Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
November 16, x791.
*Zap!* *Zap!* *Zap!* *Zap!* *Zap!*
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
"That's it, Mar'e!" Elicia shouted happily while flicking her fingers through the air, controlling a number of threads. "You're doing great!"
"Be careful, Amar'e!" Alfonzo shouted over Elicia. "Your current is getting out of control. If you're not careful, you'll end up shocking yourself!"
Meanwhile, Amar'e, who dragged his parents into the training room under the Mansion on the Lake after they returned from training with the rest of Fairy Tail, zipped through the air, avoiding the [Thread Magic] Elicia was using to create obstacles. All the while, he smiled brightly.
Alfonzo was not just standing idly while watching, though. Using his [Metal magic], he also raised several small obstacles from the floor, walls, and ceiling when he noticed that things were getting a little too easy for his eldest son. On top of that, he also used his [Electromagnetism Magic] to slightly interfere with the current flowing around Amar'e to work on his control.
"Damn, he's really built for this." Alfonzo muttered as he watched his son like a hawk to make sure he did not get hurt. "It took me more than a year to enhance myself to the same degree he is."
"I know, right?" Elicia exclaimed happily while her fingers danced through the air. "My little boy is a genius!"
Elicia then turned to look at Alfonzo consolingly.
"Besides, your innate magic is [Metal Magic]." Elicia added. "So, it makes sense that you had a harder time learning [Electromagnetism Magic]. *Sigh* Unfortunately, Mar'e didn't have a type of innate magic of his own."
"I wouldn't call it unfortunate, though." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Not having an innate magic just means that he's not limited as much as I am. Hell, if he has enough time, he could end up learning just as much magic as Gramps, if not more."
"Speaking of Gramps, he hasn't come by the guild in a while." Elicia said with a smile of her own. "I wonder how the old man is doing. He hasn't blown up the Magic Council building to bring an end to all the paperwork, has he?"
"Ahahahahaha!" Alfonzo could not help bursting into laughter after hearing Elicia's question. "Well, I wouldn't put it past him. And the funny thing is we'll probably never find out about it through the news, either. The Council would definitely put a lockdown on information like that."
Earth Land, Ishgar, Era.
*Sneeze!*
In an office at the Magic Council building, an elderly man just sneezed before reaching into his clothes to pull out a handkerchief.
"I wonder who's talking about me behind my back." Makarov muttered to himself while wiping his nose with the handkerchief. Then, after putting away the soiled handkerchief, he looked down at his desk where a number of documents were sorted into piles with displeasure on his face. "I'm supposed to be retired. So, why in the hell am I spending all day doing paperwork?"
As he asked that question, a dangerous glint flashed in Makarov's eyes before he started to slowly raise his right hand, a large amount of magic power gathering in his palm.
"I wonder if anyone would realize what happened if all this paperwork suddenly disappeared." Makarov said to himself in a slightly crazed tone.
On a side note, if Makarov were to use the amount of magic power he gathered to simply try and destroy the paperwork on his desk, it would be an understatement to call it overkill. In fact, the amount of magic power Makarov was holding in his hand would be enough to destroy a good part of Crocus, let alone the paperwork or the building he was currently sitting in.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
"Master Makarov, are you in there?" A voice Makarov was quite familiar with asked from the outside of his office's door. "I felt a large amount of magic power coming from inside, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
With a panicked expression on his face, Makarov immediately dispersed the magic power in his hand. He then sat up straight, picked up his pen, and began working on the documents on his desk.
"There's nothing to worry about, Jura, my boy." Makarov said in a grandfatherly tone. "Why don't you come in. I'm sure you won't be satisfied until you see that everything is all right."
Receiving permission, Jura Neekis, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, and the ace of Fiore's Lamia Scale guild, entered Makarov's office quickly and started looking around for any anomalies. Meanwhile, Makarov continued doing his paperwork while taking the occasional nervous glance at Jura. Luckily, Jura was too focused on finding the source of magic power to notice.
"Strange, I'm sure I felt a foreign magic power in here only a moment ago." Jura muttered as he stopped looking around the office.
'Phew! Good thing I decided to change the frequency of my magic power before I started gathering it.' Makarov said while mentally wiping a bead of threat from his brow. 'I didn't want anyone to know it was me who destroyed the paperwork, after all.'
"Ho… Ho… HO… Like I said, there's nothing to worry about." Makarov said after letting out a hollow laugh in response. "I was just doing a little training on my magic power control. I'm getting quite old, you know? Gotta work hard to stay in shape, so to speak."
Hearing that, Jura turned to Makarov with his eyes wide in surprise.
"It would seem I still have a lot to learn." Jura said with admiration in his tone. "To think someone could change the feeling of their magic power with enough control. The road of magic is long, indeed."
'Damn it… Now I won't be able to use that trick to get out of paperwork.' Makarov grumbled to himself. 'I'll have to come up with another idea before I try this again.'
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
"Something tells me it's just a matter of time before we receive a report like that…" Elicia said in a deadpan tone.
"Oh, I wouldn't doubt it for a second." Alfonzo replied with a smirk. "Ooh, it looks like Amar'e's about to reach his limit."
