What kind of person asks a girl that on a first meeting?
“Don’t ask something that offensive in a tone that calm and polite!” Lucy snapped.
“Ha, sorry, sorry.
Bit much, I’ll admit.” Chase scratched the back of his head, thought it over for a second, and then said, with total sincerity, “Then I’ll tell you mine.” “Absolutely not interested!
Who wants to know your lousy measurements?!” Whatever awe Lucy had been holding onto for the unapproachable S-Class mage evaporated on the spot.
Her voice climbed several registers and the swearing started.
Chase caught most of it in the face, along with a fair bit of spit.
He didn’t seem to mind.
He just smiled and wiped it off.
“Ha, don’t get so worked up, it was a joke.” “…It wasn’t funny.” Lucy stood there furious, practically baring her teeth.
“Compared to how timid and stiff you were a minute ago,” Chase said, still smiling, clearly satisfied with himself, “I like this version of you a lot better.
Genuine.
Honest.” “Thanks so much.” Lucy opened her mouth to fire back, caught the look on his face, and stopped cold instead.
Was that on purpose?
Was he trying to get me to stop being scared of him?
“Laugh when you want to laugh, swear when you want to swear, throw a punch when you want to throw a punch.
That’s the kind of guildmates Fairy Tail’s supposed to have.” Chase’s next words confirmed it.
“Mr.
Chase, you…” Lucy trailed off, a little dazed.
It was the kind of guild she’d never once let herself imagine, not growing up in a house that ran on rules and cold, correct manners.
It was also exactly the guild she wanted.
None of that got the chance to matter for long.
“Hey!
Chase!
Fight me!” A rough voice cut through everything, and Lucy’s train of thought went with it.
A young man with spiky pink hair and a scaled white scarf shoved out of the crowd, flames already curling around his fists, and charged straight at Chase.
Natsu Dragneel.
Fairy Tail’s most trigger-happy Dragon Slayer, and about as subtle as he looked.
Lucy, still standing beside Chase, tensed at the sight of him bearing down on them.
Even so, she managed to get out, “You didn’t even give him a chance to say no!” “Lucy, This is just Natsu way of saying hello,” Happy said, drifting down out of the air.
“That’s not what a hello looks like!
Beside when you challenge someone you need to give that person a second to brace first!” Lucy sighed and rubbed at her forehead.
“Our opponent’s Chase.
If we gave him warning, we wouldn’t stand a chance at all.” Happy considered this.
“Not that we stand much of a chance sneaking up on him either.” “Wait.
Natsu.
Sneak attack.
No chance?” Lucy had seen exactly what Natsu’s Dragon Slayer Magic could do.
None of those three things fit together in her head.
While she was still working it out, Natsu had already closed the distance, his right fist a rolling wall of scorching flame.
Close enough to see Chase’s face.
Lucy opened her mouth, some instinct in her wanting to shout a warning, but a flash of light off a magic circle stopped her before the words came out.
When she opened her eyes again, they were wide with shock.
Natsu, mid-punch, stood locked in place, his fire-wrapped fist unable to close the last half step no matter how hard he strained against it.
Beneath his feet, golden light traced out a six-pointed star, and around its outer edge ran a ring of ancient script, humming with a steady, binding pressure.
Name: Spellbinding Circle (Original Design) Attribute: TRAP Type: Continuous Trap Description: Activate this card by targeting 1 monster your opponent controls; it cannot attack or change its battle position.
When that monster is destroyed, destroy this card.
“Still clumsy as ever, Natsu.” Chase hadn’t moved.
A card appeared out of nothing between his index and middle fingers, and Spellbinding Circle went to work: a trap that spun up a binding ring out of his own magic and clamped down hard on anything it caught.
“Damn it, Chase!
Don’t underestimate me!
I’m dozens of times stronger than I was a year ago!” Natsu roared, and his magic surged out around him until his whole body seemed to catch fire.
He tore free of the circle’s hold through sheer force and drove the flaming fist the rest of the way, straight at Chase’s face.
“Got you!” Natsu laughed, certain he’d landed it.
Chase didn’t move.
The corners of his mouth curved up, just barely.
Flame erupted, the noise and heat rolled through the guild hall for a second, and when it cleared, Chase was still standing exactly where he’d been, untouched.
Between him and Natsu stood a small, chestnut-colored ball of fur, blank-eyed and entirely unbothered.
Kuriboh: cheap, disposable, good for soaking exactly one hit before it popped.
The Fire Dragon’s Iron Fist connected square into it, and Kuriboh let out a small whimper before dissolving into a scatter of starlight.
Name: Kuriboh Attribute: DARK Level: 1 Type: Fiend / Effect ATK: 300 DEF: 2000 Description: During damage calculation, if your opponent’s monster attacks (Quick Effect): You can discard this card; you take no battle damage from that battle.
Chase looked up at Natsu, whose grin had gone a little uncertain around the edges, and gave him a friendly smile.
“That’s not nearly as impressive as you’re making it sound.” “A flame that size is about right for candles on a birthday cake.” Natsu’s fists clenched, a vein standing out on his forehead.
“Damn it!
Don’t underestimate me!
Igneel taught me this!” His magic surged again, gathering into something hotter, denser, drawn from somewhere deeper than before.
“Fire Dragon King Igneel’s…” Chase’s eyes narrowed, and the easy look on his face dropped away.
It wasn’t Natsu’s power.
He was still nowhere near S-Class, not close enough to put any real pressure on Chase at all.
What made Chase’s face change wasn’t Igneel’s name.
It was a different name that shared its root: the Flame God Dragon, Ignia.
Ignia was one of five divine dragons that had risen up after the black dragon Acnologia’s death, the same Acnologia Chase remembered from the story this world was supposed to follow, back before he’d ended up living inside it.
Ignia was Igneel’s biological son, and Natsu’s half-brother.
During his ten-year mission on the continent of Guiltina, Chase had run into that monster by pure chance.
Even now, thinking back on the sea of fire that had come close to burning an entire city off the map, some of that fear stayed with him.
Next to it, whatever Natsu could throw around was strictly birthday-candle material.
“He’s so cute!
Is that a summoning magic like Celestial Spirit Magic, Mr.
Chase?” Lucy had backed off into a corner of the guild at some point, and now she stared at Chase, wide-eyed.
As a Celestial Spirit Mage herself, she had a soft spot for summoned creatures, especially the small, adorable kind, and Kuriboh checked every box.
“Not quite.
Kuriboh, the one that blocks hits, is a monster.
The circle Natsu got caught in was a trap card.
Both of them are Chase’s magic.” Happy, apparently well versed in how it all worked, took on the role of commentator without being asked.
“It’s called Duelist’s Soul.” While he explained, he was already pulling a handful of gold coins out of the bag slung behind him, wandering over to the betting table Macao and a few others had set up, and quietly stacking every last one on Chase.
Lucy glanced over, curious.
The betting table told its own story.
Every chip in sight sat piled on Chase’s side.
Natsu’s side didn’t have so much as a single coin.
“Hey, Lucy, want to try your luck?
The odds on Natsu are incredible.” Happy gave her his most tempting look.
A few other guild members turned to look at her with the exact same expression.
Lucy went a little uneasy under all that attention and pointed at her own face.
“Do I look like the kind of sucker who hands her money over for free?” She might not know much about Fairy Tail yet, but the way Happy and everyone else had piled every chip on one side told her everything she needed.
S-Class is terrifying.