It is now August 4th, X783.
Sadly, I returned back to Magnolia late at night and couldn't meet with everyone, but I was so happy to finally sleep in my bed–which faintly smelled of Levy. I even went to sleep with full Health at that since Laxus left to do something on his own and didn't beat the weakness out of me as he used to during the trip.
Waking up in the morning, I felt something weird going on with my Beast Souls, but I wasn't sure what was happening, and I didn't have a way to check. The only thing I could do was wait and see what would happen.
Shadow Panther
Physique: 110
Soul: 60
Sets Stealth to rank 4 if lower when used. Gives Night vision. Can use Shadow Magic: Meld - Can merge with a shadow and move around as far as the shadow extends. Costs 15 Mana per turn to sustain.
I felt one of my Beasts, the Shadow Panther, surge with energy, quickly growing more powerful by the moment. Then I was pulled into my Soul place as the creature roared in defiance, thinking it stood a chance against me now that it was slightly stronger.
I scoffed, shaking my head at it. It was dangerous, I could admit as much, but I defeated an even more powerful Beast during my trip with Laxus. I even got a Demon, though… that guy was weird, and I didn't want to even thinking about him.
The Shadow Panther leapt towards and shortly before reaching me, it landed on the ground to merge with the shadows. That almost took me by surprise, but I quickly took action, using my mastery over lightning to fire Spells in all directions, lighting up this place.
With a roar, the Beast was forced out of the shadows–so bright light rendered its ability useless–and was forced to fight me head on. That was my specialty, and I quickly took it down with just a few blows.
'That will teach him its place.' I thought as I felt it back off, submitting to my will again.
This was an experience, though it was interesting to know that my Beasts could grow stronger and even try to fight back against my control over them with enough time.
I stayed alert and slightly nervous, expecting to be forced to fight my other Beasts, but nothing else happened after the fight with the Panther. After feeling safer, I tried out my new form, testing out its limits in my apartment.
I felt much stronger than even my Griffin form with the Panther, which was a surprise. Not that I went out of my way to test that here, but that's how I felt.
However, its new ability was really interesting. As long as there was a shadow on the ground, I could fully merge with, becoming practically invisible, and I could travel as far as it reached with my speed being roughly the same as usual. The only issue was that as soon as light touched my shadow, I would instantly be ejected from it.
Nevertheless, that was incredibly useful, and I could see myself using it for Jobs that required Stealth. Thinking about that, I vaguely remembered a few of those being on the Job Board the last time I checked. I might have to take on of them in the future, just to see how well I'd do.
With that taken care off, it was now time to start my day and meat with the rest of the Guild, something which I was very excited for.
It was still early in the morning, and I didn't expect to find anyone in the Guild–other than Mira, of course–but I rushed over there quickly, excited to get to see them all again. Though I did quickly pass through a few stores to stock up on all the ingredients I had used during the trip.
The place was as empty as I expected with only the white-haired beauty, who was cleaning up the mess left from the previous night.
"Mira," I greeted her, going over to give her a quick hug due to how excited I was.
"Oh, ho ho." Mira giggled and hugged me back. "Look who's back! And you came to see me first instead of Levy?"
"I'm assuming she's at Fairy Hills, so I can't really go there." That's where the women from the Guild all lived at, and the men weren't really allowed to go inside their building.
"Or on a Job with her team," I added after that.
Mira clicked her tongue. "And here I was hoping to tease her later about this."
"It's not like you still won't do it." I rolled my eyes, knowing what she'd do after getting to know her. This did remind me that I had to ask about her past with Elfman and what happened, but I held off for now.
"Mayhaps I will," Mira replied with a teasing smile. "So how was the training trip?"
"It was good for me," I said at first before adding. "But I don't want to have a repeat of that anytime soon. All I did was fight, fight, and fight some more. Plus, a lot of training for my Magic. Laxus said he wanted me to take as many jobs as possible once I returned, but I'm thinking of taking it easy for a week at least."
"I see, I see." Mira nodded. "So you are saying you want to spend more time with me."
"That's not what I said," I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "But I guess I will be spending a bit more time around the Guild."
"I'm happy to hear that," Mira said with a gentle smile before she returned to cleaning up the place. I ended up helping her out since I could store all the trash in my Inventory before throwing it out later.
"Did anything interesting happen while you were with Laxus?" Mira asked while we were setting up the new furniture.
"As I said, it was a lot of fighting and training," I replied at first. "Though I did end up getting a new powerful Beast Soul and even a Demon."
"A Demon?" The latter made her turn towards me with a bit of worry. "What kind? And is it giving you trouble?"
"It's…" I scratched my head. "It's an Incubus… and he hasn't given me any trouble at all. He's even willingly allowing me to use him. Let me show you."
"Oh, my." Mira covered her mouth as she observed my Incubus form. "Has my cute little junior been corrupted?"
I didn't respond at first since I felt pure terror from my Demon Soul. The Incubus couldn't really communicate with me unless I was using him, and right now he felt absolutely terrified from just being near Mira. I really couldn't see a reason to be scared of her, but Levy did tell me that she used to regularly fight with Erza before. Again, this returned back to me not knowing more about her past, and I really wanted to ask, but I held it off.
"He did try, but he failed," I replied before releasing the Spell.
"I'm glad to hear that." Mira offered me one of those gentle smiles of hers that made me freeze for a moment.
I shook my head and said, "So, I was thinking of cooking a big breakfast for all of the members that are here. Do you want to help?"
"You are spoiling them all." Mira shook her head with a chuckle before sighing. "Half of them already don't even pay their tabs. Fine, let's cook a big breakfast together."
"Nice." I grinned at her. "I even have this pancake recipe that I want to try. It seems simple at first glance, but apparently, you need to use Magic to make the real deal, which I'm not really sure how to do at the moment."
"Oh? Now that sounds interesting," Mira replied. "Let's see what we can do about that."
"You know…" Mira said, pausing for a second. "I'm really enjoying this. We should do this more often."
"I'd like that," I said and wiped my mouth before looking at her, only to see Mira offering me one of the most beautiful smiles while she continued working on the batter. She winked at me as she gave it a little taste by licking it off her finger and chuckled at my dumbfounded expression.
We continued in silence after, focusing on following the recipe for the pancakes. As I told her earlier, it wasn't complicated at all, though I wasn't sure how to make the real deal. Mira said she had some ideas of her own, and she'd test them out at another time. I couldn't wait to see how the real deal tasted because after tasting those ones, all I could say was that they were really good.
However, Mira seemed to have enjoyed them even more than me, judging by that loud euphoric moan. She froze, realizing what she had just done. Instead of acting embarrassed or anything like that, Mira took another bite from the pancakes while staring at my eyes the entire time, and… I knew I had to escape after seeing and hearing that.
I left the kitchen quickly with multiple platters in my hands, delivering the pancakes around the Guild Hall and dearly hoping the others wouldn't react like her.
"YES!"
"He's back!"
"Free food!"
Most cheered when they saw me delivering their breakfast, knowing that I liked cooking for them all. A few greeted me, asking how I was, and I spent the time talking with them for a few moments while carefully watching their reactions. None reacted like Mira, but everyone said the pancakes were incredibly good, especially the women.
I went in and out of the kitchen, taking some more of the food and leaving as quickly as possible. Mira was still there, enjoying her own pancakes and making those loud moans with each bite. I pretended to see and hear nothing as I passed her.
A bit later, Levy entered the Guild, her eyes lighting up as she saw me going around with the food. Quickly, she came over before pulling me to the side.
"I'm so happy you're back," Levy said and showed me exactly how happy she was. I was just as overjoyed to see her again, and we agreed to meet up later in the library before deciding what else we should do now that I was back.
Everyone was excited that I was back, and even though I knew that part of it was due to me cooking for them all, I was still happy to be appreciated like this.
"What's up, bro!" Elfman excitedly greeted me as he approached.
"Just enjoying this." I waved at the members that were still happily eating the breakfast, giving me a thumbs up every now and then while expressing their gratitude.
"How have you been while I was away?" I asked him back.
"I did a few Jobs on my own," Elfman replied and frowned. "One of them was an escort Job for some rich guy that wasn't even as manly as your pinky."
"Didn't have a good time with him?" I asked back.
"Bah, not at all," Elfman barked. "Ended up punching him in the face at the end of the Job. I didn't get paid for it due to that, but it was worth it."
"Was he really that bad?" I looked at him, a bit worried he might've gotten in trouble.
"And did he file a complaint?" I asked after before remembering that Makarov didn't even read those and instead had me burn them down with my Spells.
"Nothing to worry about." Elfman waved off my concerns. "That's not the first time I've done that."
"Say," he continued, looking a bit nervous. "Wanna do some training with me?"
"Sure," I replied. I really wasn't in a rush to get back to training, but I wouldn't mind spending some time with him since he was a good friend. "I even developed a new way to fight while using Beast Soul on the trip. Maybe I can even try to teach it to you?"
