Could Hughes Also Be Laxus's Grandpa?

Behind the guild, at the lake, Hughes saw Red-Haired Shanks and Thunder God Enel fishing by the lake as soon as he arrived.

The two were standing very close together, and looking at them from behind gave off a very intimate vibe.

Hughes:...Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

Shocking! The little-known secret Red-Haired Shanks and Thunder God!

Shocking! Something like this has happened at the Fairy Tail guild!

Hughes, who had secretly recorded this scene using the Recording Magic Crystal, had already come up with several titles in his mind.

The precious Recording Magic Crystal was carefully stored away; it contained all the dirty secrets of the three strongest members of the Fairy Tail guild. This treasure was now priceless.

Hughes bent down and secretly picked up a huge rock, the size of a human head, and threw it with all his might.

"Bang!"

The boulder landed precisely on the lake in front of the two, splashing water two meters high and soaking the unsuspecting Laxus and Gildarts to the bone.

"Macao, I told you not to throw stones, it's easy to accidentally hurt people; look, Gildarts and Laxus are soaking wet now!" Hughes shouted at the guild from behind Gildarts and Laxus.

Gildarts shook the lake water off his body and sighed heavily. This Hughes was completely fooling him like Happy. With his strength, how could he not sense Macao?

Macao's weak magical power remained within the guild and never moved!

Laxus, the Thunder Boy, was not as composed Gildarts. His palm crackled with lightning, and a golden bolt of lightning struck down directly from above Hughes' head.

"Hughes, you bastard, do you want to fight?"

Faced with the enraged Laxus, Hughes performed a physical trial for him, intending to express his embarrassment at having his trick exposed.

I just don't know why Laxus's expression looked even worse...

The next instant, Hughes appeared between Laxus and Gildarts, his right arm around Laxus's shoulder. "Relax, relax; don't be angry, it was just a little joke!"

Hughes used the Flame-Flame Fruit, and heat rose from his body, scorching the surroundings; in no time, he evaporated the lake water off Laxus and Gildarts.

Gildarts wiped the sweat from his forehead, which was covered with heat, and couldn't help but complain in his heart that it would have been better not to dry them at all.

He didn't sweat this much even when he was in the sauna in the hot spring town. But it seems that Hughes ' strength has improved a lot since I last saw him a few days ago!

Gildarts recalled the scene of Hughes physically withstanding Laxus's Lightning Strike; just a few days ago, Hughes had to use Elementalization to counteract Laxus's Lightning Strike.

Thinking of this, Gildarts patted Hughes with a sigh, "You've grown quite a bit stronger since you went out with the guild leader!"

Hughes, silently thanking Jose repeatedly, humbly pinched his thumb and forefinger together. "Just a little bit, my strength has only increased a little bit."

"Hey, what are you two doing here? Laxus doesn't look like someone who would fish!"

Hughes stepped forward, lifted Laxus's fishing rod, and found the hook empty; Laxus hadn't even noticed the bait had been eaten.

Hughes picked a lively earthworm from the bait box at his feet, hooked it onto his hook, cast the line with force, and sat down comfortably in Laxus's spot.

My hands are itching, my hands are itching. Once I catch one, I'll return the spot to Laxus.

Hughes's powerful intuition told him that this hook was sure to catch a fish!

"Hey! Hughes, this is my spot. If you want to fish, find yourself a spot!" Laxus shouted angrily, his temper broken by Hughes's series of actions.

He ignored his Lightning Strike just now, and now he's trying to steal his spot. What kind of scoundrel is this?

"Hughes, Laxus is meditating, don't disturb him. Give him back the fishing rod first, I have other fishing rods here!" After saying that, Gildarts took out a small fishing rod with the marks of time from the bag on the ground and handed it to Hughes.

Hughes:...￣□￣||

Don't think he can't tell that this is the fishing rod he broke earlier!

He returned the position to Hughes of Laxus, stood beside them, and cast his own line.

For a long, long time...

"Are they really practicing cultivation?" Hughes wondered.

Turning his head to look to his side, Gildarts's nasal bubbles grew larger and smaller with the sound of his snoring.

Laxus stared intently at the lake, but there wasn't a single fish in the fish basket.

Hughes:Σ(￣.￣ﾉ)ﾉ?

This isn't some kind of magical training; it's clearly a fisherman's daily routine!

"Laxus, are you really practicing asceticism?"

"Yes, my strength hasn't improved in a long time, it's like I've hit a bottleneck. Gildarts said that if I want to take it a step further, I need to learn to calm down first."

After listening to Laxus's explanation, Hughes remained silent for a moment. In the Fairy Tail world, the strength of magic is indeed closely related to the mind, but for Laxus at this stage, would a strong mind be enough to break through his limitations?

Thunder is inherently raging and violent; its power is manifested in its fury, especially since Laxus wields the most ferocious Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic.

In the original storyline, Laxus entered a rebellious phase during this period, and his conflict with Makarov intensified. Fueled by a burning desire to prove himself, Laxus constantly challenged himself, and his strength improved rapidly over the next few years.

After being beaten up by Natsu and the others, he realized his true self, his violent nature faded, his mind was elevated, and his strength improved even further.

Under his influence, the misunderstanding between Laxus and Makarov has been perfectly resolved.

Now, under Gildarts ' guidance, Laxus skips the period of honing his strength and goes straight to pursuing final sublimation.

Will the Laxus that has undergone the breakthrough still be the powerful, reliable, and trustworthy Laxus that everyone can rely on?

Hughes felt uneasy, worried that his actions might cause a powerful figure to fall before reaching maturity.

"Laxus, do you think Gildarts ' method is reliable?" Hughes asked cautiously.

Laxus gave Hughes a strange look, his tone extremely serious. "You bastard, you're not afraid that I'll become stronger than you after my breakthrough, so you want to make peace with me now, are you?"

I'm telling you, this is impossible. No one has ever let Laxus suffer such a crushing defeat, twice in a row. This humiliation is etched deep in my heart.

Even if Gildarts's methods don't work, I will find other ways to strengthen myself. One day I will crush you under my feet!

Laxus's declaration of challenge was so powerful that it startled Gildarts, who was dozing off. Gildarts was laughing and had his arm around Laxus's shoulder.

"That's right, Laxus; mages need this kind of unwavering determination to continuously improve their strength, but..."

At this point, Gildarts paused slightly, his expression serious. "Laxus, you need to push yourself even harder, because Hughes has become stronger again."

From the fact that Hughes dared to take Laxus's Lightning Strike head-on with his bare body, Gildarts was certain that Hughes's strength had at least doubled in the few days he'd been gone.

"I know, I recognized him the moment I saw him!" Laxus glared at Hughes and said fiercely. No matter how difficult the bottleneck that was currently holding him back was, he was determined to overcome it in the shortest possible time.

Hughes: ヾ(´·ω·`)?

Look what he heard! Someone's trying to overtake a cheater!

However, Laxus's motivation for his arduous training was to prove to everyone that his strength was not because he was Makarov's grandson.

The purpose of my current arduous practice is to surpass myself!

If that's the case, then wouldn't I, Hughes, be Laxus's...?