Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
May, x786.
After Alfonzo dropped the bomb about the visitors being able to use [Magic Power Detection, Ur's office fell into silence. However, that silence was broken quickly enough.
*Bang!*
"How is that possible?" Ur asked as she slammed her palms onto her desk. "This is an exclusive spell of our guild. Does that mean someone betrayed us?"
Hearing Ur's assumptions, Gildarts, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy narrowed their eyes dangerously. Like any other member of any other guild, the one thing they could not tolerate were traitors.
"Okay now, let's calm down, everyone." Elicia said while speaking in the most soothing tone she could muster. "Let's not jump to conclusions."
"What are you talking about, Lici?" Ultear, sounding just as fiery as her mother, asked in a reprimanding tone. "This is a big deal. We need to find out who is leaking guild secrets!"
"Seriously, Tear, calm down… please." Elicia said as she pulled Ultear into a hug and began combing her fingers through her friend's hair.
However, Ultear struggled fiercely against Elicia's embrace, wanting to find who betrayed them immediately. And Alfonzo and Elicia had a pretty good idea why the mother and daughter flew off the handle so quickly.
Ur and Ultear were separated for years because someone, brain of the Oración Seis, betrayed their trust when Ultear was a young child. And because of that, they are both very sensitive to betrayal.
Luckily, the other wizards in the room, though suspicious against treachery, were much calmer. So, while Elicia tried to calm Ultear, Gildarts did the same to Ur. Though, Ur's resistance was much fiercer, resulting in Gildarts being punched in the stomach and chest several times.
"Lici's right, you know." Alfonzo said in a casual tone. "You two are jumping to conclusions."
"How can you say that." Ur growled. "Someone gave out guild secrets. Do you know how important that skill has been for the guild's development."
"Yeah, I think I know better than you, Ur." Alfonzo said while glaring at Fairy Tail's fourth guild master. "Or did you forget? I was the one who invented that technique."
Immediately, Ur and Ultear froze. As a matter of fact, they had both forgotten that fact. They had also forgotten that Alfonzo had personally taught both of them how to use it, too.
"Well, it's true that Alfonzo doesn't seem to be worried about traitors." Mirajane said while examining Alfonzo's facial expression. "But why is that?"
"It's simple, actually." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "It's because [Magic Power Detection] isn't a difficult technique to learn."
Hearing that, almost everyone looked at Alfonzo with confused expressions, Gildarts' expression being the most confused.
The reason for Gildart's' expression was simple, however. And that was because of the property of his magic power. Thanks to his [Crash Magic], Gildarts' magic power destroys just about everything it comes in contact with. Even the small amount he releases passively. So, if he actively spread it, it would more than likely cause a disaster.
The exceptions to the confusion were Elicia, Marin, and Lucy. However, all their reasons were different. Elicia did not find the technique difficult because she had seen similar techniques in anime, manga, light novels, and web novels in her previous life. Marin, on the other hand, had extremely fine magic power control thanks to her innate [Transformation Magic]. Then there was Lucy, who had no issue learning how to use [Magic Power Detection]. Rather, she had power increasing her magic power control to make the technique more effective.
In fact, just like Lucy, all the others, minus Gildarts, had the same experience at the beginning. However, they've all been using it for at least three years by now. So, they only focus on the difficulty of increasing their magic power control, no longer thinking about how easy it was to get the basics of the technique down.
And Alfonzo explained exactly that.
"I get what you're saying, Kid." Ur said as she calmed down by a significant margin. "Still, how can you say there are no traitors? All of us had to have the technique explained to us before we could even begin using it at an elementary level."
"That's not exactly true, Ur." Alfonzo said while wagging a finger in front of Ur. "There's one of us who never had to have anyone explain it to them, right?"
Hearing that, not only Ur, but just about everyone looked at Alfonzo in confusion. The only exception, Elicia, pointed a finger at Alfonzo, dispelling the confusion from the others.
