For some reason, Natsu had gone crazy.
He was chasing Gildarts everywhere to fight him!
Natsu never showed this kind of persistence with Raizel.
Perhaps Natsu had an instinct for identifying the absolute strongest person in the room.
His logic seemed to be: Since I'm going to lose anyway, I might as well lose to the strongest guy. It sounds better when I brag about it later.
After his week of hellish training with Raizel, Natsu's physical strength and Magic Power had definitely improved.
But he was still miles away from Gildarts.
Even Raizel lacked confidence in defeating Gildarts right now.
Although Makarov was one of the Ten Wizard Saints, the undisputed strongest Mage in a one-on-one fight within the guild was Gildarts Clive.
(Of course, in a Guild War, Makarov had Fairy Law, which tilted the scales, but that was a different story.)
...
When Gildarts was fishing.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu jumped out from a bush.
BAM. Gildarts didn't look. He swatted Natsu down.
When Gildarts was drinking.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natsu leaped from the rafters. SMACK. Gildarts floored him.
When Gildarts was eating.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu struck from the side. CRASH. Gildarts buried him in the floor.
When Gildarts was walking.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu descended from the sky like a missile. THUD. Gildarts sidestepped and chopped him into the dirt.
This became a common scene in the Guild.
Natsu would ambush Gildarts from every angle, and the result was always the same.
Gildarts didn't mind. He actually enjoyed playing with the kid.
The Guild members gained a new appreciation for Natsu. Being knocked down so many times yet getting back up instantly was a talent in itself.
Most people would lose courage after one defeat against a monster like Gildarts, but Natsu was built differently.
Laxus and Cana returned from their mission a week before the Harvest Festival.
Since neither of them was injured, Raizel didn't ask for details.
Cana was immediately bombarded with questions from her father.
"Cana! How was it? Did you miss me? Did any boys look at you?"
"Shut up, old man!"
Annoyed, Cana abandoned her father and went to join the girls' rehearsal for the Fantasia Parade.
Gildarts was left crying comic tears in the corner.
Now that Laxus was an S-Class Mage, Makarov began teaching him one of the Guild's Three Great Magics: Fairy Law.
Upon his return, Makarov intended to test Laxus's progress.
Makarov also asked Raizel if he wanted to learn it.
After some thought, Raizel declined.
He had his Digimon powers; he didn't need it. Makarov didn't mind and simply said the offer was always open.
The day after Laxus returned, a rare sight occurred at the East Forest lake.
Raizel, Gildarts, and Laxus sat on small folding chairs with fishing rods in hand.
This was Gildarts' idea.
Raizel was interested, while Laxus only grumbled, "Since I can't beat either of you right now, I have no choice but to comply."
This was the strongest trio in the Guild.
If they ever formed a team for a mission, the Magic Council would probably have a heart attack.
"Gildarts! Raizel! Laxus! Let's settle this!"
Natsu, fresh from his morning training at the waterfall, burst out of the bushes.
He was full of energy again. (Gray had wisely gone back to the Guild to avoid the slaughter).
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
All three men were watching their fishing floats intently and they ignored Natsu completely.
Natsu charged anyway.
Without even turning his head, Gildarts lazily threw a right hook.
POW.
Natsu was launched into the stratosphere.
Only someone with a Dragon Slayer constitution could survive such a casual yet devastating blow.
"Ur... Natsu-san flew really high today," Wendy said, shielding her eyes as she pointed at the twinkling star in the distance.
Ur and the girls happened to be passing through the forest on their way back to town for dinner.
They witnessed the launch.
Ur squinted at the sky and she chuckled softly and patted Wendy's head. "He'll be fine."
Watching Natsu disappear into the clouds, Ultear and Erza shared a thought: What exactly is inside that boy's head?
"Should we bring you some food?" Ur called out as she approached the trio.
She noticed they only had fishing gear—no lunch boxes.
Then, she looked into their buckets.
'They actually didn't return empty-handed?!'
Ultear and Erza widened their eyes.
Raizel usually caught nothing but old boots when he fished alone. But today, all three buckets had fish in them.
(Of course, Raizel didn't mention they had been sitting there for six hours.)
"What do you want for dinner?" Ur asked.
"Eel rice," Laxus said randomly.
"Seafood ramen," Raizel voted cause he preferred noodles.
"Made by Cana," Gildarts said instantly.
All three answered without looking away from the water.
"I got no time to cook, you damn old man!"
Cana, who was standing with the girls, clenched her fists.
Veins bulged on her forehead and a fiery demon roared inside her—if they weren't in public, she would have grabbed her father by the collar and shaken him.
"Anything then," Gildarts laughed, teasing her. "Bring something for Natsu too—he probably hasn't eaten either."
Gildarts knew Natsu would crawl back eventually.
It was their routine.
Next time, he decided, he wouldn't hit him so hard.
"Alright."
Ur led the girls back to town to buy takeout.
She didn't ask what "anything" meant; she would just let Cana choose. Whatever Cana picked, Gildarts would have to eat it with a smile.
"Wait!" Raizel called out before they left. "Ultear, buy some alcohol too. And some soft drinks."
Raizel remembered they hadn't even brought water.
Normally he didn't drink, but since he was with Gildarts and Laxus, a cold beer felt appropriate.
The soft drinks were for Natsu. Even though the kid was technically over 400 years old, he had the tolerance of a toddler.
Ultear paused, nodded slightly, and left.
...
Twenty minutes later, the girls returned.
"I said 'some'..."
Erza was pulling her usual luggage cart. It was stacked high with beer crates.
It was a literal wall of alcohol!
'That's not 'crate-drinking'... that's 'wall-drinking'!'
Raizel couldn't even calculate the volume. Even Cana would die if she tried to finish this.
"Cough! Cough!" Laxus choked on his own spit.
"HAHAHAHA!" Gildarts laughed so hard he fell off his folding stool, clutching his stomach.
Cana covered her face with her hand, feeling deeply apologetic for her father's antics.
Wendy giggled, watching the mighty S-Class Mage rolling in the grass.
Raizel saw Ultear and Erza trying to hide their smirk.
'Wait.'
He walked over and lifted a crate.
It was light.
'So.... it was a prank.'
Most of the beer crates were empty boxes stacked up to look intimidating.
Only the bottom layer had actual bottles.
Indeed, Ur wouldn't have allowed them to buy an entire brewery.
Still, there was plenty—six cases of real beer and a case of juice for the kids.
"Well played," Raizel smirked, popping a bottle open. "Well played."
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