The job seemed brutal for most wizard in Lamia Scale, one they feared for one reason or another. For the third most powerful guild in Fiore, they didn't seem too keen on risking their lives, not even the S-Class wizards. However, this seemed like no problem at all for the ice-make wizard, Lyon Vastia. Jura of the Ten Wizards Saints could have easily taken the same request if he weren't already out on a mission by their master, Oba Babasama.

Lyon's friends were obviously confident in his abilities, although they still asked him if he wanted them to accompany him, since they were often considered a team. He refused. Although he knew the job was dangerous, he had no doubt he'd complete it with ease (and deep down, he also wanted to show off to his guild mates and the readers of Weekly Sorcerer.

He set off on his mission to the small town of Black-Eyed-Susan, which had become infamous for their extreme requests. But when he arrived, he wasn't left quite unimpressed.

How boring, to think this is the town famous for its collection of valuable items collected by wizards. The town houses were small, and quite pathetic looking. They were unkempt and empty looking, however, the people wore exotic clothing. It was quite easy to tell apart the inhabitants from the tourists. The citizens wore extra fine material, lots were flashy and even sparkled, they were either leaving their homes or returning with merchandise. The tourist were more casual clothing, obviously, many brought image-capture lacrimas, and roamed the streets and sidewalks.

The closer I got to down town, the more merchants were on the streets, selling all types of exotic items. Even children had put out lemonade stands.

"Come get some nice cool lemonade on this hot day! The lemons were brought from the Giant Alligator Hill, the most sour lemons in Fiore! The sugar is pure sugar cane from Tooth Lake! Where the most notorious sharks swim, with legs to walk on land. But the finest sugar you could find on the continent!"

"Make sure to buy these necklaces! Silver brought from the darkest and most dangerous cave, Bat Horror, where you'll find the shiniest sliver! It's even more valuable than regular platinum!"

"This snake skin purse was made from a Basilisk's scales! The most predatory and rare snake in Ishgar!"

Everything was made from the finest and rarest products in the continent. Not even the capital city of Crocus had such fine products. But what do they do with the money they make off of such expensive products. The houses were bent out of shape, so they were obviously not using it for renovations. However, looking around, it seemed that they sold as much as they bought. Greedy is what defines this town best.

The town's center was the most beautiful area, the only place that looked at all decent. Right in the center was a large fountain, with the purest and most crystal-clear water I had ever seen. It was in the center of all the rowdiest selling area, where the merchants were most productive. The houses were almost as large as mansion, definitely well cleaned (probably thanks to the maids and housekeepers that were brought in from foreign areas, considered the best in the land).

But right behind the fountain stood the largest building, both wide in width and depth. And it was very tall as well. The client was the mayor of the town. And apparently, he was notorious for requesting the finest of the finest products in all of Earthland.

I was welcomed into the building by a tall man with short black hair, in a proper suit, but the materiel was obviously much more valuable than any normal suit. It's only a wonder where he got everything.

"May I speak to Mayor Franziz please?" I asked him.

The man grinned, quite proudly, "That would be me," he asserted.

I was slightly taken aback. Most leaders I'd met were short, and quite old. Including guild masters. Even the king of Fiore wasn't the tallest of people. But this man was young, and even slightly taller than myself. He wore a large grin, and just from the way he spoke, anyone could tell that he was a proud and possibly narcissistic man.

He sat me down in the 'first floor living room' (which made me wonder how many living rooms he actually had) on one of the couches (the most comfortable couch I'd ever sat on).

"You are Lyon Vastia of Lamia Scale, correct? You're quite well-known around these parts," he chuckled.

"I'm quite well-known around all parts," I stated simply, "Now the request?"

"Oh yes! Of course! I'm sure you've gotten the general idea from the flyer, but there are certain minor details that must be mentioned. This town is right next to Wyvern Mountain, where the most dangerous wyverns lurk, are you aware of that?"

"Yes, I am."

