After finishing up with his status, Cassian collected his few things, namely just the few pouches, and bags that belonged to him.
To make it more convenient, he put the pouches into the bag, Irene left behind, instead of putting them on his armor's belt, as he did before.
When he got everything in one place, and was just about to head out, he suddenly remembered a little something that should be in one of the pouches, therefore, he got them all out again, and checked each one.
Eventually, he found what he was looking for; a small compass.
"With this, I should be able to find someone I can ask questions to, if all else fails. Also, around the protagonist, things normally tend to go wrong, or become interesting."
A plan in mind, Cassian put his stuff together again, only keeping the compass, as well as Durandal, which was still not really intact again, out, and then used the armor's enchantment again, to rise in the air, and head into the direction, the compass was pointing to.
---
The way towards the mainland roughly took two hours, but as his compass still pointed further north-east, that was where he continued flying, for another half an hour, where a comical sight greeted him.
A train was simply driving on its rails, towards its next destination, while a person hang out of one of the train's windows, with half of their body, while their expression told Cassian that they must've been close to throwing up.
Not entirely sure, what to make of this scene, Cassian went closer, until he was nearly directly next to the young man, as he could now clearly see.
"Say, are you alright, there?" He asked, hesitantly, though, not without a bit of humor mixed in.
"…help… me… please…" The young, pink-haired young man, responded, while definitely trying to keep the content of his stomach inside.
Somewhat pitying the other guy, Cassian held out his hand to him, which he quickly took, before he was yanked out of the trolley. Cassian put him down on the ground, before flying after the train again, checking through the open window, if the guy had luggage with him, which he had.
So, after getting the bag of the pink-haired young man, he went back, to where he had put him down before, and handed it to him.
He looked already way better, than when he was still on the train, and did not seem to need throw up, anymore. After taking a few deep breaths, a huge grin appeared on his face, "Ah, thanks for that! I missed my stop, and was unable to get out. I really owe you one, man."
"Ah, yes, no worries, about that, ...ehm, what was your name? I'm Cassian, by the way."
"The name's Natsu, Cassian. And, thanks again for your help. I have some real problems with vehicles…" The young man, now known as Natsu spoke completely carefree, and energetic.
"You said, you missed your stop, should I take you there?" Cassian offered, which also resulted in Natsu finally actually realizing what the person before him even wore, and what he just did.
Practically with starts in his eyes, he became all wobbly, as he admired the armor from all directions, "Whoa! Cool armor! But, say, are you a fan of dragons, or anything like that?"
Cassian thought for a moment, before shaking his head slightly, "Not directly, why?"
As if his entire enthusiasm vanished in an instant, with a confused expression on his face, Natsu pointed at his helmet, "Then, what is that helmet for? Aren't you trying to look like a dragon, with it?"
It was only then that Cassian finally understood what the other guy was going on about. He took of his helmet, revealing his golden-blonde hair, hidden beneath, before showing the helmet to Natsu more closely.
"I'm not 'trying' to look like a dragon. This is an actual dragon's head, my friend."
"You found an actual dragon? Has it said anything about Igneel?" Natsu bounced on it immediately, even going as far as getting real close to Cassian in the process, before the gravity of the helmet hit him, "Why did you kill it?! And, where's the rest of its body then?!"
Facing the suddenly shocked, and even somewhat enraged Natsu, Cassian was confused, but first distanced himself from Natsu again.
"Who is Igneel? Where else should the rest of the dragon be, I ate it-"
The second he said that last part, Natsu once again lunged forward, this time poised for a punch, directed at his mid-region.
"DRAGONS AREN'T MONSTERS TO JUST KILL AND EAT!?!" Natsu bellowed out, as he came close.
Cassian wasn't going to take it, though, and after twisting his body to the side, immediately countered with a punch of his own, directed at Natsu's face.
The young man dodged this attack, though, thanks to nearly animal-like instincts, countering with a spinning high-kick instead.
Cassian's own reflexes, upgraded with the Instinct skill, just barely allowed him bring his arms up again, to block the sudden counterattack, using it to gain some distance.
"What do you mean, they aren't monsters to kill and eat?! If something wants to kill you, then you have every right to kill it!"
After gaining a bit of distance, Cassian responded to Natsu's accusation, but the pink-haired guy was apparently hearing none of it.
"Fire dragon's… IRON FIST" the other person shouted, as he engulfed his fists in flames, through his magic, and rushed forward once again.
Cassian responded in kind, and while holding out both of his hand, with the palms facing Natsu, spoke "White shot."
The next instant, an incandescent white beam shot from his hands, hitting the other mage directly head on.
Natsu's fire was extinguished in a mere second, and the remainder of the force of the attack still caused him to be launched a few meters, backwards.
"Calm down for a second! The dragon I met, Myriad, tried to kill me, and we had a duel to the death! If he had won, then I would've been eaten! That's it. There was no Igneel, or whatever you said."
Cassian once again tried to reason with the other person, seeing no point, in this senseless fight. This time, it also seemed like his words, actually reached the other person. Either because of the impact he just suffered, or through the word Igneel.
"So, both of you put your lives on the line, huh? That's stupid! Heh, sorry for the misunderstanding then." The pink-haired guy flashed him a brilliant smile, as if nothing had just happened.
"Heh? That's all? Do you always act, before you think?" Cassian was feeling exasperated, for the umpteenth time today.
"If you killed a dragon… then, you're a dragon slayer?!" Natsu seemed to liven up, even more now.
