Movement In The West

(Third Person POV)

Vistarion, Arikitashia

Inside a room in the palace belonging to Spriggan, two of his Shields stand before a massive screen. 

Invel, The Winter General and August, The Magic King faced the screen. On the screen, they were multiple sections where they could barely make out the figures of other Shields they were communicating with. 

Invel cleared his throat, "Are we all present here?" He asked

On one of the sections, a massive shadow was seen. 

"Yes.." The voice said, "Mine vacation hasth been interrupted, Invel." 

August looked at the screen, "Bloodman." He said, "Whenever we call for you, you must answer. You of all people should know that." 

From another section, a man wearing a suit was seen. 

"And you're wrong, Bloodman." Jacob Lessio said, "Not all of us are here. We're missing two." 

"Doesn't matter." A female voice was heard, "We can continue this meeting without them. Not like His Majesty himself ordered this meeting. I'm only here because I had nothing else to do." 

Invel fixed his glasses, "Seems you're taking this freedom all too lightly, Brandish." He said, "You must understan-" 

"Now now." A man's voice said, "Let's not get carried away. We all had duties to attend to, Invel. Unlike Brandish, I take mine seriously. And you've called for the meeting, so let's get to it." 

From that section of the screen, a man wearing a ponytail was seen. In the background, it looked like there was a garden. 

"Haha!" Another voice said, "Neinhart is right! Let's get this over with!" 

The man was seen with a desert in the background, he had a crazy look on his face. 

"Neinhart, Ajeel." Invel said, "Do not interrupt me." 

From another section, a blonde woman was seen, she seemed to be looking away and speaking to someone. The final section, there was a young-looking man that was merely keeping his eyes closed with his hands in a praying manner. 

August cleared his throat and looked up, "We are here to discuss His Majesty's wishes to invade Ishgar." He said, "I'm sure you've received word to be ready for mobilization." 

"Whoa whoa whoa." the blonde woman looked at the screen, "What are you talking about?" 

August looked at her, "Dimaria." He said, "I thought we've told you, we are soon to declare war on them." 

Dimaria scowled, "Did you not get my message?" She said, "I thought I told you to tell His Majesty that my armies are currently engaged in the conflict at our border!"

"Tch! I would've simply destroyed those rebelling fucks easily." Ajeel said

"Silence!" Dimaria retorted, "I cannot risk bringing destruction to that land; valuable resources reside. I must do this how I planned. His Majesty himself gave me permission!" 

Invel looked at Dimaria, "What are you suggesting?" He asked, "You wish to tell His Majesty that because you haven't solved that issue, we should postpone our invasion on Ishgar?" 

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Dimaria said, "The resources we can mine from the caves and mountains over here, they'll prove more than useful. Not only that, I'm commanding 3 fucking armies here, Invel. The rebelling forces are more than we accounted for. If I can solve this conflict without killing too many and recruiting them to our cause, I'll do exactly what His Majesty told me to." 

"I agree with Mari." Brandish said, "His Majesty did state his desire for those resources. And it's difficult to command that many armies. I think you should tell him to hold off until we deal with that." 

August sighed, "To think that we'd be this incompetent." He said, "I cannot believe this." 

"You're the one that sent Irene's army to me, August!" Dimaria exclaimed, "And the other army, it's in need of a commander!" 

"That does bring the question, what should we do with this vacant Shield spot?" Jacob asked, "His Majesty was adamant about there being 12 shields, but there are only 11 of us." 

August looked down and shook his head as Invel fixed his glasses. It seems that there were many issues to be dealt with before the full armies could even consider mobilizing against Ishgar. 

"Seems that before we invade, we must first gather our bearings, August." Bloodman said, "We have the border conflict and this Shield problem." 

"Yes. We have too many soldiers and fleets for just 11 shields to handle." Neinhart said, "Another Shield will be more than helpful. It can take the extra army of what? 200 thousand? Yea, It'll take it off our shoulders. Besides, His Majesty does want 12."

Invel fixed his glasses, "I'll ask His Majesty to give Dimaria a bit more time." He said, "As for this Shield dilemma. We have several candidates." 

"Nah, not those from this continent." Ajeel said, "Those guys are fucking weak. The strongest mages from here are already shields." 

"So what do you suggest?" Invel asked

"Hah! Beats me, Invel!" Ajeel replied

"There are powerful mages in Guiltina we can attempt to recruit." Dimaria said

"What about those from Ishgar?" Brandish asked, "I recall His Majesty mentioning a couple." 

Invel and August both looked at each other, they then nodded as if silently confirming something. 

"Yes." Invel said, "There were a couple of them mentioned by His Majesty. But it's still unconfirmed if we will recruit them." 

"God Serena, The Rank 1 Wizard Saint." August said, "He's one of them. He bears 8 different Dragon Slayer magic." 

"Holy shit." Ajeel said, "8?! That's crazy!" 

"Indeed. A powerful force he must be." Bloodman said

"I don't know if there would be an easy way to sway God Serena to our side but we've sent messengers to do so." Invel said, "I doubt he'll care, considering his position. But we can only hope." 

"Jellal Fernandez, leader of an unofficial guild called Crime Sorciere." August said, "He could be another candidate. His latent power and versatility is quite something to note." 

"Hm..." Jacob said, "I heard of this Jellal fellow and I don't know if he'll be suited to be a Shield. His strength may lack, he'll be on the lower end of the power spectrum.." 

