Chapter 3: Magic

"Rob..." The redhead girl asked. "What is magic?"

To her side was an elderly man, healing what seem to be an injured fellow slave.

"Magic is a supernatural force that occurs regularly in everyday life, used as tools and bought and sold all over the world. It is also the main form of art or combat utilized by Mages." Rob explained, with his hands glowing in a green hue of colour. "It has been around for centuries. Every type of magic comes from 'The One Magic', the original source of all types of magic. It was once oppressed and feared, but gradually became an everyday phenomenon."

Finished healing his last visitor, Rob sent him away, paying close attention for any appearance of the guards.

He looked at his young assistant, the ever-curious and stubborn Erza, whose fascination for his healing arts was plain to see. "Do you wish to learn magic?"

"Yes!" Erza shouted out excitedly, "I always tried concentrating while doing the same motions as you but it never worked..."

Isn't that just precious, watching her mimicking his actions did bring a form of amusement.

"Hohoho! Magic is the physical embodiment of the spirit. When the physical spirit of an organism connects with the spiritual flow of nature, the spirit forms Magic as a product of the connection. Though magic goes beyond reason, it is still born of reason and it takes an enormous amount of concentration and mental ability to use it." He gestured for the girl to come closer. "Now, sit down and close your eyes."

She listened, sitting down crossed legged, Erza followed Ron's instruction and closed her two eyes.

"Good, now in all corners of Earthland lies the presence of Ethernano, which is the term coined to name particles of magic. Every Mage has a 'container' inside their body that determines the limits of their magic power. If the case becomes empty, Ethernano will come from the atmosphere and enters the Mage's body and after a while, their Magic Power is restored.

"So for your draw and awaken your latent magical prowess, you must first sense the flowing Ethernano in the air. Do NOT try and grasp it, as it will only escape from your hold. Instead, lead it through your body, through your heart, your brain and finally your 'core'."

Erza focused all her being into feeling out this concept of Ethernano being flowing through the air.

Taking a deep breath, Erza created a mental image in her head of holding a bucket that represented her body, the well which was her core trying to fill in with water which was the Ethernano.

Slowly she started to feel certain shifts deep within her being, this feeling ran along her whole body. She continued imagining herself filling the 'water' in the 'bucket' from the 'well'.

Rob noticed a few pebbled in her surrounding that began slightly hovering in the air before falling down. 'Telekinesis, indeed. She just needs a push to fully awaken it.'

She tried for minutes which soon turned into an hour with little success.

"I can't do it...I...I...just don't feel it." Erza tried holding back her tears, she always wanted to be a mage and escape from this hell. Yet to this day she could not even take the first step in becoming a mage.

Thankfully Rob was there to console her, "There, there young child. You cannot get results so quickly without knowing of patience first. Continue practising and soon you will be able to perform magic, I know you can since I feel your potential."

What he saw just a moment ago was more than enough to assure him that Erza had a future as a mage of Fairy tail.

His words seemed to work as she recomposed herself and wiped her tears away. "I-I am going to check on Broly and the others."

She needed to distract herself and how else could she do it aside from spending time with her 'kinda sorta but not really' big brother?

She didn't know, all she cared about is how safe she felt around him, so did everyone else. He was like the Sun in the darkness of the abyss.

"I'll help out later, Rob!"

...

"Broly!"

She soon found him sitting in the middle of a crater he punched, eating the disgusting inedible gruel leftovers.

It had been a month since he crash landed in the tower. Despite his huge physique and older age than hers, he was in fact very naïve and childlike.

At first, he would barely talk with anyone, he just chose to remain seated all alone in the corner ignoring everyone even the attacking guards, lost in his thoughts.

It was to the combined effort of everyone that they managed to make him talk and interact with them. This was possible by giving him either food or water. Even asking him to play with them would work.

Every day he would take up the tasks of the slaves just so he could get done with it quicker and play games with Jellal and the rest.

It was a bit weird seeing a man who looked to have a body made of rocks and boulders, hide in a corner while playing hide and seek.

She genuinely enjoyed her time with him, from teaching him some words he wasn't familiar with to how to read which she learned from Rob.

Erza acknowledged that she could be a bit strict sometimes, but it wasn't that bad. Jellal, Millianna, Sho and Wally were just exaggerating.

Her punches were just to motivate them.

Even Broly didn't mind her punches, not that he could feel them anyway since she stopped doing it as his skin was like iron.

(Flashback)

"This is read as 'A' and combined with this character it becomes Ba." Her daily teaching was going well. Broly could recognise each character, all that remained was combining them into sentences.

Broly scared away the guards and even brought extra food for the rest. Giving them more time to study.

For now, she was using a stick she found and began using the ground to write characters.

The scene of an eleven-year-old girl teaching a man thrice her size and probably a few years older than her stunned many people.

