What would hatch from this 'dragon egg' remained a mystery for now, but its allure was already evident.

From the forest, several massive vulkans charged out, one of them particularly enormous—clearly the leader.

"So huge!!!"

At the sight of the five charging vulkans, the children screamed in shock, backing away and clustering around Marco and Erza.

"Vulkans! Forest Vulkans!" Levy immediately recognized the green-furred monsters.

"They're after the dragon egg! They love eating eggs!" Levy grew nervous, shouting to Natsu, who was still clutching the egg.

"Egg! Egg! Give it to us!"

Levy didn't need to remind them—the Forest Vulkans had already started roaring the moment they spotted the egg in Natsu's arms.

These vulkans were a species of intelligent magical beasts capable of speech.

Recently, they had become quite active in the eastern forests of Magnolia, with many encounters reported.

Outside of mating season, Forest Vulkans weren't too dangerous and could easily be driven off with a few eggs.

But during mating season, they became extremely aggressive and women were advised to avoid the eastern forests at that time.

Fortunately, it wasn't mating season now.

The group of pretty little girls was completely ignored—the monsters only had eyes for the egg in Natsu's arms.

"No way! You're not getting it!" Natsu bared his teeth, glaring at the vulkans.

As he spoke, he carried the egg and ducked behind Marco and Erza.

"Marco, Erza, keep the egg safe for me! I'll drive them off!"

Natsu set the egg down, rolled up his sleeves and charged at the vulkans.

"We'll help too!" Gray, never one to be outdone by Natsu, followed right after him.

"I don't even have the egg—why should you monkeys get it?"

Elfman muttered under his breath as he joined the charge.

Faced with enemies, the boys were all fearless.

Thud!

Natsu, Gray, and Elfman, who had charged ahead, were all knocked to the ground, their heads covered in lumps from the five monkey monsters.

"Use your Magic!"

Watching this somewhat comical scene, Marco couldn't help but facepalm.

These three idiots had just rushed in swinging their fists without a second thought.

The Forest Vulkans were known for their sheer physical strength—each muscle on their bodies seemed bigger than these kids.

Without tapping into their Magic power and relying solely on brute force, the Mages stood no chance.

It was no surprise they got beaten up.

"But they didn't use magic either!" Natsu clutched the bump on his head, his face full of defiance.

Gray scrambled to his feet.

He didn't know why Natsu wasn't using magic, but if Natsu wasn't going to, then neither would he!

Of the three, only Elfman remained on the ground, his eyes spinning as he lay there, completely out of the fight.

Clearly, after enduring long-term suppression from Marco and Erza, Gray and Natsu had developed top-tier resilience.

Elfman simply couldn't compare to them in that regard.

"Elf-nii!"

Lisanna ran over to Elfman in concern, helping him up but at a loss for words.

"Steal the eggs! And take the pretty girl!"

Seeing how weak these kids were, the Forest Vulkans grew even more aggressive, pounding their chests and howling wildly.

One of them leaped straight towards Lisanna and Elfman.

Its eyes filled with hearts as it reached out with a massive purple hand, trying to grab Lisanna.

"Lisanna!"

"Elfman!"

Natsu and the others were shocked and tried to rush to their aid, but the remaining vulkans intercepted them.

Hum!

A surge of magic power flooded the air, scattering like snowflakes.

A terrifying wave of freezing wind enveloped the vulkans, encasing it in a layer of frost and turning it into an ice sculpture.

"Diamond... Dust Fist!"

With a howling gust, all the Forest vulkans were frozen solid by the icy blast.

'Hissss'

Lisanna, Natsu, and Elfman all shivered violently.

Even Elfman, who had been dazed earlier, was jolted awake by the cold.

"That was amazing, Marco!" Gray, however, seemed unaffected.

He reached out and tapped one of the frozen vulkans—only for it to shatter into pieces on the ground.

"Whoa..." Gray's eyes widened, but there was no fear in them—only envy.

He desperately wanted to master such terrifying ice magic too!

Huff! Huff! Huff!

Natsu kept exhaling flames, rubbing his arms to warm himself up.

Marco stepped beside Lisanna and waved his hand sharply, dispersing the lingering chill and allowing Lisanna and Elfman to regain some warmth.

When they looked up at Marco's face, they found his expression grim—almost icy.

"Don't pull a stunt like this again. If something had gone wrong, could you have handled it? Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. When facing an enemy, you go all out from the start. Understood?!"

Looking at Natsu, Gray, and Elfman, Marco spoke with an unusually serious expression, his tone exceptionally stern this time.

"I understand, Marco." Gray was the first to respond.

His mind was clear—it was only Natsu's presence that had clouded his judgment earlier.

"I'm sorry, Marco. I won't act like this again."

Elfman, who had been frozen awake, looked ashamed as he apologized to Marco.

He felt he had disappointed Marco.

His slow progress in learning Take Over Magic already filled him with shame and now this incident made him wish he could vanish into the ground.

"..."

Natsu wore a thoughtful expression, as if he had realized something.

The anxiety he felt when that monkey-like monster attacked Lisanna and Elfman had given him a new insight.

"Marco, I think I understand now." Natsu nodded earnestly at Marco.

This time, it seemed he truly grasped it—even gaining some understanding of Marco's earlier words about the meaning of life.

Natsu was straightforward by nature—he would never pretend to understand something he didn't.

"Good. Let's head back to the guild. I remember there's a quest to exterminate the Forest Vulkans. We'll use the reward for a feast—everyone can relax and enjoy a good meal together afterward."

Seeing the positive responses from the kids, Marco clapped his hands cheerfully and announced the good news, eliciting excited cheers.

Marco's teaching style always balanced discipline with rewards, which was one reason he was so well-liked—he never skimped on rewards.

-----------------------------

I release a new whitebeard scientist fic : One Piece : Scientist of Whitebeard Pirates

Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.

patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator