Chapter 18: The Reincarnated and the Dragon's Son

"Come on, guys, it's time to stop playing hide-and-seek; I know you are there; besides, it looks like one of you is causing this rain, right?" I said without looking away from the front.

After my words, five figures came out from behind rocky constructions, and I had to admit that they were quite a peculiar group, from the wild-looking, black-haired guy with face piercings, to the big guy with a blindfold.

"Gihi, it looks like the prey at least knows how to track". The pierced boy, who was apparently the leader, said sarcastically.

"How sad, to think that the enemy would discover us". The big one added while he... cried?

"Well, I must admit you're a motley group, so what? Are you bandits or something?" I said in an attempt to get some information.

The guy with the green hair and monocle combed his fingers through his mustache as he watched us, and the only girl in the group also seemed to refuse to answer as she kept the best poker face I had ever seen, surpassing even the Virgo one.

"Aren't you going to answer? Come on, where was the kindness in the relationship between attacker and victim?" I told them, once again trying to get them to say anything that might be useful; after all, they had been hiding here in the middle of nowhere, so it was very likely that they had been waiting for someone.

And I was inclined to think that we were that someone.

"You're pretty funny for a worm, so if you give us the blonde, we'll squash you a little less hard". He said confidently as he cracked his knuckles.

'Yes, that confirms that the punk boy is the leader, now...'

"Tempting offer, seriously, but I think I'm going to pass"

"Then we'll kick your ass, and then we'll take her with us". Said the boy with black and white hair and a black line dividing half of his face.

"Okay, hey Lucy". I said, looking at her out of the corner of my eye; she looked at me but stayed on guard, an intelligent decision; not only were we outnumbered, but contrary to me, she couldn't be sure if there were more of them hiding and waiting for an opportunity to attack.

"It's just the five of them; there's no one else". I assured her so she could calm down a bit before continuing. "Remember how you said you were strong enough to come with me?" I told her with a calm tone, she instantly understood what I meant, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"You don't mean to say-" She was saying when I interrupted her.

"Of course that's what I mean". I replied.

Her answer was a little smile. "Fine, if that's the proof you want, then I'll do it"

"That's what I wanted to hear, so stick with miss poker face and the monochrome guy, unless you think it's too much for you?" I scoffed some more, expecting a bit of annoyance on her part.

"I know you wouldn't give me more than I can handle; now go; if you take too long, I might be done before you". She ended up pranking me back.

I started to walk forward while putting a hand on the back of my neck and moving it, making it crack. "Who do you think you talk to? By the time you finish, I will have taken a nap"

"Now, you three, why don't we go have some fun over there?" As I pointed to my right, I told the leader, the big crybaby, and the green hair. "Let your two partners take care of my friend while we are busy"

"HAHAHAHAHA". The wild boy laughed to the point that he cupped his stomach. "Do you really want that? Fine, Juvia, Totomaru, take care of the little princess". He told his partners before showing me a smile that he would have made a shark jealous as he pointed to the left of him.

Without responding verbally, I started to walk in that direction with the three, but not before giving Lucy one last help.

"Water and fire". I told her quietly; after years of sensing many wizards, I became able to identify the type of magic they had, at least when it was directly related to the most obvious elements; Lucy knew that I could do that, but whatever she did with that information, now depended on her.

The three wizards and I got far enough away not to intervene in Lucy's fight against those called Juvia and Totomaru, but not far enough to get out of the radius of the rain; after all, I did not want to give up the advantage that the influence of one of the partners of the three with whom I was going to fight gave me.

"So, how do you want to do this?" I asked them before rolling up my jacket sleeves, deactivating and removing the weights on my wrists before following up with the ones on my legs and letting them fall to the side; wearing them while I was in a real fight would be stupid.

With my limbs free, I felt as light as a feather, and to get my muscles used to it; I stretched my arms and legs a little.

"I'm going to enjoy this". The leader said without answering my question.

"I'm sure that you will". I responded by finishing my stretches, but he seemed to ignore me again.

"Stay out of this". He said to his two companions and then started walking towards me, increasing his speed with each step he took.

"I'll take care of this loser". And after that, he shot out at a tremendous speed with his right fist pointed at my face.

#####

"You shouldn't be so overconfident; this loser might surprise you if you underestimate him". Jean responded with an excited smile on his face as Gajeel's fist hit his crossed arms.

Gajeel's strength was enough to push Jean back.

As he backed away, Jean raised his leg and kicked Gajeel in the stomach to get him away, but this was only momentary because a couple of seconds later, the savage warrior was in front of him again, throwing punches.