The blonde in armor could only sigh, "That word again… I killed a dragon, yes. But, I'm just starting to become a 'real' Dragon Slayer."
Tilting his head in confusion, "Then, why was your attack, just now, called so weirdly?"
"What is that supposed to mean, now?! You called yours; Fire Dragon's Iron fist. Why would a fire dragon have an iron fist? Surely, there must've been an Iron dragon, and you're just stealing its name."
Natsu seemed even more confused now, "It's called iron fist, because that was how hard the fist is supposed to be. But, your attack wasn't even called anything with a dragon…"
Cassian just sighed, "What now, are you saying that I need to name it… Luminescence Dragon's… Fangs… or something?"
This made Natsu grin again, "Yeah, that sounds about right."
Facepalming, Cassian sighed once more, before asking again, "So, should I give you a lift, then?"
The other guy perked up again, upon hearing this, "Ah! Yes, please."
Cassian nodded, put on his helmet again, before offering his hand to Natsu, which the other quickly took. "Hold on!"
The next moment, Cassian rose into the sky, with Natsu holding his left arm, and then started flying towards the direction, where the train must've come from.
Well, Natsu underestimated the speed a bit, and was now holding on for dear life, as Cassian flew over the rail tracks, back towards where he was supposed to get out.
The way back, to the previous station took barely a few minutes, but when they landed on the ground again, just outside of the train station in Hargeon, Natsu looked nearly as bad, as he had, when he was still inside the train trolley.
"Natsu!"
Both of them turned to the sudden shout, which came from the main entrance of the train station. There, a little blue cat was suddenly jumping from the staircase, heading straight for them.
"Happy!"
Natsu responded with the same enthusiasm as the little blue cat, and rushed forward to catch it. Only then, did Cassian actually realize what the fuck just happened.
Turning to the currently hugging duo, he voiced his foremost thought, "Am I going crazy, or did the cat just talk?"
The pink-haired young man looked at him offended, "Happy isn't just some cat, he is my partner!"
"Aye!" Happy added.
That… basically said nothing. But, since there had been multiple weird things, since he came to this world, Cassian just took it as it was.
Why care for something, which doesn't concern you, nor is in any way, even just remotely, normal. Sometimes, one just had to accept that common sense could not be applied everywhere.
"Natsu, who is that guy in that cool armor?" Happy asked his partner.
"Ah, right. This is Cassian. He helped me get away from the train, and brought me here. He is a good guy." He replied with another grin, plastered on his face.
The next moment, Happy got closer to Natsu's ear, whispering in it, "You don't think he could be similar to Erza, with that armor, and all?"
Natsu grew a shade paler, hearing this, threw Cassian a suspicious look, before replying, "I don't think so… he isn't as strong as her, at least…"
As if hearing something of true importance, Happy just nodded with a serious expression on his face.
"You guys know, I can hear you, right?" Cassian spoke eventually, as he stood awkwardly next to the loudly whispering duo.
'Are there no normal people in this world?' He silently questioned, as he looked towards the sky, questioning his decisions.
After that, the three of them simply walked through the streets. This was also when Natsu told him, why the two of them were even here, in the first place.
Igneel, the name mentioned earlier was apparently a fire dragon, who had raised Natsu like his own son, but completely disappeared 7 years ago, in the year X777.
And now, with Natsu basically all grown up, he continues looking for his foster father, whenever there is any potential lead.
This time, there had been a lead on a so-called 'Salamander', who was seen around here, in this city. Cassian found this part particularly questionable, but he didn't wan to be the person telling Natsu this.
The pink-haired young man was simply too happy, about being 'so close' to finding Igneel, which was also why he was so easily agitated, on their first meeting.
Still, the other guy was quite fun to be around, and so Cassian simply went along, wanting to know what else was so special, about this world's 'main-character'.
After a while of walking aimlessly around the streets of the city, they noticed a big commotion, in front of them.
And the moment, someone uttered the name Salamander, was also the moment, where Natsu rushed forwards, squeezing himself through the crowd of young women, to get into the middle of the crowd, where the apparent Salamander was supposed to be.
"Igneel!"
When he finally reached the middle, Natsu crashed into a young blonde, by accident, but probably didn't even realize it, and simply looked around in confusion, not seeing the dragon he was looking for.
The only thing being there, in the middle of the crowd, was some weird guy, in his twenties, with rings on his left hand, and a weird tattoo on his right forehead.
When that dude then also continued introducing himself as the supposed Salamander, Natsu left dejectedly again, without offering the guy another look.
This, in turn, earned him the dissatisfaction of the gathered crowd, and in the span of mere seconds, multiple women had already reached him, and tried to berate him for his behavior, directed at the 'big shot' mage.
The mage in question, then stopped them, before giving Natsu his autograph, only to disappear a few moments later, in an over-the-top way, of riding on some semi-tangible flames.
Seeing the noisy guy finally disappear, Cassian went back over to Natsu, and only then noticed the blonde, Natsu had run into, also standing next to him.
He offered her his hand, and offered her a small smile, "Thanks for not also joining his beating. He is… particular."
She chuckled upon hearing that, and then just shook her head, "No, it is me that needs to thank you guys. That guy probably used a charm spell, and he freed me from it."
The girl said the last part, while pointing at Natsu.
She then clapped her hands, as if she just had an idea, "Right! Would you guys like to join me for lunch? My treat, of course."
The second the word lunch was said, the bellies of Natsu and Happy grumbled, as if they hadn't eaten in days, and there was already saliva flowing down their mouths.
Since they didn't say it, Cassian spoke for them, "I think, they would love that."