Departure

9 months have passed since the guild opened. The guild started to grow steadily and their name started to spread across Fiore.

One reason the guild was able to grow so fast was the number of quests they completed was high. They gained a lot of new quests from nearby villages for creature extermination. The reason for the high number of extermination requests was because of Blue Skull.

Ever since Blue Skull made Magnolia their base, the other villages around had to pay them a huge monthly fee for protection. If they couldn't pay the fee, Blue Skull wouldn't exterminate the magical creatures in the area. The villages also couldn't go to another guild because Blue Skull prevented them from leaving. Forcing the village to pay the fee or letting their village be potentially destroyed.

Another reason for the fast growth was the new members that joined Fairy Tail. Most of them were novice magicians so they needed to be tested before they were allowed to do any quests by themselves. There was no real rule that said they needed to be tested but Kei wanted to make sure they didn't die early because of their arrogance or overestimation of their power.

Because Kei implemented this system they were able to keep a lot more members alive than other guilds. Normally a guild would accept any magician without much consideration because it meant more power for the guild. This led to magicians overestimating their abilities because they were part of a guild. A lot of magicians die or get injured on their first quest because most of the time they are just novices.

Kei was able to make sure the novices that joined the guild were taken care of by more experienced members. This would build trust with the new and older members. Kei wanted to make the guild as close to the ideal that Mavis wanted, a place with a lot of laughter and adventure.

Although Fairy Tail was one of the top growing guilds it also gained another reputation for being destructive whenever they did a quest. The reason this started was because of the three stooges, Precht, Yuri, and Warrod.

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They were bored and since it was a quiet day they decided to take a quest together. Once they reviewed the board they couldn't find a suitable quest for all three. That was when Yuri got the bright idea to have a race. He took a quest to find a missing puppy and declared the first one to find him will get all the reward money plus a free dinner. The other two agreed and they ran off to find him.

They began running all around town for hours trying to find the puppy. Along the way, they destroyed numerous buildings when they tried to catch the puppy. They were extremely competitive causing them to ignore their surroundings. The puppy kept evading them until the sun began to set and Yuri caught it.

Once Yuri brought him to his owner they went back to the guild. When they entered the guild they saw a depressed Mavis with a paper in her hand and Kei next to her rubbing his forehead.

"We're back!" Yuri announced cheerfully.

When Mavis heard his voice she immediately froze, stood up, and glared at him. Kei also turned his head and had on a smile. The trio shivered when they saw Kei's smile. They didn't know why but instinctually they felt danger.

"Hey guys, welcome back. I wonder what you three did today?" Kei started walking closer to them along with Mavis.

"W-Well you know we went to find a lost puppy." Yuri took a step back.

"Oh really? I wonder then why did we get a bill for property damage." Kei shoved the paper right in front of them. When they looked at it their faces became pale.

"So? What do you have to say for yourselves?" Kei grabbed his wooden sword and pointed it at them.

The trio didn't say anything and bowed. "Please forgive us!"

Kei rubbed his chin before looking at Mavis. "Hmm. Well, the decision isn't up to me. Mavis, what do you think we should do?"

The trio looked toward Mavis but they couldn't see her face. Once she brought her head up they saw her smile. When they saw her smile they believed she was an angel sent from heaven to save them.

"...Beat them up."

"...Huh?" The trio looked stupefied. They couldn't believe the angel turned out to be a demon.

"Well, you heard the master. Sorry even I don't want to do this but orders are orders." Kei grinned.

'Orders my ass!' The three yelled in their minds.

The trio then proceeded to be beaten until they agreed to pay for all damages for the destruction they caused. The next morning the trio was laid out in front of the guild members as a warning. Of course, this display didn't stop Fairy Tail members from being reckless causing a lot more fees much to Mavis's dismay. Although it did give Kei a new nickname, Diablo.

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Aside from the growth of the guild the founders of Fairy Tail have also been growing. Yuri, Precht, and Warrod have been getting stronger by going on tons of quests. In the beginning, they were forced to go to every quest issued because of the lack of members. Recently however they have only gone to the harder quests because they have new members that can handle the smaller ones.

Kei and Mavis have also gotten stronger. Kei has been the more active one of the two considering he had less than a year. He went and took quests alone to train himself in combat. He may be good with a sword but he needs the experience to match.

