Fairy Tail: Magic Gamer Chapter 4, a private fanfic

It is now July 12th, X783. 7 days before ?. Levy Quest starts today.

Once I got up, I quickly took a shower and inspected my Inventory. It was amazing how I could do it all mentally now, though I still brought up the screen with the boxes since I liked looking at the pictures of everything I owned.

After ensuring that I indeed had all of my belongings in my Inventory, I left my apartment, wandering down the streets of Magnolia and wondering what to do since I again woke up really early. I check my watch just to be sure, but I had a couple more hours before I had to meet with Levy.

I figured I should work on my ranged options, and I had a lot of fun using Lightning Bolt with Makarov yesterday. The only place I could do that was behind the Guild building and that worked perfectly for me since Levy wouldn't have to search for me if I got too absorbed in my training.

'Hopefully, I won't end up waking everyone that lived nearby.' I thought before shrugging. Even if I did, I would be leaving the city for a few days anyway. Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted Mavis popping out before hiding behind a fence to peek at me. I scoffed and focused on my training, hoping she brought me some good luck like yesterday.

Lightning Bolt gains 357. Now at Lightning Bolt rank 4 (318/500) - Fire a bolt of lightning at an enemy. Deal 1d30+20 lightning damage.

Mavis was right there, but I didn't seem to have that much success today. Then again, I felt like I was on the verge of making the Spell so much better, getting it closer to the one Laxus showed me.

However, I was interrupted by two members of the Guild, the two that were glaring at me when I cooked for everyone. They walked over, chests puffed high while putting on a mean face.

"Hey, new guy," they called out as they approached. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Working on my Magic?" I replied with a question since it was pretty obvious.

"Not that," Jet, I thought, replied.

"Yeah, no that," the other one, Droy, agreed.

"We're talking about you trying to split up our team!" They both declared, standing shoulder to shoulder.

"Huh?" I tilted my head. "I don't understand."

"You're going on a job with Levy! She's part of our team, Shadow Gear!" They said, informing me of something I wasn't aware of.

"Oh… well, I wasn't trying to do that," I answered honestly. "Plus, she's the one that wanted to bring me on a Job."

"What?" They looked as if their world had just shattered by that revelation.

"But why?" They whispered as they looked at each other. "Have we been treating her badly? It can't be that, right?"

"Yeah! It can't be that," they agreed before looking at me again.

"Yeah, so why does our Levy want to go with you instead of us, huh?" For some reason my heart twisted when I heard them say our Levy, but I reasoned they meant that as part of their team.

"Well." I scratched my head. "I have this Magic that allows me to read and understand any language, and she wants to check up on a ruin that she couldn't decipher before."

"Oh… oh…" Both looked so lost and defeated when they heard that. "That.. makes sense…"

They huddled together, whispering quietly but not quietly enough. "How do we compete with that?"

"I don't know…"

"Can we learn that?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"That's just not fair…"

"True… but maybe we don't have to compete with that."

"Oh?"

"Instead we have to improve on what makes us, us!"

"Yeah, you're right!"

"Of course, I'm right!"

"Alright!" They turned to me again. "Listen closely! You better make sure no harm comes to Levy, alright?"

"That's the plan." I nodded. I was more of an up close fighter while she used something called Solid Script, which I only knew that allowed the user to write words in the air that have special effects. Obviously, she'd stay in the back while I'd be charging the enemy if we got into a fight.

"And no funny business on the job!" They continued.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, wondering what they meant.

"You know what we're talking about," they instantly replied.

"I–"

"No funny business!" They repeated. Like, were they telling me we weren't supposed to have fun? I get that we had to be serious while doing the Job, but we could still have fun before or after we completed it.

"Hey guys!" They shut up, mouths closing with a audible sound as they heard Levy calling out to us from a distance.

"Hey, Levy!" They replied with big smiles on their faces. "We were just talking with our new friend here!"

"Hey." I waved as she came over.

"It's nice to see that you are getting along," Levy said with a smile, but there was something off about it. Like there was an edge to it that wasn't usually there.

"Of course! We're part of the same Guild!" They wrapped an arm around their shoulders, heads nodding rapidly. "Hey, didn't we have that Job that we wanted to take?"

"Yeah! Let's go grab it before someone else does!" They kept rapidly nodding their heads.

"Anyway! We'll be going now! Have a safe journey!" And they were gone, disappearing in a split second. One of them had a similar Magic to my Enhancement and just picked the other and rushed off.

"They weren't giving you a hard time, right?" Levy asked after they left.

"Not really." I scratched my head, thinking it over. "Just wanted to make sure I'd keep you safe."

Levy huffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not a fragile little girl just because I like reading books. I am a Fairy Tail Mage, after all."

"True." I nodded. We were the same age, but she had been a Mage for far longer and had more experience than me.

"I'll still try to keep you safe though since I heal really fast," I added just shook her head in response.

"Well, are you ready to go? I have all my stuff with me here." She patted her large backpack.

"Yup, everything is in my Inventory," I replied before offering. "Want me to keep your backpack there as well?"

She agreed and handed it over to me, leading to me realizing I could store my belongings in different bags for convenience. Due to the upgrade from Requip, I didn't even need to take out the backpacks first before grabbing what I wanted, and I could just take them out with a thought.

"Can we ride on the wolf to the train station?" Levy asked as we departed.

"We can, but won't that disturb the people?" I questioned, remembering how the villagers had reacted to it when it was far smaller.

"Please." She rolled her eyes. "They'd love it. Plus, it will get them accustomed to it."

We hopped on my wolf and rode to the station, the people of Magnolia marveling at its new appearance. She even told me how they loved such things, even going as far to restructure the entire town for a single Mage of our Guild.

I didn't know who this Gildarts was, but I really wanted to meet him now. Like, I couldn't even imagine how strong someone like that was for an entire city to change its layout just for him.

I ended up buying the seats for an entire booth–one of the bigger and more expensive ones– since I wanted to keep my wolf out. When I explained that to the person selling the tickets, he rolled his eyes and muttered something about Mages before saying it was fine.

We made ourselves comfortable with all the space we had, and the wolf lazily dropped on the floor. I didn't even have to order it to do that as it chose to do it on its own.

"Say, what are your plans for the future?" Levy asked moments after the train departed.

"I'm not too sure to be honest," I said while thinking it over. "Right now, I want to learn as much as possible about Magic and anything else really. I don't know if it's due to my Magic or not, but I've been picking up on stuff really fast."

"What a problem to have." Levy clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes with a playful smile.

"Don't say that. You're way smarter than me and can surely pick up anything you are interested in," I said back, only for her to huff and look away.

"What about you?" I continued. "Is there anything you want to do in the future?"

"Hmm, I like your idea about learning as much as possible about Magic," she started with that before humming in thought. "But I also want to publicize my knowledge. Write a few books myself, maybe form a magazine studio of my own to publish my works."

"That sounds great. I can help by getting weird books with my ability," I mused, seeing her eyes light up at the suggestion.

"You'd do that for me?" She asked.

"Sure! I would even write a few books myself, but… I'm not that confident I'd do well," I said a bit embarrassed about that. My knowledge of Magic was pretty high in my opinion, but I had a hard time putting it into words.

"You'll do great, trust me." Levy reached over, taking my hand in hers. I squeezed hers and didn't let go when she tried to pull back, offering her a grin when she looked me in the eyes. She relaxed and turned away, but she did move closer to lean against me.

We continued talking about various things, though it was mostly me asking her questions since I didn't have that much to talk about. I learned that she had recently begun drinking coffee and really enjoyed the drink. Apparently, she really liked a dessert called tiramisu and it's what led to her trying out coffee.

Levy also informed me of a few Jobs she'd gone on with her team, Shadow Gear. I learned that they used types of Magic similar to my own. Jet had an Enhancement one that solely focused on speed, making me wonder if I could do something like that with my own. Immediately, more than a few ideas popped into my mind, and I noted them down for when I next attempted to improve my Spell.

Droy, on the other hand, used Plant Magic. Root Manipulation–the Spell I got early on and barely used so far, though it did serve me well against that panther–was somewhat similar to his. Of course, it was also limited since it did require actual roots to exist near me to use it. Droy had similar issues and carried various seeds with him, making me wonder if I should just grab some roots and store them in my Inventory when I got the chance, ensuring I'd always have a way to use the Spell.

I also learned about the most dangerous Job Levy had taken when she had to infiltrate the house of a Dark Mage–I waited for her to finish her story before asking about that–while she had still been a child. I didn't have a similar story since the two Jobs I did were fairly easy, but I did mention how I almost died to a Grass Wolf due to my stupid decisions. Come to think of it, that really was the most dangerous encounter I had so far.

"What's a Dark Mage?" I asked since it was the first time I heard that term.

"It's a broad term for any Mage that's a criminal. Ones that go around killing people and just committing crimes in general, or ones that use outlawed Magic without having permission from the Magic Council," Levy patiently explained.

"There's Magic that's outlawed? How does that work?" I questioned since I didn't want to get in trouble by learning the wrong things.

"There are certain types that are considered evil, but you won't immediately get labeled as a Dark Mage if you knew them since people can't control the type of Magic they are born with. Unless, of course, you were using them to commit crimes," Levy got into her lecture mode, and I couldn't help but think how beautiful she was like this.

I might've said that out loud since she briefly looked away in embarrassment, though that didn't stop her from continuing with her explanation.

"For example, Charm Magic was recently outlawed. More specifically, using it on other humans is what was outlawed. If you get permission from the Magic Council, anyone can freely use it against monsters since it's actually really effective against them due to how Charm Magic works in the first place." She further explained how it didn't work if the target was aware that they were being influenced by Charm Magic.

Huh. How interesting. I wondered if I could make a type of Magic that required the target to be aware that it was being used.

After reaching Clover Town, we hopped on my wolf and began moving towards Bosco. Levy was in the front, giving directions to my summoned companion as she knew the way while I sat behind her, my arms instinctively wrapping around her.

"Hey, do you want to continue reading the book while riding?" I asked as we took off. "The wolf can follow the road until we need to change directions, and it's smart enough to alert us if anything approaches us."

"Mhm, that sounds nice." Levy nodded, one hand grabbing my arms while the other latched onto the soft furs of the wolf. I couldn't believe how much more comfortable it was now than before and sorely regretted not upgrading it sooner.

I pulled out the book from my Inventory with a thought and handed it over to Levy alongside her own glasses. Gently, I hugged her closer and placed my head on her shoulder as we began reading the last bits of the Magic Theory book.

My wolf suddenly sent me an image as we traveled, showing me a group of six rabbits with horns on their heads. I looked to the side, seeing the creatures eyeing us from a distance.

"Levy, what are those?" I asked, and she looked up from the book.

"Almiraj, weak monsters that have no Magic, though their horns are pretty sharp," she answered without worry. "They tend to run away when approached and are quite fast."

"Do you want to see my Boss Battle ability in action? I can use it on four of them and guarantee they'd fight," I asked as I mentally told the wolf to pause.

"Oh, yes! Do you think you'll get another book from them?" She asked excitedly as we hopped off the wolf

"I can only hope so. The rewards tend to vary from monster to monster," I replied and activated my ability. Four of the Almiraj immediately charged at us while the other two panicked as they saw that before quickly scurrying away.

My wolf jumped them, showing off its new prowess as it killed one in an instant by chomping on its neck. Another was taken down just as quickly by a sharp claw while the other two charged at us. Levy seemed like she was about to use her Magic, but I equipped my sword from my Inventory and beheaded the two monsters with a slash each.

Those guys were about as strong as the bigger Grass Wolves, but I was now much stronger, so this was really easy. Even back then I didn't get hurt by those monsters even when they used their Magic, so the conclusion to this fight was an obvious one.

Four flashes of light appeared after the creatures died, and I waited to see what they would form while Levy studied them in interest.

The light flickered, seemingly not having enough power to form good rewards. This was already something I had speculated, but I guessed I wouldn't be getting amazing things from enemies weaker than me. I told Levy as much as we waited for another second.

One of the lights completely died out a moment later. Another formed into a bunch of arrows with sharp arrowheads, ones resembling the horns of the Almiraj. The third turned into a pink stuffed toy that resembled the monster.

And the last one… it turned into an outfit. A bunny outfit for women, to be more precise. I couldn't stop myself from imagining how Levy would look in that, and I felt my face heat up just at the thought of that.

"I…" I didn't know what to say and turned to Levy who was staring at the objects with a flushed face. "You can have the toy and… and…"

"I'll take them," she said in a squeaky voice and grabbed the two before realizing that I had all of her stuff in my Inventory. She then pushed them onto me with a bright face. "Keep them for me for the moment. I'll take them later…"

Gained x30 Almiraj Arrows. +8 to ranged attacks with a bow.

Our travel was slightly more awkward after that, and Levy kept peeking at me from time to time before quickly looking away.

We ended up stopping when it was starting to get dark, and I took out all my outdoor items to set them up. After finishing with that, I stared at the distance for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" Levy asked as she approached me.

"The village I grew up in is somewhere in that direction," I pointed to where I was looking at.

"Do you want to pass by it before continuing to Bosco?" She asked, stepping to stand beside me.

"No." I shook my head. "There's no reason to go back. I took all my belongings with me. Only my shack is still there, but it might've fallen apart already. Stupid thing's roof always kept dropping on me during the winter from all the snow that piled on it."

Levy held my hand and gave it a squeeze before distracting me by telling me why that had happened. Apparently, roofs had to be slated, otherwise they would end up collapsing from the weight of the snow. I hated how no one had informed me about that before, but I at least was aware of this now and wouldn't make the same mistake if I ended up building my own house in the future.

We enjoyed a nice meal after, and I surprised her by pulling out my still hot plates of food, proving why my Inventory was superior to Requip. Then it was time to go to bed, and I realized that I had only one of those. I offered it to Levy, who wanted to refuse, but I insisted and ended up sleeping in my bedroll.

It wasn't a bed, but it was far better than what I was used to before. Plus, I was happy to offer my bed to Levy and seeing her go to sleep with the little toy made my stomach churn for some reason.

It is now July 13th, X783. 6 days before ?. 6 AP until reaching our destination. 2 AP until reaching Bosco.

I woke up early again, my body bursting with energy despite sleeping less than usual. It was becoming apparent that energy from the fruits would remain with my forever now. I couldn't complain about that since it allowed me to do more things every day.

Briefly, I stared at Levy's sleeping face, just enjoying the view as she squeezed the rabbit toy in her arms. But then I got up from my bedroll and prepared to start my day.

The wolf was dutifully guarding the tent, roaming around and making sure nothing came close to us while we slept. I patted it for a moment before quickly cleaning up by using the outdoor shower I got.

Now, I had a couple of hours before Levy got up, and I wondered what to do.

I figured I could surprise her with a nice breakfast by cooking one of the Almiraj. They were practically rabbits with only their horns making them different.

I made sure to walk a small distance away from the tent while ordering the wolf to continue guarding. Then I pulled out one of my knives alongside the corpse of an Almiraj. Now I just had to do this right and not waste all the meat of the monster.

'I'm getting the hang of this.' I thought as I cut up the rabbit monster, expertly removing the pelt, horn, and anything else that wasn't edible. It barely took me any time since it was so small, though it was enough for us to have a hearty meal to start the day.

Now, I just had to make sure I prepared the food properly.

"This is so good," Levy said after eating the first bite of the meal I prepared. I was honestly quite proud of my cooking and thought I did exceptionally well.

"I'm glad you like it," I said while enjoying my own meal.

"You really are great boyfriend material." That was barely a whisper, but I managed to faintly hear it.

"What?" I coughed, almost choking on my food.

"Nothing!" Levy quickly said as she placed her food down and swiftly opened her backpack. "I'm still sleepy and need my coffee!"

I wanted to respond, but I didn't know how. My mind just kept repeating the words she said over and over again. 'I'm great boyfriend material, huh…'

"I think you are also really great," I said after calming down, though my cheeks started hurting from how large my smile was.

"Mhm." Levy squeaked while making her coffee, peeking at me for a second before looking away.

The rest of the breakfast continued in silence, but we both had large smiles that we failed to hide from the other no matter how much we tried.