"Lici's right, it's me." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Though, I'm pretty sure Lici was on the verge of figuring it out, too."
In response, Elicia smiled sweetly at her husband.
"And if their magic power control is strong enough, they would have no problem improving their usage of the technique, either."
"That still does not explain how they learned it." Erza pointed out.
"I was getting to that." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "And with strong enough control and magic power sensitivity, they would be able to feel the thinly spread out magic power of someone using [Magic Power Detection], provided the user's control isn't better than theirs."
At that moment, everyone's eyes flashed with understanding. A moment later, however, Ur's mouth fell open in shock.
"Does that mean… It's because of… me?" Ur asked in a shaky tone.
Naturally, Ur was referring to the time when she first felt Irene's magic power. Thinking that no one would detect her magic power because of how thinly she had spread it, she never considered that someone could be that sensitive to external magic power.
"Probably." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Not that it's a big deal. I mean, I expected it to get out sooner or later, anyway."
'It probably doesn't help that Irene is a dragon.' Elicia thought to herself while feeling sorry for Ur after seeing her forlorn expression. 'I mean, dragons are basically masters of magic power. So, it's not surprising at all. In fact, despite the fact that Brandish is stronger than Ur, I would bet she didn't even notice it.'
"Anyway, there's nothing to worry about." Alfonzo continued casually. "But if you are still worried, you should start working on your magic power control. That way, nothing like this will happen again."
In fact, Alfonzo was somewhat glad that this happened, and Ur realized that it was her magic power that was most likely detected. Because, he had noticed that Ur had been much laxer in her training ever since she became guild master. And although that was normal, with all the extra responsibilities she now had, that did not mean it was okay. He did not want Ur to lose the drive to improve, after all.
And just as Alfonzo hoped, he saw the flames of determination start blazing in Ur's eyes only a moment after his words fell.
Anyway, I'm tired." Alfonzo said as he stretched his body with a smile stretching across his face. "So, I'll leave it to you to tell Laxus and Freed about this information, Ur."
Hearing that, light flashed in the eyes of all the girls. Then, they all bid Ur and Gildarts goodbye as they filed into the elevator.
A few moments later, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, and Ikaruga left the guild with Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy following them. And to their annoyance, Saeko, Saya, Shizuka, and Rika also followed them back to the mansion, wanting to take a dip in the hot tub and talk to Alfonzo after a month and a half. Now, with the four extras, they could not carry out their plan to have some fun with Alfonzo in the hot tub.
Meanwhile, Irene, having followed Alfonzo and the others until they disappeared behind the barrier covering the mansion wither [Magic Power Detection] finally decided to call it a night.
Around twenty minutes later, Ireen had returned to the hotel suite she was sharing with Brandish. And when she arrived, she found Brandish still lounging on the couch. However, instead of just lying there, Brandish was reading a novel.
"Saint Slippery's Academy for Girls." Irene said curiously while reading the title of Brandish's book out loud. "I don't believe I've ever heard of that book. What is it about?"
So engrossed in her book, Brandish did not notice the sound of the door opening. However, when she heard Irene's voice, she panicked. Then, at a speed rivaling her top speed, she quickly snapped the book shut before shrinking it to the size of a dust mite with her [Command T Magic].
Brandish's magic, [Command T], allows her to manipulate the mass of an object. Whether it be reducing an object's mass, which makes the things she uses her magic on to shrink, or increasing its mass, which causes the object to expand. [Command T] is even effective on the magic of others, allowing Brandish to shrink a spell until it is no longer a threat before catching it and throwing it back at her opponent. Then, restoring it to its original size or even expanding it to make the spell more destructive.
"Irene, you're back." Brandish said, her eyes darting around the room without making eye contact with Ireen as she spoke. "So, did you find out who those new arrivals were? I even noticed another four strong magic power signatures entered the town not too long ago. Were any of them our target?"
