Blah, this story may become super long.
After this would it be okay to start another story about gamers? Would you guys like that?
Chapter 12: Battle Qi & School Starts
Natsu held his breath as he watched the Battle Saint in front of his onyx eyes. This man was tall, taller than Natsu thought he'd grow to – not only that, but the man had muscles that ripped to the bone; they popped out of him like balloons. Natsu thought that if he stabbed the man with his blade. The man would become scrawny and, most likely, fly away.
The calm wind pushed against the grass, making it sway in the gentle breeze, while the sun struck the ground like an arrow, piercing into all the cracks that the land held, and casting a shadow of the bold man on the ground. Natsu stood about three large strides from the man, and he felt like an ant compared to him.
The man had taken off his shirt, he said it was to allow him to feel the nature around him easily and quickly, and he wore formal dress pants, not bothering to change into something looser and easier to train, the man had said he didn't need anything comfier. Natsu clothes were already comfortable to train in; it was the exact reason he had chose these when Cornelia gave him three sets to choose from, the other two he still kept.
Natsu had taken off his bag and unclipped his sheath, placing them together on the ground underneath the jacket he found annoying. The man stood in front of him, his massive arms crossed across his chest, his blonde hair slicked backwards and his eyebrows furrowed into straight lines.
"I am surprised you made it to the third rank without collecting Battle Qi, many only get to the first rank," The man did not smile. Instead, he held a hard face; he bellowed out to Natsu making sure that he had the boy's attention, "We will start out with the correct stance."
The man that was teaching Natsu was the head of the Heartfilia Conglomerate, a very wealthy and well-known businessman, who owned the biggest business that was famous to the continent. This man looked harsh, but in the face of his daughter, he became an overgrown child who had just found something new and exciting.
He smacked the back of Natsu's leg, where his knee was, making his leg dip and become weak; he did this for the other leg too.
"Your legs should be strong in this position, next time I hit them they best not dip or even wobbled slightly," Natsu straightened himself out. Then bent his knees slightly, the man smiled in approval before hitting the spot again, this time he barely budged, "Better, but you are still moving."
They did this three times over before Natsu had the correct posture, his back was ramrod straight, and his legs were bent slightly; he was planted firmly in the earth. Next, he had to find a place to put his arms that felt good to him.
"Most people find it easier to have their arms by their sides; their elbows will be sticking out behind them," Jude said, prodding at Natsu's form, making sure it was correct and stable, "I, myself, do not like this posture. I like having my arms out straight to my sides; you may have a different way to these."
Natsu knew the way he would prefer – he'd prefer being turned sideways slightly. His head was facing to the right; then one arm would come just bellow his chest and come across to his right side, and his other arm would be bent slightly. His hand was barely coming in front of his face, about an arms width away from his face, and both would be loosely hanging in their places.
"Now, I want you to breath and focus on white dots that spring forth in your eyes. Seeing as you are a Mage, this should be easy for you to do." He looked at the buff man, then slowly closed his eyes and began to look for the white dots.
When he found the first few white dots, he looked at them a little, watching them as they floated around gently, moving back and forth. Then, slowly, he brought them towards him, unlike in Magic the element dots would just stay close to your body, your body absorbed these dots. When they entered through his skin, like water to cloth, he felt them enter his blood stream and how they moved around his body. He felt himself fill up to the brim with energy.
Lots and lots of energy.
He continued doing this, loving the feeling that this new power was giving him. He felt them energise his body and coarse through his veins, but it had been short lived as they merged into his muscles and made them stronger. Although it felt like a lot, it was insignificant. He'd have to collect a lot more to gain even the tiniest of muscle mass, then, after earning enough of this energy, he would break through.
Jude continued to prod at the boy, being in this stance meant that the Battle Qi would flow freely through his body and it also meant that he could attain Battle Qi. Unlike being in any other position, this one had the ability to allow Battle Qi but was not infinite. There was only a certain stage that this would take you to, and after that, you would have to search for another way to break through.
This stance would make Natsu Saint rank – if he were lucky, and after that, it was a mystery to Jude on how to progress through the levels.
Natsu found himself growing weary after awhile. It had been the thirty-minute mark when he had to stop, he had sweat cascading like a waterfall down his face, and his eyes were a bloody red. Natsu was physically drained, feeling his chest rise and fall at a gradual pace.
Jude sat on the floor, laughing slightly, and then he spoke through his laughs, "I remember Igneel very vividly, he came to me once or twice to get child clothing for you," Natsu fell backwards onto the grass, letting his chest pound. Why had it been so tiring? "Of course I gave him the finest pelts from beasts and then had my tailor make them easy for a wild boy to use. I was thankful to him – he had saved my wife from dying, and even helped us find a doctor that would help me and my wife have a child. He saved her after that, eight years after the birth of Lucy, my wife fell ill; Igneel brought a saint ranked light Mage to help heal my wife."
"Do you know where... where this Mage would be now?" Between breathless pants, Natsu asked.
"Probably the Hidden Village within the eastern mountains, why?" Natsu sat up, watching as the man pointed to the east as he inquired.
Natsu looked up towards the sun; it was noon now, he looked Jude again, and answered, "Because he will be my first lead to finding my father."
Almost a whole month later, Natsu stood at the gates of a large building. In his hand, he held a card; across his shoulder was his bag; on his waist was his sheath, which his sword hung on for people to see – he'd never felt so proud of himself, for in a month his life had changed completely.
When he learned to train his Battle Qi, he had skipped rank four and charged through like a bull to the fifth rank. Jude had taught him every day, but now he had to live in student housing. The campus itself was like a tiny city – he'd never have to leave until the holidays.
