Tike ultimately refused Gourmet.
He knew clearly that food replicated by magic ultimately lacked the "soul" poured into it by the original creator, always missing a trace of charm in taste.
As for letting him cook personally...
Tike silently recalled his past "masterpieces."
No matter how high-quality the ingredients, once in his hands, they would ultimately turn into a pile of indescribable black objects.
Bidding farewell to Yukino and Gourmet, whose chef soul was ignited, Tike embarked on the road home.
Just as he turned a street corner, a figure darted out without warning, blocking his way.
The newcomer had signature short pink hair, a checkered scarf around his neck, a big grin on his face, and unconcealed combative light burning in his eyes.
"Finally found you! Heard from Erza that you guy are stronger than her. Come fight me to decide the winner!"
Tike looked up, seeing the dark clouds hanging low in the night sky without a trace of moonlight, then looked around, seeing no water flowing by.
He shook his head.
"Natsu, Erza is much more powerful than me now. Besides, I have no time to mess around with you right now."
"I don't care!" Natsu grinned, revealing sharp canine teeth, assuming a stance with high fighting spirit. "Even if you aren't stronger than that monster, you must be very powerful! I'll beat you first, then go beat Erza!"
The pink-haired boy lunged forward abruptly, his right fist wrapped in blazing flames, rushing straight at Tike's face with a scorching heat wave!
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Do you think you're playing some monster-fighting leveling game?"
Tike complained casually, then raised his left hand to grab Natsu's flaming fist. Immediately after, he exerted force from his waist, his arm following the momentum to execute an incredibly smooth shoulder throw, smashing Natsu ruthlessly onto the ground.
Bang!
Natsu saw stars for a moment, his vision turning into swirling shapes.
Tike clapped his hands, turning to leave.
Before he could take two steps, Natsu shook his still-dizzy head, crawled up tenaciously, and assumed a fighting stance again.
"Not over yet! Again!"
"Never-ending, is it?"
Tike didn't look back, just raised his right hand casually, fingers moving slightly, shouting in a low voice:
"Water-Make: Lite Water Prison!"
A stream of clear water emerged out of thin air, rapidly forming a transparent spherical barrier around Natsu, trapping him tightly inside.
The water element's characteristics suppressed Natsu's flames. No matter how he punched and kicked, the seemingly fragile water wall remained motionless.
Even so, Natsu trapped in the water prison showed no discouragement. Instead, he rubbed his nose with his thumb, revealing a confident smile.
"Hehe, don't think about trapping me with the same magic! I already thought of a way!"
Hearing this, Tike stopped, turning back with interest, wanting to know his solution.
He saw Natsu open his mouth and gulp down all the clear water constituting the water prison barrier!
Tike's eyes widened.
"Are you an idiot?"
Due to drinking too much water, Natsu's belly bulged like a ball, even standing somewhat unsteadily. With every step moved, that round belly shook violently, as if about to burst anytime.
"Sh... shut up!" Natsu forced his cheeks to bulge, trying to activate his proud magic: "Fire Dragon's—Roar!"
The expected raging flames didn't spew out. Instead, with a "Pfft—", he spat all the large amount of clear water he just drank back onto the ground.
After vomiting, Natsu collapsed limply onto the wet ground, without strength to even move a finger.
"...So gross." Tike took a half-step back in disgust.
Despite this, Natsu still refused to admit defeat, shouting intermittently while gasping: "One day... I will absolutely defeat you! I cannot let the magic Igneel taught me... be shamed!"
Looking at Natsu, who was limp on the ground but still tough-mouthed, Tike showed no mercy verbally: "With your level, you still need a lot of practice. Speaking of which, where is that Igneel you keep mentioning? Why didn't he teach you for a few more years instead of letting you come out at this level?"
Natsu's originally somewhat unconvinced expression dimmed instantly, his voice lowering: "Igneel... disappeared, right on July 7th..."
This was the date the old man Makarov helped him determine when he met him.
"Igneel also disappeared on that day? Such a coincidence?" Tike raised his eyebrows slightly, revealing a trace of surprise. "I met Wendy precisely on that day. Her adoptive mother, Sky Dragon Grandeeney, also disappeared on the same day."
"Wendy?" Natsu blinked blankly. "Who are you talking about?"
"The blue-haired girl following behind me yesterday," Tike reminded. "No impression?"
"None at all!"
He was only focused on fighting Gray at that time; how would he notice a munchkin nearby?
Compared to this, Natsu was obviously more concerned about another astonishing coincidence—
"Two dragons disappeared on the same day; what exactly happened that day?"
"Regarding this, I do have a hypothesis."
Tike raised his hand matter-of-factly, pushed the non-existent glasses on his nose bridge with his index finger, putting on a thoughtful appearance.
"I wonder if your Igneel ever mentioned to you that the number of dragons in this era is scarce, almost becoming an endangered species."
"Ah? Is there such a thing?" Natsu scratched his head. "I lived deep in the mountains with Igneel before and indeed never saw other dragons..."
"Your Igneel is a male dragon, right?" Tike confirmed.
"Mm!"
"And Wendy's adoptive mother Grandeeney happens to be a female dragon." Tike dragged out his tone. "So..."
"So?"
Natsu widened his eyes, leaning forward slightly, waiting for Tike to reveal the answer with a face full of expectation.
The corner of Tike's mouth hooked up slightly, and in a very plain tone, he stated his deduction:
"So, I highly suspect that to shoulder the great mission of reviving the Dragon Clan, the two of them specially found a place with no people and got together to lay eggs."
---
A red fire dragon coiled on a huge volcanic rock, flames rising all over his body, merging with the surrounding scorching environment.
Suddenly, the fire dragon's huge head moved slightly, letting out a loud sneeze.
"Achoo—!"
Simultaneously, a white ball of light floated slowly in front of him, emitting a clear and pleasant female voice.
"Igneel, in your current state, you can still catch a cold?"
Hearing the familiar voice, the fire dragon raised his head slightly displeased. Huge vertical pupils glared discontentedly at the light ball before him, two jets of scorching breath spraying from his nostrils: "Grandeeney! Mind your own business! Stop wandering around my place!"