Chapter 12: Powerful Reasons
Soon the banquet started, and the guild came alive with singing, dancing, and magical performances. The atmosphere was joyful and bright. When it came to entertainment, Dino Maxim's Tremor-Tremor Fruit abilities weren't exactly suited for the occasion. Natsu's fire breathing was far more crowd-pleasing. After all, nobody wanted to see an earthquake at a party.
While Dino sat enjoying his food and drink, watching the guild's performances, he suddenly felt someone settle into the seat beside him. He turned to find Mirajane glaring at him with unmistakable intensity.
Sweat beaded on Dino's forehead as he offered a nervous smile. "Um… Mirajane…"
He knew exactly why she was upset. The S-Class exam had just concluded, and though he'd been as fair as possible, the outcome still stung. While Erza's magic leaned heavily toward defense with solid offensive capabilities, Mirajane's demon transformations were pure explosive attack power with weaker defenses. Unfortunately for both of them, raw attack power meant little against Dino. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit perfectly demonstrated that the strongest offense could also be the best defense.
That slight difference had been enough. Erza had passed the S-Class exam.
Mirajane sat silently beside him, which somehow made things worse. Under normal circumstances, Dino would have welcomed her company, but guilt weighed heavily on him now. He considered employing one of the most powerful escape techniques known to man: the bathroom excuse.
Clang!
Before Dino could stand, someone else sat down on his other side. Erza, tonight's guest of honor. These two were perhaps the most intimidating people in the entire guild, both with personalities as strong as their magic.
The moment Erza settled in, sparks seemed to fly between her eyes and Mirajane's, right across Dino's face.
"Don't get cocky, Erza. You won this time, but I'll pass the S-Class exam next year. And Dino…" Mirajane turned to him with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. He felt her hand grip his side meaningfully. "My attacks were more powerful than Erza's, weren't they?"
The threat was crystal clear.
"Well, I'm curious about that too." Erza's voice was deceptively calm as she reached for a slice of cake with both hands. Meanwhile, Dino felt her foot come down deliberately on his toes.
He was trapped. If he said Mirajane was stronger, his side would pay the price. If he said Erza was stronger, his toes would suffer more. It was a lose-lose situation with only a fifty percent chance of escaping unscathed.
Just as panic set in, someone crashed down from above, demolishing the table.
"Ah! My cake!" Erza's fierce expression crumbled instantly, tears welling in her eyes.
The person who'd fallen from the sky was Wakaba. He scrambled to his feet, pointing furiously at Macao. "Macao, you bastard! How dare you throw me!" He charged forward, fists raised.
Within moments, the entire guild erupted into chaos. The celebratory banquet devolved into an all-out brawl.
Early the next morning, Natsu burst through the guild doors, fully recharged and raring to go. "Where's Dino?! Dino! Don't hide from me! Come fight me!"
A massive hand descended from above, slamming Natsu into the floor.
"KO!" Happy announced helpfully.
"Quiet down, you little brat!" Makarov bellowed.
"Master! Hasn't Dino come to the guild yet?" Natsu asked from the floor. Across the room, Erza, Mirajane, and Gray's ears perked up. They'd all arrived early and noticed his absence.
Makarov sighed heavily. "Dino's gone."
"Gone again?! Didn't he say he wanted a month off? A whole month of fighting Dino every day… just thinking about it fires me up!"
"I think Natsu would just lose for a month straight," Happy observed.
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know exactly, but he's training. This isn't the first time either. He appears at the guild often enough that I can't blame you for not noticing the pattern, but after every mission, he disappears for a while."
"Then he comes back to check for suitable jobs. It might look like he's slacking off, but over the past three years, he's spent at least half his time training. Rain or shine, without fail."
"What?! That's impossible!" The group stared in shock. None of them had realized Dino was dedicating so much time to training while still completing missions.
Makarov's eyes widened seriously. "How do you think he got so strong? By drinking at the guild all day? His magic is incredibly destructive, so he can only practice it in the most remote locations. I remember when I first met that kid… he'd been training alone in a dangerous forest for half a month straight."
"I made him take missions because I wanted him to relax and enjoy himself, but he just completed them easily for years. That boy's something else."
"When he fought you during the exam, he probably hadn't even finished warming up. Every time he comes back from training, he's gotten stronger. At this rate, he might become one of the strongest mages in the world someday."
"Hadn't even finished warming up?"
"Strongest in the world…"
Those words from Makarov hit like thunder. They were all the same age, yet while they competed to be the strongest in Fairy Tail, Dino was already reaching toward something far greater.
Suddenly, they all felt left behind. For these competitive souls, it was like a slap from cold reality itself.
Why was Dino so strong? Greater talent than them, working ten times harder than them. In a world like this, losing was inevitable.
Boom! Natsu's fist slammed through a table. "Dino… you bastard!" he shouted, then sprinted out of the guild hall.