Call to Arms Mission

"You two little brats, can't you spare a thought for me? I'm the one who has to write the reports!"

Makarov held up several official reprimands and gave the two youngsters in front of him an earful, spittle flying.

"You destroyed half a street just to catch a thief! Don't you know how to hold back? That was the royal capital!"

"Tch! That old geezer talks too much!"

Laxus walked out of Makarov's room with Eleven, his face sour.

"Come on, the old man was just saying that." Eleven grinned as he comforted Laxus. He hadn't sensed any anger from Makarov at all just now. If anything, the old man had seemed happy. Was this the legendary "secretly delighted"?

A year had passed, and Eleven had grown considerably taller and stronger. He no longer looked as frail as he once had.

His smooth, short gray hair always seemed to stir slightly when no one was paying attention. He wore casual clothes and sneakers. His pale blue eyes stood out even more, with less of their former dullness and a touch more liveliness.

Eleven's Spiritual Power and magic power had both improved significantly. Over the past year, he had faithfully put Gildarts's theory into practice: give it everything and clear his mind of distractions! For Fairy Tail, he had fought his way to... piles of written reports.

Seeing Eleven act so outrageously, Laxus naturally couldn't let himself fall behind.

Thanks to the efforts of those two, Fairy Tail had finally reminded the world once again of the terror of being ruled by "the world's most reckless guild."

"Eleven, are you taking another job?" Laxus adjusted his headphones and turned to look at him.

"Maybe not for now. We've caused the guild too much trouble lately." Eleven scratched his head, feeling that he ought to spare a thought for the master.

"Heh, at least you know it," Laxus said sarcastically.

"Ha ha, of course! Cana praised me for that too." Eleven actually puffed out his chest with pride.

Laxus couldn't be bothered to retort. He was already all too familiar with this guy's thick skin and his inability to tell praise from criticism.

After saying goodbye to Laxus, Eleven scampered off to find Cana, whom he hadn't seen in several days. Eleven was quite clingy with the only two people his age in the guild, always either following Laxus or pestering Cana. He kept dressing it up by saying he was afraid they would feel lonely and that, as the one whose age fell between theirs, he had to serve as a "bridge between the two."

"Cana, what are you looking at?"

When Eleven found Cana, she was standing in front of the guild's job board, looking up at something. Eleven walked over and tilted his head back too, gazing up blankly, though he didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at.

"A strange job. Welcome back!" Cana turned to glance at Eleven and gave him a sweet smile.

"Yeah, I'm back." Eleven grinned too. "Why are you looking at jobs? Did the master agree to let you take one?"

"Not yet." Cana was a little disappointed, but the feeling passed in an instant. Unlike Eleven back then, she wasn't desperate to work and earn money. Rather than dwell on it, she pulled Eleven over, pointed to a notice on the job board, and spoke.

"Eleven, look at this job. It's so strange. I've never seen a job set up like this before."

Eleven looked where Cana's little hand was pointing.

"A call to arms mission?"

The job description basically said that large numbers of wild beasts and monsters had suddenly begun attacking cities in the northern region around Brago, and mages were being called upon to help defend them. Most interestingly, there was no limit on the number of participants, so the job could be accepted multiple times. There was also no base pay; the reward depended entirely on the levels and numbers of monsters slain.

"I really haven't seen a job like this before! But it looks so interesting. I think it'd be fun." Eleven tilted his head, starting to feel tempted.

"I'd advise you not to set your sights on this job."

Guild Master Makarov had appeared behind Eleven and Cana at some point and spoke up to stop Eleven's daydreaming.

"Why, Master? Is this job dangerous?" Cana tilted her little head and asked.

"I'm not sure either. But wild beasts don't attack cities for no reason, and this job notice doesn't mention the cause at all. Have they not found it yet? Or are they keeping it secret? I have a bad feeling about this." A rare look of gravity appeared on Makarov's face.

After listening to Makarov, Eleven looked up at the job on the board again. Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow, and Telekinesis pulled the notice free and sent it flying into his hand.

"Old man, I want to take this job." Holding the notice, Eleven looked at Makarov.

"I told you there's something strange about this job. It could be dangerous." Makarov frowned.

"Yeah, I understand, but that's exactly what I need. I need a chance to fight a lot, and I'm hoping to face some danger to refine my Spiritual Power." Eleven looked serious too, wanting to tell Makarov that this wasn't a whim.

Over the past year, Eleven and Laxus had fought countless times, and Eleven had lost more often than he won. His magic power was clearly greater than Laxus's, but he had never won when they clashed attacks head-on. Every time, his Telekinesis was the first to be overwhelmed. When Laxus used Dragon Slayer Magic, in particular, he could smash straight through Eleven's Telekinesis Impact with ease.

Eleven was a very simple person, and simple people were usually stubborn. He didn't care whether Laxus was a Dragon Slayer, or whether Dragon Slayer Magic was famous throughout the world for its destructive power! All he knew was that he couldn't beat Laxus in a head-on clash, which meant he definitely still had shortcomings.

He couldn't rush his physical abilities; he could only train them slowly. He hadn't studied magic power very deeply either, but he had discovered that every time he fought or faced a life-threatening crisis, his Spiritual Power became a little more condensed, making the power he concentrated through Telekinesis a little stronger. That was why Eleven longed for a chance to fight to his heart's content. Targets like wild beasts, weak individually but numerous, were the ideal choice.

"Old man, I know what I'm doing. I'm confident in my ability to sense things. If there really is a danger I can't handle, I'll run." Eleven smiled at Makarov.

Makarov looked deeply at Eleven and said gravely, "I won't stop you. Your path is yours to choose. But Eleven, once you walked through Fairy Tail's doors, you became my family. I hope all my family can walk out through those doors smiling and come back through them safely. Life will always be more important than strength, understand?"

Eleven was just about to say something when he felt someone tugging at the hem of his clothes. He turned around to find Cana, her little face full of worry. Eleven's nose stung at once. Being cared for like this deeply moved him, crybaby that he was.

He forced back his tears, patted Cana on the head, and grinned at the two of them. "Yeah, I'll definitely come back safely."

After raising that flag, Eleven packed his bags and set off north!