The Enchanter of Fairy Tale

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tale or it's characters.


Arc 5: Gildarts Clive S-Class?

Chapter 26: Gildarts Big Day

Year: X754. 30 years till Canon begins.

Cade POV:

It had been a few months since me and Gildarts and gotten our combat gear. My 13th Birthday has came and went with a huge party, that my friends attended with joy. I was now a teenager! I was a little upset to not see Uncle Jack here, as I hadn't seen him since my 10th Birthday. I had asked my mother and she said that he had been busy with some big project since my 10th Birthday so he was unable to attend.

Me and Gildarts had also been going on quests non stop for past few months since then in the hope to get Gildarts recognised by Master as a candidate for this years S-Class trial. Speaking of Gildarts, the 17 year old was quite excited about the upcoming trials to see if he would be selected. He had been progressing well with his magic and could now cast some of the more advanced crush spells without draining that much magic.

I had also been training with Frag during that time, and I was now able to cast my Henshin spell much more effectively. It was now possible for me to cast the spell with decent speed without having to hold any of my fingers on the material, without it draining too much magic from me!

Perhaps the best breakthrough I had made with that, was that I was now able to successfully reverse the effects of the spell to turn the stone back into the original solid material before the spells conversion process took place. There was really only one major step left regarding this spell – trying to get it working on my Ice Magic.

I was able to use the spell on any of the ice I created, as long as I could get my hand close enough to it. The issue I was facing was that I would sent out a ranged type of ice spell and then immediately try to cast Henshin on it. However, the ice spell I would cast would be sent too far away for my Henshin spell to reach it. What I needed to focus on was increasing the speed at which the conversion took place.

There wasn't really as proper way to achieve this successfully training wise. I just had to keep trying again and again and hope for the best. Frag couldn't really help me with this, as it was only something I could do.

I had also gone back to translating more of Malvel's spell book during these few months when I had the time (which wasn't as much as I would have liked to admit, as I mostly kept forgetting.) I had been able to translate pages 11–15. In terms of new spells I had learned a few new enchantments those being armour focused. I had received three enchantments that focused on enhancing a person for limited amount of time. The spells were called Thorns, Soar and Soft (which I'd like to say are much easier to say names than the weapon enchantments!)

Thorns focuses on enchanting a person with an enchantment that would make it to where if someone where to attack the them, they themselves will be hurt almost just as much as me. On paper this sounds fantastic, however an issue with the spell I found out was that an individual must physically attack the armour piece with any of their limbs, instead of an actual spell. On one hand, if I fought a wizard boxer then I'd be set! Though the spell is almost utterly crap against anyone else.

Soar focuses on enchanting a person to jump high up into the sky, much higher than you would usually be able to. This was quite useful in combat for me as I could simply jump out of the way of any attacks that may be coming my way. There was one issue however: I had learned during testing this spell, that I seem to have a case of getting nauseous when looking directly down when high up in the air. I had never been up super high in the air before, so I almost vomited when I looked down and saw how high up I was. I could still use the spell, I just had to make sure that I don't look down and I don't jump up too high.

Soft is incredibly simple. It's a spell that make it to where any damage my legs would receive from falling a great distance is negated. Basically I don't take fall damage, as long as I make sure not to forget whether the spell is still active or not. Also I have to always try to land on my feet.

I had also unlocked two new diary pages, in which I swiftly handed over a copy of them to Master Makarov for him to keep a hold of. They weren't all THAT interesting to be honest. They mostly focused on some of the minor activities Malvel got up to at Blue Skull.

The final thing I had done of note these past few months was learn my third (and hopefully final) magic: Requip. I had learned this magic to hold my armour in my own little pocket dimension to I could equip into it whenever I wished. During this learning process, I actually learned something interesting: It seems that the more magic you have learned, the weaker some types will be depending in the order you learned them.

Since I learned Requip magic after Enchantment and Ice Magic, it was somewhat weaker than the other two. I could easily switch in and out of my armour, but that was about all I could do with it. The space I had in my little pocket dimension was quite small. Only my armour and the spell book could fit into it. Perhaps it would grow in the future, but that remained to be seen.

Today I was sitting on one of the guilds benches to see who Master would be choosing for this years S-Class trials. I was secretly hoping that he would chose Gildarts due to the hard work he had been putting in recently. Of course Ivan was also a possible candidate for the trials, I couldn't forget that. Whether Ivan was worthy or not… I wouldn't comment.

