Master the Weapon: Erza and Levy

Erza frowned as she looked over Jet's form once more, the mage attempting to go through his kata's once more. The teen clearly needed more work, his grip was still too wide, his movements slow, and his steps were too short, but overall he had improved. At least he seemingly was getting the form down somewhat. He was determined and that deserved some credit. Not everyone was stubborn enough to keep working with a weapon that was difficult for them to learn initially. But he kept working at it. He deserved some form of respect.

Erza glanced up at the sky, noticing the slight glow. They had been up all night training, once more. They had quickly found a schedule, with Jet training with Erza practically all night before he went home to rest. He only left his house at around six recently to do a quick job and eat. He barely even had time to talk with the other members of Team Shadowgear anymore. Erza frowned at that. The boy was growing isolated, all so he could protect his friends. But how could he protect people he never even got to talk with?

"Take a break," Erza called, getting Jet's attention. "We'll take a break for a week. It'll give you time to rest, and reconnect with Team Shadowgear. Besides, I need to get a job done."

Jet frowned, but nodded nonetheless. Thanking Erza the mage dashed off. Erza sighed before she nodded. She had work to do. But she had time to rest beforehand. Lucky her.


Erza grunted as she looked over the mission board. No job was really appealing to her. There didn't seem to be anything that would really interest her enough to take the job. Even the S-class jobs seemed rather dull. The girl sighed, rubbing the back of her head only to get a tap on her shoulder. Turning she blinked, surprised to see Levy standing there, a piece of paper in her hands.

"Hey Er-chan," Levy stated. "Look at this. I thought you might find it really interesting."

Erza blinked, taking the sheet of paper before her eyes widened in hope. This was an opportunity that many didn't get. This was something that was incredible. She might not be getting paid, but this was definitely something that was worth its weight in the sheer knowledge she would be gaining. Not everyone got to train under someone so legendary.

"I'm totally going," Erza stated, a grin on her face. Levy smirked.

"I thought you might want to yeah. I'm going too though."

Erza blinked, confusion on her face as she looked at Levy. "You? No offense Levy, but that's a strange decision. You're not really a weapons-user are you?"

"Not much now no," Levy stated. "But I'm trying to become one. All of my training with Naruto has me using weapons more and more, and I definitely think that's what I should be focusing on."

Erza shrugged. "Well you'll hear no complaint from me. Maybe we both can be trained by a legend among mages."

"Hopefully," Levy stated, a grin on her face as she looked down at the piece of paper, specifically the name on it. The mage that was known as the foremost weapons master, the best weapons user in the entire world.

Kama. The Weapon Smith.


Cobra grunted, turning off the lacrima in his hands as he stared over the forested area that was the Worth Woodsea. The man sighed, shaking his head. There wasn't much he could do in this situation. He wasn't powerful enough, not when facing down the monster that was Animus. The monster that had defeated Midnight. Even if he was made to kill such creatures, that was just something that was far beyond his level. He just didn't have the sheer power, nor the stamina to take down Animus. Midnight alone would take quite a lot of effort, and he wasn't sure he could even do it when faced with Midnight's Etherious Form.

Cobra sighed, flicking on the communication lacrima once more. An image of Midnight appeared.

"Nothing can be seen from the skies at least. I think we'll have to traverse through the ground to find it."

"That's not good," Midnight stated. "Tartarus won't be happy."

"No he won't, but it's not like we know exactly what it is we're looking for. If he hadn't killed Brain maybe we'd have a better idea of what we're looking for."

"He said that Zash also knows how to unlock Niravana."

"It's a possibility," Cobra stated plainly. "But that doesn't mean that he'll be able to grant our wishes."

"Our wishes..."

"Yes Midnight," Cobra stated. "You remember them right? Our freedom? Our prayer?"

"Right," Midnight whispered. "Our freedom. The freedom to achieve our prayers in peace. A place to rest."

Cobra smiled. "Yes. You always were tired, at least before the change. Have you changed your prayer?"

"Yes...no...maybe," Midnight whispered. "I don't know anymore. Tartarus is...interesting. I wish to prove myself I think. To prove myself I cannot sleep."

Cobra frowned. That was a drastic personality shift. Midnight had only previously cared about sleeping, and while he still did it fairly often to care about proving himself to a demon that kidnapped him and killed his surrogate father was worrying. Midnight had clearly been experimented on more, but to completely change his thought process? He was lucky that it didn't happen to him. His lack of potential was his saving grace.

"What was your wish again?"

