Several people's eyes widened as they looked at the scene.
A large portion of water had disappeared from the lake, creating a circular cavity large enough to make the bottom visible. Currently, it is rapidly being filled by the surrounding water.
If one looked at the surface closely, one would notice yellow currents of lightning flickering.
"Holy shit." Most of them had an awed expression on their faces, but some felt terror at this display.
"Where are those two?" A random question caught everyone's attention towards the sky, as they tried to find them.
"There! He is falling. Laxus is rapidly approaching him!" Macao pointed his finger at the side.
Kazu's body was twitching with lightning as he fell towards the lake. He was paralysed. A frown marred his face.
"Your barrier still needs work." Laxus turned back to human form as he stretched his hand to grab the falling Kazu.
Suddenly, Kazu smirked.
Before Laxus could react, he found himself unable to move his body. Next instant, he found himself unable to manifest lightning.
"The fuck?" Laxus started falling.
"Finally, got you. I thought that it would be pretty hard to approach you, so I made you approach me." A big yellow sphere formed in front of Kazu before it shot at Laxus point-blank.
Before he could know it, Laxus was thrown like a rag doll, crashing on the ground.
THUD
He lay motionless. Unconscious.
"Finally, checkmate." Kazu grinned as he made a platform beneath him, stopping his fall. Most of his body was still responsive due to the lightning, but it didn't stop him from using magic.
"Checkmate indeed."
Kazu's eyes widened, but it was too late.
"Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist."
A large force struck him from behind. All the barriers he had put quickly broke like glass.
'Damn it. The ambusher got ambushed.' That was the last thought that came to his mind as he crashed into the water's surface before everything went black.
---
The backyard was silent. People couldn't believe what they witnessed.
One second, there was a large hole in the lake. Next, Laxus attacked Kazu.
Third, Laxus crashed on the ground.
However, before they could even process that, another Laxus came from behind Kazu and punched him into the lake.
Then everything became silent.
Laxus turned into lightning before appearing on the shore of the lake.
He looked at the lake for a few seconds before turning around and walking away.
"I won." He said to nobody and at the same time to everybody.
Some people blinked before one person finally broke the silence.
"Fuck! I lost 1 million on Kazu!"
All hell broke loose.
Splash.
Gray jumped into the lake.
In a few seconds, he surfaced, carrying unconscious Kazu.
"Is this the third time?" He asked to Cana.
"Yeah. Shockingly, he hasn't met with that weird granny yet." Cana replied.
---
"Am I in the infirmary?" Kazu opened his eyes. This time, calm, as if he had already expected this outcome.
"Yeah." Gray's familiar voice came from the side.
Kazu clicked his tongue as he got up. "I really thought I would win this time." He started checking his body to assess his injuries.
"Really?" Gray raised a brow.
Kazu smiled wryly. "Actually, no. I didn't know how strong Laxus was, but he is not only he is strong, but also experienced."
'Unlike Erza, I had to bait him to use Destructive Interference. Yet, he used that to bait me instead with that Thought Projection.' Kazu was seriously impressed by Laxus's insight.
Not only had the man used multiple dragon roars throughout the battle without slowing down, but one of his moves was so fast that Kazu had to instinctively use 1/4th of his Ethernano to defend himself.
"Yeah. He is older than us and has been doing missions for a while. Not only that, but from what I heard, he used to train a lot, too. Dunno if he still does." Gray shrugged.
"I see. Makes sense." Kazu nodded to himself.
"You just need more experience." Gray patted him on the shoulder.
"I guess..."
'Experience... My instincts were completely sure that I got the actual Laxus, yet I still got ambushed. Though I know that my magic is not omniscient, it still stings.... Instinct magic depends on my already existing knowledge and experience... so, maybe I should try experimenting with different types of experience?'
Kazu liked the idea of that. He still hadn't developed something amazing with his Instinct magic. Both Passive and Active Instincts were already present when he became aware of them. Though one could argue that Active Instincts were developed due to his analytical tendencies, which is true.
"Maybe, I will start taking missions like Erza." Kazu sighed.
"Why so long face? Do you not like missions?"
Kazu frowned. "It's not that...I will just take some solo missions for a while. Yeah." 'If something unexpected happens, at least it would be just me.'
