Chapter 16: Timeskip & Emergency Quest

Chapter 16: Timeskip & Emergency Quest

Timeskip:

After the event in the guild, Erza started distancing herself from Natsu. She still treats him like her good friend but she won't let it progress into a more intimate relationship.

Natsu tried talking to her about it, she immediately dismissed him saying it wasn't anything important.

Mira and Natsu have gotten a lot closer since then but they haven't been able to progress their relationship due to his strained relationship with Erza. As much as Mira hates to admit it, she still treats Erza as her good friend, so she won't hesitate to help her in need. She also wanted to talk to her about Natsu but Erza has casually dismissed her.

Since then, Erza started soloing her quests. Natsu was worried about her safety, so he asked to join her but she just denied him saying it was best for her to gain more experience completing missions alone.

Since then, all three of them started doing their separate quests. Mira prefers to do her mission with her siblings, Erza likes to go solo while Natsu has no other choice but to solo his quest as well.

After that time passed by. Nothing noteworthy happened. Natsu still trains every day diligently. He tried to control his dark emotions but still hasn't made much progress on it. His instant mastery allows him to master any skills but he doesn't have any skill to control his emotion, so he always has to be careful not to lose control.

Natsu also met Gildarts during this time. Gildarts was even stronger than mentioned in the anime. He hasn't met Acnologia yet, so he is a lot stronger than his anime counterpart. Natsu was excited to meet Gildarts so he immediately asked for a spar with him.

Their match was very intense. Gildarts was a lot stronger than his anime counterpart, so Natsu had a hard time fighting him. Even though both of them had the same magic capacity, Gildarts beat him easily due to his vast battle experience. Natsu has little to no experience fighting against humans so easily lost the match. He can quickly end the match with his Amaterasu flames but he doesn't want to kill Gildarts. After that match, Natsu made up his mind to fight against more human mages to gain more experience fighting a humanoid opponent.

Natsu also trained daily in his physical as well as magical aspects. He is still not able to properly control his black flames. Whenever he tries to master his flame, it backfires. It's like the flame is still incomplete and needs something to be complete. Till then, he won't be able to control the flames as he wants. The black flame is like a mindless beast whose only purpose is to devour and destroy.

Today, everything was rowdy as usual in the guild when suddenly Makarov made an announcement.

"LISTEN UP BRATS! We have an emergency S-class quest to help defeat a magical beast that's terrorizing the nearby town. The beast is an S-class monster so this quest is only for S-class mage, so quickly decide who wants to take this quest. Erza and Laxus are both out doing their separate mission so it's up to Natsu and Mira to take this quest." shouted Makarov in a serious tone. Everyone quieted down hearing this and started murmuring among themselves.

'So, it's finally time for it huh...' thought Natsu inwardly while heading towards the Strauss siblings.

"Hey, Mira, why don't we take this quest together? We haven't done a mission together for quite a while, so how about we do this together? This quest also sounds serious, so we will be able to quickly finish it together." asked Natsu. He doesn't want Mira to experience the same trauma as anime.

Before Mira can reply, Elfman quickly replied in a timid tone.

"No, you can't come with us. I need this quest to prove that I'm strong enough to protect myself and my sisters. I'm tired of acting like a coward." replied Elfman in a determined expression. Mira, Natsu, and Lisanna were taken aback by his sudden declaration.

Elfman was tired of feeling like a coward. He doesn't want to always depend upon his sister for protection. He wants to be strong enough to protect himself and his sisters from harm. So, this quest is important for him to gain enough confidence. Completing an S-class quest means that you are strong enough to protect yourself from most enemies.

Seeing his determined expression, Mira smiled and quickly denied Natsu's request.

"Sorry Natsu, but I'll have to decline your offer. We can do a quest together some other time. This time let me do it with my siblings. Seeing Elfman finally acting like a man, I can't allow anyone to ruin it." replied Mira. She was happy that Elfman was finally growing out of his timidness.

'Sigh... so it still came to this huh... well I tried so there's nothing more I can do without sounding desperate. I'll just follow them discretely and help her if something goes wrong. Mira is a lot stronger than her now, so I can hope she doesn't need my help.' thought Natsu inwardly.

"Sigh... okay then. Try to finish the quest quickly. I'll just do a random quest while you're doing it. See you later Mira. By the way, be careful! You don't know what might happen, so try to be safe." said Natsu.

"Humph! I'm strong enough to finish this quest. Let's get ready to leave now Elfman and Lisanna. I'll see you later Natsu, that is after finishing his quest." said Mira winking him. Soon, the three siblings talked to Makarov to let them take the quest and left the guild.

Natsu also left the guild. He covered his face with his scarf to act like a ninja.

'It's time to act like a ninja now ~nin.' thought Natsu as he started following the siblings.

'STALKER ALERT!' The surrounding people only had a single thought watching him following the siblings.