exsiliumlogs | Truth hurts more than any blow.

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Truth hurts more than any blow.

Date & Time: Right after this call here Here on the 14th
Location: Training Room
Characters: Natsu Dragneel and anyone drawn in by the sound of explosions and things being broken
Summary: Natsu venting.
Warnings: Angry Natsu is Angry so expect a lot of rude language and damage to the surroundings

Destroying his device in the hellfires of his wrath had done nothing to quell the tempest of emotions that call had left him with. He didn't want to risk damaging anything else in his room especially not his collection of memories.

So he stormed out of his room, slamming the door so hard it left a crack starting from the handle and ending in the wall. Luckily he didn't run into Erza or worse, Lucy on the trip there. He honestly didn't know what to do if he met with Lucy after seeing that conversation that she most likely never intended him to see. Oh how he wished he hadn't. The fire burning in his body was not the kind of flame he enjoyed. This one was bitter and wild lashing out at everything around him.

That's why he was here now. Alone with the training equipment and the targets meant to sharpen the bodies and skills of the people who would fight for the Initiative.

Not even five minutes after the door closes, people nearby will hear explosions and roars of anger coming from within as the walls shake from the force of whatever fury is being utilized within. Most would also notice a sudden spike in the temperature as well. This continued until some brave (or foolish) soul finally decided to investigate.

When they open the door they will find most of the equipment in bent or broken states. Scorch marks mar the walls and floor everywhere and in one corner there is a small plot of sand from where Natsu obliterated the punching bags.

And in the middle of it all there is one Natsu Dragneel wreathed in flames with his fists clenched by his sides. The gauntlets are there around his hands and the eyes on the dragon head ornament seem to shine that much brighter than usual. He seems lost in thought but the flames show no sign of extinguishing.

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"Are you done, sir?"

Coby had rarely found himself disturbed by the anger of others. For a long time, he was certain that every bit of anger around him was somehow caused by own his presence alone. When he finally realized that some people could simply be unreasonable, he felt much less nervous confronting them about it--to a certain degree. So, he stepped into the room.

It was sweltering in that room, but that was precisely why he had to go in. Coby, standing by the doorway, looking in at Natsu, who turned the place into a dry tinderbox. If he kept things up, the entire room could have gone up and taken the training rooms with it. So, naturally, he had to suggest alternatives.

"You shouldn't be training indoors with abilities like those," He didn't let his 'Observation' play into the assumption that he was simply angry at something. Some people also let their anger take them in their training. "I have to ask you to stop, sir. You'll burn this place down."

"Huuh?" Natsu said turning around only to look over his shoulder with one green eye. An unfamiliar place. Normally Natsu would be a little more welcoming but right now he still had plenty of rage to vent.

"This place was made for people with powers to train without worrying about wrecking anything outside. I'm using it for that very purpose." He said with a low growl. Except he wasn't training at all. He was just lashing out at things in an attempt to calm himself down.

"But if you really want me to stop wrecking things you're welcome to step up to the plate and spar with me." Coby better say no. Or he better have some kind of ace up his sleeve to deal with his explosive ability.

Edited 2013-07-15 18:47 (UTC)

"There's a limit to these places," Coby disagreed morosely, reaching up to take off his scarf. It seemed as if he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. If he could soak up those flames, then this man would probably be sated and the room wouldn't have to be wrecked. Without any malice in his voice, Coby took off his shirt and threw it aside, revealing a patchwork of scars and stitches across his upper body and arms.

"I would suggest doing whatever you wanted in the Outlands, but I'm not sure if you'll make it there peacefully with an angry aura like that," His glasses were tossed aside, landing on his scarf and shirt. At that, Coby relaxed himself and smiled, opening both hands. With practiced effort, he coated his fingertips in the black sheen of his armaments and let the sheen come past his wrists. Training with Saber had given Coby enough experiences with the land between life and death to force his ability to strengthen.

"For now, I'll make sure you don't destroy this training room. If you wreck a place where people can learn to defend themselves, I won't forgive you."

"I am afraid I have to object on that decision, Master."

Not long after the feminine voice is heard, the sharp, high pitched sound of glass breaking followed. Out of nowhere, Saber flashed into physical form right in front of Coby. Despite being much shorter than Coby and Natsu, her imperial form stood just as mighty and intimidating as them both. Her green eyes were narrowed and glinted with a steely light as she stared at Natsu with a look of annoyance and slight disgust.

"For as much confidence I hold in your abilities, this mad dog will need a heavier hand in discipline if you wish to rein him in." She stretched out her hand, and in a second, her crimson longsword materialized in her palm.

"And no threat towards my Master goes unchallenged."

"Hoooo. Big words. And you look you might be able to back them up too. Just the thing I need" Natsu sneered and whipped his fists to the sides, coating them in two dragon head shaped cluster of flames. Obvious his theme has something to do with Dragons. Still he isn't resorting to his ultimate trump card, the lightning fire Dragon mode. So he's not totally out of control. But then again Coby doesn't know that.

And then another person makes a flashy entrance. Normally he'd coo all impressed by the badass arival. However now he can only raise an eyebrow at the girl. He's spent a lot of his life around very strong women so he knows not to underetimate them and this one is no exception from the way she addresses him.

"Threat? I was just inviting him for a spar." Not really more like goading him into one.

"Take turns or come at me at the same time. I don't care which you choose."

Coby could feel Saber's presence even before she appeared--his armaments fading from his skin with an audible sort of hiss from his knuckles. He blinked rapidly when she made herself fully tangible, turning to face her a bit red in his expression.

"M-Ma'am? I-I won't object!" Natsu took an immediate second. Rather than arguing to any point, Coby knew his manners and his need to respect both authority and royalty to no limit. Even if it were his greatest ambition, he reasoned he would need to take a step back to suit her request. He was far from a good example of an orthodox Master.

"W-Well, sir--I'm of the belief that in a normal fight, numbers are necessary to cull threats as quickly and efficiently as possible, but..."

He took numerous, rapid steps back instead. Smiling weakly in Natsu's direction, Coby seemed to make it clear that being between Saber and a target was something he wasn't at all interested in.

"I'm not sure, in a spar, that even this much would be reasonable. Please don't go overboard, ma'am. I had to repair the rest of the damage we did elsewhere!"

After Coby had backed up a suitable amount of distance away from the two, Saber twirled her sword in a flourish and holding it at the ready. The smirk bordered just a tad bit obscene on her face as she regarded the boy who had now became her enemy.

"You certainly do not lack courage, but your show of fire is more audacious than threatening!" Her attention now lay mostly on Natsu. Her confidence is bolstered by her Master being nearby and in view of a spectacular performance she was sure that will make him better understand the Servant he contracted with.

"And if I must, I shall show you a more fitting stage to mangle your body on, boy."

Come at her, Natsu!

"A sword huh. So it's not just the way you talk that's like Erza's." That sentiment only grew stronger as the woman challenged him openly. Given Coby had stepped down so quickly it could only mean his assessment of her strength wasn't that far off. Well it didn't matter. If he defeated her then he would probably finally be appeased after the fierce fight. If she defeated him then the same would happen since he would have spent all of that fury on this immovable wall of strength.

"You're welcome to join the list of people who've tried." with that he suddenly lunged at Saber, ducking low to the ground while he gathered magic in his two fists the flames growing in size and force before he launched a quick jab in Saber's direction, shooting out a dragon head shaped projectile of pure fire.

Saber merely took one sidestep to avoid that fire ball, not even blinking as the intense heat nearly singed her hair. Her whole being felt the pulsating effects of magic before she made herself tangible, and took into account her negligible Magic Resistance. She'd only have to be slightly careful with this one before she brought him to heel.

After she had dodged his initial strike, Saber launched herself towards Natsu with the speed and force of an errant rocket. Sword raised, she swung at him in angle at his low position, the range of her sword great and the blade razor sharp as it whistled through the air.