While Brandish continued to bombard Irene with questions, Irene only stared at her with a smile. She was curious about the book that Brandish hid, after all. And Brandish knew it, too. However, she also knew that if Irene was determined to get the book there was nothing she could do about it. So, she tried to draw Irene's attention away from the book.
Shaking her head at Brandish's antics, Irene smiled, deciding she would see what kind of book Brandish felt the need to hide, later. Instead, she answered Brandish's previous questions.
"No, I was not able to identify any of the magic power signatures that arrived in the afternoon." Ireene replied as she walked towards the chair she sat in before she left the suite. "But I do believe our target has returned to Magnolia."
"*Sigh* That means we'll have to work, doesn't it." Brandish muttered in an annoyed tone.
"More specifically, you'll have to work, brandish." Irene said with a smile, enjoying the suffering of her companion. "But don't' worry, I'll always be nearby in case you need help."
"Well, considering I didn't feel anyone who had more magic power than me, I don't think I need to worry." Brandish said uncaringly.
"Don't be negligent, Brandish." Irene said, softly reprimanding her comrade. "Remember, that boy beat Serena. So, he's stronger than you."
"Either that or Serena is an idiot." Brandish replied in a proud tone. "Losing to someone with that much less power than himself is pathetic."
"Did you forget?" Irene asked as she poured herself a glass of wine. "That report said that he could raise his magic power in the midst of battle. Unfortunately, Serena was too incompetent to include the specifics in his report. So, we have no idea by how much he will be strengthened if he uses that ability."
'On top of that, we're not sure he's the only one with that strange power, either.' Irene continued in her thoughts as she sipped from her wine glass. 'And if there are more that can do the same, this may be a much more dangerous mission than even His Majesty expected.'
Though she had that thought, Irene decided to keep it to herself. Getting Brandish to take the mission she was assigned seriously was hard enough. However, if she made it known that the mission could be much more difficult, Ireen was unsure if threats and torture would be able to change Brandish's mindset.
"Anyway, you'll start tomorrow." Irene ordered. "Although they are probably wary of us due to our level of power, they have no idea why we're here. So, this shouldn't be too difficult."
"*Sigh* I hope so." Brandish replied as she sank into the couch's backrest. "I really don't wanna work too hard for this."
"Well, I saw that the target was surrounded by beautiful women." Irene said as the smile she had been wearing for the beginning widened. "So, he's probably quite the lover of beauty. So, if you use your feminine wiles, I'm sure you could end this mission quite quickly."
In response, Brandish glared at Irene as her cheeks flushed deeply, causing Irene to chuckle in amusement. And if you add the fact that Brandish had just been reading Slippery Girls, a few, rather explicit, images appeared in her head, causing her blush to deepen more fiercely and Irene's chuckle to turn into full blown laughter.
Unable to stand the embarrassment any further, Brandish stood up from the couch before rushing into her bedroom, the sound of the door slamming behind her signifying that she did not want to talk about it anymore.
Meanwhile, Irene spent the next few moments laughing uproariously. Then, once her laughter calmed, she wiped a tear from her eye as she got her breathing under control.
"Well, that was fun." Irene said as she swirled her wine. "Still, I wonder what that book was about."
Shrugging in response to her own question, Irene took another sip from her wine glass.
"I'll just take the book from her later." Irene said after swallowing her wine. "I'm sure the expression on her face when she sees me reading it one day after she comes back from investigating will be priceless."
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Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
May, x786.
The day after Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, and Ikaruga returned from their visit to Quatro Cerberus, Alfonzo opted to not train with everyone at the guild hall. Although he did not intend to skip training all together, he did intend to increase the intensity of his work out. Meaning, he wanted to increase the gravity he trained under.
Unfortunately, that meant he would need to train alone, as the wizard with the strongest body in the guild, and quite possibly on the continent, no one would be able to handle the gravity when he reached his limit.