"Sooo," Levy coughed as we finished our breakfast. I looked at her while continuing with throwing our stuff in my Inventory.

"We are nearly at Bosco, just a few hours away from it with the speed we are traveling, and I do have to warn you that Bosco's a bit more dangerous," Levy said.

"How so? Are there stronger monsters there?" I asked, feeling a bit excited about that. As long as they weren't too dangerous, I could gain some good rewards from them.

"It's not really the monsters that's the issue there. I mean, they do have plenty there, but they aren't any more dangerous than the ones here," she explained just as I finished storing everything. "There are quite a bit more Dark Mages running around in Bosco."

"How do we handle them if we encounter any Dark Mages?" I asked the important question.

"Usually, we beat them up and hand them over to the authorities, but if there are too many, it might be better to run away," Levy said while I wondered if I could use Boss Battle on a human. I had never tried it before and wasn't sure if it would work, though I had no reason to think it wouldn't, especially after I successfully used it on a stack of papers of all things.

However, my rewards would probably end up being bad since I'd have to hold back from killing them… Not that I had the confidence of killing a human to begin with. Monsters were easy enough, but a human was an entirely different story.

Hopefully, things wouldn't come to that, but… I looked at Levy and her smiling face. I did promise to defend her no matter what. Yeah, I really hoped nothing like that happened.

"Hey, we still have some free time and can focus on reading the book before we reach Bosco." Levy squeezed my arm and offered to continue our studying while we still had time.

"Yeah, that sounds great," I answered, offering her a smile. "I feel like I'm cusp of completely understanding the book."

"Really? Me too." Levy hopped in excitement. "I'm so happy you can keep up with me so we can bounce ideas off each other. We can even start on the next ones together!"

"That'd be awesome." I nodded. "I can't even imagine what I can learn from them."

"Me too, I already feel like I learned so much from this one, I even improved my Magic a bit, though I was inspired by the book we translated," Levy informed as I summoned the wolf and got on it.

"What did you improve?" I asked in interest since I had barely seen her use her Magic, which was impressive if I had to say so myself. Just seeing her write the word "Water" in the air and make it real really surprised me when I saw her do it yesterday evening.

"That's a secret." She winked and stuck her tongue out before hopping on the wolf and cleaning against me. "Maybe you will find out later when we are clearing the ruins from monsters"

"Fine then, keep your secrets." I huffed and took out the book to see if we could finishing comprehending it all before we arrived at Bosco.

The more we read, the more I understood how inefficiently I was using my Spells. Oh, sure, I was making good progress–incredible even–from what I've seen so far. However, I could be doing everything so much better.

I took in every little detail about the book and its explanation on how to use Ethernano–it's Mana, damn it–as efficiently as possible to make my Magic stronger and instantly made use of it to improve all of my Spells.

Sure, I could've worked on using less Mana for my Magic instead, especially with how I always kept running out of it during fights when I used Boss Battle. I still had that issue, but I was so much stronger and could simply end my fights before I ran out of Mana. Simple and easy.

"Leo… Leo…" I was so lost in my thoughts of improving my Magic I didn't hear Levy calling to me before she had enough and shook me.

"We're in Bosco," she said, and I looked around. The place didn't look any different than Fiore, but then again, I had barely traveled around to know any better.

"Let's have a meal before we continue," Levy continued with a thoughtful expression. "I think we won't make it today even though we are making great progress. Though we should definitely reach Roza by lunch tomorrow at the latest."

We stopped for a bit and ate two of my remaining five Hodra meals, leaving me with only three left. I still had some raw meat left from when I butchered two for the Guild, so I was fine in that regard.

Before we continued our journey towards Roza, I dispelled the wolf and re-summoned it again with the improvements I had in mind.

"Did it become even bigger?" Levy walked around it, running her hand along its fur.

"It did!" I nodded excitedly. "I used what we learned and managed to make it better overall!"

"In just a few hours?" Levy stared at me as if there was something wrong with that.

"Well, yeah, we read the book together and all," I said, wondering what was the problem.

"I'm going to have to pick your brain and see how it works." Levy shook her head at me. "But we can do that later. Let's get moving for now."

Now that we were in Bosco, I was alert and carefully scanned the surroundings as Levy informed me this place was more dangerous than Fiore. She was also alert, and I felt her tense up as soon as we rode off.

Bosco seemed relatively peaceful at first with nothing happening for the first couple of hours. We just kept riding my wolf and getting closer and closer to our destination.

Then out of nowhere, a massive fist made out of darkness flew our way. I screamed mentally at my wolf, telling it to dodge, and it barely managed to get out of the way, all thanks to its now improved strength.

"That's as far as you go, kids," a gruff voice stated before a shadowy figure formed in front of us, revealing a man dressed in dark leather armor. He stared at us with an emotionless face as if we were nothing to him.

"Those two could fetch us a good prize, don't you think?" Another man spoke, and I noticed him standing further behind the first Mage, Dark Mage that is. He was wearing a black suit and held a gun in his hands. I had seen a few while browsing the Magic stores and this one seemed like a Magic Gun.

The one with the Shadow Magic only grunted in response.

"Yeah, I think so too!" The Gun Mage said joyfully. "Now why don't you hop down from that doggie and give yourself up like the good kids that you are, eh?"

"If we fight, we need to take down the guy with the gun quickly," Levy whispered while I tensed my muscles, prepared to act at a moment's notice.

"Leave that guy to me," I said without removing my gaze from my enemies.

"Come on, kids!" The Gun Mage said in a whiny voice while the other one prepared himself for a fight. "We are giving you an easy way out!"

"I'll leave the other one to you/Leave the other one to me," we both said at the same time.

The one with the gruff voice turned shadowy while his partner in crime aimed his gun at us. "I really hate damaging the merchandise."

I immediately activated Boss Battle on the two, both visibly flinching in response."What the fuck was that?!"

I wasted no time at all and jumped, activating Lightning Body to reach the Gun Mage in a split second, the man gaping at me as I appeared in front of him, both of my swords already in my grasp.

"Solid Script: Shine!" I heard Levy from behind me as she used her Magic and felt my wolf rush at the other enemy.

My swords flashed, slashing at the Dark Mage with all the power I could pull on. My Body Enhancement was pushing me to my limits, allowing me to get a couple of attacks in before he could even react.

"Mother fucker!" He roared and blasted his gun at the ground, sending himself flying away from me.

"You'll pay for this!" He roared, his gun charged with Magic and aimed at me.

I tried to rush ahead, briefly considering using Lightning Body one more time, but I realized I didn't have enough Mana. Damn! Maybe I should've tried making my Spells cheaper rather than focusing on their raw power.

Still, this wasn't the time to think about that since I was about to get blasted by the attack.

I pushed my Spell to my limit, giving just a little bit more strength to barely move out of the way. The magically charged shot still managed to hit me in the shoulder, but I just grit my teeth and kept pushing forward.

'Nearly dying to the Grass Wolf hurt way more than this.'

"Die, you little shit!" His gun was now glowing dangerously and with far more Magic poured in it.

'Shit!' I was right there, but I couldn't reach him on time. An idea struck me at that moment, and I summoned the zombie bear corpse right on top of his weapon.

"What the fuck!" He cursed in surprise, dropping his weapon due to the unexpected weight of the corpse.

That's all I needed to get in his face, my swords flashing and cutting off one of his arms, blood bursting out of his now opened wound.

"Gaaah!" He screamed while I stored one of my weapons really quickly before punching him in the face, holding back a little to not kill him with my empowered strength. He got sent tumbling on the ground, and I checked up on him to ensure he was knocked out before turning around.

Levy was fighting with the other Dark Mage, and my wolf was doing its best to assist her. However, it was getting manhandled by those weird shadow arms that kept punching it away despite its improved powers. Still, it was doing its job at keeping her safe, so I couldn't complain.

"He's immune to physical attacks!" Levy called out as she spotted me making my way towards them.

'This is almost too easy,' I thought I fired my Spell at the enemy. "Lightning Bolt!"

"Grgh." He grunted as my Spell struck his shadowy body.

"Solid Script: Thunder!" Levy wrote the word in the air before sending it flying at the enemy, dealing far more damage than me and making me self conscious about my own Spell.

'I should train Lightning Bolt some more and make it better.'

I thought as I fired the Spell again, doing my best to maximize its potential with my current ability. It struck him hard, and I noticed his form flickering for a second.

"Enough!" He roared, forming a massive shadow fist in the air, aiming it right at Levy.

'Take the hit!' I didn't hesitate to throw my wolf in the direction of the attack. It jumped right in front of the fist, allowing Levy to hit him with another of her own thunder attack.

The Dark Mage roared in pain and fully materialized. I rushed him without thinking about it, cocking my fist and slamming it on his head.

Levy stopped right in front of me, a look of embarrassment on her face as she was about to do the same.

"I've seen enough brawls to know how to throw a punch," she mumbled and looked away.

Before I could respond, I noticed the glowing light signaling that the enemy was defeated.

"Wait, did you use your Magic on them? The one that forces them to fight?" Levy asked, not looking that happy about it.

"I did, it's how I start all of my fights," I answered as there was no way to lie about this. Even though I really wanted to say I hadn't used it since I felt like I had made a mistake judging by her face.

"Right… So that's probably not a good idea because it might make Mages desperate, and Dark Mages specifically may end up using something extremely dangerous if pushed into a corner. We were lucky those two weren't that strong…"

Levy paused, her eyes staring at my armor. "Wait,is that blood? Are you hurt?"

"Oh?" I looked down to see there was some blood on my armor. "I did get hit, but this isn't mine. I… had to cut off his arm to stop him from attacking…"

"Oh!" Levy's eyes widened as she looked at the down Gun Mage. "We have to stop the bleeding before he bleeds out! I'll need my stuff, I have a med kit with a lot of bandages in my backpack."

"I… I'll need your help for this since I've only read about this and never got the chance to do it," Levy continued, looking hesitant as she peeked at the other Mage.

"I'll help," I quickly said. "It's my fault it happened, so I'll help."

"No, no!" Levy shook her head. "They are the ones that attacked us. We were defending ourselves and… sometimes things like this happen. You can't blame yourself for that. You were just defending yourself."

I… wasn't really blaming myself, just saying it was my fault. I accepted that much, but I was ready to do it again if I had to ensure that we… that Levy stayed safe. That much I was certain of. I wouldn't have ordered the wolf to stay with her and protect her otherwise.

We rushed over to the bleeding Gun Mage, and I noticed there was a magazine with a man dressed similarly to the Dark Mage on it. Was that my reward for the fight? I dismissed that thought quickly and focused on listening to Levy's words as I tried to bandage and stop his bleeding.

"We have to clean the wound first." I followed her words down to the letter, cleaning up the bleeding arm. The man twitched in his unconscious state but didn't end up waking up.

"Next, we have to tightly wrap a piece of cloth around his arm. It has to be really tight so it stops the blood from flowing down."

"Good. We can use this stick to make it even tighter," Levy continued instructing me as I worked.

"Alright. This is a passable makeshift tourniquet, and it should last until we reach Roza…" Levy looked at the sky. The sun was already down, and we might need to set up camp shortly.

"We can try to travel during the night and get to Roza as quickly as possible," Levy said, looking worried at that option, though she looked just as worried with her next suggestion. "Or we can camp now and have your wolf guard the Dark Mages during the night."

"I think it would be best to quickly reach Roza," I said after thinking it over. "We don't know if there are any more of them around, and we don't have a way to keep the shadow guy from escaping."

"Yeah, I agree." Levy nodded, looking around in worry, making me inspect our surroundings as well. "I'd rather get to Roza as quickly as possible."

"Though we have to bind and keep them secure," I muttered before remembering that rope I bought in Clover Town.

"Oh! I think I can do that with my Root Spell and a magically extending rope that I have," I informed her.

"Good idea." Levy agreed with my decision, and I quickly bound the two people, using my Spell and the rope. I also gathered everything in my Inventory, including the two rewards I got from the Boss Battle ability.

One was obviously a large Apple of Peace while the second one was a cowboy magazine. I asked Levy about the latter, and she explained that cowboy was how some people in Desierto called themselves. I nodded at that and looked at the fruit, wondering if I should eat it now.

"Hey, Levy," I said as we hopped on the wolf. "I usually like sharing my rewards, but… can I get the fruit? They've been really useful to me and helped me get to where I am now. Honestly, I'm not sure I would've left the village at this point if I hadn't gotten them as rewards."

"Leo… you don't even have to share your rewards. They are created from your Magic in the first place," Levy replied as she looked back at me.

'Yeah, but we fought together. Surely, you deserve at least half of the rewards," I said, but she shook her head and smiled in response.

"I'm sure you got those fruits for a reason, though…" It was dark, but I saw her face turn slightly red. "Nevermind that. Just eat it if it's helpful to you."

"Alright then." I nodded and took out the apple before quickly eating it all.

"Hey,,," I said as I felt the sense of peace envelop me and lightly pulled Levy towards me. She turned around, peeking at me with a raised eyebrow. "I'm glad you weren't hurt."

"I'm glad you weren't hurt too… this could've been dangerous," Levy said and leaned against me. "The Gun Mage could've been far more dangerous if you didn't have a way to reach him so quickly and take his advantage away."

I agreed with that. One of his attacks barely grazed me, and my shoulder still pulsated in pain. If I had taken a couple of full on hits, I could've been a goner, considering that one shot took fifty-eight of my Health. Good thing I took his Magic Gun away, though I had no idea how to even use that thing.

"And the Shadow Mage could've been really dangerous if he could easily get to me," Levy continued and patted the wolf. "Thankfully, this guy was there to protect me from any harm."

"Mhm." I nodded. "I made sure to order it to keep you safe as best as it could."

"Thanks for that." She placed her hands over my own before pinching them. "But I can keep myself safe, you know? I'm not a little girl that needs protecting!"

"I know, I know." I huffed. "I saw you use lightning better than me there, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to keep you safe. You are the person I care about the most in the world, after all."

I freely admitted that in my state of calmness. Plus, it was painfully obvious she was the closest friend I had since I spent almost my entire time with her in the library. Mira and Elfman were also really good friends of mine, but Levy was the one I cared the most about.

"Hey?" Levy looked at me, a big smile on her face.

"Mhm?" I nodded, indicating I was listening, though I was also paying attention to my surroundings, using my partial Take Over on the panther to change my eyes and see perfectly in the dark.

"I… I'll tell you later, alright?" Levy said and quickly looked away.

"Alright then." I nodded and kept watching around, ensuring nothing took us by surprise. From time to time, I looked back at the two Mages that were bound behind me.

It was a bit dangerous, but I made sure to keep an eye on them. Plus, they were both hurt, so I didn't expect them to put on a big struggle if they woke up.

"You two aren't from around here, huh?" The gruff voice from behind me caught me by surprise.

I immediately ordered the wolf to stop and jumped off it, Levy following my actions and hopping to stand beside me. Both of us were ready to fire our Spells since we knew the Shadow Mage could ignore physical attacks.

He wiggled a bit to turn and face us, but he didn't enter his shadow form. "You don't have to worry. I won't try to escape."

"That sounds suspiciously like what someone planning to escape would say," Levy was quick to point out. I stayed quiet, quickly shutting my mouth since… yeah.

"I'm hurt and nearly out of Magic Power," he huffed back at us. "I'd rather not risk running around in my condition. Plus, you're probably taking us somewhere where you can hand us over. Presumably Roza if I had to guess."

"So what?" I asked, trying to understand what his angle was.

"That's fine with me," he said. "I will recover by the time those nobles hear I was captured."

"Do you think we can trust him?" Levy turned to me with a question. "Or should we try knocking him out again?"

"Just don't hit me as hard this time if that's your plan," he huffed, clearly having heard us.

"We can maybe trust him?" I said to Levy, unsure if this was the correct choice here. "Worse case scenario, we can both strike him with lightning if he tries to do anything."

"I'd rather avoid that," he stated before wiggling a bit to look at his companion. "And not end up like Trevor."

"I was defending myself," I replied a bit too quickly and felt Levy gently touch my arm in comfort. I could've maybe tried taking him down without cutting off his arm, but that Magic Gun of his was too dangerous.

