"Ow, ow, ow, that hurts, you bastard, you really did not hold back at all!"
Clutching his eye socket and baring his teeth in pain, Gray dragged himself up from the ground and yelled miserably at Kabe.
Kabe only spread his hands with an innocent look.
"No, I actually pulled my punch the moment I realized you could not dodge. That last hit, I only used about half my strength."
"Half your strength? Are you kidding me?!"
Gray's head was still buzzing, and when he heard Kabe say he had only used half his power, he let out a broken shout, completely crushed.
What bothered him even more was Kabe's speed when he had thrown that punch. It had been so fast that he could see it, yet his body had not been able to react in time.
'No wonder he took two punches from Gramps Master and walked away fine. His physical stats are monstrous.'
Even so, Gray had no intention of backing down.
Whether it was his pride as a senior or his instinct as a mage to charge forward, both drove him to raise his guard again and rush at Kabe once more.
That first exchange had completely boosted Kabe's confidence. He also stepped in and swung his fist straight toward Gray.
This time, though, Gray was ready. His attacks were no longer as wide open as before. Knowing that he was at a disadvantage in both strength and speed, he switched to a defense and counter style.
While Kabe simply relied on hot blood and wild swinging, Gray used his experience. He slipped to the side to avoid a straightforward punch, then barely managed to block a quick jab from Kabe's left hand with both arms.
The impact made his arms sting like crazy, but he gritted his teeth and immediately hooked his left leg around Kabe's supporting leg, easily tripping him and sending him to the ground.
Seeing Kabe lose his balance, Gray's eyes lit up. He felt his chance had come and moved in to follow up.
Right then, however, his own supporting leg suddenly felt as if something had wrapped around it. The next thing he knew, his ankle was yanked hard and he went down just as miserably.
'What the hell was that?'
Flat on his back with his arms and legs spread, Gray fought through the dizziness from his head hitting the ground and pushed himself up a little to look at his ankle.
Then his eyes went wide.
"A t-tail!"
Kabe's smug voice drifted over.
"That is right. My tail is just as flexible as an extra arm. When you fight me, you are naturally fighting one limb short."
Gray's entire face twisted. This was way too dirty. He was already losing in strength and speed, and now the other guy had an extra arm on top of that. How were they supposed to have a fair fight?
Before he could open his mouth to complain, Kabe, who had already bounced back to his feet, launched himself forward and body-slammed him.
No matter how Gray twisted, kicked, or flailed his limbs, Kabe simply used brute force to pin his arms and lock him to the ground.
He struggled like a caterpillar for a few minutes before finally giving up.
"I surrender. You win."
The moment he said it, all the fight went out of him. His eyes turned blank as he stared up at the sky like a salted fish that had lost its dreams.
Hearing Gray admit defeat aloud, Kabe could not help throwing both hands up in celebration.
His opponent might just be a ten-something kid, but this was still the number two male lead of Fairy Tail. Beating Gray while they were about the same age gave Kabe a real sense of accomplishment.
Of course, he also knew Gray had not gone all out. If Gray had used his specialty, Ice Magic, the outcome would not have been so easy to predict. At the very least, a Kabe who still could not fire energy blasts did not have any good ways of dealing with being frozen.
After cheering, he quickly got off Gray's body, then smiled and held a hand out to him.
"Man, that was a really satisfying fight. I did not expect you to be this strong with just hand to hand combat, Gray. If you had used magic, there is no way I could have beaten you."
'Right, I still have magic!'
Gray's dead-fish eyes lit up again. He grabbed Kabe's hand and used it to pull himself up, then crossed his arms, acting as if he did not care about losing at all.
"Of course. If I had used Ice Magic, you would have been turned into an ice sculpture already."
"Wow, and it is Ice Magic too, that is a really tricky kind of magic. You really are a tough opponent, Gray."
"Nah, nah, you are not bad yourself. At least when it comes to pure fighting, you really are not my match."
Watching Gray grin so hard his mouth was practically crooked from a little flattery, Kabe had to fight the urge to laugh.
'Kids really are easy. Just a few compliments and they are satisfied.'
At that moment, Cana and Erza, who had watched the entire fight from beginning to end, came over.
Seeing Gray acting all proud despite losing, Cana, who had known him for years and was already very close to him, immediately teased,
"Before you get too happy, maybe you should make yourself an ice mirror and look at your own face, Mister Panda."
"Panda?"
Gray blinked, confused, but still did as she said and formed an ice mirror to check his reflection.
Kabe quickly turned his head away and started whistling like nothing was wrong.
The next second...
"Aaaah, my eye!"
Gray grabbed Kabe's collar with one hand and pointed at his left eye socket with the other. That was where Kabe's first punch had landed, and now it was turning a lovely shade of purple. Gray ground his teeth.
"You bastard, you really did not hold back at all, hitting my face that hard."
Kabe coughed lightly, pried his hand off, and defended himself.
"Do not just blame me. You were aiming for my face first too, remember. Oh, right, since our fight is over, do me a favor and step to the side. I am about to start round two."
"You bastard!"
Gray immediately started yelling that he wanted to go again, but Kabe refused him on the spot, saying he did not fight weaklings.
That made Gray so mad he practically jumped up and down. He regretted not using magic from the start and hitting this annoying guy with something big.
Ignoring the loser's shouting, Kabe fixed his eyes straight on Erza.
He had just beaten Gray and his confidence was through the roof. He could not wait to "cut down" Erza as well and show off even more.
Yet when she met the burning look in his eyes, Erza simply shook her head, calm and decisive.