AN: So here is the next chapter, I hope you all like it. Admittedly it had been a couple of months, but unfortunately I have been distracted by other things. For one I have a load more stories, and have been quite interested in Percy Jackson stories and superhero stories over the last couple of months. Which is why I've been playing around with several of them on my Greed720 account.
But still, the chapter is here now, so I hope you all enjoy it, and leave a review.
Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Fairy Tail.
( - )
(Last Time)
"It's fine, if we work together we can beat him!"
Loke sent Gray an incredulous look at that.
Percy however just smiled. "That's the spirit, now ready yourselves. This is a test after all, and I'm not going to be holding back much!"
Gray and Loke shared one last look as they head that, before without another word they nodded their heads and leapt into action.
( - )
(Elsewhere)
Unknown to all those on the island, several miles off of the coast of Tenrou, a large, black airship determinedly flew through the air, its magic powered engines flaring as it made rapid progress towards its destination. The symbol of a thorny heart clear for all to see on the side of its hull.
( - )
Chapter 24
( - )
(With Percy)
Watching as the two wizards, Loke and Gray, charged straight at him. A slight smirk spread across Percy's face, his lips curling upwards to reveal pearly white teeth. His eyes twinkling with amusement.
They had courage, he liked that.
Still, despite respecting their resolve and courage, he wasn't about to let either of them have an easy ride. His relationship with Gray, and Loke too, might be all but non-existent, despite them having been in the same Guild for years now, but in spite of this, he did still like the lad, and respect him, or at least as a person.
As a wizard though. Well, that was different matter.
Gray to him had always been far too overconfident in his abilities, he had been cocky, and where others, like Erza and Mira, trained hard and pushed themselves beyond their limits, he played around and bickered with Natsu.
Which is not to say that Gray wasn't a strong and skilled wizard, after all he was, and in terms of skill he was more than ready to take the trials. Percy already knew that. In fact it was why he hadn't fought against Gray being chosen as a candidate by the others, or at least not that much.
The boy had skills, that much was not in question. In terms of his attitude though…?
The younger boy was a lot more mature than Natsu, putting aside the Dragon Slayer's recent growth. But at the same time he still messed about too much, and his gimmick, the whole stripping thing, it was completely inappropriate. The kid needed more experience, especially fighting against those stronger than him, and also, he needed to just grow up a bit. He was a man now, he wasn't' a kid anymore!
Call him harsh, but S-Class missions were no joke. What had happened to Mira and her siblings on one of her first outings as an S-Class, was evidence enough of that.
The last thing Percy wanted was for Gray to rush into a mission recklessly, and then allow his rashness to get both himself and others hurt, or worse, killed.
That said, one of the best way for Gray to mature, and becoming a stronger, better-rounded person was for his weaknesses to be made clear to him, and for him to gain experience, and to test himself, on the field of battle.
This was absolutely necessary, otherwise he would never grow, both as a wizard and as a person, and this was exactly what Percy was doing to do, he would push him, and test him however much he could to get the point across.
Percy grit his teeth at that thought and nodded, even as he raised his hand, the water around him reacting to his will as it exploded forwards, all the water around him rushing forth in a single, massive tidal wave of force, meeting the two charging wizards head on as it did so.
As one both wizards reacted.
With Gray pulling on his magic, as he froze some water from Percy's wave, though not all of it, likely because of the exertion of doing so. Instead he froze some of it into a slide of sorts, one which he then slid down on his feet, curving around the main body of water as it crashed onto where he had been, destroying his ice slide completely.
Not that he needed it anymore, as before it was completely destroyed the dark haired wizard had leapt off of it, and formed twin blades of ice in his hands as he flung himself towards the still stationary Percy.
Loke meanwhile had taken a different approach, with him instead leaping over the wave. His sandaled feet, both of which had become covered in a glowing golden energy, crashing into the rocky ceiling for a moment, before he pushed off. Both of his clenched fist now glowing with the same golden energy, as he shot through the air towards Perseus, his right arm drawn back as he went to punch him in the head, even as Gray went to slash him in the torso.
