Chapter 6: The Ways of Training

Three Days Later, Wendy Age 13

Laxus grunted as he dropped the heavy bag to the ground. He rolled his shoulders to stretch them out as he turned towards the young girl standing beside him. "Alright, get ready and start stretching. The training won't be easy."

Nodding her head, she silently moved away from the taller man and started to stretch her arms. Laxus watched her out of the corner of his eye as he took a seat on a fallen log. Reaching down he, unraveled the bag and grabbed onto the big jug of water inside. He swiftly brought it up to his mouth before taking a large sip of water.

The pair of mages were currently located in the forest outside of Magnolia. Laxus had scouted the area out a few days prior in preparation for Wendy's training. It was a decently sized clearing, with the trees surrounding the small patch of grass in a circle. There was space for a campfire and two tents to be set up later over by the log where he currently sat.

The two continued in silence for a few more minutes before the man finally heard the girl move towards him. Shifting his gaze from the bag below him he stared at the girl who stared at him determinedly. "Tell me what to do."

Brushing his hands together, he stood up and started walking towards the center of the clearing. As they walked, he noticed just how small the girl was. The top of her head barely reached halfway up his torso. He was certain that if he stood still, she'd be able to hide behind him and no one would know.

"Alright," he started, looking down at the girl. "First things first. Strength doesn't just come from practicing rare magic. Your body must be strong enough to support the magic power in the most efficient means possible."

The girl's gaze shifted up to the man's face momentarily before turning to stare at the ground once more. After a brief pause, she nodded her head in understanding before looking back up at him again, "What's first?"

Smirking down at the bluenette, he pointed down at the ground with his index finger. "Conditioning," he started, "Let's start by seeing just how many push-ups you can do before collapsing."

Wendy brushed a bit of the sweat that had already accumulated on her forehead as she got down onto her hands and knees. Pausing for a moment, she turned and looked back up at Laxus, but as she opened her mouth to speak she was interrupted. "No. You may not use your magic," he spoke, causing the girl to frown slightly. She opened her mouth to try and speak once more but she was interrupted again. "No more questions. Start now."

Taking a long breath, she lifted her knees and got into position. "Fix your posture. Your body should be flat, but instead you are curved up like an arc." Listening to the man above her she quickly fixed what he told her to and began the push-ups.

"No. Your nose should be an inch from the ground." She slowly starts to go back down and stops when she feels she went far enough. "Good. Now push yourself up as hard as you can." She pushes herself up slowly causing Laxus to frown. When she pauses to breathe at the top when Laxus grunts, "Again." She lets gravity bring her almost to the ground.

"Good. Now keep going." Laxus states gruffly. She continues with her pushups for another few minutes until she can't lift herself up anymore. With one final heave, she falls to the ground gasping for air.

"Good enough for now, but we will need to keep working on it. Now roll onto your back and bring your knees up." The young bluenette slowly shifts into position as her breathing starts to slow. "Cross your arms and grab your shoulders. Then sit up while maintaining your form until your elbows hit the middle of your thighs and then ease yourself back down."

Nodding her head, she attempts the first one, but her feet lift up and she falls back onto the ground. Without a word Laxus steps forward and puts the front of his feet on her toes, anchoring her feet to the ground. "Try again." Pulling herself up, she exhales as her elbows reach her thighs before slowly going back down. She continues with this rhythm for another few minutes until Laxus tells her to stop.

The taller man motions for her to stand as he begins to move to another part of the clearing. Moving quickly, she follows him until she is standing in front of a few boulders, each varying in size.

Laxus tells her "I want you to start flipping the largest boulder you can across the clearing."

Bending down she placed her hands under the smallest of the boulders. While it was still the smallest out of all the boulders that were lined up, it still went up to her knees and was just as wide as her. Taking a deep breath, she pulled up and flipped the boulder over, moving it forward. Taking a step forward she repeated the process again and continued to move forward.

She continued with this exercise for ten minutes, although it seemed like a lot longer to the girl. By the end Wendy's arms felt like noodles and she could barely wiggle her fingers. Glancing over at the other three boulders lined up, she grimaced as she thought about how much harder those would be to move.

The girl stumbled over to the water and took a few large gulps from the jug. Taking a seat on the log that the jug had been placed next to, she couldn't help but wish that she had been a water dragon slayer. Oh, how amazing it would have been to regain some of her power from the water.

