Chapter 6: Introductions and First Assignment

The guild fell silent.

Natsu seemed to freeze as well, unknowingly submitting to the surrounding atmosphere, but this stupor did not last long. Quick realization followed, after which he aimed his fist at my face with even greater aggression than before.

I had not let my guard down so far, so I was ready to move my head out of the way of the fist. The hand whistled past my right ear, accompanied by the howl of fire, finding its stop in the floor, which it hit with a wooden crunch. The wood did not break even under such pressure, but the fibers of the surface were torn and charred by his magic.

He is definitely serious in his intentions. Finally, I realized this to the end.

Before that, it seemed that the kid just decided to arrange a standard rookie trick, but in reality, everything turned out to be completely different.

I dodged a couple more punches aimed at my head, after which I tensed my body, pouring out all the available magic on it. With a sharp rise of the torso, I knocked the little bastard out of his rut. Tightening my muscles, I got to my feet and tossed him up, causing him to stand up, trying to regain his lost balance. Without thinking twice, I charged a hook to the jaw with all my weight. Such a blow took away the sparkle in his eyes, which spoke of his disconnection.

"Oh!" I squeaked a little awkwardly in my unfamiliarly high voice, looking at everyone gathered.

It seemed for a moment that I was screwed, but everything went well. The wizards of the guild cheered, someone even laughed. Seeing the end of our brawl, they went about their undoubtedly important business, such as beating each other up. I was naturally left out.

Food and alcohol flew everywhere. Everyone who wanted to shoved food into my mouth, even tried to get me drunk with alcohol, but I, taught by not very good experience, did my best not to let them do it. It would not be very good if I got drunk on the first official day in the guild, because drunkenness is an unknown area for me, since I have never gotten drunk to the point of being able to understand my behavior in such a state. Of course, it is quite possible that I will not get drunk, after all, I am a wizard, but I think that even Gildarts will be knocked down by the booze here.

Or maybe not, but I still won't find out.

The adults asked me about everything, especially the lovely ladies looked interested, but I didn't answer everything, and I couldn't, because people were more interested in the atmosphere around than in my answers. I was only for it, I also liked this atmosphere of celebration in the building, and the place and people around only added colors. Unfortunately, this did not last long, ending with another fight in which I and the children did not participate...

"Good morning, kid, I see you slept well and didn't rush to me!" greeted the master with a sly smile, approaching me through unconscious bodies and food as if it were normal. Which is basically pure truth.

"You yourself said to come after lunch, before two o'clock, master," I replied calmly, understanding his mood. Allowing myself a small smile, I got up. The master did not come to me for no reason.

"Really? I don't remember such a thing," he said, pretending to be thoughtful as if he were lost in thought. He quickly changed the subject. "Where do you want to put the tattoo? Choose a place."

He changed the subject and pulled out a special device from his pocket that looked like a large tile on a thick stick.

"Is this magic?" he wondered. "How did such a thing fit in such a small pocket? So if... - Okay... I won't ask. He has the right magic for this, which is very convenient." He finished his thoughts casually, trying not to think about it anymore.

"My hand," he replied, handing him his right palm. I think it's the most appropriate place. Of course, you can also put it on your chest, and even that would be cooler in some way, but untying the yukata... it's not worth it."

"Good place," the master praised me, placing the seal on the back of my palm. Surprisingly, I only felt the coolness of the metal from which the seal was made. The only unusual thing was the feeling of magic.

As if something conscious, but unable to think, detached itself from the material of the tool. It was the guild seal itself, which entered my skin and went in the form of magical energy throughout my body, absorbing into the very source of my magic.

"That's it, now you are officially a member of the Fairy Tail guild," he finished, turning to the rest of the crowd, which again held its breath. "Let's drink, guys, we have a newbie!" he shouted, and everyone cheered, celebrating the fun.

***

My peers of my body finally found a window to get to know me better only when the master left on his business.

Natsu was the first. Not calming down, he flew into me again, but this time there was no anger in him, rather a fighting spirit. Now he was like a combat maniac, led only by his usual way of expressing his emotions. Gradually, with every movement of his body, he releases his nerves into the environment, thus closing himself off from the loss of his adoptive father.

In childhood, all people are energetic, especially wizards, and it is impossible to express their emotions at once, so they were helped with this.

Erza hit the boy on the head so hard that he no longer needed a discharge, because there was nothing to discharge.

