Trying New Things

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

November, x784.

A few days have passed since the two allied wizarding quests were completed. Currently, Alfonzo, who was in a training room with a large number of his friends from the guild, was working on his Eskrima skills. Even though he rarely used them lately, he needed to keep his skills sharp as they were the basis for all his skills in close quarters combat.

"How is he even still moving?" Gajeel asked curiously. "I mean, look at that gravity setting. I can barely even twitch when the gravity is set at thirty times. But he's got it set to fifty times normal gravity."

"It's because his body has been strengthened by Techno Organic Metal." Sun said cheerfully.

"Techno Organic Metal?" Gajeel asked with his eyes lighting up. "I've never heard of that. Is it tasty? What does it look like?"

"I'm not sure if it's tasty." Sun said while tilting her head cutely. "I don't think any of us have tried to eat it before. But it's a shiny black metal that can move on its own. It kinda looks like a slime when it moves."

"Really?" Gajeel asked, looking more excited the more Sun explained. "Where does it come from? I wanna find some and try eating it myself."

"I'm not sure." Sun replied. "Originally, we found it in Resenbool…"

With that, Sun told Gajeel about the first quest she ever went on with Alfonzo. And after hearing about the properties of the Techno Organic Metal she witnessed, Gajeel could no longer hold himself back.

"Hey, Alfonzo!" Gajeel shouted as he dashed towards Alfonzo excitedly. "Can you make some of that techno whatever metal for me to--- Urgh!"

*Bang!*

So excited at the prospect of eating a new metal, Gajeel forgot that Alfonzo was training in a high gravity field. As a result, he was slammed face first into the floor of the training room.

Alfonzo, on the other hand, stopped his training after hearing someone call his name and the subsequent loud bang. Looking over to where the voice came from, he saw Gajeel pressed into the ground and unable to even twitch in pain because of the gravity.

"*Sigh* You older Dragon Slayers never think before you act." Alfonzo said while shaking his head as he made his way over to the gravity control sigils. Then, after changing the gravity in the area back to normal, he made his way over to Gajeel. "So, what's up? That was you calling for me, right?"

As if he had never been flattened against the floor, Gajeel hopped up immediately with an excited glint in his eyes.

"Let me taste some of that moving metal." Gajeel said while grabbing Alfonzo by the shoulders. "I've never even seen anything like it. So, I really need to try it."

Hearing Gajeel's request, Alfonzo glanced at Sun, who was the only person standing in the direction behind Gajeel. Seeing her sweet smile, he concluded that she must have told Gajeel about it.

"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a shrug before shaking off Gajeel's grip.

A moment later, Alfonzo held up his left hand and created a strand of Techno Organic metal that he held out towards Gajeel.

Acting quickly, Gajeel snatched away the strand of living metal before putting it in his mouth and chewing with gusto. At the same time, the look of euphoria he wore on his face let Alfonzo know exactly what he thought of the taste of the metal.

"Well, I guess he likes it." Alfonzo said with a shrug before looking at the clock in the training room. "Alright, guys, it's time to shut it down for the day. We've all got shit to do, right?"

Hearing Alfonzo's voice, the other people in the room paused before looking at the clock as well. Then, when they noticed the time, they finished whatever it was they were doing before filing out of the training room.

"So, what are your plans for today" Cana asked, jumping on Alfonzo's back as he walked out of the training room.

"Same as usual. Researching stuff in the library." Alfonzo replied with a smile as he reached back and combed his fingers through Cana's hair.

Squinting her eyes in pleasure, Cana enjoyed Alfonzo's fingertips as they gently brushed against her scalp. A moment later, however, she snapped out of the pleasant feelings his action brought and wore a pout on her face.

"All you ever do is research lately." Cana said with her cheeks puffed out. "When is the last time you took a quest with any of us?"

"Well, I did just get back from a quest with Mira and Marin, right?" Alfonzo replied while tilting his head.

"You know damn well that's not what I meant." Cana said, reaching forward to pinch Alfonzo's nipples threw his training gear.

""Ah! Shit! Stop!" Alfonzo shouted in pain.

No matter how much he strengthened his body with the Techno Organic Metal, sensitive parts of the body are still sensitive, after all.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Alfonzo said, finally able to pull Cana's fingers away from his nipples. "I know it's been a while since I've been on a regular quest, but this research is important."

"If it's so important, why won't you tell us about it?" Erza, who was the next one to leave the room, asked from behind Alfonzo and Cana. "We might be able to help you with whatever it is that you're working on."