Just about all of the guild members in the guild were present today and were on the benches talking among themselves for who they think would be selected for the trials. Frag and Gildarts were sitting next to my right and were discussing something.

What surprised me the most, was that I could actually see Ivan standing against the wall on the main guild floor, instead of skulking in the basement like he usually was.

'Does he actually think he'll get selected this year?' I mussed internally.

As I was thinking about all of this, I saw Master Makarov and Quikora exit from Masters office and head upstairs to the second floor. As soon as they exited the room and started moving, there were plenty of hushed whispers and discussions about the incoming news. Me, Gildarts and Frag stoped what we were doing and watched go up the stairs.

When they got to the top, Master jumped up and stood on the wooden railing and Quikora stood to his left. Master then cleared his voice. "Alright listen up! Today is the day in which I announce who will be selected for this years S-Class trial!" He announced triumphantly.

Many cheers were let out when he said that, but they quickly died down to let Master continue. "This year there will be two candidates that have shown remarkable progress throughout this year." Master said proudly, as he then got ready to say who would be selected.

"Gildarts Clive." Master shouted loudly.

"Well it's about time. Here I come S-Class!" Gildarts said with a grin.

"Ivan Dreyer!" Master shouted with a firm nod and a small smile which I noticed.

I was surprised to hear that, and turned to look in Ivan's direction. Ivan said nothing, but a rare smile formed on his face when his name was called out.

There were quite a few whispers when Master called out the names there, and I had a feeling almost all of them were about for Ivan.

"Like most trials, this one will be set one week from today! The trial will take place in the Wass Forest!" Master stated loudly. "You two are expected to be at Magnolia Station one week from today at 10:00 am! In this trial, you will be facing many dangers alone, so I recommend that you train hard and prepare yourself for next week." Master suggested firmly.

"Now then! The two of you best start getting ready, you'll need all the time you have this week to get ready." Master said as he leapt backwards to end the announcement. As he did so me, Frag and many other guild mates around us began to congratulate Gildarts for being one of the applicants chosen.

"Nice job there Gildarts!" I approved as I gave him a pat on the shoulder. "How do you plan on preparing for the trial?" I asked curiously.

"I'll just work on my magic, just the same as I always have been doing for the last few years." Gildarts answered happily with a laid back shrug.

"Huh? But the Wass forest is super dangerous, at least that's what I've heard." One of the guild mates spoke up to Gildarts.

"Yeah, my uncle went there on one of his little adventures and he had to pull out." I said backing up the wizards claims just there.

"Ah! Come on guys I'll be fine!" Gildarts replied with a wave of his hand. "I got this! I've been focusing on this for years now. You know how much this means to me!" Gildarts remarked as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, yeah we know." Frag replied as he held up his hands in defence. "Please just be ready on the day in question."

"Relax! I'm telling you, I've got this in the bag." Gildarts repeated himself with a cocky smile.

"I hope so. Else I'll be holding the fact that Ivan got S-Class before you." I commented in a smug voice.

"I don't plan on losing now that I was selected." Gildarts said, as he turned to look at me. "And you Cade, are going to help me train for the trial!" He said with confidence as he stood up.

"Me? Wouldn't a stronger wizard be a better choice?" I said to Gildarts in surprise.

"Come on! We're partners Cade! At this point I basically see you as a little brother." Gildarts stated as he rubbed my head, getting a few laughs from the members next to us. I immediately shook his hand off me.

"Thought I told you I don't like it when you do that!" I huffed in frustration.

I had gotten taller since joining Fairy Tale, but I was still shorter than Gildarts. "Sorry! Can't help myself. So are you in then? I wouldn't ask for anyone else to help me!" He grinned.

"Well if that's the case then when do we start?" I smirked at him.

'Plus I would give you payback for ruffling my head like that.'


"Come on Cade! You gotta hit me harder than that!" Gildarts shouted with encouragement.

"I'm… *pant* trying my best here." I sighed as I wiped a bit of sweat of my forehead with my hand.

Gildarts had brought me out to the hills away from Magnolia so we could train together to prepare him for the trial. Gildarts explained that he felt that his magic was strong enough as it was offensive wise, so we focusing on securing his physical defence instead. That involved me firing as many different spells as I could as him to try and bring him down. It was certainly… a unique way of training.

