Chapter 9 : Gray vs Erza & Mirajane (2)

"It's not over..." Mirajane, whose speed had increased again, rushed towards him and attacked him with her long claws that could cut through stone like tofu but he also avoided them before throwing a punch that Mirajane was able to dodge in time.

She tried to counterattack but with the fist she thought she had dodged, Gray's hand suddenly grabbed the back of her head and he pulled her towards him to hit her with his knee directly in the lower abdomen.

Mirajane: *GUHGH*

He immediately ducked to dodge Erza's diagonal attack from behind while spinning around, Erza expected a kick like he did to Mirajane and she got right but the target was not her but Mirajane who was hit hard and sent flying away.

He didn't stop there and with horrible speed, he jumped back-flip to land on Erza's back who was pinned to the ground before forcibly ripping her wings off her armor.

She tried to kick him with her leg but he grabbed her leg before throwing her away against a tree.

Mest: Gray is damn strong but isn't going a little too hard with them?

Elfman: Yeah, they're women…

Makarov: Shut up a little and learn.

The others: Uh?!

Makarov: These two girls are known for their power even though apparently Gray is much stronger, he knows they can take his hits. When they go on a quest, do you think they hit the male enemy less hard because he is a man?! We are mages, the difference in sex has no weight and only magical power counts but that's where this fight is frightening...

Macao: What do you mean by "scary" master?

Makarov: Look carefully, you will understand if you have a minimum of brains.

Natsu:…

"I'm sure you girls could do a lot better..." Gray said holding his sword still sheathed in his hand.

Erza got up with a little difficulty and put on her Clear Heart Clothing armor which drastically increased her attack power.

Mirajane changed shape a second time, her horns became a little longer, her lower limbs had become those of a feline, her tail now had a metallic appearance while electric arcs were visible on her body.

"You are really strong, I never imagined you would be so strong...I really admire you..." Erza said with a confident smile.

Mirajane: (Demonic voice) That's enough, let's hurry and put an end to this loser.

Gray: Loser ?! She has a short memory!

Erza: Her transformations make her already bad and arrogant personality worse.

Mirajane sent a strong electrical attack from a distance that Gray blocked with his sword or rather the sheath of his sword which was encrusted with a small blue stone around which there were inscriptions in runes.

This system made it possible to absorb magic or certain magical attacks to nourish the lachryma which was in fact this blue stone giving the image of a Gray blocking this attack effortlessly.

Erza wasted no time and attacked with her two blades, she sent a series of attacks as fast as they were powerful at Gray who was impressed by this increase in power, she had incredible physical strength to begin with but It was worse now.

He dodged and deflected them with his sword still holstered. It was only when Mirajane joined the fray that he decided to finally draw his sword to deal with Erza's heavy but fast attacks with his blade and with the sheath, he blocked and absorbed the magic from the magical attacks to the Mirajane's clinch.

This form of Mirajane was particularly fearsome because it not only gave her terrifying speed but also attack power even more dangerous than Erza's Hakama armor.

She had claws made of plasma due to the electrical energy condensed in them and an attack with that could penetrate almost anything unless that thing had a countermeasure to magic and this was the case the Scabbard of Gray's Sword. 

Gray fought elegantly against both girls and his technique was completely on top throughout the fight as was his agility seeing some of the complex acrobatics he performed while fighting.

He was used to facing several powerful opponents in training through his ice knights so he was somewhat comfortable.

He not only dodged and blocked the attacks but also carried out counterattacks or painful parries against them.

Erza now had several cuts on her body and was even out of breath, as for Mirajane, she had several bruises on her body and many of her scales had fallen off, this strange leather sheath was even harder than steel and had absorbed so much of her magic that she was exhausted.

For the others, they had never seen such a fight. Erza and Mirajane were only 16 years old and had shown exceptionally powerful skills, the field was greatly marked.

Yet, on the other hand, Gray was totally a monster not by his raw power but above all by his dexterity.

His attacks, dodges and parries were elegant, precise and beautiful to look at, he was literally a master in the art of close combat and the best they had the chance to see.

He continued to fight the two girls until a moment when the two attacked him at a precise angle into which he lured them and through a complex maneuver he deflected both of their attacks and spun around at horizontal in a vacuum.

In full rotation in the void, Gray immediately planted the sheath in the back of Mirajane who ended up pinned to the ground while the sheath absorbed her magic but at the same time, still by his rotation, he dodged an attack from 'Erza up and quickly slashed his blade towards Erza's neck as if to decapitate her but at the last moment, the sword stopped near the Erza's skin.

"STOP, end of the fight and the ordeal…" Makarov gave the stop.

Erza: But the fight is not over!

