Chapter 17.51: To Look For Teachers

Previously...

"Fairy Tail is victorious!" Makarov declared, "But I had very little to do with it. This victory is yours, my children!"

As the rest of Fairy Tail whooped their victory, Ramza chuckled.

"We couldn't have done it without you, master." He smiled.

Currently...

Ramza sipped from his cup of coffee as he scribbled onto his journal.

"The last days have been very exciting, to say the least." He wrote, "First I learn magic, then we go to a cursed island, and now we literally just won a guild war."

Ramza chuckled to himself as he recalled all the things that have happened these days past.

"Regarding the war, our guild hall is pretty trashed. And so, they planned that they're gonna rebuild it even bigger than before. Everyone is helping out, even Levy and her team! They just got out of the hospital recently, and I'm glad that they're recovering nicely. Lucy isn't with us though, I assume it's because she sustained a lot of injuries."

"Just yesterday, a bunch of guys wearing cloaks that had the symbol of an ankh on it approached us. They said they were the rune knights, the magic council's army. They explained that all of us were to be questioned about the war, for about a week. Besides that, the drama between Phantom and Fairy Tail kinda died down. Nobody talked about it anymore 'cause they were all focused on rebuilding the guild hall."

"The rune knights still haven't made a decision on what the punishment of Fairy Tail is, so I guess we can take a breather for now."

Ramza's hand fumbled with his quill as he thought about what to write next.

"Thing is though, I can't stop thinking about me and Natsu's fight with that Totomaru guy. I was absolutely worse than useless there, since that guy targeted me since I didn't have immunity to fire. I just got in the way, and my wind magic did little to aid Natsu since I was already down on the ground."

"I thought that my bow and sword skills were alright, that it could somehow make up for my lack of magical power and experience. I was wrong. I could barely fight Totomaru's swordsmanship, and he rendered my bow skills useless. I have to get stronger."

His lips curled in frustration as he set his quill down. Ramza sat up from his desk, and finished his coffee drink in one gulp. He exhaled and got his coat from his chair and proceeded towards the door. There was one way he knew how to become more powerful, and he knew who could help him.

He walked to the place where the once proud Fairy Tail guild hall stood, now being rebuilt brick per brick. Ramza looked around, seeing people working hard at the guild hall's reconstruction. Master Makarov grew in size via his giant magic and hammered a piece of lumber with his fist. Elfman and Mirajane spread a piece of paper over a table, probably the blueprints of the construction. Macao directed Laki to cast her wood-make magic at certain places.

He walked a bit more, and saw the person he wanted to talk to.

"C'mon! I want to see those pillars in place by this afternoon!" Erza commanded.

"Hey, Erza." Ramza greeted.

The redhead turned to him. "Oh it's you, Ramza."

"So, uh," Ramza shuffled awkwardly in place, "The construction of the guild going nicely?"

Erza nodded. "Yes. It's going smoothly."

"I, uh, that's nice." Ramza said.

Erza noticed his unusual behavior. "Yes, Ramza?"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, uh, you see..."

Erza's eyebrows furrowed. "Is something the matter?"

"W-well," Ramza stuttered, "I fave a favor to ask."

"What is it?" Erza asked.

"Could you," Ramza took a deep breath, "Could you please be my teacher?"

Erza blinked. "Teacher?"

Ramza exhaled. "Yes. I want you to teach me the way of the sword."

She was visibly surprised. "How did this come along?"

"Well," Ramza chuckled weakly, "I think I'm pretty weak. I do know how to use a blade, but I couldn't even fight that Totomaru guy."

"I thought you and Natsu defeated him?"

"Only Natsu did." Ramza said dejectedly. "Totomaru totally won our sword duel. He slashed at my side for good measure. My sword skills aren't enough."

"That's why," Ramza faced Erza determinedly, "I wanted you to teach me how to improve my skill with the sword! Please be my teacher!"

Ramza bowed to her, and the requip mage smiled. "Well, I can't say no to that. Very well. I'll become your teacher."

"Thank you very much!" Ramza grinned.

"For your training," Erza started, "Start by carrying all this lumber!"

