"Hey, am I seeing this right? Natsu seems completely overpowered?"
"Isn't that Rhode? What kind of form is that?"
"Hasn't he been learning Receiving Magic lately? It feels like he received something incredible."
"No wonder he could team up with Erza a few days ago. He's growing way too fast."
The hole Natsu smashed through provided everyone with a great viewing angle, and a bunch of bored people found new entertainment.
Hapi looked worriedly at Natsu, who seemed at a disadvantage, and said somewhat sadly:
"Is no one starting a betting pool? I want to bet on Rhode to win."
Mira smiled and patted Hapi's head; she actually wanted to bet too.
"So annoying! Vines!" Rhode's arm sprouted several vines, which coiled around Natsu's body like snakes, binding him tightly before he was tossed away.
Unfortunately, the vines were incinerated to ashes as soon as they left Rhode's arm.
"Damn it, it's clearly a flame, why can't I eat it?" Natsu wiped his mouth and took a deep breath,
"Fire Dragon's... Roar!"
Rhode didn't dodge but used his arm to shield his face and withstand it.
The raging flames engulfed him entirely, scorching many parts of his body, but the red orb on his chest flashed, and the damaged areas began to recover quickly.
Mira was slightly angry, clenching her fists. One didn't know how to be gentle, and the other didn't dodge and didn't take defense seriously.
If it were in the past, she would have gone up and punched each of them.
Or maybe, with her past personality, she would have cheered them on to fire up the battle...
"So you've become this strong already!" Natsu laughed, "In that case, how about trying this move?"
Natsu gathered his Magic Power, with scorching Fire Flames swirling around him.
Rhode half-squatted, with one hand on the ground, contemplating whether to interrupt him.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art..."
"Crimson..."
"Give it a rest!" Two giant hands burst through the guild's wall from inside, grabbing Natsu and Rhode each.
"Whoa!" Natsu lost all his momentum, propping himself up on Makarov's fingers, "What are you doing, old man! I was about to win!"
Rhode didn't even bother to struggle, silently released the Receiving Magic, and his smaller size allowed him to sit on the president's palm.
Makarov roared, "Open your eyes and see what you two have done to the guild!"
Natsu whined and kept quiet. Being questioned by the old man after damaging the guild always made him feel guilty.
Makarov lamented, "And Rhode, why are you messing around with him too!"
"I'm sorry, I'll fix it." Rhode admitted his fault sincerely. He just got carried away when Natsu came to challenge him and wanted to test his strength.
"Um... President." Mira's voice rang out, "Your two punches just now caused more damage than Rhode did."
Makarov's momentum faltered, his wrathful words stuck in his throat.
He released Natsu and Rhode, returning to his normal size. "Ahem, anyway, you two, fix the guild with me!"
"Yes." *2
The onlookers were a bit disappointed:
"What a pity, such an exciting fight."
"Yeah, I thought we'd see Natsu pummel Rhode."
"I think Rhode pummeling Natsu would be more interesting."
There were quite a few people who wanted to see Rhode get beaten. Although they knew it was futile, it would be more satisfying.
If they had known things would turn out this way, they should have practiced with Rhode more when he wasn't strong.
A missed opportunity! Many people sighed in regret.
Gray, on the other hand, was more interested in seeing Natsu get beaten, and he felt a bit itchy himself.
Feeling like Natsu and Rhode were both getting stronger, Gray also wanted to have a good fight with them.
Rhode went to repair the outer wall; it was work he was familiar with.
Makarov and Natsu repaired the interior wooden wall; it was work they were familiar with too.
Due to its importance, Mira directly found Laki to fix the bulletin board, and then the two of them picked up the scattered job requests and put them back up one by one.
Nabu also eagerly helped out.
"It seems like your guy has gone astray, Sister Mira."
Mira was almost reluctant to correct him, "Rhode knows what he's doing, it's just that occasionally he gets 'a sudden whim'."
"Really?"
"Yeah, the last time we went to help Mrs. Mary find her wallet, and we encountered..."
"What, what?" Laki looked curious.
But Mira refused to say more, "Nothing at all."
"It's the worst when you talk halfway." Laki complained, then energetically said,
"Sister Mira, you've been mentioning 'we' quite a lot in your conversations lately~"
"Have I?" Mira hadn't noticed, but upon thinking about it, it seemed reasonable.
Because recently, whether eating, shopping, or training, he was always there.
...
In late February, Rhode teamed up with Elfman on another mission.
Elfman wasn't as bothered by Rhode being close to Mira as before.
As a brother, although initially, he felt a bit resistant to the idea of his sister having someone she liked, the reluctance only occupied a small part; he was more worried about her being deceived by someone unreliable.
Elfman was used to seeing guys like Loki, who flirted with countless women, or people like Jet and Troy, who couldn't even beat him together.
How could he feel reassured by that?
But with Rhode, having teamed up so many times and fought many battles, overall, he seemed fairly trustworthy.
It's just that having one more person suddenly in his life took some getting used to.
Or maybe not, considering Rhode had been training with the brother and sister every day for a long time, he probably should be used to it.
Elfman fell into thought, pondering when did this guy start bothering his sister?
Was it after he was picked up by the president and just woke up?
"Welcome back, Elfman, Rhode." Mira looked the two up and down, "Didn't get hurt, did you?"
Elfman said, "No, there was no fighting at all this time."
This time it was a mission to escort a family of four on a long-distance move. The family had a lot of possessions and were afraid of being robbed on the way, so they hired mages as escorts.
For Rhode and them, it was an easy 200,000 J just running around with the convoy, a total jackpot.
Mira glanced at Elfman and then cast a questioning look at Rhode.
Rhode looked at her apologetically, shaking his head gently.
Mira gave him a reassuring look, gently shaking her head to indicate it was okay.
"???" Elfman was full of confusion. What was this peculiar way of communicating?
Have you two started to communicate without words?
Or have you secretly learned Telepathy Magic from Wolian?
He couldn't help but ask, "Sister, what are you guys talking about?"
Mira smiled, "Nothing, it was a long trip. You should rest well."
Elfman left, still puzzled. It really felt like his sister and Rhode were hiding something from him.
Could it be that they've secretly gotten engaged?
Although it seemed a bit fast, there was no reason to hide it...
Suddenly, he wanted to fight Rhode again.