"Why?"
Natsu was very confused.
Couldn't strength be determined just by fighting? Why did Marco exclude himself?
"Because I'm the one doing the ranking. It's completely my subjective opinion. Also, not everyone has fought each other. For example, I've never fought Laxus. I can't just rank myself first, can I?"
Marco stood up and gave his explanation, which was fairly reasonable.
"Huff~"
After a quick warm-up, Marco started throwing punches, unleashing "Pegasus Meteor Fist" over and over, freely releasing his magic power.
Great strength comes from hard training in ordinary times.
In Marco's heart, he believed he could definitely become the strongest.
Moreover, his potential ceiling was absolutely higher than his guild mates.
This was all thanks to his own hard work and sweat.
[Pegasus Meteor Fist proficiency increased]
[Pegasus Meteor Fist - Beginner, Proficiency: 120/500]
Seeing the prompt from the [Saint System], Marco punched even more vigorously.
Those 120 proficiency points were the crystallization of his sweat and effort, his source of confidence.
He only showed proficiency when practicing the "Pegasus Meteor Fist", which was clearly part of a complete system matched with it.
Skills obtained from the [Saint System] should all be like this.
This matching proficiency system was encouraging Marco to constantly work hard in his training.
When effort and sweat became tangible, that real-time feedback effect was very motivating.
"."
Watching Marco throw his fists in a flurry, Natsu swallowed hard.
His fists were tightly clenched, his body trembling slightly.
"What's wrong? Scared?"
Seeing Natsu standing there motionless, no longer shouting about going to find Erza, Marco couldn't help but laugh.
It seemed this kid had been frightened.
"No, I'm not scared. I'm just excited. I'll surpass you all eventually, I'll become stronger than all of you sooner or later!"
However, Natsu refused to admit he was scared.
The expression on his face was very serious, his eyes seeming to burn like flames.
This kid had just shouted out the goal he had set for himself.
Marco, Erza and Laxus had all become his targets to chase after.
He wanted to defeat all of them, as well as all the other strong members in the guild!
Marco stopped throwing punches and turned to look at Natsu.
The kid's expression was very serious, his eyes flickering with intense flames.
It was clear he wasn't just shouting for fun.
"Good! Very spirited! But Natsu, this isn't something you can achieve just by being loud. You need to show some real attitude!"
Marco reached out and patted Natsu's shoulder.
Although he was only a year older than Natsu, Marco was much taller, so he could easily pat Natsu's shoulder.
"Train with me, Natsu! Let's get stronger together!"
Before Natsu could speak, Marco had already continued, his face full of righteousness as he invited Natsu to train with him.
"Alright! I won't fall behind!"
Natsu immediately agreed.
The kid was excited - training with Marco would surely bring him great improvement.
"Great!"
Marco was equally happy, his eyes crinkling into a smile.
He finally had a punching bag that could take a hit.
After all, as a "Dragon Slayer", Natsu's physical resilence should be able to withstand more hits than Gray.
"Natsu! I told you to stay in bed! Why did you run out on your own?!"
Just as Marco thought of Gray, the guy came rushing out, looking like he had been running in a hurry, panting heavily.
The black haired boy looked very displeased at Natsu.
He had only gone to the bathroom for a moment and Natsu, who had just been lying in bed, had disappeared without a trace.
He had been worried for nothing and now this guy was standing here like nothing had happened!
"Huh? When was that?"
Looking at the slightly angry Gray, Natsu scratched the back of his head blankly.
He had no memory of Gray telling him those things.
"You bastard! Are you asking for a beating?!"
Natsu's attitude made Gray so angry he was about to melt.
As someone who used "Ice-Make Magic", his body temperature was already approaching that of the fire-using Natsu.
"What? You want to fight?!"
Gray's words also fired up Natsu, who had just been scolded by Laxus.
Plus, he really didn't remember Gray telling him those things.
Why was this guy so angry?
"???"
Watching Natsu and Gray butt heads at the slightest provocation, Marco was bewildered.
What was going on with these two?
Gray's temperament wasn't particularly strange or volatile.
In terms of thoughts and temper, Gray was actually quite a normal kid.
But he still wasn't a normal person, because he had a habit of stripping off his clothes at the drop of a hat.
Gray's built-in "stripping passive" was truly extraordinary, ingrained to his very bones.
He stripped at lightning speed, completely unaware that he had taken off his clothes.
But under normal circumstances, Gray shouldn't be this irritable or so quick to fight with others.
"Incompatible magic attributes?"
Watching Natsu and Gray who had already started fighting, Marco could only think of this possibility. One used "Ice-Make Magic" while the other used "Fire Dragon Slayer Magic" - their magic attributes were indeed quite opposed.
"Smack!"
Marco reached out with both hands and grabbed the backs of their collars, separating the two who were butting heads.
Although Gray was slightly taller than Natsu, he wasn't that tall and Marco could easily subdue them both.
This was the advantage of being a year older and developing earlier.
Most crucially, these two didn't dare resist him at all.
Natsu had just been knocked out by Marco's punch and Gray had long since experienced what it felt like to be hit by Marco's fists.
How could they dare to resist?
After being separated by Marco, although they still couldn't stand each other, they no longer made any extreme moves.
Although the saying goes "fire and ice don't mix", the opposition of magic attributes shouldn't actually affect personalities too much.
So the state of these two guys was actually more about mutual dislike.
This was evident from the first time they met and they were truly a pair of rivals.
Marco rubbed his brow.
Their Fairy Tail guild was simply a gathering place for orphans and problem children.
"Since you two have so much energy, come be my sparring partners."
Without another word, Marco dragged Natsu over, making Gray's eyes light up in surprise.
His expression also showed a hint of sadism.
Seeing Natsu looking excited, still unaware of what was about to happen, Gray quickly composed his expression.
At this moment, Gray suddenly felt that having Natsu here wasn't so bad after all.
At least there was one more person to be Marco's sparring partner.