Brilliant sunlight poured over the vast mountains, painting a golden landscape, but the boy's mood was far from bright. He appeared to be about ten years old, handsome, with black hair draping over his shoulders. Despite clearly being a young child, his face bore a sorrow that didn't match his age.
The boy wore only a dark red dragon-scale patterned scarf around his upper body, and his small frame already showed traces of defined muscles.
"Charles, come duel with me! Today, I'm definitely going to beat you!"
The boy sighed. Upon hearing the challenge from behind, he felt no desire to respond.
Tilting his head slightly, the boy named Charles easily dodged the small fist coming his way.
"Hey! I mean… Natsu, haven't you learned your lesson yet?"
As he spoke, Charles raised his arm and punched the other boy squarely in the face.
"Damn it! I lost to Charles again!"
The pink-haired boy's eyes turned into spiraling swirls as he collapsed backward.
But soon he bounced back up and pointed at Charles. "One day I'll surpass you! Just you wait!"
After shouting his threat, he noticed Charles lifting his fist again and quickly turned to run away!
"Haha! Natsu's still full of energy, huh?"
A massive voice came from above, but Charles showed no sign of alarm.
The shadow that had been covering Charles shifted. It wasn't cast by a tree or mountain but by an enormous creature.
Looking closer, it was clearly a giant dragon covered in red scales, with sharp fangs and claws.
This dragon had been shielding Charles from the sun with its massive body, protecting him.
Charles sighed and said, "Igneel, you shouldn't spoil Natsu all the time. You should be stricter with him once in a while!"
The giant dragon named Igneel let out a humanlike laugh and said, "Enough with the petty complaints. You and Natsu are both growing up wonderfully!"
Charles smiled and shook his head. He wholeheartedly agreed with Igneel. After all, he knew exactly what kind of person Natsu would grow up to be.
Because Natsu's full name was Natsu Dragneel of Ethelrias, the protagonist of this world.
That's right—this world was the very one depicted in the manga Fairy Tail that Charles had read before. Charles himself was what people would call a transmigrator.
Though his previous life as an office worker had its share of frustrations, waking up to a giant maw in his face—and realizing he'd become a baby—had nearly broken Charles mentally.
Fortunately, the owner of that mouth was a sentient and intelligent being—a massive dragon that only existed in fantasy.
Even more fortunately, that dragon happened to be one of the most human-friendly of its kind.
And so, Charles was adopted by this dragon, which saved him from having to start thinking about what name he'd get in his next reincarnation.
When he learned the dragon's name was Igneel, Charles immediately realized what world he had arrived in.
Sure enough, when Charles turned three, a pink-haired child appeared beside Igneel—that was Natsu, the protagonist of this world.
Incidentally, Charles's full name in this world was Charles Gidofmir, meaning "Child of the Meteor."
According to Igneel, Charles appeared before him along with a falling star.
Charles's body was also unusual. Having gone through the trouble of transmigrating, he naturally had a "golden finger" of his own.
Besides being familiar with the story and possessing exceptional mental strength, Charles had a unique physique—one that could absorb and contain any kind of magic without adverse effects, like the sea accepting all rivers.
In other words, Dragon Slayer Magic wouldn't have the side effect of dragonification on him. That's why Igneel confidently taught him Dragon Slayer Magic.
Unlike the young and impulsive Natsu, the more mature Charles learned far more magic knowledge from Igneel and later from Anna Heartfilia, the Celestial Spirit Mage.
Naturally, Charles became much stronger than Natsu at this stage. Since Natsu began learning Dragon Slayer Magic, he had challenged Charles 616 times—and had lost every single one.
But Natsu never got discouraged. Maybe that's just the nature of a hot-blooded protagonist.
Igneel lowered his head, and young Charles instinctively leaned beside him. The dragon and the boy fell into a quiet silence.
After a long while, Igneel finally spoke. "The time is almost here."
