Alex looks at the Guild building that still doesn't change while grinning. He walks closer while transforming into his humanoid Shukaku form. Then he slams the door open, surprising everyone who immediately looks at the door to see the sand raccoon monster standing there.
"RAWR!"
He roars very loudly as he steps into the Guild building. But suddenly he is tripped by a bottle rolling on the floor, making him fall on his face. The silence after the uncool falling entrance is deafening.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Um."
Everyone is at a loss of words. They don't know what has just happened and still don't realize that it's Alex because they haven't seen him for a year. Besides, not all of them are familiar with his beast forms, that's why he transformed just now, to surprise them, and it failed miserably.
Alex is also embarrassed to look at them, so he keeps lying on the floor in his humanoid Shukaku form. Even the little bear cub is confused by what has just happened and only sits behind the fallen Alex.
"AH! ISN'T THAT ALEX?" Gray is the first to recognize him.
"Oh, right, it's Alex." Cana also finally remembers him.
"Alex? Oh, he finally returns."
Everyone else finally remembers him now. Then they suddenly get silent for a while before bursting out laughing.
"HAHAHA! WHAT WAS THAT, ALEX? WERE YOU TRYING TO SCARE US?"
"IT WOULD HAVE WORKED IF YOU DIDN'T FALL, BUT MAN, YOU JUST NEED TO TRIP ON A BOTTLE, HAHAHA!"
"WHAT A FAILED SURPRISE!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY FAILED? THAT WAS ACTUALLY SPECTACULAR, HAHAHA!"
Everyone is making fun of his entrance and makes him pissed off. He immediately turns back to his human form and shouts angrily at them.
"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T EVEN RECOGNIZE ME FOR A WHILE. WHAT KIND OF GUILD MATES DON'T REMEMBER THEIR MATE JUST BECAUSE I LEFT FOR A YEAR?"
"Well, you should've shown your face once in a while so we won't forget."
"Yeah, and it's not like we can remember having a sand monster as a member."
The pissed off Alex quickly jumps at them and they start brawling as usual. Instead of getting a warm welcome as he was hoping for, Alex receives a chaotic welcome as per Fairy Tail's tradition.
"Hohoho, such a happy day. Hmm? A puppy?" Makarov enters the Guild and mistakes the little bear cub as a puppy.
"Ah, Master." Alex sneaks out of the fight he causes to greet Makarov.
The main cause of the fight has gone, but everyone is still fighting. They just want to hit someone at this point, don't care who.
"You've returned."
"Yes, just now. Ah, is it okay for me to keep a pet? I found this guy and decided to raise it." Alex points at the bear cub.
"No problem, just make sure to take care of it seriously. But it sure is a fat puppy. Where did you find it?" Makarov crouches to look at the cub.
"In the forest, it's a bear, after all."
"I see, a bear.... A BEAR?!" Makarov finally realizes that it's a bear cub.
Everyone stops fighting when they hear Makarov's scream. They quickly gather around the cub to see it too and they are surprised to see that it really is a bear cub.
"Kyaa! So cute."
Cana looks happy seeing the cute bear cub and tries to grab it. But the little guy is scared of her and runs to hide behind Alex.
"Hey, don't scare it like that." Gray reprimands Cana.
"B-but I just want to touch it."
"You should've approached it slowly. Suddenly jumping like that would scare any animals." Laxus is surprisingly quite knowledgeable about this kind of thing.
Alex picks up the little guy to calm it down. "Laxus is right. Most animals are wary of humans even if they are something like big lions. Even more so if they are smaller than us. Well, he'll get used to you guys sooner or later, so no need to worry."
"But it's a bear even though it's still a cub. Will it be okay to keep it as a pet?" Macao asks worriedly because a bear is still a bear, it's a wild animal.
"That's what I want to ask Master. Will it be okay to keep him with me? If not, then I can raise him in the forest until he's old enough to live on his own. He's still a newborn and his mother was dead, so I took him because he can't live on his own yet. I'll raise him until at least until he can hunt on his own."
Alex looks at Makarov because he needs the old man's permission to raise this little guy. If he can't raise it in the town, he'll raise it in the forest until it's old enough just as he says. Makarov seems to think seriously about this while looking at the bear cub.
"As I thought, this is a Jack Bear cub." Makarov says it while inspecting the cub's body.
"Huh? What's that?" Gray asks what everyone wants to ask.
"Jack Bear, a type of bear that has quite a lot of magic power and they can naturally use the most basic power enhancement to boost their overall power."
"What?! They can use magic even though they are just animals?"
"That's why they are also considered as Magical Creatures, sort of a mutated animal species. Though their magic is limited to power enhancement. Still, with it, they can increase their strength, speed, durability, the hardness of their bones and skin, and even their brain processing speed."
"Are you saying they are smart?" Laxus catches what Makarov says at the end.
"That's right, the Jack Bear is naturally smart. They are intelligent creatures, like most Magical Creatures. So depending on how it's taught and raised, it can be a friend or foe. That's why, Alex, I need to ask you. Can you raise it to be a good child, not a wild bear that will attack people when it's hungry?"
"I sure can." Alex answers without any hesitation.
He already knew that this little guy is a Jack Bear a while after finding it. Matatabi who has learned a lot of things from books found it out when they tried to see if it's a male or female.
Jack Bear looks very similar to normal bears, that's why it's difficult to differentiate them. The only way to tell if it's a Jack Bear or not is by checking its paws and the skin underneath its brown fur.
Their skin is black from head to back and white from stomach to feet. So people need to see past the thick brown fur to check it, which is a crazy thing to do if they meet the bear alive.
The easier way is by looking at its paws because Jack Bears have dark blue paws. But most people won't notice because the paws are hidden under their feet and sometimes dirt covers the paws.
Personality-wise, Jack Bears are not aggressive to humans. They are smarter than normal animals and know that if they harm humans, they will be hunted, so they tend to avoid humans and live far from human civilizations.
"Hmm, I guess it should be fine. There are many Mages who keep Magical Creatures as pets. But you need to raise it properly. It is a big responsibility to raise a living being, so are you sure you can do it?"
"Obviously. I've thought hard about it when I decided to raise this guy, so you don't need to worry, Master."
"Alright. Then that means he will be our new member, right? So let's give him our symbol." Makarov smiles before giving the little bear cub the Fairy Tail symbol.
"Oh, right. What's his name?" Cana asks curiously while the little bear is getting the Fairy Tail symbol from Makarov on its back.
Alex smiles smugly before telling them the cub's name that he has decided.
"Meteor Destroyer."
"..... What?" Everyone stops moving because they are shocked by the name. Even Makarov pauses in the middle of giving Meteor Destroyer its Fairy Tail symbol.
"Meteor Destroyer. Cool, right? He'll be so strong that he can even destroy meteors." Alex feels nothing wrong with that name and he is very proud of it too.
If Ultear hears it, she would be very glad that she was the one choosing Alex's name. He would have a very ridiculous name if he named himself at that time.
"Kyuuu!" The little bear also seems happy with its name.
"... Well, if you guys are happy with it." Makarov doesn't even want to talk about it anymore and just finishes putting the mark on Meteor Destroyer.
Now, Meteor Destroyer is officially a member of Fairy Tail. To celebrate it and Alex's return, the Guild throws a party.
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Ch. 102: Dragon Soul