"Wow! It's really better! I don't feel anything at all! Wendy-chan is amazing!" Laki exclaimed in surprise.
"I'll call this spell...'Sky's Embrace'!" Wendy-chan happily named her newly developed little magic.
"Hmph, at least she's made some progress." Carla's words were sharp, but her eyes were full of pride... A few days later, a suitable request appeared.
Recently, miners had been frequently disappearing from the mine outside the city. The mine owner suspected a magical beast lurking deep underground was responsible and offered a hefty reward for its subjugation.
"This is it!" Cana pointed to the request, "Deep underground, complex environment, testing strength, judgment, and teamwork! Whoever contributes the most to this mission will be the temporary'Strongest in the Guild'! Losers, don't forget the drink money!"
"No problem!" Natsu rubbed his fists together.
"Hmph, underground is my home turf!" Gajeel's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam.
"Just don't drag us down." Gray said coldly.
The tension between the three once again filled the air.
Lucy, Wendy-chan, Juvia (for Gray), Happy, and Carla also decided to go along. Cana, as the "bookie" and witness, naturally had to go as well. Levy wanted to take the opportunity to collect data on the underground magical beast.
Max and Ezreal expressed disinterest in the "strongest" competition and stayed at the Guild... Deep in the mine, it was damp, dark, and the air was filled with the smell of earth and rust.
"Fire Dragons Roar!" Natsu charged ahead, his scorching flame breath illuminating the deep tunnel, dispelling the darkness and dampness.
"iron dragon's—Roar!" Gajeel was not to be outdone, a storm of sharp iron shards swept through, clearing away the rubble obstacle ahead.
"Ice Make—Ice Geyser!" Gray precisely created ice pillars behind the team, sealing the path they came from to prevent being flanked.
The three each displayed their unique abilities, with astonishing efficiency, but anyone with a keen eye could see they were secretly competing, each wanting to be the first to find the target.
"Natsu-bro! Gray-bro! Gajeel-bro! Slow down! Wait for us!" Wendy-chan called out from behind.
"Aye—! Wait for Happy!"
"Lord Gray! Watch your step!" Juvia constantly kept an eye on Gray.
"Hmph, a bunch of brutes." Carla followed beside Wendy-chan.
"Levy-sis, how's the data recording going?" Lucy asked.
"Hmm! The rock structure and energy fluctuations here are very special!" Levy held a magic recorder, excitedly documenting everything.
Cana leisurely followed behind, a look of enjoying the show on her face: "Tsk tsk, full of motivation, aren't they?"
Soon, in a huge cavern deep within the mine, they found their target—a massive magical beast, shaped like a pangolin, but covered in dark purple crystal scales, emitting a foul odor!
It seemed to feed on some kind of energy from the ore, and the miners were probably caught in collapses when it dug tunnels.
"Found it! It's mine!" Natsu roared and charged forward first!
"Don't even think about it!" Gajeel followed closely!
Gray, meanwhile, calmly observed the magical beast's movements, looking for weaknesses.
The battle erupted instantly!
Natsu's flame-engulfed fists slammed against the crystal scales, making dull thudding sounds, sparks flying, but the scales were exceptionally hard, leaving only shallow scorch marks.
Gajeel's Iron Dragon Rod struck it, also producing a clang of metal, but the scales remained unmoving.
"Such a hard shell!" Natsu shook his numb hand.
"Hmph, watch this!" Gajeel opened his mouth, "iron dragon's—Crushing Fist!"
A highly compressed iron fist shockwave slammed hard into the relatively softer scale joints on the magical beast's belly!
The magical beast let out a pained roar, its body swaying!
"Ice Make—Great Hammer!" Gray seized the opportunity, and a huge ice hammer descended from above, smashing heavily onto the magical beast's head!
Bang!
The magical beast was dazed from the blow!
"Good job! Gray!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.
"Hmph!" Gray's lips curled slightly.
"It's not over yet!" Natsu, not to be outdone, jumped onto the magical beast's back, "Fire Dragon's—Sword Horn!"
His flame-engulfed headbutt slammed hard into the magical beast's spinal joint!
Crack!
A crisp sound!
The magical beast's spine seemed to have been broken! It let out a desperate wail, its massive body crashing to the ground, twitching a few times, then becoming still.
"We won!" Natsu stood on the magical beast's corpse, proudly announcing, "I delivered the final blow!"
"Bullshit! I was the first to injure its vital point!" Gajeel retorted.
"Without my ice hammer control, could you have hit it?" Gray said coldly.
The three started arguing again.
"Alright, alright!" Cana walked forward, examining the magical beast's corpse, "Natsu delivered the final blow, but Gajeel broke through its defense, and Gray provided crucial control... Hmm, all of your contributions are outstanding."
"Then who won?" The three asked in unison.
Cana stroked her chin, a sly smile on her face: "Well... how about a draw?"
"A draw?!" The three were dumbfounded.
"That's right!" Cana said self-righteously, "Since no winner can be decided, the bet is void! However..."
She changed her tone, pointing to the glittering dark purple crystal scales on the magical beast's corpse, "These scales look quite valuable. The money from selling them... will be your collective'spoils of war,' and you'll treat everyone in the Guild to drinks! How about it?"
Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel exchanged glances.
"Tch, you guys got off easy." Gajeel snorted.
"Drinks are drinks!" Natsu was indifferent.
"...Fine." Gray also tacitly agreed.
"Yay—!!" Lucy and Wendy-chan cheered.
"Aye—! Drinks!"
"Lord Gray! Juvia will drink for you!" Juvia immediately declared.
Gray: "That's not necessary..."
Back at the Guild, the money from selling the crystal scales was indeed a lot.
That night, Fairy Tail once again plunged into revelry.
"Cheers! To the'Strongest' Trio!" Cana raised her glass high, a brilliant smile on her face.
"Cheers!" Everyone echoed in unison.
Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel, though a bit awkward, were still infected by the atmosphere and clinked their glasses together.
"Hmph, we'll compete again next time!" Natsu said to Gajeel.
"Anytime!" Gajeel took a big gulp of his drink.
Gray didn't speak, just quietly took a sip, but the sharpness in his eyes seemed to soften a little.
Lucy and Wendy-chan chatted happily, Levy excitedly told Max and Ezreal about her new novel inspiration, while Juvia happily sat next to Gray (though separated by a seat), sipping juice.
Master Makarov looked at the lively scene, watching the old and new members enjoying themselves, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.
He raised his glass and took a sip.
The moonlight outside the window gently fell, and the Fairy Tail flag fluttered softly in the night breeze.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"