Chapter 37
"There’s no question about it. This is the effect of Take Over Magic."
Inside the Strauss family’s home, Marshall released the grotesque demonic arm he had been examining and calmly delivered his conclusion.
"You awakened your magic naturally without anyone teaching you. That’s an exceptionally rare talent, not some demonic curse."
Seated before him were the three Strauss siblings: the eldest, Mirajane, who was thirteen; twelve-year-old Elfman and their youngest sister, eleven-year-old Lisanna.
Their parents had passed away several years ago, and the three of them had survived ever since with assistance from the village church.
A week earlier, a demon had suddenly appeared inside that church and attacked Mirajane, who happened to be there at the time.
Instead of killing her, however, the demon had triggered the awakening of her magic and ended up being absorbed by her.
The power Mirajane awakened was far too strong for her to control properly.
As a result, her right arm remained trapped in a hideous demonic form, terrifying the ignorant villagers.
That was what had led to the request to drive out a "demon"—and the vicious mob outside their home today.
Once Marshall finished explaining, Elfman and Lisanna immediately broke into relieved smiles, delighted that their sister was not cursed after all.
Mirajane’s expression softened slightly, but she still could not bring herself to smile.
Marshall studied the demonic arm thoughtfully.
Beneath his calm exterior, however, he was far more shaken than he appeared.
He had recently learned Take Over Magic himself.
It was an extraordinarily sophisticated spell involving highly advanced magical theory.
Whoever had first created it must have possessed an astonishing understanding of both the body and soul.
Even the System classified it as a complete, independent branch of magic that could not be broken down into simpler component spells.
The foundation of Take Over was fusion. To activate it, the caster first had to take in the target, then take over its power.
The caster drew another being entirely into the same body, where the two sides fought at the level of the soul.
Whoever won gained absolute control over the loser and claimed everything they possessed—their soul, magic power, physical abilities, and natural gifts.
Since the souls of Magical Beasts were generally weaker than those of humans, while their bodies were far stronger, Take Over was normally used against monsters.
It allowed the caster to exploit the enemy’s greatest weakness, seize its combat abilities, and strengthen themselves without suffering any obvious side effects.
It was essentially this world’s version of a legendary martial-arts technique that stole an opponent’s power.
However, Take Over also had several limitations.
The abilities of different absorbed creatures could only be used separately.
The caster could not endlessly combine them and grow stronger like a rolling snowball.
Even after destroying the absorbed monster’s consciousness, the caster still had to pass another form of soul check whenever they attempted to use its power.
If they failed to dominate it, the transformation would not activate.
Whether a target could be absorbed at all also depended on the difference in raw strength.
If the gap was too large, the process would never even reach the battle between souls. The caster would fail at the first step and be unable to take the creature into their body.
Unlike most magic, Take Over did not become dramatically more powerful through ordinary practice.
Its true path of advancement was absorbing increasingly powerful monsters.
Raising the skill’s level did allow the caster to absorb enemies above their current strength and granted them a greater advantage during the contest between souls.
Marshall’s Take Over Magic was currently only Level One.
He could absorb animals or Magical Beasts weaker than himself, but nothing more.
According to his estimate, Level Two would allow him to absorb enemies roughly equal to him, while Level Three would be required to take over something stronger.
And then there was Mirajane Strauss.
According to her, she had successfully absorbed a powerful demon immediately after awakening her magic.
There was no doubt about it.
This gloomy girl sitting in front of Marshall was a genius Mage just like him—someone whose magic had awakened at Level Four from the very beginning!
Losing control of a part of her transformation after awakening such powerful magic was completely normal.
Marshall had spent two years trying to control his Telepathy Magic and still had not mastered it completely.
If anything, the fact that only one arm had transformed showed that Mirajane was also extraordinarily talented at controlling magic power.
She was the real deal.
Marshall was already considering how to convince her to join Fairy Tail.
He had left Magnolia once and somehow found a genius to bring home. Makarov would probably laugh himself unconscious when he saw her.
’I really do worry far too much about the guild.’
Marshall considered himself incredibly fortunate.
Mirajane clearly did not share that opinion.
"Talent?" she muttered bitterly. "I don’t want an evil power like this!"
She gripped the ugly arm beneath her cloak with her left hand and lowered her head, her face darkening.
"This hand is disgusting... A demon’s power is disgusting!"
"Mira-nee..."
Everyone exchanged uncertain looks.
Even Cana and Levy glanced at each other with reluctant understanding.
As girls who cared about their appearance, neither of them could pretend the grotesque arm would be easy to accept.
