Gray's Ingenious Idea

"Cana, did that irresponsible father of yours, Gildarts, give you the courage to barge into my room whenever you please?"

Riyao folded his arms and deliberately put on a stern face to scare her.

"Hmph, Riyao, you can't scare me. I came with extremely important, top-secret information."

Cana proudly raised her head, her chin practically pointing at the sky, putting on a smug look that said, "Come on, suck up to me and bribe me."

Riyao was gently swirling a bottle of unknown potion in his hand, strange purple bubbles rising from it with a gurgle. Hearing that, he turned to Cana, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.

"Oh? What top-secret information? Never mind the information for now. Come on, little Cana, try this 'super invincible all-purpose tonic' I just developed. I guarantee you'll be full of energy after drinking it."

Cana looked at the strangely colored liquid, still bubbling away. Her face went pale with fright, and she hurriedly crossed her arms in front of her chest, shaking her head like a rattle-drum as she refused at top speed.

"No, no! Absolutely not! I don't want to be your guinea pig!"

"It's about Gray! That guy came up with a really devious plan and is getting ready to challenge you officially at the guild. He even said he's definitely going to beat you up this time and make you kneel and beg for mercy."

After listening, Riyao picked his nose indifferently and casually flicked what he found into the bubbling potion.

The potion instantly changed from purple to a strange fluorescent green. He said unconcernedly, "Him? Not that I look down on him, but as Gray is now, I reckon he couldn't even beat a little girl like you."

"Whoa! What are you doing?! That's disgusting!"

Cana pointed at the potion and screamed, then suddenly realized something, her expression changing dramatically.

"Wait! You didn't put anything that disgusting in those weird potions you gave me before, did you?!"

"And what did you mean by that just now? What do you mean, he couldn't 'even' beat me? And you had to emphasize 'now'? Are you looking down on my magical talent?!"

The more Cana thought about it, the angrier she got. She lunged at him, waving her little fists and pounding Riyao with a rain of blows.

Riyao let Cana pummel him for a while before slowly getting to his feet.

He straightened his rumpled collar, an extremely "kind" smile full of mischievous intent appearing on his face. Cheerfully, he said, "All right, all right, quit fooling around. Come on! Let's go back to the guild now and see what 'huge' surprise little Gray has prepared for me. I hope he can take a beating for a little longer."

Riyao strode into the guild hall with Cana and said arrogantly, "I hear some brat named Gray has a problem with me."

Following behind him, Cana couldn't help rolling her eyes. She muttered, "Riyao, what kind of weird opening line is that? You sound just like a cannon-fodder villain from a third-rate novel who won't last two chapters."

Gray jumped out, pointed at Riyao, and shouted, "I wasn't paying attention this morning. I'm stronger now than I was then."

"So? Where are your clothes?"

"Huh? When did I take them off?!" Gray looked down and only then realized he'd flung his shirt off again without knowing when.

His face reddened, and he scrambled to cover himself, but he quickly forced himself to calm down and shouted with his neck craned.

"Wait! Forget the clothes! That's not important!"

Gray took a deep breath and struck a pose he thought was extremely cool and provocative.

He stretched his left arm straight out, rested his right hand on his left wrist, and clenched his left hand into a fist. Then he slowly extended his index finger and beckoned to Riyao, saying in an extremely punchable tone, "You, come over here~"

Riyao stared at the idiot-like boy before him, speechlessness written all over his face. He suddenly felt that coming all the way back to accept this fool's challenge was a complete waste of his life.

"Suddenly, I don't really feel like dealing with this idiot. I feel like his stupidity might be contagious."

Riyao turned his head and muttered quietly to Cana beside him.

The others in the guild, however, didn't see it that way. Eager to watch the fun, they immediately erupted like a lit powder keg.

"Oh, oh, oh! Gray's challenging Riyao again! Place your bets, place your bets! No more bets once you've placed them! How long will Gray last this time? A minute or half a minute?!"

"Come on, Gray! Take down that evil, black-bellied Riyao!"

"Little Gray, even though you don't have much chance of winning, I'm definitely rooting for you in spirit!"

Amid the noisy cheers, Riyao sighed helplessly and walked slowly forward, every step easy and relaxed.

Gray, meanwhile, braced himself as though facing a formidable enemy and immediately took a fighting stance.

With a loud shout from him, an ice-blue magic circle instantly spread beneath his feet. The surrounding air temperature plummeted, and tiny ice crystals could even be seen forming in the air.

"Ice-Make: Spike Armor!"

As Gray shouted, a thick layer of frost rapidly spread over his entire body, forming a sturdy suit of armor. Even more strikingly, countless sharp ice spikes sprouted densely across the surface of the frost armor, flashing with a chilling gleam in the sunlight.

Gray now looked just like a hedgehog covered in ice spikes, leaving no place to lay a hand on him.

Seeing this, Riyao scratched his head and asked disdainfully, "That's the dirty trick you came up with?"

Gray puffed out his chest and smiled confidently, looking certain of victory. He said smugly, "Well? You don't dare lay a hand on me now, do you?"

"Oh, oh, oh! Way to go, Gray! That move's brilliant!"

"Yeah! Give that delinquent healing mage what he deserves! Show him we're not to be messed with either!"

Suddenly, Riyao moved, appearing in front of Gray in an instant. He grinned, grabbed Gray by the ankle, spun around without jumping, then abruptly stopped and flung him into the crowd.

"Ow, ow, ow! Gray, you idiot, get rid of those spikes!" Macao clutched his backside, which had been punctured with several little holes, and cursed.

"Riyao! You shameless bastard! Fight me one-on-one if you've got the guts!" Wakaba roared furiously as he dodged the ice spikes on Gray's body.

Riyao clutched his stomach and laughed. "Hahaha, serves you right. Of course, if you need healing, you can come to me. It's free."

"Get lost! I'd rather die than let a quack like you treat me! Everyone, get him! Prepare to die!"

That immediately triggered the guild hall's daily brawl.

Laxus had been leaning against the wall in a corner with his eyes closed, listening to music, when a wine glass came from who knew where and hit him. Furious, he shouted, "Riyao, you bastard! I'm going to beat the shit out of you today!"

Riyao pointed at himself and said, looking utterly bewildered, "I wasn't even drinking. You damn tsundere, you're just looking for a fight, aren't you?"

Just then, several ordinary residents of Magnolia happened to pass by the Fairy Tail guild.

Hearing the deafening clamor, explosions, and various screams coming from inside, and seeing tables, chairs, and stools flying out of the windows from time to time, they all stopped.

They exchanged glances and sighed in perfect unison, then silently quickened their pace and took a detour.

For the town, this was just another perfectly ordinary afternoon at Fairy Tail.