Having tested his opponent's strength, Jean decided to dodge or deflect the blows with his palms, and finding an opening, he formed a fist and threw it at Gajeel's face, but it seemed his opponent's reflexes were sharp enough to stop his advance and move his head back, avoiding the blow by a couple of centimeters.

Gajeel didn't miss the opening and responded by throwing his own punch at Jean's nose, but just like him, the brunette lunged backward to avoid the blow, falling on his back in the process.

Jean's palms touched the ground and served as both support and momentum as the soles of his feet hit Gajeel's stomach once more, knocking him back half a step.

For Jean, that small moment was enough to make his next move; his legs moved to give him enough momentum to turn while his right hand moved in a way that increased his speed even more.

His right leg stretched out enough to hit Gajeel's left heel, throwing him off balance.

Then he spun to his feet again as his left hand formed a fist that went to Gajeel's face with his strength added to that of the spin.

But before the blow could connect, Gajeel threw his head into the fist, hitting his forehead with Jean's knuckles.

The swordsman winced in pain and took several steps back to gain some distance, lowering his guard a bit because Gajeel didn't follow him.

So it was a surprise to him when his opponent smiled and transformed his arm into what appeared to be a metal tube that stretched rapidly; the last thing Jean saw before the blow connected with his face, was Gajeel saying. "It's over"

The upper half of Jean's body leaned back from the force of the impact; Gajeel was smiling, but when he tried to retract his arm, he couldn't; trying one more time, he noticed how Jean's right hand was holding him firmly.

"Good". He heard Jean say with the tube still in his cheek, and a moment later, he pulled him close and landed an uppercut that sent him flying a couple of meters. "That's how a fight should be!" Jean finished saying with emotion.

Still in the air, Gajeel did a turn, managing to balance himself to land on his feet and looking at Jean with a smile.

"Not bad; looks like you at least have decent strength"

"Wow, you flatter me, but if you're going to say that, isn't it a little impolite to hold back? It was obvious that the punch you gave me wasn't serious, right?"

"Je, if I had hit you seriously and you passed out, where would the fun be? But and you? I barely felt the caress you gave me." He scoffed lightly, tapping his chin.

"Well, I wanted to go with the classic fighting mode, you know, a few hits here, a few talks there, and a couple of power-ups at the end to decide the winner; you and your friends have power-ups, right?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA". The warrior in black began to laugh again. "You're a funny bastard; you know that?"

"I've been told before, although without the part of being a bastard, but yes, and I think it is one of my charms, but moving on to other things, how about a couple of presentations? You haven't told me your name yet, and if we're going to punch each other in the face, at least I'd like to know who I'm going to fight"

"Fine, engrave the name of the one who will crush you well; I am the great Gajeel Redfox, dragon slayer of Phantom Lord"

Jean's eyes narrowed as he looked at his opponent until finally, he opened them with surprise evident on his expression and snapped his fingers.

"Hey, I know who you are; I've read about you, Lucy was thinking if she should join your guild or that other one, Fairy Tail; I've never seen a picture of you, but you fit well with the description in the magazine". The brunette said and then looked at the other two wizards.

"Then those two must be part of element 4, right? Mon and Maria?"

"Non non non, my name is Sol, and I would appreciate it if you would refer to me as Monsieur Sol". The guy with a French accent spoke as he rocked back and forth.

"So sad, to think that even if he knows us, the enemy will get our names wrong; I'm Aria". The big guy clarified as tears ran down the sides of his blindfold.

"Ok ok, sorry, you can't blame me too much for that; I only know you and your guild because Lucy told me about it and F-" And before he could finish, Jean jumped back to avoid being hit by the same metal tube from before, although this time the blow was stronger, and faster judging by the small crater it had left at the impact site.

"That blonde was comparing us to those weaklings?" Gajeel said with a scowl. "Phantom can crush those fairies whenever we want"

'Ok, it seems that lizard boy, or perhaps his entire guild, has a feud with the Fairy Tail guild; that could be useful'. Jean thought keeping that information in case it could be helpful in the future.

"Really? Well, good for you, but that has nothing to do with us, so if you'd tell me why you're after Lucy, we could f-". And just like before, something interrupted Jean, this time was a huge geyser of water that originated in the direction where Lucy was.

"Looks like the blonde made Juvia mad". Gajeel said with a smirk.

