Chapter 7

Mack didn't know he could increase the rank of his skills. He looked around blankly at the bodies of the bandits. He took steps forward and stepped over a charred body. Mack kept his transformation as he headed back to the village.

Mack was in pain. He felt blood dripping down his entire body. He had left his robe back at the hideout but didn't care. He stumbled back to the village.

"Holy shit!" Mack ignored a villager as he made his way to the mayors office. He opened the door to the mayors office.

"Why hel-OH SHIT! JESUS CHRIST KID! ARE YOU OK!?" Mack walked up to the counter.

"Money. Healer?"

"We have the money but we only have normal nurses! Jesus! How are you alive?!" Mack huffed and felt more blood drip.

"Take me to the nurses… pay me when I'-" Mack fell over causing the secretary scream.

***

Mack opened his eyes slowly. He took a few deep breathes before he sat up. He hung off the edge of the bed for a second when a door opened.

"Oh my! Your already awake! How are you feeling hun?" Mack looked at her.

"How long have I been out?" The nurse frowned slightly.

"Three days. You had four broken ribs, your left arm was dislocated, a minor concussion, a long thick gash from your left shoulder to the right side of your hip, and eight stab wounds. Only one didn't go all the way though. Luckily they all missed your organs. You almost died. At one point your heart stopped. You were less than 5 seconds away from being declared dead." Mack just stared at her before getting up.

"Where are my pants." The nurse became uncomfortable at his blank look and reaction.

"Um… they were ripped and bloodied so we got rid of them. We have some more over there." Mack grabbed the free underwear and sweatpants before putting them on. He removed the hospital robe.

"You have any other robes." Mack turned around and walked towards the nurse. The nurse flinched slightly.

"Uhh no but you can buy one next door. The money was left here by the mayor. She said thank you but is um… busy right now." Mack nodded in what he thought was understanding before grabbing the 24,000 jewel reward. He left the small hospital and grabbed a cheap robe before heading to the train.

Mack sat down on the train and leaned against the window. He did his best to not hurt his back by leaning against the seat. After a few hours he made it back to Magnolia. Mack got off the train.

He started walking back to the guild. Mack heaved a sigh as he finally made it to the guild. He opened the door and walked in. He sat at the bar and ordered a thing of fries and water.

He sat there when someone sat next to him huffing.

"Three days! You left three days ago and your now just back! What could possibly have made you take three days!?" Cana huffed at Mack.

"I stayed after a mission. What's it matter. Everyone has stayed out for a little after a mission." Cana huffed.

"Come on! I want my steak dinner damn it!" Mack was grabbed my Cana and pulled out of the guild. He huffed this time as he followed along regretting writing that note.

Cana sat down at her seat of a small dinner. Cana liked coming here because she loved the ice cream. Mack ordered food and drinks quickly as soon as they sat down.

"Hey want to go on a mission with me tomorrow. I want to reach D-Rank before I'm 6 so I need your help to complete the D-Ranks." Mack nodded.

"Alright. I can also help you at your fire magic some more." 'Especially since I got that power up.' Mack thought. Mack and Cana spent two hours eating at the restaurant before heading back to the guild. Cana ran up to the mission board and found a D-Rank. It was to help take care of a goblin nest.

Goblins were short greenish creatures that while slow, weak, and dumb have amazing teamwork. Good thing though they only ever run in packs of 8-20 otherwise they could do some serious damage. Mack groaned quietly having to move with his injuries.

"We want to take this one!" Cana smiled at the barmaid. She smiled at them. Mack and Cana were on the way out when Makarov stopped them.

"Mack. I thought we had this already dealt with but you still are being so headstrong." Mack turned back to Makarov. Luckily his face was always blank of emotion so Makarov couldn't see his nervousness.

"What do you mean master?" Makarov gained a tick mark.

"Remove your robe." Mack's heart dropped.

"No." Mack basically whispered.

"Remove the robe. Now!" Makarov's magic surrounded him literally causing the floor to crack around him. Mack but his cheek and removed his robe. Everyone was surprised to see seven new scars along his chest. One looked dangerously close to his heart.

"Turn around." Mack's hands clenched as he slowly turned making everyone gasp. Cana covered her mouth to not throw up. Across his back were eight long but thin cuts, multiple brown or yellow bruises, and a very large and thick cut from his left shoulder to his right side of his hip cutting through his guild mark.

"I got a report from the mayor of one of my own being seriously injured. I thought you would come to me. I thought you learnt your lesson. Mack you are to go home now. You aren't allowed another mission until those are fully healed." Mack's eyes widened.

"That's not fair! Plus me and Cana just took a mission!" Makarov took a step forward cracking more of the floor.

"WRONG! Cana took a mission! Macao! You are to assist Cana on this mission now! Mack you are to go home and aren't allowed to take a mission until I deem you in safe condition!" Mack growled. He grabbed his robe and stormed off. He got home and slammed his front door hard.

He felt like screaming. His eyes kept vision kept flashing with red. His pupils would dilated quickly and gain a red hue before expanding to normal again. The heat of the room started to rise as little flickers of black lightning bounced off of his body. Mack sat on his bed and kept taking deep breaths. He was angry. Beyond pissed off.

'He doesn't understand! He never understood! He wants me to be weak! We aren't weak!' Mack was in his transformed look but it was different. He became more lizard and lion like. He had two short tails from each side. His left arm had long red fingers that were extremely sharp. His right arm was put white fur with a paw pad and five long pure black claws.

Mack's bed gained a burned hand prints and claw marks with the other side of him being ripped to shreds. Mack didn't understand why Makarov would dare stop him from completing his dream. He had to get stronger. He needed to get stronger.

*knock* *knock*

Mack froze. Then everything came back to him. He turned back to normal and looked at the steaming handprint in his bed. He realized if he hadn't stop it would have caught on fire. He looked back at the door.

'Why was I thinking like that?' He shook his head in confusion. He stumbled to the door and opened it half way. He was surprised to see Cana.

"I thought you went on a mission?" Mack raised his eyebrows as he opened the door for her. Cana stepped in and sat on his bed. She looked at the marks with a frown.

"Well your my friend. Macao took the mission for himself for some extra cash so I could come over here. I was worried." Mack covered the marks and sat next to her.

"I was just angry." Cana frowned at Mack's answer.

"More than angry! You transformed and stormed out with fire and lightning around you." Mack looked down slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." Cana sighed and scooted a little closer. "It's ok. I mean that was kind of stupid of you. You are seriously injured and I want you to tell me about it from now on. Please we were really worried."

Mack thought about it. She made sense to him. He nodded slowly.

"Good! Now come on! We can at least get some dinner right?" Cana smiled at Mack as she spoke. Mack nodded giving a small smile still thinking about how he acted earlier.