50)The King's Journey

'Well…I just fucked up.' Eric thought with a frown as he looked down at the decapitated body of Silver Fullbuster, letting out a frustrated sigh & pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head.

At first he just wanted to either knock him out or at least cut a limb off with that final Cleave, but it was as he neared him that he couldn't help the rage burning in his chest & the bloodlust clouding his vision.

The next thing he knew was the sight of Silver's head & body falling to the floor and the rage & bloodlust fading away and yet, he could still feel both just barely being held back by his guilt & regret.

“Hatred & rage suppressed to the deepest darkest depths of my mind. Is this what Atlas meant when he said that I was already at the point of transforming into a dragon?” Eric muttered with a sigh as he dispelled his scales before blinking as he looked down at his right hand, watching at how the scales were slowly retracting compared to the rest of his body.

When they were finally gone, there were still a few that were shining vibrantly on the back of his hand and he frowned as he focused his vision to see a layer of cursed energy & ethernano on top of the scales.

'Hah, I guess when Atlas gave me his magic, he must have given me enough antibodies to not worry about overusing my magic, but with this new body, there are no antibodies to stop it.'

“Urgh, and here I thought this new life would be more fun to have, but I suppose not. Also, why do I have Future Me's curse?” The mage wondered with a frown as he looked at his left hand, a dark red sheen of cursed energy covering his hand with a thought before it faded away just as quick.

“Eric!” Eric was knocked from his self-experimentation as he heard Flare's voice, looking up to see the woman slowly floating towards him with the help of a bright orange…phoenix?

'Wait, is that…?' Eric's thought trailed off as Flare landed and the Phoenix pulsed once before he blinked as the phoenix was replaced by the floating form of Ms. Forture, a pair of flaming wings spread out behind her.

“Not bad.” He said while nodding at her, to which Ms. Fortune simply giggled & nodded before he turned as Flare spoke up.

“Is…is that him?” She asked while pointing at the corpse besides him, to which Eric looked down before letting out a soft sigh & nodding.

“Yeah, I tried taking it easy & knocking him out, but…something came over me and next thing I knew, he was dead.”

“Something…came over you? Like…like you were possessed?” She asked with a cautious look while glancing around, turning back as Eric chuckled & scratched the back of his head.

“It might as well have been that, but I didn't feel any foreign presence near us. However, Atlas & I talked a bit after you left and what happened with me kind of fits with what he told me would happen to me if I continued using Dragon Slayer magic.”

“So…what? Is there a way to fix it?” Ms. Fortune asked with a concerned look and Eric frowned as he focused the direction of the Sun Village.

“I have a theory and Atlas told me that he might have a way so I want to run my theory by him before I go through with it. Actually, forgetting that, why are you two here? Wouldn't being at the village be a lot safer?” He asked before frowning as Flare blushed while Ms. Fortune giggled & looked at the blushing girl.

“She wanted to come help.”

“Wait, really?” Eric asked with an amused look as he turned to Flare, who turned a brighter red as she looked to the side & nodded.

“Well, as much as I would have loved that, you would have been little more than a pain in the ass for both of us.”

“I would not! I could have been support to distract him.”

“And I could fly her around so she wouldn't have gotten hurt.”

“And then you two would have been flash-frozen midair and I would have watched as my spells melted you two away or watch as you two shatter upon impact with the ground. You two are strong, I will give you that, but compared to both me & him, you would have been nothing more than flies.”

“W-Well…you could at least be nice about it.” Flare muttered with a dejected look and a sigh escaped Eric's lips as he walked forward, picking up Ms. Fortune before hugging both girls tightly.

“I wish I could too, but you're no longer a child that needs to be coddled. You're a strong mage just like me so I can't mince my words and watch later down the line as you are killed because I wasn't around to protect you.”

“I know.” She muttered and Eric smiled as he pulled back, looking at the small smile on her face before they turned to Ms. Fortune as she spoke up.

“Technically speaking, I am just 13 years old so I am still a young child.” She said with a happy smile, to which Flare giggled while Eric sighed & nodded.

“Of course. I was talking to Flare here on that part.”

“Wait, why am I getting scolded and not her too?” Flare asked in indignation before growling as Eric didn't answer & turned to walk back towards the village with Ms. Fortune in his arms.

“So, how did you do that little fire transformation trick?”

“Eric Creed! You get your behind back here and you start talking, mister!”

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It was late at night when Flare finally decided to forgive Eric for not chastising Ms. Fortune as well, the girl exhausted from her complaining as she & Ms. Fortune slept peacefully.

Eric would have been sleeping next to them as well, but he had other things on his mind as he walked up to the pyre that was Atlas' resting place, amused at how the guards to it were fast asleep while Atlas was wide awake & looking down at him.

“What do you want now, kid? It's almost midnight and I need my beauty sleep.”

“You're a spirit. You have no beauty left to worry about.” Eric spoke with a wave of his hand as he walked into the flames, Atlas grumbling as his body shrunk down to triple the size of Eric's form, which the mage noticed as he gave the dragon an amused look.

“Really?”

“Yep, I'm that petty.”

“Hah, fine. So, I wanted to talk to you about something that happened this afternoon?”

“With your battle against that maniac? From the look of it, you seemed to have been handling things well on your own.”

“Yeah, but it appears I handled it a bit too well.” Eric said while holding out his right hand, Atlas frowning as he looked at the outstretched hand before clicking his tongue as he saw the few scales covering Eric's hands.

“It's already started, hasn't it?” Eric spoke with a frown as he looked at the dragon, who sighed before nodding as he laid back down.