"Alright take this, Ice Bullets!" I shouted. This spell involved me sending dozens of tiny ice bullets towards the opponent at rapid speed. The bullets were sent zooming towards Gildarts, and he took them head on by crossing his arms in front of his face.

"Hmm… not bad 5/10 I'd say." Gildarts remarked as he lowered his arms with a shrug.

"Hmph, that cockiness might mean Ivan will get the better over you." I commented to Gildarts.

"Oh I don't think so. When Master called out saying that he was chosen today, I've been thinking about to deal with his magic." Gildarts commented.

"How so?" I wondered curiously.

"When I fought him I noticed that he was trying to stay as far away from me as he possibly could. His Shikigami magic is much more of a ranged magic, and I can easily destroy his attacks with my Crush Magic." Gildarts explained.

"The trick is to get in close by damaging the terrain which will distract him. I know he showed Illusion Magic when I fought him last time, but that's only going to be just as good as what he can see in front of him. If he's falling to the ground or up into the air, he'd struggle to cast any spells off at me. A good hit to the chest will take him out." Gildarts finished.

"Yeah I guess that works. And I suppose the same goes with Quikora if you end up going against him." I mused.

"Yup. Now then, those attacks of yours could use a little bit more damage, so how about this: Let's have a little match you and me. I think it will make things a bit more interesting." Gildarts proposed.

"F-Fight you!?" I spluttered out.

'Why the hell does he think I'll even be able to stand up against him?! Gildarts is SUPER strong, to the point where he'll keep accidentally destroying houses because he can't see where he's going at night.' I thought internally.

Hell the mayor of Magnolia suggested putting a lot of the towns funding into constructing a huge system that will move the houses in the town so Gildarts could get to the guild without destroying stuff along the way. I've only seen the soon-to-be adult get stronger and stronger as the months went on.

"You er, want me to fight you?" I double checked with the Crush mage.

"Well yeah! We may be partners but I'd still like to see how you're progressing with your magic – and see you fight in that armour of yours." Gildarts admitted to me.

'Aren't we meant to be testing you here?' I struggled to understand with an internal sigh. 'Well… this may be good experience for me now that I think about it. If I ever get to the S-Class trials, then I may end up fighting Gildarts and I'd need all the experience I could get for THAT.'

"Alright then. I'll take you on Gildarts." I accepted as I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Heh, nice." Gildarts said as took a few steps back from me, so we could have some space for this.

'This will most definitely be the strongest opponent I've fought yet. I have to remain aware of what's going on at all times for me to stand a chance.' I then took a few steps back myself, and closed my eyes. I then opened them with a serious expression on my face.


"Requip!" I called out. Upon saying that, my body glowed a brilliant white colour and I felt my casual clothes be replaced by my armour, which I dubbed the Crimson Armour. It did have a nice ring to it. To my waist were two of my swords holstered (they were treated as part of the armour, meaning that I could put them in my Requip storage.) My Mizu sword and my Kaminari sword as they combined well together.

"Oh yeah! That's more like it!" Gildarts grinned with excitement as he got into a fighting stance.

"This is the first time we've fought. Meaning I have a good idea of all the different types of Crush magic you have on you." I said as I got into a stance similar to Gildarts.

"Same goes for you I'm afraid." Gildarts stated, as he narrowed his eyes at me.

For a moment the both of us were dead silent, neither of us moved a single mussel. My eyes practically stared right through Gildarts, and I felt his eyes stare right through me. It was then me who made the first move.

"Freezing Air!" I said firmly, as I extended both my hands out to my side. This caused the air around us to suddenly get rather chilly. Gildarts looked a bit surprised.

"Didn't know you had this spell…" He said with intrigue. "What's its purpose?"

"The air will be getting colder now. Due to that, there is a high chance that you'll eventually struggle to cast spells properly as your body will get colder and begin to shiver considerably." I explained with a smirk.

"Well I regret to inform you that I'll be moving around quite a lot this fight to keep my blood pumping and body temperature up. Plus if I knock you down I won't have to worry about the spell effecting me, Crush!" He yelled, as he sent a destructive ball of magic hurling towards me.

'Soft! Soar! Thorns!' I cried out internally as I began to cast all the defensive enchantments that I had on me. 'I'm gonna need them all to survive this fight…' I then made the move of leaping up into the air to dodge his Crush attack, (while trying my best to not look directly down to avoid hurling mid fight) and casted my first offensive spell at Gildarts.

