"…What?" That was the only word Eric could muster as the rest of his mind was still processing what Flare just said, making the redhead giggle.

"You heard right. Veronica offered us the opportunity to be nobles & two of the king's closest confidants. Not just that, but we would also have our own manor here in Crocus."

"W-Wait, is she allowed to offer that? Shouldn't the King or Hisui be the one to offer this?" Eric asked with a frown, to which Flare smiled & nodded.

"Yes, the king asked her to ask us since she is the royal family member that we are closest to."

"I see. What did you say?"

"I told her I'd ask you since I know you would rather stay as a mage with Quatro Cerberus than sit around in a mansion all day & do nothing."

'Truthfully, I want to say no since there's still the threat of Alvarez & the Spriggan 12 and Acnologia, but I also don't know what I'm going to do after that since I don't want my entire life to be nothing but fighting. That and…perhaps starting a family sounds like a fun challenge to do.'

"Um, if you don't like the offer, we can just say no." Flare's words cut Eric from his internal monologue, the dragon slayer tuning out of his thoughts to see her looking a bit worried before letting out a soft chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Be honest. How do you feel about it?"

"T-Truthfully?" She asked hesitantly, Eric nodding with a smile and she sighed before answering.

"I…I want to accept. You know that I never had some place I could truly call home and while the guild is a home, I want one that I can call our home. I'm also not as much of a fighter as the rest of you all and I guess I want to have a house when westartafamily." Eric was amused at how quickly & softly Flare rambled the last part, the girl blushing before her eyes widened as the man leaned closer & placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Can I be truthful now?"

"Y-Yeah."

"While I do love the guild & I have some liking for a fun battle-"

"You love it." Flare interrupted, Eric simply rolling his eyes as she giggled.

"Fine. While I adore having fun battles, I don't want that to be my entire life. Not just that, but one day when we do start a family, I want it to be a place where I know they & you will be safe."

"When?" Flare whispered softly to herself with slightly wide eyes before they widened even more as Eric pulled a hand from her waist and tilted her chin to have their eyes meet.

"Yes, when. Now, I know that we've barely known each other for less than a year, but I fell in love with you the moment we saw each other. Every day I wake up to your smile is a day that I know will be incredible. Therefore, I have one question to ask you?" Flare's eyes widened as she felt herself being picked up from Eric's lap and made to stand upright, a soft gasp escaping her lips as Eric knelt on one knee while a flash of scarlet flames enveloped his hands as he held them up.

The moment the flames disappeared, her eyes grew teary at the sight of a rose-gold ring with a crimson ruby, the same colour as her hair, studded onto it.

"Flare Corona, will you do me the honour of becoming my bride?"

"Yes."

"Wait, yes?" Eric asked in excitement, Flare nodding as she held her hand out and joy flooded his body as he took the ring out and slowly slid it onto her finger.

"Of course, yes. What other answer did you expect?" She said as he stood up, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a searing kiss before the dragon slayer could respond.

'Ah, time for my new life to begin.'


"Damn, kid. You move fast." Bacchus said with a grin as they all watched Eric & Flare walking into the inn, instantly catching the glint of scarlet on her ring which the others noticed just moments later.

"WHAT?!"

"Calm down, you idiots!" Goldmine shouted over them all, the excited guild calming down as the guild master looked at both of his mages with a frown.

A moment later, Eric rolled his eyes and Flare giggled as they were wrapped up in a tight hug, the guild cheering as Goldmine pulled away from the hug with a bright grin.

"Congratulations, you two! Now, just a few more years and we'll have our own little Eric tearing up the place."

"W-What?!" Flare exclaimed, her face just as bright as Eric's as the dragon slayer palmed his face while Bacchus cackled in the background.

"Drinks on me!" Guy said loudly with a smirk, the guild cheering at that as Eric sighed.

"Hah, why did we think this was a good idea?"

"Because you couldn't leave your friends out of such a big moment. Good luck with the idiot." Screecher said to Flare with a smile, to which the redhead giggled as Eric grumbled.

"Oi, I ain't that bad."

"Oh no, you're worse." The Sonic mage answered with a shrug, to which Eric simply huffed before turning as a large pair of arms wrapped around me.

"Ah, my rival! First you become stronger and now you're engaged before me! I shall beat you by becoming a father before you!" Jäger exclaimed with a grin, to which Eric simply smirked as he patted his friend on the shoulder.

"You'll have to find a woman who loves you first, big buddy. Now, can you put me down before Flare rips me from your own?" Jäger blinked at that before grinning as he nodded, Flare smiling as Jäger gave her a soft pat on the shoulders before walking back into the crowd.

