287 Soul Weapon Sparring

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

December, x784.

While the S-Class girls, Lucy, Wendy, and Carla were congratulating Erza on completing her [Soul Weapon's] first shift, the elevator doors opened once again. And through those open doors, Alfonzo entered the main hall of the Fairy Tail guild.

Immediately, when Alfonzo took his first step into the guild hall, Elicia's head whipped in his direction.

"Fonzie!" Elicia shouted happily. "You'll never guess what Erza did.'

Hearing Elicia's exclamation, Alfonzo's gaze immediately fell on Erza. And when he noticed the sword on her hip, he knew exactly what she had accomplished. Before he could congratulate her, however, Elicia continued exclaiming loudly.

"Erza activated her first shift!" Elicia said, clearly proud of Erza's achievement.

"Um… Lici, I think you should have let Erza say that." Ultear said, softly reprimanding Elicia.

Immediately, Elicia froze in place. Then, like a robot whose joints needed oil, she slowly turned her head in Erza's direction.

"Oops…" Elicia muttered, a guilty expression making its way onto her face. "I'm sorry, Erza. I was so excited that I forgot.

"It's fine." Erza replied casually. "I'm just happy that all my hard work paid off."

Hearing that, Elicia felt even more guilty. Though she could tell that Erza really did not mind, she would have felt better if Erza had gotten angry instead.

"*Sigh* And here I thought your habit of speaking without thinking had improved." Alfonzo said with a wry smile while shaking his head. "But Erza's finished her first shift, huh? And I thought I'd have been the first. Oh well, it's not a race, I guess."

"Don't worry, Alfonzo." Ultear said in a conciliatory tone. "I'm sure you'll get yours soon, too."

"OH, nah, that's not what I meant." Alfonzo said with a smile. Then, he reached his hands to his lower back before pulling out a pair of magi-steel tonfa that were strapped to his back. "I finished mine just a few minutes ago."

Hearing that, the girls were dumbfounded. Then, their gazes shifted between Alfonzo's tonfa and Erza's longsword. A few moments later, their attention fell on the pendant that was hanging around Elicia's neck, and they could not help but look at her with pity.

Seeing the gazes she was getting from Ultear, Mirajane, Lucy, Wendy, and Carla, Elicia's eyebrows began to twitch.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?' Elicia asked defensively. "Unlike those two, I take a lot of quests. I also spend a lot of time working on my new clothing designs. I just don't have as much time to circulate my magic power as they do."

"It's okay, Lici." Mirajane said with her usual pleasant smile. Though, a hint of sadism was hidden behind it. "Coming in third isn't so bad."

In response to Mirajane's statement, Ultear, Lucy, Wendy, and Carla nodded in agreement. Though, the slight smiles they all wore made it clear that they were teasing Elicia. Elicia, on the other hand, felt her eyebrows twitching even more fiercely. Then, when she could no longer take it, she…

"Fonzie~~~~!" Elicia cried loudly before she threw herself into Alfonzo's arms. "Everyone is bullying me~~~~~!"

Hearing Elicia start crying, the girls opened their eyes and mouths wide in surprise. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, although he was rubbing Elicia's back tenderly to try and calm her down, was doing everything in his power to not start laughing at his fiancée.

Though, after seeing Alfonzo's facial expression, Ultear, Mirajane, Lucy, and Carla started laughing immediately. Meanwhile, Wendy was genuinely feeling guilty about making Elicia cry. Erza, on the other hand, was staring at Alfonzo with the desire to fight blazing in her eyes.

"Alfonzo, can we spar?' Erza asked eagerly. "I really wanna put my new weapon through its paces."

Continuing to pat Elicia on the back, Alfonzo put on a battle hungry smile that let Erza know that he was ready to do the same with his tonfa.

Seeing Alfonzo's smile, the girls were also interested in seeing the spar between Alfonzo and Erza, as well. So, after calming Elicia down, the group made their way into the elevator and went up to the training room their group usually used for the spar.

During this time, many of the other guild members who were still present in the guild noticed what was about to happen as well. So, they also made their way towards the training room. Even Makarov, Gildarts, and Ur were attracted by the spectacle.

A few minutes later, Alfonzo and Erza were standing in the middle of the training room while the walls were lined with the members of the guild who were drawn to the sparring match.

"I'm actually surprised to see you here, Laxus." Elicia said after noticing Laxus was standing next to her.

"Well, if these [Soul Weapons] are as good as advertised, I'll probably ask Alfonzo to make one for me, too." Laxus replied casually.

"I hope you don't ask him to do it like you used to when you wanted something from him." Elicia replied with a cheeky smile.

"Hmph!" Laxus snorted in response while looking away with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. "I already realized I was an asshole back then. Do you have to keep on bringing it up?"

"Oh, if you thought you'd ever live that down, you were clearly dreaming." Elicia said happily.

"Whatever." Laxus replied in an annoyed tone.

"But I'm pretty sure you're gonna be disappointed if you were looking forward to seeing what the [Soul Weapons] can do, this time around." Elicia said, getting back to the main topic.

"Huh?" Laxus exclaimed in confusion as he turned his head back in Elicia's direction. "What do you mean?"

"Well, according to Fonzie, they won't really start showing their power until they learn the [Weapon Spirit's] name and release its first seal.

"I see." Laxus said, sounding a bit disappointed. A moment later, however, he shrugged it off. "Oh well, I guess I'll just enjoy the show then."

At the same time, everyone's attention was drawn to the middle of the room as Erza dashed forward with er sword raised. In response, Alfonzo took a step backward, and with the long end of the tonfa in his left hand running along his forearm, he blocked Erza's downward slash.

Then, while moving his left arm in a circular motion, Alfonzo moved Erza's sword to the outside of his body. At the same time, he stepped forward, whipped the tonfa in his right hand forward, and lashed out at Erza's left side.

Reacting quickly, Erza stepped back, narrowly avoiding Alfonzo's strike, while simultaneously disengaging. Then, she swept her blade at Alfonzo's front leg, causing him to step back quickly, before following up with an upward slash.

Taking another step backward, Alfonzo swung the tonfa in his left hand while swinging both weapons at Erza's blade, knocking it towards the right side of his body. Then, he returned the tonfa in his left hand to its previous position and threw an elbow strike at Erza's abdomen.

Sidestepping Alfonzo's elbow strike, Erza stepped in with another slash from above., this time, wielding the sword with only one hand.

Arching his back to avoid Erza's slash, Alfonzo fell into a bridge, supported himself with the short ends of his tonfa. Then, he pushed himself back to an upright position once Erza's blade passed. At the same time, he flipped the tonfa around, and brough the long ends of his weapons down at Erza's shoulders, which she, once again, stepped back to avoid.

During this entire exchange, Although Alfonzo and Erza were circulating their magic power into their weapons, they were not using any to strengthen their bodies. This spar was to test their [Soul Weapon's] feel, after all.

Still, they continued to exchange attacks. And as time went by, their speed increased. Though, it was clear that Erza was gaining the upper hand.

To be honest, both Alfonzo and Erza expected him to be at a disadvantage. Although he had trained with various weapons over the years, thanks to his ability to make just about any weapon with his [Metal Magic], he mainly focused on Eskrima. So, he was much less familiar with tonfa combat.

In fact, he was thoroughly confused by the fact that his [Soul Weapon Embryo] evolved into a pair of tonfa rather than a pair of Eskrima sticks. But since there was nothing he could do about it, he never questioned it. Since these were supposed to be the weapons that best suit him, he would just have to learn how to wield them properly.

Meanwhile, the audience was thoroughly impressed by the display of skill they were witnessing. Even though most of them could tell Alfonzo was losing, they could not believe that he was so skilled with the weapons he was using.

"Alfonzo usually only uses those two sticks he always creates, right?" Wakaba asked curiously.

