Chapter 25
"Gildarts is back!"
As usual, the news sent all of Magnolia into chaos.
The newer members who had never met him immediately began asking questions, only to discover that this legendary man was Fairy Tail’s strongest S-Class Mage.
"So that means he’s really strong!"
Natsu understood absolutely nothing else, but that was enough to make him crack his knuckles eagerly.
Gildarts entered the guildhall looking half asleep.
Before he could even get a clear look at the room, Natsu charged straight at him.
"Gildarts! Fight me! WAAAH—!"
"Hm? What was that?"
Gildarts yawned and vaguely felt as though he had just swatted away a fly.
"Oh! Hey, everyone. I’m back!"
"Gildarts! Get over here and drink with us!"
"Hahahaha! Gildarts, you just sent the new kid flying!"
"Nani?! Is he all right?"
"Don’t worry! Natsu’s built like a brick wall. Getting punched won’t kill him."
The guildhall quickly descended into noise again.
After pulling himself out of the wall, Natsu did not hold a grudge in the slightest. He simply began circling Gildarts with renewed fascination.
With his overwhelming strength and easygoing personality, Gildarts was naturally one of the most popular people in the guild.
After several rounds of drinking, however, he began to feel that something was off.
It was only when he noticed Marshall and Cana tucked away in a corner that he realized what it was.
Several books and stacks of notebooks were spread across the table in front of Marshall.
The boy himself was hunched over them, scribbling nonstop, while Cana sat beside him without moving an inch.
’Huh?’
Why had Marshall not come over to greet him?
And Cana did not admire him like before?
Gildarts felt strangely offended!
Carrying a bottle of alcohol, he staggered over to their table.
"Marshall! Cana! Long time no see!"
The enthusiastic welcome he expected never came.
Marshall lifted his head, dark circles beneath his eyes, glanced at him, and said, "Oh."
Then he went straight back to writing.
Cana merely gave a cold "Hmph" and turned her face away.
Gildarts felt deeply wounded!
Cana’s little huff in particular filled him with an inexplicable sense of dread, as though he had committed some unforgivable crime without realizing it.
He instinctively sat up straighter.
Marshall was a child he had personally brought to Fairy Tail, so it was only reasonable that he should show more concern.
"What’s wrong with you two? Marshall, you look exhausted. Have you run into some kind of trouble?"
"I’ve been researching a troublesome branch of magic lately and got a little carried away. It’s nothing serious..." Marshall paused, then finally looked up with slightly more interest.
"Actually, your timing is perfect. The guild library doesn’t have any books on Gravity Magic. Do you know anyone who uses it? Bringing me a beginner’s book would work too."
"I know Gravity Magic," Gildarts replied. "I’m not particularly skilled with it, but I can teach you the basics. More importantly, I’m worried about your condition."
"That’s great. As for me, I don’t think there’s anything wrong. I’ve always—"
"Marshall! You can’t keep doing this!"
Cana finally snapped.
She grabbed his cheeks between both hands and forced him to look directly at her.
"You’ve been like this for two whole weeks! You stopped writing your novel, you barely sleep, you don’t dress properly, and you even forget to eat! All you do from morning to night is write in those notebooks!"
Her expression was completely serious.
"You have no idea how worried I’ve been! If you’re doing all this just to create some new magic for me, then I don’t want to learn it anymore!"
Marshall noticed the redness around Cana’s eyes.
Only then did he belatedly realize that he might genuinely have become obsessed.
He had devoted himself so completely to magical research that he could no longer hear the usual side effects of his Telepathy Magic.
For the first time, the world had been completely silent.
His mind had been filled with thoughts like, ’This design is incredible,’ ’Would changing this make it work better?’ and ’So magic can be used like that too?’
Inspiration had been pouring into him in waves, his mind trapped in a constant storm while his body functioned almost entirely on autopilot.
Marshall felt as though he had entered some profound state of enlightenment.
He had even been rather proud of himself, intoxicated by the feeling that he was finally becoming a true master of magic.
He had never considered that he was ignoring the people around him who cared about him.
The moment his mind relaxed, the surrounding thoughts flooded back into his awareness.
[I have to stop Marshall before he ruins his health! He’s still so young. As his big sister, I have to take care of him.]
[Damn, I really found a treasure back then. The kid’s a research-type genius. I’ve only seen people like him at magical academies. Maybe I should talk to the old man about sending Marshall to study at one for a few years.]
"Sorry, Cana. I made you worry." Marshall lowered his head. "This was my fault. I won’t do it again."
"You said the same thing yesterday!" Cana huffed. "I’m watching you closely for the next few days!"
Gildarts suddenly laughed and walked behind Marshall, lifting him off the chair by the back of his clothes.
"Gildarts, what are you doing?!"
"Come on, kid! I’m taking you outside town to have some fun!"
"Wait, put me down! I can teleport us there!"
Marshall struggled free, grabbed Gildarts by the arm with one hand and Cana’s smaller hand with the other.
In the next instant, all three of them appeared in an open field west of Magnolia.
"Whoa!" Gildarts looked around in surprise. "Your Teleportation Magic has become seriously impressive!"
"It’s nothing special. There’s still plenty of room for improvement." Marshall glanced at him. "So why did you bring me out here? Are you going to teach me Gravity Magic?"
Gildarts released him and walked roughly ten meters away before curling his fingers in a beckoning gesture.
