Chapter 18: A challenge?

Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi

Chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but next one will be longer.

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-Magnolia-

The place hadn't changed much. It looked exactly the same as all those years ago. The same buildings, the same looking streets, and the same guild hall stood in front of him and Lucy.

Three stories high with both the sigil and name of the guild displayed proudly on the front. The place looked enormous, and he could already hear the voices of hundreds of people clamoring and laughing inside. Broly did feel the place to be a bit crowded. Both Magnolia and Fairy Tail seemed to be quite popular. Then again, Lucy constantly dreamed about coming here and officially becoming a member, so maybe there was a reason for its popularity.

He couldn't help but reminisce about everyone from the tower, especially Erza. After all these years, something inside him told him that she was still alive and well. But he never seriously tried to search for her and the others. Why? Because he feared history to repeat itself as it did in the past. And he feared seeing them being scared of him after witnessing his rageful state.

Of course, his confidence in himself grew along the years he spent training to control his inner fury. Maybe now, he would have the courage and strength to face Erza, Jellal, and the rest to ask for forgiveness and reunite as a family.

Broly didn't follow the news around the world that much. He didn't care most of the time and wanted to focus on dealing with his own problems. His only source of information which he paid attention to in the first place was either Lucy or Aquarius—the latter only talking about the Celestial World rather than Earthland.

Before arriving in Magnolia, the group had taken the train here. Both soon discovered that Natsu got terrible motion sickness when he rode on moving vehicles. Which certainly caused Lucy to have a flabbergasting reaction as she never expected someone as strong as Natsu would have such a ridiculous weakness.

Broly didn't think it was that bad, in his opinion. It was better than his anger issues.

Fortunately, they arrived at their final destination without any issues.

"Wow…" Lucy said as she looked up the guild. Both memories of the past and her future dreams soon coming true flooded her mind. "It sure is big!"

Happy and Natsu walked forward and pushed the large wooden door open, welcoming both Broly and Lucy inside with giant smiles on their faces.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

The giant doors opened, leading the two newly arrived members to peer inside the famous guild. Just like Broly expected, the place was crowded to the brim with people. Hundreds of wizards and guild members sitting on dozens of wooden benches neatly arranged across the hall with a large table filled with jigs filled with alcohol and tons of food that made the Saiyan start salivating a bit. People chattered to each other, some wearing clothing like long hats that were bigger than theirs, a guy wearing a turban who was dancing on the table, and even people wearing tight latex outfits, which seemed a bit inappropriate in his opinion.

At the back, there was a large board filled with quests from all over Fiore. Some easy tasks like cleaning someone's house for a small reward, all the way to exterminating a monster nest to hunting down dangerous criminals who managed to escape confinement—of course, the reward was quite generous.

"Mira-chan~! Could you bring a couple of beers over here, please?"

A white-haired woman wearing a dark dress while holding a tray of drinks happily answered, "Sure will!"

Broly squinted his eyes and looked at her face. Felt he'd seen her somewhere with how the sense of familiarity washed over him. Weird, he may not be good with names, but he didn't think he would forget someone so easily. He was certain that she wasn't one of Lucy's friends or family. She also wasn't a passerby who stumbled upon his house in the woods. Maybe he heard her name somewhere…

"Mira-chan~!"

Another man with a pompadour hairstyle waved at her.

"Yes, what is it this time?"

The man took a deep breath from his smoking pipe before exhaling many clouds of smoke which transformed into heart-shaped smoke clouds.

'Woah!'

Broly was impressed with his magic, the only one performing something similar was Bora with his fire magic. Then again, he'd seen some of Lucy's servants use magical items like a special pen to write in the air, among other things. He always marveled at such a simple display of magic as he couldn't exactly perform them. The nature of his Ki was far too destructive in nature to be able to perform simple tricks like Lucy and the rest. Though maybe there was a way to use his Ki in such a way, he hasn't figured it out yet.

Not like he had anyone in this world to help him out—maybe.

"I want to go on a date with you!" he announced loudly to the barmaid, a dopey smile on his face.

"Honestly," Mira sighed.

She moved her hands across her face, and to his surprise, her entire body changed to that of a plump woman who looked to be in her forties with fluffy black hair, a gentle aura, and a small smile—much to the horror of the man who asked her out.

"You're already married, aren't you?"

The man's face turned white.

"Wahhhh! She changed into my wife!" he screamed before running away from the guild.