"Good," Percy nodded, a smile spreading across his face as he saw them evade his wave. His sea green eyes tracking both wizards as they closed in on him, both of his arms rising into the air as he drew once more on his Demigodly abilities.
The divine energy rising up inside him as he drew on it, his veins burning as the energy suffused through his body. His eyes taking on a brighter glow than normal as the divine power that he had been born with, and which suffused his whole being rose up within him. His very soul crying out with bloodlust, battlefury and excitement as he prepared to unleash his wrath on his foes.
'Storms, Sea or Earth," Percy mused to himself as he watched the two wizards closing in, time almost slowing down as the energy flowing through his system heightened his senses. It was a similar, if much more diluted, experience to what he felt when he used Backbiter's latent abilities to either speed up or slow down time, or rather his own perception and interaction with time.
Instinctively one Percy's hand went to his waist at that thought, hoping to grip onto the golden hilt of his sword, a gesture that had almost become instinctive over the centuries. Only for his hand to touch nothing but air.
Oh yeah, he had left his sword back with Wendy. A token gesture that showed his resolve to come back to her, and to discuss her parentage. An issue which, much to his shame, he had been avoiding for weeks now.
"Ragh!" Gray bellowed as he closed in on the still Percy, his dark eyes glinting in the dim light of the cavern, even as he swung his ice swords around in twin slashes, aiming as he did so to cut two great furrows straight through Percy's chest.
Not even blinking as he heard this, Percy's right hand raised, his power over water roaring to life as he forcibly seized control of Gray's ice. Percy's divine energy, and his inhuman control over water, trumping Gray's own magic and control. Which was clear for both to see, as without warning both blades dispersed into nothing, leaving Gray barehanded as he continued to shoot towards Percy, forced on by his own momentum.
Looking into Gray's widened eyes, Percy's lips curled up into a smile, even as he thrust his palm forward, unleashing a devastating blow straight into Gray's sternum. The entire action, from Gray's charge, to Percy's counterattack, taking no more than ten seconds, and ending in Gray hurtling backwards, spittle and blood flying out of his mouth as he crashed to the ground a dozen or so metres away, with a splash of water, and a gasp of pain.
Swivelling on the spot, Percy formed his own blade of ice, an exact replica of Backbiter, not even calling out a spell, or visibly building up power to do so as he instead swung it around and struck down the still airborne Loke. The flat of his blade slamming into Loke's glowing fists, shattering even as it knocked the Celestial Spirit off course for all of a moment.
But that was all Percy needed to unleash another devastating punch, only this one was to Loke's partially exposed ribs. His fist breaking at least one rib, as it sent the ginger haired Celestial Spirit spiralling through the air and away from him.
"Come on boys, please don't tell me that was it!?" Percy asked, his lips curving upwards with amusement as he formed another blade of ice in his hand, the air around him suddenly, conversely, growing hotter, even as the water in the cavern started to steam as Percy manipulated it, heating it up to near boiling point. "You need to show a lot more if you want to beat, or get past me!"
In response both men cried out in pain, both of them leaping out of the water and onto nearby rocks. Their eyes wide as the water around them began to bubble and steam, the air becoming much thicker and more humid as the sea, in the partially closed off cavern, began to boil and bubble.
( - )
(With Gray and Loke)
"Loke, you alright?" Gray gasped out, raking in deep breaths as he clutched at his bruised sternum, his dark eyes not leaving Percy's smirking, steam enshrouded form as he did so.
"Nope, but I can still fight." Loke replied, uneasily getting to his feet, even as his ribs began to rapidly heal.
He was an immortal spirit after all, and as such this physical body was made entirely of magic. Which of course meant that he could heal it at will, but only so long as he had enough magic, either from his own reserves as was the case now, or his summoners. The moment he ran out of magic to heal himself though, and his body was too damaged, that was when he went back to the spirit, unable to stay on this plain as he instead needed to recover his magic in the Celestial Spirit World.
