The Fairy Tail mage had been hanging around in the Mag Drug Shop a lot recently. Like seriously, it was as though he were in high school again, and this was the place he would hang out when ditching his classes. Of course, Houren knew Khalash Saton pretty well by now, and he was fully aware that the old man would never have let any students playing truant from school into his shop. It wasn't because he was a huge supporter of the country's education system, or because he wanted children to stay in school, but because he knew that it would be a huge hassle for him if anyone were to find out this was the place students were hiding out in. Houren remembered something Khalash Saton had said to him a while back, about now he wanted to spend the rest of his life in his shop, selling his wares and living a comfortable life.  Disinterested customers such as students who only wanted a place to hang out while playing truant and complaining parents were the last thing that he wanted in his life and that was something that Houren respected. As the Fairy Tail mage arrived at the shop, he noticed that the sign on the door stated that it was close. That didn't necessarily mean that the door was locked though, but as he did not want to be rude, Houren knocked on the door three times, giving Mr. Khalash Saton more than enough time to compose himself, before he opened the door, only to be greeted by the small man who was sitting behind the counter, a long package was placed in front of him. The old man was grinning from ear to ear, but for what reason, Houren could not claim to know. Slowly, he began to approach the counter.

"What's this, then? Is this the rare item that you want tested out, Khalash Saton?" Houren asked; he had grown accustomed to calling Mr. Khalash Saton by his full name, it just rolled off the tongue better than Mr. Saton or just Khalash, the latter form of address could be seen as rude too due to the great age difference between the two of them. Houren was fine with making the extra effort to say the man's name though, he considered them, at this point, to be fairly close, maybe not as platonic friends but in the way that Houren's occasional visit seemed to make Khalash Saton happy, as though he were being visited by a grandson.

"You've got a reasonable eye, Vanadis, aye you do," Khalash Saton began to stroke his chin as though he had given an eye transplant to Houren a few years prior and this was the reason why Houren seemed to be so perceptive. "In any case, I want you to take this sword and go downtown to find this lad named Tyler. I want you to test this weapon against him, and tell me how it goes. I want to make sure it's not faulty; can't be too careful after what happened last time, don't you agree?" he gave the Fire Dragon Slayer an uncharacteristic wink. Of course, this was almost like some sort of inside joke between the two of them now since Houren seemed to be the one that ended up helping Khalash Saton whenever he was in a spot of trouble. For example, when Khalash Saton needed to go deep into the forest to get some herbs from an old hermit who happened to be an old acquaintance of his, Houren was the one he had sent although he had been duly rewarded for his service on that occasion. Then, when Khalash Saton needed help with brewing some potions, Houren had come to the call once again, helping him with creating the potion and even getting a taste of it as well. Then, when Khalash Saton was going somewhere to find new wares for his store, Houren had been tasked with being its vendor for the day and defending it from thieves. And then the next request, which would have been around a few days ago, when Khalash Saton had ended up purchasing a bootleg or faulty uncommon item, it was Houren who had managed to receive the refund for him. In other words, Houren had proven himself to be a reliable man, and Khalash Saton seemed to trust him a great deal.

In any case, Houren decided to take the man's deal at face value, and took the package in his hand, knowing immediately that it was a sword just by feeling it and by examining its shape. Apparently, his job was to go to town and find a guy named Tyler and fight him with this sword. Tyler would be using a fairly weak sword, a common item if you will, so if this supposedly rare sword were to be destroyed when going up against Tyler's supposedly common weapon, then Khalash Saton would obviously reach the conclusion that this one was faulty, just like the uncommon weapon that he had gotten a while ago. Of course, it wasn't unreasonable for Khalash Saton to be so cautious, especially not after he had already been sold a faulty good. A light bulb went off in Houren's head, and he couldn't help but wonder whether Khalash Saton had actually purchased this ''rare'' sword weapon from the same guy as before, and that was why he was being so cautious about it. In any case, Khalash Saton did not know that Houren had threatened the guy in order to get the refund, so likely, he wouldn't attempt to scam Khalash Saton anymore. The Fire Dragon Slayer from Fairy simply shrugged his shoulders though as he unwrapped the weapon, before wrapping it again since it would have been weird if he was caught holding this kind of thing in public. He gave Khalash Saton a reassuring thumbs up as he set off to find Tyler, and best him with this new sword

Khalash Saton left Houren with one last warning. "And Mr. Vanadis, my friend, don't think you can get away with stealing that sword, ya hear? I'll know if you don't return it, and I'll know if you replace it with some bootleg, so do me right, aye?" the Fairy Tail mage did not even bother to give that kind of warning a reply, and jaunted out of the door to the town square.

