Chapter 99: Seven years of time flew by, Natsu

【The appearance of Mirajane seemed to have stimulated Natsu as well.】

【It made him realize one thing: even Erza is not necessarily invincible.】

【Consequently, Natsu embarked on a period of training for this reason.】

【The training program... involved hanging portraits of the annoying Erza and Gray on a tree trunk and punching them frantically.】

Outside the screen, Igneel twitched the corner of his mouth.

“So, this is your way of training? Hitting a tree trunk???”

Natsu scratched his head and laughed awkwardly: “Hehe, that’s just what I thought at the time; it counts as practicing my punches, right...”

Igneel was speechless, but he chose to keep watching.

【Natsu seemed to pour all his resentment into his fists.】

【While striking, he kept rambling and cursing incessantly.】

【But, it was at this moment that a giant egg fell from the top of the lush branches due to the shaking of the tree, slamming hard onto Natsu’s head.】

【The reason it was called a giant egg was that its size truly exceeded everyone’s imagination.】

【Even the current Natsu was only a head taller than this egg.】

【Just as Natsu was about to get angry at who had ambushed him, he saw the egg.】

【The patterns on the top, which were extremely similar to dragon claws, caught Natsu’s attention.】

【Having been raised by a dragon since he was small, he immediately associated it with the high probability of it being a dragon egg.】

【Thus, he excitedly carried the giant egg back to the guild.】

【And it drew ridicule from everyone, because in everyone’s view, such a thing as a dragon clearly did not exist, so a dragon egg was naturally nonsense.】

【However, Natsu insisted on hatching a dragon to open everyone’s eyes.】

【Regarding this, Makarov also expressed his agreement.】

【The reason was that he intended to let a brat like Natsu properly recognize the value of life.】

【After a series of events, the blue giant egg finally did not disappoint Natsu’s expectations and began to show signs of life.】

【The eggshell was on the verge of breaking, and then, in everyone’s sight, a blue light burst out from the shell.】

【It was a cat!】

【A cute blue cat with wings.】

【It was precisely because of the blue cat’s appearance, and because its cuteness attracted the eyes and smiles of everyone present.】

【Just like a mascot that brings happiness, Natsu named the blue cat Happy.】

【Translated, it means happiness.】

【According to Natsu’s words, it is the dragon cat Happy!】

【And he brought it to his home to raise it himself.】

【This year, another thing happened that made even Natsu very envious.】

【The S-Class Black Mage Promotion Exam!】

【The so-called S-Class Black Mage Exam is the standard for judging whether a person is qualified to become an S-Class Black Mage.】

【This can be said to be a watershed for mages; only above S-Class are they qualified to be called strong.】

【And only after becoming an S-Class Black Mage are they qualified to accept missions listed as S-Class, which are of ultra-high difficulty, and the rewards also see a significant increase.】

【Of course, this S-Class Black Mage is not a rigid requirement; every guild’s judgment of an S-Class Black Mage is different.】

【However, what is certain is that the Fairy Tail guild’s judgment for S-Class Mages is definitely the strictest of any guild.】

【Those who could become S-Class Mages in other guilds would very likely be weeded out within the Fairy Tail guild.】

【Take Laxus for example; it is no exaggeration to say that his strength is already enough to crush Ichiya, the S-Class Black Mage of Blue Pegasus, but Laxus has only just obtained the qualification.】

【This was the first exam to appear in the year since Natsu joined.】

【At the same time, it was an exam held specifically for Laxus.】

【There was no other way; looking at the entire year, only Laxus alone had the strength to reach this level.】

【Therefore, the S-Class Exam, which hadn’t been held for several years, was held this year as a matter of course.】

【The selected candidate was, obviously, only Laxus.】

【For this reason, Gildarts even made a special trip back to the guild from elsewhere.】

【And he personally served as the examiner for the S-Class Black Mage Exam.】

【The content of the exam is unknown, but after this time, Laxus successfully became the second S-Class Black Mage within Fairy Tail.】

【It was also at this time that Gildarts told Natsu very seriously.】

【If you want to become stronger, then go become an S-Class Black Mage!】

【Only by truly becoming an S-Class Black Mage are you qualified to truly explore this world.】

【At that time, Gildarts’ words left a deep impression on Natsu.】

【And he worked hard for it.】

【But, a few days later, Natsu seemed to have returned to his usual life, occasionally getting into a fight with Gray, and then being disciplined by Erza.】

【Or being disciplined by Mirajane, and sometimes becoming a victim of the fights between Erza and Mirajane, being blown away by the aftermath.】

Igneel expressed that he was already used to this.

