Natsu and Gray's first mission outside the Guild was a complete success. As soon as they returned, they began to show off. Not long after, they started arguing over who contributed more, eventually coming to blows. This sparked a new free-for-all within the Guild, and no one noticed Erza's hair floating with anger.
"Bang, bang~ two punches!" Erza swiftly ended the fight with a furious expression, and the Guild Members tacitly stopped their brawling, resuming their unfinished tasks. Erza then turned to Cana, gently asking if she was hurt, her change of demeanor faster than a theatrical face-change. Only Natsu and Gray were left lying on the floor, rolling their eyes.
Zorn couldn't bear to watch. Lisanna, while eating the special snacks Natsu brought back, covered Happy's eyes with her hand and giggled cutely, saying, "Happy, it's too violent, you can't look."
"Aye~" Happy raised his right hand in agreement.
"Boring," Laxus said, striding through the Guild doors in his coat. Seeing Natsu and Gray's embarrassing state, he turned his head away in disgust.
"Yo, Laxus," Zorn called out when he saw Laxus, signaling him to come and sit.
"Training starts in three days. Want to join? It will definitely greatly improve your strength," Zorn calmly guaranteed to Laxus.
"Oh, Observation Haki, huh? Then don't let me surpass you, Zorn." Laxus crossed his arms, lifted his head, and a confident light surged in his eyes as he spoke arrogantly.
"I wish! Laxus, so you admit my strength is greater than yours now?" Zorn teased, seizing the opportunity.
"Bang~" Laxus slapped the table and stood up. "Don't flatter yourself, Zorn. Your physical combat is indeed impressive, but we haven't settled the score in other areas yet." Although he inwardly acknowledged Zorn's strength, he still shouted defiantly.
"Hahaha, alright, alright," Zorn said, standing up and coaxing Laxus with a laugh, seeing him so agitated.
Makarov sat at the bar, sipping his drink and smiling knowingly at the scene. He felt that with Zorn's involvement, Laxus's condition was gradually improving.
Three days later, at the East Forest training ground, Zorn had divided the East Forest into three areas: a physical training area, a combat training area, and a Haki learning area.
At this moment, he, Laxus, Mira, Erza, and Cana were in the Haki learning area, while the others were still in the physical training area, led by Natsu and Gray.
"Thump, thump, thump~" Zorn held a pitch-black wooden club, clearly imbued with Armament Haki, and tapped it against his palm with a mischievous grin, saying,
"This is the training plan I specially prepared for you, Laxus. Don't resist, or it won't work. You should thank me properly; this will help you quickly master Observation Haki."
This was the method Rayleigh used to teach Luffy in Pirate King. It's an excellent method, highly effective at stimulating the potential of the person being hit, thereby allowing Laxus to quickly grasp Observation Haki.
"Zorn, you, you, you…" Laxus stammered, seeing Zorn approaching him step by step with ill intent, utterly disbelieving.
"Bang, bang, bang!" Three sounds. Laxus had no time to react and was hit three times: on the shoulder, arm, and thigh.
"Cough, cough, I forgot, it works better with a blindfold." Zorn first struck him, then feigned a cough, covering his mouth with a clenched fist, and pulled out a pre-prepared blindfold from his pocket, handing it to Laxus. This action further ignited Laxus's anger; it was clearly treating him like an idiot.
"Damn it~" Laxus trembled, preparing to gather his magic and erupt, but Zorn's words instantly halted his actions.
"This is the fastest training method to achieve results. I heard there's an S-Class Exam at the end of the year. Don't you want to quickly improve your strength?" Zorn also used Laxus's desire to become stronger and contend for the strongest in the Guild to persuade him.
"I'll trust you this once," Laxus said through gritted teeth, releasing his clenched fists, taking the blindfold from Zorn, and putting it on.
His vision immediately plunged into darkness, and his ears became more sensitive than usual, clearly hearing Zorn's next words: "Get ready, it's starting."
