Flame Of The Past [History Lesson feat. Kumiko]

Hmh… it had been quite a handful of days since Mura had enrolled a specific kitsune into the guild of Fairy Tail. Within his office, sitting in his authoritarian and oddly comfy chair that had been sat on by several Guildmasters of Fairy Tail - from Leonard Dragonbane through Kiku and Ken to Sorano-imouto and then to him - he had sent out Zirconis once more to go lead Kumiko up to his office.

I the meantime, he was looking at the shelf to his right. The shelf was filled with documents concerning the events that transpired the guild… from its foundation to now, all preserved. He was supposed to go through them, so he - as a Guildmaster - would have a good hang of the guild’s history. He had begun reading about Leonard’s mastership and the events of Lichborne; from what he had read, he hoped that he would never meet someone like that Savage Skull member in his life…

However, there was also a framed picture on his own desk. The picture was of him… and his old team. Flame of the Phoenix, including a tall man with silver hair, a smaller woman with silver-white and long hair, another girl with silver-white hair but with shorter hair and heterochromatic eyes, a blonde guy with a gremlin’s green beanie and a broadsword, a young girl with raven-black hair and a silver shield, and him next to her as Sorano-imouto was taking the picture.

He picked the picture up and gazed at it… remembering his younger days as a wizard in this guild. Back when Fairy Tail had no idea what times were coming…

WC: 275

It had been a quiet day for the little foxling who had found herself enthralled in the halls where legends once stood to make a name for themselves. And yet, here she was, attempting to pay back Mura for all of his kindness he had shown by taking her in and promising to help her find her father who had gone missing. Today was Cleaning Day, so Kumiko was helping the many staff go through all of the rooms and get things nice and tidy. Emptying wastebaskets, tidying up the meeting rooms, vacuuming the carpet, just about any kind of odd job. It didn't really bother Kumiko that much since she had been doing it for so long back home. It brought a neat kind of peace with it that very few other duties could bring. Plus, she didn't have to go through every single room and comb kitsune hair out of everything. At least shedding season wasn't here yet! When it did, about half of the shrine back home had some color of fur on an object at any given time. Just of the fun things you learned while living in a place with about 13 siblings of differing races. But a surprise came in the form of Zirconis, the guildmaster's beloved pet slash dragon spirit companion, had been sent to retrieve the girl for some kind of meeting that Mura had wished for her to attend. "Okay! I guess I can help finish up the cleaning later." Kumiko had dropped everything and apologized to the staff who had been sent in charge while waving them off as she walked alongside the dragon enroute to office of Mura. The agemaki still hung from her shoulder proudly, swinging back and forth in a veil of crimson with every energetic step taken by the child. "Is everything okay? Do I need to sign something or whatever?"

They got to the office in record time, with Kumiko's tail swaying left to right in anticipation for what Mura could have wanted to see her about. She assumed it wasn't urgent, as he would have come to her himself or something similar in that vein. So at the very least, it would be, at most, a minor inconvenience. As Zirconis phased through the door, the girl would not have the option available to her, and instead, pushed the door ajar while taking her first steps inside of Mura's office. It was a kind of office like room that she could see being housed in a great deal of other buildings surrounding them. Mura himself was seated, holding a picture frame of some kind what the contents were all but unknown for the kitsune to recognize or even know about.

"You wanted to see me, Guildmaster, sir?" she said, announcing her presence in the room to Mura as he would be caught looking at a photograph which rested upon the surface of his desk. She gave a half bow towards him and would come to rest in one of the seats across from the desk. Her small legs folded inwards to rest as her tail coiled around her left side to wrap around her legs.

WC: 530

As Mura gazed at the framed picture, he soon heard the door into the office open up with Zirconis and the honey-gold kitsune entering. Lively as always despite her assum- wait… how old was Kumiko, precisely? She must’ve been around the thousands… no, maybe that was a long shot. Despite her kitsune heritage, she expressed such naivety and innocence that Mura was starting to have doubts about his assumptions earlier. Then again, it was pretty rude of him to assume her age to begin with.

