam Alliance would immediately crush down any attempt to make a power play that they didn't already know about.

Meaning the members were likely there to recruit members to their force, the only question was why. What did they stand to gain by increasing the number of members they had? Maybe they were planning an attack on a city? That was the only real thing that made sense in his mind. Individually the Dark Guilds didn't stand a chance against the legal mages of Fiore. They'd all be destroyed. But maybe they were banding together, in preparation for war?

No that didn't make sense, a war against Fiore would be extremely detrimental to the Dark Guilds. They couldn't win, not with the support of the Magic Council on the side of light. But then why? He couldn't think of a reason. What reason could they have to amass new members? They'd been content with six members for quite a long time, and for them to all of a sudden decide that more were needed had to mean something. And of course he had left before finding out what that reason was. While it made him look more like a Dark Mage and not draw suspicion to himself, as Dark Mages were known to run when the going got tough, it did also leave them ignorant about quite a few things that would be critical information.

Gajeel sighed. There was no use wracking his brain about it when he wouldn't find a solution. The only solution would be to get stronger, so that the next time he saw them he was capable of fighting them on an equal playing field. After all, in the last fight he had been useless. Racer had crippled him in the first few blows, and he only managed to escape because Velveno seemed to be rather capable.

Gajeel wanted to snort. A drug lord, more capable than a former S-class mage at combat. Gajeel shook his head. Did he even deserve the title of an S-class mage? Phantom Lord's expectations had to be far lower than Fairy Tail's, considering he had lost to an A-ranked mage of their guild. Natsu would be an S-class mage at Phantom Lord. Gajeel grit his teeth. He had a lot of ground to make up. He was still the weakest Dragonslayer, and that was unacceptable. He would be the Dragon to rule the skies, not some pesky fire gnat.

Gajeel glared forwards, thinking of his recent spat with Laxus, rage bristling just underneath his skin as his eyes grew sharp and dangerous. He had to get stronger. And quickly. Metalicana had mentioned a way to improve his strength.

Drive.

Gajeel sat down, grunting. He had work to do.


Wolfheim grunted, staring at the screen in front of him. This was unexpected. The movements of the woman, along with the color of her hair lined up. Hell, even the monstrous power of her S-class mage added up. After all, not many mages could just burst onto the scene with S-class power and be able to defeat Erza Scarlet in combat. Especially not mages that seemed to know Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha so well.

Wolfheim shook his head. The redheaded woman was smart, but she clearly wasn't smart enough. Yui Nii was too unnatural, too skilled for her age. She didn't seem to have any flaws in her body movement. The Magic Council already had some form of an idea about why that was with Naruto and Sasuke, there were no records on them after all, leaving only two possibilities, but this new girl was different. She legally already existed, she was born in Hargeon, but she had never possessed the skill of a mage. In fact the girl barely had any magic capability. For her to suddenly in the span of a few years gain magic, magic powerful enough to match an S-class mage, and master it to the point she was defeating famed mages in battle, no, that didn't make sense.

There was only one possibility.

The girl had to be from an alternate dimension. Or more accurately, part of her was.

Wolfheim sighed, rubbing his beard as he watched the fight between Erza and Yui once more, specifically on the portion when Naruto moved in to save the girl. There it was again. The blur in the camera the blonde caused, and he could see it on Yui and Sasuke as well. To the untrained eye it just looked like they were moving far to fast for the camera to even register them properly, but Wolfheim knew the truth. He could move at max speed and those cameras could still register him properly, and while the blonde was fast he was not nearly fast enough to blitz him.

No, the three were causing distortions, their body didn't seem to react the same that Erza's did to Earthland's natural energy signature. No, their body looked like it caused different vibrations of magic energy on it. It was less so for Yui, likely because she was actually born on Earthland, but whatever caused the upsurge of magic inside of her definitely did not resonate in the same way magic like Erza Scarlet's did. And while the leader of Jinchuriki wasn't in the video he was under no illusions that she likely also radiated a similar frequency.

Wolfheim rubbed the back of his head, glancing at Barakiel and Silva, both of whom stood next to him. The two men stared at the screen, their faces pensive.

"I think we all have something that we will have to attend to."

Silva grunted. "You don't think I'm enough to handle her?"

Wolfheim shook his head. "No. The Uchiha boy and Uzumaki brat are both extremely strong, you can tell that just by the power they exuding when they saved their redheaded friend. In fact, I'd dare say that they overpowered even me. They're threats, on the same level as Tartarus. If this Yui, or as the blonde calls her, Matatabi is so dangerous as to bring that power out, then I'm not risking it. We're bringing down the entire weight of the Generals on Jinchuriki."

"I'll assemble the Generals," Barakiel called, only for Wolfheim to shake his head. "No. We don't do this now. They likely have escape routes at the registered base of Jinchuriki. No we need to get them when the tournament starts again. That's the best time to do it. They won't have escape routes, and that way if need be we'll have the Wizard Saints at our beck and call. Besides..."

Wolfheim stared at Naruto and Sasuke, his eyes narrowed.

"We need to figure out if we have threats in our ranks."