"Come on. Let’s do some training."
Marshall blinked his large eyes and pointed uncertainly at himself.
"Huh? Me?"
"That’s right. Attack me with everything you’ve got."
Gildarts crossed his arms.
"As far as I know, you’ve been in Fairy Tail for more than a year without taking a single job. You’ve never fought anyone seriously either. You won’t improve by locking yourself indoors and studying theory forever."
He grinned.
"Come on! Let me see how much stronger you’ve gotten this year."
Marshall felt numb.
He had absolutely no desire to volunteer for a beating!
Cana, on the other hand, was beside herself with excitement.
"Go, Marshall! Show Gildarts how strong you are! Kill him!"
"..."
Marshall also heard a rather alarming thought from her.
[I knew it! Marshall really is my little brother! That bastard father of ours clearly knows everything! He’d rather secretly train Marshall than admit either of us is his child! What a scumbag!]
’This misunderstanding has gotten completely out of control.’
Perhaps he really should find a chance to explain everything to Cana.
"Come on, Marshall," Gildarts said. "Don’t hold back. You won’t be able to hurt me."
"All right. I’ll try."
This was the first time Marshall had ever taken the initiative in a real magical battle.
He knew many different kinds of magic, but he was purely a master of theory.
His practical combat experience was exactly zero!
He also doubted that any of his Level One skills would have much effect on Gildarts.
The abilities he currently had above Level One were:
[Telepathy Magic LV4]
[Meditation LV3]
[Spatial Magic LV2]
[Script Magic LV2]
[Magic Power Control LV2]
[Enhancement Magic LV2]
’...I have absolutely no idea how I’m supposed to fight Gildarts.’
One use of Crush Magic and Marshall would probably shatter into pieces.
’Forget it. Which elemental spell has the most experience right now?’
Marshall checked his panel.
’Oh? So it’s you.’
’Level up!’
[Light Magic LV1: 6,245/10,000]
→ [Light Magic LV2: 1/100,000]
He checked his remaining magic power.
[Magic Power: 620/626]
"I’m coming, Gildarts."
"Bring it on!"
Close combat was both pointless and suicidal.
Marshall’s only option was to make use of his strengths and fight like a magical artillery platform.
Once he finished thinking, Marshall raised one hand.
Three magic circles appeared in the air behind him.
"Light Magic: Thermal Ray."
The spell condensed light into a continuous beam of searing energy.
As long as the caster continued supplying magic power, the beam would keep firing. Its speed was extraordinary, though its raw destructive power was only moderate.
"Fast casting, and the power isn’t bad either," Gildarts said as the beams raced toward him. "But it won’t work on me."
He threw a single punch.
The rays shattered into countless tiny fragments in front of him.
Marshall had learned Crush Magic too, however, so he already understood its nature.
That was why his spell was not a single burst.
It was continuous.
The broken sections dissolved back into magic power, but fresh light immediately poured in behind them.
The beams eventually slipped through and struck Gildarts’s arm.
"Damn, that’s actually pretty hot~"
Naturally, an attack at that level could not break through his defenses.
But Marshall had already achieved what he wanted.
He was using Telepathy Magic to monitor Gildarts’s thoughts at all times, ensuring that everything proceeded according to plan.
Light Magic had another useful quality.
It was bright.
Painfully bright.
With the beams shining directly into his face, Gildarts could no longer see what Marshall was doing behind them.
That gave the boy the opening he needed.
"Script Magic— Replicate."
A large character appeared above Marshall’s head.
This spell could reproduce magic circles in large quantities.
As long as the caster possessed enough magic power, it could theoretically create thousands of identical circles within a short period.
So when Gildarts shattered the beams with another punch and looked up again, his expression froze.
More than a hundred magic circles now floated behind Marshall!
Every one of them was gathering a terrifying ray of light.
One or two beams might not have been particularly dangerous.
More than a hundred striking the same point was an entirely different matter!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gildarts stared at him. "Are you serious?!"
"I’m firing now, Gildarts!"
"W-Wait! Marshall—GAH!"
Marshall released the spell before Gildarts could finish protesting.
Gildarts tried to dodge, but no one could outrun light.
Marshall’s Level Two Magic Power Control was not merely decorative either. The beams relentlessly tracked Gildarts as he moved.
More than a hundred searing rays tore straight through the cloak he swung in front of himself and struck his body, making him jerk from the sudden heat.
Gildarts slammed one foot into the ground.
The earth shattered beneath him, and he dropped into the crater to escape the beams.
At the same time, the ground beneath Marshall broke apart as well.
Marshall teleported twice in rapid succession, carrying Cana safely back to the guildhall.
By the time Gildarts climbed out of the dirt looking thoroughly annoyed, Marshall had already teleported back with Cana.
Marshall looked at the holes burned through Gildarts’s shirt and the bright red skin across his chest, then grinned.
"Hehe. I surrender! I’m out of magic power."
"You little brat..." Gildarts stared at him. "That fighting style of yours is unbelievably shameless."
"Isn’t that how Mages are supposed to fight? The savages in our guild who solve everything with their fists are the strange ones."
"...Not everyone can use Teleportation Magic like you."
Gildarts sighed, brushed the dirt from his clothes, and began his evaluation.
"All right. I understand your general fighting style now, so let me give you a few pointers..."