Charles was silent for a while, then asked with a trembling voice, "Is there really no other way?"
Igneel didn't answer, but his silence said it all.
Everything originated from the existence known as Acnologia—the Dragon Slayer Mage who had completely turned into the Dragon King.
Originally human, Acnologia was betrayed by trusted dragons, who took everything from him. Driven by hatred, he trained in Dragon Slayer Magic, determined to exterminate all dragons.
As his dragon power awakened and he killed more and more dragons, he eventually transformed completely into a black dragon. At the same time, he lost all human emotions and reason.
He had long become the embodiment of destruction, the black wings that devoured all light.
At the time, some people realized that Acnologia would eventually threaten the safety of the entire world and that preparations had to be made.
Among those people were Zeref, who would later be called the Black Wizard, and Anna Heartfilia, the teacher of Charles and other children.
Zeref in particular, who had lost his parents and younger brother to dragons, had been preparing to defeat the Black Dragon King all along.
Not just humans—among dragons, a faction led by Igneel also devised a plan.
Igneel and four other dragons would each teach a chosen child Dragon Slayer Magic. After all, only Dragon Slayer Magic could counter dragons.
Then, with the help of Anna Heartfilia and her descendant Layla Heartfilia, they would activate the Eclipse Gate in both eras, sending these children—symbols of hope—400 years into the future, where magic was abundant.
To prevent the side effect of dragonification from the magic, Igneel would use the Soul Dragon Technique to enter Natsu's body and create antibodies to suppress the dragon seed.
Of course, it was also so that he could settle things with Acnologia when they met again 400 years later.
Thanks to Acnologia's Dragon Slayer Magic, the souls of all dragons had actually been extracted and destroyed. Choosing to sleep inside the children's bodies was their only option.
But that meant Igneel had to part with Charles and Natsu. Their next meeting would be a true farewell.
Although Igneel was a dragon, Charles could feel his genuine love for both Natsu and himself. He had long regarded Igneel as family.
Sometimes, Charles even envied Natsu—he could remain carefree and ignorant of everything.
Sensing Charles's sorrow, Igneel suddenly said, "Don't look so down!"
He extended his claw and tapped Charles on the chest. "I'll always be watching over you and Natsu! But I'm going to count on you from now on. That reckless Natsu needs his older brother to take care of him!"
Charles looked at Igneel and solemnly nodded.
...
Farewell came without warning. One morning, when Charles gently moved Natsu's leg off of him and stepped out of their mountain cave, Igneel was already gone.
Even though he knew Igneel was now inside Natsu's body, Charles couldn't stop the wave of sadness that washed over him.
Just then, a blonde woman appeared in his line of sight.
"Teacher Anna," Charles greeted weakly.
It was none other than Anna Heartfilia, Charles's teacher and the key executor of Igneel's plan.
Understanding Charles's feelings, Anna reached out to gently ruffle his hair. "You've worked hard."
Anna knew the burden Charles carried, and it made her care all the more for her most mature student.
Charles shook his head and said, "This was Igneel's decision, and also a promise between him and me. It's not hard at all."
With that, he turned back into the cave and carried the still-snoring Natsu—his nose bubble wobbling—on his back.
"Teacher Anna, let's go," Charles said with determination.
Anna nodded and led Charles to their prearranged destination.
In front of them stood a massive gate—so large even a dragon like Igneel could pass through with ease. The door was engraved with star charts and pointer designs, giving it a majestic aura.
The Eclipse Gate, a super magic apparatus created by Zeref. By using celestial spirit power to lock onto different time-spaces, it enabled time travel. It could only be opened using the twelve most powerful Golden Keys from Celestial Spirit Magic.
In front of the gate, four other young children were already waiting. Like Natsu, they were all in deep sleep—likely due to the dragons having entered their bodies.
Anna looked at Charles and the other five children and said, "Now, we go to the future—four hundred years from now!"