The quiet guild seemed to come alive as Nate and Lucy stepped inside.
"You two are back from your mission? Nate, Lucy," Mira greeted them with her usual smile.
"Nate? Lucy?" Erza turned around, her expression unreadable on her beautiful face.
"You two are the newcomers Mira mentioned? Welcome to Fairy Tail. I'm Erza."
"Nice to meet you, senpai. I'm Nate," Nate greeted Erza while sizing her up.
The first thing he noticed was her long crimson hair. She wore armor that covered her upper body completely, with the red Fairy Tail guild emblem on her left chest. She also wore a blue skirt and black thigh-high boots that accentuated her long, shapely legs.
To Nate, her attire resembled more that of a kingdom knight than a mage. In fact, her magic was aptly named 'The Knight'.
"Hello, Erza-san, I'm Lucy," Lucy greeted quickly, remembering how Mira had mentioned Erza as one of the S-Class mages in the guild.
'Wow, she's so intimidating', Lucy thought, feeling slightly scared.
Noticing Lucy's tension, Erza made an effort to smile warmly.
"Now that you've joined the guild, we're family. Don't hesitate to come to me if you encounter any difficulties," Erza offered kindly.
"You heard that, Lucy? If you run into trouble, ask Erza-senpai for help," Nate said with a nod, secretly thinking, 'Please don't bother me anymore, I just want to slack off.'
"You don't have to call me senpai, just use my name," Erza insisted, always serious in both words and demeanor. She then turned her attention to Nate.
"I've heard a lot about you since I returned," she began. "The guild master praised your magic internet, saying it would bring about a revolution in the magic world."
"And as a mage, you also wield powerful magic beyond that!"
Her tone was filled with admiration.
Just as Nate was about to downplay it modestly, her tone shifted.
"Let's put the internet aside for now. Since you possess such strong magic, why don't you spar with me and show me your strength?"
As soon as she said this, the guild burst into excitement.
"Erza's going to spar with Nate?"
"That's going to be an epic battle!"
"I'm looking forward to it!"
The atmosphere quickly shifted from quiet to buzzing with excitement, though Nate felt speechless.
'Good news: Erza didn't want to form a team with me. Bad news: she wants to fight me.'
Why is this bad news? Because Nate suspected that if he won, Erza would just keep challenging him. And as for losing... well, as a man, he didn't want to lose to a woman.
Before Nate could respond, Natsu leaped into the fray with enthusiasm:
"Ahahaha! Erza, you're going to fight Nate? Fight me first! This time, I'll definitely win!"
With his fighting spirit ignited, flames engulfed Natsu as he charged at Erza.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fi—"
Before he could finish, Erza swiftly turned and delivered a lightning-fast punch to Natsu's abdomen.
With a loud bang, Natsu hit the floor, knocked out in a single blow.
"Hahaha, serves him right, that idiot Natsu," Gray laughed in schadenfreude.
Mira stood up, trying to stop things from escalating. "Wait a minute, Erza. You and Nate shouldn't spar inside the guild. You'll destroy the place."
"You're right. Let's head to the lake behind the guild," Erza said seriously, then turned to Nate. "Come with me."
'I haven't even agreed yet, and she's acting like it's a done deal...'
Nate watched as Erza approached him, stopping right in front of him.
"Do you need time to prepare? I'll wait," she said with a smile. "Don't worry. I'm a considerate person."
'Your idea of being considerate is all wrong', Nate thought.
Realizing there was no avoiding it, he sighed.
"Before we fight, promise me one thing."
"We're family in this guild, so I'll agree to anything," Erza said confidently.
"If you lose, promise not to challenge me to another fight."
Erza was momentarily taken aback but quickly smiled. She was confident—this wasn't bluster, she genuinely believed she would win.
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
"I promise. I'll wait for you by the lake," she said before walking out of the guild, her stride full of determination.
...
Behind Fairy Tail, there was a massive lake that could easily be mistaken for a sea.
Now, by the lakeside, Nate and Erza stood about ten meters apart.
A hundred meters away, a group of guild members had gathered to watch the spectacle.
...
Fairy Tail Bonds of Love Group Chat:
Macao: "It's starting! Time to place bets!"
Wakaba: "I bet on Erza, 200 points!"
Levy: "As strong as Nate is, just from comparing their magic, Erza's is stronger. I'll put 100 points on her too!"
Lucy: "Why are you all betting points?"
I'm Too Popular: "You can earn money from missions, but you don't get many chances to earn points."
Mira: "Loke, change your username to your real name in the group chat."
Loke: "@Mira, done. I'm betting 200 points on Erza too."
Mira: "Let me guess, Macao started this betting."
Mira: "@Macao, I'm betting 500 points on Nate!"
Macao: "Why do you have so many points?!"
Mira: "That's a secret, smile.jpg."
Wakaba: "Damn, Nate must've given you those points. I'm so jealous, cry.jpg."
Happy: "Oooh, something's going on here~~~ smirk.jpg."
Lucy: "Wait, when did Happy join? And why can a cat even go online?"
Happy: "Silly Lucy, I have fingers too! rage.jpg."
Macao: "Enough with the distractions, get your bets in before the fight starts!"
...
Nate glanced at the crowd, their fingers tapping away furiously on their devices. He didn't even need to check the group chat to know what was going on.
"Stand back, all of you. If you get caught up in this, I'm not taking responsibility."
With that, he turned to Erza. "Let's start."
"Nate, you go first," Erza said, displaying her knightly virtue by allowing her opponent the first move.
"Requip!"
In a flash of light, a simple sword appeared in Erza's hand.
Seeing this, Nate didn't say anything. He simply observed her.
With his Six Eyes, nothing about Erza's magic was hidden from him.
Her magic power was around 4 stars—much higher than his own.
But magic power is just energy, and magic itself is how that energy is used.
If he were to make an analogy, magic power was like the fuel in a car, and magic was the engine.
"Alright then, here I go."
Nate's magic power flared up, concentrating into his fist.
Boom!
His fist struck the ground beside him, as if breaking through space itself.
In the next moment, the surface of the lake erupted, sending a hundred-meter-high tidal wave crashing toward Erza.