So, Elicia, leading Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Sun, and Lucy, headed to the guild hall with their guests from last night, Saeko, Saya, Shizuka, and Rika, to the guild early in the morning. Meanwhile, Ikaruga also stayed at the mansion to clean up after beign away for six weeks.
"I thought he forgot." Rika said while walking with a weapon case in her right hand. "But to think, he made it for me before he even came back from Era. I can't wait to put this pretty little girl through her paces in training this morning."
As previously mentioned, Alfonzo agreed to create a Mechashift weapon for Rika, if she could get to A-Class and complete a few quests, all without causing collateral damage. And Rika, who was intrigued by the thought of a weapon like that, jumped at the opportunity. As a result, she became only the fourth wizard in the guild to have a career without causing excessive damage to her surroundings on quests. The other three being Alfonzo, Elicia, and Levy.
And last night, after reaching the mansion with the others, Alfonzo finally gave her the promised reward. And although she was expecting a sniper rifle that could change into a spear or a scythe or something like that, she liked what she received, nonetheless.
In the case was a pair of pistols. However, these pistols were special in the way that they both had a bayonet attached to their barrels. On top of that, their barrels were a bit longer than normal. To be honest, when Ricka saw the weapons, she was more than a little disappointed. However, when Alfonzo showed her the gimmick behind them, Rika's eyes sparkled like a child who just received the toy of their dreams.
By inserting the blade of one of the bayonets into a slot on the back of the grip of the other pistol, it would activate a mechanism. As a result, the two pistols would be fused into one weapon, a rifle. On top of that, there was an accompanying scope that could be attached, as well. Although Rika was not interested to understand the mechanics of such a weapon, Alfonzo explained that it had something to do with his [Metal Magic] and a whole lot of sigils.
Regardless of how her new weapon/weapons worked, Rika loved them. And to show her appreciation, she wrapped her arms around Alfonzo's neck and kissed him passionately, surprising the other ladies greatly. On top of that, Rika noticed the pouts from both Saya and Shizuka, who were clearly jealous that she kissed Alfonzo.
"Yes, they're great weapons." Saya said with a huff. "But why did you kiss him. I mean, it's clear he's not a better shot than you. So, that means you can't possibly have feelings for him, right?"
"Oh, is little Saya jealous?" Rika asked in a teasing tone. "You must really like him a lot to be so upset."
"What are you talking about? Saya asked with an embarrassed blush on her face. A blush she tried to hide by adjusting her glasses. "I don't like him. I was just curious. I mean, you made it quite clear that you would only be with a man that could shoot better than you, or was I mistaken?"
"No, you're absolutely right." Rika replied with a smile. "Unfortunately, I think I might have set the bar too high."
As she reached that point, Rika flicked the bangs on her left side out of her face before continuing in a tone that suggested she was carrying the weight of the entire world.
"*Sigh* Being such a talented magic gunner can be a curse at times like these." Rika said theatrically. "And that means that unless I lower my standards, I'll end up dying alone. However, instead of lowering my standards, I decided to change the criteria."
Reaching that point, Rika's expression changed again. Now, she was wearing a very cheeky smile.
"So, instead of finding someone that can outshoot me, I decided that a man who can make weapons that complement my brilliance are just as good." Rika said while winking at Saya.
Hearing that, Saya gritted her teeth as she glared at Rika. Although part of her thought Rika was just messing with her and that kiss happened just because her emotions spiked at receiving the perfect weapon for her skill set, the other part thought that Rika was hiding genuine interest behind eh playful demeanor.
Unfortunately, not even Rika was sure at this point. While she enjoyed Alfonzo's company and loved his sense of humor, she has not been able to spend any significant amount of time with him since they left Takanosu. And she understood why that was.
As soon as they got to Magnolia, they had to prepare for the Harvest Festival. After that, Alfonzo made the promise with Rika to make her weapon. So, she spent almost all her time completing quests to gain the reward she was promised. However, before she could finish that, Alfonzo left for Lamia Scale. Then, he left for Quatro Cerberus while she was on a quest with Alzack, Bisca, and Kohta.
