Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

May 8, x774.

A few months have passed since Gildarts left to complete the S-Class quest in Isvan. In those few months, he has been searching around the winter country trying to find traces of the monster so that he could put it down for good. Meanwhile, back in Magnolia, Alfonzo and Elicia led their usual group of friends to train hard every day.

The new members, Levy, Jet, and Droy had also been training. However, they decided not to train with Alfonzo and Elicia's group. Instead, they chose to train in their own group. Naturally, without Alfonzo and Elicia's protection, this led to them being picked on by the Thunder God Tribe from time to time.

However, because Jet and Droy were wary that Levy would end up getting too close to Alfonzo, especially after he saved them from Laxus tyranny on their first day, they refused any help that Alfonzo or the others could provide.

So, over the last three and a half months or so, everyone improved at their own rates.

Also, Alfonzo began working on his magic vehicle project. Two days after he showed his designs to Nell, she returned them with all the improvements she could think of. However, since this was something completely new, she was unable to give him too much in depth criticism. So, Alfonzo, with Nell watching over his progress, began working on building his first car.

The one thing that disappointed him, however, was that he did not have enough magic power to create permanent metals that were strong enough to handle any strain that the vehicle would experience in its lifetime. So, he had to use metals that Nell was able to procure, with his money, of course.

Aside from that, Elicia had also received more clientele for her clothing. In the last couple of months, it came to light that Elicia was making the new, more stylish clothing that the Fairy Tail wizards had been wearing around the town. So, those interested in fashion began making their way to Fairy Tail's guild building and requesting clothing of their own.

Naturally, Elicia did not do any of these jobs for free. Instead, she consulted some of the more senior members of the guild, along with checking prices around the town to come up with a price list.

Apart from all that, today was a special day for Alfonzo and Elicia. Today was their nineth birthday. Meaning that according to Makarov, they were now allowed to take D-Class quests from the quest board.

To no one's surprise, though, Alfonzo and Elicia had magic power reserves equal to C-Class wizards. As hard as they trained, it was only to be expected.

"Today's the day, Fonzie." Elicia said excitedly with her hands on her hips while standing in front of the quest board. "Today's the day our lives as wizards begin."

"Ugh... Lici, please stop." Alfonzo said while recoiling. "That sounded so cringe and cliché."

"Aww... Stupid Fonzi." Elicia said with a pout. "That's something I've wanted to say for a long time. Don't ruin my moment."

"As long as your moments aren't so cringe, I promise not to ruin them." Alfonzo said with a grin.

"Stupid Fonzie." Elicia continued to pout as she lunged at Alfonzo and began pounding her fists on his chest.

Alfonzo could only laugh good naturedly. He was glad that the three years since their deaths in their past lives had not changed her.

'I really hope you can stay like this, Lici.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Shit's going to hit the fan after we start taking higher ranked quests. We may even have to kill dark wizards in unavoidable situations. But still, I hope you can stay as bubbly as you always have.'

"Have you two played around enough?" Cana asked with a hint of jealousy in her tone. "Are you going to pick a quest, or are you just gonna flirt all day?"

After speaking, Cana stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Alfonzo's left arm, then pulled him away from Elicia. However, although she noticed the jealousy in Cana's tone, Elicia was unbothered by it. Instead, she stepped forward and hugged Cana.

"But Cana, Fonzie was being mean to me." Elicia said in a pitiful tone.

Alfonzo had to try hard not to snicker at this. Even though Elicia was a year older, Cana was already half a head taller than Elicia. So, to Alfonzo, it looked like Elicia was crying to her older sister after he had bullied her.

Unable to stay upset with Elicia due to her cute and bubbly personality, Cana could only smile wryly while she patted her on the back.

"It's okay, Lici." Cana said. "I'm sure Alfonzo just didn't want you to be embarrassed by the cringy things you said."

At that moment, Elicia felt an invisible arrow pierce her heart.

"Et tu, Cana?" Elicia said while stumbling backward with her hands covering her heart.

That action was the last straw. At that moment, Alfonzo, Cana, Laki, and Alzack all began to laugh uproariously. Meanwhile, Nab, who was standing in front of the quest board, like usual, curled the corners of his lips as well.

"Stop playing around in front of the quest board!" The annoyed voice of a young girl shouted angrily after watching the group of five having fun. "Some of us would like to take jobs, thank you."

Looking back, Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, Laki, and Alzack saw Evergreen standing in front of the rest of the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus with her finger pointed directly at Elicia.

"Seriously, don't' you ever get tired of being so bitchy?" Alfonzo said in an exasperated tone. "If you smiled more, you'd be pretty cute. But the way you scowl and shriek all the time makes you look like a damn shrew."

Ignoring nearly all of what Alfonzo said, Evergreen puffed her chest proudly after Alfonzo said something about her being cute. Then she stared at Elicia smugly as if she had just won something.

"Is she broke in the head?" Laki asked quietly.

"Fonzie's right, Ever." Elicia said with a nod and a smile. "You'd be super-duper cute if you smiled more."

"There is no way Elicia will be bothered by a comment like that." Laki continued.

Immediately after Elicia's statement, Evergreen frowned once again. She thought Elicia would get upset when Alfonzo called another girl cute, so the fact that she agreed with him threw Evergreen off her game.

"Don't call me, Ever!" Evergreen shouted angrily.

"Enough, Evergreen." Laxus said in a commanding tone. "We don't' have time to play with these kids. We've got quests to take."

After speaking, Laxus walked past the Thunder God tribe. Then, he stepped past Alfonzo and Elicia's group, pulled a job off the board, and walked away without speaking again.

Immediately afterward, Bickslow, Fried, and Evergreen also stepped forward and took quests of their own. Then, they all approached Makarov to get their quests approved. After the old man stamped the guild mark onto their quest sheets, all four of them left the guild.