"At the very top, however, there is one wyvern in particular, the only one in existence and impossible to defeat: the Golden Wyvern, scales made with real gold know to be the finest gold of them all," Of course it is, "And I want to possess at least two- scratch that, I would like three of those scales." It only said two in the request, yet he seemed to have changed his mind very quickly, "Although the mountain may be close, we will not be able to offer any transportation to the top. Our steeds our the best in the land, but even they won't be able to fight the cold. So you will have to go yourself, we don't want to risk losing any of our horses," And yet you're willing to risk the life of the wizard going after the most dangerous wyvern in the land, "And that's all, you may be on your way, good sir. I have business to take care of." He left without a last glance or anymore words.

With a grunt, I left the town hall, in pursuit of this rare Wyvern. One supposedly unbeatable Wyvern seemed like a large request, but who knows how many Wyvern's I would encounter along the way as well. No wonder no one wanted to take it. Although considered S-Class, I was the only one willing to take it, although Jura would have had no complaints either.

The wind blew harder the higher I got up the mountain, but being used to the cold weather as I was, it didn't bother me one bit. What did bother me was the snow kept blowing in my face, and I could barely see a thing.

There was the looming concern that one of the creatures make take advantage of the weather condition and ambush me. And with my luck, just that was sworn to happen. In a matter of seconds, a Wyvern had dived down from the sky and grabbed my shoulder with one of his legs, and it sent me flying into and icy wall. The pain of crashing into it wasn't as bad as I expected it would be, considering it got me by surprise. What shocked me most was that I didn't even sense it coming.

As I stood, I could feel the wind batting against my back much more forcefully than before. I managed to stand against it, but barely. The wyvern was using its wings to blow more wind at me and blind me. But there was no way I would stand there while I let it take me down, especially if this would only be my first of many to come.

With my fist in the palm of my other hand, I pulled them back to my side, and released some magic energy, "Ice-Make-"

At that moment, the wind suddenly stopped. Once the massive amount of snow had passed, I looked up, to see the creature toppled over on its side. It didn't struggle nor was its eyes open. It was knocked out.

Something stood on top of it. Actually, it seemed more of a someone. Once I moved a little closer, I could see the figure of a women, with long hair, dark purple or black, through the snow, I couldn't exactly tell which. She stood with two hands on the hilt of a sheathed sword. Once I got close enough to see who it was, she suddenly disappeared. I quickly ran to the fallen wyvern and jumped on top of it.

There she was, walking away on the other side. I jumped off and started chasing her. I pulled he back once I caught up to her, only to be met with something hard against my throat and cold yellow eyes staring me down. So close I could clearly see her. She was the warrior of the all-woman-guild Mermaid Heel, Kagura Mikazuchi. What was pressed against my neck was her sheathed sword, which wasn't of any comfort, considering she still new how to cut without unsheathing it.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed.

I put my hands up in surrender, but just the fact that I knew this woman made me smile just a bit, "I'm only here on a job, nothing more."

She didn't seem convince at first (although her expression never really deviates from shallow and hard), but she then lowered her weapon and hung it back to her belt on around her waist and left. Of course, I rushed to her side, "I didn't quite catch why you were here," I said.

"You didn't ask."

I chuckled, "Well, all right, I'm asking now."

Without turning her head, she looked back at me, then straight back at the road, "I'm on a job as well."

"Uh-?" Not many people normally send wizards to Wyvern Mountain, "You wouldn't happen to be looking for the Golden Wyvern for its scales, would you?"

"Two for the mayor of Black-Eyed-Susan, Mr. Franziz."

I sighed, "Well, now he wants three."

She suddenly jumped in front of me, sheathed sword pointing directly at my chest. She's fast, I thought, I barely even saw her move. The purple haired woman glared at me. She slowly slid the tip of her sword up to the crook of my neck. "I don't work with other guilds unless told to by the Magic Council."

