Fairy Tail Guild Hall.
Three o’clock in the afternoon, the hall was buzzing with noise.
“Bang.” The guild’s double wooden doors were violently pushed open.
The clamor in the hall died down for a brief moment.
Laxus walked in front, his shirt torn into ribbons and his body covered in dust.
Aether followed half a step behind, his right arm hanging limply at his side, while his left hand dragged a massive sack.
The two headed straight for the bar counter.
Aether tossed the sack onto the counter.
The mouth of the bag fell open, and a half-meter-long, grayish-brown pointed horn rolled out.
The horn was covered in charred cracks, and deep within those cracks, a bone-chilling cold still lingered.
Makarov was standing behind the bar drinking beer.
Upon seeing that pointed horn, he spat a mouthful of beer directly onto Wakaba’s face.
“The single horn of a Rock-Armored Earth Dragon?” Makarov jumped onto the bar, his old eyes widening until they were round.
Aether slapped the red parchment onto the wooden table.
“A-rank request.
Completed.” Aether’s voice was hoarse.
“The mayor has already confirmed the corpse; this is the proof for the guild’s records.
How do we settle the Reward?” The hall fell into a deathly silence.
Makarov looked at Aether’s dislocated right arm, then at Laxus’s legs, which were still trembling slightly.
“You two are insane.” Makarov wiped away his smile, his tone rarely stern.
“Two brats who haven’t even passed the official assessment went to take on an A-rank subjugation?
Who gave you the nerve!” Laxus turned his head away and snorted coldly.
“Old man, stop nagging.
The task is done, give us the money.” “Shut up!” Makarov roared, a massive surge of magic power flashing through the hall, making everyone struggle to breathe.
“Laxus, who do you think you are?
If it wasn’t for Aether’s bizarre magic breaking the Earth Dragon’s defense, you’d be crushed into meat paste by now!” Laxus gritted his teeth and didn’t argue.
Makarov turned to look at Aether.
“And you.” The old man’s gaze was sharp.
“Your combat instincts are indeed amazing.
But your body simply cannot withstand that level of magic power eruption.
Look at your arm; the muscle tearing is extensive.
Do it again, and your hand will be ruined.” Aether looked down at his right arm.
Makarov was right.
That final Overloaded strike had an explosive force far beyond his physical limits.
If Eula’s Cryo element hadn’t protected his heart at the last moment, he would be a dead man by now.
“I understand.” Aether nodded.
“It won’t happen again.” Makarov sighed, counted out a stack of bills from behind the counter, and divided them into two portions.
“Half for each.
Now get to the infirmary and lie down.” Aether took the money and turned toward the second floor.
Laxus grabbed his share and strode out of the guild.
Over the next month, the residents of Magnolia noticed something strange.
An outlier had appeared in the Fairy Tail Guild.
Six o’clock in the morning, at the blacksmith shop in the south of town.
“Clang!
Clang!” Aether, bare-chested, swung a sledgehammer down onto a glowing red block of iron.
Bennett’s Pyro element was infused into the hammer, precisely controlling the forging temperature.
With each strike, sparks flew.
Immediately after, the magic power inside him switched, and Eula’s Cryo element flowed along his left hand to cover the iron, completing an instant quench.
The alternation of extreme heat and extreme cold allowed the impurities in the common iron to be rapidly expelled.
“Little Aether, your skills are getting more and more proficient.” The blacksmith shop owner wiped his sweat and handed over a cup of water.
Aether set down the hammer, took the water, and downed it in one go.
“It’s just physical training.” Nine o’clock in the morning, at the town center square.
Aether carried three massive wooden crates, weaving through the crowd.
The muscle memory of Eula’s footwork allowed him to maintain absolute balance even under heavy loads, every step incredibly steady.
“Thank you, Little Aether.
If it weren’t for you, there’s no way we’d finish moving this shipment today.” A grocery store lady stuffed a bag of Apples into his hands.
“It’s no trouble.” Aether took the Apples and turned toward the next request location.
No streets destroyed, no brawling, and a one hundred percent quest completion rate.
In just half a month, Aether’s name had spread completely through the town.