And just as Alfonzo said, Amar'e was starting to slow down. On top of that, his movements were starting to get sloppy, as well.
"Yeah, it looks like he's getting really tired." Elicia added with a nod. She then raised her voice as she continued. "Okay, Mar'e, let's take a break for now!"
Hearing that, although Amar'e wanted to continue, as using his magic was just so much fun, he did not protest. In the past, he had pushed himself past his limit and ended up hurting himself. And although getting hurt didn't bother him so much, the fact that Alfonzo and Elicia banned him from using his magic until he was all healed up was a huge blow to Amar'e. So, he listened and slowly pulled back his magic before stopping.
At the same time, Alfonzo used his [Metal magic] to return the training room to its original state while Elicia dispelled her threads. Then, after all the magic phenomena were dispelled, Alfonzo and Elicia approached their son who was sweating from exertion.
"You're amazing, Mar'e!" Elicia squealed as she swooped in and picked up Amar'e. "You're even stronger than me and your daddy when we were your age!"
Amar'e could not help smiling at the compliment. He then turned to look at Alfonzo with anticipation shining in his eyes.
"Your mom's right." Alfonzo said with a smile as he patted his son on the head. "You're doing great. Your control is already amazing."
Then, Alfonzo's tone turned stern as he continued.
"But you have to keep working hard, Amar'e." Alfonzo said. "And don't be like I was in the past. Never let it go to your head. Because there's always someone better."
"I got it." Amar'e replied with acute, solemn, expression on his face.
Alfonzo and Elicia were almost certain that Amar'e did not "get it." But they had no intention of drilling the danger of being too proud into his four-year-old head. And to be honest, they hoped that they would never have to do so.
"Anyway, since you had such a good training session today, how about I make some ice cream to celebrate?" Alfonzo asked as his stern expression turned into a gentle smile.
"Yeah! Ice cream!" Amar'e cheered as he threw his hands up in excitement.
"Ooh! I want a banana split!" Elicia joined Amar'e in cheering. A moment later, however, her eyes widened in realization. "Even better, can you make a banana split cake like your mom used to make, Fonzie?"
In this case, Elicia was not talking about Alfonzo's mother from this life, Bianca Marcus, formerly Bianca Rollen. Instead, she was referring to his mother from their past life, who despite not being much of a cook had two dishes she was amazing at making.
The first was spaghetti sauce, something that Alfonzo, even to this day could not match. And the second was a no-bake cake she called a banana split cake that did not actually contain any ice cream in it.
"Hmm… It's been a while since I made one of those." Alfonzo said while rubbing his chin in contemplation. "But I don't see why I can't. In fact, I'll go grab Bianca and teach her how to make it while I'm at it."
"Can I lick the bowl?" Elicia asked with her eyes shining. "I used to do that whenever your mom used to make one."
"Aren't you a little old for that?" Alfonzo asked with a chuckle before ducking his head to avoid getting slapped upside the head for mentioning a lady's age.
"You're never too old for sweets." Elicia proclaimed with an irritated pout on her face. A moment later, she continued with a bright smile on her faceasshe turned her attention to Amar'e. "Besides, I'm sure Mar'e, BiBi, and Cal would want to do it, too."
"It's not chocolate, is it?" Amar'e asked with a frown.
"Oh, God, no." Alfonzo replied while recoiling in disgust. "Only weirdos like your mom, your aunties, and your sister like that stuff. You, me, and Cal are all on the right path."
While Amar'e nodded his head in understanding, Elicia rolled her eyes at Alfonzo's declaration.
"You do realize that you three are actually the weird ones, right?" Elicia asked in a deadpan tone. "I mean, seriously? Who doesn't like chocolate other than you three?"
"Oh, it sounds like Mommy doesn't want any of the banana split cake." Alfonzo said as he snatched Amar'e from Elicia's arms. "Well, that just means more for us, right, Amar'e?"
"Yeah, more for us!" Amar'e cheered.
*Zap!*
A moment later, Alfonzo, with Amar'e in his arms, disappeared from the training room in a flash of violet light, leaving Elicia standing there with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
"He can be so petty sometimes." Elicia said while smiling wryly.
["You act like you weren't expecting that when you called him a weirdo."] Scylla said from Elicia's inner world.
"Oh, I definitely was." Elicia said with a giggle. "I didn't expect him to drag Mar'e into it, though."
["Neither was I."] Scylla admitted. ["But it sure was cute, wasn't it?"]
"Yeah, they're really cute together." Elicia said with a gentle smile. A moment later, however, her expression turned solemn as she flared her magic power. "But more important than that…"
Reaching that point, Elicia pushed off the floor, a sonic boom rocking the training room as she shot out of the door.
"Hey! Wait! I'm sorry!" Elicia shouted as she tore through the halls of the mansion. "I was just kidding! You're not weirdos! So, please! Please, leave some of the batter for me~~~~~!"
With the aid of her magic power, Elicia's voice traveled through the entire mansion. But thanks to her control, the volume sounded like she was having a casual conversation with everyone in the mansion at the same time. And because of the mentioning of batter, everyone in the mansion was curious to know what Alfonzo was about to make. So, all of Alfonzo's wives, lovers, children, and maids began to congregate in the kitchen to hear about, what could possibly be, a new dish.