The sun was already setting by the time Kai stumbled down from the hills and into the first stretch of civilization he had seen since awakening.
Bosco.
The word whispered into his mind like a half-forgotten memory—a kingdom to the east of Fiore, ruled by power and steel. Industrial smoke hazed the distant horizon, and fields that once might have been green were now crisscrossed with dusty roads and blackened rivers.
Kai's boots—simple and worn—crunched against the dry earth. His body still ached, and his mind felt fractured, like pages torn from a book. But he could walk. He could move. And, most importantly, he could think.
He stopped atop a ridge, feeling the late evening breeze whip at his cloak. In his hand, he turned over a simple coin he had scavenged from a discarded pouch earlier, stamped with the Boscon crest of two crossed swords.
"July 7th... Year X777…" Kai muttered, staring at the stars beginning to pierce the sky.
Somewhere deep inside, he knew today mattered. It wasn't just the day he woke up in this strange new world. It was the same day something had ended.
Ignarax.
The memory hit him like a punch—not a clear one, but a jagged flash. He saw orange horns, heard a rumbling voice, and remembered magma flowing like rivers.
And then nothing.
Kai instinctively clutched his chest and froze. His True Sight, faint and flickering from exhaustion, activated automatically. A soft shimmer of magic surrounded his chest—a seal.
Intricate, ancient, and barely visible even to his enhanced vision, it pulsed once, slow and heavy like a heartbeat. Within it, he felt that unmistakable presence.
Magma.
Ignarax's magic.
Kai staggered back, nearly falling off the ridge. He gasped for breath, his hands trembling.
"Ignarax… you didn't abandon me," he whispered. "You're still here… somehow."
But why? Why seal himself away? Why couldn't Kai remember it? And if Ignarax was inside him, what would happen if that seal ever broke?
The questions were endless, but the answers lay buried deep within the fragmented mess of his mind. Some kind of magical accident during the ritual—Kai could feel it. His Eye whispered that it wasn't deliberate. A malfunction... during eclipse...
His fists tightened.
"It doesn't matter," Kai said aloud to the empty fields stretching before him. "I'll find the truth. I'll fix this."
He turned toward the faint glow of lanterns in a village nestled by the riverbank.
It was time to start moving forward.
The Village of Ruska
Ruska was a sleepy farming village that had clearly seen better days. Half the fields were abandoned, and rusting machinery sat like skeletons in the distance.
As Kai walked into the town square, tired faces turned toward him—farmers, blacksmiths, and children clutching toys made from scrap wood. None wore the vibrant robes or armor he remembered. The world felt more... grounded. Industrial.
"A new face," a gruff man greeted him, wiping grease from his hands. "Traveler, huh?"
"Something like that," Kai said, forcing a small smile. His voice was still a bit hoarse.
The man sized him up. "If you're looking for work, there's plenty to do. Monsters have been stirring lately—wyverns from the northern hills. We've already lost two herds."
Kai's ears perked up at the word "wyvern." His instincts sharpened.
"I can handle monsters," he said.
The man chuckled, thinking he was joking. "Sure, kid. The guild's already sending a mage tomorrow. Just stay outta trouble."
Kai didn't argue. He needed information, not a fight.
He spent the evening helping the villagers with smaller tasks—moving heavy loads of wood, fixing carts with his magic (small sparks of earth and fire), and listening carefully.
Bits and pieces of conversation floated to him.
—"The Steel Congress passed another law last week…"
—"Fiore's closing its borders tighter these days…"
—"Magic is getting rarer among the common folk. Only the strong survive now…"
It painted a rough picture: a world harsher, colder, and much more political than he remembered.
That night, Kai sat by the riverside, staring at the stars reflected on the water.
The world seemed different now—at least there were fewer wars.
The Attack
The attack came at dawn.
A thunderous roar shattered the peaceful mist of morning. Villagers screamed and scattered as a huge wyvern—a beast twice the size of a house, with scales like tarnished steel—descended from the northern cliffs.
Kai didn't hesitate. He moved instinctively, running straight toward the creature while others fled. The ground cracked under his feet as he focused his magic, summoning the heat of the earth itself.
The wyvern noticed him—it snarled and lunged.
