Chapter 10
After finishing my morning routine and getting just a little bit closer to figuring out Devil Magic, I returned back inside, eagerly rushing over to the packages that Levy brought with her from Fairy Hill.
I started with the big one first, quickly shredding the packaging and finding a slick and slim armor inside. There was a note next to it, stating that they had made it as strong as possible while adding a really good feature to it. I could channel my Magic Power through the armor, and it would absorb a certain amount that it could later use to form a barrier around me, automatically protecting me from harm. They also mentioned that the armor could take at least a couple of more Enchantments, and they left those for me to figure out.
I was satisfied with it since that was an incredible ability as I was still a bit frail in comparison to other Mages. Unless I was using my Beast Soul, of course. I was more than twice as durable when taking the form of Kamina, after all.
I quickly donned the armor and checked myself in a fancy mirror. I looked quite dashing, in my opinion.
Nodding in satisfaction, I moved onto the swords. They were two identical blades, and I inspected them from all angles before taking a look at the note. The people from Heart Kreuz had made them as durable and as sharp as possible, which was perfectly fine with me. However, they said that both weapons could take on one more Enchantment, which they left for me to decide on what I want it to be.
Gained Enchanted Mythril Armor: +200 armor to magical and physical attacks. Can store up to 1500 Mana and turn that into a protective barrier that will automatically protect the user from harm when attacked. 1 Mana equals 1 point of Health for the barrier. Can be Enchanted at least two more times.
Gained 2x Adamantium Swords: Adamantium Sword: +250 to battle rolls. +125 to damage rolls. Nearly indestructible. Can be Enchanted at least one more time.
While I was checking out my new equipment, I noticed something odd about my Status. Namely that there was now a Titles section that had only one listed underneath it, Cooking Wizard.
Confused, I tried figuring out what that meant for me, and I found out it made all the food I prepared supernaturally good. That wasn't a bad thing, though I couldn't help but wonder if I could get more titles and what their effects would be.
However, I first had to figure out how to get more titles. Cooking Wizard was something that the Sorcerer Magazine called me due to the interview with Jason. Perhaps those titles were based on the way people viewed me? If so, how would I go about getting different titles? I guess performing great feats in front of others and having them spread the tale about me could work.
Title system unlocked. The more words spreads about us, the more benefits we will gain. Current titles:
Cooking Wizard: All types of food taste supernaturally good. +60 to all Cooking rolls, including EXP ones.
While I was trying to figure out this title business, Levy returned to the house alongside with Cana. They seemed to be getting along, so I figured they had talked it out and everything was fine now.
"Hey," I greeted the two, showing off my new armor to them.
"See?" Cana said, pointing at me before looking smugly at Levy.
"Yes…" Levy replied with a sigh. "I see."
"Together we stand a much better chance against the Demon," Cana continued, and Levy nodded, agreeing with her words.
"Yeah, especially if those two return back to their old selves," Levy replied, shivering a little by just imagining whatever she was referring to.
"Is everything okay?" I asked, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Just peachy!" Cana answered with a large smile.
"Yep, everything is fine," Levy replied with a small smile of her own. She stepped closer, giving me a quick kiss before pulling back. "Have fun on your Job."
"Come, pretty boy!" Cana wrapped her arms around mine and began pulling me towards the Guild. I turned back to look at Levy, who gave me a thumbs up before entering my house.
"So…" I trailed off as I watched Cana enthusiastically lead me towards the Guild. "We are going on a Job?"
"We are," she confirmed with a nod. "And then we can go on a date after."
"A date?" I asked with a tilt of my head.
"Got to get to know each other better before we jump into bed," Cana replied with a smug grin as she winked at me.
"Wait, what?" I stopped in place. "You do know I'm in a relationship with Levy, right?"
"Yep." Cana nodded, grin still on her face. "And she's okay with as long as we all get along."
I blinked my eyes, trying to process what she just told me. I felt like I needed to talk it out with Levy, just to make sure I understood that right. I liked what we had going on with her, and I didn't want to ruin it. However… I didn't think I'd mind having an even bigger family.
"Let's hurry, pretty boy," Cana's words snapped me out of my thoughts. "I want to complete our Job as quickly as possible before we can have some fun times."
