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( - )
(Last Time)
Laughing softly as she watched their friends flee, Erza turned back to him. "Do you fancy heading out?"
Draining his ale, Percy nodded. "Yeah sure, where about are you thinking?"
"I was thinking we could go back to your place for some coffee?" Erza said, her eyes glimmering with mischief, as her hand suddenly came to rest on his chest, right above his suddenly rapidly beating heart.
"Oh, ohhhh," Percy replied, understanding flooding him, even as a smile spread across his face. "Coffee back at mine sounds nice."
"Yes," Erza purred. "Yes, it does."
( - )
Chapter 36
( - )
(With Percy)
It was warm and very comfortable.
The sun overhead was intense, bathing all those below it in its radiance.
Closing his eyes, Percy let out a contented sigh as he lay back on his towel his arms crossed behind his head as he took in the sun's rays.
In the distance he could hear the crash of nearby waves, and the cries and shouts of the children and teens playing in the water, even as seabirds winged their way overhead, occasionally dive-bombing picnicking families for morsels of food.
He loved the beach.
He always had, ever since the first time his mum had taken him to Montauk Beach.
Opening his eyes, a slight smile played around his mouth as he looked up at the deep blue sky far overhead for a moment before shifting his attention sideways.
From where he was lying, he could see several members of Fairy Tail; Natsu, Gray, Erza Knightwalker, Erza Scarlet, Happy, Lucy and one of Lucy's Celestial Spirits, Virgo, currently training.
The two Erzas, he could see, were still duelling back and forth across the sand.
Knightwalker was wielding her magic spear, and occasionally switching between its different forms. While Scarlet did the same only with her armour and swords, re-equipping different ones as the situation demanded. The two redheads were practically blurs as they danced across the dunes. Every now and then they clashed with blades or hurled out blasts of fire, ice, lightning, and in some cases pure magic, only for the other to swiftly react and counterattack.
Watching on idly, Percy couldn't help but shake his head in wonder.
It was startling in many ways just how similar the two Erzas were, and yet also just how different they were at the same time.
Both had highly adaptable and versatile styles of fighting and favoured close combat.
They were both aggressive and preferred being on the offensive.
In terms of fighting, they were quite evenly matched.
Knightwalker had greater technical skill, and experience in life-and-death battles, and was also just more ruthless and aggressive.
Scarlet meanwhile had more raw power due to her inborn magic, and greater versatility with her skillset. Unlike Knightwalker, was not just limited to a magic spear with a finite number of forms. But instead had multiple suits of magic armour and magical weaponry, which she could mix and match at will.
In terms of ability and fighting styles, they were both very similar.
Yet on a personal level though, they were diametric opposites.
Yes, on the surface they were both outwardly harsh, strict and above all confident.
But beneath that outer façade, Erza Scarlet was sensitive, sweet, and actually quite innocent. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and for all that she was socially stunted she was very intuitive when it came to empathy and understanding other people's feelings. Beneath her strictness, she was a very kind person and despite wanting to appear tough she was soft-hearted and desperately wanted to be loved and to love someone in return.
Erza Knightwalker meanwhile was fierce and socially savvy. She was sarcastic and at times caustic and could easily analyse a situation and twist it to her advantage. She also had highly sociopathic tendencies. No doubt a product of her upbringing and her experiences as a General in a dictatorial regime. But despite these many flaws - and there were many. She was also incredibly loyal, self-aware, and desperately wanted to be a better person.
For all that they were the same person physically, they were completely different in terms of personality, history, origins, and even biology, considering Scarlet had magic and Knightwalker didn't.
Though noticeably, Knightwalker did seem to possess an innate strength far beyond that of regular people on Earthland. An evolutionary trait perhaps which might be common for all those born in Edolas considering the lack of natural magic and the very present dangers that still dwelled in that chaotic world.
What the people of Edolas lacked in not having a magical core, they more than made up for with immense physical abilities.
Percy shook his head at that thought, his eyes lingering on the two Erzas for a moment.
Knightwalker was wearing a revealing black bikini, and Scarlet similarly revealing magic armour. At present, she was wearing the armour that was fashioned for speed, and which essentially consisted of an armoured, leopard print bikini.
Though how one could call such revealing armour protective, was beyond him.
Not that he was complaining right now.
No, the sight of two beautiful, scantily clad, twin redheads fighting was actually pretty hot.
Grinning, Percy, with a lot of effort, eventually tore his gaze away from the two of them and shifted his attention to the others.
Gray, thankfully wearing swim shorts and not completely naked, was currently standing on a rock which jutted from the surf, his arms outstretched as he repeatedly froze increasingly larger areas of the sea in front of him.