"That sounds really manly!" Elfman pumped his fist in joy before clapping me on the shoulder. "How about we have a spar then since the best way to learn is through our fists!"
"Sure, we can do that," I replied, and we left the building to get to our usual training spot.
"See, the entire point of this style is mimic the ferocious and unpredictable attacking method of Beasts," I told him as I transformed into my hybrid Panther form as it was currently the strongest one I could use.
"Show me how to use it like a true man by punching me!" Elfman declared as he transformed two of his arms, both bulging with muscles underneath the scales that formed around them.
I smirked before dashing, appearing in front of him in an instant. I didn't use any of my other enhancing Spells, but his eyes widened in surprise at my speed.
My claws slashed out, and he blocked the first strike, but I was already moving as the first attack was a faint. The next took him by surprise, and I punched him in the side of his torso, sending him skidding back. I held off from clawing him there since I didn't want to injure him.
"You've become a true man!" Elfman laughed loudly. "Don't hold back against me, otherwise I won't be able to learn this Beast Style!"
"If you say so," I replied, activating my Lightning Speed and Body Enhancement, causing my Mana to start slowly ticking down. It used up about eight Mana every ten seconds or so, and I had more than enough to sustain this for a very long time.
"Try to keep up." I smirked as I used one of Laxus' lines and then appeared in front of him before he could even blink. He had no chance to dodge this attack, though I still held back a little, not wishing to hurt my friend. Nevertheless, he was sent tumbling down the ground from this attack.
"WOAH!" Elfman jumped up, staring at me with wide eyes. "What a man! Come, attack me again!"
And so we continued sparring with me having a massive advantage over him at the start. However, Elfman proved he was a Fairy Tail Mage as he began slowly but surely taking my Style and adapting it to his own. I was truly astonished how quickly he learned it, but he was really good at Hand-to-Hand combat, so I could somewhat understand it.
Once he even got it down, the fight completely turned around, and he was the one that had the advantage, forcing me to push myself to my limits to dodge all of his attacks since I really didn't want to get hit by his massive fists.
We sparred for about a few hours before we called it quits after that. Both of us were satisfied with the training, especially because he managed to learn my fighting style in such a short time.
"Hey, Leo…" Elfman looked at me with a complicated expression. "Thanks a lot, little bro."
"Don't worry about it." I gave him a thumbs up with a smile. Elfman was my friend, so I didn't mind helping him at all.
We ended up returning to the Guild, and he took a Job before leaving again. I, on the other hand, wanted to see Makarov and how he was doing.
Elfman learns Beast Style and grows more confident. Soon he might be able to fully control his Take Over Magic.
"Hey, Master," I greeted Makarov, who was idly sitting on a chair while reading a newspaper.
"Bah," he spat and threw it away. I briefly spotted something about a Dark Guild by the name of Daylight before the pages flipped over.
"Is everything alright?" I asked in worry.
"You don't have to worry about it." Makarov shook his head. "How are you doing? The little vacation with Laxus sure was good for you. Your presence is more noticeable now."
"It is?" I asked, not really sure what he meant.
"It is, it is. I can feel in the air now while before you felt… well, it wasn't very noticeable," Makarov said, embarrassingly stretching his head. "Now it feels like I'm standing in front of a strong Mage."
"I do feel a lot stronger, but… I don't think I want to go on another such trip anytime soon," I replied, feeling proud that my presence as a Mage was now noticeable, though I wasn't sure what made it so.
"Anyway, I wondered if you needed some help with your paperwork?" I asked after.
"You really want to help, don't you?" Makarov asked, and I nodded.
"Alright then, let's go and fight those monsters together!" He hopped off before leading me to his office.
There was a lot of work, but the two of us quickly reduced the stack of papers to nothing, leaving only the complaints. I was ready to start blasting them apart when Makarov stopped me, "Let me!"
He cackled madly as he threw fire Spells at them, reminding me that I had a few Scrolls in my Inventory after using Boss Battle so many times during the trip. They were all elemental Spells, and I was slightly interested in them, but I wasn't in a rush to learn them as I had plenty of Spells I had to work on as it was.
Though this did remind me of something else. "Hey, Master, you mentioned someone that knew a thing or two about Alchemy, right?"
"I did." He nodded.
"Would they be interested in this?" I showed him one of the potions I earned. "Those are Health Potions according to my Magic."
"Ohhh!" Makarov exclaimed, seemingly impressed, but then he said, "I have no idea what that means! Hahaha!"
"They are supposed to heal someone when consumed," I explained what little I knew.
"That sounds interesting," He said and mumbled after. "She'll probably want to look at those…"
"I have twenty of those," I added, trying to convince him to set up a meeting with this Healer he knew.
"Yeah, that will do it." Makarov nodded. "I'll try and speak with her and get her to meet you."
"Thanks." I smiled before taking one more thing out of my Inventory. "I also got this natural diamond and according to my Magic, it can be sold for a lot."
"Damn!" Makarov exclaimed. "That's a big one alright."
"Would it be a bother if I asked you to sell it for me?" I questioned since I didn't have the confidence of doing it myself, thinking that I would probably get cheated since I didn't know its exact value. "The Guild can even keep half of the money earned from it."
"Half?" Makarov shook his head. "Absolutely not. This is your diamond and you earned it yourself."
"How about thirty percent of it?" I asked again since I didn't mind sharing a bit from it after seeing how we were barely keeping the Guild stable.
"That's still too much," Makarov replied. "The Guild can take… twenty, no, ten percent at most, and you can keep the rest."
"That's fine with me then," I said and handed him the diamond. He carefully cradled it, almost looking as if he was afraid he'd break it somehow.
"I'll make sure to get the best prize since you are my favor… part of the Guild!" Makarov promised, and I smiled in response before bidding him goodbye.
Makarov will sell the diamond in one to two weeks at most.
Mathematics gain 469x4(due to chat doing a lot of math)=1876 EXP. Now at rank 1 (1202/2000).
"You're a big meanie!" I heard Mavis say as I walked down the stairs.
"Am I?' I asked in a low tone.
"Yes! Yes, you are!" Mavis accused me with a pointed finger. "You gave me food and then just left for two weeks! That's exactly what a meanie would do!"
"Well." I smirked at her. "I did make some really nice pancakes earlier…"
"Gimmie!" Mavis was latched onto me in a second, hanging off of me like some kind of monkey. "Gimmie! Gimmie!"
"I did have some plans…" I trailed off and bit my lips to suppress my laughter.
"Nooo!" Mavis pouted, her eyes beginning to water.
"But I can always find some time for the ghost of the first Guild Master," I added, watching her eyes begin to literally sparkle.
"Best! Minion! Ever!" Mavis declared loudly as I walked over to the library for some privacy. She hung from the entire time, swinging left and right while cheering.
Levy wasn't there unfortunately, but I sat down on our desk to wait for her while feeding Mavis some of the pancakes from earlier. At first, I felt she was making fun of me due to how she moaned just like Mira did earlier. However, I realized that she was really enjoying the pancakes that much.
I get that they were made with that chocolate from the tree, which was really sweet, but this was a bit too much, wasn't it? Or maybe there was something special about the recipe? I couldn't think of anything else that could cause this, unless I was just that good at cooking.
Either way, I spent some more time with Mavis, telling her about my trip with Laxus and how much I improved during it. She clapped and danced as I regaled her with all the monsters I defeated and even showed off a few of them by taking out their corpses from my Inventory.
We ended up talking for a couple of hours before Levy arrived, a large smile appeared on her face the second she spotted me there.
"Hey." She walked over, immediately dropping in my lap as she wrapped her arms around my neck before pulling me in for a kiss.
"I'm happy to see you too," I said after pulling back to take a breather.
"Mhm." Levy nodded and leaned against me, placing her head above my chest.
"Want to tell me all about your trip with Telepathy while we read something?" She asked, and I nodded, activating the Spell while we chose what to read.
"How about we study some mathematics?" I asked after thinking about it.
"Really? Mathematics?" She questioned back in surprise.
"Mhm." I nodded and explained my reasoning, "I feel like it could be really useful for my Archive Magic."
"That makes sense," Levy replied with a nod and hopped over to quickly grab the books about mathematics we had here.
"Now, let's see how much I can teach you." She smirked at me and opened the first one.
Choosing to study mathematics was a great idea, and I felt my understanding of Archive improve alongside my Skill. Not to mention that I got to appreciate how great of a teacher Levy was as she greatly motivated me by promising a kiss for every equation I got right. It was safe to say that I didn't get a single one wrong.
Unfortunately, Levy didn't end up returning with me to my apartment as she planned to leave early in the morning with her team. They were going on an escort Job that would take them about three days to complete.
I asked if she wanted me to accompany them, but she refused, stating that I've earned my rest after the trip with Laxus. I reluctantly accepted even though I wanted to spend more time with her.
On the bright side, my stay at my apartment was ending in about three days, and I could perhaps get a bigger one for myself. Though If the diamond got sold for a lot of Jewels, I might even have enough to buy a house, which would be perfect if it had a garden so I could idly practice my Growth Spell on some plants.
