Magnolia · Fairy Tail Guild
The morning sunlight, like shattered gold, scattered across the streets of Magnolia, gently waking the sleeping Fairy Tail Guild.
The remnants of last night's wild feast had not yet completely faded—empty wine bottles stacked in corners, fragments of streamers clinging to the ceiling, the lingering, faintly discernible scent of roasted meat and ale mixed in the air—but a new, vibrant clamor was already impatiently taking over.
"Bang!"
With a loud crash and a shower of wood splinters, the guild doors were burst open by brute force.
"Yoo-hoo—! A new day has begun! Let's burn!" Natsu charged in like a human cannonball, his hair standing on end as if equipped with flame effects, with a similarly excited Happy perched on his shoulder.
"Aye—! Natsu, where are we adventuring today?" Happy waved his tiny paws.
"Adventure? Of course, we're adventuring! But before that..." Natsu's nose twitched like a puppy's, his gaze accurately locking onto the area behind the bar, "Mira! Breakfast! A super-sized portion of roasted meat! Freshly roasted!"
Mira wore her signature gentle smile, as if she wasn't the one who had secretly plied Cana with drinks at the height of last night's party.
Yuumi lay on Mira's shoulder, the small blue cat lazily squinting and yawning, "Brother Happy, Brother Natsu, good morning, meow~"
Mira moved briskly, skillfully placing a large plate of sizzling, fragrant roasted meat on the bar: "Natsu, Happy, good morning. Today's special is 'Manly Man's Secret Roasted Meat,' Elfman woke up early to prepare it."
"Manly Man! Roasted meat must be full of power!" Elfman flexed his biceps nearby, his voice booming.
Natsu and Happy cheered, pouncing on the roasted meat platter like hungry tigers.
"Hey! Natsu! Leave some for me!" Gajeel's figure appeared at the doorway, chewing on a piece of metal signboard he'd broken off from somewhere, making a "crunch, crunch" sound.
Levy followed behind him, sighing helplessly: "Gajeel, that's the new signboard for the bakery next door..."
"Tch, the taste is mediocre." Gajeel spat out the metal bits from his mouth and swaggered towards the bar, his target also that plate of roasted meat.
"Gajeel! That's mine!" Natsu immediately went into food-guarding mode, his mouth full of meat, roaring indistinctly.
"Whoever gets it, gets it!" Gajeel was not to be outdone, and the two instantly engaged in a silent wrestling match in front of the bar, their eyes clashing, sparks flying.
"Sigh..." Levy pushed up her glasses, resignedly sitting to one side, opening her thick, colorful magic book, trying to find a moment of peace amidst the noise to conceive her new story.
"Lucy! Lucy! Look!" Lucy had just walked into the guild when an excited Wendy grabbed her hand. Wendy's small face was flushed, and she pointed to a crystal-clear ice sculpture forming in the center of the guild hall, "Lord Gray is so amazing! He's making an ice sculpture!"
Lord Gray was bare-chested, his hands emitting cold air, meticulously carving a large block of ice.
The ice block gradually took shape in his hands—it seemed to be an ice bird with wings spread, ready to fly, its lines fluid and lifelike.
"Hmph, a restless fellow." A haughty voice rang out.
Carla stood beside Wendy, arms crossed, "I'd rather have a piece of cake than an ice sculpture."
"Carla..." Wendy tugged on her wing.
Lord Gray seemed not to hear, or rather, simply didn't care.
He was fully focused, ice shavings dancing at his fingertips.
However, just as the ice bird was about to be completed, and Lord Gray was preparing to carve the last tail feather—
"Lord Gray! You are truly wonderful! Even your sweat shines!" Juvia appeared behind Lord Gray like a ghost, her hands clasped to her chest, countless pink bubbles sparkling in her eyes, her cheeks flushed, and pink, heart-shaped steam even began uncontrollably emanating from around her.
"Woah!" Lord Gray was startled by this sudden "passionate confession" and the close-range steam, his hand twitched!
Crack!
An ice shard shot out uncontrollably, accurately hitting the weakest joint of the ice bird's wing!
Crash—!
The newly formed, exquisite ice bird instantly shattered, turning into a pile of sparkling ice fragments on the floor.
Lord Gray: "..."
Juvia: "Ah! Lord Gray! I'm sorry! It's all Juvia's fault! Juvia was too excited! Juvia will help you fix it right away!"
She frantically tried to use water magic to condense ice, but the water ball went out of control, splashing Lord Gray's head and face with a "plop."
Lord Gray was soaked, water dripping from his hair, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. Cold air erupted uncontrollably, instantly freezing the water on his body into ice shards, making him look like a walking ice sculpture.
"Pfft..." Lucy couldn't help but laugh out loud, quickly covering her mouth.
Wendy also covered her mouth, giggling.
Carla rolled her eyes: "Hmph, foolish humans."
"Juvia... you..." Lord Gray gritted his teeth, his voice squeezed out from between them.
"So... so sorry! Lord Gray! Juvia will go get you a towel right away!" Juvia's face turned pale with fright, and she turned to run.
"Stop!" Lord Gray snapped, the cold air intensifying, "First, clean up... this mess!"
"Yes! Yes! Lord Gray!" Juvia immediately transformed into a diligent little bee, carefully using her water magic to rinse away the ice fragments on the floor, though the water stream would occasionally go out of control due to her nervousness, splashing everywhere.
Lucy watched this chaotic scene, shaking her head helplessly, and pulled Wendy towards the bar: "Sister Mira, a glass of milk for me, and a glass of juice for Wendy, please."
"Of course, Lucy, Wendy." Mira smiled as she handed them the drinks.
In a corner of the guild, Cana sat at a table, a spread of golden fairy cards before her.
Her brows were slightly furrowed, her fingers unconsciously tapping the table, as if pondering some difficult problem.
"What's wrong, Cana?" Ezreal strolled over, holding a cup of hot tea, and sat down opposite her.
He looked much better, though there was still a hint of imperceptible fatigue in his eyes, but he exuded a lazy and peaceful aura.
"Tsk," Cana clicked her tongue, irritably running her fingers through her hair, "My newly designed 'Fate Reversal' card, the effect is always unstable. Either the stability is too low, or the effect is too strong and easily gets out of control... Ezreal, you're full of strange ideas, any suggestions?"
Ezreal picked up his teacup, blew on the hot liquid, and his golden eyes swept over Cana's card spread: "Hmm... it seems your 'reversal' core lies in balance and opportunity. Perhaps... you could add a 'cost' card? Like'Sacrifice,' sacrificing a card or a portion of magic power to forcefully stabilize and trigger the reversal effect? Or add a 'Neutralization Type' card to randomly determine the magnitude of the reversal? High risk, high reward, you know."
"Sacrifice... Neutralization..." Cana's eyes lit up, her fingers quickly tracing patterns on the cards, "That's interesting! Ezreal, how does your brain work? You always come up with these crooked ideas!"
"It's called creativity." Ezreal slowly sipped his tea, correcting her.
"Yes, yes, great creative genius." Cana rolled her eyes at him, but a smile played on her lips, clearly her thoughts had been opened.
She immediately immersed herself in the card analysis, no longer paying attention to Ezreal.
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