Two and a Half Years!

"Thunder Dragon's Collapsing Fist!"

Laxus slightly curled his right fist and began gathering electricity. As tiny arcs of electricity flickered and danced across his fist, a powerful charge gradually built up.

Not far away, Allen, in his LordKnightmon form, watched Laxus with an easy expression, seemingly not taking the impending attack seriously at all.

The next moment, Laxus shouted and swung his right fist forward. A thick bolt of lightning roared toward Allen like a rampaging dragon. Yet facing such a fierce attack, Allen merely stood there without moving, allowing the Thunder Dragon's Collapsing Fist to slam heavily into his body.

With a muffled bang, the lightning exploded instantly. Allen, however, was completely unharmed—not even his body had swayed.

"That barely tickled, Laxus. How are you supposed to go out training with me when that's all you can do?" Allen said with a faintly mocking smile.

Laxus had already been annoyed that his attack had been completely ineffective. Hearing Allen's words made the anger in his heart surge even higher. He gritted his teeth and quickly clawed at the empty space before his chest with both hands.

In an instant, countless streams of magic power surged into the space between his hands like a raging tide. Under his control, they intertwined and condensed into a huge energy sphere. At the same time, dazzling lightning leaped and flashed around it, crackling loudly. The entire training ground seemed to be under constant bombardment from heavenly thunder.

Then Laxus raised the terrifying lightning mass high above his head and hurled it toward Allen with all his strength. At the same time, he shouted, "Take a look at this move, Big Brother—Thunder Dragon's Halberd!"

Accompanied by Laxus's roar, the lightning mass streaked across the sky like a meteor and smashed toward Allen at astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, it crashed into him, triggering a violent explosion that shook the entire training ground.

For a moment, flames soared into the sky and smoke billowed everywhere. A powerful shockwave swept out in all directions.

The thick smoke from the explosion completely blocked Laxus's view, making it impossible for him to see what lay ahead. Even so, his expression remained extremely solemn. He knew very well that even the astonishingly powerful Thunder Dragon's Halberd probably could not inflict much damage on the mighty Allen.

Just as expected, Allen merely flicked the cloak behind him. Laxus felt as though a gentle breeze had brushed past him. With that seemingly casual motion, the flames blazing from the violent explosion and the thick smoke filling the area were extinguished in an instant, as if strangled by an invisible hand, vanishing without a trace.

Laxus stared wide-eyed at Allen, who stood before him completely unharmed. Filled with unwillingness and frustration, he clicked his tongue in displeasure and shouted, "I'm done! Big Brother, LordKnightmon's Chrono-Adamantium is way too unfair!" With that, he helplessly shook his head.

When Allen heard Laxus admit defeat, he revealed a confident smile. He lightly raised his right hand, and in the blink of an eye, he dispelled the LordKnightmon transformation. Allen returned to his original appearance, then walked toward Laxus. Seeing the obvious unwillingness on his face, he could not help laughing loudly.

"Haha, Laxus, you can't blame LordKnightmon for being powerful. To defeat an opponent, you need more than equipment and skills. More importantly, you need to improve your own strength. So you still need to keep working hard to gain greater power and develop even more formidable techniques! All right, that's enough training for today. We should head back and rest." Allen laughed as he patted Laxus on the shoulder, then turned and walked toward the training ground's exit.

This was a dedicated training ground built deep within the forest with Makarov's personal help. Here, Laxus, who had successfully implanted the Lightning Dragon Slayer Crystal for two and a half years, trained with Allen day after day in their daily required exercise—one-on-one battles!

Ever since Laxus had successfully implanted the Lightning Dragon Slayer Crystal into his body, Allen's ordinary training had begun improving at an astonishing rate. This not only caused his own strength to grow at an increasingly outrageous pace, but also allowed him to control more of LordKnightmon's power with greater ease.

Thus, after two and a half years of unrelenting hard training, Allen finally made an important decision—to temporarily leave the guild and venture out into the world, temper himself, and accumulate actual combat experience. After all, the world of Fairy Tail was by no means as peaceful and uneventful as those lighthearted slice-of-life shows. On the contrary, it was filled with countless unknown dangers and challenges.

The Balam Alliance and the Albares Empire had never stopped coveting the Fairy Tail guild. They constantly watched from the shadows, searching for any opportunity to crush the continent of Ishgar in one fell swoop. Worse still, that terrifying black dragon remained suspended above everyone's heads like an inescapable shadow, threatening everyone's lives at every moment.

When Laxus learned that Allen planned to go out and train, he immediately became restless. Having grown up alongside Allen, he knew all too well that if he did not accompany Allen on this journey, the gap between their strengths would inevitably grow wider by the time Allen returned. Laxus absolutely did not want to see that happen, nor could he tolerate it. Thus, he expressed his strong desire to accompany Allen without the slightest hesitation.

Allen naturally had no objection to Laxus coming along. As long as Laxus obtained Makarov's approval, it would be fine. After all, the stronger Laxus became, the more help he could provide Allen.

When the two returned to Polyushika's house in the woods, Makarov happened to be there. Allen presented his plan to venture out and train to the two elders, while Laxus also said that he wanted to go with him.

The two elders' first reaction was naturally to refuse. They both felt that Allen and Laxus were still too young. They had never even considered letting them go out to train at an age when many people could barely take care of themselves. They were also worried that the two might be deceived once they left, and most importantly, they feared that if Allen and Laxus encountered danger on the way, no one would be there to help them.

Allen decided to argue his case. First was the issue of looking too young and inexperienced. Allen was now ten and a half years old, 175 centimeters tall and weighing 125 pounds. Although he was slightly slender, strangers who did not look at his face would only think he was a healthy adult. As for his face, that was easy enough to deal with. Over the years, Allen had learned several other types of magic, including transformation magic that could directly affect the face. Like Makarov's gigantification magic, it could alter the shape of certain parts of the body.

Before the two elders' eyes, Allen's facial structure changed in an instant, transforming from that of a ten-year-old into that of a twenty-year-old. After seeing the change, Makarov pinched his nose and reluctantly approved Allen's solution.

As for the elders' concern that the two lacked experience, Allen said, "Grandma, Grandpa, if we don't go out and train, we'll never gain any experience. It's true that we're still young, but please trust me. I'll take good care of Laxus, and besides, I have a reason I must go."

The two elders exchanged a glance. After a moment of silence, they nodded at each other, considering Allen's words acceptable.

As for the issue of strength, it was much simpler for Allen. He merely transformed into LordKnightmon once more before them. After sensing LordKnightmon's oppressive presence, the two elders no longer had any objections.

After receiving the two elders' approval, not only Laxus but Allen as well showed a hint of surprise.

Allen had been afraid that Polyushika would refuse. If she had firmly opposed the idea, he would still have respected her wishes. He had to listen to his grandmother no matter what! Even so, Allen had not expected things to proceed so smoothly.

Polyushika noticed the surprise on Allen's face and said, "I've watched you grow up. Ever since you became sensible, everything you've done has been carefully considered. Since you want to go out and train, you must have your own reasons. As for what they are, I won't ask. If you want to tell me, you'll tell me yourself. But there's something Grandma still has to say to you both. The outside world isn't like the guild. Some people out there have twisted and evil thoughts, so you must never act rashly. Think things through. If you encounter a problem you can't solve, come back. Makarov and I will help you."

As Polyushika spoke, her eyes reddened. Makarov was no better. Laxus was already streaming with tears. He had thought going out to train would be simple, but only after hearing Polyushika's words did he realize that the two elders were doing it all for his sake. Allen also had tears in his eyes. He stepped forward and hugged Polyushika, and Laxus joined the embrace as well.