4. The Sky Dragon Slayer

Dark clouds amassed in the skies, hiding the radiant sun behind them. The lands were graced with heavy rainfall, signifying the arrival of monsoon. The downpour showed no signs of stopping and by the looks and intensity of the rainfall, it could be easily deduced that it was going to rain for hours.

Down in a deep forest walked a thirteen year old boy with blue hair, dark eyes and a distinctive red tattoo on the right side of his face. He wore a black half-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of white jeans, tightened with a belt. He carried a heavy backpack on his back and attached to the backpack was a magic staff with a circular tip, entirely wrapped with a white cloth.He briskly walked down the forest floor, the thick, towering trees providing ample shelter against the rain.

In his arms, he was carrying a girl who seemed to be around six years old, with chin length blue hair. Somehow the boy was managing both an umbrella and the girl in his arms. Rather than using the umbrella for himself, he used it to protect the girl from the rain and prevent her from catching a cold. 

Right now, the only concern in the boy's mind was to find a secure place for this girl to stay while he goes ahead and fulfills the responsibilities he took on his shoulders. This would result in him abandoning the girl with whom he had developed a sibling bond, but he has no other choice.

The forest territory came to an end in front of a clearing where the boy's eyes landed on a short statured, slim elderly man with a long, white beard, complimented by a mustache. On the man's forehead there was a red tattoo, composed of a dot surrounded with two arched stripes. He donned an attire, reminiscent of a tribal chieftain. He held a bottle of liquor in his right hand and an empty glass on the left. The old man filled the glass to the brim with the liquor, only to drink from the bottle at the end.

Talk about a weird drinking habit. Why keep the glass then?

Ignoring the man's strange drinking habits, the blue-haired boy approached hm. He had no hopes of encountering anyone here in this forested region. So he was initially surprised at the sight of an old man drinking here. He cannot trust a stranger he met right away with the task he is about to give to him but unfortunately for him, the boy is out of both time and options.

"Excuse me?" The boy spoke up to get the man's attention.

"Hmm? What's a child like you doing here?" Despite the amount of liquor he had been consuming, he was remarkably sober.

"Don't bother about me." The boy shook his head in response. "I want you to take care of this girl."

The old man was visibly taken aback by the boy's bluntness. He had sworn to eternal solitude until the cursed device he had made with his own hands was destroyed for good. He had been upholding that oath for centuries and wasn't going to break it, just because some kid demanded it from him to do so, that too without showing an ounce of respect to the elderly.

The old man was about to retort in kind when his eyes fell on the boy's eyes and the retort never came. In the boy, he saw a reflection of himself, someone who had taken a heavy burden on their shoulders. A burden too heavy to be carried by one person alone. Yet the boy seemed resolute and had made up his mind that he wasn't going to share his burden with anyone else. The old man simply wondered about the life the boy had led to have eyes like those.

"Isn't she your companion? Why are you abandoning her?" The old man inquired, keeping aside the bottle of liquor.

"I have something I need to do. And it is going to be dangerous." The boy's gaze darkened for a bit, implying the gravity of the issue. "And she will only end up needless danger if she continues to travel with me. Which is why I wanted to have her admitted to a guild at the very least."

"But there is no guild near--"

"I don't have much time." The boy bowed his head to the man in front of him. He knew he had bow to him since he is making a sincere request. "Please I beg of you."

The old man had no choice but to give up on his oath, in the face of the boy's sincere request. He felt nothing but pity for the boy who was tasked with a burden beyond his age. That sense of pity made him want to help the boy in any way he could. If that means breaking whatever oath he made with himself, then so be it.

The boy had expressed his desire to have this girl admitted in a guild but as far as the old man knew, there are no guilds in this vicinity and he cannot leave this area due to circumstances. Might as well 'create' a guild for the sake of the little girl who was sleeping without a care in the world.

"You know. Rather than leaving her in the care of a dead old spirit, someone alive and kicking would do a better job at being a guardian." The voice could be heard from behind the thick bushes.

From the bushes, emerged a male teen, aged around sixteen with deep brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He wore a reddish-brown jacket over a faint green t-shirt having string tassels in the collar. The attire was complimented with a pair of brown trousers and dust-brown trekking shoes. In his hand he was carrying a cloth bag, filled with necessary supplies required for camping.

