Off to the side, Ultear found herself completely wrong-footed by how events had developed.
‘What am I supposed to do now?’
She had revealed herself because she expected to step in and help Lyon once the others tried to stop the ritual.
Instead, Noah had openly declared that he had no intention of interfering with Moon Drip at all.
Which meant she had shown herself for nothing.
Should she simply leave?
Or should she take the opportunity to test Noah’s strength?
He also seemed to know far more than he should, which gave her another reason to stay and see what he was really planning.
While Ultear was still weighing her options, Gray suddenly spoke.
“Come to think of it, how are you doing this? Nobody’s maintaining the ritual anymore, so why is the lunar energy still being converted into Moon Drip?”
Ultear’s hesitation immediately disappeared beneath a smug smile.
“I simply altered the moonlight’s time.”
Aside from Noah, who had already heard the explanation once, everyone else looked completely lost.
“Time?”
“Hehehe… that’s right. My magic, Arc of Time, allows me to manipulate the time of inanimate objects. All I’ve done is accelerate the moonlight’s conversion process. At this rate, another hour or two should give us all the lunar energy we need.”
Ultear was still enjoying the chance to display her magic when Noah spoke in a deliberately lowered voice that was nevertheless perfectly loud enough for her to hear.
“Listen carefully, Cana, Loke, Gray. Remember this. When you’re fighting another Mage, never casually reveal everything your magic can do.”
He pointed openly at Ultear.
“This person is a perfect example of what not to do. I barely asked two questions and she happily explained her entire ability to us. Ridiculous.”
Ultear’s smile froze.
“…”
Noah continued as though she were not there.
“Actually, that advice isn’t quite as useful for Gray and Loke. Their magic is already fairly established, and its defining features are obvious enough that most opponents can figure out what they’re dealing with pretty quickly.”
He turned toward Cana.
“You’re different. Card Magic might depend heavily on your equipment, but that also gives it exceptional versatility. Even if an enemy knows you’re a Card Mage, they still have no idea what cards you’re carrying.”
Noah folded his arms.
“When you fight, you need to decide what to use based on the time, the environment, your opponent’s magic, their personality, and the way they approach combat. Never trap yourself in a single fighting pattern.”
At this point, Noah had made up his mind.
If he didn’t demonstrate a little S-Class expertise soon, everyone might start wondering whether his title was all reputation and no substance.
They still had time before Iced Shell was completely undone, and with everyone beginning to look bored, Noah decided it was the perfect opportunity for a lesson.
Of course, he refused to think of this as showing off.
He had promised from the beginning that this trip would let them experience the difference between an ordinary Mage and an S-Class Mage.
More importantly, he needed them to actually do things.
If an opportunity to teach them didn’t naturally appear, he could always create one himself.
After all, the only way to improve was to understand what you lacked.
Take Cana, for example.
What she lacked was Noah’s brand-new deck of Magic Cards.
Five hundred thousand Jewels.
He was getting that money sooner or later.
Noah adopted the patient tone of a teacher guiding his students through a problem.
“Let’s use our mysterious friend here as an example. Her magic can manipulate the time of matter. If you encountered an opponent like this on a job, how would you deal with them?”
He glanced around at the three of them. Get faster updates on g.com.
“Unlike the way you usually fight—charging straight in and figuring things out afterward—becoming S-Class takes more than raw strength. You need observation, information analysis, adaptability, and enough battle sense to make the right decision on the spot.”
Gray immediately thought of the ice that had vanished earlier.
“But how are we supposed to deal with something like that?”
Noah was delighted.
‘Excellent question, Gray.
Very cooperative.
This class really knows how to make its teacher look good.’
Outwardly, he appeared to consider the matter seriously.
“Think about it. She can manipulate the time of objects, so why hasn’t she directly used that magic on Iced Shell? And why doesn’t she simply age all of us into old men?”
Noah raised two fingers.
“That tells us at least two things. First, her magic has limitations. Second, it doesn’t work on living creatures—or at the very least, it doesn’t work directly on humans.”
Ultear felt vaguely insulted by how easily he was dissecting her magic, but she maintained her smile.
