Friends and a Guide

In the arena, the moment Laxus saw Eleven disappear, his first reaction was to release electricity!

Crackling currents spread outward from Laxus, forming a small domain of flashing lightning and rumbling thunder around him. Anyone nearby would have been lucky to escape with their skin.

Yet it accomplished nothing. Eleven seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Damn it, is this illusion magic?" After venting electricity for a while, Laxus was slightly out of breath. It consumed so much magic power that he had no choice but to stop.

Laxus warily watched for movement around him, but Eleven seemed to be floating with telekinesis. There were no footprints, nor even the slightest sound.

"Over here!"

Suddenly, a cheeky voice came from behind Laxus. It was so close that he could even feel warm breath against his ear. The hairs on his body stood on end, and he instinctively swung his arm in a wide arc behind him, but hit nothing.

Before Laxus could breathe a sigh of relief, and while his swinging arm was still moving, he felt a tremendous force strike his waist. His whole body went flying, spinning three times in the air.

"Haha, it worked!" Eleven appeared a short distance away and shouted excitedly as he watched Laxus go flying again.

The heavy blow seemed to have packed quite a punch. Laxus lay there, unable to get back up for a moment.

"No way! Laxus is actually being overwhelmed by a kid!"

"As expected of the monster rookie!"

"The odds have changed! No refunds on bets already placed!"

"Hey! You swindler!"

Ignoring the uproar in the crowd, Laxus stood up again with determination. This time, however, he didn't charge straight in to attack. He stood there with his head lowered and a hand over his waist, thinking about who knew what.

"Laxus, isn't it about time you let me win once? Don't be so competitive. You can let it go now!" Seeing the stubborn look on Laxus's face, Eleven found him a little difficult to deal with. He immediately resorted to a verbal attack he had learned from the older men to undermine his opponent's fighting spirit.

"Huh? (▼皿▼#)" To Eleven's surprise, Laxus's expression instantly grew even more ferocious. "You're nowhere near beating me! As long as I don't look into your eyes, your illusion is useless!"

With that, Laxus gathered lightning around his feet. Somehow, he began gliding across the ground as if wearing roller skates, moving at incredible speed and spinning as he went. After who knew how many rotations, he whipped one big foot toward Eleven, flashing with golden light.

With the help of his telekinesis, Eleven hurriedly shot backward. Laxus didn't pursue him, however. Instead, he stood where he was and reached forward with one hand. A bolt of lightning as thick as a thigh suddenly crashed down directly in Eleven's path, its rolling lightning plasma almost solid.

Makarov, who was watching from the side, instinctively raised a hand, but immediately resumed his casual, cheerful smile.

Laxus had put everything he had into that attack, nearly exhausting his magic power. But he was certain the fight was over. He raised his eyes toward Eleven, seemingly just to check whether the guy was dead.

The lightning struck with perfect accuracy, hitting Eleven squarely on the crown of his head. Under its crackling glare, Eleven's figure shattered inch by inch, starting from his head. Before Laxus's shocked eyes, he turned to ash and vanished.

"H-how is that possible? I didn't... damn it, another illusion!" Laxus had been frightened at first, his voice trembling as he thought he had killed a guildmate. But he quickly realized he had been tricked.

"Hahaha, Laxus, who told you I used my eyes to cast illusions?"

One day earlier:

Cana: "Eleven, how does that invisibility illusion of yours work?"

Eleven: "Ah, I'm not sure either. I was trying to wrap my whole body in Spiritual Power to conceal my presence, but I ended up turning invisible instead."

Cana: "Are there any conditions for using it?"

Eleven: "No! I just need Spiritual Power."

Cana: "Hehe, then I have a great idea. Come here, I'll tell you!"

Eleven hurriedly leaned in to listen.

Whisper, whisper...

Eleven: "Cana, you're so smart! How didn't I think of that? Hahaha, now Laxus is bound to lose!"

Cana: "Heh heh heh, of course! Who do you think I am?"

As Eleven laughed, an invisible giant hand seized Laxus by the ankle, lifted him upside down, and flung him into the sky.

"Telekinetic Hammer!"

Copying Laxus, Eleven pointed one hand at the sky and clenched it hard. Telekinetic force rapidly gathered into a large mass in the air. Whether or not it was shaped like a hammer, it came crashing down on Laxus.

