Cooper POV
Snapping my eyes open, I stared at the cavern-like ceiling, years' worth of memories flashing through my mind as I grabbed my head, groaning slightly as I slowly rose to my feet. "Ugh, my head hurts. The hell kind of magic was that?" As the years' worth of foreign memories settled in my mind, reality came back to me as I looked around; I remembered where I was, what I was doing, and what had transpired.
Just as I regained my bearings from that wacky experience, I heard groans, prompting me to glance at Ultear, who was wincing, holding her head as she stood up. "My head. It's pounding." As I looked at Ultear, the child, whose memory I'd experienced, overlapped with her face, causing me to sigh as I rubbed my head.
'Tsk, can't believe I only now realized it… If I experienced her memories, does that mean she saw mine?' The thought annoyed me quite a bit; I didn't consider my memories much of a secret, but still, they were my memories.
Grumbling to myself, I glanced at Ultear, who was quietly staring at me with a complicated expression, pity flashing across her eyes, causing me to snort. "I-I don't know what to say, Cooper. T-To think, you'd experienced that." Her voice wasn't like its usual self; the manipulative, condescending tone was long-gone. Instead, it was the soft voice of a vulnerable woman laid bare.
"I-I'm sorry you had to go through that; I-I thought I had a terrible childhood, but to experience that. I-I don't know how you managed to overcome that." Glancing at me, Ultear hesitantly stepped toward me, trying to give me some level of comfort, though I just growled and lashed my arm out, clutching her mouth and lifting her off the ground.
"If you expected me to give you some comforting words, you're sorely mistaken, Ultear; I couldn't care less about your past. Do you think just because your past was shit, it changes the present? News flash, it doesn't." Snorting, I walked to the wall, slamming her violently into it, causing her to go limp as she fell unconscious.
Retracting my arm, I dusted my hands off, giving Ultear a final look before walking away, just in time for Lucy and Cana to enter, pushing open the stone double doors. "W-We sensed a large eruption of magic power a while ago." "E-Everything okay?" Bruised and injured yet still ready to fight, Cana and Lucy glanced at me and the cavern, causing me to nod.
"Yeah, everything's fine. How long has it been since then?" Lucy gave me a weird look before responding. "The eruption of magic power? Um, ten, maybe fifteen minutes." Nodding, I approached the two. "What about her, big bro?" As Cana pointed at Ultear stuck in the wall, I shook my head and turned back around. "Just leave her." "Alright."
Walking down the hallway, we arrived at the first cavern, which had clearly seen some action, given the cracks, dents, and scorch marks; walking across the various corpses, I glanced at the two responsible. "Good job, you two." The two appreciated my compliment as they puffed their chests out a bit, proud of their accomplishment.
"They weren't too strong, big bro, really, they just had numbers." "Heh, you might've been right big bro, they probably should've brought twice the amount." Listening to Cana and Lucy, I chuckled, smirking. "Heh, that's what I'm talking about, you two. Have some confidence in yourselves; I know my strength humbles you two often, but you two have grown a lot. Especially you, Lucy, you're a talented mage, you just need to stop being hesitant, have some balls."
Walking backward, I flashed the two of them proud smiles, greatly satisfied with their growth and strength, which made Cana smile while Lucy blushed, a bit embarrassed by my compliment. "Hehe, y-you're making me blush, big bro."
Chuckling softly, we arrived at the beginning of the underground tunnel, prompting me to wrap an arm around both Cana and Lucy's waist before leaping up, jumping from wall to wall before emerging from the chute, landing atop the rubble.
"Ahh, fresh air–" Just as Cana yawned, taking in a deep breath, I yanked her and Lucy back, flinging them several feet behind me. "Hey, big bro what was that fo–" Her words came to a halt as I released my magic power just as the person before me did the same.
Staring the man down, our magic power violently collided, sending the rubble of the guild flying, clearing the entire hill as we fought purely through magic power. The man's magic power was enormous; he could just barely edge out the slightest advantage against me, causing a smirk to make its way onto his face.
"Fall." Instantly, a massive amount of force slammed onto me, crushing the hill under me as the gravity multiplied. Resisting the attack, I used indestructible magic, reinforcing my body as I firmly stood my ground, though the same couldn't be said for Lucy and Cana.
