Chapter 10: Chapter 10: A Risky Bet

Running toward Capricorn, I jumped in a try to hit him; however, he raised his leg to kick me.

But my left palm came down quickly to touch his knee and use the momentum to get up until I was face to face with him.

My right fist went to his nose, but he dodged, moving to the side, and a second later, his fist hit my stomach and sent me flying a few meters.

Still, when my back touched the ground, I used the momentum to roll and quickly regain balance.

"You moved your body back an instant before the blow hit you fully, and you managed to reduce the power". He said with a calm tone before smiling. "But it wasn't enough, was it?"

He was right, and the bruise on my torso was the proof of that; that first exchange proved to me that his reflexes were better than mine, but even so, I smiled back and turned it into a real laugh a second later.

And this puzzled and disgusted him if the frown on his face was an indication.

"What is so funny?"

"No, I'm sorry, it's just that with this first exchange of blows, I checked it; I don't know much about celestial spirits beyond what I found in the books and how little I asked Lucy and Miss Layla". I said, clearly noting how it bothered him that I named Lucy's mother.

"But everything pointed to the 12 zodiac spirits being the strongest, and your abilities are not very surprising. Just look at me, a wounded child can exchange blows with you, but Capricorn is powerful, right? So that only means you are so weak that you cannot take advantage of his strength as it should be". I said with a smile.

The answer was immediate; I could hear his teeth grinding because of how much he clenched them; this time, he was the one who came to me at full speed.

"When this end, you will never speak again". He growled while directing his fist to my face, and I received him with a new sword in my hand, but he quickly changed the direction of his fist, and the sword collided with a golden bracelet on his wrist.

After that, he launched a horizontal kick, I backed away, avoiding it by only the thickness of a hair, and giving a turn, I ducked to make a sweep to the only leg that was on the ground.

He jumped, avoiding the blow and his other foot came down in an ax kick, I took distance again, but apparently, he was faster than I had expected, and his heel superficially hit the left side of my head.

I could hear a buzzing in my ear, feel a small stream of liquid fall down the side of my head and notice how my vision blurred for a couple of seconds.

I couldn't beat him in a direct confrontation, at least not in a conventional way; the fluidity of his movements was not complete, most likely because he was not used to having such speed or strength, but his physical stats made up for it well enough for him to outmatch me.

"I'm sorry, that was close, but you failed again". I said mockingly, his brow furrowing a bit. "Are you sure that with your poor skills, you can beat me? This is fine as a warm-up, but if you don't give me a better challenge, then you should turn around and run with your tail between your legs"

Once again, his frown showed how his annoyance did not stop growing; taking one last breath and swallowing the annoyance from my own words, I mentally apologized to Layla and said. "Because someone like you won't be able to serve Layla; what's more, even if you now know that I left her in a coma on purpose, what will you do? You are unable to save her". I finished my spiel with the most twisted smile I could.

The reaction was instantaneous; the goat's fists clenched to the point that I could see how the white fur was dyed red, he growled, showing me his teeth, and I could see some veins both on his arms and on his neck and head.

"BASTARD! I KNEW YOU JUST WANTED TO HURT LADY LAYLA; I'LL KILL YOU!!!" He screamed and ran towards me, his speed was considerably higher than before, and his fist flew in the direction of my face.

I leaned my body to the right, although a new burning in my cheek let me know that I did not avoid the blow completely, and before I could launch a counterattack, his other fist hit my injured side, knocking me off balance.

Instinctively my hand went to cover the injured place until a kick landed on my cheek, lifting me off the ground and spinning me in the air.

A taste of copper filled my mouth as a sword appeared in my hand and stabbed into the ground to stop my movement.

Without waiting to regain my sense of orientation completely, the sword let out a large mass of smoke to give me a few seconds and thus be able to stabilize myself again.

Retreating once more, a blast of air dispersed the smoke when I was 8 meters from my previous position.

Instantly, several daggers materialized between my fingers, and when the figure of Capricorn was visible, I threw them in his direction. Still, he evaded all of them as he kept running toward me.

