Guildhall: Day…
"It is with great pleasure I officially grant Law Pharos the rank of S-class!" Makarov announced to everyone with said guy standing next to him. "Now everyone, let's celebrate our newest S-class member! Not only that, but the youngest one to have ever become S-class! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" Everyone shouted before beginning the party.
Despite knowing he had a lot of work ahead of him to feel truly worthy of the rank himself, Law was happy enough to simply have it. With the whole guild partying, he wasn't about to rain on the parade.
Amongst the festivities, Gildarts was informing everyone of what he found out. "Guess which lucky guy just found out he's a daddy!"
Cana was with him rather reluctantly yet willingly. Her face displaying an odd mixture of joy that Gildarts was willing to be there for her yet aversion to how touchy feely the ace of Fairy Tail was being. It was a great deal of contradiction, but she somehow managed it.
"Still, she seems happy overall." Law was glad for that.
As he walked off the stage, Laxus approached him. "You did well in the trials."
"Thank you." Law nodded. "Honestly, you were close to ensuring I didn't make it. If not for the magic I practice, I wouldn't have gotten this rank."
"Don't go discrediting yourself." Laxus shook his head. "I won't hear of it from the guy who made S-class this year. When next we fight, I don't want an ounce of doubt in anyone's head that I beat my rival."
"Rival huh?" Law smiled. "Alright, I think I can accept such advice, especially from my rival."
"Good. Now, I'll see you around." Laxus then walked. "With someone like him around, I think I'll need to make use of what's inside me…sorry gramps. I'll even do one better to ensure the next time we fight I take the win."
Later…
Law had offered to go get him, Gray, and Erza another round of drinks, non-alcoholic since they were obviously underage.
As he approached the bar, Cana, who'd gotten away from her now doting father, approached him. "Hey Law?"
Law turned to her. "Yeah?"
Cana smiled. "I wanted to thank you for giving me the courage to tell Gildarts the truth."
"No thanks are necessary." Law shook his head. "It'd have just been a shame, in my mind, for neither of you to have the chance many others had with their own parents."
"I-I also wanted to ask something of you." Cana stated. "Despite you not looking at it that way, you've still done a lot for me in such a short time, so I'll understand if you refuse. It's clear you're strong, so I was wondering if you could help me grow stronger to?"
"You don't want to ask your dad?" Law asked.
"I do want to spend time with him, but I don't want to come to rely on his strength as a crutch." Cana voiced.
"Just be sure to tell your father if you haven't already about this, and we can get started come the new year." Law returned.
With Law quick to offer his help, the brunette couldn't help herself from blushing. Law didn't see what he did for her with Gildarts as anything, but that's not how she viewed it. The newly made S-class hadn't seen her face since he'd already grabbed the drinks and returned to his table.
Forest: X777, Evening…
As the new year came, Law had been busier than he thought he would be, but his schedule finally easing up to the point he could arrange to meet Cana in the forest. They immediately got started.
"Something my father stressed early on is that to get strong you must work hard." Law informed. "Now, I've done this for my magic, but I haven't been as proactive with my body. As I learned the hard way in the trials, it's just as important."
"Got it." Cana stated, as what he just said made sense.
"Before we train physically, we must start with a good stretch." Law declared.
Not wasting a moment, Law began by reaching his left arm across his body and holding it there with his other arm before then reversing. Law did this a couple times before Cana joined in. The next stretch they did was holding one leg up before switching to the other.
Eventually, Law ceased their stretching. "Next, we'll do a few laps." He pointed. "There's a nearby lake that's not too big, so we'll run around it ten times. Sound alright?"
While Law understood his own limits, he set the bar lower and asked Cana about it since he obviously didn't truly know hers. The brunette girl wasn't sure but given how Law had guided her through the stretches, she figured he had faith she would be able to do it.
"I think I can, but I might need to catch my breath after." Cana responded.