Hearing some movement next to her, she looked back up to see the lightning mage standing beside her. "What do you think you're doing?" he questioned gruffly. The girl chose to keep her mouth shut as she just continued to stare up at the lightning mage. Sighing quietly the mage motioned for her to stand and started moving to the edge of the clearing.

Frowning at Laxus, the girl winced as she felt her legs scream in protest at having to move once again. Hobbling her way over to the man, she looked up at his face to see a terrifying glint in his eyes. Swallowing her nervousness, she continued onward and came to a stop beside him.

"Now that we've worked your arms, it's time to move on to your legs." He spread his legs out and leaned to one side to stretch out the muscles. "We're going on a run." he began, before switching to the other side. "And we aren't coming back until you can no longer walk."

With that he took off, clearly running at a slower pace than was normal for him, but it was still fast enough that Wendy had to sprint to catch up. And it seemed that's all she did throughout the run, was attempt to catch up to the older man. Speaking of the mage, it hadn't gone unnoticed by her that he hadn't even glanced back to look at her since they had taken off.

Overall, Wendy would say that the run was up there in her list of the worst things she has ever had to do. After almost falling multiple times and running into sticks and different obstacles, it felt amazing when Laxus finally led her back to the clearing and she was able to promptly collapse to the ground.

She laid there, heaving on the ground, her clothes sticky with sweat. Her legs felt as if they were going to fall off and it seemed like her heart was going to burst out of her chest.

Breathing heavily, she turns her head to look up at the mage standing casually next to her. He continues to stare down at her crumpled form for a moment more before finally deciding to speak up. "Go grab a drink of water. Come back once you feel you've rested enough."

Sighing heavily, she places both of her palms on the ground before pushing herself up. After falling back to the ground a few times, she finally manages to make it back onto unsteady feet. She slowly walked back to the log, feeling as if her legs would give out at any time. When she finally made it, she collapsed onto the rough surface, grateful that there was something she could sit on.

After five short minutes of resting her burning limbs and trying to catch her breath, she stumbled her way back over to him. Feeling unsure of her ability to walk, she kept her eyes planted on her feet below to ensure she wouldn't trip. And only when she came to a halt a few feet away from him did she finally allow herself to look up.

Laxus stood before her with his hands buried in his pockets. Never taking his eyes off the weary girl standing in front of him, he smirked. "Time for combat practice. All magic is allowed. If you land a hit on me, we'll only do half as much as we did today for tomorrow's training."

That got Wendy's attention. The prospect of not having to go through all of those trying and dreadful exercises gave her newfound energy. Nodding her head, she slowly got into a fighting stance, acutely aware of how her limbs were still screaming in protest.

Laxus removed his hands from his pockets and promptly waved the girl over. Wendy focused on the winds around them and shot towards the opposing mage. Closing in, she threw out a quick set of punches and kicks but wasn't entirely surprised when he easily blocked all her strikes. She knew that she wasn't the fastest mage out there, but when using her magic, she could move faster than many others.

Not deterred, she pressed on, lashing out with a few more strikes. Laxus seemed to opt out of blocking this time and instead proceeded to dodge each of her strikes. Withdrawing her last punch, Wendy took a step back and glanced over at the serious Laxus. When he had dodged her strikes, he had moved so fast that she hadn't even been able to track him.

Deciding that it was time to step it up a notch, Wendy took a few steps back. Raising her hands, she felt the wind start to gather around her fists. And despite the slight rejuvenation she felt from the wind flowing around her, she knew that she couldn't keep this up for long. All the exercises throughout the day had taken a toll on her body, and she could feel her power quickly fading away.

Rushing forward, she raised both arms above her head and swiped down. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" A gust of wind shot out from her arms and over to the still form of Laxus. The man didn't even flinch when the wind reached him. Instead he raised one hand and shot a small bolt of lightning at the girl's feet, causing her to jump to dodge.

Continuing with the attack, she advanced once again. This time she used the wind to push herself even faster. She knew that she would never be able to be able to land a hit with brute force, so she needed to rely on speed. Curling her hands into fists, she pressed on, throwing punch after punch, kick after kick, and to her growing dismay each one of the strikes were blocked with ease.

