On a boat, Levi could be seen fishing. Ever since he got that gold coin, Levi's life had flipped around, his old dirty beard was nowhere to be seen, his handsome appearance was fully seen, and his short brown hair was no longer a mess and filled with dirt. His face had a sharp and serious look, as he looked at the water down below. He was fishing for an Eel.
It was a mission he had taken up, for 12 Gold Coins, he went on to hunt for this Eel which liked hunting fishermen, making no one want to get near this lake.
Boom
The lake suddenly shook, causing him to almost fall over. Levi was stunned, as he looked at the sea, he was sure he just heard it say, Repent, but he wasn't sure. Was the lake speaking to him, did he do evil in his life he needed to repent from?
"A-are you talking to me?" Levi asked, with unease. but the next moment, the lake exploded, as from out of the lake, I came shooting out of the lake and landed on land with a huge Eel in my hands.
"Were you saying something?" I asked with a frown, to which Levi instantly said nothing out of embarrassment, he would rather die than let anyone know what just happened here. I threw him a confused look, sure he was hiding something.
"How did you burn it from underwater? Or did you use the Eel lightning magic against itself, leading to it cooking itself from the inside out?" Levi asked while using his gravity magic, allowing him to float over to my side.
"I'm a Fire mage," I said while throwing the Eel into the sky, this Eel was as big as a bus. It was going to be a pain carrying this thing, which is why I was working with Levi on this mission. Levi's gravity magic showed its trick, lowering the gravity on the eel, and leading it to float down.
"Sigh, I guess I lost," Levi said as we had a challenge on who would defeat the eel.
"Haha, I was lucky that it came to attack me," I said with a smile, to which Levi sighed while looking at the huge eel. Thanks to the fact his spirit had recovered, he could use his magic, he was now walking towards a path of full recovery. We headed towards the Empire gates, where the guards allowed us to enter once I showed them my badge, a badge which Irene gave me.
We walked the streets, catching the attention of both the humans and the young dragons. We headed towards the adventures guild, a guild that paid people for doing jobs, I didn't know such a thing existed, or else I would become one sooner. But I was mostly an adventurer to do the tasks to help the common people.
"You guys look like you were having fun," Elsa said while looking at the huge eel, before looking at how none of us had any injuries. She could easily tell that we did this with great ease.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have a store to run?" I asked with a gentle smile, to which Elsa showed me the medicine she had gone to buy. She had to buy medication to keep her curse from growing worse, this was the deadlyness of a curse.
"Oh..." I said not knowing what to do with this new information. Elsa was someone I respected, she was strong, at least stronger than me. I don't know how I would react if I suddenly became a normal human, living in pain 24/7.
"Haha, what's with such a reaction? This is your first mission, right? What about I treat the two of you to a meal." Elsa said with a grin, to which Levi and I shook our heads.
"Levi would pay, no need for that," I said causing Levi's words to be caught in his throat, leading him to suddenly start coughing.
"I offered, so I'm paying." She said with a faint smile before walking off, leaving us speechless, but she gave us no choice but to agree...
Later that night, mugs filled with alcohol were in the air. Elsa easily drank the whole drink, causing Levi and me to look at her in shock. Elsa as if she had just drank water went on to grab the huge amount of food on the table, before eating it like a caveman.
"Haha! It has been ages since I eat like this." Levi joined her, also eating like a caveman. On the battlefield, this was how they ate, they ate purely to fill their stomach, but seeing them eating like this I was left speechless.
"Come on virgin, eat up," Elsa said, her voice not low in the lightest, which drew over many eyes. I wanted to hide my face in a hole right now, ever since she found out I was a virgin, this became my nickname. But this was the first time she was so loud about this, clearly the alcohol had some effect.
"You will pay for that," I said while taking a bite out of the food, glaring at her, to which Elsa laughed, not caring in the slightest as she filled her stomach. In the back, a dragon could be seen cooking alongside some humans. it was a teen dragon, using its sharp senses to ensure that the food was cooked to the perfect degree
The teen dragon looked over towards the table where I was eating, speechless that someone my age was a virgin. it lost its virginity long ago when as soon as it became a teen dragon.