His expression was one of intense concentration as he constantly manipulated the ice he created into a variety of shapes, which then he changed into multiple other different shapes and structures again. Before he then finally released his grip and allowed his ice sculptures to be shattered and reclaimed the sea.
Only for him to then repeat the process.
He'd been at it for several hours now, and from where he was lying Percy could see the younger lad was already drenched in a mix of sweat and sea spray.
His arms were visibly shaking, and he looked like he was on the verge of collapsing.
Yet despite his exhaustion, he still persevered with his training, just like he had been doing ever since they first arrived at the beach.
Percy smiled slightly.
His determination was admirable.
Where he had set both Erzas to refining their already immense combat skills.
Gray was instead focusing on improving his overall control and was practising splitting his attention to both create and then manipulate multiple ice structures at once.
He was doing well too.
In the beginning, he had only been able to create a half dozen different structures of ice. All of which were identical in size and shape.
Now though, he could make three times that number and in a variety of different shapes, sizes and densities.
He still had a way to go, but he was making good progress.
The same could be said for Lucy.
Percy looked over at the blonde at that thought, his lips twitching up into a smile as he saw her fleeing through the dunes even as Virgo pursued her using a mixture of magic and sheer physicality.
The pink-haired maid truly was fucked up beyond all reason.
She was a hyper-masochist who loved bizarre punishments and was one of the most emotionally stunted beings he had ever met. But in addition to her masochism, she was also a closet sadist as well and an absolute troll that seemed to get off on ritualistically embarrassing Lucy as much as humanly, or rather spiritually, possible.
Which she did regularly and frequently.
As an outside observer, it was entertaining to watch.
Though he suspected Lucy probably wasn't having a good time of it.
But then again training wasn't supposed to be fun.
Like the others, Lucy had immense magical reserves, not quite on Erza, Laxus or Natsu's level, but far beyond those of Gray and most of the other members of Fairy Tail.
She also used a type of magic, Celestial Magic, which didn't require much skill.
No, all she needed to work her magic were Celestial Gate Keys and the magic reserves to support one or more of her spirits on the mortal plane for a prolonged period.
That was essentially all she required to use her brand of magic.
Or at least on the surface.
On a deeper level though she needed a good understanding of each and every one of her spirit's capabilities, the ability to quickly analyse an ongoing situation, and the tactical awareness to adapt her strategies and direct her spirits with only a moment's notice.
All of which could be trained and refined through strategy games, reading up on related literature, and through conversations and training with her spirits. Which she already had a good grasp on and which she was constantly working to improve upon.
But on the other side of things, there was another aspect of her chosen brand of magic that she had overlooked, and that was the physical side of things.
After all, the weak point of her magic was her.
She was a glass cannon.
So long as she stayed safe, she could continue to keep her spirits on the mortal plane and said spirits could continue to fight for her for as long as her magic lasted.
The moment she was taken out though her spirits would be discorporated, regardless of how strong or capable they were.
Which is why he was having her run through the dunes. She might have had buckets of magic available and a sharp mind. But she was woefully unfit and had little to no coordination. Hence why he had her working on both her overall stamina and her dodging. After all, her spirits couldn't both fight and protect her at the same time, to do so would be inefficient and would shackle their full potential.
Watching her run by him, her eyes wide and her face flushed, Percy had to hold back a laugh as he heard her scream as the manic Virgo almost caught up with her, again.
Her face was flushed, and she looked on the verge of collapse. But despite that, she continued to run, even if she did occasionally manage to muster the energy to spit curses and glare at him.
Yeah, despite trying to help her, he wasn't surprised that she was pissed with him.
Already he had noticed that she was being a bit prickly with him in the evenings while recovering from whatever task he had set her that day. Be it digging holes in the dunes, fighting against her own spirits to understand their strengths and weaknesses, or desperately trying to outswim Aquarius as the emotionally unstable, water-wielding spirit hunted her through the surf.
Chuckling to himself Percy picked up a coconut with a straw sticking out of the top and took a sip of the refreshing coconut water within.
Sighing contentedly, he looked out across the beach.
With it being so hot and sunny the beach was packed with families.
Many of them were frolicking in the sea, having picnics, or peering over in their direction and watching them train.
Lifting his hand, Percy waved to some of the spectators.
They'd been at the beach for nearly two months now and were currently staying in a beach hut he had owned for the last few decades.
A holiday resort had popped up along the bay at some point in the last seven years which had turned the previously secluded beach into a bit of a tourist hotspot.
Not that he was complaining too much. After all, it had a great tiki-like bar that made decent cocktails.
The general store in the nearby fishing village was also now pretty well stocked with a good selection of food and alcohol, all of which was a necessity as they were having barbecues every night.
