EPISODE 1

Angry! Lina's Furious Dragon Slave

The episode begins, showing a large, black dragon chained and caged in the mountainside. The dragon struggles angrily to escape from the cave.

Meanwhile, in a nearby hideout, a group of bandits are celebrating for the new treasure they stole, when a fireball comes down and explodes before them. The bandits' boss looks to see that a small, red-haired girl was behind the attack and suddenly recognizes her as the "magic-using bandit killer, Lina Inverse." Lina then lives up to her title and burns the boss then steals some of their treasure. Though she claims to be fighting evil by attacking the bandits, she is really just doing it for personal gain.

Lina walks away from the hideout but realizes that she has been followed. One of the bandits asks her if she would join their group, the Dragon Fangs. Lina refuses so more bandits come out of the trees and are ready to fight. A small band of thieves are nothing for Lina Inverse, but before she can fireball the group, a blond-haired swordsman "comes to the rescue." As Lina decides to play the part of the damsel in distress, he fights off the bandits handily.

Once the battle is over, the swordsman takes a good look at Lina and is surprised. Lina thinks that he is stunned by her good looks until he makes the comment that "it's just a kid." While he complains about Lina's short stature and flat chest, Lina gets upset since this is the thing she's most sensitive about.

She decides to be polite and thanks him, but the man still thinks she is just a kid who is lost in the woods. Lina tells him that she is on her way to Atlas City, and he offers to escort her there like a guardian. He introduces himself as Gourry, a traveling mercenary, and the two head off to a nearby village.

In the village, they immediately order some food to eat. Lina gets "everything from here to here" on the menu, and Gourry orders four meals in triple portions. After eating, Saman, the village elder, comes to their table and asks if the girl is really the famous sorceress, Lina Inverse. Gourry is shocked that she is a sorceress, to which Lina asks, "Can't you tell who people are? Didn't the outfit give you a clue?" Gourry answers, "I thought you were a fishmonger or a waitress or something." Proof to Lina that this guy isn't very bright.

Saman continues talking to Lina, saying that they need the help of "Lina Inverse, the bandit killer and Dragon Spooker." Lina is unclear about her reputation. She understands the part about being called a bandit killer, but asks Saman what he means by Dragon Spooker. Apparently, Lina's destructive power is so well-known that even a mighty dragon would run from her in fear. According to Saman, it stands for "Dragons Step Past Out Of Clear Revulsion." This angers Lina greatly, and Gourry tries to calm her down.

After all this, Saman finally tells her why he needs her help. He says that a band of thieves owned a black dragon that had been terrorizing the village. Lina asked if the bandit gang were called the Dragon Fangs. Saman said that they were, and Lina told him that she and Gourry had already taken care of the thieves. Saman took this to mean that Lina had already killed the dragon and ran off, overjoyed, to tell everyone the good news.

Gourry asked Lina if she actually did kill the dragon. She said, "I didn't know they had one." Gourry realized that this meant the dragon was running wild and asked Lina what she was going to do about. Lina explained that it wasn't her problem and that she didn't want to go hunting after a dragon when she didn't even know where it was.

Meanwhile, the dragon had broken out of his cage and flew to the village, causing much destruction. Saman confronted Lina and accused her of lying to him. She says, "I never said I killed the dragon. I said I took care of the Dragon Fangs." She explained that she didn't know the dragon was there and then asked how much Saman was willing to pay her for destroying it. He offered her 20 gold pieces. She asked for 30, and when Saman said that it was too much, she answered, "Do you want me to destroy it before it wrecks the village?" They agree on 25, and Lina says, "Necessity drives a hard bargain."

They come after the dragon, who is burning down the village (and Saman along with it). Lina tries attacking it with a fireball spell, but it obviously has no effect. Gourry goes after it with his sword, but is hit and sent flying before he can do anything. He lands on top of Lina, who tries to get him off to get away from the dragon. The dragon moves forward and is about to step on them, when it looks down and recognizes the face of Lina Inverse. He steps past them and starts running away. "You really are a Dragon Spooker," Gourry says.

Lina, embarrassed and outraged, prepares to attack the dragon again. She casts the spell, Levitation, on Gourry and herself and asks Gourry to distract the dragon while she casts her next spell. Gourry does not want to do this, but Lina kicks him toward the dragon and his sword becomes embedded in the dragon's head. As the dragon is trying to knock Gourry off, Lina chants the incantation to her most powerful spell, the Dragon Slave. The spell creates a beam of magical energy that hits and destroys the dragon... as well as the entire village.

Lina finds Gourry among the rubble and boasts to him that the Dragon Slave, the most powerful spell in Black Magic, makes everything turn out all right. "Like hell it's all right!" yells Saman as he and the other villagers come out of the wreckage. Lina asks him for her reward, but he refuses since she destroyed the village. Seeing that the villagers are very mad at them, Lina tells Gourry, "I'll let you handle this," and runs off. Gourry follows her and they are both chased by Saman and the angry mob.