“Yeah, you can take a break from your cleaning duties right now…” Mura informed her as what he was going to teach her would take quite some time, plus the information that he had gotten, “To begin with, I had something to teach you, but… I’ve been sticking my nose in a lot, and I mean, a lot of cases in Fiore lately, specifically since you told me about the happenings of your father. This might not be very delicate, but… I could need your help.” He pulled open the shelf in the desk right above his thigh and brought forth four pieces of cloth in plastic bags. The cloths had dried marks of blood on them…

“I just want you to figure out if you can recognize the scents from these pieces of cloth,” he explained to her, “I know that it might look grotesque, but for a kitsune of your age - how high that number might be - it should be a piece of cake to pin two sniffs of the same scent together. Your nose is several numbers sharper than mine, so I really only have you to rely on in this case.”

WC: 282
TWC: 275 + 282 = 557

Kumiko's golden ears twitched in an interested fashion while Mura would begin the meeting with her. She was comfortable in her current position which made this a lot more easier on her comfort wise. That and his naturally soft tone didn't seem to be too emotional. So she totally wasn't in trouble! Go her! The top part of her tail waggled excitedly as it brushed against the soft texture of the fabric of the chair. Her little eyes widened in surprise at the prospect of being taught something! Ooooh, what could it be? A new spell that can destroy all evil around her? Or something that could make her able to be as powerful as him? Was it a new recipe for cooking? It could be anything! It could even be a boat!

"Wow, okay!~"

Her tone changed dramatically once the subject of her father was brought up. Her stance straightened up properly and leaned forward. Nothing terribly major yet, though she hadn't really been expecting any major breakthroughs. She had been searching for him for a long while, and wasn't expecting Mura to stop everything to help. But the news was welcome at least. He reached into his desk and pulled out 4 clear bags of cloth stained red in certain areas. Kumiko felt sick to her stomach at even just seeing it. It didn't take much of a hint to know what he was going to ask of her.

Kumiko quietly shifted around in her seat while frowning at first. Although she really didn't want to sniff any of the bloodstained cloths, the idea of helping Mura did make her a bit more (un)willing, even if she had to force herself. Her brows furrowed in unease but would give a nod to Mura to show that she wasn't weak. "Yeah, I can do it!" though she tilted her head to the side at one key part of his explanation. "Of...my age? What do you mean by that? I'm 10, Guildmaster, sir. Did you think I was super old like my sisters?"

One by one, the bags were opened and Kumiko's keen sense of smell was put to the test. The first one was somewhat coarse and reeked of a strong alcohol which burned her nostril just by even breathing it in. She coughed a few times and took a quick sniff before shoving it back into the bag. "It smells awful like...a bar or something." It certainly wasn't the scent that she was looking for. The second bag was opened next, which smelled leagues better than what was before it. She inhaled the bloodstained cloth deeply while focusing on where she might recognize that smell from. "Strong, kinda powerful. Reminds me of Hina's garden back home. She had a bunch of plants that smelled like this." Her tail jerked for a moment and fell back down by her side idly as a homesick expression just briefly graced her face. "I hope she's doing okay..."

The third rag was cracked open and inhaled closely. She could feel her stomach churn while doing her best not to just vomit from the sheer amount of blood she was inhaling. This was...peculiar. "I can smell steel. Like from a weapon. Somebody must have been fighting." Kumiko assumed, looking at Mura for a brief moment. "I don't know the weapon since...it's a smell. But it was probably something heavy duty." Onwards to the final rag. This one, Kumiko didn't even need to take a minute or so before she recognized it fully.

"This-This is the one!"

Her tail spun a mile a minute. "Yeah, this is the one I smelled on Dad! It's blood, yeah, but like...It kinda smells like infection, or somebody was sick. Like when you're sick and smell all weird, but this is what I smelled when I saw him last." She gazed at Mura, eager to gauge his reaction. This was a damn good lead if there was ever one to go off of! She tossed the cloth back onto the table with some questions of her own to follow. "Where did you get all of these anyway, Guildmaster? Did you go out and collect all of them yourself?"