The Dark Mage huffed. "I'm not blaming you for that kid. I'm more surprised you kept us alive. That's why I know you aren't from around here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"It means that any other Mage that lives in Bosco would've offed us and left us on the road to rot," he scoffed and shook his head before wiggling a bit more, seemingly making himself more comfortable.

"Right…" I scratched my head and looked at Levy. "I'll still have the back position, but I'll have my back…"

"No." Levy shook her head. "You can see in the dark. You'll keep your eyes on the road, Leo, while I'll keep watch over them. A good Thunder should be enough to knock them out if they get rowdy."

"I guess that makes sense," I accepted her reasoning, and we jumped on the wolf. Levy was behind me this time and her back was against mine while I kept watch of the road, ensuring nothing attacked us during the night.

"Why are you doing this?" Levy asked the Dark Mage.

"Because that's all I can do," he said after a moment, but didn't seem to be interested in going into detail.

"What? Capture people and sell them off? I heard your partner loud and clear when he talked about us like merchandise," she replied, getting heated up in the process.

I clenched my fist as I heard her. I hadn't thought about it before, but that guy really talked about us like we were some products in a shop. I was slightly regretting cutting his arm off before, but now I was happy I did that.

"Like I said, girl. This is all I can do. I'm a wanted man. This was my only path forward." That's all he seemed willing to say and kept his mouth shut from then on, refusing to answer Levy's other questions.

With the wolf carrying us, we made good time and managed to reach Roza in the middle of the night. The place was slightly smaller than Clover Town, though it had plenty to offer according to Levy as she had been here before.

Our first destination was a Rune Knight office. Apparently those guys worked for the Magic Council and were spread through almost all of the nations on Ishgar–the continent that we were on. They generally involved themselves only when Mages caused a ruckus and were the ones to detain Dark Mages when captured.

The group looked at us suspiciously at first when we arrived with the bound Mages. Trevor even woke up and claimed that we had viciously attacked them for no reason. We did explain what happened with Levy taking the charge.

The Rune Knights did get a bit fidgety when she mentioned we were Fairy Tail Mages, and they got even more nervous when we proved we were by showing them our Guild Mark. Apparently there was some Magic involved in the mark that allowed people like the Rune Knights to know that we were the real deal.

After confirming that we really were Fairy Tail Mages, they took the captured men and brought them over to be imprisoned. We were told to wait for a bit before someone in command came along. The man told us that the Shadow Mage, Yoset, was wanted for killing a noble in the nation. With that, they knew we were definitely telling the truth.

We were even rewarded with a small sum of two thousand Jewels–I wasn't sure when I started thinking this was a small amount–for that, and they did ask me if I had Trevor's arm with me. I handed that over, but I kept the Magic Gun in my Inventory, not that they asked for that in the first place.

With all of that taken care of, we had to find a place to sleep for the remainder of the night. Levy's eyes were already closing on their own, and even I was yawning every few minutes despite being far more energetic after consuming the two fruits.

Unfortunately, we didn't find anything open at this time of the day, err, night. Having no other option, we left the town and placed my tent a short distance away from it.

After quickly cleaning ourselves and changing into our sleeping clothes–I stayed outside the tent while Levy swapped her clothing–we were ready to sleep for the night.

She got to use the bed while I prepared my bedroll. At least, I was about to when she interrupted me.

"Hey, Leo," Levy said with a yawn. "Is… is it comfortable sleeping in that?"

"It's far better than what I used to sleep on in Loya," I replied without hesitation. The stack of hay and cloth just couldn't compete with this, though a bed was far superior.

"Hmm, why don't we share the bed then?" Levy asked while hiding her face with the blanket.

"Are you sure?" I asked, face growing hot at the thought of sharing the bed with her.

"Mhm." I thought she nodded. "We can keep ourselves warm during the night."

I could've mentioned the tent could heat itself if we poured some Magic into the heater, but I decided against that and chose to accept her offer.

The bed was a bit tight for both of us, so I ended up hugging her with her back turned towards me. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest when she gently held onto my arm, and I thought I'd have a hard time falling asleep. However, I had to admit that that was the best sleep I had ever had in my life.

It is now July 14th, X783. 5 days before ?.

I ended up waking up far later than I had become used to. I couldn't even describe how much joy I felt when my eyes landed on the back of the girl still sleeping in my arms. This… this was definitely a memory I would forever cherish in my mind, though… my pants did feel awfully tight.

Despite how much I wanted to spend the entire day like that, just peacefully lying down together with Levy, I thought I should get up and start my day.

As much as I wanted to stay like this, I decided to sneakily leave the bed and surprise her with another breakfast, though it was more like lunch due to how late it would be by the time I would be done with it. Now, I just had to carefully get up without waking her up.

I had some meat left from the Hobras I butchered, but I decided to try my hand at cooking another of the Almiraj. Levy did enjoy it yesterday, and I found its meat to be delicious as well. Sadly, they were a bit too small, and I used all the meat the previous time.

Not that it was too much an issue since I could butcher one really quickly now, especially after I had already done this once before. That was easy and quick, leaving me with only one hurdle I had to face, cooking the meal and ensuring it was perfect.

"You're really spoiling me," Levy said after she woke up to a nice meal and a cup of coffee. I knew she enjoyed the drink, so I made sure to prepare that as well. Even tried a sip of the coffee to see what it was all about, but I ended up finding it really bitter.

"I'm just happy you like it," I said while eating my own meal.

We ate in silence after that, finishing our food quite quickly. I found it just a bit worse than the one I made yesterday, making me wonder what I did wrong today.

"So!" Levy clapped her hands after we cleaned up. "I wanted to jump right to the ruins, but I think it will be better if we don't rush it after the events from last night."

"That's fine with me." I nodded, agreeing with her choice as she was more experienced than me.

"We still have half a day left, and I was thinking of looking around Roza to see if they have any interesting books," she told me her plans for the day. "What about you?"

"I'd love to come with you and see what Roza has to offer," I agreed easily. "I saw quite a few things I liked in Magnolia, but I didn't have the money to buy them. Maybe I can find them here for cheaper."

"I doubt that, especially if they were Magical items." Levy lightly shook her head before chuckling. "Still, it's a date!"

"Sure!" I agreed with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"Let's hope they have some interesting books around here," Levy added with a smile as big as mine. I agreed with that sentiment as I had come to really enjoy reading, so much that I couldn't believe I spent my entire life not even knowing how to read.

We walked around Roza, mostly checking up on every bookstore we found, and we found quite a few of those since Levy seemed to know where they all were situated. Then again, this wasn't her first time here so she had probably visited them before.

I got a few interesting books for myself, ones that seemed like they would be useful. Well, I just hoped they could help me improve my Magic or even unlock new Skills for me. The ones about Physics and Biology sure seemed like they could be useful in improving my Magic.

I even grabbed a few blank and empty Lacrimas on the way. There was a sale on them, and I bought a few to experiment in my free time.

While we were browsing in one of the bookstores, Levy came to me with a couple of books in hand. "I think you should get those."

I looked them over, noting that their titles were "Forever Peace" and "Wild Heart". I wasn't sure what they were about, but I decided to buy them since she recommended them to me. Though I did notice the shopkeeper grinning at me when I checked those out. 'I wonder what that was about?'

Dismissing that, we continued walking around until we heard something interesting. Apparently, a bookstore was selling an incredibly valuable book, an introduction to Alchemy. According to Levy, that was something exceptionally hard to find.

We quickly made our way to the store where a small crowd had already gathered. They all wanted to see what this book was all about, though none had the money to buy it as it cost seven thousand Jewels.

"Darn," Levy cursed. "I didn't bring so many Jewels with me since I didn't expect anything like this to happen. I only have three thousand left after the purchases from earlier."

I checked my Inventory to confirm that I was left with slightly over four thousand after the purchases from earlier, just enough for us to buy it if we pooled our money.

"We can just buy it together," I offered before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the store. "I have four thousand left."

"Buh." Levy let out a weird sound as her grip tightened. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "If you are interested in it, then it must be worth it. Plus, we can just read it together like we've been doing with the Magic Theory books."

"Thanks, Leo," Levy quietly said as we reached the store. "This means a lot to me."

We rushed in and quickly got to the shopkeeper to purchase the book before anyone else could do it before us. I then stored it in my Inventory, and we left, making our way back to where we camped during the night. We did spend pretty much all of our money, after all, so we'd have to sleep in the tent again, and I didn't really mind, especially if we shared the bed again.

"Leo?" Levy called me, and I looked at her, noticing that we were still holding hands.

"Thanks." She grabbed my shirt with one hand and pushed herself on her toes before gently kissing me on the cheek. "This means a lot to me."

"Mhm." I just nodded with a stupid smile, making her giggle in response. My lips stayed stuck like that for quite a while after that while I wondered what I should do before the end of the day.

Current funds: 90 Jewels. We are dirt poor again.

Levy seemed really interested in checking out one of the new books she bought, Not the Alchemy one since we agreed we'd read that together back at the Guild since we didn't think it would be useful for this Job. Plus, we didn't have any equipment or ingredients to make use of it in the first place.

I considered reading a book as well, one of the two Levy recommended me to buy. However, I remembered how much stronger her own Lightning Spell was and decided to do something about that. It wouldn't do to be outdone like that when Levy's Magic wasn't really meant to be used offensively like that. Not that there was anything wrong with it since it was incredibly versatile. It's just that my Lightning Magic was supposed to be much stronger since it focused solely on, well, lightning.

Now, I just had to make sure I improved my Spell to fix some of those issues.

Making Lightning Bolt stronger worked to some extent. I couldn't get it to the level Laxus displayed, but I did improve it so there was that.

The wolf was a perfect target to test it out since I could always summon it again if I accidentally killed it, and I figured out it took me three powerful hits of the Spell to do that.

I tried improving it even more, though I somehow ended up with an effect that I wasn't expecting as the wolf seemed to freeze from time to time. Its body twitched as it tried to move, taking him a few moments before it could move again.

That was fairly useful, I mused as I contemplated how I could use this in a battle. It did offer me quite a few new options, and I could perhaps sit in the back–as opposed to my usual style of charging my enemy–to fire Lightning Bolts at my enemy to stun them in place while my wolf attacked them up close.

Satisfied with my progress, I returned to the tent after leaving my companion to guard outside. Levy was already tucked in and briefly glanced at me as I entered. She lifted the blanket, and I got the message, quickly joining her on the bed.

"Goodnight, Leo," she mumbled as I hugged her closer. To keep ourselves warm, of course, and for no other reason.

"Goodnight, Levy."

It is now July 15th, X783. 4 days before ?. Levy will want to start working on the Job today.

Waking up today was just as wonderful as it was yesterday, and I was starting to get used to this. Levy felt just so nice to hug, though it strained my pants each morning.

Leaving the bed was even harder than usual, but I managed to get up and sneakily exit the tent, prepared to spend a few hours before she woke up as well.

As much as I enjoyed cooking for Levy, I decided to skip this today. We were here for a Job, and I felt prudent to make myself stronger to ensure nothing bad happened.

I snacked on some jerky while thinking what was the best thing to focus on. There were plenty of options, but I felt Beast Soul could provide me with the biggest advantage. Both of my Beasts were physically stronger than me, making me wonder how strong I would be If I could use their strength more effectively and combine it with my Enhancement Spell.

The only real issue with Beast Soul was that I took the form of the monster, which I wasn't very used to fighting with. If only I could somehow keep my current form and gain their powers for myself. Hmm. Perhaps it was possible.

The panther was so easy to transform in, and I stuck to it, still slightly hesitant to attempt to fight the Griffin. Nevertheless, this was still very useful as I noticed that my Physique soared to sixty while in this form. It wasn't that impressive at first glance since I could normally push it even higher when using my Enhancement Spell, but what if I combined the two?

Well, I could go as high as one hundred and sixty-five, making me so strong I could barely control myself. Most of my time was spent just trying to get used to being this strong, and I thankfully got the hang of it as Levy woke up.

"Morning," she sleepily greeted me as she left the tent. Levy was about to move past me when she froze and turned around, eyes blinking as she stared at me. "Leo?"

"Morning!" I transformed back into a human and greeted her before sheepishly looking away. "I kind of got lost in my training and forgot to make breakfast."

"That's fine," Levy replied with a yawn. "I really need only coffee for breakfast."

"Alright then." I nodded. "But if you are feeling hungry, I do have a hot meal left in my Inventory."

"Mhm." She hummed back with a nod while quickly boiling some water.

"Right," Levy said moments later with a cup of steaming coffee in her hands. "I was thinking of handling the Job today."

"That's fine with me," I replied in acceptance.

"I'll have to quickly pass by the Job requester and give him a heads up that we will be doing it cause I kind of forgot about it yesterday," Levy mumbled the last part, sheepishly staring at her drink and avoiding eye contact with me. "Would you like to come with me to meet him?"

"Would it be okay if I don't come with you?" I asked before explaining. "I'm on the verge of improving my Spell, and I want to be as prepared as possible for this Job."

"Again?" Levy looked at me with wide blinking eyes before shaking her head. "That's fine with me. Just need to give him a heads up and ask if there's anything important we should know. I had already done this Job before with my team, but you never know."

"I see." I nodded before deciding to make it easier for her. "Do you want to go with my wolf? Could make the trip faster for you."

"Yeah, that sounds nice," she agreed with my suggestion, and I ordered the wolf to listen to her since it was capable of that much after all the improvements I made.

They left shortly after while I continued working on my Beast Soul Spell, trying to make it even better.

I managed to control my strength earlier, but the biggest issue about Beast Soul still remained. Fighting as a monster was just something I wasn't good at since I couldn't use my One Handed Skill in that form.

So I kept using the Spell over and over again, trying my best to stop myself from fully transforming into a Beast. I used what I had already developed in the partial transformation and went from there.

It took me a bit, but I succeeded in the end, gaining the abilities of the Shadow Panther while keeping my human form. Now I could finally fight with Beast Soul while using all of my fighting Skills, though it did cost me a little bit more Mana to sustain the transformation.

As a bonus, I felt that my understanding of Beasts increased, and I was now more confident in fighting against them in that weird space. Perhaps, I could even attempt to subdue the Griffin now.

The Griffin put up a fight, it really did, but it couldn't compare to my current self. I could've ended this battle of wills right from the start if I wanted to, but I used this chance to observe this weird space.

The place that resembled the Guild hall was still just as blurry, and the library still seemed the same, though I noticed there was a bit more color to it now.

Aside from that, there didn't seem to be any changes at the moment, so I ended the fight and opened my eyes to the real world.

I immediately noticed how much better my vision was. The eyes of the panther were great, but now I felt like I could see something miles away without any issues.

Then I immediately did the thing I had been eagerly waiting for and flapped my wings, raising myself in the air. It took me a moment to get used to it before I began flying around our camp, laughing in joy the entire time.

After having my fun, I decided to test out another ability of the Griffin, namely its Wind Magic. I could fly faster with the basic Enhancement from it, but I wasn't that impressed by it. No, what truly got my attention was the ability to fire off three razor sharp wind blades that left large marks on the ground. That was a good Spell, though it did cost me seventy Mana to use.

While I was getting used to flying around and the improved vision from the Griffin, I noticed Levy leaving the town while riding on top of the wolf, my conjured companion dutifully following her commands. She noticed me too, and I waved at her, confirming that I wasn't just a random monster despite my current appearance. Levy shook her head and waved back while continuing on her way to our camp.

I dropped down and began quickly storing our stuff back since I assumed we would be going towards the Job location. She arrived shortly after and hopped off the wolf.

"Right." Levy looked me up and down. "I guess you had a productive time while I was gone."

"Yeah, I did. Figured out how to improve the Spell and finally subdued the Griffin," I replied before adding. "Well. It still has the will to fight, but I'm sure I can handle it."

"Just don't push yourself too much, alright?" Levy said, to which I nodded in response. I only pushed myself as much as I could handle. Except when I tried attacking a monster with nothing but a knife and no knowledge of Magic whatsoever, but that didn't count! Since then I hadn't taken any such risks.