Jumping back, she raised her hand up to her head and wiped away the sweat with the back of her hand. Looking over at her opponent she was even more dismayed to find him standing in the exact same spot, with not even a slight wrinkle on his clothes to show she had landed an attack.

Her entire body was on fire, as if she was sitting inside of a fireplace. It was getting harder to raise her hands and press on. Taking a deep breath, she decided that it was time to finish the fight, if she didn't succeed with this final attack, then she never would. Taking a small step back with her right foot, she took a deep breath, gathering as much air into her lungs as possible. And when she felt there was enough, she attacked.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" The wind shot out of her mouth like a hurricane. Leaves flew all over the clearing, getting caught up in the wind. As the attack approached, Laxus raised his hand and faced his palm towards the attack. As soon as the two collided, the wind split and flew past him, colliding in the trees behind him.

Wendy's lips curved down into a frown as she watched her last chance be brushed aside like it was nothing. Glancing down at her shaking legs, she was only able to stick her arms out in time to catch herself from falling face first onto the ground. As she sat there on her hands and knees, the older man walked over and stopped in front of her.

"If you had not been so worn out at the start, you might've had a better chance." he began, looking down at the exhausted girl before him. "This is one reason why I offered to train you. There will be situations where you will be exhausted before you may need to even fight. And if you can't fight at your full power, then you may not be able to win."

Sighing deeply to himself, he grabbed the small girl under her shoulders and lifted her up before placing her back down once he was sure she wouldn't fall again. "We will be doing this every day, and when the day arrives where you can land a hit on me after a full day of exercises, we shall move on to the next stage of your training." Pausing for a moment, the man turned around and glanced out into the trees behind him.

"That's it for today. Go get some rest while I set up camp for the night." Not believing she even had enough energy to nod her head, she turned and began the long trek over to the log. It seemed that throughout the day she had become more and more reliant on it. And when she finally made it, she flung herself on top of it once more, relieved to give her body some rest.

She didn't know how long she laid there, sprawled across the log, but it didn't matter to her. If she was done for the day and didn't have to go through any more grueling exercises, she wouldn't complain. Not that she would complain to the lightning mage in the first place. The intimidation she felt from the older man hadn't subsided throughout the day and had just been reinforced throughout their training.

Sighing quietly to herself, she ran her hand down her face. Reaching down the grab the jug of water, she took a few big gulps of water before setting it down once again. As she continued to lay on the log, the pain she was feeling throughout her body slowly started to subside. Breathing softly, she closed her eyes and chose to remain there for as long as she could.

It didn't seem like long, but eventually Laxus walked back over to the girl and tapped her side with his foot. Startled, the girl shoots up, but quickly winces in pain once her body flares up in pain. "Move over to the fire. It'll be better than sleeping on this log." A frown formed at being roused in such a way, but she kept her mouth shut. Gathering the water jug and the rest of the items spread around the log, she trekked over to the fire.

Dumping all the items haphazardly around the fire, she didn't take long to spread out her bedroll and lay down. From the other side of the fire, she could see Laxus stirring something in a pot he had brought along with him. "Are you hungry?" The man questioned, not taking his eyes off the item in his hands.

Hesitating to speak for a moment, Wendy glanced once again at the pot in his hands. Now that she focused a little more, she could smell the soup being cooked inside. Hearing her stomach growl in anticipation, a light blush appeared across her face. "Yes," she muttered meekly, glancing away at the forest.

Shaking his head slightly, the man stirred the soup a bit more. "Not one for many words, as usual," he spoke, gathering the attention of the girl once more. He placed the pot on the ground before reaching to his right and grabbing the two bowls that lay on the ground. Pouring some of the soup from the pot into each bowl, he handed one to the girl laying across from him.

Muttering a quick thanks, Wendy lifted the bowl to her mouth and quickly devoured the entire soup. As she put the bowl down she noticed Laxus looking at her with a slight smirk on his face. "Seems like you were hungry," he teased, causing the blush to return to the girl's cheeks.

Sighing to himself, he threw his finished bowl across the fire to the other items sprawled across the ground. "Go ahead and get some sleep," he started, unrolling his own bedroll. "You're going to need it for tomorrow."

