Meliodas grabbed the flyer off the job board and made his way towards Mirajane. He placed the flyer on the bar table before speaking.
"I'll take this one."
Mira looked over the job flyer before replying.
"This one is a good mission to start with. There isn't much advice I can give you. It's a simple mission to defeat some wild animals that have been attacking the farm..."
Just as the two were speaking, Elfman walked up to the bar with a large grin on his face.
"I will be going too big sis, so this will be a piece of cake for a MAN!" Eflman said, giving Mirajane a thumbs up.
Mirajane was a bit surprised, but still smiled in response.
"Alright then, take care, you two!"
The duo left the building and went towards the job location. The farmland was very close to the town, so they required no transportation to get there.
---
Meliodas and Elfman approached the Magnolia farmland as the sun was beaming above them. It was still in the middle of the afternoon when they arrived.The farmland was vast, expanding out for miles with bits of forest and hills in between and small houses and barns scattered. Meliodas and Elfman continued to walk down the dirt path, with the sounds of various farm animals around them.
"Are you ready for your first MANLY mission Meliodas?!" Elfman yelled excitedly.
"I look forward to it." Meliodas replied calmly with a smile. "You know I think you would like my friend Escanor."
"Escanor?" Elfman asked. Meliodas nodded.
"Yeah. You talk a lot about being manly and people say Escanor is a true man among men, and I agree."
"Well let me say, that MAN sounds like a MANLY MAN, man!" Elfman enthusiastically replied. Meliodas titled his head, confused at what Elfman just said but smiled back.
"Tell me about this Escanor MAN!" Elfman insisted.
"Sure." Meliodas said.
The two of them continued walking down the dirt path through the farmland as Meliodas told Elfman stories about Escanor until they arrived at their destination. The two of them stopped in front of an old wooden barn. The barn had several patched holes and there were traces of blood and claw marks around the walls of the barn.
As Meliodas inspected the exterior of the barn, he heard the sound of sniffling next to him. He looked to Elfman and saw him tearing up.
"That MAN Escanor...was a true MAN!" Elfman said as he wiped his eyes. Meliodas chuckled and looked back at the barn, where an old man walked out. The old man was short, nearly the same height as Meliodas. He was bald with many wrinkles on his forehead. He had black eyes with large backs underneath them, indicating his lack of sleep.
"A-ah...you two must be from Fairy Tail." The old man said as he slowly walked to them.
"That's right, I'm Meliodas!" Meliodas greeted.
"E-Elfman." Elfman said as he regained his composure.
"Meliodas and Elfman. It is great to meet you both but we must be quick. Those damn Dread Wolves just appeared one night and started slaughtering the cattle. There were at least several dozen of them...me and several other farmers have been trying to keep them at bay but we're no fighters and only a couple of us can even use magic to begin with. Last night, most of us got hurt fighting them off. The other farmers are currently in Magnolia Hospital and I'm the only one left...Please...I beg of you...get rid of them." The old man pleaded as he fell to his knees.
"Of course we will! Cause that's what being a MAN is all about!" Elfman enthusiastically yelled. Meliodas extended a hand out to the old man and helped him up as Elfman looked around.
"Where are they, we will crush them like real MEN!" Elfman shouted.
"They always appear at night to attack us from the forest behind the barn. We tried tracking them in the morning, but they are experts at hiding. These last few days, they appeared around the time the sun set."
Meliodas looked up at the sky. There were still a few hours left before the sun set.
"Alright, well let us help you fix up the walls and fences." Meliodas suggested.
"Why not just go find the wolves and hunt them down first?" Elfman asked.
"That is too much work. If the wolves all appear at once, we can finish them in one fell swoop. So it would best to just wait here for them to all come at once. Meanwhile, let's just help the old man fix his farm."
Elfman thought about it for a moment before agreeing.
"Yes! Fighting them all at once would be a challenge only a real MAN can do!"
Meliodas began fixing up the inside of the barn while chatting away with the old man about his favorite booze. Elfman remained outside, patching the holes with wooden planks.
---
The day settled and the night approached. Elfman and Meliodas had both finished their work and were preparing for the arrival of the wolves. They had boarded up and patched the fences, in case any wolves may slip through.
Suddenly, the group heard a faint howling coming through the forest. The old man trembled at the noise and clasped his hands in prayer.
"They are preparing..." He mumbled. Meliodas reassured the old man, patting him lightly on the back.
"Rest up inside, gramps. By the time you wake up tomorrow morning, all the Dread wolves will be dealt with."
"Thank you both, very much…" The old man said as he slowly walked out of the barn.
Meliodas and Elfman hopped over the fence at the back of the barn facing the forest. For another half an hour the duo waited in anticipation. Behind them, the farmland was brightly illuminated by the full moon's light.
"It's a full moon tonight...this might be a rough night. Dread Wolves get stronger during a full moon. But that's what being a MAN is all about! We will face this challenge like men!" Elfman yelled out.
Meliodas remained silent as he stared at the full moon, thinking about the moment he flew into the rift. Now, most of his power was gone and he could hardly bring out the darkness within him. However, under the night sky, he felt his power rise, thanks to his demon biology.
Another half an hour passed and from the trees, a low growling echoed. Meliodas and Elfman looked towards the trees and saw a pair of glowing red eyes, filled with bloodlust, followed by the sound of snarling.
"Let's show these beasts the power of a MAN!" Elfman yelled as he got into an offensive stance.
"Beast Arm: Black Bull!"
Meliodas glanced over at Elfman, intrigued by his transformation. Elfman's right arm began to grow even more muscular and turned a pitch black color.
