S-Rank

January 3, Year x775

A blonde teenage boy could be seen brushing his hair out of his face, scowling at the constant pellets of rain assaulting his face along with the thunder that seemed to cackle endlessly.

"Laxus, you ready? You have the chance to become the youngest S-rank member in our guild's history!" A short, elderly man called out to Laxus. He had black eyes and was bald with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair.

Laxus only sighed in response, running a hand through his dampened hair once more. "Yeah, I'm ready, but did you really have to choose a day with such shitty weather for the trial?" he shot back in irritation, blinking out a droplet of water that fell into his eye.

"Show some more excitement boy!" Makarov laughed, patting Laxus on the back with such strength that Laxus nearly lost his footing.

Laxus let out another exasperated sigh, as he peered down at the large building that sat below the hill where he and Makarov stood. Today was one of the most important days in his life since he had come to this world, and he would be damned if he failed while being so close to his goal.

His eyes became resolute as sparks of lightning began to dance around his fingertips. "Alright, I'll be on my way now," he spoke, looking up at the sky for a moment before he smirked, turning into a bolt of lightning that let out a deafening roar as it cut through the rain, lighting up the sky simultaneously.

​​Makarov watched the scene with only a slight smile as his gaze turned toward the building of the Dark Guild that lay below. "Seems like the Red Hood Guild will cease to exist after today."

… 

*BOOM*

An ear-piercing noise ran out as a bolt of lightning crashed down into the Red Hood Guildhall, shattering the roof and raining down splinters of wood onto the unsuspecting members. 

Immediately, all the Red Hood members scrambled to their feet and raised their paintbrushes toward the figure that had emerged from the blinding lightning strike.

"Who the hell are you?" A Red Hood member sneered, looking toward Laxus' figure with ridicule.

Laxus, for his part, opened his mouth as if to reply, before vanishing and socking the nearest Red Hood member in the face sending him crashing into a table and knocking him clean out.

The remaining Red Hood members recoiled in shock slightly having seen how easily Laxus incapacitated a member of their guild, however, it didn't take long for them to regain their bearings. 

"Get that bastard!" One of the grunts of the guild shouted, drawing a scene of multiple tigers on his body. "Pict Magic: Roaring Tigers!" 

Immediately five lifelike giant tigers started rushing out of the grunt's body towards Laxus, as the other guild members followed suit and drew out various scenes as well. 

Watching the tigers charge toward him, Laxus seemed unamused, merely flicking his hand which sent out five piercing bolts of lightning, intercepting the barreling beasts with ease, resulting in a loud pop as paint splattered everywhere. 

"I expected better of a B-ranked Dark Guild but seems like I was wrong, you're all weak," he shook his head with disappointment.

Hearing the derision in Laxus' voice, one particularly brave mage pointed his brush directly at Laxus. "You foolish brat, do you really think you can beat us all alone?!" the mage snarled, his voice practically dripping with venom as he readied his Pict Magic.

"Pict Magic: Crimson Serpents!" he cried out, drawing symbols on his body that quickly transformed into a writhing mass of serpents, their fangs gleaming predatorily in the dim light of the guildhall.

The serpents slithered forward with deadly intent, their fangs bared as they hissed sharply at Laxus. 

From another direction, a barrage of flaming arrows rained down upon Laxus, their fiery tips leaving trails of smoke in the air as they hurtled toward him with deadly precision. Another group of mages conjured swirling vortexes of wind, creating a minor storm that threatened to rip Laxus' body apart.

However, the threat didn't end there with another group of mages crowding together, painting on a large canvas simultaneously. "Unison Pict: Kraken's Hold!" the group roared as suddenly tendrils of dark energy shot forth from the canvas, binding Laxus with its ominous grip.

"Unison Raid?" he spoke, inspecting the various magics being used with a whistle of appreciation. "Not bad, you're finally living up to your threat level," Laxus smirked, as his lightning cackled around his body gleefully. 

Soon the lightning traveled in front of him, spinning around his mouth as a yellow magic circle with a dragon head in the center formed, sucking in the lightning. "Let me respond in kind then!" he grinned.

Seeing the maniacal gleam in Laxus' eyes the mages tried to turn and flee, feeling a foreboding feeling as soon as they saw a magic circle materialize in front of Laxus. However, it was too late for that, and with a predatory grin, Laxus roared. 