Wendy placed her bowl next to his before slipping into the blankets and laying down. It had only been a few mere moments, but she could already hear the man's loud snores echoing throughout the clearing. Trying her best to ignore them, she closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep.

Wendy shuffled closer to the fire that was crackling in front of her. As she stretched her hands out above the flames she winced as her muscles burned in protest. It had only been her first day of training and her body still seemed to be in more pain than it had ever been in before. She couldn't even remember training with Grandeeney being this rough, and she was a dragon!

Her gaze shifted slightly to the man sleeping on the opposite side of the fire. His snores still rang throughout the clearing, and she silently wondered how they hadn't attracted any sort of attention yet. A frown formed on her face as she looked back down at her hands. She didn't know how long she had been asleep for, but she knew it hadn't been long.

It had been this way for over a year now. Every night she would only be able to get a few hours of sleep before she would be awoken due to the nightmares. Normally each night was the same, her listening to Natsu's last words again, or reliving the experience of Acnologia destroying Tenrou.

She had tried many different things to get a full night of sleep, from exercising to the point of passing out or seeking out Porlyusica for a sleeping potion. But no matter what she did, each night she would wake up terrified and soaking with sweat. She had long given up attempting to get a full night of sleep, and luckily, she had adapted to the few hours she would get.

Sighing quietly, she stared into the flames flickering in front of her. The flames brought even more memories of Natsu back, and suddenly the scarf wrapped around her neck seemed to tighten, as if trying to strangle her. She still did not understand why Natsu had chosen her. Out of all the members of the guild who had spoken to him last, she was the weakest of them all.

Erza, Lucy, Gray, Gajeel, or even Laxus all would have been a better pick. Why hadn't he made one of them promise instead of her? Reaching up, she grasped one end of the scarf tightly in her hand. Would he have been proud of the training she had done? What would he have said about her taking the scarf?

Shaking her head slightly, she quickly stood up. Continuing to think about such things would do nothing but hurt her in the end. She had made the promise and she intended to fulfill it.

Taking a few small steps, she froze as she heard the slumbering mage turn in his sleep. Waiting a few moments to ensure he had not awoken, she quietly continued, walking into the darkness of the forest. She didn't necessarily know why she was walking under the canopy of the trees, but she knew that it was better than staying next to the fire.

She curled her hands together behind her back as she skipped over the branches and rocks spread throughout the forest floor. Leaves rustled in the breeze, creating an eerie undertone. Taking a deep breath, she sighed as she felt how clear the air was. Despite how much she enjoyed being in the guild and town, she wouldn't deny that the air there left much to be desired.

Thinking back on the town, she couldn't help but think about how the guild had changed over the past year. The three months directly after Tenrou had been tough for everyone. Fairy Tail had been half of what it had been. The guild brawls had all but come to a stop, no parties had been thrown, many members either drowned themselves in jobs or just hadn't shown up to the guild at all.

Many of the residents in Magnolia had taken notice too, and the town had even thrown a memorial for the fallen dragon slayer. He had been one of the most popular figures throughout the town, and while having caused some trouble in the past, it was clear that he would be missed.

And although a slow process, the guild had begun to morph back into its previous state. It had reminded most of the members of when Lisanna had died just a few years prior. They knew that they couldn't dwell on the past forever and that they had to move on at some point.

Wendy ducked under a low-hanging branch as she continued, captivated by her thoughts. She thought back to her own days during that time. The days after the funeral had been the hardest for her. He had been like an older brother to her, always making sure she never felt sad and had helped give her confidence whenever she doubted herself.

When she compared herself to how she had been during the Nirvana incident, she couldn't help but notice how much she had changed. While she had not become more shy or timid, she had become more reserved. During her time in the guild hall or when she was with her guildmates, she would rarely speak, opting instead to remain silent and listen to their conversations.

And in the end, all this change had been the result of one person. Glancing up at the sky she stared out into the endless abyss. She raised up her right hand and grabbed one end of the scarf tightly. Holding out the other, she squeezed her hand tightly into a fist. She stared down at her fist with an intense gaze.

This may only be her first day of training, and she may not be strong enough yet, but she would get there. She would get strong enough to keep her promise, strong enough to protect Fairy Tail, and strong enough to ensure she would never lose anyone else.

Edited 8/27/18

Big thanks to Dragon Lord Draco for helping with this chapter.

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