"…Think that Risley girl would like him?" Flare whispered to Eric, to which he simply raised an eyebrow.

"You're just trying to make sure no one can take me away, aren't you?"

"Oh, definitely."

"…He's most likely a bit too eccentric for her, but give me a few months and he'll be a whole new man. After that, it's all on him."

"Not even married and you're already trying to plan someone else's?" Bacchus spoke with a lopsided grin before ducking down with a cackle, Flare's hair and Eric's flame retracting as the two huffed in unison.

"Shut up, Bacchus."


"Welcome back everyone to Day 3 of X791's Grand Magic GAMES!" The crowd roared at the announcer's words, Eric waiting for the day's challenge as he stretched.

"Who wants to take today?" He asked the Quatro Team, who all looked at each other before blinking as they all pointed at him.

"For today and tomorrow, you're up for the first rounds since you took too long yesterday to finish your match."

"What do you mean? I fought her as hard as I could."

"You held back and you kept talking with her." Leo said with a smirk, to which Eric grumbled as the others chuckled before Bacchus spoke up.

"Besides, the rest of us need to showcase our abilities as well or else it will look like we're piggybacking off of you. That and you got first place last time so you can get us another few."

"…Eh, sure thing." Eric agreed with a shrug, making the team roll their eyes before turning as they heard Mako begin speaking.

"Now then, will all participants of the first round for today please come to the arena floor?"

"That's your cue and remember, first place!" Screecher said to Eric as the mage walked towards the railing, to which Eric simply chuckled & nodded as he leapt from the balcony & onto the arena floor.

"And it looks like the guilds are all sending in powerhouses! From Sabretooth, Orga! From Lamia Scale, Jura! From Blue Pegasus, Hibiki! From Raven Tail, Obra! From Mermaid Heel, Millianna! From Quatro Cerberus, Eric! From Fairy Tail Team A, Erza! And from Fairy Tail Team B, Cana!"

"I've always wanted to compare myself to a Wizard Saint." Eric heard Orga say as the man came to a stand still next to him and Jura, to which the Wizard Saint chuckled while stroking his beard.

"Believe me, Sir Orga, I am not as strong as people claim me to be."

"That is quite the lie you are telling there, Sir Jura. Nothing hides from my eyes." Eric cut in with a smirk and the two men turned to them, Jura simply humming as he felt Eric's eyes exuding ethernano.

"I see. I've heard the rumours of your special eyes, but it's a sight to see them in person. I assume you are looking at the ethernano inside my body."

"It's more of a rough estimate I make by looking at the ambient ethernano your body gives off and then calculating how much you actually have by using a series of complex processes using the Archive spell I engraved into my eyes."

"…What?" Orga asked with his eyes slightly wide, Eric grinning at the slight shock on Jura's face as he shrugged.

"Like I said, quite the complex process."

"I must say, being able to use Archive by emulating the entire process in your head instead of physically manifesting your device is quite impressive, Eric." Hibiki said with a smirk, to which Eric chuckled as he nodded.

"Thank you for the praise, Hibiki."

"Uh, it's nice to see everyone being so well acquainted with each other, but we must start the round now or else the crowd will get rowdy & dissatisfied." Mako cut off their discussion with a sheepish grin, to which the mages simply gave their own sheepish chuckles & nodded.

"Now, the third round is called Pandemonium."

'Should I cheat by getting number one using my eyes? That would be the best plan, but then I would just feel like shit for taking away Erza's chance to shine. Well, there was also the fifth day battle royale where she showed the world what she can do, but is that enough? Wait, why am I caring for that? I'm here to make Quatro shine in the spotlight and that's what I'm going to do…but at the cost of knowing that I took the spotlight away from her? Am I really as big of a dickhead to try and do that?…Fuck, I hate my morality.'

"Now, everyone, please draw your lots." Eric blinked as he tuned back in just to hear Mako finish his explanation, holding out his hands just as an ornate box appeared in his hands, eight sticks pointing out from the hole in the middle of the box.

Before he could take his first step, Erza was already in front of Mako and pulling out her stick, a green magic circle appearing at the end of the stick with a glowing white '1' in the middle of it.

"Looks like you're number one, Ms. Erza." Mako said with a grin as Erza stood back, before blinking as a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Good luck." Eric said with a soft smile and Erza smiled back as she nodded, Eric waiting until everyone went before walking forward and picking up the final stick, smirking at the glowing '8' staring back at him.

"And with that, we now start Pandemonium! How many monsters will you face, Erza? Remember, being greedy could lead to your downfall." Mako said and Eric smirked as they all watched Erza walking forward with a confident look in her eyes.