Coughing slightly as he the breathed in the hot, steamy air, Gray slapped his fist against his open palm, the air around it turning cold and misty despite the otherwise hot, humid atmosphere. His eyes locking on the patiently waiting Ace of Fairy Tail as he did so.
They were in trouble.
He had never thought it would be easy to fight Percy, especially not during the S-Class Trials, but at the same time he didn't think that Perseus would go this far.
Was this how it had been for Mira, Laxus and Erza, the ones who caught his eye, and who he had deemed worthy enough to take under his wing and teach/ train a little.
Which is not to say he taught them any magic whilst training them. No, Perseus had always been quite adamant that a wizard should learn and develop their own magic. Instead his training had consisted of teaching them how to fight, and pushing them to develop their magic and adapt their styles to fight him.
Even so, Gray had always been jealous of the three of them, Laxus, Mira and Erza. Those three out of everyone in the Guild had been singled out by one of the most powerful wizards in Fiore, and each of them had benefitted from that training in obvious ways. After all, they had all become S-Class mages at a ridiculously young age. Laxus and Mira had both been sixteen, whilst Erza had been just fifteen.
At the time Gray had stewed with resentment, he had hated how he was overlooked, just like Natsu and so many others, by Percy. It was why he had never really warmed to Percy, or had the same friendly relationship with him, that he had had with Gildarts, Master Makarov and the other, older members, of the Guild like Wakaba and Macou.
Now though, now he was a bit glad he had never been given extra training by the God of Fairies.
Was this Perseus's full power, was this why the three he had trained had become so strong?
Gray grit his teeth at that thought.
It didn't matter, it didn't matter how strong Percy was.
This was the S-Class trials, it was supposed to be difficult!
"Loke, get ready!" Gray shouted out, releasing his built up power as he did so. A blast of icy magic exploding out of him moments later and freezing the boiling water with a hiss of steam as it quenched the oxygen deprived water, the rocks around him groaning, cracking and shattering as the water around them suddenly went from boiling to freezing cold in moments, the water expanding as it did so.
The moment this happened Loke also exploded forwards, speedily dashing across the now frozen water, using the sudden vale of mist Gray's actions produced as cover as he headed for where Percy had last been, staying as silent as possible as he did so.
With Gray darting forwards too, the water rich air making it easier for him create a whole host of icy spears out of the air, even as he prepared to propel them forwards into the surrounding mist.
"Ice Make: Ice Spears!" He whispered as he did so.
"Regulus Impact!" Loke shouted at the same time, his right fist glowing a bright gold, clearly visible through the mist as he found, and then leapt up and at the still stationary Percy.
( - )
(With Percy)
Looking up, Percy's expression was one of both disappointment and boredom as he felt what the two were up to through the mist, his attention turning mainly to the charging Loke. He had expected more than just another straight forward attack.
With that in mind he met Loke's gaze for a moment, his sea green eyes boring into the ageless Celestial Spirit's, even as he thrust his fist forwards, tectonic energy surrounding it as he released a controlled earthquake in mid-air, a wave of vibrational energy exploding forwards for his fist to intercept Loke whilst he was in mid-air.
He made sure to keep energy in the wave noticeably weaker than normal so as to not cause any internal damage to those it hit. However he ensured that it was still strong enough that a direct hit would be comparable to being hit head on by speeding a train.
Moments later though, Percy blinked in surprise as a mere second before he unleashed his attack, Loke had already broken off his own assault. With him instead releasing a blast of golden magic from his legs and leaping away, the wave of energy only clipping the Celestial Spirit now as it sent him flying away. A grunt exploding from his mouth as he landed on the field of ice and rolled away, even as the part of the cavern behind where he had been, shattered.
Narrowing his eyes at this, Percy had only a moment to think on the Spirit's unexpected action, before he swiftly turned and stared at the surrounding mist. A smirk spreading across his lips as he created a solid shield of water in front of him, and just in time too as mere moments later, six, foot long, spears of ice slammed into the dome of water.
'Clever,' Percy thought, the smile still on his face as he turned his shield to ice with a flick of his fingers, after which he shattered it into thousands of blades of ice, and sent the blades hurtling in all directions, the sword in his hand shattering and joining the fragments too as they hurtled through the air.