Cobra blinked, not having expected the question. The man blinked, Cubellios appearing in his mind before he grit his teeth, his fists clenching. "My prayer..." Cobra stated. "My prayer is to become the strongest in the world."

Midnight nodded. "Even stronger than Tartarus?"

"The strongest," Cobra stated, rage burning in his eyes. Cubellios flashed into his mind. Angel, Racer, and Hoteye hadn't known where they were, which left only one option. They hadn't been informed of Tartarus' treachery, meaning that Cubellios had been either captured or killed. The snake...the one true friend he had.

Gone.

Rage was all that remained. Rage and isolation.


Biscuit stared over the mass of crystallized tower, a frown on her face. This wasn't something that the public could be allowed to see, not a monument like this. A monument to a Dark God. Quickly barking out orders the group of Rune Knights went to work securing the area and creating a perimeter. The public could not be allowed to see this, which is the illusion she had placed over the tower had transformed it into merely a Magic Council outpost.

The Tower of Heaven had to be forgotten by history. No one could have access to its knowledge. Biscuit sighed, thinking over the orders she had gotten from the Magic Council. To secure the Tower. Not to destroy it, but merely to destroy it. Those were oddly specific orders and there was a large difference between the two options. Securing the tower meant keeping it for Magic Council reasons. Potentially devious reasons. Destroying it would be truly removing it from the annals of history. Which left only one option.

The Magic Council wanted to use the Tower of Heaven for some reason.

Biscuit sighed, shaking her head as she thought back on her orders. Even she, a General, was being kept out of the loop on who exactly was in charge of the Tower of Heaven, or the plans that it would be used for. That spoke volumes on the secrecy of what the Magic Council was doing. Whatever it was they did not want any of it getting out into the public. The fact that some mages of Fairy Tail already knew about it was too many.

Someone being sent to wipe their memories wasn't out of the question.

Shaking her head Biscuit looked back up at the tower, a frown on her face. What was the potential future use of the tower? It was designed to revive, but the massive lacrima that it was could be used to power too many things. Too many weapons. Biscuit frowned.

Weapons. What weapons was the Magic Council working on? They already had Project D2, the four members of the project that their were, Etherion, and they had the Hydrogen Bomb, what else could they possibly need? What would they send him to work on next?


Barakiel sighed as he looked over the report given to him by Lahar. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the man, looking over the papers. Traitors in the Council. It was only thanks to Yajima that he even had this information, as the rest of the Council was to arrogant to bring it to his attention directly. Barakiel sighed. This was problematic. He couldn't exactly just kick out the Magic Council, he didn't have the power. Any other way would just be a coup. Then he would be branded a villain and nothing successful would have come of Yajima's information.

No there was only one thing for him to do.

Barakiel sighed. The only thing left for him to do was to approach the one man other than the Magic Council themselves who could force a disbandment.

The King.

The problem would be getting the King to act. He wasn't a very proactive man in the realm of Magic, which is why he designated so much power over to the Council. He wasn't well versed in Magic, he was a non-mage after all, and thus he tried to keep the majority of the non-mage population under control. The fact that he had only just recently hosted a magic-based event without acknowledging the sheer power Wizard Saints could bring to the table spoke volumes. The man had three Wizard Saints in a tournament, and was surprised when they destroyed the arena, even if the two were mages that had power previously unheard of.

Barakiel sighed shaking his head. Something had to be done. The man quickly summoned a messenger, telling them to request an audience with the King. As they left Barakiel could only look over the sheet of papers on his desk, a frown on his face. Something more, he needed something more. Yajima alone would draw suspicion, but he needed something a bit more concrete to get rid of the failed Council. That only became more problematic considering he was directly under their own authority.

But maybe the Tower of Heaven would be a good start to finding out exactly what he could do to make sure that the incompetency shown at the Tower of Heaven Incident wouldn't be repeated.

Barakiel frowned as he heard the knock in his door. Just as he turned to look at it it opened, revealing a man he would have preferred to never see again. The one time he had shoved machinery and lacrima in his chest was on time to many. This man was not deserving of any trust.

"If you were going to barge in anyway why would you knock?"

"I do try hard to polite Barakiel, contrary to popular opinion. I thought I'd give you fair warning that greatness was coming your way."

