The job that Makarov assigns to Alex is escorting a young noble boy going back home from Magnolia to the Capital city after doing some business. It should be faster and easier to just use the train, but the young noble boy stubbornly wants to use the normal road with carriages.
All because the boy wants to stop by in a forest to look for a kind of flower. He doesn't say what kind of flower he wants and stubbornly wants to get it himself even though his guards say he can hire some Mages to get it for him because the forest is full of dangerous Magical Beasts.
The boy is a little younger than Alex, but he already represents his family doing some business. This means this kid is smart and wise enough to do what adult nobles usually do. So Alex can't understand why this kid is so stubborn about getting this flower himself.
But Alex knows why Makarov sends him instead of another Mage. Among all Guild Members, Alex is the most sensible, knows manners, and his age is also close with the client. He also has decent power and abilities to guard the noble in the dangerous forest.
Though because of his age, the noble's knights are doubting whether he really can guard them in the forest. For an unknown reason, the noble only hires 1 Mage, after all. So the knights were hoping for a strong-looking Mage.
"Does Fairy Tail really send you?" The knight Captain asks while frowning when Alex comes to the mansion that the noble uses to stay in Magnolia.
"Why? Do you think I'm not enough?" Alex knows that they are doubting his abilities, but he can understand why.
"Well, I mean....." The Knight Captain doesn't know how to say that Alex looks weak.
"You look really weak, that's what the Captain wants to say." Suddenly, the noble boy shows up and blatantly says what the Captain wants to say.
"I figure as much, but Guild Master sent me after reviewing the difficulty and the purpose of your Quest, so I'm sure I can handle the job just fine. It's just exploring a forest, right? You can say that's my specialty. I believe I'm better in a forest exploration than anyone available in the Guild right now."
They still don't believe what Alex says, obviously.
"Well, I don't know how to prove the other things now, but I can show you my fighting abilities if you want." Alex just wants to get over this and does the job quickly.
"I request for a Mage who is as strong or stronger than a Knight Squad because we are about to enter a dangerous forest. So if you want to prove your abilities, then you need to fight my Knight squad." The noble boy really seems too mature and smart for his age, seeing from the way he talks and acts.
"Sure, call your knights." Alex smirks because this has gotten fun so suddenly.
They do the fight in the backyard. There are 15 knights in the squad, including the Captain. They seem hesitant to fight a kid like Alex, but an order is an order.
"Hey, kid, you better give up when you have the chance. We won't do anything if you just return to your Guild and ask them to send a capable Mage. We don't want to hurt a child like you. Just so you know. We are trained to fight Mages, so it won't go as you expected it to be." The Captain seems really worried because Alex is around the same age as his son, so he is really worried.
"It's okay, just come to me."
The Knight Captain sighs and orders his men to attack. They can't disobey their Master's order and they've given Alex the chance to give up, but he refuses, so they can only attack him as ordered now.
Meanwhile, the noble boy is watching from the side with a Maid standing behind him. Meteor Destroyer is sitting near him. Actually, the noble boy is the one who stands near Meteor Destroyer because he wants to pet the bear cub, but he is afraid that it will bite him, so he just stands there.
The Knights attack Alex from different sides with their spears and swords. Alex moves nimbly to avoid their attacks and slides under a knight's legs. He kicks the knight's knee from behind, making the man fall backwards.
Then he hits the falling knight's lower jaw from the side when the man falls, knocking him out. Alex then jumps very high and kicks another knight's head from behind very strongly.
He uses the kick's momentum to dodge a spear. But he grabs the spear's handle and pulls himself toward the attacker. Alex dropkicks the spearman from above right on the face, making the man release the spear, so now Alex has a spear.
Alex breaks the spear head and only uses its wood handle as a wooden staff. He deflects a sword from the left with its broken tip before hitting the swordsman's stomach from the side with the other end.
His hit is so strong it actually sends the swordsman fly a few meters to the side with a dented armor. But the wooden staff is also broken. All his attacks so far have knocked out the knights, so 4 knights are out already.
Alex keeps moving agilely to avoid the Knights' attacks and hits them with strong punches or kicks. He doesn't even use his magic, only pure fighting abilities. Yet he already overpowers the knights very easily, leaving only the Captain in the end.
"So, do you want to fight me too or we've done enough?" Alex asks the Knight Captain while pushing the last knight he knocks out with a knee kick on the stomach.
"..... I thought you were a Mage."
"Why would I waste my magic power when I don't need to?"
"I see. We have no doubt about your power now that you've defeated my men even without magic. But we still need to see if you really are a good Mage."
The Captain suddenly holds his sword horizontally in front of him. Then he touches the blade with his left hand while his right hand holds the hilt. Suddenly, a red magic circle appears under the Knight Captain's feet, surprising Alex.
"Fire Magic: The Knight of Fire!"
After he chants it, the Captain's body is covered with fire that quickly shapes into a full body armor. His sword is also covered with fire, making him look like a Fire Human, or in this case, a Fire Knight.
"So you are a Mage. Sigh, I should've checked. No wonder I felt something strange from you. But damn, that really looks cool." Alex didn't try to sense magic power from anyone here, so he doesn't know that the Captain is a Mage.
"Now show us your magic, young Mage, or you will be defeated." The Captain gets ready to fight with his Fire Magic.
Alex actually wants to fight the Captain without using his magic, but it seems they really want to see his magic. Also, Matatabi is somehow very intrigued with the Captain's Fire Magic, so Alex decides to transform into Matatabi, but in her cat form with the size of a tiger.
"So you are a Transformation Magic user. But what kind of beast is that? I've never seen it." The Captain is very curious about the type of beast that Alex is transforming into.
Meanwhile, the noble boy looks very excited to see Alex use his magic. This kid is actually a magic enthusiast and really likes Magic. He also can use some simple magic, but he doesn't really want to go on a path of being a Mage and only loves to study things about magic.
Back to the fight, the Knight Captain finally moves to attack Alex. He charges and swings his blazing sword diagonally from below. Alex grins and stops it with his right front paw.
It surprises the Captain who's sure that he has used a lot of power for that swing. He pulls his sword back and then swings it as strong as he can from above. But Alex blocks it with one of his 2 Tails without any problem.
The Captain tries to use different attacks. He even uses kicks sometimes but all of his attacks are blocked by Alex and his fire doesn't affect Alex at all. This level of Fire Magic won't affect Alex who uses Matatabi's power because he is basically the fire itself now.
After defending the Captain's attacks for a while, Alex finally decides to attack. Matatabi has done analyzing the Captain's Fire Magic, after all. It's the reason she was excited to fight, because she wanted to learn more about this world's Fire Magic, and now she has understood the Captain's Fire Magic.
So there's no use in continuing the fight anymore. Alex ends it easily by slapping the Captain's body that's protected with the fire armor using a Tail. It sends the Captain flies quite far until he crashes onto the wall and breaks it.
The Captain faints from the impact and his Fire Magic is dispelled. Alex also returns to his normal form. He doesn't even drop a sweat yet and the fight is already over.
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Ch. 105: Silly Weakness