"Ice Double Beam!" I yelled, as I fired two identical beam of ice towards Gildarts below me. Gildarts simply held out his arm in front of his face, and took the full brunt of the attack.

"Now that wasn't bad. A good 7/10 in terms of damage, but this attack goes well above that in terms of power, All Crush!" He shouted and sent a much bigger ball of energy in my direction. At this point I had fallen down to the ground safely, and quickly prepared a counter move.

"Ice Pillars!" I cried out, as I summoned multiple thick ice pillars up out of ground in the direction of Gildarts attack to stop it from reaching me. To my horror, I watched as Gildarts attack simply crashed through the pillars as if they were nothing.

I was only just able to dodge out of the attacks way, by jumping up with pure instinct to avoid it.

'Phew… that was too close.' I breathed a sigh of relief as I landed back on the ground, with my cape fluttering behind me as I did. Unfortunately Gildarts had prepared his next move just as I reached the ground.

"Mizuwari!" He said with a grin, as he prepared his ground shattering attack (both literally and figuratively) This caused the ground beneath us to shatter and cause a huge crater to form, which we both fell into.

'I swear this happens in all his fights…' As I rolled my eyes in annoyance. When we both landed, I saw that Gildarts hadn't moved a muscle. In fact… now that I thought about it… I don't think he's moved to advance against me since this little skirmish began. 'Is this his test? To see if I can move him from his little comfort zone? I suppose the later shivering from my earlier spell will technically do that.'

Gildarts simply wiped some stone dust off his shoulder, and turned back to look at me with a laid back expression. He then held out his hand flatly in my direction and raised his fingers at me as if to say 'come on then.'

'Tch! I'll show him one of my strongest moves! Just have to get a good opening.' I planned, as I began to run in Gildarts direction.

He looked a bit surprised to see that, but he didn't falter his position. "Crush!" He yelled out, and sent dozens of large destructive balls of energy in my direction.

"Ice Wave!" I called out as I thrusted both my hands forward which summoned a huge tidal wave of ice that could probably eat up a whole house. The wave was sent to stop all of Gildarts attacks before they reached me.

I did keep running forward, as the two attacks was now colliding in the centre of the crater. I could hear lots of ice shattering within the large wave, showing that it wouldn't hold for long.

I was irked to see that a few of the crush balls Gildarts sent towards me broke through the ice wave and were still flying towards me.

'Now that there's less of those crush balls, I can get rid of them with this spell!'

"Ice Spikes!" I cried out. This attack summoned various sharp and huge spikes of ice up from the ground. In this case, I summoned multiple spikes to destroy the crush attacks now that they were fewer in numbers.

This actually worked successfully and all of Gildarts crush attacks were now gone! 'Alright! Now to continue to close the distance between the both of us!' As I ran faster in Gildarts direction.

"Instead of keeping back from me and firing ranged attacks, you're coming closer to me?" Gildarts chuckled as he tilted his head to the side.

"Well I can't land a good hit on you if I don't get any closer!" I remarked with determination as I ran closer to the young adult.

Gildarts then held out his hands in preparation to cast a powerful spell at me. I however, quickly used a familiar to get Gildarts off balance. "Ice Floor!" I cried out, as I waved my hand over the dirt and stone beneath us.

This turned the ground into slippery ice which caught Gildarts off balance. He didn't slip and fall over, but he still had to hold out his hands to maintain balance. "Argh, not this attack!" He said in frustration, having seen me use this attack on some of our jobs. This time he was the victim to it.

"Don't worry, I won't try to lock you in stone." I assured him smirking, as I began to skate on the ice towards Gildarts. "Ice Bullets!" I said, firing dozens of bullets in Gildarts direction.

Gildarts tried to hold out his hand to cast a spell to counter it, but this almost caused him to tumble over. As such he was forced to cancel the spell and hold out his hands to re-balance himself. This meant that my attack was a direct hit with his chest, with all the bullets making impact.

I saw Gildarts wince up a little when the bullets began to hit him. 'Yes!' I thought with a cheer as I snapped my finger in delight. 'That actually looked like it did some damage to him!'

"That ain't happening again!" Declared Gildarts as he raised his hand and quickly brought it down on the ice below him. "Crush!" He yelled, which caused all the ice beneath him to explode and shatter.