"Yeah, and he's damn good with them, too." Macao replied. "Especially when he uses them in combination with his magic, You never knew if they'd turn into one long stick, or just grow a little longer when you thought you avoided them."

"Then, why is he using those things?" Wakaba asked.

"They're called tonfa." Gildarts said. "And from what I've heard, those should be the weapons best suited for him. If his theory about those [Soul Weapons] was correct, anyway."

"It probably is." Ur added. "Although his movements aren't quite as smooth as usual, likely because he's using a less familiar weapon, his moves are much more varied. Especially because he can change the position of the long and short ends."

Hearing that, the three middle-aged men nodded in agreement.

"but still, that Erza's talent with a sword is incredible." Ren said with a smile. "She's probably even a match for you now, Masa."

"I wouldn't doubt that, Ma'am." Masa replied with a nod. "Though, I'm much more proficient with knives than swords."

"*Sigh* It really is a shame you're still only an A-Class wizard, Masa." Gildarts said in a tone of lament.

"If it weren't for my husband's foolish pride, Masa would have been promoted to S-Class over a decade ago."

"Hmph!" Gozaburo snorted while looking away from his wife's piercing stare.

"Oh, really?" Ur asked with interest. "Now that you mention it, he did fight Laxus in the tournament, and neither of them could land a blow on each other, could they. That kinda makes me wanna spar with you, Masa."

Hearing that, Masa could only smile wryly. Though he was physically stronger than any human, other than maybe Alfonzo after he used the Techno Organic Metal to strengthen his entire body, Masa knew that he did not have enough magic power to contend with Ur. On top of that, no matter how much physical strength he had, what good would it be if he were frozen into an ice statue?

"Hahaha! The kid lost!" Gozaburo shouted happily.

Hearing Gozaburo's laughter and subsequent exclamation, the others looked in the direction of the spar and saw Erza had stopped with her sword at Alfonso's throat.

"Even if he lost, his display was quite impressive." Masa said. "Give him a year, and the outcome might be different."

"Hey, whose side are you on, Masa?" Gozaburo asked in a betrayed tone.

"Huh? I wasn't taking sides though, Boss." Masa said in a panicked tone.

*Bang!*

"Stop being an ass." Ren said after punching Gozaburo in the side of the head. "Now he can't even make a simple observation if it doesn't agree with what you want to hear? Maybe someone needs to spend some more time on the washing board and sleeping on the couch?"

"Wait, Ren, I'm sorry." Gozaburo replied in a panic. "Anything but the washing board. Please!"

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Ren said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Hearing that, Gozaburo glanced at Masa while gritting his teeth. Then, he took a deep breath before lowering his head with veins popping out on his forehead.

"I'm… So… Sor… Sorry… Masa." Gozaburo said in a tone filled with venom.

"No, Boss. There's no need to apologize." Masa replied while waving his hands frantically.

Meanwhile, Erza had lowered her sword from Alfonzo's neck. Then, both she and Alfonzo began to inspect their weapons for any chips, cracks, or damage of any kind.

"Not a single chip." Erza said in an impressed tone. "Quite impressive."

"Yeah, especially if you consider how hard we were going." Alfonzo replied. "I guess we'll have to try strengthening our bodies with magic power, next time. Then, after that, we'll have to try using our magic on the wea---"

Before Alfonzo could finish, however, Erza stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, before kissing him passionately. In fact, this kiss was so passionate that even some of the married members of the guild looked away in embarrassment.

"Thank you, Alfonzo." Erza said with a dazzling smile on her face after breaking the kiss. "This is the best gift I could have ever asked for."

"I'm glad you like it, Erza." Alfonzo replied with his own radiant smile before pecking Erza on the forehead. "Anyway, let's call it quits for today. On top of the first shift, I also completed my research. Now, I need to turn all that theory into something practical."

With that, the spar ended and everyone made their way out of the training room. Meanwhile, Elicia decided that she would put all her effort in attaining her first shift as well after seeing Alfonzo and Erza. Then, the next day, she announced her own first shift.