Exhaling, I gently pushed her sword down with the tip of my fingers until it was out of threatening reach. "I'm not fond of the idea either, but both of us want a pay, and this one is apparently quite good (although not mention on the flyer). So either we work together, or you leave, because I'm not backing down," I claimed. We competed in a staring contest before she clicked her tongue disapprovingly, and walked off. This must mean we're working together. I chuckled and followed beside her.

The higher we got up the mountain, the wyverns appeared, and the bigger they got, the harder they were to defeat. Luckily, wyverns tend to travel alone rather than in flocks, so facing more than one at a time was not of great concern. But the time had come when we finally made it to the peak of the mountain, the lair of the "unbeatable" Golden Wyvern.

In most scenarios, one would think that the 'king' of the wyverns would come out much like a dragon, slowly creeping out of its dark cavern lair, its eyes glowing and staring its intruders down so they may quiver in fear, coming out claws first so that they may fear for their lives. But this was not most scenarios. No. It was actually no where to be seen. No cavern or lair, not even any footprints, would should have been clear since the wind had died down and it stopped snowing.

We looked everywhere. It was nowhere to be seen, no trace of it either. But then, we realized, there's was one place we hadn't looked. At one point, the peak inclined into a very vertical cliff, and a wall that mirrored it. If it hid at the bottom, there would have been no way we could see it unless it came up or we went down.

"Ready to go?" I asked, a small smirk played upon my lips.

"Are you insane?" she hissed, "It's suicide, that crevasse is far too thin, if we go down and it attacks, we'd have no chance of getting away, and no one would be there to save us."

"Am I sensing a hint of fear from the mighty mermaid?"

"Tch. Even I know my limits."

I chuckled, but I decided not to respond. Instead, I patted her on the back with a smile. She sent me a quizzical look. The last time I pat her, I pushed her a little harder, just a bit... All right, a lot harder. She lost her footing, and then fell off the cliff. She only managed a small yelp (which I would've found adorable if it weren't for the current circumstances) but she refused to yell as she fell down the crack. But on instinct, she used her own magic, shifting her field of gravity so that she may stand sideways against the wall. She glared up at me, but whistling was heard behind her before she could yell at my sly cruelness (but I had complete faith that she'd use her magic to save herself. If Kagura were ever to be killed, it would not be off the side of a cliff).

In a split second, Kagura was in the air, but could not fall due to a creatures powerful grip on her shoulder. The creature flew up high into the air, than plummeted down in my direction. As quick as I could, I conjured an Ice-Make Shield, which would shatter at the creatures attack, but give me enough time to dodge. It flew up and started to turn around.

I created Ice Eagles that charged directly at the golden creatures legs. It didn't show any damage, but it let go of the girl nonetheless. I caught her before she could land on the ground.

"Are you all right?" I asked. She looked up with a scowl. She's not happy. She pushed me, which made us both fall in the snow.

"Don't go using me as bait!" She barked.

Once I got up, I wiped myself off of the snow from the ground, "I'm sorry, but it was the only plan I had," I said, "Besides, I'd always do anything to handle a damsel in distress."

That was supposed to be a tease and I expected a harder smile. Instead, she stared at me with a shocked look on her face. I could've sworn that when she turned away, her cheeks went a darker shade of pink than they were from the cold.

"Let's just get this thing over with. I want to go home," She said bluntly, "You distract it while I make the blow for its scales. It's impossible to kill this thing, so shattering a part of its skin is our only option."

"Whatever you say," When I said that, she had already disappeared. After a low sigh, I turned to the Golden Wyvern. "You looking for something, giant lizard!" With taunts and attacks, I distracted the beast. With every attack, the angrier it got.

Where is she? I thought. I thought I was supposed to distract it so she could attack, but she was nowhere in sight. At first, I thought this job would be relatively easy, but now seeing my attacks barely have any attack on it, I wouldn't even be able to land a scratch on it! I struggled against the wyvern, but its defense was more than my magic could handle, and it was quiet fast.

It then flew up into the air, spreading out its large wings. It slowed itself in the air, and then made a swift turn, plummeting down toward me. I prepared myself to attack, but it was too fast. I don't even have time to dodge!

