Chapter 15 New Mission, Defeat the Lizardmen

"Hey, Gray, let's play again."In the guild, Caesar smiled brightly and approached Gray.Gray glanced at Caesar, rubbed his tired eyes, and turned away.

"...Erza, let's go exercise."

Erza, who was sitting with her back to Caesar, couldn't help but tremble, even though she was wearing armor.

She stood up suddenly and gave Caesar a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Sorry, Caesar, I have a commission, so I'll leave first."After saying that, Erza immediately ran out of the guild.

Caesar looked at Erza's back and reached out to stop her, but Erza ran even faster.

"Um, Cana-chan..." "You are sexually harassing me."Cana, who was wearing a dress, looked at Caesar, picked up her book, and left without looking back.

"Uncle Macao..." "I have something going on at home."

"Uncle Wakaba..." "sorry Caesar, I'm getting married, so I can't talk now."

"Jin..." "I'm going out to sketch! I'm leaving first!"

"Nobu...""There's actually a commission that suits me here. I'm leaving now. No more talking!"

Caesar: ...

Ever since he discovered that combat could improve his magic, Caesar had thrown himself into constant battle.

Since he wasn't receiving many commissions, and the few that did come in were either too competitive or not approved by Makarov, he focused entirely on training and strengthening himself.

At first, he pulled Gray and Erza into sparring with him. But once they realized they couldn't keep up with Caesar's intense fighting schedule or his growing power, they simply began avoiding him.

Then Caesar started challenging other members of the guild.

At first, he couldn't defeat them easily, but as he kept training and gradually acquired multiple cards, his strength and combat experience increased at an incredible rate, allowing him to overpower nearly everyone.

Eventually, the situation became what it is now.

Caesar lay slumped on the table, depressed, and opened his character interface.

Name: Caesar

Level: 10

Physique: 27+ (184)

Strength: 28+ (173)

Agility: 28+ (201)

In five months, he had advanced to level ten. Upon reaching this level, Caesar found that he could permanently integrate the powers of two of his Take Over Magic cards into his body.

It was a huge leap in power.

He also suspected that as he leveled up further, he might be able to integrate more cards—maybe even all six.

If he could gather all six full-level red cards, Caesar felt confident he could even take on Acnologia.

Unfortunately, none of the guild members wanted to cooperate anymore, leaving Caesar with no way to gain experience.

Seeing Caesar's discouraged expression, Makarov smiled and handed him a commission. "Caesar, try this mission. I think you're ready for a crusade mission."

Caesar took the commission and glanced at it. It was a request to defeat some Lizardmen. His eyes lit up.

Makarov rarely assigned high-intensity missions like this one. Most previous jobs had involved weak monsters like rabbits.

Caesar figured the reason he hadn't leveled up faster in the beginning was because those monsters didn't give enough experience. Only opponents like Erza or Gray—those with real strength—helped him grow when he sparred and defeated them.

He sighed to himself. My cheat is half-broken. I have to figure everything out myself. It's exhausting sometimes.

"Master, I'll take this commission!" Caesar said confidently.

He remembered that Lizardmen were powerful monsters skilled in water or earth magic, often found in swamps. If they escaped, they could easily cause damage to nearby towns or villages.

Not to mention, the reward was 20,000 J. That alone was tempting enough for Caesar.

More importantly, if defeating the Lizardmen gave him enough experience, he wouldn't need to chase around guildmates anymore—he could just take missions.

Caesar packed up, grabbed a change of clothes, and boarded the train from Magnolia to the location of the commission.

Saint Caroline Town

After an entire day's train ride, Caesar arrived in the small lakeside town of Saint Caroline.

Upon disembarking, he saw vendors selling a strange fruit. Curious, he paid a few J to try some.

The fruit looked like a pear, but the taste was similar to watermelon—very juicy and sweet.

After asking around, he learned it was a local specialty. The commission came from a group of fruit farmers who had pooled their money to hire a mage to deal with a Lizardman that had appeared near the area.

"Lizardmen are good swimmers, and there are many lakes here... Their magic must be water-based. This could be tricky," Caesar muttered after gathering information.

Often, the difficulty of a subjugation mission wasn't in the battle itself—it was in tracking down the monster.

"I don't have a lead yet. I'll contact the clients first and ask more details."

After finishing his fruit, Caesar found the group of farmers who had sent the request.

Since multiple farmers were involved, the reward had reached 200,000 J.

From their explanation, Caesar learned that the fruit trees—like the ones he had just tasted—needed large amounts of water. Their orchards were located near natural water sources.

While that made the land ideal for fruit farming, it also made it a prime target for Lizardmen. In just one night, they had lost hundreds of kilograms of fruit—worth nearly 100,000 J.

The farmers had tried to fight back but were defeated quickly, with many injured. Desperate, they contacted the local guild alliance, which forwarded the commission to Fairy Tail.

"So the Lizardmen are targeting the fruit. They must be planning to settle here. Since people have already been hurt, I really do need to deal with them."

Caesar nodded. "Understood. I'll guard the orchard tonight. If they show up, leave it to me."