Makarov: It would have been over if he wanted to, he stopped his blade near your neck before I stopped the fight. I know your magic reserve is high as your stamina but it's useless if you died decapitated. Look at Mirajane, she has almost no magic left and has already returned to her human form.

Erza and the others looked at Mirajane on the ground and completely exhausted.

Macao: Well... the master is right, it would be useless.

Makarov: Now the other part of that reason is the same as when I told you this fight was scary.

The others: Which REASON MASTER?!

Makarov: Gray didn't use magic once in this fight.

The shock was not small for the others who looked back towards Gray realizing definitively that this guy was really strong, especially Natsu who was even more galvanized in his rivalry with him.

He carried the exhausted Mirajane at arm's length, she tried to act but she gave-up and blushing.

" Master ?" Gray asked in his usual calm manner.

Makarov: It's okay, you passed your test and you are officially an S rank mage in the guild, the council will be informed soon so be ready to see your names appear in newspapers and magazines.

Gray: Thanks for making this exception for me, I'll take Mirajane back to the guild.

He immediately teleported away with Mirajane as Natsu and Erza wanted to tell him something.

When he appeared in the building, he saw Canna sleeping on the bar counter, they had forgotten her there with Annie who had taken advantage of this quiet moment to clean this place.

Annie: Gray!? You are back ! How did that happen ?

Gray: I passed my exam.

Annie: Oh, congratulations. You should have had this title for years by now.

Gray: Mirajane is very tired so I'll let her rest here. Also, give me a note of what I owe to the guild for other people's drinks, I will pay everything straight away.

Annie: (sighs) You really are the ideal guy, huh?! Wait a few seconds.

She gave him the bill and he paid by taking out of his storage bracelet the money necessary to pay under the amazed eyes of Kinana, the storage bracelet was an object enchanted by Gray himself and capable by certain glyphs of store whatever he wanted in a pocket dimension although there was a limit to the mass of the object to be stored.

It was incredibly useful but it was not easy to develop like any magic linked to space-time, it required an incredible mental effort but it was doable for him.

He ordered some food and ate while waiting for the others.

When everyone else returned, Makarov threw a party to celebrate the three new S ranks, which was a huge boost to the guild's fame.

The others came to congratulate him including Erza who took the opportunity to talk to him face to face.

Gray: Did you want to tell me something Erza?

Erza: It was a good fight earlier, you are more of a knight-mage type than me in the same style of magic in addition to being a much better swordsman. By fighting you, I realized how weak I was so please (bows) train me so that I can become stronger...

"Stop Erza..." Gray helped her up immediately.

Gray: I can't train anyone, I'm not worthy to train anyone. When I was younger, my arrogance cost my master her life.

Erza: Gray...

Gray: I can give you advices on how to train yourself and greatly improve your fencing though.

"That would be really great…thank you so much." She took him in her arms before walking away and Natsu who listened to their conversation came close to Gray to look at him defiantly.

Natsu: I'm also going to train and kick your butt Gray. From now on, you are my rival forever.

Gray: It's about time, you are strong but training is necessary to become even stronger. I look forward to seeing you, rival.

Natsu: Eheheheh!

"Oh by the way, I almost forgot..." Gray remembered something and pulled out a bracelet similar to his from his storage except that it had a small red stone embedded in it.

Natsu: A bracelet?! It's for me ?

Gray: Yeah, I missed your birthday several weeks ago so better late than never to give you your present.

Natsu: A birthday present? For me ?!!

Gray: Yeah, you said your scarf was your only gift so here's another one and I'm sure you'll really like it.

"Thanks man, it's awesome..." Natsu wore the bracelet on his wrist.

Gray: Awesome ?! Not yet, try feeling the magic in the small stone to activate it. It's easy.

Natsu definitely curious did so and a jet of flames came out of the stone and he ate them immediately.

Natsu: I'm enjoying it*chomp*...(swallows) so good...

Gray: Glad you like it, I created this bracelet and a system allows this little red lachryma to store enough magic to give you a feast of flames. This way, you will never again be lacking in delicate situations or if you are simply hungry.

Natsu: Your gift is incredible, Gray. I'm on fire with this! By the way, you never talked about your birthday.

Gray: It's anything but an event to celebrate.

Natsu: Huh?! Why ?

Gray: The last birthday I had, I was 6 and that's when...well...forget it...

"I hope your new toy will be useful to you but I don't know if it was a good idea to leave Happy with Canna…" Gray said before disappearing as Natsu returned to the others a little perplexed.

Gray appeared in front of Ur's Ice prison and knelt down as if he had no more strength, with all his heart he wanted to move on and move on but he couldn't, he cried in this cold, cried in this snow.

Under the very weight of remorse, he swore to his master not to appear before her again until he had found a solution to bring her back to him, to his side.