Another year passed after Erza was promoted to S-class, and although a few more people participated, Mira emerged victorious, taking the fourth spot as an S-class Mage, except for Gildarts, of course; given his immense strength, we tended to see him as a level above S-class. Speaking of Gildarts, that fool returned two years later after taking a ten-year quest, and the first thing he does is take a one-hundred-year quest before setting off. Given how exceedingly dangerous such a quest was, I couldn't let him leave without challenging him to a battle, which I obviously lost, but I will add that I did manage to land a successful attack on him… Just once, but that was progress, and I couldn't have been happier.
"Haa, why are you the way you are, big bro?" Asked Erza with a sigh as she grabbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head before looking at me, causing me to grin while I slowly sat upright, groaning in pain from my numerous wounds. "H-Heh, that's just how I am, Erza." Flashing Erza my fangs, I attempted to exit the bed, only for my legs to give way underneath my weight as I collapsed into Erza, who caught me while I muffled a groan of pain. 'Ugh, fuck, Gildarts didn't fucking hold back, did he?' Bitting my lip, I tried to stand, only for the hilt of a sword to hit my head, dazing me given my grievous injuries, before I was pushed onto the bed.
"You're not leaving the bed until you're fully healed." Stated Erza sternly as she sheathed her sword and folded her arms while eyeing me, causing me to grunt as I rolled my eyes, though I didn't bother arguing with her. It took nearly five days for me to fully heal, and although I hated staying in one place at a time, it wasn't so bad as my little brothers and sisters would constantly come by to spend time with me; I did have to beat Natsu one time as he kept trying to fight me, though that was a usual occurrence.
Once I was fully healed, I started to take quests like usual, taking only S-class quests as they were the only ones that could give me a challenge, though with how fast my strength was growing, they were slowly getting easier; however, as the months passed and as my desire to take an SS-class grew, during one of my missions, a massive, utterly colossal amount of magic power, one that dwarfed even Gildarts was suddenly sensed far in the distance.
Dropping the beast I had just killed in battle, I stared into the sky off in the distance, where I had sensed the ungodly amount of magic power. "T-The fuck was that!?" Shocked would be an understatement for what I was feeling; the sheer amount of magic power could very easily wipe Magnolia off the face of this planet.
"Fuck Magnolia… It could probably decimate half of Fiore." I may be overestimating or underestimating the power of the magic as the amount was just that massive, but it didn't matter since if I ever faced the being in command of such power, I'd be utterly helpless. "Tsk, I should return to Magnolia." Hoisting the Wyvern over my back, I glanced at the several others behind me before shrugging my arms; taking them all back would be a pain in the ass, and while their bodies are worth quite a fortune, I wasn't in need of money. With a Wyvern in tow, I sprinted across Fiore, leaving the western forest as I ran towards Magnolia, which would take several hours despite moving at my top speed.
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Dropping the Wyvern just outside the guild, I kicked open the door and ignored everyone as I leaped onto the second floor, heading to Gramp's office as he wasn't sitting on the bar like usual. "Gramps! I've got some questions for you!" Kicking open the door to his office, I saw Mira, Laxus, and Erza sitting opposite of Gramps, who was sitting at his desk. "Tch, watch it, 'Beast', I would've smitten you if that door hit me." Said Laxus in annoyance as he raised his fist, which danced with lightning while glaring at me, though, unlike usual, I wasn't interested in taunting him. "Gramps, what the hell was that massive magic power that made Gildarts seem like a baby?" Pushing Laxus's hand aside, causing him to grunt in anger, I slammed my hands onto Gramp's desk while leaning forward, only for him to flick me in the head.
"I was just explaining that, Cooper, before you rudely barged your way into the office." Said Gramps in annoyance as he pointed at me, causing me to nod with a grunt as I turned around, only to notice there were only three chairs and they were being used. Since Erza was the closest, I lifted her from her chair and sat down before placing her on my lap. "Tsk, lucky bitch." "Alright, explain, Gramps." With a twitching expression, Gramps sighed before clearing his throat. "As I was saying before Cooper arrived, what you four had sensed was the Etherion firing upon the west continent, Alakitasia, specifically near the Alvarez Empire, as they were trying to invade Ishgar, specifically Fiore." Stated Gramps solemnly as he crossed his arms on his desk and glanced between the four of us.
He spent the next twenty minutes explaining the importance of the Alvarez Empire to Ishgar. I didn't care much about the fact that they were trying to invade; no, I was concerned that Gramps seemed quite unnerved about the Alvarez Empire. Once he finished explaining, the three others left, with Mira and Erza butting heads like usual, though I remained behind. "Why are you so concerned about the Alvarez Empire, Gramps? It's unlike you to seem so worried. Even when the Magic Council is pressuring the guild, you don't seem a bit bothered." Folding my arms, I looked at Gramps, who offered a wry smile.
"Heh, well, the Alvarez Empire is vastly stronger than Fiore; if it weren't for Ishgar's defensive measures, we'd be helpless to stop their invasion." Said Gramps softly with an uncomfortable expression as he looked at me, causing me to nod with a frown before I turned around and left his office. Heading directly to the library, I searched for information regarding the West Continent and the Alvarez Empire, only to return to the middle of the library, where I found Levy reading using her special glasses, which were perfect. "Oi, Levy. Do your big bro a favor and read these books. I'll return after a mission to hear your summary."
Plopping down all the books I'd found on the west continent and the Alvarez Empire, which was just over thirty, I rubbed Levy's head before turning around and leaving." Eh, a-are you being serious, big bro!?" Yelled Levy loudly in disbelief as I felt her eyes bore into the back of my head, but I pretended to ignore her while I continued out of the library. Leaping onto the second floor, I took a second and gazed at the request board, eyeing the several S-class missions, only to narrow my eyes at one of the few SS-class missions; it's been a long time since I'd felt the need to grow stronger, but after what Gramps said, that desire for strength once again hit me like a truck.
'If Ishgar needed a monstrously powerful weapon just to stop a single Empire from invading, not destroy it, how fucking strong are they? Are they an Empire of Dragons or something?' The thought still to this moment baffled me how something so ridiculously powerful was simply used as a deterrent to prevent an Invasion, and it made me afraid. If the Alvarez Empire ever managed to invade Fiore, how would I protect Fairy Tail? Ever since I became an S-class mage, I assumed that I was a rather strong mage, with only a few people, like Gildarts and the Ten Wizard Saints, being stronger than me, and considering Fairy Tail had such strong mages like him and Gramps, I never really felt Fairy Tail was in danger. 'But now I realize that wasn't the case. A single weapon is protecting us, and if that weapon were to fail, we'll be left with nothing.'
Clenching my fist, I grabbed an SS-class quest along with multiple S-class quests before leaping off the second floor and leaving the guild; now that I knew how delicate our position was, I couldn't just casually take missions whenever I wanted like I'd done before. I needed to use these quests to improve my strength even more; I needed to face stronger threats that would push my strength to greater heights and experience even more danger than ever before. Although it was slightly different now, I needed to relive those days from my time in the forest, where I did nothing but fight, eat, and sleep; I was a beast, and it was time for me to return to my natural habitat.
"Six kebabs, please!" "Fufu, be careful on your mission, Cooper."