“Gildarts is back—!”
Today, Magnolia was in an uproar again.
The newcomers who had never met Gildarts asked one curious question after another, learning only then that this old fellow was actually the guild’s strongest S-Class Mage.
“So that guy’s strong, huh!”
Natsu understood nothing else and started cracking his knuckles, recklessly overestimating himself.
When Gildarts walked into the guild, he looked as though he had just woken up.
Before Natsu could even make him out, he shouted and charged:
“Gildarts! Let’s have a match! AUV—!”
“Hm? What was that?”
Gildarts yawned.
In his dazed state, he felt as though he had casually swatted a fly away.
“Oh! Hello, everyone! I’m back!”
“Gildarts! Come have a drink!”
“Hahahaha, Gildarts, you just sent the guild’s newcomer flying!”
“What!? Is the newcomer all right?”
“Relax! Natsu’s tough as nails. He’s not afraid of taking a beating.”
The guild soon grew noisy again.
After Natsu pulled himself out of the wall, he didn’t hold a grudge at all and simply hovered around Gildarts.
Thanks to his overwhelming strength and forthright personality, Gildarts was indeed very popular in the guild.
But after a few rounds of drinks, Gildarts sensed that something was off—until he spotted Aibo and Cana hiding in a corner of the guild.
Several books and a large number of notebooks lay on the table in front of Aibo.
He was hunched over it, writing without pause, while Cana stood guard beside him without moving an inch.
Hmm?
Why wasn’t Aibo coming over to greet him?
And hadn’t Cana always admired him most of all?
Gildarts was displeased.
Carrying a bottle of liquor, he swayed over to them:
“Aibo! Cana! Long time no see!”
The enthusiastic welcome he had expected never came.
Aibo looked up at him with dark circles beneath his eyes, said, ‘Oh,’ and then bent over his work again, continuing to scribble and sketch.
Cana merely snorted and turned her face away, ignoring him completely.
Gildarts felt deeply wounded, especially by that snort from Cana.
For some inexplicable reason, it sent a jolt of panic through him, as though he had committed some unforgivable crime.
Gildarts instinctively sat up straight.
After all, Aibo was a child he had brought back to the guild, so out of both affection and responsibility, he ought to take the initiative to look after him:
“What’s wrong with you two? Aibo, you look like you’re not in very good spirits. Have you run into some trouble lately?”
“I’ve been researching a troublesome kind of magic lately. I got a little obsessed with it, but it’s not a big problem… Ah, right, Gildarts, your timing is perfect. The guild doesn’t have any books related to [Gravity Magic]. Do you know anyone who can use Gravity Magic? Or you could just bring me a book…”
“I can use Gravity Magic myself. I’m not very good at it, but I can teach you the basics. More importantly, though, I’m worried about your condition, Aibo.”
“That would be great. You mean me? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me. Haven’t I always—”
“Aibo! You can’t go on like this!”
Cana finally couldn’t hold back.
She reached out and pinched Aibo’s cheeks, staring straight into his eyes with utmost seriousness:
“You’ve been like this for two whole weeks! You’ve stopped writing your novel, you barely sleep, you don’t even dress properly, and you’ve forgotten to eat. All day long, you do nothing but scribble in your notebook. You have no idea how worried I’ve been! If this is all for the sake of creating some new magic, then I don’t want to learn it either!”
Aibo noticed the faint redness at the corners of Cana’s eyes, and only then belatedly realized… he really had been a little under a spell lately. This chapter was taken from novelping(.)com without permission.
Because he had thrown himself completely into researching magic, he could no longer even hear the side effects of Telepathy Magic.
The world had never been so quiet.
His head was filled with thoughts like ‘This design is so ingenious,’ ‘Would it be better if I changed this?’ and ‘So magic can be used like this after all.’ His Inspiration points kept paying out in bursts like a jackpot, a storm raged constantly in his mind, and he had left his body on autopilot.
Aibo felt as though he had entered some mysterious state, and was even a little smug, beside himself with delight.
That exhilaration of ‘I’ve made it as a mage!’ refused to fade.
He simply hadn’t expected to overlook the concern of the people around him.
As soon as his mind relaxed, the voices around him flooded into his head again:
[I have to stop Aibo from going on like this. It won’t do if he ruins his health! He’s still so young. As his older sister, I have to take good care of him.]
[Heh, I really did find a treasure back then. This kid turns out to be a scholar-type genius. I’ve only ever seen people like this at the Magic Academy. Should I mention it to the old man and have Aibo spend a few years at the Magic Academy?]
“Sorry, Sis Cana. I made you worry… It’s my fault. It won’t happen again.”
“You said the same thing yesterday. Hmph, I’m keeping an eye on you for the next few days!”
Gildarts suddenly let out a hearty laugh, walked up behind Aibo, and lifted him straight off the ground.
“Gildarts, what are you doing!?”
“Come on! Aibo, my boy, I’m taking you outside town to have a little fun!”
“No, let go first. I can teleport there!”
Aibo struggled free and jumped down.
With one hand gripping Gildarts’s arm and the other holding Cana’s little hand, he made the three of them appear in an open area west of town the next instant.