Law set the pace as a jog rather than a sprint, but each lap he'd urge the girl to speed up. It wasn't until they were on their fourth lap that Cana realized running this way would help with her speed and stamina.
Once they finished the tenth lap, Cana doubled over, panting. "I'm…not sure…I have enough to do more."
"That's fine." Law smiled proudly at her for just accomplishing this. "Don't expect to be on my level because I was raised with this while it's still new to you."
"Doesn't this mean…you'll lose out." Cana worded worriedly, almost having regained her breath.
"Don't worry about it." Law smiled. "Going back to the basics is a good thing for anyone, no matter how experienced they think they are. Besides, until you catch up, I can keep helping you before then coming out here to train myself."
Cana accepted the assurances given before both realized it was getting late. Law ran them through the stretches again before they began walking back to Magnolia.
Magnolia
"This building is for girls only, but thanks for walking me back." Cana commented when they stopped in front of Fairy Hills.
"No problem." Law stated. "As for when we'll next train, meet me back where we started today."
Cana nodded. "Okay."
Forest: Next Morning…
Upon waking, Cana was excited to meet up with Law to the point she rushed out of her dorm and headed for the forest. As she entered said forest, the sudden thought about how Law never gave a specific time ran through her mind. Upon arriving, she already found him stretching.
"Morning Cana." Law greeted.
"Good morning, Law." Cana returned before joining him.
"Yesterday, we went a bit easy." Law began. "Today, I think we can utilize this time properly to benefit the both of us. This morning, we'll work on your physical training, break for lunch, and utilize the afternoon to work on your magic while I get to my physical training. Is that okay?"
"Sounds good." Cana agreed.
After stretching, they ran the ten laps again. While Cana was still breathless, it didn't seem nearly as bad as the day prior.
"Now, we're going to do push-ups." Law informed. "We'll both do as many as we can in a minute, take a five-minute break, and then another minute of push-ups until you've done a hundred."
In one minute, Cana did eight push-ups while Law did thirty. The brunette girl ended up taking eleven cycles and was left panting heavily by the end. She blushed heavily as Law just smiled proudly at her.
"What's next?" Cana asked.
"We'll sit here until you recover before doing the same cycle with sit-ups." Law informed.
By the time Cana finished said sit-ups, the sun was almost directly above them. Between the running, push-ups, and sit-ups, they'd already been exercising for two and a half hours. That blew Cana's mind while making her disappointed in herself.
"I'm so weak…" Cana mumbled.
"Hey, look at me." Law had managed to just hear her, so he grabbed the girl's hands before making her look him in the eyes. "You're doing great. Any improvement is something to be happy about. Don't go comparing yourself to anyone else.
The fact is, we're all different because of the lives we led. The thing about training is, no one would ever need it if they were instantly in the best shape of their lives. Everyone does it, some are just further along than others, and that's fine. Be proud you have the desire to improve."
Cana had to admit it felt good to hear such things from Law, but before she could respond, their stomachs growled. Law smiled good naturedly while Cana flushed with embarrassment.
"Let's head to the guild and get you something to eat." Law stood and brought her up with him. "It should be about lunch time when we arrive." As they walked, he continued to speak. "You know, we can't just train every day."
"Is there something we should be doing between days of training?" Cana asked curiously.
"Well, part of any magic is the mental aspect." Law voiced. "How about tomorrow we walk around Magnolia together? It'll be relaxing, and you could tell me things about this city I likely still don't know."
Cana knew she couldn't always have Law's time, but the fact he was offering her his made her happy. "Sure, sounds good."
Later…
After lunch, they returned to the forest where Law explained what she'd do to work on her magic. She was going to continuously create balls of pure magic in her hand and throw them away. For one, it was a way for her to get used to the feel of her magic.
Since the exercise required her to repeat the action, it would also slowly become second nature to do it. Because he told her that it needed to be the same size as her palm, it would help her learn how much magic she needed to set and adjust the size of the ball.