"Rika's so lucky…" Shizuka muttered while Rika teased Saya about having a crush on Alfonzo. "I wanna try kissing Fonzie, too. Everyone looks so happy when they do it."
Shizuka's muttering caused Rika to look at her with a wry smile on her face. In fact, Shizuka's interest in Alfonzo is one of the reasons for her own interest. Especially since the two of them have shared just about everything since they were children. And seeing that Alfonzo had a harem, it made the thought of sharing a man with her best friend sound quite appealing.
"But if you do that, Rika, what will you do if you find a better shot than you after getting together with Fonzie?" Marin asked, deciding that adding to the chaos would be fun.
Once again, Rika swept her bangs out of her face, this time from the right side. And once again, she put on that expression as if she were carrying the weight of the world.
"*Sigh* That would just be the other man's bad luck." Rika said in a forlorn tone. "I guess it would be my bad luck, as well. *Sigh* Missing out on something after searching for it for so long would truly be a pity."
While the other girls laughed at Rika's act, Saya continued to grit her teeth and Shizuka continued to daydream about kissing Alfonzo. Meanwhile, Elicia, without even needing her [Magic Power Detection], had located Brandish, who was wearing a black bikini with gold accents, a black overcoat, and black, high heeled sandals.
'Man, these chicks are really bold.' Elicia thought to herself while glancing at Brandish from the corner of her eye. 'They just sit out in the open and watch the guild. What would they do if we found them suspicious?'
["You know, I don't really think they care."] Scylla replied. ["I mean, without releasing my seal, you're weaker than she is. And I doubt they know that you can power up like Fonzie did against the dragon traitor. So, they think they can run wild in our town."]
'*Sigh* You're probably right.' Elicia replied while pulling her gaze away from Brandish. 'Still, even if they aren't up to something… And let's be honest, we all know they are… The whole guild would be on alert because of the way they act.'
["I know."] Scylla replied. ["But you know how arrogant the strong can be. And considering the fact that she's on par with the dragon traitor, it's no wonder she doesn't put anyone in her eyes."]
'Yeah, and with magic like [Command T], she's got pretty good reason to be arrogant, I guess.' Elicia muttered internally. 'I just can't remember if she needs to touch something to manipulate its mass. Because that will make a big difference in the way I deal with her.'
["Right."] Scylla replied with a nod. ["She didn't really show much in the way of hand to hand combat in the canon. I mean, she beat up Lucy that one time. But Lucy wasn't exactly a martial artist. Either way, if she needs to touch you with her hands to use her magic, I think you'll be fine."]
Nodding in agreement with Scylla, Elicia continued to head towards the guild with the others. Meanwhile, Brandish, who had been observing the group of women frowned minutely.
"He's not with them." Brandish muttered while reading a book.
On a side note, the book Brandish was reading was the same one she was reading when Irene returned to the hotel room last night, Saint Slippery's Academy for Girls. And she was almost done with it. So, she also had a copy of Saint Slippery's Academy for girls 2 in the pocket of her overcoat.
However, because she was unwilling to go through the embarrassment from last night a second time, this time the outside of the book was covered with a book cover. And the same was true for the sequel.
"I wonder what that Alfonzo is doing that he did not accompany his wife." Brandish continued to mutter as she turned a page. Then, she glanced at the group of women again. "And why are those two women looking at me like that. They're eyes are sparkling like they found a like-minded individual. But why?"
Naturally, the two women Brandish was talking about were Erza and Marin, who thanks to their instincts knew that Brandish was reading the same kind of book they were into. However, when Brandish glanced at them, she noticed something about Erza.