When he was in front of me, a new sword was in my hands, swinging in his direction, the goat ducked, avoiding the cut.

His hand reached out and held mine, immobilizing it along with the sword that I had; my free hand formed a fist that pointed to his face, but his palm also stopped that hit.

Our gazes met for a second until his leg raised, striking my chin and lifting me into the air, my eyesight flickered black several times, but I clenched my teeth and used the momentum to swing my foot and give the goat an equal kick.

Apparently, this was effective because I felt how my foot collided with something before falling backward on the ground.

Despite my daze, I got up as fast as I could and, while staggering, saw the humanoid goat stand and look at me as he ran the back of his hand across his mouth to wipe away a small red smudge on it.

"That is all? You are a weakling; if you can only do that, then it is obvious that you could not protect Layla". Even with my vision a little blurry and my head spinning, I decided to push him a bit more.

And the result was the sight of knuckles about to hit my face.

Fortunately, I was expecting something like that, so I was able to pull my body back, letting the fist pass over me.

My left palm touched the ground to give me a foothold. At the same time, in the right hand, a dagger materialized that went toward the goat's stomach. Still, before the attack reached him, a hairy hand held my wrist, stopping the advance of the weapon.

Capricorn dug his feet to the ground to stop his advance and threw me above him, I found myself flying as I watched him run to where I would fall, but when he was halfway there, something exploded at his feet.

I found myself smiling; it was not how I wanted it to happen, but it wasn't bad either.

The daggers I had thrown at him earlier had been created so that they would "activate" after a specific time, sinking underground and transforming into land mines.

And with a quick estimate, I could tell that about 30 little bombs now surrounded Capricorn.

At that moment, the spirit jumped out of the cloud of smoke, avoiding the bombs and heading towards me to punch me.

Being in the air, it would be impossible for me to dodge an attack like that, or at least it would be if I hadn't created a sword that fired a blast of air strong enough to move me a few meters away and slightly slow my fall.

When my feet touched the ground, Capricorn had also landed; we quickly ran one in the direction of the other, with me throwing daggers one after another.

And he, dodging them while some brushed him from time to time.

When I entered his range of attack, he threw a fist at my chest, but I dodged it by moving slightly to the side.

And raising my left arm, I wrapped his fist between my arm and my torso to throw myself back and pull him.

He lost his balance, and when my back hit the ground, the soles of my feet hit his chest to throw him over me.

Hurrying not to give him a chance to get up, I jumped, intending to hit him with an ax kick, but he raised his own feet, stopping my attack with his right and kicking me in the face with his left.

The stars filled my vision for a moment, and I fell to the ground.

All my sight was spinning, and in the middle of that, I seemed to hear the footsteps of the goat approaching, so I tried to lift myself, a new sword in each of my hands, but before I swung them, two hands took my wrists and lifted me in the air.

I tried to get away with a kick, but his arms pulled me far enough that my growing legs couldn't reach him.

"It's over". He said as I squeezed my wrists with more force, a scream came out of my throat, and my hands opened, the swords fell, and before they touched the ground, they vanished.

"That ability of yours is annoying, but it will no longer save you". He said with venom in his voice as he tightened my wrists more.

My screams increased in volume until a kick to my stomach took the air out of me; my mouth opened and closed in a futile attempt to get oxygen to my lungs.

"This is what you get for hurting her; this time, you definitely will become a puppet and-". He was saying with a smile until his expression changed suddenly, going from happy to surprise and disgusted in less than one second.

My eyes barely registered it with my mind concentrating on the pain, but that was the signal I had been waiting for.

From my feet came two swords that stuck in the shadow of Capricorn, he froze for an instant, and after that, with great difficulty, he squeezed my wrists even tighter than before.

My mouth opened, but this time it was not to scream; a new sword was created in front of my face, my jaw closed, and my teeth clenched the handle as I used the pain I felt as an impulse to get a better grip.

My neck turned, and the blade dug into the goat's chest before it began to glow together with the body of Capricorn.

Finally, the fatigue and pain overcame me, the swords in the shadow of Capricorn disappeared, the goat's hands released me, and I fell to the ground.