This caused yet another, much smaller crater to be formed. I was still sliding on the ice that hadn't been destroyed, but I was quickly coming up on the small crater that Gildarts had made to escape my ice.

'Gotta bail here!' I decided, as I leapt up off the ice just as I reached the edge. I carefully looked down and saw Gildarts looking up at me as I passed him.

"Now!" I yelled as I grabbed my Mizu sword and my Kaminari sword from my waist. "Spiralling Waves of Lightning!" I yelled as loud as I could, as I fired a combined attack of water and lightning down towards Gildarts.

The attack was multiple beams of water that were fired from my Mizu sword towards the target. Then the lighting from my Kaminari sword would combine with the water and electrify it. The fusion attack would them fire towards the target with water and lightning.

Gildarts simply raised up his hand and fired a spell to counter it. "Crush!" He casted with little effort, as he sent the ball of energy towards my attack.

As the attacks collided a large explosion and dust of smoke formed in the air. At this point I had landed on the opposite side of the crater I had jumped from and had turned around, and was now looking at Gildarts. He turned around to face me, about to make a comment.

Then, from the dust, a beam of water suddenly came flying out and hit Gildarts in the back, which caused him to step a little bit forward in a little bit of pain. This was because he did not see that attack coming at all, and so he had his guard down.

Gildarts clearly had expected my attack to have simply been destroyed by his magic just there. "What in the-!? How did you do that?!" He asked in astonishment.

'Wait, that actually worked?! I thought I was running off a wild theory that wouldn't go anywhere!' I realised with a large amount of surprise. 'Well… Guess I'll just try and act like I knew the whole time!'

"You see Gildarts, your Crush Magic focuses on destroying the magic it is coming into contact with. However, that attack I just sent to you used two different types of magic! As such, one element of my attacks were able to make it through to you!" I stated as I crossed my arms at him with a sly smile.

Gildarts looked shocked to hear that, and then gave me a surprising grin. "Not bad. I didn't even know that myself." He remarked looking up at me.

"If your attack did fully destroy mine just there, then it would change that much. If it didn't though, then it does give me a way to attack you."

Gildarts nodded his head in hearing that. "Well then. Guess you've given me something I need to focus on now Cade. Thanks for that." He smiled at me in helping him.

I breathed a sigh of relief at this fight against Gildarts over. That was quite the strength he showcased there.

"So that's this little fight concluded then?"

"Yeah I think so. You were able to make me feel a little bit of pain just there, and even move me a little. I'd say that's good progress for you." Gildarts stated.

"Wasn't this whole ordeal to get you stronger?" I said, as I put my hand on my face with a sigh.

"I'm already pretty strong. I was just doing that whole fight there to see how much you've improved recently." Gildarts shrugged.

"Good grief man… At this rate I'll be the one off to the S-Class trials next week." I muttered as I shook my head.

This caused Gildarts to laugh a little when hearing that just there. When he finished laughing he looked back up to me. "Alright that'll do it for today. I got something to do later today."

"What is it?" I asked, as Gildarts began to climb up the crater he was in to get to where I was.

"Oh, I was just going to find the the girls and tell them that I got selected for S-Class." Gildarts answered as he got a grip on a rock and pulled himself up.

"Well can I come then? I haven't seen the both of them in a while now." I requested, as I thought back to when I last saw them. It had been a while indeed.

"Fine by me!" Gildarts answered, as he reached a hand up to me. I grabbed his and and pulled him up from the crater he was in. "Man… gonna have to tell Master that I made another hole again." Muttered Gildarts. "He's gonna kill me if I keep doing it."

"Ah, don't be like that!" I said with encouragement. "With that sort of attitude you'll never be able to climb up out of the huge crater we're in right now!"

Gildarts glared at me. "And you'll use your magic to just jump out of the crater, right?"

"Yup…" I said looking away.

"And I'm meant to climb out while it's still freezing down here." Gildarts followed on as he pulled his cloak tighter. Seems all the adrenaline had worn off now.

"Just about." I replied back. "Well, the spell will be wearing off, soon you'll be able to climb out just fine." I assured him, as I crouched down. "See ya up top Gildarts." As I then leaped up and out of the crater, while making sure not to look down.


"Still. You COULD have casted the spell on me as well." Gildarts argued as we made out way to Cornelia's. It took Gildarts a while to climb up and out of the crater he was in. I could hear him cursing at me from the inside of the crater as he climbed up.