"You already picked one?" I asked as I began moving my feet.
"Mhm." She nodded her head. "Since you did such a great job with the investigation one, I figured we could do another one like those. I even used my Divination to find the closest location we should check out."
"And what did you find out?" I asked, realizing exactly how good her Magic was for things like this, making me feel stupid for not asking for her help when I went around investigating the nobles here.
"That we can find something over at Oshibana," Cana answered with a grin. "And what makes it even better is that there's only a single noble there. As long as we are quick about it, we can get this done in a few hours at most!"
"Alright then, that sounds like a plan," I said as I summoned one of my wolves, sending it over to stay at my house, so I could inform Levy if anything happened. Plus, I wanted to ask her if she could figure out a way to Enchant my armor so it could morph with my form when I used my Beast Soul. I also made sure to charge up the barrier by feeding it enough Mana, figuring out that it capped at one thousand and six hundred.
"Are we taking the train?" I asked as we were making our way to the train station if I wasn't wrong. "Or would you like to ride on my wolf. I'm fairly sure it's just as fast a train after how much I worked on it."
"Ha!" Cana barked a laugh and grinned at me. "Alright, pretty boy! Take me on a wild ride!"
We left Magnolia, riding on one of my wolves. Cana sat in front of me, leaning back against me while I had my arms wrapped around her. To make sure she wouldn't fall off, of course.
"So, where will you take me on a date, pretty boy?" She asked as we traveled.
"Ah, I'm not sure," I replied at first, taking a moment to think about it. "I haven't really been on a date before."
"Really?" Cana looked back with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't gone on any with Levy?"
"I mean, we spend a lot of time reading together, and I do enjoy cooking for her…" I said, trailing off for a moment, remembering our time in Roza. "Oh, and we did go shopping once together. Does that count?"
"Maybe," Cana replied, pausing for a moment. "I wouldn't mind a nice meal made by you and a lot of alcohol. Both are equally important."
"That shouldn't be too hard to do," I nodded, already making a plan about it. The food was easy, especially since I even had a nice new title for it. And the alcohol would be just as easy to get. I just had to find a place that sold a lot of it.
Soon after, we reached Oshibana, and it didn't take us long to find out the home of the mayor of this little town. He was the only noble around here, so he was our guy.
"So, how do you want to do this?" Cana asked as we observed the manor from a distance away and offered her own solution to this Job. "Just charge in and break everything until we find some evidence of his wrong doing?"
That certainly sounded like how a normal Fairy Tail Mage would handle this, but I wasn't sure it was the best option here.
"How about we find the evidence first before deciding on how to handle the situation with the mayor?" I offered instead.
"I guess we can do it the boring way," Cana replied, looking down at her feet as she kicked a pebble away.
"How good are you at sneaking?" I asked while transforming into my panther. "I can merge with shadows with this form, and I'm incredibly hard to spot in the darkness."
"Oh! Watch this!" Cana exclaimed as she summoned the metal wolf with her new cards before taking out one of the monsters we hadn't figured out how to use.
"I summon Shadow Ghoul," she declared and the mechanical monster burst into light before forming into a new one that had way too many weird-looking eyes for my liking, causing me to step away from it due to its appearance.
"I figured out how to summon those other monsters after playing around, and this one has an ability similar to what you just described since it can merge with shadows as well!" Cana explained as I watched the grotesque monster with a grimace. "It can merge with your shadow and accompany you inside."
"That… sounds like a plan," I said with a sigh. "And I can have my wolf here with you to ensure we can talk through my Telepathy."
"Even better!" Cana nodded as we formulated our plan. The grotesque creature then merged with my shadow as I made my way over to the manor, trying to spot an easy way for me to enter inside.
After circling the place while doing my best to stay out of sight, I managed to find a way inside. It was through the backdoor of the manor, and I didn't even need to unlock it since I could just go underneath it with my Shadow Magic. Unfortunately, that meant i had to share space with the Shadow Ghoul and… that wasn't something I wanted to do ever again.
'Bah, you're just acting like a big baby,' Cana told me over the connection. 'It ain't that bad.'
