POV: Elior
The gravity chamber had officially become the worst room in the entire world.
At least, according to my legs.
"It's only two times normal gravity," Irene said.
I was lying flat on the floor.
"That's easy for you to say."
Laxus was sitting against the wall, breathing heavily.
"You're the one who asked for it to be stronger."
"I asked for it to be stronger eventually."
"You literally asked yesterday."
"I've changed as a person."
Laxus snorted.
Irene crossed her arms.
"You two have been inside for less than an hour."
"An hour too long," I muttered.
Makarov chuckled from outside.
"Get up."
I looked at him.
"No."
"Elior."
"I'm resting."
"You can rest after training."
"This is training."
"You're lying on the floor."
"I'm training my ability to survive."
Laxus started laughing.
Even Irene smiled.
Eventually, we got back up.
The chamber was brutal, but I could already tell it was going to work.
Every movement required more strength.
Every step demanded balance.
Even swinging my sword felt different.
It forced me to stop relying purely on speed.
Laxus was experiencing the same thing.
His Lightning Magic became harder to control when his body was under additional strain.
Makarov was using that to teach us something important.
Power wasn't enough.
Control mattered.
And patience mattered even more.
Unfortunately, patience wasn't one of my strongest abilities.
After training, we returned to the guild.
The moment we walked through the doors, Cana spotted us.
She stared at our exhausted faces.
"Did you two get attacked?"
"No."
"Then why do you look like that?"
"Gravity."
Cana blinked.
"Gravity?"
"Don't ask."
Laxus walked past us.
Cana watched him.
"He's getting grumpier."
"I think that's impossible."
"Hey!"
Laxus turned around.
Cana laughed.
Erza came running toward us.
"El ni-san!"
I crouched down as she reached me.
"What's up?"
"Mom said you were training in the new chamber."
"Yep."
"Was it difficult?"
"Very."
"How difficult?"
I thought about it.
"Imagine trying to walk while someone is sitting on your shoulders."
Erza considered that seriously.
"That doesn't sound too bad."
I stared at her.
"You haven't seen the chamber yet."
"I'll train there someday."
"Of course you will."
She smiled proudly.
Cana walked over and crossed her arms.
"Everyone in this family is obsessed with training."
"You aren't?"
"I'm perfectly happy watching everyone else suffer."
"That's fair."
Before we could continue, a familiar voice came from behind us.
"Well, look who's back."
I turned around.
Macao stood there with a drink in his hand.
Wakaba was sitting nearby, smoking his pipe.
Macao looked me up and down.
"You look exhausted."
"I've been fighting gravity."
Wakaba raised an eyebrow.
"Gravity?"
"Don't ask."
Wakaba chuckled.
"I remember when training meant running around the forest until your legs gave out."
Makarov, who had just entered behind us, immediately said,
"And you complained the entire time."
Wakaba puffed his pipe.
"I was expressing legitimate concerns."
Macao laughed.
"You've always been a complainer."
"Coming from you?"
The two old men immediately started arguing.
I looked at Cana.
"They do this every day?"
"Pretty much."
I smiled.
That was one of the things I had started to love about Fairy Tail.
Nobody here acted like they needed to maintain some grand image all the time.
The strongest mages could sit around eating breakfast.
The veterans could argue over completely meaningless things.
Kids could run through the guild.
Someone could start a card game in the middle of everything.
And somehow, it all worked.
I walked over to Macao.
"How's the new spell you were working on?"
He looked surprised.
"You remembered?"
"Of course."
He had mentioned it several days earlier.
He was trying to improve the control of his Transformation Magic.
Macao scratched his chin.
"Still working on it."
"Want help?"
He laughed.
"From a seven-year-old?"
"From the greatest genius in Fiore."
Wakaba nearly choked on his smoke.
"That confidence…"
"It's justified."
Macao smiled.
"Maybe later."
"Deal."
Wakaba looked at me.
"And what about you? Still healing everyone who walks through those doors?"
I shrugged.
"If they need help."
He nodded slowly.
That subject had become surprisingly common around the guild.