It was a good setup all things considered.
Mira and her siblings, he knew, had all gone to the mountains to reconnect and train for the upcoming Grand Magic Games.
Cana, meanwhile, had wandered off into the foothills with Gildarts to do the same.
As for Gajeel, the last he had heard, the Iron Dragon Slayer had decided to lone wolf it in the wilds.
Everyone had made plans to go travelling and train, and after Natsu, Gray and Lucy had approached him about training, he had decided to do the same. Only he had chosen to take them to the beach. Partly, this was because he liked the beach and being close to the sea, and partly it was because the beach had everything they needed.
His property came with a private area of the beach which they could all use to train, and the environment itself was diverse what with the dunes, the rocky cliffs, the sea, and the white sand beach. There was enough space and a diverse enough environment that he could tailor-make each of their routines to suit it.
And already he could see the result of the training.
All of them were getting better.
Admittedly some were improving faster than others, but they were all at least making progress.
By the time the Grand Magic Games rolled around, they would all be ready.
Hades, even he'd been getting into the spirit of things.
He'd sparred with both Erzas several times, had helped Gray brainstorm some ideas of what he could create with his ice, and had even assisted Virgo in chasing Lucy around. Or rather, he'd sat on a deck chair and taken potshots at her as she ran.
Again, she might not appreciate his help now. But she would the next time she got in a fight.
Taking another sip of coconut water, Percy propped himself up on his elbows and watched as Natsu jogged over to him, his companion Happy, as ever, flying along behind him.
"Natsu," Percy greeted raising his coconut.
"Percy," Natsu gasped, his face flush, and his hair damp with sweat and seawater. "Fight me!"
"Shouldn't you be training?" Percy asked, idly dodging Natsu's now customary challenge. His gaze flicked to the others as he saw that he now had an audience.
Just as he had set the others some tasks.
So too had he done the same for Natsu.
Only with Natsu he had sent him to a nearby flooded sea cave and told him to sit on the rock in the centre and concentrate on building up the fire within him.
The aim had been to get Natsu to internalise the fire within, build it up without releasing it and then radiate it out at such strength that it evaporated the sea around him just from his mere presence.
Natsu had immense amounts of magic and firepower and had developed formidable fighting skills over the last few years.
But the one thing he lacked was control.
Control of himself, and control of his power.
His fire was directly related to his emotions, and at present Natsu was completely ruled by his emotions, and as such his magic often ran wild. It was inefficient, and often far weaker than it should be. What Natsu needed most of all, was control, maturity, and restraint.
Once upon a time, Percy had been the same.
When he was younger, he had been quick to anger, moody, and often reckless.
It had caused him and those around him a lot of problems.
What had helped him though, was time and self-reflection.
Time had mellowed him out, and it had allowed him to think back on his previous actions. See his mistakes. Recognise his ego and desperation to prove himself. And forgive himself and learn from them.
Natsu needed to do the same.
He needed to learn patience and to temper his emotions with restraint and control.
To do that he needed time away from distractions and to undertake a simple, but still beneficial task that would aid him in the long run, even as it allowed his mind to wander.
Hence the training he had been set.
"I've done it. It took me ages, but I've finally evaporated all the water from just my body heat alone without summoning any fire. Hell, I even started melting the rocks!" Natsu grinned, pumping his fist into the air. "Now I want to try out what I learned. So, fight me!"
Percy hummed in response.
"Did you learn anything else?" Percy asked mildly.
"Huh?" Natsu cocked his head to one side.
"When you were in there, meditating or whatever you want to call it, what did you learn about yourself"? Percy pressed.
"That I can become really hot?" Natsu asked, as if unsure of the answer himself.
"What did you think about?" Percy asked, trying a different tact.
During the evenings Natsu had been as boisterous as ever and had often challenged him and the others to fight.
More often than not both Gray and Knightwalker had taken him up on the offer.
Percy meanwhile, had just observed and taken note of where they were improving and what else they needed to work on.
Natsu, just like the others, was getting better.
Which meant he had to have learned at least something, even if he was not yet aware of it.
"Ermm, nothing…? Or, well, I guess about building up the fire in my belly but not letting it free…?" Natsu frowned. "But yeah anyway! Let's fight! You've just been sitting around drinking and tormenting Lucy. You might be the Guild Ace, but even you need to train!"
"He has a point," Knightwalker smirked from nearby.
Both she and Scarlet had stopped fighting to watch the interaction, even while Gray and Lucy continued doing their assigned training.
"I am training," Percy said with a bright smile. "I'm training my teaching skills."
Both Knightwalker, Scarlet and Happy gave him flat looks.
"What teaching skills?" Scarlet asked dryly.
