"So, I heard you needed an assistant?" he asked.

It wasn't an especially lucrative job, and it wasn't one that the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail was obligated to take. In fact, given the fact that he would have to be someone's ''assistant'' for the day, and also when you realized that the pay for this job wasn't really all that good, there weren't too many people, in Houren Vanadis' opinion, who would want to take this job as is. The paper that the job had been inscribed on seem to be fairly worn as well, so the Fairy Tail mage couldn't help but think that it had been lying around on the bulletin board without anybody so much as even looking at it for a while. If it was any other quest then Houren might have done the same, but he couldn't just ignore since he was actually friendly with the requester. Mr. Khalash Saton had done a lot for Fairy Tail as a guild, and also for Houren personally, so it pained him to see that there was nobody in Fairy Tail willing to help the old man out. It was a waste of a day, in truth, but the Fire Dragon Slayer steeled his resolve, grabbed the request from the guild's bulletin request board and headed all the way back to the Magnolia drug shop in order to be Mr. Khalash Saton's assistant for the day.

"Yes, yes, and here I was thinking that nobody would come answer my summons!" Mr. Khalash Saton seemed a lot more happy and energetic than Houren last remembered him, and that wasn't really a bad thing when Houren compared him to the cranky old man he had met when he was delivering goods to hermits and minding the shop to protect it from young hooligans and thieves. Mr. Khalash Saton led the Fire Dragon Slayer to the backroom, where strangely enough, it was actually more spacious than the front room, and unlike most backrooms, it wasn't being used as a store room either. It was very open, with the room being big, but at the same time, incredibly bare. There seemed to be something on the floor in the middle of the room, which Mr. Khalash Saton ran over to and picked up before heading back over to where Houren was and handing it over to him. "Hold this shield, and defend yourself with it. I'm going to cast a spell on you. My intention to see exactly how sturdy my shield is," and without further adieu, the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail held up the shield to protect his face as Mr. Khalash Saton jogged back twenty or so meters before muttering some incantations and firing a fireball spell straight at the Fairy Tail mage. Of course the spell, hit off the shield and dispersed into nothingness as Mr. Khalash moved in closer again to inspect the damage done to the shield, although it seemed mostly intact to him.

501/1000

"Not a single dent at all, just like I expected? But then again, I wasn't really much of an offensive mage, not even in my younger days.. hm, OK, let's try this, give me the shield!"

Mr. Khalash Saton was talking more to himself than the Fairy Tail mage as he took the shield from Houren's hand and scooted back over so that the distance between the two of them was roughly five meters. "Use one of your spells on this shield! You're a powerful mage that's a part of a guild, right? If my shield can withstand your attack, then I know that I'm making good progress!" the plan seemed foolproof and logical, but it still made the Fire Dragon Slayer feel somewhat uneasy. His magic was strong, and his flames were capable of charring someone to the point that there would be nothing left of them. It was all well and good if the shield was as good as Mr. Khalash Saton had wanted it to be, but if the Fire Dragon Slayer overdid it, he could seriously end up doing some major damage, not only to the property and the shield, but to Mr. Khalash Saton himself. Ultimately, Houren decided that it was best to use a minimal amount of magical energy, maybe something similar to what Mr. Khalash Saton had used for his own spell.

The Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail instructed the Magnolia Drug Shop owner, Mr. Khalash Saton to go back a bit more so that he would have ample space to take this attack. The Fire Dragon Slayer crouched slightly and lifted up his arm arm, allowing his own magical energy to flow throughout his body; in particular, into his right hand. It was beginning to heat up and Houren knew that if it was any other person in his body, they would probably have started ducking and rolling by now because the heat would have been unbearable for them to take. Of course, fire was the Fairy Tail mage's natural affinity and he could take this kind of thing without even breaking a sweat. He allowed the magical energy to pour out from his hands, causing it to be set ablaze in an instant before he pointed this hand at Mr. Khalash  Saton who had already begun to protect himself with the shield. With a verbal warning, the Fairy Tail mage let loose, shooting a blast of fire towards the shield. The room flashed for an instant and when it was done, Mr. Khalash Saton went to inspect the shield, his mouth widening into a giant smile when he came to the realization that it was barely damaged at all. He was so excited that when the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail approached him next, the small old man threw the jewels into Houren's hands and told him to leave for now as he had so much more work to do. This didn't matter to the Fairy Tail mage at all though, who was satisfied just with being paid.

1010/1000