Chapter 10: Is She Your Little Girlfriend?

At that moment, tears seemed to glisten in Erza's eye as she gazed at the Fairy Tail emblem, resembling a dancing fairy, on Alex's arm. She was sure this was the same mark Grandpa Rob had on his back.

"I want to join this guild," Erza said, wiping away her tears.

"Wow, that easy?" Alex thought, feeling a bit smug about his apparent talent for recruitment.

"Of course, no problem. Let's head to the guild then. It's not far from here," Alex said, starting to pack up their things.

...

At the entrance of the Fairy Tail guild in Magnolia.

Alex and Erza stood at the doorway.

"Here it is, Fairy Tail. What do you think?" Alex asked.

Erza stared at the flag hanging above the guild, lost in thought.

"Ahem, do you know why it's called Fairy Tail?" Alex pretended to cough to break Erza's reverie.

"Fairy Tail... I know about it," Erza said, recalling the stories Grandpa Rob had told her in the Tower of Heaven. Rob had been a member of Fairy Tail.

"You already know?" Alex was taken aback.

"Yes, Grandpa Rob told me," Erza replied softly.

"Well, then let's go in," Alex said, leading Erza inside.

At the entrance, Alex kicked the door open and shouted, "I'm back!!"

"Alex! How many times do I have to tell you not to kick the door? Stop copying those idiots!" Makarov's roar echoed before Alex even stepped in, making his ears ring.

"Hahaha, got scolded, didn't you, Alex?" Macao mocked.

Alex couldn't tolerate it. He couldn't fight the guild master, but Macao was fair game. He took off his backpack and threw it at Macao's face with a powerful force, sending him flying and knocking over several tables.

A brawl broke out instantly.

Erza covered her mouth in shock, carefully tugging on Alex's sleeve. "Aren't you guildmates? Why are you fighting? Is this really okay?"

Alex shrugged nonchalantly. "This is nothing. If we don't have four or five fights a day, it wouldn't be Fairy Tail."

"But..." Erza started to say, only to be interrupted. She pointed behind Alex.

"What is it?" Alex asked, confused.

BAM—

A table flew out of nowhere, hitting Alex's back.

Alex smirked coldly, cracking his knuckles. "Wait here, Erza. I'll take care of this."

He charged into the fight, but someone shouted, "Everyone, Alex is here! Get him!!"

Erza watched in horror as Alex was swarmed and pinned down, his fate uncertain.

Eventually, Makarov, fed up with the chaos, ended the fight. More than half the guild members lay defeated by Alex's hand.

Gray, his face bruised and swollen, mumbled something unintelligible.

Curious, Macao leaned in to listen. Gray seemed to be complaining, "Damn you, Alex. Why'd you beat me up when I didn't even hit you?"

Macao patted Gray's shoulder sympathetically, realizing he had sparked the fight but Gray had taken the worst of it. Poor kid.

Once things calmed down, Alex took Erza to meet Makarov. Surprisingly, they had some history. Alex learned that Erza had been captured by a dark mage cult and taken to a place called the Tower of Heaven, where she met an old man named Rob, who was a close friend of Makarov and a member of Fairy Tail. Rob had guided Erza to come to Fairy Tail.

Details of what happened next were unclear to Alex, as Makarov took Erza to the eastern forest to see Porlyusica, a skilled healer and Fairy Tail's medicinal advisor, to treat her eye injury. Though Porlyusica disliked humans, her healing abilities were renowned.

At this moment, Wakaba sidled up to Alex, winking and whispering, "Nice, Alex. Didn't expect you to bring back a girl. Is she your little girlfriend?"

Alex's eyes widened. "No, no! You've got it all wrong. I brought her here because she had nowhere else to go. Erza wants to join our guild."

Wakaba gave him a knowing look and laughed, "I get it, I get it!"

"Hey Wakaba, don't you think your life has been a bit too boring lately? Want me to spice it up for you, huh?" Alex's tone carried a hint of danger as he cracked his knuckles. Wakaba stiffened instantly.

"Oh dear, my memory must be failing me. I just remembered I have something important to do. Age catches up with you, you know." Wakaba patted his head as if he'd forgotten something crucial and turned to leave.

"Don't even think about leaving!" Alex grabbed Wakaba, raising his fist.

Wakaba waved his hands frantically, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. "Alex, let's talk this out."

BAM. Alex clapped his hands and turned away, leaving Wakaba with a large bump on his head and stars spinning in his eyes.

Seeing that everything was settled, Alex decided to leave. The day was coming to an end, and Alex felt the fatigue of the day's events. He planned to rest for the night.

Just as he reached the door, it swung open. A boy with blonde hair and mechanical headphones walked in, stopping in front of Alex with a serious look in his eyes.

Alex recognized him. This was Laxus, the guild master's grandson, who wielded powerful lightning magic. Alex recalled their first meeting, which ended in a physical brawl. They were stopped before using magic by Makarov, who had been present at the time.

In that skirmish, Alex had overpowered Laxus, leading to Laxus's resentment. Laxus had vowed to fight Alex again one day. Alex found this a bit troublesome, especially since Makarov had asked him to be lenient, explaining that Laxus bore no real malice but was simply competitive.

Now at 15, Laxus was taller than 12-year-old Alex, the only aspect that Alex envied. It had driven him to drink milk obsessively.

"Alex, you know about the year-end S-Class Mage Trials, right?" Laxus looked down at Alex.

"S-Class Trials?" Alex genuinely had no idea. Since Makarov had told him to gain more experience before participating, Alex hadn't paid attention to it. Makarov likely didn't plan on letting Alex participate this year, so Alex hadn't concerned himself with it.

Without waiting for a response, Laxus continued, "The S-Class Trials are when we'll have our fight. I've been training hard and completing missions."

After a pause, Laxus's brows furrowed more seriously as he added, "If you keep hanging around with these weaklings, you won't stand a chance against me."

Alex sighed and spread his hands. "Do you really want to fight me that badly? And for your information, I've been doing missions lately."

"Hmph, the strongest will emerge between us. If you don't have the determination to become the strongest, it means I was wrong about you." Laxus snorted and headed towards the mission board.

"Hey Laxus, long time no see!" someone greeted him, but Laxus only gave a slight nod before moving on.

"He's really cold," the person muttered.

Laxus grabbed the most difficult and highest bounty mission from the board, registered at the front desk, and left the guild without a moment's rest.

"Doesn't he ever get tired?"

Alex shook his head, thinking that Laxus was in a rebellious phase, spoiled by Makarov's indulgence. Makarov was an excellent guild master but not the best grandfather, often neglecting his grandson due to his commitment to the guild.

Thus, Laxus was always trying to prove himself, perhaps to get more attention from his grandfather or for some other reason unknown to Alex. But since this was Makarov's family issue, Alex couldn't intervene and simply shook his head, leaving the guild as well.

"Hey Alex, you're back! I've got some new treats. Want to try?" The cake shop owner greeted Alex enthusiastically, trying to sell his latest creation.

"Oh! Let me see." Alex's eyes lit up, and he quickly entered the shop.

"This is just an ordinary strawberry cake," Alex commented.