She was fast. Really fast. Good. It made this much more fun and distracting. He immediately propelled himself into the air with a fire-blast at his feet which launched him vertically. But this was not an evasive maneuver. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Instead Natsu faced downward and fired off his fire breath ahead of Saber intending to intercept her charge trajectory. The wide beam of pure flame magic raced to meet its target unless Saber used her speed to make another quick dodge.

Her eyes had followed him up as she dodged, and she didn't even need to look up further to notice she was in a precarious position. Almost as soon as he called out his attack, Saber pressed a free hand down on the ground. With a grunt, she pushed herself to the left, gold boots skidding on the mats with a screech.

Not wanting to lose the momentum she gained from such an evasive maneuver, however, as soon as she was clear of the beam's range, she launched herself up in the air with him. Sword raised above her shoulder, she swung her blade towards the big target that was his chest.

Quick with her movements and quick with her mind too. What he didn't expect was for her to jump up to his level. There was no surprise on his face however, instead he grit his teeth determinedly before positioning his right gauntlet so as to block the blow given he knew how sturdy those things were. After all they had contained his magic completely until he learned to channel it through the weapons instead of against it.

But that instead meant the force of her blow turned into his momentum flinging him across the room. This was very much like how some of his fights with Erza went, him going in all raring to go and then getting blasted across the room.

With her immense strength, being struck by Saber was equivalent to being hit with a several hundred ton piece of steel. She watched him careen into the ground with a thunderous crash before she herself landed more gracefully on the mats. He would be lucky if a few of his bones weren't broken by the impact and her blow. Even Coby had trouble defending himself with the full strength of his armaments, especially if she swung with both hands.

They weren't Servants, however, and Coby gave no specific order on how to deal with this little spitfire. He didn't give an order to kill the man, but on this land, they were all dubious allies at best. He only told her to watch out for how much they damage the training facility.

"You will yield, boy," Saber called out, her voice almost painfully nonchalant. She even began to slowly walk towards the spot he landed on. "Do so now, and I will be merciful and allow to you walk away from this place with your consciousness intact."

Despite the amicable tone of her voice, the threat underneath was very clear.

Luckily for Natsu he was a little more sturdy than a normal human. After all he shrugged off bullets like they were pebbles. Including one to the mouth but now was not the time for that. He was winded and he coughed loudly a couple of times but there was a certain grin of enjoyment on his face now. He'd found the perfect person to take what he can dish out it seemed. Someone not Erza who would just hit the target spot on as to what had brought him to this point of anger.

"Ha ha ha! Yield? Maybe. But I'm not gonna give you that satisfaction on a platter!" Natsu snapped and spun his legs around, firing off flames from the soles of his feet and using those to lash out at Saber to give himself time and room to get back up on his feet.

She saw what he was trying to go for, but his rapid fire volley of flames kept her at a pause. She stopped walking towards him to block, parry, and dodge those spurts of fire. Tch. What an annoying little trick this boy had.

"Then entertain me better, little dragon!" Saber commanded, slicing a ball of flame clean in half. "Soon, I shall lower the curtains on this spectacle! I will do you the honor of extinguishing your passionate fire with my blade!"

Good. His idea paid off and he got the time to get back to his feet and jump back a bit to put some distance. Sadly one of his ideas involved attacking from below. Unfortunately chosing the training room as the place for this battle meant he couldn't resort to that. So instead he had to focus on his other strategies.

"You're right. I should put on a better show shouldn't I?" Natsu grinned and crossed his arms across his face. The air started growing thick with static electricity as tiny lightning bolts started wounding around his flames.

"Your blade's sharp alright. But your speed's the main problem for me. So lets even the field a bit." With that he separated this arms and the aura of flames around him suddenly sparked to life with lightning. It felt strange though. Fighting a strong opponent with everything he had was making all of his rage seep out of his mind and body. The thrill of the battle, the happiness of throwing his power and skill against a strong opponent. There was no replacement for this feeling.

"You're strong. Really strong. One of the strongest I've met in this place. What's your name anyway?"