There was Erza standing, acting all high and mighty with a strict face with folded arms. Looking over a kneeling Broly struggling to write a simple word. "Ba?"

"That's 'Sa', you idiot!" Erza instinctively hit Broly's head only to immediately regret it and kneel over holding her now red knuckles. 'Never doing that, again.'

"Ah, are you okay Erza?" Being the gentle giant he was, Broly immediately worried about her. His big hands gently touched her bruised hand, they felt warm and comfortable. It was sweet and made her blush a bit.

"I-I'm fi-fine!" Shouted Erza, all flustered. "Yo-you ca-can let go now!" Honestly, she wanted to stay like this for a bit longer, being taken care of by an elder sibling-like figure...felt good.

In the background, the Millianna and Sho began snickering from their little display. "Erza has a crush~" Millianna couldn't just let such an opportunity to tease Erza pass.

"Hey, sh-shut up!" Her fiery attitude returned full force as she now faced the retreating Millianna who kept calling it a crush. "Come back here!"

Broly was left puzzled on why Erza got all angry like that, he hoped she wasn't mad at him.

(Flashback end)

"I need your help."

Patience was a virtue according to Rob, he told her before that she needed to wait and practice before she could fully awaken her magical prowess.

But unfortunately, she didn't have the time.

She didn't want to wait.

The sooner she awakened them, the sooner they could escape from the tower. At first, she wasn't so confident in their chances but with Broly on their side, it was practically guaranteed. "I need you to teach me magic!"

Out of everyone here, he was the strongest, yet it boggled her why he remained here and didn't just escape. A part of her mind was grateful he stayed as she didn't want to see him go away.

"Magic?" He looked at her in puzzlement, wondering what she was talking about. "I don't understand."

"You know, how you're so strong, can't get injured and everything? I want to learn to do the same thing as you!" She explained to him, thinking he was just unfamiliar with the term magic despite clearly using it.

Broly shook his, "This is Ki, not magic." Now it was Erza's turn to be confused by his words.

Ki? What even was that?

To prove his point, Broly raised his hand and channelled some Ki into it. A white transparent aura engulfed his entire hand, making the surrounding wind howler by its very presence.

Erza even being a good distance away could feel the raw power behind it. It made her want to learn it even more.

"Ca-can you teach me? Please?" She didn't care if it was Ki or magic, in the end, they were the same, in her opinion.

"Okay," Broly easily agreed which surprised Erza as she expected some kind of hesitation.

"Really?"

"I only know of one method my father used on me when I was small." Not that it helped much. No amount of energy transferred from Paragus would ever be sufficient for Broly, his father had only done that to experiment on him. "I will run my Ki through you."

"What?" It was the first time Erza hear of such a method, even Rob did not mention her anything remotely similar.

"It was what my father taught me," Broly explained some of his past training with Paragus which disturbed Erza greatly.

'What kind of father would treat their child in such a way? That's horrible!' Despite her anger, she noticed how Broly didn't show any kind of negative feelings for his father. "Don't you hate him for that he did to you?"

Her question was met with a headshake. "Even after everything he had done to me, he was still my father."

A twisted kind of familial love, being the only one who raised him and cared for him, Paragus held an unshakable place in his heart. Broly both loved and feared him, just the phantom pain from his neck made him lose all strength.

Yet that anger kept showing its head. His great ape anger always flared at any moment.

Broly remembered the consequences, the destruction he caused on that planet. He was not in control and in his rage nearly killed everyone.

That would not do.

He did not know where he was right now, it wasn't Vampa nor Earth. The moment he woke up, he could feel it.

That is why he chose to stay, for he feared not the others but himself the most. He decided to stay for awhile in this tower with these people whil trying to get hold of his rage.

He didn't know how to do it.

He learned to have fun with Erza and the rest. The games he played with them, their conversation, basically everything involved with them would calm his inner rage.

The great ape would instead feel curious about them.

He was nearly there.

Just a bit more.

...

Never in her life did Erza ever think she would be even remotely satisfied with the death of a person.

That man was a monster instead of a father.

'A shock collar of all things!?' Was he truly his father? She could not imagine the pain Broly went through, at least she had Rob, Simon, Jellal, Millianna, Sho and Wally. But Broly had no one aside that maniac.

'Good riddance.' The dark part of her mind whispered. Erza shook her head to get rid of these thoughts. 'Its wrong to think like this.'

"Now just concentrate."

As per his instructions, she closed her eyes and concentrated, remembering Rob's teaching.

She felt Broly's hand touching the top of her head and tried ignoring the warm feeling in her cheeks.

*Shhhhh*

"-!"

Heavy!

Her body suddenly felt like it was being filled with liquid metal, her blood boiling from inside. "Kyaaa!" She involuntarily released a pained cry which stopped Broly.

