As Lucky soared over the treetops on his golden eagle, wind whipping through his hair and forest sprawling endlessly beneath, his thoughts drifted to the fiery mission he'd just completed with Gray. The intense battle, Gray's reaction to the demon, the explosion—
And then he remembered.
He still had the card.
He reached into his inventory pouch and pulled it out. The card was warm to the touch, faint embers glowing along the edges. It was the loot from the fire demon they'd defeated.
Lucky stared at it, his expression tightening.
"This thing… it's probably a demon and about Gray's past," he murmured. "Last thing I want is to bring back any trauma or make him uncomfortable."
He looked at it again and smiled softly. "Might as well turn it into something useful."
He opened his status screen.
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HP: 100%
Stamina: 80%
SP: 2,840/3,000 (Soul Power)
MP: 20,000/20,000
OL (Origin Luck): 0
Luck: ??? + 10.05
"That's more than enough luck stacked. No OL needed," he muttered.
He activated Option 5 on the card.
The card glowed red, flames twisting inwards until they formed something new.
'Huh new effect'
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Tier: 4
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Ability: Self Explosion (Magic)
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Type: Ability (Active/Passive)
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Amount of Use: 1
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Description: Allows the user to Self-destruct manually or upon death, causing Fire-Type damage which scales on (Current MP) × 5.
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Note: This is an innate ability and cannot be leveled up.
Lucky blinked. "Self-destruct…?"
He almost swore out loud.
But after a moment of stunned silence, he burst into laughter.
"To most people, this would be suicide," he said between laughs. "But to me? Oh no... This is perfect."
Because Lucky didn't need to self-destruct.
His clones could do it.
Shadow Clones would disappear upon taking a heavy hit anyway. But now? Now, they could explode on command. That wasn't just a surprise tactic—it was deadly. Imagine sending in a clone as a decoy, only for it to explode with all his MP converted into pure destruction.
"Oh man," Lucky grinned. "That's truly diabolical."
He looked at the card's lingering glow, now fully absorbed. "Thank you, fire demon. You gave me more than you know."
With renewed energy, Lucky leaned forward on the eagle's back as Magnolia's familiar rooftops began to appear over the horizon.
He reached the outskirts of the town within minutes and directed the eagle downward. The majestic beast landed just outside the guild hall with practiced ease, drawing only minor attention from the locals—most of whom had grown used to Lucky's flair for dramatics.
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He dismissed the eagle, its form shimmering away into golden dust, and stepped up to the guild's door.
Just as Lucky was about to enter and say something, Makarov came dashing toward him with almost tears in his eyes.
"Lucky! I'm so glad you're here!" the guild master exclaimed, voice cracking with relief.
Lucky blinked, confused. "Uh… are you okay?"
Makarov gave him a sheepish smile. "Well… I kind of forgot something. I need a favor."
Lucky tilted his head with a sincere expression. "What favor?"
That genuine look made Makarov smile. "Come closer."
Even though Lucky was young, he still had to bend slightly to reach Makarov's height.
Makarov blushed a little. "I have a meeting with the other guild masters. But… I kinda forgot until now."
Lucky raised an eyebrow.
"…I might've had a little too much to drink," Makarov added, laughing awkwardly.
He cleared his throat and continued, "I heard from Erza that your golden eagle is really fast… I was hoping I could borrow it."
Lucky gave him a nod and summoned the golden eagle on the spot.
"Follow his commands," he instructed the eagle.
Just as Lucky was about to leave, Makarov grabbed his wrist.
"Huh?" Lucky looked confused.
"You're coming too," Makarov said.
Now Lucky looked truly puzzled. "The golden eagle can stay indefinitely as long as it doesn't die. You don't need me."
Makarov shook his head with a mischievous grin. Puffing out his chest proudly, he said, "You're coming with me! Fairy Tail Master and It'll be a nice change of view!"
Lucky gave him a long, suspicious look.
"…Why?"
Makarov staggered slightly, clearly improvising. "Just come along, alright? You'll like it!"
Still suspicious, Lucky eventually shrugged and nodded. "Fine. Lead the way."
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They left the guild and jumped onto the golden eagle. Makarov found a comfortable spot, sinking into the feathers with a pleased sigh.
"Alright, let's go!" Makarov said excitedly.
"I don't know the way," Lucky replied dryly.
Makarov gave an awkward chuckle. "Right, right…"
As the eagle lifted off, soaring into the sky, Makarov turned toward Lucky with an almost shameless glint in his eyes.
"Say… how about giving one of these eagles to me?"
Lucky responded with a silent, unimpressed stare.
Makarov panicked slightly. "I mean, just to borrow! For the guild! Emergencies!"
Lucky sighed and handed him his only remaining golden eagle card. "Here." The third one's still in evolution anyway… hopefully into something powerful.
Makarov looked confused at the card. Lucky said, "Input mana."
Makarov did. Nothing happened. Then a message flashed in Lucky's mind:
[Give]
[YES/NO]
Lucky blinked. That meant—what's his would always remain his. He could give anything… and take it back. That was a dominating ability.
He selected [YES].
The card shimmered, and a smaller golden eagle appeared.
Makarov gasped, amazed. "I didn't even lose mana…?"
He was about to ask something when he stopped himself. Everyone had secrets. But just as that thought passed—
"You'll need to feed it," Lucky added helpfully.
Makarov flinched. Feed it?! With what? That's going to cost a fortune!
Because he knew—as a high-tier Beast, it would consume a lot of food and high-quality food. After all, they were picky.
Lucky laughed at his reaction. "Relax. Just infuse mana. No food needed."
Makarov exhaled in relief. "That's… actually amazing."
His respect for Lucky's summoning magic quietly grew. Lucky just grinned.