Barakiel grit his teeth, staring the man in the eyes, refusing to walk any closer. Giving this man any form of superiority was dangerous, which is why his position as the Head Scientist of the R&D Department was dangerous. Power was a pleasure to the man, and he admitted it quite often. However, even this slight victory meant nothing as the man walked forward, getting far to close into Barakiel's personal space and staring down at 'The Superhuman Who Transcends Superhumans'. Barakiel grunted. The man was clearly getting bolder if he thought he could just invade his personal space. He was still a spindly non-mage.

The skinny man reached out, patting Barakiel's shoulder.

"I've heard you've been having difficult times Barakiel. The appearance of a Lich to much for you to take?"

Barakiel glared at the man, rage displayed in his eyes. "You've been monitoring information outside of your jurisdiction again."

"Mah mah, how irrelevant," the man stated, swatting the long white bangs that covered his eyes, revealing pitch black orbs. "The important thing to note is that there's a Lich on the lose. Scary stuff. Stuff that requires...a delicate touch."

Barakiel grunted, taking a step away from the man to get some form of comfort once more. "What do you want from me?"

"It's really quite simple really," the man stated, grinning. "I have two pet projects that I've been working on. One of them is already in my grasp, thanks to your superiors. The other...is a bit more complicated to acquire."

Barakiel frowned. What could this man have gotten his hands on? The only significant change had been...

"You have the Tower of Heaven in your possession!"

The man grinned, not reacting as Barakiel grabbed him by the throat, smashing him against the wall as lightning flicked off of his body. "What are you doing! Why would you need Black Magic like that? Tell me what you're creating!"

"Why that's quite the rude way to speak to the person who made you."

Barakiel snarled, locking eyes with the man, only to release him shortly after, a dark frown on his face. "What are your plans? I will not ask again."

"Well your superiors have me working on quite a boring project if I do say so myself. Truly, why would they need autonomous super soldiers? That's so dreadfully boring."

"What," Barakiel whispered, locking eyes with the man. Supersoldiers? They couldn't have been using the lacrima for that could they? That massive lacrima contained the power of the Etherion. To use it for supersoldiers meant that the Council was preparing for a war, a war with which they would have a formidable amount of power. Even a small part of the lacrima could create extremely powerful weapons that were capable of fighting and defeating most mages. This type of power play wouldn't be tolerated, not even by the King. Even he would be threatened by such a powerful force.

"Yes I see that look on your face. Calm down, I have no interest in making this project. With you already plotting to take down the Council I won't have to create it."

Barakiel's eyes widened in horror only for the man to grin. "Do not worry. I have no intention of stopping you. Frankly this Council has proven to be incompetent. I just hope whatever replacement you have will be capable of handling situations effectively. Anyways, back to the point I was making about the Council's idiotic ideas. It's dreadfully boring. No personality, no flair, no clash. It's quite unlike the D2 Project if I'm to be honest. My successful batches all ended up to be quite rebellious. Indeed, you, Serena, Laxus, and Erik are all quite the funny little things."

Barakiel growled, causing the man to smirk. "Oh right, I'm not supposed to say his name in the open right? Spies and all that. Whatever. I have my eyes set on much bigger goals with the Etherion lacrima. But that is irrelevant. I'm already working on it, and frankly you couldn't stop me even if you wanted to. And you don't want to."

Barakiel snarled. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean Barakiel. You're a very smart idiot. You're preparing for a war with a Lich. You need all the military might you can get. Don't worry about insurrections, we both know that doesn't interest me anyway. I wouldn't give the Magic Council the keys to my inventions anyway."

"You did with Etherion."

"I didn't have full control over that project and you know it. I wasn't the Head Scientist at that time."

Barakiel grunted. The Magic Council wouldn't be the biggest threat even if they did have autonomous super soldiers. This man would be, if only because he would create more powerful ones loyal to only him.

"Back to the point I was making. My MH Project has already started, you can't stop it. No, I need your help to start Project H.E.L.L."

"H.E.L.L.," Barakiel questioned.

The man grinned. "Hope Eternally Lost Life. It's quite the idea, something even I'm not sure I can pull off. But creating artificial demons to fight off a Lich using the blood of the creatures Jiemma and you fought sounds like a fun challenge."

Barakiel's blood ran cold. "What?"

The man blinked. "Was I not clear?"

Barakiel's magic flared, his eyes radiating with oppressive magic power, but despite all of the aura the man did not even flinch, merely staring Barakiel in the face as though he was unaffected. "I will not allow you to create such a blasphemy. You will put the entirety of Fiore at risk for your own pride!"

"Yes."