Mito stared at the dead body of Ezra, a grin on her face. The woman was quite weak once she was drunk. Of course, spiking her drink had likely helped quite a bit. The woman was dead now though, and no one would be the wiser. Mito couldn't help but grin, dumping the body in the river. That was one God down. If the other three were this weak she wouldn't have much to worry about. The mages of Fiore truly weren't that difficult to handle. They weren't used to the underhanded tricks that shinobi used.

Of course, fighting Acnologia would be a much different story. She'd need at least four Bijuu to do that. She doubted she could get a Dragon drunk on a spiked drink.

Still, progress was progress. Crippling the Magic Council and its enforcers was something that needed to happen. The Council was powerful, even she could acknowledge that. The weapon they had at their disposal, they were deadly. The Etherion was not something that she wanted to face down on her lonesome. Of course, that was the only one that was public knowledge, and if she knew government like she thought she did, they likely had other, more powerful weapons at their disposal.

It was better to cripple the ones that she knew about than to merely sit back and do nothing. Cause social upheaval. If the Magic Council kept some weapons buired so that the public wouldn't have a riot, well maybe she needed to force their hand a bit. The woman knew she was playing with fire here, after all she didn't want to acquire the wrath of the Generals. That would be a battle she didn't think she could win with only two Bijuu at her side, Isobu still having not been recovered from Daphne, so she had to be subtle. Mages weren't used to shinobi tricks, but she couldn't deny the fact that they were much more capable of certain feats that would have been impossible back where she was from.

Even Madara dropping meteors from the sky wouldn't be able to compare to the ability to literally eat fire, or the existence of a magic that's entire purpose was to kill people merely by touching it. Or keeping them alive for all eternity in fact. The ability to create your own demons was impressive as well. Magic offered quite a large amount of pathways for her.

Mito shook her head. That wasn't important. All that was important was sticking it to Naruto and Sasuke, and if she could cause social upheaval in the place they loved, well they'd be drawn into it like moths to a flame. That, along with the fact that they too were Wizard Saints, and it would be far too easy to continue tormenting the fragments of Hashirama and Madara in this realm.

Mito looked at the sheet of paper she had snagged from Ezra's form, a list that contained the members of the remaining Gods of Ishgar. She couldn't go after Warrod or Wolfheim, Warrod was too isolated, he'd know if she was coming a mile away and he wouldn't trust her. Besides, finding him would be a hassle. Only the Magic Council had the ability to contact him directly. Which led her to her other option, Wolfheim, but that was too dangerous. He had the entire force of the Magic Council at his back due to being a General. She couldn't attack him, or lead the attack against the Magic Council for the information because of the Generals. There was no way her spies could get the information either, which left her with one other target.

The woman known as Dandelion. Well that wouldn't be too hard. She at least had an address. But if she was going to take on the most powerful mage in the country, she would need some form of backup.

Mito turned on her heel. It was time to wake up Son Goku and Kokuo. Even with four Bijuu on her side the battle would likely be tough, but she should prevail. She wasn't fighting the likes of God Serena after all. Mito shuddered. She had met the man once and he was far more deadly than he let on.

He would require much more than just four Bijuu.

Mito smirked, and disappeared into the night.


Shin Maco frowned as he a note flutter down from the window, blinking in curiosity as it opened up on its own, as though it were controlled by magic. A flood of letters entered the sky, forming sentences.


Chuck Barley grunted as he read the sentences.

"Come one, come all, Fairy Tail challenges members of guilds to come and fight them in a magnificent event for all of Magnolia. Help us test our mettle, and give the citizens of Magnolia a show to watch."


Milk Boy grunted as he saw the date of the event.

"Three days before the Fantasia Parade."


Alright I got this chapter out of the way. Now, I will be updating another story soon, I just wanted to make sure that I got as many training chapters as I could out of the way before I lost my muse to do Fairy Tail stuff, because training chapters are boring and arduous. It takes a lot out of an author to write them, which is why I have to world build so much while making them. Because it's boring to me, and I'm sure it's also boring to you guys. Pure training, while you have to show some of it, is just really boring to write and read, because you have to go over the technical aspects that are not in any way intriguing if the character isn't in a real fight. It's much more exciting to explain and show how Natsu improved rather than showing him actually improving in the long way. The actual moment he overcomes an obstacle is fine, but the buildup to that is dreadfully boring. A perfect example of this would be the first and second segments of Natsu's training in this chapter. The first was boring to write, and I had more of my muse when I was writing that scene, in comparison to the second. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed.

And I hope you're starting to see how I plan on handling the Battle of Fairy Tail arc. And I think I gave you a couple hints as to how the battle against Laxus will be going down.

Anyways, Natsu has his Drive mode now! That's cool. He's reached the half-way point. Of course that just means he has a lot more to learn before he can activate Dragon Force at will. Hell even Naruto hasn't reached the point where he can activate God Force, and he's way stronger than Natsu. Although I will admit, the gap between the two has just closed. Also, let me know if you like how I explained Natsu's fire. I was toying with it, but I ended up liking the multi-colored flame idea. It pairs nicely with how I've been having Natsu learn to control the temperature of his flames. By the way if you weren't sure, the color is just the rotating temperatures, although Natsu can make all of it burn at his maximum capacity, the dazzling white you say in this chapter. The dazzling white is different from the regular white he uses also by the way. It's much hotter. Hence why he started turning solid rock to lava.