"So, have anything else to say… Little brother?" Glancing down at the injured Gray, whom I was sitting on, I faintly smiled while waiting for him to respond. "Urgh, f-fine! J-Just get off me!" "Only after you call me correctly." Yawning, I punched the ground beside Gray's head, causing him to nervously gulp before he rapidly nodded. "A-Alright, alright! C-Can you get off me, ugh, b-big brother?" Nodding with a faint smirk, I stood up, prompting Gray to quickly scramble to his feet, looking a sight for sore eyes while he glared at me, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
Gray grunted in annoyance before turning around and walking away, leaving behind the frozen and damaged interior pool, only for Gramps to suddenly grab me by the head. "Since you're the 'older brother,' you shouldn't mind taking responsibility for the damages, right, Cooper?" I was forced to look at Gramps, who approached me, walking over the frozen pool, with a friendly smile, one that caused me to growl. I wasn't even allowed to defend myself as Gramps handed me a pickaxe, forcing me to pick the frozen pool while he watched from the side; I also saw Gray snickering in the background.
Once I finished picking the ice, I returned in time to celebrate Gray joining the Fairy Tail, causing people to laugh, drink, eat, dance, fight, etc. Surprisingly, though, Gray didn't seem too put off by Fairy Tails' unique atmosphere, especially when a guild fight occurred, prompting everyone to fight everyone.
"Haha, oi get your ass over here, Laxus!" With a grin, I kicked the table to the side, causing Laxus to scoff before faintly smirking as we slammed our heads together. "I'll put you down this time, you dumb beast!" "Hehehe, you say that every time!" Laughing, we clenched our fists and punched each other, determining who would be the winner based on who'd take a step back first. While the two of us fought, Gray was making himself at home as he traded blows with several other guildmates; I don't know whether my talk with him had helped him, but seeing him smile caused me to as well.
However, I was promptly punched in the gut by Laxus, nearly forcing me back, but I managed to dig my nails into the floor. "That hurt!" Grinning, I dodged a punch before kneeing Laxus in the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs, though I held his arms, ensuring he didn't step back, as I didn't want the fun to end so quickly.
"Hehe, it would be embarrassing if you lost to someone a year younger, wouldn't it?" It seemed my words aggravated him as lightning flashed across his body, causing me to grin as I also used some of my magic, reinforcing and enhancing my physique while Laxus and I entered round two for the night.
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After last night, Laxus and I were promptly lectured by Gramps and then forced to clean up the guildhall, which resulted in us fighting again, though Gramps didn't settle with just giving us a lecture this time. Anyway, when Laxus and I finally finished cleaning the guild, instead of taking missions like usual, I spent my time in the guild's backyard, using a random sword in the armory to learn another major aspect of my magic.
'Visualize what you want to do.' With a deep breath, I touched the sword and focused intensely on infusing it with my magic power using Indestructible Magic. However, as expected, the first few attempts didn't work; hell, even after twenty minutes, I ain't made any progress, causing me to clench my fists in anger, on the verge of exploding, but I managed to contain my rage, if just barely.
'Haa, deep breaths. Deep breaths.' Taking a moment to calm myself, I regained my composure and tried once more, only to break the sword in anger after failing for the umpteenth time while flaring my magic power. "Stupid fucking sword!" Gnashing my teeth, I crushed the sword into a ball before tossing it into the distance, only to hear footsteps from behind, prompting me to rein in my magic power.
"Oi, don't destroy equipment, Cooper!" Said Gramps with furrowed brows as he approached me, causing me to grunt in annoyance while grabbing another sword from the pile I took from the armory. "So, what are you doing? I'm surprised you're in the Guild and not off somewhere fighting for your life like you tend to do, making my old heart constantly worry." Rolling my eyes at Gramps, I briefly told him what I was trying to do; he already knew about my indestructible magic, so he quickly understood.
"Try not to force yourself; let it flow naturally. Like when you poop." I could vividly feel my face twitch at Gramp's crazy analogy, but considering he was one of the ten wizard Saints, the strongest Mages in Ishgar, I didn't dare question him regarding magic, not even my own.
Faintly nodding, I followed Gramp's advice, trying to let it just 'flow' naturally, but it didn't work for the first several times, though after he helped make some minor adjustments, I finally managed to succeed. Seeing the sword glow bright gold, I faintly smiled, only for it to suddenly explode, though Gramps enlarged his hand in time, protecting me. "Well, that was violent… Try using less magic power." Nodding in agreement at Gramp's words, I grabbed another sword and repeated it as before, only for it to explode, along with the third, fourth, fifth… Until every sword I grabbed was broken.
"Hmm, how much magic do you have to be able to repeatedly do that to 20 steel swords?" Shrugging my shoulders at Gramp's question, I grabbed another sword, only for that one to also explode from too much magic power. "I don't know, a lot?" Looking at Gramp, who just looked at me as if I were stupid, I returned to training my control over my magic, though it seemed he planned to get to the bottom of this as he grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to follow him.
Entering the guild, we arrived at the armory, where he searched through a few boxes before grabbing a weird object. "Eh, isn't that a magic power finder?" Raising my eyebrow, I looked at Gramps, who nodded before outstretching his hand, causing me to tilt my head in confusion. "Yes, it's usually used to measure magic attacks, but it'll work the same if you just inject your magic into it." Nodding at Gramps, I grabbed the magic power finder and began injecting my magic into it, causing it to display a holographic number above it; only the number continued to rise steadily, quickly passing a thousand with no end in sight.
It took about a minute, but by the end, it reached the number '3000', though by then, I was running on fumes and was beginning to feel nauseous, prompting Gramps to forcefully remove my hand from the magic power finder. "Well, I must admit, you undermined how much 'a lot' really is. For a kid your age, you've got a ridiculous amount of magic; the only thing holding you back from being strong is your pre-pubescent body, which will change soon enough, though." Remarked Gramps with a slightly surprised expression as he looked at me while I used this chance to regain my bearings.
"So, do you know how to help me?" Raising my eyebrow with slight hope, I watched Gramp walk past me, prompting me to follow him as we exited the armory. "Yes. Repetitive training; other than that, there isn't much I can help with. You have so much magic that it makes it difficult to control, and the only way to overcome it is with constant training." Growling in annoyance, I aggressively rubbed my head before heading to the request board, deciding to do a job to rid myself of the growing frustration.
"Tsk, free a town under the control of Frey, a Dark Guild? Tch, perfect; I'll kill everyone!" Grabbing the job, I turned around and stormed out of the guild. "Haa, at least keep one of them alive to turn to the Magic Council." Ignoring whatever Gramps had to say, I walked down the streets of Magnolia, heading toward the train station; of course, I had a few kebabs to help cool off my anger.
Once I arrived at the train station, I took the train route closest to the town, using my free time to practice my magic control, which was incredibly dull and repetitive, but I didn't want my clothes to be destroyed after every battle; I quite liked them. "Tsk, this is so fucking boring!" As the pen exploded in my hand, splattering ink everywhere, I took a deep breath before grabbing another item to continue practicing.