Chapter 17. Return to the guild.
So the most boring month in the life of Eros has passed and, standing in front of the tree, which is Polyushka's house, he breathed in fresh air.
"A month ..." - the old woman thought with surprise, - "You really are not a person, such a speed of recovery ..."
- Thank you, auntie, once again, - said Eros, embarrassed.
- The best gratitude would be if you don't show up here again… - Polyushka said with a chuckle.
- Understood! - jokingly saluting, the titan replied, - you, too, be careful.
- You don't have to worry about me, I can protect myself.
- Are you sure?
- Small fry, come on from here!
- Good, auntie, goodbye!
- How many times do you have to say it again, don't call me Auntie… - Polyushka said with a sigh, with a slight smile on her lips.
***
After a couple of hours, he had already passed the gates of the city and stood in front of the doors to the guild.
"I returned!" - smiling, thought Eros, opening the door.
- WITH RECOVERY! - shouted in chorus members of the guild, under the explosion of firecrackers, forcing Eros, freeze in the aisle from shock.
- Come in, you that got stuck in the doorway, - grinning, Makarov shouted, satisfied with the reaction.
The titan nodded inhibited, taking a step forward and at the same moment he was dragged by several pairs of hands.
- Didn't expect it? Asked Gildarts, who had come up.
- Do you always meet like this after you have recovered? - with a nervous smile, asked Eros, looking at the amused people.
"No, but you helped the guild a lot.
- Help?
- Yes, - Makarov nodded, - We had no idea about the monsters that escaped from the Dark Forest and the fact that you were able to destroy one of them and let us know about it, with this you helped save the guild's face.
- Basically, these migrations began only half a month ago, and before that they lived in the second half of the Dark Forest. But as you understand, the territory became smaller, and the monsters needed a house, because of this, the stronger creatures destroyed the weak and expelled from the territory, and they had no choice but to look for a new one and their choice fell on the nearest forest.
- Since there were no casualties, it's good, - said Eros with a smile.
- Okay, have fun kid, - grinning, said Gildarts, - And then some of the kids were very worried about you, well, one old man, besides us.
As soon as the two left, Eros felt something squeeze his leg. Looking down, he saw a pair of brown eyes filled with tears, the next moment he was hugged from the back, a pair of small arms.
- Eros, welcome back, - Rick said happily as he approached, and Roni patted the thick hair on the titan's head.
- Glad you're okay.
- I'm glad to see you too, Rick, Lily, Cana, Roni ... And forgive me for making you worry, - Eros said embarrassedly, - But I can't promise that this won't happen again, I can't.
- We already know this, the main thing is to return alive.
- It's no problem ... Lily, Kana, stop crying, I'm alive, all the limbs are in place ... - he thoughtfully examined himself, - Yes, on the spot.
- Moron! Why didn't you run away ?! Lily asked, sniffing and squeezing her neck tighter.
- Strangle it!
- Sorry…
- If I ran away, my friend would die.
- ...
- But in the future, I promise that I will become so strong that this would not happen again, never, - said Eros in a firm voice.
- You don't have to take it all on yourself, - said Roni, smiling slightly, - The duty of the elders is to protect the younger ones, so you can always rely on us.
-… Thank you.
***
By the evening, the celebration ended and everyone began to disperse, only a few remained in the guild, and mostly those who were so drunk that they simply could not move. Eros spent time with his friends until the evening, communicating and learning the news of this month. And the most interesting thing is that Rika and Roni undertook to train the A-rank mage Macao, he is also a fire mage and what more intrigued Eros is that they both officially became B-rank mages. This rank was awarded to them by Makarov. Of course, the master of another guild does not have the right to do this, but he can help by submitting an application to the council and this application will be considered first. Lily also became a C-rank mage, although she was confidently, thanks to her healing skills, should have been awarded a B-rank, but the advice was refused, due to a lack of combat abilities.
***
- Hello teacher, can I come in?
- Come in.
- Everything is as usual, you would at least clean up or something, - Eros said with a sigh, a gray magic circle lit up on his hand, and all dust and dirt began to disappear under the shocked gaze of the senior magician.
- What kind of magic is this?
- Household magic, it can be studied by any magician, even the weakest.
- I'll have to somehow study this spell, - Gildarts said thoughtfully, - A convenient thing.
- It's a fact, - Eros nodded, - But you didn't call me for that?
The magician's face became more serious.
- Yes, it's about the magic you used in the forest to defeat that monster.
As I thought, traces of magic remained in the air, thought Eros regretfully.
- Having studied it, I came to the conclusion that it is very dangerous, because of its instability and destructive power, if anyone finds out about such magic, they will immediately want to destroy you.