"No! Don't stop I can take the pain!" If she backed off now from a little pain, then she would never be able to accomplish her dream.

He hesitantly resumed his actions, the flow of Ki from his hands decreasing a bit. Her knees nearly buckled from all the weight his power carried.

Her core, which she hadn't felt its existence till now, began feeling like it would get crushed from the invading Ki. It tried to push back, using everything at its disposal but to little avail.

Unknown to Erza, her nose began to bleed.

Broly again nearly stopped, till he remembered his training with Paragus. 'Remember Broly, the weak always die!' His words reverberating in his mind.

'I don't want Erza to die in the future.'

Not left with any more energy to draw from, her inner core was left with only one option. To draw in all the surrounding Ethernano to survive.

*Woosh!*

A cool feeling came rushing in from the outside, and began battling against Broly's Ki. Her core absorbed more Ethernano than it could hold forcing it to expand.

"Ngggh!" She ground her teeth from the sheer pain and pressure. But now she could feel it!

"Haaaa!" Just like breaking an imaginary wall, her core reached its limit and released all the accumulated magic like a bursting dam!

The surrounding rocks began levitating in the air, some even twice her size!

Rob who came in rushing from the earlier cry of pain, witnessed this unbelievable sight. "Oh, my gods...she...she awakened her magic!" He cheered.

Just a moments ago, she failed in her attempts, now here she was displaying her telechinetic powers, all thanks to Broly!

'Just what is that kid?' He held such a mysterious form of magic he hadn't ever seen in his life.

"Okay, that's enough." Broly didn't know if what he was doing was correct or not, but seeing the effects of Erza's power in his surrounding, he concluded that it somehow worked.

Erza opened her eyes and witnessed her telekinetic powers. "I...I did it?"

"Hnn," Broly grunted in approval.

"I did it."

"I did it!"

Lost in her joy, she hugged Broly around his waist with her height. Him being unfamiliar with such a gesture didn't know what to do.

"Hahahaha!" Rob laughed at the comical sight.

"Hey, Broly..." Erza whispered still hugging him, "...will you help us escape from this place?" She asked timidly.

"You don't like it here? But it seems like a nice place, better than my home." He questioned.

'I promise to show you a better place.' Erza thought.

"The outside is far more beautiful, I can show it to you. We can join the Fairy tail guild together and go on quests with Jellal and the rest!" The more she talked the more excited she became.

"A guild?" Broly was again lost at the meaning of the word.

"Yes a guild, it's a place where you can join to help out other people in need. You can go on an adventure, make friends and eat the best foods!" At least that's what Rob told her. "It's like a family!"

A family...

The only family he once had was his father, who died because of him...

Because he lost control of his anger.

Could he risk having someone else?

"So, will join me? Please we can be a family together!" Seeing the young girl pleading, so attached to him, he hesitated.

He suddenly had a memory of Cheelai and Lemo. Though he had known that pair for less than a day, he enjoyed every moment with them.

If he had a way to travel in space...he would try and find them, one day.

"Hnn" In the end he accepted.

....

The guards who were stationed to watch over Broly flinched from his every movement, their face all white and their knees shaking from fear.

One of these guards used to be an enforcer, not that he lost his post but rather he could no longer do it because of that...thing, his teeth clenched in frustration. "Did our informants find out where this freak came from!?"

By his side, an equally scared guard came to report. "No sir, our spies in the Magic Council found no such plans from any of the members. We couldn't even find anyone in the records matching the description of...Broly."

Not even the Magic Council knew of him? That was good since it meant that they had no relation with him and that he was not one of their agents.

Ever since his crash in the mines, Broly had taken up the task of every slave for no apparent reason.

They tried to apprehend him and kill him with no success, spears could not pierce him, swords could not cut him and most unbelievably of all was magic just washed over him like water!

This was crazy!

Not even the Ten Saints could boast at being immune to magic attacks! The only person who had the capability to do it was Gildarts with his crash magic according to rumours. 'Just where did this monster come from!?'

"What of those restraint measures I asked for!?" The enforcer shouted. "We have to get rid of him one way or another, our weapons can't even hurt him!"

Since this freak didn't even exist in the records, killing him off was the only solution. Unless they didn't want further trouble in the future.

The guard's scared feature soften a bit before being replaced by a wicked smile. "Don't worry boss, a dark guild mage specialised in sealing will soon arrive."

"Soon...we can get rid of this freak and all will be back to normal and we can move on with our plans for lord Zeref!"

His eyes glossed over Broly before they caught the sight of the red-headed girl. He remembered her, she use to be scared and intimidated by his presence. Now she showed little to no fear whatsoever, just like the rest. It was just a matter of time before they began to resist and push back.

'I'll make sure to make an example out of her first, hehehehehe!'

Little did they realise, that this was the beginning of the end for them.