"True. But his guild might prove useful. His subordinates are quite formidable." Neinhart said, "I say we keep him in mind." 

"What about the Dark Mages?" Brandish asked, "If I remember correctly, there was this one Master. I forgot his name." 

"Hades." August said, "While his power might be on par with ours, I don't think he's an appropriate candidate." 

"Why not?" Dimaria asked, "According to the intel, he used to be a Fairy Tail master. We can use his knowledge." 

"His Majesty himself stated he wishes to kill that man." August said seriously

"I see." Brandish said, "Well, I suppose the other one is out of the question too. He used to be in Tartaros, no? Silver." 

"Silver?" Bloodman said, "Yes, I heard from my subordinates about him. He used to be a corpse, now he's a half-demon. He's gathering power to oppose His Majesty. I say we kill him as well." 

Invel nodded, "Yes, Hades and Silver are out of the question." He said, "We must eliminate them." 

August nodded, "That leaves one candidate. The most probable one." He said, "If we can at least get him on our territory, It'll make all the difference." 

Invel looked at the screen, "There are many factors in which invading Ishgar isn't ideal. You just stated the ones on our end, but now the ones on theirs is something we haven't talked about." Invel said, "The Magic Council bears two weapons to keep us at bay." 

"And what's that?" Dimaria asked

"Etherion, Face, Fairy Tail's Lumen Histoire." August said, "And one more. The Man known as Jason." 

"Jason?" Brandish said

Invel nodded, "He's the one His Majesty has taken interest." He said, "Yes, God Serena is a good candidate but Jason is an even better one." 

"He possesses a power that even His Majesty is wary of. We must take him into consideration." August said

"Isn't he the one we sent a spy for?" Jacob asked, "Don't tell me we haven't captured him? Should've sent me, August." 

"Yes, I recall, His Majesty said that as long as we can get him here in Arikitashia, it's good enough." Neinhart said, "Without him over there, it'll be better for us." 

August nodded, "We're working on trying to get him to our side." He said, "But he's rather....stubborn. Our fellow shield...she's trying to think of something." 

"If Irene is on that, then there's nothing we should worry about." Brandish said

"Agreed." Dimaria said, "She might be the only one to sway him to our side. Give her some time and it'll be done." 

"We've done but give her nothing but time and there's no results." Invel said, "What makes you so confident?" 

"A man would clearly think like that." Brandish said, "Nobody will be capable of resisting Lady Irene's charms, Invel, get your head of your ass. This Jason guy, he won't be any different." 

August sighed, "I suppose it's fine." he said, "His Majesty did explicitly said that we won't make a move if Jason is still there. We need him on our side." 

"The Magic Council might know that." Invel said, "They'll probably make theirs to attempt to keep him on their side." 

"I guess it's a race, then." August said, "Who gets to him first? Them or Us?" 

Suddenly, the young-looking man that was quiet the whole time spoke up. 

"Where's Wahl?" Larcade asked

Invel looked at him, "Oh, him." He said, "His Majesty sent him on a mission." 

"What kind of mission?" Larcade asked again 

"I am not aware of the specifics." Invel said, "His Majesty personally ordered him." 

August nodded, "We are done with this meeting." He said, "Go back to your duties and await instructions from either us or His Majesty himself." 

Then, the screen turned off. 

August then began to walk away as Invel looked at him. 

"You know where Wahl went, right?" Invel asked, "I know you do." 

August stopped, "Yes." He said, "He went to perform a test." 

Invel raised an eyebrow, "Test?" 

August looked at him, "Indeed." He said, 

"A Test." 

**************************************

(Jason's POV)

"Man, what a sight." I said as I sat in the grass, "I am not used to this kind of stuff." 

I was sitting on a grassy hill, overlooking a massive field. I was in the country, just wandering around. From where I sat, I could see thousands of acres, spreading out into the horizon. I could spot a couple of houses, must be ranches or farms. 

"So this is the view those Country guys are used to, huh?" I said, "Back in my world, I've only been to the King's Ranch in Texas, but I was too young to remember most of it. I wonder if it's bigger than this. I bet it is." 

It's been a couple of days since I've unlocked the index and decided to train a bit. I was training back in the woods but decided that enough was enough and went on a walk. 

I ended up coming across the massive country. The sight of the massive grassy fields was something to behold. There were nothing but plains as far as I could see. It was really something else. 

I grew up in cities or small towns, I wasn't used to this kind of stuff. Ever since I was in this world, I never stopped to even look at the landscapes. I must've missed a bunch of beautiful sights, huh? 

"Hm..." I said looking around, "I wonder where I should start on looking for that bastard, Silver." 

I had to find him as soon as possible. I can't just leave him to his devices, it's very dangerous. 

Suddenly, the Blue Screen appeared. 

"ALERT!!! ALERT!!!" 

"What?" I asked

"POWERFUL ENEMY DETECTED. DEFEAT HIM AND RECEIVE 20 POINTS!!" 

I raised an eyebrow, "Hu-" I said before a figure crashed down in front of me

The shockwave caused was enough to stagger me as it caught me off-guard. 

"What the?!" I exclaimed

I then felt an immense and obscene amount of magic power, it reminded me of Suzaku's. 

From the dust, I saw a man emerge as he looked at me with menacing smirk. I recognized the fucker. 

He was Wahl Icht, one of The Spriggan 12. 

"Hehehehehe!!!" Wahl said as he raised his hands in front of his face, "So you're the one, eh?" 

"Jason!!!"