"Well, she's cute." Kazu shrugged.
Levy was rendered speechless by Kazu's direct words.
'W—what? Did I hear it incorrectly?' She glanced at others, and their reaction confirmed that she wasn't the only one who heard that.
'Is this an indirect way of a confession? What should I say?' Levy found her heart trying to break free from her chest.
She was super nervous. This was the first time something like this had happened, and she didn't know what to do.
"Wait, are you blushing?" Kazu dumbfoundedly asked.
"N—No"
'Why are you acting so surprised? What else did you expect when you said that so directly? Is he dense? Or is he doing that on purpose?'
"Well, you just called her cute. I wonder why... I don't think that's normal, right?" Cana narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
'Oh my god. Will this be a love triangle?' Levy unknowingly felt excited at the thought. She could almost feel the drama that would cook... only to realise that she would be involved too.
"Hold up. What do you mean by me being unable to say nice things? Do you see me as Gray? Also, I wasn't 'hitting' on her."
'Wait, what?' Levy felt confused at his statement. Why did he say that in the first place, then?
"I mean, I said what just came to my mind. Didn't give it much thought."
'That's definitely an excuse. Is he really indirectly trying to say something to me, or did I read too many novels?' Kazu's actions felt confusing to her.
"Did that make you uncomfortable? If it did, I would keep that in mind to not say that in the future."
"NO!" Here response came out a bit faster than she wanted it to, embarrassing her.
'I mean, I don't mind if it really was a confession. In the worst case, I could just act oblivious. I mean, it's his fault for being so vague.' Levy didn't like the fact that she couldn't get a clear read on Kazu.
"Well, I mean, I just told my first impressions. Like, you look cute too." Kazu's next words broke her out of her thoughts.
Levy, dumbfounded, looked at Kazu. '...Isn't that two-timing? He didn't even care if I was here or not.' Before she could fully process Kazu's actions, he shocked her again.
"I said Erza is cute too."
'THREE Timing!?' Levy didn't know it could get any worse. Her mind was racing with a lot of weird thoughts. One side didn't like that, the other side, which had read too many novels, liked the drama of the possibility.
"Gray also... looks cute when he is dressed."
'FOUR...Ehhh?' Levy blinked.
---
"Hey! You are going to hurt people now." Kazu said while patting Levy, motioning with his hands to go away.
One second, Levy was behind Kazu and the next second, she found herself mid-air—Kazu holding her like a cat.
She quickly nodded her head and left the scene, sitting beside Cana.
"Do you want to bet too?" Cana asked her.
Levy shook her head. "Isn't gambling bad?"
"Is it? I didn't know. Guess you learn new things every day." Cana nodded to herself.
The bluenette deadpanned.
"Anyway, were you hurt? Kazu roughly grabbed you."
"I am fine—" Suddenly, a bright light filled the tavern as everyone closed their eyes.
The tavern was deadly silent as Levy slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Kazu standing.
His body was twitching. Yet he recovered very quickly.
'He really wasn't kidding about being at an advanced level in Ethernano stuff. He's only one year older than me, yet... this is amazing.' Looking at Kazu's fight against Laxus, which she wasn't able to fully follow, Levy felt a mixture of emotions— amazement, insecurity and more importantly—curiosity.
'He... almost feels like a protagonist.' Levy was an avid reader of novels, and her record so far could rival the number of anime Kazu had seen in his previous life.
Her favourite genre was Overpowered protagonists.
'First calling me cute...and now technically? saving me... Am I in a novel?' Levy jokily thought to herself.
---
'If I am in a novel, I am definitely a side-character.' Levy deadpanned as she looked at Gray taking away Kazu.
It looked like Kazu sacrificed himself so that Cana would meet her dad.
'I did join recently. From what I heard, these two have been friends for nearly two years...' Levy's eyes widened.
'Childhood Friend Trope! I know that one. The only girl who never wins.' Levy felt her status rising from a side character. Only to—
'Doesn't that mean I would be at an inherent disadvantage against members who join late?'
---
"So, it's like that."