Everyone laughed at his reaction, even Broly cracked a smile, who found the entire thing to be extremely funny.

'She's funny. I like her.'

Mirajane's gaze turned towards the entrance, where she heard the door open. Her gaze found the familiar figure with dragon slayer and an excited duo, but the moment her eyes landed on Broly, they stopped for a few seconds.

"Elfm… no."

For a split second, she imagined seeing a fully transformed figure of Elfman. The beast fur on his waist and the large coat over his shoulders showed his front body. And that rugged hair, there was a trace of fierceness to him which quickly diminished when she saw that bright smile on his face coupled with the wonder-filled gaze he had, looking at everything around him like a young child.

"Ah?"

He was accompanied by both Natsu and Happy, who most likely came back from their recent quest. And there was a beautiful blonde girl beside him, looking at her with star-filled eyes, a fan of her modeling work most likely.

"I'M BACK!!!"

"Aye!"

Natsu howled at the guild, his voice reaching every corner with how loud it was. Even Lucy put some distance between them in fear that the boy would break her eardrums.

"Natsu! Happy! Welcome back!" Mirajane welcomed them back happily, her eyes still focused on the giant.

One of the guild members with a buck-toothed mouth spoke with a mocking voice.

"Oi, Natsu! I heard you have a secret twin brother. Apparently, someone with your face appeared in Hargeon Port and beat the living shit out of Bora the Prominence and didn't destroy any of the surrounding areas! Someone is ruining your image, ahahahaha!" he laughed with his friends.

Crash!

Only to have his face kicked by Natsu.

"You bastard! That info about Salamander you told me was all lies! And don't get jealous of my skills at not causing any trouble. Gramps will probably promote me to S-class with this news!"

"Jerry!"

"That hurts! And I didn't lie, I just said a Salamander was rumored to visit the place soon, not a freaking dragon! And what kind of dragon appoints a meet and greet in the first place!? You're just dum—ka!"

Crash!

The man named Jerry flew off of his table from another kick, the nearby furniture breaking apart as people tried to save their drinks but it was in vain.

"The guild is falling apart already!? We just got these tables delivered yesterday!"

"My drink! I worked hard for that! Natsu, you owe me a barrel of beer!"

"The fuck!? He nearly gave me a heart attack! He should pay for my visit to the doctor after this!"

Mirajane just sighed, seeming already used to everyone's behavior.

"There it is, the moment Natsu comes back, then the guild is always in pieces. Poor master, hope he won't get a heart attack with this month's bill, fufufufu~."

More and more people started to join in on the brawl. Punches and kicks were being sent left and right, with people losing their teeth while others were immediately knocked unconscious. Many tried to stop Natsu from ruining their drinking time, but the dragon slayer would just retaliate with more force and destroy another part of the hall. The waitresses moved skillfully away from the chaos, dodging attacks from every corner without even looking. Their years of experience working for Fairy Tail showed themselves when they would not even spill a single drop of beer from their trays.

During the royal battle, Happy tried to join in by dive bombing but got slapped away by a stay fish thrown at him.

"Aye…"

His eyes swirled with dizziness before he passed out.

"It's incredible," Lucy said, transfixed at the scene in front of her.

"I know! Those waitresses must be strong fighters. That one just easily dodged a knife that was aiming for her head."

"Eh?" Lucy looked at the Saiyan. "That's not what I meant! And who's throwing knives around here!?"

A lanky man with a large beard waved at her from the crowd.

"Don't worry, I made sure to blunt them, ojou-chan!"

That didn't help!

'At least he's having fun.' she thought while looking at the Saiyan.

Broly being more impressed by the girl's moves rather than the fight made Lucy assured that he would get along quite well with the people of Fairy Tail… at least she hoped so. Still, it was hard to believe that she was actually in Fairy Tail. Her last visit was one of the most memorable moments of her life. This one felt just the same. She felt giddy, excited, scared, and much more.

A young man passed by her.

"Did I just hear that Natsu is back? Hey! Flame brain! we're going to finish what we started, you hear me!?"

There was a shocking thing she noticed about the man near her, which nearly made her summon one of her spirits to kick him away.

"Gray, you're not wearing clothes, again." called out a young brunette in a bikini top and in tight jean pants.

He was a pervert!

Broly, meanwhile, didn't find his lack of clothing to be that shocking as he himself would sometimes forget to do so as well. Fortunately, he would remember to dress before Lucy could see him in the buff.

