The day after Lucy joined the guild, the usual lively atmosphere returned.
She was sitting at the bar, sipping juice and getting used to her new surroundings.
"How do you like it, Lucy?" Mirajane asked gently.
"It's great! Everyone is so enthusiastic," Lucy replied with a smile. "But... is it always this lively here?"
No sooner had she spoken than a commotion erupted in the guild.
Wakaba and Macao had started their usual bickering again.
"You'll get used to it," Mirajane said, maintaining her gentle smile. "This is just a normal day at Fairy Tail."
Lorne was sitting nearby, reading a book, when he suddenly felt someone staring at him.
He looked up to see Gray standing not far away, battle intent flashing in his eyes.
"Trouble," Lorne thought, calmly closing his book.
"Hey, Lorne," Gray strode over, his knuckles cracking. "That spar we talked about earlier, how about now?"
Lorne stood up: "Of course. But if we spar in the guild..."
"Outside, of course!" Gray grinned confidently. "And I also want to see the difference between your ice magic and mine, since they're both ice-attribute."
These words were like a stone thrown into a pond, instantly stirring up a thousand ripples.
"Oh?"
Cana put down her almost empty barrel of ale, her eyes lighting up.
"A duel between ice and ice? Interesting. I bet on Gray, 100,000 J!"
"I bet on Lorne!" Macao, who had just won some money, immediately followed suit.
"I want to watch too!"
Levy, like an excited little rabbit, popped out from a pile of books, still clutching a quill and notebook.
"A battle between Mages of the same attribute must have great research value!"
Salsus and Droy immediately followed, still in their roles as escorts.
Soon, the open space in front of the guild hall was packed with people.
"Go, Gray!" someone shouted.
"You too, Lorne!"
Lucy was startled by the scene and quietly asked Mirajane beside her, "Do they always do this?"
"Not often," Mirajane explained. "Lorne only recently mastered this new magic. However, Gray's Ice-Make magic is indeed very powerful. Can Lorne handle him?"
"It should be fine," Happy said, flying in the air. "Lorne has gotten much stronger recently."
In the center of the arena, Lorne and Gray stood facing each other.
Gray had habitually taken off his shirt, revealing his muscular upper body, and a cold magic power, like a tangible cold mist, swirled around him.
"Are you ready?"
He struck a standard Ice-Make magic stance, full of imposing presence.
Lorne smiled and stretched his wrists; his demeanor was calmer than Gray's.
"Alright! It's a good chance to test some of my new ideas. But, you have to be careful, my ice... might be a little different from yours."
"Hmph, Ice-Make magic relies on imagination and power! Bring it on!"
Before Gray finished speaking, his hands were already crossed in front of his chest, and cold magic power surged instantly.
"Ice Make: Lance!"
Several sharp ice lances appeared out of thin air, whistling through the air, and accurately shot towards Lorne.
He simply raised his right hand calmly, his five fingers pressed together like a blade, and swung downwards at the incoming volley of ice lances.
A single word escaped his lips.
"Cut."
There was no earth-shattering magical explosion, only a crescent-shaped, almost invisible ripple of a slash that flashed by.
It was an ice blade composed of pure, extremely compressed freezing air and countless tiny ice crystals.
"Cold Current Slash!"
Tsk!
The next moment, those incredibly hard ice lances, upon contact with the slashing wave, were cleanly cut in half, the cuts as smooth as a mirror, without the slightest crack.
Even more terrifying, a thicker, more biting layer of white frost was frantically spreading over the broken ice lance remnants, emitting a "creak, creak" lament, eventually turning into a pile of shattered debris.
The entire scene fell silent.
Gray's pupils contracted violently.
What was that? Not Ice-Make magic! No construction process, no physical form! That attack was more like... a swordsman's slash!
"Don't get distracted!"
Lorne's voice rang in his ears.
Gray's heart tightened, and he immediately changed his move, slamming his palms hard onto the ground!
"Ice Make: Floor!"
Centered on him, a massive ice surface spread like a white plague, the ground instantly becoming incredibly slick, attempting to freeze Lorne's feet and restrict his movement.
Lorne's reaction was lightning-fast; he instinctively leaped up just before the ice spread to his feet.
In mid-air, he pressed his left hand downwards.
"Counter-Vortex!"
A rotating vortex composed entirely of liquid water appeared out of thin air, accurately striking the ice surface below.