Cana was supposed to do this until her magic container was completely empty. "Won't I be unable to use magic again until the day after?"
"That is correct, so do keep in mind when you decide to take jobs." Law informed. "As for the intention, beyond what I told you, fully emptying your magic container is a great way to make it larger. It also goes about conditioning your body to maximize its restoration of your magic.
The more it becomes accustomed to this exercise, the faster it happens. In the end, you'll have a container that's as good at restoring your magic as you could ever get without outside aid. My dad had me do this exercise a lot in the beginning, and I am thankful every day."
Law hadn't steered her wrong prior, so Cana believed him. Though hearing this was something his dad put him through, which obviously paid off given his run through the trials, it made her want to ask more about the man that had adopted him.
She filed that away for later as now was the time for them to get to work. As Cana went about executing the magic exercise, Law pushed his physical training. He flat out ignore his own magic, but that was already far ahead of his physical aspects.
Over Months…
A new normal was established for Law. Like how things were before, he'd still take plenty of jobs with Erza and Gray while ensuring he dedicated spending time with both. Especially with Erza given he didn't want to make the girl feel neglected.
On the flip side, he obviously was spending a good deal of time with Cana. They'd do their training one day, and the next day they had free would be to decompress. This could involve walking around Magnolia or just going to do something fun.
It wasn't uncommon for Erza and Gray to join the two on these off days; however, Cana did carve out some days where it was just the two of them. While Law and Cana both felt they still had a long way to go, there was still progress there.
Magnolia: July 7th, x777…
Law naturally loved his sister, enjoyed spending time with Cana and Gray, to different extents depending on who it was, and liked going out on jobs. That said, sometimes he needed a day to himself, and that just happened to be today.
That's not to say he didn't usually end up around people on these days, but he at least liked to start such days by going about things at his own pace. Right now, that meant heading on over to the guild.
"This place is huge!" The voice of an excited boy rang out.
Law looked towards the guild hall to see the master talking to a boy with pink spiky hair, and he had a white scarf around his neck.
"So, this is a Wizard Guild?" The boy asked.
"Yep, it's called Fairy Tail." Makarov confirmed.
"That's a weird name." Natsu muttered bluntly, earning a hearty chuckle from the master.
"Yes, well…Nobody knows whether or not fairies have tails. They may not even exist, so it'll forever be a mystery, unless we try to find out. In that case, it could become an amazing adventure, and our members are the ones who want to find out."
Makarov was giving a wide grin which was infections as the boy mirrored it. "I don't get it, but it sounds awesome!"
"Been a minute since I heard that speech." Law commented as he joined the pair.
"Ah Law, you've decided to come on up to the guild I see." Makarov turned to the boy. "This is Law Pharos, he's one of Fairy Tails S-class Wizards. Law this is Natsu Dragneel, our newest member."
"It's always great to meet a new face." Law responded happily.
"I don't know what S-class means, but if gramps here pointed it out, it must mean something about you being strong." Natsu covered his fists in flames. "Fight me!"
"How about we schedule one after you've become a member?" Law offered.
"Fine…" Natsu agreed reluctantly.
While he did want to fight this guy, he didn't think blatantly attacking someone with that stamp would go over well with Makarov.
Fairy Tail
They went in and saw everyone was doing their own business.
"Natsu, this is Fairy Tail." Makarov began. "Here you will meet some of greatest Wizards in…"
"Master, he left the moment you began to talk." Law interrupted.
He pointed at the table were Gray was, with Natsu now standing in front of him.
"Hey, what's your deal?" Gray, in nothing but his boxers, questioned the newcomer. "You got a problem with me?"
"What if I do?" Natsu questioned flippantly.
"Oh, picking a fight?" Macao asked from the bar.
"Do it! Do it!" Wakaba encouraged.
"Gray, your clothes!" Cana called out.
