Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Margaret.
January, x786.
On the Lamia Scale training grounds, Alfonzo and Jura were standing opposite each other. Meanwhile, Ultear, Juvia, Ooba, Sherria, and most of the Lamia Scale wizards who were hanging out at the guild hall were standing nearby to witness the spar between the two S-Class wizards.
"I've heard stories about how strong Alfonzo is." Ooba said as she, along with all the other spectators, waited for the spar to begin. "But I've never seen his strength for myself."
After speaking her peace, Ooba turned her attention to Ultear and Juvia.
"What do the two of you think?" Ooba asked in apparent interest.
Meanwhile, Sherria and the other members of Lamia Scale who were standing nearby also turned their attention to the Fairy Tail wizards to hear their opinions. Though, as members of Lamia Scale, they believed Jura, a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, would emerge victorious.
"Honestly, I only know how strong Jura was back in November of x784." Ultear replied. "But I can tell he's gotten quite a bit stronger since then."
Nodding her head in agreement, Ooba waited for Ultear to continue.
"But in all the years I've been a member of Fairy Tail, I've never seen Alfonzo lose a fight." Ultear continued. "And the only fights I've heard of him not winning were one against Laxus when they were still children. And then there was the time he fought Jose Porla, which did not have a decisive outcome. But I heard he was running on fumes by the end. Well... Before Master Makarov interfered, anyway. Actually, now that I think about it, he did lose to Gildarts the year he became an S-Class wizard while teaming up with Lici… I mean, Elicia."
"That still doesn't answer my question, though." Ooba pointed out.
Nodding her head in response, Ultear stopped to think for a moment.
"How strong is Jura in comparison to Gildarts?" Ultear asked.
"He's not as strong." Ooba replied.
"Then, at the very least, it will end in a draw." Ultear said after another moment of contemplation. "But I think Alfonzo has a pretty high chance of winning."
"Hmph!" Juvia snorted after hearing Ultear speak positively about Alfonzo. Though, she did not say anything to the contrary.
"No way!" Sherria shouted. "Uncle Jura is really strong!"
"Well then, we'll just have to wait and see.' Ultear replied with a smile. "But Alfonzo is pretty strong, too."
Meanwhile, in the middle of the training field, Alfonzo was stretching lightly while Jura stood calmly with his palms pressed together.
"Alright, I think it's about time to get started." Alfonzo said as he dropped into his fighting stance. "Are you ready, Jura?"
"I am." Jura replied calmly. "You may begin whenever you are ready."
"Then, let's go." Alfonzo said as he was covered in arcing, violet electricity. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Lightning Enhancement]."
In the next instant, Alfonzo vanished from where he stood in a flash of violet light. He then reappeared to Jura's left with his left hand swinging at Jura's abdomen.
Reacting quickly, Jura moved his left hand gracefully as he deflected Alfonzo's hand downwards.
Riding the momentum of Jura's parry, Alfonzo pivoted on his right leg and lashed his left heel at the back of Jura's head. Once again reacting quickly, Jura crouched down, lowering his head beneath Alfonzo's leg. Then he made a quarter turn and pressed his palms against the thigh of Alfonzo's kicking leg in an attempt to destabilize his balance.
In response, Alfonzo did not fight the force from Jura's push. Instead, he went with it, propelling himself into a cartwheel. At the same time, as he pulled his right hand away from the ground, Alfonzo's palm lit up with electricity.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Spark Cannon]." Alfonzo chanted as he fired the gathered electricity from his palm.
"[Earth Magic: Iron Rock Wall]." Jura also chanted while extending his right hand forward with its index and middle fingers extended.
In the next instant, a pillar of hardened and condensed stone shot up from the ground, dispersing Alfonzo's spell on contact.
"Although that boy is powerful, Jura trumps him in experience." Ooba said while watching the ongoing spar.
"That may be true, but Alfonzo defeated Hades, the master of Grimoire Heart on his own." Ultear replied. "So, he's overcome the gap in experience before."
Although what Ultear said was correct, Elicia did play a major part in Alfonzo defeating Hades. Though, that was only because he wanted to take custody of the Grimoire Heart airship. In actuality, Alfonzo could have simply crushed the entire airship with his magic, destroying the [Devil's Heart] in the process.
Meanwhile, as the conversation continued between Ooba and Ultear, Alfonzo continued to fire [Spark Cannons] from varying angles, looking for a gap in Jura's defense.
