As the sun set over the sea and the sky turned golden, everyone finally stopped after half a day of intense training.
"Hey! Everyone, let's go eat!"
Ankh, who had been resting all day, stretched contentedly before standing up and shouting to the sweat-drenched figures in the ocean.
An exhausted Natsu was carried back by Happy, while Juvia and Erza walked over with heavy steps.
Levy, who had studied magical theory until her mind felt foggy, asked groggily.
"What are we eating?"
Ankh scanned the resort area thoughtfully. "Let's find a restaurant and have some seafood."
After just half a day of training, most members were already exhausted.
Lucy, bent over awkwardly, weakly agreed: "Sounds good..."
Ankh accidentally glanced at her swimsuit straps stretching to their limit and quickly averted his gaze.
"Where's Gray?"
"Right here."
Ur arrived carrying Gray over her shoulder, startling Ankh. "Why is Gray frozen solid?"
"I kept him frozen in Black Ice all day to help him accept and absorb this power," Ur sighed.
Her perfectly good vacation had been ruined by this foolish apprentice oh her!
Looking at Gray's stiff, frozen body with black frost even on his eyelashes, Juvia asked worriedly.
"Will Gray-sama be alright?"
Ur shook her head. "He'll be fine. He just needs to warm up for a while."
She was joking—this was her secret teaching method.
Since they were young, Ur had thrown both Gray and Lyon into freezing conditions to help them adapt to and merge with ice-attribute Magic Power.
The principle behind adapting to Black Ice was the same, just much more difficult.
After all, that particular type of ice was something Ur brought back from the threshold of death, and Gray needed to experience it firsthand.
With everyone gathered, Ankh led the group of ravenous individuals straight to a restaurant for a seafood feast.
After devouring the meal with terrible table manners, everyone finally felt like they had come back to life.
Wrapped in a blanket and shivering, Gray said with delighted eyes, "I'm starting to grasp the basics. In three months, I'll definitely master this... Achoo!"
"Gray-sama!" Juvia approached with concern, her face flushed as she offered, "Should Juvia hold you to warm you up...?"
Gray firmly refused. "No!"
"Wah..."
Natsu looked at the guesthouse before them and said in surprise, "Come to think of it, this is our first time staying in this kind of house by the seaside."
Jet said helplessly, "Given our guild's funds, staying here is already quite good, and that's only because of the sponsorship from the Ram Company."
Ankh didn't find the accommodation shabby at all; instead, he nodded with satisfaction and said, "I think it's quite nice. I heard this guesthouse even has a hot spring."
"Hot spring?!"
The girls' eyes lit up with excitement.
Who wouldn't want to soak comfortably in a hot spring after a tiring day of training?
The boys were excited too, though the exact reason...
Probably best not to say it out loud, or they might get beaten up.
....
After entering the guesthouse and finding their reserved rooms, everyone temporarily returned to their own rooms to change clothes, planning to gather later and go to the hot spring together.
The boys were dawdling and hadn't come downstairs yet, while the girls had already gathered in the lobby.
Erza, wearing a bathrobe, stretched comfortably—her sexy figure undeniable even under the loose clothing—and said.
"Though it's only been half a day, it feels like everyone's energy and spirits have changed for the better."
Lucy nodded, then tightened the bathrobe over her chest in embarrassment, muttering, "This outfit is a bit ill-fitting..."
Levy and Wendy exchanged strange looks.
Their gazes fixed on Lucy's guild-leading bust, their pure resentment palpable enough to hatch a monster...
Juvia looked curiously at the various alcoholic drinks on the nearby shelf and asked, "By the way... is alcohol really that good?"
Levy paused, thinking. "Well, Cana really likes it, at least."
Erza hesitated for a moment, then peeked outside the door.
Seeing that Ankh hadn't returned yet, she whispered to the girls, "How about we buy a little to try?"
"Didn't Cana say that having a small drink while soaking in the hot spring is the most comfortable thing?"
Lucy, as a former young lady from a wealthy family, had tasted quite a few fine wines before and didn't object.
"Then let's have a little drink. It's the first day, so let's all enjoy ourselves."
Wendy, full of curiosity, came closer and whispered expectantly, "I want to try some too~"
Lucy hesitated, then said, "Um... Wendy, just a small taste. After all, you're not as able to drink as the rest of us..."
Ur watched the chattering girls, shaking her head with a soft laugh and murmuring.
"Such a bunch of kids."
...
When the five boys finally came downstairs and pushed open the door, they were met with a chaotic scene.
Seven or eight empty bottles lay scattered around, and the girls were in various states of drunken disarray.
Erza, holding a bottle in one hand and a giant sword in the other, was shouting wildly, "It's not enough! I want more alcohol!"
Wendy's eyes had turned into spinning spirals, and she lay flat on the floor as if she'd been passed out for a while.
Juvia was wailing over her, calling out to her as if mourning at a graveside.
Levy was giggling foolishly at something, wrestling with an empty bottle and gnawing on it like a husky.
Lucy was leering like a female delinquent, swaying a wine glass in one hand while groping Juvia's thigh with the other, giggling as she said.
"Come on~ Juvia-chan~ Drink a little more~"
The five boys stood frozen in place, watching the chaotic scene with utter bewilderment.
"Who... let the girls drink?" Natsu's expression was stiff as a board, while Gray's eyelids twitched as he stammered out the question.
Ur calmly walked over to Ankh holding a bottle of wine, patting his shoulder with a laugh.
"I'll leave these girls to you. I'm off to the hot springs first."
"Wait! Ur—!"
Ankh quickly turned to call out, but the hallway behind him was already empty.
She vanished incredibly fast...
A wine bottle came flying like a thunderbolt.
Without even turning his head, Ankh accurately caught the projectile.
Erza, drunk and turned upside down, roared fiercely, "Stop standing there! Come pour me more wine!"
Ankh's crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
Natsu and Gray keenly sensed that something was wrong and instinctively took a large step back.
But clearly, Erza didn't realize disaster was imminent, charging headfirst at Ankh like an angry little bull!
Of course, Ankh couldn't just kick Erza down, so he had no choice but to simply stand his ground and let her tackle him to the floor.
Erza straddled Ankh, laughing triumphantly, "I defeated Ankh! Now I am the big sister! You are the little brother!"
Gulp...
Natsu, Gray, Jet, and Droy simultaneously made praying gestures over their chests and foreheads, silently blessing Erza in their hearts.
Please survive this, Erza!