Barakiel's eyes exploded with rage, lightning flashing across the room as the scent of ozone filled the air. The man stared impassively. "Look I'm not saying I'll create creatures that will wreck havoc on citizens. I'm creating demons that will fight other demons. Abominations to fight abominations. I'm sure my lab rats will be beneficial to you. You'll need all the help you can get."

"I will not allow this."

"You don't have a choice."

Barakiel took a step forwards, only to pause as the man spoke again. "Try and fight me if you will, but even you realize I can't be stopped, and you can't kill me. All I need is some blood from those who attacked The Compound, or those like them. With that and a Lacrima, well, that would be an interesting combination no? A race of artificial demons...with the power of Gods. All controlled by me. How fun."

Barakiel snarled, rage in his eyes only for the man to turn on his heel, completely dismissing Barakiel as he walked towards the door. "You don't have any other option here Barakiel. You need military might to face what's to come, and I'm offering my assistance. You can do this with me, or without me. But I will get what I want either way. I can get tissue from those creatures, preferably blood, easily. I'm everywhere. H.E.L.L. will be completed, and you can lead them, or you can watch as they solve your problems. Make you choice."

The man left, closing the door gently. Barakiel could only stare at the closed door, the terrifying possibilities of what artificially created demons under that man would be like. Demons created by a demon.

Demons created by 'The Smartest Man In The World', Astaroth Beelzebub.


Erza and Levy frowned as they stared up at the port of Hargeon, looking around for the ship that was supposedly going to take them to the place where they would be competing. It didn't take them long to find it. It was the largest ship on the docks, and by quickly showing their flier they were allowed on. As the two arrived on the deck they could only stare as they saw the sheer number of competition among the deck. It was practically full, likely filled with mages of incredible caliber.

The two were shocked as they walked through the deck, noticing the mages all seemed to be looking down at a specific area on the deck. The two shoved their way through the observing crowd, their eyes widening as they saw the massive battlefield in the center of the deck, slightly indented into the ship, where two mages were currently battling with weapons.

"What's going on," Levy stated, confused.

"A battle," a man stated, getting her attention. "Did you not know?"

Levy blinked. The man sighed, pointing to the battling mages down on the field. "This is a competition. Kama left a note for the first person who arrived here. Only the person who has defeated everyone on the ship will have the right to train with him. People are competing down there. If someone loses they leave the ship."

Erza's eyes widened as she looked around the deck, noticing the large amount of people on the deck. "How long has this been going on?"

"About an hour or so," the man stated. "Not much progress has been made. A lot of people are here, and many more keep showing up. It's draining. Personally I think the person who should have rightfully one the competition, they lost previously, was cheated. It's draining to stay down there and keep fighting everyone with hardly any break. Not many people can actually do it. Although you, 'Titania' might have a chance."

Erza frowned, staring down at the arena, watching as the man in the arena was defeated by the woman, sighing before he quickly left the arena. The woman raised her head to the crowd, another weapons user already descending to challenge her. Erza sighed.

"This is going to be a long day," the redhead stated, causing Levy to nod. "We really should just start a massive brawl. It would save time."

"That's not a bad idea," the man stated, grinning, as he drew the club from his back. Erza grunted, watching as others drew their weapons as well, the deck itself erupting into violence. The two Fairy Tail mages quickly had to defend themselves, engaging in the melee. Erza took to it like a fish in water, carving through her opponents with ease, while Levy fought much more pragmatically, attacking enemies when she had the advantage after letting them tire themselves out.


It wasn't long before the two weapons users got rid of the rest of the competition, the two being the only remaining people on the ship. Even with people continuing to trickle in the two had done well. Erza had immediately rushed into the heat of the battle, taking down any opponent that dared challenge her. The redhead had smiled the entire time, feeling the relief of finally being able to cut loss without any form of pressure on her. It wasn't something she was used to recently, with all of her fights having some significant weight on them.

Levy on the other hand felt relieved that the brawl was finally over. She was exhausted. Fighting that many mages, especially so many that were far above her in terms of sheer skill wasn't something she enjoyed doing. She had been close to losing a multitude of times, only to slip away from her opponent at the last second in the melee, giving her time to recuperate. Her strategy had worked well however, considering she was the only other person left on the ship besides Erza. She had clearly used her pragmatism better than anyone else out of the group had.

The two stared at each other, resolve on both of their faces. Erza did not want to fight Levy. She knew what would happen, as did the blue haired mage. Erza woudl win. Levy had clearly progressed, but she wasn't near Erza's level in the art of weaponry. Naruto could only do so much, especially considering he himself wasn't at Erza's level at skill in weaponry. The only person in the guild who was wasn't participating in the melee. And even then the Uchiha couldn't beat Erza in sheer skill with a multitude of weapons.