Whenever someone got hurt during training, I helped.
Whenever a guild member came back from a mission injured, I treated them.
Whenever someone from Magnolia needed help and happened to find their way to the guild, I rarely turned them away.
I never thought much about it.
Healing was simply something I could do.
So I did it.
Cornelia understood that better than most.
She had been spending more time around the guild since joining, and she had become incredibly close with everyone.
She was currently sitting at a table with a few of the older members, laughing at something one of them had said.
When she saw me, she waved.
"El!"
I walked over.
"Hey, Aunt."
She smiled.
"Training again?"
"Unfortunately."
"You're the one who enjoys it."
"I enjoy winning."
"That's different."
I sat beside her.
She pushed a plate toward me.
"Eat."
I looked down.
There were several small pastries on it.
I immediately grabbed one.
"You understand me."
"Someone has to."
Cana appeared beside me and stole one.
"Hey!"
"I thought you understood me."
"I understand you stealing my food."
"Exactly."
Cornelia laughed.
Erza joined us a moment later.
Soon, our little group had somehow become half the table.
Macao joined.
Wakaba joined.
Then two other veteran members pulled up chairs.
Laxus eventually wandered over as well.
Nobody had planned it.
Nobody needed to.
That's just how things happened in Fairy Tail.
Someone started telling an old story about Makarov when he was younger.
Makarov immediately denied every part of it.
Wakaba insisted it was true.
Macao added details that somehow made the story worse.
Cornelia laughed so hard she nearly dropped her drink.
Cana was practically crying from laughter.
Even Laxus had a small smile on his face.
I looked around the table.
These people weren't simply guildmates anymore.
They were family.
I had only been part of Fairy Tail for a short time, but somehow it already felt impossible to imagine my life without them.
Erza was sitting beside Cana, arguing over who had eaten more pastries.
Cornelia was trying to stop them from fighting over the last one.
Macao and Wakaba were still arguing.
Makarov was pretending not to listen.
Laxus was sitting beside me, quietly watching the chaos.
I leaned toward him.
"You're smiling."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"Shut up."
I grinned.
"You're becoming soft."
He elbowed me.
I laughed.
Later that afternoon, a small commotion broke out near the guild entrance.
A local man had come in carrying his injured son.
The boy had fallen while working and badly hurt his leg.
Before anyone could even ask what happened, I was already beside them.
"Let me take a look."
The father looked nervous.
"You're the healer?"
"Something like that."
I placed my hand over the boy's injured leg.
Light spread from my palm.
The pain disappeared almost immediately.
The damaged tissue repaired itself beneath the glow.
The boy's eyes widened.
"It doesn't hurt anymore."
His father stared at me.
Then he bowed deeply.
"Thank you."
I gently lifted him back to his feet.
"Just be more careful next time."
The man thanked me again before leaving.
I turned around.
Makarov was watching.
So were several others.
Wakaba smiled around his pipe.
"Saint-sama"
I blinked.
"What?"
He chuckled.
"Nothing."
Macao laughed.
"He's right."
I frowned.
"Why is everyone calling me that?"
Cornelia smiled.
"Because you've been healing people for a long time now."
"I just help when I can."
"That's exactly why."
I shrugged and walked back toward the table.
I didn't think much about the name.
People had already started using it around Magnolia.
Some called me the Saint jokingly.
Others seemed to mean it sincerely.
Every time I healed someone, another person heard about it.
Every mission brought another story.
Every injured mage who returned safely to the guild carried another story with them.
And slowly, without me ever trying to make it happen, the name continued spreading.
I had no idea how far it would eventually travel.
For now, though, I had more important things to worry about.
Laxus looked at me.
"Training tomorrow?"
I smiled.
"Of course."
He nodded.
"Good."
Erza immediately spoke up.
"I want to train too."
Cana groaned.
"Here we go again."
I laughed.
Around us, the guild continued its usual chaos.
Arguments.
Laughter.
Food.
Training.
Stories.
Friends.
Family.
This wasn't just the place where we became stronger.
It was the place where we lived.
And somehow, I thought that was even more important.