Chapter 23: Arc 1 – Now or Never: Chapter 23

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Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.

The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.

"Speech"

Time*

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Arc 1 - Now or Never: Chapter 23

20 minutes later*

I sidestep to the right as I evade Wendy's attack, where she cloaks one of her hands in a whirlwind and strikes me with her fingertips, leaving behind a trail of wind.

I continue to avoid being hit by Wendy's attacks with minimum movement. Thanks to relying on the space field and I didn't even need to look at Wendy with my eyes to know where she was going to attack and when she was going to attack.

Honestly, I could teleport rapidly instead of moving physically. But that would defeat the purpose of this training for both Wendy and me.

Wendy has a better figuring out the best time and place to attack. At the same time, I gained more experience in avoiding getting hit by adjusting how much movement is needed to evade the hits.

"Alright, I'll pick things up a bit. I'll give you a moment to see the next level you might face later on if they go all out." I told Wendy, who quickly backed off, which was a good decision. Since she would have been poorly hurt by what I'm about to do next.

I used my cheat to give me what I wanted.

Wendy cried out in pain as she hit the stomach with something.

"I don't know if people out there are foolish enough to explain their own magic and so on. But, keep this in mind. Please don't do it unless you're confident enough to handle those that studied your magic and counter you. Anyway, I used Bullet Magic, and the spell I used just now is Invisible Bullet. Shooting you with an invisible bullet that you can't see."

I recreated another technique from a character.

This is based on the move where one draws their gun at such a high speed that they can fire a bullet and holster the gun so fast that the enemy doesn't even see it. In my case: Drawing the Magic Circle is drawing the gun, and removing the Magic Circle before anyone could see it is the same as holstering the gun. Furthermore, unlike the original user, I can use Invisible Bullet from any angle.

Seriously make me question my past self for not recreating early on and among other things.

"I-Isn't-" Wendy winced in pain. "Isn't that unfair...?!"

"Life is unfair. You must deal with it, get better at it, or die trying." I shot another Invisible Bullet at Wendy, causing her head to snap to the side. "Just be glad I'm holding back, even more, to prevent you from being badly hurt." Honestly, I could easily kill Wendy because the Invisible Bullet can't even be detected. Making it the ultimate assassination spell. "You better start moving around and figure out a way to dodge these Invisible Bullets."

Even though Wendy is a child, a powerful Dragon Slayer Magic but she is still a child. If any canon enemy characters still exist and somewhat like their canon personality, then Wendy will need as much help as possible.

Although, there is a high chance of causing Wendy to have mental trauma after this is over. But that's a risk I'm willing to take since if it wasn't for Juvia, Erza, and me agreeing to check up on her during the job, then who knows what would happen to her later.

---

Hours later*

I whistle and am impressed seeing the level of destruction everywhere I see upon walking back to where Juvia and Erza are or are supposed to be, but all I see is ruin.

On my right shoulder, like a sack of potato, is the unconscious Wendy, who has been knocked around like crazy by the Invisible Bullets and has finally collapsed, exhausted, and fainted once I've stopped.

In hindsight, I could have used one of the Phandom Maidens or Phantom Soldiers to help train Wendy. Still, I forgot about them after getting a bit too excited about having something that may or may not be my go-to spell to deal with all my future enemies immediately whenever they start a monologue.

I looked around the ruins; I thought Bari would repair them by now unless she didn't want to until all of us were finished here or requested them to be restored.

100% failure of not finding Juvia and Erza within the next minute from now.

A minute later, the sound of explosions started getting closer to where I was.

I take a step back, then throw two Binding Cards and bound both Juvia and Erza to the ground. Stopping them from attacking each other any further.

"I got to say." I stare at Juvia and Erza; both are a mess. Their outfits are rags at this point, and I can see some bleeding here and there. "You two must have been stressed out, huh?" I can also see them no longer glaring at each other like they wanted to tear each other throats.

Both Juvia and Erza share a look before laughing at the same time.

What the hell? Did they bound over, beating the shit out of each other? I won't doubt if that's the case.

"Something that." Juvia smiled, then hiss in pain. "I wish it didn't involve me getting hurt, though."

"Same here." Erza nodded, acting like she wasn't in pain, but her body said otherwise with how she twitched.

"Well, it has been some time now. How about we take a break and do something else." I said to the girls, then looked around before using my cheat to make it so Bari would now hear us. "Bari, send us out."

Numerous unknown symbols surround us, blinding us with how bright they became and the next second when we regain back our sight. We're outside the artificial training arena, and Bari is standing exactly where she has been since the beginning.

