Eros in Fairytail

Half a day later, they reached the guild building. It was located deep in the forest, as far from civilization as possible, surrounded by a dense thicket of trees. The cloudy weather gave the castle a gloomy look, making the blood run cold in the veins.

The building was a small, medieval-style castle—dark, gloomy, and with a large sign at the entrance in the form of a half-open coffin. It stood no more than 10 meters high, surrounded by a dark iron fence and gates made of dark oak.

"Oh, kids, you're finally back, and I see you've found the fugitive!" an unpleasant, mocking voice sounded from behind them.

The children shuddered and turned sharply to the man. Behind them stood a man in a black cloak, completely covering him. One could only see his brown eyes, filled with joy. On his back was a gray staff with a dark brown ball at the end. This man was Nori Sorenn, or Nori "the Merciless," the second most powerful in the guild "Dark Dawn," a B-rank mage, and the deputy head of the guild, as well as the guild leader's most trusted person.

He earned his nickname for a reason, as his favorite pastime was torturing people caught by him, especially using his favorite spell, "Rotten Swamp." This spell creates a trap where the one who falls into it cannot escape, having only to wait for death as they drown in the swamp.

"Y-yes, Nori-sama, we were able to catch this bastard," Rick answered nervously, bowing deeply to the man in the cloak.

"Hey, hey, am I really that scary? Stop being so nervous and shaking."

'You should at least hold back your thirst for blood, it's pouring out of you, and it's logical that they're afraid of you!' thought Eros, frowning slightly.

"W-what are you saying, Nori-sama? You're a B-rank mage, we can't be disrespectful to you!" Rick said, his voice full of "respect."

'Hey! I've never heard so much falsehood from a kid in my whole life,' Eros thought, looking at Nori.

"Oh, the kids have embarrassed me. So be it, I'll talk to the master today so that he'll be gentler with you."

'FOOLED!' Eros exclaimed in shock and applauded Rick's acting skills.

"Thank you!"

"Well, let's go. The master is in a good mood today," Nori said, laughing slightly.

"Something good happened?" Rick asked in surprise, following the mage and beckoning the children to follow him.

"Yes, we attacked one of the caravans today and hit the jackpot!"

"Wow! Cool!"

The magician, hearing Rick's words, laughed proudly in response, patting the boy on the head.

'AAH! HOW CAN YOU BE SO NAIVE TO FLATTERY! IS THIS GUY REALLY A DARK MAGE!? CLEVER, INSIGNIFICANT, ETC!?'

"Hey, what's with that red-haired guy? He's kind of weird…" Nori asked thoughtfully.

"Ah, he's just terrified of the master's future punishment, see how he's shaking?" Rick pointed to Eros's twitching eye and the trembling edges of his lips, as well as his disappointed look.

"Hmm... I think you're right. The master is terrible when he's angry," and so, the last fragment of faith in dark magicians fell.

"Yes, yes…" the boy nodded.

"Okay, let's go, the master is already waiting for you." After passing through the doors, they found themselves in a hall that resembled a restaurant.

There were dozens of tables in the hall, at which two to three people were sitting, cheerfully talking about something and drinking. In another part of the guild, there was a fight between two mages, and the crowd around them was betting on who would win.

At the end of the hall, there was a bar, and at the bar sat a middle-aged man with short gray hair to his shoulders, bright yellow eyes, and a face with a bandit appearance, bearing several scars.

He was at least 180 cm tall, with a rather impressive build. A dagger decorated with a red ruby hung from his belt. He wore a loose dark outfit of trousers and a shirt, as well as a pair of boots.

"Hey, Nori! Come here!" he shouted, calling the magician to him.

"YES!" Nori answered excitedly and ran towards him, with the children following. Having run up, he fell on one knee. "Master!"

"Well, what about the dogs?" the Master asked with a grin. "Enough with this kneeling crap."

"Yes," Nori stroked his neck embarrassedly. "I managed to throw them off, wounded two, and killed one," Nori said proudly.

"Oh, well done, to escape from five A-rank and ten B-rank magicians, and also kill one."

"You overpraise me, master. They were pathetic weaklings, they fell into the trap with such ease."

