"Remind me to never fight you in a tournament again." Eric rolled his eyes at Rocker's mock-fright while Nobarly and Flare snickered, Leo just smirking before chuckling as he saw Eric's eyes glowing.
"You don't have to scan me over every ten seconds, you know. Despite how lanky I look, I can take more blows than these two here."
"Oi! I'll have you know that if I wasn't injured from my previous round, I would have won the fight against this guy with ease." Rocker exclaimed with a growl before blinking as Nobarly shot up and aimed a glare at him.
"Okay, that's a lie! We both know I could beat your ass with my eyes closed!"
"Oh yeah?!" Rocker exclaimed as he pulled a fist back, Nobarly doing the same before both Eric smirked as a bubble appeared around the two just as they threw the first punch.
"I can't believe that I've heard more about men talking about 'kicking' and 'annihilating' each other's behinds in the past few months that I've here compared to the years I've lived with the giants…and that's big considering that they adored fighting." Flare said with a giggle as she watched the two men roll away in their little golden bubble as Eric sighed.
"Back to our previous conversation, are you sure? The spell I used is one of the strongest spells in my arsenal bar a few and Flare told me that it's a bit…weird."
"Don't worry about the nausea that follows after the attack. That goes away after a few days." Flare spoke up before Leo could, making the man blink before he smiled.
"Ah, I was wondering when the world would stop twisting and turning. Well, apart from what she just said, I really don't feel anything. I guess you might have held back more than intended if the effects weren't as strong as you thought they were."
"…Huh. Flare, make a note that I need to up the power of the spell if we're going against stronger opponents that can take those type of attacks."
"I'm not your notebook, you know." Flare muttered with a frown as she took out a book and a MagiPen, writing down Eric's words despite her protests as the aforementioned mage just shook his head in exasperation.
"Hahaha! I'll leave you two to your lover's quarrel while I go see if those two are done fighting." Leo said as he stood up, chuckling at the growl that escaped Flare's lips as well as Eric's panic as he quickly stopped her from attacking him.
"I swear the next time someone calls us lovers I'm going to kill them." Flare grumbled as she plopped back down onto her chair before glaring at Eric as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders & rubbed her arm.
"You're not helping with the accusations, you know."
"Why deny what we are?"
"We're testing it out. I never agreed to any titles." She said with a frown before pouting as Eric chuckled whilst tilting her chin towards him.
"So, you don't want any more massages?"
"So you don't want any more steaks?"
"Hey, the steak is sacred. Leave it alone." Eric spoke with a huff as he pulled his arm away and crossed them, Flare giggling as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't take your steak away." She whispered with a smile, making a small smirk spread across his face before groaning as he heard a chuckle to his side.
"Told you they were dating." Eric turned to see a snickering Warcry and Bacchus who had a rather too big grin on his face.
"I'm never living this down, am I?" Eric muttered with a sigh, shaking his head as both Bacchus and Warcry shook theirs.
"Not even close, but I'll save you for today. The master wants to talk with you."
"I'll come with because you're just going to try & train after the meeting and I want to get started on dinner early." Flare chimed in as Eric stood up, to which he just shrugged before blinking as Bacchus shook his head.
"You can wait outside the office for him, but the boss wants to talk with him alone about the exams."
"Is this about the castle again? I've already apologised for it." Eric whined, which made Bacchus snort as Warcry smiled.
"Fortunately not, though you're going to be paying a long time on that even if Guy's already fixed that." Warcry spoke, chuckling as Eric just grumbled while he and Flare followed the two towards Goldmine's office.
"…Wait, what?" Eric asked with wide eyes as Goldmine rolled his eyes, his three S-Class mages looked amused as they stood waiting by the door.
"You heard me right. I'm making you a probationary S-Class mage."
"Am I high? Perhaps, but I don't think so. Maybe it's one of Screecher's illusions. Yeah, that's the most plausible solution, but where is he hiding?" Eric said with a frown as he looked around, Goldmine groaning as Bacchus burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Don't worry, kid! It's not an illusion."
"Huh, so you're actually making me an S-Class? What about the test in two days?"
"Pitting you against Screecher and Nobarly is like putting a Wyvern against two Vulcans: Extremely one-sided and not as fun to watch."