It was, but I just pushed through this feeling, doing my best to ignore its presence. I was now inside the building, and it was time to see what I could find here. Thankfully, Cana was nearby, so I could always her to direct me with her Divination.
I had to be careful since there weren't that many shadows around, and I had to stay in my hybrid form to ensure the Shadow Ghoul had a place to hide. It's appearance was way too eye-catching, making me doubt it was as good as me when sneaking around.
Carefully, I made my way around the manor, taking a moment to inspect every room along the way. There weren't that many servants here, so it was a fairly easy job, though I did end up finding a pair of staff going wild in one of the rooms. I left them to their fun and continued inspecting everything while Cana directed me from the outside. 'What we are looking for is on the third floor.'
'Got it,' I replied as I slowly and carefully moved up the stairs before reaching the third floor. I showed her what I saw by sending the image through Telepathy and waited for her response.
'Room at the end of the hallway,' she informed me, and I followed her direction. Once I neared the door, I heard a couple of voices from within the room.
"A pleasure doing business with you," a male voice said.
"The pleasure is all ours," replied another male voice. "Finding Jobs has been a hell since the Magic Council banned assassination ones, but thankfully there are people like you who know of our importance.
"Well, just make sure Petnelly is taken care of, and I will keep the Rune Knights off your back," said the first voice, presumably the mayor.
"Just make sure no one comes snooping around, and you will always have a discount for our services," the Dark Mage assassin replied. I mean, what else could he be? Cana agreed with my assessment once I informed her of what I heard.
"You can expect to hear about Petnelly's demise in the coming days, just keep an eye on the newspaper," the assassin said before I heard a shuffling noise. "I'll be going now."
"You know the way out. Just don't act too suspicious in front of the servants if you encounter any as you leave," the mayor replied.
I quickly found a dark corner near the door, melding in to the shadows and sharing a space with the Shadow Ghoul again as I watched a person with a weird head accessory walk out of the room.
I wondered if I should try to knock him out right now and question the mayor about his dealings with Dark Mages. Or if I should follow this man back to his hideout to try and find the rest of his group since they were supposedly somewhere nearby. Then again, Cana might be able to locate their hiding place with her Divination.
'Think this guy will lead us to his hideout?' I asked while staying in the shadows, shivering due to the proximity of the Shadow Ghoul.
'I fucking hope so!'Cana sounded like she couldn't wait to get into a fight. 'Hopefully, there will be enough of them so I can test out my new cards.'
'Alright, I will follow after him, and we can deal with the mayor after handling the assassin and his buddies,'I informed her of my decision.
'Fine.'I felt her pout through the connection. 'Still think we could've beat the answer out of him, and we will do that if you get caught, alright?'
'If I get caught,' I replied with a smirk since I definitely wasn't planning on getting caught by this guy.
'As I said, if I get caught,'I smugly told Cana over our connection.
'Yeah, yeah, you are awesome like that,'she replied back and soon arrived near my location by riding on my wolf.
"They really weren't trying that hard to hide, were they?" She asked as we looked at the decrepit mansion in front of us. Like, the place just screamedDark Gild hideout.
"I'm surprised no one has reported them," I mused while observing the place.
On the way here, I had asked Levy through my wolf if she could report this information to the Rune Knights stationed at Magnolia, so they could send a group here once we were done with those guys.
"Maybe they did and the mayor just made sure that none of the reports reached the Magic Council," Cana said, offering an alternative.
"Perhaps, and if that was the case, I'm happy I asked Levy to inform the Rune Knights," I replied with a nod before moving the topic. "So, how are we going to do this?"
"Allow me." Cana grinned as she pulled out her cards. "I just need a moment to set it up."
She summoned a few of the weaker monsters before she sacrificed two of them to bring out Sanga, a floating upper body that had lightning dancing around it.
Cana was left with three monsters since she kept the Shadow Ghoul and a single Cannon Soldier. However, that didn't seem to bother her since she seemed to have high expectations from this Sanga monster.
"Sanga, destroy!" Cana declared as she pointed at the mansion in front of us and began cackling loudly. The lightning around Sanga intensified as it pointed its hands towards the location of the Dark Guild. What followed was a lightning beam that reminded me of the time Laxus' showed me his Magic.