WC: 530 + 700 = 1,230

It was great to see that Kumiko didn’t back down, but that she was eager to help out in Mura’s investigation to find the whereabouts of her father figure. Although, for a kitsune with a strong nose such as hers, it must’ve been grotesque smelling to these blood dots… he wished that she would be quick in her judgement of the scents, so that she wouldn’t have to smell for too long. “J-Just a quick sniff is enough…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

That was pretty much all three - Mura, Kyuken and Zirconis - looking at Kumiko with eyes of denial and disbelief. No way was the kitsune less than a hundred years old; and definitely not 10…

“… Wait, so you’re actually 10?” Mura asked with a baffled voice, “… A-As in fox years, right? R-Right? Y-You know what, nevermind, I should’ve asked earlier. Sorry, I’m… I’m terribly sorry.”

His head was smashed onto the desk as he apologized to the young girl whose age was far off what he assumed. This should probably stick with him for the rest of his life… better learn not to assume people’s ages so easily. Especially not in this world of magic.

What he got was that one of the cloth was from a person who had visited the bar, another one smelled of Hina’s gardens, another one smelled like it had been attacked by a steel weapon - most likely a large axe or something - and the forth one was on point! Fourth was the charm today!

“T-There! That must be it, then!” Mura answered enthusiastically. He wrote down on his WristLac what Kumiko commented about the smell - like being sick and smell weird - and then he faced her again to answer her own question about where the hell he got these cloths from.

“There had been a lot of fights breaking out near the capital, Crocus, lately. And since that’s the capital, I asked one of my contacts to gather these samples, just in case… but not only from Crocus. Some fights also broke out at the passport center in Hargeon Town… Why did I think that it would be connected with your Dad? Well, every tourist who travels into Fiore is required to obtain a Fiorian Passport, and I don’t think your Dad had one beforehand. Turns out, it’s likely the case that he was there.”

Mura would mark the bag with the cloth that Kumiko chose, then he would put all of them away under the desk. He figured that with the blood smelling, Kumiko would need something sweet and nice to balance things out, so he pulled up a laminated lollipop and handed it to her. “Here. Listen, let’s change topic for now…” She was 10; he must’ve scarred her for life or something. Nope; he had to change subject.

“I was, originally, meaning to teach you a new spell,” he finally revealed to her as he rose up from his chair, then walked around the desk to meet her as he kneeled down to show her something between his hands. It was a floating fog of broken mirrors that formed a specific magic circle, and he would let Kumiko look at it for a while before backing away from her again. “This is called a sutra. ‘Yōkai-Shiboru no Kankin’ is what it’s called. With this spell, you can freeze any yōkai in your path.” He flashed her a grin before continuing:

“Try and attack me with everything you’ve got. Since you’re a kitsune, you should first know how exactly this sutra works by feeling its effects on your own body and soul. Don’t worry, it’s not meant to harm you in any way; it’s just a means of preventing you from moving anywhere.”

WC: 629
TWC: 557 + 629 = 1186

Kumiko looked up at see all three faces staring at her with a look of disbelief painted on each one of their faces. She felt a little confused by what they meant. Did humans have some sort of different aging system than kitsune? Man, no wonder they were always so old! The small kitsune's tail snaked its way around her while she would tilt her head to the side. At his question, she nodded for an answer. "Y-Yeah...Fox years?" The boys withdrew their question but she wouldn't be letting it go that easy. The child pressed her answer down while looking to Mura with a look of annoyance on her face. "I am 10! Why do people always think that I'm super older than I actually am?! Hina is like 103 and she only has two tails..." Once the twitchy guildmaster and his companions would come off of the subject, he grasped the cloth from the fourth bag and made a note to himself on...whatever that was on his wrist. It intrigued the girl's interest as the fleeting limb behind her waved back and forth.