'Loke was both a distraction, and an integral part of the plan. He found me and diverted my attention, all the while also using his glowing fists worked as a target, or a beacon, one which Gray could use to work out my position for his volley.'
It was a clever, if risky trick. In fact if Percy had not spread his senses through the mist, he might have missed it. The spears had been projected with such speed that were he just relying on his normal sense he would have struggled to dodge, had he only known about them as they shot though the mist.
"Yah!" Loke roared again, appearing once more out of the mist moments later, his arms, torso, legs and face noticeably covered in bloody scrapes, most likely from dodging, blocking, and deflecting the shower of ice shards Percy had just sent out.
Smiling at the sight of the redhead, and at his resolve, Percy shifted to the side, dodging his first glowing punch, after which he dodged several more punches, two elbows and three kicks. Moving his feet now as he weaved in between the strikes.
"Just go down!" Loke growled, his attacks getting wilder and wilder, even as the golden glow surrounding his fists faded.
"Hmm, no" Percy replied blithely, not dodging this time as he instead raised his right arm in a block, stopping Loke's ferocious left hook with a grunt, even as he landed a sudden kick into Loke's gut. The force of the kick launching Loke off of his feet and onto the frozen ground.
Only for Percy to follow this up by flicking his hand, easily taking control of the ice as he made it explode upwards, covering Loke up to the neck, freezing his hands, arms and legs in place as he did so. After which he flicked his hand down, the ice responding to the action by sinking back down to the ground, dragging Loke with it as it entombed in within the frozen water below, all save for his head.
"Gray, he got me!" Loke shouted, his resilience shining through as he glared at Percy.
"Ice Make: Ice Hammer!" Came Gray response, a whistling sound coming from the air above Percy, even as a massive hammer made of ice formed above him and shot downwards.
"You're not learning, Gray!" Percy called out, flicking his hand upwards as he did so, the hammer of ice shattering into nothing a few moments later in response to the aciton. "You're relying too much on your ice, Gray! You need to work out how to adapt when fighting someone who can neutralise it!"
"Ice Make: Bazooka!" Gray's voice cried out again, a large ball of ice exploding through the mist as he did so.
"Feeble," Percy replied, flicking his hand again, and once again dispersing the ice before it came within range. After which he raised his hand and whipped it to one side, the mist in the air following his motion as it cleared in moments.
Only for it to reveal nothing but an empty cavern, the water below still iced over, and the rocks covered in frost and cracks.
"Now where are you?" Percy muttered, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the empty field.
Taking a step forward, his sandaled foot hit the ice below him, the ice cracking as it did so, after which, and within moments, he turned back to water, with him now absentmindedly standing on the water below him, like it was solid ground.
"Regul..!"
"No," Percy said simple, waving his hand and halting the recently freed Loke's attack before he could even finish it. The newly formed water exploding upwards, dozens of tendrils shooting out and rapidly cocooning the Celestial Spirit again as they did so, before moments later freezing back to ice. "You're out."
"Shit…" Loke grumbled.
Only to be ignored as Percy once again looked around trying to find Gray.
"Now, where are you…?" Percy muttered to himself, searching the surrounding area, his eyes whipped up to the ceiling and around the walls, even as his senses spread through the water.
Moments later though his eyes widened when he felt the water he was standing on tremble.
That however was all he had time for though, before a bullet of ice exploded from the rock bed, the ice shattering as it did so, even as a bloodied, bruised and battered Gray emerged. His face set in a look of absolute concentrating as he swung his ice covered fist around.
Narrowing his eyes at this, Percy didn't have much time to react. He only just managed to step back to avoid the bullet of ice, his hands raising to defend himself, even as he began to seize control of the ice surrounding Gray's body.
He wasn't fast enough though, not to avoid Gray's straight punch to his face. His head turning from the force of the blow, and the ice around Gray's hand noticeably shattering as he put all his strength into that one punch.
