As Laxus stepped down from the second floor, Natsu—who had barely recovered from Erza's beating—scrambled to his feet.
"I'M NOT DONE YET! FIGHT ME, LAXUS!"
Natsu charged forward, flames swirling wildly around his right fist, screaming like a banshee.
Laxus didn't even blink.
Without using a shred of magic, he simply waited for Natsu to get within range, raised a massive fist, and—
BAM!
He hammered Natsu into the floorboards like a nail.
"Urgh..." Natsu twitched once and went silent.
Lucy's lip twitched as she took two fearful steps back. "So strong... he didn't even use magic..."
"Laxus!" Erza stomped over, glaring at him with her hands on her hips. "Fight all you want, but don't destroy the Guild! Look at the floor!"
"..."
Laxus stared at her, speechless.
'You're lecturing me about not destroying the Guild?'
What about you constantly smashing Natsu and Gray into the walls? Is that considered renovation?Or are Natsu and Gray some kind of renovation materials?
Ultear walked over and patted Erza's shoulder to calm her down.
"Forget it, Erza. The floor was already creaky."
Then she turned to the giant sibling. "Elfman, scrape Natsu off the floor, would you?"
"Leave it to me! A REAL MAN helps his fallen comrades!"
Elfman grabbed Natsu by the ankles and began dragging him across the rough wooden floor, Natsu's head bouncing with a hollow thud-thud-thud against the planks.
"Isn't that going to tear him apart...?" Lucy watched Elfman's "violent rescue" with a grimace.
At the bar, Raizel clinked his glass against Laxus's mug.
"I thought you went out to train. How could you sleep through all that noise from Natsu and Erza fighting earlier?"
Laxus tapped the small Sound Pod lacrima attached to his ear. "Why couldn't I sleep? I slept perfectly fine. If it weren't for Mystogan's Sleep Magic cutting through the music, I'd still be napping."
Later that afternoon—
"What exactly is this 'Strongest Man Candidate' thing Gray and the others were talking about?"
Lucy, admitting her limited experience, sat down with Kagura and Ultear to get the details.
"And why can't Natsu go to the second floor?"
This ignorance was partly her father, Jude Heartfilia's, fault.
Lucy had been forced to learn etiquette, musical instruments, ballroom dancing, and economics since childhood. Between that and her secret novel writing, she barely had time to read Sorcerer Weekly. She had only really started following the magical world's news in the last six months.
Thinking about it now, she had heard whispers of names like Mystogan and Laxus during her travels.
However, Raizel, Mystogan, and Laxus hadn't appeared much in the magazine recently.
Instead, the "Demolition Brothers"—Natsu and Gray—dominated the headlines with their property damage reports.
After organizing her thoughts, Ultear explained.
"Both Legal Guilds and Dark Guilds have their ace Mages, commonly known as S-Class Mages. The Request Board on the second floor is reserved exclusively for them."
"Because S-Class Quests are incredibly difficult," Kagura added, sipping her tea. "The slightest carelessness results in death."
"Fairy Tail has a lot of S-Class Mages compared to other guilds," Ultear continued counting on her fingers.
"For the men, there's Gildarts, Raizel, Laxus, and Mystogan. That's four."
"As for the women, it's Erza, Myself, Mira, and Cana."
"Eh?! Miss Mira is one too?" Lucy shouted, slamming her hands on the table.
She looked over at the bar, where Mirajane was smiling sweetly and waving at a customer.
That gentle woman? An S-Class Mage?
"You'll understand when you see her in action." Ultear smiled slightly, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
As if hearing her name, Mirajane turned, tilted her head, and offered a terrifyingly sweet smile.
"Would you like to spar, Lucy? I'd be happy to oblige. I haven't stretched in a while."
A dark, demonic aura seemed to flicker behind the smiling waitress.
"NO! No, no, no! I'm good!" Lucy waved her hands frantically, terrified.
"And to think Natsu and Gray are so strong, yet they're not even S-Class?" Lucy asked, trying to change the subject.
Ultear chuckled softly and shook her head. "They haven't even obtained the qualification to take the exam yet."
"WHAT???"
Lucy couldn't imagine how difficult the exam must be.
She was certain she couldn't defeat Natsu in a straight fight, and if he wasn't even qualified...
