"So, what quest were we partaking in, big bro?" Sitting across from me, Lucy looked at me, prompting Minerva, who was beside me, to shift her gaze from the train's window to me. "Nothing crazy if that's what you're asking… Unfortunately." Shaking my head, I reached into my pocket, handing Lucy the quest. "Tsk, an S-rank quest."
"What's an S-rank quest?" At Minerva's question, the three of us briefly glanced at her, surprised she didn't know the different types of quests. "S-rank quest just refers to the difficulty of said quest." Yawning, Cana sat upright while glancing at Minerva, who nodded. "Then there should be other quest ranks, right?" "Yep. There is S-rank, SS-rank, 10-year-quest, and finally, 100-year-quest." Cana raised her hand, holding four fingers.
"Oh, so are S-rank quests challenging or easy? You guys are strong, but Lucy doesn't seem to like S-rank quests." Minerva's innocent question caused Lucy and Cana to raise their heads and proudly puff their chests. "Heh, well, we're experienced mages after all, Minerva." "Mhm, I'm actually a veteran mage with 10 years of experience." Seeing them proudly flaunting themselves before Minerva, I couldn't help but snort.
"Ignore them, Minerva, they're weak." "Tsk, why do you have to ruin everything? It's not every day that we get to show off to our juniors." "Yeah, it's not fair; not everyone is absurdly strong like you." As their pride deflated, Cana and Lucy promptly glared at me in annoyance while Minerva silently looked between us in confusion. "Just finish explaining to her, Cana."
"Tsk, bastard… Anyway, S-rank quests are reserved only for the strongest mages known as S-class mages; you know Erza and Mira? They're S-class mages, and only they can accept S-rank and SS-rank quests." Minerva nodded at Cana's explanation, though even if she didn't show it, she didn't quite understand what it meant; after all, she'd never seen Erza or Mira go all out.
"To put into perspective, Erza and Mira are only a little weaker than Jiemma." Now, with much-needed context, Mira's eyes widened slightly as she glanced at me before looking at Cana. "S-So you have to be that strong just to take S-rank and SS-rank quests?" "Mhm, they're that tough; especially SS-rank quests, they're even tougher."
"W-What about the two other ones? The 10-year-quest and 100-year-quest?" Cana wryly smiled before shrugging her shoulders at Minerva. "Significantly harder. They're called that because that's how long they've been issued for. Technically speaking, Erza and Mira could accept them, but that would be almost certainly suicidal; those quests are reserved solely for big bro and the Guild's Ace."
"Whoa! T-That's insane! Can such quests even be completed then!?" Before Cana could respond, I intereverned while proudly smirking. "Not only can they, but I've even completed one." Grinning, Minerva's enthusiasm was instantly transferred to me as she practically looked at me with stars in her eyes. "Huh, when did you complete a 10-year quest? Wait, don't tell me you're really considering beating Deliora in a 10-year quest? That doesn't count!"
"Ho, why not? Deliora had been sealed for a decade; by all accounts, that should count as a ten-year quest. As for the skeleton horde we faced, it was an S-class quest, BUT, it was definitely as difficult as any 10-year quest." Smirking, I held two fingers while looking at Cana, whose face twitched, only for Lucy to place a hand on her shoulder, siding with me.
"I mean, he's probably not wrong, Cana; that skeleton horde was extremely difficult." Nudging and winking at Cana, who ended up rolling her eyes and heaving a sigh. "Haa, whatever, you two win." With Cana giving up, Minerva enthusiastically pestered Lucy and I with questions regarding the two quests, which we happily answered, doing so all while Cana constantly shook her head while looking at us.
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Two Days Later
Standing at the peak of a hill, the four of us looked down, staring into the valley where a guild resided; it wasn't just any guild, but the guild housing the dark mages we needed to defeat, or kill.
"Okay, as per the quest, we're to retrieve a cursed artifact that the Darkmages have stolen; however, since we've discovered their base of operations, we might as well destroy them for good." Standing before us, Lucy, the 'official' leader of this team, gave us last-minute instructions. "Hehe, I love the way you think, Lucy." Licking my lips, I cracked my fingers and flexed, eager to spill some blood.
"Wait, hold it, you beast, we should let Minerva go first; it's a good learning opportunity, that's why you brought her in the first place." Grabbing my hair, pulling my head back, Cana shot me a glance before gesturing to Minerva, who pointed at herself in surprise, "Eh, m-me?" "Yeah, you're right. Alright, Minerva, lead us." Nodding, I gently patted Minerva's back, pushing her forward.
