The scene returned to the Leize Mountains...
"Come on, attack me." Zorn beckoned to Laxus, who was breathing heavily after just finishing his physical training.
"Ah!" Laxus roared and charged straight at Zorn, striking out with his hand. The two began training in Physical Arts. Zorn handled him with ease, blocking Laxus's attacks one after another and sparring with him.
The sounds of their blows striking flesh echoed through the valley. As it happened, no one else could reach the valley to disturb them.
Once Laxus could no longer move and had exhausted his stamina, he was given a short rest to recover. Then he meditated on his Mental Power, sensing his surroundings and the Lightning Element to deepen his control over it.
This training continued for three months. During that time, Laxus's Physical Arts gradually became capable of keeping up with Zorn's attacks, and both his Armament Haki and Observation Haki made considerable progress. His Observation Haki could now sense everything around the entire valley.
During this time, Zorn's own strength also made a tremendous breakthrough, and he developed quite a few spells suited to him.
Laxus's talent truly amazed Zorn as well, and the time he had originally planned was shortened considerably.
As Zorn sparred with Laxus, he gradually eased the force of his attacks. When Laxus struck again, Zorn crossed his arms to block, used the force of the blow to step back a few paces, then raised a hand to signal a stop.
"Rumble, rumble."
Dark clouds filled the sky, and lightning tore across the horizon like a giant silver dragon weaving through the clouds.
"We can move on to the next step." After looking at the sky, Zorn spoke to Laxus with confidence.
"The next step?" Laxus lowered his fighting stance and followed Zorn's gaze, also seeing the lightning rolling across the sky. His face filled with confusion.
"Yes. Release your Observation Haki, draw it together, and extend it upward. Sense the power of the lightning in the clouds, then extend your own lightning along your Observation Haki and merge the two. Guide it to change shape, then release it at the ground in one go." Zorn explained the general theory at his side. If this spell was successfully cast, its power... could not be underestimated.
"Borrowing the power of nature, huh?" Laxus considered the possibility and murmured, "But after that, wouldn't I need certain conditions to be met before I could use this spell again?" Laxus put his finger on the spell's limitation and looked steadily at Zorn.
He believed that since Zorn had proposed this plan, he must have a solution to that problem.
"That is true, but we can create our own thunderclouds to cast this spell. The principle is..." Zorn combined the principles behind the formation of thunderclouds from his previous life with the principles of lightning magic in Fairy Tail. This condition could be met easily, so the spell could be cast without any special circumstances or conditions.
"Oh, is that how it works? That's an interesting idea." Laxus clenched his fists, his eyes shining, looking eager to try. His excitement and anticipation at completing the spell had been fully stirred.
"Not bad, right? Haha." Zorn also marveled at himself for coming up with the method. "Ahem, let's start one step at a time. First, sense the power of the lightning above." Zorn toned down his somewhat exaggerated expression and let Laxus experiment on his own first.
Laxus nodded and closed his eyes tightly where he stood. He released his Observation Haki, drew it together at his side, and slowly extended it into the air. Gradually, he felt the moisture in the air and the faint exhilaration brought by the lightning. Under the influence of his Observation Haki, all these sensations were magnified, allowing him to feel clearly that the world had opened up to him.
The moment his Observation Haki touched the thunderclouds, Laxus's body shuddered. He snapped his eyes open. "Hahaha!" He burst out laughing.
"Lightning this powerful... it's too strong, really too strong!" The moment he felt the strength of the natural lightning, he could already sense that once this spell succeeded, it would be an unparalleled spell approaching the level of super magic, and an area spell with tremendous offensive power at that.
"Then let's first try guiding the lightning in the thunderclouds to change shape, making its power more contained so you can control it." Seeing that Laxus could sense the power of lightning through his Observation Haki, Zorn explained further and moved on to the next attempt.
This stage of the attempt, however, was rather time-consuming. During the first week, the lightning would go out of control and strike straight down. Fortunately, neither Laxus nor Zorn was afraid of the lightning, or the development of this spell really couldn't have continued.
One month later, the final attempt...
Laxus and Zorn stood atop the mountain. Laxus had gathered all the lightning in the thunderclouds above the valley, and his magic power surged skyward. Black clouds covered the sky, and a stifling atmosphere hung over the land. The sunlight had been swallowed by the clouds; only occasional flashes of lightning tore across the sky, revealing the unusually terrifying lightning within.
The residents of nearby Rust Town also noticed the unusual dark clouds over the distant mountains. They stopped what they were doing and looked in that direction, their faces full of confusion or curiosity.
"Mom, look, a dragon!" A child suddenly tugged at a woman beside him, who was still washing clothes and hadn't noticed what was happening. The woman stopped and looked up at the gigantic blue dragon's head emerging from the clouds, blotting out the sky and sun. She hurriedly held the child in her arms and looked up in fear. The child, however, stared in wonder, without the slightest fear.
On the mountaintop where Laxus and Zorn stood, Zorn was also somewhat shocked by the imposing presence of the dragon's head above them. The creature was made entirely of lightning, and its claws slowly emerged, each one like a gigantic iron anchor. The dragon's mouth was slightly open, and surging lightning scattered from it, displaying the full majesty of heaven.
"This feels great! Hahaha!" The sight had also driven Laxus to excessive excitement.
"Quick, direct it toward the valley. If you wait any longer, even you won't be able to control it." Zorn stopped the still-excited Laxus while casting defensive magic. "Holy Light Magic: Fivefold Holy Shield."
"S-Class Magic: Lightning Dragon's Strike!" Laxus waved his hand, instantly sending the dragon in the sky crashing into the valley below. A gigantic pillar of lightning shot up into the sky, thunder roared without end, and the scattered power of the lightning surged wildly in every direction like serpents along with the shockwave.
Facing this impact, the first three of Zorn's Holy Shields held out for only a moment before being shattered. Fortunately, the fourth stopped it. Zorn concentrated fully on maintaining the shield, not daring to slacken in the slightest.
When the light faded, the valley that had been there was long gone. The surrounding mountains had been leveled, and the ground looked as though it had been struck by a meteorite. The terrain had been completely changed. The dark clouds that had lingered in the sky also vanished entirely with the strike, allowing sunlight to fall on the ground once more.
People in the town had photographed both the moment the lightning dragon emerged from the sky and the moment it struck. The next day, the images spread to various places with merchant caravans. The soldiers stationed there had also recorded it with a Magic Crystal and sent the recording to Magic Council Headquarters.
Naturally, the major guilds also received the news immediately, and Fairy Tail was no exception. The Magic Council also convened an assembly over the matter.
Laxus and Zorn, who were on their way back, were still unaware of all this, and of what exactly awaited them on their return.
To be continued~