"I told you, I haven't gotten a good grasp of using the spell on others yet." I rebutted as we walked past the river.

"Well then you better get a good grasp on that! I'm always making huge holes like that all over the place. A little boost to get out would be nice." Gildarts explained.

"Whatever. Look I need to focus on getting you ready this trial next week. You have any idea what to expect?"

"I ain't got a clue on what'd show up. I know that Master wouldn't tell me anything and I'm pretty sure Quikora would do the same." Gildarts answered.

"Well that settles it. Tomorrow we're gonna practise seeing if we can get you to know how to navigate a forest successfully." I said nodding my head.

"Navigating a forest?! Which one?!" Gildarts asked in bewilderment.

"East Forest." I said dryly.

"Hell no!" Gildarts shouted with an alarming tone. "Porlyusica lives there and she scares me. I don't want to be in there and stumble across her house." Gildarts said with desperation.

"It's fine, we'll just stay away from her house." I explained as I held up my hand lazily.

'As long as we stay away from her house and you-know-who that basically lives there now, we'll be fine.' I thought, as we had now made it to Cornelia's apartment.

Me and Gildarts entered the building and went up to her room. We knocked on the door, and saw her mother open it.

"Oh hello there boys!" She said with surprise. "Are you here to see Cornelia? I'm afraid she's out today with Lilly." Her mother said with a frown.

"Oh… I see." Said Gildarts with a glum face. "You know when she'll be back?"

"Hmm…" She left an hour or so ago. They were just going around town for a girls day out. You could probably find them if you look hard enough." She answered.

"Ah ok. We'll both be off then to try and find them." Gildarts said with a smile. Cornelia's mother closed the door while waving us goodbye, and then me and Gildarts made our way out of the building and started to walk through the town to try and find the girls.

We went to all the usual hotspots in the town first. The towns bakery, library, Kardia Cathedral, bathhouse (WE DIDN'T ENTER WE JUST CHECKED IF THEY PUT THEIR NAMES ON THE REGISTER). All the spots we had been to before as a group (minus the bathhouse) and we still couldn't find them.

We were both currently walking along a street looking into the shops. It was as we were passing a clothing shop, I decided to glance through the window just to check if they were there; and to my utter shock, I saw Lilly and Cornelia inside the shop through the window!

I saw that Cornelia was holding up different outfits to her body, as if she was imagining herself with them on. I saw that Lilly was saying stuff to her – most likely her commenting on the outfit and if it suited Cornelia or not.

"Hey Gildarts! There they are there!" I said as turned my head to Gildarts who was walking past the shop.

"Huh?" He mumbled, as he came back to where I was and looked in the window. "Ah! You found them!" He said, as he looked in the window. "Woah… What are they doing?" He muttered.

"Er, I think they're trying on clothes in there." I answered, as I rolled by eyes at Gildarts obliviousness.

"Alright then. Let's just go in and see them." He said casually, as he made his way to the shop door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just hold on there." I halted, as I put my hand on Gildarts shoulder stopping him.

"What? Why? They're right in there." Gildarts said in confusion as he pointed at them through the shop window.

"Look at what their doing in there. They're trying on new clothes, if we go in there we'll be subjected to hours of them asking us what we think of their fashion choices." I told Gildarts with a fearful look. "When I was younger, me and my father were forced to wait for hours in shops like this because my mother always wanted to know what we thought of her in certain outfits." I explained with a shudder.

"Woah… Had no idea girls were like that." Gildarts said with shock. "So what do we do then?" He asked.

"Let's just wait for them out here. We'd probably end up extending their time in there." I explained as I leaned against the wall next to the window.

"Well we won't have to wait now. Here they come." Said Gildarts to me.

"Wait what!?" I said in disbelief, as I went to look through the window. Like Gildarts said, the both of them were at the checkout paying for the clothes they had found in the shop. "I thought they'd take much longer than that!"

They finished their purchases and exited the shop with Lilly holding the bags. They turned and started walking away in the opposite direction we were standing. Then me and Gildarts both walked up to the girls.

"Yo Lilly, Cornelia." Gildarts casually greeted to the two girls as we approached them from behind. This seems to startle them, as they clearly hadn't expected us to show up just now. They both turned around and looked at us with surprise.

"Good to see you two here. I got some great news!" Gildarts said, as he grinned at them.