Ramza frowned. "Wait, right now?"

"Yes." Erza pointed to the large pile of wooden beams beside her. "I want you to carry these to Master Makarov."

Ramza gulped looking at the ginormous wood pile, then steeled himself and saluted Erza. "Yes ma'am!"

He then bound the wooden beams together with a wind rope, and hauled it on his back. Ramza barely made it a few steps before collapsing under the lumber's weight.

"This'll take a while..." Erza sighed.

.................................

The sun was high in the sky when Ramza took a seat next to Natsu and Gray on a nearby bench. It was midday, and they were exhausted from lugging around the wooden beams. At least, Ramza was.

"Ugh, I can't do this anymore..." Ramza groaned.

"Wait, really?" Natsu said. "We're just getting started!"

He let out a roar of flame, but it quickly died out.

Gray scoffed at him. "Can you give it a rest, Natsu? Some of us are tired."

Ramza sighed in exhaustion. "Plus, I'm getting pretty hungry,"

"Oh yeah!" Natsu snapped his fingers, "C'mon Ramza, gimme some fire to eat!"

Ramza sent a weak glare at him. "I can't cast any runes when I'm as tired as this."

"I'm starving." Gray said into the sky, "I wish I had something to eat."

Suddenly, a wave of blue liquid appeared from behind a pillar and crashed into all of them. They were soaked from head to toe, and not one of them was spared from the water.

"What the?" Natsu exclaimed.

"Water?" Ramza blew out a spout of it.

"And what's this?" Gray said.

"What do you mean?" Ramza asked while removing his coat to squeeze the liquid out.

"Uh, this?" Gray pointed to the thing on his palm, which appeared to be a lunch box container.

"Ooh! Food!" Natsu whooped.

"Well, looks like you got your wish," Ramza observed, "Let's open it?"

"Alright then." Gray opened the cover, and he paled upon seeing a very decorated lunch. His face was artistically designed using dried seaweed and fish, with cheese added in the shape of sparkles. Corn and carrots lined the edges, and rice was under all the vegetables as a second later. And to top it all off, grilled meat was cut out to spell 'LOVE' beside Gray's face.

"It looks tasty!" Natsu grinned.

"Dude, your face is totally edible." Ramza said in a neutral tone.

"I can't eat this!" Gray sweatdropped, "It's too weird!"

"I'll eat it for ya!" Natsu offered with a drooling mouth.

Ramza poked the meal with a finger. "I'd eat it but..."

He jabbed his thumb behind him, pointing towards a certain redhead. Gray and Natsu were too busy arguing to notice Erza coming.

"Who said you guys could take a lunch break?" Erza growled, but then she saw the lunch in Gray's hands. "Is that supposed to be your face?"

Without a second thought, she requipped a fork into her hands and jabbed it into food Gray's eyeball. The real Gray was visibly distraught as he saw his edible persona being eaten.

"Mmm, this is good." Erza said with a full mouth, "I could eat the whole thing."

"Uhh, yeah. You guys do that. I'm gonna check out where that water came from." Ramza said. The others didn't respond since they were all occupied with the food.

He then left them to the food container and approached the wall where the water came from. It was still damp from earlier.

"Last time I checked, water just doesn't come from walls like that." Ramza snorted, then looked at the wall again. "Maybe magic? But from where? Behind?"

Ramza poked his head through a large crack in the wall. He saw a blue haired girl giggling to herself weirdly, shaking her flushed face like it was going to come off.

"Yes, and we'll have thirty three babies!" The girl squealed to herself, "I'm so happy I could cry!"

Ramza stumbled through the hole. "Th-thirty three babies!?" He spluttered.

The girl continued, hearts in her eyes. "Oh yes! I'll cook your meals every day, my dear Gray!"

"Everyday?" Ramza frowned at her.

The girl then seemed to notice him, and immediately turned red. "Oh, sorry! I was just thinking about my beloved~!"

"Right..." Ramza didn't recall Gray saying he had a beloved. "Uh, were you the one who made the Gray Face food? And douse us with water in the process?"