Her eyes narrowed at the presence of electricity being formed around his fire. Still, excitement and and anticipation sparked in her chest, and the smirk on her face reflected that. She slowly brought her sword back at her hip, waiting.

"You may refer to me as Saber, boy. I would give you my true name, but it will truly be a long time before you are ever worthy of gaining that knowledge."

Her smirk grew as she pressed a free hand to her, uttering a soft incantation, before she held that hand up to the sky. As if offering a prayer. With Thrice Setting Sun in place as a contingent, she was all but ready to take on Natsu.

"Perhaps if you give me your name, I will grant you permission to stand on hallowed ground!"

Seemed they had something in common after all. That thrill for battle for the contest of skill and strength between two combatants. Natsu took a step forward and started going into a crouch meant to send him into a sprint.

"Saber's fine. It's a cool and easy to remember name. " After all he had horrible memory for names that were too complex. Not even the attitude could rain on his parade now.

"The name's Natsu. Fairy Tail's Natsu." with that he slammed both of his fists into the ground fousing his magic into the knuckles fire and lightning crackling and snapping violently.

"Let's have a good fight eh? No regrets."

"Yes. Let's. I will show you what it is like to have the world as your stage!"

Suddenly, the entire area they were in darkened as though they stood behind dark red curtains. A bright, pink sigil appeared underneath her feet. She raised a rose toward her lips as she chanted,

"Behold my splendor! Hear the thunderous applause! The honor of Imperium resides here! Like that of a full-bloomed rose, open!"

The rose was discarded. She was suddenly flying at Natsu, blade at the ready. No matter whether he dodged or not, he couldn't escape the opening strike of her Noble Phantasm being summoned. Once she passed him, she threw a hand out as the space solidified and took shape around them.

"Sit down and praise - My Golden Theater!"

When her Theater finally stood, with both she and Natsu standing at the center, and Coby most likely stood in the stands, she pointed her sword back at Natsu. Already, the effects of her Golden Theater were taking place, the pressure of her self-image heightened and weighed upon her opponent.

"Now, let us chant in the name of battle!"

It was amazing to Coby that Natsu could take that much. The problem hadn't been whether or not he could survive a direct fight with Saber, but when his safety would become an issue. Knowing Saber better than to assume she would strike down a non-enemy accidentally, he was more concerned for what damage the young man would take before he either calmed down or fell.

"This aura's a little ridiculous," Coby commented nervously, feeling out of place. As a viewer in the stands, he only contributed to Saber's aura even beyond the fact that he was carrying her command seals as well. Though he didn't want things to turn out badly, he couldn't weigh his own options. Should he have throttled his power to Saber a little or given her more in the hopes that it could be settled quicker?

More so, he wasn't sure if damage done in the theater would reflect on the outside world.

"The world huh?" Well he was about to go all out so it was only fair he entertained her that notion. Even so he tensed up the moment that sigil appeared on the floor. He could feel the power it was about to unleash. So as expected she still had plenty more to show. Good. Natsu could not have asked for a better fight. When she launched herself at him, he in fact did not dodge. Instead he blasted off to meet her head on using the magic at this fists to cause a stream of lightning and fire that would launch him at tremendous speeds towards Saber. His right gauntlet was drawn back and around it a dragon shaped aura formed before he threw it in Saber's direction

They clashed in mid air before each ending up on the opposite side of where they started. Natsu felt the blade's painful kiss on his shoulder but he hadn't allowed it to do too much damage, adjusting this flight at the last second with a well timed blast to the side from his foot. His fighting style was more natural and martial arts based. Or as some had called it, more monkey like. A monkey with tremendous destructive power.

And then it hit him. An Aura so great and oppressive it almost felt like he was facing off against Gildarts back on Tenrou. And like that one time, fear crept up into his heart. But it wasn't only fear. There was also excitement. Feeling fear meant you knew where your limit was. Meaning you could get stronger from that point onward.

Natsu's body thrummed with those two emotions and he flashed Saber and almost childish grin as that of a student about to challenge his master for the title of the best.

"You're a real show off aren't ya? Can't say I hate that though."