"Most of the guild won't agree with this." Eric spoke with a frown before it deepened as Goldmine smirked and looked past him.
"That's where I come in." Bacchus chimed in, making Eric turn to him as Goldmine continued speaking.
"How do you feel about being the star of the show along with Bacchus here?" Goldmine asked, smirking as Eric slowly turned to him with excitement gleaming in his eyes.
"Oh, do go on."
"Welcome to the final day of the Quatro Cerberus S-Class Exams Finals!" Guy exclaimed with a grin and a roar of cheers echoed throughout the stands of the coliseum, Eric blinking as he wondered just where the hell it came from.
"Master, am I just blind to the buildings of the town or was this always here?" Eric asked as he turned to Goldmine, Bacchus snickering as Goldmine rolled his eyes.
"Of course not. Guy made this yesterday with his magic."
"What kind of magic does he have to do this? Some kind of Earth Magic?"
"Nope. It's Mirror Magic and to give you a short explanation of the spell he used, he copies something using his Archive to scan its entire form before replicating it with his Mirror Magic."
"…Wait, so doesn't that mean he can just replicate every type of magic he comes across? That's not even mentioning the people who uses that magic." Eric asked with wide eyes as he realized how ridiculously powerful the man he knew as his short-term mentor actually was.
"Now you see why most of the guild leaves him alone. No one likes to hit with about twenty different kinds of spells at the same time." Bacchus said with a smirk, Eric just shaking his head in amazement as Goldmine snorted.
"He says that while having not only two Lost Magic, but one of them is an Ancient Magic that only a select few is able to use naturally." Eric just smirked at that before turning to the arena as Guy continued speaking.
"Today would have been triple threat fight between Eric, Screecher and Nobarly, but with the destruction Eric caused in the final match of the Semi-Finals, which gave me so much work, the master has decided to up the difficulty of his exam."
"I've already apologised for that!" Chuckles and giggles echoed through the arena as Eric shouted from the VIP booth, Guy just smirking before he continued as he gestured towards the two entrances on either side of him.
"Now, then! Nobarly! Screecher! Please make your way into the arena!" Cheers erupted from the crowd as the two men walked into the arena, Eric smirking at the serious looks on both of their faces as they stopped just a few paces away from each other with Guy in between them.
"We all know what's going to happen now! There are no tricks, no conditions and no added clauses. The first to knock his opponent out cold or get them to surrender is the winner and might become the new S-Class mage of the Quatro Cerberus Guild!" The crowd roared at that, both Nobarly and Screecher frowning in concentration as they nodded while Guy smiled as an Archive screen appeared below him.
"Now! Let's not waste the people's time anymore! May the match…begin!" A tense silence hung in the air as Guy used his screen to float up high into the air, neither Screecher nor Nobarly moving as they were entirely focused on their opponent.
Nobarly was still and silent as he kept his eyes on Screecher, watching his every move and not missing a single muscle twitch before his eyes widened as he saw Screecher taking a single step forward.
The world around him slowed to a crawl as he activated Hyper Mode with but a thought, grinning as he heard a soft hiss from his right and swiftly turned towards his invisible foe.
Swinging his right leg out for a kick to the skull, Nobarly frowned as he felt nothing before he grunted as something slammed into his left shin and had him stumbling backward.
However, he was not to take that lying as he hooked his other leg around the outstretched limb and rolled backwards with the blow, grinning as he felt a presence above him before a wheeze echoed through the air as Nobarly slammed his elbow up behind his head.
He gave a mental apology to Screecher as the man appeared with a shimmer of air while cradling his balls before he focused back on the battle and leapt onto his opponent's back.
Screecher's eyes widened as he felt Nobarly's arms & legs wrapping him in a chokehold before letting out a feral growl.
"Sonic Echo!" Screecher lived up to his name as he let out a supersonic screech, Nobarly's eyes widening as he felt his body lock up before his head snapped back as Screecher broke free and delivered a dropkick whilst flipping forward.
Rolling across the ground, Screecher spun before unleashing yet another sonic screech, Nobarly stumbling back from the first one before the second slammed into him like a MagiTruck and sent him skidding like a stone across the ground.