"If that's not gonna work, then how about this?" Alfonzo asked as he materialized chunks of adamantite all around Jura. "[Metal Magic: Kunai Barrage]."
Watching as the chunks of metal shaped themselves into kunai, Jura made his next move before they could be fired.
*Clap!*
"Earth Magic: Rock Mountain]." Jura chanted as the sound of his clap echoed around the training grounds.
A moment later, just as the many kunai shot in Jura's direction, a large, humanoid construct made of stone and wearing armor, which included a helmet, with glowing eyes grew from the ground behind Jura. Then, once the giant rock golem was completely formed, it swung its arm and deflected all the incoming kunai with ease.
Meanwhile, as the golem defended from the kunai, Jura did not remain still. Repeatedly striking each of the pillars he raised earlier in the fight, he sent pieces of each pillar flying in Alfonzo's direction at high speed, and with great force.
In response, Alfonzo showed off his agility and flexibility by dodging each projectile. However, as the number of stone projectiles increased, Alfonzo began defending himself with his magic.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Gravity Well]." Alfonzo chanted, causing the magnetic force in the area to skyrocket.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
As a result of Alfonzo's spell, all of Jura's projectiles came crashing to the ground, cratering and leaving ditches on the training ground on impact. Even Jura and the large golem standing behind Jura was affected. Though, with Jura pumping his magic power through his body and the golem, they recovered quickly enough.
However, by the time they recovered, Alfonzo was already pointing his right arm, which was sparking with electricity, at the golem's head.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Railgun]." Alfonzo chanted as a conical piece of metal was conjured in front of his outstretched right index finger.
*Boom!*
In the next instant, as the metal fragment made contact with Alfonzo's finger, the golem's head was shattered while a line of super-heated air was drawn from Alfonzo's finger into the sky for miles.
This time, not only the wizards of Lamia Scale opened their eyes wide. But even Juvia reacted in the same way. She had never seen Alfonzo use that spell before, after all.
The first to recover from their shock was Jura. However, it did not happen naturally. Instead, he was snapped back to his senses when a jab from Alfonzo, who had no intention of waiting for his opponent to start paying attention again, landed on his chin.
Reacting swiftly to the follow up attack, Jura batted Alfonzo's straight to the side as he and Alfonzo once again engaged in an exchange of martial arts.
"Juvia has never seen that spell before." Juvia said, finally snapping out of her stupor. "He never uses it during training or in the tournament."
"That's because it's too dangerous." Ultear replied. "Although a few of us could handle a projectile at that speed, the heat from the super-heated air isn't so easy to deal with."
Snapping back to her senses, as well, Ooba nodded in understanding.
"So, he only uses a spell like that against beasts and magical constructs, I would suspect." Ooba guessed.
"Not exactly." Ultear replied. "He uses it against particularly disgusting dark wizards, too."
Nodding in understanding, Ooba returned her sight back to the match between Jura and Alfonzo. Meanwhile, many of the less experienced wizards among the onlookers wore mortified expressions.
"Does that mean he's killed people before?" Sherria asked with a pale expression.
"*Sigh* Though it's unfortunate, he has." Ultear replied. "But most wizards have killed at least one or two dark wizards over their careers."
"She's right, Sherria." Ooba added. "Some dark wizards simply cannot be reasoned with. On top of that, they can be too strong to hold back against. As a result, some of them end up dying after a battle."
Although Sherria was still shaken by the thought of killing someone, she trusted Ooba. So, she calmed down significantly. However, she began scanning the crowd of wizards, wondering who else had taken a life before.
Meanwhile, Jura was once again able to create some distance between himself and Alfonzo. And when he did, instead of casting a spell immediately, he chose to speak.
"I'm surprised, Alfonzo." Jura said as he placed his palms together.
"About what?" Alfonzo asked curiously.
"I have heard of those tonfa strapped to your back." Jura continued. "What surprises me is the fact that you haven't drawn them yet."
"Oh, that's simple." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "This is just a friendly spar. There's nothing on the line here."
Nodding in understanding, Jura began flaring his magic power. Meanwhile, Alfonzo lowered himself into a fighting stance once again.
'Besides, I don't need the boosts they give me for you.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Although you're strong, Jura, you can't compare to Ur. And I can break even with er without Riot and Bedlam.'