Raising my head a little, I saw how Capricorn took his head while he screamed, and after that, a dark mist was expelled from his body.

That cloud then took the form of Zoldeo. "W-what did you do". He asked after falling to the ground.

"T-the sword I stabbed you with… it was the same one I used to free myself from your magic… I wouldn't have been able to beat you in a head-on fight… so I provoked you so that you attacked me with everything you had and to lower your guard when you thought you had defeated me… then I threw daggers at you filled with a paralyzing agent… and even though it cost me a beating… in the end… I won". I said, smiling.

"Y-you!!!" He got up with difficulty and then ran towards me, but before he reached me, a figure appeared, stopping his advance.

My eyes began to close due to fatigue, and before I was unconscious, a few last words came out of my mouth. "Please, I'll leave you the rest... Capricorn"

"Leave it to me, Jean-sama"

And then everything went black.

#####

"That wretch!!!" Zoldeo yelled before stretching his hands towards Capricorn, who was on guard between him and Jean.

"I only have-". His words were interrupted when his chest tightened, and he fell to the ground.

Capricorn relaxed his posture a bit as he looked at the man, waiting for what was about to happen.

And while the wizard still clutched his chest, his body began to fade little by little.

"N-no, why I can't use my magic?!! No, I don't want to disappear,  LADY LAYLAAAA!!!!!" He screamed when finally his body completely disappeared, dropping a golden key.

Capricorn looked at all this with a severe expression and then turned around, he could see Grammi was pressing Jean's side while she looked at everything with a scared expression.

"W-what happened to him?" She asked with a noticeable tremor in her voice.

"That happened because he broke the taboo of his magic; he should not have been able to control me because I am not human, but even so, he forced it, and we ended up merging; that is taboo, and when Jean-sama separated us, he paid the consequences"

"T-that's right; we must go back to take him to the hospital; Jean is injured!!" Grammi said as she kept pressure where she had put her blouses.

"Leave it to my Grammi-sama, I will give him first aid; meanwhile, please retrieve my key; after that, we will go to the hospital". The spirit answered while putting pressure on where Jean received the cut, Grammi nodded and got up to walk to where Zoldeo had been; there, on the ground, was the golden key of Capricorn, Grammi took it and returned with the child and the spirit.

"Do you have any other clothing I can use to bandage the wound? The ones you used before are already too stained". The goat spoke, Grammi nodded and hurried to take out a brown scarf while the spirit removed the red-stained blouses and the boy's shirt; however, instead of a constant flow of blood, they both saw that although the wound was still open, it was smaller than they believed and almost did not bleed.

"B-but Jean was bleeding much earlier; it can't be that the wound and the blood flow have been reduced in just a few minutes"

Capricorn's eyes went to the necklaces that the young man had on his neck; his eyes narrowed, and his mind reproduced a certain conversation that he, Cancer, and Aquarius had a while ago with Layla.

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At that moment, the three spirits were next to Layla as they watched through a window as Lucy tried to catch Jean.

The boy was running while the little blonde was chasing him, and by running while looking back, the brown-hair boy tripped with the water fountain, falling inside it only to get his head out of the water a couple of seconds later.

While they watched as Lucy laughed and touched Jean's head to catch him, someone spoke.

"That boy is weird"

"What do you mean, Aquarius?" Asked the blonde woman to the water spirit.

"Layla-sama, the connection that Jean-sama has with the spirits is quite high". The goat answered for her partner.

"And that's not all, ebi". Added the crab-man looking at Aquarius for her to continue.

"His compatibility with spirits is high, if he were a wizard of celestial spirits, maybe he could even reach the level of Anna, but if we compare that with the affinity he has for aquatic spirits, the difference would be abysmal, with those spirits the child has the highest affinity that I have ever seen, it is so much that even the little spirits that are not yet fully formed happily heal him and reestablish his energy every time he comes into contact with some mass of water without him even asking"

"Do you think he could form a contract with you, Acuario?" Layla asked curiously.