"Guildmaster, what's that?" she leaned over the desk and pointed towards the device he had just used to write down what Mura had just taken his notes in. Unfortunately, her grip had slipped and caused her to fall back down to the ground. Her hands clawed at anything to catch her fall and landed upon the photograph that he had been holding only a few short minutes ago. Kumiko let out a surprised yelp while taking the photograph down on her short descent onto the office floor below. Thankfully she wrapped her arms around the keepsake and it suffered no damage from the impact. Plus, she had a thick head and would recover fully. Or at least that's what Saki had always told her after she tumbled down the hill and ended up hitting her head hard against a tree. The foxling stood back up with an apologetic face. "Sorry, Guildmaster, sir! I didn't mean to..." Her eyes looked down at the picture in her hands. She could easily recognize Mura among this group of people but none of them seemed to be among the few people Kumiko had met here so far. "Oh? Who're these people? Some of your friends?" she asked.

With that taken care of, Kumiko grew excited at the act of Mura pulling out a lollipop just for her! She accepted the sweet and quickly got to enjoying the sweet taste while thinking back to Mura's explanation for how he got a hold of the the cloths and how it connected with her father. In some convoluted way, it turned out that Mura thought that her father had been there at one point! Something about passports and needing one to go anywhere in Fiore. "Awesome! So he's totally here then! We gotta get going, Guildmaster! He could be in one of the cities!"

But then her attention was grabbed by the mention of learning a new spell. She shook a little with containing her excitement while her tail behind her was spinning fast enough to life her off of the ground. "New spell first though!~ New spell! New spell!" Mura stood from his seat and wandered over to show her a most peculiar sight. His hand held a magic circle, complete with the formation of mirrors in need of repair. She took in the circle with her eyes alight with curiosity. Mura told her the name of the spell and it's effects...Hey! She was a yokai! Thankfully according to him, it would only freeze her and nothing more.
"A-Are you sure, Guildmaster? What if something goes wrong and it hurts?" It took some more doing from Mura before she was ready to go on with the demonstration. Kumiko called on her strongest spell, a dragon head made of light manifested behind her and released a blast of light magic at Mura.

WC: 530 + 700 + 660 = 1,890

Well, being 103 and only having two tails… Kumiko was underestimating the toll that time had on humans! She was going to outlive him by centuries, likely… perhaps millions of years if she played her cards well. You could just pinch her cheeks and pull her face with that bratty look on her face, really…

He would’ve asked if she was alright from the small fall, but she looked alright. Hopefully, she would tell if she was hurt or anything, and not play - you know - big and all. However, she did get a view of the framed picture of his old team, and Mura couldn’t help but scratch the back of his head to the whole ordeal. “It’s nothing, it’s nothing…” he assured her gently, “Just be more careful next time.”

Her question was sincere, but first, she had to do what he asked her. He was more than ready to activate his spell and freeze her midair, and he could already imagine her child-like reactions to being stuck mid in the air like ‘Oooooh!’ or ‘I can’t get down! Heeeeeeelp!’ or something like that. However, her next words threw him off as she attempted to throw… wait, he asked her to throw herself, not a spell!

“I’ll grab you, so you don’t hurt your- wait-“ Mura spoke up, his words braking and switching like switching channels on TV as Kumiko decided to throw a spell at him. A dragon’s head manifested behind her; it looked like its form was transparent and very bright, clearly being a spell from her arsenal as a…

A Dragon Slayer.

He could’ve sworn that she was a Demon Slayer? Oh, nevermind.

The spell launched at him was grabbed by the dark-green jaw of Zirconis who manifested out of Mura’s body like an auric dragon’s head in the same fashion as Kumiko’s own spell. The green dragon chomped the light blast down like cereal and stalemated it before dissipating again.

“… I-I meant launch yourself… y-you know, just stand still,” he told her as he decided to just launch his spell already. Four fingers were pointed out; his thumbs and index fingers, and from between them, the shards looking like broken mirrors quickly charged straight at Kumiko, hitting her like a blast of water and surrounding her entire body. From that point on, she would notice that she couldn’t move around even if she tried her best to.

