The guild had learned about the situation with Cait Shelter during last night's celebration, so no one was surprised to see Wendy and Carla joining them.
However, Natsu's reaction to Gajeel's arrival caught everyone off guard.
"Gajeel!"
"Well, well, the Fire Dragon. We et again," Gajeel grinned.
Having once caused damage to Fairy Tail, joining the guild now felt a bit awkward for him. But seeing Natsu all fired up actually felt familiar—and maybe even a bit comforting.
"Why is Gajeel from Phantom Lord here?"
Everyone turned to look at Master Makarov, who chuckled warmly and explained, "After last night's party, I noticed this guy lurking around nearby, so I brought him in."
"Old man..."
Natsu clenched his fists, flas flickering around his throat.
"Calm down, Natsu," Makarov said, hands behind his back. "Phantom Lord has disbanded. Let's leave the past in the past."
"No matter what you say, old man, I'm not accepting him without a fight!" Natsu leapt forward, aiming a "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist" straight at Gajeel.
"Gajeel!"
"Do you really think I'm just going to stand here and let you hit , Fire Dragon?" Gajeel smirked, launching his own counterattack with "Iron Dragon Sword."
The two imdiately began brawling with full intensity.
Seeing this, a few of the other mbers couldn't resist joining in. They couldn't let a new recruit act so cocky, after all.
"Partial Takeover: Beast Arm!" Elfman shouted, raising his right arm. "Natsu, I'll back you up!"
"Can you guys take it outside? So noisy..." Gray muttered, casually removing his shirt and cracking his knuckles, his ice magic chilling the air.
Macao rose from his seat, casting a magic circle in his palm and shooting out purple flas. "Purple Rain!"
Wakaba joined in, blowing smoke rings that morphed into fists. "Smoke Crush!"
The peaceful morning shattered as the guild erupted into an all-out brawl, with magic flying in every direction.
Makarov's mustache twitched with annoyance as he considered transforming into a giant to get these kids under control. But then he thought of sothing and sighed, "I'll leave this to you, Ultear."
Having soone in the guild who could control ti was incredibly convenient.
"Leave it to , Master," Ultear replied with a smile.
Wendy, watching the chaotic battle, was a bit shaken. "Ah, they're going to get hurt!"
Happy, entirely unfazed, sighed, "Aye... it happens all the ti."
"This is one seriously noisy guild," Carla muttered, looking exasperated.
Mirajane covered her cheek with one hand. "Oh dear, it's happening again."
Just then, a chair ca flying out of nowhere, aid at the bar. Nate caught it by one of its legs just in ti.
"Mira, do you have so weird ability that attracts flying objects?" he asked, amused.
Mirajane laughed, covering her face a bit sheepishly. These things did seem to happen to her more often than she liked to admit.
...
As Natsu and the others continued their brawl with full enthusiasm, exchanging blows and kicks that landed with solid impact, the guild hall was in chaos. "You're all more destructive than a pack of huskies," Nate thought to himself. Staying out of the scuffle, he realized that if he joined in, a single punch might reduce the guild to rubble.
Finding the noisy guild hall unsuitable for coding, Nate returned to his apartnt, where he planned to work on version 0.7 updates. Along with the main feature, a live-streaming section, there were plenty of minor adjustnts to make.
Ti flew as he wrote code. By noon, a knock sounded at his door.
"Co in," he called, pausing his work. Seeing Lucy enter in a black-and-white maid outfit made him chuckle.
"Today's the maid version of Lucy, huh?"
Looking as cute as ever, Lucy skillfully placed a prepared lunch on his table.
"I didn't see you at the guild, so I guessed you'd be here working away. But no skipping lunch!" she chided, adding, "Really, without looking after you, I'm sure you'd end up with stomach trouble."
"Yes, yes, such a caring helper," Nate thought, amused as he picked up his chopsticks.
"Oh, wait!" Just as he was about to dig in, he rembered sothing and looked up at her. "Is that 200,000-Jewel kiss deal still valid?"
"Huh?" Lucy's face flushed instantly. She gave a flustered huff, "N-no way! That was just a joke!"
"Really? So, my gift was just a joke too then." Nate sighed in mock disappointnt. "What a sha—I went to all that trouble finding a super magic that would suit you."
A super magic?
Lucy's eyes widened, montarily glaring at him in annoyance. "How could he just tease like that?" she wondered. And yet... if that gift really was so super magic, she kind of wanted it...
Lucy hesitated, her face flushed as she mumbled, "A... kiss... but you can't tell anyone!" She imagined people finding out she had sold a kiss to pay her debt—it'd be too humiliating!
Nate smiled inwardly at her shyness, setting down his chopsticks as he leaned closer. "Then this'll just be our little secret."
As his hands cupped her cheeks, he said softly, "Ready?"
Lucy's nervous excitent got the better of her; she shut her eyes tightly, her whole posture frozen, save for the slight tremble of her lips.
Chuckling softly at her reaction, Nate leaned down, pressing his lips against hers.
At that mont, Lucy felt a wave of warmth and an unexpected feeling of comfort. Her first kiss had taken her by surprise, but this ti she was fully aware of the experience. The sensation from his lips seed to fill every corner of her mind.
"So, kissing a boy can feel this nice?" she wondered dreamily, "Or is it just because it's Nate?"
Lost in thought, Lucy suddenly felt his hand wander, giving her chest a gentle squeeze.
"Ah!" she gasped, pushing him back with an embarrassed expression as she clutched her chest. "What was that for?!"
"Believe it or not, that was my hand moving on its own," Nate joked, scratching his head. "When a guy kisses a girl, sotis his hand just... wanders."
"Yeah, right! Baka Nate!" she huffed, her face flaming as she retreated to the door in a flustered exit.
Amused, Nate watched her flee. "She's pretty adorable when she's shy," he thought.
Monts later, a ssage notification popped up from her on the Magic Net.
Gotta Earn Money: "Left hook.jpg It's 38,697,000J now!"
"Of course she'd rember to deduct her lunch! So was that shyness all just an act?" Nate laughed and typed back.
Sigma Male: "Alright, let's deduct another 5,000 for today's kiss."
Gotta Earn Money: "But you touched my chest! Add another 10,000!"
Sigma Male: "I only touched one side. That's just 5,000."
Gotta Earn Money: "Shut up, you idiot!"
Nate chuckled, noting that her remaining debt was now exactly 38,597,000J.
After finishing lunch, he thought, "Thanks to my supervision, her cooking has improved a lot."
"Wonder if she'll be back for dinner," he mused, shaking his head as he resud coding.
By evening, Nate had completed the updates. After carefully reviewing the new version, he published it along with an announcent.
[Internet Magic Alpha 0.7 Update Announcent]
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