Strikes rained down on Ivan from all angles as he backpedaled desperately. Ivan waves his sword back and forth, hastily deflecting as many blows as he can, but several slip past his guard anyways, striking his body with a staccato of dull thuds. With his body smarting and sore, Ivan steps back, hoping to gain a moment of rest but his opponent sticks to him like glue. A powerful thrust forces Ivan to roll to the side. As he exits the roll, Ivan raises his sword at the last second to block a crushing overhead blow. The sheer force behind it pushes Ivan’s blade away, and it slams into his shoulder with a crack. A brutal kick to the chest sends Ivan tumbling away, thoroughly winded. Ivan lies there on the floor, completely limp, before pushing himself back up with a grunt. He looks up and stares at the crimson figure in front of him, his gaze ablaze with hunger.

 

“Okay, that’s enough for today Ivan.” Erza says, sending her bokken away with a flash of light. “We can continue this later. I’ve got some.. errands, to complete before noon.”

 

Ivan bows to her at the waist. “Thanks for the guidance, Erza.”

 

“Anytime.” she says, smiling warmly at Ivan before walking away towards town.

 

Ivan rubs at his shoulder absentmindedly, the cracked bone already healing over. Even with his absurd recovery, Erza’s strikes still left Ivan beaten and battered. Or perhaps Erza only hit as hard as she did because of his unnatural recovery. Ivan shrugged indifferently. “What does it matter? So long as I learn quickly, that’s all I should care about.”

 

“H-hey man… you’re pretty insane you know that? I mean, you’d have to be, to let Erza wail on you like that all the time.”

 

Ivan turns towards the dark haired man. “Hello Gray. You're hardly one to speak. You keep taking off your clothes in public. Look at yourself, walking around shirtless. Where’s your shame?”

 

Gray looks down with horror. “Damn it, not again!” The man scurries about, looking for his lost clothing.

 

Levy snuck up next to Ivan as he watched Gray run around, an amused smile on his face. She pokes him in the side, making him flinch reflexively. “It’s not fair… how did you grow so tall so fast? It’s just not fair…”

 

Ivan rubs her head affectionately, making her smile. “It’s just my body catching up with my age. There’s nothing special about it.”

 

“That’s a load of crap and you know it.” She says with a frown. She pokes her fingers together, idly kicking away at the floor. “Why am I so much shorter than everyone else?”

 

“Does it really matter if you’re short. So long as you’re you, why care? In fact, I prefer you this way actually. If you were taller you wouldn’t be as adorable.“

 

Levy nods her head to Ivan’s reply, before kicking him savagely in the shin. “I’m not a child!”

 

“I didn’t say you were.”

 

Levy decides to leave with a huff.

 

Seeing Gray still looking for his shirt, Ivan calls out to him. “Hey Gray! Your shirt’s over there!” He points to a bush next to the guild’s entrance, where a dark blue button up shirt was lying on the ground between it and the wall.

 

Gray immediately spots it. “Thanks man!” he says, nodding in appreciation.

 

Ivan walks back to the guild as well. “What should I do… should I train some more? Or should I try and relax like what Erza’s doing while she detoxes?”

 

As Ivan walks through the guild, he overhears a burly man with pronounced muscles and short hair speaking with another man with dark sunglasses. “If I recall correctly, that’s…Joey and Wan.”

 

“Hey Wan, did you hear about the assassination a couple days ago? Apparently some jack offs from Eisen-whats-it tried to kill all of the masters at the Meeting. Natsu, Erza and Gray stopped them though. Like, isn’t Lullaby a demon or something like that? That’s insane! I can’t even imagine having to fight a demon. That’s way beyond me.”

 

“Mmm.” Wan says, nodding slowly.

 

A bit of guilt fills Ivan’s chest when he hears this. No one else knew, but Erza came back from that fight utterly exhausted, almost completely drained of magic. Due to the poison restricting her ability to use her re-quip magic, she had to settle for a general-use armor instead of her specialty, switching out gear to maximize her strengths. This forced her to spend far more effort fighting Eisenwald’s many members, each of which experienced assassins in their own right.

 

Ivan hardens his expression, shoving the unwanted feelings aside and moves to continue over to the bar when he finds a towering figure looming over him. A man with a lightning shaped scar over his right eye and short, spiky yellow hair stands in Ivan’s way. He wore a leopard print sweatshirt with a dark fur lined coat on top, draped across his shoulders. A pair of oddly shaped headphones hung around his neck.

 

Ivan tries to step around him, but the scarred man bars Ivan’s way with a burly arm.

 

“Where do you think you’re going? This is a Fairy Tail only building. A magicless weakling like you has no place here. Don’t think that just because you share the same name as my old man, that you can just come and go as you please. The geezer might be an emotional pushover, but I’m not.” the man said.

