Meat

Marcus shakes his head, his expression skeptical. "I still can't believe y'all are from another world. It sounds like something out of a fairy tale."

Lily nods thoughtfully, her eyes reflecting the firelight. "Actually, Ava told me about this yesterday night, that she met otherworldlers before. She also said that from her experience, they usually die within a few weeks or months of arriving in Earthland. But the few who did survive came to harbor unique powers."

Jasmine leans forward, her eyes meeting mine with a knowing look. "Actually, John and I had an encounter with a medium before we came here. She advised us to stick together and told us we would find Sarah in that forest." She pauses, then adds, "She also said there are others who were transported to this world at the same time as us and that we will find Kylie in a castle to the north."

This revelation provokes a vivid reaction in my mom. Her face pales, and she grips the edge of the table tightly. "My daughter, Kylie... We have to find her. We have to make sure she's safe."

I reach out to touch her hand, trying to reassure her. "We'll find her, Mom."

Marcus furrows his brow and pulls out a worldmap, spreading it on the table. "Sorry if I'm blunt but I gotta let you know there's no castle to the north."

"Look, we're in Fiore, the eastearnmost country on the map and there we are, Wano, the northernmost city in Fiore. Beyond Wano are mountains and the sea. There's nothing else up there."

I’m taken aback by this revelation, feeling a sudden uncertainty. "But... the medium was so clear."

"Was she?" interjects Jasmine.

My mom, however, doesn’t lose hope. She places a hand on mine, her eyes filled with determination. "One way or another, we'll find your sister. We just need to stay strong and keep looking."

"By the way, " said Lily "John, your prowess during the battle was incredible. I mean, I expected you might be able to instinctively upgrade your physical abilities with magic, which is already impressive, but conjuring flames? That was something else entirely! I mean, I've read about spontaneous magic manifestation, but to see it in action was just... wow!"

Jasmine's eyes widen in fascination. "I wasn’t there to see that! John, can you show me?"

"I'll try." I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to focus on conjuring flames between my hands without the help of the forest's mana. Suddenly, the flames from the chimney leap out and stream directly into my mouth. Reflexively, I swallow the fire, leaving everyone, including myself, speechless.

Marcus bursts into laughter, slapping the wooden table. "That's why I love my job! You never know what freaky shit you're gonna see next!"

Lily's eyes are wide with shock. "I've never seen anything like that before. Even experienced fire sorcerers don’t eat flames. It's like you have an affinity for absorbing and controlling external sources of fire, which is theoretically possible but practically unheard of!"

Jasmine looks at me, her eyes shining with a mix of awe and concern. "Are you okay, John?"

I take a moment to process what just happened. "I think so. I don’t even know how I did that."

Lily leans forward, her curiosity piqued. "We need to figure out exactly what you can do. This could be a significant advantage. We could run some tests, maybe analyze the local mana patterns and your interaction with them..."

Marcus nods in agreement. "Slow your tits girl."

The door to the inn suddenly bursts open. Ada staggers in, completely covered in blood, and collapses onto the floor. The room erupts in chaos.

"Ada!" Marcus shouts, jumping up from the table and rushing to her side. Mirajane is right behind him, her face pale with shock.

The rest of us follow quickly, and the other customers and members of Fairy Tail gather around. Mirajane kneels beside Ada.

"Ada, stay with us. What happened? Can you hear me?" Mirajane's voice is calm but urgent, trying to keep Ada conscious.

Ada's eyes flutter open, and she struggles to speak, her voice weak and raspy. "I... I found more than 200 orcs... gathered in the forest." Gasps of shock ripple through the crowd. "Led by a chief... a powerful mage named Kargalgan. They're going to attack the town... tomorrow." Ada coughs, wincing in pain. "I got spotted... had **** but to fight back. Killed half of them... wounded Kargalgan, but... had to retreat." Her strength seems to ebb away with each word, her eyes starting to close. "I'm sorry..."

"No, Ada, stay with us!" Mirajane says. "You're going to be okay. We'll take care of you."

But Ada's eyes close, and she slips into unconsciousness. Mirajane and a few others quickly lift her and carry her to a room to tend to her wounds, leaving the rest of us standing in a stunned silence.

I turn to Lily, "How dangerous are 100 orcs?"

Lily's face pales, and anxiety fills her eyes. "One orc is as strong as three soldiers. That's why it's crucial to face them in groups and try to pinch them from different directions. And Wano, being far from any conflict, doesn’t have a permanent army to defend it. Apart from five police officers, its only defense is the Fairy Tail guild."

She takes a deep breath before continuing, her voice trembling slightly. "However, numerous sightings of orcs have been reported in the region, so most of the guild's members have been away on expeditions. Ada, one of the guild's six S-rank mages, stayed behind, but now that she's out of commission, we don't have any S-rank mage to count on and we're down to just 30 adventurers."

Her words amplify the mood of defeat and despair weighing on the members of the guild. The room feels heavier, the gravity of our situation pressing down on us.

Jasmine, her trembling voice filled with fear, asks, "Shouldn't we just surrender at this point?"

Lily responds "Orcs are a violent race with a male-to-female ratio of 100 to 1. This drives their expansionist culture of pillaging and ****. If we surrender or lose tomorrow's battle, the orcs will kill the men, capture the kids, and reduce the women to sex slaves for the rest of their lives. And they won't let us die of old age either. First they'll breed us and then they'll ravage our bodies until we die from the constant sex."

As the stark reality of Lily's words sinks in, the mood in the room grows heavy with despair. The members of the guild look defeated, their shoulders slumped and their faces pale. The weight of our impending doom seems almost too much to bear.

"So what?" calls out Marcus. "If that scares you then you lot got nothing to do in Fairy Tail. Ada killed half of these bastards for us! And you want to flee the city with your tail between your legs? You bunch of cowards!"

A rumble of anger spreads through the crowd as a response to his taunt. "Get pissed off as much as you want, I don't give a fuck! I could take a hundred of pussies like you without breaking a sweat! If you want to prove me work then stop sulking and show me some spunk dammit. Show me you're proud members of Fairy Tail!" He spreads a warcry lifting his fist up in the air, joined by the rallying cry of everyone in the guild lifting their fist too.

The energy in the room completely shifted. The air is trembling from the guild's tremor.

Lily's eyes shine with determination. "We have to use everything we know, every bit of magic and strategy, to defend our home."