( - )
(With Gray)
"Got you!" Gray gasped out, his breathing ragged as he unclenched his fist and landed back on the ground, his feet splashing into the water right in front of Fairy Tail's Ace.
Looking up as he did so, Gray found himself so close to Perseus that he only just now realised that they both stood at nearly the same height. Which was something that honestly surprised him, as before now Gray had never noticed, after all Perseus's power and reputation had made him feel so much larger than Gray was. A towering giant of a man.
Only he wasn't, in fact he was almost the same height as the Ace, and as such was able to meet the older man's intense gaze without having to look up.
"That you did." Percy nodded, a slight smile on his face as he turned his head back to Gray, even as his hand whipped forward hitting Gray full in the chest and knocking him clear off of his feet and into the water as he did so. "Well done."
Gray could only grin tiredly at that, even as he felt the water around him freeze trapping him in a cocoon of ice.
They might not have won.
Not that either one of them truly believed they stood a chance.
But Gray was satisfied that he had at least managed to hit Percy in the face. It was an achievement that very few others had ever managed to do.
( - )
(Elsewhere on the Island, with Erza and Mest)
"Get up Mest!" Erza Knightwalker snapped, her red hair whipping about behind her as she clashed with the demonic looking Mirajane, her enchanted spear meeting Mira's razor sharp claws as the two powerful wizards fought back and forth.
The enchantments her spear gave her, allowing Erza Knightwalker to keep up with the now demonic, white haired barmaid, even as they shot through the air as little more than blurs to the naked eye. Both of them leaping from tree to tree as they clashed in mid-air.
Mira more often than not using the bat like wings that came with her Satan Form as well, just to keep up with Erza's speed and overwhelming skill with her spear.
"Erm, I'll try!" Mest replied groggily pushing himself up from the ground again, blood running down the side of his head from where Mira's spell, Evil Explosion, had sent him smashing through several trees.
Honestly, he had tried to throw this match from the beginning, after all by losing he would have had more time to himself to explore the island, and thus wouldn't be caught up in this fruitless contest.
Erza however had had other thoughts. The moment he had been knocked away by Mira's opening salvo, she had leapt into battle, her spear changing forms as she violently clashed with the white haired Demon.
Both women trading insults as they clashed, tearing through trees and rock outcroppings as they both brought their A-game. Both of them duelling as only powerful S-class wizards could.
"Now idiot!" Erza shouted, her feet slamming into the side of the tree, and her free hand whipping out and latching onto a nearby branch to steady herself, even as she raised her spear, the form shifting again as she directed it at Mira and unleashed a blast of intense magic at her.
"What, does the red haired skank need help?" Mira mocked, her tone coming out far rougher and more aggressive than usual whilst in her demon form. Dodging the blast of energy as she did so, before she shot forwards so fast that it almost seemed like she vanished. Only for her to reappear in front of Erza in a blur of motion, her clawed foot already lashing out in a ferocious kick.
"Quiet, you demonic tart! You should have stuck to the kitchens, as even your bland, tasteless food is better than your skills with magic!" Erza retorted, releasing the branch and dodging the kick, even as it felled the tree. Her attention instead on Mira as she changed the form of her spear again, her form blurring as she too disappeared.
The red head also moving far faster than the naked eye could usually see as she leapt through the trees, jumping from one to the other, before she lunged for Mira's back, her form perfect as she thrust her spear forward.
"Why you red haired bitch! I am surprised you can even move without tripping over your flabby tits!" Mira hissed back, twisting in mid-air and avoiding the spear thrust, her clawed hand wrapping around the shaft of the spear as she did so.
"Silence you whore! I think you mean natural and beautiful, as opposed to fake! I mean I had heard you were an expert in Transformation magic, but even so it's sad to see how much effort you put into looking just about passable, for a troll that is!" Erza snapped back, swinging around in mid-air as she did so, her arms straining as she twisted her body, and landed a booted foot into Mira's face.
Or rather she tried to, as Mira let go of the spear before she could, and flew backwards, an orb of dark magic appearing between her hands, before she released a blast of magic at Erza.
Twisting in mid-air yet again, Erza changed her spears form again too, even as she released a blast of explosive magic to intercept Mira's spell. The force of the two colliding, lending her the momentum she needed to fly back through the air and land on another tree branch.
"Mest, get in the fight now!" Erza demanded fiercely, her dark eyes flinty as she twirled her spear in her hand and locked gazes with the smirking Mira. Both of them smirking viciously at one another as they prepared to clash once more.
"E-erm no thanks…" Mest stuttered nervously sweat beading his face as he saw the red haired and white haired wizards facing off.
Demon form Mira, and Erza Knightwalker, both inhumanly beautiful, and intensely powerful women, it was scary how similar the two of them were, both in terms of their respective skills and power, and also their attitudes!
( - )
(Elsewhere on the island, with Natsu and Happy)
"Yo, Natsu." Gildarts stated, raising his hand in a wave as he did so. "Looks like you got unlucky this round.
In response to that statement, tears began to well up in Happy's eyes. "It's over..."
"You know I hate holding back." Gildarts continued as he saw the Fire Dragon Slayer's blank face, reminding Natsu of what was in store for him if he chose to fight.
In response, Natsu trembled as he heard that, but only for a moment, before he narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth. His lips curling upwards as he began to smirk in anticipation. "Now I'm really fired up! Let's go, Gildarts!"
"Now hold on a minute, Natsu." Gildarts requested, throwing out a palm to stop Natsu's fist as the Fire Dragon Slayer lunged forward, going straight on the offensive as if hoping to use the element of surprise to his advantage. "Calm down, Natsu. I'm not quite mentally prepared for this yet..."
"You can't just jump in recklessly like that!" Happy panicked from overhead. "Gildarts is known for obliterating his opponents!"
Natsu though ignored this, his fist instead smashing into Gildarts' palm and exploding in fire. With Natsu's eyes widening when the smoke caused by the impact cleared, revealing as it did so, an unharmed Gildarts who noticeably hadn't even flinched.
A split second later, a torrent of magic power exploded from Gildarts, carving a trench in the ground in front of him.
"Crash Magic!" Happy screamed out in warning.
"I thought I told you..." Gildarts sighed, his voice holding a note of disappointment in it. "I'm not good at holding back. Like seriously Natsu, you need to think more before you act! I thought you were supposed be growing up, or at least that was what I've was told!"
"Natsu's been blown to pieces!" Happy panicked, ignoring Gildart's words as he instead took in the devastation from the powerful S-Class wizards attack.
"No, I haven't!" Natsu roared, coming at Gildarts from above and swinging a flaming foot at him.
Gildarts sighed again at this, raising his arm to meet the strike, even as he countered the force of the blow by focusing magic to his feet, causing the rocky ground beneath him to fragment and break itself apart.
"He crushed the ground and used it to cushion the blow!" Happy muttered, watching Gildarts as he dodged and blocked Natsu's follow-up barrage of attacks, before he countered with his own strikes, each of which connected most of the time.
"Come on Natsu, you're better than this! You lost the element of surprise by shouting back there. If you want to be an S-Class you need to learn how to take every advantage in a fight, because if you do become one, you'll be fighting the strongest of the strong!" Gildarts lectured, his tone still disappointed, as he fended off Natsu's rapid, energy consuming assault with ease.
Overhead Happy noticeably continued to circle, not helping in the slightest.
"If your first strategy is not working Natsu, you need to learn to adapt!" Gildarts continued, grabbing Natsu's flaming foot as the fire Dragon Slayer attempted to kick him, after which he spun around and threw the younger wizard into the cavern's wall.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu bellowed, bouncing back immediately as he landed on the wall with his feet and pushed off, a stream of fire erupting from his jaws as he did so.
Gildarts let loose another resigned sigh at the oncoming breath attack, pointing his palm at it as he did so.
In response, a white net of pure light expanded forth from his palm, cutting the fire attack into block like pieces. Completely neutralising the powerful jet of flames in moments, before it continued moving through the air. With Natsu paling as the net reached him and passed straight through him.
"Crap!" Gildarts swore, pulling his hand back as he saw what happened. Only for it to unfortunately be too late. "I didn't want it to be over that fast..."
"Natsu!" Happy wailed out from overhead as Natsu disappeared. "You... that's... "
"No..." Gildarts shook his head, knowing what the flying cat was thinking as he did so. "He probably isn't dead. It wasn't that kind of magic." With that in mind he searched the cavern floor for a moment, before glancing up. "Look there."
In response to Gildarts' words, Happy looked up, his eyes bulging as he saw the small army of Natsu's falling and tumbling through the air from up above. Each of them barely a couple of inches tall.
"That right now was Disassembly Magic." Gildarts explained, his tone tinged with amusement at the horde of minute Natsu's raining down around him.
"There's a bunch of Natsu's!" Happy panicked, stating the obvious now as he weaved between the hundreds of tiny, falling Dragon Slayers.
"He'll be back to normal in a little while." Gildarts replied with a chuckle, giving a sigh of relief that, however weird this situation was, it was at least better than what could have happened, i.e. Natsu being dissembled and killed by accident. "But unfortunately, it looks like this is the end of the line for you, Natsu. You have failed-"
"Hold on a minute!" A small squeaky voice suddenly called out.
Gildarts paused at the sound of the voice, and looked down at the army of Natsu's, a bemused expression on his face.
"I haven't given up yet!" Another one of the Natsu's cheered.
"That's right! That's right!" Dozens of other miniscule Natsu's chanted.
"Don't underestimate me just because I've gotten smaller!" Natsu yet another small Dragon Slayer declared.
"I'm all fired up!" A dozen more chorused 'fiercely'.
"This is the definition of something backfiring!" Still more Natsu's laughed, jeering at the bemused Gildarts's as they did so.
"If there is so many of me, then I can definitely beat Gildarts!" Another Natsu observed happily. "Boy, did you screw up! This battle is mine!"
Gildarts, in response, couldn't help but smirk in surprised amusement. This was the first time anything like this had happened.
"Let's go, Gildarts!" The mass of Natsu's all shouted, even as they charged at him on mass.
"Seriously?" Gildarts sighed, swishing his cloak around and knocking a group of Natsu's away. Another group of them jumped at him immediately after, landing on him and beginning to pull at his hair, skin and clothes as they did so.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Fire Dragon's Claw!"
"You guys are annoying me!" Gildarts growled, this was really getting ridiculous. With that in mind, he made a single hand sign and pushed all the Natsu's back, reforming the original in mid-air. "Go back to normal!"
"A chance!" Natsu grinned, seemingly unperturbed by the whole experience. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art..."
Gildarts rolled his eyes again, at Natsu's straight forward and predictable approach. The Dragon Slayer wasn't stopping to think or strategise, instead he was attaching on the fly. Which admittedly could work sometimes, however more often than not it just lead to the attacker wasting his energy and magic on futile attacks, and eventually getting themselves killed.
This was not S-Class behaviour.
"Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu finished, oblivious to Gildarts's thoughts as he instead unleashed a massive blast of fire magic straight at Gildarts, blowing the cavern apart as he did so.
"No way!" Happy paled, the Exceeds eyes wide as the smoke cleared and revealed Gildarts standing unharmed, though his cloak was significantly more tattered. "That was Natsu's full power! It didn't work at all?"
"Look closer, Happy!" Natsu pointed at two trenches leading to Gildarts' feet. "Gildarts moved from his original position. This is a big first step!"
"He moved?" Happy frowned, only to then realise that before Natsu's last attack, Gildarts hadn't moved an inch, or at least not until now. Which honestly made the S-Class wizard all the more terrifying, as he hadn't needed to take a step to slap Natsu around.
Grinning at the surprised expression on Gildarts' face, Natsu stumbled slightly as he tried to stay standing. The fatigue from the last attack, and the many before that, beginning to take their toll upon him.