"That's impossible, Ebi"

"Yes, after all, we are your spirits, Layla-sama"

"And even if it weren't, I don't feel a trace of ethernano in the child's body; it's not like normal people who can't use magic, they have their containers, even though they are small, and that's why not everyone can use magic, but the child's body does not attract it at all"

"Is that so? From what I felt, I believed that he would have a low capacity, but for him not to absorb ethernano at all, Jean is really a mystery"

#####

"Then you learned to take advantage of your ability, right Jean-sama?" The spirit asked, seeing the navy blue sword on the boy's neck constantly spilling water.

"Well, there is no time to lose Grammi-sama; jean-sama's state is a blessing, so let's make the most of it and take him to the hospital as soon as possible". Said the goat-man carrying Jean in his arms and then bowing. "Please get on my back and hold on tight; I'll go as fast as possible"

The confused woman clung to the spirit, and he ran at full speed along the same path where Jean and Grammi had been walking.

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X777 July 16

"Then both faced each other, each one would try to find the other, and neither of the two could let the other know his face; it was a confrontation where power or strength did not matter, only intelligence and perhaps luck would decide who would be the winner, and at that moment they both made the same statement, both proclaimed themselves as the justice who would hunt the evil that stained the world". I said, raising my arms while Lucy seemed excited entirely by my story.

"That was incredible; L was able to fool Kira!! Now he knows what city he is in; after this, he will catch him, right?" She said with her fists clenched and bouncing with excitement.

"Believe me, Lucy, never claim victory until the end, otherwise you can get a very bitter surprise, L understand that, that's why I said that this fight would be decided by intelligence and luck, one can be very clever, but a stroke of luck can change everything"

"Yes, but isn't L smarter than Kira? After all, he managed to fool him"

"Well, that could be because at that time, Kira didn't know how smart L was, and he underestimated him, but from now on, no one will underestimate the other; now, we take a break? I'm a little thirsty, so let's have a drink, and then before continuing, we still have time, so you don't need to worry; I promised you that I would stay a little longer today, right?"

"Okay"

"Also, Mom made me take a break from my training for a couple more days". I complained in a low voice as we walked towards the entrance of the mansion, Grammi told me that yesterday after I fainted, how Capricorn protected me from Zoldeo until he began to disappear for committing a kind of taboo of his magic.

And when I found out about that, I felt a chill go through my whole body and an emptiness in my stomach.

I was one of those directly responsible for the man's disappearance, and I did not know how to feel.

On the one hand, he tried to kill Grammi, brainwash me, and take possession of the body of Capricorn.

But on the other hand, he was still a person, a human who saw his life interrupted by my intervention; and I never intended for him to die.

But when I started to hyperventilate and my chest started to close up while I was in the hospital bed, a furry hand touched my shoulder.

Looking up, I could see Capricorn looking at me. "Jean-sama, please don't make that expression"

"Eh?"

"It's not okay to blame yourself for what you did; if you hadn't done it, then probably none of us would be here now". He continued to speak as he pointed to himself and Grammi, who was also in the room.

"B-but I"

"You did what you should, have you thought what might have happened if Zoldeo-sama managed to defeat you?"

"..."

"He would have murdered me". Grammi spoke as she took a few steps forward.

"Not only that, he might have used you to attack the Heartfilia house in an attempt to force Layla-sama to wake up"

"Even with what I said in the fight, do you still think I saved Miss Layla?"

"How could I doubt you if it was Aquarius herself who told us what you did for Layla-sama? The 12 of us know what you did for her, and although not all were her spirits, her sacrifice touched everyone's heart, so we couldn't be more grateful to you; you have our support for whatever you need"

"So you want me to forget what I did?"

At that moment, a hand was placed on mine; turning to the other side, I could see Grammi looking at me with a smile.

"We do not want that; we just want you not to ignore all the good things you did; thanks to you, I will be able to return to my daughter even when I had already resigned myself to dying at that time; I am very grateful to you Jean, for saving Lady Layla and for saving me"

Their attempts to cheer me up touched me, but even so, I didn't know what to say, so I just tried to smile resignedly and repeated the exact words Grammi had said to me when we left Heartfilia mansion.