"Bang, bang, bang!" The sounds echoed through the training ground...
On the other side, Mira and the other two were astonished by this scene, having never seen this side of Zorn.
Erza and Mira quickly asked Cana if her Observation Haki training had been like this too.
Cana first shook her head, then fell into a memory. Back then... Zorn had also used an attacking method, but he never actually hit her. He would stop just before impact, letting her feel the wind from the attack to train. She quickly grasped the specific sensation, and Zorn was very surprised, marveling at her talent, praising her to the skies. He then told her many stories about a female ninja and some physical combat techniques.
On the first day, Laxus returned to the Guild with a bruised and swollen face, almost causing a riot. This also made Guild Master erupt with terrifying magic, destroying the bar counter. It was only after Zorn quickly explained that the Guild Master realized it was a result of training. He instantly calmed down, then turned to stone, staring at the bar counter, regretting his impulsiveness.
The same result continued until the seventh day. On the eighth day, Laxus was noticeably more resistant to hits. Wearing a black blindfold, he bent over, panting, his body still covered in bruises. Zorn could feel that Laxus had made some progress in these seven days, just needing a final catalyst to succeed. He decided to take a drastic next step.
"Pay attention!" Zorn warned, and Laxus straightened his body, using his senses to perceive external changes. Zorn instantly vanished from his spot without a sound. When he reappeared, he was suspended in the air to Laxus's right side, the club in his hand glowing golden, about to strike Laxus's head.
It was at this moment that the two almost converging lines in Laxus's mind suddenly tightened together. Laxus suddenly felt a warning of danger on his right side in his mind, and he instantly crouched down, dodging the blow. Zorn did not hold back but released the energy, and an arc-shaped energy wave, at an extremely fast speed, destroyed everything in front of it.
When Laxus took off his blindfold, what he saw was that within a five-kilometer radius, centered on him and Zorn, all the trees had been cut off at the waist, leaving only rows of tree stumps.
"Bastard, did you really try to kill me just now?!" Laxus instantly erupted, venting all the pent-up anger of the past few days. Magic power surged, and lightning coursed through his body as he accelerated and charged at Zorn.
Zorn dodged while saying, "Why would I? You're overthinking it, overthinking it." Hearing such a flippant remark made Laxus even more furious, and his attacks became faster. While dodging, Zorn also began to counterattack, his attacks also becoming swifter. Fist met fist, and the energy even destroyed the surrounding tree stumps.
After a quick dodge, Zorn rapidly channeled more magic, his speed suddenly increasing as he attacked Laxus. Laxus, due to the excessive exhaustion from previous training, gradually couldn't keep up in terms of power, but he still narrowly dodged each of Zorn's attacks. Seeing this, Zorn stopped his attacks, looked at Laxus with satisfaction, and then reminded him, "Laxus, haven't you realized you've already mastered Observation Haki?"
Laxus paused, then, hearing the reminder, instantly recalled how he had dodged all of Zorn's attacks just now, and burst into laughter. Zorn, however, suddenly launched a light-speed laser attack at Laxus.
Laxus suddenly tilted his head, stopped laughing, and dodged the attack, causing the laser beam to hit a tree behind him and explode.
"How about that? Do you feel it now?" Zorn experimented once more, making Laxus clearly feel the power of Observation Haki.
"Alright, mission accomplished. We'll talk about strengthening Observation Haki later. First, treat me to a meal, how about it? I taught you a very powerful skill!" Zorn, before Laxus could react, instantly jumped to another topic, flashed over, and put an arm around Laxus's shoulder, demanding.
"Dream on!" Laxus slapped Zorn's hand away, grumbled, and walked off without looking back.
"Hey, no way, so heartless!" Zorn chased after him, asking incredulously.
"Then let's have a feast in the Guild! It'll be lively, and Guild Master will be Happy too..."
"No talking, no talking, it's settled then..."
"Boring..."
"Hey, you replied! So that's how we'll do it..."
To be continued...