Fairy Tail - Eyes of Ice

Chapter 25 - Edolas Pt. 1

 Kai and Iggy followed Gildarts back out of the guild toward his ramshackle house on the outskirts of Magnolia. People watched in awe as Kai stood so brazen and close next to the man, but his curiosity magnetized him to the powerful wizard. Gildarts walked without a hitch in his step or without any semblance of pain despite the massive damage done to him.

"I didn't even expect to encounter him," he continued, "but he seemed drawn to my location, toward anything powerful. I think he attacked me not even as a threat but out of sport.'

"What happened, exactly?"

"You mean in the fight?" Gildarts sneered. "Not much. I thought I got a few good hits on him and then..." He gestured at his mechanical appendages. "It was over. I spent the next few months trying to get the right replacements so I could still use my magic through them. The fight didn't even last a few minutes."

Kai shuddered. Gildarts was the strongest in the guild, likely even stronger than Master Makarov. Laxus couldn't hold a candle to him; hell, even Mystogan was outclassed by him in leaps and bounds. And Acnologia just tossed Gildarts aside so easily?

"To be honest I couldn't even tell you what sort of magic he uses," Gildarts said. "It was pure destruction. Just a great black dragon that appeared and then...yeah." He grinned. "Not to be too much of a downer! I'm sure you've made great progress in your training recently, right? You look a lot different, I can tell you that much. And you're missing your sword."

Iggy purred for Kai's loss, but Kai didn't feel it that badly. Erza was fixing up another one for him in her free time.

"Yeah, I have gotten stronger," Kai said, rather absently. "But not strong enough, it sounds like."

"Don't even think about him."

Kai raised an eyebrow at Gildarts, whose expression had gone cold. "What?"

"Acnologia isn't a benchmark or a milestone right now for you or anyone else in the guild. Focus on your own strength. Kai, Acnologia's power is something you might not reach even after several years of hard training. Even if I took you under my wing and we took on an SS-Class quest over and over and you kept getting stronger..." Gildarts shook his head. "I'm telling you, this dragon is different." He grimaced. "Maybe not different, but he might be unstoppable right now. He just brushed off my attacks as if it were nothing."

Kai sighed. "It could be the case that your magic aligns. Dragons, and Dragon Slayers, aren't harmed by their own kinds of magic. They can absorb it. Like, imagine if Gray and I were to fight. It would be more the force of his attacks that hurts."

"Right, and you can't eat your own magic, I get it," Gildarts said with a shrug. "Man, you're really an expert on all this stuff, aren't you?"

They were out of Magnolia, heading for the forest at the edge of town.

Iggy leaped into the air and swirled around them, saying, "Kai might not have the best memory or brightest brain but he knows a thing or two about his magic."

"Just can't control it all that well sometimes."

"You were just a kid when you learned everything, right?"

"Yeah."

"Like Natsu, learned it from a dragon? Probably not even a dragon from Fiore; not many people I know around here who have icy white hair like you, kid."

Gildarts shouldered his pack and Kai stuffed his hands in his pocket, missing his sword at his side but shrugging.

"Yeah, I'm not Fiore native."

"Iceberg?"

"Bingo."

"I dated a girl there once. Nice woman. But nothing like Fiore women...no offense."