"I'm sure Lucy can handle it alone; maybe she looks like the typical girl without strength, but I know that she is more resourceful and tenacious than she appears; I trust that she will not lose"

"Say what you want, but the weak will always be weak". Gajeel hurriedly moved his head to the left as a dagger passed less than an inch from his cheek.

"Well, enough talk, lizard boy, let's just get on with this". Jean spoke defiantly as he held several daggers between his fingers.

A second after his words, Jean started running toward Gajeel while throwing dagger after dagger; Gajeel responded by running towards him as well while dodging some knives and deflecting the rest with one of his hands, now transformed into a pseudo-chainsaw.

And the moment they were both face to face, Gajeel launched a cut that Jean blocked by crossing the two daggers in his hands in an x shape, but the dragon slayer's attack proved to be strong enough that the daggers filled with cracks upon impact and only held on for a couple more seconds before breaking apart letting the attack continue straight to its target.

Jean jumped, evading the slash as his right hand materialized into a sword that pointed at his opponent's face.

Gajeel smiled, opened his mouth to receive the weapon, and destroyed the blade with a single bite.

Jean's face was one of complete surprise; Gajeel noticed this and took advantage of the opening by grabbing him by the sides of his head and pulling him for a hard head butt.

Blood splattered as Gajeel let go of Jean's head as the swordsman fell backward, but once again, the black-haired man was caught off guard as the brunette's hands mimicked his last movement, taking him by the temples while Jean stopped his fall and propelled himself forward for another clash of heads.

After receiving the headbutt, Gajeel gritted his teeth and followed suit, grabbing Jean's temples while they both collided their foreheads.

The blows rang clear while the blood splattered and ran down the foreheads; 4, 5, 6, and before they collided again, Jean jumped up, hitting Gajeel's chin with his knee.

The dragon slayer took a half step back before gathering himself and reaching out his hand in an attempt to grab his opponent's leg, but Jean stretched out her leg while he was still in the middle of his somersault and hit Gajeel's jaw again, this time with his foot and knocked him back enough to avoid being caught.

"God, what the hell are you made of? Your head looks like a damn metal wall with how hard it is". Jean said as he moved his head from side to side to remove the slight dizziness.

Ignoring his opponent's comment, Gajeel wiped the red liquid from the corner of his mouth and what little had entered his right eye. "You're a slippery worm, but I only need to catch you once, and this will be over"

"Perhaps, if I'm honest, you are a little stronger than I thought; physically speaking, you have more strength, and your body is more robust than mine". Jean admitted as if that wasn't a problem at all, then used a slightly defiant tone. "But you're not going to win"

"Really?" The dragon's son answered as he smiled with genuine annoyance and the veins on his face showed.

"Yes, because you only have that, brute force and an instinct that, although sharp, you do not take advantage of as you should, there is not a single hint of technique in your blows, so let me show you how someone who knows how to move does it"

Without hearing another word, Gajeel bolted in Jean's direction, his spiked knuckle-clad fist raised and ready to beat him.

Taking a stance, Jean moved his left arm, his palm hitting Gajeel's wrist, deflecting the fist enough that the blow missed by a few inches, and turning, his elbow buried itself in the pit of the dragon slayer's stomach.

Gajeel's eyes and mouth widened like never before in his life, the former in pain and surprise, while the second did it in an attempt to get the oxygen back into his lungs.

Jean gave him no respite as he jumped and spun around to gain momentum, his foot hitting Gajeel's cheek and knocking him back several steps.

Between the heartbeats that hit his ears like a drum, Gajeel could hear how Jean was quickly approaching him, so taking a shot in the dark he raised his arm, now turned into a shield; luck was on his side because a second after forming his defense something hit the shield with considerable strength.

Letting the air return to his lungs, Gajeel transformed the shield, and several tubes came out of the other side in an attempt to hit Jean.

However, a hand appeared on the shield's edge, and taking it as support, Jean jumped on it in a position ready to hit Gajeel's head with a downward kick.

The dragon slayer threw his foot up to collide with the brunette's; he was confident that if there were a crash between the two, the most injured would not be him.

But before the two limbs touched, Jean changed his momentum, and instead of hitting Gajeel's foot, he used it as a fulcrum; taking advantage of the force and firmness of his opponent, Jean lunged forward, and his knee collided with Gajeel's nose, throwing him back again.

Clenching his teeth, Gajeel resisted the urge to grab his nose and close his eyes as he kicked in the direction of his opponent, who was once again closing in on him.

Still, before that, a dagger appeared in the brunette's hand, and when he squeezed the handle, a small cloud of smoke came out of the weapon encompassing everything 3 meters in all directions and blocking Gajeel's view.