I had to look away from the bright light, and I heard a massive boom that followed shortly after. Once I recovered, I got to witness the destruction of both the gate and most of the mansion as they were now nothing more than rubble on the ground.
"I'm not done!" Cana laughed, taking out that labyrinth card. "Labyrinth Wall!"
I knew that the cards materialized into the things drawn on them. We figured that out really quickly with Cana. However, I definitely wasn't expecting that absolutely massive labyrinth that appeared in front us. Like, the entire area was completely changed now, with massive walls surrounding us on all sides.
"And now let's turn this into a Magical Labyrinth!" Cana continued laughing as she used another of the cards, and I watched as the Shadow Ghoul merged with the walls of the labyrinth before disappearing from sight.
"Can you direct me towards the stronger Mages?" I asked as I dashed inside myself.
'So I can try to at least get some rewards from them,'I continued mentally after that.
'Sure, I can take out the weaker ones really quickly,'she replied, taking a moment to find the locations of the stronger ones.
'There are a few strong ones, and one really strong, far more powerful than the rest. Which do you want to target first?'
'Send me towards the strongest one,' I said, figuring it was best to take care of that as quickly as possible.
'Fine by me, he's currently trying to break out of the labyrinth by flying out,' Cana informed me, and I stopped for a second, looking up in confusion.
'Trying?' I asked since it seemed pretty easy to escape as there was a clear path to the sky due to the labyrinth not having a ceiling.
'Flying isn't allowed in the Magical Labyrinth,' Cana smugly replied, and I tried using Flight just to test this out, finding out I couldn't get higher than the top of the walls with my Spell. I even tried using my wings to fly out, but I found just as much success with them as I did with Flight.
I kind of figured that the cards were something good, but they were becoming better and better by the moment. And Cana hadn't even figured out how to use them all!
Shaking my head, I stopped thinking about that and focused on finding my enemy as quickly as possible. Soon enough, I encountered the guy, who was floating just a bit above the ground with a large scythe in hand.
"What the fuck is this shit?" He cursed as he tried pushing above the labyrinth walls, but found just as much success as I did with his endeavor. The guy hadn't seen me yet, so I could try getting a quick sneak attack, perhaps even knocking him out right from the start if he wasn't that strong. Or I could just charge him like a true Fairy Tail Mage.
I figured I could get a clean sneak attack, ensuring that I would have the advantage right from the start. I just had to ensure he didn't spot me before I struck him.
I rushed at the Mage, staying as quiet as possible while activating my Satan Soul. My new swords appeared in my hands just as I reached him, and he managed to react by crossing his arms, summoning a small hurricane around his body that acted like armor. As effective as that Spell was, my weapons cut through it as if it wasn't there, opening large wounds on his body.
"Gah! You little shit!" He cursed, wobbling a bit in the air as he grasped his scythe. "Do you…"
While he was talking, I just transformed into Kamina while storing my equipment. My foot touched the ground, crushing the earth beneath me as I shot off, reaching him in an instant. He barely managed to react to the quick slashes, and my claws passed through his wind armor just as easily as my swords did. More blood spurted out of his body as he threw away his scythe, and crossed his fingers in my direction.
"Emera Baram!" The Dark Mage yelled in desperation as he fired off a massive concentrated blast of wind that destroyed the ground beneath us. I instantly reacted, summoning my Data-Shields in front of me, easily blocking the attack, losing only one of my shields in the process.
"What the fuck…" The guy just stared with wide eyes, and I reappeared beside him with my lightning body, hitting him once on the head and knocking him out.
"Well, that was easy," I said as I watched the light begin forming my rewards.
I ignored the glasses at first and just threw them in my Inventory alongside the scythe, focusing more on the book that described how to create Storm Magic. I just peaked at it for a moment before storing it in my Inventory. That's when I noticed that the glasses increased the reading speed of the user by one hundred and twenty times! That was almost four times as fast as my current glasses.
'Feel like dealing with a few more of those Dark Mages?' Cana asked, and I quickly agreed, following her directions as she led me to two more.
