Three days after the guild banquet's revelry subsided, Ryoma stood alone before the quest board, his gaze sweeping over the various request forms.
"Drive away monsters harassing farmlands... Reward 50,000 Jewels... Location: a small town near Hargeon."
His fingertip finally stopped on a seemingly unremarkable request form. This quest was so simple it offered almost no challenge, but Ryoma had a special consideration in mind.
If he remembered correctly, around this time, a certain pink-haired youth should be meeting a certain blonde girl in Hargeon
"Ryoma, are you taking this quest?" Mirajane walked over, looking at the quest form in his hand.
"It feels too simple for you now, doesn't it?"
Ryoma replied with a smile, "Simple is good, it's a chance to get familiar with my newly acquired power."
"Besides, Hargeon is a nice port city, it's good for a change of scenery too."
Makarov poked his head out from behind the bar and cautioned, "Then be careful. Even if it's a simple quest, don't be careless."
"Don't worry, Master."
Ryoma handed the quest form to Mirajane for registration. "I'll be back soon."
Gray happened to walk in from outside and overheard the conversation.
"Hargeon? It seems quite lively there recently. Natsu seems to have gone there too."
Ryoma chuckled inwardly, but outwardly feigned curiosity. "That's perfect. With Natsu's travel speed, maybe I can even catch up to him."
Ryoma packed his belongings and waved goodbye to everyone.
After leaving the guild, he headed straight for Hargeon.
The scenery along the way was beautiful, but his thoughts were more focused on the historic moment he was about to witness.
The meeting of Natsu and Lucy could be said to be the starting point for all subsequent stories of Fairy Tail. And now, he would witness all of this with a new identity and power.
"I'm really looking forward to it."
Ryoma quickened his pace.
Two days later, he successfully completed the monster-driving quest.
The small monsters harassing the farmlands were utterly defenseless against his Ice-Make magic. It was just that there were many of them, which took some effort to clear.
These small, rat-like monsters were hard to catch, numerous, and specifically gnawed on crop roots, which was why a mage was called to help solve the problem.
The client praised his efficiency and even gave him extra payment as thanks.
"Mage-sama, if you have time, why don't you visit Hargeon?" A young farmer suggested.
"I heard there's a powerful mage who's recently arrived there."
Ryoma understood. It seemed Bora's deception was going smoothly, even people in the surrounding towns knew about it.
"Then I should indeed go and see." He nodded, collected his reward, and walked towards Hargeon.
Hargeon is a beautiful port city, with azure waters, white buildings, and an endless stream of merchant ships.
Ryoma stood by the port, enjoying the sea breeze. "What a nice place."
He looked around, searching for familiar figures that might appear. Unfortunately, from daytime until evening, he couldn't encounter the two key individuals.
'Did I arrive too late? Or did we just miss each other?'
He should have asked more people earlier.
Just as he was about to return to the port to wait a bit longer, a commotion suddenly erupted in the distance.
"Look! The ship is out of control!"
"What is that? Such a huge current!"
Ryoma followed the sound and saw a large ship rushing towards the port at an alarming speed. The ship was surrounded by a massive current, clearly propelled by some powerful water magic.
'Is this... Aquarius's power?'
Ryoma instantly understood the situation.
'It seems the plot has already begun. I'm not too late.'
The ship moved faster and faster, about to crash into the dock.
The surrounding crowd panicked, scattering in all directions.
Ryoma didn't hesitate for a moment, immediately rushing into the chaos.
"Everyone, step back!" He shouted, clapping his hands to the ground.
Ice-Make: Ice Dome Wall!
A majestic surge of magic power burst from his body, instantly solidifying into an incredibly thick, curved ice wall on the water in front of the ship.
The ice wall's surface was smooth as a mirror, its perfect curvature designed to disperse the impact force to the greatest extent.
Boom!
The ship violently crashed into the ice wall, emitting a deafening roar.
Ice shards flew everywhere, and water splashed sky-high, but the destructive impact was effectively buffered.
Finally, the ship stopped just before completely destroying the dock.
Steam and ice mist permeated the air above the port, the entire scene grand and chaotic.
"Wow, Ryoma, when did you learn Ice-Make?"
A familiar voice sounded from the mist.
Natsu jumped off the ship, looking at Ryoma with a surprised expression.
"Recent gains." Ryoma replied simply.
His gaze was directed towards the other side of the port shore.
Sure enough, a blonde girl was sprawled on the ground, looking disheveled. It was Lucy Heartfilia, who had been swept ashore with her ship by the Celestial Spirit Aquarius she had summoned.
At this moment, Natsu didn't linger in conversation with Ryoma.
He turned around, looking at Bora with a serious expression. "Are you a mage from Fairy Tail?"
"What if I am?" Bora responded with a bluster.
He immediately ordered his subordinates, "Hey, take him down!"
Natsu took off his outer garment, revealing his muscular upper body, ready to teach these guys a lesson.
He said, "Let me get a good look at your face."
Lucy saw Natsu about to be surrounded and couldn't help but worry.
"It's fine, I forgot to tell you, Natsu is a mage too." Happy, who had somehow snagged a fish, said while sitting on Lucy's shoulder.
Natsu casually threw a punch, easily knocking down the small fry, revealing the Fairy Tail emblem on his shoulder, and shouted at the imposter:
"I'm Natsu of Fairy Tail! I've never seen you before!"
Lucy covered her mouth in shock upon hearing Natsu's words. She hadn't expected this silly boy she'd accidentally met on the road to actually be a mage from Fairy Tail.
"That... that emblem... it's real! Bora-sama." A small henchman said, his voice trembling, as he looked at the emblem.
"Bora, known as Bora of Prominence. He was expelled from the Guild Titan Nose years ago."
Ryoma had arrived beside Lucy and Happy at some point, revealing the opponent's past before Happy could.
"Aye! Ryoma, why did you steal my line?" Happy protested indignantly.
Lucy's eyes lit up when she heard Happy's words. "Are you also a member of Fairy Tail?"
Ryoma smiled and said, "I'm Ryoma, a mage from Fairy Tail."
Subsequently, he looked at Natsu, who was walking step by step towards Bora, his eyes becoming intrigued.
"Whether you're a scoundrel or a good person, it has nothing to do with me!" Natsu's aura continuously escalated.
"But you are absolutely not allowed to impersonate Fairy Tail!"
"So what, kid!"
Bora, enraged and humiliated, immediately began casting magic.
Prominence Typhoon!
A swirling mass of purple flames blasted towards Natsu.
"Natsu!"
Seeing Natsu get hit head-on by the flames, Lucy cried out. She wanted to rush forward, but was stopped by Ryoma and Happy simultaneously.
The expected outcome did not occur.
Within the flames, Natsu was not only unharmed but, like enjoying food, opened his mouth wide and swallowed all the purple flames into his stomach.
"Disgusting. Are you really a fire .age? This is the first time I've eaten such awful flames."
Happy proudly explained to Lucy, "Fire has no effect on Natsu."
Lucy's eyes widened, she had never seen such magic before.