However, before the two could engage a soft sound broke the silence, the two staring up to the helm to see a man standing there, clapping. Levy frowned. She hadn't seen him before. Had he been there the entire time? The man clearly wasn't trying to hide, he wore too strange of an outfit for that. A metal mask that covered the lower half of his face, with dark cloth and metal covering the rest of his body. Two massive scythes rested on the man's back.

The man grunted, a smirk on his face. "The great Titania herself has walked onto my ship. I'm honored."

"Master Kama," Erza stated, bowing.

Levy's eyes widened as Erza exclaimed who the man was, dropping into a quick bow herself. She had never seen the man before, and had just assumed he was another challenger that had arrived, luckily when both mages were tired, to seize victory from the both of them.

"Never thought I'd see someone so powerful coming to me for training help. What could I even do for someone of your level?"

"Master Kama, I am not as strong as you believe myself to be," Erza stated. "As I'm sure you're aware I lost to Yui Nii, and I have been unable to truly close that gap between the two of us. I am here hoping you can help me grow even more powerful."

Kama blinked, before a small chuckle escaped his mouth. "I am willing to train you of course. You're strong, and I can see you getting much stronger. However, we do have another person on this platform. A weapons user who fights with no honor."

Levy winced at the criticism, watching as Kama's eyes scrutinized her, his eyes revealing nothing. "You took advantage of your opponents weaknesses, waiting until they had tired themselves out to strike. You ran from straight-on encounters, preferring a more shinobi-like hit-and-run style attack pattern. It was cowardly."

Levy frowned at that. She was being trained by a former shinobi, so it wasn't a surprise to see that she fought somewhat similarly to one. Then again, from the stories Naruto told her on what he was like as a shinobi, he didn't act like one either. In fact, Sasuke acted far more like a shinobi than he did, and he was pretty bad at the whole stealth aspect of it as well. Maybe she was just weird?

"However, those who shun a cowardly way of fighting are fools," Kama finished. "You fought smart, and acknowledged your flaws, instead focusing on your strengths as your opponents made themselves weaker. What you did was smart. I respect it."

Levy's frown broke, revealing a smile, causing Kama to grunt. "Still, in our training I do expect you to get better at fighting up front and personal. That's what your primary weakness is and that's what we'll be working on. In your last real fight how did you do up close and personal?"

Levy winced, remembering her fight with Ikaruga. Even with Erza's help she had nearly died. In fact, she hadn't much helped with the fight at all. The entire fight was Erza trying to make up for her inability. If Erza had truly went to fight Jellal, she would have died. Levy shuddered at the thought, which by visual queue alone was enough to give Kama his answer.

"As I expected."

"I assume that I won't be training under you then Master Kama."

Kama turned towards Erza, who was leaving a bowing position to head towards the railing. "Where are you going Titania?"

"I'm leaving," Erza pondered, confused. "From how you spoke it sounded like you chose Levy to be your disciple."

"I never stated that. I am merely pointing out her flaws. Besides, what made you think that I would not take both of you on as my students?"

Erza blinked. "I did not know that was an option."

"Only the person who defeats everyone on the ship may train with me. Yes that was initially the rule. But you two have impressed me. Erza, a master of front lines combat. You need to work on your stealth, but I think the better thing for you to do would be to become a viable cannon. Powerful, and impossible to stop in combat. As for your Levy, a master of stealth. It is definitely possible. In fact, I've changed my mind. I think that's what I'll have you work on more than even front lines combat. You two will be the perfect balance. The hammer, and the scalpel. It will be a fun training session."

Erza and Levy blinked, both slightly confused by the offer, but they knew what they would say nonetheless.

"Thank you Master Kama."

Kama grunted, before waving. Before the two Fairy Tail mages knew it the boat had started to move, sailing off into the ocean.

"By the time we return, you two will be masters of your respective fields," Kama stated, drawing his scythes. "Prepare yourself. Training starts immediately."

Erza and Levy's eyes widened as Kama's weapons grinded against one another. The man stared at their stunned reactions. "Come now. Get your weapons ready. Fight me with everything you have."

"But we're exhausted Kama-sama," Levy stated.

Kama shrugged. "Many enemies will not give you the luxury of fighting while your are fully rested."

