“W-What?” he looked surprised but what was he expecting?

I looked down as I inhaled in the fresh air of the countryside again. “The fire contestant who killed dad, kidnapped Malia but she escaped. The light contestant attacked me at the same time and I killed him by luck. He was way stronger than me and I’m scared that I’m not strong enough.” I sighed; my energy drained from my body.

Gramps looked at me with pitiful eyes, holding my shoulder and nodding at me. “I see…”

“I came here to ask if you’d help me train once again.” I looked into his eyes, slightly begging. He smiled nodding at me and I relaxed myself, relieved.

I finally gave in to my sore muscles and collapsed on the couch. Gramps’ eyes widened but I smiled at him, showing him I was good. “Pack the things you need. I’m taking a little nap.”

I closed my eyes after he went back in the house.

“Where are you going?” Miss Elena’s voice was concerned.

“Elena, look after the house while I’m gone. I’m going somewhere with Zeref.” I could hear Gramps running around the house.

“But-” Johan tried to reason with him but Gramps wasn’t listening.

I decided eavesdropping wasn’t worth it and fell into a light nap.

**

I was startled awake by an annoyed Ciara. “Wake up. Johan and I are leaving. Anything you want your mother and friends to know?” her voice was blurry as my sleep hadn’t worn off and I was only half listening.

“Tell them I’ll be back after the holidays. So 3 months.” I groaned, squinting my eyes at the bright sunlight. Ciara sighed, getting up and walking away with a small “Fine. Bye.”

Johan followed her, smiling at me and throwing his long, rain proof jacket at my face. “You look like you didn’t bring clothes. Have fun dude.” he smirked and we nodded at each other with a sense of appreciation lingering between us before he left too.

I grunted, standing up and walking into the house, making my way to my old room and jumping in the shower. When I got out, a white shirt, underwear and a grey tracksuit was laid out on my bed. I slipped into it. Luckily I left some of my clothes here or else I’d have had to use Gramps’ which would’ve been weird. I cringed at the thought as I made my way downstairs with Johan’s jacket in my hand. I smiled at Elena as I grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and waited for Gramps.

He came down a few minutes later with a large dimension ring on his finger and a straw hat on his head. He wore a red tacky Hawaiian shirt paired with crème coloured shorts.

“Ew.” Miss Elena spoke my thoughts as I laughed.

“Damn I feel young again.” the old man looked satisfied, grabbing a banana off the table. Elena and I shared a look of disbelief and laughed together.

“Ok, we better get going before mother hears where I am and drags me home. Bye Miss Elena.” I smiled, leaving.

Gramps came out, waving at Miss Elena and joining me.

Once we were quite far from the house, I looked up at him. “So where are we going?”

“The beast forest to polish your skills and revise some things.”

**

The sun was definitely angry; my blood boiling under its scorching rage. My skin was bright red as I groaned, following grandpa through the cobbled, rocky pathway leading upwards in a spiral around a mountain. The higher we climbed, the more my throat clamped, whining for some water.

“I. Need. Water.” I complained, dragging my feet and dropping my shoulders.

“No. Self discipline is the key to this hike Zeref.” Gramps continued walking like a wise turtle, his hands held behind his back. I let out a groan of frustration. How is this dude not thirsty?! My head fell down as I gave up, throwing a little tantrum behind him before gaining my posture again and walking next to him.

“Fine. Whatever.” I said bluntly, scanning my surroundings.

“Don’t even think about trying to find a lake. The place we are going too is the only lake in the 5 mile radius and it is located at the top of this mountain.” Gramps informed me, crushing all my hopes.

I rolled my eyes, annoyed.

We continued walking and as we walked higher, I found it easier to cope with my needs. It felt as if a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders and I felt free as I relaxed into a tranquil zone in the depths of my mind. My mind felt more open and aware as thoughts of mischief circled my brain, wreaking havoc into the caverns of my head.

I started to slow down my pace from grandpa and luckily, he didn’t think much of it. Slowly lifting up my hand, I grew tiny icicles at the tip of my fingers and rubbed it against my face and arms, feeling the cold, wet ice kiss my dry, red skin. I tried not to hum in satisfaction at the cool feeling sending goose bumps to run up my arms. I held my hands to my cheeks, feeling the ice melt against my heated body and dripping cool water down my chin. I started to close my eyes, smiling but was quickly snapped out of my high state.

“Zeref, the heat really boiled your brain, huh? What did I say about self control?!” he slapped my hands away from my face, making the icicles fall off my fingertips. My face morphed into anger, feeling the irritation bubble in my chest, rising to my throat.

“ITS HOT!” I vociferated.

Gramps grabbed the collar of my shirt, pulling me down to his level and yelling, “WELL DEAL WITH IT! YOU WEAK-MINDED, EGOISTICAL, SPOILED KING!”

I pushed myself out of his grip, towering over him. The mana around me started to shake and all I could see was red, filling my eyesight.

I swung my fist up into the air and down at him but he dodged, easily sliding out of the way. “Predictable.” he said, making me even angrier. I activated my mana but the heat in my head and the anger taking over, slowed down the process. Out of nowhere, Grandpa got out a fan, fanning himself and yawning, as if he was waiting for me to turn on my mana. “The enemy would have attacked by now-”

“SHUT UP!” I raged, throwing a shot of ice at his shoulder. He rolled his shoulder backwards, dodging my blow again. “Stupid.” he deadpanned before flash stepping towards me and whacking me all over the face with his fan. His hands were moving incredibly fast as I squeezed my eyes shut, not being able to see with the fan continuously hitting my head.

*WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* He finally stopped. “The enemy would’ve killed you by now.”

I opened my eyes, glaring at him which earned me another two whacks to the forehead. “If you want the training process to work, you must LISTEN to my instructions.” he told me, flicking his wrist and fanning himself.

Finally, I let myself cool down and nodded, following him again. If I wanted this training time period to work, I’d have to do everything the wise man said. He was right. Nobody could fight well with their mind filled with rage.

**

We had arrived at the centre of the forest quite quickly slaying a couple beasts along the way. I stored them in my dimension ring so I could sell them off later.

Making it to the peak of the green mountain we reached the top, a large wall of tropical trees faced us. Great. A jungle.

Gramps walked in and I followed; the trees and soil started to lessen until we got to a field of grass and a plain, smooth floor. Gramps opened his dimension ring and pulled out a big, two room tent, setting it down. I further explored the place, discovering a glowing green lake and a waterfall, covering a cave.

“Don’t go near that lake!” Grandpa called me back before I could do any further inspecting.