Sensing the air around them grow a little heavy, Gray, who was really not good at comforting people, hurriedly changed the subject.
"A-anyway, didn't we say we were going to help you awaken your magic? Since you've eaten, let's get started. Come with me, I will take you to the lake behind the guild to train. It is nice and open there, and the scenery is amazingly beautiful."
As he spoke, he quickly shot a look at Erza and Cana.
The two girls understood at once and, without giving Kabe any chance to react, pushed and pulled him from both sides and bundled him straight out of the guild.
Kabe, who had been silent for quite a while, could feel the tugging and pushing from the three around him. His face did not change, but in his heart he could clearly feel the care each of them was showing him in their own way.
'Honestly, if you keep treating me like this, I really will not be able to bring myself to prank you later.'
For the first time, he truly felt the warmth and charm of Fairy Tail as a guild. It was a kind of feeling that no amount of watching from behind a screen could ever give.
It even managed to move an old fox and attention seeker like him for a brief moment.
So, once they left the guild, he took the initiative to speak.
"Alright, alright, I am not that fragile. Besides, this is all the Master's fault anyway. He was the one who insisted on dragging me here and even wants to use me as a mascot."
The three of them all paused at that. They watched his expression carefully and, after a while, confirmed that he was not forcing himself. Only then did they quietly let out a breath of relief.
Seeing this, Kabe reached out without hesitation and ruffled Cana's deep brown hair and Erza's crimson hair, one after the other, then hooked an arm hard around Gray's neck.
"You little runts, you act like you are all grown up already. You are just little beans, but you try so hard to look mature."
"What are you talking about?"
Gray slapped at the arm hooked around his neck in annoyance and grumbled.
"Look at your own age first before you say that. You are the one pretending the most."
"It is different. Your big brother here might be young, but my mental age is already that of an adult."
"Where does this nonsense even come from..."
Gray pouted, cheeks puffed up, clearly annoyed.
Cana quietly fixed her hair where Kabe had messed it up. She was a little upset about having her lady-like head touched so casually, yet when she saw the two boys bickering in front of her, she could not help smiling.
'You are fitting in fast, Kabe.'
Thinking that, she turned to look at Erza, only to see a faint smile at the corner of Erza's lips as well.
It seemed Erza felt her gaze, because she looked back. The two girls met each other's eyes, shared a small smile, then quickly sped up to catch up to the two boys in front.
They lined up shoulder to shoulder with them, joining the silly argument over whether Kabe counted as a "grown-up" or not.
...
"Wow, this really is an amazing view."
When they reached the place Gray had mentioned, Kabe stared at the endless stretch of crystal clear lake water and could not help speaking with genuine admiration. In his previous life, he had never even gotten the chance to see the ocean.
"Heh, nice, right? This is my favorite place to practice magic while facing the lake."
Gray spoke with pride, almost like he was showing off his own secret base.
Kabe nodded again and again.
"It really is a great spot. With such a beautiful lake, if you could set up a fishing rod here and fish all day, that would be pure happiness."
"Hey, hey, why are your hobbies so uncle-like? Are you really an uncle on the inside like Macao and the others, just like you said?"
The three of them honestly could not understand what was fun about sitting there with a broken stick all day, staring at the water, and catching nothing.
But to Kabe, who had started fishing with his grandpa at eight or nine and had over ten years of fishing experience in his previous life, fishing was not only a sport. It was an art that tested patience, technique, and eye for detail.
Of course, now was not the time to go on about that.
He took a deep breath, silently engraving the beautiful scenery into his heart, then turned around, impatient to get to the main event.
"Alright, which of you two is going first? I am warning you, my punches hit hard. If you get beaten up, do not start crying."
He had barely finished speaking when Gray stepped forward and planted himself opposite him.
"Obviously me. I will say the same thing back to you. Even if I do not use magic, there is no way you can beat me, a mage."
He had not forgotten the trick from earlier. He had already been itching to give Kabe a proper beating.
Cana and Erza quietly stepped back to leave space for the two boys.
Cana still could not help calling out,
"Gray, Kabe, it is just training, so be careful and do not get hurt."
Erza did not say anything. She stood off to the side with her arms crossed, staring at Kabe with a serious expression.
'Anyone who can stand up from the Master's fist without a scratch is definitely not simple, magic or no magic. If Gray underestimates him, he will definitely suffer for it.'
In the clearing, the two boys took their stances.
Gray used a textbook fighting posture. His feet were slightly apart, right fist in front, left fist behind, carefully guarding his face, especially his jaw.
Kabe's stance, by contrast, looked awkward and full of openings, yet at the same time carried a strange, intimidating aura.
He had only ever been in schoolyard fights back in kindergarten and primary school. He knew nothing about formal martial arts. He had just suddenly remembered that classic pose from Goku's fight against Vegeta.
So he copied it.
He stepped forward with his left leg and put his right leg behind, knees lightly bent, his weight resting mainly on his right leg. His upper body leaned slightly, his left hand curled the ring finger and little finger in, the other three fingers spread like a claw in front of his face to guard it. His right hand clenched into a fist, tucked at his waist, coiled with power.
With the confident grin on his face, it was enough to make the three watching kids completely unable to guess his level.
"Hey, what kind of weird pose is that? It looks full of holes."
"None of your business. Just come at me."
Gray swallowed his curiosity and focused. He took a deep breath, then exploded forward, legs driving him in big strides toward Kabe. His right fist drew back, his waist twisting as he drove his entire upper body into a straight punch aimed at Kabe's face.
From the moment he had taken his stance, Kabe's heart rate had been climbing. The surge of adrenaline helped him crush the instinctive fear of a real fight.
Seeing Gray's fist flying toward him, his body reacted on its own. He raised his left arm to block in front of his face. Without even checking if he had stopped the blow, he swung the right fist that had been coiled behind him with all his strength.
Because Kabe did not know magic, Gray had subconsciously held back. Even so, when he felt his own punch get firmly caught in Kabe's left hand, and then saw the other fist rapidly growing larger in his vision, he could not help cursing himself in his mind.
'Damn it, I underestimated him.'
"Ow!"
With a miserable shout, Gray's feet left the ground. His body traced a perfect arc in the air and he crashed backwards, slamming heavily into the ground.