"Well, I guess we should accept our own jobs, too." Alfonzo said, taking a serious look at the board.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Elicia shouted excitedly before looking at the board as well.

Eventually, they both pulled a quest sheet off the board.

"So which one did you pick?" Alfonzo and Elicia asked simultaneously.

Then, at the same time, they showed their quest sheets to each other. Surprisingly, they both chose magical beast subjugation quests. Alfonzo chose a quest to thin the number of horned rabbits during their mating season, while Elicia chose a quest to eliminate a pack of five worgs, wolf-like magical beasts that are larger, look more sinister, and have glowing red eyes, that have been attacking herb pickers in the forest.

Horned Rabbit Population Control

Rank: D

Client: Ariel Raymond, Owner of the Rabbit's Foot Restaurant.

Objective: Kill half the adult horned rabbits gathered in the woods.

Location: Wooded area south of Magnolia

Notes: Whenever the population of horned rabbits gets too large, they start destroying the farmer's crops. Which means that there aren't as many ingredients available for our restaurant. So, please lower the numbers.

P.S. Horned rabbit meat is also a great ingredient.

Reward: 25,000 Jewels. 5,000 Jewels per rabbit corpse recovered. Limit: 20

That was the information on Alfonzo's quest sheet. Meanwhile, Elicia's looked like this.

Worg Elimination

Rank: D

Client: Todd Kane, Mayor of Magnolia

Objective: Kill all five worgs located in the forest.

Location: Forest East of Magnolia.

Notes: Six herb pickers have been injured, while one has been killed by these worgs. This menace has to be stopped. If it is not brought to an end soon, Magnolia's production of medicines and salves will be affected greatly.

Reward: 25,000 Jewels

"Fonzie, are you gonna kill the bunnies while their making babies?" Elicia asked in an incredulous tone with a slight frown on her face.

"It can't be helped, they'll mess up the crops if their let alone." Alfonzo replied. Then, with a cunning smile, he continued. "Plus, horned rabbit meat is delicious, right?"

After remembering the stew Alfonzo made the other day, Elicia's frown disappeared. Then, like the others, she began to drool just remembering the taste of that stew.

"Well, it wouldn't be good if the horned rabbit population grew too large." Elicia said in a righteous tone. "Fonzie, you have to complete this job for the sake of the town."

While Alfonzo smiled at Elicia's quick change in attitude, Cana, Laki, and Alzack looked at her with deadpan expressions. Seeing that, Elicia's upper lip began to twitch while she tried to maintain her righteous expression.

"Anyway, I'm surprised you took that quest, Lici." Alfonzo said, ending the awkward silence. "I didn't think you'd take a job to kill worgs."

"Hmph! They're hurting people." Elicia said. That statement was more than enough to explain why she took the quest. "I don't know why they don't just hunt all those horned rabbits. There must be a lot of them."

"It's probably because people are slower." Laki replied. "I'd rather chase slow humans than fast rabbits."

"Plus, people don't have those horns." Alzack said.

"Yeah, they must hurt going down." Cana added.

"And even more coming out." Alfonzo said with a snicker.

"Eww." Elicia, Cana, and Laki exclaimed simultaneously.

"Anyway, let's take these to Gramps." Alfonzo said. "We need his approval to take these jobs, after all."

"Kay~!" Elicia said excitedly.

Like that, Alfonzo, Elicia, and the rest of the group walked toward the bar where Makarov was sitting in his usual spot.

"Finally chose your first quests, kids?" Makarov asked while nursing a mug of beer.

"Yup, it's right here, Gramps." Elicia said, holding up her quest sheet.

"I got mine too, Gramps." Alfonzo said, handing his quest sheet to Makarov, as well.

"Hmm... I expected you two to go together on your first quest." Makarov said as he set down his mug. Then, he reached forward with both of his hands and took hold of the quest sheets.

"Is that a problem, Gramps?" Alfonzo asked.

"No, not a problem at all." Makarov replied as he started to read the quest sheets. "Just unexpected."

After that, silence fell in the immediate area. Then, after a few moments, Makarov put the two quest sheets on the bar in front of him. Makarov then took out his guild stamp and stamped the two sheets. Smiling brightly, he handed the two sheets back to Alfonzo and Elicia.

"Now... Both of you have chosen your first quests and they've been approved by the guild master, me." Makarov said, standing up on the bar. A moment later, he jumped off the bar and landed in front of Alfonzo and Elicia. "Now, it's time for you to receive your own guild marks!"

At the end, Makarov raised his voice so that it could be heard over all the noise in the guild hall. Then, once his words registered with all the guild members in the hall, they all cheered loudly.

"Yeah~~~~~!" The Fairy Tail wizards cheered.

"Now, where do you want your guild mark, kids?" Makarov asked, pulling another stamp out of his clothes.

"Right here." Elicia said, pointing to the front of her left shoulder. "Make it pink."

"Here for me." Alfonzo said, pulling up his shirt and pointing to the right side of his abdomen. "And I'll take silver."

Without wasting any time, Makarov stamped Alfonzo and Elicia with the guild's mark in their chosen locations. Then, the marks changed to the colors they requested.

Looking at their guild marks, Neither Alfonzo nor Elicia could help smiling excitedly. Before they could get lost in the feeling of accomplishment, Makarov, who had jumped back onto the bar, raised his voice once more.

"Now... Everyone, help me in celebrating the birth of two more Fairy Tail wizards." Makarov shouted while raising his mug.

"Yeah~~~~~!" The rest of the members of the guild shouted as they raised their own cups.

Then, at the same time, Makarov and all the other guild members downed their drinks.