"Hey, I taught you when you were younger." Percy defended himself cheerily, his hands raised in mock surrender at the look on his girlfriend's face.
"Hmm, you didn't so much teach us…, as you just set us some stupidly difficult tasks and expected us to learn something from it," Erza said accusingly. "And then after we were done with that task you would test what we had learned by thrashing us in a spar, and then set us to doing something else."
"Kind of sounds Erza…" Natsu muttered to Happy, only to freeze when Erza sent him a sharp look.
"In my defence, it worked," Percy winced. Yeah, he might not be the best teacher. But hey, that kind of thing worked for him. Then again, he had always been a kinetic learner who gained more from life-and-death fights than he ever would in a training yard. "I mean, you, Laxus and Mira all turned out alright… ish!"
"We did become strong," Scarlet nodded after a moment of thought. "But that was mainly through self-improvement and our own determination. You defeated us, pointed out our failings and then gave us vague suggestions for how we could improve. And then you'd wait until the next time we challenged you and do the same."
"I'm a proponent of hands-off teaching," Percy grinned. "You know more about your magic than I do, and you are all experienced enough to have created your own styles. The best thing I can do is observe, offer suggestions to improve and then allow you to test out what you learned, and if you're not improving, or if I think you're going the wrong way with things, I can then offer more suggestions. I can't just teach you my style of fighting and hope it fits with your vastly different skillset. The only thing that would achieve is stunting your growth."
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "Is that your reasoning?"
"Well, sorta. Admittedly I did just make that up. But the reasoning is basically true. You all have different skill sets, and different strengths and weaknesses. My style of fighting probably wouldn't work for any of you. I mean, maybe Gray and Laxus could use it, but even then it would have involved both of them relearning most of what they know," Percy said with a shrug. "But what I can do, is offer my insights on what your weaknesses are and give you tasks that I think would help you get better. The things I'm telling you to do aren't just to waste time, they're genuinely meant to help you improve."
"That kinda makes sense," Knightwalker said after a moment. "It is similar to how Pantherlily trained his troops in Edolas. None of them had magic like he did. So he set himself up as an obstacle and then challenged them to come up with ways to overcome him, either in groups or individually."
"I just think he's lazy," Happy piped up, adding his own two cents.
"Silence cat," Percy shot back through narrowed eyes, before taking another sip from his drink.
Happy grinned in response and hid behind Natsu's leg.
"I don't care about any of that," Natsu shouted, drawing attention back to him. "I already feel stronger, and I want to test that out now! So, fight me, Percy!"
Holding back a grin, Percy drained his drink and pushed himself to his feet.
"Alright then, fine," He grinned, pulling off his button-up shirt and kicking off his flipflops so he was only wearing a pair of flowery swim shorts.
Rolling his shoulders, he cracked his neck and looked over at his girlfriend.
Both Erzas were still standing off to the side watching him, he noticed both of their gaze's taking in his form appreciatively.
They were both covered in a sheen of sweat but otherwise looked fine as they took a short breather.
"Do you mind if I borrow a magic weapon?" He asked after taking a moment to give them an appreciative up and down of his own.
With Wendy hopefully still having Backbiter – which he'd need to get back sooner or later – he was stuck without a weapon.
On Tenrou Island he'd made use of ma just a normal, plain sword as he hadn't thought he would need to do much more than test the would-be S-Class wizards. After all, how was he supposed to know the entire island would get besieged by one of the strongest Dark Guilds in Fiore.
But with their current training regime he was actively putting more effort into pushing them to their limits and so was using magical weaponry. Though the borrowed weapons were little more than a stopgap at best. As sooner or later he would need to get a more permanent replacement, or at least until he could reclaim his old sword.
Percy held back a grimace at that thought.
Despite it having only been a few months for him. He still missed the familiar weight of Backbiter at his hip. He had wielded that sword for centuries, so long in fact that he'd imprinted a bit of himself onto the blade. A lot of master swordsmen liked to claim that when they wielded a sword it felt like it became an extension of their own body. Well, in his case, that was probably more literal.
Still, if there was one thing he'd learned during his long life, it was pragmatism and patience.
"Sure," Erza shrugged. "Which one do you want to use?"
Percy smiled slightly. If anyone else had asked, he suspected they would be flatly refused. In many ways, it was kind of touching just how much she trusted him.
"The Lightning Empress Spear if you don't mind," Percy said.
Erza cocked an eyebrow but otherwise obliged as she raised her hand and summoned a long spear, with a very large blade and several bright ribbons swinging off the circular shield-like tang of the spear blade.
"I don't think I've ever seen you wield a spear before?" Erza frowned as she handed over the spear.