"What do you mean by dead spirit?" The boy asked with a perplexed expression while the old man seemed to be on guard against this intruder.

"I have read enough history books to know that the Nirvit Tribe had gone extinct long, long ago." The older teen replied, ignoring the glares directed at him by the old man.

"And how do you know that this man is from the extinct Nirvit tribe?" The boy quickly questioned before the old man could even get the chance to retort with anything."His dressing sense." The brown-haired boy casually replied with a shrug. He made it sound like it was an obvious deduction. "Forget about him. What's the deal with you abandoning your companion?"

"I don't have any choice. Staying with me any longer would be dangerous for her." The boy replied, looking up at the taller teen. "Which is why I want her to be in a guild. She has already been abandoned once and I don't want her to go through it again."

"And yet you are doing the same with the pretext of leaving her in some guild." The latter shook his head before gently picking up the sleeping girl with his right arm while holding the bag of camp supplies in his left. "I won't pry on what your business is, not my thing to do. Just give me her name."

"Wendy Marvell." The boy replied, feeling somewhat at ease. Out of the options present in front of him, he felt like he could trust the brown-haired teen more than some drinking old man. The boy also didn't fail to notice the confidence with which the boy claimed that the old man is a dead spirit and neither did the old man deny the claim. That only means that what the teen said, holds some degree of truth in it.

"And my name's Jellal." The boy introduced himself with a slight bow. "Thank you for taking care of Wendy for me. I would forever be indebted to you."

"No need for gratitude. Just do what you set out to do." The taller male replied, his gaze meeting that of Jellal's. He had figured that this blue-haired boy had taken on some heavy burden on his shoulders and he does not want Wendy to be a part of what all he has to do and will be doing in the future. "Good luck."

The boy nodded before taking his leave first after thanking the old man or spirit for nearly agreeing to his offer. He left them on their devices, ready to fulfill the responsibilities he took upon himself for the sake of all those who helped him reach here. For the one who safeguarded his life and for all those who are dependent on his success.

"Well I should get goin--"

"Do the history books of today, truly mention anything about the Nirvit Tribe?" The old man suddenly questioned once the blue-haired boy was out of sight. His gaze of suspicion never left the brown-haired boy and now he was worried about the little girl's safety. 'This boy here doesn't even look like the nicest of fellas unlike that boy from before.'

The boy did not move when the old man threw his question. He blankly stared at the old man, contemplating on whether to answer that question or simply walk away. At the end, he decided to entertain the man's curiosity.

"I don't know about this era's books but the books from four hundred years ago really did contain a lot of information on your tribe."

"Four hundred years ago?! Just...just who are you?!" The old man almost fell on his back from the boy's answer. 

He himself being a dead spirit, could easily sense whether the person standing in front of him is dead or not. And all his senses pointed out to the fact that the boy is very much alive. Yet he claims to be someone from four hundred years ago and even has knowledge from that era. There are hardly few people in this era who knew the name of his tribe in the first place. After all, the Nirvit Tribe went extinct centuries ago, even before the Dragon Human War. 

There was only one way for someone to be alive for that long. If they have been cursed by 'that God'. 

"All you need to know is, I am from the same era as you are." The teen replied, not bothering to answer the old man's question any further than what he deemed necessary. "Too much knowledge won't do a dead man like you any good. Just get rid of your regrets and depart quickly."

"Getting rid of regrets isn't as easy as you think." The old man replied with a sorrowful sigh. It seemed pointless on his part to argue with the boy any further. All he could now do was pray for the girl's safety. The boy was much stronger than him in terms of strength and that is something he could already feel. There was no way he could win against the boy in a fight. 

"I don't know. Don't have any and I plan to keep it like that." The boy shrugged before starting to walk down on the path he came from, knowing that the old man won't be bothering him with questions anymore. 'I need to make a list of potential guilds to drop off this girl at.'

Lucky for him, he knew what guilds are, how they function and what are the types of guilds, all thanks to his friend's explanations. He even got to know the names of a few prominent ones and decided that it would be better to have this girl enlisted in some prominent guild for the sake of her own growth and development. All that was left for him to do was to shortlist any one guild from the list of guilds he had on him. 