It can only be said... this silly boy has absolutely no sense of pressure, nor much ambition.

This made Igneel wonder, is it really good to have kept the matter of Acnologia hidden from Natsu for so many years?

If Natsu had known about the threat of Acnologia from the beginning.

Then, would he have been as diligent as the black Natsu?

All of this is unknown.

However, regardless, Natsu did have a happy childhood after all.

Just looking at this point, it is still not bad.

【Time was still flying by!】

【In the blink of an eye, two years passed in a flash.】

【Natsu had also grown a lot in these two years and had become a young man.】

【But, he would still be bullied as he should be.】

【He and Gray were still evenly matched; it can only be said... both of them had grown.】

【This year, fifteen-year-old Erza and fifteen-year-old Mirajane were both selected for the S-Class Black Mage Exam.】

【The competition between the two arch-rivals ultimately ended with Erza’s slight advantage, and she achieved victory.】

【She became the third S-Class Black Mage in the guild.】

【At the same time, she also set a record for the youngest person to become an S-Class Black Mage.】

【Her talent was visibly strong!】

【But, what is surprising is that even after becoming an S-Class Black Mage, Erza was still in a stalemate in her battles with Mirajane.】

【It makes one sigh that if two S-Class Mages could pass in one year, it would definitely be Erza and Mirajane!】

【These two people are truly geniuses among geniuses!】

【It is jaw-dropping.】

【In the year X781, Mirajane, who had been mocked by Erza for a year, finally ushered in her opportunity; in this year, she made a concerted effort and became an S-Class Black Mage.】

【For a time, she was proud and triumphant, with infinite glory.】

【It also made the always transparent Natsu envious to no end.】

【He began to fantasize about the scene of himself becoming an S-Class Black Mage, but... unfortunately, until now, being selected for the S-Class Black Mage Exam was a distant prospect for him.】

【The year X782 was a year that everyone in the Fairy Tail guild was unwilling to look back on.】

【The confident Mirajane accepted an S-Class mission to subdue the Beast King; she originally intended to train her younger brother and sister, so she refused Natsu’s request to follow along.】

【It was precisely this arrogance that led to the tragedy of her sister Lisanna.】

【The rampaging Beast King injured Mirajane, and in order to protect her sister, Elfman, as the younger brother, chose to forcibly take over the Beast King.】

【As a result, he fell directly into a rampage and killed his sister Lisanna with his own hands!】

【That day, the entire sky seemed to dim.】

【Lisanna’s departure dealt an extremely heavy blow to everyone in Fairy Tail.】

【After the incident, Elfman, who had always been extremely quiet, began to recognize the importance of strength and trained frantically, turning himself into a muscle man.】

【And Mirajane... also had her magic power sealed due to deep self-reproach, and from then on, she could no longer use magic.】

【Ultimately, she was reduced to being the poster girl in the guild.】

Inside the Fairy Tail guild.

Lisanna, who had returned from the Edolas world, looked at her sister with some worry.】

“...At that time, I was really sorry, Mira-nee.”

“So, your personality changed like this because of me.”

“No need to say more.” Mirajane responded with a smile.

Then she looked up at the sky and whispered: “That is already a thing of the past; I am very satisfied with my current life.”

【Another two years passed in the blink of an eye.】

【Natsu had truly grown into an adult.】

【His strength had also improved greatly, and by relying on his reckless behavior and frequent destruction, he had become famous throughout the Kingdom of Fiore.】

【This day, a man found Natsu and informed him of the news that a dragon had appeared at the port of Hargeon.】

【“Hargeon port, huh...”】

【Natsu narrowed his eyes, then grabbed his bag without the slightest hesitation.】

【“Happy, let’s go!”】

【“Aye!!”】

【Behind him, the little blue cat spread its pure white wings and followed Natsu as they flew out of the guild...】

The screen with the white border dimmed gradually at this point.

Conversely, the other side with the black border began to light up.

Countless people rubbed their eyes and sat up straight.

It’s here! The story of the black Natsu.

Compared to the white Natsu’s plain and ordinary performance, and his powerlessness in the face of difficulties.

More people would be looking forward to what the black Natsu would actually do when facing these problems.

Will the same pain and the same regrets be experienced a second time?

No one knows the answer.

But what is certain is that with the black Natsu’s personality and strength,

Things definitely won’t be that helpless.