Gray panicked as he now realized they were missing. "Aw man!"
Natsu's interest in Gray seemed to wane as he turned away from him. "What a pervert."
"Who are you calling a pervert, pinky!" Gray asked, going head on head with the boy.
"I'm talking about you, streaker!" Natsu responded.
A dust cloud was kicked up from there as the boys started to brawl in the Guild Hall, uncaring of who may be watching them.
Law smiled. "Some things around here never change."
It didn't take long for Erza to come break up the brawl. She'd simply gotten between the squabbling boys and pushed them apart.
Irritated at the interference, Natsu glared at the redhead. "You want some of this to?"
"This idiot." Gray muttered.
The next moment, Erza sent both boys crashing into a wall. "Fools…"
"Why me too?" Gray questioned.
Erza gave both a scary expression. "You're not to fight, am I clear?"
"Yes ma'am." Gray immediately responded.
"Scary!" Natsu voiced.
Law came over and bopped his little sister on the head gently. "Erza, we've talked about this. Give them a few days before you go beating up our new members. This is the final warning. Next time, I'll start revoking cake privileges."
"Ah!" Erza exclaimed fearfully. "I'm sorry big brother! I'll be good!"
"Big brother?" Natsu questioned shocked.
"Law is Erza's older brother, and he's way stronger." Gray informed.
"What's your name?" Erza asked the newcomer.
"Natsu…" The pink-haired boy looked to the side with a pout, and his cheeks heated up a little.
"Natsu, huh?" Erza nodded. "Let's get one thing straight. Everyone who comes to Fairy Tail are like family, and this is our house. A family's house is no place to fight, understand?" Natsu just looked confused. "My name is Erza. Nice to meet you."
"Erza's scary…" Natsu muttered.
"I know." Gray agreed.
Both boys smirked at each other for having similar thoughts, but then realized what they were doing which caused them to look away from one another.
"Guess we should give you your guild mark now Natsu." Makarov held the stamp in his hand. "Where do you want it and in what color?"
"My right shoulder, and I want it to be red like Igneel." Natsu replied.
"Igneel?" Makarov questioned.
"My dad." Natsu replied.
"Why is your father red?" Law asked.
"He's a red fire dragon." Natsu replied.
"Dragon?" Law questioned.
He's read about them before, but they were said to be extinct.
"There's no such thing as a dragon." Gray said.
"There is!" Natsu argued.
"Then, where is he?" Gray asked.
"I don't know…" Natsu stated sadly. "Today, he was just gone all of the sudden, so I've gone out to look for him."
"Then, I wish you good luck." Law nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard to find a gigantic dragon. Maybe a town will see him flying above them somewhere."
"Shall we get on with the marking then?" Makarov asked.
"Yeah." Natsu replied and rolled up his sleeve.
Makarov marked Natsu with the guild stamp. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Natsu!"
"Cool!" He then turned to Law. "Now, you said you'd fight me."
"Alright, we can fight, but we're not doing it inside." Law voiced. "There's a nice, large clearing behind the guild which should be perfect."
"Good point Law." Makarov nodded. "I shall come monitor this fight to ensure you two don't go too far. Sound good?"
"Sounds fine to me." Natsu declared.
With that, the three of them headed on back with a good number of those within the guild following. This naturally included people like Cana, Gray, Erza, and even Laxus, who all wanted to see this fight.
Large Clearing
"Alright, this fight only ends when one of you can no long keep going or admits defeat." Makarov declared.
"Got it, gramps/I understand master." Natsu/Law declared.
"If that's the case…fight!" Makarov declared while bringing his arm down to signal the start.
Natsu immediately charged with his fists alight with flames. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Law retrieved two cards from his deck. "You activated my trap card, Nitwit Outwit."
Gray smirked. "Heh, that's a fitting card, if any, to start off with against that one."
