8 The Future of the Guild

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

May, x771

After Makarov introduced Alfonzo and Elicia to the rest of the guild, he led them toward the group of four children sitting at one of the several long tables that ran the length of the guild hall's first floor.

As they approached the quartet, Alfonzo and Elicia gawked at the building's interior. What they saw was a large hall that resembled a medieval dining hall with several long table and benches, a bar off the left of the hall, a board that they assumed was the quest board each guild should have, and a mezzanine held up by wooden pillars, and a hard wood or parquet floor.

"Nab, come here." Makarov said, calling out to the black haired boy who was idling in front of the quest board.

In response to Makarov's call, the black-haired boy, Nab, looked at Makarov, then he looked at the board once more before jogging towards Makarov.

Nab arrived near Makarov, Alfonzo, and Elicia around the same time that the trio arrived near the quartet of children sitting at the table.

"Listen up, children." Makarov said. Then, he looked at the faces of the seven children. Once he was sure he had the attention of all seven of them, he spoke once again. "I've already introduced Alfonzo and Elicia. Now, I want the rest of you to introduce yourselves. You all are the future of the guild, so I want you to try and get along."

After Makarov's instructions, the five children looked at each other as if they were all waiting for someone else to take the lead. Eventually, after seeing that no one spoke, Makarov looked at the blond boy sitting at the table.

Laxus, why don't you go first." Makarov said.

"Hmph!" The blond boy, Laxus, snorted arrogantly. "I'm Laxus Dreyar. In the future, I'll be not only the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail, but I'll be the guild master, too."

After Laxus' introduction, Alfonzo and Elicia exchanged glances, while thinking the same thing.

'Before Laxus' father, Ivan, implanted the Dragon Slayer Lacrima in Laxus, his personality was much meeker." Alfonzo and Elicia thought to themselves at the same time. 'So, that means that he's already got [Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic] and Ivan has already been expelled from the guild.'

"It's nice to meet you." Elicia said energetically with a big smile on her face.

"How ya doin'?" Alfonzo replied casually.

"I'm Bickslow." The blueish-black-haired boy, Bickslow, said while staring at Elicia in a daze.

'It looks like Elicia has an admirer.' Alfonzo thought while watching Bickslow's face turn red slowly. 'Too bad for him, she's off limits.'

Alfonzo then subconsciously held Elicia's hand, causing her to glance at him with a smile. Then, Elicia snuggled up close to Alfonzo. Seeing these actions, Bickslow frowned slightly, but said nothing in response.

"I'm Evergreen." The brown-haired girl said with an expression and posture that was clearly seeking attention.

'She already thinks she's the most beautiful, huh?' Alfonzo thought as he glanced at Evergreen. 'As an adult, she's pretty cute, but her personality sucks. What a waste.'

'I can tell, Fonzie and Evergreen aren't gonna get along.' Elicia thought as she glanced between Alfonzo and Evergreen. 'When she gets outta pocket, Fonzie won't hesitate to tell her about herself. I hope it doesn't come to that, though, it's better for everyone to be friends'

"Fried Justine." The light green-haired boy said disinterestedly.

'In the manga and the anime, they made it seem like Fried was into Laxus... Like, really into Laxus.' Elicia thought to herself while looking at Fried curiously. 'I wonder if it's true.'

After the four children sitting at the table introduced themselves, everyone looked at Nab, who had yet to do so. Unfortunately, Nab was not currently paying attention. Instead, he was constantly stealing glances at the board he was standing in front of a few moments ago.

"Ahem!" Makarov cleared his throat. "Nab, it's your turn."

"Huh? Oh... Um... I'm Nab Lasaro." nab said, still stealing glances at the board.

"I can't understand why you even spend so much time looking at the board." Evergreen said disdainfully. "You can't even take any quests yet. You should spend more time training, instead."

"Anyway, now that you've introduced yourselves, I'll leave you kids to get to know each other." Makarov said. Then, he looked at Bickslow and Evergreen in turn. "Bickslow, Evergreen, take Alfonzo and Elicia with you when you head back to the dorms, got it?"

"Yes, Master." Bickslow and Evergreen replied in unison.

Makarov nodded in satisfaction, then he walked toward the bar.

"I'll inform the dorm supervisors of the new arrivals." Makarov said as he walked away while waving his hand.

After Makarov walked away, silence fell on the group for a short while. However, Elicia did not let it stay that way for long.

"So, how old are you guys?" Elicia asked energetically. "Me and Fonzie are six. Oh, and what kind of magic do you use? Have you gone on any quests yet? What kinda things do you like to do? Are there any...?"

As Elicia barraged the five other children with questions, Alfonzo eventually put a stop to it by covering her mouth with his hand.

"Lici, I think you should only ask them one question at a time." Alfonzo said with a helpless expression on his face. "How are they supposed to answer all those questions at the same time."

"Oops, tee-hee." Elicia giggled before sticking her tongue out cutely.

Seeing such a cute gesture, everyone could not help but look at Elicia with at least a slight smile, while Bickslow's face reddened even further. At the same time, Evergreen looked at Elicia as if she were her mortal enemy.

'The new girl is so cute.' Bickslow thought while staring at Elicia. 'But she's too close to the new guy.'

'Is this girl trying to challenge me?' Evergreen thought with a frown. 'I'll show her who the most beautiful girl in Fairy Tail is, just wait.'

"So, like Lici said, we're both six." Alfonzo said. "How old are you guys?"

"I'm ten." Laxus said.

"Nine." Bickslow followed up.

"Seven." Evergreen said haughtily.

"Seven, too." Fried said, still in a disinterested tone.

"Um... Me, too." Nab said, still stealing glances at the quest board.

"Uh... Why do you keep looking at the quest board like that?" Elicia asked innocently.