"Man, your heat's no joke." Screecher winced as he rubbed the skin around his neck and felt the burns already forming, letting out a soft wheeze as he felt his throat drying up.
"Y-Y-You're telling me!" Nobarly shouted as he blinked, making Screecher chuckle as he watched the Heat magic user sitting upright while blinking rapidly to stop his vision from spinning.
A soft and eerie whistle had his eyes widening as Nobarly's head snapped to where he last saw Screecher, only to curse as he saw that the mage had disappeared and left a horde of creepy green-skinned zombies in his place.
"Great." Nobarly muttered as he slowly stood up, stumbling a bit to get his feet under him before shaking his head to get rid of the last of the dizziness.
Scanning the arena while ignoring the zombies running through him, he frowned as he couldn't feel anything before his senses screamed at him to dodge.
Following them, he moved to the side and blinked as he saw a rock sailing past his face before grunting as a punch slammed into his side, reaching out and cursing as his fingers just barely brushed against the outstretched arm.
"Fine, then! I guess it's time to go Super!" Nobarly roared as he unleashed the full brunt of his ethernano, Screecher's voice echoing with pain as a scorching heat burned away all of the illusions around him.
Quickly looking back at his opponent, Screecher's eyes widened at the warping pillar of heat around Nobarly, the air itself twisting with each of his movements as the ground under him charred and cracked.
Before he could even think, his world went white as a scorching fist slammed into his chest, sending him flying across the arena before he gasped as he slammed back first into arena wall.
However, he quickly shook his head and tuned back into the battle just as Nobarly skidded to a stop in front of him with a fist pulled back, his eyes widening as an ecstatic grin spread across his face and he opened his mouth.
"Supersonic Mayhem!" Screecher roared and Nobarly's eyes widened as his fist slammed into a solid wall of air before he felt himself being lifted off of his feet & sent flying through the air.
Flipping around to land on his feet, he dug his heels into the ground to stop his momentum before he blinked at the soft melody echoing in his mind, blinking as he saw Screecher leaping from the wall with a smirk as he continued to whistle.
Frowning as he lifted his left hand up, Nobarly's eyes widened as his right leg responded instead, stumbling a bit from the abrupt movement before he gasped as a boot smashed into his chest & buried him into the ground.
Thinking of moving his right arm to block the follow-up stomp, he gritted his teeth as his left arm moved instead and smacked the kick away before he wheezed as an elbow slammed into his chest and cracked the ground around them.
"Give up. I can whistle the entire day and even if you get used to the melody, I can just switch the frequencies and switch which limb works with which." Screecher said even as he continued whistling, Nobarly gritting his teeth as he struggled to even roll over before letting out a sighing groan and nodded.
"I give!" He spoke loudly for Guy to hear, the crowd standing up & clapping as Guy landed next to them.
"Good decision. An S-Class mage knows what battle is worth fighting and what battle is not." He spoke with a soft smile as Nobarly dismissed his spell and took the outstretched hand, Screecher groaning as he rubbed the pinkish-red burn bruise on his chest as well as his sore throat.
"I swear that's the most I've had to try in a while to finish a fight. A few more seconds and I would have given up."
"Wait, you were bluffing?" Nobarly asked in surprise, making Guy snort as Screecher shrugged.
"Of course. I'm not the brawny type like the rest of the guild. I'm the trickster that hits and hides to win a fight."
"That is why you're one of the strongest in the guild. Unlike the rest of these idiots, you think outside the box."
"Oi!" The guild mages exclaimed at that, Guy giving an unashamed grin as the two mages next to him just shook their heads.
"Screecher!" Goldmine's voice echoed throughout the arena, silencing everyone as the mage in question alone with his opponent turned to their guild master.
Goldmine was entirely focused on Screecher as the mage looked back, a long silence hanging in the air before the master smiled and nodded.
"Meet me in my office after the final battle and we'll discuss the results of your match. Nobarly, you too."
"Yes, master." Both Nobarly and Screecher nodded, but neither could keep the smirks from their faces as they made their way out of the arena, Guy smirking as he sent out a pulse of ethernano that restored the arena back to its pristine form before he looked at the VIP booth.