"Yes! And I spent three days making that lunch for him!" The girl said dreamily, but then she started to cry comical tears. "But now he says he doesn't like it because it's too weird!"

Ramza sweatdropped. "It's a meal of his face. Nobody would be able eat easily!"

"But, but, it's the very culmination of my love for him!" She wailed.

"You're very enthusiastic about him, huh?" Ramza said.

She nodded vigorously. "He is the love of my life, ever since we met atop the giant of Phantom Lord!"

"Phantom Lord?" Ramza jogged his memory of the incident. "I remember now! You're Juvia, one of the Element Four! We kinda met, I guess?"

Juvia frowned. "We have?"

"I'd forgotten," Ramza said, "You were passed out at the time. As I remember it, Gray said it looked like you were having a good dream."

"Oh, hehe..." Juvia fidgeted with her fingers, blushing lightly. "It was indeed a good dream..."

"Anyways, why're you here at Fairy Tail?" Ramza said, then blinked. "Oh wait, I probably have a good guess..."

"Juvia is just here to watch over Gray~" Juvia said innocently.

"You mean stalking him." Ramza deadpanned.

"No, Juvia's just," She struggled to find the right words, "Being his guardian angel..."

"Yeah..." Ramza said, "And you've been here the entire time looking at him?"

"Definitely!" Juvia said enthusiastically. "He's just so handsome, and when he takes off his shirt..."

She let out a girlish squeal, and Ramza mentally facepalmed.

"Is this lady that obsessed with him?" Ramza groaned, but the water mage didn't seem to hear. "But I guess that's one less person as an enemy."

"I haven't asked you yet," Juvia suddenly loomed over Ramza like a shadow. The wind mage gulped as she looked downright terrifying. "But what is your relationship with my Gray? Juvia has always seen you with him..."

"Oh, him?" Ramza let out a weak chuckle. "He's my friend."

The water mage resumed to looking cheerful. "Then there's no problem!"

Ramza let out a sigh of relief, but Juvia towered over him again.

"So if he's your friend," She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Tell me everything about my Gray! What he wants! What he does! If he likes girls with bigger boobs!"

Ramza broke free of Juvia's grip. "Woah, woah! I can't just tell you that!"

Juvia stared down at him darkly. "Oh, why?"

"'Cause friends just don't tell secrets?" Ramza replied timidly.

"So you need something in return?" Juvia said.

"That's not-"

The water mage cut him off. "Juvia knows what you young boys want. If it's for Juvia's love of Gray, then I would gladly do anything you ask!"

She then began to undo the buttons on her coat, but Ramza stopped her. "Uh, that's not really necessary."

Juvia crossed her arms. "Then what would you want? Isn't that what you all young boys think about?"

An idea popped into Ramza's head. "How about you show me how you use magic? You could be my teacher and stuff."

"So Juvia is to teach you how to do water magic?" She asked.

"Yeah." Ramza said.

Plus, he added mentally, I don't need to tell her the important parts. Just stuff that is alright to share, not anything serious. She seems genuine enough to not use that stuff for granted.

"Then it is a deal." The water mage extended her hand.

"Yes." Ramza took her hand and shook it, solidifying their agreement.

Juvia sighed in relief. "So, the first thing I want to know is-"

"Wait, right now?"

"That is, if Gray enjoyed the food." Juvia finished.

Ramza put a hand to his chin. "That isn't so bad. Wait here, let me check."

He then crawled out through the hole, going back to his friends. Ramza soon returned, word of the news on his lips.

"He said it definitely looks weird," Juvia pouted, but Ramza wasn't finished yet. "But it actually tastes good."

Juvia's eyes sparkled. "Really?"

Ramza grinned at her. "I should know. I took a little bite for myself."

"Grrr..." The water mage let out a low growl, but it was more joking than serious. "That meal was for Gray and Gray alone!"

"Sorry about that." Ramza apologized.

..............................

So hey! Thanks for reading up to this point in the story! I haven't been writing much now because of school, so expect a delay in updates.

This chapter is one of two or three fillers, depending if you guys want more fillers or more plot based chapters. Feel free to PM me on what you would like.

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