Those guys were much weaker than the Wind Mage I just beat, so I managed to quickly deal with them, earning myself a nice pitch black outfit. I felt a faint source of energy from it, though I wasn't sure what it did at first. However, once I threw the outfit in my Inventory, I learned that it was somehow supposed to help me with my Stealth.
Meanwhile, Cana had finished with the rest of the Dark Guild, and they were all knocked out, though some of them were profusely bleeding from the wounds left by her Shadow Ghoul. A squad of Rune Knights were already on their way, so I figured I might as well patch them up before they bled out.
I quickly wrapped the wounds of the bleeding, ensuring that none of them died before the Rune Knights arrived. Meanwhile Cana just dumped all of the knocked out Mages in a large pile before dusting her hands.
"Well, that settles it," she said, happily smiling as she approached me. "Those cards sure performed nicely, huh?"
"They did," I replied, offering her a smile of my own. "Though I think they wouldn't have done as good if someone else used them."
"Ohhh~" Cana wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "You're making me all flustered, pretty boy."
"Say," I said while looking around. "Do you think there's anything of value around here?"
"Maybe?" Cana replied as she looked at the rubble left after her initial attack, followed by her using the labyrinth that destroyed even more after it materialized.
"Wanna check around and see what we can find?" I offered before ordering the wolves to guard the Dark Mages. "We can leave some of our monsters to keep an eye on them."
"Sure." Cana shrugged as we began looking through the rubble. I recalled the compass we got with Levy in Bosco, so I took that out since it seemed it could be useful here.
It turned out that those guys were rich. Not only did we find about forty thousand Jewels, but we also looted quite a few objects made out of precious metals to the point where I could now replace all of my cutlery with silver and golden ones. I was quite satisfied with that since my kitchen cutlery would now match with the rest of my furniture.
However, the most surprising find was a few notes that described the location of a Demon. More specifically, it wasn't one of the natural born ones but one created by the Black Wizard, Zeref, the most evil Mage in the history of Ishgar. The notes were written in an old language, but that wasn't a problem to me, and I discovered that the Demon known as Lullaby was currently in a location relatively close to Oshibana. In fact, it wouldn't take us that long to reach its location.
"Really? One of Zeref's Demons?" Cana asked in surprise when I informed her of my findings before she grinned. "Well, let's go take it out!"
"Sure, let's do that," I replied, and before she could drag me away, I continued. "But let's do this after we recover our energy. Maybe we can even delay it for a day or two."
My Mana was already back to full, but she had exhausted quite a bit of her Magic Power to summon all those monsters. That was also another thing. She had used some of those monsters and wouldn't be able to use them again for the rest of the day.
"Yeah, you're right," Cana replied after taking a moment to think it over. "That way I might even figure out how to use the rest of the cards."
"I've also been trying to recreate something called Devil Slayer Magic, and… well, I wouldn't say I'm close to figuring it out, but I think I'm on the right track," I informed her. "I do believe that it would be really helpful if we ended up fighting one of Zeref's Demons."
"Devil Slayer?" Cana asked with a tilt of her head. "Is that supposed to be something like Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic?"
"Yes," I nodded in agreement.
"And you are, what? Just recreating it on your own?" Cana asked, her eyes blinking as she just stared at me.
"Well, I do have a Demon that's helping me out a bit, but yes, I'm mostly doing it on my own," I replied, feeling a bit smug about my accomplishments.
"My, aren't you something special, pretty boy," Cana grinned at me as her hand squeezed my arm. "Alright then, you've convinced me. We can wait for a few days and then go take it down!"
"That's the plan, thought," I paused as I heard people nearing our location. "I wonder if we should inform the Rune Knights about it?"
"Nah." Cana shook her head. "You said the notes said it was sealed, so we don't have to worry about it escaping. Plus, if we inform them about it, they will only get themselves killed."
"Are you sure?" I asked in surprise.
"Most of them are normal people. They just have really good equipment and that won't be enough to fight a Zeref Demon," Cana explained as we began walking over to meet with the Rune Knights.
We introduced ourselves as Fairy Tail Mages and confirmed our identities before we were asked to give a brief description of what happened here. What seemed to surprise the Rune Knight talking with us was the fact that Eisenwald was using their old Guild building. He couldn't understand how they got away with it after they were branded as a Dark Guild.
