Chapter 4

"Yeah, I know a good place to train," Nozomi nodded, before she took a bite out of her flaming chicken.

Literally flaming, it was on fire as she ate it.

Mavis had led me back out to the main hall, and then insisted I eat something. She didn't care about the fact that food and sleep were now an option for me instead of a necessity, she still wanted me to eat something. While we ate, she gave me a brief summary about Nozomi, nothing I didn't already know about Natsu.

It was after I finished eating that Nozomi had entered the guild, greeting everyone with a smile before she walked up to the bar and took a seat beside me, asking for some food.

Honestly, Nozomi was… Not what I expected.

Firstly, was her appearance. It was remarkably similar to Natsu's, however there were some key differences between them. Firstly was, of course, the hair. Still pink, still wild, but it was long, reaching the middle of her back. Were her hair straight, it would have been even longer. Her eyes were black too, same as Natsu's, but just by looking into them you could tell they were calm, subdued.

Next was her clothing. A black tube top that held up her breasts, along with a brown cropped jacket with long sleeves, wearing silver bracers on both arms. She wore baggy black pants with a brown belt, and a small brown back tied to a sash around her waist. Her body was also very on par with what I expected of attractive women in this universe. Toned, to the point you could see a faint six pack on her body, but also supple and curvy with slim hips and an above average pair of breasts.

Honestly, had I not known that she was Natsu's counterpart then I might have thought she was a different character; maybe his sister or something along those lines.

The biggest change was her demeanour. She spoke similarly to Natsu; however, she was noticeably calmer and relaxed. She also didn't speak in a louder voice like Natsu did, instead she seemed to fully understand the idea of having an 'indoor voice.'

Really, the most distinct thing I had noticed was the fact that Happy wasn't around…

It was leading to a suspicion that the animas and Edolas might not be happening in this timeline… Lisanna was here, and now Happy was seemingly not present. Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, three times is enemy action.

Thus far I'd been given two pieces of evidence: Lisanna not being in Edolas, and Happy not being present… The third piece of evidence to confirm that Edolas wouldn't be a thing would likely be either the lack of Mystogan- but that wasn't definitive to me- or the lack of Carla with Wendy.

"Are you okay?" Her voice cut me out of my thoughts. "You looked like you kind of zoned out for a bit there."

"Y- yeah, sorry," I shook my head. "Anyway, you said you know a good place to train?"

"Yes," she nodded, taking another bite out of her food. "There's a nice clearing that's I use for training near a river in the forest around Magnolia. Nice and calm, and you can be pretty loud, and nobody will notice unless you cause a big enough explosion. It's a good place to train, I use it all the time."

"Now, I have a question for you."

"Oh, uh, go ahead," I nodded at her words.

"Why do you smell like a dragon?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Because I'm a Dragon Slayer," I told her simply.

"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "Who taught you? Do they know where Igneel is?"

I grimaced at her eager expression… Damn it, now I felt bad. "Sorry, I learned my Dragon Slaying Magic from a book. I don't know anything about an 'Igneel' or anything, sorry."

She slumped slightly before she sighed. "It's fine, it was a long shot anyway… I didn't know you could learn Dragon Slaying Magic from a book…" She tapped her chin. "Then again, I guess most people learn their magic from a book, learning Dragon Slaying Magic from a book isn't that surprising."

"Ah, but why is your scent all weird?"

"My scent?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Dragon Slayers have good noses; it helps us with identifying magic. You smell like a dragon, and you smell like feathers but…" She wrinkled her nose. "I can't tell what the other scents about you are… I've never smelt anything like them before, and it's two distinct smells throwing me off."

Ah… Now I understood. She was smelling my Time Magic and Star Dragon Slaying Magic. The scent of a star isn't something anyone could describe, because nobody has, let alone Time.

Huh, I kind of wonder how being a Time Dragon Slayer would work… Would I eat the timeline of the world, thus shortening a world's lifespan? Or would I eat the 'time' of others and shorten their lifespan?

Ah fuck, this thought was going to live rent free in my head now…

"I'm a Star Dragon Slayer," I told her. "And I can use Time Magic. 'Time' isn't something tangible that can be smelt, so that's probably the key part of what's messing with your mind… As for my Star Dragon Slaying Magic, that's probably the other thing."

"Time Magic?" She tilted her head. "How does that work?"

"Hm…" I frowned. I didn't doubt Nozomi's intelligence, but Time Magic was complicated for normal people, and I didn't know if she'd understand if I explained it the same way I did to Mavis "The only spell I know right now is one that basically just makes you feel like everything else is moving slowly."

"Huh…" She smiled. "That sounds kinda cool, can you use it on me?"

"I'd rather get a bit more training in before I use Time Magic on people," I told her apologetically. "It's one of the more dangerous magics, and I'd rather not use it on allies until I've got a better grasp on any side effects."

"Aww…" She pouted. "That sounds like it would make fighting so much easier… Then I could show that dick, Gray, who's boss!"