"That was certainly something, Natsu." Gildarts nodded, his lip quirking upwards in a slight smile as he witnessed Natsu's progress in using his magic first-hand, before his lips tightened into a firm line a few moments later. "However I think this is it, as far as this fight goes."
"Screw that!" Natsu shouted angrily. "I'm not stopping until I beat you!"
Gildarts closed his eyes and sighed as he heard that, Percy had been right.
"I figured you'd say that." He then continued, his eyes suddenly shot opening again, focused and without a trace of amusement or reluctance in them. "That's why I will not go easy on you from now on!"
Natsu broke into a cold sweat as he heard that, even as Gildarts' form became enshrouded in glowing, white magic as he drew on his power. All of which became focused and released, erupting forth into a wide column around the man.
"There is something left for you to learn." Gildarts admonished Natsu. "In order to reach the top of the magic world." Rocks around Gildarts began to crumble and rise, with the smaller fragments disintegrating from exposure to the sheer intensity of his magic power's intensity. "Know it."
Natsu's eyes widened as he saw this, and felt Gildarts' magic power begin to weigh down on him, even as the entire cavern soon became filled with white light, bursting out of the cave through several holes that it carved in the walls.
Natsu grit his teeth at this and pushed forward, taking shaky steps as he prepared a fiery fist.
Gildarts' eyes however widened imperceptibly and the magic power around him doubled in intensity, causing Natsu to freeze in his tracks.
Before, moments later the Dragon Slayer trembled and lowered his fist. Sweat trickling down his brow as his jaw slackened in fear and he slumped to his knees.
The moment this happened, Gildarts stopped releasing magic power and drew it all back into his form. The sudden dispersal of the power causing the air to still, and rocks to fall down from the cavern ceiling, crashing down all around them as Gildarts' stared at Natsu's shaking, hunched over form.
"I..." Natsu stammered in fear and disbelief. "I lose..."
Gildarts eyed the boy calmly as he heard that. "Yes, you do. I will not blame you for being unable to stand up to me. Nor will I judge you. Your power is exceptional, and you skill with your magic is impressive. However there is more to being an S-Class wizard than power or skill. You came at me wildly, with no strategy. You fought like a berserker, and that would have gotten you killed if I had been your enemy. Before you can become an S-Class you need to learn restraint, and patience. What you felt just now was the difference in our power, you need to be able to recognise that, and react against it. Either by retreating, or using strategy to make up for the differences in power and ability."
Natsu didn't reply to that, instead he looked up and stared at Gildarts in shock and fear.
"I'm sorry Natsu, but you do not pass." Gildarts continued solemnly. "You did not necessarily have to defeat me to pass. But what you did need to show however is that you have the qualities required of an S-Class. And, I'm afraid I found you lacking in that regard. You need to work on using strategy, not just power and instincts. You need more experience, both fighting those more powerful than you, and those more skilled."
Natsu stayed silent as he heard that, still hunched over on the ground before the imposing Gildarts.
He had failed.
( - )
AN: So yep a bit of a change from canon, not only are there less people on the island and taking the test. But also the tests are harder, and, at least in my mind, more realistic. As far as a story about magic and what not can be.
Still things are progressing nicely, and soon enough we'll be getting into the real meat of this arc soon. After which I have big plans for the next couple, all the way up to the Alvarez Arc, which honestly I didn't mind. Though personally I think it could have been done a lot better, including a completely different ending in regards to Zeref and Acnologia.
Still, I enjoyed the overpowered nature of some of the new characters, and quite a bit of the story. So much so that I am going to use it, though it will be heavily adapted.
Other than that there were a few people complaining about Percy leaving his sword. To which I will say it was a token gesture to keep his possible daughter happy, and to apologise for his selfish idiocy as he avoided the topic of her parentage. At the time he was just going away for a week to the Guilds sacred island, a place very few know exist, and even few know the location off. A place which for all intents and purposes is incredibly safe, especially since it is going to be filled with his allies, S-class wizards and potential S-Class wizards. So it's not really that ridiculous. Anyway I hope you all enjoy the chapter and leave plenty of reviews.
Thanks a lot for reading, catch you later.
Seagate.