"Huh?" Nab exclaimed after realizing that Elicia was referring to him. "Because I'm looking out for the perfect quest for me."

"But, like Ever said..." Elicia replied.

"Don't' call me Ever!" Evergreen shouted in protest.

"... You're not old enough to take any quests, right?"

"I just want to be prepared." Nab replied.

"I see." Elicia replied.

"There's no need to pay attention to that slacker." Laxus said in a self-important tone. "He's a weakling, anyway. Now, tell me, what kind of magic do you use?"

While Alfonzo frowned at Laxus' Tone, Elicia smiled as if she did not notice the tone Laxus used. In reality, she did not notice the tone. Instead, she was just excited to talk to one of the strongest members of Fairy Tail in the future. On top of that, she knew that Laxus would mature years later and become one of the most dependable members of the guild.

"I use [Thread magic]." Elicia said happily. "What about you?"

Instead of answering Elicia's question, Laxus looked at Alfonzo.

"And what about you, Kid?" Laxus asked arrogantly.

Alfonzo's frown deepened. Although he mellowed out after his accident in his past life, he was still a very proud person. So, instead of answering Laxus, he looked at the other three children sitting at the table and thought to ask the same question as Elicia.

Before he could speak, however, Elicia noticed that Alfonzo was starting to get angry, so, she pulled on Alfonzo's sleeve and looked at him with upturned eyes.

"*Sigh* Fine. I won't cause trouble." Alfonzo said in an exasperated tone. Then, he looked back at Laxus. "[Metal Magic]."

Though he was not please at the delayed answer, Laxus nodded with satisfaction.

"I use [Lightning Magic]." Laxus said.

'If it weren't for Lici, I'd smack that smug look off your face.' Alfonzo thought. 'A few lightning rods and some non-conductive metal like tungsten or titanium, and you would be no threat at all.'

A moment later, Alfonzo shuddered.

'What's wrong with me?' Alfonzo thought to himself without changing his expression. 'Why is this setting me off like that? Is it because of my young body? It has to be. My hormones and emotions are out of control. Damn it, I need to be careful.'

Like Alfonzo, Elicia was also worried about Alfonzo's mood. Although, she was more concerned that his old personality was starting to resurface. Hopefully, he would not lose his humility now that he had his eyesight again. After all, he had such high pride in himself even when his eyesight was almost gone.

Alfonzo then shook his head slightly to keep his temper under control. Then, he shifted his attention to the other children.

"What about you guys?" Alfonzo asked.

"[Fairy Magic]." Evergreen replied.

"[Word Magic]." Fried said.

"[Seith Magic]." Bickslow also said.

'They all have [Eye Magic] of some kind, too.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he observed the three who just answered his question. 'Have they not learned it yet, or are they keeping it secret? Judging from how they acted during the Battle of Fairy Tail Arc, they probably haven't learned it yet.'

"What about you Nab?" Elicia asked with curiosity in her tone.

"Oh, I use [Seith Magic], too." Nab replied absent mindedly.

"So, you and Bickslow use the same magic?" Elicia asked, her curiosity growing.

"Yes and no." Bickslow replied eagerly, trying his best to impress Elicia. "[Seith Magic] is a magic that controls objects after placing souls into them. Although we both use [Seith Magic], my magic controls human souls while he controls animal souls."

"Does that mean you have to kill animals and people to use your magic?" Elicia asked while grabbing Alfonzo's arm and hiding behind him with an expression of fear on her face.

'Stupid me.' Bickslow thought to himself when she saw the scared expression on Elicia's face.

'*Sigh* If she had read the wiki, she would know how those magics work.' Alfonzo thought while shaking his head.

"No, we use wandering souls." Bickslow explained. "Only dark wizards would kill people to use their souls."

"Oh, okay." Elicia said in relief, poking her head out from behind Alfonzo.

'So cute.' Bickslow thought after seeing Elicia's relieved expression.

The kids continued to chat like that, answering a few of the questions Elicia asked during her rapid-fire question spree. By now, Alfonzo and Elicia were sitting at the table with Laxus, Bickslow, Fried, and Evergreen. Meanwhile, Nab had returned to the quest board, looking over all the available quests.

"So, what do you do in your free time?" Elicia asked curiously.

"Train." Laxus, Bickslow, and Fried answered simultaneously.

"Is that all?" Elicia asked, tilting her head cutely. "Don't you have any hobbies?"

"There's no time for hobbies when you want to be the strongest." Laxus said as if it were obvious.

"That sounds so~~ boring." Elicia said.

"Well, I like to find ways to make myself more beautiful." Evergreen said proudly.

"Oh, really?" Elicia said excitedly. "I like to sew. One day, I'm gonna make the beautifulest clothes in the world."

"Then it sounds like you'll be making clothes that are suitable for me." Evergreen said with a smug smile on her face.

Like that, Elicia and Evergreen began to talk animatedly about how to make themselves and other things more beautiful. Meanwhile, the boys at the table could only look at them blankly.

'No matter the world, girls never change.' Alfonzo thought to himself.

"Although I agree with you three, training without break gets boring." Alfonzo said to Laxus, Bickslow, and Fried. "When I'm not training, I like to cook and bake."

"Hmph!" Laxus snorted. "You're gonna end up weak if you think like that."

"We'll see." Alfonzo replied in a dismissive tone.

Naturally, Laxus did not like that answer.

'There's no point in arguing with him about this.' Laxus thought to himself unhappily. 'Once I'm the guild master, I'll just kick him out of the guild. My Fairy Tail has no room for the weak.

Not long after that, Alfonzo and Elicia, being the youngest children present, began feeling sleepy. So, Bickslow and Evergreen took them to the male and female dorms, respectively, bringing an end to their first day in Magnolia and Fairy Tail.'