Moving his hand with enough force to create a wind current and dispersing the black cloud that blocked his vision, the dragon slayer was greeted with the sight of Jean about to punch him in the liver.

The pain was immense and instantaneous to the point that the hitherto undefeated Gajeel ended up on one knee on the ground as Jean prepared an attack intended to knock him out.

With the enemy so close, the move Gajeel made was the most obvious to those using dragon slayer magic, his mouth fell open, and from the back of his throat, a grayish light grew brighter.

Jean watched all of this in slow motion and his eyes widened in surprise, but even so, his body continued to move as fast as possible, in his free hand a dagger was created and thrown while his other fist continued to advance towards dragon slayer face.

And when Jean's fist was a few centimeters from his objective, Gajeel's mouth opened, letting out a big steel-colored whirlwind.

"IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!"

The ground shake a little, and a furious gust of wind hit the dragon slayer's partners even though they were both some tens of meters away from the fight.

Gajeel's attack continued its way towards the sky, surpassing in size even the enormous geyser of water that everyone had seen before, opening a hole in the clouds and clearing the landscape of rain for several seconds.

Still down on one knee and panting as he tried to recover from the last blows to the sensitive spots on his body, Gajeel allowed himself a smile. "I wo-"

But his words were cut short as a current of wind passed behind him, and his nose caught the scent of the enemy.

As he turned his head, the dragon slayer could see Jean out of the corner of his vision, his fist raised and ready to punch him in the face.

"I catch y". And just like Gajeel, while declaring victory, Jean's attack was interrupted when he was mere inches from his target; an invisible force hit the brunette's side, sending him flying several meters to the side.

Turning to look, Gajeel could see Aria with a hand raised. "How sad! To think that our opponent would be this strong, such an unforeseen event fills me with deep sadness!" The giant complained.

Taking advantage of the moment of calm, the dragon slayer got up while he saw how the partner of the girl they had sent to return had taken a few meters away.

"Monsieur Gajeel". Sol spoke with a serious tone as he and Aria approached. "The enemy turned out much stronger than we thought, and it can be dangerous if he has more hidden tricks; I suggest we all attack him together to avoid any mishaps"

Gajeel wanted to protest; he really wanted to yell at both of them not to get in his way, that he alone was more than enough to crush the elusive insect, but the truth was even if he wore his scale armor, he wasn't sure if he could win.

That armor increased his defense and attack, but that wouldn't do much good if he couldn't connect a single attack on his enemy.

And with that last trick where he dodged his roar and appeared behind him, he didn't know what else his opponent could hide, so biting his tongue, Gajeel reluctantly accepted the help.

"Fine, let's finish this guy off quickly". He said in annoyance as he stood up and spat out some blood; the 3 of them stood side by side looking at Jean, who until now had been silently watching them.

At that moment, the 3 unleashed all their magical power, Aria took off his blindfold, Gajell's skin was covered by metallic scales, and Sol looked and memorized all the places where he had seen Jean's daggers fall.

A slightly nervous smile formed on Jean's face.

"Looks like this is really going to be more difficult than I initially thought". He said as he took a stance and a pair of swords appeared in his hands.

---

Chapter 18 finished.

Although it was a bit short, I think here it's the best point to cut it, the next one will start with Lucy's side, and then we'll go back to Jean.

If anyone is wondering, as Jean himself admits in this chapter, if we talk only about physical abilities, then Gajeel is stronger and more resistant than him, at least in the current state in which Jean is fighting.

Still, anyone who knows how to fight will notice that the points where Jean hit him were the most vulnerable and "weak" of the body.

An elbow strike to the pit of the stomach, for example, if you were to take one, even if it was from someone with less strength than you, it would hurt like hell and could probably leave you gasping for a good 15 seconds, and at worst, it could make you fall to the floor in a fetal position and leave you there even after you can breathe again.

The ax kick that Jean had planned to give Gajeel to the head would have disoriented him quite a lot if it had been delivered a little behind the top of the skull.

The knee to the nose, that is the second most sensitive part of the face, only behind the eyes.

And finally, the hook to the liver, if anyone here knows boxing, then you will know that this blow is known as one of the most painful in boxing, and with more than fair reason, because no matter how strong your muscles are, the consequences of receiving damage to this organ are enough to make a normal person fall unconscious from the pain.

That's all for now, but don't leave without adding the story to your library and giving me power stones.

I have no idea what they're for, but they seem important, so throw them away, and leave me a review while you're doing that, Ciao.