Wendy-chan's "mini-adventure" came to an end, but the daily life of Fairy Tail could never truly be peaceful.
Sunlight streamed through the newly replaced (and strongly requested by Gray) front door, casting cool patterns on the floor, and the air was filled with the aroma of coffee, grilled meat, and a hint of... gunpowder?
"Hey! Gajeel! That arm wrestling match last time doesn't count! That table was too flimsy!" Natsu stomped his foot on the edge of the newly repaired long table, flames dancing on his fists, pointing at Gajeel who was across from him, chewing on an iron railing. "If you've got the guts, let's go again! This time with magic! Let's see who's the strongest Dragon Slayer Mage in the guild!"
"Tch, Fire Lizard, you're all talk." Gajeel spat out the iron filings from his mouth, his dark pupils gleaming with rebellious light. "If that table hadn't collapsed last time, your fiery paw would've been crushed by me! You want to use magic? Fine! It's a good chance to show you the true power of the iron dragon!"
"Huh? What did you say?!" Natsu's hair instantly stood on end, his flames flaring up. "Come on! Let's go to the training ground right now! I'll turn you into iron plate teppanyaki!"
"Aye—! Go, Natsu!" Happy cheered from the side.
"Hmph, who's afraid of who!" Gajeel stood up, a metallic sheen emanating from his body.
Just as a "Dragon Slayer civil war" was about to erupt, Erza's voice poured down like ice water: "Natsu! Gajeel! The training ground is for you to practice magic, not a second battlefield for you to demolish the guild! You want to fight? Fine! Go to the uninhabited area outside the city! If you damage even a blade of grass, the repair costs will be deducted tenfold from your mission rewards!"
"Ten... tenfold?!" Natsu and Gajeel simultaneously gasped, their flames and metallic sheen instantly receding by more than half.
"Tch... boring." Gajeel grudgingly sat back down, continuing to gnaw on the railing.
"Erza is so stingy..." Natsu grumbled softly, shrinking his neck when Erza shot him a glare.
"The strongest Dragon Slayer Mage?" Gray appeared beside them at some point, tossing an ice crystal in his hand, a mocking smirk playing on his lips. "You two who can't even wear your clothes properly, have the nerve to argue about this?"
"What did you say?! Droopy Eyes!" Natsu immediately turned his aggression towards him.
"Exhibitionist! Want to fight?" Gajeel also stood up.
"Hmph, just you two?" Gray exuded a chilling aura, ice crystals solidifying into sharp spikes at his fingertips. "Want to see if my 'Ice Geyser' can freeze your fire and iron?"
"Come on!" Natsu and Gajeel said in unison.
As the battle escalated from two to three, Master Makarov felt his blood pressure surging again.
"Enough!" Cana's voice, tinged with a hint of laziness and undeniable authority, rang out. She held a glass of red wine, leaning against the bar, a golden fairy card deftly flipping between her fingers. "Arguing back and forth is so boring. How about... something more practical?"
"Practical?" The three of them looked at her simultaneously.
A cunning smile played on Cana's lips, like a fox that had spotted its prey: "For the next mission, whoever contributes the most will temporarily be the'Strongest in the Guild'! The loser... buys the winner drinks for a month! How about it? Do you dare to bet?"
"Bet it is!" Natsu was the first to jump up. "I'm definitely winning!"
"Hmph, a month's worth of drinks, that's nothing." Gajeel said with disdain.
"Boring." Gray said, but his eyes sharpened. "However... winning against you two is more than enough."
"Alright! It's settled then!" Cana clapped her hands, slamming a golden fairy card onto the bar. "Contract established! Whoever goes back on their word is a puppy!"
"Aye—! Happy, the witness!" Happy raised his little paw.
"Hmph, childish." Carla grumbled from the side, but Wendy-chan's eyes sparkled, seemingly finding it very amusing.
The "Strongest Mage" dispute temporarily subsided, but the competitive atmosphere in the guild quietly intensified.
Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel looked at each other with sparks in their eyes, even fighting over the last piece of meat during meals, as if it were a symbol of "strength."
Juvia's "Lord Gray Support Campaign" did not cease because her posters were torn down; instead, it entered a "subterranean" and "refined" phase.
She no longer put up posters, but instead began to create... support props?
For example... badges with Lord Gray's chibi head (clothed version) secretly pinned to the collars of guild members (excluding Lord Gray himself).
Ice-blue support handkerchiefs, embroidered with the words "Long Live Lord Gray!", quietly slipped into Lord Gray's locker.
She even... attempted to engrave "Lord Gray's Work" in tiny water droplets on the base of Lord Gray's ice sculptures (which Lord Gray covered with ice).
"Juvia... if you do this... Lord Gray will be even more troubled." Lucy couldn't help but remind her.
"Miss Lucy!" Juvia said with a sacred expression, "To love someone is to silently support him! To give him everything! Juvia asks for nothing in return! Only that Lord Gray can feel one ten-thousandth of Juvia's true heart!"
Lucy: "..." (Too exhausted to complain).
Gray: "..." (The range of his chilling aura expanded again).
...Levy had been very troubled recently.
She was currently writing a paper on the "compatibility of ancient magic runes with modern magical device energy circuits," preparing to submit it to a magical academic journal.
But she was stuck on a crucial data model, staying up late for several days, her dark circles almost rivaling a panda's.
"Ahhh! Why can't I calculate it!" Levy frustratingly messed up her pink hair, wailing at the small mountain of magic books and calculation papers on her desk.
"Levy-nee, what's wrong?" Wendy-chan leaned over, asking with concern.
"This energy transmission efficiency decay function... it just doesn't match the experimental data..." Levy pointed to the dense formulas on the paper, looking utterly defeated.
"Hmm..." Wendy-chan tilted her head, looking at the complex symbols. "Levy-nee, I remember that'Soothing Resonance' magic circle you showed me last time, there seemed to be a rune combination in it that could stabilize energy fluctuations? Could it be..."
Before Wendy-chan could finish her sentence, Levy's eyes suddenly lit up!
"Yes! Stabilize fluctuations! Why didn't I think of that!" She grabbed Wendy-chan's hand. "Wendy-chan! You're my lucky star! A variant of that rune array might solve the energy decay problem!"
Levy immediately buried her head back into recalculations, her pen tip moving swiftly across the paper, her face radiating renewed brilliance.
Wendy-chan smiled happily, watching Levy's focused expression.
She was also very Happy to be able to help Levy-nee.
Inspired by Levy's research, Wendy-chan also began to explore new insights gained from her "rejuvenation" experience.
She found that her control over "sky" seemed to become even more delicate.
Previously, the Healing Wind, which could only be released over a large area, could now be condensed into extremely fine "healing threads" to precisely repair subtle damage.
"Wendy-chan! Help me look!" Laki held out her finger, which had an almost invisible small splinter.
Wendy-chan extended her small hand, and a nearly transparent, pale green thread condensed at her fingertip, gently brushing over Laki's fingertip.
The splinter instantly disappeared, and the skin was as smooth as before.
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