"Oh, er… that's great Gildarts." Cornelia said awkwardly as she looked away from the crush mage. I swore I could see a small bit of red on her face as she did so.

'Hmm? What's up with her?' I thought strangely. Gildarts had turned to see one of his guild mates across the other side river, in which he waved at them.

I then saw Lilly nudge Cornelia with her elbow out of the corner of my eye. I then think I saw Lilly move the corner of her mouth a little, trying to say something to Cornelia under her breath. Lilly had a suspicious and cheeky smile on her face as she did so, which confused me even more.

Cornelia then cleared her voice and turned to Gildarts. "Um… G-Gildarts?" She announced herself nervously.

"Hmm? What is it?" My partner said as he turned around to face her.

"Well uh… I was wondering… are you busy tonight?" Cornelia asked. I swore I saw her fidget with her fingers as she said that to Gildarts.

"No… why do you ask?" Gildarts said in confusion.

"Well, er, um…" Cornelia then took a deep breath. "You know there was the new restaurant that just open up here? Well I was wondering if you'd like to go someti-tonight!" Cornelia said quickly, as she turned red being a little embarrassed.

My mind nearly exploded when I heard that.

'Th-This is…! N-NO WAYYY!' I thought in amazement as I realised what Cornelia was asking.

She was asking him out on a date.

Cornelia was asking Gildarts on a date.

I then quickly looked back at Gildarts in apprehension. 'W-What will he say in response!?'

"S-Sure! I'd love to go!" Answered Gildarts with a nervous smile.

"Wha! Really?!" Exclaimed Cornelia with surprise and happiness. "T-That's amazing!" She said thrilled. "Can we meet at my place at 7:00 tonight?"

"Y-Yeah! Of course! Fine by me!" Gildarts said as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms with a twitchy smile on his face.

"Ah thank you!" Cornelia said, with her practically beaming with happiness at the mention of that. "I'll see you at 7:00 then!" She said as she grabbed the bags Lilly was holding and mouthed something to her that I couldn't make out. She then ran off back to her house, giving Gildarts a wave as she left.

It was when she left earshot that Gildarts started to panic.

"AHHHHHHH! I-I can't believe it! Did Cornelia just ask me out on a date!?" He shouted as he turned red in embarrassment.

"Eh? You're panicking now? Did you have a delayed reaction or something?" Lilly inquired.

"N-No! I just didn't want to panic in front of her and make her feel embarrassed!" Gildarts said with fear.

"Aww, so you do care about her!" Lilly said sweetly, as she put her hands together.

"W-Well yes of course I do! I've known her for years now and we're really good friends!" Gildarts rebutted in anger.

"Just friends then?" I spoke up curiously. Lilly listened in apprehension.

This caused Gildarts to freeze for a moment. The first time I've seen him so flustered and shaken. "Well… I have had this weird feeling towards her for a while now… I didn't know want it was for a really long time." Gildarts explained with a quiet voice.

Me and Lilly both gasped in delight at hearing that from him. Gildarts wasn't finished though.

"I mean, I've found other girls pretty and beautiful before. But with Cornelia… it's something else. I just like everything about her. Her personality, her fiery attitude, her looks… I've never felt this way about anyone else…" He said as his face turned red a little.

"And that-!" Lilly started off. "Is what you should say to her tonight!" Lilly said as she squealed in delight. "She'd love you forever if you said everything that you like about her there!"

"Man I can't believe I didn't know about any of this…" I muttered in disbelief, upon just learning about all of this. "Honestly I think it'd work between you two." I approved with a smile and a shrug.

"Ahhh… you think so?" Gildarts said with a bit of tension.

"Sure! Just tell her how you feel tonight at dinner!" I smiled with a thumbs up. "You're on your way to becoming an S-Class wizard with that announcement today! You've fought bandits that wanted you dead! Creatures that wanted to eat you alive! You're Gildarts Clive for crying out loud!"

Gildarts looked up at me and gave a small smile. Lilly on the other hand gave me a curious look. "S-Class?" She said as she turned her head in confusion.

"Oh yeah. Gildarts got selected for an S-Class candidate for this years trials." I said, as I patted the still nervous crush mage on the back.

"Wow. Nice job there Gildarts!" Lilly said with a smile and a nod. She then gave a look of surprise. "And hey! That's something that you can tell Cornelia tonight!"