Kama then disappeared in a burst of speed. Levy's eyes widened as she hastily leapt away from Kama, only for him to appear behind her, his scythe swinging. Levy's eyes widened, leaping away again, only for Kama to be there as well, this time his scythe moving to fast for her to dodge. The blue haired Fairy Tail mage raised her knuckle dusters, the point of Kama's scythe barely being stopped by Levy's blades. Kama grinned. "Not bad," he muttered, before his other scythe swung, stopping at the edge of her neck.

"But you focused far too much on just one attack. You can never do that."

Erza appeared behind Kama as his sentence finished, the Mugetsu-Ryu in her hand, swinging down. Erza grinned, swinging the blade down only for Kama's left scythe to swing round stopping the sword cold. Erza's eyes widened, shock written across her face.

'Impossible. The Mugetsu-Ryu shouldn't be able to be stopped by anything other than extreme offensive power to match the enchantment on it. That swing looked lackadaisical. There wasn't even magic in it!'

Kama eyed Erza out of the corner of his eye. "I think you need to be taught a lesson early," Kama stated, spinning before swinging his right scythe towards Erza's midsection. It was only due to the redheads quick thinking that she managed to conjure up one of the shields of her Adamantine Armor, although the force of the swing sent the redhead flying.

Erza grunted, slamming hard against the ground only for her eyes to widen as Kama appeared in front of her, his right scythe raised. Kama swung done, the force of the blow sending Erza's shield straight into the boards of the ship. Kama narrowed his eyes, launching a kick that smashed into Erza's stomach, sending her flying.

"You cannot defeat an opponent that is physically superior to you just by throwing yourselves at them over and over," Kama stated. Erza flipped midair, landing in a crouch before her armor changed to her Heaven's Wheel Armor, the girl taking off, a storm of blades being sent flying at Kama.

"I already know that," Erza roared. "But creativity will let me!"

Kama snorted, swinging his scythes in an almost wild manner as he sent the blades flying. Erza appeared before him, the Mugetsu-Ryu roaring with crimson energy before she released an upwards slash that Kama easily stopped with his left scythe. "Creativity is meaningless if it replicates the same attack strategy," Kama stated. His right scythe came down, forcing Erza to block, the man grunting. Purple energy suddenly shot from his body, forcing Erza downwards, through the floor boards of the deck.

"Fighting requires more than just outright physical strength. Strength, speed, creativity, obviously they're important. You have them in abundance. But what do you do when confronted with an opponent who has you outstripped in all of those? Is that not what Yui Nii had on you? You lost that fight. How do you fight against someone who beats you in so many categories?"

A roar came from underneath the deck, Erza blasting upwards in a crimson aura in an upward slash that Kama easily avoided. The man sighed, swinging his left scythe, the contact with her body shattering the crimson glow around the girl. Kama grunted, slashing into her side, before he spun and launched a kick that sent her flying into a nearby wall.

"You need a different strategy, something other than bull rushing your opponent. That might work for some, but it can't be the only thing someone like you relies on. You're not the strongest, or the fastest. You should have paid attention that my left scythe cancels out magic, and yet you continued to charge at me blindly with magic instead of detaining my left scythe before trying power attacks. You should have done at least that much to change strategies. Why are your armors so stagnant? They only increase your physical attributes. You have yet to broaden your horizons. Your have armors that increase your strength and speed and yet you do not have armors that greatly increase your versatility."

"My Heaven's Wheel Armor," Erza grunted, as she tried to stand. "It helps with my Telekinesis."

Kama rolled his eyes. "You use it to essentially create more arms. Not a bad beginners step of course, but pathetic for someone as skilled as yourself. Why not create different types of weapons that have different abilities. A sword to detain my scythes, a shield to block, a lightning spear for increased penetration. You only use regular swords with that armor, despite it being possibly the greatest option of versatility that you have. You squander its potential. You need to add new armors, and mix up your fighting style."

Erza's words fell at her lips, causing Kama to sigh, before he turned to Levy. "You have a lesson that needs to be taught as well," he stated, walking towards the blue haired girl who raised her fists in preparation. Kama shook his head.

"You have a problem that stems from a similar areas as the redheads, although you require a different solution." Kama appeared behind Levy in a flash. "While you do need to work on your strength and speed, what you don't lack is creativity," Kama stated as he slashed through the illusion Levy had created using an assortment of words with his left scythe.