"Um, a-are you guys sure?" "Yep." With Lucy's response, while Cana and I nodded in agreement, Minerva shifted her gaze to the guild below, silently staring at us before her hesitant voice reached our ears, causing us all to smile.
"U-Um, let's attack?" "Heh, I love your plan." Grinning, I stepped forward. "Huh, well, there's no better plan of attack than attacking." Smirking, Cana stepped while grabbing a deck of cards from her pocket. "Fufu, now come forth, Scorpio." Lucy, summoning a spirit I'd never seen before, a scorpion-man manifested beside her. "Oi, Scorpio has arrived!"
With us ready, I grabbed Minerva by the waist before chunking her towards the guild while we followed directly after, though we ran down the hill instead. "She'll be fine, right?" "Hehe, of course." "You have no idea, do you?" "No. But given her strength, I trust she'll be fine." Ignoring the disapproving looks Lucy and Cana were giving me, Minerva obviously arrived at the guild first, crashing through the ceiling and probably causing mayhem.
It took a bit longer, but when we arrived, we blasted through the front entrance, and when we did, we got to see the chaotic scene of Minerva facing off against dozens of darkmages; well, facing off was a bit of a stretch. She was struggling, but it was such an impressive feat; when I was her age, I could barely win against five dark mages, yet Minerva was managing to hold her own against an entire guild of them.
"Ha, how dare you, bastards jump my little sister!?" Roaring into the guild, I lunged towards the nearest mage, caving his chest in with a single punch; Lucy and Cana weren't idle either, they were carving their own path of destruction through the guild and mages. "Hehe, can you fuckers only pick on little girls!? Where is someone strong!?" Holding a man by the neck, I looked into his terrified gaze and crushed his neck before tossing him to the ground.
With us reinforcing Minerva, the focus shifted away from her, allowing her to fight properly, and it was a spectacle to watch; she utilized her territory magic splendidly for someone her age. However, the thing I found the most impressive was her ruthlessness; she showed no hesitation when it came to killing. Most kids her age are hesitant to kill and even struggle with it; Cana, Elfman, Max, Nab, and Levy, just to name a few, were all the same.
Of course, eventually, they managed to get over it. However, the only ones who never had a problem with killing were Erza and Mirajane; granted, they were a little older, but still, their gazes never once flashed with terror or regret after taking a life. 'Heh, dare I say, she'll beat Erza's record and become an S-class mage even younger?'
Smirking in pride while rubbing my chin, my gaze was drawn away from Minerva when someone slashed at me with a sword. Glancing down at the sword, which barely managed to pierce my skin, I looked up at the terrified woman before slashing my claws at her, slicing through her jugular while the sword fell.
"Well, since they look like they've got it, I'll take care of the strongest one here." Yawning, I stomped on the ground, creating a hole to the basement, which I leaped down. Once inside, I headed to where I sensed the greatest magic power, though as I did so, I came across empty cells covered in blood, which made me click my tongue as I could already imagine what had transpired.
Kicking down the final iron door, I walked into a large room with a massive blood-drawn magic circle, an object in the center absorbing magic, and a man standing beside it. "Hahaha, you've come too late! I've already finished–" I interrupted him by punching a hole through his chest.
"You weren't even the magic power I sensed." Removing my arm from his chest, he fell to the ground while I stuffed my hands into my pockets, waiting for the object to finish.
While waiting, Lucy, Cana, and Minerva ended up coming down here.
"Is everything finished down here, big bro?" Cana stepped through the door, followed by Lucy, Minerva, and Lucy's summon. "I don't– Never mind, it's about to be." Just as I finished speaking, the object suddenly stopped absorbing magic power and began to morph into some humanoid appearance.
"This reminds me of Lullaby. Eh, wait, is that an artifact of the Black Wizard!?" While I shrugged at Lucy's question, Cana proceeded to inform Minerva who the black wizard was; however, as that was happening, the object finished morphing.
Standing before us is no longer an object, but a demon instead. "Haha, finally! After 300 years, I, Venna, retur–" Before the demon could finish its boring monologue, I swiftly separated its head, causing the demon to dissipate while the object fell to the ground, prompting me to spit on it. "What a fucking waste of time; if you're going to make me wait, at least be somewhat strong."
Kicking the object towards the group, I clapped my hands. "Alright, we're finished now. Quest complete!"