"Hmm, maybe you should consult Kazu. Elemental stuff seems a bit too advanced for you now. Maybe you could ask him to help you get down at least the simpler applications." Cana nodded to herself at the solution she proposed—delegation.
"Isn't he like...in seclusion?" 'It's so cringe to call it seclusion.' Levy internally rolled her eyes.
Cana put her hands on her hips. "Heh. I know the location. I will tell him that you want his help."
"Really? Thanks!" Levy sincerely thanked her. Her progress had been on hold for a while.
---
Cana didn't disappoint. In less than a week, Kazu visited her.
"So, you use Solid Script magic. Interesting."
"What do you think about my magic?"
Kazu blinked. "What do you mean? What do I think?"
Levy touched the fingers of both her hands. "I mean, can I...get strong? Like really strong."
Kazu smiled. "How strong are we talking? As strong as old man Macao? Or as strong as S-rank? Maybe as strong as the guild master? Or even beyond that?"
Levy's cheeks reddened. "I mean... I don't know?... Isn't being an S-rank a very big thing? I am not sure that I could even reach that level."
Kazu nodded. "Well, it definitely is difficult. To be honest, I don't know even if I could reach S-rank myself, let alone you."
"You will definitely reach S-rank," Levy said with unusual confidence.
"I...will?" Her confidence caught Kazu off guard. He wasn't himself that confident about reaching it, yet here Levy was claiming that he could.
'Can she also predict the future like Cana's fortune-telling cards?'
"I mean... aren't you like the strongest in our age group. I heard some old members talking that you are already stronger than some active members. So, it would be unusual for you not to reach that level."
Kazu raised a brow. "Well, so is Erza, Gray and even Cana to some extent."
"Uhh...But, aren't you the strongest?"
Kazu snorted. "I am not. I would raise a flag if I considered myself like that." 'I don't want to be cut in half.'
"You will?" Levy blinked. She didn't expect Kazu to know such terminology. It seems he really was cultured.
"Yeah. Moreover, that statement isn't true anymore. It's been 4 months since I improved considerably. My last improvement was magic bullets, but those didn't increase my combat power considerably. Erza has probably surpassed me by a good margin by now." Kazu shook his head.
Levy looked at him with a puzzled expression. "But, aren't you like being trained seriously for the past few months?"
"Just trying to create a technique. It's no guarantee that I would be successful. It will likely end with me wasting a few months over nothing." Kazu said with a wry smile.
Levy paused. She had a pondering expression. "But, are you sure that you won't gain anything from this? Like, even if you fail, won't you learn a lot of things just from the process? Or is that not the case here?"
Kazu blinked. He smiled. "Well, indeed there is. That's the only reason I decided to do this. My ethernano manipulation has increased considerably."
Levy nodded. "Well, makes sense you would consider that. I would wish you good luck with whatever you are doing."
"Thank you. Now, let's get back to your magic—Solid Script. It's pretty versatile, similar to Cana's magic or my Barrier magic. Heck, you could also say that Erza's sword magic falls in the same category."
Levy blinked. "Right...Wait, how come you and Erza have more than one magic? Like, isn't her magic Reequip, and you have your Ethernano manipulation. Are your affinities just that high?"
Kazu shrugged. "It is what it is." 'I haven't told anyone that my main affinity is Instinct magic. Though I haven't started improving it yet. There's so much high-yield stuff already present with my other affinities.'
Before Levy could retort, Kazu beat her to it. "Also, it doesn't really matter whether you have one main affinity or 10. You have limited time, and reaching expertise in one is much better than learning everything and being able to do nothing with that. Just look at Gray or better Gildarts."
'Even Natsu only knows Fire magic, though he is the protagonist, but whatever.'
Levy nodded. "I guess."
"Anyway, back to the topic. Have you figured out your affinities and sorted them? Knowing those would be pretty important for developing your Solid script."
Levy shook her head. "I did recognise some, but I can't put a finger on most, especially the important ones. It's kind of fuzzy."
"I will help you with that." Kazu looked at the nearby clock.
'Erza asked me to go to a cake shop with her. I have one hour. Let's be quick.'
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