Gray, already in a foul mood, felt his temper flare even more after being rebuffed like that. He glared back furiously, about to retort—
"Hey! Who do you think you are..."
Before he could finish, Wakaba, who had been watching the drama unfold from the side, came over to smooth things over, throwing an arm around Gray's neck.
"Alright, alright, Gray, come have a drink with me. He's just like that." Wakaba grinned, reeking of smoke as he tried to drag Gray toward the bar.
"I don't drink!" Gray shouted, struggling. He was very unaccustomed to this adult style of breaking up fights.
"Doesn't matter!" Wakaba didn't care at all, and habitually threw in a jab, "By the way, when did you take your clothes off?"
Gray froze, looking down. "Eh?! Who took them off? Since when?"
On the other side, Shane's gaze lingered on the blonde teenager.
Having spent these days here, he felt that the atmosphere in the guild was mostly warm and direct, making interactions quite easy.
But the person who just walked in was clearly different.
He radiated an obvious awkwardness that said "don't talk to me," completely out of place with the surrounding environment.
Shane had only seen a similar situation with the Master's son, Ivan, who always had a gloomy face.
However, in terms of awkwardness, Ivan was undoubtedly much worse.
"That's Laxus," a crisp voice sounded beside him.
Shane turned and saw Levy standing next to him at some point, holding a book in her arms.
"Eh, you're here," Shane said, a bit surprised.
"Mhm," Levy nodded, following Shane's gaze, and explained in a low voice, "Laxus Dreyar. He's the Master's grandson."
"The Master's grandson? Ivan's son?" Shane's eyes held a hint of curiosity as he re-examined Laxus.
Laxus didn't seem to have any intention of staying long. He walked straight through the crowd to the request board, swept his gaze over it casually, reached out to tear off a commission form, and turned to walk toward the gate without even looking at it.
The moment he turned, his gaze inadvertently swept past Shane's direction, meeting Shane's scrutinizing eyes perfectly.
"Newcomer?" he muttered, twitching the corner of his mouth.
Without waiting for a response, he pushed open the door and walked out without looking back.
"Don't mind him too much. You might not believe it," Macao leaned in at some point, taking a swig of alcohol, and said with a hint of nostalgia, "Laxus used to be a very well-behaved kid."
" really?" Shane raised an eyebrow, finding it hard to connect the word "well-behaved" with the cold, hard teenager just now.
"Haha," Macao laughed, "Now... well, he's actually still a good kid. After all, he is the Master's grandson. Just a bit of a sour face, but not bad at heart."
"Meh." Shane shrugged noncommittally.
He didn't have the naive notion that he had to be on good terms with everyone in the guild. Someone who could handle all interpersonal relationships with ease was probably not far from being a god.
"I'll be going." Shane signaled to Erza, and the two prepared to head to the library. Levy also expressed she wanted to read, so they went together.
Walking in the corridor, Levy suddenly remembered something, tugged gently on Shane's sleeve, stood on tiptoe, and leaned close to his ear.
"Um... Laxus seems to really dislike people treating him specially just because he's the Master's grandson."
Shane was slightly stunned, then recalled how Macao and Wakaba treated Laxus just now.
Their attitude was indeed subtly more cautious than toward others.
It wasn't deliberate fawning, but more out of respect for Master Makarov, unconsciously weighing his grandson's identity a bit more.
Shane suddenly somewhat understood where Laxus's "strangers keep away" attitude came from.
A teenager's self-esteem is always particularly fragile. When the label "Master's grandson" is too conspicuous, all his efforts seem to be shrouded in his grandfather's halo, never receiving a pure evaluation.
But while Shane understood, it didn't mean he agreed. There aren't many people in the world who can get a fair evaluation to begin with.
Some people don't even have the qualification to feel sorry for themselves.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at this sensitive girl beside him with new eyes.
"You observe very carefully, Levy," Shane said sincerely.
Levy pushed her glasses up a bit shyly and said seriously, "Because Laxus is a comrade too."
Looking at her serious little face, Shane couldn't help smiling and reaching out to ruffle her head.
Erza watched from the side and followed suit, reaching out to ruffle Levy's hair with equal force.
"Hey! I won't grow tall!" The girl covered her head like a bullied cub, protesting in a low voice.
Her charmingly naive appearance drew smiles from both Shane and Erza.
Chatting and laughing, the three arrived at the library.
Picking up books on Requip Magic after a long time, Shane couldn't help lamenting inwardly that studying in peace was really not easy.
The journey here was tantamount to passing three trials and five generals.
He settled down and began to flip through the pages. Erza sat quietly beside him, equally focused.
But not long after, Shane keenly sensed that the girl's reading pace seemed to always be intentionally or unintentionally coordinating with his.
After all, there was a week's difference in progress...
This feeling of being taken care of made Shane, who never liked troubling others, feel slightly uncomfortable.
He didn't want to drag down her progress. Shane thought for a moment and simply stood up.
"What's wrong?" Erza looked up from the pages, casting a questioning gaze.
"I have something else I want to check. You read first, Erza," Shane said, getting up and walking toward the depths of the library. He wanted to see if there was any information on Zeref here.
The Fairy Tail guild's library collection was quite substantial, with tall bookshelves standing like a forest, though the classification was a bit casual.
Shane wandered around the history and magic theory sections for a long time but found nothing. Those overly ancient or obscure books were really not that easy to find.
He had to ask Levy, who was sitting in the corner reading quietly, for help.
Hearing that Shane wanted to find records about Zeref, Levy tilted her head and thought for a moment, pointing to an inconspicuous corner at the very back of the library.
"I remember there's a very old travelogue over there, written by an ancient Mage. It... seems to mention the name 'Zeref'."
After thanking her, Shane followed the direction.
That corner was piled with many dusty books. He rummaged through them for a while and finally pulled out a thick, heavy travelogue with a leather cover. The pages were already yellowed, the edges fragile as if they would crumble at a touch.
Putting on the "Gale-Force Reading Glasses," Shane read quickly. However, as the pages turned, his brows furrowed slightly, and he was secretly alarmed.
Under the pen of this Mage from hundreds of years ago, that era was full of warring states and endless chaos. Magic was widely used for slaughter, and some Mages, in pursuit of power, did not hesitate to actively fall into the abyss of magic.
And amidst this chaos and darkness, at the deepest part of that abyss, was the one hailed as having taken Black Magic to the extreme, creating tens of thousands of demons, dragging the entire world into fear and chaos...
The strongest, most evil Black Mage in magic history—Zeref!
"No wonder the Black Magic cults are bent on resurrecting him. He's actually such a dangerous figure."
Shane recalled his two previous contacts related to Zeref.
Whether it was the R-System in the Tower of Heaven or the Emotion Demon hiding in the city, everything related to Zeref exuded danger and ominousness.
He held this heavy travelogue, reading even more carefully.
The descriptions in the book carried the fear and criticism of a witness from that era, portraying Zeref as a walking calamity, the incarnation of death.
Besides these heart-palpitating records, the travelogue was also interspersed with various strange local customs and practices the ancient Mage had seen while traveling everywhere. The writing was vivid and rich in detail, making Shane involuntarily immersed in it completely.