Chapter 451: W-What a Rowdy Guild...
"Hahahaha!!!"
Hearing Natsu's words, the entire guild erupted into roaring laughter.
"Dammit!" Natsu roared angrily. He immediately charged at the guild members who were laughing at him. Lucy hurriedly dodged out of the way.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
In the blink of an eye, Natsu and the other guild members were locked in a massive brawl.
The sounds of shouting, chatting, and fists colliding echoed endlessly throughout the hall. Panther Lily, visiting the guild for the very first time, stared silently at the incredibly chaotic scene unfolding before him. After a long pause, he finally managed to speak:
"W-What a rowdy guild..."
"This is just how this guild is," Carla said, shrugging her shoulders beside him.
"It is a really fun place!" Happy added, raising a paw with a bright smile.
So this is where the Prince used to stay... Lily thought as he observed his surroundings. Aside from the deafening noise and the sheer number of people brawling, he didn't notice anything particularly unusual at first glance.
"As you know, there are people in both worlds who look exactly alike," Noah said, walking over to Lily after finishing handing out the souvenirs. "Because of that, when Mystogan was here, he constantly kept his body wrapped up and his face covered so no one could see what he looked like. He did it to prevent his appearance from causing unnecessary trouble. So, aside from the S-Class mages, everyone in the guild only knew that a man named Mystogan existed, but they had no idea what he actually looked like."
"I see... The Prince really went through a lot," Lily fell silent after hearing that.
Having to hide his true face and navigate a strange, parallel world entirely on his own couldn't have been easy. But it was obvious that after joining this guild, Mystogan had received a tremendous amount of help, allowing him to successfully achieve his goal. For that, Lily felt deeply grateful to Fairy Tail.
"Also... every single person here possesses magic power inside their own bodies, right...?" Lily gulped involuntarily.
The threat level of someone who possessed internal magic power to cast spells was vastly different from someone who relied entirely on magical items. As a former soldier, his instincts naturally made him a bit tense.
"That is correct. These are the mages of Earth Land," Erza said with a gentle smile, walking over to them.
"Erza!" Lily looked at her in pleasant surprise.
"Come to think of it, you and the Edolas Erza were colleagues in the Royal Army, right?" Carla asked curiously.
"Looks like you guys are together again," Happy chimed in between bites of the fish he was holding.
"But you know, the most important thing isn't the magic itself. It is the heart of the person wielding the magic. Isn't that right, Lily?" Erza said, looking at the Exceed.
"I was indeed colleagues with the other Erza, and we worked together for quite a long time," Lily answered Carla first, before turning back to Erza with a smile. "Even though you are not the exact same person, seeing a familiar face here really puts my mind at ease."
"Bastards! Salamander! Little girl! Let my Lily settle things with your blue cat and white cat!"
Suddenly, Gajeel's excited, booming voice rang out across the hall.
"Hah?" Natsu turned around to glare at Gajeel, looking highly annoyed.
"Ohhh! Great idea! Fight! Fight! Fight!" The surrounding guild members didn't hesitate for a second to loudly cheer them on.
"Looks like you've been targeted by someone incredibly troublesome," Lucy said, giving Wendy a look of deep sympathy.
"Awuu..." Wendy looked completely frozen.
"Do not worry, we will help you!" Meredy declared without hesitation, while Yukino nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Thank you so much!" Wendy's expression instantly brightened, looking at Meredy and Yukino with overwhelming gratitude.
"Just what I wanted!" Natsu shouted back at Gajeel, who had charged right up to his face.
"Gihi!" Gajeel flashed a menacing, toothy grin.
"Not what I wanted!" Happy couldn't help but cry out, though both Dragon Slayers completely ignored him.
"Let me get one thing straight! My Lily is the true definition of strongest!" Gajeel bellowed, pressing his forehead aggressively against Natsu's.
"And Happy is the true definition of a cat! You bastard!" Natsu roared right back.