"Well, I got the extra information from the Job requester. It seems there are less monsters this time around, but they've been causing a larger ruckus. The people here aren't sure what they are, but they've spotted some large figures in the ruins," Levy explained the situation, looking slightly worried.

"Is there a problem?" I asked.

"Last time there were just a bunch of snake and wolf monsters, but I'm not that confident about it now," she told me.

"Don't worry," I replied, feeling confident due to my newly improved Spell. "I can scout out the situation from the air, and if worse comes to worse, I can pick you up and fly away."

"That… yeah, that sounds like a plan!" Levy agreed, gaining back some of her confidence.

"Oh, and I heard another thing," she added after. "Apparently, Yoset, that Shadow Mage had somehow escape from his imprisonment during the night."

"What about the Gun Mage? And how did he escape? Didn't we tell them he had his shadow form Spell?" I asked, surprised to hear that.

"The Gun Mage is still in their custody, but I have no idea how Yoset escaped," Levy paused, cupping her chin. "Unless…"

"Unless?" I urged her to continue.

"Unless someone purposefully let him go," Levy concluded.

"Should we be worried?" I asked, already observing our surroundings with my improved vision from the Griffin, finding nothing out of the ordinary.

"We should keep an eye out in case he tries something else. We already beat him once, but he might return with more of his companions," Levy said, and I decided it might be best to keep the Griffin eyes for as long as possible while we were still in Bosco.

"So we do the job now?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Yes, but we keep an eye out to make sure nothing surprises us." Levy nodded.

"Alright then."

The location of the Job wasn't that far away as it was situated on a hill near Roza. While riding on the wolf, I kept observing our surroundings, barely finding any signs of creatures living here. Though I noticed quite a few apple trees that were different from the ones I was used to as the fruit was yellow rather than red.

Levy informed me there were different variations, but they still mostly tasted the same. Droy had even picked up a few of the fruits when they cleared the monsters around here, so he could grow his own back in Magnolia. I picked a few for myself as well, storing them in my Inventory for later.

Finally, after quite a bit of traveling, we arrived at the top of the hill, and I saw the place of the ruins. They were large, maybe even as big as Loya, but they were mostly destroyed, and nature had begun retaking them.

Even from where we were, we could hear growls and grunts from the ruins, and I had to assume we'd be fighting large monsters if they were so loud. We hopped off the wolf a distance away from the ruins, and I left my companion with Levy while I was going to scout the place out from the air. Though I did have to beat the Griffin one more time as it seemed ready to fight me again.

I turned into a pure Griffin, finding this form a bit easier to control. The monster did attempt to fight me, though it was obvious it failed miserably as I had become too proficient in battling in that weird space.

Boosting myself with the wind, I increased my speed and flew higher in the air, circling around the ruins and observing everything inside with my improved vision. The monsters were easy to spot, and I counted a total of nine of them there, all looking like grotesque large humans.

Eight of them were roughly similar in appearance, but there was one far larger that wielded a massive mace and seemed to be in command. At least it looked like that from above as the smaller ones were running around the ruins as if searching for something specific while the bigger one was keeping an eye on them.

I looked around for a bit more, trying to see if there were anymore enemies, but I found none. Though I noticed a large apple tree in the middle of the ruins. There were just a few fruits on it, but they looked shriveled up.

After confirming there was nothing else, I flew back to Levy to inform her of my findings. She was aware of the big tree, but the monsters did surprise her.

"They are called Fomorians. A type of Demon known for their physical strength and magic resistance. They sound like a problem, especially if there are so many of them there…"

"They do sound dangerous," I agreed with her. The biggest problem was that there were so many of them there… wait!

"What if we don't have to fight them at the same time?" I said and presented my suggestion. "What if I use Boss Battle on one of them and lure them out of the ruins? If we attack one there, the others will surely hear and group up on us, but if I get one far away from the ruins…"

"That could work!" Levy exclaimed, her eyes lighting up at my idea. "But with which Demon do we start with? You did say the big guy was keeping watch over the smaller ones, so he might notice if we lure one of them."

"He does look stronger, but I'm sure we can handle that Demon," I said confidently before adding. "But if it looks like we are outmatched, I won't hesitate to take us away."

"Alright." Levy smiled at me. "It's a plan then."

I flew back up, circling the place for a moment while waiting for the perfect opportunity. Soon enough, the big Fomorian was on its own, and I activated Boss Battle. The Demon instantly turned towards me, and I flew away, leading him out of the ruins. I stayed just a bit further ahead of him, carefully watching the place to see if any other would run after the Demon. Thankfully, the rest didn't follow.

On the way back, I briefly thought about how he immediately knew my location once I used my ability on him. That was useful to know for the future.

Nevertheless, that was for later as I reached Levy and dropped in front of her, my wolf already prepared to battle, though I was unsure how useful it would be against this monster. It could definitely take a couple of hits for me or even distract the Demon for a moment.

I transformed into my hybrid form and equipped my sword as the monster neared us while pointing at it with my free hand, "Lightning Bolt!"

The lightning struck the monster, but it didn't seem to do that much damage, only serving to make it angrier.

"Die, ugly birb!"

Levy followed up on my attack, throwing her own, "Solid Scrip: Sword."

I briefly noticed that the word Sword was written in the language from the Beast Breathing manual, and I smirked for a second before focusing on the Demon.

'Ugly bird? Not even bird?' I thought in outrage at the hideous monster that took our Spells without even flinching.

The fight started off bad for us, and for a moment I considered throwing the wolf at the Demon before running away with Levy. However, she did inform me it had incredible physical strength and Magic resistance. We already confirmed the latter, but I had to test out the first before making a decision here.

My Mana flooded my body and my strength soared to heights I hadn't even imagined before I rushed the enemy with a mighty leap, a flap of my wings giving me another boost, allowing me to reach the Fomorian in an instant.

"Birb!" It roared, trying to slam its massive mace on top of me with surprising speed for a creature its size.

I, however, was faster, and danced around him before getting into position. My swords struck with lightning speed as I copied some of the moves from the Beast Manual, feeling they were just that more effective in my current form.

Ugly purple blood gushed out from the monster in rivers from the wounds I caused it, and it roared in anger as it continued trying to swat me away with its mace.

Levy's Spell hit him at that moment, giving me the chance to dodge the attack while my wolf got behind it, clawing and biting the Fomorians legs.

It twisted around, growing more and more confused as we surrounded it from all sides.

"Graaah!" It roared, not knowing which enemy to attack.

Just as it was about to go after my wolf, I charged again, hacking and slashing at its large body, opening a dozen more grievous wounds in a split second. Despite the amount of blood gushing out of it, the Demon didn't lose any of its strength and fought back just as vigorously. One hit from it could spell my doom–it did leave massive holes each time it hit the ground–but I was just quick enough to avoid all of its strikes.

Levy continued firing her Spell that used the word "剣" meaning sword in that language from the sword manual. The wolf did its job as well, distracting the monster with its attacks, giving me plenty of opportunities to jump in and slash open more wounds.

Like this, we fought the monster, keeping it confused the entire time as we slowly struck it from each side. Alone, either one of us could've struggled to defeat it, but together, we managed to kill it without suffering even a single injury. And so, the mighty Demon fell with a loud thud, though not before throwing another insult my way. "Ugly… birb…"

"We did it!" Levy cheered, and I grinned as I watched the light being forming my reward for the fight. I equipped my Lucky Charm, just in case it actually did something as I waited with a bated breath.

Two objects formed as the reward, and I was already getting excited just from seeing what they were.

"A Scroll and a Book!" Those were my favorite types of rewards since they were always something good. Even the Seduction one… especially that one, which reminded me I might have to use it a bit more actively.

"Oh!" Levy exclaimed as we picked them up, her eyes focusing on the book. "I recognize those! There's a bunch of those in the ruins."

"It says it's a guide to Basic Norse Runes," I told her after reading the title.

"Really? That's amazing! I've only heard about them before, but I've never managed to find a dictionary for them. The only thing I know about them is that they were used in Iceberg thousands of years ago, but they haven't been used for a long time!" Levy seemed super excited about the guide. "Bosco, at least the territory, may have been part of that nation once upon a time, and this ruin is from back then!"

While she got more and more excited about this, I looked over at the Scoll, finding out that it was another Spell for Take Over called Satan Soul. I informed her as much once I briefly checked it out.

"That's a really powerful Spell," Levy said the moment she heard the name. "Mira uses that type of Magic and… well, she was really scary when she was still active."

"Mira? Scary?" I asked before nodding to myself. Mira was a tease that always got the better of me, so I could see that. Though Levy meant it in a different way than the one I imagined.

"Oh, you don't know… Mira and Erza used to get into a lot of fights, kind of like Gray and Natsu, but they caused far more destruction than ice and fire when they got going," Levy explained, and I tried picturing Mira fighting with Erza, finding it extremely hard to imagine.

Now, I had the choice of learning the Spell right now and consuming it in the process, or I could spend some time later and naturally learn it by reading the Scroll. On the one hand, I might be able to use it on one of the Fomorians if I learned it now, but the Scroll would be lost forever. On the other hand, I would keep the Scroll and be able to bring to the Fairy Tail library.

I decided to keep the Scroll and learn the Spell naturally later. There was no reason to rush it since at most I'd be able to use it on a Fomorian, and I shuddered just thinking about turning into their grotesque forms.

'I'll pass, thank you very much.'

"We can study those later," I told Levy who was excitedly flipping through the guide.

"But…" She pouted, staring at me with her big brown eyes.

"I mean, we can just leave the monsters in the ruins…" I let that sink in, and she sighed as she handed me the book.

"Fine! But we are studying that book the moment we get the chance!" Levy demanded, and I chuckled.

"That's fine with me," I said while storing everything in my Inventory, including the Demon corpse and its massive mace. I couldn't use that thing, not unless I found a form just as big as it, but I could also sell it in the future.

"Let me rest for a bit to regain my energy, and we can continue with the same plan as before," I said and dropped my Beast form, allowing my Mana to regenerate back to full.

Once I was back to full, I tried to transform back, but I felt the Griffin attempt one last attack against me.

The beast tried putting up a fight, but I was having none of that. I had defeated time and time again, and the results won't change since I was only growing stronger.

I even went out of my way to fight it with my bare hands, refusing to use my other abilities just to prove I was superior. I went in for the grapple as it tried clawing and pecking at me. It got a few hits, but I took hold of it before slamming it down. And then I did it again and again until it finally submitted to my will.

With that done, I turned into my Hybrid Form and proceeded to fly over the ruins before using Boss Battle on lone Fomorians and pulling them to Levy's location. Those guys were weaker than the Boss Demon, so we easily took them out, earning a few more rewards in the process.

Levy didn't seem interested in the first two things we got, which were large versions of the Apple of Peace and the Peach of Strength. I gladly took those for myself, storing them in my Inventory.

The last object was a Magical Compass that didn't point north–Levy informed me that's what normal compasses do–and instead pointed at the ruins. This one confused us until I put in my Inventory and found out it was called a Precious Metal Compass.

Levy came to the conclusion that it either pointed at precious metal deposits and there was one under the ruins or that it pointed at objects made out of precious metals. We didn't know for sure, but we decided to figure it out after dealing with the remaining five Fomorians.

Gained. Large Physique and Soul Fruit. 1d20 to Stat when consumed. And Precious Metal Compass: points at the nearest object made out of precious metals.

"We don't really have a way to draw out the other Demons, do we?" I asked while staring at the ruins.

"Not really," Levy said, biting her lips.

"But do we need to?" I questioned. "We did beat those smaller ones really easily, after all."

"We did, but we'll be up against five of them," she replied.

"And there's two… three of us," I said, remembering the wolf. I did make it even stronger recently, but we were fighting Demons here, enemies I wasn't confident against without using the Griffin.

Before we could come with a decision, we heard a large commotion from the ruins, and shortly after, all five of the Fomorians charged out. They must've noticed that they were down four members–one of them being their Boss–so they made the smart decision of leaving.

"Darn!" Levy cursed as we were left with no options here. Sure, we could've allowed the Demons to run away, but we took a Job, and we planned on finishing it.

"Let's go," I said and rushed ahead, transforming into my Hybrid Form and enhancing myself with Mana. The wolf ran slightly behind me with Levy following after.

I focused on the leading Demon, immediately going for the kill, though it managed to survive my first attack. The rest roared in unison as they prepared for a fight, and I kept their attention on me.

The wolf struck them from the side, distracting them for a few seconds, and that's all I… that's all Levy needed to set up a trap, writing "Hole" on the ground and forcing them to drop down. Right, she did use this when we quickly dealt with the three smaller ones earlier.

From there, they were easy pickings. I just had to wait for them to attempt to get out of the hole and then quickly dash in, cutting off limbs or heads with my swords. My wolf had to take a few hits for me when one of them got too close for comfort, but the fight ended relatively quickly after they got trapped in the hole.

After killing the last of the monsters, I stored their bodies in my Inventory as I usually did. I wasn't sure what I could use them for or if they were even edible–Levy said they weren't–but I figured I might find a use for them. With them gone, we were now free to explore the ruins.

"Can I take the compass and check around with it to see what I can find? If there's anything underground, I can use my Solid Script: Hole to dig it out," Levy asked, and I gave it to her.

If it pointed at anything underground I'd have to dig it out with my hands, and sure, I could do that, but it would be tedious. This did remind me to buy something to help with that in the future. Or I could just learn a Spell or two. Either or worked for me.

Levy began following the compass to see what she could find, and I decided to look around myself to test out my luck. I made sure to keep my Lucky Charm on even if I wasn't sure if it actually worked.

I ended up finding absolutely nothing. Which wasn't that surprising since this was a ruin from a very long time ago, and it was probably looted by many others before me. However, the Fomorians were searching around here from what I saw, and I hoped to maybe find what they were looking for. Hopefully, Levy had better luck than me since she had the Magical Compass with her.

Nevertheless, I did see quite a few of those runes on the walls, and I decided to write them down for Levy in case those ones were missing from the guide. Most were in a pretty bad state, but there were some readable ones around here.

"Quite repetitive," I mumbled, spotting yet another mention of "blood" and "bounty of nature". Idunma was also another frequent one, but that sounded like a name to me.

I explored for a bit longer until I found the best preserved runes. They were still in bad shape, but they spoke about "offering to the bounty of youth". Whatever that was supposed to mean.

"Hey, did you find anything?" I heard Levy from behind me as I was writing it down.

"Only this." I showed her the few things I had translated. "What about you?"

"I got this!" Levy showed me an intricate golden chalice. "I found it buried near the big apple tree in the courtyard. Take a look at it while I check what you translated."

I didn't know what to think of the chalice, so I quickly shoved it in my Inventory, only to discover it was called Idunma's Chalice. I told her as much while she focused on my notes, sticking her tongue out as she studied them intensely.

"It sounds like they bled into the chalice and poured it on the tree maybe? Or even buried it next to it since you found it there," I said while trying to figure this out. "Maybe I can do it since I heal pretty fast, and we'll see if it does anything. And if it doesn't, no big deal."

"That sounds like something the people in ancient times might've done," Levy said and finally looked up from the notes. "And the tree is really old so maybe there's some truth to it. Though the fruits on it are all rotten."

"Then we should try it out," I said, figuring it was worth a shot. Not like we'd lose anything, and I wouldn't even get a scar from this.

"They even mention "offering" instead of sacrifice, so I'm inclined to agree with you, but…" Levy briefly looked down at the note again. "I'm just bothered by this "bounty of nature". Is it related to getting fruit from the tree, or is it also part of the offering?"

"It does look like a fruit could fit in it." I stared at the golden chalice.

"It does." Levy nodded. "And there are a lot of apple trees growing around this hill. We can throw one in before burying the chalice back."

"That sounds like a plan," I said and grabbed one of the yellow apples I picked up on the way up here, briefly pondering if this would even do something. Though if it actually worked, I wondered what would happen if I threw an Apple of Peace instead. Would the tree give birth to more of them? Surely, that wouldn't happen, right?

"Why don't we try with the Apple of Peace," I said, deciding to risk it. It would hurt losing one of those precious fruits, but what if I actually got a lot more in return? It didn't seem very likely to happen, but there was a small part of me that hoped it would.