With that Natsu extinguished the magic surrounding his fists. IT looked like he was giving up. 'Looked' being the key word.

"Still is this really okay? Last stage I was on ran into a little problem." Natsu took a stance lowering his center of gravity as he bent his knees with his fist drawn back. Suddenly a small mark appeared on his elbow and the crackle of energy could be heard coming from that glow.

And then he kicked off the ground using the magic on his elbow as an engine to throw his fist even baster at his opponent while he called out defiantly.

"I BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN AROUND IT!"

She couldn't help but laugh at his words. She really couldn't. She wasn't at all even fazed at the fist that was coming to her at lightning speed. Within her Golden Theater, everything played to her benefit. Whatever increase in speed he gained hadn't looked much different in her eyes.

"Not even the gods themselves could tear down her walls! Not without my say so!"

The flat of her blade came up to meet Natsu's fist in a block that was backed by her free arm. She hadn't even budged, and in less than a second, she had thrown him off to give her just enough range to swing her sword across his chest. The atmosphere within the Theater pulsed as she swung, giving her her blade more power and making any sort of defense pierced through with her Aestus Estus.

"I've defeated a godslayer so that's not saying much!" He boasted though even he could see it was futile.

Something was really off about this fight now. Natsu could feel it with every instinct. Even though he should have been as fast as lightning she still dodged and countered as if he was moving at his normal speed. It was impossible that his magic technique was not working. He could feel the power the same as always. So then that left one thing. The damn stage as she called it.

And then she was on him in the blink of an eye. He didn't get a chance to retort seeing as Saber easily pushed him into a defensive retreat. It took all he had to try and void that sword. He quickly realized blocking or knocking it aside had become impossible after that initial strike where he could feel the metal of his gauntlet starting groan in protest from the beating.

"Well this is a pain in the ass." To say the least. He'd wasted quite a bit of his reserves in the destruction of the room and now that he had activated his lightning fire dragon mode, those reserves would run out if he didn't start doing some damage. Which right now seemed downright impossible. Unless he somehow managed to force Saber to dispell the stage itself.

"Aaah if only I had one of those really good flames on me right now." He muttered under his breath and jumped back as far as he could to get away from Saber's blade.

Jump away as much as he wanted, she was bearing down on him. There was no where to run. The Theater's walls loomed high and oppressive above him as Saber followed his path, sword angled by her hip. In the Theater, her aspirations came true; if she aspired to beat Natsu within an inch of his life, she will accomplish it!

Her movements were becoming a blur of red and black and gold at this rate. Once she swung at him to gauge that the weakening effects of her domain were taking its toll on Natsu, she started ramping up the rate of her attacks. Since she was not going for the cool, most of her strikes were either from the blunt or broad side of her blade.

It was a dance to Saber. A violent dance that was swiftly coming from all sides to overwhelm Natsu with sheer force. She won't have any of his fire tricks right now - she will still block and counter when need be. At the very least, the laugh that accompanied her attacks signified her growing entertainment and excitement.

Well at least she was enjoying herself. And in a weird way so was he. Sure it was frustrating that he couldn't seem to muster the power to land any hits on her or that he felt his body grow heavier as the magic power started to run dry. But on the other hand his mind was firing off all cylinders, coming up with and discarding plans ranging from ludicrous to brilliant. But it didn't matter. Those ideas might have been useful for another opponent but this battle was already out of his hands.

He was on the defensive though and each step brought him closer to the stage edge. As he struggled to parry the blows he decided to try one last thing. Every time the blade would hit the gauntlets he would focus all of his fire magic there, heating the metal of his gauntlets to it's utmost limit. The plan? To try and melt the blade, grind it down over time providing she didn't decide to end it all in one glorious strike. She had the power to do that. He had no doubts about that.

Her eyes narrowed as she saw the intense swirl of magic that was concentrated at his gauntlets. Each time they made contact with her blade, it singed the metal, but she saw nothing detrimental about it. She jumped back as she regards him with a steely look, which gave him a brief moment of reprieve as she stared at her blade that sizzled with heat.

There was no damage.

"And what curious thing are you planning to do with my instrument?" Saber only sounded mildly offended. Aestus Estus was a symbol of her status as a Saber class Servant, crafted exquisitely with magic. After she had watched him deflect her blows for a time, though, the idea was slowly dawning on her. She had smirk.

"A fool's plan; my blade is crafted from a fallen star!"

In a brief show, her blade burst with flames, an element she was quite familiar with. It dispersed a moment later, showing Natsu that he wasn't the only master of fire in this stage.

"Now-- let it smash against your body!"

Saber suddenly lunged forward, concentrating energy into blade in a single stroke as she invoked a Blossom of the Court attack.

Dammit all. That had really been his last card in his hand and it was a complete bust.

"It was worth a shot. I said I wasn't gonna make it easy for you to bring me down." Natsu taunted with a forced boast. He was running on fumes in terms of magic now. Magic. His magic. The source. It was then he saw Saber's sword suddenly explode into flames. A chance! That was quickly extinguished by the debilitating effect of the stage. If they weren't in this setup he's certain he could have sucked up those flames and turned the tables! From the magic power he felt Natsu was actually pretty certain he could have even entered Dragon Force!

"Still not enough huh..." Natsu muttered more to himself as he saw Saber lunging at him with her final attack. Ah what the hell. It was one heck of a fight. He'll get better and stronger. As long as there are people like Saber to fight with.

So to honor her victory he stood up, focused his final magic into his mouth and shot out a final Lightning Flame dragon Roar straight at Saber. All of his magic was put into that attack. As promised. Even if she cut through, the surroundings might take some damage. At least that's what he was expecting at most. A final attempt at defiance.

Edited 2013-08-06 12:35 (UTC)

She managed to swerve her body out of the way of that attack, but as Natsu figured, her blade was cutting through the flames. Her victory was all but secured as she charged closer. He might not be affected too much by flames, but the stream has heated her blade up to sky high levels.

"This victory is mine!"

With a final swing of her sword - inwardly, she had to pull back so as to not murder him - her blade clashed against his body. The force wasn't pulled back, however, and the attack could send him careening into the wall behind him, but the wall itself didn't even bend itself. The stage remained undamaged and loomed over them as Saber stood over her opponent.

The blade slammed into him with so much force he almost thought he was reliving his fight with Gajeel. That was funny given he was completely drained that time too. If not for Lucy who made it possible to give him fire...Lucy...maybe with her he might have had a chance? A strange thought in the twilight of defeat. It was cut short as the stage wall slammed into his back with such force that his lungs were emptied of air and he saw stars in front of his eyes.

The problem with the stage not taking any damage means the surface he hit was harder since there was no crater from the impact to somewhat soften the impact. Instead he slid down the wall and collapsed in a clump at the base of the wall.

Saber let out a grunt at that. She slashed at the air, and soon, the walls of her Golden Theater were dispersing. As the training facility began to show itself, the only damages shown were the ones Natsu already inflicted.

"The flame has been snuffed. I do give you the honor of being acknowledged that you were an entertaining fight, boy," she said to his crumpled form. Was he satisfied now? She put on quite a show, after all.

At first no reply came. But then he moved, his body trembling in protest trying to keep him down. There was no fight or anger left in him but he still had to do one last thing before all lights went out.

"Ngh...ehehe....Y-You're really strong. C-Can't wait to...figh...yo...ag...ain" And with that he succumbed to unconsciousness. Still he had quite the peaceful smirk on his face even as he was battered to all hell.

It's nearly impossible to miss that kind of noise when you're living in a training room down the hall. Tsubomi blinks up at the first noise, but she waits it out, busy adjusting the position of a pot so the plant in it would get the most light from its lamp, and then she stands up, brushing her hands off on her work apron and then pulling it off.

She transforms before she leaves the room, ducking into her little compartment to protect her identity, just in case this is some kind of attack by the UE (or something else). She's glad for that decision as she pushes the door open--it's hot!

"W-W-W-What are you doing?!" she stammers, loudly. Destroying a training room didn't seem like an act of villainy, but it certainly didn't seem very productive.

"What does it look like?" He said turning his head over his shoulder to look at the girl who interrupted his venting session. Well at least he wasn't attacking her without question so there was that redeeming factor no?

Tsubomi puts her hands on her hips. "It looks like you're--like you're ruining the equipment for everyone else, and interrupting the lives of the people who live here! Please stop, it's unfair."

She sounds very serious, her mouth drawn up in the middle in a displeased bow.

"What are you doing?"

It was hard not to hear that kind of noise. The smoke detectors were on the verge of going off, and it didn't take a genius to know what was going on in that room. And with the screaming and roaring, any other fire magic user was immediately ruled out.

Fearing someone was attacking Natsu, Zeref quietly entered... only to find him throwing a tantrum and destroying training equipment. Zeref hoped those weren't expensive.

"What could have possibly made you this angry?" Zeref surveys the damage... ironically, still not enough to kill him, despite the sheer level of destruction here. One thing was certain: This wasn't normal training.

Because this is why he doesn't train. That, and if someone opened the door at the wrong time, he could potentially purge this entire floor of life.

Edited 2013-07-15 21:34 (UTC)

"Blowing some steam by training." Natsu replied, more bluntly than usual. Still his flames were still glowing with fury though nothing like it had been when he first entered the room.

Someone attacking him. Well that would have helped. The reason he attacked everything around him was because nothing could withstand his focused fury. He didn't care if he wasn't strong enough to kill Zeref yet though. He still wouldn't kill anyone. Killing was just not his thing. Though he did want to burn off that bastard's fingers. The one who sent him that message and his conversation with Lucy.

"Some asshole who made shit up and sent it to me on the device." Made shit up. That's what he wanted to believe yet just remembering it was enough to add some more fury back into the dancing flames around his body.

Ahh... of course. Natsu's infamous temper. What made him punch Zeref in the face, even though it didn't really harm him in any way. Whatever someone sent to that device must have really set him off.

"Did this person threaten you or Lucy?" Zeref's voice was calm, but it was clear the answer to that had better be no.

Oh you have no idea.

"No he didn't threaten any of us. He just sent me a conversation he had with Lucy." Without context that would only allow Zeref to speculate what had angered Natsu to this point. Either way Natsu still didn't have enough. There was still anger inside him begging to be thrown at something. Anything.

"Good." A one word answer. Zeref turns to survey the damage Natsu had done to the place, noting that the flames around him were still swirling. Zeref himself didn't want to fight Natsu - the risk of Natsu dying was too great. Natsu wasn't a weak mage by any means, but all it took was one bit of contact with Death Magic and he's dead before he hits the ground. He didn't want to risk that. Not with the person who was supposed to kill him someday.

But if he really wanted to burn off steam...

"Did you still wish to train, Natsu?"

Natsu had his muffler but he had seen how Zeref's death bursts worked. He was fairly confident he had the speed it took to get out of range in case any of that happened. Yes maybe the great Zeref could be the wall he needs to ram against to get all of that anger out of his system.

"Why? You offering to help out?"

Zeref shook his head. "My Death Magic would be weaker against you. I don't want to kill you, so in an actual fight, my magic wouldn't be as effective as it would be otherwise."

At least, if he were actively controlling it. It was still as deadly as ever when it spiraled out of control. Zeref closed his eyes. "But thankfully, in your case..."

His eyes opened. And they were red.

"That only applies to Death Magic." Zeref raised one of his hands over his head, and extended a single finger to the ceiling. A bolt of purple energy shot out, forming a circle lined with runes, commonly seen within the Book of Zeref.

"Living Magic has no such limit." The magical seal pulsed as Zeref began slowly moving his arms in a circular motion. The debris scattered about the room began glowing purple as well, and soon, small seals matching the one on the ceiling appeared on top of them. As Zeref's arms began drawing closer to one another, silhouettes of creatures of various shapes and sizes appeared out of the debris.

"You are supposed to defeat me one day, Natsu," Zeref added as the Nemesis spell completed. The creatures, slavering with rabid hunger, began slowly advancing on the Fire Dragon Slayer. "Right now, you aren't strong enough. But you will be, even if I have to make you strong enough myself."

So this was the in control Zeref. The in control Zeref who acknowledged him as his opponent. A part of him actually felt a stab of fear at the power surrounding him now. However the dominant emotion in his body right now was sheer excitement. Someone he could really go all out against without fear. Just what the doctor ordered.

"That stance!" He knew it well. Hades had used it back on Tenrou. And surely enough from the rubble and broken equipment, rose those familiar dark shapes.

"I like the sound of that. Hopefully yours are a little tougher than that geezer's fake copies." Natsu focused his magic into his fists, the dragon head ornaments glowing fiercely from the ruby like eyes.

For the most part. Zeref wasn't out for blood; he wouldn't have even considered doing this if he didn't think Natsu could handle Nemesis. After all, compared to what he was fully capable of with Living Magic, Nemesis was almost an entry-level Living Magic spell, just a few steps up from 'Alive.' If he were REALLY getting serious about this, he'd have created a real monster, not unlike Deliora.

So... He knew this spell. Figures. Plenty of Dark Mages were Zeref wannabes. Something he had grown to resent during his time on Tenrou.

"Hades was a delusional old fool who believed he could control my magic better than I, myself can," Zeref said quietly. "His death will be one of the few I won't mourn." before pointing his finger forward. The Nemesis constructs converged. And... they were fast.

Indeed, created from someone like Zeref, these monsters were moving with an preternatural talent. They were faster, stronger, much more coordinated than anything Hades created, moving with the predatory instinct of a pack. Natsu had better react quickly.

"I heard from Lucy about that." Natsu said, narrowing his eyes at Zeref in a slightly accusing manner. Still he didn't have time to hold onto that feeling as the monsters started advancing on him. Okay time to test their reflexes.

Natsu clenched his right fist to his side and launched a vicious flurry of flame projectiles shaped like a dragon's head with each punch. While they dealt with that, Natsu was already inhaling deeply for a full power Roar in case they didn't get deterred. Which it probably wouldn't but Natsu had learned the need to feel out his enemy. Something he made use of in full when he took down those stupid dragonslayer twins or whatever they called themselves.

Zeref doesn't comment further on Hades. He was dead, he was no longer important. What was left of Grimoire Heart was either in hiding, or imprisoned, except in Zancrow's case. But all things considered, him being dead as well was probably a good thing.

Two of the Nemesis spawn were caught in the flaming projectiles, one of them incinerated with the other suffering major burns. Zeref showed no concern for their deaths. The others, however, had broken formation. Some crawled along the ceilings, and leapt down at Natsu in perfect sync with one another. Three more on each side slid along the walls, hoping to enclose Natsu in a pincer formation.

These clearly weren't the mindless husks Hades had created. They were intelligent, almost sentient, and were adopting an actual strategy.

He was a jerk yea but Natsu was perfectly happy to keep beating his face in until he gave up. Oh well he wouldn't cause any more trouble in the future at least but it still would leave a bad taste in Natsu's mouth had he known.

"Quick learners huh. This is going to be fun after all!" Natsu chuckle before pushing off the ground with flames at his feet to rocket himself head first into one of the Nemessis like a human rocket.

The Nemesis spawn that Natsu rocketed himself into is nearly ripped in half by the force, both of them whizzing by Zeref himself, who doesn't even turn to look at the damage. Hopefully, the wall behind them doesn't crack or dent.

"You're getting better," Zeref comments quietly. The other Nemesis spawn are already wheeling around, and leap off of the ceiling and the nearby walls, attempting to make up for the loss of numbers with speed.

"But Nemesis is, frankly, not that advanced of a Living Magic spell. Any novice in the Black Arts can do it after mastering Alive. You've seen what Living Magic is truly capable of already, haven't you?."

This was, after all, just practice. Zeref finally turns to Natsu. "If this is boring you, let me know."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Truth hurts more than any blow.

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apologies for the lateness!

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