“This is the sutra’s power. It immobilizes monsters…” Mura explained to her rather calmly despite the fact that he just froze one of his guildmates solid - not literally like freezing ice, but he did cause her to stand still against her will. Walking towards the picture that Kumiko had looked at after her previous fall, he picked it up and showed it to her again.

“They… they’re my old team, here. You can see me with Sorano, who’s the previous Guildmaster of Fairy Tail. Hana’s right here, the girl with the snow-white hair… Julius is the blonde one with the green hat. And Gamon is the tall, silver-haired dude…” Mura’s voice sounded a little exhausted upon saying all of this to Kumiko, a girl who had never met any of these graceful wizards that were once present here in the guild…

“… A-Anyway, what do you think of this spell? Is it interesting?”

WC: 559
TWC: 1186 + 559 = 1745

While happy enough that Mura had taken no offense to her clumsy and aloof manner almost damaging his property, the kitsune couldn't help but be curious about the people who were nearby him. They all seemed fairly happy and Mura himself looked younger, in a sort of way. She helped and sat it back up on the desk after making sure there weren't any cracks or anything on it. Perfectly fine! Her tail perked up a bit at the exclamation for her to launch at him as he stood there. So the excitable young girl would fire off a simple blast of light energy at Mura as a counter measure. Just then Zirconis would manifest out of the guild master's body and eat her spell as if it were nothing, which technically it was due to her lack of experience. He corrected Kumiko on what she was doing, the small mage frantically worried that she might have upset Mura somehow. "Ah, I'm so so sorry, Guildmaster! I thought you meant to attack you with magic!" Fortunately for her, Mura didn't seem to have taken any offense to her little slip up. In light of this transgression, he simply just decided to show her the attack firsthand.

He held his hand in a strange position, with the four fingers pointed haphazardly at the fox, and launched a most mysterious attack that had been talked about for a short time now. Kumiko felt the strength of a stream of water hit her chest and then...nothing. Her limbs would feel muddy and slow, starting to freeze completely until she was fully immobilized! Even her cute little tail would be stuck on the spot. "Wuh-Waaaah! I can't move! It's like I'm in a painting or something!" Mura would explain the spell to her, that being a mantra which would freeze monsters, or Yokai, upon casting. And because of her heritage as a kitsune...Well, that didn't really leave much to the imagination, now did it? She blinked while moving to nod her head though no such movement would come out as the spell's effects would still be lingering around her body. "That seems super cool!~ You could use that just about anywhere out in the world when things are chasing you."

Mura turned to collect that picture frame again and would explain just who these people were to the frozen child. Old guildmates? She hadn't seen any of them during her brief stay within Fairy Tail, though they could just be on some super secret mission or something! Her hazel eyes trailed along with every name that Mura spoke. She picked up on that hint of sadness in his voice as he reached the end of the introductions. Kumiko smiled at Mura while thinking back on all of their names. Definitely not ringing any bells. "They must be super powerful, huh? Can we meet them one day, Guildmaster? Maybe they know something about Midi too?"

The topic changed to what she thought of the magic, which was pretty obvious. "It's awesome~ I'd love to learn more stuff like this. I'll need it if I'm ever gunna be in charge of the Shrine one day like Dad always used to say." she said, having only wished she could look as proud as he must of thought of her. "He said one day that I'd take over and made me promise to make sure that nothing happens again. I dunno why he meant by that though. Nothing really ever happened there as far as my sisters know."

WC: 530 + 700 + 660 + 590 = 2,480

It was strange that she could still move her mouth and speak to him, somehow… nah, it wasn’t that bad. He didn’t want to completely paralyze her, for otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to breathe, and then she would, y’know, choke to death. This was fine, for now… the moment he would use this spell on a foe, his other spells such as Halo Blade would do the trick.