"Are you sure? You did mention those were really important," Levy asked me, but I nodded, my mind already made up. Worse case scenario, I would just lose the fruit and have to find another. It might take me a few days of using Boss Battle, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

"I am." I nodded to confirm.

"Alright! Let's test it out," Levy said, and we marched over to the tree in the courtyard, and I finally got to witness exactly how big it was. Sure, I saw it from the air, but it was entirely different standing in front of it. It was truly majestic, though its image was ruined by the rotten fruit hanging from its branches.

I cut myself on the finger, flinching slightly from pain, but I quickly placed it above the chalice, letting my blood fill it up a bit. Then I took my Apple of Peace and soaked it inside before handing the chalice to Levy, who buried it back in its previous hole.

Then we waited to see if anything would happen.

Nothing happened. I sighed since I shouldn't have raised my hopes for this, but I did really hope something good would come out of this offering. Just as I was about to ask Levy to take it out so I can get my Apple back, I felt a pulse of power surge around us.

"What's going on?" Levy asked as we both looked around, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"Oh, my," an ethereal voice came out of what seemed to be the tree.

"I haven't received an offering in hundreds of years." The ground shook as we backed off from the speaking tree while preparing for a battle just in case. Sure, the voice didn't sound like it was angered, but we didn't know for sure.

"And a bounty of the world was freely offered?" The tree surged with life, and the fruits on it turned from rotten to bright yellow apples. Then they fell off from their branches, gently levitating in the air.

"What's going on?" I asked, briefly looking at Levy, but she seemed just as confused, mouthing back to me. "I don't know."

"A just reward should be given in return." The voice continued, and we watched as all the yellow fruit merged into a single one that greatly resembled the Apple of Peace, the biggest one I had ever seen. Then it fell on the ground in front of us before…

"No," I gasped as I watched it shrivel up in front of my eyes, disappearing from the world in just a few seconds. I couldn't even imagine how much I could've increased my Soul with that, but now it was all gone.

"Are those seeds?" Levy asked, and I looked down to see that there were two tiny little things that remained after the Apple of Peace disappeared.

With lightning speed, I quickly grabbed those and threw them in my Inventory before something could happen to them as well. I didn't know what they were at first, but I was glad I did that after reading their name. Apple of Peace Seeds.

I might've not gotten the chance to eat the biggest Apple of Peace I had ever seen, but I got the chance to grow my own in the future. Though I had no idea how long it would take for them to reach maturity on their own. Then again, Droy, Levy's teammate, did use a type of Magic that allowed him to grow plants from seeds. Maybe I could see about picking that up for myself in the near future.

We stayed on guard for a bit longer, but nothing else happened, and the voice remained quiet. Though the tree certainly looked far better now that it didn't have rotten fruit hanging from its branches.

"Should we go?" I asked Levy while making sure nothing attacked us out of nowhere.

"I think we should." She nodded, and we quickly left, returning back to our camp with a few more hours left for the day. Thankfully, we weren't attacked by that voice as we left the ruins.

Gained 2x Soul Fruit Seeds.

So, Physique ranks up to 45 and gains 351. Now at (351/4600). Health at 448/450.

Soul gains 351. Now at (4078/4700).

One-Handed gains 351+230. Now at (1024/3000).

I forgot to give you Observation EXP earlier, so you get a bit more as a reward. Now at (812/2000).

Spells gain 351+400=751

Conjure Wolf now at rank 16 (406/850) - Summon a ghostly wolf that has 240/240 Health, +270 to Attack rolls, and deals 1d95+65 damage on successful hit.

Body Enhancement now rank 15 (117/800) - lots of upgrades available here.

Lightning Bolt gains half the EXP 375. Now at rank 8 (330/450)

And finally, Beast Soul now at rank 11 (568/600).

"What was that?" I asked as we walked through the streets of Roza. That tree felt powerful, much more than those Demons, and I had no confidence in fighting it.

"I don't know," Levy replied while chewing on her lips. "I want to say a very old and powerful sentient… sapient Magical Tree."

"But you don't think that?" I asked, already having an idea how her mind worked.

"It is definitely one possibility, but it could also be something else using a special type of Magic," Levy explained as we moved.

She was about to continue, but we were interrupted by a young man with glasses. "Excuse me, are you two Mages?"

"We are, why do you ask?" Levy questioned.

"Oh, that's great. I have this message for you," he said as he took out an envelope from his pocket.

I was about to take it before Levy stopped me. "Who sent us the message?"

"I have no idea, all I know is that I was paid a good amount of Jewels to hand it to you," he answered with a happy smile, holding the envelope for us to take.

"Alright then," Levy said, and I took it from him before quickly storing it in my Inventory. It was dubbed as a simple message, so it was safe.

"Have a good day." He waved at us and walked away.

We looked at each other before I took the envelope and opened it, seeing a simple piece of paper inside. There was only one thing written inside it, "Leave Bosco as soon as possible."

"Who do you think sent us this?" I asked, showing it to her.

"Well, someone who wants us out of here…" Levy stared at it for a moment. "Probably that Shadow Mage, Yoset, but why would he send us this?"

"So we don't mess up his plans?" I replied since we kind of already did that already.

"Maybe… let's inform the people that we have completed the Job and maybe tell them about this as well." Levy shook her head, and we began walking when she suddenly stopped. "Do you think we should tell them about the Magical Tree?"

"I don't think we should," I replied after considering it for a bit. "Sure, it seemed really strong, but is it really dangerous?"

"It is," Levy instantly replied.

"I mean, yeah, it is, but it didn't attack us," I countered. "And it even gave us a gift."

"It could be drawing the monsters to it," Levy argued.

"But why would it do that? It didn't seem like it needed them for anything, and it seemed far stronger than them," I continued to defend my point. Sure, the tree was scary with the amount of power it had, but it hadn't done anything bad. It even gave me two seeds to grow my own Apples of Peace! Surely, it couldn't be evil!

"I guess you're not wrong. It could've killed them really quickly…" She paused, thinking it over. "I still think we should inform them about it, but I guess we can keep it a secret for now."

I smiled happily at that.

"For now," Levy repeated. "If monsters continue to gather in the ruins, we should tell the people here it might be due to the tree."

"Or maybe we can ask it?" I offered, thinking what would happen if I offered it a Peach of Strength, slightly regretting I ate that other one so quickly. Maybe I could've gotten seeds for that as well.

"That… sounds like it can work. Alright, if monsters continue to gather there, we will ask the tree first, and then inform the people if it's at fault," Levy finally agreed, and we went to report that our Job was complete.

We actually were paid three thousand more after I showed the bodies of the Fomorians, proving that Demons were lurking around Roza. That meant we got nine thousand Jewels for the Job, and we split those between each other.

I thought we'd be finding a hotel to stay after getting money, but Levy insisted we continue sleeping in my tent, so we can save our Jewels. That was fine with me, and we returned back to the spot where we usually camped. After setting up the tent, I looked at the time, seeing there were a few more hours left for the day, and I wondered how to spend those.

Gained 4500 Jewels.

We were running out of food, well, cooked food. I had plenty of raw meat or carcasses ready to be butchered in my Inventory. Lots of vegetables, fruits, and spices too. Oh, and a few cheesecakes–I'd have to give Erza those when I get to meet her again–but again, no cooked and steaming hot meals. That had to change, I decided.

I walked a short distance from the camp while telling Levy what I was going to do before I opened my Inventory and began taking out the carcasses of the Almiraj and the Hobras. One by one, I began butchering them all, storing the meat and every other useful part in my Inventory as was natural. If it could be picked up and had the small chance of being useful, then it was going to be stored there.

With that done, it was time to cook up a massive feast that I could pull out on demand!

'Cooking is fun.' I thought as I cut up the pieces of meat, sprinkled them with a generous amount of spices, and threw them in the pan. The vegetables went into the pot alongside more of the meat, and I took a deep breath that left me with a large smile on my face. This was relaxing, enjoyable, and the smell was absolutely amazing!

Levy came out of the tent, tongue licking her lips as she stared at me cooking with a book in my hand. I had to keep watch over the food, but I did have some free time where I could do something else. And reading about cooking seemed wise as I was already doing just that.

"This smells divine!" Levy stepped closer, eyes focused on the food with a hungry look. She gulped once before turning towards me with the same look in her eyes.

"You are making this really hard, you know?" She said and bit her lips.

"What?" I asked, trying to split my attention between the food, the book, and Levy.

She shook her head in response. "You should read one of those books I recommended."

"I'll make sure I do." I nodded at her.

"Good, good." Levy patted me on the chest, hand lingering for a few seconds there. "Good."

The food finished cooking soon–at least the first portion of it–and Levy practically devoured her plate, oohing and awing the entire time. Then she looked at me, hunger still in her eyes despite the amount of food she just consumed. Though she shook her head moments later before offering me a smile.

"This was amazing," she told me. "And I'm starting to get used to you spoiling me."

"I don't mind," I said while watching over the next batch of meals. "I like spoiling you."

Levy stayed quiet for a bit then said, "I'll be waiting for you in bed."

I was done shortly after and quickly ate a meal of my own. Then I made sure to order the wolf to keep watch over the tent during the night before entering inside. Quickly, I swapped out my clothes using my Inventory got into bed.

Usually, Levy slept with her back turned towards me, but this time she was facing me. Hands and legs wrapped around me, and my heart began beating rapidly as she hugged me close. She buried her face in the crook of my neck, mumbling a quiet, "Good night, Leo."

I mumbled my own in return–my heart speeding even more after feeling her hot breath–before hugging her back with the largest smile on my face.

Gained 35x High Quality Dishes with Almiraj and Hobra meat.

It is now July 16th, X783. 3 days before ?. The Job is done, and we can return back to Fairy Tail.

I woke early in the morning as usual. Levy was slowly shifting her body in her sleep, and I felt her lips gently touching my neck. This felt absolutely amazing, but it also made it so much harder for me since I needed to go to the toilet. Gahh!

Perhaps I could hold it in while waiting for Levy to wake up. I definitely wouldn't mind spending a couple of hours just hugging her tightly. Though I could try to sneak out and possibly start my day early.

As much I enjoyed this, I figured it was time to start my day, and I really needed to pee. Though I did now face the problem of escaping her grasp without waking Levy, and this was an issue.

This was a lot harder than before since Levy was the one hugging me this time around, latching onto me tightly with all of her limbs. I tried wiggling out as sneakily as possible, I really did, but I failed miserably, judging by her cute yawn.

"Five more minutes," Levy mumbled, kissing my neck gently while pulling me towards her.

My heart melted at that moment, and I decided to be bold, giving her a kiss of my own on her forehead as that was the only place I could reach in our position. Levy hummed, her hot breath tickling my neck before her body suddenly shook. She pulled back slightly, looking at me with slowly blinking eyes. "Oh…"

"Oh…" She repeated before quickly shoving her head in my chest.

"As much as I want to stay the entire day like this," I said, licking my lips just imagining how wonderful this would be. "I do need to go do my business."

"We'll have to do that someday," Levy mumbled before her eyes snapped open, she briefly looked at me before turning over. "I'll… just stay in bed for a bit longer…"

I left the bed, starting back at it longingly right before exiting the tent. I went ahead with my business, and then I opened the Beast Breathing manual as I prepared to practice my One-Handed Skill. Though I noticed something worrying. My Grass Sword was kind of chipped and slightly duller than when I first got it. The Griffin one was in a better shape, but it was also getting duller by the looks of it.

I'd have to find a replacement for them soon enough or find someone to fix them for me. Or maybe I could figure out how to do it on my own. That seemed promising as well.

My training started off really well, and I felt like I was really getting the hang of fighting with two swords. The manual was of great help with that, and I constantly kept checking it over to ensure I was following the moves properly.

I felt like I was onto something good here, but then I was distracted by a thought as my mind flashed back to the moment I woke up with Levy. My face heated up, and I recalled she wanted me to read one of the books she suggested.

After taking the two, I picked Wild Heart to start with since it sounded more interesting. With my Gale-Force glasses, I could read the entire thing quite quickly, so I opened the first page.

The book… wasn't what I was expecting it to be. It was about a man that lived out in the wilderness on his own before ending up in a civilized place. There, he met a beautiful woman that taught him how to act like a civilized person, and the two ended up falling in love. That happened in the first half of the book. The second half was filled with explicit scenes of the two doing all kinds of things.

I don't know how long I stood there gaping at the book and just imagining doing all of those things with Levy, but it was surely long enough for her to wake up properly and leave the tent. She stopped in place, seeing the book I was holding in my hands. "Oh…"

We both ate our breakfast in silence, and there were quite a few things I wanted to ask, but… there was something else we needed to discuss first.

"Are we going to be leaving Bosco today?" Levy asked after we finished our meal. "We are done with our Job, and there's no real reason for us to stay here any longer."

Physique gains 177. Now at 45 (528/4600).

One Handed gains, 177x2=354. Now at rank 2 (1378/3000)

Soul gains 4819 due to meeting with a God for the first time. Now at 47 (4197/4800).

"I agree," I replied with a nod. "We are already done with everything here."

I was slightly interested in what was going on around here, but I didn't think it was worth the risk. Fighting a group of monsters was easy as they were relatively easy to outsmart. Fighting a group of Mages? Dark Mages at that? I'd rather not risk it.

Yoset obviously had companions that had somehow helped him escape, so he was certainly not alone. Right, it was much better to report this to the Guild Master, for example, and let him handle this as he knew what to do in this situation.

We gathered our stuff, and I stored it all before I asked. "Hey, instead of riding on the wolf, do you want to try flying? I would have to pause every now and then for a few minutes to regenerate my energy, but it will surely be faster."

"That's…" Levy started before mumbling the next part, and I couldn't quite hear it. "Not how I imagined riding you…"

"What?" I asked.

"That sounds great. We can save a lot of time this way," Levy replied, looking away from me.

"Alright then." I transformed into my Griffin, and she hopped on top before I took to the skies. This form was way quicker than the wolf since I could even boost myself with the wind, pushing me even faster. Levy only had to keep a watch on the map and ensure I was going the right way.

The way back was peaceful and nothing bothered us even when I had to land down for a bit to recharge my Mana. Levy complained a little since she had a harder time reading on my back, but she was also grateful that we had to spend so little time traveling.

Right, the books weren't going to grow legs and run away from us, and we could always spend the evening studying them together. Not to mention how many we had right now.

Two more about Magic Theory, the Alchemy one we bought, and even the guide for the basic Norse Runes. There were a lot, enough to keep ourselves busy for some time.

I also got the chance to think about my relationship with Levy, especially after reading that book. I'd have to check out the other to get some ideas of what to do. Asking her out on a date might be a good option. I could even cook something special for her since she obviously enjoyed my cooking.

It took us about half a day to reach Fiore, way quicker than riding the wolf, and about an hour or two more to get back to Magnolia. We could've probably got there faster, but I did need to rest every now and then, and Levy needed that as well, stating that she was kind of sore from all the riding.

Nevertheless, we safely returned back to the Guild without encountering any issues on the way back. A few people watched in awe as I dropped right in front of the Fairy Tail building, but they gawked only for a bit. We entered inside, seeing that there were quite a few of our members enjoying a drink.

Mira spotted us almost immediately, giving us a little wave. "Welcome back, you two. How was your trip?"

"I'm pretty sore from all the riding," Levy quickly said with a grin.

"Oh?" Mira leaned in with a weird look in her eyes. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Levy nodded, patting me on the shoulder. "Leo is a beast, but I had fun. Would definitely do it again."

I nodded, agreeing with her. Levy grinned and waved Mira goodbye, stating that she needed a long rest due to me tiring her out. She then left after I handed her all of her stuff from my Inventory.

"So what happened?" Mira focused on me since I was feeling okay despite the long journey.

"Quite a few things," I started and began explaining how we encountered a couple of Dark Mages, fought and subdued them before bringing them over to Roza. How one of the escaped after that, probably with the assistance of someone else, but we focused on our Job and ended up encountering Demons. The last part seemed to interest her greatly,and I was reminded that Levy mentioned that Mira used Satan Soul, so I made sure to inform her of the Scroll I got.

"Did you learn it?" Mira asked immediately once I mentioned that.