From the forest, more than a dozen red glowing eyes appeared in the darkness. The growling stopped as an eerie silence filled the cold night air. The silence is soon broken by a distant howl as the huge bodies of the large wolves emerged from the forest.
Meliodas and Elfman looked at the first few wolves charging at them. They were nearly as tall as Elfman while on their fours, taller if they stood on their hind legs. They had jet black fur that hardly lit up even in the moonlight. Their eyes glowed a menacing crimson read as they snarled.
Elfman prepared to take on the assault head on as Meliodas leaped forward, plunging deep into the wolves' formation. Several of the wolves were launched high into the air as Meliodas kicked them up.
More wolves appeared near Elfman's side as he held them off with the gargantuan strength of his right arm, easily throwing the wolves above the trees and away from the barn behind them.
Meliodas continued striking each of the wolves, feeling the bones in their bodies crack under his fists as they were sent flying through several trees. As the fight continued on, Meliodas noticed a small change in himself. It was a change that was very miniscule, but enough to notice. Meliodas's original strength was very slowly returning to him. At the rate at which he felt it return, it would take some time, but it was there, slowly coming back to him the more he fought.
A few wolves had managed to slip past Meliodas and Elfman and began tearing holes in the wall to reach the animals.
Meliodas reached under his large shirt and pulled out the dagger he had taken from the thug. Putting all of his power into his legs, he leaped towards the wolves attacking the barn, with the force of his jump shattering the ground below him.
In an instant, Meliodas cut through the wolves attacking the barn, their bodies falling into pieces as they were cut through multiple times simultaneously. Having gotten rid of the wolves at the barn, Meliodas turned back around, facing the rest of the pack. Their numbers have severely dwindled, with only less than a dozen remaining.
"Arghhhhh!!!" Elfman roared as he swung the bodies of two wolves around, hitting the other wolves around him in the process. "This is the power...of a MAN!!!" Elfman yelled.
Meliodas charged forward again with his dagger out in front of him in a spinning motion towards the remaining wolves, cutting through each of them with great ease as if cutting through butter until only one wolf remained.
"Hah, this one must be the alpha male." Elfman commented as he walked up next to Meliodas. Meliodas nodded as he looked at the wolf. It was nearly double the size of the other dread wolves and had streaks of white fur on it. Across its face were several large scars.
Meliodas charged forward at the wolf and with his dagger, slashed at his face. As he flashed by the wolf, he noticed his dagger was no longer in his hands, but held firmly in the wolf's mouth.
The wolf spit out the dagger from its massive teeth and charged at Elfman. Elfman grinned as he prepared himself to take on the beast.
"Beast Arm: Iron Bull!" Elfman yelled as his black arm suddenly turned into a hard steel-like material, gleaming light off of the full moon.
He raised his right arm in front of him as the dread wolf launched his massive body at Elfman. Elfman was pushed back as the wolf charged head on into him, until eventually falling on the ground.
"Ggghhh!" Elfman grunted as he kept the wolf's massive teeth away from him with his iron arm. The wolf roared as it sunk its teeth into Elfman's arm. Despite it being hardened, it pierced through partially and blood started to drip.
"This is nothing...because I am a MAN! And you are a wolf, not a MAN!" Elfman yelled as he tried to push the wolf off of him.
Meliodas looked around hastily and found his dagger on the ground. He quickly ran to it and picked it up off the ground in one swift motion as he dashed towards Elfman and the dread wolf.
As he looked at the wolf, he tightened his grip on the dagger and pushed forward with his legs.
"Haah!" Meliodas yelled as he spun his body while he slashed through the back of the wolf, completely bisecting it.
The wolf's grip on Elfman's arm eventually gave way as the wolf's fierce glowing eyes began to dim.
Meliodas landed on the ground and looked back at Elfman, who had just pulled the Wolf off of him and threw the half that was on him on the ground next to the other half.
"Settled that like a real MAN!" Elman said, giving Meliodas a thumbs up as his right arm began to shrink and the metal-like texture reverted to skin. There were still small wounds from the wolf's teeth on Elfman's arm but it was nothing serious and the bleeding had already stopped.
Meliodas looked around the area where they were fighting. The grass was covered in the blood of the beasts as the moon illuminated the battlefield.
"Hmmm...what to do with all of these bodies here…" Meliodas said to himself out loud while looking at all of the corpses. He thought about it briefly, remembering the old man's health state due to these wolves and that most of his animals had been killed, which were a primary source of income for his farm.
Meliodas crouched down on the ground next to one of the corpses. As he pulled out his dagger, Elfman looked at him, perplexed by his actions. Meliodas began skinning the wolf with his dagger. Having made clothes before in Purgatory from the hides of beasts that were far tougher, the pelts of these wolves were easy for Meliodas to skin.
As the night went on, Meliodas finished skinning the wolves. Elfman returned with the old man as the sun came up. The old man was surprised at what he saw. Dozens of wolf pelts were stacked on top of each other while a young boy covered from head to toe in blood waved at him.
"We took care of those wolves for you. But Meliodas here...is a true MAN. He went as far as to remove their pelts so you could sell them for money and replace the animals you lost…" Elfman said, beginning to tear up in admiration of Meliodas's actions.
"Well it wasn't that big of a deal." Meliodas responded. The old man's eyes began to well up with tears as he got on the ground.
"Y-you're too kind. I wish there was more I could give to you…"
"Dry your tears old man. We did this job cause it was the MANLY thing to do!" Elfman replied.
"Well you're the one tearing up, Elfman." Meliodas laughed.