 

Mira notices the building conflict. “Laxus! Makarov-”

 

“I don’t care! The old geezer is WRONG!” Laxus interrupts with a fierce expression. He directs his furious eyes around the entire guild, glaring at the various spectators, his arms splayed wide. “We're supposed to be the strongest guild in Fiore! This runt here can’t even use magic! Erza’s a fool for bringing him here. But then again, what else can I expect from a former slave girl. Only fit to serve. Pathetic.”

 

A multitude of gasps resound throughout the guild, but Ivan doesn’t hear it. His vision goes dark as blood rushes to Ivan’s head. A torrent of rage builds up inside him like a clogged river, ready to overflow at any given notice..

 

Ivan slowly walks up to the larger man, a grim expression on his face. “Say that again.”

 

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you down there. What did you just say?” Laxus says with a laugh, picking at his ears.

 

“I said. Say. That. Again.” Ivan swings at Laxus, but finds that the larger man had shifted back several inches in a flash of light. His fist sails through air when Laxus’ fist hammers into Ivan’s midsection. Ivan’s breath leaves his lungs as he slides back several feet.

 

Mira runs over, inserting herself between the two of them “Laxus that’s enough. The Master will be here soon to deal with this.” She then turns to Ivan. “Calm down Ivan, Laxus is an S-Rank mage like Erza. You can’t win this fight.”

 

Ivan gives Mira a sad look and shakes his head. “I don't have to. I’m sorry Mira, but I can’t just let this go. I don’t care what anyone says about me, but to insult Erza? …That’s unforgivable.”

 

Laxus had since turned away from Ivan, making his ways to the stairs that led to the second floor.

 

With a mocking grin, Ivan calls out to him. “Hey Mr. S-Rank, where are you going? We’re not finished here. What are you, scared? Is that what the S stands for?” 

 

Someone in the building lets out a short chuckle at Ivan’s comment but abruptly stops themselves. A heavy air descends on Ivan as a vein pops out on Laxus’ temple. He turns back to Ivan, trembling with rage as bolts of electricity snake up his arm. With a short shout, he punches at Ivan, sending a thick bolt of lightning at him.

 

Ivan immediately comes out of his rage induced haze, realizing that Mira was still standing between him and Laxus. Without a moment’s hesitation, he grabs her and twists, swapping their positions. The bolt of lightning explodes on Ivan’s back with a deafening boom. The scent of burnt flesh fills the air as Ivan’s flesh sizzles from the heat. His shirt was vaporized immediately, with bits of ash mixing in with raw, contorted flesh. A large electrical burn spans across his entire back, creeping over his shoulders and edged with black, dead flesh.

 

Ivan’s vision goes white as searing pain racks his body. He stumbles a bit, but comes to a second later. He turns back to Laxus, the thought of conflict abandoned to the dust. Instead, he feared the crazed man would attack again, putting Mira in harm's way. He hears Mira gasp behind him when she sees the extent of the damage. He couldn’t see it himself but he was sure it looked nasty. Ivan could feel her trembling fingers tracing the edges of his wound as it slowly healed over.

 

Seeing Ivan still standing, Laxus’ eyes grow red with rage as he opens his mouth and roars, sending a massive bolt of pure energy flying at him. The bright light it produces blinds everyone inside. When the light fades, Ivan sees a thick sheet of ice standing between him and Laxus, shaped like the petals of a flower. Past this, stood a pillar of rock, cracked and blackened with soot. Right before it fell apart, Ivan was able to make out faint words etched onto its surface. ‘Rock Pillar’.

 

“Dude, you need to chill out.” Gray said as he stood next to Ivan.

 

A moment later, Elfman charges at Laxus with a thundering roar. “Laxus! You almost hit Mira, you unmanly piece of shit!”

 

Laxus turns towards his new challenger, small snakes of lightning trailing around his fingers when a pair of gargantuan fists flatten the two of them, shattering the floorboards completely. When the fists recede, Elfman is thoroughly unconscious, while Laxus is long gone. The ice Gray had shaped was gone too.

 

Makarov walks into the building, his displeasure obvious. “Can anybody tell me what’s happening here? Mira?”

 

Mira quickly leaves Ivan’s side and fills Makarov in on the events of the last minute.

 

The elderly man sighs, appearing as though he had suddenly aged a decade. “I understand. I’ll speak with Laxus.” Makarov turns to Ivan. “As for you, while I can’t condone your provoking him, I do commend you for defending your friends. We’ll speak more on this later.”

 

It takes a few minutes, but once the debris has been cleared and the building aired out, the sounds of laughter soon permeate the room once more. 

 

Ivan sits at the bar counter with Gray and a recently awakened Elfman, while Mira works behind the counter and Makarov sat on the side.