"I approve," Knightwalker grinned, raising her own spear in salute.
Scarlet sent her a flat look.
"It's not my usual weapon of choice, but hey, Natsu had a point. You lot are not the only ones that need to tune up your skills," Percy smiled, taking the proffered spear and giving it a few spins.
He could feel the magic flowing through the weapon.
Just like how Knightwalker could wield her spear despite not having any magic of her own, so too could he wield Erza's Lightning Empress Spear. After all, the weapon was forged using magic-rich lacrima in the alloy, and so not only was imbued with magic but could also absorb magic from its surroundings to keep it charged.
Spinning the spear in his, Percy grinned in excitement as he saw lightning crackling and dancing across the large blade at the end.
He could feel the tingle of electricity running down the blade of the spear, and into the shaft then through his body.
The static it exuded made the fine hair on his arms stand on end, and a shudder go up his spine.
"Alright, let's do this," Percy smiled, his gaze now on Natsu as he eyed the pink-haired dragonslayer warily. Underestimating one's opponent, even in a spar, could be a grievous mistake.
"Damn right! I've got a fire in my belly!" Natsu shouted back, slamming his flaming fist together in his classic 'I'm ready to fight' way.
"Cool, but please remember to not get too out of control," Percy replied, sinking into a fighting stance, his spear raised and pointed at Natsu. "There are other people around, and I don't want to ruin either their day out or the beach."
"Yeah, yeah," Natsu waved him away airily. "Let's fight!"
"Okay, then begin when ready," Percy shot back with a smirk.
Shifting his gaze he could see that both Erzas had backed off to where he was sitting before and had been joined by both Lucy and Virgo. The four of them had seated themselves a half dozen metres away.
He meanwhile had advanced closer to the edge of the sea and the nearby cliffs so that they were further away from the crowds.
Grinning, no more words were spoken as Natsu took the initiative offered and exploded forwards, with fire erupting from both of his feet.
Narrowing his eyes, Percy tracked his rapid charge and shifted his stance at the last second, allowing Natsu's flame-covered fist to hurtle harmlessly over his head.
"Predictable," Percy muttered to himself, lightning pouring out of his spear as he lunged forward and jabbed the blade up at Natsu's unprotected midriff.
Only for his thrust to miss as more fire exploded out of Natsu's knee of all places. This secondary blast sent his form spinning away from Percy's counterattack.
His situational awareness had gotten better.
Touching back down, Natsu didn't stop for a moment as he immediately unleashed a blast of condensed fire from his mouth.
Spinning the spear, Percy quickly pulled moisture out of the sea breeze and formed a dome of water around him that tanked the explosive blast of fire.
Narrowing his eyes as the fire dispersed and steam filled the air, Percy used the lightning from his spear to electrify the steam and some hydrokinesis to fling the now-electrified mist straight at Natsu.
Dancing back away from the electrified wave of steam, Natsu poured more fire into his feet and exploded into the air and over the crackling fog. his body spinning from the momentum and a wild grin spreading across his face as he suddenly appeared several metres above Percy's head.
Shifting the tip of his spear, Percy used it more like a wizard might use a staff, as he unleashed several powerful bolts of pure lightning at Natsu's airborne form.
In response, a blast of fire from Natsu's palms sent his body lurching through the air as he deftly avoided the bolts of lightning.
Grinning, Percy decided to go on the offensive as he shot forward to intercept Natsu as he fell, his sharp green eyes pinpointing the dragonslayer's most likely trajectory.
Twisting as he fell, Natsu unleashed a powerful stream of fire from his mouth at Percy in response to his charge, pushing the dragonslayer back and away even as it immolated his opponent.
Only for Percy to once again disperse the fire with a dome of water that he pulled straight from the sea.
Narrowing his eyes as he pursued Natsu across the beach, Percy pulled more and more water to him covering his body in an inch-thick film of condensed watery armour.
With every moment that passed, he could feel the water around him growing denser and harder.
Already the pressure within his liquid defence was high enough that it would probably reduce a normal human to a bloody paste within moments.
Yet, despite its density and the pressure it was exerting, it didn't restrict his movement at all. Instead, the proximity of the water enhanced his physical abilities and allowed him to shoot forward so fast it almost took Natsu by surprise.
Fortunately for Natsu though, the pink-haired dragonslayer was able to adapt to Percy's suddenly enhanced speed in an instant, his eyes narrowing and the air around him rippling, even as he finally touched down and met Percy's charge head-on.
"Bold," Percy muttered, as he thrust his spear forward, his eyes shining as he grabbed onto the domain of Storms, ignoring the familiar resistance he could feel in his gut as he forced his will upon the world, and increased the lightning output from his borrowed spear several times over.