“Hehehe… worthy of the famous Sage. You saw through that very quickly. But even knowing that, what can you possibly do about it?”
“Plenty.”
Noah smiled.
“If the magic can’t directly affect the human body, then the solution is obvious. Close the distance and beat the opponent with your fists.”
Loke’s face brightened.
“Oh! That’s one of our specialties.”
Ultear’s eyes narrowed.
“And how exactly do you plan to get close to me?”
She cast her magic into the ground.
The stone beneath them abruptly collapsed, then restored itself.
Sections of earth surged upward, cracked apart into blocks, and froze in midair as though time itself had stopped.
Then they moved.
Dozens of chunks of stone accelerated to speeds almost too fast for the eye to follow, circling Noah from every direction until he was completely surrounded in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree storm of rock.
The precision of Ultear’s control immediately silenced the others.
Every stage of the spell flowed seamlessly into the next, without even the slightest interruption in her magic.
Someone who did not know better might easily have mistaken Arc of Time for an exceptionally refined form of Earth Magic.
Everyone’s expression turned serious.
Everyone except Noah.
Lyon was especially unsettled.
He had already begun questioning why someone this powerful had joined his group in the first place.
There was no chance he believed Zalty’s claim that he merely wanted to control Deliora after its revival.
And based on what Noah had just explained, ice would be a terrible matchup against Arc of Time.
If Zalty could simply advance his ice until it melted or vanished, then Lyon’s magic would be countered almost completely.
In retrospect, saying he would deal with Zalty himself after defeating Deliora might have been slightly overconfident.
Ultear smiled.
“See? You can’t even get close enough to—”
Noah moved before she finished.
Everyone watching had the exact same thought.
‘Why does this guy always attack while other people are still talking?’
“Heavy Strike!”
Two enchantments took effect instantly, one spreading through Noah’s legs and the other reinforcing his arms.
Then he thrust one fist forward and launched himself straight through the ring of stone in a pose that would have looked perfectly at home on a certain caped superhero.
He crossed the distance at tremendous speed.
“What?!”
Ultear had never expected him to simply charge through her formation.
Caught completely off guard, she barely had enough time to throw up her arms in a frantic attempt to defend herself.
Noah’s fist rapidly filled her vision.
Then it stopped.
Less than five centimeters remained between his knuckles and her face.
The sheer force of the halted punch sent a powerful gust tearing past her, whipping her hair and clothing around wildly, but the blow itself never landed.
Ultear’s tense body relaxed slightly.
‘Thank goodness.’
Apparently, Noah really had been using her as nothing more than a demonstration for his companions.
Either that, or he had simply wanted to show off.
So he was not actually planning to fight her seriously.
Ultear let out the breath she had been holding.
“As expected of—”
Bam!
Before she could finish, the world abruptly turned upside down.
The next thing Ultear saw was the dark night sky and the eerie purple moon hanging above it.
‘The moon is beautiful tonight.’
Her cheek, however, hurt like hell.
Noah blew lightly across his fist, then turned back toward the three stunned Fairy Tail Mages.
“See? That’s what I mean.”
Gray, Cana, and Loke simply stared.
“Don’t lock yourself into one fighting style. Combat is about doing what your opponent doesn’t expect, striking when they aren’t prepared, and ending things before they can recover.”
The three remained silent.
Attacking while the opponent was explaining their own magic and still mentally processing the situation…
Was that why Noah had managed to become an S-Class Mage?
Had Noah known what they were thinking, his answer would have been immediate.
Yes.
Loke finally broke the silence.
“I always thought your Word Magic was mainly about creating weapons and other objects. I didn’t realize you could use it to apply enhancements too.”
Still lying on the ground, Ultear stared blankly upward as several words echoed through her mind.
“Creation… enhancement…”
“Creation is only the most basic application,” Noah explained.
“The real essence of Word Magic lies in controlling the meaning carried by language and written words.”
He glanced toward Cana.
“Remember what I told you earlier about how I make Magic Items? This is how I give them their special effects.”
End of Chapter 17