It is now August 5th, X783.
I ended up waking even earlier than usual, feeling even more energetic after the trip with Laxus. It seemed that I needed even less time to recover now, allowing me to do more things throughout the day. I still wasn't in the mood to train multiple times a day, but I could see myself spending a few hours to work on myself.
A disappointment sigh escaped my mouth, knowing that Levy would be gone today, but that meant I could try to get to know the other members of the Guild a bit better.
Since it was even earlier than usual, I knew that there would be no one at the Guild, so I had to find a way to pass the time until everyone else woke up. I thought about working on some of my Spells before shaking my head, deciding to do that another time.
Instead, I figured I could read something since that became one of my favorite activities after I finally learned how to read due to getting Allspeak. I had plenty of books stored in my Inventory, and I looked them over, trying to decide which to pick. My eyes passed the Seduction one I got from the fight with the Incubus, and I paused, staring it a for a moment.
I stared at it for a bit longer before taking it out, figuring I could surprise Levy when she returned.
Reading about how to seduce both men and women was… let's say interesting and leave it at that. I didn't think I'd ever have to use the former since I was attracted to women, but I guessed it was good to know. Maybe a man would be interested in me, and I would catch on and inform him I wasn't interested.
I also realized how I might've been unintentionally seducing others with my actions, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It worked great with Levy, and I was happy about that, but I didn't want to hurt the feelings of others like Mira. Unless…
I shook my head, stopping that thought before it started. To distract myself from this, I decided to read something else, like the biology books, for example.
Biology gained 2315EXP. Skill unlocked and now at rank 1 (815/2000)
Biology was a fascinating subject to read about. I learned a lot about the human body and how it worked, which gave a glimpse of how I might be able to improve some of my Spells. I would still need a few more hours, just to ensure I knew what I was doing.
I also ended up learning some embarrassing things that actually gave me some ideas. Those could wait until Levy returned, however.
Lastly, biology also helped me understand how I might be able to help others and patch them up a little better in the future. If I learned more, I might even figure out how to target my enemies better to take them down even quicker.
Biology was really fascinating, but I had enough of it for the time being, and I left my apartment, making my way over to the Guild where I was warmly welcomed by the members currently there. I greeted them back and confirmed that, yes, I would cook for them today as well. I did have a lot of monster corpses I could butcher from that trip, after all.
While idly talking with a few, I noticed that there were three members I wasn't familiar with in the back, all watching me intently. After asking Alzack about them, I learned that they were the Thunder God Tribe. Or as he called them, Laxus' biggest fans. I should probably talk with them in the future, but I was a bit intimidated by their intense eyes, so I moved on.
Mira was delivering drinks to Macao and Wakaba, two members that were on the older side compared to everyone else. The latter's haircut was a complete mystery to me since I had no idea how it even stayed up like that.
"Hey, Mira, how about we go on a date, eh?" Wakaba asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"Hmm, if you were half your age, could cook, and had black hair and red eyes, I might have considered it." Mira grinned at him before giving me a wink as she touched her earrings–the ones that I gave her–for a brief moment.
"Ah, well." Wakaba shrugged. "Can't blame me for trying."
I paused after hearing her words, freezing in place for a second as I watched her walk away with a giggle. Wakaba then leaned closer to me and whispered. "I believe in you. Go get her!"
"I'm… just gonna go cook a feast for the Guild," I said and quickly walked away.
"Mhm, I'm sure that's all you do back there." I heard him before I entered the kitchen.
"Going to spoil them again?" Mira asked while she cleaned up some glasses. "Eh, might as well. Not like half of them pay their tabs."
"Do you want to help?" I asked as I quickly scanned through my Inventory to find some monsters that had edible meat. "Just need to quickly butcher them before we can start."
"I'd love to help you cook." Mira offered me a warm smile as I went over to butcher some of the monsters.
Mira helped at first, but she backed away, stating that I had everything under control and that she just wanted to watch me work. I actually enjoyed cooking alongside her so that was a bit saddening, but I continued nonetheless.
When I got ready with the first dishes, Mira took them out, and I heard cheers from the main hall. Then everyone quieted down–a rare occurrence around here–with only some soft sounds being heard from them.
I heard a loud thump shortly after, and the entire building shook for a bit. That was followed by Erza's voice. "I knew I smelled his cooking!"
'Erza is here.' I thought with a smile since I wanted to ask her about her contract with that company. Sure, I got some nice weapons and armors from the various rewards during the trip, but I also got some interesting ingots that could potentially be crafted into something good. Plus, I could even show her some of the other weapons I got, maybe even gift them to her since I didn't really use anything else other than one-handed swords.
"Hey, Leon." I heard a voice from beneath me, and I looked down to see Happy there with a fish in his hands.
"Fish?" He offered it to me. "Can you cook me the fish?"
"Sure, give it here," I replied, and he beamed with happiness as small wings manifested on his back. He flew up and gently handed me the fish as if it was the most sacred thing in existence.
"You're the best!" Happy twirled in the air as I began cooking the fish for him. "Say, you're not looking for a teammate, are you? I can fly really fast and can even carry you with me!"
"Oh, I can do that as well." I grinned at the cat as I manifested my own wings with my partial transformation.
"Oh, no! I became obsolete before our team even formed!" Happy dropped on the ground with a deep sigh. "I guess I'll have to stick with Natsu…"
"But!" He puffed up his chest and held up one of his paws. "If you ever decide to form a team, I'm your cat! You are not allowed to team up with another cat, got it?"
"Got it." I chuckled at his antics.
Shortly after, I finished preparing his meal, and he left while drooling from his mouth. It didn't take me much longer to finish the rest of the food, and I helped Mira take it out. Most of the members were completely focused on their meals, letting out quiet moans after each bite.
"'S so good!"
"More!"
A smile formed on my face as I watched them all enjoy my dishes. I was alerted by a clicking sound, and I turned around, ending up face to face with a blond guy that held a device in his hands.
"So COOL!" The man exclaimed while looking at his device. "Incredible!"
"Hi?" I said with a tilt of my head, not really recognizing this person.
"HELLO!" He yelled back as he clapped his hands. "I'm Jason from Sorcerer Magazine!"
"Oh," I muttered, remembering the magazine that I had in my Inventory, the one that had Mira only in underwear on the front page… I never really got to read it after buying it, but I also might've just bought it due to the front page back then.
"Well, I'm Leon," I told him and offered him my hand.
"It's so nice to meat you!" Jason shook my hand eagerly. "I heard from the rest of the COOLEST Guild that you are a new member, right?"
"That's right," I nodded, a large smile forming on my face just thinking about that. My life changed when I got my Magic, but it got even better once I joined the Guild.
"So COOL!" Jason exclaimed loudly again as a clicking sound came from his device before he asked in a calmer voice, "Would you mind answering some questions for me?"
"Sure, I have some free time right now," I nodded at him.
"Alright, could you please tell me more about your Cooking Magic?" Jason began with a weird question.
"Cooking Magic?" I asked and shook my head. "I don't have anything like that. This is just normal cooking. Anyone can accomplish the same thing as long as they put enough effort into learning how to cook."
"So COOL and HUMBLE!" Jason exclaimed while noting down in his notes. I wanted to correct him, but he already moved on to the next question, asking me about how long I had been part of the Guild and what Jobs I had done.
Jason seemed excited as I told him about my time after joining the Guild, though he kept insisting I used Cooking Magic even when I told him otherwise. I even showed him a Lightning Spell, but he completely ignored that. He left before I could convince him that there was nothing magical about my food, stating that my interview with him would be on the next cover for Sorcerer Magazine.
'What a weirdo.' I thought as I shook my head.
Before I could decide on what to do next, I felt as if a predator had just focused on me. Slowly turning around, I saw Erza staring intently in my direction with an empty plate of food in front of her. I looked to the side, seeing Mira near me, and shot her a pleading look.
Mira just giggled in response and mouthed "Good Luck" before walking away.
Cooking gains 574 EXP. Now at rank 2 (964/3000).
"Leon!" Erza said, her eyes intensely observing me like I was a tasty morsel.
"Hi, Erza, it's nice to see you again." It really was, but I was a bit scared and kept a short distance away from her.
"I heard you went on a trip with Laxus," she said after, and I noticed the trio from the Thunder God Tribe trying and failing to discreetly come closer to listen to the conversation.
"I did." I nodded in confirmation.
"You feel much stronger now…" Erza trailed off before adding. "I might have to take you on one as well."
"Maybe in the future?" I asked, trying to delay it as much as possible since I didn't think I could stop her if she decided to forcefully take me away. "I want to spend some time relaxing before I do something like that again."
"That sounds reasonable." Erza nodded. "I'll give you a day to rest up. That should be more than enough."
"Ah, maybe a bit longer?" I quickly said, making some more excuses. "There's a few things I need to do, and I also promised Laxus I will focus on completing as many Jobs as I can before the end of the year."