As he lashed out at Natsu, he could feel the lightning coursing through his body and into the spear, and then from the spear back into his body.
It caused his muscles to tighten, and his mind to sharpen with clarity, even as the lightning danced across condensed water covering his body.
Measuring his steps, Percy made sure to keep aware of Natsu as he thrust forward.
He was ready to pull back in an instant.
Grinning, Natsu met his thrust with a bold grin, the air around him still rippling from the sheer heat he was exuding even as sudden force erupted out of him and hit Percy head-on.
For Percy, it was like hitting an immovable wall of pure heat.
The moment it made contact his spear thrust was stopped in its tracks, and he was sent staggering back a few steps in surprise.
Frowning, Percy started shifting the structure of his liquid armour as he felt the heat start to excite the molecules within it.
Breaking off from his attack, Percy twisted on his heel, the other end of his spear digging in the sand, even as he swept it around, and sent a storm of sand directly at Natsu, obscuring his vision.
"Oi!" Natsu shouted.
Percy ignored him as he continued his spin and leapt into the air, his mind already whirling as he took control of the nearby seawater and pulled it towards him.
With a mighty groan, vast streams of water shot out of the sea and met him mid-leap. He could feel the water swirling quickly around him as it created a giant watery avatar around him. With every moment that passed the water got denser, and within a few seconds as the cloud of sand cleared, he was shooting forwards again.
Only now he was standing in the centre of a towering ten foot tall body made of pure water hyper condensed, his spear still held in his hand and pulsing as it both electrified his watery golem and energised him as he leant hard into his control of the domain of Storms and absorbed the lightning.
Overhead he could see the sky darkening as his interference with the domain started to create knock-on effects on the wider world.
Ignoring the phenomenon, Percy quickly engaged with Natsu again.
The two of them rapidly traded blows, as Natsu used explosions of fire from his feet to dart around Percy's larger form and the raging furnace of superheated fire within him to power his blows as he dodged and counterattacked.
Trading blows with Natsu, Percy's brow furrowed as they both fought their way across the beach.
The sand beneath them was turning to glass, and the cliff itself was visibly melting.
The dragonslayer had gotten a lot physically stronger and more durable than the last time they had fought.
He had also gained some kind of heat shield.
A literal protective dome of superheated air around him that seemed to be blunting most of Percy's physical attacks, even as it slowly but surely started to evaporate the water shielding his body.
Natsu had improved far more than he had first thought.
Even his fire had gotten stronger.
His fire was more intense too. It was now closer in strength to that of actual fire dragons that Percy had fought in ages past.
"Come on, is this it!" Natsu shouted excitedly. He was little more than a fiery blur now as he darted back and forth around Percy like an annoying gnat, striking his opponent's much larger form with powerful, explosive punches.
Every time he landed a blow, Percy could feel it even through his golem, and he could see the fire roll off him and feel the earth shake from the shock wave that followed each successful strike.
In return, Percy continued to hammer away at Natsu's defences and keep him moving.
The dragonslayer was trying to bait him.
Percy could tell that.
His lips curved into a grin at the challenge.
And right now, he was going to allow him to do just that.
"Alright, let's see how much better you've actually gotten," Percy laughed, his fingers twitching as he took control of his golem and sent the water hurtling away from him and toward Natsu.
Landing feet first on the now glassed-over ground, Percy watched as the giant wave of water broke apart as it shot towards Natsu. With a twitch of his hand, the water formed into several spears of water, which in turned separated further and further with every moment that passed, before within a second there were over ten thousand thimble thin spears of water hurtling towards Natsu almost too fast for the human eye to perceive.
Roaring in response, Natsu touched down and unleashed a giant blast of fire from his mouth. The rippling heat shield around him visibly retracted as he did so.
"Well, shit," Percy muttered, his eyes widening a fraction as he saw all of the spears of water get consumed and evaporated in moments.
The blast of fire Natsu had unleashed was far more powerful than his usual 'Fire Dragon Roars'.
Flexing his legs, Percy pushed that thought from his mind, and rushed forward, more water forming around him from the thick, humid air as he bent his legs and leapt into the air and over the giant sea of fire below him.
Natsu's roar was so powerful that it had turned what remained of the sand below into black glass, and so wide-ranging that it continued across the waves for over a hundred feet and spread out on either side for around fifty.
Even from where Percy was, several metres above the raging fire, he could feel the burning heat rippling across his body and drying out his skin.
Twisting in the air, Percy gripped onto his spear tightly as gravity took hold of him.
He was now above the out of breath Fire Dragonslayer.
And fortunately, the fire had shielded his leap.