"That woman looks an awful lot like Irene." Brandish muttered quietly as she returned her attention to the book in her hands. "She's got the same hair and eye colors, and a lot of her facial features are similar, too. Then, there's that explosive figure. Are they related in some way?"
Before she could think about it any further, however, Brandish's head shot up. This time, however, her attention was focused on a different woman. This time, her eyes were locked onto a woman no less voluptuous than herself, perhaps even a little more with blond hair hanging loosely to her shoulders with a side tail on the right side of her head and brown eyes.
"It's her!" Brandish hissed out through gritted teeth. "The daughter of the woman who murdered my mother!"
Immediately, Brandish's magic power began to leak due to her unstable emotions. Naturally, this drew the attention of the group of women, who all looked at her in surprise. What surprised them even more was the level of hatred swirling in her eyes.
"That's one of the two people who entered the town by tampering with Fonzie's barrier, isn't it?" Marin asked, though her question was more of a statement.
"Yeah, but what's wrong with her?" Sun asked in a slightly concerned tone. "She looks really mad."
"Indeed." Erza replied with a nod while also drawing Astraia from the sheath on her hip.
"But why now?" Ultear asked as she put Kinsi on. "Those two have been so peaceful since they got here."
"It looks like she wants revenge for something." Rika said as she opened the case she was carrying and took out the two pistols. Then, she filled each of the magazines with her [Bullet-Make Magic] as she continued. "I've seen that look too many times in my time as a knight. She's definitely out for blood."
Meanwhile, the other ladies prepared for battle, as well. It had already been explained that this woman's magic power was on par with the first seat of the Ten Wizard saints, God Serena, so they knew this would be a tough fight. And more than likely, more than a few of them would end up injured… Or worse.
'Oh, crap.!' Elicia exclaimed internally. 'She saw Lucy. And I'm sure she wants revenge because Grammi died. Unfortunately, if we don't' defeat her, we won't get her to see reason. But Fonzie told us to keep the fact that we can release the first seal on our [soul Armaments] a secret so that we don't give away too much information to the Alvarez Empire. But what should we do? WE can't let her hurt Lucy.'
["Stop panicking."] Scylla said in a harsh tone. ["Fonzie has probably already noticed what's going on here. So, he won't let things get out of hand."]
'That's right.' Elicia replied with an internal nod. 'I didn't think of that.'
["On top of that, we just talked about you being able to beat her without releasing my seal, remember?"] Scylla asked while rolling her eyes. ["I swear, if it's not something Fonzie says, you don't even bother listening."]
'Tee-hee.' Elicia giggled cutely.
["Besides, if they're really up to something, Irene won't let her ruin their plans, either."] Scylla added after rolling her eyes again. ["Oh, and they're both starting to move."]
"Lucy Heartfilia!" Brandish shouted, interrupting the conversation between Elicia and Scylla while simultaneously surprising the other ladies.
"Huh? Me?" Lucy exclaimed in confusion while pointing at herself.
"I'll make you pay for what your mother did to mine!" Brandish said as she flared her magic power to the limit, putting pressure on everything in her surroundings.
"For what Mom did?" Lucy asked, her confusion growing even further. "And who is your mother? And what did my mom due to her?"
"Your mother, Layla Heartfilia killed my mother, and her most loyal servant, Grammi!" Brandish shouted in a tone filled with hatred and sadness. "So, I'll do the same to her daughter!"
"Huh? No, that's impossible." Lucy said while taking a step backwards.
Unfortunately, Brandish had no intension of listening to Lucy, as she had already burst forward. And while Lucy was too surprised to react, the other ladies were ready to fight for their friend/sister/guild mate.
This one's to make up for a chapter I missed a coupe of Sundays ago.
I still have two bonus chapters in the works for reaching 700 Power Stones last week and the week before.
By the way, if we ever get to 1000 Power Stones, there will be a second bonues chapter for that week.
If you wanna read 5 chapters ahead or just give me a little support, join my patr3on at:
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Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the story.
Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always appreciated.