Any basic request, as long as it was posted on the bulletin board, Aether would take it without exception.
Finding cats, moving bricks, cleaning sewers, picking herbs.
Others in the guild scoffed at this.
“Is that kid starving for money?
Taking these low-class tasks every single day.” Wakaba blew out a smoke ring.
Makarov sat on the bar, watching Aether’s busy back, a hint of admiration flashing in the depths of his eyes.
Only he could see that Aether was using this tedious work to frantically polish his own body.
Strength, endurance, and fine control of magic power.
This young man’s level of self-discipline was simply terrifying.
Late at night.
On the second floor of the guild, in Aether’s room.
Aether finished a cold shower and sat on the edge of the bed.
Paimon popped out of the Akasha.
“You’re practically Magnolia’s five-star worker right now,” Paimon said.
“More diligent than when you were helping Timmie feed pigeons in Mondstadt.” Aether rolled his eyes.
“Didn’t Timmie’s pigeons all turn into Fowl anyway?
Besides, the people here are nice and don’t boss me around.
Working like this lets me earn money and save Primogems at the same time.
It’s great, okay?” After speaking, he took a deep breath and raised his right hand.
A cluster of flames danced in his palm.
Switch.
The flames instantly extinguished, and a layer of frost covered the back of his hand.
It was one second faster than half a month ago.
But it wasn’t enough.
When fighting solo, applying Cryo first and then switching to Pyro for Melt—the delay in between was enough for a high-level monster to kill him three times over.
He desperately wanted to develop some off-field skills of his own, but the characters he had pulled so far didn’t have relevant experience.
Amber’s Baron Bunny barely counted, but its combat effectiveness was better than nothing at best.
“Open panel,” Aether muttered in his mind.
A pale gold interface emerged.
His gaze passed over the complex data and locked directly onto the top right corner.
[Primogems: 1610] A month of frantic questing, combined with the daily unshakeable physical training achievements, had finally saved up enough.
One thousand six hundred Primogems.
A ten-pull Wish.
Aether took a deep breath, his heart beginning to race.
This was his capital to turn the tables.
In this world where monsters roamed, he had to possess more trump cards.
“Paimon.” “I’m here, I’m here!” Paimon tossed away an Apple core, flew in front of the screen, and rubbed her small hands together.
“Is it time?
Paimon’s Wish metaphysics are very accurate!
Want to spin around three times first?” “No need.” Aether extended his finger, hovering over the [Wish x10] button.
His fingertip descended.
1600 Primogems were instantly wiped out.
The diamond-shaped crystal in the center of the screen burst with a blinding light.
Ten meteors trailing long tails streaked down from the top of the screen.
Blue.
Blue.
Blue.
The first three were all blueprints and materials for three-star weapons.
Aether remained expressionless.
The fourth one.
A purple light burst open.
[4-Star · Xingqiu] Aether’s breath hitched.
Xingqiu!
The Hydro Archon!
Teyvat’s strongest off-field Hydro applicator!
With Xingqiu’s combat memories and Hydro element control, he could perfectly achieve Hydro-Pyro Vaporize or Cryo-Hydro Frozen.
This was already worth it.
But the meteors continued to fall.
Fifth, blue.
Sixth, blue.
Seventh, purple.
[4-Star Weapon Blueprint · sacrificial sword] Aether clenched his fist.
Good stuff.
Eighth, blue.
Ninth, blue.
The final meteor streaked across the screen.
The originally blue light suddenly jolted in mid-air, and immediately after, a streak of deep purple tore through the blue.
But that wasn’t all.
The purple light expanded violently, and the moment before it landed, a gold light so dazzling it reached the extreme burst out from the center of the purple light!
Golden light filled the entire room.
Paimon covered her eyes and let out an incredibly shrill scream.
“A gold!
A double purple and a gold in a ten-pull!” Aether stared fixedly at that mass of golden light.
The card face slowly flipped within the light.
A slender figure gradually manifested.
A slim-fit robe of black with gold patterns, and eyes as steady as rock.
He held one hand behind his back while the other was slightly clenched, as if controlling the pulse of the earth itself.
Aether’s mind went blank with a roar.
This is…