Gritting his teeth, Percy landed feet first, his bare feet smacking into Natsu's exposed back and slamming him into the dark, glassy ground below.
Jabbing down with his spear, Percy stopped the strike only millimetres from Natsu's sweaty, feverish skin.
"Yield," Percy said.
"Yeah, I yield," Natsu gasped out, his breathing ragged as Percy forced him face first against the still steaming glassed sand beneath him.
Pulling back a step, Percy took a deep breath of thick humid air and looked around at his surroundings.
To the side, there was a massive crowd of spectators who were shouting and cheering, and behind those braver civilians, he could see quite a few other people fleeing the disturbance.
A pang of regret shot through him.
He'd hoped they could keep their spar lowkey.
He hadn't been intending to ruin any of the holidaymakers' days.
And now he would probably have a detachment from the local Runeknight's barracks knocking on his door demanding answers.
Great….
Glancing behind him, he could see the others from his group watching on.
They all looked surprised at what they had just seen.
It seemed he wasn't the only one who had been taken aback by Natsu's rapid growth.
Allowing Natsu to clamber back to his feet, Percy turned his attention to the rest of the beach.
The once white sand was now smoking black glass, and a great swathe of the sea was steaming. From a distance he could see Gray, who had previously been watching from afar, had now started using his magic to cool the bubbling sea down.
Things had gotten out of control.
"Are you alright?" Percy asked after a moment, looking down at the panting Natsu.
"Yeah," Natsu got out, his face was flushed and covered in sweat. "Good fight." Looking up at him, Natsu's eyes widened. "Are you alright?"
Percy cocked an eyebrow, "Yeah, why do you ask?"
"Well…" Natsu gestured at Percy's exposed chest.
Looking down, Percy felt his eyes widen a fraction as he saw the red blistered skin on his chest and arms.
Natsu's fire had burnt him, and badly too.
Licking his dry, cracked lips, Percy dragged some sea water towards him and doused his form in it, rapidly healing the burns on his face, chest, and arms.
"Don't worry about it," Percy said, with forced nonchalance. Waving away his concern.
He hadn't expected Natsu to be able to overcome his fire resistance or his supernatural durability, but somehow, he had.
It was… unexpected….
Natsu nodded for a moment, before suddenly frowning. "You still held back."
Percy raised an eyebrow.
"I know you did," Natsu continued firmly, "But did I at least push you?"
"You did good," Percy said after a moment. "You're definitely worthy of S-Class. But I've got to ask, what was with the heat shield and that massive increase in strength?"
The others were walking over now.
"Yeah, I was gonna ask that too?" Lucy tagged on; her brown eyes wide as she stared at the two of them.
"I just did what you told me to. I internalised my fire…" Natsu shrugged, "And yeah, when I do it, I feel myself getting stronger, and the more I build it up, the stronger I get, and when I ramp up enough it starts to kind of… leaks out of me and superheats everything around me."
"Fair enough," Percy said, his brow furrowing as he tried to work out just what Natsu had done.
He had known Natsu was strong, but he had never expected that level of power from him.
It was definitely S-Class strength.
"No, not fair enough, that makes no sense!" Lucy cried out.
"Ask him not me," Percy shrugged. "I'm still trying to make sense of it myself."
Letting out a sigh, Percy turned away from Natsu as Lucy and Happy pounced on him and started barraging him with questions.
"Good job out there. You two idiots ruined the beach," Knightwalker said in greeting as he approached.
"It's my beach," Percy shot back defensively.
"And you scared all the civilians shitless," Knightwalker tagged on with a grin. "I thought you were trying to keep it lowkey?"
She was trolling him.
"Yeah, well things escalated," Percy sighed. He still felt a bit guilty about ruining quite a few people's days out, even if the fight had probably made the days of several of those that stuck around to watch. "We managed to at least keep it contained, and no one got hurt."
"Are you okay?" Scarlet asked as she deftly ignored her counterpart and walked up to him. Her brown eyes were full of concern as she reached out and ran her hands down his sides and along his chest and face, looking for further burns.
"I'm fine, I'm all healed up." Percy smiled.
Scarlet bit her lip.
Knightwalker meanwhile snorted, "Of course you are. As if Dragneel of all people could even pose a threat to you."
"I don't know. He's gotten a lot stronger," Percy mused, looking back at Natsu. It was the truth too. Natsu had gotten a lot stronger in just the short time that had passed since Tenrou. His growth was unnatural.
"Unnaturally so," Scarlet nodded voicing his thoughts as she pulled her hands away from him now that she was satisfied, he was not injured. Only for her to instead sink into his side as he pulled her into a one-armed hug. "How did he do it?"