The man smirked, raising his right scythe to block Levy's uppercut, before his leg swung out, sending her flying as he punted her. "But you believe too much in the other two. So much so that you're hesitant. That blow of yours could have been faster. I saw faster in the brawl. "You believe that your creativity isn't enough, but it is. You don't need strength or speed to win a fight. Fight's have rhythm, and if you have mastered rhythm you have mastered fights."

Kama shot forwards, his left scythe swinging downwards. Levy leapt away, although Kama's eyes never left her form. The girl's eyes widened before she created a rock beneath her feet, using it to jump even higher into the air as Kama's right scythe cut through the air where she had just been. The girl let loose a breath of relief, only for her eyes to widen as she saw the left scythe spinning directly towards her. In a rush she created another platform to force herself downwards, aware of the scythe's qualities. Her attempts to dodge were in vain however as Kama slammed his foot into her chest the second she landed on the ground.

"By controlling the rhythm of the fight I knew exactly where you would go and what you would do, because I learned how you fought. I learned how you think. You have a tendency to leap away from direct attacks when you have the opportunity. It allowed me to put my other scythe in the right position to counter. But you still had time, so I realized that the obvious choice you would take would be to leap away. Rinse and repeat, until I had you cornered. Lure you into a sense of security. That's your issue, which is ironic considering that's what you need to learn how to do."

Levy's eyes widened, Kama's point sinking in without her having to be too physically hurt. "There are steps in a fight, and if you have the skill you can make it into a choreographed scene if you're skilled enough."

Kama raised his scythes, gesturing for the girl to attack him. "For instance..."

Levy, always eager to learn launched herself forwards, swinging a haymaker at Kama's face. Kama merely grunted, stepping back to avoid the blow before he spun inwards, laughing a kick that sent Levy staggering back. The girl flinched, giving Kama enough time to get in her guard. Kama launched a light kick into her side, one that barely caused the girl to move. The shock of the light kick ignited a confidence in Levy that she quickly used to launch another haymaker, causing Kama to smirk. Kama dropped his left scythe, catching the haymaker in his hand. The scythe landed on his knee and with a shift of his hips and a spin the scythe was launched directly at Levy's open midriff.

If Kama hadn't stopped the weapon before it made contact the girl would have died.

Levy froze, the scythe draped around her body as Kama let go of her wrist.

"You use power shots too much, with nothing to truly lead into them. Power shots are fine, but they leave you open. Your opponent must be entirely focused on blocking or dodging before you use them. If not you leave yourself open. I knew this, and reacted accordingly. I could have easily killed you right there. You left your vitals far too exposed. Your hesitation is deadly. Not only does it make you slow, but it leaves you open to attacks. And when I attack you, lightly, as shown you get overconfident, believing the opponent to not be as fearsome as you imagined."

"It was a trap," Levy muttered.

Kama nodded. "And you fell for it. A light blow makes your opponent more confident. It makes them believe that you are weaker than you actually are. If you don't feel much pain you aren't worried about it, it's just human nature. And when you counter in a fight believing your opponent to be weak, especially with your tendency of power shots, you leave your vitals exposed. That is how rhythm in fights work. Learn it, and you're training will progress swimmingly."

Kama sighed, drawing his scythe back from the girl, looking at the two female mages. He sighed, sheathing his weapons, before he stared at them.

"Until you two have learned these lessons, I doubt you'll even be capable of making me draw my scythes. You're welcome to prove me wrong. You can take my advice or leave it, you can become stronger with or without it after all, but the skill jump required to make me draw my scythes without taking my advice..."

Kama let the sentence fade as the two launched themselves forwards, determination in their eyes, the two echoing the same sentence.

"You talk to much master."


Laxus grunted as Evergreen appeared before him, a frown on the blonde mages face.

"It took you long enough to arrive. Where have you been?"

"I was training Laxus-sama. We're about to go to war, and I want to be prepared. Fighting Erza is something that I've been looking forward to for a long time now."

Laxus grunted. "You won't be fighting her if she participates in the modelling anyways. They're our hostages remember?"

"Yes, yes I know," Evergreen stated. "It's just that Erza has long thought herself stronger than me because of that blasted title. I'm hoping she doesn't participate in the modelling so I can defeat her in combat."

"So you're training. I thought you considered yourself stronger than her anyways?"

"I am stronger than her," Evergreen stated, anger seeping into her voice. "I can easily defeat her. But I want to make it crushing. She will regret everything she's ever said to me by the time I'm done with her."

"You two have spoken?"

"Once before yes. She claimed herself to be the strongest Fairy Tail mage. The strongest girl anyway. I won't let her get away with it."