"Gray?" I asked, feigning interest.

'I swear BB, if Gray is a girl too…!'

"He's this Ice Mage who really pisses me off," she huffed, eating her food with a bit more aggression. "He's just so annoying and he's always stripping randomly and it's fucking weird and I hate that stupid ice perv!"

'Oh, thank god…' I could barely handle the thought of a female Natsu. But a female Gray? No, thank you…

"Anyway, can you show me to that clearing you mentioned?"

She nodded and finished her meal before stood up. "Just follow me," she grinned and took the lead.

I quickly got up and followed her out of the guild, cracking my neck as I followed along. My neck was stiff after spending a week holed up in the guild's library reading up on Transformation Magic.

[That's not the only thing that's stiff…~]

I tensed up slightly at the sound of BB's voice in my mind, her spirit smirking as she floated in front of me and slowly did a lap around Nozomi's body and smirked.

[Do you like her, Senpai? ~] She cooed out, winking. [I figured that, given Natsu is pretty much a stud in most alternate worlds, it was less competition if I turned him into a pretty girl~]

'Well, the joke is on you, BB. I've nothing against people who like it, but I'm not someone who goes for Genderbender!' I told her defiantly.

[Ahaha, you should stop lying already, Senpai~ Do you really think I didn't do my research on you before I took you to this world~]

I tensed up slightly. 'You're bluffing!'

She smirked at me with smug amusement as she slowly flew lower, around Nozomi's slightly swaying hips as she gestured her arms like she was presenting it. [Come on, Senpai~ Aren't these hips just beautiful? ~ Not as good BB-Chan's, of course, but look how lovely they are when they sway~ These pants may be baggy, but they're tight up here and they just give a great view~]

Th- this bitch…!

[But of course, I already know how you think Senpai~ I know you're the type of person who falls in love with people very easily due to your past~ I know all about it~ It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow, but I know you're going to want this big, beautiful ass~]

She smirked and slowly floated up again and turned around, bending over and pushing out her own ass, the shorts she was wearing barely clinging to her tanned skin. [And maybe if you impress me enough, I'll let you have a taste of BB-Chan's body~ If that time comes, I'll let you do whatever you want~ But I doubt your weak little sperm would be able to reach BB-Chan's super strong womb and fertilise her eggs~]

I couldn't help but stare… If I didn't have countless years of hiding my erection in public, then Nozomi would definitely notice when we finally got to the clearing, and she turned back towards me…!

BB had teased me before, but it seemed she was really amping up her game this time…! Was she really expecting me to give into my lust and pin down Nozomi like some sex crazed hentai protagonist or something!?

Even more, tempting me with her body, but then insulting me in the next breath by calling my sperm weak!? My swimmers are fucking Grade S Champions, you bitch!

I took a deep breath as I realised quickly that I was getting FAR too riled up. I counted to ten, and then exhaled slowly. Repeating this several times, I managed to calm myself.

'You won't make me lose my cool that easily, BB,' I told her, the most blatant lie I had ever told. 'I won't give in that easily… You can tease me all you want; I know you're all talk.'

[Hm~] She grinned once again and winked. [We'll see who's all talk eventually~ Se~ N~ Pai~]

I took another breath… Teasing bitch…

"Here we are!" Nozomi declared as she turned around and gave me a grin before her smile faded a little. "Are you okay? Your face is all red."

"I'm fine," I told her. "Just my mind drifted and I remembered some things that got to me a bit."

"Ah, fair enough," she nodded in understanding. "Anyway, here we are!"

I hummed as I looked around at the clearing… We'd been walking for a while, so this place was a good distance from the town, just like Nozomi had said. I spotted a lake nearby, something she herself had probably used in order to put out any excessive fires, or maybe even to test her more dangerous magics without causing too much damage.

It wasn't perfect, but I could definitely roll with this.

"Thank you, Nozomi," I smiled at her. "It's just what I needed."

She grinned and gave me a thumbs up. "No problem, I hope your training goes well! I need more people to fight in the guild besides the Ice Perv and Lisanna!"

Lisanna? Hm, the years she stayed here must have made her a bit stronger as a mage… Granted, there were quite a few dangerous animals out there that could be used- Tigers, Elephants, Scorpions, various types of snakes… If Lisanna had managed to take over those and learned how to wield their abilities, I could see her becoming S-Class.

"I'll do my best not to disappoint you when that time comes, Nozomi," I smiled at her.

"You'd better! Now, I should really get back. There's a job I wanted to take on the board, and I'd like to grab it before someone else does!"

"Don't let me keep you, I'll see you later."

"See you later!" She agreed with a wave as she began to run back to the guild, my eyes drawn to her hips unbidden.

I quickly shook my head as she left my view and glared at the giggling BB. 'I'll make you pay for this someday.'

[Weak Sperm~]

I grit my teeth and slowly looked around the clearing.

"Well… At least now I can take out my anger with magic… Let's start by working on Star Dragon Slayer Magic…"