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"Welcome back, Master Renato and everyone." Bari stares at us calmly, not one bit fazed by the difference in appearance between Juvia and Erza. Wendy has a few scratches and some tears on her clothes. Other than that, she is in better shape than the other two. "Would everyone like to have some refreshment?"

"That would be great, Bari." I hand Wendy over to her, "Mind help taking care of her until she wakes up?"

"Certainly, Master Renato. I shall be right back with the refreshment after treating Wendy. It shouldn't take me too long." Bari carries Wendy like a princess. Then disappear before our eyes, and at this point. I feel like she knows Teleportation Magic or has her means of using teleportation than through magic.

"By the way, Renato." Erza calls for my attention. "What did you do to Wendy to make her faint in the end?"

I recall the moment of me hunting down Wendy, who ran with all her might and cried her heart out—pleading for mercy for hours.

"I help her understand the true meaning of running for your life." I smile at Erza. Afterward, I use two Reconfiguration Cards on her and Juvia, healing them to 100% peak condition and repairing their outfits while I'm at it. "Later, I'll help her with other things to improve herself to face future opponents."

"I-" Erza tried to say something but became speechless. Then, let out a frustrated sigh. "I hope you're not planning on making Wendy go through something that pushes her to the edge of her life to make fast progress."

"Kind of half and half. I'll be teaching about theories as well." I avoid making eye contact with Erza.

"If you need help, Renato-sama. Juvia knows plenty of guides to become a better Mage." Juvia hugged me, smiling at me cheerfully. "But, Juvia knows Renato-sama has better methods."

"I have no words to describe what I'm feeling right now." Erza stared at Juvia and me blankly; even her eyes became larger and empty.

Fucking weird.

"Happy?" I give Erza a wry smile.

"No." Erza rolls her eyes at me.

"Here you go, Master Renato." Bari reappeared with a plate of refreshments and changed back to her regular day outfit. "Wendy has woken up and is waiting for everyone inside. I've also made tonight's dinner."

"Great, let's go inside, everyone." I said to everyone, then looked over to the pool. "Hey, Bari. Did Machio ever come out of the pool?"

"No, he is still down there." Bari replied.

"Should we be concerned?" Erza looks at everyone.

"Nah, he will be fine." I knew Machio would keep going no matter what and doing the impossible "But, to be on the safe side. Bari, if you deem it getting dangerous. Bring Machio out, even if it's against his will."

"As you command, Master Renato." Bari bowed to me before leading us back inside for dinner.

Juvia still didn't let go of my arm, which finally caused Erza to do the same with the other arm.

I am living the dream of having two hot girls in both arms.

---

A few hours later*

"Okay, I'm getting a little worry now." Juvia looks out the back windows, where Machio has yet to come out of the pool.

"The man could sure hold his breath." I am in absolute disbelief right now. But then again, anime logic and this is Machio we're talking about. The dude could do the impossible like nothing as long it's related to training.

"From what I can sense. Machio is still in no danger." Bari got looks from almost everyone that couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"Wait just a second..." Erza narrowed her eyes at Bari. "Is Machio even conscious right now?"

"No, he fainted after the 15-minute mark." Bari said in a calm voice. "Although, it seems Machio had somehow developed the ability to breathe underwater a few seconds later when he fainted. So he is just underwater this entire time. Still alive and well. He is one weird human."

"I don't even know why I'm surprised by this." I shake my head in annoyance more than anything else.

"Do you think he will train himself to be able to survive underwater for a long time?" Juvia asks everyone, "Also, should we get Machio out of the pool now we learn he is unconscious down there?"

"I mean, it would be wrong not to." Erza looks unsure. "Let's get him out and wait for him to wake up after pumping the water out of his stomach. Who knows if there would be any problems with having his stomach filled with pool water."

"Well, what are you guys waiting for?! Go get him out!" Carla shouted at us, yet she stayed where she was and did not get up to help out.

"Bari, go get Machio out of the pool." I order Bari, "And check if there is anything wrong with his body for staying underwater for a long time." I look over to Wendy. "Wendy, if you have any Healing Spells, that would be great."

"I have a couple, but I'll do my best." Wendy looks worried but is determined to help out.

"As you command, Master Renato." Bari disappears and reappears with a wet Machio in his muscular form still. Bari is carrying him single-handed without any problem.

"Juvia will help as well. And since it's involved with water, Juvia will have an easier time dealing with the problems if there are problems." Juvia already has a couple of Magic Circles created around her and has them float around Machio to help with whatever problems she may find.

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