"I guess…" Gildarts said a bit awkwardly. He then looked up at the both of us. "Er, should I change my clothes for tonight? I'm not sure if this is proper dining clothes for a fancy restaurant." He said as he pulled at his cloak.

"That might be for the best…" I said slowly, as I looked at his cloak. "Ah don't worry the both of us can go around town today and get clothes for you!"

"Well I think I should come with you two." Lilly said as she pointed at the both of us. "I've spent a lot of time with Cornelia and I know what she likes. I'm sure I can help."

"No objections from me. What about you Gildarts?… Hey Gildarts!" I snapped at him.

"Huh?! Oh er, yeah no objections from me!" He answered nervously. "I've er, got some money on me so we can go right now." He said as he scratched his head.

The three of us then went all across Magnolia for the next hour or so, and we bought a few outfits for Gildarts for his big night tonight. We didn't buy anything SUPER fancy. Just some nice casual clothes that suited him well.

When we were finished, the three of us were just outside Kardia Cathedral. Gildarts was holding a few bags of clothing that he had bought. Me and Lilly (well mostly Lilly. I was practically useless at this sort of stuff), had helped pick out some clothes for him in the shops.

The three of us were about to go our separate ways for today, and I was wishing Gildarts good luck for tonight.

"Just relax and be yourself!" I reminded him with enthusiasm. "That's the most important thing!"

"Right." Gildarts said with a deep breath. "I think I'll swing by the restaurant on the way home to see what the menu is like."

"Good idea! That way you know what to to get tonight! It'll make you look organised and smart." Lilly said, approving of the idea.

"Thanks guys… I'm still really nervous about all this." Gildarts sighed after saying that. "But!" He said surprising the both of us. "You have given me lots of advice about all this, and I have done much more dangerous things in my life. I know I'll be fine it's just the idea of things going wrong."

"Well look. If things DO go wrong tonight, just try to improvise." I said as I shrugged at him. 'Not much else I can say to help.'

"Improvise huh? Well I've done that enough while fighting, so I have a good idea about that." Gildarts remarked, as he gave a smile. "Thanks you guys." He thanked the both of us.

"Aw come on! Bring it in big guy!" I said as I hugged him, with Lilly joining in.

We hugged each other for a bit, before Gildarts broke the hug and gave us a goodbye, before walking away from the both of us.

'Good luck partner.' I thought with a smirk. I then turned to Lilly.

"So when exactly did all this happen with Cornelia falling for Gildarts?" I inquired as soon as Gildarts left.

"Remember the time a year or so ago when the four of us were in your library and we climbing up to see all the books on the shelves higher up?" Lilly started.

"Yeah…" I nodded my head as she said that. "Oh wait!" I suddenly said.

"Yup. When Cornelia fell off from the ladder and Gildarts caught her in his arms. She's fallen for him ever since then." Lilly said smugly.

"You know it's nice that she was brave enough to come forward and ask him to dinner like that. I probably wouldn't have the guts to do it." I said with a chuckle.

"I'll definitely be checking tomorrow to see how this little date went. What about you?" Lilly wondered.

"Oh I'll be here checking. I gotta train up Gildarts for the S-Class trials coming up after all." I told Lilly.

"Well I'll be seeing you tomorrow then!" She said as she gave me a wave and ran off in the distance to her house.

"See ya!" I shouted, waving at her as she left.

I then began to make my way back up to the manor to relax for the rest of the day. As I walked up, I began to hope that Gildarts had a good night tonight.

'Honestly he deserves this for how hard he's been working for the last few years. The chance to make S-Class for sure… and maybe the date.' I laughed after thinking that just there. 'Here's hoping for the best for you. Gildarts.'


That's another chapter done and uploaded! Please do leave a review of your thoughts.

Quite a few things happened in this chapter. All of them relating to Gildarts of course. First the guy learns about how he's been selected for S-Class this year. Then he has a quick little fight with Cade and of course, he got asked out on a date. What a day, am I right?

Now I did consider just mentioning briefly that Gildarts had gotten with Cornelia over a time skip. However, I have already established that Cade knows the both of them so I felt it best to just have a little scene where he discovers the date between the two of them. Plus we do know that Gildarts and Cornelia get together in the future and give birth to Cana, so I felt it best to include this.

This arc will be a small arc which will focus on Gildarts himself. The next arc will be quite a bit longer, so you can look forward to that!

Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. With that, I'll see you all in the next chapter!