Price To Protect The World

Chapter 5

Loke and Freed stared each other down before meeting in the middle to shake hands.
"I'm not about to go easy on you after all Laxus is watching and I refuse to disappoint him" Freed said. Loke glanced out of the corner of his eyes at Laxus who was leaning against the gym wall, his eyes closed.
"Yeah, I can understand. I also have someone that I can't let down so I hope that you don't mind getting a little beaten up" Loke warned. He was going to kick to just hand to hand combat for most of the fight, only using magic when he needed to.
"Begin" Makarov called. Both of them wasted no time as Freed pulled out his raptor and Loke jumped out of the way. Normally because Freed's magic didn't use swords he wouldn't have been able to carry it since this was only a spar. However because of him using it as a conductor for his magic they allowed it. Loke dodged to the side as the word 'pain' went past him. As much as he wanted to be able to show off for Lucy and show her how strong he had become he knew that the most important was to limit the amount of damage he took. If he took too much damage then his gate would try and close making Lucy have to concentrate on keeping the gate open. Which meant, he either had to attack quickly and finish this fast or play it defensive and try to limit the damage. Either way, Freed definitely had the advantage in this fight. At least on the magic side of things. On the physical side, well that was completely different. Like dodged Freed's attack of magic and slammed his fist into Freed's stomach making the green haired male cry out in shock and pain.
"Sorry, but you really need to work on making sure to brace your stomach. You should also work on your physical body along with your magic" Loke shrugged before he grunted and gritted his teeth as Freed finally hit him with his magic.
"And you should work on your magic, this isn't just a fist fight" Freed replied and Loke jumped before another attack hit him. As he jumped he caught a glance at Lucy and shivered a little. He knew exactly what that expression was. 'Stop holding back on my account or I am going to break you into little pieces at our training this weekend' was what that look meant. If this was the normal Lucy, the one before she had grown stronger and hasher, he would have thought the look was cute. Now though, he knew that Lucy would actually beat him until he could no longer stand. It wasn't abuse like Karen used to do, it was the way that Lucy now showed her worry. Before Lucy had accepted the Celestial King's deal she would have never even thought to even verbally fight (seriously, her yelling at Aquaius wasn't counted), but after having seen many of her friends nearly lose their lives and not being able to do anything about it. In a way it traumatised Lucy and she now needed to know that her friends and spirits were strong, strong enough that they would have a higher chance to survive if Lucy was to fail. That was the reason that most Lucy's spirits were playing at being teachers, they were the only ones that she trusted to be able to teach alongside the Guild Masters. Loke instantly realised he made a mistake when he got lost in his memories as Freed managed to hit him three times in a row making Loke yell in pain. It wasn't a physical pain but it still hurt. A burst of light had Freed backing up a few steps and covering his eyes to protect them. He also made sure to keep his guard, he was sure that Loke was about to attack at any moment.
"I yield," Loke said as the light disappeared.
"Huh?!" A few people exclaimed in shock.
"Don't just give up!" Natsu yelled and had to be held back by Lisanna and Gray.
"Calm down" Makarov glared, making Natsu click his tongue but went silent.
"Winner, Freed" Capricirn announced. Freed didn't exactly look pleased, instead he was looking at Loke in confusion as they stepped out of the sparring ring.

"You have good control over your magic Freed, but as Loke pointed out in the match, unless you use your magic transformation you are lacking in the physical side of combat" Capricorn said.
"Loke, you are physically strong, a lot more than most would think and your magic is strong as well. However you hold yourself back and give up much too easily" Makarov sighed. Honestly Loke was always holding himself back instead of fighting with everything that he has, but no matter what they say to him he never changed.
"Yes, I will strive to do my best to train my weaknesses into strengths" Freed sticky says before dashing over to Laxus's side again. He would never say anything out loud but with the way that he was staring at Laxus, and the way that his little hair lightning bolts were moving, he really wanted either a compliment or perhaps feedback on his fight.
"Guess I'm next," Laxus sighed, taking off his coat. Lucy held back a wince, how brutal. Did Laxus really not realise or did he just not care. Freed was trying to hide his disappointment but his little hair lightening bolts drooped drastically.
"Hold this for me," Laxus said, giving Freed his coat.
"Yes" he cheered happily. Normally Laxus wouldn't have let anyone hold his coat, instead he would have put it on a chair or folded it and placed it on his ground. Guess he was proud of Freed in his own way.