 

“Master. Is it true what Laxus said about his father? That I share the same name as him?” Ivan asked.

 

Makarov draws a long puff from his pipe. He holds the acrid smoke in his lungs for a moment before letting it out in a slowly drifting cloud. "Yes. You have the same name as my son. He… was a good kid. But that might just be the bias of a father speaking."

 

"If that's the case, was that the reason why you accepted me into the guild?" Ivan asks.

 

Makarov scoffs. "What do you take me for? I'm the Master of Fairy Tail. As Master, I have an obligation, a duty, to act in its best interests. Was your name part of the reason why I accepted you? The answer to that is yes. But the main reason is because I saw good in your heart. I saw compassion. A heart that cares for its friends, as you surely demonstrated today." The old man takes another deep puff. "Right. Before I forget, you can start taking jobs. I’m sure you’ll do fine."

 

Ivan grins with excitement at the news. "Thank you, Master Makarov."

 

Makarov smiles back at Ivan. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a grandson to speak to." He gets up and jumps upstairs, disappearing from view.

 

"Ivan, are you okay?" Mira asks nervously as she wrings her hands. "Does it still hurt?"

 

"Yes, I'm fine. The lightning was pretty painful but it's nothing special. I've been through worse. I am sorry about the shirt though." Ivan pulls off his shirt, examining the back which had completely burnt away, before tossing it into a trash bin.

 

Mira waves away his concerns. "Oh don't worry about it. Elfman won't be using it anymore anyways. As long as you're okay, that's all that matters."

 

"Heh, who's the shameful one now?" Gray says from Ivan’s left.

 

Ivan looks the man over. "Still you. Where did your pants go?"

 

Gray breaks into a cold sweat as he starts panicking, patting himself down, and soon realizes that Ivan was just messing with him. "Whew, you almost had me there."

 

Ivan chuckles to himself. "Thanks for the help earlier. That last attack would have hurt Mira, even with me standing in the way. You have my gratitude." He says, looking Gray in the eyes.

 

Gray blushes slightly, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, that's what friends are for, right? …I'll be going now. Give me a shout if you need help."

 

“Sure.”

 

Elfman finally speaks up, slapping him on the back. “Ivan! You were super manly earlier, standing up to Laxus like that, I admire you!” The bear of a man grins at Ivan. “So… you’re allowed to take on jobs now. That’s good news. I was thinking of taking on a job myself so why don’t we do one together?”

 

“Oh. Okay, that sounds like a plan.”

 

“Excellent! Hey sis, we want to accept this job here.” Elfman pulls out a crumpled slip of paper from his pocket and hands it to Mira.

 

Mira gives it a once over before giving Elfman a deadpan stare. “Elfman… this is an escort mission. Don’t you remember how the last one went? You assaulted your client and forfeited the reward while Master had to handle the complaints from both the client and the Magic Council.”

 

“Yeah! That’s why Ivan’s coming with me. He has a good head on his shoulders, so everyone should be fine.”

 

Mira sighs. “Fine. But if you attack the client again I’m banning you from escort jobs. Permanently.”

 

“Haha! I knew I could count on you sis!” Elfman turns back to Ivan. “Alright, let’s get ready. The client should be arriving in Magnolia soon. The listing says that it’s a caravan so they should already have guards, we’re more like the muscle that handles the larger problems.”

 

The two split apart to prepare for the task. Elfman heads home to pack some of his things while Ivan leaves to find Erza.

 

Luckily for him, Erza seemed to be looking for him as well, as he found her walking up to the guild with a long, wrapped package.

 

Upon seeing Ivan, Erza immediately makes straight for him. “Ivan! I have a gift for you. Here, open it.” she says as she hands him the package.

 

Ivan looks at the package inquisitively before carefully unwrapping it, revealing the same sword he took from the bandits several days ago. It was now stored in a smooth black sheath with a logo that looked like a cercelée cross with a heart on the bottom, stamped near the top. Ivan unsheathes the blade, his eyes glued to the brilliantly polished blade. He gives it a few test swings, enjoying how it felt in his hands. His face breaks out in a grin. “I can finally hold it now…”

 

“Wow, that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile like that since you came here.” Erza says. “Do you like it?”

 

Ivan nods in affirmation, noticing that he no longer had to look up at the woman, his eyes now parallel with her own. They stood, eye to eye, as equals. Ivan wraps her in a hug. “Thank you Erza.” he says into her hair. “This means a lot to me.”

 

Erza returns the hug for a second before abruptly breaking it. She gives him some quick tips on maintaining his sword before quickly leaving, now that her business was done.

 

Ivan decides to leave as well, dropping by the house to grab a new shirt before heading to the forest glade he had found earlier. He planned on spending the rest of the day getting used to his new weapon.

 

He had a small feeling he would need it.