"As much as I appreciate the offer." Alfonzo said as he reached back and pulled Cana to his front, supporting her under her butt with one arm. "You don't exactly have the necessary skill set to help with this research. The sigils needed to make this project work are really complex."

Hearing that, Cana and Erza could not argue with what Alfonzo said. They knew that his knowledge when it comes to sigils was leaps and bounds ahead of theirs, even if they knew what each sigil meant, they were not knowledgeable enough to know what would happen when they were combined.

"Does that mean you've been asking Levy for help?" Lucy asked, having overheard the conversation. "I mean, she spends almost all her free time in the library, too."

"Although she's definitely a genius when it comes to [Word Magic], I haven't asked her for help." Alfonzo said as he pulled Erza into his other arm. "Honestly, it took a lot of research to even get started on what I'm doing. Since I had to research the spell I wanted my new magic items to interact with as well."

"But you won't even tell us what spell it is." Cana said, puffing her cheeks out again.

"Stop bothering him about it, Cana." Elicia said as she snuck up behind Cana. "You make it seem like he's not allowed to have secrets of his own. Or do you want me to tell him about your secrets. Like how---"

Before Elicia could finish, Cana jumped out of Alfonzo's arms and put her hands on Elicia's mouth.

"Okay, I get it! I get it!" Cana said while looking back at Alfonzo' nervously. "We don't have to talk about that, okay?"

"About what?" Alfonzo asked with a confused expression. "Are you talking about where all my expensive whisky and cognac have been going?"

Hearing that, Cana's eyes widened in disbelief. Then, she glared at Elicia.

"You told him?" Cana asked angrily.

Rolling her eyes, Elicia pulled Cana's hands away from her mouth.

"Of course not." Elicia replied. "I promised I wouldn't. And I don't' break my promises."

"Then how?" Cana asked, her gaze shifting back to Alfonzo.

In response, everyone listening to the conversation rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"You really think it was hard to figure out?" Alfonzo asked as he started walking towards the showers. "I mean, seriously, I' m the only one in the house who drinks dark liquor, other than you."

Hearing that, Cana froze where she stood with her eyes wide open.

"Didn't really think that one through, did you, Cana?" Ultear asked with a smirk as she walked past Cana.

"You're lucky he loves you so much, Cana." Mirajane said, following the others out of the training room. "Some of that whiskey you drank is really~~~ expensive."

"Really?" Cana asked, snapping out of her shock. Then, she turned and followed the other girls to the showers. "How much?"

"It's almost 20,000 Jewels a fifth." Marin replied. "It's Alfonzo's favorite."

Once again, Cana opened her eyes wide in disbelief. But at least she now knew why that particular bottle of whiskey tasted so good.

"*Sigh* I guess I really do need to take a good long look at myself." Cana muttered.

"Actually, you don't have to worry about it so much." Elicia said with a smile. "If it was really a problem, Fonzie would have said something to you about it. Like when you got mad over Phantom Lord destroying your barrel of ale. As long as you don't put anyone in danger because of your drinking, he won't even care."

Hearing that, Cana breathed a sigh of relief.

"Still, you should just ask him if you can have some." Elicia added just before she walked into the shower room. "He wouldn't say no. IN fact, he'd probably have a drink with you. Then, I can only imagine all the fun the two of you would end up having."

For the third time, Cana froze. Then, she kicked herself mentally for not thinking of that earlier before following the other girls into the shower room.

Just like that, the girls continued to chatter while they got cleaned up after their training. Meanwhile, Alfonzo and the guys, who got cleaned up much faster, made their way down to the guild hall's first floor to have lunch after training.

"Come on, Alfonzo, give me another piece of that metal." Gajeel said, pestering Alfonzo as soon as he came down the stairs.

"*Sigh* I'm gonna have to punish Sun later for telling him about the Techno Organic Metal." Alfonzo muttered to himself with a mischievous smile on his face. A moment later, he shook his head to erase those thoughts before he turned his attention back to the Dragon Slayer in fromt of him. "Before I do that, I'm curious, did eating the Techno Organic Metal cause any changes to your iron?"

That question caused Gajeel to pause for a moment. He actually didn't even think about it before Alfonzo asked.

"I mean, if you eat a bunch of carbon, you can make steel and not just iron, right?" Alfonzo asked.

"Yeah, I can." Gajeel replied with a nod. "But I get really sick afterwards."

"Well, let's see if the Techno Organic Metal caused any changes in your metal, then." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Now, start the experiment!"

Alfonzo's weird exclamation caused all the other guys at the table to look at him funny. Even Alfonzo felt a bit awkward after he said it.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me just now." Alfonzo said with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Maybe you just need a good meal." Natsu said with excitement in his tone. "And since you're the best cook here, you should probably cook yourself something."