"It's because they were working with the mayor," I told him before explaining how we discovered this in the first place.
"I see," the Rune Knight mumbled and called out to one of his subordinates before ordering him to arrest the mayor as well. He then turned towards us and bowed deeply. "Thank you for this. Your Job will be marked as complete and your reward will be delivered to the Guild within a few days of time."
"No problem," I replied before we left with Cana, making our way back to Magnolia. During the ride back, I made sure to discuss with Levy that she was fine with Cana… joining us? And she replied that she was okay with it as long as all three of us got along.
Now I had a date to plan with Cana and then I had to focus on figuring out Devil Slayer so we could go after Lullaby. Perhaps we could even invite Natsu to join us since he seemed to be itching to fight something strong.
Physique gains 417. Now at 48 (3396/4900).
Soul gains 177. Now at 58 (5279/5900).
Stealth gains 818. Now at rank 2 (838/3000)
Observation gains 818. Now rank 3 (114/4000). We get to pick a Perk.
One-Handed gains 409. Now at rank 5 (1266/6000).
Unarmed gains 409. Now at rank 6 (204/7000). We get to pick a Perk.
Medicine gains 613. Now at (613/1000).
Spells gain 1089.
Conjure Wolf now at rank 27 (1163/1400).
Body Enhancement now at rank 26 (752/1350).
Lightning Speed now at rank 18 (429/950).
Data-Shield now at rank 16 (289/850)
Telepathy now at rank rank 19 (357/1000)
Beast Soul now rank 33 (970/1700),
Satan Soul now rank 15 (235/800)
Maximum Mana now at 5053/5053. Our presence becomes far more noticeable. The weak might feel an invisible pressure when near us if we don't control our energy.
I already had an idea of what I wanted to do, though I needed to get something really quickly. Unfortunately, there really weren't any stores on the road, so I had to ask Levy to do me a favor. She was quick to accept after learning about the new glasses I got, and I sent them over to her through the wolf. Now I just had to wait for a bit for Levy to complete my request.
Though we were already nearing Magnolia, so I decided we could begin with this date. "Let's switch it up a bit."
"What do you mean?" Cana looked back at me.
"This," I said, creating a Data-Shield near us before hopping on top of it. "Come."
"Alright then," she replied and jumped over as I dismissed the wolf, sitting down in front of me. "Now what?"
"Now," I started as I took out my cooking equipment while controlling the shield, making it fly high in the air. "We can start the date."
"Ohh, fancy~" Cana cooed while looking down without the slightest bit of fear.
"Is there anything specific you want to request?" I asked while looking at all the available ingredients in my Inventory.
"Nope~" Cana shook her head. "Surprise me."
"Alright then," I replied as I began taking out some of my more exotic ingredients.
"I feel…" Cana muttered with a heavy breath. "I feel like I'm in heaven."
"Thank you," I replied with a warm laugh. Seeing the reaction of people that enjoyed my food had become one of my favorite things, and it warmed my heart every single time.
"This would only be better if…" Cana trailed off, her eyes opening wide as I brought up an expensive bottle of whiskey. And when I said expensive, I meant it. Just one bottle cost a thousand Jewels!
"Oh, you really know how to make a girl happy, don't you, pretty boy?" Cana laughed with a melodic giggle as she grabbed the whiskey and drank straight from the bottle. "No wonder Levy wants to move in with you."
"I try my best," I replied with a happy smile, taking the bottle from her as she passed it over. I did my best to ignore her last comment, but my heart sped up at the thought of Levy permanently moving in with me. Right, I could think about it after this date.
I took a sip while still controlling the shield, making it slowly move towards Magnolia. Cana crawled over and sat beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. We passed the bottle around while taking a sip from it and began idly talking about this and that before the topic turned to the Shadow Cards.
"I don't think you understand how much those mean to me," Cana said as she took them out, just staring at them with a warm smile. "With those, I might stand a chance, you know?"
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion. "Stand a chance for what?"
"Passing this year's trials," Cana explained, eyes still staring at the cards. "I failed the last two with Mira and Mystogan beating me."
"The S-Class trials?" I asked just to make sure. I heard they happened at the end of each year, but I didn't know much else about them.