"Hmm, perhaps I should take you along on a few Jobs myself," Erza mused before muttering quietly. "That way you will cook for me and only me…"
"Haha…" I laughed weakly before quickly changing the topic. "Hey, you said that you had a personal contract with a place that made your equipment, right?"
"Yes." She nodded. "Heart Kreuz is where I get all my armors for a discount since I bring the rare materials, but I have a few more that prepare my weapons."
"Is there a chance to get me in touch with any of them?" I asked and showed her some of the rare metals I recently got. "I have a few Adamantium and Mythril ingots that can be used to make something good… I think."
"Adamantium!" Erza shot up from hear seat, staring at the ingot in surprise. "That's an incredibly rare ore to find. I got some as a reward for a Job before, and I had it forged into my best defense-focused armor."
"I was thinking I could have those turned into weapons since they are on the heavier side, and I'm not that good with heavy armor. And judging by your words, they will end up very durable and hard to break."
"You are correct. Even I will find it hard to break weapons made from Adamantium," Erza agreed before looking at the other ingot. "This, on the other hand, is the first time I've heard about Mythril."
"It's lighter," I told her and tossed it up and down. "Maybe I can get it turned into some armor if it isn't too fragile."
That got her talking, and Erza began telling me all about her various armors. I knew she had quite a bit, but… I stopped counting after the thirtieth different armor set she described.
"Oh! Forgive me!" Erza got up and bowed. "I forgot you asked me to get you in touch with Heart Kreuz. Please hit me as punishment."
"What? I'm not going to hit a friend for something like that." I frowned, wondering where that came from. "Plus, I enjoyed hearing you talk about your equipment. It gave me the idea of storing multiple different sets in my Inventory and switching them out like you do."
"Are you sure you don't want to hit me?" Erza asked with a fragile look.
"Yes, I'm sure." I nodded resolutely and took something from my Inventory. "How about I give some of the pancakes I made yesterday. I saved some just for you since you weren't here."
I knew what was about to happen. I even prepared myself for it by activating all of my boosting Spells the moment I pushed the plate of pancakes her way. Yet, I still ended up on the ground after she slammed my head against her breastplate. On the bright side, I didn't pass out, so… yay!
"I will introduce you to Heart Kreuz if you are interested in getting an armor made out of one your rare metals," Erza said after she finished her food. "And I can even show you the people that make my weapons."
That sounded perfect to me.
"However, their shops are in the capital. You will have to come with me…" Erza trailed off and muttered the next part. "Alone, just the two of us… on a trip to the capital…"
"That sounds… perfect?" I said and watched offer me a bright smile before she got lost in her muttering.
"That sounds perfect!" Erza agreed with an enthusiastic nod. "Inform me when you wish to go on this d… trip to the capital with me. I will be here for the next four days before I take another Job."
"Got it." I nodded to her and quickly threw another plate of pancakes her way before I rushed away.
Health is now at 270/470.
"After moving away from the scary lady, I went around the main hall, idly talking with the rest of the Guild members present. All seemed happy to chat about random things with me and made sure to express just how much they enjoyed my food. Of course, they didn't forget to mention that I should consider making this a regular thing because my food was that good. And also free. That was just as important.
I laughed at that, not really minding that I wasn't being paid. I remembered the days where I could barely get enough to eat and had to survive on a couple of fruits a day. Those were awful times, but now everything was much better. I could eat whatever I wanted, and I was happy to share my joy with everyone else.
"Hey, pretty boy," Cana called out to me beckoning me while holding a barrel of alcohol with her other arm. "Come 'ere and share a drink with me."
"Sure." I hadn't really drank anything since my first day here, and it was getting late, so I figured I could have some before returning to my apartment. I walked over, but just before I reached her, I suddenly felt really sleepy.
I wasn't sure what happened next, but when I regained my senses, I found myself in her arms with my face buried inside her large breasts. My eyes opened wide, and I accidentally ended up grabbing onto them as I tried to free myself from the sleeping girl. Cana's eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring at her while my hands remained where they were.
"I swear it was an accident!" I said in panic as I backed away.
"What happened?" Cana blinked her eyes before she gently rubbed her breast, my eyes locking on to her movements before I could stop myself.
"Mystogan?" Cana looked around, and I followed her gaze, seeing that almost everyone else was snoring on the tables. Then she looked at me, a large grin growing on her face.
"At least buy a girl a drink before feeling her up!" She barked a laugh, and I let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry!" I still apologized, but that only made her grin grow bigger.
"So… did you like that? Hmm?" Cana leaned on the table, her arms pushed against her breasts making them look even larger.
"I…" I definitely liked that, but I already had a girlfriend, so I couldn't admit it.
"Hahaha!" Cana laughed and beckoned me again. "Come, come. Let's drink!"
"Maybe I should go," I said, thinking it was time to return to my home.
"Nope!" Cana shook her head, her grin still on her face. "Unless you want me to tell everyone else what you did."
"Or maybe I should stay for a drink or two," I instantly changed my mind.
"Good choice," Cana said and looked at the other members. "Let's quickly go and grab some alcohol before Mira wakes."
She stood up and took my hand, pulling me towards the bar where we grabbed a few bottles. I unwillingly followed along since she had one over me due to the incident.
"Cheers!" We clanked glasses as she forced me to share a drink with her. I was anxious at first, but then we got talking, and I found myself enjoying my time with her.
She even explained that what happened earlier was caused by Mystogan, who was the most mysterious of Fairy Tail's S-class Mages. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but I thought her voice cracked when she mentioned "S-class", making me wonder what that was about, though I didn't get the chance to ask since she changed the topic immediately after.
We even agreed to go on a Job together in the future, which she insisted on and refused to let me leave until I accepted. I played it up a bit, acting like I was unsure at first, but as I said, I actually enjoyed talking with her, so I easily agreed.
"I'll see you later, pretty boy," Cana said as I left and slapped my ass when I turned around. She winked at me as I quickly walked out of the building, returning to my home while wondering what just happened.
It is now August 6th, X783.
My dreams were… interesting to say the least as they involved a bunch of the girls from Fairy Tail chasing after me. No matter how much I tried escaping, they all caught me every time. Though… I wasn't sure I minded getting caught, to be honest.
Gah! I jumped out of my bed and quickly rushed to drawn myself with cold shower while thinking of what to do today.
Due to how worked up I was after waking up, I decided to calm down and relaxing with some reading. My eyes glazed over the Seduction book before I moved on to the Biology one. I was fairly interested in the former, but I figured I could wait for an hour or two before diving into that one. Not to mention that I wanted to understand the human body better, so I could more effectively use my Enhancement Spells.
Thanks to my Gale-Force Glasses, I could quickly read through entire books in minutes rather than hours. Though absorbing and understanding the information was slightly harder. Thankfully, I had Archive now, which greatly helped with that even if I still found it hard to retain that much information.
Nevertheless, I found myself expand my knowledge on the human body, and I even learned a bit about the various different monsters. Not enough to matter, but I could see how that could be useful for various things.
Biology gains 1025. Now at rank 1 (1840/2000).
Since I was so close to bettering my understanding about Biology, I decided to continue focusing on that for a bit longer since it was just so useful. Though I still planned on moving to the Seduction book after since there was a synergy between the two. Like, figuring how to please my partner better and… I shook my head before continuing to read.
I continued with my studies until I felt I was satisfied with my understanding of the human body before I moved on to the Seduction book, using what I already learned to figure out how to make Levy happy when she returned.
Biology gains 475 EXP now at rank 2 (315/3000) +20 to Biology roll.
Seduction gains 914 EXP now at rank 2 (1968/3000).
As I returned the books back to my Inventory, I wondered if my newfound knowledge about biology could help with my Growth Spell. I had been meaning to train it for a while now, especially because I had those two seeds sitting in my Inventory, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try.
The only issue was that it currently only worked on regular plants, and I actually had none of those. To rectify that, I went out to grab a few simple potted plants that I could raise in my apartment before I began working on the Spell.
My Spell wasn't really that good and couldn't even compare to what Droy was capable of doing with his Plant Magic. He could've made those little things sprout into monstrous plants with his Spell while they barely grew bigger when I used Growth on them. Not to mention that I also had to be careful to not over do it, else I'd just end up hurting the plants.
Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun doing this and watching them grow just a tiny bit bigger brought me great joy. I definitely planned to do this again or at least cast the Spell once on them every morning.
"Grow big and strong, my little plants." I even tried encouraging them, just to see if it would actually work.
I really wasn't expecting to happen, which was why I was caught off guard when I heard a familiar melodic giggle. That was followed by a surge of power, and I jumped up in alarm, thinking I was being targeted.
However, that was clearly not the case as the power was focused on the plants, and I watched them rapidly grow as beautiful flowers sported from them.
"Soon," Idunma's voice echoed in my room just as I felt the foreign power disappear, leaving me confused at what just happened.
Green Magic: Growth gets a lot of EXP and is now rank 6 (74/350) - 2 minor upgrades available. Spell needs to be rank 20 to get the upgrades for it to be used on magical flora.