"Now, for the one most of you are curious about! With his defeat of Leo and his display of power, Eric has already been promoted to S-Class, BUT! His rank is only temporary." Guy cut off the boos before they could even start, confusing everyone as they turned to see Eric walking out of the entrance on Guy's left.
Their eyes then widened and whispers broke out as Bacchus walked out from the entrance on the opposite side of the arena, Eric smirking as Bacchus stopped a few metres away from him.
The air was tense as the two men just looked at each other, their ethernano already twisting and churning the atmosphere around them as Guy was floating in the air on an Archive screen.
"However, he felt that he isn't worthy of it, so he's put a challenge forward! All he has to do is impress all four of us S-Class mages of Quatro and show us that he is worthy of being amongst our ranks. If not, he will be banned from partaking in the S-Class exams for the next decade. That is a decision that he has put forward on his own."
"What?!"
"Is he insane?! I would have taken it!"
"That's why you're not there fighting Bacchus, stupid!" Flare frowned in concern as she sat next to Warcry at the front row of the stands before blinking as she felt a pat on her shoulder, blinking as she saw Jäger giving her a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry about your boyfriend. He may not be as strong as I am, but when the guy says that he's going to do something, he's going to do it."
"Well, well. I've never expected those words from your mouth." Rocker said with a smirk and Jäger scoffed as he crossed his arms.
"That's because I know my rival. The man may be irritating, but he's not someone who'll make an empty promise."
"Thank you, Jäger." Flare said with a smile, making the giant snort as he shook his head.
"No problem."
"Bacchus, before we start. I just have one thing to say." Eric spoke up as Guy started their match, Bacchus blinking before gesturing for him to continue.
"This is your one chance to go all-out on me. I'm not going to be playing around as I will actually be trying to knock you out so unless you want to be defeated by me, I'd suggest drinking right now while you can as I will not be giving you a chance to." Eric spoke with a frown as he felt his ethernano pulsing in his body with glee, watching as Bacchus blinked before the man grinned as he chuckled lowly.
"Then, show me. Beat me in front of everyone and prove yourself superior, Cerberus." Bacchus growled with a feral smile, to which Eric just sighed as he nodded.
"I did warn you." And in the blink of an eye, Eric took off his blindfold as his shirt was burned away by deep crimson flames, Bacchus' eyes widening at the tattoos that adorned his body as well as the crimson scales that covered parts of his face, chest and arms.
"Hell Flame Roar!" Eric opened his mouth as a monstrous magic crest appeared in front of him, a dull glow shining at the back of his throat before the world was dyed red as a sea of scorching crimson flames erupted from his mouth.
"Mountain Splitter." Bacchus chanted as he went into his combat mode, clapping his hands together in prayer before bringing them down as fast as he could, the sea of flames instantly being snuffed out by a vacuum blade.
However, Bacchus' grin widened as Eric appeared in front of the blink of an eye, his left arm flashing out and catching the hook to his temple while his right leg snapped out to catch a kick to his side.
Eric just grinned as he hooked his outstretched leg around Bacchus' own while his right hand gripped Bacchus' left, the Palm Magic mage's eyes widening as he felt Eric's left leg pulling him closer before his head snapped back as a fist coated in crimson aura slammed into his forehead.
Feeling himself being pushed away, he quickly flipped back and dodged the axe-kick from Eric, spinning through the air to evade a leg sweep before easily dropping into a split as Eric tried to land a roundhouse.
"Air Cannon." Bacchus chanted as he slammed his right palm into Eric's unguarded chest, the mage gasping as he felt the air being knocked out of him and stumbled backwards.
"Phew! Not bad." Bacchus said with a grin as he spat out a glob of blood, Eric doing the same as he wiped away the spittle on his chin and grinned.
"But not enough." Bacchus continued with a frown before he blurred forward, Eric's world slowing down to a snail's crawl as he blocked a palm aimed at his chest.
Ducking under a chop from his left, Eric blocked the follow-up kick barrage before leaping backwards as Bacchus brought his free hand down in a downwards chop, frowning at the crevice carved into the ground before he lunged forward.