"Not yet." I shook my head. "The only reason to rush it was to get a Fomorian, but…"

"Mhm." Mira nodded in understanding. "They are quite grotesque."

"Yeah." I agreed.

"I… I won't try to stop you from learning it," Mira said and looked me in the eyes. "But, again, promise me you won't try to push way past your limits. Demons are far more dangerous than normal Beasts, and I don't want to see you get hurt due to that."

"Don't worry! I won't try doing something I'm not confident in succeeding," I quickly said. I had been extremely careful ever since that day I nearly died to a monster. Since then, I hadn't taken any risks whatsoever.

"Thank you." Mira smiled gently at me, and I continued my story, finishing with the encounter with the tree. She didn't seem to know what that was, but she said she'd inform the Guild Master about everything that happened and would ask if he knew what the tree was.

With that done, I was left with a few more hours for the day, and I wondered what to do now.

I looked around Guild hall, searching for Erza as I still had the cheesecakes with me. Unfortunately, I didn't see her around. She was probably on a Job or doing something else to relax.

As sad as that was, it didn't bother me that much since that gave me the opportunity to train some more on my own. I was unsatisfied how my morning training went due to how I got distracted by… thinking about Levy.

Not that I minded thinking about her. I just… couldn't properly train. Hopefully, I would be able to focus now and improve my abilities with the sword.

My moves flowed from one into the other, and I felt I was getting closer in learning the fighting method of the manual. However, I still had a bit left to learn from it.

I passed the first stage of the requirement quite easily as it turned out I was as good with my left hand as I was with my right. My breathing was becoming more and more similar to the one described in the manual as well, but I was a bit off in my , I was close and felt that one more training like this would get me there.

I ended it here for the day and returned back to my apartment. I tossed left and right for an hour or so, unable to find the right spot and feeling like something was missing. Then I realized what it was, and I sighed.

"I fell asleep so much easier with Levy." That was the conclusion I came to before I finally managed to fall asleep.

Physique gains 284. Now at 45 (812/4600)

One-Handed gains 566x2(using cheats to read)=1132. Now at rank 2 (2510/3000).

It is now July 17th, X783. 2 days before ?.

I felt… unsatisfied as I woke up, realizing how much I enjoyed seeing Levy the moment I opened my eyes. I didn't even feel bad for leaving my bed and looked forward to starting my day quicker.

After a quick shower and breakfast, I left my apartment, wondering what I should do today.

I wanted to do a quick Job today, mostly so I could use my Boss Battle ability and not have it go to waste since I had a limited amount of uses per day. Though it did grow from the two it started with to now four. I wasn't sure if that was due to me using it quite often or if it was due to me simply growing stronger. Not that it mattered since it didn't really change anything.

Either way, I would look for a Job to do quickly, but I figured I should continue my training from yesterday since I felt I was on the verge of getting the hang of the Beast Breathing technique.

Beast Breathing was all about mimicking wild beasts and their wild, unpredictable, and ferocious way of fighting. Someone else might have struggled with this fighting method, but not me.

I had two Beasts dwelling in my soul and had spent a considerable amount of time transformed as them. I knew and understood them better than most people out there, so once I began training today, I immediately got into a zone.

I transitioned from form to form–or fang to fang as the manual described it as–starting with the first one, Pierce, which involved stabbing my target's neck with both swords.

I jumped like a beast and moved onto the next one, Slash, unleashing a x-shaped slash with my weapons.

And so on, I continued practicing all the fangs of this sword method, getting extremely proficient with every single one of them.

By the time I was done, I heard someone clapping. Turning around, I spotted Erza watching me with a smile.

"That was an impressive display of skill," she praised me as I smiled back at the compliment. "And that was an interesting sword style, one I'm not familiar with."

"Hi, Erza," I greeted her as I walked over.

"It's called Beast Breathing. It's supposed to mimic the unpredictability of a beast, and it comes with a special breathing method, hence its name. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but I feel myself growing stronger when using this breathing method," I replied as I reached her.

"That sounds interesting! I wouldn't mind sharing some pointers with you," Erza offered with a glint in her eyes, and I suddenly felt in danger as I remembered how she shook the building with a stomp. I had gotten really strong recently, but I wasn't sure I wanted to face off against her as she was someone as strong as Laxus, considering she was also an S-class Mage.

"Maybe we can do that sometimes," I said before adding. "But if you are interested in the sword style, we translated the manual with Levy and left it in the library for everyone to use."

"Then I will definitely check it out later," Erza said with a nod and seemed ready to leave.

"Oh, Erza, before I forget." I stopped her and took out one of the cheesecakes. "I wanted to give you this."

"A strawberry cheesecake." Her eyes zeroed in on the cake, staring at it like a predator ready to jump its prey before slowly looking back at me. "For me?"

I took out a second one for her. "Yes, I even have a few more–"

I couldn't finish my words as the cakes were suddenly taken from my hand, and I felt a force pull me forward. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground with a throbbing head. The entire world was spinning, and it took me a while to get myself back together.

Once I was up, I noticed Erza sitting on the ground next to me, happily eating her cakes with a satisfied smile, letting out a pleasant sound after each bite. My head dropped back, and I decided I could spend a bit longer on the ground to recover from whatever happened at that moment.

Physique gains 199 now at 45 (1011/4600).

After Erza finished with her cakes, she said something about a spar before leaving. I waited for a good amount of time, just resting on the ground before getting up. My head still throbbed, but it was getting better now.

Just to be sure, I checked my Status to confirm there was nothing wrong and I froze in place. My Health had dropped down to three hundred and fifty! That was the most it had ever dropped in a single hit, and I didn't even know how it happened!

Yep, Erza was scary! And to think that Mira–I still found it hard to believe–regularly got into fights with her before. Both of them were really strong, huh?

'I wonder what happened?' I thought as I began walking towards the Guild. Mira was great as she was, but I was a bit curious how she ended up like this after hearing that the two were like Natsu and Gray.

"If it isn't our great Demon slayer," Mira greeted me with an amused smirk as I entered.

"Hello to you too." I rolled my eyes at her and walked over to the Job Board.

"Is there anything in particular that you are looking for?" Mira stepped next to me.

"Something quick," I said as I inspected the current selection, noticing quite a few escort Jobs, which I immediately disregarded as they would last for multiple days. There were a few more that had absolutely no fighting involved, one of them was even about sneaking into the manor of a noble to find any evidence of corruption.

"Preferably a monster fight, if possible," I added after, noticing a request for the corpse of a Wyvern. They wanted a green one, but they'd take a white one as well, though the price of the Job would be reduced for the latter.

"Looking for something to use Take Over on or…" Mira asked as she took a few Jobs.

"I wouldn't mind, but that's not my priority. My Mana," I paused and "corrected" myself. "My Magic Power grows after I defeat an enemy I used my ability on."

"Hmm, then maybe one of those would do?" Mira asked and showed me her selection.

I stared at the Wendigo request for a moment after Mira informed me that it was considered a type of Beast, a powerful one at that. Though she also warned me that using Take Over on it might be dangerous as they were known to be extremely hard to control.

I completely disregarded the Vulcan job, refusing to deal with the horny monsters again. They were the best one if I wanted to find a few relatively strong monsters compared to me, but… just no.

'Though maybe they could've dropped another Seduction Book…' I shook my head. I wasn't sure if it was worth it.

"I'll take the Forest Spirit," I said and picked it from her.

"Huh, I didn't expect you'd choose that one," Mira said as she returned the rest.

"It's not the best for immediate gains, but I am looking for ways to improve my Green Magic, so I'm hoping I get lucky," I explained my reasoning to her.

"Green Magic? Did you know a former member of the Guild uses that? He's part of the Magic Council now and is one of the Ten Wizard Saints," Mira said, fully grabbing my attention. "In fact, most of the books in the library have been donated by him."

"Really?" I asked excitedly. This sounded like the perfect person that could help me with my seeds, though I was planning to ask Droy later for that. "Is there a way I can meet with him to ask for some advice?"

"Perhaps, you'd have to ask the Master if he can arrange a meeting with Warrod. He's generally busy since he travels around the entire continent, revitalizing entire forests on his own," Mira explained, getting me more and more excited.

'Warrod.' I remembered the name and planned to ask Makarov about him.

"Thank you for telling me that," I told Mira with a bright smile.

"Anything for my cute junior." She smirked back at me, and I quickly left the Guild after that.

Once I was out, I used my Griffin form to take to the skies and began flying towards the Legus Woodland, which was situated on the north side of the Daysard Mountain. There was a village near the forest, one far bigger than Loya but still smaller than any of the towns I had visited so far.

There, the people explained about the monster that had been chasing them away from their usual hunting ground, even killing more than a few of them when they got the chance. I got the general direction of where they usually encountered the Forest Spirit, and I began hunting it down.

'Something weird is going on.' I thought as I moved through the forest, using my Griffin eyes to observe everything carefully. I hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary yet, but I heard plenty of weird sounds from the denizens of this place. There was a lot of panting and humping and…

'Ah, I see.' The animals living here were enjoying themselves, copulating with one another like animals in heat. Now, the question was if that was natural or if it was somehow forced on them by the Forest Spirit. It would be quite dangerous if it could somehow influence me as well since I'd probably end up… running back to the Guild.

'Gah!' Useless thoughts! I had to focus on keeping my guard up here. Or maybe it had already influenced me somehow? Right, I had to be careful around here.

A deep rumble alerted me that something was wrong. That was followed by the ground shaking before something massive appeared in front of me.

Those villagers told me it was a big monster, but I hadn't expected something this large! And it also didn't seem very pleased with my presence here as it immediately threw a massive punch my way.

I already had my eyes transformed, so I only needed to push it further and get my hybrid form out. Mana overcharged my body, and my swords flashed in my hands.

Then I moved, using the boost from my wings to get me out of the way of the attack while staying slightly above ground. That was a good decision on my part as the earth shook from the punch as the monster formed a massive hole with its attack.

Then it paused for some reason, its head turning to the side and staring at a bunch of wolves that were ignoring what was happening, too focused on having the time of their lives.

I was utterly confused, but I didn't let that distract me and used this chance to quickly dash in, using my fourth Fang, Slice 'N' Dice, to deliver multiple slashes across its large form.

The Forest Spirit let out a loud rumble in response, and I watched how some of the wounds began regenerating.

'This might be a problem.' I though, gripping my swords and taking a glimpse at them, noticing how my Grass Sword was barely hanging on. I needed to end this quickly before my weapon ended up breaking.

My bladed quickly disappeared in my Inventory as I pointed my now free hand at the monster. "Lightning Bolt!"

My spell slammed into the Forest Spirit, and it didn't seem to do much at first, but then I saw its body twitching, realizing that I had paralyzed it.

Quickly, I summoned my wolf right behind the monster while requiping my sword, dashing towards with all my speed to not waste this chance.

Using the Sixth Fang, Palisade Bite, I began slashing wildly, chipping away the monster's wooden form. Large pieces of its body began falling near me as I tried my best to kill it as quickly as possible with my wolf doing its best to assist me.

The Forest Spirit was nearly dead when it let out an even louder rumble, causing the entire forest to come to life. The trees turned to living creatures as they tried to swat me away, and even the parts of its body that I cut off attacked me.

I was in a difficult position, sandwiched between all of those attacks and the monster, who swung its massive fist my way. My wings flapped with all their might, and I directed all of my Mana to them, allowing me to narrowly avoid all of the attacks.

Then I surged, flying towards its head and used Third Fang, Devour, unleashing a powerful double slash as I cut off its head in one go. I stayed in the air, carefully watching my surroundings and saw how the living forest froze in place. Everything calmed down moments later, followed by the light signaling that the monster was dead and that a reward was about to be formed.

That was the biggest light I had ever seen from a single enemy, and I wasn't sure why it happened. I knew that only defeating my enemy came with weaker rewards and that stronger opponents gave better rewards. I knew that much.

However, why did I get three things from this monster? Was it because it was the strongest one I had ever faced? Or was due something else I had missed?

I didn't know, and at that moment, I didn't care since the rewards looked really interesting. The Spell Scroll I quickly stashed in my Inventory with a happy giggle. I got a Spell that increased the growth of flora, which was exactly what I wanted! Now I didn't even need to seek out Droy later, though I could still do it since it wouldn't hurt to get closer to Levy's teammates.

The next reward was a small knapsack filled with all kinds of plants. They looked like nothing I had ever seen before, and I stored them in my Inventory, seeing that most of them had Magical-sounding names.

'Perhaps they can be used for Alchemy,' I pondered, though I hadn't really got the chance to read the book yet.

I shook my head and turned to the weirdest reward. It was a small sapling of a brown tree that dripped sap from its top. I wasn't entirely sure what it was since I couldn't store it like the rest.

On a whim, I tasted the sap, and my eyes widened as it was so incredibly sweet! It was absolutely amazing! And it seemed to almost endlessly produce this sweet sap? Woah!

It was really disappointing how I couldn't store it in my Inventory, but I didn't mind that much. Though… I would end up getting the sap all over me when I had to carry it back to Magnolia.

Now, I had a few more uses of Boss Battle and wondered if I should stay in the forest for a bit to search for some enemies to fight.

Gained, a knapsack with ingredients for basic Alchemy potions; Spell Scroll for Green Magic: Growth, and Chocolate Fondew sapling.

As much as I wanted to stay for a bit longer and hunt some monsters, I decided to leave now. The sapling with the incredibly sweet sap seemed way too valuable for me to risk damaging it, and I didn't want to leave it behind while I searched the forest since something might end up taking it away or even destroying it.

No, it was better to leave now, get my reward, and return back to Magnolia as quickly as possible. So after storing the Forest Spirit's corpse and its body parts I cut off in my Inventory–they were rightfully mine, after all–I passed by the village and showed it off to the people there, ensuring that the monster was taken care of. They wanted to thank me with a large party, but I had to decline and quickly departed after I was paid for the job.

Now, I just had to return and avoid getting the sweet sap all over me on the way back.

Gained 4250 Jewels. Total funds now 8840 Jewels. Also gained some Magical Wood.

Physique gains 255. Now at (1266/4600).

One-Handed gains 289. Now at (289/4000).

Conjure Wolf gains 355. Now at (761/850). - 2 upgrades available.

Body Enhancement Gains 355. now at (625/800). - 4 upgrades available.

Lightning Bolt is now rank 9 (245/500).

And Beast Soul is rank 12 (554/650).

She took tiny sips from her chalice, savoring the energy rich liquid for as long as possible. The blood and the remains of the apple mixed perfectly, and she almost regretted using so much of the fruit to grant those two cuties a reward. Almost. She still felt like they deserved it, but it hurt knowing she could've had some more.

"I wonder how they are doing?" Idunma asked no one in particular as she rested underneath her Golden Apple tree.

The two of them were interesting, the boy more so due to how unique he felt to her sense. He was producing so much of this energy that she wondered if he was even a human in the first place.

Just as she took another sip, she felt something incredibly odd. Her powers encompassed nature as a whole, but they were largely focused on trees, and she sensed an entirely new type in the world.

With her power, Idunma scoured the world, quickly finding what had grabbed her attention, seeing the boy holding the most unique specimen she had ever seen. She chuckled before it turned into a mad laugh.

"I should've grabbed him when he was right next to one of my Avatars!" Now she really regretted missing that chance.

"Fuck those old crones and their words," she cursed while giggling before continuing with a childish voice, "It's the era of humans, blagh! As if that really meant anything to us."

Chronos was having fun in one part of the world, completely ignoring their word as he played with his worshipers. Ankhseram was constantly keeping watch and scouring the world like the grumpy old fool that he was, making sure no one tried stepping on their domain. Ha! Some of them really took the mortals calling them Gods for it being the actual truth. Not that they were really wrong since they were the strongest in the world. They just weren't as all-powerful as the mortals believed them to be.

There were even a few more of them playing around the world, and Idunma wondered if she should join them as well. After all, she even had the perfect little champion to take for herself! Perhaps she would, but for the time being, she decided to observe before making a decision.

"Ahhh!" I constantly grumbled as the sap got all over my body while I flew with the tree in my hands.

