"Laki, how about we team up for this one?" Marcus rushed over, looking at Laki with sincere eyes. He was only 1.5 meters tall, more than twenty centimeters shorter than Laki, and his upward gaze looked a bit comical.
"You're too close, green-haired brat! I don't want to team up with you." Laki punched Marcus, whose hair was almost brushing her chin, sending him flying. Then she shook her hand, let go of Cana's arm, and continued, "I've saved up a lot of money from missions recently, so I want to take a break. I just came to accompany Cana to look at the requests."
"I don't really want to do any missions until next spring. I want to stay at the guild and help Mira, to soothe my tired mind and body."
Her tone carried a hint of weariness and determination, clearly indicating she genuinely didn't want to take on any new tasks.
Marcus picked himself up from the ground, rubbing the spot where he was hit. Though he winced in pain, he forced a brave face and said, "Alright, then I'll look for someone else."
"Natsu, do you want to take it?" Marcus then asked Natsu.
Natsu shook his head, saying with some regret, "I actually really wanted to team up with you for this mission, but flying Magical Beasts are useless to me, the reward is too low, and it's not the kind of subjugation mission I'm good at."
"Aye! Natsu's magic is only good for destruction, not for protecting people!" Happy stood on Natsu's head, his two little paws on his hips, adding quite righteously.
"Yes, Happy is right!" Natsu nodded in strong agreement.
Marcus also nodded, concurring deeply.
If there was one thing you could say, when it came to destruction, Natsu was absolutely second to none in the guild.
"What's there to be proud of!" Laki was speechless.
"By the way, have any of you seen Ezreal these past few days?" Marcus asked.
Recently, there were fewer people in the guild. It was the last month before winter, and everyone was diligently taking on missions. With fewer people around, Ezreal, who usually showed up often, was easily noticed when he didn't appear.
Natsu and the others exchanged glances, then all shook their heads.
"I think I haven't seen him since he fought Laxus the day before yesterday," Natsu mused, stroking his chin as he carefully recalled.
"Did he get injured during his fight with Laxus?" Marcus guessed.
"If he was injured, with Yuumi around, he should have recovered by now," Happy interjected seriously. He got along well with the second talking blue cat in the guild, but Yuumi was too small, only half his size, and spoke very much like a child.
Though Happy wasn't much older, he considered himself Yuumi's senior and would even proactively bring Yuumi fish to eat and teach Yuumi how to speak.
"I saw him yesterday and said hello. He said he was about to go to the Asgard Mountains and was making preparations in advance, so he would be cultivating magic at home for the next few days," Cana, who had been silently looking at missions, replied at this point.
"He really is diligent, no wonder his strength has improved so quickly. He's completely different from when he first arrived, practically a male Erza, diligent and hardworking," Laki exclaimed.
"Aye, that's true, Ezreal has improved incredibly fast, Natsu isn't even a match anymore," Happy and Natsu nodded seriously.
"Happy, let's go find a subjugation mission quickly! We also need to rapidly increase our strength and then go fight Ezreal again!" Natsu's eyes blazed with fire. With Happy on his head, he rushed towards the A-Class mission board with gusto.
"Maybe he'll be like Erza and be able to take the S-Class exam in a few years!" Marcus was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. "He truly is my best friend; he inspires me to improve! I must practice harder to catch up to Ezreal's pace!"
"Then you'd better work hard and fast, otherwise, with Ezreal's rate of progress, he might pass the S-Class exam next year. Don't be a B-Class Mage by then," Laki mercilessly retorted.
"H-hey, that's true..." Marcus lowered his head in dejection.
Cana, standing nearby, her hand trembled slightly, and her eyes dimmed a little.
Cana looked at the mission reward section, where, in addition to the 100,000 cash reward, a B-Class Mage-level flying Magical Beast was specially bolded. She wondered what she was thinking.
"I'll take this mission." Cana took down the escort mission from the mission board and shook it in her hand.
"Eh? Cana, you're also a B-Class Mage, you can't take it alone. Mira won't let you accept it during the review," Laki pulled her friend's arm and shook it, reminding her.
"I know, that's why..." Cana nodded, then looked at Marcus and asked, "Hey, green-haired brat, want to team up?"
"Call me Sandstorm Marcus! That's the nickname Ezreal gave me!" Marcus jumped up and shouted!
"Okay, Sandstorm Little Green-Hair, want to team up?" Cana and Laki exchanged glances, rolling their eyes in unison.
"Okay." Marcus cheered up, lowering his voice, "Sandstorm will devour everything!"
"Sounds impressive, right, Sandstorm!"
Cana and Laki were speechless. So, the nickname was more important than the name, huh?
...At eleven o'clock at night, the night was deep, and all sounds were hushed. The entire world seemed to be swallowed by darkness, with only faint moonlight filtering through the clouds, casting a silver glow.
A cool aura permeated the air, causing a slight chill.
The city streets at night were exceptionally quiet, with sparse vehicles and few pedestrians.
Trees lined the streets, standing silently, their branches and leaves swaying gently in the breeze, making a faint rustling sound.
The distant bustling district had also lost its daytime clamor and busyness, leaving only scattered lights dotting the darkness.
At this moment, everything became so tranquil and beautiful, like a ink wash painting unfolding before their eyes.
Ezreal, who hadn't left his home for two days and one night, was now sitting on the sofa in the living room.
On the coffee table lay leftover fried rice that hadn't been thrown away yet, and a half-empty glass of juice.
It looked very much like everyday life.
But Ezreal, sprawled on the sofa, had no intention of enjoying life. His face was full of worry, his brows tightly furrowed.
"This is strange. My magic power is enough, and I've completed the contract with the crystal nexus. Every step is correct, and I can even sense the crystal nexus through the magic feedback. So why can't I summon minions?"
Ezreal muttered to himself.
The crystal nexus, which is the barracks in the League of Legends game, can produce units like melee minions, ranged minions, siege minions, and super minions.
The crystal nexus is the most crucial part of his Life Alchemy practice!
Because the minion production in League of Legends is infinite, it allows his Life Alchemy magic to undergo continuous trial and error.