["Still, you should let us out to play."] Bedlam said while smiling from Alfonzo's inner world.
["Hmph!" Riot snorted in response. ["You only want people to see you, you conceited ass."]
["What's wrong with that?"] Bedlam asked while smiling at Riot.
Ignoring his [Armament Spirits'] usual bickering, Alfonzo prepared himself to deal with whatever Jura was preparing.
"[Earth Magic: Supreme King Rock Crush]." Jura chanted as his surging magic power came in contact with all the stones present on the training ground.
In the next instant, despite the gravity in the surroundings, all the projectiles, as well as the body of the destroyed golem, levitated into the air before they all went careening towards Alfonzo, burying him in pieces of rubble.
Seeing that, the wizards from Lamia Scale, other than Ooba, began to cheer. Meanwhile, Ultear, Ooba, and Juvia watched the match calmly.
Eventually, the cheering quieted down. And when it did, everyone noticed that Jura was still exerting a large amount of magic power. On top of that, they could see sweat flowing down his bald head.
Then, just before anyone could question why Jura was still trying so hard, they heard a muffled voice coming from the pile of rubble.
"[Metal Magic: Giga Drill Break]."
A moment later, the stones facing Jura exploded outwards as Alfonzo, with a large metal drill rotating in front of his outstretched right fist, rushed forward towards Jura. Then, before Jura could react, the tip of the drill came to a stop less than an inch away from his chest.
With their eyes opened wide in surprise, all the wizards on the training grounds fell silent. The only source of sound being the drill mounted on Alfonzo's arm. Then, after several seconds, Jura was the one to break the silence.
"*Sigh* I yield." Jura said as he raised his hands in a sign of surrender.
With that, Alfonzo pulled his arm back, letting the drill dispel as he did so. Then, he smiled brightly while extending his right hand to Jura for a handshake.
"Good fight." Alfonzo said in a sincere tone. "That's the first time I've fought someone who uses [Earth Magic] the way you do."
"Indeed." Jura replied as he reached out to accept Alfonzo's handshake. Then, once he gripped Alfonzo's hand firmly, he continued. "You're actually the first practitioner of either [Metal Magic] or [Electromagnetism Magic] I've ever pitted my skills against. And I must say, I treasure the experience. Perhaps we can do this again once I've thought up a few counter measures."
"Sounds fun to me." Alfonzo replied while maintaining his smile as he and Jura released the handshake.
Hearing that short conversation and seeing the two shaking hands was enough to finally break the wizards of Lamia Scale out of their stunned silence.
"Jura... lost...?" A male wizard in his late teens stammered out.
That eventually led to all the other wizards from Lamia scale exclaiming in disbelief, as well. Naturally, the only exception was Ooba, who was far too experienced to panic over the outcome of a spar.
"That boy really is strong." Ooba muttered while the rest of her wizards lost their composure. "Makarov had been talking about how talented he was for years. For once, he wasn't exaggerating."
"Did you expect this to happen, Ooba Babasama?" Sherria asked in a confused tone.
"No... I can't say I expected it." Ooba replied while shaking her head gently. "But from what I've heard and the amount of magic power I can feel, it doesn't surprise me, either."
"What do you mean?" Sherria asked. "What have you heard about him?"
In response, Ooba went on to tell some of the stories Makarov used to tell while he was bragging about his children at the Annual guild Master's Meeting. However, she also mentioned that those stories should be taken with a grain of salt.
"Yeah, Master Makarov exaggerated quite a few of those stories." Ultear said while smiling wryly. "But Alfonzo was strong enough to subdue my mom without hurting her when she went on a rampage last year."
While Ooba was not surprised that Alfonzo had defeated Jura, hearing that he could subdue Ur without hurting her made her open her eyes wide in surprise.
"But from what I've heard, Ur should be on par with Makarov in terms of power, right?" Ooba asked, her disbelief seeping into her tone.
"Yeah, more or less." Ultear replied with a nod.
"Nothing less should be expected from one of Juvia's soul mates." Juvia said proudly.
Deciding to ignore the clearly delusional girl, Ooba turned her attention back to Jura.
"I see...I guess he's stronger than I thought." Ooba said calmly. A moment later, she turned her attention back to Ultear with a quizzical expression on her face. "But why would Ur have been rampaging in the first place?"
Though Ultear did not answer her question, the way she laughed made Ooba even more curious to know the answer.