- ...
- So tell me you can control her?
- … Not completely.
- Could it happen that she could get out of control?
- … I don't know, - Eros whispered, looking down, - She doesn't show herself in any way.
- Can you be sure that she will not harm your friends?
After these words, the titan froze, he simply did not know what to answer, because he himself did not know the answer to this question ... The next moment, Eros experienced fear that grew into horror, and suddenly, she would have gotten out of control when he was in guild or when he was hugged by Cana and Lily ...
Seeing how quickly the color of the boy's face changed, Gildarts felt a sense of guilt, but someday this conversation had to start ...
- I don't know… - the next moment, his voice became firm, - But I swear that I will never allow this power to get out of control and harm someone!
- I just wanted to hear from you, and if so, then I will take your oath, but if you break it, then I myself will stop you.
- Yes! - he shook the elder wizard's outstretched hand.
After that, Gildarts' face smoothed out a bit, and even something like a smile appeared.
- And one more thing, use this magic only as a last resort, when there will be no more choice.
- Got it, - with a serious face, nodded Eros, - How did you know about this magic? - the titan already knew the answer, but wanted to be sure.
- According to the remnants of magic, after using it, its particles will hover in the air for about another day, and from them it will not be difficult to determine what kind of magic it is. But you don't have to worry, I erased it all, - with a guilty face, he continued, - But apparently not completely, most likely the council discovered something, since now every day there are patrols of the Rune Knights around the city.
- What exactly are they looking for?
- The master already asked for advice, but he was given a rather vague answer that they were looking for a dangerous person.
- Is there a chance they really are looking for some escaped mage hiding in the city?"
Gildarts nodded.
- This option, too, cannot be discarded.
- If so, then the next few months, I simply will not use magic and that's it, - Eros said with a slight smile, - I haven't finished the first stage of training yet?
At what he heard, the elder mage laughed out loud.
- Well, if so, then we will continue to improve your physical shape tomorrow. That's all for today, tomorrow I'm waiting for you in the morning and don't be late.
- Yes, teacher, then see you tomorrow.
- Come on, go.
Leaving Gildarts, Eros headed towards the house. Over the past two months, the titan has found a way to earn extra money by hunting monsters in the forest and selling their carcasses in the market. Thanks to this money, he rented a separate apartment for himself, on the outskirts of Magnolia.
***
The next day, he continued training under the supervision of Gildarts, and first of all, he visited the Macaque, Forest Volcano, that lived in the forest. And only when he reached the cave, Vulcan immediately felt it and left the cave. Seeing him, Eros was very surprised, because he grew at least half a meter and the most amazing thing is that he became stronger. As usual, the titan did not manage to dodge the blows and block, and because of this, in the evening he left the Eastern Forest with a black eye. But still, Eros was happy for his friend and now he was calmer for his safety.
After finishing training and arriving at his abode - the Fairy Tail Library, he was shocked to see at least about five new faces there, and they were all children. It shocked him even more that he was the reason why they decided to take up their minds. It turns out that they all consider Eros a real hero and an example to follow, because at such a young age, he managed to defeat the A-rank monster, which means that at least he is already an A-rank magician.
Eros, of course, tried to explain that he defeated him, only thanks to luck, but they did not listen to him, but only looked at him with stars in their eyes. Therefore, he had no choice but to score on all this and sit down at the table. As usual, he took out a couple of boards and, leafing through the books, the titan studied new runes, trying to advance in this and reach the level of the Master. And only after reaching it, Eros will be able to draw the rune of Absorption, which will accelerate the absorption of ether from the air.
After all, his speed of recovery of Magic Power is already monstrous, but if he can accelerate it at least five times, then he will simply have an infinite supply of magic and then the titan will be able to continuously release spells.
But Eros himself understands that these are only dreams, and even reaching the level of a master in this matter is not an easy job and at least he will need two more years of non-stop practice and improvement. But this is simply impossible at the moment, so he expects, in the next five years, to reach this level, and at least the next ten in artifact.
A week before meeting that monster, he began to study and artifact. After all, after he began to hunt and earn at least some money, Eros immediately bought raw materials, and began to make the simplest artifacts that were possible. And he spent a whole week and a ton of resources to create a ring that could create a fireball, measuring 1 by 1 cm. And only after that, he understood why, many call this profession a "black hole". After all, it took him a whole week to create one simple artifact, as well as all the savings from the hunt, which is almost twenty thousand precious ones.
And he was able to sell this ring for only a thousand precious ones, to one magician from the guild, who is very fond of smoking. And even then, only after setting the "Strength" rune. Therefore, Eros again decided to suspend development in this area until better times.