"Focus! 4 more orders just came in." An old dragon said seeing his son was not focused, it took control of some things and went on to order everyone, ensuring they all worked together.
"Hey virgin, have you ever drank before?" Elsa asked, making me die a little inside at that nickname.
"No," I said while looking at my apple juice, unlike the two, I was drinking juice,
"What! Then you're an alcohol virgin." Elsa laughed, causing my eye to twitch, it was like the alcohol was making her louder than normal. She wasn't normally like this, I created a mental note never to go drinking with her, it was too embarrassing.
"Go, I will take your first time." She said while giving me her cup, making my eye twitch as she had just drunk out of it. Not wanting her to open her mouth once more, I quickly swallowed the whole thing, causing my face to twist for a moment, but it returned to normal the next moment.
"That's all?" I asked leaving the two speechless, before Elsa grinned while ordering a barrel of drinks.
"Then, let's have a challenge. You win, I will help you evolve from a virgin. if I win, you must work for me for a 70% pay cut." Elsa said with a grin, causing my eye to twitch. I guess one doesn't know a person unless they are drunk. From the looks of things, Elsa was a person who was into one-night stands. but it made sense, I guess she needed a way to release that stress.
"I'm good," I said with a snort, to which Elsa laughed mockingly. I looked at her annoyed, I didn't care much for losing my first time, I had bigger things to deal with. So, I had no interest in trying to lose my first time. I looked towards Levi for some help, but the guy was currently, drinking his pain away.
"So, you're scared? He..." Before Elsa could speak anymore, I covered her mouth, unable to take it anymore. This was going to be the last time I would ever let her treat me to drinks, and if by chance I ever treated her to anything, I would ensure alcohol was the furthest thing from me.
"fine, but let's change the bet. I don't care to lose my virginity," I said with a sigh, to which Elsa laughed, looking like a wolf eyeing a sheep.
"You're drunk, I will not talk to you like this," I said with a sigh, to which she laughed,
"You're scared, I thought you wanted to conquer your fears. Come on, I will walk you slowly through this. So and steady." She said to which I frowned even more, not knowing what to do with her words. She had a point, and I would be lying if I said a part of me wasn't interested. But I wanted my first time to be special,
"Sorry, but if I ever do lose my first time, I want to give it to someone I love," I said making Elsa pout lightly, but her eyes did flash with something strange. Sadness. She said nothing, instead grabbing a barrel and beginning to drink it all. A barrel that was as big as her, was being devoured like it was nothing.
"Love... love is just another curse," Elsa said throwing the barrel to the ground before she fell on the table.
"It would destroy you in the most painful way possible," Levi said in pain, before the two began crying, drawing eyes that made me want to disappear. I was left not knowing what to do, but as the two looked at each other, it looked like a spark was formed.
The two got up, and left, leaving me sitting there not knowing what the hell happened. To make things worse, the bill was given to me.
"Yeah, I'm never doing this again," I said while pulling out a gold coin, before getting up and leaving. While Levi and Elsa went on to enjoy themselves in some lovemaking, I went on to walk through the streets, where I paused when I saw it was snowing.
"I didn't notice it was cold," I said lightly, I was immune to the cold, so I felt nothing. But it made sense why everyone was wearing a jacket. This was the first snow In a while. I paused for a moment, before going to the store where I bought a lot of jackets and blankets.
"Are all of this for you?" The store owner asked to which I smiled lightly.
"No, I will go help out the homeless. This world be dark enough, it would use some light." I said with a smile, to which the store owner nodded with a faint smile while giving me some of the gold coins back, which shocked me.
"It's a discount." He said with a smile, to which I thanked him before going on to hand out everything I bought to the homeless. After I returned home, where I began to start working on conquering my mind...