I left my apartment quickly after that, making my way to the Guild to ask if someone knew what was that about. Personally, I had no idea how Idunma was capable using her power all the way here when the tree was in Bosco. Sure, Magic was incredibly powerful, but this was just absurd.
Makarov was the person I approached since I figured he was the most knowledgeable.
"Huh." The Master cupped his chin and narrowed his eyes. "That… I'm honestly not sure how that's even possible. Unless that tree wasn't really a tree but something else entirely."
"What do you mean?" I asked him to clarify.
"There are endless possibilities when it comes to Magic. She could be a person that had merged with the tree and moved on from there after what you did with Levy there. Perhaps she even followed you to here," Makarov explained his thoughts. "Otherwise, it would imply that this Idunma is strong enough to use her Magic and influence your apartment here while still being in Bosco."
"I guess that makes sense," I replied as I thought about it. Surely, this Idunma had followed me here since I doubted she was capable of influencing what happened in my apartment while still being in Bosco, right?
"Though don't discount that possibility," Makarov said as if he just read my mind. "Anything is possible with Magic, especially with one focused on nature. That old fool Warrod is over a century old, and I can tell you that he will live for at least another century or two."
"Woah," I gaped, just thinking how someone could live for hundreds of years thanks to Magic.
"Mhm." Makarov nodded. "Idunma could be a Mage from hundreds of years ago, one that has a unique Magic that lets her merge with trees to extend her lifespan."
The Master made a really good point, though I felt like I had to add, "Those ruins there… Idunma was specifically mentioned by name, and they were thousands of years old."
Now it was Makarov's turn to gape at me.
"Well… as I said, anything is possible with Magic," he chuckled weakly while scrunching his eyebrows. "I'll have to check and see if her name was mentioned anywhere else."
"I might take a look in the library myself," I agreed with him before shaking my head. "But maybe later since she doesn't seem to be an enemy."
"That, I can agree with. If anything, she seems to have taken a liking to you," Makarov replied, wiggling his eyebrows. "Something she has in common with a few others, eh?"
"Master…" I pouted at him, but he only cackled in response. "And here I was thinking of helping you with your paperwork…"
"Too late!" Makarov suddenly enlarged in size, grabbing me with his massive hands. "You just volunteered!"
I laughed at his antics, thinking back how he used to try to stop me from helping before.
"Let's fight those monsters!" Makarov declared as he dropped me in his seat while he lounged around in his office.
"Together?" I asked while watching him stay as far away as possible from the paperwork.
"Yes." He nodded. "I'm here to offer moral support. Go, Leon! You can do it! I believe in you!"
There wasn't much paperwork today, which was why Makarov just lounged around, letting me do it all on my own. Of course, I had to ask him for some help here and there, but we ended up idly talking about this and that.
One thing he mentioned was that I should try taking a few more Jobs that didn't involve monster hunting. He suggested doing a couple escort ones, but I shuddered after recalling what Elfman told me about his experience. Though the other he suggested was something I greatly considered as it involved doing a guest lecture at one of the Magical Schools.
"Do you think they will accept me?" I asked. I was plenty confident in my knowledge about Magic, but I had been a Mage for less than two months now.
"Why wouldn't they? You are part of Fairy Tail!" Makarov declared before going quiet. "Oh, that might be a slight problem… but you are one of our least destructive members! They shouldn't complain much if you take one of those Jobs."
"I'll think about it, Master," I replied.
"Oh, and before I forget, I recently talked with Warrod, and he expressed interest in the chocolate tree. He's currently rejuvenating a forest that was destroyed during a major fight with an S-class monster, so we can expect him in about a week," Makarov informed me of something that greatly interested me.
"That's good to know." I nodded. "I'll make sure to be around here in a week."
"And one last thing, do pass by Mira to get your earnings from the chocolate," Makarov said as I left the office.
"Thanks!" I called out and walked downstairs.
I was greeted warmly when I entered the main hall, some even audibly cheered as they saw me. Unfortunately, I wasn't planning on cooking a feast today.
"I'll take a few orders if you want me to cook something specific, but I won't be doing a feast." I had to let them down since the Guild needed to earn some Jewels even if half of them didn't pay their tabs. More than a few were disappointed, though some did make specific requests from me.
"Not feeling generous today?" Mira asked as she bumped me with her hip in the kitchen.
I explained my reasoning to her before adding. "Plus, I enjoy spending time with you and wanted to just chat with you during the downtime."
I only noticed how that came out after I said those words, realizing how I was using my so called "innocent charm."
"Oh? And what did you want to talk about?" Mira cutely tilted her head with a teasing smile on her face.
"About Satan Soul and Demons in general," I replied, doing my best to focus on the food and not on her.
Mira clicked her tongue in response. "Ruin my fun, why don't you."
"I was just wondering if it's normal for a Demon to offer to be willingly Taken Over?" I asked since I wasn't sure he was being truthful back then.
"That…" Mira paused, scrunching her eyebrows in thought. "Demons are intelligent creatures and they have a strong sense of freedom. I find it highly unlikely that one would willingly offer to be Taken Over, but I suppose it might be possible."
"I refused his offer back then and only used my Magic on him after beating him, but he didn't even try to fight back," I briefly told her what happened.
"Do you know why he even offered it in the first place?" Mira asked, and I felt my cheeks heating up.
"He wanted me to lose my virginity within a month…" I mumbled the response, seeing the massive grin that formed on her face out of the corner of my eyes.
"Hohoho." Mira leaned in with her teasing expression. "And you refused."
"I wanted to have sex on my own terms, not his," I replied resolutely before looking away.
"Oh, you are so precious," Mira whispered as she hugged me from behind.
"Anyway!" I cleared my throat. "The Master said that I should ask you about my earnings?"
"Are you sure that's what you want right now?" Mira whispered in my ear as she tightened her arms around me.
"Mhm." I nodded my head rapidly, not trusting to use words in this situation, fearing that my mouth might betray me.
"You're just making this more fun." Mira giggled and released me before walking away, giving me a moment to try and calm my rapidly beating heart. She returned shortly after with my earnings from the last month.
"That's six hundred and twenty Jewels," Mira said as she handed me the money. "Not a bad amount considering word is just spreading about the chocolate."
"Mhm." I agreed with a nod since I also didn't need to do anything earn this, I just had to leave the tree with the Guild.
"It's been selling a bit better this month, especially with that stunt you pulled the other day with the free breakfast. A few customers got to try it out, and they fell in love with the chocolate," Mira told me how I accidentally ended up helping myself and the Guild with my free cooking. "We will earn quite a bit more this month all thanks to you."
"That's good to hear," I replied, feeling happy that the Guild might actually make some money unlike usual.
"I wouldn't mind if you help out like this in the future," Mira told me just before I left. "Since I also enjoy spending time with you."
"I'll make sure I do whenever I have free time," I told her with a smile, basking in the warm look she offered me.
With a pep in my steps, I left the kitchen and spotted Cana drinking on her lonesome. She saw me as well and waved with a smirk, so I walked over to see how she was doing.
"Hey, pretty boy," she greeted me as I approached while wiggling her eyebrows. "Came for another round, eh?"
"I wanted to see how you are doing and maybe set up a Job we can do together," I replied as I sat down in front of her, doing my best to keep my eyes focused on hers instead of dropping down to her chest area. It was damn hard keeping my eyes straight, I could say that much.
"Already asking me out on a date, hmm?" Cana asked as she leaned forward, prepping her head with her hand, making it even harder for me to keep my eyes on hers.
"Well, we did agree to do a Job in the future…" I trailed off.
"I guess we did." She leaned back after her attempt failed and rolled her shoulders. "I'm taking a break right now for about a week or so. Had a rough Job a few days ago, and I want to relax a bit."
"That makes it even better for me," I replied. "I'm taking a small break myself, and I do have a meeting with Warrod in about a week or so."
"Meeting one of the Ten Wizard Saints?" Cana asked while filling up a drink before pushing it over to me. "Already growing into a bigshot, huh?"
"It's mostly because of the tree I found and since I want to work on my Green Magic," I answered and took a sip, doing my best to not gag at the taste. Alcohol was definitely not my favorite thing to drink, but I understood why everyone else did it after feeling the nice buzz that came moments later.
"If you say so." Cana shrugged while drinking from her own glass, which surprised me since she usually had a barrel near her.
I pointed that and even asked, "How can you even drink that much? Where does it all go?"
Cana smirked and looked down staring at her chest before making eye contact with me. "You got to feel exactly where it goes."
I looked away, feeling my cheeks heat up both form the alcohol and her teasing.
"Ha! Don't act so embarrassed, pretty boy," Cana laughed. "It was an accident, after all. Right?"
"I swear it was!" I quickly defended myself.
"Sure, it was," Cana teased me. "And you definitely don't want a repeat if I offer, right?"
"So… I was wondering what kind of Magic do you use?" I changed the topic without thinking about it.
"Hahaha." She laughed at my embarrassment and threw a pack of cards on the table. "Card Magic. It's not the strongest, but it's one of the most versatile types of Magic."