“Whoa! Incredible. Aibo, you’ve really gotten the hang of Teleportation Magic.”
“It’s nothing special. There’s still plenty of room for improvement… So why did you bring me out here? Are you going to teach me Gravity Magic?”
Gildarts released Aibo, walked ten meters away, and beckoned him over:
“Come on. I’ll spar with you.”
Aibo blinked his big eyes and pointed at himself with one small hand, bewildered:
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes. Attack me with everything you’ve got. As far as I know, Aibo, you’ve been in the guild for over a year and haven’t taken a single job, and you’ve never fought anyone either. You can’t improve by working in isolation. Come on, let me see how much you’ve improved over the past year.”
Aibo was a little dumbfounded.
He had no desire whatsoever to volunteer for a beating, but Cana was extremely excited beside him, cheering him on nonstop:
“Come on, Aibo! Let Gildarts see what you’ve got! Beat him to death!”
“…”
Aibo also heard Cana’s shocking inner voice:
[I knew it. Aibo is my own little brother! That scumbag dad probably knows everything! He’d rather secretly give us extra coaching than openly acknowledge the two of us. That bastard!]
This was absurd.
What on earth was she talking about?
Maybe I should find a chance to explain things to Cana…
“Aibo, come on. Don’t hold back. You can’t hurt me.”
“All right, then. I’ll give it a try…”
This really was the first time Aibo had taken the initiative to use magic in battle.
He knew a great many spells, but he was purely a master of theory, with zero practical combat experience.
Besides, Aibo didn’t think any of his LV1 skills could affect Gildarts.
The skills he currently possessed at LV2 or above were:
[Telepathy Magic LV4], [Meditation LV3], [Spatial Magic LV2], [Letter Magic LV2], [Magic Power Control LV2], [Enhancement Magic LV2].
Ah… he couldn’t imagine how he was supposed to fight Gildarts.
One Shatter Magic from him, and I’d be blown apart.
Whatever.
Let me see which elemental magic has the most experience points… Oh, it’s you.
[Light Magic LV1: 6245/10000] → [Light Magic LV2: 1/100000]
He checked his mana bar again:
[Magic Power: 620/626]
“Then here I come, Gildarts.”
“Bring it on!”
He had no chance of winning in close combat, and there was no point in trying anyway.
He could only play to his strengths, turn himself into a turret, and fire from range.
After finishing his thoughts, Aibo raised a hand, and three magic circles appeared in the air behind him.
Light Magic [Heat Ray] condensed light elements into a continuous stream of scorching laser beams.
As long as he kept supplying magic power, it could fire without stopping; it was extremely fast, but its power was only average.
“Not bad casting speed, and the power’s decent too, but it’s useless against me.”
Gildarts punched straight at the incoming beams, smashing the light in front of him into tiny fragments.
But Aibo could use Shatter Magic as well, so he already understood how it worked.
His attack was not a single burst, but a continuous assault.
The shattered beams dissolved into magic power, while the beams behind them immediately filled the gap, ultimately still striking Gildarts’s arm.
“Whew, that’s pretty hot~”
Naturally, an attack of that level couldn’t pierce his defenses at all, but Aibo had already achieved his goal.
He kept monitoring Gildarts’s thoughts with Telepathy Magic, ensuring that everything went according to plan.
Light Magic had another obvious trait: it was bright!
The beams shining over Gildarts made it impossible for him to see clearly what was happening on Aibo’s side, giving Aibo room to work.
“Letter Magic, Eastern script: [Replicate].”
A large Chinese character appeared above Aibo’s head.
This Letter Magic could create magic circles en masse by copying them.
As long as he had enough magic power, it could theoretically copy thousands of magic circles in a short time.
So when Gildarts punched again and shattered the light before him, he looked up and was instantly stunned.
Hundreds of magic circles had appeared behind Aibo, simultaneously gathering terrifying beams of light.
One or two such beams might not do much damage, but hundreds of them striking the same spot was no joke.
“Hey, hey, hey! Are you serious?”
“I’m firing, Gildarts!”
“W-wait a second! Aibo!? AUV—!”
Before Aibo had even finished speaking, he had already fired the beams.
Gildarts still tried to dodge, but light was faster, and Aibo’s Magic Power Control was no mere decoration; the beams kept tracking him and striking.
Hundreds of scorching rays punched straight through the cloak Gildarts flung out and struck his body, making him flinch from the heat.
Gildarts stamped hard, and the entire ground shattered.
He instantly dove into the earth, but the ground beneath Aibo also broke apart.
After two rapid flashes, Aibo took Cana and escaped back to the guild.
By the time Gildarts grumpily climbed out of the soil, Aibo had teleported back with Cana as well.
Seeing the hole torn through Gildarts’s shirt and his crimson chest, Aibo grinned:
“Hehe, I surrender. I’m out of magic power.”
“You little brat… this way of fighting… is downright underhanded…”
“Isn’t that how a mage is supposed to fight? The fist-swinging barbarians in the guild are the real heretics.”
“…Not everyone can use Teleportation Magic like you.”
Gildarts sighed, patted his filthy clothes, and began giving Aibo a post-battle debrief:
“I’ve got a pretty good handle on your fighting style now, kid. Let me go over a few points…”