The Team Takes Shape

"What's going on here?" Mira stared blankly at Laxus and Feng Lan drinking in the tavern.

"Waaah, Mira, is Natsu dead?" Lisanna burst into tears as she hugged Natsu, who had been left by the roadside by Feng Lan all night and was freezing cold.

"Huh!? No way! Natsu, wake up!" Elfman kept shaking Natsu's body beside them.

"You two, stop messing around. Natsu probably just got frozen after sleeping out on the street. Take him back to the guild and leave those two alone." Mira grabbed Natsu by the collar and lifted him up, then pointed at Feng Lan and Laxus drinking in the tavern.

Lisanna had wanted to go find Feng Lan, but Mira would not allow it, so she could only follow Mira and Elfman back to the guild.

Near noon.

"Ahh~ Feng Lan, just you wait..." Natsu was wrapped in a padded coat and shivering, determined to get revenge on Feng Lan.

"By the way, Mira, where's Feng Lan?" Makarov asked Mira as he drank.

"Him? He's drinking with your precious grandson, Laxus!" Mira replied irritably.

"Pfft! Laxus! When did that brat get back? Are you sure you didn't see wrong?" Makarov sprayed out a mouthful of wine and asked Mira.

"Blonde hair, headphones, and a black coat. Who else could it be besides Laxus?" Mira said impatiently.

"All right, quit sulking. Didn't I just ask you to take Feng Lan on missions and form a team?" Makarov rolled his eyes at Mira. "Besides, he's strong. With him around, you can bring Lisanna and Elfman along too. It'll be a chance for them to grow!"

"Yo, what are you all talking about?" Feng Lan walked into the guild carrying the drunken Laxus.

"Nothing much. Some old geezer told me to take you on commissions. And hurry up and put Laxus somewhere—go check on Natsu!" Mira was stunned by Feng Lan's unconcerned attitude.

"Natsu? Ah, I forgot about that kid. Sorry, and thanks for bringing him back." Feng Lan scratched his head and thanked Mira, then walked over to a seat and settled Laxus down.

"Where's Natsu?" Feng Lan sat down nearby and asked Gray.

"Natsu went out to do a commission." Gray looked at Feng Lan and pointed at a cup of red drink on the table. "Oh, right. Natsu asked me to give you this."

"Huh? That kid Natsu isn't trying to mess with me, is he? I've got a bad feeling about this." Feng Lan pondered warily for quite a while.

"He also said he mixed this drink himself..." Before Gray could finish, Feng Lan heard that it was alcohol and promptly downed the entire cup.

"Ah!" After swallowing the drink, Feng Lan's face turned bright red, and flames burst from his mouth. "Is this fucking chili oil mixed with alcohol!? Can anyone even drink this!?"

"Hahaha..." Mira could not help laughing at Feng Lan's miserable expression, but she quickly stopped under everyone's astonished gazes.

"That's enough! Stop fooling around! Every last one of you, get to work! Like we discussed, Mira, take Feng Lan, Lisanna, and Elfman out on a commission! You're all lazy as hell!" Makarov, annoyed that the noisy guild was ruining his drinking mood, hurriedly kicked them out.

On the Train to the mission location.

"Ugh~ Why did we have to, ugh~ take a train? This feels awful." Feng Lan looked half-dead as he complained weakly.

"If you don't take the train, are you going to walk there? You'd drop dead from exhaustion!" Mira said helplessly.

"Feng Lan, you get motion sickness too? Just like Natsu!" Lisanna poked Feng Lan's cheek with her finger and spoke innocently.

"Yeah, motion sickness is a common problem for Dragon Slayer Mages, because, ugh~, a Dragon Slayer Mage's senses are several times sharper than an ordinary person's," Feng Lan explained feebly.

"That's amazing! No wonder Natsu always notices whenever I try to scare him from behind, and then he ends up scaring me instead." The more Lisanna spoke, the more aggrieved she sounded, as though Natsu had been bullying her.

"Also, Feng Lan, you can really hold your liquor! You drank for so long and had so much alcohol, but nothing happened to you!" Elfman looked at Feng Lan with great admiration.

"That's also because of Dragon Slayer Magic. Since alcohol is liquid, ugh~, it gets absorbed directly into magic power inside my body. The alcohol, ugh~, never even reaches my stomach," Feng Lan revealed another shocking fact.

"Isn't that just cheating? That's not fair!" Mira shot Feng Lan a look of disdain.

"Even without using Dragon Slayer Magic, I could drink more than half the guild under the table." Feng Lan explained proudly.

"Feng Lan, Lisanna wants to become a Dragon Slayer Mage too!" After hearing Feng Lan's description of Dragon Slayer Mages, Lisanna was filled with envy. "Lisanna wants to become a Kitten Dragon Dragon Slayer Mage!"

"Haha, so is it a kitten or a dragon?" Lisanna's innocent wish made Mira burst out laughing.

"Yeah, how do kittens and giant dragons even go together?" Elfman said with a laugh.

"Tch, what a shame. Ugh~, if you'd met me earlier, I could've helped, ugh~, you ask Auntie Cat Dragon for a favor..." Feng Lan's casual words once again broadened Mira and Elfman's horizons. What kind of creature was a Cat Dragon!?

"Don't look at me like that. Cat Dragons are a branch of Beast Dragons, and Auntie Missy Nilo, whom I know, is a very nice person... dragon." Feng Lan hurriedly explained when he saw their shocked expressions.

"Dragons sound like such interesting creatures. I really want to meet one!" Lisanna imagined countless giant dragons flying around her, her eyes full of longing.

"Mm, you will meet them! You'll definitely meet those powerful and willful, majestic and adorable creatures." As Feng Lan spoke, a trace of loneliness and nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

Lisanna and Elfman had originally intended to keep asking questions, but Mira, who had noticed something, stopped them.

After getting off the train.

"Ahh~ Finally off the train! That nearly made me sick to death." Feng Lan was the first to rush off, gulping down fresh air.

"Yay! Lisanna gets to do an A-rank mission too!" Lisanna came next. It was her first time taking on such a difficult commission, but instead of being afraid, she was excited and delighted.

"You two are too fast! And you're too slow, Elfman!" Mira ran down after them.

"But none of you are carrying the luggage, so I have to carry it all! Of course I can't run that fast!" Elfman said aggrievedly.

"Uh... forget that for now. Let's go talk to the client first." With that, Mira ran after Feng Lan and Lisanna, leaving Elfman to fend for himself.

"Wait for me! I can't carry all this!" Elfman shouted in Despair, but no one paid him any attention.

"Feng Lan! This looks so nice! Feng Lan, I've seen this in a book! It's really tasty! Feng Lan, I want to buy this! Feng Lan..." Lisanna looked at the bustling commercial street as though a whole new world had opened before her, dragging Feng Lan around to shop everywhere.

"Lisanna, let's meet up with the client first." Feng Lan checked the time and saw that it was already getting late. "After we finish the commission, I'll spend a whole day playing with you, all right?"

"Mm, it's a promise?" When Feng Lan nodded, Lisanna started running again. "Let's go! Hurry up and finish the commission! I want Feng Lan to play with me!"

Feng Lan smiled helplessly beside her and muttered to himself, "Wendy, it seems you already have an older girl who gets along really well with you. You should come soon too..."