It had literally only been a day since the young gas mage picked up his previous request. Luckily enough he was in no physical pain after that job. However, his legs were growing tired of all this walking around Magnolia. As usual, the gas mage was still focused on his end goal. That promotion was all he aimed at for now, so off he went walking back to the rune knights’ office in Magnolia to snatch another job request for the day. It had been a way busier day than yesterday in the hustling and bustling city of Magnolia. It was a Monday and people were on and off work, filling up the streets each with their own matters to attend to.

Just as he walked by one of the major intersections in Magnolia, the scenery caught his eye, and so he slowed down as he marveled at the view. The street he gazed down upon was filled with shops and stalls, literally littering it with all sorts of colors. Just at the end of this street stood a marvelous grand building. It was too far to make out what was written at the gate, but from what Ace could make out, it had to be the Fairy Tail’s guild hall. The top of the grand hall pierced through the sharp blue of the pure sky, and the clouds loosely painted the skyline with a fresh cotton white, hanging just over the distant mountain tops covered in snow. The weather was crisp and just a bit too chilly for Ace to stop and stare any longer, but it was too perfect to miss out on. He tried to recall if he had met any Fairy Tail mages before, but as far as he can remember he didn’t get the chance to. All he had heard was that they were reckless and good. Still, reckless came first, always. Being a part of the Rune Knights, Ace has heard all sorts of news about what the fairies have done. According to most of his superiors, the captains, they do more damage than good, but they’re innocent and most of them have pure intentions and a good heart. Who knows, maybe someday Ace would cross paths with one of their members, either as an ally or a foe. Nobody knows.

He scratched the top of his head and continued on his journey to hunt for a job to do. Walking all the way to the office wasn’t even the worst part. He also had to go meet with the client somewhere and then walk back again to another location probably. The gas mage sighed and picked up the pace once more as he barged into the office. He nodded at the knight that worked the regular shifts at the office and said “Any new quests?” The man nodded back and said “Top left. Are you still trying to impress the captains?” Ace stayed quiet as he reached up for the paper. He glanced down at it briefly and proceeded to leave the office saying “Thanks.” The knight went back to doing his job as he smirked. “Hmph… They won’t notice you just because you’re doing the dirty work!” He shouted at the leaving young mage. “In fact they won’t even consider you if they did… 14 for God’s sake” he then murmured under his breath.

Ace walked out of the office as he only barely heard what the man had shouted at him. He knew that there were going to be a lot of disbelievers from the very start. Heck, people even said he’d never make it higher than a page, but here he is, on the verge of being the youngest seated rune knight. He just pushed his thoughts to the side and spread the paper with both hands to read its contents. He was shocked to see that the request was placed by the highly acclaimed blacksmith, Barras. He hadn’t been in contact with him for almost a year now and he wondered if Barras was actually going to recognize the mage. Ace knew exactly where Barras’ shop was located at, or at least if it was still there. He skimmed through the contents of the paper to make sure and was on his way to see what the pure hearted man needed help with.

Shortly after weaving through the streets of Magnolia, the young afro haired mage got to Barras’ shop. He stood across the street from it as he reminisced the old days where he used to come in here and help the old man with his quests. It kind of put Ace’s mind at ease, knowing that things haven’t changed that much. Ace took out the quest paper and walked in to the blacksmith’s shop. The first thing he said as soon as he stepped in was “It’s been a while old man…” Barras turned his head fully as he stopped hammering the metal, “Oh! It’s you!” he exclaimed. “When was the last time I seen your little ass?” Ace briefly smiled at the man and said “Let’s just say it’s been a good while…” Then after a short pause continued by saying “Well what’s this about you needing the help of a mage?” Barras put the tool that he had clenched in his arms away and took a seat to talk to Ace. “Well you see young man, I came across this bargain where I’d be able to get roughly three times the amount of quality ore I usually used to get from my previous supplier. He ran out of business a couple months back, but that’s another story. For now I’m suspicious about this new shipment I have ordered in. I doubt it’s what they claim it to be. Simple right?” The bald man finished his sentence as he blurted out a loud laugh. “You’ve done something similar for me before! So get out there and investigate for me” he exclaimed once more. Ace got a few more details off Barras before he headed off on the job.

