Lucy hung her head and said weakly, “See?!
How could the Master know what I was thinking?” However, no one paid any attention to her grumbling.
Everyone in the guild was already used to the girl’s habit of complaining whenever and wherever.
“Master, how is Natsu?” Gray asked urgently.
Makarov frowned while staring at Natsu.
“To think he can still chug beer with a body temperature that high, and he’s still alive.
This clearly isn’t a big deal!” “If his body temperature is too high…” Meeting Makarov’s gaze, Gray grinned widely.
“I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.” “It’s been years since I froze Natsu into a popsicle!” he continued enthusiastically.
“I’m getting fired up!” Hearing that, Happy’s wings suddenly stiffened in mid-air.
“Huh?
Why are you stealing Natsu’s catchphrase?” Lucy glanced at the blue cat and said in resignation, “Isn’t Natsu your best friend?
He’s about to get frozen by Gray, you know.
Aren’t you worried at all?” Happy took a bite of a small fish that someone had given him, then whispered, “Lucy is so dumb!
Gray is our friend too.” “He just wants to help cool Natsu’s body down.
Why should I be worried?” Hearing that flawless logic, Lucy hung her head again.
The aura around her turned incredibly gloomy, as if imaginary vertical dark lines had been drawn down her face.
“I was just looked down upon by a pet cat!” “But…
why do I feel like what Happy just said makes total sense?!” “Because you really are dumb!” A voice coming from out of nowhere delivered a second devastating blow to Lucy’s mental state.
The girl looked even gloomier, then crouched in a corner, curling up and drawing circles on the floor.
Suddenly, the temperature inside the guild hall plummeted drastically!
Freezing air wafted from where Gray’s hands touched the floor, and the icy chill quickly spread to every corner of the room.
After sweltering from the intense heat of Natsu’s body, they were now being cooled down by Gray’s ice magic.
Everyone in the guild felt incredibly refreshed and comfortable.
Cana closed her eyes, enjoying the refreshing cold, and hummed softly.
“So nice…
it makes me want to copy Gray’s style!” “Ohhh!!” All the male wizards in the guild were instantly ecstatic.
They all stared at Cana in unison, cheering wildly in their hearts.
Take it off!
Take off your clothes!
Cana usually dressed very scantily to begin with.
If she were to actually copy Gray’s habit of stripping unconsciously…
The men of the guild were truly fired up!
Lucy, who was still huddled in the corner, heard the commotion and muttered weakly, “Please, don’t let there be a second Gray in this guild.” Meanwhile, Gray took extreme measures.
In order to cool Natsu’s body temperature, he ruthlessly channeled all of his magic power.
He slammed both of his palms hard onto the ground.
Crystal-clear ice instantly crept out in all directions, freezing every corner of the guild building in the blink of an eye.
Everyone gaped at the ice encasing them!
Gray stood alone on top of the block of ice and laughed uproariously.
“Bwahahaha!
Natsu!
You droopy-eyed bastard, in the end, I managed to freeze you into a popsicle!” He continued laughing in satisfaction, completely ignoring the fact that all the other guild members were also frozen stiff, unable to move within his ice.
Suddenly!
A gleam of crimson light flared from inside the ice where Natsu was.
Flames erupted.
The block of ice freezing the young man heated up from the inside and melted at an absurd speed.
Crack!
In another corner, a figure suddenly grew massive in size, instantly shattering the block of ice trapping him!
Seeing the giant figure slowly rise, a drop of cold sweat trickled down Gray’s forehead.
“How is that possible…” BAM!
The giant figure smashed the rest of the ice enveloping the guild.
At the exact same time, a pillar of fire soared high into the sky from where Natsu was.
Instead of just melting the ice, Natsu’s flames were so intensely hot they completely burned through the guild’s roof, leaving a massive gaping hole.
“NATSU!” “GRAY!” A deep, fury-filled roar exploded, echoing so loudly it rattled the walls of the guild building.
Gray stared at the giant figure shrouded in a dark shadow and hurriedly waved his hands in a panic.
“M-Master, listen to my explanation…” Thud!
A dull impact echoed.
Makarov’s giant figure raised his foot and stomped directly on Gray, flattening him evenly against the floor.
After disposing of the first troublemaker, he raised his other foot and stomped on Natsu in retaliation.
However, right as his foot landed on the young man’s body, Makarov furrowed his brow, holding back the pain.
The foot stepping on Natsu seemed to emit black smoke, and an agonizing pain from a burning sensation immediately shot up from the sole of his foot.
Pained, Makarov hastily pulled his right foot back.
He thought in horror, “Natsu’s flames are truly getting more abnormal!” “To make me feel such a scorching heat while I’m in this giant form…
that means his magic power has increased drastically.” “What a bizarre growth in power!” The giant body then rapidly shrank, reverting to Makarov’s original figure that wasn’t even a meter tall.
Glancing at the sole of his foot, which was now charred black, the Master’s expression turned incredibly serious.
However!
Natsu, who had just been stomped on by Makarov, didn’t react whatsoever.
His body wasn’t flattened either, despite having just been crushed by a giant weight.
And since the table he had been lying on was completely obliterated by the ice and fire magic, he simply rolled over casually and continued his sleep on the floor!
Seeing the young man’s behavior, Makarov’s anger became unbearable.
“NATSUUU!” “GO ON A JOB!” Makarov’s right hand quickly grew massive again, pinching Natsu’s body and chucking him right out the guild doors.
His flames were seriously way too hot!
Not to mention, this brat just casually went back to sleep after being stepped on!
How could this level of laziness be tolerated?
Makarov wasn’t going to let Natsu just lie around in there anymore!
“Natsu!” Seeing her teammate thrown out, Lucy hurriedly ran after him.
Seeing Natsu’s condition lately, Lucy felt sad.
When they first met in the Port Town of Hargeon, Natsu was an incredibly energetic young man who was always fired up to face anything.
However, after returning to the guild with her, for some reason, the young man had drastically changed into a slacker with no will to live.
Her feelings were a mix of worry and fear that something was wrong with Natsu.
After all, Lucy still preferred the old Natsu by far!