Chapter 73
Fantasy time was over and life still had to go on.
Level Six magic remained far too distant for Marshall to worry about seriously.
His current goal was to raise Body-Conditioning Magic beyond the halfway point, then use Inspiration to force it up to Level Four.
His present progress was:
[Body-Conditioning Magic LV3: 28.7%]
[Inspiration: 658,761]
At this rate, he should meet the requirements for Level Four near the end of the year or early next year.
Once Body-Conditioning Magic was upgraded, he would move on to his other core abilities:
[Script Magic LV3: 46.1%]
[Spatial Magic LV3: 40.4%]
[Light Magic LV3: 35.9%]
[Enchantment Magic LV3: 12.2%]
Raising one skill to Level Four each year shouldn’t be a problem. Within three years, he could probably upgrade all four.
By then, his magic power should have reached several tens of thousands.
Most people were lucky to possess a single Level Four skill, while Marshall would have several.
Surely that would make him unbeatable among his generation~
Just as Marshall was imagining his glorious future, Natsu and Gray suddenly surrounded him with a whole gang of younger guild members.
Something about their expressions looked suspicious.
Every one of them wore the kind of grin that promised trouble.
Marshall immediately became wary.
"What are you planning?"
"Yo~ Marshall!"
Natsu cracked his knuckles and grinned.
"All the girls went to some fashion exhibition today, so no one’s around to interrupt us! Ahahaha!"
"Let’s fight! A real battle where we settle everything with our fists!"
"That’s right," Gray added. "Why are we always the ones getting punished while the girls never bother you? It’s unfair!"
"Now that I think about it, you’ve never sparred with us even once since joining the guild. You’re starting to seem a little antisocial."
"Aye! Fight us, Marshall!" Happy cheered.
Marshall stared at them.
’Is this bullying?’
’This is definitely bullying, right?!’
He pointed at himself in bewilderment.
"You... want to fight me?"
"That’s right!"
Natsu waved his fist and bared his teeth in an unsettling grin.
"Master keeps saying you’re strong, so we’re finally going to test you ourselves!"
"Don’t worry. We’ll hold back!"
"We definitely won’t hurt you. Kekekeke~"
[This is all Marshall’s fault! Happy gets chased and bullied by Ruby and Carla every day! Today I’m getting revenge for Happy!]
For once, Gray didn’t argue with Natsu.
"You’re not a little kid anymore, Marshall. What kind of man spends every day hiding behind a group of women?"
He pointed dramatically.
"Come have a proper duel between men!"
[This is all Marshall’s fault! Those women yell at me every day because of him. I’m finally going to pay him back!]
"..."
Marshall was speechless.
Those two held grudges far more fiercely than he had realized!
And what did any of that have to do with him?
If they had the courage, they should take it up with the cats and girls responsible instead of ganging up on an innocent honor student!
Laxus had been quietly listening to music nearby.
Even he turned to stare at Natsu and the others in surprise, wearing an expression that suggested he was barely suppressing laughter.
"Laxus!" Natsu shouted. "You joining us? I want to challenge you too!"
That finally broke Laxus.
He laughed openly.
"Idiots. Beat Marshall first, then come talk to me."
He glanced at the boy.
"The old man hasn’t been lying about this. Marshall is much stronger than either of you."
Everyone’s ability to sense magic power differed.
Reading someone weaker than yourself was easy. Measuring someone stronger was far more difficult.
Laxus’s magic power was currently growing at an explosive rate and had already passed thirty thousand, placing him near the upper limit of what Marshall could perceive.
In return, Laxus could clearly sense that Marshall’s magic power was already approaching the threshold of an S-Class Mage.
Natsu and Gray were both talented, but even combined, their magic power only barely matched Marshall’s.
A greater amount of magic power didn’t always guarantee greater combat strength, but Marshall’s talent for Spatial Magic was enough to make even Laxus feel pressured.
Against Natsu and Gray? He could handle them however he pleased.
Laxus had absolutely no faith in their chances.
"What?! Even Laxus says so?"
One of the others stared at Marshall.
"Is he really that strong?"
