Duel, Newcomers, Birthday

Erza was fast, but Cain was faster.

Facing the incoming longsword, Cain lowered his body slightly. The blade brushed past his hair without harming him at all.

His right fist shot upward, but Erza had long been prepared for it.

She suddenly leaned backward, the tip of her nose grazing past Cain's fist.

But it was not over yet. In the instant Erza leaned back, she twisted at the waist and viciously kicked toward Cain with the tip of her foot.

Just as Erza thought she was about to succeed, Cain's hand clamped firmly around her foot like a giant pincer.

"Not good!" The moment Erza realized her foot had been caught, she knew she was in trouble. Just as she was about to break free, tremendous force came from her leg, and Cain flung her away.

After rolling several times across the ground, Erza got up awkwardly. Yet there was not the slightest hint of discouragement in her eyes.

"Cain, let me show you the results of my secret training."

After saying that, another longsword appeared in Erza's hand.

Seeing Erza holding a sword in each hand, Cain suddenly understood. "Dual-Wielding Style?"

Erza was indeed much harder to deal with after switching to Dual-Wielding Style. Stepping, twisting her waist, swinging her swords—every movement was incomparably skilled. The force of her blades stirred up dust from the ground like a miniature sandstorm.

It was clear that Erza had put in a great deal of effort.

Facing Erza's relentless assault, flowing forth like spilled mercury, Cain remained calm.

As he dodged, he advanced and retreated with perfect control, always evading the longswords by a hair's breadth.

The prolonged attack began to drain Erza's stamina, and flaws started appearing in what had once been seamless moves.

Now.

Cain seized the instant Erza's body paused. His hand blade flashed like lightning and struck precisely against the wrist of her left hand holding the sword.

Erza's wrist was suddenly hit hard, and she instinctively released the longsword in her hand.

Cain's gaze was sharp as lightning. He reached out and caught the falling sword, then viciously drove its hilt into Erza's chest.

Bang—!

The tremendous force sent Erza flying several meters away. The pain in her chest left her short of breath for a moment.

"Erza, how are you?"

Although Cain knew how much force he had used, he still feared that he might have misjudged it and injured Erza.

After resting for a while, Erza felt much better. She got up from the ground, touched the dent in her chest armor, and said regretfully, "I thought I could at least give you a little trouble. I never expected..."

Seeing Erza looking somewhat dejected, Cain comforted her. "You don't have much armor yet, so you can't fully make use of Requip Magic's advantages. Once you have more armor in the future, it'll be a different story."

"But you didn't use magic either, did you?"

Erza's words left Cain at a loss for how to respond.

Fortunately, Erza quickly recovered from her disappointment. Brimming with spirit, she said to Cain, "Cain, I won't give up over this. From now on, please train me as hard as you can."

She even gave him a bow after saying that.

"Uh..." What a terrible thing to say, Erza. Then Cain suddenly had an idea. "Right, Erza, let's go see if there are any new desserts. We'll treat it as a reward after the spar."

The moment she heard they were going to buy desserts, Erza forgot all about training. Her one eye lit up as she hurriedly pulled Cain toward the dessert shop.

As they walked, she kept muttering, "Desserts, desserts."

Seeing how eagerly Erza anticipated it, Cain could not help but laugh to himself. Erza really does love desserts.

After trying the new desserts, the two of them slowly made their way to the guild and found it much livelier than usual.

Cain looked closely and discovered that Laxus had returned. Several newcomers had also joined the guild, and the guild master was stamping the marks on the three of them.

The three newcomers consisted of two boys and one girl. They seemed to be about the same age.

Cain first greeted Laxus, then went to ask the guild's resident know-it-all, Cana.

"Cana, are they newcomers?"

Cana nodded. "Yeah, they just joined the guild. They're Sarusuke, Droy, and Levy."

When Cain heard that the girl was Levy, he could not help glancing at her a few more times. Her light-blue hair, small frame, and cute appearance suited her. She was tiny now, and she would still be tiny later.

Come to think of it, Levy also loved reading. Her knowledge ranked among the best in all of Fairy Tail. Cain simply could not understand why she would end up liking that iron lump Gajeel.

Did good girls really just like bad boys?

Cain stopped thinking about it and walked over to Laxus. "Why have you been pushing yourself so hard lately?"

Over the past year, Laxus had rarely spent time at the guild. He had constantly been taking requests, which worried Cain.

Laxus shook his head. "It's nothing. I just want to become an S-Class Mage as soon as possible."

Seeing Laxus's expression, Cain knew he did not want to say much, so he changed the subject. "You won't be going out for the next few days, right?"

Laxus did not understand what Cain meant, but he still nodded. "Yeah, I'll be at the guild for the next few days."

"Heh, that's good."

The smile on Cain's face made Laxus feel strange. However, he was not the overly curious type, so he did not ask.

Time slowly passed. One day, at Cain's house...

Cain looked at Erza, Cana, and the others and solemnly asked, "Is everything ready?"

Erza patted her chest. "Don't worry. Nothing can go wrong. Just bring him over."

"Alright, I'll go first."

Cain nodded, then headed toward the guild. Erza, Cana, and the others entered the house and began getting busy.

When Cain entered the guild, he was relieved to find Laxus still there. "Hey, Laxus."

Laxus was not surprised to see Cain. Cain had been appearing at the guild often these past few days.

The two chatted casually for a few moments before Cain said to Laxus, "Come on. I'll take you somewhere nice."

"Somewhere nice?" Laxus looked at Cain in confusion. Was there still somewhere in Magnolia that he did not know about?

That made him a little curious, so he followed Cain out of the guild. In the end, they stopped outside Cain's house.

Laxus said irritably, "The nice place you mentioned isn't your house, is it?"

"That's right," Cain replied as though it were only natural.

Seeing that, Laxus said disdainfully, "Tch. I've been to your house more times than I can count."

Seeing Laxus's lack of interest, Cain grinned. "Heh heh, just go in and take a look. It'll definitely surprise you."

Cain's mysterious behavior stirred Laxus's competitive spirit. "Then let's see what kind of surprise you've got."

Laxus grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open. The entire room was pitch-black, and he could not see a thing. Just as he was about to say there was nothing here at all...

Pop~

The sudden sound startled Laxus. Just as he was about to cast magic in defense, he suddenly caught a scent.

At that moment, all the lights in the room came on. Cana and Erza pushed out a cake.

Sarusuke and Droy were holding up a banner that read "Happy Birthday," while Gray and Levy each held a party popper.

Clearly, the sound just now had come from those party poppers.

Cain stepped forward. "Laxus, happy birthday."

"Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday!"

Seeing everyone's joyful expressions, a sour feeling rose to Laxus's nose, leaving him at a loss for what to do.

Cain said at that moment, "Alright, Laxus, don't just stand there. Come eat some cake."

While everyone turned away, Laxus quickly wiped the corners of his eyes so no one would notice. For Laxus, this was destined to be an unforgettable day.