"Oh?" Cana had my attention with that. "What can you do with them?"
Cana began explaining some of the things she could do, and even though she didn't go into great detail, I had to agree that she was right at calling it one of the most versatile types of Magic.
After that, we ended up playing a card game she taught me, and I ended up losing badly to her. Adamant to beat her, I tried a few more times, but she was just that much better at card than me. I still found it enjoyable though, even if I didn't win a single game.
Near the end of the night, Cana offered to read my future for me, and I accepted since I was interested in seeing her Magic at work. She took out another deck, one that was specifically for Fortune Telling and made me choose a few cards at random.
It is now August 7th, X783.
My dreams were pleasant and happy, especially after Cana divined that I would experience great fortune this month. She didn't tell me exactly what that would be, but she promised that I would be lucky. I had been feeling lucky ever since I got my Magic… well, discounting the time i nearly died to the Grass Wolf.
I chuckled just thinking about that. It took me a week to kill all the monsters in that forest, and I could do it all in less than an hour as I was now. Hell, I could even send my own wolf to do it for me while I stay here in Magnolia. It will be a bit hard to control it from such a distance, but it was possible.
Either way, a new day awaited me, and I figured it might be time to focus a bit more on my Magic.
All Luck rolls will have a +20 modifier for this month.
I had enough of studying biology for the time being, and I turned my attention on the Seduction book, planning to improve my ability for… reasons. Like, surprising Levy when she returned, for example.
I read and read, learning all the various ways I could seduce Levy with, including how to make her really happy in bed. Countless images span in my head, just imagining all of those scenarios with her.
My cheeks flushed with heat, and I decided enough was enough, choosing to absorb the book alongside all of its knowledge. I wasn't sure if Levy would be interested in reading this, but even if she was, I could always just bring it all out on an Archive screen to show it to her later.
I blacked out for a moment as all the information was poured into my brain, taking me a bit to absorb and understand it all. Then it was all right as rain minutes after, and I felt confidence surge inside me.
"This is weird," I said out loud while carefully listening to my voice. It still sounded the same, but there was a… natural smoothness to it now. According to my status, it was supposed to be silky smooth, and I could somewhat see, err, hear that.
"It sounds pleasant." I continued testing it out while wondering if I could sing now. "Calming and soothing even."
It actually reminded me of the Incubus' voice, how he made me relax with his words alone. I supposed I learned that from him alongside all the knowledge from the Seduction Book.
Thinking about the Demon, I decided I should try and improve that Spell since I had barely touched it, other than working on it for a bit on the training trip.
Mira mentioned how Demons had a strong sense of freedom, how they'd fight tooth and nail against anyone that tried to control them. So, then why was my own Incubus acting like this?
"... and this is the most effective way to mentally fight against Demons," he concluded while I was transformed in his form, being extremely helpful and not even bothering to contest my will.
"Now, let's move on to how to better make use of our Magic Power since you are wasting quite a bit of my own with your transformation," he continued, teaching me how to layer his Magic Power on top of me to increase my constitution.
I listened attentively, though I did keep my guard in case he tried to do anything tricky. However, Lord'oran seemed to be genuinely trying to help, and he explained as much after I asked him why he was doing this.
"For one, I saw how your Beast Soul evolved a few days ago. You are aware such things don't happen that quickly right?" He asked and continued before I could respond. "Plus, I'd rather not anger the scary one…"
"Scary," I repeated and shook my head. "Mira has been nothing but kind to me."
"And that's why you have my respect!" He stated without explaining.
I canceled my transformation after I saw he wasn't going to explain further and left my apartment, making my way over to the Guild. When I neared, I got worried due to all the distressed noises that were coming from the building. I opened the door, fearing for the worst and saw that everyone was looking alarmed and panicked. Then they noticed me before bursting out in cheers.
"Leon! Save us!" They yelled as one, making me even more confused. There were plenty of Mages that were stronger than me here–at least I assumed they were–so I didn't know what I was supposed to do to help.
"Please! Help us! We're all going to die!" They continued pleading, now with tears streaming down their eyes.
"What's going on?" I asked in worry.
"Mira is gone today!" They explained, all yelling at the same time. "We're gonna starve to death!"
"Mira is gone?" I tilted my head, wondering where she was.
"Yeah! She has a photo shoot. Please help us!"
Well, that was saddening since I did want to spend some time with her, but there was nothing I could about it now. Mira did have a life of her own, and I couldn't expect to see her here every single day. Though that left me wondering what to do. I could stay here and take orders from them instead of her. I could also just cook one giant feast for them. Or I could just go and do something else instead.
"Alright, alright," I said, trying to calm them down. "I'll go and quickly make a massive feast for all of you."
All of them shut up the moment my words came out of my mouth. A creepy silence followed, especially when considering this was the Fairy Tail building, and the people here were always loud.
"Our savior!" And then they all screamed before piling on top of me, all latching to my limbs with tears of joy.
"Leave the cook alone!" Elfman roared as he began throwing bodies off of me before correcting himself. "Eh, I mean, give my little bro some space!"
Either way, his help was appreciated, and I quickly left the main hall to enter my little sanctuary, the kitchen.
Some monsters were butchered first and then I began preparing dish after dish as I smoothly used all the stoves and ovens at the same time. Carrying them out on my own was the only issue, but I managed to convince some to help me by promising them an extra serving.
I was surprised when I checked the time, finding out that I had prepared everything even quicker than normal. Since I had done the food so fast, I decided I could make some deserts as well and quickly prepared some batter for that pancake recipe everyone loved.
While I was making those, Elfman came to take a bunch more platters of food, so I quickly asked what was Mira's favorite food. He told me it was a type of mochi cake called, Kuzumochi.
I had to check my recipe book to find out exactly how to make it, but I began working on that as well while also preparing something special for the next day. I did, after all, want to take a small trip to the capital with Erza while she was still here, and I knew she'd leave on a Job in about two days.
Once the deserts were finished, I stored the cake in my Inventory and left the Kuzumochi I prepared for Mira in the refrigerator with a note that it was from me.
The Guild hall had quieted down now that they were all eating, so I quickly used this chance to go over to the Job Board to take a look if there was anything interesting to do.
There were a few monster extermination Jobs, but they didn't look that interesting to me. Of course, I could quickly do them, but I wouldn't get as much benefits from my Boss Battle if i used it on weaker enemies. My eyes glazed over the other types of Jobs, checking them out only for a moment since most of them would require an entire day or even longer to complete.
'What's this?' One particular Job caught my interest as it was about giving a lecture at the Magical School in Crocus, the capital of Fiore. That one I could do if I visited the place with Erza tomorrow. Though the Job did mention that they would have to test my knowledge before allowing me to give a lecture in their establishment.
There was another Job that surprised me as it was about those Earth Moles that were giving trouble to that farmer near Magnolia.
'Wasn't that completed before?' I wondered since I remembered him clearly informing me of that. The price for it was lower this time around, and it paid only six hundred Jewels for completion, but I could see myself helping the nice farmer. Plus, I could even ask him to use my Growth Spell on his crops since it would cost me nothing to do that.
Cooking gained 390EXP. Now at rank 2 (1354/3000).
I decided to take the lecture Job and the one from the farmer since I didn't expect anyone else to pick up the former. Maybe Levy would, but she was already doing one at the moment.
Having made my decision, I left the Guild and manifested wings on my back before taking to the sky, quickly flying over to the nearby farm. Using the eyes of the Griffin, I managed to find the farmer in no time and slowly descended in front of him to not scare him.
"Woah, there!" He backed off before narrowing his eyes. "Aye, you're that kid that helped out with the Hodras!"
"That's me." I nodded as I released my partial transformation. "I saw you still had a problem with the moles and came to take a look to see if I can help out."
"I sure do! Those damned monsters have been making tunnels all around my farm! And they ain't small! Those things are bigger than dogs!" The farmer cursed in anger.
"Well, I'm here to help and hopefully exterminate them all for you," I said, deciding to ask later if he wanted me to help with his crops by using my Spell on them.
"I'll be more than thankful if you can remove those menaces. The pay is lower this time, but… bah! I had to pay over a thousand Jewels to that young man, and he promised he took care of them all!"
"I will do my best," I promised before he ended up showing me some of those tunnels. Those things really were as big as the man claimed after inspecting them for a moment, I realized that I could even enter them myself with my Panther form.
"Sir, I have a plan on how to quickly take them all down, but just in case," I said and summoned my wolf, surprising the man for a moment. "My companion here will stay above the ground with you and listen to your commands. If any of them try to escape from the tunnels, just send it to deal with them."
"Well, I'll be! That's a big and scary dog." He whistled and nodded. "Alright, I'll keep an eye out."
I made sure to mentally order my wolf to keep an eye out and listen to the farmer before I turned into the Shadow Panther. The tunnels were a bit annoying to move in, but I happened to have a useful ability in this form, which I didn't hesitate to use, and I merged with the shadows.
Now, it was time to find those monsters.