“It has. From the looks of it, you got lucky as the Dragon Seed is blooming but your ethernano & whatever that other energy is are too potent for it to bloom as quickly as it needs to. For now, I'd say either learn a different magic or stick with that other energy & whatever technique you can make from if you want to stall the process. Unless, you finally decided on becoming a dragon?” Atlas asked with a hopeful look and Eric raised an eyebrow as he looked up at him.

“What's with you and wanting for me to become a dragon?”

“I'm bored, okay? I've waited four hundred years for our fated rematch and now that you're here, you don't want to have that rematch, which leaves me with four hundred years of anticipation & adrenaline that I can't use. Can you blame me for wanting to make you a mad demon that I can fight to the death?” He asked with a grumble and Eric looked at him before rolling his eyes as he looked back out at the village beyond the flames.

“Well, I had an idea, but I wanted your thoughts on it.”

“Oh, not right now. I'm too busy looking in boredom at the village in front of me to care about what you say.” Atlas answered sarcastically and Eric simply shook his head as he looked at his hand where cursed energy & ethernano were fighting in unison yet trying to overpower the other at the same time.

“What if I turn into a demon?”

“…I might have been dreaming a bit there. You said what now?” Atlas asked with his eyebrows raised as he turned to Eric, who chuckled as he looked up from his hand to the dragon.

“I'm being serious. I know from my future self's memories where Tartaros is at this time and while it might not be the same location, I know how to find it. So, if I just go after them & use their demon-making pits to turn me into one, wouldn't that stop the process?”

“Well, firstly, that is by far the stupidest plan I have ever heard in my five hundred years of living. Secondly…how the hell are you going to even start the process while being under attack by who knows how many demons on top of whatever stronger demons they have?”

“Simple. I know a little weapon that could help me and if I go take it back & fly back to Fiore, I should make it just in time to catch them at the location I'm thinking of.”

“…You know what? I don't know what will happen if you do, but I can already see that you're determined to do so even if it means death, which I'm guessing is something you're also hoping for, isn't it?”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Eric spoke as something flashed in his eyes, Atlas looking down at the dragon slayer before sighing as he nodded & looked back out onto the village.

“Well, you've already made your mind up so I won't stop you. However, I will tell you a little something before you go, if you don't mind.”

“Some final words of wisdom. Sure, what's up?”

“Life is divided into three terms- that which was, which is and which will be. Learn from the past to profit by the present and from the present, learn to live better in the future. Do you know what that means?” Atlas asked with a smirk and Eric looked at the understanding look in the man's eyes before turning to look back at the village.

However, he was not looking at the village but directly at the face of Goldmine kneeling in front of him despite the numerous others cursing him out from all directions.

“You can't erase the past & you can't change it. What you can do, however, is learn from it & realise that the past is simply where you learned a lesson, but the future is where you can apply that lesson.”

“I understand.” Eric muttered and both Goldmine & Atlas smiled as they nodded, Eric watching as the man in front of him faded away before he let out a soft sigh as he looked up at the moonlight shining down upon them.

“Do you think I should let Flare come with me?”

“If you ask me, you're clinging to a love that could have been but is no longer possible. Despite how much you two fall in love, you'll always be comparing her to the one you knew and that would just cause a lot of fights.”

“Hah, I know. Now the only thing remains is…how the hell do I break it to her?”

“Rip the wound open and let her deal with it. She's a big girl. She can handle it.” Atlas spoke with a shrug and Eric looked at him before shaking his head as he looked back at the village.

“You might be the wrong person to ask about this.”

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“Wait, you're leaving?” Flare asked and the heart-broken look on her face nearly made him want to say that it was a bad joke & he was never leaving.

'Atlas, she cannot handle it.'

“Yes, but not because I got bored and am looking for a new thrill! I simply have something that I need to do and I can't do that with you with me.”

“Wait, then…then what about what we had planned? Y-You know, with us two getting together and learning about each other?” She asked and Eric looked at the hopeful look on her face before letting out a soft sigh as he reached forward & placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Listen, Flare. What you feel right now for me…it's not love nor is it a crush. It's hero worship. Worship for the guy who killed those that plagued you for the years of pain & torment in Raven Tail. If you feel the same way about me as you feel right now, then I'll give us a chance and if you have moved on with someone else, I would be happy to know that I could at least have saved someone I cared for from a dark future. Is that okay?” He asked, waiting as she looked up at him with a betrayed look before sighing as she shook his hands off & walked away.

“You know she's going to hate you for a while, right?” Ms. Fortune spoke with a frown and Eric sighed as he nodded before looking at her.

“It's a good thing she'll have you to look after her.”

“You kidding? I'm not staying here when my saviour is moving away. Besides, when you're done with what you're doing, I can take you to Lord Ignia & the rest of the guild.” She spoke with a happy smile and Eric looked at her with a frown before shaking his head as he turned & walked away.

“Sure, do whatever you want. Druwat, take care of her for me, please.”

“I'll try my best.” Druwat spoke with a grin and Eric looked over his shoulder at the giant with a thankful smile before he blinked as he felt something jumping onto his left shoulder, turning his head to see Ms. Fortune sitting on it with a happy smile.

“Forward, my steed! Our new journey begins.”

“Maybe letting you stay here is not a bad idea?”

A/N: And with that, we embark on a new journey!

I know people would want me to make Flare & him stay together, but with Eric's inner turmoil about killing everyone & the trouble of slowly transforming into a dragon, he doesn't have the time to focus on romance right now.

Anyway, next chapter, we go searching for an old weapon and meet up with old enemies.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!