'Time to sit back & enjoy the show.'


"I-I-Incredible! With a showcase of power, beauty & skill, Erza Scarlet defeats the S-Class monster and takes ten points for Fairy Tail Team A!"

'Yep, just as cool as I remember it to be in the show.' Eric thought with a nostalgic smile as Erza limped out of the Pandemonium tower, which slowly vanished back into its black magic circle.

All around them, the crowd was cheering wildly at Erza's win, the other competitors now all a bit more serious than before as Fairy Tail Team A congratulated their leader.

"It appears that Fairy Tail are still as powerful as they were in the past." Jura said with a smirk, Eric smirking at the man's words before turning as Orga spoke.

"Hah, I don't like this."

"Why? Because you'll actually have to work now?" Eric asked, chuckling as Orga grumbled.

"Yes, I can't be lazy now."

"Don't worry. Whether you try or not, you'll probably come second to Quatro." Eric said with a grin as he patted the man on the shoulder, to which the god slayer gave him an annoyed look before both turned as Jura cleared his throat.

"While I do like your confidence, Sir Eric, you must have forgotten that I am here."

"Oh, I didn't. Good luck fighting against Orga for second place." Jura simply chuckled at Eric's words as Orga scoffed before the three men along with the rest of the men turned as Mako floated towards them

"With Erza having defeated all one hundred monsters, we still need to rank the other seven teams. Thus, the committee have come to a simple solution. The Magic Power Finder-kabo!" As Mako finished speaking, a blue spark of ethernano appeared besides him before a floating object encasing a small blue orb appeared next to the pumpkin man.

"When hit by an attack, it will calculate the magic power in the attack and give out a numerical value for it. Therefore, I must warn you to use your strongest attacks to win."

"Am I correct in guessing that we will be ranked from highest to lowest depending on our score?" Hibiki asked as he typed rapidly on his Archive screen, to which Mako chuckled & nodded.

"That is correct-kabo! Also, we shall be going in the order that you drew lots and the highest score will be taking second place for the round. Now then, let's begin!"

"I'm up first, then!" Millianna exclaimed with glee as she gripped her coat before throwing it off in one movement, Eric blinking as he saw her wearing nothing but black & red underwear with purple stocking & knee-high boots.

'…I thought it was just the anime, but I guess she loves it in this universe too.'

"Kitten Blast!" Eric watched as a light violet magic crest appeared in front of Millianna before a spiralling blast of ethernano of the same colour shot out and exploded against the orb.

Watching as the blue orb glowed, Eric's eyes turned into a vivid scarlet as he looked into the orb itself and looked on in awe as hundreds upon hundreds of jutsu shiki written in the Ancient Dialect lit up.

'If I'm becoming a noble, I'm using every bit of my power for the chance to experiment with it.' Eric thought with a happy grin as a '365' appeared above the orb, deactivating his eyes with a blink while the crowd murmured in confusion.

"Uh, is that good, Lahar?"

"Indeed. We of the Rune Knights also use the MPF for training and that is quite the high score, enough to be on par with that of a captain's."

"Well, you heard it here, folks! Millianna takes the lead with an incredible score!" The crowd finally cheered at that as Millianna skipped back to the line, Eric watching as Hibiki walked forward.

"Next up is Hibiki from Blue Pegasus."

'Last I remember, his score was almost one hundred, right?' Eric wondered with a frown before humming as Hibiki sent a screen flying at the orb and made it exploded, a bit amused at the man falling to his knees in disbelief as a '95' appeared above the orb.

"A-Almost a hundred! W-Well done, Hibiki." Eric had to chuckle at how even the announcer was trying to keep Hibiki's spirit high before frowning as Obra walked to the front.

The man didn't even gather his ethernano as a tribal puppet flew out of his cloak and impacted the MPF, a '4' appearing above the orb just as Obra turned and walked away.

"Uh…good job?" The announcer said with slight confusion, Eric frowning as he watched the silent mage walk back to stand in the line.

"Preserving his skill? That will cost his guild." Eric heard Jura say before turning as he heard Orga groan.

"My turn." The god slayer spoke as he walked forward, Eric grinning as sparks of black & yellow electricity flowed around his body.

Watching as the man's ethernano began to make the air around him spark, Eric watched as Orga cupped his hands in front of him while pointing the palms towards the MPF, sparks of black electricity appeared in between his hands.

"120 mm Black Lightning Cannon." With a simple chant, a black-yellow magic crest appeared in front of Orga before it unleashed a stream of black lightning with yellow edges, impacting the MPF with a deafening boom.

"O-O-Over four thousand?! W-With over ten times Millianna's score, Orga takes the lead!"