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Rubbing her eyes, Wendy sat up before letting out another yawn. She had a decent sleep this time, compared to the restless nights she had experienced while daily traveling with Jellal. Speaking of Jellal.....when did he get a tent and where is he at the moment? Those were the questions that came up on her mind right away when she found herself in an unfamiliar tent. Panic gripped her when she couldn't sniff him at all. 

Hurriedly she stepped out of the tent, greeted by a campfire, some distance away from the tent she was in. This was what kept the tent warm enough for her to sleep comfortably. 

"Oh you are awake."

Sitting on the other side of the campfire was someone Wendy did not recognize. She frantically began looking around for Jellal, her eyes welling up for tears and paid no attention to the stranger for a moment.

"If you are looking for your buddy Jellal, then I am sorry but he has already left." The brown-haired teen revealed. "He did ask me to drop you in a guild though."

"Who are you? Where is Jellal?" Wendy asked, still wary of the stranger. 

"My name's Rades, and as for Jellal, he said he had some important work to take care of." The young male continued. "That's why told me to drop you in a guild."

Rades couldn't blame Wendy for her lack of trust in his words, something that was obvious from her actions. She was just a child left all alone in this world and the one that cared about her also decided to leave her. In a way, he could relate to her situation very well. He doesn't want to admit it but deep inside he knows that he and the blue-haired girl are both alike. They are both alone in the world, with no one to stay by their side forever. 

He understood why Jellal wanted to have Wendy enlisted in a guild. 'At the very least she won't have to go through the pain of loneliness.'

"A guild?" Wendy tilted her head. She had calmed down for the time being. "Jellal did tell me something about going to a guild."

If Jellal really trusted her with someone else, then it means that this man was his friend or so she hoped. She didn't know much about people, hardly having any sort of interaction with other humans ever since her mother left her. The only person she has ever talked with was Jellal and now this person, named Rades. She could feel that despite his appearance, he doesn't seem like a bad person. 

"Did he tell you which guild?" Rades inquired before tapping his hand on the empty space beside him, motioning her to take a seat. 

"No." Wendy shook her head. 

"That's fine. We will search around and see if any guild is to your liking or not." Rades replied, earning a nod from Wendy. She was still hesitant around him which was obvious but he could see her slowly getting comfortable.

"Say, do you know any kind of magic?""Yes!" Wendy's eyes suddenly lit up on hearing the word, 'magic'. "I am a Sky Dragon Slayer!"

"A Dragon Slayer?" That wasn't the answer he had expected. It wasn't unusual for a child to display their talent with magic from a very young age but, her being a dragon slayer was what caught him off guard. He already knows that they still exist in this era, as there are two prominent guilds that have dragon slayers as their members.

Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord.

"I...wait a sec! Show me your teeth!" Rades seemed at a loss of words. There was only one way to verify. A way that can easily give him the proof of whether the girl is actually a dragon slayer or not.

"Huh?" Confused at his sudden change in demeanor, Wendy complied with his odd request and showed her teeth to him.

'She really is a dragon slayer, no doubt.' The brunette narrowed his eyes, having taken a look through her teeth and found out what he was looking for. He had believed that the dragon slayers had gone extinct a long-time ago but that doesn't seem to be the case. They still exist in this era, which also means the dragons do as well. 

After all, Dragon Slaying Magic was claimed to be forbidden magic and could not be passed down from one generation to another. Unless a person is taught by a dragon or they have a lacrima filled with dragon's magic, implanted inside them, one cannot be called a Dragon Slayer. 

"So were you taught by a dragon?" He asked further, showing his interest in her magic.

"Yes, my mother Grandeeney. She is the one who taught me Sky Dragon Slaying Magic." Wendy replied.

'Grandeeney does sound like a dragon's name. That means the dragons are still around, just in low numbers.' Rades kept his thoughts to himself. He had not expected such an outcome. Having learned about the aftermath of the Dragon-Human War, also dubbed as Dragon King Festival, he hadn't accounted for any of the dragons surviving Acnologia's rampage. 

'I need to look more into this. But before that...' He looked back at the blue-haired girl before asking. "Say Wendy, which name is better, Fairy Tail or Phantom Lord?"