Damon opened the door with an apologetic smile, he saw Erza who had a dark look and felt a little uneasy under her gaze, "Sorry, I was too absorbed in my work..."
Before she could say something, he quickly went in and said invitingly, "Come on in. I will make some tea."
She didn't immediately enter the house, instead, she observed Damon's haggard and tired look and realized he had probably not slept the night. She sighed as she then entered, deciding to forget him not opening the door.
She observed the state of the house and raised her eyebrow, 'This place is cozy...' she thought as she sat on a chair. She looked around and noticed the strange table, 'I feel strange magic power from that...'
A second later, Damon returned with 2 cups of tea, "So, what's up?"
Erza took the cup and said calmly, "I came to talk to you about a job, but before that, you owe me a spar."
Damon smirked confidently, "I sure do, I am ready now. When and where?"
She sipped on her tea and replied, "Right now. Let's head out after I drink this tea. It is very well-made." Her eyes seemed to sparkle a little as she looked at the tea.
Damon asked with interest, "You have a sweet tooth as well? Tea is pretty much the only thing I can make, and I always add enough sugar to make it sweet. It helps me relax and think..."
Erza's serious demeanor changed a little as she asked him with interest, "How do you make it?"
He looked thoughtful then shrugged, "I just make it like everyone else."
Erza was surprised but she changed the topic thinking he didn't want to talk about it, "If you like sweet things, I know a very good shop in Town. Their Strawberry cake is just... amazing."
Damon said with a smile, "I see... I saw you eating a strawberry cake in the guild that day, you like it that much huh?"
Erza turned a little red as she coughed in her hand, returning to her serious self, "Ehem... In any case, the tea is finished, Let's go."
Damon nodded and got excited as he stood up and picked up the Steel Zangetsu, "This time, it will be different."
The two entered the spot from before, thus began their second spar. At first, no one used magic for an hour, Erza didn't use much of her power. It was a fight of skill. Damon was a novice but he had gotten better and he improved constantly as he used both his hands to wield his new sword.
Eventually, he had to use magic to keep up and Erza was shocked by his sudden burst of power. He had grown 2-3 times stronger from the last time he had used magic and she couldn't keep up with him in her base armor. She was truly shocked by his rate of growth. He wielded the sword with one hand and each swipe was overwhelmingly fast and hard while he used the other hand to do acrobatic maneuvers around her with perfect balance to dodge and attack.
Erza equipped her Heaven's Wheel armor and summoned 10 swords, they shot off towards Damon. He became a bit pale and instantly activated his trump card, a giant blue blast was shot from Zangetsu toward Erza. He didn't want to use Gravity and Control since they were a lethal combination.
The swords were blown away by the blast and Erza's surprise lasted for only a moment before she equipped her Shield Armor and easily blocked the blast.
Damon's magic power was instantly reduced to less than half by the blast, he felt a little fatigue and retreated to which Erza changed to her Blackwing armor mid-air as she dashed toward him.
She slashed at him with her new weapon and he blocked it but had to retreat further, her strength while using magic was above his when he had the Enchants on. But thanks to his increased dexterity and balance, he didn't fall on the ground.
With haste, he jumped back and managed to get away from Erza by using gravity on his sword to make it light as he threw it then he changed back the weight to use the momentum to take him further. He flew a few meters and landed perfectly, using control to make the sword fly back into his hand.
Erza changed back to her Heaven's Wheel armor while saying with a smile, "You have grown surprisingly stronger, good! Our previous training has paid off very well, I will get a little serious now."
40 swords appeared out mid-air, all pointing at Damon, 'I can't deal with that head-on, need to dodge.'
"I don't think it is a good idea." He quickly said but she ignored him as all the swords were fired in his direction.
Damon backflipped and due to his balance and haste Enchant, he managed to dodge it. But the swords caused a small shockwave when they hit the ground and the wave reached him, blowing him back a little. He fell on the ground after hitting a tree and cracking its trunk.
Damon surprisingly stood up instantly after, "Let's stop for now." he said as he thought, 'It is getting a little dangerous...'
He wasn't sure his current durability could handle the swords, thanks to it he wasn't harmed at all to this point in the spar.
Erza nodded as she returned to her usual outfit, all the weapons she had summoned returned to her Requip space with a small glow. "I was not wrong, you have great potential in the way of the sword, at this rate, you will surpass me soon."
Damon was a bit surprised by her words but he shrugged it off, 'My magic power sucks so I don't think so... She didn't even use half her magic power, not even close... I am way too weak at the moment.' He analyzed his own situation and sighed.
Erza was a bit confused by his sigh, "What's wrong?"
He shook his head, "Nothing, so what was the job you wanted to talk about?"
Erza quickly got serious, "A dark guild has stolen a magic artifact, Master asked me to go and retrieve it but there is a problem. The one carrying the artifact won't be able to use magic since the artifact drains the wizard if he/she using magic while holding it. This means I won't be able to fight after taking the artifact, I can't do this job alone."
Damon was shocked, "Why ask me? There are way better choices at the guild."
She answered calmly, "You can fight even without magic, besides, I sparred with you and your power is more than enough. Not many in the guild can fight without magic, also, you are the most rational and calm individual currently available; The others are all on different jobs and I have to depart soon or it will be too late. This job's pay is 1 million Jewels..."
She didn't get to finish her sentence, "Deal! When do we leave?!"
Erza was taken aback by his sudden change, 'Is he the most rational choice?' she wondered but decided to ignore that, "Tomorrow at first light, meet me at the guild's entrance."
"I will be there."
Erza smiled, "Good, then goodbye for now." She left without saying more.
Damon, on the other hand, didn't leave. He starting training with his new sword to get used to its weight. He couldn't help but think, 'I need to save as much money as possible when my magic power gets stronger and it will, I will make sure of it, I will need to buy things made of expensive materials. The more money I have, the better...'
The next day, he walked to the guild early morning and saw Erza waiting there with a mountain of luggage behind her, 'Now that is something...'