When the Guild is having a party to celebrate Alex's return and Meteor Destroyer joining them, someone suddenly enters the Guild, taking everyone's attention. It's a red-haired little girl wearing iron armor and carries a sword on her waist.
"Oh, Erza, you've finished your job?" Makarov calls the little girl from the bar.
"Yes, Master. But what happens here? Why is it so loud?" The young Erza asks while looking at everyone who continues to dance and sing.
"Ah, we're celebrating someone's return. Here, let me introduce you. This is Alex, he was away for a year and has just returned. He also brought back a new member with him, Meteor Destroyer." Makarov points at Meteor Destroyer that is playing with Cana now.
"Huh? A puppy?" Erza seems quite happy seeing Meteor Destroyer.
"It's a bear cub." Cana corrects her while playing with Meteor Destroyer.
"What?"
"A bear cub. Meteor Destroyer is a bear."
It seems to stun Erza a bit, but she quickly gets over it and gets closer to look at Meteor Destroyer.
"Is she a new member?" Alex acts oblivious about Erza because he shouldn't know her yet by now.
"Yeah, she joined last year. Remember what you told me in Hargeon?"
"Hargeon? Ah, don't tell me-." Alex doesn't finish his sentence because Makarov quickly nods.
Well, he already knows that Erza was from the Tower of Heaven. But it seems what he told Makarov last year sometime after he worked for the Heartfilia family has changed how Erza escaped the Tower of Heaven.
"I will tell you about it later because you were the one who gave me the info. But for now, just don't mention anything about it. She has bad memories about that place." Makarov says it quietly so Erza won't hear about it.
"Alright." Alex nods in understanding.
He then introduces himself to Erza who already seems strict like her older self. Though she still doesn't look as overwhelming. She's actually quite shy or maybe awkward talking with new people. Maybe because it hasn't been long since she was saved.
Anyway, the party continues with Meteor Destroyer being the star of this party. Everyone just wants to cuddle the fur ball while it's still very small and cute. Once it grows, they won't be able to play this freely with it, after all.
Meteor Destroyer's growth is also one of Alex's concerns. Once it grows big enough, he would need to find a place big enough for it. But before that, he already has a problem with where this little guy will stay.
"Huh? A bear?" The dorm keeper is stunned when seeing Meteor Destroyer.
Alex asks if he can keep Meteor Destroyer in the dorm to the dorm keeper. But obviously, even the old dorm keeper doesn't know if he should allow it or not.
"Please, Sir! Just until he is a little bigger. Maybe until he's the size of a dog."
"He is already as big as a dog though."
"I mean big dogs, not the small ones."
"But what if he breaks stuff in the dorm. We surely don't have rules about pets, but that's because no one here has a pet. There are many things we need to think about when keeping pets like sound, poop, piss, and even safety."
"Well, you are right about that. So I actually have an idea. What if you let me keep him with me in the room while he is still small. Then when he gets bigger, I will prepare a place for him outside, maybe near the front door."
"Are you planning to make him a kind of Guard Dog?" The dorm keeper raises an eyebrow.
"Bingo! You catch up fast. A bear as a guard, don't you think thieves wouldn't even think twice to run away?"
"Hmm, it sure will be scarier than dogs, but will it be safe for our people? What if he attacks just anyone?"
"As you can see, even Master has approved him to be a Guild member. While it means he can use Magic so he can be a member, it's also because he is intelligent and can understand us. Master won't make him a member if he doesn't at least have that much intelligence, after all, because he can endanger the Guild members if he is just a wild bear. So he should be able to differentiate between good and bad guys that come here."
"Hmm, well, if he can at least recognize the residents here, then it should be fine. Master Makarov also approves of him, so I will allow it. But remember! The dormitory rules also apply to him and if he hurts the residents or innocent town's people, then both of you need to leave."
"Don't worry, Sir! I will make sure he becomes a really good boy."
Meteor Destroyer is finally allowed to stay in the dorm with Alex now. But he knows this kid will grow very fast, so he needs to think of the place he'll make for Meteor Destroyer quickly.
The next day, Alex takes Meteor Destroyer to walk around the town to familiarize the little bear with it and the other way around, to familiarize people with the bear, so they won't be too shocked when he grows much bigger.
Alex also wants to buy a collar for Meteor Destroyer to show that it's a pet. It has a big white Fairy Tail symbol on its back, but having a collar will make it more recognizable.
As Meteor Destroyer will grow bigger very quickly, Alex needs to buy collars that can match its growth. So the collars are the belt-type collars as their sizes can be changed.
To make the collars noticeable, Alex buys the ones with bright colors because Meteor Destroyer has brown fur. So he buys white, blue, yellow, red, green, and some more that can be seen clearly on the brown fur.
For now, he only takes 1 collar to be put on Meteor Destroyer right away. The rest of the collars can only be taken next week because they are customs.
Alex ordered big collars for when Meteor Destroyer grows bigger and most of these collars are just for dogs or cats which are too small for Meteor Destroyer, so he needs to order custom collars.
Also, because they are customs, he can use his own designs for them. Though he still chooses from the store's main designs and just asks them to add Fairy Tail's symbol and Meteor Destroyer's name on the collars to fully show the bear's identity.
Other than looking for collars, Alex also looks for dog houses. Of course, they will be too small for Meteor Destroyer when he grows bigger, but just like with the collars, he can order a customized house for the bear.
Alex just bases the size on Jack Bear's average adult size. But Alex still makes it a little bigger to make Meteor Destroyer more comfortable when he lives in the house in the future.
Then Alex also buys books about Jack Bears to learn how he can raise Meteor Destroyer properly. He also buys some necessities for Meteor Destroyer like food and shampoo. Alex really goes all out to take care of his pet as if raising his own child.
Meteor Destroyer quickly becomes the town's celebrity and the Fairy Tail Mages are also very fond of him. They often give him food so they can cuddle him. It's good for Alex because it reduces his expenses for the little guy.
Alex always brings Meteor Destroyer on his jobs too. He has started taking jobs again now because he misses doing jobs as a Mage after so long. When he was in the Heartfilia Konzern, he never got any dangerous jobs even though he wanted to fight.
So now he takes rather dangerous jobs like subjugation of Magical Creatures or bandits. Sometimes he takes the jobs with the other young members like Laxus, Gray, Cana, Erza and even Mest that still hasn't infiltrated the Magic Council.
Then soon, the time to open the Eclipse Gate finally comes. But on 7 July X777, Alex is working on a job quest to subjugate a Manticore, a winged Lion magical creature. It takes over an iron mine to be its den and killed some miners in the process.
Alex does the job just with Laxus and Meteor Destroyer. Manticore is a strong monster and it's too dangerous for the other young Mages at their current levels. Also, they need to fight in a mine, a closed space that can collapse and bury them, making it much more dangerous.
That's why when fighting it, Alex transforms into his humanoid Shukaku form just in case the mine collapses. He restrains the Manticore by binding its legs so it can't move while Laxus attacks it with lightning.
The Manticore is so strong that Alex needs to put all his focus on binding its legs with his sand. He also needs to block its wind magic attacks that it can shoot from its mouth and wings. Alex focuses on stopping its movements and blocking its attacks so Laxus can focus on attacking.
Laxus bombards it with powerful lightning spells, but it still hasn't fallen even after 15 minutes and Laxus almost exhausts his magic power. They manage to kill it eventually, but it really makes them exhausted.
They swear they won't take any jobs that involve Manticore until they become S-Classes. When saying that, Alex is reminded about the event that happens today, the arrival of the Dragon Slayers from the past.
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Ch. 103: Phantom Lord