Eros in Fairytail

Two months later, most of the Rune Knights left the city, while the rest continued to patrol, though they were rarely seen anymore. On many street stands, as well as in the guild itself, a new task appeared: "Investigate the case in the Eastern Forest." This mission was labeled A-rank, with a reward of one million precious.

When Eros saw this reward, he was tempted, even for a brief second, to turn himself in. However, he quickly dismissed the insane idea from his mind.

Two months passed, and Eros finished the first stage of his training and moved on to the second. Gildarts handed him a peculiar silver bracelet. The moment Eros put it on, he felt an immediate 10% outflow of magical power. Furthermore, the bracelet caused a constant drain of magical energy that exceeded his recovery rate. To make matters worse, all the drained magic was absorbed into the bracelet, which, in turn, increased the titan's weight by 15 kilograms.

Eros had the sudden urge to grab Gildarts by the neck for this, but the worst part was yet to come. The bracelet had another feature: each week, its weight increased by 5 kilograms. To make things even more infuriating, Gildarts left on a mission and disappeared without revealing when he'd return. Eros, lacking knowledge in artifacts and runes, couldn't remove the bracelet himself.

For almost four months, Eros endured these conditions. His physical training regime continued relentlessly because Gildarts, in his absence, left a note on the door of Eros's house. The note outlined a two-month training schedule and warned that if Gildarts didn't return in time, Eros should repeat the exercises from the beginning.

Eros cursed Gildarts daily, especially after returning home battered and bruised from sparring with Monkey. Still, there were some upsides. Lily gained daily combat practice, and Eros found an unlikely ally in Makarov, who promised to help him exact revenge on Gildarts.

For four months, Eros lived with one burning thought: to beat up Gildarts. This sole motivation kept him going and pushed him forward.

Finally, the day arrived that Eros had been eagerly anticipating for months—Gildarts returned to the guild.

The ringing of bells was the sweetest sound Eros had ever heard. When the earth shook, a terrifying grin spread across his face. Upon seeing it, some mages felt a chill of fear and instinctively backed away. Moments later, Gildarts entered the guild. The tall, muscular man with reddish-orange hair combed back and a rugged stubble walked in confidently.

A good-natured smile played on his lips. "Hello, everyone..."

Before he could finish, something shocking happened. A giant fist flew out from the crowd and struck Gildarts squarely, sending him flying out of the guild like a bullet.

"Thank you, Master!" Eros shouted, grinning as he bolted out of the guild at full speed.

"Make sure to give him a good punch!" Makarov called out with satisfaction.

"YES!" Eros shouted back.

The rest of the guild stared at Makarov in stunned silence, unable to process what had just happened.

"So, you've come to greet your beloved mentor?" Gildarts asked, brushing the dust off his cloak. "And you even conspired with the Master..." He dodged Eros's fist with ease. "I take it you're mad at me?" He dodged again and blocked another strike. "Let me finish speaking, will you?"

"You old bastard!" Eros roared. "That bracelet nearly killed me! And now you're cracking jokes?" He attacked with all his fury, but Gildarts blocked his every move with an almost playful ease.

"You're the one who wanted to get stronger as quickly as possible," Gildarts replied calmly.

"Stronger? STRONGER?! NOT A CRIPPLE!"

"Well," Gildarts countered, "you have gotten stronger. Your speed, even with a 100-kilogram weight, is equal to what it was without any weight four months ago."

He deflected Eros's strike to his jaw with his right hand, a blow to his stomach with his left, and then blocked a kick aimed at his most vulnerable area. "HEY! No need to hit there!"

"You don't need it anymore anyway!" Eros retorted angrily, aiming for the same spot again. Gildarts swatted him aside effortlessly, sending him crashing into a tree and knocking it over.

"That's not your decision to make," Gildarts said with a chuckle as he approached Eros. Removing the bracelet from Eros's wrist, he immediately blocked a punch that stopped just a centimeter from his face. "Your speed is impressive, but it's still not enough to catch me off guard."

"Is that so?" Eros's expression darkened as he locked eyes with Gildarts. "Do you know why I'm truly angry, teacher?"

The sudden seriousness in Eros's tone caught Gildarts off guard, making him wary.

"Let me tell you a story," Eros said, his voice steady. Gildarts, though surprised, didn't interrupt.

"Eight years ago, there was a young couple—a beautiful woman and a promising magician. They fell deeply in love and married after only a few months. But the husband was so consumed by his work that he barely spent time with his family.

"One day, while the husband was away on another mission, the wife packed her belongings and left. When the husband found out, he was devastated. Yet, instead of trying to win her back, he buried himself even deeper in his work to numb the pain.

"Six years later, he received news that his wife had died from an unknown illness."

Eros paused, letting the story sink in.

"And why are you telling me this?" Gildarts asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

Eros smiled bitterly, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Beautiful story, isn't it?" His eyes locked on Gildarts. "Tell me, teacher—doesn't this man sound like a complete scumbag? Someone who put his family second to his work? No, actually, calling him a man would be too generous. What do you think?"

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