Those moles had no idea I was here, and I made sure to keep it that way. They didn't look that strong compared to anything I had faced so far, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Not to mention how easy it was to do this in my Panther form. I just had to find one of them, quickly pop out of the shadow behind them, and the cut their heads off with my razor sharp claws.
By the time they realized that something was hunting them, there were only five of those creatures remaining. I quickly used Take Over on one of them, just to have it in reserve since I never knew when I'd need to dig tunnels or something like that while I used Boss Battle on the remaining four.
Gained Full Miner Equipment Set and a Pickaxe from the Boss Battle loot. Gained another Beast Soul.
Earth Mole
Physique: 30
Soul: 20
Abilities: Tremor Sense.
I easily crushed the Earth Mole when it tried to resist me, but then it roared in defiance as it began growing bigger and bigger by the moment, until it turned into a fearsome monster.
However, that was still not enough, and I crushed the creature's will, using everything I had learned on how to fight in this Soul place. I was far more experienced than it here, after all, so used all my power to make it submit!
That turned out to not be enough as the Earth Mole resisted me with all its might, fighting and struggling against my will. It roared in defiance again, forcing itself to grow stronger through sheer willpower alone.
Its claws and head turned metallic, the creature roaring with its newfound power as it prepared to face off against me for the third time. I was starting to get worried at what was happening since even the Earth Shaker didn't put such a fight against me, making me wonder exactly what kind of creature I ended up using Take Over on.
The Metal Mole was strong as it was durable, and those claws were deadly as they were sharper than even the Panther's. I did my best to keep away from it while showering with beams of lightning, but the monster just kept roaring in defiance, tanking all of my attacks as if they were nothing.
It seemed lightning wasn't the way to go this time around, and I had to finish it off with my hands. Thankfully, the creature wasn't that used to its current form, and I danced around it while punching and kicking its body, doing my best to avoid its claws and head due to the metal that protected them.
In the end, I won since the monster was already exhausted from pushing its body so much. My senses returned, and I found myself in the tunnels again in my new form.
'This is weird.' Was my first thought as I was now capable of sensing the slightest of tremors even if they were above ground. Using my connection with the wolf, I made it dash around, and I was able to perfectly pin points its location just by relying on my new Tremor Sense.
I focused on the tunnels after, trying to see if there were anymore monsters around, but I couldn't feel anything. It was time to leave, and I used my new claws to on the way back to collapse as many of the tunnels as possible. Some dropped right on top of me, but I shrugged that off and just dug myself out of the ground before finally coming out.
Physique gains 194. Now at (3139/4800).
Soul gains 74. Now at (1005/5200).
Unarmed gains 176. Now at (1497/6000).
Stealth gains 176. Now at (836/1000).
Conjure Wolf gains 356. Now at rank 18 (584/950).
Body Enhancement gains 356. Now at rank 21 (523/1100).
Beast Soul gains 712. Now at rank 21 (879/1100).
And we gained bo3 4d20 Mana for this.
After transforming back, I approached the farmer to inform him that I was done.
"So they are all gone? You sure?" He asked worriedly, probably due to how the previous person had handled the Job.
"Absolutely." I nodded at him and even added. "And if I had somehow missed one, send a request to Fairy Tail, and I will come do it free of charge."
I had my reasons for making that offer since I wanted to request something specific here.
"Free of charge? You're not kidding are you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope," I replied with a shake of my head while subtly using Satan Soul in the way the Incubus taught me earlier, transforming parts of my throat to make my voice even smoother, just to guarantee he won't be against my offer of using Growth on his crops.
Maximum Mana now 4145.
"Fine with me then." The farmer shrugged. "I'll send a request if they pop up again."
"And I'll make sure to inform the rest of the members that I will personally deal with this," I replied before bringing up my offer. "Now, before I go, would you be interested in me using my Magic on your crops to make them grow slightly faster?"
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" The farmer asked with visible interest, so I ended up explaining how my Growth Spell worked.
"And it won't damage the crops unless you overuse it?" He asked, to which I nodded in confirmation.
"Well then I don't see why I would refuse this…" He paused and looked at me with suspicion. "Unless you'll want to be paid for that as well?"
"No, not at all." I shook my head. "I just want to help out while using this chance to get better at my Magic."
"Be my guest, but I'm warning you, if you ruin any of my crops, you will have to pay for them!" The farmed stated, and I agreed to his terms since I didn't plan on ruining any of his crops. I just had to make sure to not overuse the Spell on any of them, which wasn't that hard to keep track off.
After using my Spell on all the crops, the farmer paid me for the job and thanked me for the hard work. I bid him goodbye and took off, flying back to the Guild.
There I saw the Thunder God Tribe trio, and they beckoned me over. I wanted to get to know them, so I began walking their way until I heard from behind me, "There you are."
Before I even knew what was happening, I was picked up and thrown over Erza's shoulder, and she began marching out of the Guild. I tried wiggling out of her grasp, finding that I could barely move due to her iron grip on me. My eyes landed on the rest of the members in the building, and I pleaded, "Help me!"
No one answered my cries for help. Instead, they saluted me with sad expressions. "It was nice knowing you, Leon! You will be missed!"
Seeing that there was no way out of this, I asked, "Where are we going?"
"We will be visiting all of the bakeries in town," Erza explained a she continued her march.
"I see." I nodded and asked. "Can you let me down?"
"It's faster this way," she explained as she continued on her way.
"Alright, but why are we visiting all the bakeries?" I accepted my helpless situation and questioned.
"To taste all of the cheesecakes, of course. You need to know how they all taste, so you can make even better ones," Erza explained her reasoning, and I had no choice but to accept that. I thought about mentioning the cake I specifically made for her, but I decided against that.
"We will start with this one first," Erza said and finally dropped me down in front of a bakery, staring at me like a hawk as if I was about to run away.
I looked around for a moment before turning to her, "Shall we?"
Erza was about to nod before she froze for a second. She narrowed her eyes and demanded. "Say that again."
"Shall we?" I repeated, wondering what this was about until I recalled how much smoother my voice was now.
Erza's body shivered, and she grinned at me before taking my arm and barging into the bakery. "We shall!"
And so I ended up spending a few hours with Erza, just going from one bakery to the other to taste as many cheesecakes as I could possibly stomach. I was sick of eating sweet things by the end of it, but she seemed happy enough to eat mine as well.
Erza walked away with a pep in her step while I was left wondering what I should do for the rest of my day. I initially planned on spending time with Makarov, but the Master was out of the Guild today, so I had a few more hours left with nothing really to do.
It took me a while to return back to the Guild, bloated as I was from all the sweets. Thankfully, the trio were still there, and I could get to finally meet them.
"Would you look at that! He's back," said the one with the metal helmet.
"Indeed." Nodded the man with green hair. "It's nice to finally meet you, Leon."
"Hello," I greeted them, and they introduced themselves to me. Freed was the regal-looking guy, Bickslow was the one with the helmet, and Evergreen was the pretty lady with glasses.
"So, how'd you end up getting recruited by Laxus?" Bickslow asked with a chery tone that didn't fit with his appearance.
"I admit that I'm also interested to hear about that since Laxus has… extraordinary high expectations," Freed said, and I had to agree with him on that.
I ended up telling them about my first meeting with Laxus, which seemed to greatly surprise them.
"Truly?" Evergreen ask as she leaned on the table. "You were struggling with a pair of Vulcans?"
"Give me some slack, that was like a week after I learned how to use Magic." I rolled my eyes. It hadn't been that long since I fought those two monsters, but I could kill them both with my eyes closed at the moment.
"How interesting," Freed said, cupping his chin. "And you recently came back from a trip with Laxus? How did that go?"
And so I ended up telling them about my training trip with Laxus and the various things we did. It was mostly about how he beat the weakness out of me and some of the monsters that I ended up fighting. That finally seemed to impress them since I obviously went from a complete weakling to someone who could face off against Beasts like the Earth Shaker and even Demons.
They ended up telling me about their own adventures and various Jobs they had completed, some even with Laxus himself, though they admitted he didn't take them with him no matter how much they wanted to help him. Those guys were friendly, but they sounded… crazy when they talked about Laxus, making me wonder what he had done to earn such respect from them.
"Leon!" I turned around after I heard someone calling my name, only to find Natsu staring at me with literal flames in his eyes.
"You survived Erza?" He looked surprised, but a grin quickly grew on his face. "Let's fight!"
I had grown stronger recently, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to test exactly how much I had improved. I didn't know much about Natsu, other than he used Fire Magic–or Fire Dragon Slayer, not that I knew what was the difference–but he was one of our strongest Mages.
"Sure, why not," I replied, and he shook with excitement, though he calmed down after I added. "But how about we take it outside?"
"Not a bad idea," Freed said, giving me a nod. "Bickslow and I can even quickly set up an area for you to fight without any concerns."
"Oh, man! I'm all fired up for this!" Natsu roared in excitement, rushing out of the building without waiting.
We followed after him, ending up in the spot where we usually trained. While Bickslow and Freed were using their Magic to set up the area–I noticed the latter used something similar to Levy's Magic, but I held off from asking him about it now–I instead approached Evergreen.
