"Why?"
Natsu was confused. Isn't strength determined by fighting? Why would Moen exclude himself from the ranking?
"Because it's my ranking. It's entirely my own subjective placement. Besides, not everyone has fought each other. For example, I've never faced Laxus, so I can't just put myself at the top, can I?"
Moen stood up and explained himself. The explanation was reasonable.
"Phew~"
After warming up briefly, Moen began throwing punches. One after another, Pegasus Meteor Fists flew, releasing his magic with abandon.
True strength comes from hard, consistent training.
In Moen's mind, he was certain he could become the strongest. His potential ceiling was higher than anyone else in the guild. No luck was involved—everything depended on his effort and sweat.
[Pegasus Meteor Fist Proficiency Increased]
[Pegasus Meteor Fist · Basic, Proficiency: 120/500]
Seeing the notification from the Saint Seiya System, Moen pushed even harder. That 120 points of proficiency were the crystallization of his sweat and effort, his source of confidence.
Proficiency only appeared while practicing Pegasus Meteor Fist, indicating a fully integrated system. All skills gained through the Saint Seiya System should work this way.
This proficiency system incentivized Moen to train tirelessly. When effort and sweat are quantified in real-time, the motivational effect is extremely effective.
Watching Moen throw fists so densely they were almost a blur, Natsu swallowed hard, clenching his own fists as his body trembled slightly.
"Scared?"
Seeing Natsu freeze and stop shouting about challenging Erza, Moen couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed he had intimidated the boy.
"No! I'm not scared! I'm excited! I'll surpass all of you someday! I'll become stronger than all of you!"
Natsu didn't admit fear. His expression was serious, and his eyes seemed to burn with flames.
The boy had just declared his newly set goal. Moen, Erza, and even Laxus had become his targets. He wanted to defeat all of them, and all other strong members of the guild, too!
Moen stopped throwing punches and turned to Natsu. The boy's expression was serious, and the intense flames in his eyes made it clear he wasn't just shouting for fun.
"Good! That's the spirit! But Natsu, you won't achieve that just by yelling. You need to show some determination!"
Moen reached out and patted Natsu on the shoulder. Although only a year older than Natsu, Moen was taller, so he could easily reach him.
"Train with me, Natsu! Let's get stronger together!"
Before Natsu could respond, Moen continued, his face full of righteous enthusiasm, inviting Natsu to join him in training.
"Okay! I won't hold back!"
Natsu immediately agreed, his face full of excitement. Training with Moen would surely help him improve.
"Good!"
Moen was equally pleased. He smiled, squinting his eyes. Finally, he had a sparring partner capable of taking hits. Being a "Dragon Slayer Mage," Natsu's physical resilience should be even greater than Gray's.
"Natsu! You were supposed to stay in bed! How did you come out here yourself?!"
Moen had just remembered Gray when the blue-black-haired boy suddenly appeared, looking flustered and breathing heavily.
Gray glared at Natsu, clearly annoyed. In the short time he'd gone to the bathroom, Natsu had vanished from his bed, causing him to worry. And now, Natsu was here as if nothing had happened!
"Ah? When?"
Natsu scratched the back of his head blankly. He had no memory of Gray saying any of this.
"You little brat! Are you asking for a beating?!"
Natsu's cluelessness made Gray furious. He, a user of Ice-Make Magic, had a body temperature nearly rivaling that of fire-user Natsu.
"What?! You wanna fight?!"
Gray's words ignited Natsu's anger, especially after he had just been unexpectedly scolded by Laxus. And indeed, he didn't remember Gray saying those things—so why was this guy so angry?
"???"
Watching Natsu and Gray start butting heads over the slightest disagreement, Moen was full of question marks. What was going on with these two?
Gray's temperament wasn't particularly strange or violent; in fact, by mind and temperament, he was quite a normal kid. Yet he still wasn't completely "normal," since he had the habit of taking off his clothes at random.
Gray's innate "strip passive" was almost ridiculous, ingrained in his very bones. His speed of removing clothes was so fast that even Gray himself didn't always notice it.
Under normal circumstances, though, Gray wouldn't be this irritable or get into conflicts so easily.
"Magic attributes clash?"
Seeing Natsu and Gray about to come to blows, Moen could only think of this possibility. One wielded Ice-Make Magic, the other Fire Dragon Slayer Magic; their elemental properties were indeed oppositional.
"Snap!"
Moen reached out and grabbed the collars of both their necks, separating the two in the middle of their scuffle. Although Gray was slightly taller than Natsu, the difference wasn't much. Moen could easily handle both—an advantage of being a year older.
The key point: neither of them dared to resist. Natsu had already been knocked out by one of Moen's punches, and Gray had long felt what Moen's fists could do. How could they possibly oppose him?
After being separated by Moen, the two still eyed each other with dislike but made no further aggressive moves.
Although people often say "fire and ice cannot coexist," magical attribute opposition doesn't really have much impact on personality.
So their behavior mostly came from personal dislike—a trait already evident when they first met. Truly, they were destined to be rivals.
Moen rubbed his forehead. This Fairy Tail guild was basically a gathering place for orphans and problem children.
"Since you two are so full of energy, you can be my sparring partners."
Without a word, Moen dragged Natsu over. Gray's eyes widened in surprise. While startled, there was also a hint of glee in his expression.
Seeing Natsu looking excited and completely unaware of what was about to happen, Gray quickly held his expression in check.
At that moment, Gray thought that having Natsu around wasn't so bad after all—at least he had an extra person to spar with Moen.