The second card in his hand shattered, and the flames around his opponent's fists died down a significant amount, to Natsu's confusion. Law ran with that by grabbing and lifting Natsu enough to knee him in the stomach. He did so hard enough to wind the kid.
"By sending 1 monster from my hand to the grave, this card will reduce the potency of your damage by the strength of that monster." Law let Natsu go before spinning and landing a powerful kick that saw Natsu tumbling along the ground. "I had sent my Dododo Warrior!"
"Gah, those legs pack a punch." Natsu rose while gripping his stomach. "What was that?"
"Duel Monster Magic." Lance showed his DiaDhank while drawing two cards. "Short version, I got monsters I can summon and cards with various, useful effects." Natsu growled a bit before lighting himself with fire, so he played one of the cards. "I activate Blustering Winds!"
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu shouted.
He launched himself at his opponent just as the wind rolled in. Due to Natsu not being anywhere near as fast as Laxus, the strength of these winds was enough to push him back. He slammed back first into the trunk of a tree.
"From how little he's moved so far, I can tell Law's upped his speed since our battle back in the trials." Laxus noted.
"I Summon Zubaba Knight!" Law declared.
The knight in golden armor and with a red cape suddenly appeared before rushing towards the kid.
Natsu took a deep breath before spewing an intense amount of fire. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Law went wide eyed at that and took the opportunity to dodge roll right forward; however, Zubaba Knight wasn't as lucky. Even the slowly petering winds did not stop this fire from overtaking and shattering the monster.
By this point, Natsu was able to get down from the wall, so he lept off it before looking around for his opponent. "Where is he?"
Law rolled right behind him before swiftly yet firmly chopping Natsu in the back of the neck. The Dragonslayer's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"The fight is over." Makarov declared. "Law takes it."
Those who'd watched his battles on Tenrou Island were impressed with his improvements while the rest, who hadn't seen their newest S-class in action yet, were just generally impressed with his capabilities.
With the battle over, Law picked up and slung Natsu's body over his shoulder. "I'll be taking him to the infirmary where he can rest."
Archaeological Sight: Days Later…
It took a train to arrive at the nearest town of Aster before then taking a horse drawn carriage, but Law, Erza, and Gray finally arrived at the archaeological site. It was a rather sizable temple that had been discovered, and the ground around it subsequently dug out.
Now, there were stairs leading down from all sides into said temple which was completely open, indicating that it had been filled with dirt at one point. Archaeologists were everywhere, studying the place from top to bottom. The three of them were approached by a proper looking woman.
She was dressed in the same equipment as anyone else. She also had long jet-black hair in a pony tail and wore spectacles. On her arm there was a Duel Disk, a modern take on the DiaDhank. The DiaDhank started with three slots and tended to expand to five as the Wizard grew stronger.
The Duel Disk, made using more modern innovations, started off with the requisite five slots. It also had the capability to be customized as more of a weapon. While that sounded superior, there was one advantage the DiaDhank held.
Duel Disk were simply more technological, so it was impossible for one who had it to upgrade the monster's they had a close bond with themselves. They had to rely solely on the cards that came out while DiaDhank users got the benefit of upgrading their own monsters themselves.
"Good day, I assume you three are the Wizards from Fairy Tail." The woman greeted.
All three of them showed off their stamps before Law spoke. "That we are ma'am. I'm Law, he's Gray, and that's Erza."
"I'm Sandra Woodrow." The woman held out her hand and Law shook it. "To make things clear from the request you got, we only require you three to walk about the excavation sight. We're hoping your presence will deter anyone with malicious intent.
In the event this sight is assailed, we'll be relying on you to keep them away. There are some valuable carvings that our guild can utilize in the production of new cards, and I'd prefer not to see it lost to a battle."
"We understand ma'am." Law nodded. "If anyone attempts to attack this sight, we'll do our best to ensure this place isn't at risk."