"Uh? Of shit, you're right! Thanks for the notice, Cana."

She huffed, "That's why they say that men have no class." Before going to pick up an entire barrel twice her size and chugging the beer directly from it before letting out a loud belch. "It makes me sick!"

The now named woman, Cana, was a tall and slim young woman with an ample bust and tan skin. With long, wavy dark brown hair that reached to her mid-back. Her figure was very voluptuous, with large breasts and curvy hips, which made Lucy slightly jealous of her figure. She even had a black Fairy Tail sigil stamped on the side of her hip. Her bikini top attire made a few heads turn towards her, and she also wore a pair of capri pants, with two bands hanging from each leg and a light belt covered in heart motifs loosely tied around the waist.

"Everyone here is so lively," Lucy said. "Don't you think so as well?" she asked Broly, only to find the latter gone.

"Eh? Broly!?"

{Break}

As Cana continued to drink her barrel of beer, she felt her weight shift as the bench she was sitting on tilted as if something big and heavy sat on it. She peered over and saw a man whose stature reminded her of Elfman and Bickslow. With a wild mane of dark black hair and rippling muscles and clothes that gave him a wild look. He certainly didn't lack in the looks department—especially with that tanned skin similar to hers.

"Hey, there, big guy, first time in Fairy Tail?"

"No, this is my second time here," he answered, making Cana double take at the response. She would have remembered someone like him coming to the guild.

'Bah, I was probably too drunk or on a quest.'

"What's your name? Mine is Cana Alberona, a Card magic user and your go-to person if you want to have your fortune read with my tarot cards. You can call me Cana, but drop any honorifics. I don't care about them."

Oh, tarot? Broly had no idea what that was but pretended to know it and nodded his head.

"My hobby is drinking beer, looking for different kinds of beer, and beating people in a drinking contest! Still the number one drinking champ in Magnolia!"

Out of everything she said, Broly was far more impressed with what she had just revealed. The inner desire to challenge her came to be lit before he quickly suppressed it.

"I like eating. Until now, the only person who could almost keep with me was my father. And also feel like I can drink a lot if I want to. I was told that I have high mentalism!"

Even though he had never tasted alcohol, he felt like he could easily handle it compared to a regular human.

"Mentalism?" Cana scratched her head for a few seconds before realizing, "Oh! You mean metabolism?"

He nodded excitedly, glad that she understood.

"Heh, we'll see about that. By the way, you haven't introduced yourself… or what kind of Wizard you are," she said.

"You can call me Broly. I'm…" he just remembered that he never decided on what to call his powers with a magic equivalent. Oh well, might as well tell the truth. "I'm a Ki user."

"Oh, Ki? Are you talking about the spiritual thing about inner energy and healing, aside from Ethernano? Though they were only used for yoga and stuff. You look like someone who punches boulders daily instead of meditating." she said, giving the burly man another once over.

"I meditate, and every Saiyan is born with the ability to use Ki shortly after birth. We use it to harness our inner power to increase our strength and speed." Broly repeated his father's words whenever he taught him lessons about Ki, among other things.

"Sounds like Ethernano. Maybe your people discovered it without being in contact with modern civilization and gave it another name."

Cana had never heard of Saiyans. She came to the conclusion that it might have been a secluded tribe far out of the reaches of the Magic Council and Fiore. It wasn't rare for such tribes to exist, as she came across a few while on her journey from the quests she would take.

"What can you create with Ki?"

Broly lifted his hands, and a small speck of green light formed on his hand. It shined with a small radiant of bright green colors as if a glowing gem floated on his palms. Cana found the display to be very pretty. As she was about to touch it, Broly moved his hands away.

"Don't touch it. It's dangerous, and you will get hurt."

"Ah?" she blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry about that, big guy. It just looked very pretty, like a gem, and I wanted to touch it."

"Thank you for the compliment!"

He felt the urge to smile as he heard someone call his Ki beautiful. Even though the girl would have changed her opinion if she came to know of its true nature, Broly cherished her opinion. If he could show off his Ki to more people without hurting anyone, he would continue to train to keep his powers under control.

"I'm just speaking the truth. Anyways, what does it do? You said that it's dangerous, but how?" she asked.

"It can explode." Broly gave her a curt answer.

"Wow, explosion magic?"

"Not quite. Let me show you."