"I'm not sure," Percy muttered, a warm feeling filling him as he pulled his girlfriend in close. "But whatever he was doing in that cave for the last month definitely worked."
"I can still kick his arse," Knightwalker replied loftily, her gaze shifting to the couple for a moment before she quickly averted her eyes. Her lips thinned as she instead watched as Gray joined the now arguing Natsu and Lucy.
"Maybe," Percy muttered more to himself than her, "maybe."
Frowning, Percy pushed his concerns aside for the moment as he instead headed back to his previous seat on the beach with Scarlet now unceremoniously plonking herself down between his legs and lying back against his chest.
Wrapping his arms around her, Percy smiled as he felt the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest.
"Oi, Scarlet, I thought we were gonna train some more!" Knightwalker snapped out, quickly ruining the moment.
"We will, in a bit," Erza replied patiently.
"Hn," Knightwaler grunted, "What about you Percy. You and me, let's go at it?"
Percy cocked an eyebrow.
Almost at once, Knightwalker flushed red, "Not like that shithead."
Scarlet shifted in his lap and gave him an unamused look.
"Oh, come on, as if you didn't hear the innuendo," Percy said defensively, his heart racing at the look in her eyes.
Scarlet's lips twitched upwards into a slight smile. "I did, but I also wanted to see you squirm a bit."
"Great," Percy said dryly, as he rested his chin on her head as she turned back around and looked out at the once again tranquil sea. "I'm really gonna need to do something to fix up the beach." He continued, his eyes shifting across the now ruined sand.
"It would be nice," Scarlet nodded idly. "Do you reckon you can?"
"It's easy enough, it'll just take some concertation," Percy replied softly. With his Earthshaker powers he could create a localised quake and with fine enough control could vibrate it at a molecular level and reduce it back to sand – the ability was a handy one, but it took too much focus to be worthwhile in combat.
"Right, fuck this sappy shit, I'm gonna go beat the shit out of Natsu," Knightwalker declared loudly, storming across the glassed sand towards the others.
"Do you reckon she can beat him?" Erza asked as she watched her Edolas counterpart stride away.
"I'm not sure," Percy muttered. "It depends on how long Natsu has to ramp up his fire. If she gives him enough space and time, then it is possible that he'll just overwhelm her."
"Then she probably has a good chance," Erza mused, absentmindedly playing with Percy's hand. Her long thin fingers danced across his open palm and traced the lines that crisscrossed his palm. "She excels in rapid-paced combat and taking the initiative."
"Maybe, but after having just faced Natsu, I wouldn't count him out," Percy muttered, his gaze shifting back to Natsu as the pink-haired dragonslayer grinned and accepted Knightwalker's brusque challenge.
Sitting back and watching, Percy couldn't help but feel good about their chances at the Grand Magic Games.
It was just over a month away, and after seeing how much everyone, not just Natsu, had improved, he was pretty confident about their chances.
His smile faded, he was also looking forward to finally meeting up with Wendy but decidedly less confident about how that would go.
( - )
AN: So, there we go, that is the closest thing you'll get to a training montage from me. I just don't like them.
That said to avoid too much word bloat I did trim out some things, such as some drama and some fluff, plus some bland sparring. Some of it I've moved into the next arc, which begins next chapter. The Grand Magic Games. There will be action, drama, fluff, and chaos. The next chapter will have a bit of a snippet of the beach just to finish some stuff off and set up a few bits and pieces, so admittedly a little bit more of the training arc, and then off to Fairy Tail and the capital.
Initially, the training was going to take two chapters but I trimmed it down and shoved some into the beginning of the next chapter. Just because I prefer it that way. Hopefully, it works.
And also hopefully, you enjoyed reading the chapter/ story, and continue to do so. If not, then please do tell me what you didn't like, or what you thought could have been done better. Please leave a review if you can, they are very useful.
If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to hit me up.
Natsu's new growth might be clear to some, depending on your knowledge of canon lore. As for just what he was doing: Basically, he was generating and compressing fire inside his own body like a furnace, stoking it to produce thermal energy which he then circulates throughout his body, to drastically increase his physical abilities. While doing this his body also generates incredible amounts of heat and pressure, enough to melt enemies with no resistance to heat and cause damage by generating powerful shockwaves. Kind of similar to what he did post-Tartaros, sort of. The pressurised heat also creates a forcefield of sorts, which protects him, but this can be whittled away and is dependent on him stoking the fire in his belly. Is this scientifically accurate? Probably not, but it's also magic and seemed like an interesting way to go with things so screw it. This will get picked up a bit in the story, but not fully explained which is why I added this brief explanation in here.
Other than that, I am on Discord with a load of other writers, the invite is at the top, please feel free to pop in and say hi.
Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you later.
Seagate.