He had not only broken through as a warrior but as a Mage too. He was now even with all his elements, all of them being of the third rank, except his destruction magic, which had become a first rank magic. Dezeus told him that breaking through to the fourth level in one would move him up from the beginning classes to the intermediate classes, which were the 4th and 5th rank classes.
Dezeus had suggested that Natsu should keep his rank a secret until all his elements were of the fourth rank, and then move classes – Natsu was against it at first, but after weighing the pros and cons it seemed like a good idea.
Now, he stood in front of the massive, black iron gates. There were multiple students in front of him, giving their ID's to the man at the entrance and passing through after he checked them; he looked up at the school in awe a little.
"It is big, is it not?" Natsu looked to the side, to see Jude's daughter, she gave him a smile as she made casual conversation.
"Much bigger than anywhere I have lived," Natsu said faintly, staring back up and the school that towered into the clouds, "That is not saying much though because I have only lived in two places."
There was a silence, not awkward, but peaceful, the blonde broke the silence, "Why is your hair pink?" She inquired.
"It is not pink, it is salmon," He grumbled, ruffling his salmon locks while staring at the grey coloured floor, "And I do not know, maybe it is because of my parents."
"My name is Lucy. Pleased to meet you!" The girl beamed at him, holding out her hand for him to shake.
They moved forward in the line, Natsu handed in his ID and then shook her hand, "My name is Natsu. Happy to meet you too." He gave her a childish and boyish grin before entering the gates; he was passed a letter with times on it and a number.
"I wonder if it is mixed gender dorms?" The girl pondered, flicking her blonde hair.
Just then, a girl bound up and wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck, causing him to blush a little and groan, "Lisanna, I told you not to do that."
"Did you get stronger? You seem unyielding." She was a very bubbly girl and was always smiling and leaping with happiness.
It annoyed him a little, how could she be so happy when the world around her was in despair? Natsu was still mourning over his father, yet this girl didn't have a care in the world.
"He ranked up twice with help from my father," Lucy smiled at Lisanna, and in return, she had given a fake one – sickly fake – and Lucy turned to Natsu, looking at the number on his sheet of paper, "Our dorms are near each other, let us go."
"Lead the way." Natsu smiled, as he spoke with agitation.
He untangled himself from Lisanna, who followed them to the dorms. When they got there, they were met with two, three floored buildings, that were long, but were quite short in width.
Natsu opened the door for the two girls, then all three of them walked up two flights of stairs. Natsu's room was closer, so he was the first to leave. The two girls went up another set of stairs.
Lisanna turned her head, giving Lucy a sickly sweet smile, "I will not lose to you, I promise."
Lucy gave Lisanna the best smile she could muster, but even still it was very fake, "I only just met him, yet you seem to think I want to steal the love of your life. If he wants you, he will take you, but I have heard from Cana that he rejects you almost every day."
As the girls began to walk up another set of stairs, they heard a loud bang and crashed from, what seemed like, Natsu's room. Lucy didn't run down the stairs, But Lisanna practically flew.
When Natsu had walked into his room, he had been met with a tonne of water that drenched him from head to two, and then he had become shrouded in a great, black mist. On instinct, he set his hands a light with a great flame and then using his wind magic he used a spell that dispersed the weak cloud.
In front of him stood two mages, one who was hardly wearing any clothes and another who was more fit for being a warrior than a Mage.
The two Mages, who looked like they had been in a heated argument, looked at the pink-haired boy, whose teeth clenched hard together in his mouth. His hands were still alight with the brilliant flames; Natsu bellowed, "You are a metal face, and you are a fucking stripper!"
He pulled his fist back, and charged forward, slamming it into the half-naked boy's face. As he did this, his body was in the air, and then he turned, using the strippers face as leverage; then sent a heel kick into the tall boy's face.
As he landed on the wooden flooring, a fist connected with his face, but it was slightly wet. When he looked he had been hit with a fist made of water; the two boys were in for a shock when the boy didn't even move.
"Why, the fuck, have you got metal studs on your face? And why are you almost naked?" The two boys stopped for a minute, and then the smaller, blue-midnight-haired boy said shit and collect his clothes.
"You are strong, pinky." The taller boy's voice was gruff and quiet, "I am both a warrior and a darkness Mage of the second rank. The name is Gajeel."
"Yeah, I mean the last guy I hit with that fist hit the ground like a sack of rocks. You did not even flinch," The smaller boy said, slipping into his clothes, "I am Gray, as you can tell I am a water Mage of the third rank. I am also a Ninja of the first rank."
"I am Natsu. I am a warrior of the fifth level, and a Mage of the third rank." He said, waving awkwardly.
"Weren't you the kid that got four elements? So, you all third rank in them?" The tall boy said, he must have been at least more than half a foot taller than Natsu and the other boy.
"With air, fire and earth magic – I am the third rank. In Destruction Magic, I am the first rank." Natsu stepped out of the dorm, taking off his jacket and wringing it out on the carpet.
He looked up to see the two guys grinning; he grinned too.
Not because he had probably made some great friends, but because he found powerful Mages that he'd fight with. He heard someone clear their throat, then saw Lucy, holding a towel for him.
"You know we are getting our grouping's today, Gray and..." She looked at the tall man. Lucy was shorter than Natsu, so this man was like a skyscraper to her.
"Gajeel." He grunted, she smiled and nodded.
Happy began to mew from Natsu's bag, which caused Lucy, Gray, and Gajeel to give him a weird look. A blue head of fur popped out of the bag, blinking slightly with its big eyes.
"Every new student to the Choosing Hall!" A voice bellowed from each floor, Natsu placed his bag in his room and put the small cat-like creature on his shoulder.