1081/2000

The Fairy Tail began to look around the town area for a sparring partner, but it did not seem like anybody in Magnolia was interested in helping him test out Khalash Saton's brand new sword. It disappointed Houren to say the last, but he knew full well that he could not be paid by his employer, Khalash Saton, until he had managed to verify for sure that this sword was the genuine article; a rare item weapon as opposed to a faulty one, and of course, Houren knew the reason Khalash Saton was so intent on wanting this sword tested was because of the time he had been scammed by the guy who had willingly sold him a supposedly uncommon item, that just so happened to be damaged. The first person that the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail approached after this revelation was a young man of sturdy build who seemed to be an adventurer of sorts himself. However, if his story was to be believed, he had sustained an injury during a previous fight in another town and as such, was in no fit condition to compete against Houren. He also told the Fairy Tail magus that his own weapon had been destroyed in scuffle, and as such, the only thing the Fire Dragon Slayer could do was express his condolences and leave to find a more willing person to spar with in order to test the rare item that Khalash Saton had entrusted him with, in order to verify that it was, indeed, a rare item and not a faulty one, as Khalash Saton had been scammed once before, and because of that, was no stranger to being swindled.

The Fire Dragon Slayer was genuinely about to give up on finding any opponent to spar when someone appeared in front of him; a kid, no less. Houren was actually about to tell the kid to get out of his face since he hadn't actually, in his heart deep down, given up on finding a sparring partner, but it seemed like that was the exact reason why the boy in the hat had approached Houren in the first place. Brandishing his common weapon sword, he challenged Houren to a duel, as though he were in the loop about the whole thing with Khalash Saton and being swindled, and about the fact that the rare sword needed testing and why it needed to be tested. The kid didn't look all that strong, nor did he seem like the kind of guy that knew how to properly swing a sword, although he clearly must have had some influence or was a thief, since he was holding a sword albeit a fairly generic and weak one. Of course, that was just from appearances only and there was every chance that the sword was actually a famed blade from mythology or history that had, sometime in the past, slain a dragon and had a legendary smith as a creator as well. The boy's swordplay skills were considerable, but what really impressed Houren was the fact that he was able to use his physical parameters to his advantage. He was fairly strong, fast and durable for his age and he did not hesitate to let Houren know it. Although the Fire Dragon Slayer from Fairy Tail clearly bested him in terms of everything except perhaps speed, the boy seemed to be a quick thinker that was able to adapt quickly to situations. Although Houren started the fight with the advantage, the young boy who had introduced himself earlier mid fight as Tyler was now matching the Fire Dragon Slayer from Fairy Tail blow to blow, much to the Fairy Tail mage's surprise. He did not meet many people that were able to fight him on even odds, much less a little boy who seemed to be almost 10 years younger.

Eventually though, and this was incredibly sad on the boy named Tyler's part, the sheer difference in ability between the two came to light. The young boy called Tyler was strong, incredibly strong for his age but nothing compared to a Fire Dragon Slayer. Tyler's hand was the first to give out, and he began to wince during their blows; once it became too much for him to take, Tyler began to avoid clashing blades, but of course, that was the whole point of a sword fight. He was small and fast, which made him a hard target for Houren, the Fire Dragon Slayer, but it went without saying that he could not keep up that kind of pace for too long. He began to get very tired as well, and once that started happening, he became more exposed which only made it easier for the Fire Dragon Slayer from Fairy Tail to capitalize. Eventually, Tyler took so much damage that he had no choice but to go down to one knee and yield, but by then, Houren could already conclude that the sword that he had been wielding was the real deal and not just a dud like Khalash Saton feared. When it became apparent that Houren had accepted the surrender, Tyler began to chuckle and offered Houren a high five which he accepted. After a short greeting, the Fairy Tail headed back to Khalash Saton's Magnolia drug store, informing him that the weapon was, in fact, the genuine article and that he had absolutely nothing to worry about in terms of quality. Happy with this revelation, Khalash Saton nodded happily and rewarded the Fairy Tail mage.

2006/2000