Thankfully there were not only creatures but humans he could practice on as well. Whenever a bandit quest shows up he would immediately take it. He knows humans act differently from beasts, even if the beast has some sort of intelligence.

He also killed his first human during this period. He didn't vomit or gag like a person should, instead his mind was calm about it. He thought he should feel something but he didn't feel anything at all. It wasn't like he was insensitive about killing but he decided he wouldn't kill unless the person deserves it.

Kei's magic also improved and he was able to turn himself into light and darkness. Both of these transformations had the same properties as the orbs, purification, and corruption. He called the light form Radiance Breaker and his darkness form, Black Breaker. The light form lets him travel through the light while the black form through the darkness.

Although there are several advantages to this magic there are drawbacks. The first is he can't use a normal sword because of the high concentration of magic on his body. He can however use a sword made out of his magic. The only drawback is he will be using more magic to create them.

The second negative is the rapid use of magic. The spell constantly drains a lot of magic from the user. Kei can only use it for 5 mins continuously before his magic drops too low levels. He is experimenting with turning the spell on and off instantly whenever he wants but it is going to be a while until he can.

Aside from magic Kei also took up blacksmithing as a hobby. He went to the local blacksmith and asked if he could learn. The blacksmith gladly accepted and Kei has been going in the mornings whenever he wasn't busy. The reason he wanted to blacksmith was to be able to create things with his own hands. He found a passion in it and wanted to continue doing it even after he returns home.

Mavis has also gotten stronger. Although not too strong because she is the guild master and she needs to stay at the guild most of the time. Kei has been training her physical body along with her magic. He knows she doesn't fight in close quarters combat but still wants her to have stamina and some basic self-defense.

He trained her magic to be able to create solid illusions that won't disappear even if Mavis is not near. He knew if he could help her make them she would have a lot more versatility available to her, especially in war. Having a structure appear out of nowhere would make the enemy focus on that allowing your allies to move throughout the battlefield undetected.

Just like that Kei's year was almost up. He only had a couple more days until he had to leave. He contemplated telling Warrod, Precht, and Yuri about himself or not. In the end, he decided not to. One of the reasons was Precht. He doesn't know if he will still turn to black magic even with his influence. If he does, he doesn't want more people to know about other worlds than necessary.

Kei decided it was better to tell them a lie. He was going to vaguely say something about the condition of his body. It wasn't a full lie because his body is cursed but still he will never see them again except for maybe Warrod. He also had the option of just leaving but he didn't want to do that. He spent a lot of time with them and leaving without saying anything would make him feel a little guilty.

When he first told them he was leaving they were shocked because they couldn't believe Kei of all people would leave. When they tried to persuade him to stay Mavis was the one that eventually convinced them to let him go.

Kei knew they were suspicious about him leaving but decided to trust him and didn't question him further. He was grateful that they didn't ask any more questions.

The trio decided to throw a party with all of the Fairy Tail members before Kei left. It was a lively event and once it was over tables were flipped over, the members were scattered across the floor, and everything was a mess. All of the members were there except Mavis and Kei.

Kei and Mavis were outside the guild looking at the lake. They were holding hands watching the sunrise. Mavis leaned her head on his shoulder.

"The lake's beautiful today."

"Yes, it is. But not as beautiful as you."

"D-Don't say such embarrassing things! Didn't I tell you that before?" Mavis's face turned beet red.

"Hahaha! Yes, you did but I know you like it when I say things like that don't you?" Kei had a sly grin on his face.

"Hmph!" Mavis pouted but did not deny his words.

"Sorry, I couldn't help teasing you." Kei put on an apologetic face.

"It's fine. We don't have much time left together after all." Mavis held Kei's hand tighter.

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. Instead, I want you to hug me." Mavis holds out her arms waiting for the hug.

Kei wraps his arms around her and pulls her in a hug. "I love you, Mavis."

"I love you too Kei."

After a minute they let go. "It's time for me to go."

"I know. Goodbye Kei. I will love you forever."

"Me too Mavis."

Kei leans in and kisses Mavis on the lips.

"W-Wha-"

"Bye Bye! Thanks for the kiss!" Kei grins at her and then disappears.

Mavis is in a daze and touches her lips. She smiles with tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Goodbye Kei." Mavis mutters and walks back to the guild.