Boom!!!

Laxus struck the ground like a meteor, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Eleven staggered as well. It was his first time fighting at such a rapid pace, and he had consumed a little too much Spiritual Power at once, leaving him dizzy.

"Hahahahaha!" Laxus's wild laughter suddenly rang out from the dust. "You're good, really strong. But can you take this attack?"

Laxus suddenly leaped out of the dust, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling all over his body. He opened his mouth wide toward Eleven, and a large mass of lightning began gathering inside it.

Eleven felt every hair on his body stand on end. Even from this far away, his skin was faintly numb as if from an electric shock. With no time to think, he neither defended nor dodged. Instead, he instinctively gathered telekinetic force and magic power as fast as he could, forming a rapidly spinning cone before him and continuously compressing it, hoping the collision would cancel out Laxus's attack.

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

Eleven's Telekinetic Arrow also shot out, skimming through the distorted air.

"That's enough!!"

Along with the thunderous shout, a massive palm slammed down between the two of them. Both attacks struck it, explosions erupting against its front and back at the same time. Yet when the dust cleared, the hand was completely unharmed.

"This match is a draw! Laxus! You crossed the line. Is that a move you can use against a comrade?"

The giant hand rapidly shrank back to the size of the short old man it belonged to. Makarov stepped forward, his face stern.

"Hmph!" Laxus snorted, but didn't argue.

"Phew... no, Laxus should have won. I'm done for." Eleven plopped down on the ground, held his dizzy head, and raised a hand in surrender.

Laxus turned and stared intently at Eleven for a while. Then, from a good distance away, he said, "Hey, you! Your name's Eleven, right? I'll remember it!" With that, he turned and left without looking back.

But just then, a mutter came from behind him. "It actually took him three months to remember my name. I wonder who's the idiot now~"

Laxus felt his blood surge. If he hadn't used up all his magic power and been weak all over, he would have loved to fight Eleven for another three hundred rounds. He couldn't help quickening his departing steps.

"Eleven."

Eleven looked toward the voice and saw Makarov watching him. He immediately flashed a brilliant smile and made a V for victory with his fingers.

"Really, thank you." A smile gradually spread across Makarov's aged face.

Three months earlier...

Makarov found Eleven practicing meditation.

Eleven: "Grandpa Guild Master, did you need me?"

Makarov: "Yes, Eleven. There's something I'd like to ask of you. This isn't an order or a mission. Nor am I asking you as the guild master, but as a selfish grandfather."

Eleven: "Uh, go... go ahead. I'll do my best!"

Makarov: "Eleven, I hope you can become friends with Laxus!"

As he spoke, the short old man bowed to Eleven and quietly waited for his answer.

Looking at the old man before him, Eleven was utterly stunned. So this was also something family, loved ones, would do? That drunken guild master actually had this side to him. Even Eleven had some idea how difficult it was for an elder to bow his head and make a request of a ten-year-old junior. He really envied Laxus! Feeling the complex emotions coming from the guild master—unease, nervousness, self-reproach, affection, and more—Eleven was moved by some strange impulse to reach out his little hand and pat the guild master's bald head...

A brilliant smile appeared on Eleven's young face. "Grandpa Guild Master, even if you hadn't asked, I would have done it!"

"Grandpa Guild Master, you already ruled that Laxus and I fought to a draw, right? Doesn't that mean I've reached his level?"

The next day, Eleven suddenly remembered the other reason he had gone all out to provoke Laxus, and began pestering Makarov early in the morning.

"Hmm, I suppose you barely qualify!" Makarov stroked his little mustache.

"Yes! That's great! I can finally go on jobs!" Eleven jumped high into the air, celebrating with his arms and legs flailing.

"But..." Makarov raised his voice, interrupting Eleven's celebration.

"You can't go alone! At first, you'll have to team up with someone. You need someone to show you how jobs work."

"Mm-hmm, sure, sure! Who should I find to take me?" Eleven didn't mind whether he went alone. In fact, hearing that he would team up with someone made him even happier.

"Hmm, let me think..." Makarov began looking around.

Suddenly, someone entered Makarov's field of vision. His eyes lit up at once, as though he had found his target.

"Gildarts, you..."