"Arghh!" This was incredibly annoying, and I had to pause quite often on my return to Magnolia than I anticipated. It was just so sticky and irritating when it got all over me. Sure, I got to enjoy some greatly delicious sap, but I was still annoyed by it!

Finally, I managed to return to the Guild and I dropped down outside of it before kicking the door open.

"Help!" I called out, hoping someone could assist me here. "I got this cool tree, but it's constantly dripping sap everywhere!"

"Is that chocolate?" A purple-haired girl with glasses asked as she approached. Laki was her name, if I remembered correctly.

"I don't know, but it's really sweet and sticky," I replied back, trying to keep the sap from dripping on me.

"Let me see." Laki took some with her finger before licking it clean. "Ah! This sweetness pleases my stomach!"

"Help?" I asked, looking past her to see if anyone had an idea of how to keep this thing from dripping on everything.

"Allow me!" Laki clasped her hands together before spreading them apart. "Wood-Make, Crate!"

And then she proceeded to create a wooden crate with her Magic, big enough for it to hold the tree. I quickly dropped it inside before quickly changing to a new set of clothes with my Inventory.

"Thanks a bunch!" I made sure to thank her for the help.

"You can thank me by feeding my stomach more of this sweetness," Laki replied as she scooped some more with her finger before quickly devouring it. "For no numerical cost, of course."

"Ah, sure?" I said, a little bit uncertain due to the way she spoke.

"Leo." I turned to Levy who shook her head at me. "You were gone for a few hours and you come back with this?"

"I also completed my Job!" I added before looking at the sapling. "But I have no idea what to do with this one."

"Perhaps we can keep in the Guild and sell some of this," Mira said as she came over as well, scooping some of the sap with a finger before sensually licking it off. "Ahhh. This has to be the best tasting chocolate."

"Laki, do you think you can make something a bit better so it doesn't overflow too quickly?" Mira turned to the girl with glasses, who was still enjoying some of the chocolate.

"I trust my adroitness." Laki nodded, and I only understood what she meant due to my Allspeak ability.

"So, what do you think? Do you want to keep this at the Guild so we can sell the chocolate? You will get to passively earn some Jewels due to you being the one to bring it here," Mira offered, and I wondered if I should agree.

"That sounds nice," I agreed with a smile. "That way everyone can enjoy the chocolate."

Mira smiled and looked at the Wood Mage–and wasn't that an interesting type of Magic. "Laki, would you please help me set this up in the back?"

"Assuredly, let's get our feet moving." Laki nodded, and they carried the weird sapling back, giving anyone interested the chance to test it.

I even noticed Mavis running up to the sapling to try and take some, but her figure passed right through it. She pouted with puffy eyes and ran off afterwards.

Makarov took a few scoops of it before jumping in joy. "Hallelujah! We might make a profit for once! Woo-hoo!"

I chuckled at that, but then I got worried, thinking that the Guild might be having money issues. Those Jobs earned us quite a bit of Jewels, and I knew that to request one to a Mage Guild, they had to pay a small cost to have their Job be placed on the Job Board. I thought that should be enough to keep Fairy Tail running, though I barely knew a thing about money and what a Guild needed to keep running.

"Well," Levy said with an amused smile. "It seems you had an interesting few hours."

"I did," I chuckled and gave her a quick hug.

"Hey, hey! What's going on?" Jet and Droy rushed over.

"I got a cool tree, and I even got this," I replied, taking out the Scroll for the Green Magic Spell, showing it off to Levy and her team.

"That's… not," Jet began speaking but sighed and shook his head.

"It's a Scroll for the Growth Spell," I explained and looked at Droy while Levy carefully looked it over. "And I was wondering if you can help me with it since I don't want to destroy the Scroll."

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea!" Levy exclaimed as she grabbed onto my arm, gently wrapping her hands around it. "You can read and translate it for me, so I can write it down, while Droy helps you with the Spell."

"Huh?" Jet and Droy looked defeated for some reason after they heard that.

"I did tell you that Leo will likely accompany us on future Jobs, so this is the perfect chance for you three to get to know each other better," Levy continued, and they looked even worse.

"I heard how awesome you guys are, so I won't mind getting to know you better," I said and added. "We can even eat some of the chocolate as well."

"Bah! I give up!" Jet threw his hands in the air and quietly mumbled. "I can't even hate him…"

"Yeah…" Droy sighed. "We lost the war before it even started…"

"What?" I asked, tilting my head at them. Levy just smiled and hugged my arm tighter.

"You said this is a Growth Spell?" Droy asked and looked at the Scroll.

"It is." I nodded.

"My Plant Magic does something similar, so let's see what this is all about," Droy said and took out a few of his seeds to show me.

"Alright then! Let's go behind the Guild so we don't disturb the rest," Levy took the lead, pulling me towards the back of the building. She then paused and looked at me. "Do you have a blank book and a pen with you?"

"Yup." I nodded and handed them over to her.

Jet and Droy sighed at the same time, and the Speed Magic user turned to his partner. "I'll go grab us a few drinks."

While he did that, we started working on the Scroll.

I quickly read the Scroll out loud. Levy translated in the blank book I handed her while Droy listened with a hand on his chin. Jet returned with a few beers, but I politely declined him since I didn't want to drink alcohol at the moment.

"This is a bit different than my own Magic," Droy started before giving a short explanation about his. "My own focuses on rapid growth that greatly shortens the lifespan of the plant while also allowing me to manipulate it for a short time."

"And this Growth Spell focuses on a more natural growth," I continued for him since I got the basics of the Spell after reading it once as it wasn't that complicated.

"Yes." Droy nodded, and we began discussing its effects and uses.

It didn't take me long after that to get the hang of the Spell, and I managed to successfully use it for the first time on one of his seeds. The plant barely even sprouted, but I succeeded and that's what mattered.

"Thanks a bunch!" I told him with a grateful smile. "I wouldn't have gotten the hang of this so quickly without your help."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," Droy replied as he gulped an entire glass of beer in one go.

Learned Growth (0/50) Slightly boosts the natural growth of most types of flora. Currently works on only mundane ones. Can be used a limited number of times per day before damaging the lifespan of the flora. Costs 30 Mana per cast.

"Are they okay?" I asked Levy as we watched Jet and Droy gulp down yet another glass of beer.

"They are fine," Levy replied with a shake of her head.

"Want to meet later in the library?" I asked after, deciding to trust her words.

"Sure! We can go even now if you want," Levy offered, eyes lighting up with excitement. "We have so many books to read now that I don't even know what to start with!"

"I'd love to." I scratched my head and showed her my swords. "But I kind of need to speak with Erza since my weapons are in a really bad condition."

"Oh." Levy deflated a little bit. "And you don't have any other weapons…"

"I do, but those are my only swords," I said after returning them back to my Inventory.

"Alright then," she said with a tiny sigh.

"Hey, we can even translate the Norse Runes and just copy the Alchemy book so you can read them whenever you want." I tried to make her feel better and succeeded judging by that smile.

"You're the best." Levy tiptoed and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I heard Jet and Droy gulping more beer at the same moment.

"I'll see you later." I waved her goodbye and entered the Guild.

Just from seeing how well behaved everyone was, I knew that Erza was around, and it didn't take me long to spot her. She was sitting and discussing something with Makarov, and I wasn't sure if it was important, but I still approached them.

"Leon!" Erza seemed happy to see me.

"I'll leave you two," Makarov said with a grin and wiggled his eyebrows at me before hopping away.

"Hi, I hope I'm not bothering you–"

"Nonsense!" Erza interrupted me. "I already told you I'm happy to help someone like you."

"Thanks." I nodded at her.

"Since I know you use various weapons and armors, well, I wanted to ask how you maintain them and where I could possibly purchase some for myself?" I quickly showed her my own swords and their condition. "Those are the only two that I have and as you can see, one of them is about to snap."

"I thought they were practice swords or even old ones you outgrew when I saw them earlier," Erza mumbled as she studied them really quickly.

"Sadly, no. They are the best I have," I told her with a sigh.

"We'll have to remedy that!" Erza stated and began telling me about the best places I could purchase quality equipment. She knew a lot, and I meant a lot, but the one that she frequented the most was Heart Kreuz. According to her, they sold the best armors and weapons in all of Ishgar, and she even had a personal contract with them.

"I often provide them with valuable monster materials, be they bones, scales, or even something more exotic, and in return, they craft unique armors and weapons for me," she explained. "If you are interested in that, I can try and set up a similar contract for you."

"I'll think about it, and thanks for that," I told her with a smile.

"Don't worry about it! That's the least I can do for you after the precious gift you gave me earlier today," Erza replied with a faraway look, tongue quickling licking her lips.

"Maybe I can give you another one," I teased and watched her turn to me like a hawk. Suddenly, I felt very much in danger.

"But maybe you can give me a tip or two on how to take care of my weapons before that," I quickly said, doing my best to distract her.

"Oh, I can give you that and more," Erza mumbled before shaking her head and focusing on the topic at hand.

She really knew what she was talking about, and I learned quite a few things I could do to ensure my weapons and even armor would always be in their best condition. Sure, I would have to pass a store or two to buy some of the stuff I needed, but it would be worth it.

Once Erza finished with her lesson, I activated my Body Enhancement at maximum power and prepared to use my strongest Beast Soul as well. Then very carefully, I pulled out two more cheesecakes from my Inventory.

"Thank you!" I dropped them on the table and was about to rush out of the main hall with all my might.

However, I didn't even get to take a single step before my head was slammed with a loud thunk against her armor as she hugged me close. It hurt like hell, but at least I didn't pass out this time!

"Thank you, Leon. This means a lot to me," Erza said, allowing me a moment to take a deep breath. She looked at me with a gentle smile before slamming my head against her metal breasts again.

"I'm glad you like it," I said and winced from the headache.

"I'll cherish this," Erza sat down, slowly taking bites from the cheesecakes.

I ran away from the main hall now that I was free and saw Mira shaking her head at Erza while mouthing something to her from a distance.

I entered the library while rubbing my forehead and quickly found Levy sitting on our usual spot.

"Are you okay?" Levy got up with a worried look.

"Yeah, just Erza has a weird way of expressing her gratitude," I explained and told her what happened.

Levy shook her head in amusement. "She can be a bit too much at times, but she means well."

"I've heard of the phrase "tough love" before, but now I understand exactly what it means," I chuckled and rubbed my forehead again.

"Want me to kiss it better?" Levy asked with a coy smile.

"I wouldn't mind," I replied, feeling my heart speed up as I leaned down. She cupped my cheeks and gently kissed my forehead.

Levy took my hand after and pulled me towards the desk. We sat down, and she took her spot on my lap, leaning back against me. "What do you want to read today? We have so many options…"

"Maybe we can get the guide for the basic Norse Runes translated, so you can try to add them to your Magic?" I suggested, thinking this would be good for her.

"Leo." Levy looked back at me before leaning in and kissing me on the cheek. "You're the best."

"Mhm." I just nodded as I took out the guide alongside a simple blank book, making me glad I used Boss Battle on those stacks of paper with Makarov that one time. Maybe I should do it again in the future for a few more of these.

Levy began writing everything down, while I hugged her from behind with my head on her shoulder, reading from the book that was apparently written in a very old dialect that's no longer being used in Iceberg.

Unfortunately, the Runes weren't that useful to me since I didn't know how to use Rune Magic nor did I know the basics for Enchanting as well. However, I did feel like I would have an easier time developing both of those Magic Schools if I ever decided I wanted to use them.

Levy at least was ecstatic about them, telling me how she thought of multiple ways she could incorporate them in her Solid Script. She would need to do a few tests to make sure they would work as she imagined, but she was certain they would be useful for her.

Once we were done, we sat there for a moment, just relaxing and enjoying the presence of the other while idly discussing random topics. There was a brief moment of silence once we ended a topic, and Levy turned around to face me, her arms wrapping around my neck.

"Say, did you read the books I recommended to you?" She asked with rosy cheeks.

"I did read Wild Heart." I nodded feeling my face heat up.

"And what did you think about it?" She asked.

She stared into his red eyes, hoping… praying that he'd get the message. Levy honestly hadn't expected this to happen, especially after hearing the new guy was someone recommended by Laxus, thinking he'd be a guy similar to the Master's grandson. Oh, how wrong she was.

Leo made her stomach churn since the day she met him, and she could barely hold herself from pouncing on him. He loved reading just as much as her and kept up, even exceeded her in how quickly he grasped things. He willingly shared texts from long forgotten languages and was happy to translate them for her instead focusing on himself.

He made her love eating breakfast! One of the meals she usually skipped in favor of drinking a simple cup of coffee. She enjoyed his pampering a bit too much and couldn't wait for him to prepare her favorite dessert. Though not as much as what was about to happen!

Levy almost squealed when he leaned in, and she closed her eyes right before his lips met hers. Her stomach exploded with a tingling sensation, and she fought off the moan that wished to escape her mouth, instead focusing on his lips and how amazing they felt.

Her arms wrapped around him even more as she pulled him towards herself, almost melding their bodies together while her hands grasped his hair.

This was what she had waited for! And damn if it wasn't worth it!

Levy pushed against him, deepening the kiss even further until she felt his tongue push against her lips, wrapping around her own. A little moan managed to escape her at that moment, which turned into a deeper one as his hands dropped lower, gently grabbing her under the waist before raising her on the desk.

"I love it when you are this assertive," her mouth spoke before she could realize what she was saying and her eyes widened. To cover up her words, she quickly kissed him again while her legs wrapped around him.

This was pure bliss, finally getting what she wanted, thankful that she didn't need to make the first move because she was just about ready to.

'HA! Take that! I win!' A part of her cheered in her mind while she enjoyed this moment, one that she wished to last forever, but even if it didn't, it would surely be one she'd remember for a very long time.

'Prancing around with those earrings… he likes me more anyway.' Levy was sure of that, especially with the way his hands massaged her ass, causing her to moan in his mouth no matter how much she wished to fight it back.

They kissed and pushed their bodies against each other, and Levy would've loved it if it was just that, but then he did something else.

"Oh…" Levy felt like she was in heaven as he moved from her lips, layering small kisses on her cheek as he moved down until he reached her neck. Her entire body trembled in ecstasy both from the sensation and…

'Just like in the book!' He had really read them for her! Her toes curled up in delight while she enjoyed this amazing feeling.

However, Levy was a fighter, and she wouldn't be outdone like this! She took hold of the situation and returned the favor, latching onto his neck with gentle kisses before finishing it off with a little bite, letting the world know who got to him first.

They enjoyed this for a long while, kissing, feeling up the other, and having the time of their lives. Though it did come to an end at some point, and they both just lay on the desk, staring at the other's eyes with large smiles on their faces.

"Hey," Leo whispered to her, his hot breath causing her to shiver in delight. "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"

"Oh…" As much as she enjoyed him being more assertive, this was maybe a bit too bold.

"I barely fell asleep yesterday." However, he continued, and she realized it wasn't what she first imagined. "The entire time I felt like something was missing, and I realized how much easier it was with you around."

"I'd like that," she whispered back, smile widening even further. Her cheeks hurt a bit from it, but she didn't care since this was exactly what she wanted because she also had a harder time falling asleep, thinking of him the entire night and how much she missed his warmth.

Leo picked her up, carrying her out of the now empty Guild, and she squealed in joy in her mind. He brought her to his home, and she quickly dropped down only to her underwear, watching him gape at her form and making her confidence soar. She wasn't ready to push it further, but she could allow this much since he deserved it.

His clothes disappeared in a second as well, and they jumped in bed, continuing from where they left, though they both acted a bit bolder, copping a feel whenever they got a chance. Levy fell asleep that night feeling complete satisfaction, and she knew she'd be repeating every single time she was given the chance.

'Maybe I can convince him to get a bigger apartment with me.'

It is now July 18th, X783. 1 day before ?.

I woke up to the best feeling in the world, seeing the happy smile of Levy as she clicked her lips in her sleep. My stomach churned as my smile stretched from ear to ear, just by remembering last night. I wanted to lean in and take her lips right there and then, but I stopped myself since I didn't want to wake her up. Instead, I pecked her forehead before I quietly left the bed to go and clean up.