Mirajane's expression softened, but her voice carried a gravity that didn't match her age.
"Lucy, you should focus on basic mission for now. It's better not to consider S-Class Quests yet. They are a different world."
Cold sweat beaded on Lucy's forehead. "Don't worry... I know my limits. I value my life!"
Erza walked by and patted Lucy's shoulder heavily. "If you really want to do one, Raizel and I can take you along sometime. It's good experience."
'Please don't... your 'experience' might kill me!'
...
That Night—
Under the cover of darkness, a blue cat with wings stealthily flew in through the open window of the Guild's second floor.
Natsu, unwilling to accept that he couldn't take S-Class Quests, had urged Happy to steal a flyer.
"Hmm... which one should I take?"
Happy hovered in front of the legendary S-Class board, his eyes scanning the dangerous requests.
He was lost in thought, eyes closed as he imagined Natsu praising him.
He didn't notice the massive shadow gradually covering him.
"You can't take any of them, cat."
A deep voice rumbled directly behind him like thunder. "Go back and tell Natsu he's a hundred years too early."
Happy froze and his fur stood on end.
"AYE!"
Without even turning his head to look at Laxus, Happy immediately spread his wings and rocketed out the window at Mach speed.
"Heh."
Laxus stood in the shadows with arms crossed, lightning crackling faintly around him.
He chuckled and shook his head.
Suddenly, Raizel stepped out from the shadows nearby, holding a drink. "You owe me a drink, Laxus. I told you Natsu would try it."
"Yeah, yeah. I never expected him to actually have the guts to send the cat," Laxus admitted. "When it comes to pure audacity, Natsu is definitely S-Class."
...
Lucy's Apartment—
After dining with Ultear and the others, Lucy walked home, humming a tune. She was fantasizing about her future ranking in Fairy Tail.
"Let's see... among the girls, Erza and Ultear are monsters, so they don't count. I'm probably right below Kagura. Mhm, mhm. I'm pretty strong!" Lucy nodded proudly with her hands on her hips.
"I need to work hard tomorrow, though. Rent is due soon. 70,000 Jewels don't grow on trees."
Lucy pulled open her door.
"You're back!"
"Yo, Luigi!"
Natsu and Happy were casually doing sit-ups on her bed.
For a second, Lucy stared blankly. Then, rage took over.
"GET OUT!!!"
WHAM!
"It reeks of sweat! If you want to build muscles, can't you do it at your own home?!"
After delivering a signature Lucy Kick, she angrily pointed at the window. "This is a maiden's room! Trespassing is a crime!"
"Why would you say that? We're teammates, aren't we? Treating us like strangers hurts my feelings," Natsu said, completely ignoring her anger as he picked up a pink dumbbell.
"Here, this is your share. Start lifting."
"Lucy likes pink, right?" Happy added from the side, lifting a tiny weight.
"No matter what color it is, I'm not interested in dumbbells!" Lucy screamed. "And why are you getting comfortable?!"
"To defeat Erza and Laxus, we need to train more and build up our stamina!" Natsu shouted, dropping to the floor to do push-ups at an inhuman speed.
"Ninety-eight! Ninety-nine!"
"That has nothing to do with me! Get out of here already!"
Lucy grabbed Natsu by the scarf and threw him out the open window.
"Whoa!"
Natsu caught the ledge and struggled to climb back up. "Wait, Lucy! Listen! I tried to get Happy to steal an S-Class request, but Laxus caught us!"
"Good! You shouldn't be stealing!"
"But!" Natsu grinned, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "Happy managed to secretly memorize the quest details and location before he ran away! Want to come along?"
Lucy crossed her arms in an 'X' shape. "I REFUSE! Miss Mira just told me today that we absolutely must not go! It's against the rules, and we'll get expelled!"
Natsu looked somewhat dejected. "Alright then... we'll go by ourselves."
"Fine! Go!"
After saying this, Natsu jumped down from the window ledge. Only then did Lucy notice he was carrying a large traveler's backpack.
'Wait...'
Lucy looked down from the second-floor window. "Hey! Natsu! Happy! You guys aren't serious, are you?!"
Natsu just stopped, looked up, and flashed a wide, toothy grin at Lucy.
Then he turned and ran into the night.
"Those idiots..." Lucy muttered, panic starting to set in. "They're really going to do it!"