His gaze turned towards the ongoing fight in front of him, where things were starting to turn even more intense. A large white-haired man tried to join in while shouting "Like a man!" before getting punched through the roof by both Natsu and a completely naked Gray. Lucy was kneeling on the floor talking to Mirajane, fangirling over the barmaid in seconds. That's when Broly noticed a stray bottle flying towards them at high speed and came very close to hitting the white-haired girl on the head. He extended his palms, and that expanded around the surprised Mirajane, and the bottle got turned into dust by touching it. His control over his Eraser Shield grew leaps and bounds compared to the past, as he could now use it on other people.

He first wanted to encase the bottle mid-throw and have it freeze in the air but couldn't do it as he was still not that proficient with his Ki yet.

"Thank you!" Mirajane exclaimed with a charming smile while waving at Broly.

He nodded before dispersing it.

Cana watched the scene with large eyes filled with astonishment.

"Now that's badass! Make sure that Natsu doesn't hear you, or else he won't stop bugging you for a fight."

"He already did."

He recalled their first interaction in Hargeon Port.

Cana laughed.

"Hahahaha! That's Natsu, alright, always looking for a fight. So, did you beat him?"

"I slammed him inside someone's house, and then Lucy summoned Aquarius, who threw him at the docks."

He recounted how the fight went, with his encounter with Bora and his use of illegal magic. To the appearance of Natsu and his sudden challenge, which went horribly wrong for the pink-haired wizard.

"..."

"..."

"Pft-hahahahaha!"

Cana couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing at the story. The mental image of Natsu being sent flying away with a single attack reminded of Erza getting angry at the boy and teaching him a lesson. She didn't miss to realize the fact that this person could manipulate magic like Gray's Ice-make to create constructs of any kind. And since he was using magic, he could probably condense it into a fine point and create a bomb.

'Yet I have never heard of this kind of manipulation or even the people using Ki as a placeholder for Ethernano. Then again, the world is big, and there are always things people haven't discovered yet.'

She looked back at Lucy. The young blonde continued to marvel at Mirajane, which she found to be cute.

"So your girlfriend over there is a Celestial Wizard? That's quite rare."

"Yes, she wishes to become the strongest and surpass her mother as Celestial Spirit wizard. I believe she also has a goal of acquiring every golden key to reach her goal. She's very driven and has grown leaps and bounds from her past self. I even think she can take on Natsu if he underestimates her."

Oh, take on Natsu? That was a bold claim in Cana's opinion, as the pinkette may not be an S-class wizard, but he was very close to one. So for someone to come here and tell her that the diminutive-looking blonde could beat him, it made her naturally curious.

"By the way, you said you were familiar with drinking?"

She got cut off from her own musing with Broly's question. As the man she was talking to looked at the large barrel, she was downing it so effortlessly as if it was water with a questionable gaze.

"Trust me, I told you that my hobby was drinking. I really mean that."

Cana bent over the counter, which brought down her already loose pants and showed a bit of her panty. Though no one noticed as most were either fighting or already knocked out.

Broly just didn't care as it was just undergarments to him.

"Here!"

Bam!

She dropped another large barrel filled with beer on the counter.

"You told me that you could beat me in a drinking competition? So why don't we start this friendship with a small challenge? The loser will have to pay for the winner's meal for a month! And that includes the expensive stuff like special booze from the guild's collection! Also, I'm doing this because these guys are beginning to annoy me, and I need more of this poison in my system to ignore them."

Her face didn't betray the slightest bit of worry about her possibly losing this challenge. Why would she? People like Macao and even the master himself failed to dethrone her over the years as well as any other drinker that came to challenge her for her throne. What could this man in front of her do in comparison? He'd just get shit-faced drunk and most likely vomit from the excess of booze, and she would have to drag him onto a bed for the night.

As Cana looked up to him, the woman realized that she might have to get some help to drag him out in the first place… maybe Elfman could help her out.

"I don't see any problems with that," Broly said with a smile.

'Hehehehe, Now I don't have to waste time going on a quest to cover for my meals. With the big guy here, I'll have more time to just drink and relax!'

Little did Cana realize that what she was digging was not only her own grave but also carving a road to poverty with Broly's appetite that could probably surpasse the likes of a dragon slayer.

A grin formed on her face.

"Ready?"

He nodded, easily grabbing the large barrel.

"Well then, let's begin!"

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise and Snafu.