Since I was in such a good mood, I wanted to do something for everyone else as well. Levy was cutely snoring on my bed, so left a little note for her right next to the bed, telling her to come to the Guild as soon as she wakes up. I left the key for the apartment there as well, and I even conjured my wolf to keep watch just in case.

Then I left the building, quickly passing through a few stores that were open so early in the morning. I grabbed a bunch of ingredients along the way, consulting with the cooking back I had bought a while ago. Once I reached the Guild, I already had everything I needed stored in my Inventory.

"An early riser, are we?" Mira was already there, preparing for the start of the day.

"Good morning, Mira," I cheerfully greeted her, getting a raised eyebrow in response.

"Do you mind if I use the kitchen? I want to cook breakfast for the Guild and have already bought all of the ingredients," I asked.

"Be my guest," she replied with a wave. "Though what brought this on?"

"Just woke up really happy today," I replied while I began preparing to wow my guild mates.

"What are you planning to make?" Mira asked while I began taking out the ingredients I just bought.

"A little bit of everything, really," I said as I began preparing the first batches. "The bacon and eggs you made for me were really delicious, so I'll make some of that."

I would never forget the first really good meal I had eaten, so that was definitely going on the list.

"However, it will be a shame not to use some of the chocolate." I looked at the tree that was placed in the kitchen. "Some pancakes will be nice with that, and I bought some cake foundations to prepare some of that. Should have enough time before everyone comes in."

"And we can store and sell the rest through the day if they aren't all eaten," Mira said, and I nodded, agreeing with her idea.

Then I got to working, dancing between the ovens as I kept watch over all the food. It was a bit ambitious of me to do the all the same time, but I had read a couple of cooking books at this point and had plenty of experience.

Mira watched me from the side, humming a tone I didn't recognize. I caught her eyes a few times, but mostly kept my focus on the food.

"Hey," she called out as I placed the cake on a platter, ensuring that it looked perfect with the Fairy Tail mark on it.

"You have something on your cheek," Mira said and stepped closer. Before I could ask where, she leaned in, gently kissing my cheek, and I felt her tongue licking it after.

I froze in place as she giggled before pinching my waist. She grabbed the platter to bring it to the main hall, leaving me speechless in the kitchen.

I was so confused while finishing the rest, not really knowing what to do. So I stayed as quiet as a mouse while helping Mira deliver everything to the main hall. There were a bit more people than I expected, but I had made enough for everyone, and I was satisfied when I heard them all thanking me for the free food.

"You should do this more often!" Natsu said while shoving food in his mouth. "But you should also totally fight me."

"Fish!" Happy, the talking blue cat, declared. "You should cook more fish. For free, of course."

"I'll think about it," I replied, watching the cat's eyes light up as he covered his mouth with his little paws.

"Natsu, I found a better partner. I think our partnership ends now," Happy told his friend with a sigh.

"What?!" The two began bickering, and I quickly walked away. Though I quickly regretted it since I ended up passing by Erza.

Now, I enjoyed talking with her even if she could be a bit too intense with her… hugs, yeah, hugs. However, this was an entirely different situation because Erza was staring at the cake I prepared. She had taken just a small bite from it and was now panting heavily with an intense look in her eyes.

'I'm in danger.' I thought as her gaze moved onto me, and I felt like a little deer standing in front of the big bad wolf. Her hands balled into fists and her eyes turned dilated.

I walked away as quickly as my feet could carry me, trying desperately to get as far away from her before she did something to me. I didn't know what she was thinking of doing, but whatever it was, I was definitely not going to survive it.

Multiple eyes stared at my back as I walked away, and I ended up hiding in the kitchen and waiting for everyone to leave before I attempted to sneak out of the building.

Once I was out of the Guild, I quickly ran over to the spot I usually trained, briefly wondering if I should try to find a new one in case someone hunted me down. That seemed like too much, however, and I didn't want to waste time with that.

After making sure that I was alone, I summoned my wolf and began wondering how I could make it better. It was incredibly stronger than when I first got the Spell, but it still couldn't really keep up with me. That was a slight issue since I was growing so fast.

'So how do I change that?' I was both stronger and faster than it while using my other Spells. 'What if I focus on just one aspect instead of trying to upgrade everything at once?'

With my plan made, I decided on how to improve it, namely by imbuing it with Lightning Magic. That seemed like a good way to increase its speed and even attacking power. Not to mention that I could also give it the ability to attack enemies that were immune to physical attacks otherwise it would be nothing more than a meat shield as the fight with Yoset proved.

'This was far easier than I expected it to be.' I thought as I watched the wolf dash around the area with streaks of lightning dancing around its body. I expected to be here for a long time, but I actually managed to do it extremely quickly. Not that I was complaining since I could now try to improve it even more.

The next thing on my list was to try and make it a bit bulkier since it was quite fragile. I could take it down with only a few fully powered Lightning Bolts and that just wouldn't do if I ended up facing stronger and stronger monsters.

I found some success in that area, but the biggest bonus was that I made it more resistant to Magic as I noticed that it managed to shrug off the paralysis effect of my spell. Though I wasn't sure if that was due to lightning coursing through its body or due to my recent improvement.

While I was trying to figure that out, doing my best to inspect the Spell and its inner workings, I somehow ended up seeing through the eyes of the wolf.

'No, that's wrong.' I immediately corrected that since I could also hear through its ears. Focusing a bit more, I managed to fully experience what my wolf was feeling, forcing me to release a deep breath. Damn, it was hot!

I had to take off my shirt after feeling how much the heat bothered it. I tried to cool down by waving my shirt, and then I heard someone howling like a wolf. I smirked and shook my head, knowing that Mavis was watching me again. Not that I minded since I always seemed to perform better when she was here.

After feeling a bit better, I turned around to greet Mavis, but I froze in place since I saw there were two more people next to her. Mira and Erza were standing side by side, staring at me with contemplative looks.

I froze, not really sure what to say, especially after the earlier scenes. Erza scared me with the predator look she had after taking a bite of the cake, and Mira,.. well, she confused me with that kiss. Thankfully, I was saved.

"Hey, Leo!" Levy appeared to rescue me. She walked past the two women, pausing for a moment to look at them with a smirk.

"Hi," I greeted her, relieved to see her at this moment.

"The breakfast was great," Levy complimented before walking right up to me. She cupped my cheeks and pulled me down for a kiss, one that lasted for quite a bit.

"I'll see you later, right?" She asked, and I nodded.

"Great!" Levy walked away with a swing in her hips, and my fingers twitched seeing that. I always knew hugs were great after experiencing them for the first time, but last night I realized how amazing it was to touch someone without their clothes on.

Levy passed the two women, giving them a jaunty wave as she returned to the Guild. Both turned to me with narrowed eyes, and I suddenly felt I was in danger once more. Thankfully, I was saved yet again!

"Leon!" Elfman ran over with a grin. "I see you are ready for some manly training! You wouldn't mind if I joined you, right?"

"Not at all," I answered before adding. "Hey, do you mind teaching me how to fight? I'm only good with my swords, but they are in a bad condition right now, and I don't want to get caught off guard if they end up breaking."

"Leave it to me, little bro!" Elfman patted his chest. "I will show you how to throw a punch like a man!"

"Don't you have work to do?"

"No, there aren't that many paying customers this time of the day. Plus, I want to make sure they don't get hurt."

"You can leave that to me. I can even give them some tips."

"Didn't you want to grab a Job? I remember you saying you planned to leave early in the morning yesterday."

"I can delay it for a day… or two…"

"I thought it was about hunting down a really dangerous monster, are you sure you want to delay?"

"Urghh."

"You can go now. I will keep watch and make sure to patch hi… them up if they get hurt."

"Urghh."

"You are still here. What if that monster kills innocent people while you waste time here?"

"UGHHH!"

I wasn't sure what was going on there with the two, and I was slightly embarrassed, but I also didn't want them to leave. Mostly because I noticed recently that I improve much faster when I was being watched, specifically by women.

Elfman seemed to agree as he constantly praised how well I was doing, giving me thumbs up and saying I was a manly man. He was a great friend, though a bit quirky,just like everyone else in the Guild. That did made me wonder if I also was like them and what was my quirk?

Physique gains 552 now at (1818/4600),

Unarmed unlocked and now at 346/1000.

Mira and Erza eventually left, and I trained with Elfman for a bit longer before we called it quits. We were both sweaty from the physical activities, so I took out the portable outdoors shower to quickly scrub ourselves. It wasn't a full bath, but we no longer stank.

Mavis was still there, and I noticed blood trickling down her nose. I was about to ask if she was alright, but she ran away while making weird noises like, "Ababababa."

I returned to the Guild after that with Elfman, idly talking about the Jobs we recently did. I waved at Levy, who was sitting with her team, and walked over to Makarov.

"My boy!" He happily greeted me as he snacked on some of the cake I made earlier.

"Hello, Master," I greeted him back and sat next to him.

"Is there anything you need?" Makarov asked and leaned closer, continuing with a whisper. "Perhaps some advice for the ladies?"

"I was thinking we can go fight some more paperwork today," I replied, seeing him grin back at me.

"Ha!" He slapped his hands on the table and quietly said. "I don't have favorites, but you are quickly making your way to the top of my list."

Roll me Bo3 1d100-10(No Skill)t80 to convince Makarov to do some actual paperwork. He really doesn't want to bother the rest with it no matter how much he complains about it.

"And this one!" Makarov cheered and pointed at a stack of papers. I fired a Lightning Bolt, reducing them to ashes while gaining a simple blank book in return. It's not like I was planning on going out to hunt today, So I figured I might as well use Boss Battle on them.

"Now this one!" Makarov pointed at another after clapping with joy, and I burned it like the previous

"Hahaha! Take that, you evil monsters! Hahaha!" His laughter was infectious since I ended up laughing alongside him.

"And I have to say, you've really improved your Magic since I saw it last," Makarov said, a kind smile forming on his face. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," I replied, feeling proud about it myself. I did put a good amount of effort on improving all of my Magic… except for Green Magic, but I was planning to work on it next!

"What about those?" I pointed at the remaining stacks of papers.

"Those… those I can deal with on my own." He shook his head. "I don't want to burden anyone else with those monsters."

"But it won't be a burden," I replied, adamantly taking my stance. "I want to help."

"This…" He seemed hesitant at first, but then he threw his hands in the air. "Bah, if you want to do it, then who am I to stop you! Let's see if we can defeat those evil creatures together!"

Dealing with all the paperwork wasn't really that hard, just tedious. My Gale-Force Glasses were a big help in quickly reading through them all, though I had to add and subtract a lot of numbers. This brought to my attention that the Guild was always losing money. I checked to make sure, but Fairy Tail has been making a deficit for the past few years.

We had completed a lot of Jobs, which earned us a lot of Jewels. The people requesting them had to pay the Mage doing the Job and the Guild itself so it gets posted on their Job boards. Yet that wasn't enough for us since it seemed that our members were sanctioned quite often, most of the time earning less than fifty percent of the promised reward due to the amount of damage they had caused while completing the Job.

That was mind boggling to me since I never had such an issue. Then again, I hadn't been a member for that long and most of my Jobs were in locations where I couldn't have destroyed other people's property.

Now I understood why Makarov was so happy about me bringing the chocolate tree to the Guild and allowing them to sell it. This would certainly bring some extra cash to Fairy Tail, making me really glad I chose to leave it here.

I pursed my lips, thinking what else I could do to help before I decided to focus on the now, increasing the speed of which I dealt with the paperwork. Makarov was beside me, giving me some advice from time to time, but he was focused on his own stacks of paper. By the end, we managed to reduce the paperwork to nothing, and the Master whooped in joy after seeing how empty his desk was.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Makarov leapt and latched on to me, tears of joy streaming down his face. "If there is anything you want, just tell me!"

"Well." If he was offering. "I wanted to ask if you can arrange a meeting with Warrod for me?"

"Oh, I definitely can, but why?" He asked as he hopped on his desk.

"I want to learn some more about Green Magic since I was thinking of trying to speed up the growth of the chocolate tree to make it produce even more of its sap," I explained one of my reasons, though, of course, I also wanted to grow my own Apples of Peace.

"Don't do this to me!" Makarov covered his face with his hands. "I don't want to pick favorites!"

"That's okay, I just want to help," I replied with a smile.

"Noo! Stop!" Makarov jumped over to hide behind his desk.

"If it makes you feel any better Master, I also want to see if you can arrange a meeting with a few more people for me," I continued, watching him peek his head from behind the desk.

"Who?" He asked, not leaving his spot.

"Hmm, I was thinking a skilled doctor? I'm interested in learning more about medicine and biology," I said, thinking that might help me with my Magic. And even if it didn't, both of those Skills would still be useful if anyone ever got hurt near me. "Perhaps someone who knows Alchemy as well since I want to pick that up as we bought a book about it with Levy."

"I do know someone that perfectly fits that description. Someone that's a great doctor and knows quite a bit about Alchemy…" Makarov said, looking hesitant. "But there's a slight problem. She doesn't really like other people."

"Is it that bad?" I asked. "Maybe there is a way to convince her to teach me?"

"Maybe," Makarov replied, but he didn't seem confident in my chances.

"I'll tell you about her another time, okay?" He asked, and I could only nod in response.

"As for Warrod… I'll get that old fool to meet you, don't worry about that," Makarov said and slapped his chest before chuckling. "Though it might take some time since he's a bit slow, comes with the age, you know?"

"I don't mind waiting for a bit," I replied. My seeds and ingredients weren't going anywhere, and I could just work on everything else while waiting to meet with Warrod. It wasn't that big of an issue.

We ended up talking about various types of Magic after that. He didn't really go into detail, but he told me of his experience when fighting different Mages and how he dealt with some more exotic types of Magic. I felt like I learned a bit from that conversation, and I thanked him for that before waving him goodbye.

The library was what awaited me next, just like any other evening, really. This was my favorite place to spend my time because there was so much I could learn there. And, of course, because I got to spend time with Levy.

Remembering what she told me yesterday, I walked to her with confidence before pulling her and taking her lips. My hands dropped down, fondling her firm yet soft butt while deepening the kiss with her, causing her to let out a cute squeak.

"I don't mind this," she said after we paused for a breather. "I don't mind this at all, but I did want to ask you something."

"Mhm?" I urged her to continue.

"So you learn Magic like really fast, right?" She asked and I nodded. It's not like it was that hard.

"Could you try picking this one?" Levy showed me a book about Archive, and I remember her mentioning it before.

"It's an interesting one, and it can supposedly allow the user to transfer their knowledge to someone else," she explained and my eyes opened wide.

"Oh! I can use this to share my Magic knowledge with you, maybe even my ability to speak and understand all languages!" I said, and she cut me off with a deep kiss, showing how much she'd appreciate that.

It took us a bit to settle down, but I opened the book, ready to add another Magic School to my repertoire.

"This is harder than I thought it would be," I muttered as I studied Archive. This Magic seemed perfectly suited to me as it dealt with storing information and converting it into magical data that could be used for various effects.

"Really?" Levy looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You're disappointed you didn't learn an entirely new type of Magic in just a few hours?"

"I… yes?" I replied, thinking about my previous experiences. "I've learned new ones before in that amount of time."

Levy chucked and shook her head. "People will spend months, years even trying their best to learn new types of Magic, and here you are doing that in a day at most."

I really found it hard to believe that it could take someone that long to learn. "Really?"

"I wouldn't lie to you," Levy replied with a kind look. "What you are doing is simply astounding."

That made me feel a lot better about myself. Plus, even my own Magic called me a Magic Genius. I smiled proudly, thinking back to my achievements. I went from someone who couldn't even read a few weeks ago to someone who could learn Magic in hours!

"Want to have some fun at your apartment?" Levy offered while scratching the cat ears I had on top of my head, figuring I might as well train my Beast Soul Spell a bit since I could have them on indefinitely.

"I'd like that," I replied, leaning it to take her lips.

"Let's get moving then." Levy licked her lips before tilting her head. "Though if we make this a regular occurrence… we might have to get a bigger place."

"That… sounds nice." I wouldn't mind having a bigger apartment. Or… even a house maybe? Yeah, I liked the sound of that. An entire house for myself and Levy.