Gildarts' Past Failure

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

March, x785.

"Yo." Alfonzo said as he and Elicia landed in front of Cana, Gildarts and Yoruichi.

Instead of receiving a greeting in return, however, the reactions of the three were quite varied. While Gildarts looked at Alfonzo with a mix of pity and jealousy, Yoruichi lowered her head apologetically. Meanwhile, Cana glared at Elicia angrily.

'I guess Cana found out from Yoruichi what those two did last night.' Alfonzo thought to himself while taking in the reactions of the three.

"Hey…" Elicia said awkwardly while weakly waving her hand.

"What were you thinking, Lici?" Cana questioned angrily.

"I…" Elicia muttered while lowering her head guiltily.

"Let's talk about that later, Cana." Alfonzo said calmly as he removed his arm from around Elicia's waist. "I'm not really in the mood to broadcast our dirty laundry to the rest of the guild, ya know."

Hearing that, Cana glared at Elicia for a while longer. Then, she took a deep breath to calm down. After that, she stepped forward and pulled Alfonzo into a tight hug.

"We're back, Fonzie." Cana said with a forced smile.

"Welcome back." Alfonzo replied with a similarly forced smile. "And how was that exclusive tequila?"

In response, Cana's expression brightened significantly.

"It was the smoothest tequila I've ever tasted." Cana replied excitedly. "And even after drinking so much of it, I didn't wake up with a hangover."

"Oh, then that means it's pretty high quality shit." Alfonzo replied, his smile also becoming more genuine as Cana continued to gush over the new tequila.

"Yeah, I even managed to bring back a few bottles." Cana said happily. "We should have a few drinks…"

Before she could finish, Cana looked at Alfonzo with worry, realizing that after what happened last night, talking about having a drink might not be the best idea.

"Haha." Alfonzo chuckled after seeing Cana's expression. Then, he leaned forward and pecked her on the forehead before continuing. "You don't have to worry about that, Cana. I don't blame the alcohol for what happened last night."

'If Jamie Foxx heard that, he'd probably laugh at me.' Alfonzo thought to himself while suppressing another chuckle.

Hearing that, Cana breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, Kid." Gildarts said, cutting into the conversation. "Since this girl is here, I guess the guests from Mermaid Heel are still around, right."

"Yeah, they should be inside." Alfonzo replied while pointing his right thumb at the guild hall over his shoulder.

"Got it." Gildarts said with a nod. "By the way, who did they send for the negotiations."

"They sent their guild master, former guild master, two S-Class wizards, and a promising A-Class wizard." Elicia replied now that the mood had lightened significantly.

Though, she did receive a glare from Cana while she spoke.

'I guess I messed up more than I thought.' Elicia said after receiving the second glare from Cana. '*Sigh* I never realized how easy it is to break someone's trust until now.'

"Hmm… Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever met their guild master." Gildarts said while stroking his stubble. "Anyway, let's just head inside. I just hope they didn't bring that blonde chick with huge tits… She should be at S-Class by now. But what was her name again…?"

As Gildarts spoke, he, along with the others, started walking towards the guild hall's entrance again.

"It's Tsunade… Tsunade Senju." Yoruichi replied while smiling wryly as the doors slid open. "And she's the current guild master."

Hearing that, Gildarts came to an abrupt stop.

"Hey, kids, you should go in first." Gildarts said very quickly. "I just remembered that I need to take care of something back at home. I mean, I think I left the oven on."

Just as Gildarts turned around to escape, he felt an arm land on his shoulders. Looking to the side, he saw Alfonzo smiling at him fiendishly.

"Come on, Gildarts, you don't have to worry about the oven." Alfonzo said with a smile. "I was the one who personally installed it, remember. And I know that it has the safety feature to turn its self off after being idle for a while. So, I'm sure your house is fine."

"Damn it, Kid." Gildarts groaned while struggling to free himself. "Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'better safe than sorry?' Now let me go. I need to make sure everything is fine at home."