'Oh, he's definitely stronger than his canon variant.' Eric thought with a hum as he stared at the '4981' floating above the orb, Jura chuckling as the Wizard Saint stroked his beard.

"Indeed, he can. Unfortunately, it appears that I must steal the spotlight from him."

"It appears that Jura of the Wizard Saints is up next! Can he beat Orga's impressive score?!"

"Is it okay if I go serious?" Eric heard Jura ask, chuckling as Mako nodded his head innocently before grinning as he watched the monk close his eyes.

It was silent for a few moments as all that was heard from Jura was him taking deep breaths, the crowd also silent as no one dared to speak before his eyes snapped open.

"Rumbling Mt. Fuji!" One moment, it was silent. The next, the earth under the MPF erupted as a colossal beam of light tore the sky above it asunder.

"9-9337! With that impressive spell, Jura takes the first place!"

"Damn." Orga spoke with wide eyes, Eric's eyes just as wide as he slowly nodded in agreement before quickly turning as he saw Cana stumbling forward.

'If he's also been given a buff...just how goddamn powerful is Fairy Glitter going to be?'

"We are up to our second to last member and truthfully people, I don't believe that anyone could beat Sir Jura's score, but I could be proven wrong as Cana of Fairy Tail Team B takes the field." Eric ignored the announcer as he kept his eyes entirely focused on Cana before frowning as he couldn't see any ethernano exuding from the tattoo on her arm, even as she took off her top and revealed the Glitter tattoo to the naked eye.

"Gather! O river of light that's guided by the fairies!" As Cana began chanting her spell, Eric's frown deepened as he couldn't see any hint of ethernano or magic energy leaking from Cana despite how she was obscured by a pillar of golden ethernano.

"Shine! In order to perish the fangs of evil!" As the energy gathered into a hoop-like shape around the orb, Eric's eyes widened as he was finally able to see a hint of Fairy Glitter, though he gave a defeated sigh as he saw nothing but pure bright light in front of him.

'I guess there's a reason no one has been able to copy it. Man, now I really want to learn it.' Eric groaned even as Cana's spell impacted the MPF, completely obliterating the device before he blinked while everyone looked on in awe at the '9999' floating in the air.

'Wait, how the hell am I going to get my mark now?'

"T-The device broke! With one single spell, Cana of Fairy Tail Team B has completely destroyed the MPF and scored the highest possible score she could."

"Huh, so what about me?" Eric asked out loud, drawing everyone's attention before Cana gave a sheepish giggle.

"Uh, right. Sorry about that."

"It's of no problem. I guess I get the average or something?" He asked as he turned to Mako, who didn't answer as he simply snapped his fingers..

'Right, they train with these. It makes sense that they have another one if one broke by some random miracle.' Eric thought with a smirk as he watched another MPF appeared besides Mako, who simply chuckled as he moved away from it.

"You don't mind if this one gets destroyed too, right?" Eric asked, everyone a bit amused & surprised at his confidence as Mako looked surprised.

"If you can, go ahead."

'Okay then. Time to show off.' Calming his mind, Eric began taking deep breaths, closing his eyes and letting his ethernano build up before he grinned as he flipped the switch.

The next moment, Eric's grin turned feral as the temperature around him grew hotter, everyone taking a slight step back as the mage held his hand out to the side and the Dragon Cry appeared in his grasp with a flash of scarlet flames.

"Dragon Cry: Activate!" Eric chanted and for a moment, the temperature went back to normal as Eric's flames disappeared, the mage simply smirking as he pointed the staff at the MPF.

The next moment, the world was bathed in hellfire as a scarlet inferno ripped the sky & earth asunder, the temperature skyrocketing as the other mages leapt away as fast as they could.

"Eric! Cancel!" Eric barely heard Bacchus over the flames and frowned as he quickly deactivated his spell before giving a sheepish grin at the utter destruction around him.

"B-But I haven't even started."

A/N: Like I said on my Pat-reon, sorry for the late upload, but when you've been stuck in a meeting for four hours, you tend to forget about the other stuff you had planned for the day and writing half of the latest chapter in an hour was not fun.

Also, yes, I know I'm making it seem like Eric is stronger than everyone and that they are all in awe of his abilities, but when you can unleash enough ethernano to rival that of the Four Gods of Ishgar(with help of the Dragon Cry) while you've been a mage for barely over a year, people tend to be in awe of you no matter where you go.

Also, for those mad that he's cheating with the Dragon Cry...eh, tough luck. He can use it as many times as he wanted because it is unique to him. You have to love plot-holes & loop holes.

Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories(Not many. Just three at the moment). If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...

Ba-Bye~!