Hearing Natsu's suggestion, the other guys' eyes lit up as well. They all knew that if Alfonzo was cooking something for himself, he wouldn't mind cooking for everyone else, provided they paid for it, while he was in the kitchen. As a result, they could get one of his meals and not have to use any of their hard earned guild points.

"I'll think about it." Alfonzo said with a twitching lip. "For now, let's see if Gajeel's metal has gained any new properties."

'You bastards think I don't know what you're thinking?' Alfonzo asked while scoffing internally. 'If I set foot in that kitchen, all my time for research will disappear. I mean, seriously, the whole guild watches me like a hawk any time I even get close to the bar.'

"Right." Gajeel replied with a nod as he transformed his hand into iron. "But what am I supposed to be looking for?"

"Hmm…" Alfonzo hummed in thought. Then, the image of one of his favorite Marvel anti-heroes popped into his head. "Maybe you could use it to cover your whole body and act as a kind of suit or armor."

Hearing Alfonzo's suggestion, Gajeel nodded his head. Then, he was covered in iron a moment later.

"But if I'm covered in iron like this, how am I supposed to move?" Gajeel asked curiously.

"Well, have you even tried moving yet?" Alfonzo asked.

"Oh." Gajeel said, realizing that he hadn't.

"Actually, now that I think about it." Alfonzo muttered as he too was covered in metal.

"Hmm?" Gajeel hummed in confusion after seeing Alfonz cover himself in metal as well.

A moment later, Alfonzo was covered in a black, skin-tight layer of Techno Organic Metal. The only parts of his new ensemble that were not black were the two white oval shaped spots that covered his eyes and a strange spider shaped symbol that covered most of his chest and abdomen, which were white in color.

"Yup, that's exactly what I was expecting when I tried this out." Alfonzo said with a nod, his voice not at all muffled by the layer of metal covering his mouth.

Just at that moment, the elevator doors opened and the girls made their way into the hall on the first floor. Looking over in the direction of their usual table, they were all shocked to see a man covered in iron and a man wearing a black body suit with a spider pattern on the chest.

"Who is that?" Bisca asked, pointing at Alfonzo's new look.

"I don't know." Levy replied. "I've never seen anyone dressed like that before.

Naturally, the only person who knew about what Alfonzo was wearing was Elicia. And when she saw him, her eyes lit up in excitement.

"Fonzie!" Elicia squealed excitedly. "That's so cool. It's like you've fused with the Venom Symbiote!"

 Hearing Elicia's squeal, Alfonzo turned his head in her direction. Then, he raised his right hand towards the ceiling. A moment later, a tendril of liquid metal shot up towards the ceiling before sticking there. Then, he leapt off the floor and swung himself in Elicia's direction.

"Hahaha! I knew you'd get it." Alfonzo said as he landed in front of Elicia. Willing the Techno Organic Metal to peel back from his face, he swept her off of her feet and started spinning around happily. "I don't know why I never thought of this earlier."

Meanwhile, as Alfonzo and Elicia laughed happily, everyone else looked at them in confusion while thinking the same thing.

'What the hell is a Venom Symbiote?'

Meanwhile, Gajeel, after seeing Alfonzo and how he wrapped himself with metal, he finally understood what Alfonzo was talking about. So, after concentrating for a while, the iron surrounding him started to slowly change into a suit that he could wear, as well.

Slowly, starting from the head, the iron covering Gajeel's body morphed into a small, humanoid version of his dragon parent, Metalicana. With white, beady looking eyes surrounded by black iron scales, a hinged jaw section, and silvery scales and claws that covered his entire body. He even had a black Fairy Tail symbol on is left shoulder.

"Whoa! Gajeel, you look like a dragon ow!" Natsu shouted excitedly after noticing Gajeel's changes.

Natsu's shout immediately drew everyone's attention towards Gajeel, causing another round of discussion to begin.

Eventually, all the excitement died down and everyone finally had their lunches after training. Then, just as lunched ended, Alfonzo pulled Elicia and Erza aside before taking three pendants in the shape of the Fairy Tail symbol out of his pockets. Then, he handed one to each of them while keeping the third for himself.

"What is this?" Erza asked curiously while looking at the metal pendant Alfonzo just handed her.

Even though Elicia had an idea of the pendant's identity, she waited for Alfonzo to answer the question.

"That pendant is the embryonic form of the soul weapons I've been developing based on what I found from that scientist, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's research." Alfonzo replied with a smile.