However, Alfonzo ignored Gildarts protests and dragged him into the guild hall.

'When the hell did this kid get so strong?' Gildarts thought to himself with a resigned sigh as he was dragged along. 'Even though I still have more magic power than he does, his magic power is almost as dense as my own. And don't get me started on his physical strength.'

Just as Gildarts was thinking, ever since Alfonzo's [Soul Weapons] evolved, both the density and amount of his magic power increased. Though, the density increased much more than the amount. However, when he finally released his [Soul Weapons], that would change.

Meanwhile, as the group of five walked into the guild hall, their arrival drew a few gazes.

"Hey, is that Gildarts?" Droy asked in a somewhat confused tone. "But there was no announcement for the Gildarts shift. So, how did he get here without bringing a crowd of angry citizens behind him?"

Immediately, Droy's exclamation drew more attention to the group of new arrivals. And some of the sharper members of the guild noticed the awkward atmosphere between Elicia, Cana, and Yoruichi. However, they were more surprised by the fact that Gildarts was being dragged along by Alfonzo while struggling to free himself.

"Lady Yoruichi!" Sui-Feng shouted as she [Flash Stepped] in front of the group.

"Oh… That little girl is pretty quick." Gildarts said, temporarily ceasing his struggle after seeing Sui-Feng's speed.

Ignoring Gildarts comment, Sui-Feng focused intently on Yoruichi's expression. Then, after noticing that she seemed a little sad, she turned towards Alfonzo and Elicia with a scowl.

"Stop it, Bumble Bee." Yoruichi said while placing her hands on Sui-Feng's shoulders. "Just leave them alone."

"If you say so, Lady Yoruichi." Sui-Feng replied while continuing to scowl at Alfonzo and Elicia. "That's right, Master Tsunade and Fourth Master Unohana wanted to speak with you when you returned."

"Got it." Yoruichi replied with a smile. Then, she wrapped an arm around Sui-Feng's shoulders as she started walking deeper into the guild hall. "By the way, where are they?"

"They're currently in Master Ur's office discussing the deal." Sui-Feng replied. "But personally, I don't know why we even need the help of those training rooms. Although I must admit they would be useful. We still managed to grow strong without them."

"*Sigh* You really need to…" Yoruichi said, her voice fading as she got further away from the group.

"*Sigh* Well at least she's not down here.' Gildarts said with a relieved sigh. "Anyway, I'm gonna go have a drink with Gozaburo and Maes. I'll see you---"

"Not so fast, Dad." Cana said, wrapping her arm around Gildarts' shoulders from the other side. "Before you go, tell me why you seem so afraid of Mermaid Heel's guild master."

"That's a good one, Sweetie." Gildarts replied with a nervous chuckle. "Me? Afraid? When have you ever seen me, Gildarts Clive, Ace of the strongest guild in Fiore, Fairy Tail, be afraid of anything?"

"Well, whenever Lici glares at your crotch is the most recent example." Cana replied while tapping a finger on her chin in contemplation. "From what I've heard, it's even gotten to a point that you can feel her glare through a wall."

In response, Gildarts opened his mouth to say something. But before he could speak, he looked at Elicia, who was smiling at him sweetly, and snapped it shut. Then, after seeing Alfonzo and Cana's teasing smiles, he slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"Fine, you guys win." Gildarts muttered. "But at least let me get a drink before telling the story."

Eventually, Cana and Gildarts ordered drinks. Then, they took a seat at a random table, mostly for Gildarts to avoid Gozaburo and Maes. However, the other two doting daddies noticed this as well. So, they got up from their seats at the bar and came to the table where the group of four sat, with Masa in tow, and flopped down in empty seats.

"Hey, Gildarts, long time no see." Gozaburo said with a smile.

"It's only been four days." Gildarts muttered in discontent.

"Anyway, it seems like you guys were about to talk about something interesting." Maes said with a wide smile. "Mind if we join in."

"Actually, I do mind." Gildarts muttered once again.

"Great, then let's hear it." Maes said, pretending that Gildarts response was the opposite of what he said.

"Just get on with it, Dad." Cana urged excitedly.

"*Sigh* Fine." Gildarts said before picking up his mug of ale and chugging it all in one go.

*Bang!*

Then, he slammed the mug down on the table and raised his head with resolution in his eyes.

"Well, it all happened about twenty-four or twenty-five years ago." Gildarts said, beginning his story. "I took an S-Class quest alone near the Hidden Leaf Ravine."

During that quest, which was a magical beast subjugation quest, Gildarts came across a beautiful young woman with blonde hair, a slender figure, and massive breasts while out in the field. And just as his instincts dictated, he went to strike up a conversation with her. And the conversation was going quite well.

Naturally, the young woman in question was Tsunade. And after getting the conversation to the point where he would usually make his move, Gildarts did what he always did in those situations, tried to get into her pants. And since he was running solo on this quest, Bianca, Alfonzo's mother, was not around to get in the way.

By that point, Gildarts was already aware that Tsunade was a wizard. Though, she used a style of magic that he had never seen before. But since the only thing he had seen her do over the few days he was near the ravine was heal, he did not feel any danger. So, he invited her out for a drink after Tsunade was done with her job of healing for the day.

Then, when they were both feeling the buzz from the alcohol, Gildarts finally made his move and placed his hand on Tsunade's lower back. Unfortunately for Gildarts, that's when everything changed.

"As soon as my hand touched her back, I felt the atmosphere in the room change." Gildarts said with sweat dripping down his forehead. "It felt like the whole room got… colder. At first, I thought it was because she practiced some kind of ice magic. But when she gripped my wrist and I could feel my bones starting to creek, I knew I had fucked up."

Listening to the story up to this point, Gozaburo and Maes were doing their best to hold back their laughter, having a good idea of what was next. Meanwhile, Cana had no such reservations, and was laughing uproariously. Alfonzo and Elicia, on the other hand, were simply listening with a smile.

"Then, with my wrist still in her hand, she asked me, 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'" Gildarts continued. "Then, before I could answer, she raised her hand and punched me in the chest with all her strength."

Hearing that, both Gozaburo and Maes joined Cana in laughing uproariously. At the same time, Alfonzo and Elicia could not help but start chuckling in amusement, as well.

"Upon impact, I immediately felt at least four ribs break." Gildarts said with the sweat flowing down his forehead increasing. "Then, I went flying backwards so fast that I couldn't even tell what I flew past. On top of that, because of the passive amount of magic I released, I flew through more than a few walls with little resistance. Eventually, I hit the ground… at least I think it was the ground and started rolling uncontrollably. And by the time I stopped, I was no longer in the camp that was set up for the quest."

By now, Cana, Gozaburo, and Maes had stopped laughing. Instead, they were staring at Gildarts with their mouths and eyes wide open in shock. Even if he was not as strong as he is now, Gildarts was still an S-Class wizard. On top of that, his magic had the effect of breaking down magic, too. Yet, he was hurt so badly by a single punch.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Elicia, who were expecting the story to end like that, were only smiling wryly while shaking their heads.

Then, just at that moment, the elevator doors opened. And through the open doors, Tsunade, along with the rest of the members of Mermaid Heel walked into the main hall on the first floor.

At the sight of Tsunade, Gildarts started to shudder involuntarily. Luckily, Tsunade had no interest in him. Instead, she looked around the guild hall. But when she did not see the person she was looking for, she simply shouted.

"Hey, Kid!" Tsunade shouted, overshadowing all the hustle and bustle in the guild hall. "I heard you were back! Come here! We need to talk!"

Knowing that Tsunade was talking about him, Alfonzo shrugged his shoulders before he stood up and made his way over to the members of Mermaid Heel.

"Alright, guys. I'll see you later." Alfonzo said while casually waving at the group he shared a table with. "I've got some business to take care of."