According to Barras, even the meeting point is as shady as the offer sounds. It was supposedly going to take place at a small intersection near the outskirts of Magnolia around midnight. No matter what it was he was about to face, he was ready to put up a fight. With 20 minutes left on the clock till midnight, the gas mage decided to stroll down and wait for his company to arrive. With a donut hanging around his left pinky and another held with his right, Ace Brookes, the mage with the sweet tooth, strolled casually through the empty streets, enjoying the peace and quiet just as much as he was his chocolate glazed donut.

Not much longer has passed since Ace finished off his donuts and was starting to get agitated by waiting. Not only were the men late, but he also had to get up early in the morning to assure he gets his next quest done. So this better be worth it he thought to himself. A few minutes later it seemed like a caravan appeared out of nowhere. Ace glanced over with caution and seen two men aboard it. The shorter one hopped off first followed by a taller more muscular looking punk. The taller one immediately began by running his mouth “So what’s the safe word little boy? Hmm? We can’t afford to be scammed by a little brat such as yourself.” He stated with a smug look on his face. Ace plainly replied by saying “There are no safe words… I'm here for the ore exchange and you're here to get your jewels. Isn’t that what you’re here for hmm?” The taller man proceeded to chuckle before he had something to say back to Ace, “Well, well, well… Looks like we got a talkative one here huh?” Ace’s face showed no interest in what the man had to say. In fact his body language said it all as he leaned back at a fence while he listened to the scammers. “You know what they say about those who talk a lot.” Ace was trying to get on the man’s nerves slowly. He felt something fishy was going on with the ore shipment after all.  Before the muscular chap had anything to say, his shorter friend joined in to ask for their jewels. Ace shook his head, “Just cus I’m young doesn’t mean I dunno how to do business… Go on, Show me the ore first” he said with an annoyed tone.

The two grunts exchanged a quick look before they took Ace to the caravan to prove they had the ore. “There, happy now that you’ve seen it? Now it’s your tu…” The man stuttered and stopped talking as Ace showed them their jewels. The young gas mage was eager to go home after such a long day but he knew how cautious he had to be no matter how tired he was, as this sale would probably greatly affect Barras’ business. Ace and Barras go way back, so even on a personal note, the gas mage wouldn’t want to harm Barras’ own endeavors.

1533/2000

Being the scammers they are, the two men had already planned on attempting to take Barras’ jewels without even offering any ore in return. The two men felt even more confident in pulling off their heist after seeing how the representative for Barras’ bargain was nothing but a mere child; or so they thought. Their main idea was that the boy might’ve been Barras’ son, here in place of his dad. The talkative and rather muscular man attempted to persuade the young mage into giving him his jewels before he was even in possession of the ore. Ace scuffed and argued with the man as he said “You actually think I’d be that stupid to just hand you my jewels and let you scum walk away with it?” The grunt who seemed to be in charge then barged forward and shouted “Alright, enough with the small talk… Give us the Jewels right now.” He then reached forward towards the hefty sack that Ace had gotten from Barras. The young gas mage pulled away in an instant, however the man just kept getting closer with his eyes fixed on the sack,


The dark skinned boy kept slowly backing up until he eventually nudged into a tree. He knew that there was no stopping these men without a fight. He let out a loud sigh and said “Must we really do this, gentlemen.” The two men glanced at each other and chuckled as they kept slowly creeping forward. “I guess not then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.” He replied with an annoyed tone to the men’s obvious answer.

Ace brought his fists up to cover his jaw and slowly adjusted to his boxing stance as he wiped his nose one time with his thumb. The older man started by attacking first. He clearly underestimated the young Rune Knight’s abilities completely. With a slow swing of his arm in attempt to smack the boy to the ground, the man’s eyes gleamed of greed. Ace easily missed his opponent’s attack by weaving back and proceeded to throw a forceful jab at the man’s exposed belly. Not expecting a forceful blow, the older man stumbled back in shock. This was when the stronger aide decided to intervene before things got out of hand. He seemed to be way more fit than his companion. Ace didn’t overthink that at all as the man charged head on towards him. The gas mage decided to put things to a stop early on before the men got severely injured and so cast a spell to encase his fist in nitrogen gas and fired it straight for the man’s head. The blow had landed successfully and dazed the man for a brief second giving the young skilled mage an opening to throw an uppercut at his opponent’s jaw packed with might.

The aide was knocked out in a flash which leaded the man in charge to tremble. He ran towards his companion in attempt of dragging him to the caravan for a quick escape. Ace turned back and headed towards Barras’ house for an update on the job just like the blacksmith had instructed. He kind of expected that to happen and thanked Ace for his service. He then told the young mage to keep the jewels he had given him for his troubles.