"Yes," Cana replied, eyes narrowing as her expression hardened. "I plan on passing them this year. I know I can do it. Those cards are already really good, and I still haven't figured out how to use them all, but I know I will."
She turned to look at me. "And when the trials start, I will be ready. I will pass them this year, you can mark my words."
Then Cana smirked. "Even if I have to beat you, pretty boy."
"Oh, those are fighting words," I replied, grinning back at her.
"You can bet your ass they are!" Cana exclaimed, lightly punching me in the shoulders.
"What even are the S-Class trials?" I asked after since I really had no idea what they were all about. "I heard of them before, but I know nothing about them."
"They are something different every year, but…" Cana paused, a teasing smirk forming on her face. "Well, you'll have to figure it out when the time comes."
"You won't tell me after this nice meal I prepared for you?" I asked, playing it up by clutching my chest in pain.
"Nope~" Cana instantly replied. "Well, maybe if you asked nicely."
"Please?" I did as I was told, trying to ask her nicely.
"Nope again~" However, she refused just as quickly.
"Why are the trials so important?" I figured I should change the topic since I wasn't getting an answer to my previous question.
Cana pouted at first, but she did explain. "For most, it's a matter of prestige. Most Guilds don't have more than a handful of S-Class Mages. Being one of the strongest is important to them. Not to mention that you can take on even more dangerous Jobs that pay for a lot more."
"And for you?" I asked, realizing that she wasn't after that with the way she spoke about it.
"For me…" Cana trailed off, looking in the distance. "I need to become S-Class to confront a certain man."
"Did he hurt you?" I asked, feeling anger burn inside me. I wasn't sure if Cana would end up joining my relationship with Levy, but I still cared for her, and I was ready to throw hands and teach that man a lesson not to mess with the people close to me.
"No." She shook her head. "He didn't necessarily hurt me, but I can only confront him when I become S-Class."
I stared at her eyes, finding a burning determination in them. I decided not to push the topic further and instead wrapped my arm around her as I took out another of those expensive whiskey bottles.
"Oh, aren't you just the sweetest~" Cana cooed, leaning in to give me a kiss on the cheek before we began sharing this bottle as we slowly flew towards Magnolia.
When we returned back to Fairy Tail, I went to inform Makarov about what we discovered, namely the location of one of Zeref's Demons. I agreed to fight it alongside Cana, but I felt like we needed to inform the Master about this.
"One of Zeref's Demons," Makarov muttered, cupping his chin in thought. "And you say it's supposed to be sealed according to the notes you found."
"Yes," I replied and showed them to him, though I had to translate them since he couldn't read the language.
"Did you check if it's still there?" Makarov asked, and my eyes opened wide.
"No?" I replied, shamefully looking away.
"It might've been a good idea to at least check the location," Makarov said before shaking his head. "Though knowing you kids, I bet you would've charged at it if you actually found it."
"Psh, we can take it," Cana said, waving his concerns away. "We took down an entire Dark Guild on our own."
"That you did," Makarov replied with a nod. "Eisenwald is a Guild specialized in assassination, and their ace is even known as the Death God."
"Death God? Really?" I asked, trying to figure out who might've had that title, but they were all fairly weak. Well, only the first guy that I fought was somewhat strong. "Is it the guy with the Wind Magic and the scythe?"
"Mhm." Makarov nodded. "There was a big prize for his capture, so you can expect a nice reward once the Magic Council pays you for the two Jobs."
"Though…" The Master paused, looking at the two of us for a moment. "If you are really going after this Lullaby, I'd suggest bringing at least one more person with you. I don't doubt your abilities, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Alright," we both agreed and left his office as we began discussing who we should bring along. I was of the opinion that Elfman, Natsu, and Levy would be useful while Cana didn't really mind who came along. We'd figure it out when the time came, which would hopefully be in a few days since I did want to finish developing Devil Magic before we attempted this.
With that done, I returned to my house and was warmly welcomed by Levy. We shared a nice dinner together, and I got to tell her all about Job today even though she already knew everything since we kept in touch thanks to the wolf I left here. After that, we had some fun in bed before we fell asleep.