"Hey, if any of us get seriously hurt, could you feed us one of those potions?" I asked while handing her two Health Potions, just in case one of us got seriously injured. I had to briefly explain to her what they did, but she accepted and took them from me.
With that taken care off, I walked over to stand in front of Natsu as Bickslow and Freed had finished setting up the area for us.
Natsu would be a tough opponent, and I knew I had to give it my best right from the start. Turning into the Earth Shaker was the first thing that came to my mind as it was an extremely durable Beast. However. I still wasn't sure if I could fully control that form.
That left me with the Metal Mole–apparently it took a new name when it became stronger–with my best option for the fight since it was my second strongest Soul. There was still a slight issue with that one as it hadn't fully submitted to my will, but I was confident in defeating it again after out first will fight.
The Metal Mole tried resisting me, but I quickly defeated it and that only served to excite me more. Or as Natsu said earlier, I was getting fired up about this fight. My transformation happened in a second, and I heard everyone exclaim in surprise.
"Let's get this started!" Natsu yelled before roaring at the sky, firing a pillar of fire in the air. That… got me slightly worried, but I didn't let it discourage me and opened the fight by summoning my wolf right behind him.
"What?" Natsu reacted almost immediately, turning around to face my charging companion before destroying it with a single punch.
He was distracted and that's all I needed to charge and deliver a massive punch in his face.
"You think he stands a chance?" Evergreen asked him as they stepped over to stand beside her.
"Eh, I doubt it." Bickslow shrugged his shoulders. "He's been using Magic for not even two months. And Natsu may be many things, but he isn't weak."
"He will win," Freed didn't hesitate with his answer. Laxus had personally recruited him and even trained him for two weeks! That's all Freed needed to know.
Leon would win and there was no doubt in his mind. A part of Freed slightly hated him for having the chance to spend two whole weeks with Laxus, but… the man he admired the most must've done that for a reason, and they were about to witness exactly why he did that.
The fight started with Leon turning into… a weird Beast he wasn't familiar with. It somewhat resembled a mole, and Freed started to get worried since he didn't think it was that strong. Though he quickly relaxed after Leon used that wolf to distract Natsu, using that moment to rush at him with impressive speed before punching him so hard he threw him against the barriers they set up.
"Damn!" Bickslow exclaimed. "Maybe he has a chance."
"Natsu still isn't going all out," Evergreen commented.
Freed agreed as much, but that display of power gave him hope, especially after seeing how Natsu wobbled on his feet from that punch. Leon didn't miss that as well, and with lightning crackling around his body, he appeared in front of the Fire Dragon Slayer in a split second before delivering a monstrous attack that sent Natsu tumbling across the field.
Silence followed after that, every single member of the Guild staring in awe with gaping mouths. Freed silently scoffed. That was to be expected of the one personally picked by Laxus. What else did they think would happen?
However, he did get slightly worried when Natsu jumped up, releasing a monstrous roar as he fired off his strongest attack. "Fire Dragon Slayer's Roar!"
The stream of inferno flew out like a missile, nearly hitting Leon, but Freed wasn't worried… only a little bit. Thankfully, Leon was fast enough to avoid the attack and… even transformed into a pure lightning bolt–greatly reminding him of Laxus with that move–before appearing right next to Natsu.
Even from where he was, he saw the expression of astonishment on the Dragon Slayer's face, which quickly morphed into a pained one as Leon slammed a metal fist right into Natsu's stomach.
Not to be outdone, Natsu burst into flames as he swung his fist, trying but failing to hit Leon who was literally as fast as lightning in his current form. He appeared behind Natsu and clobbered him in the back before reappearing in front of him to hit him back.
Then Freed got to witness a type of fighting style that was as unpredictable as it was ferocious as Leon danced around Natsu, delivering blow after blow without the Dragon Slayer even being able to defend himself no matter how much he tried.
Spell after Spell, Natsu tried his best, attempting to hit Leon even once, but the man was too fast for him, turning into a bolt of lightning every time the Dragon Slayer even came close to touching him, and avoiding all of those monstrously strong fire Spells.
"This is embarrassing," Evergreen muttered, but Freed didn't agree with her.
How was this embarrassing? This just proved that Laxus was the strongest man in the Guild. After all, he managed to get someone who could barely fight a couple of Vulcans a month ago to the point where he could run circles around Natsu.
The fight ended when Leon ended up clawing the Dragon Slayer with those sharp metal claws of his, opening large wounds on his side. Immediately, he released his transformation and pulled out some of those potions he gave Evergreen earlier.
"Are you okay?" He walked over to a shell shocked Natsu, who was just staring at him with wide eyes. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that at the end."
Leon pushed the potions in Natsu's hands while apologizing and only relaxed when the Dragon Slayer drank them all. His wounds visibly closed up, recovering in just a few seconds after he consumed them. Freed carefully eyed the ones in Evergreen's, but he shook his head. Those were Leon's, and he would never steal from the one personally picked by Laxus.
Natsu seemed to recover moments after, and the man got up, acting excited despite being defeated. He kept roaring his praise to Leon while saying they'd have to fight again in the future because that was so fun, even though Natsu hadn't gotten a single hit against his opponent.
Freed scoffed while staring at Leon, wondering how he'd go about inviting him to their team. Perhaps he'd have to offer him the position of the leader since he clearly had earned it. After all, in just under two months, he grew powerful enough to even beat Natsu, so in a few more, he'd be stronger than even their team.
Just as he was about to approach him he noticed that both Mirajane and Erza were already next to him. Freed paused, deciding to let those two speak with him first, lest he somehow ends up offending them both at the same time. They hadn't fought against each other in an year now, but he didn't want to risk it.
Unfortunately, Freed missed his chance since Leon ended up leaving after making sure that Natsu was okay, He even left a couple more of those potions with him in case he didn't fully heal. Thankfully, he forgot to retrieve the ones from Evergreen, so that was the perfect excuse to approach him in the near future.
For defeating Natsu when we were supposed to lose… we earn a Perk Point, I guess.
Physique gains 2368 EXP. Now at 48 (707/4900). Health at 480/480.
Soul gains 1168 EXP. Now at 51 (2173/5200).
Unarmed gains 2188 EXP. Now at rank 5 (3685/6000).
Conjured Wolf gains 1732 EXP. Now at Conjure Wolf rank 20 (366/1050) - Summon a wolf that has 360/360 Health, +480 to Attack rolls, and deals 1d185+100+40(Lightning) damage on successful hit. - 2 major upgrades available.
Body Enhancement gains 1732 EXP. Now at rank 23 (5/1200)
Lightning Speed gains 1732 EXP. Now at rank 12 (582/650): An enhancement strictly focused on speed. +120 to battle rolls.
Take Over: Beast Soul gains 1732 EXP. Now at rank 23 (361/1150)
It is now Monday, August 8th, X783. Levy returns tomorrow.
I woke up, still feeling like what happened the previous night was nothing but a dream. However, it really did happen. The six missing potions from my Inventory confirmed as much.
'I can't believe I won against Natsu…' I really couldn't, especially because how dangerous it got at the end there. Just staying near Natsu at the end was a massive challenge due to how hot his fire burned, and I had to rely on using my Lightning Body to cool myself down.
And I did end up injuring at the end due to how focused I got. Thankfully, those potions helped him out, and I even left two of them with him. Which reminded me I forgot to take back the ones I gave Evergreen, but that was fine. I wouldn't get mad even if they ended up using them for whatever reason. Unless they sold them, but I didn't think they'd do that.
I checked my time and noticed that I had a few more hours before I had to meet with Erza since I did end up agreeing to visit the capital after the fight Natsu. So, now I wondered what to do until I had to meet with her.
In order to not end up breaking my apartment–one I might be giving up on soon at that–I ended up returning to the place where I fought with Natsu. I was still a bit surprised at actually winning, and… I recalled what happened with Cana as she did mention that I would be exceptionally lucky this month.
I had to admit that was somewhat true since I wasn't sure if I would've been able to defeat him without the Metal Mole, the monster that massively increased in strength while trying to resist me. I could've tried fighting him with my Satan Soul, but then I wouldn't be able to use my Beast Style technique. Not that I was bad with swords, but that style simply worked incredibly well when combined with Beast Soul.
Once I arrived at the area, I sat down and thought about the fight. If Natsu had landed a single hit on me… yeah, I would've gotten knocked out from a one good hit. I knew that much after seeing how quickly he destroyed my wolf. That was something I had to improve, so I sat down and began trying to figure that out.
I had a lot of success after tweaking how my Spell worked and even managed to improve how much I could boost my physical abilities with it. Satisfied with my progress, I moved onto the next Spell on my list, the one that actually won me the fight, Beast Soul.
Passive Bonuses—Shadow Panther: +10 to Stealth. Griffin: +10 to Observation. Earth Shaker: +10 Armor against magical and physical attacks. Metal Mole: +10 damage to Unarmed attacks.