"Even if I'm not entirely convinced, if you say something like that, I feel like I don't have much of a choice; thank you very much, both of you"

Feeling a tug on my sleeve, my attention returned to the present time when Lucy asked with a curious expression. "Jean, why are you always training? Is it to help my mom?"

"Well, partly yes, but..." I hesitated for a moment; until now, only my mother and my uncle knew of my intentions to go on an adventure trip, not because it was a secret, it was actually because there was no real reason to tell everyone I knew, and no one had asked me what I wanted to do in the future.

"Do you remember the story of Goku when he was a child and met Bulma?"

"Yes, they traveled all over the world to find the dragon balls"

"Exactly, I want to make a similar trip when I grow up"

"Are you going to go search for the dragon balls?!!!"

She asked excitedly, and I couldn't help but laugh at her assumption.

I doubted that something as convenient as dragon balls existed in this world, and even if they did, I haven't something like a radar to search for them, although if I found one, maybe I could make a sword to find the rest.

"Not exactly; I want to go on a trip to see the world, to live adventures in the same way that Goku did, I want to meet strong people with different types of magic, and to do something like that, I need to be very strong to face any problem that I may find, that's why I always train, so that when my trip begins I can go without worrying my mother and my uncle"

I told her as we got to the door of her house, where Capricorn was waiting for us with a couple of glasses of orange juice on a tray.

After we left the hospital, Grammi handed the golden key to Lucy, and they both formed a contract.

And although I offered to accompany Grammi once again, my uncle gave me a karate blow to the head.

After that, he told me to obey my mother and rest, that he would take a day off and accompany Grammi to the train station to ensure nothing would happen to her.

"Here you have Lucy-sama, Jean-sama". Said the spirit, bending down for us to take the glasses. "Are you enjoying your storytime, Lucy-sama?" He asked the girl.

"Um". She nodded as she drank the juice. "Jean's stories are always entertaining; when I grow up, I'll write a funny story too". She stated confidently.

"That's good; I'll be waiting to read that story, and when you publish it, make sure you sign the copy that I will buy."

"Yes". The little blonde replied happily.

"Now, let's get on with the story". I said, leaving the now empty glass on the tray that Capricorn had.

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Standing in the pond, I breathed slowly to calm my mind; my hands moved slowly in front of me as a sword formed between them.

I had decided; I was still afraid, I still had doubts, but I decided that I would accept them, I would accept them without letting them stop me from moving forward.

And while I felt the natural energy and the malice accumulating in the weapon, I also felt the small sword hanging at the height of my chest.

"Now, let's start with this". I said, encouraging myself as I changed the sword so it would work as a link between me and all the energy it had accumulated.

---

Ok, that was the last chapter of this part of the story.

About the fight, it was evident that in her current state, Jean never stood a chance against Zoldeo in a physical fight, even if we factor in the fact that he shouldn't be as strong as he was in the Tenrou Island arc because he wasn't used to the physical capabilities that the Capricorn body had.

Jean understood that, so he played dirty, putting him on his nerves by using Layla to set him up when he let his guard down.

Grimoire Heart is left without one of its members, Grammi is alive, and Jean is ready to continue his senjutsu training.

Chapter eleven will happen in the year X783, with an 18-year-old Jean ready to go on a trip.

Where will he go? Who knows, I can't say because it would be a spoiler.

But maybe, and I mean, even when I myself am the author, I'm not entirely sure if it will happen or not.

He may or may not meet a certain member of Fairy Tail (xxxxxxxx xxxxx).

I finally have my first donation on P-a-t-r-e-o-n; today was a very stressful day at work and at home; for at least 10 hours, there was no power in my apartment, and honestly, I could hardly post today, but when I turned on my pc and saw there was a donation in my P###### my day became much happier, thank you very much Jone119.

Remember that if you want to read what follows right now, you can go to my P-a-t-r-e-o-n (Rosasola); there are more chapters there, as well as some extra benefits, Ciao.

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