Their gazes toward Mirajane filled with sympathy.
[With an arm this ugly, people will hate me wherever I go. Elfman and Lisanna will be dragged into it too. This disgusting power... That damned demon...]
"You’re looking at this the wrong way, Miss Mirajane."
Marshall interrupted her spiraling thoughts.
"There’s nothing inherently disgusting about it. Power is simply power. It isn’t good or evil by itself."
He smiled faintly.
"And magic is a wondrous thing."
"What would you know?!" Mirajane snapped. "You aren’t the one stuck with a disgusting arm like this! It’s easy for you to say—"
Marshall reached out and took hold of the demonic arm again.
Mirajane searched his expression, but she could not find even the slightest trace of revulsion.
The rest of her accusation died in her throat.
"Magic can accomplish almost anything. You simply haven’t learned to control your power yet."
Magic flowed from Marshall’s hand.
As his fingers moved across the twisted limb, the grotesque demon arm gradually changed, becoming the smooth, delicate arm of an ordinary young girl.
Mirajane stared at it in stunned silence.
"Your arm is constantly releasing magic power, so I can’t use Transformation Magic to physically change it," Marshall explained. "This is a light-and-shadow technique I developed myself, an application of Light Magic."
"To everyone looking at you, your arm now appears completely normal."
Marshall’s talent for Light Magic was nearly equal to his affinity for Spatial Magic.
It had long since become one of his main disciplines, and he had created several original techniques with it.
This was one of them.
Although Mirajane’s arm appeared normal to the eye, touching it would still reveal the rough ridges and demonic texture beneath the illusion.
It was ultimately only a visual disguise.
"Sorry. This is the best I can do for now."
Marshall released her hand.
"Once you become familiar with Take Over Magic, you’ll be able to control the transformation yourself. Then this won’t trouble you anymore."
Mirajane gazed at her restored-looking arm with a complicated expression.
After a moment, she bowed deeply to Marshall.
"This is already more than enough. Thank you... Thank you so much."
Elfman and Lisanna were equally overwhelmed with relief.
"This is wonderful, Mira-nee!" Lisanna cried. "Thank you, mister! Without you, we wouldn’t have known what to do today..."
"Big Bro!" Elfman declared passionately. "Thank you! You’re definitely a real man!"
"..."
Marshall did not think much of it, but Cana and Levy were barely holding back their laughter.
They wondered what the Strauss siblings’ expressions would look like once they discovered Marshall was younger than all three of them!
"It was hardly anything worth mentioning."
Marshall shifted the conversation.
"We should discuss what happens next. From what I’ve seen, the three of you haven’t exactly been happy in this village."
He smiled.
"I have a suggestion. Why don’t you join my guild and leave this place with us?"
"A guild?"
"A wizard guild. Fairy Tail."
Marshall nodded.
"Everyone there uses magic. You won’t be treated like monsters by ignorant people simply because your abilities are unusual."
"Fairy Tail is a large and welcoming family. The people in the guild will become your friends—and your strongest support when you need them."
Marshall extended a hand toward Mirajane.
"Leave this narrow-minded village behind and come with us. You don’t belong somewhere like this."
"The world outside is vast. There are far better places waiting for the three of you."
He gave her an inviting smile.
"So, what do you say? Will you come with us?"
"That’s right!" Cana immediately added. "Fairy Tail is the strongest wizard guild in the Kingdom of Fiore!"
"Everyone in the guild is really kind," Levy assured them. "You’ll make lots of friends there~"
A Mage talented enough to awaken magic naturally could easily become a future S-Class candidate.
Makarov had repeatedly told them never to let a promising recruit slip away.
"Mira-nee..."
"Nee-san..."
Elfman and Lisanna were clearly tempted.
Neither of them wanted to watch Mirajane suffer any more abuse from the villagers, but they still looked toward their elder sister and waited for her decision.
"All right."
Mirajane decided surprisingly quickly.
"We’ll go with you."
There was nothing left in this village worth clinging to, and she could not continue allowing Elfman and Lisanna to suffer because of her.
"Give us a little time to pack our belongings. Then we’ll leave with you!"
"It’s a shame about the house Mom and Dad left us..." Lisanna murmured.
"It’s all right, Lisanna," Mirajane said gently. "Someday, we’ll build ourselves a new home."
Marshall raised a hand, interrupting their discussion with a smile.
"There’s no need to make it so complicated. I’ll help you move."
"You don’t even need to pack."
"It’ll only take a moment."