My survival instincts had nonetheless kicked in. I jumped back, it still was no where near enough to avoid the blow. So I waited for the attack to take a hit. But it never came. Instead, I was showered with cold pieces of shattered gold. The creature shrieked, and collapsed onto its side. Its knee had lost its scales. And there, standing firm and stiff, was Kagura, sheathed sword still in the followthrough stance of her offense.

She struck at the moment of its top speed so her blow would simply act as an obstacle, The wyvern tried to run, but it seemed to barely be able to move its leg. So it batted its large wings and resorted to flying away, down into the deep dark crevasse it came out of. I stared at her bewildered. I don't even think Jura would have managed to pull something like that off.

Once she hooked her sword back onto her belt, she picked up the three largest pieces of the shattered scales and started walking off. I followed close behind, still in a bit of shock. Although hard to admit to myself, I realized that I would have actually had no chance of getting the creatures scales, my ice was nowhere near strong enough for such a blow. Normally, I wouldn't have expected a sheathed sword to be able to do such a thing either, no matter how fast the creature was going. On the other hand, I was also talking about the woman who defeated the legendary thirteenth zodiac spirit, and could fight on equal terms with Fairy Tail's star, Erza Scarlet.

Achoo!

Broken out of my thought, I looked up at the purple haired woman, who wiped her nose with her finger. I ran up to her and had a look at her face. Her nose and cheeks were red, she kept sniffling and her lips had turned purple. Sometimes I forget not everyone is adept in the cold weather like myself. She didn't even seemed dressed properly for the occasion, although long sleeved, the material was too thin.

I took off my own jacket and wrapped it over her shoulders. She frowned and tried to take it off, but I stepped in front of her, and started to button it up. "You'll get a fever if you get too cold," I said.

"And why would you worry about that?" She hissed.

"A gentleman like myself can't simply leave a girl freezing in the cold, now can I?"

She looked down and away. But she quickly put her arms in the sleeves and continued walking without so much as a 'thank you'. I wasn't expecting one anyway. I chuckled and raised a brow. Someone then cleared their throat. His attention was brought back to us.

"Our payment, sir?" Kagura inquired.

"Oh yes! Of course!" He ran off toward the fireplace. He placed one of the scales (the largest one) in a stand right in the centre of the top. And then he returned with the two others in hand, "Each of you gets one."

"Excuse me?" I asked, befuddled. Even Kagura seemed taken aback.

"No one has ever been able to shatter the scales of the Golden Wyvern. To be honest, I didn't think you would be able to either. But you did, and this is a well-deserved reward for that feat." With great gratitude, we left with our reward.

All the way to the train station and the entire train ride, I watched Kagura admiring the trinket. Not simply examining it, quite the opposite. Other than what you'd expect, she wore the most adorable smile I've ever seen on a woman, her cheeks had even flushed a slight pink, and it looked almost as if her eyes dazzled. I wanted to ask her if she liked jewelry, but I didn't want to ruin her moment. I especially didn't want to ruin my own, considering that her smile was as much as difficult to see as it would be to shatter the scales of a Wyvern. Finally, it came to my stop, and was also the moment to break her from her trance.

"Kagura," she looked up at me with a start, and her cheeks flushed a bright red. I chuckled, "I would be greatly honoured if you would grant me the favour of going out to a restaurant with me this Saturday."

"Don't make it sound so formal," she went back to her usual seriousness.

"All right then, would you like to go out with me on a date?"

She looked back down and started rubbing gently and her scale, "I'll take it under consideration."

With one last smile, I left the train, to show off to the rest of my guild mates. But none of that compared to Saturday night.

I was dressed up and ready, I had even brought a gift. I bumped into Milianna on my way to Mermaid Heel who told me where she lived after telling her I was taking her on a date. I arrived at her door, and I admit, I was a little nervous myself, considering she hadn't actually said "yes."

But I brought up my courage and was about to knock on the door-

... "What took you so long?"