"Heh, our modest guy!" The master laughed and looked behind the magician. "And the kids came back with a present." Grinning, he looked at Eros. "I thought you had already escaped, I was even going to send a team to catch you…"

"How could we escape…" Rick said nervously.

"Don't try to fool me," the master chuckled and waved his hand. "Let the kids out."

"Yes!" One of the spectators ran to the door located ten meters from the bar and opened it. Behind it was a group of children aged 7-11, who looked at everyone with fear, clinging to each other. Some of the older children had small bright bruises on their exposed bodies.

"MASTER! YOU PROMISED NOT TO TOUCH THEM FOR THESE 5 DAYS!" Rick shouted angrily, hitting the table.

"Have you lost your nerve?! How dare you talk like that to the master?!" Nori shouted from the side.

"S-sorry, master…" Rick clenched his fist, biting his lower lip until it bled. He lowered his head.

"Anyone can make mistakes," the master said in a compassionate voice, and a gray magic circle appeared on his hand. "Rejection."

Before Rick could understand what was happening, he was suddenly thrown into the wall.

"BUT WATCH YOUR TONGUE! If this happens again, I…" He didn't finish his sentence, but it was clear what would happen next.

"RICK!" the children exclaimed nervously. Throwing Eros off, they rushed to him. Rick slid off the wall and, leaning on his palms, rose to his feet. He waved his hand to Lily and the others, signaling that they shouldn't worry. Despite the pain, he trudged over to the children locked up in the cage. It was difficult to imagine how much willpower this boy had. The blow was not weak, and where he had been thrown, the outline of a human figure was visible on the stone wall.

The master only looked at the scene with disgust. When he was about to say something more, a cold shiver ran down his spine. He felt a strong murderous intent and suddenly turned around.

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Karl, the guild master, began his "career" at the age of ten when he killed someone for the first time. That time, he barely survived. After the murder, they found him an hour later, beat him half to death, and thinking he was dead, threw his body in a trash pile. The person he had killed was a relative of a powerful figure, and it wasn't surprising that he was quickly found, as there were many magicians who specialized in tracking.

Having managed to survive, Karl vowed to take revenge on everyone who wronged him and never forgive an insult.

Many times, Karl found himself on the verge of death, but he survived and grew stronger, until he finally gained the ability to use magic.

Once he became a wizard, his fortunes improved. With the help of magic, he could attract and repel objects, and even people. But this ability had limitations. The first limitation he discovered was that the maximum mass of an object he could attract was only twice his own weight. The second limitation was that he could only repel objects in his field of vision, the same as with attraction. However, Karl compensated for these limitations with his expert dagger skills, and thanks to this, he reached A-rank.

Few of his opponents survived his attacks because his dagger was always coated with poison. For this reason, he earned the nickname "Poison Fang."

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Thanks to his experience, Karl could sense even the most hidden intentions of a person. He could tell that Rick, more than anything in the world, wanted to kill him with his own hands. Karl knew this but pretended not to. After all, how much fun would it be to fool him? And if the boy ever attacked him, how enjoyable would it be to torture him?

But this time, Karl couldn't pinpoint the source of the murderous intent. All he could see were the surprised faces of his guildmates.

'Most likely, it was a false alarm… Okay, time to finish this,' Karl thought. His gaze fell on Eros, who was lying quietly on the floor, staring at him in fear. "This look… mmm... Full of horror, my favorite," Karl grinned. A magic circle appeared in front of him, and instantly, Eros's body was thrown into the wall. Upon impact, his face twisted in pain. He fell to the ground and began coughing up blood.

'What a b*tch!' Eros thought with hatred as he looked at Karl. 'If I had my former strength, you would already be torn into pieces!'

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, little thing!" the guild master chuckled, pulling Eros back to himself by his neck.

"And don't look at me like that. Behave well, and maybe I'll kill you quickly," Karl said with a grin, throwing Eros's body into the wall again, then pulling him back. He did it again... and again... and again.

The children who watched this in horror felt helpless. Only the four who had brought Eros to the guild felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. But they could do nothing, only watch in silence.

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