"It's... painful..."

"I agree..."

Grimacing after hitting the floor, Cana agreed.

"He's the one who's at fault. You shouldn't rush into a fight without even getting to know someone," Erza, the culprit of our conversation, said offhandedly. "By the way, my name is Erza Scarlet, and yours?"

And she's not wrong, is she? I completely agree with Elza. No, Erza, I forgot that Ancord has distorted many names, and hers is no exception.

(Note: Ancord is a Russian fandabber, dubbing actor, dubbing director, and the mastermind behind the AniDub anime website. One of the most recognizable and famous voices of the Russian segment of the Internet. According to rough estimates, his voice has dubbed more than 10 thousand anime episodes, but the exact number is unknown.)

"Satoru Gojo."

Hearing the words that were unusual for their region, she fell into a daze as if trying to figure out what my name was. "Satoru. It's nice to meet you," she said, not showing any awkwardness in her voice as she touched her hand to the steel on her chest.

"And me..."

"This is Cana Alberona," Erza, ignoring her words, began to introduce everyone, taking on the role of a guide.

"Hey, I can introduce myself!"

"That one who's lying there is Natsu," she ignored her words and continued the introduction, but her nervousness was impossible to hide. This was evident in her slightly trembling voice as well as the gestures that appeared.

Erza used gestures even in casual conversation, but they were minimal compared to what was happening now.

"Tch! Okay, forget it, she's getting worked up again. Don't mind her, she always takes the initiative when she meets someone, but nervousness is her weak point."

"Hey Natsu, get up! What are you sprawled out for?!" she punched him in the arm, annoyed that he was sleeping.

"That's what I'm saying. You knocked him out yourself..." Cana rolled her eyes. "By the way, how old are you?"

"I don't know," I answered easily, picking up someone's apple. "I have amnesia, so I don't remember much," I added to my answer.

Her eyes sparkled in a feminine way, her thin lips turned into a smirk, and I had a pretty good idea what she was up to.

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" I confirmed her intentions, and at the same time asked without being polite.

I have some experience, and with my new body, I can read emotions and intentions quite easily with my eyes.

"Oh! Are you confident?" she threw back a little surprised, throwing my hook back at me. "I don't mind if you want to."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. Children in this world grow up too fast. She is the perfect proof of that. She redirected my hook back at me, as if I wanted it myself, backing up her words with body language.

I laughed quietly, enjoying the conversation. "'I think I won't have any problems communicating with my peers,'" this is a world where many children are forced to grow up early, and it is most clearly seen in guilds like ours. After all, small children with a good fate are unlikely to be under the care of a guild of wizards, in which almost every task can kill or maim.

"Well... I need to get used to the new conditions right now, so let's do it a little later. Come to me in a day or two, and I'll show you around the city," I redirected her foxy cunning. "Right now, I need to get used to the tasks and earn some money."

"Oh, okay. That's a deal. Tomorrow at seven in the evening, we'll meet here, and I'll take you... on a tour of the city."

Her sly smile would not be missed by even the laziest person. I was already starting to think about my answer, but my words attracted the attention of my previous interlocutor.

"Exactly! Since you're new, I need to show you how to take and complete missions!" Erza exclaimed, annoyed that Natsu and Happy had run away from her.

"Then I'll go, I need to finish my mission," Cana said, getting up from the bench. "Don't forget about seven o'clock tomorrow, Satoru~" She winked at me, then headed for the guild exit.

"Come on, I'll tell you everything before the master leaves!" She waved her hand and beckoned me to follow her to the mission board.

Before me stood a simple board with many sheets of paper on it. Nothing supernatural. More interesting, however, was their content. A variety of missions, from helping a woman find a lost item for a fee of five thousand to eliminating a giant monster in the mountains for a fee of half a million.

We decided to choose the lost item mission, and I agreed. Not bad for a start.

The mission went quickly, as it took place within Magnolia. We had to find a woman's lost magical accessory, which turned out to be incredibly easy. My eyes handled it perfectly, and within half an hour I had two and a half thousand jewels in my hands.

"About one-twentieth of the rent for the rooms in the dorm, which is pretty good. Considering that this was the simplest mission," the realization of this brought joy and pride to myself. These money were a direct proof of a certain security and confidence in the future, which was undoubtedly appealing. I could have taken the full payment, but I still insisted on splitting it in half. Erza showed me not only the guild, but also helped me earn money. Paying for the merits is one of the principles that I try to follow.

The mechanism for completing missions is now open to me, which means that I can now complete them myself, but only small ones. For more complex ones, I need to call on Erza for backup.

Now I have task number one - to buy clothes and food. But first of all, clothes!

"Is something wrong? You suddenly fell silent and started smiling strangely..." She looked at me strangely with a slightly embarrassed face. Here it is, the modest and shy side of Scarlet.

Despite her strong character and valor in the future, she is now just a modest girl. This can be clearly seen if you stay alone with her, start a conversation and suddenly stop. She will not be able to maintain the conversation for a long time and will just awkwardly remain silent, sometimes throwing in words and questions. I found this side of her quite cute in the anime, but seeing it in life is a completely different experience.

"No, nothing. Just in a good mood," I withdrew from my thoughts. I will not tell her the reason for my joy, she should not know that, as no one else should. Tomorrow, this mistake will no longer exist, because I analyzed and studied Natsu's fire magic, even without the dragon attribute. "Thank you for helping me get settled in. I'll remember that."

"You're welcome!"

She said these words in a mentor-like manner, standing in an appropriate pose. Only the stern glasses were missing. But the smile on her face automatically blurred, spoiling her image.

"Let's go on another mission?"

I casually expressed my desire, to which she agreed.

"Let's go!"

 ***

I arrived at my place only in the evening, incredibly tired, but satisfied. Fourteen thousand jewels for a bunch of not very difficult assignments in Magnolia, a significant fee. This is with the fact that I only used my eyes, which I cannot activate to the fullest.

"Fourteen thousand... a third of the cost of housing, but I spent almost all of it on clothes and food."

Primary needs are completely closed for at least three days, so I can now focus on magic with peace of mind.

Kana handed me the book that the master promised when we came to the guild for a new assignment. As it turned out, she herself used it to a certain extent, so now it is mine for a while.

Pulling out the weighty keeper of knowledge, I rubbed my hand over the smooth cover of dark gray with silvery letters on it that read:

"The basics of magic for dummies"

(Juar Pale - kingdom of Pergrand, December 7, 765)

The basics for dummies - just what I need. This means that the content of the book will be understandable even to an idiot, and this is the most important thing in such teachings. I don't know much about magic, and that's mostly superficial, intuitive. Chewing the basics should help me understand the basics, opening the doors to this art.

And so...

"Magic, as many call it, is an amazing phenomenon that is found everywhere, wherever you go. Many people who are not knowledgeable in this art ask the question, what is magic, in fact? This is exactly the question that I have been concerned about for a long time.

Some say that magic was bestowed from above, while others believe that it existed and originated with the world. I personally believed in the second option, because long before it was described in ancient chronicles, there were dragons and other magical creatures of ancient times, such as griffins, pegasuses, and others. It is customary in modern society not to believe in these "fairy creatures," but excavations and ancient artifacts of non-human origin speak otherwise.

Returning to magic, I and other colleagues, scientists and wizards, think roughly the same. Magic, if you say it in simple words, is a substance like oxygen. But unlike other substances, magic interacts, or, you can say, is friends with living beings. Responding to their feelings, desires, emotions, it allows you to use yourself, embodying spells, in return living in their bodies and feeding on these very emotions, feelings, and desires. Some spells to manifest themselves force this energy to feed on the life and physical strength of the owner. Such magic is called "dark." Naturally, such magic is prohibited, except for a few exceptions. But in general, you can go to jail for its use by the magical council.

Then you might think that magic is a living creature, or many small living creatures? Not quite..."

***

 In this way, I read a rather interesting book all day, until late at night. As I read, I had many simple questions, but the book answered most of them. And for those that it didn't answer, I could find the answers myself. Or else learn from the more advanced version, "II volume."

In essence, the author explained on his fingers what magic is and what it is eaten with. The first mentions of magic, animal creatures that possess it, how to use it at the initial level and why different people have different magic.

Quite simple spells, a ball of magical energy, the release of magic from the body and its acceleration along it for strengthening, strengthening and acceleration. Also, a lot of pages were devoted to the direction to various points of the body and their reaction to this.

After reading the book, of course, I had a wild desire to read the next parts, as well as similar books, but for this I need access to the library. From what I remember from the anime, the library of Fairy Tail was open to all comers, so somehow I need to get this very access.