"She was a hothead then yes, making bold statements," Laxus stated. "You know Ever, you never told me, why do you want to be known as the strongest so badly?"

"Why," Evergreen repeated, as though confused. "It should be obvious Laxus-sama. People who are strong are admired, and the strongest of them all is admired the most. And with the most admirers, comes the most friends."

Laxus blinked, merely nodding. Evergreen walked off without another word, leaving Laxus to his thoughts. The man could only focus on what she stated, frowning. She was being extremely naive if she truly believed strength was the only thing that made someone admired, and more naive if she thought the friends that came through strength were true friends. Then again who was he to talk about friends? He didn't have many. The Thunder God Tribe were his only friends. Laxus grunted, lightning flickering off of his body in his boredom, his mind still focused on Evergreen.

The girl was still just as lonely as when she was a child, even with the glasses he had got her when they were children to stop the effect of her eyes. Laxus sighed. That loneliness was what drove her to be strong. In a way it was manipulative of him to use her insecurities as a way to make Fairy Tail stronger. But the voice in his head that told him that was quickly snuffed out by a much stronger voice, one that stated strength was the only thing that truly mattered.

Because when you were strong you got to make the rules.

And if he was stronger he could bring his father back.


Cobra grunted as he turned off another lacrima. The man sighed, thinking of what he had just been told. Was it even possible to accomplish that? He supposed. Cobra sighed, shaking his head. There had to be a way for him to set this up. He just needed to make sure to get their attention. Cobra's frown deepened before a thought crept into his mind.

The Poison Dragonslayer grinned.

Even Hoteye and Racer would see what he was planning. They couldn't avoid it. They'd come running, because they knew that Brain would never allow it to fall into traitors hands. They were too loyal to brain to let it happen. Cobra grinned.

He knew the perfect place to do attack too.


Gray groaned as he blearily opened his eyes wincing as the bright white ceiling irritated his not-yet adjusted eyes. Grunting Gray slowly rose only for a panicked cry to come from across the room, before a hand pressed against his chest, forcing him downwards. Gray, his mind panicking at the thought of being captured by Deliora, acted on instinct. Despite his drained state ice flew from his hand onto the persons hand, causing them to wince and pull away. Gray opened his eyes, forcing them to stay open as he stared at the man in front of him.

"Who are you?"

"Dan Straight," the man stated, breaking the thin layer of ice off of his body. "Who the hell are you? And why do you attack people who rescued you?"

Gray blinked, his eyes wide before his brain caught up with the conversation. 'He must have picked me up after Deliora hit me with that attack,' Gray thought. 'Meaning Ullr sent me away.'

Gray groaned before he shook his head, wincing at the pain associated with the movement. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize exactly what was going on. Thank you for saving me."

Dan grunted, sitting down at a nearby chair to look at the Fairy Tail mage. "I could tell by the Fairy Tail insignia on your chest that you're a Fairy Tail mage. Were you on a job of some sorts that you couldn't handle?"

Gray snorted. "Nothing like that," he stated, noticing his bandaged form. Dan sat there, waiting for more information, only to realize within the span of a few seconds that Gray would not be giving him anything else. Frowning the man sighed.

"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want. The medicine the doctors gave you should accelerate your healing process. They also used Healing Magic on you, so hopefully you'll get better soon. The worst of your burns are gone. The doctors focused on them first after all. The internal damage to your body was also healed, although you'll probably be incredibly sore for a while. The less important wounds were just given typical healing, so we'll have to apologize if you're uncomfortable with that."

"That's fine, you all did more than you needed to anyways."

Dan nodded, walking towards the door only to get a call once more.

"Where exactly are we?"

"Cedar Town," Dan stated, before he exited the hospital wing. Gray frowned as the name reached his ears, nearly rolling his eyes.

"I would end up on the outskirts of Fiore," Gray muttered, irritation in his voice before he sighed. "Whatever. I need to heal before I head back to Fairy Tail anyway."


Naruto stared at the defeated form of Natsu, savage burns covering his body. The blonde sighed, rubbing his badly bruised chest, the third degree burns visible still causing him pain. The blonde grunted, channeling the remainder of his magic to heal his body using Sky God Slayer Magic, the blonde breathing easy as the wounds quickly healed. The Uzumaki could only stare at the defeated form of Natsu when he was finished healing.

"Natsu...just what the hell was that persona of yours," Naruto muttered. "I've never seen you act like that. You...you were acting like an animal."

Naruto sighed, sitting down. "Could that be what Fire Drive does?"