"Very good." Sandra smiled. "Now, I got to get back to work." She started to walk away. "Feel free to question any of my men if something here catches your interest."
"Alright you two, let's head down and get to walking." Law voiced, as they proceeded down the steps.
"I can't believe a job like this is willing to shell out one million jewels." Gray voiced before realizing how insensitive that might sound to Law. "Not to say I think what's in here isn't important, but…"
"Don't worry about it, I know what you meant." Law assured. "That said, those carvings aren't all that's of interest. Despite this request coming from the Monster Realms archaeological guild, duel monsters aren't all they are concerned with.
The reason it was mentioned is because the creation of duel monster cards in the modern era are what they are most well known for. Still, this entire place has been looked over from top to bottom by them. No doubt that will go into their secondary function on cataloguing the past."
"Despite no signs of people looking to attack this place, sometimes all the client wants is the assurance of protection." Erza stated.
The trio made it within the temple and they began to proceed around it, watching as the people worked. While the temple was rather open, with no outside walls, there were still low retaining walls left within the place which did have carvings etched into them.
These ranged from things like dragons, spellcasters, warriors, and other such things that looked about right for duel monsters. Some of the walls appeared broken indicating that there were at one time walls on the inside of this temple.
The trio eventually passed by a room that gave them pause as in the center there stood a short guy at a table. He had multi-layered hair, with the first layer being blond pointy locks, and the next five large spikes which were colored black with a magenta sheen along the edges.
He wore a golden puzzle with the Eye of Wdjat displayed prominently on it, yet he had a Duel Disk rather than a DiaDhank. His attire consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt, a gray sleeveless vest, dark blue pants, and black shoes. No one in the room seemed bothered by his presence.
The guy looked up to see them before noticing Law's DiaDhank and approaching them with a smile. "Hey there, mind if we have a chat?"
"Works for us since we need to have a word with you as well." Gray stated.
"I believe that would be called a conversation." The guy chuckled good naturedly. "Anyways, my name is Yujozen."
"I'm Law, he's Gray, and she's Erza." Law voiced. "We're members of Fairy Tail who are on request to patrol this temple and defend it if necessary."
"Oh, you three are guild mages." Yujozen nodded. "That's interesting. I've been thinking of joining one for a but now."
"On the topic of that, our job of patrolling this temple would include being on the lookout for anyone who might be suspicious." Erza voiced.
"Hm, I do suppose my attire would make that case compared to the others around here." Yujozen nodded. "Come on over because I've actually been here on Sandra's permission."
The table held various cards, which assumedly belonged to Yujozen, and an official letter validating his story.
"It checks out." Law noted.
"Wait, it doesn't say what he's doing here." Gray noted.
"I just have a fascination with archology to a degree and acquired the chance to see this place firsthand after coming to the ais of some of Sandra's people." Yujozen denoted.
A couple of the people in the room spoke up to validate his response.
"It's true!"
"Kid was a life saver with that deck of his."
"In that case, it's clear we have no more business in this room." Law voiced. "Come along Gray and Erza."
"Wait Law!" Yujozen called out, getting him to look back and see the guy was smiling. "What's say you and I have a duel? I haven't been out to Pharos Island yet, so I'd love to have the chance to see how you guys roll early."
"I'm afraid now isn't a good time as we're on the job." Law smiled. "Come find me in Magnolia if you ever want that match though."
With that, the trio took their leave.
"Magnolia…" Yujozen thought with a good-natured smile.
Yujozen was given to me from berrus-sama.
In reference to how Natsu vs Law went, we know from canon that Laxus always easily beat the Fire Dragon Slayer prior to the events of 'Battle of Fairy Tail'. As I've already established that Law just narrowly nudges out a win against that Laxus, the current power scaling goes that Law beats this version of Natsu. That said, there is a difference to be had that won't exactly keep Natsu the same, but that comes in x778.
alwynonlinereading: Thank you.
kuroshiragami0: Here is is.