"It's almost like a routine. Why do you always challenge me during this time of the year?" Laxus threw him a confused look.
"Not any deep reason. I first fought you around that time, and one year is a long time to make visible progress. That's why."
"Oh? You seem pretty... different today. Did you make more progress compared to last time? To be honest, it was pretty disappointing." Laxus taunted.
Kazu grinned. "Yup. The difference between me last year and now is like comparing a cat to a Lion. Let me show you directly."
CRACK
The next instant, Laxus's body turned into lightning, disappearing from his seat. At his position,n Kazu stood with his right arm cocked back.
"Nice instincts you have got," Kazu smirked.
On the other hand, Laxus had a shocked expression on his face.
'I was barely able to sense him move.' A serious expression appeared on Laxus's face as he focused entirely on his awareness.
"How about we take this outside? I don't think the old man would like destroying the tavern." Kazu glanced upwards.
CRACK
Just at that instant, a lightning bolt streaked towards Kazu at insane speeds. Even without looking, a transparent barrier formed in front of Kazu, stopping the bolt inches away from him.
"That was dirty." Kazu disappeared from his position. Next instant, Laxus turned into lightning as he exited through the open door.
The entire tavern was silent for a few moments.
"The fuck just happened?" Cana broke the silence. Her reaction was mirrored by other guild members.
Kazu didn't get one-shot by Laxus.
He even made the latter take him seriously.
BOOOM
A loud sound came from outside, causing everyone to become silent again.
"Start the betting pool quickly. We can't miss this fight. It's the fight to decide the strongest mage below S-rank!" Wakaba shouted as he ran towards the door.
"Holy shit! That kid really surpassed me so quickly. I didn't even see him move."
"I am going to bet on Kazu this time. He lost two times, but the third time should be a charm, right?"
"Strongest in the guild...?" Natsu was the most shocked. He didn't know Kazu was so strong. Like others, he also didn't see him move.
"He must have used his new technique on his enhancement spells. No wonder he is so fast. Even Erza would get overpowered in physicality." Levy nodded to herself as she got up. She can't miss this fight.
"New technique?" Natsu looked at her.
"Constructive Interference. At least, that's the name he said a few months ago. Basically, it allows him to enhance the spells. It was supposed to be 2x, but I don't know if that limit is there. Moreover, though it can theoretically enhance any spell, I am not sure if Kazu can do that for spells other than his." Levy gave him the entire analysis of the technique.
Natsu looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. "Oh, so it's a cool technique."
"..."
BOOOM
Another loud sound came from the outside, causing both of them to stop their chatting and quickly exit the tavern.
They went towards the back of the guild and found both Laxus and Kazu engaged in a fight.
Both of them were above the lake, exchanging blows mid-air.
Laxus used his Lightning form to stay in the sky while Kazu made invisible barriers as footholds.
"That's some serious technique improvement? I don't think you could naturally increase your output by this much in just a year." Laxus praised as he punched.
Kazu met his fist with his own.
BOOM
Contrary to their physical stature, Laxus was the one to get pushed back.
"Yeah, I created a new technique. Let me enhance my own spells." Kazu grinned.
"That's pretty good. What about the other technique you were going to use at the start?" Laxus didn't hold back with his praise. Though he was arrogant, the technique and the fact that Kazu created it in less than a year were praiseworthy.
"The one that made you run?" Kazu taunted.
A vein popped on Laxus's forehead, but he didn't fall for it. "Yeah, that one."
"Boring. Anyway, why don't you stay in a position for a second and let me show you properly?"
Laxus clicked his tongue, but didn't try that. They had been moving pretty fast in the air. Every time they clashed, Laxus made sure to quickly retreat. In some of the clashes, his instincts warned him not to stay any longer.
Laxus once again rushed towards Kazu.
'Lightning Dragon's Roar.'
Without any visible warning or cue, A concentrated beam of lightning was fired from Laxus's mouth.
Kazu grinned. "That's dangerous."
A barrier formed below him as Kazu kicked it.
His body rotated almost instantly, as he barely dodged the roar by inches in width.
'I am not done.' Laxus clasped both of his fists.
The released roar broke into multiple tendrils as it diverged and took a U-turn, all homing in on Kazu from behind.
"Nope." Multiple yellow spheres materialised around Kazu before rushing to intercept the tendrils.
Not only that, some of the bullets were shot at the front, towards Laxus, who turned into lightning as the bullets harmlessly passed through him as he turned himself into a lightning bolt and changed his position.
'That spell of his is troublesome. He becomes almost intangible to any of the attacks. The only way I could harm in that move is to use Destructive Interference to neutralise his spell, but he is too fast for me to catch up. Luckily, he seems to be able to use this move only when he is moving. Otherwise, it would have been too ridiculous.'
Kazu made another barrier below him as he kicked it with all his force.
Next instant, he disappeared from his position and appeared in a different position.
To a normal person, it would seem like both Laxus and Kazu are teleporting. However, it was just raw speed.
"Can you see anything?" Cana elbowed Gray.
"Nope. Just the streaks of yellow of different shades moving in the sky." Gray shook his head.
He knew that Kazu was stronger than him for quite a long while. For nearly 2 years. Gray had defeated Kazu on their first battle, but after that, Kazu rapidly started improving and soon surpassed him. Now, looking at how large the gap had become between the two, brought a mixture of conflicting feelings in him.
He felt jealousy at Kazu's progress, anger at the fact that he felt jealousy over his friend and happiness at seeing how far Kazu had come.
"What are you thinking with that serious face?" Cana broke him out of his brooding.
Gray shook his head before smiling. "Guess, we might have a new S-rank pretty soon."
Cana's eyes widen. "No way. He is not even 12."
"I didn't mean now. He isn't eligible to take part in the next month's exams as he hasn't done any missions this year, but he should be starting with taking missions. He should be eligible by next year." Gray corrected her.
Cana nodded. "He would have one more year to grow. I wonder how strong he would become."
"Me too." 'Maybe, it's time for me to seriously consider to develop an original and strong technique. Though I might not be done within a year, it's still a win as long as that is aligned with my current training.' The gears in Gray's head were turning rapidly.
BOOM
Kazu punched a lightning bolt into oblivion.
"This is going nowhere. Aren't you getting bored? Maybe we should bring out some big guns." Kazu suggested.
"Right on time. I also have a new move to show you." Laxus appeared on the shore of the lake as he stretched out both of his hands towards Kazu.
Lightning generated from both of his palms as it rapidly took the shape of a massive spear.
'That's some serious Ethernano concentration. I might get seriously hurt if I take that lightly.' Kazu's face turned serious.
"Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd"
Even before the sound of the move could reach Kazu's ears, yellow filled Kazu's vision.
'4 Hit Ko'
Even before Kazu could register what happened, his fist already moved.
25 per cent of his Ethernano covered his fist as he punched at the massive spear.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The sound thundered in everyone's ears, causing multiple of them to put their hands on their ears and close their eyes instinctively.
Only experienced members were able to resist that as they resisted that instinct.
The backyard had become gravely silent. Nobody said anything.
A few seconds later, most of the members started opening their eyes to see the aftermath.
Their eyes widened as they saw the result.
***
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