It was… unnerving that Kumiko wanted to meet them. He sighed and began explaining to her: “They aren’t around, anymore… most of them are assumed dead, while Sorano-imouto is still reported missing. I… hope that I can find her someday. Y’know, ask her what happened.” Now that he thought about it, he was promoted to co-GM by her a little time before Sorano-imouto suddenly disappeared… was it something that she predicted? And if so, was she… was she truly gone now? And had she entrusted the guild to Mura’s mastership because of that…?

Given by Kumiko’s words, she probably didn’t know that many Onmyōdō spells or resident spells from Midi. Well, this would definitely be some national bonding between them, for Mura was more than happy to teach her. He released the spell that was immobilizing her, and once she found her foothold again, he would pat her head very gently. She was a Dragon Slayer, and her inner magic would have to align and compliment with any Onmyōdō spells that she would learn.

“You are a kitsune, through and through… so I bet that it’d be easier for you to learn these spells. Although, I’ve been trained to become a Daionmyōji (Great Onmyōji), so I don’t know where the difference will be, really,” he explained to her, starting to think his words through as he said them, “… Ah! This spell should be just the right kind of spell for you!” Without warning, he picked up a piece of paper and dangled it in front of her face. “This paper can work as a ‘conductor’… there’s a spell where you redirect another spell aimed to harm you towards this item, so the spell doesn’t affect you at all. This paper should be strong enough to withstand any curses or conjurations that people throw at you, and then you’ll be safe from those kinds of spells.”

He laid the paper next to Kumiko and walked back, then turned towards her and said: “You must be able to grab the curse that someone throws at you, and then redirect it at this paper. Then, a mark will appear on it, and you’ll have saved yourself temporarily. It’ll be a little difficult at first, so I’ll use a harmless curse.” He snapped his fingers and caused the air to change, suddenly getting heavier and heavier and pushing Kumiko down a bit.

“Now try and, uh, ‘feel’ the magic that’s pushing you down… like grabbing clouds. Just grab the clouds of magic and throw it into the paper…”

WC: 494
TWC: 1745 + 494 = 2239

All things considered, Kumiko likely could have ended up a lot worse. Being stuck without any rigorous movement was one thing, but had Mura poured enough magic into the spell, she likely would have fallen to the floor without the ability to even breathe. It was terrifying to think how potent this Midi magic was to yokai like her. It brought with it a nagging feeling in the back of the child's head, though she lacked the knowledge for why or how. For now, she was just happy that the guildmaster wasn't using her as a statue in his garden or whatever he fancied to his leisure. Yet she looked almost shocked once she learned that the people who had been present in the picture with Mura had all been dead save for one Sorano who had been reported as missing. A pang of guilt struck the girl in the heart, who would frown at the possibility that she caused the guildmaster some kind of bad memories to resurface by the mere mention of his team.

"I'm sorry, Guildmaster! I didn't mean to make you feel bad!" the kitsune child said, frantically trying to wriggle her way towards him and clutch on his coat, wanting nothing but to bed him for forgiveness. "Don't worry! I won't leave you, I promise! Then when Sorano comes back, we can tell him about everything that you've been doing! I bet they're super proud of you!" Kumiko tried to lighten the mood a little by mentioning that she'd be his new teammate for the time being until Sorana returned and then Mura could be happy once gain. He recalled the magic holding her in place and she was free! Kumiko almost fell trying to get her balance back and nearly fell onto her face as a result. The guildmaster walked over and placed his hand on her head, which Kumiko reciprocated by wiggling her fox ears between his hands, along with gently grabbing his hand on her head with her own. The trio of tails continued to sway behind her, stretching to their peak to get that blood flowing again.

Now it came time to learn more about that Onmyodo magic that Mura knew, him commenting that she likely would have a good hang if it being a kitsune only fueled that desire inside of her to learn all the intricacies of the magic school even further. She nodded in excitement once Mura picked out the perfect spell for her to learn next. He instructed her of what to do and handed her a thin slip of paper with the explanation of how the paper could counteract a curse placed on her. Everything sounded pretty easy so far, as Kumiko flipped the paper around and prepared herself for the curse.