The world around them exploded in fire and shock waves as the two men fighters clashed at a blistering pace, Eric's punches & palm strikes blocked parried by Bacchus' own while the mage in questioned unleashed air cannon after air cannon only for Eric to block them with expertly timed fire blasts.
"Heavenly Palm Strike!" Bacchus roared as he parried another fist aimed at his chest before sending his palm flying forward, Eric grunting as he unleashed a burst of flames from his arms to block the attack before his eyes widened as the force from the blow slammed his arms into his own chest.
Gritting his teeth as he felt Bacchus' attack trying to break through his guard, his eyes widened as he got a suicidal idea before Bacchus' eyes widened as Eric pulled his arms away and took the blow.
Eric's eyes rolled into the back of his head as pain exploded in his chest, feeling his ribs snapping under the attack before he roared as he wrapped his arms around Bacchus and unleashed a furious flaming blast from under his feet that rocketed the two of them high into the air.
'GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!' Guy shouted in his mind as he blasted up after the two, cursing both fighters hundreds of times in his mind as he watched Eric carry the two of them upwards until they pierced the clouds.
Eric gave a bloody grin as he let go of Bacchus and continued flying upwards, spinning around as the Palm Magic mage didn't waste any time to reach for his gourd & downed its contents in one giant gulp.
Eric smirked as he clasped his hands together in prayer with his right index finger poking upwards, taking a deep breath before he began to chant.
"Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy. Boil forth and deny. Polarized Light. Unite. Repulse. Between Front and Back. Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness." Eric chanted as he unclasped his hands and pointed at Bacchus, the mage's eyes widening at the abyssal black orb slowly floating in front of Eric.
Even from hundreds of meters away, Bacchus grinned in anticipation as he felt the corrosive power from the orb hungrily gorging itself on the ambient ethernano in the atmosphere.
'He wasn't kidding about going all-out.' Bacchus thought with a proud smile as he slammed his palms together, chanting lowly under his breath as ethernano flowed into his hands.
"Gravito Secret Art: Hollow Black Coffin." Eric finished his chant as he pulled his index finger back before flicking it towards the orb in front of him, watching with a satisfied smile as the orb shot forward at a blistering pace towards his foe.
"Be proud, Eric! You're the first to make me use this!" Eric blinked at Bacchus' shout before his eyes widened as he saw Bacchus fully unleash his ethernano, the world itself roaring in glee as he watched the mage pull his hands apart and lift his right hand in a chop form.
"Sky Splitter!" Bacchus roared as he slashed downwards with all his might, Eric's eyes widening as he looked up and saw the clouds in the path of his attack visibly splitting before he looked back to see his orb warping as it was cut into two.
'…Maybe thinking that I could take Bacchus on wasn't such a good idea..' Eric thought with a shake of his head as he looked down at his chest, staring at the deep cut that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip gritting his teeth as he unleashed flames from his teeth that burned the scar shut.
"FUCK!" Eric roared as he fell to the ground, Bacchus smirking as he fell next to him before Eric sighed as he flipped around and caught himself with his flames while using his Gravity to slow down his fellow mage's descend.
"I thought you weren't going to give me a chance to power up?" Bacchus asked with a smirk, making Eric roll his eyes as the two of them landed on the ground, the rest of the crowd stunned silent as Eric spoke.
"I want to keep going, but most of my moves are too destructive."
"Go ahead, Eric. I'll rebuild the town." Guy spoke up, making Eric blink as he turned to the mage before turning to Goldmine, who sighed as he nodded.
"You can't impress us if you keep holding back. Besides, I'm guessing that the only reason you took Bacchus that far up is because you were afraid of harming anyone here, right?" Eric just smirked as he nodded, making Goldmine roll his eyes as Bacchus grinned.
"Well, there you go! Show this old timer just how strong you really are!" Bacchus spoke with a grin and Eric just smirked as he shook his head before he nodded, everyone watching as he lifted the thumb of his right hand before their eyes widened as he slammed it straight into the middle of his chest.
"Hell Flame Dragon King: Awaken!"
A/N: Another chapter, another week!
For those wondering, it is most definitely not the same type of ability that Natsu got from Igneel, not even close. It's more of a Dragon Force type of ability so Eric will still get a power boost, but not to the same level as the Dragon King type of boost.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!