Chapter 6: Getting Competitive
The crowd was startled once again by these words.
"A One-Tail Demon Fox has such destructive power; just how strong would the Nine-Tails Demon Fox be?!"
"He really is a monster!!"
Shun smiled and said nothing.
Of course, he knew how powerful the Nine-Tails Demon Fox was—it had the power to destroy the world.
The Nine-Tails' only weakness was that, being split from the Ten-Tails, it was countered by Wood Release and the Sharingan.
If not for being countered by Wood Release and the Sharingan, the Nine-Tails' own strength wouldn't be weaker than the First Hokage or Uchiha Madara. After all, the title of "Infinite Chakra" was no joke.
"Shun! You won this time, but don't get complacent. Next time, I will definitely defeat you! Just you wait!"
"I'll be waiting anytime!" Shun was also in high spirits at this moment. Although he had only defeated a young girl, she was also the first Mage he had defeated.
Mirajane made a fierce face at Shun. She lost this time, but next time she would definitely win it back.
Natsu asked curiously, "Shun, how did you become so amazing? Can you teach me? I want to beat Mirajane and Erza too."
Shun put on a pretentious air and said, "Have you ever seen the sun at 4 AM in Magnolia?"
He wasn't talking nonsense. Since awakening the system, he had been exercising at 4 AM almost every day, then going to work at the guild after finishing his workout.
As for why it was 4 AM, it was simply because he had to work and didn't have time to exercise otherwise.
"So... so amazing! No! In order to thoroughly defeat Gray, and then surpass Mirajane and Erza, I must train hard too!!"
The simple-minded Natsu immediately believed him.
Gray rolled his eyes. That idiot actually believed it. Isn't Shun's previous level clear to everyone? Being able to possess such strength is obviously because the Nine-Tails Demon Fox he took over is too powerful, okay?
But if Natsu really becomes that diligent, it could be dangerous. If I get beaten by Natsu, I'll lose face big time.
He secretly made up his mind that he also had to train hard and absolutely could not lose to Natsu.
"The sun at 4 AM in Magnolia?"
Erza muttered to herself. When she was a slave in the Tower of Heaven, she often saw the sun at 4 AM.
But after coming to Fairy Tail, it had been a long time since she had seen 4 AM.
"Alright! I must train even harder too!"
Erza made up her mind. Erza was very competitive, which was why she often vied with Mirajane for the title of the guild's strongest.
Mirajane's strength wasn't bad, but Shun's strength was completely above hers, which gave Erza a severe sense of crisis.
Shun didn't know that because of his one sentence, these future protagonists in the guild all started getting competitive.
Back at the guild, Shun registered as a Fairy Tail Mage.
The red Fairy Tail Guild emblem was stamped on Shun's chest. Shun had formally become a member of the Fairy Tail Guild.
"I've finally become a Fairy Tail Mage..."
Shun clenched his fists in excitement. Although he was in the Fairy Tail Guild before, he was ultimately just an ordinary part-time worker, somewhat out of place with the Mages.
Now, he was one of them too.
Makarov also felt gratified in his heart. If Shun hadn't awakened his Magic Origin, it would have been too cruel for this child who yearned for magic.
Soon, Shun was called over by Natsu and a few others. All the children sat at one table, raising their juice glasses.
"Shun, congratulations on joining Fairy Tail!!"
Although Mirajane was sulking because she lost to Shun, she also congratulated Shun on becoming a member of the Fairy Tail Guild.
"Thank you, everyone."
Seeing everyone's actions, Shun's heart felt warm. It had been a long time since he felt the warmth of having family. From now on, everyone in Fairy Tail was Shun's family.
To protect his family well, he would continue to work hard to become stronger.
As long as he was around, he wouldn't allow anyone to hurt his family.
The next morning at 4 AM, Shun habitually got up to do his quests. The daily quests announced by the system hadn't changed.
Every day: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10km run .
When Shun went outside, he saw two familiar figures there.
"Hey! Morning! Shun, you're out exercising too!"
Gray, shirtless, greeted Shun, pretending it was a coincidence.
Natsu, being straightforward, said, "Shun! I want to learn how you exercise! After learning it, I can become stronger. I'm going to take down Gray and defeat Mirajane and Erza!"
Shun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was just showing off a bit; they actually believed it.
"I'm just doing simple physical exercises. There's no secret at all."
I'm awesome not because my exercise is so effective, but because I have a 'cheat'.
"I don't believe it! I want to see for myself!"
Natsu shook his head.
"Then follow along."
Shun finished speaking and started running. Natsu and Gray followed behind, both looking at each other with dislike.
"Why are you following me?"
"Who's following you? Does this road belong to your family?"
"You wanna fight?"
"Come on, who's afraid of whom!"
Natsu and Gray pulled at each other's clothes, ready to fight.
Then Gray realized something was wrong: "Ah! Shun is about to disappear!"
In just the blink of an eye, Shun's figure was reduced to a small dot.
Natsu hurriedly let go, no longer caring about fighting with Gray. If he kept fighting Gray, Shun would be gone.
"Quick, chase him!!"