Gray raised a brow. "Well, whatever. Just let me know if you want me to go on a mission with you. Also, that reminds me. I wanted to discuss something."
"What?"
"I..." Gray felt himself at a loss for words. It felt okay in his head, but now saying it out loud felt a bit embarrassing.
Kazu furrowed his brows. 'Is he going to confess to something? Did he eat Erza's cake accidentally or something?'
"I want your help in helping a new technique."
Realisation dawned on Kazu's face. "Sure. Just like Cana, right?"
Gray nodded.
'Now, that I think about it. I do have a lot of theoretical knowledge about things in general, but I never learned a particular magic in detail, like ice magic. I mean, if my affinity is bad, then I won't be able to manifest it properly, so it's a waste of time...' Kazu suddenly had an interesting idea.
'But that doesn't really affect my ability to understand ice magic in detail. Just cause I can't use it doesn't mean I can't understand it. Won't this be technically a new knowledge/ experience?' Kazu's learning ability was pretty ridiculous due to his Passive Instincts.
He not only can know the exact order he needs to follow to learn everything quickly, but also has lightbulb moments—the feeling of everything clicking in place, pretty easily due to that. So, he wasn't really worried about learning ice magic or any other magic in particular.
'Also, it's not like I am wasting my time. After a certain point of mastery, magic principles are transferable. At least, that's what they say. So, it should also help me deepen my knowledge of magic in general.' Kazu nodded to himself.
He had found a pretty good way to not only possibly improve his Instinct magic, but also his overall abilities in general.
"When are you free?" Kazu directly asked.
Gray looked at him in confusion. "Why do you seem more excited than I? Also, what about your injuries?"
"Nothing serious. I also found a way to improve my knowledge in general. I think, unlike Cana, I would be working more closely with you?" Kazu jumped off the bed.
"But, won't that take too much time? Shouldn't you focus on your major affinities?" Gray's question put a full stop to Kazu.
He stiffened. 'Should I actually tell him? I haven't actually told anybody about Instinct magic.' Kazu was at a crossroads.
He was close enough with Gray to trust him not to tell anybody about his magic. In the guild, apart from him, he only trusted Cana to the same degree.
'There's also possible magics that could read other people's memories. Gray might unintentionally give away my only information advantage.' Kazu felt like that was enough reason not to tell Gray.
So, he decided not to tell.
"I..." Kazu felt his gut twisting at the excuse he was going to make.
Gray as if understanding his predicament, spoke up before he could speak again. "It's fine if it's something secret. I mean, there's always magic that could read my thoughts or something. It would be disadvantageous for you if I get compromised."
Kazu became speechless at the words he spoke. It was too identical to his thoughts.
'Right. He once said to me about meeting such a mage on a mission.'
He clenched his fist. "I think that's just an excuse." Kazu looked at the floor for a few seconds before making up his mind.
Next instant, a barrier surrounded them.
"It stops sound from leaking," Kazu spoke before Gray could ask.
"Neat." Gray poked the barrier.
"Actually, my main affinity is not Ethernano manipulation."
Gray raised an eyebrow. "I thought so."
"You thought so?" Kazu stopped in his tracks.
Gray nodded. "I have been observing you for a while now. Some things do feel off about you."
"Y—yeah? What things?" 'Fuck, I didn't really consider that somebody would be able to infer from just looking at me.' Kazu internally facepalmed at his blunder.
"You are pretty fast at picking things up. No, I am not talking about people. You did mention that you could predict people if you analysed them for a while before. Maybe that's related to that. But you seem to be able to learn something pretty quickly. Like, if you are learning a technique, let's take that multi-tasking aspect.
When I taught you, I felt like I was seeing a video player. The way you pinpointed your mistakes almost immediately and with each repetition, you inched closer to the perfect version...as if you already knew that technique before almost instinctively." Gray looked at Kazu, who was sweating.
"Also, that reminds me. Whenever I fight you, most of the time I feel like all my moves are read. Even my future moves. Even if I come up with a new tactic and use it for the first time, you seem to already know what I am doing. Moreover, you could instinctively dodge the surprise attacks."
Kazu looked like he had seen a ghost.
Gray finally hit the nail in the coffin. "Your magic... It's—"
***
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