Chapter 12: S-class examination (III)
Natsu wandered quite deep inside the forest. On the way, he met many B-rank and A-rank monsters.
"This is the 7th monster. At this rate, I'm going to finish the requirement in a week. I need to find the place where I'm feeling this strange feeling from." said Natsu in a half-hearted smile. This test was too easy for him. He just going deeper into the forest, the strange feeling kept getting stronger the deeper he went.
After a while, he spotted a cave entrance. A Vulcan was guarding the entrance. It wasn't just some regular Vulcan but an S-class Vulcan called Vulcan King. The Vulcan was eating the meat of a monster.
'I need to defeat this Vulcan King to enter the cave. I don't know what is inside the cave but I can't ignore this strange feeling.' thought Natsu as he quickly made a plan to deal with the Vulcan.
Natsu quickly appeared in front of the Vulcan and taunted it.
"Hey hairy monkey! Aren't you ashamed of eating with the same hand you use to scratch your butt," shouted Natsu trying to mock him. The Vulcan quickly became enraged hearing a puny human mocking it and most of all it being a male.
"I LOVE WOMAN. I HATE MAN." shouted the Vulcan as he appeared in front of Natsu trying to punch the puny human.
Natsu just dodged the punch and countered it with his punch. The Vulcan was sent flying with that punch. It quickly got back and cautiously looked at Natsu.
"What's wrong? Are you so weak that a punch is all it takes to take you down?" mocked Natsu. The Vulcan quickly became enraged and toss aside any cautiousness he had before. He became a berserk ape trying to kill the puny human in front of him.
Natsu traded blows with the Vulcan for a while. After fighting for a while, he felt quite satisfied.
"I haven't had a chance to use my magic for a while now. Let's see how you fare against it. FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR" said Natsu as he quickly inhaled a large amount of fire and breathe it out in form of a massive fireball heading straight at the Vulcan.
The Vulcan screamed in pain as the fireball hit him straight in the chest. It quickly fainted after the attack.
"Hmm... that was a good warm-up. Now, let's head inside this cave. I'm quite curious what's inside the cave." muttered Natsu as he headed for the entrance of the cave.
When Natsu entered the cave, he was greeted with the sight of crystals embedded in the walls shining brightening the cave. When he was heading inside the cave, he heard a powerful voice.
"HOLD UP! HOW DARE YOU INTRUDE THIS DRAGON'S CAVE. Wait a minute, I smell a familiar scent from you. Who are you intruder?" said the voice.
"I'm Natsu Dragneel, the son of the Fire Dragon King Igneel. If you don't mind me asking can you introduce yourself?" asked Natsu in a polite tone. He knows dragons are a bunch of prideful creatures, so they will never answer you anything if you piss them off.
"So you're the son of Igneel. Hmm... you look quite strong for your age. I'm Tersurin, the Dragon King of Darkness." replied Tesurin in a prideful tone.
"Okay. So, what are you doing here?" asked Natsu curiously. He knows that Acnologia has wiped out most of the dragons. It's strange to see a living dragon here.
"I've been trying to recuperate from my injuries but it's been over 300 years but my condition hasn't improved at all. I'm just waiting to die here now," said Tesurin with a sigh.
"How did you get such a serious injury in the first place?" asked Natsu curiously. He could probably guess it is from Acnologia.
"You don't need to know that. So what are you doing here?" said Tesurin ignoring the question.
"I'm here for a wizard test. I need to survive in this forest for 30 days to qualify as an S-class wizard. I was just feeling a strangely familiar feeling coming from the cave so I came here to check it out." replied Natsu.
"What do you mean by strange feeling?" asked Tesurin curiously.
'It can't be... Let me check it out first.' thought Tesurin.
"Wait for a second human, are you feeling attraction toward this box?" asked Tesurin bring a neat wooden box. The moment the box entered Natsu's sight, the strange feeling kept getting stronger urging him to open it.
"Yes. It's getting stronger now. It's urging me to open the box. I don't know what's wrong with me." replied Natsu in confusion.
'I can't believe I found my successor at the end of my life. I can finally leave my legacy behind.' thought Tesurin.
"It's your lucky day human. You have an affinity with darkness. So, you can learn my dark magic." said Tesurin happily.
"Can I learn your magic? You know I'm already a Fire Dragon Slayer, won't there be any problem?" asked Natsu in worry.
"Don't worry about it. I'll implant my lacrima inside you and leave a piece of my soul of help you adjust to it," said Tesurin trying to ease Natsu's worry. Hearing this response dumbfounded Natsu.
"Won't dividing your soul weaken you further? It will probably kill you," asked Natsu in worry. He wants to get stronger but not desperate enough for it.
"I'll probably die within a year. My injuries have become serious. So, it is just a matter of time before I die. So, you don't have to worry. I can happily die after leaving my inheritance. So can you fulfill this dying dragon's last wish?" told Tesurin in a serious tone then asking him.
"Sure. If you're okay with it then why not. So, after fusing with it will I be a fire dragon slayer or darkness dragon slayer?" asked Natsu curiously.
"At the core, you will still be the fire dragon slayer but you can use darkness as well. So, it will be a fusion between your fire and darkness magic," replied Tesurin.
"So you mean Dark Flame? That sounds cool," said Natsu in excitement.
"I don't know about that. But you'll have the property of darkness in your flames like corruption. Anyone hit by the dark flame won't be able to heal the injury without special measure." said Tesurin proudly.
"That's awesome. What are you waiting for then, quickly implant it inside me," said Natsu as he laid down on the ground. Tesurin rolled its eyes at Natsu's antics but didn't choose to comment on it.
Tesurin brought a pitch-black lacrima and put it inside Natsu's back. The moment it entered inside his body, Natsu felt pain all over his body. It was even worse than last time.
"AHHHH!!!" screamed Natsu as pitch-black lines started appearing from his body forming some demonic symbol. Insane amount of darkness started spreading from Natsu's body.
'He has some sort of sealed power inside him that's preventing the fusion. I need to save him or else he will die. I can't have my inheritor dying now.' thought Tesurin as he quickly performed some strange draconic spell to divide his soul and enter it inside Natsu's body.
It eased Natsu's pain but wasn't enough to save him. So, tesurin quickly used most of his soul to help Natsu. Natsu calmed down after than and the demonic marking also disappeared from his body. He fainted after that.
'I can't believe I had to use most of my soul to help him. Now I don't even have an hour to live before dying.' sighed Tesurin. He quickly wrote some messages for Natsu in a paper and placed it beside him.
He quickly went to his resting place and brought a pitch-black ring and place it on top of the letter.
"Farewell Natsu. Thank you for granting my final wish," said Tesurin collapsing in the resting place.
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