I'd thrown them away, but the increased gravity's range covered the entire hill. They were practically smashed to the ground, unable to move, prompting me to click my tongue as I narrowed my eyes.
Retracting my magic power, I calmly walked through the increased gravity, approaching the tall, muscular man with long, dark hair tied into a clothed ponytail, and he wore a white cloak. "Oi, fucker. You want to fight?" Stopping just a foot away from him, I stared into his eyes, flooding my body with magic power, causing his grin to grow, only for him to retract the immense force.
"You're a strong mage, Cooper… Unfortunately, I'm not here for you; Master would be upset if I wasted any more time." He walked past me, giving me a side look before leaping down the chute, causing me to dispel my magic, spitting some blood onto the ground.
"Cana, Lucy!" Quickly, I dashed back, helping the two up and checking for injuries; thankfully, they were okay, just shaken. "C'mon, let's get out of here." Picking the two up, I ran away, dashing through the streets of Gazania before leaping over the town's walls.
"W-Who was that, big bro?" Glancing at Lucy, whose face was a little pale, I shook my head. "I don't know. He was strong, though." "You're not usually this urgent… Was he too strong for even you?" At Cana's question, I sighed and shook my head. "I don't know, he's strong; I'm mainly concerned for you two, I have no confidence fighting him with you two nearby."
That man, whoever he was, probably Ultear's guild-mate, was monstrous; only Gildarts could confidently face him. "So, does that mean, you've ran away from a fight? First with the Wyvern, and now this is the second time." Glancing at Cana's cheeky smile, I softly growled.
"We didn't start fighting; we were just measuring each other." "Sure, sure, whatever you say, big bro." "Tch, just shut up and rest, you annoying brat." "Hehe." Sighing softly as the two of them chuckled, I let them be, continuing my sprint back to Magnolia.
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Next Day
Entering the guild around morning, I sat down, plopping in the corner, intending to sleep from last night's stuff. "I'm guessing that man you spoke of wasn't there?" Opening an eye, glancing at Gildarts, I nodded, clicking my tongue.
"Yeah. Tsk, bastard; how can he just provoke me like that and then leave!" "Haha, you left first, though." "Tch, that was to get Lucy and Cana to safety; I came right back." While Gildarts laughed it off and walked away, I grunted and plopped back down, using the table as a blanket.
After dropping Lucy and Cana at Porlyusica's, I did a U-turn and headed back to Gazania. I'd only left in fear for Lucy and Cana's safety, but when I returned, he was nowhere to be found, and the same was true for Ultear. It was annoying because it was very rare to come across someone so strong I didn't know if I'd come out alive, it had my heart pumping. 'Tsk, I'm definitely attacking Grimoire Heart soon.'
"Big bro!" "C'mon, let's play big bro!" Unfortunately, my nap was interrupted by Sting and Minerva, the former jumping atop me, causing me to groan as the latter grabbed my hand, practically dragging me away. "I just want to sleep."
With sleeping no longer possible, I spent hours playing around with Sting, Rouge, Orga, Dobengal, Romeo, Wendy, Yukino, and even Rufus.
It was the afternoon, the guild was at its all-time chaotic peak with everyone present; Wendy, Minerva, and Yukino were messing around with my hair, playing around with it, and braiding it into whatever they could imagine when Gramps cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention.
Raising our heads, we glanced at Gramps, who was standing on the railing of the second story. "Everyone, it's once again that time of year!" Instantly, people's eyes flashed with desire and enthusiasm: Gray, Natsu, Elfman, Cana, Evergreen, Bisckslow, and Fried.
"Haha, yes!" "Erza! Hurry, pick some quests, Natsu and I need to qualify!" "Yeah, hurry it up, Erza!" "I've done so many quests with big bro; if I don't qualify, it's rigged!" "Heh, it's about freaking time. Without Laxus, one of us needs to finally step up."
As they shouted in joy and urgency, the three girls briefly paused and glanced at me. "Um, what's happening, Big bro? What's Master talking about?" Leaning back, I glanced up at Minerva while the others curiously stared back.
"Gramps, he's talking about the test." "Test? What test?" I flashed a smirk at Yukino. "The S-class test."