As the days passed, Levi and Elsa seemed to fall in love. It turned out Elsa did have a lover who died at the hands of a dragon. Her shop she rain was her husband's family shop, when she was left unable to fight in the war, he went on to continue fighting, leading to his death. This only threw her into drinking, as she had nothing. I guess that might explain why she was like that when she started drinking.
Well, I congratulated them, while I continued training, my mastery over my mind improving by the day. The more control I gained, the more control of my flames I gained, and soon I felt like I was nearing the door to turn my flames back to their pure form.
Sitting on a rock, next to a waterfall, my legs, and my breath were calm... a bit too calm. So calm in fact, that they blend in with nature. I was one with the world around me, and birds were able to land on me, curiously looking at me. Animals' instincts were far better than humans', this is because their simple nature allowed their souls to be more in tune with nature.
So, the bird was curious as it felt zero danger from me when normally it felt danger from humans. Instead, I felt more welcoming to it than even nature. Nature looked beautiful and all, but it held great danger, so animals were on guard against it.
Currently, in my mental space, I was locked in a fight against my demonic half. I was completely overwhelmed as the demonic version of myself hit me over and over.
"You have friends, how long would it be before they see you for the disgusting monster you are? Irene, she most likely sent you away due to how disgusting you are. You would do what? Keep her soul clean? All you have done was bring more dirt to dirty her pure soul." The Demonic version of myself said with an evil smile, and I just took it all in with a calm look.
"That is true, I am disgusted with myself. I have messed up big time... but as Irene said, mistakes are made to be learned from. In the past 2 weeks, I have been away from Irene, I learned many things, and at that from many wise people around the empire and from history. I will accept my mistakes, I will accept any looks, attacks, and hatred aimed towards me for my actions. I will accept them and never fight back. But what I will never do is stop fighting to make up for my mistakes and look towards a brighter day." I said while my black red evil flames slowly began to fade away, revealing bright golden-red flames.
"I'm Ryujin Dragneel, Son of Noah Dragneeel and Zelda Dragneel. Little Brother of Zeref Dragneel and Twin Brother of Natsu Dragneel. I will transform this world, ensuring no one will go through the pain I went through! So, put me down all you want. But you will never put me to the level of hearing my dad's screams of pain as his head was cut off. You will never put me down to the level I was at when I heard my mother being burned alive. You will never put me down to the level I was at when I watched my parents die before me, and the feeling of uselessness I felt when Natsu died after my parents entrusted him to me." I screamed while slamming my fist into the demonic Ryu's face.
"I reached the lowest levels, I lost meaning to live so many times, and I crawled back. Life is shit, so I will change it. Pain hurts, mistakes hurt... but they are my motivation, and reasons to keep fighting, not to change the life of one man, not two, but everyone." I roared while my fist slammed into the demonic Ryu's stomach,
"So, get out of my way. With these pure flames, the world can now step forward towards an era of peace." I said while the demonic version of myself slowly turned into dots of lights, disappearing from my mental world.
Seeing this, I let out a deep breath while looking at all of the negativity disappearing from me. I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by many birds. I looked at them for a moment, before scratching their heads. This made the bird close their eyes in pleasure, which made me smile lightly.
"Let me help you out," I said while my flames covered my palm, and swallowed the bird, purifying it and bringing out its full potential. Be it in its genetics, sense, body, soul, and so on. It was all purified, leading the bird to almost glow with beauty in the eyes of the other birds.
The birds all cried, wanting to go next. They began fighting, wanting to be the next person, I laughed lightly, oddly being able to understand what they were saying. I purified all of them, causing all of the birds to fly in the air in happiness,
Well, this flame had lost its cursed capability, so it would not burn forever, but that was okay. They were now hotter, and I was sure I could make them burn as hot as the sun if I tried. My arms exploded into flames, transforming into powerful phoenix wings before I burst into the air. The birds followed at my sides, causing me to laugh as I wasn't expecting them to follow. Even so, I flew off toward the empire, where I returned home.