"Wait, Laxus means Natsu can’t even beat Marshall?"
Another guild member looked horrified.
"Damn it! Am I seriously being surpassed by a ten-year-old now?"
Natsu showed no shock but excitement instead!
"Ohohoho! So that’s how it is?!"
Flames practically burned in his eyes.
"Then let’s have a real fight, Marshall! Show me what you’ve got! I’m all fired up!"
Gray, however, sensed that something was wrong.
Laxus wouldn’t lie about a fight like this.
Did he genuinely believe Gray couldn’t defeat Marshall?
How was that possible?
Marshall was only ten!
Marshall smiled.
The period when he could still be easily bullied had ended long ago.
At his current level, there wasn’t anyone in Fairy Tail he needed to fear.
"...I don’t mind fighting."
He glanced at Natsu.
"But knowing you, once you lose, you’ll start pestering me for another match every single day."
"I have no intention of spending the rest of my life fighting a human bonfire!"
"Nani?!"
Natsu exploded instantly.
"You little bastard! Who do you think you are?!"
"Aye! Marshall’s being way too arrogant!"
Natsu lunged forward to grab him, but Marshall slipped away effortlessly and floated into the air.
A faint smile curled across his lips.
"We can duel, but how about adding a wager?"
"Fine! Let’s do it!"
"I haven’t even told you the wager yet."
Marshall drifted back down and slowly circled Natsu and Gray.
"I’ll fight both of you at once."
"If you lose, then from now on, whenever either of you wants to challenge me, you must defeat the other one first."
"Only the winner earns the right to fight me!"
He spread his hands.
"Simple enough, isn’t it?"
"Fine! No problem! Let’s fight!"
"Idiot!"
Gray immediately objected.
"The two of us fighting Marshall together? Those women will tear us apart when they find out!"
"I’m the one challenging both of you," Marshall said with a shrug. "No one else gets a say."
He looked at Gray with a deliberately provoking smile.
"Unless you’re scared?"
"Scared?"
Gray’s face flushed red.
"You think I’m scared?!"
He jabbed a finger at Marshall.
"You still haven’t said what happens if we win!"
"Uh..."
Marshall pretended to think.
"I hadn’t really considered that possibility."
He smiled sweetly.
"If I lose, I’ll call both of you ’Onii-chan’ every time I see you from now on. How does that sound?"
"Good! It’s a deal! Let’s fight!"
"HELLL YEAHHHHHH!" ×108
The moment the challenge was settled, the entire guild erupted.
The sudden roar startled even Marshall.
"Natsu! Gray! Get him! Beat Marshall senseless! I’ve been sick of that brat for ages!"
"That’s right! That little punk gets pampered by girls every day, never does any work, and still has more money than he can spend!"
"Why does every good thing happen to him?! Teach him a lesson!"
"Do your best, fire kid and ice kid!"
"..."
Marshall’s mouth twitched as he stared at the roaring crowd.
When had he become this unpopular?
Weren’t they all supposed to be beloved guild companions?!
"You bastards!"
Marshall pointed accusingly at them.
"This is bullying! You’re all ganging up on a ten-year-old child! Have you no shame?!"
Marshall normally had an excellent reputation in the guild!
Unfortunately, nearly every girl had gone to that fashion exhibition today.
Even Ruby had been dragged away by Levy, and Makarov wasn’t around either.
In the entire enormous guildhall, not a single person stood up to support him.
Marshall knew most of them were joking, but he still felt his temper rising.
Damn these petty adults!
All he had ever done was take photographs of their most humiliating moments and spread them around, occasionally say a few painfully honest things for everyone’s entertainment, and enjoy being slightly more adorable and popular with girls than average.
Was that really enough to make them turn against him?!
It seemed the time had finally come to show these fools what real skill looked like.
All those years training with Erza had not been wasted!
Marshall glanced at his status panel.
[Energy: 1,165/1,273]
[Stamina: 1,068/1,088]
[Magic Power: 8,000+ ↑↓ /9,191]
A slightly vicious smile spread across his face.
"Come on, my dear brothers~"
"Let’s begin."