A sudden weight came to her shoulders, pushing the child down towards the floor while she stood. Following Mura's instructions, she focused her magic and thought of redirecting the foul energy around her and diverting it towards the slip of paper in her hands. Kumiko was silent for a moment while she focused and then... nothing. She huffed and tried again, this time focusing a bit harder than normal to counteract what was happening to her. Very faint light came from the card, which would slowly absorb the curse that had afflicted Kumiko, with writing filling the void of white space until purple letters would spell the name of the curse that had been used. The child felt the weight vanished before turning to Mura with an excited face.

"Did I do it, Guildmaster?"

WC: 530 + 700 + 660 + 590 + 600 = 3,080

It was sweet of her to show her compassion and empathy for Mura after having heard of his old team’s absence. It was… had he ever told anyone else about his team? Perhaps it was written in the records in his office, but surely someone else knew too? Nessa? Althea? Arcadia? Or perhaps Aven, Vandrad, or Magnus? Kaido? Winchas? Shige- nah, he was actually fairly new compared to the others, so he wouldn’t really know unless Mura told him directly. The younger generation of Fairy Tail Wizards sure had a long history to look back at.

Cute.

After he let go of her, he would observe after his words about this spell of his that she would most likely master pretty quickly; Katashiro. The ‘curse’ he put on her - goose eyes because it wasn’t actually a curse, because no darn way would he curse one of his own guildmates - was just a soft increase in gravity on her person that would prevent her from walking. It was fairly similar to the other spell he launched at her a moment ago, so he was interested in seeing whether or not she would be able to learn from that experience and redirect the curse away.

And after a little while, he was about to cancel the spell out, thinking that it was a bit too much for her… but lo and behold. The writing emitting from the paper would spell out the curse absorbed, and she was freed from his spell. That was impressive; if he had to compare to himself, then… back when he was learning Onmyōdō, he wasn’t allowed to eat until he had mastered this spell. It took him a whole day before he woke up and was allowed to eat again - yes, the training occurred in his dreams, but it kept him at a sleeping lock until he became a full-fledged Onmyōji.

He clapped at her performance and responded with a grin: “Yes, you sure did. Nice job!” He would cup his chin for a second and think, “You’re quite a fast learner, Kumi… you haven’t learned any Onmyōdō before, right? Maybe-“

“Why don’t you teach her something she’s meant to learn with what magic she’s got right now?” Kyuken asked him, the blue spirit ball floating next to Kumiko’s face while facing Mura. Kyuken was in high spirits and had an idea given by his facial expression. “She’s definitely a Dragon Slayer! Just like Althea and Arcadia, and many other Fairy Tail Wizards! And you know that they get stronger by slaying dragons! Evil dragons are why her magic exists to begin with!” With that said, Kyuken’s face turned into a sly smirk. “You should have her beat up Zirco-“

“No.”

“B-But c’mon, Zirconis! We don’t have any other dragons here, and it’s not like she’ll kill you or anything-“

“I DON’T WANT TO FIGHT ANY F-“

“H-Hey, language-“ Mura interrupted him by covering Zirconis’ mouth. As a green spirit ball, Zirconis’ mouth was still wide and ‘teethy’ and a tad intimidating, and while he was a trusted ally of Fairy Tail, he could lose his temper easily. “M-Maybe just a simulation, then. Kumiko, if you want to, can you help me figure out if fighting a dragon-like creature is any different from what you’ve been doing up until now? I can manifest one out of steel.” He stretched his hand out, and from the palm, a metal pole grew out like a branch on speed until it hit the ground and expanded, growing limbs, a tail and a jaw as it now looked like a steel lizard.

“Just try and take this one down as if it was a wild, hostile dragon. I’ll be observant, so don’t worry about casualties.”

“I-I hope I’m right, or Zirconis will kill me…”

WC: 636
TWC: 2239 + 636 = 2875