"Um... doesn't that mean I lose in a split second?" Happy sweatdropped heavily.
"So pathetic. How can you give up before the fight even starts?" Carla scolded him from the side.
"What? You're actually expecting something from me?!" Happy gasped, looking at his own paws with a sudden surge of excitement.
"Let it go... Despite how I look now, I was a Division Captain over there. A meaningless fight will only end with you getting hurt," Lily quickly shut down Happy's wild imagination.
"If you put it that way..." Happy breathed a massive sigh of relief. He knew perfectly well he was no match for Lily.
"Haha, if they actually fought, Lily could probably knock Happy out in one punch," Noah laughed.
"N-No... Please no..." The mere thought of that scenario made Happy shiver violently as he clutched his head in terror.
"That will not happen," Lily quickly waved his paws to reassure him.
Seeing Happy's dramatic reaction, Noah smiled in satisfaction.
"I didn't expect you to be so grounded and mature," Erza noted, shooting a brief glare at Noah before speaking to Lily.
"It is just that they are far too childish..." Lily wiped a drop of cold sweat from his forehead. He nodded at Erza, then turned to Happy and Carla with a warm smile. "Let's all get along, Happy, Carla."
"Lily—!" Throwing his terrifying imagination out the window, Happy looked at Lily with pure joy.
"Alright," Carla nodded.
Watching from a distance and seeing that the three Exceeds had peacefully worked things out, Wendy finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Sigh, and now they are fighting amongst themselves..." Carla muttered, watching Natsu and Gajeel already throwing fists at each other.
"Even Gray and Elfman got dragged into it!" Happy laughed.
"Fierce, body-to-body collisions... Juvia wants in too!" Watching Gray in the middle of the brawl, Juvia flushed with excitement and immediately started trying to strip off her top.
"Don't strip!" Lucy panicked, hurriedly grabbing Juvia and pulling her back.
"It has been way too long since we went all out!"
"Hell yeah!"
"Here I come, Natsu!"
"Me too!"
More and more people threw themselves into the fray, turning the guild hall into absolute chaos.
"Uuu..." Wendy marveled at the sheer scale of the brawl as she, Meredy, and Yukino expertly found a quiet corner to hide in.
Lucy and Levy quickly joined them in their safe zone.
"I want in too!" Noah laughed as he watched the fighting crowd. With large strides, he charged straight into the center of the mayhem.
The intensity of the brawl instantly skyrocketed to another level, dragging even more bystanders into the crossfire.
Seeing Noah jump in, Laxus silently cracked his knuckles and joined the fray as well. Once the Thunder God Tribe saw their boss throw down, they immediately followed Laxus's lead and charged into the mob. The fight reached a fever pitch of pure insanity.
"Good grief..." Makarov sighed helplessly from the bar counter. However, seeing how energetic and full of life everyone was, a brilliant smile spread across his face. Watching his brats being so lively was his absolute favorite thing in the world.
"W-What a rowdy guild..." Lily repeated, his jaw dropping at the escalated chaos.
"You get used to it," Carla said, shaking her head.
"It is really fun!" Happy cheered.
"Mhm, it certainly looks fun," Lily nodded, watching the bright, genuine smiles on the faces of everyone fighting.
The guild kept up the rowdy brawl deep into the night until everyone collapsed, sleeping haphazardly across the guild hall floor.
It wasn't until the next morning that people gradually woke up and started cleaning up the massive mess they had made. As everyone practiced their well-honed cleanup routine, Noah took Lily to process his guild registration, stamping the Fairy Tail mark onto his back.
"What incredible magic! To think a simple guild mark contains a spatial pocket dimension. And the ability to communicate with other guild members... This is an unbelievable spell!" Lily said in awe after Noah explained the functions of his custom guild mark.
"Of course it is! I spent a ton of time and energy developing it. No other guild has these features; their marks are purely for identification. Pretty convenient, right?" Noah said proudly.
"Absolutely. When going out on a mission, carrying too many supplies can hinder physical mobility. With a spatial pocket, that concern is entirely eliminated, allowing us to bring more necessities and massively increasing our safety." As a former soldier, Lily instantly grasped the tactical advantages of the pocket dimension.
Not to mention the communication feature and the passive, continuous physical enhancements. Having all these powerful functions concentrated into a tiny guild mark completely shattered his previous understanding of magic. He had never even heard of such a potent, multi-functional spell, let alone seen one.
"You can take your time experimenting with the mark's functions later. For now, I am taking you to my place for a comprehensive medical check-up to see exactly what is going on with your body," Noah told Lily.
"Understood. I leave it in your hands," Lily nodded in agreement.
The two prepared to leave the guild. Seeing Lily following Noah toward the door, Gajeel immediately rushed over to ask what was happening. Upon learning Noah was going to examine Lily, Gajeel insisted on tagging along. It had been incredibly difficult to find a cat that met his exacting standards, so he was naturally deeply concerned about Lily's condition.
Happy and Carla decided to join them as well. Adding Meredy, Yukino, and Wendy into the mix, a large group set off for Noah's house.
On the way there, the group excitedly introduced Magnolia to Lily. Lily listened intently; since he was going to be living here for a long time, gathering sufficient intel was vital.
Before long, they arrived at Noah's house. Once inside, Noah led Lily straight to his laboratory and began a highly detailed examination.
After a thorough series of tests, Noah finally reached a conclusion:
"It is exactly as I theorized earlier. Your physical condition is entirely a result of Edolas's environment. This tiny size is actually your natural, original form. You only grew to that massive size because of the unique environmental pressures in Edolas."
"Then... can I return to my previous state? That form is the only way I can use my full strength. In this state, I cannot utilize my combat abilities at all." Lily clenched his tiny fists, looking down at his small body as he anxiously asked Noah. Being unable to draw out his true power left him feeling a deep sense of unease.
"Of course you can!" Noah nodded.
Lily's face instantly lit up with joy, and Gajeel, listening nearby, grinned from ear to ear. His cat being able to regain his massive strength was the best news he could hear.
"You maintained that larger form for years; it has essentially become a part of your biology. Therefore, with the right training, you can consciously tap into that state and recover your previous strength," Noah explained.
"That is wonderful news!" Lily said happily.
"Don't celebrate just yet," Noah shook his head, looking at the confused Exceed. "You were only able to maintain that form before because of Edolas's unique environment. The rules of this world are completely different. If you want to transform back into that state, you will not only need to train the specific techniques required, but you will also need a massive amount of magic power to sustain it. Maintaining that form in Earth Land consumes a heavy toll of magic. With your current magic reserves, even after mastering the transformation technique, you will only be able to maintain that large form for a short period before reverting back to this small state."
"I see." After hearing Noah's explanation, Lily fully understood his situation. He could transform back, but there would be a strict time limit.
"Still, being able to return to my original state is great, even with a time limit. It just means that if I need to fight, I will have to save this ability for the most critical moments," Lily reasoned.
"Yeah, you can treat it as a trump card. The enemy thinks they are just fighting a talking little cat, and in the blink of an eye, you transform into a powerhouse warrior. I am really looking forward to seeing the looks on their faces," Noah laughed.
He then began mixing several vials on his workbench, speaking to Lily as he worked: "I am going to prepare some potions to enhance your overall physical foundation. It will help your body adapt much better to the strain of shifting between your two forms. After that, I will teach you the technique to trigger the transformation. Oh, and you should do your training at the guild's training grounds—the results will be much better. The magic environment there is incredibly dense, which will massively boost both your transformation training and your overall physical enhancement."
"The training grounds? I will head there, then," Lily nodded.
"Gajeel, take him there once we are done," Noah said, glancing at the Iron Dragon Slayer standing nearby.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn