The news of Erza working as a waitress at the dessert shop quickly spread throughout the guild.
This explosive news directly led to a significant drop in the tavern's customer flow.
Most of the guys who often hung around the guild chose to go check out the commotion, curious to see what Erza looked like as a waitress.
Most of the girls... did the same.
The person who spread this news... excluding Rhode first.
"Was it you again?"
"I only told Marcus alone."
"...Isn't that equivalent to telling the entire guild."
"I didn't expect everyone to be so eager to experience Erza's service," Mira laughed, "Rhode, don't you want to give it a try?"
"Spare me," Rhode said, "when she dressed as a nurse, she nearly strangled me with the bandages, dressed as a waitress...
Might she smash a customer's head with a tray? Or step on a customer or something?"
Mira waved her hand: "It's not going to be that exaggerated."
"Let's hope everyone's okay." Rhode prayed for his companions for a second, then went off to train while things were quiet and less busy.
In a corner of the guild's backyard were some mannequins and wooden stakes, along with a rack hanging sandbags, used for practicing punches and kicks.
All parts involving wood were generously provided by Laki's Wood-Make Magic.
The reward was a simple sketch drawn by Rhode of the 'Blood Dripper'.
In martial arts novels, this would be considered a weapon or a hidden weapon, but because its fierce appearance was too much like an execution tool, Laki liked it.
She said she already took it to have someone modify the design in detail, preparing to start manufacturing.
Most of the training equipment was used by Rhode, but occasionally other companions were inspired by Rhode's diligence and would go practice when they had the chance.
Especially those like Jet and Troy, who had been defeated before.
Originally, Rhode had asked Laki to make two wooden dummies, but Natsu watched Rhode beating them with interest and insisted on trying.
Then there were only stumps left of the wooden dummies.
It didn't matter if they broke, they could just be hit freely now.
The sound of thumping echoed from the backyard, Rhode becoming more adept at combining magic power with his fists and feet.
...
"Answer my summon, Deep Red Beaked Bird!"
A deep crimson array flashed by, and six strange birds, one large and five small, appeared in the guild's backyard.
"Chirp~" The largest bird raised its head and made a slightly hoarse sound.
The Deep Red Beaked Bird and Beaked Birds, commonly known as Six Birds, F6, etc.
They aren't strong wild monsters in games, but reflected in reality, their sharp beaks possess impressive piercing ability.
Moreover, they have a long-range attack method—shooting their feathers like throwing knives.
The smaller ones can only shoot one by one, while the larger ones can shoot in batches.
And the feathers grow back in a fairly short amount of time after being shot, which Rhode interpreted as a skill cooldown, and he named the move 'Flying Feathers'.
The downside is they can't fly high; the Beaked Birds' wings are a bit small, so their flying ability is only slightly better than a wild chicken.
The good news is the largest can carry Rhode gliding or flying at low altitude, and thanks to its sturdy legs, their running ability is quite good.
"Success!" Rhode clenched his fist, feeling a surge of joy in his heart.
Not because he obtained the Six Birds, but because the chanting words were successfully shortened.
The lengthy chanting words were condensed by him into just half a sentence plus a name, sufficient to handle emergencies.
In another period of time, Rhode believed he could achieve his goal of summoning them by just calling a name.
He gauged the magic power consumption of summoning Six Birds, about a bit more than three river crabs, manageable.
Rhode directed the Beaked Birds to perform some simple maneuvers, then summoned the Three Wolves, attempting to have them coordinate and interlace their advances.
He then summoned the Stone Beetles, trying to see if he could form a defense and offense combined formation.
After rehearsing thoroughly, allowing the magic power to deplete to a level where it wouldn't affect normal activities, Rhode finally returned to the tavern.
A week ago, the incident of watching Erza had passed safely, fortunately with no casualties.
Also, the news that the Dark Guild Scorpion's Tail was wiped out made it onto Wizard Weekly.
The Council maintained integrity, openly acknowledging it was Erza's work alone, with no intention to claim credit.
While slightly displeased with Erza's unauthorized actions, they weren't stingy with praise for her capabilities.
"That's Erza for you." That's the evaluation from most of her companions.
"That guy is getting more and more terrifyingly strong." This was Gray's insight, who even checked if he was wearing clothes.
"Scorpion's Tail... wasn't it a legitimate guild?" Nabu's question quieted the surroundings.
Apparently it was true, Erza acted against a legitimate guild? No, no, the Advisory Council was involved in this, it's impossible.
Marcus was very willing to explain to everyone: "Scorpion's Tail was recently classified as a Dark Guild.
Because they secretly helped some big merchants oppress competitors with kidnapping and coercion for profit, it was exposed not long ago."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but their hearts were soon tightened again.
"Help!";
Everyone in the guild, including Rhode, heard this voice.
"How terrifying! Someone save me!";
The same voice rang out again.
Rhode suddenly realized this voice wasn't coming from outside but directly resounding in his mind.
Before he could inquire, Mira seriously said: "It's Wolian, that's Wolian's 'telepathy' magic, able to transmit what he wants to say directly to others remotely."
Rhode wasn't familiar with Wolian, only remembering someone with a distinctive angled bangs, who liked to act alone.
Others also 'heard' it: "It's Wolian's voice!"
"He's calling for help! Is he in danger?"
"But didn't he say today he was going to meet his girlfriend?" This was the information Marcus learned when talking to Wolian yesterday.
"Where are you, Wolian?" Gray stood up abruptly, shouting, trying to converse with Wolian.
Others either shouted or inquired about Wolian's location within their minds, yet no one received a response.
Wolian just repeated words like 'terrifying', 'horror', 'help'.
Loki burst through the guild's door from outside, rushing in and asking:
"Does anyone know what's happened? Now everyone on the street has heard Wolian's cries for help! It's going to cause panic!"
"So it's indiscriminate plea!" Erza couldn't sit still, "Now the President isn't here, I'll take command for the time being! Everyone prepare for battle!"
Erza quickly assigned tasks, with some people immediately setting off to maintain order and protect the residents; others were responsible for finding Wolian's location, preparing for rescue.
Typically speaking, when mages venture outside, all actions and risks from those actions should be borne personally.
Others helping without request might be considered condescending, hurting the person's pride.
But if the person himself is calling for help due to encountering danger, then as a companion, they will stop at nothing to rescue him.
At least that's how Fairy Tail does it.