The water spun at high speed, and the powerful impact combined with the inherent flexibility of water instantly drilled a large hole in the hard ice layer, sending ice shards flying.
And Lorne's toes lightly touched the center of the water vortex.
The buoyancy of the water not only provided him with perfect cushioning but also became a temporary pivot point, allowing him to push off again to the side. The entire process was fluid and graceful.
"Water?! You're using water and ice together?!" Gray's jaw nearly dropped.
Gray's fighting spirit was completely ignited, and he took a deep breath:
"Ice Make: Cannon!"
A massive ice cannon was quickly formed, its muzzle condensing a powerful ice magic projectile, which fired with a roar!
Facing this powerful attack, Lorne's expression grew serious. He clasped his hands together, then separated them, as if pulling something from the void. Extremely cold magic power and flowing water vapor intertwined and merged in his hands.
"Ice-Water Make: Spinning Barrier!"
A huge, continuously rotating round shield instantly formed.
The shield's structure was unusually peculiar; the outer layer was a hard, smooth ice shell, while the inner layer was a rapidly flowing magic water layer with extremely strong impact-absorbing properties.
The moment the cannonball made contact with the shield, the terrifying impact instantly covered the ice shield's outer shell with a spiderweb of cracks.
But before the cracks could expand, the rapidly spinning water flow in the inner layer had already dissipated over seventy percent of the impact to the side, transforming into a sky full of violent water vapor and ice shards.
When the smoke cleared, Lorne still stood in place, the ground beneath him cracked, but the shield in front of him, though covered in cracks, ultimately did not shatter.
"It's not over yet!"
Gray roared, taking advantage of Lorne's defensive pause to charge out of the smoke, his hands already gripping two sharply styled ice swords.
"In close combat, what will you do?!"
"Gladly!"
A glint of a smile flashed in Lorne's eyes. The cracked ice-water shield instantly disintegrated, transforming into pure cold air that converged into his palms.
He clasped his hands, and two ice blades, simpler in design and more focused on slashing lines, condensed into form.
Clang, clang, clang!
The sound of ice blades clashing was crisp and incessant.
Lorne's moves carried a sense of fluid rhythm and explosiveness, as if they were sword techniques honed through countless battles.
And from time to time, he cleverly incorporated small-scale water impacts or ice slides to adjust his position, making him appear more agile and elusive.
He didn't fight like a Mage; he fought more like a swordsman.
"This guy... so strange!"
The more Gray fought, the more alarmed he became. He felt his combat rhythm was completely disrupted.
"Ice Make: Hammer!"
Gray abruptly retreated, raising both hands high, and a giant ice hammer, carrying immense force, smashed down from above!
He intended to crush all of his opponent's techniques with absolute power!
Facing this overwhelming strike, Lorne advanced instead of retreating.
He joined his two blades into one, all his magic power condensed to the tip of that sword, and thrust it forward.
"Droplet Ripple Thrust!"
The massive ice hammer and the slender ice blade tip collided disproportionately.
There was no earth-shattering bang as expected.
The moment of contact, a peculiar, high-frequency vibration ripple traveled along the sword tip, injecting into the internal structure of the ice hammer.
"Crack... crunch..."
Gray watched in horror as his incredibly sturdy ice hammer began to show countless tiny cracks from the inside out.
These cracks spread wildly like living things, and in just one second, the giant ice hammer disintegrated above his head with a roar, turning into a sky full of ice dust!
The cold air explosion caused by the collision sent both of them sliding back several steps.
Gray gasped for breath, a joyful smile on his face:
"Amazing, Lorne! You've got water, ice, and those strange combat techniques, you're practically like a... um..."
"Swordsman?" Lorne also smiled, dispelling the ice blades in his hands.
"I fell into a strange place before, and their fighting style was very unique. When I came back, it merged with my magic."
Gray burst out laughing, clearly impressed by Lorne's new power.
"But, your ice, the temperature seems a bit special, more... biting?"
"Yes, after integrating the focus and energy circulation methods brought by that ability, the quality and density of the freezing air seem to have improved," Lorne explained.
Makarov stroked his beard, deep in thought: "Interesting, this way of using magic power is very unique."
"That was incredible!" Levy excitedly jotted notes in her notebook. "I've never seen such magic control techniques before!"
Gray laughed heartily and threw an arm around Lorne's neck.
"Who cares what it is! Come on, my treat today!"
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