Fool, it seemed to say. Child.
Kai met it head-on.
His right hand ignited with deep crimson flames—magma flames—and he slammed his fist into the wyvern's open mouth.
Magma Dragon's Fist!
The force exploded outward, knocking the wyvern back into the air with a howl of pain. Kai followed, leaping high—unnaturally high—and twisted midair.
His left hand swept downward like a falling star.
Magma Dragon's Talon!
An arc of molten energy sliced across the beast's wings. With a screech, it crashed into the earth, carving a deep furrow through the farmland.
The village was saved.
Panting, Kai stood as the dust settled. His body ached; he wasn't at full strength yet—but he had won. Villagers peeked out from behind doors and fences, staring in awe.
Somewhere behind him, slow clapping echoed.
A man in blue guild robes with a silver emblem—a minor Boscon guild, by the looks of it—approached, looking amused.
"Well," the man said, raising an eyebrow, "looks like you beat me to it, kid."
Kai wiped magma from his hand. "Sorry. I couldn't wait."
The guild mage chuckled. "No harm done. You saved a lot of lives. What's your name?"
"Kai."
No surname. Not yet.
The man nodded thoughtfully. "You sure you're not a trained mage? You fight better than most B-Ranks."
Kai shrugged, uncertain how much he should say. "Just... learned a few things."
The guild mage didn't press further. But before he left, he tossed something to Kai: a small, iron-stamped token.
"For your trouble," the mage said. "If you ever think about joining a guild, show that to a branch in Bosco. It might help open a few doors."
Then he was gone, walking away with the wyvern's corpse for the bounty. Kai pocketed the token.
"Guilds, huh," he thought. While he didn't remember much about them, one guild he did recall, even with his fragmented memories, was Fairy Tail.
The name sparked something inside him—a direction, a feeling.
Maybe not all of his memories were lost. Perhaps his heart still remembered the way.
The Journey Ahead
Over the next few days, Kai traveled from village to village, offering his strength to those who needed it. Few of the villagers paid him for his troubles, but he managed to buy basic food to eat.
Sometimes he fought off rogue Vulcans in abandoned mining towns. Other times he helped repair flood walls destroyed by runaway magic storms. Always moving. Always learning.
He noticed how people flinched at fire magic, how wary they were of strength. This wasn't the world of dragons anymore. Here, might was feared. Power meant responsibility—or danger.
Kai tucked these lessons away.
He also learned to fear his own magic a little. Magma wasn't like fire. It was destructive by nature—unforgiving. One wrong move and he could level an entire village. He needed control. Precision.
Surprisingly, people laughed at him when he told them he had been trained by a dragon, saying dragons didn't exist. That was another mystery—dragons did exist. He had been trained by one.
The days bled into weeks.
Kai traveled by foot and by cart, through scattered villages and crumbling towns, learning more about the world with every step. Bosco was harsher than he expected — a land where magic was fading out, replaced by steel and coin. A land where strength made you a target.
He kept moving.
Not because he had a destination.
But because standing still made the emptiness inside him louder.
He asked questions in every place he visited — about magic, about guilds, about Fiore to the west. Few had answers worth hearing. Fewer still had even heard of dragons.
Yet something tugged at him whenever he heard the name Fiore. A vague, persistent itch he couldn't explain. Like there was something he was meant to find there.
He didn't rush. He didn't even decide.
He just followed the road.
One step at a time.
For now, that was enough.
Extra: Timeline and Ages Clarification
As of now, Kai is five years old.
He was sent through the Eclipse Gate on July 7, X777, the same date Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, and the others were sent forward.
When he wakes up after the time jump, the year is X777 — the present timeline.
In terms of age comparison:
Natsu is around six to seven years old right now.
Kai is slightly younger than Natsu — about one year younger.
Wendy is even younger — around three or four years old when she is sent through time.
Important to remember:
By the time the main events of Fairy Tail (anime/manga canon) start (X784),
Natsu will be around 17
Kai will be around 15–16
Wendy will be around 12–13
So Kai will still be considered young, but more mature and battle-ready than Wendy and still a little younger than the "main" first-gen Fairy Tail crew like Natsu, Gray, Erza, etc.