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

*BOOOOM* 

The clash resulted in a force that was felt in the entire guildhall, with walls crumbling and mages shrieking in terror as debris was whipped up and flung at all who were unlucky enough to be caught in the blast radius.

Time seemed to slow to a stop for a brief moment as the distant roar of thunder pierced everyone's ears. Then, in a blinding flash of light, the attack died down, leaving behind nothing but pieces of rubble that seemed like they would collapse onto themselves in an instant.

The members of Red Hood fared no better than their guildhall, as they were left on the ground, occasionally twitching as faint traces of yellow lightning sparked from their bodies.

Laxus surveyed the destruction he had caused, wincing slightly at the extent of it. "Seems like I went a bit overboard this time," he muttered to himself, imagining the old geezer's reaction. As footsteps approached, Laxus tensed, ready for another confrontation.

​​"I'd have to disagree with you on that, I quite happen to like the explosion. That battle was truly an artistic masterpiece– vibrant colors flying everywhere, with emotion from all poured into this canvas' very soul."

Laxus turned to see an eccentric man standing before him, with red hair, a matching beard, green eyes, and an intense gaze. But what caught Laxus's attention the most was the man's missing lower left ear. 

'Why is everyone in this world so mentally challenged?' Laxus wondered silently, though the man seemed to read his mind, pointing to his ear with a grin. "Are you perhaps curious as to what happened to my ear?" 

Before Laxus could respond, the man launched into his tale. "You see, it was one fateful evening when I happened to get into an argument with my artistic aid: Paul. I killed him because of that, of course, but I could still hear his voice permeating throughout my head after that," he began, making exaggerated hand movements as he spoke. 

"No matter what I did, his voice never went away. So, of course, I cut off my ear to see if it would alleviate the problem. Didn't exactly work, as I still hear his voice here and there, but it was quite a good solution, no?" he finished, looking at Laxus expectantly. 

Outwardly, Laxus remained calm, nodding occasionally. "So I suppose that answers how the infamous 'Tormented Artist', Wilhelm Edwards, lost his ear; people have been wondering who managed to do so for quite some time," he replied, though inwardly, he was reeling at the absurdity of the man's story. 

'Who the hell cuts their ear off because of an argument?' he wondered, but before he could dwell on it further, the man started stroking his chin in thought. 

After a lengthy pause, the "Tormented Artist" exclaimed, "I've got it! I know what I'll do with your body once I'm done killing you!"

Feeling tired of his opponent's rambling, Laxus decided to take charge of the fight. Holding his fist out, lightning began to conjure around it, and he dashed forward instantly closing the gap between him and the Tormented Artist.

As his thundering fist connected with his opponent's chest, his body popped with a grotesque squelch as paint splattered everywhere further drenching Laxus' clothing.

"Surely you don't believe me to be so stupid to chatter so incessantly in front of an advisory as esteemed as you, Laxus Dreyar?" Wilhelm mocked.

Growling in anger, Laxus looked around the ruins, trying to find Wilhelm. And although he was successful in his search, it seemed as if he was 'too' successful, as everywhere he looked he saw Wilhelm waving at him, an obnoxious grin plastered on his face.

Feeling his ire grow at the sight of Wilhelm, and his clones' smug smirk, Laxus paused mid-stride and sniffed the air, earning a bewildered look from Wilhelm. 

Suddenly, without any warning, Laxus disappeared, reappearing in front of the real Wilhelm in a flash of lightning as his sparking fist connected dead-on with his mouth. 

As Wilhelm was sent flying, he quickly drew his paintbrush and made a drawing of a Wyvern in the air. "Have a taste of this, you bastard! Pict Magic: Wyvern!" Wilhelm cried out, as a large draconian beast predominantly green in color formed.

Laxus' eyes bulged at the sight of the imposing beast, however, he quickly regained his bearing. No matter the magic, a summoned beast would only be as powerful as the summoner. And despite Wilhelm being famous, he was not powerful enough to draw out a full-powered Wyvern.

"Just cause it'll be easier than normal doesn't mean I want to fight it," Laxus grumbled in annoyance. He then quickly shot forth a few balls of lightning that exploded once they reached the Wyvern.

Bang!

The ground quaked slightly from the force of the explosion, however, as the smoke dissipated aside from some slight burns all the attack did was serve to enrage the beats.

Laxus didn't think those stray balls of lightning would take the beast out, but he did think they would do more damage than they had done. The Wyvern's ginormous size struck an imposing figure, and despite having gone on countless quests, it was Laxus' first time fighting a beast of this size and ferocity and it showed.

Wilhelm, who stood off to the side, shot Laxus a mocking glance. "I won't blame you if you run away!" he yelled out.

The Wyvern itself, seemed to wish to prove his master's words as it let out a loud roar before sweeping down toward the ground with its claws stretched out, ready to maim Laxus. 

Laxus, not wanting to become a skewer, deftly dodged the blow, watching as the Wyvern's claws hissed through the earth behind him, leaving behind five deep gashes.

The Wyvern, beginning to feel enraged at the human let out another roar; the roar this time was far louder and far more ferocious than the prior. 

Realizing that the Wyvern was trying to intimidate him, Laxus could feel his magic twisting in rage, offended at the fact that a mere Wyvern was showing his fangs to a Dragon.

'Seems like I was too scared, my magic's built for killing beings ten times a Wyvern's strength,' he mused, eyeing the Wyvern with narrowed eyes.

The Wyvern must have felt Laxus' arrogant thoughts as it bellowed once more, and swooped down again flapping its massive wings to send gusts of wind toward Laxus.

However, Laxus merely transformed into lightning and shot forth, appearing above the Wyvern's head in an instant with a deadly smirk.

"Lightning Dragon's Glaive!"

[Lightning Dragon's Glaive Image]

The beast looked up with fear shining in its eyes, however, Laxus had no mercy for the construct and allowed his glaive to sever the Wyvern's head in an instant.

As the massive head came flying off, the body of the beats disappeared, replaced with paint that began to rain down.

With the threat of the Wyvern vanquished, Laxus turned his attention back to Wilhelm, who was watching the scene unfold with a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"You… you defeated my Wyvern," Wilhelm stammered, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. "How dare you destroy my artistic masterpiece!" he hissed.

Laxus merely smirked in response. "Yeah, looks like your little creation wasn't enough to stop me." 

Wilhelm's expression darkened at that, his eyes narrowing as he watched Laxus begin to slowly walk toward him.

"You little bastard don't think you have me beat!" he yelled, pulling out his paintbrush once again as he drew multiple different scenes on the air, summoning a horde of tigers, serpents, crocodiles, and eagles.

Despite Wilhelm having conjured up such a wide range of animals, Laxus didn't seem impressed; shaking his head at the scene. "Seems like you wasted all of your magic on that Wyvern. How sad."

Letting the animals near him, Laxus then let out a powerful discharge of lightning magic that zapped them into oblivion, leaving only paint behind.

Wilhelm's eyes widened in horror as his creations were destroyed right before him. "No… no, this shouldn't be possible! My art is unbeatable!" he shouted, desperation etched on his face as he clutched onto his paintbrush so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

But before he could launch another attack, Laxus closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, his fist poised to strike. "Next time don't summon a Wyvern to kill a Dragon."

And with that Laxus delivered his blow to Wilhelm, sending him flying before he crashed down into the ground with his paintbrush clattering onto the ground beside him uselessly. 

"I finally managed to reach my goal," Laxus muttered, enjoying the feeling of the rain washing away the paint that covered his body. 

'Seems like I'll be going home with a new title: S-rank mage of Fairy Tail.'

… 

A/N: And this is the end, I hope it's been an enjoyable read. Feel free to leave criticism in the reviews. Sorry if the fight between the Wyvern and Laxus was short, but I wanted to showcase how powerful Dragon Slayer Magic can be, especially against beasts that are weak to it.

Writing out fight scenes has also been a weakness of mine for a long time, and I'm trying to remedy that in this fic, but please bear with me as I attempt to make more gripping fights lol.

The next chapter will be longer without a doubt, around 2 - 5k words, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to make the word count per chapter, if you guys have any preference just let me know in the reviews.

Save for that, I have nothing else to say, so have a great day and I'll see you when the next chapter comes out. 

Discord link: https://discord.gg/k8sUQypWdT