Chapter 452: I'm a Mecha Pilot Now!
"Gihi, I'll definitely help you train this technique until it's perfect!" Gajeel said with a wide grin.
Just the thought of Lily mastering this transformation and fighting alongside him—while Natsu and Wendy's blue and white cats could only watch from the sidelines—made him burst into a triumphant, toothy laugh.
"..."
Seeing Gajeel shoot her a glance before breaking into a sinister grin, Wendy couldn't help but look terrified.
Noticing this, Meredy immediately stepped in front of Wendy, glaring fiercely at Gajeel. Yukino, though a bit frightened herself, bravely stepped up to stand by Wendy's side.
Suddenly, a faint but incredibly potent wave of killing intent drifted over, instantly snapping Gajeel out of his delusions. Realizing his expression was causing trouble, he quickly wiped the grin off his face and turned his attention back to Lily. Only then did the killing intent vanish.
Meanwhile, Noah was preparing potions while simultaneously guiding Lily on how to sense his own physical condition and channel his magic to shift into his previous form.
"Enchant: Magic Boost!"
"Enchant: Sensory Boost!"
After walking Lily through the basics, Noah cast two supplementary enchantments on the Exceed, buffing him with two statuses.
"Your magic power and senses have now been amplified by my magic. Try using the method I just taught you and see if you can trigger the transformation," Noah instructed.
"Incredible. I feel like my magic power is three or four times higher than normal, and I can clearly sense things I couldn't before." Lily stared at his paws in shock, clenching them tightly. He had never felt so perfectly in tune with his own body, nor had he ever wielded such potent magic.
Following Noah's instructions, Lily focused inward, feeling the flow of his body and attempting to shift back to his previous state.
Poof!
A cloud of smoke erupted. When it cleared, Lily stood there in his muscular, human-sized form.
"I can change back!" Lily clenched his large fists, pleasantly surprised. He carefully felt out his current condition, not expecting to succeed on the very first try.
"Mhm, it went very smoothly to succeed on the first attempt," Noah nodded. "With this experience, you'll be able to transform on your own even without my enchantments. Practice more. Once you master the technique and your body fully adapts, you'll be able to maintain this form for much longer. Here, drink this."
Noah handed Lily a freshly brewed potion. Lily took it and downed it in one gulp.
"That potion will help your body adapt to this state as quickly as possible and extend your transformation time. I'll also brew a second type of potion for you to take after you revert to your smaller form. It will enhance your overall physical foundation. Stick to these two potions for a while, and your time limit will increase dramatically," Noah explained, turning back to his workbench to mix more ingredients.
"Thank you for your help," Lily said earnestly.
"We are all guildmates; there is no need for such formalities. Oh, by the way, I'm running low on the herbs needed for these potions. Lily just arrived in this world and isn't familiar with the area. Plus, his short transformation time isn't suited for a gathering trip... Gajeel, I'm giving you a list. Go collect these for me," Noah said without even turning his head.
"Leave it to me! Lily is my partner, after all!" Gajeel immediately patted his chest in agreement.
"Thank you!" Lily said gratefully, earning another toothy grin from Gajeel.
Noah nodded and continued preparing the potions.
"Can Happy and Carla transform to be that big too?" Meredy asked curiously.
"They can't undergo a physical shift like Lily. Ultimately, Lily's transformation is just him returning to his original physical state. In other words, Lily has two forms: the human-sized one adapted to Edolas's environment, and the normal Exceed form resulting from Earth Land's influence. He is simply swapping between the two. However, Happy and Carla were born and raised here in Earth Land. They were never affected by Edolas, so they don't have a second form to switch to. That being said, if they learn Transformation Magic, they can become human-sized," Noah explained.
He then stopped what he was doing and turned around.
"Transform!"
With a puff of smoke, another 'Happy' appeared exactly where Noah had been standing.
"Whoa!" Meredy and the others stared with wide eyes.
The newly transformed Happy spoke, still using Noah's voice:
"Beginner-level Transformation Magic only allows you to change your physical appearance, but your clothes remain the same.
At the Intermediate level, you can change your clothes and voice as well.
At the Advanced level, you can even change your species entirely, just like I did."
As he spoke, his voice seamlessly shifted to match Happy's exact pitch and tone. Meredy and the girls looked back and forth between the real Happy and the fake one, completely unable to tell the difference.
"S-So amazing!" Wendy covered her mouth in awe.
"Of course, the species you can transform into depends heavily on your own magic capacity. The stronger the creature, the more absurd the magic consumption. For incredibly powerful beasts or monsters, you won't be able to transform at all if you lack the magic reserves. Even if you do manage it, it will instantly drain you dry and break the spell. Also, while Beginner-level Transformation Magic isn't too hard to learn, the Intermediate level is a significant step up. As for Advanced Transformation Magic, the required techniques and knowledge are vast and highly complex. If you want to successfully use it, you need to be mentally prepared."
With a pop, Noah reverted to his original form and looked at Happy and Carla.
"If you two want to become human-sized like Lily, you can come to me to learn Transformation Magic. Or you can ask Mira; she is an expert at it too."
"I will consider it," Carla nodded thoughtfully.
"M-Me too," Happy chimed in.
Noah nodded and turned back to his workbench.
Lily stood there, feeling the strain on his body. A few moments later, with another puff of smoke, he reverted back to his normal, small Exceed size.
"It seems that even with your buffs, I can't maintain my original state for very long. If I rely purely on my own magic, the time limit will be even shorter," Lily wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling the massive drain on his magic reserves.
"It won't be like that after a while. Here, drink this one." Noah handed Lily the second potion, which he drank immediately.
Instantly, a surge of warmth spread from his stomach to the rest of his body, leaving him feeling incredibly comfortable.
"The two potions I made work best as a pair: drink one immediately after transforming, and the other after you revert. This maximizes their effectiveness. After reverting, you must wait exactly one hour before transforming again to let your body fully absorb the potion. Also, limit your transformations to a maximum of two times a day. Any more than that, and the potions will be wasted because your body won't be able to process them," Noah instructed.
"Understood," Lily nodded.
"Alright, take these bottles. I've already labeled them, so just follow the instructions. Gajeel, here is the list of herbs. You guys head out of the lab first; I still have some work to do."
After finishing Lily's checkup, Noah ushered everyone out.
"Thank you again," Lily said gratefully. Noah simply waved him off.
The group left the laboratory and exited Noah's house. Meredy, Yukino, Wendy, and Carla decided to head to the training grounds. Happy went to find Natsu, while Gajeel and Lily set off to gather the herbs on the list.
Once they were gone, Noah tidied up his workbench and made his way to his underground training facility.
The underground space was massive, though devoid of typical training equipment. Instead, the floors and walls were densely covered in complex sealing runes. Noah used this space for experiments and training that were too destructive or sensitive for the surface. The runes completely isolated and masked the magic signatures inside, while heavily reinforcing the structural integrity of the room.
Standing in the center of the room, Noah activated the defensive barriers. He then pulled out a Magic Card and released the item stored inside.
BOOM!
The Dragon Knight mecha—confiscated directly from the King of Edolas—materialized with a heavy thud, causing even the magically reinforced floor to tremble slightly.
"Yep, still pretty heavy," Noah muttered. He knew exactly how sturdy his training ground was; for the floor to shake, this mecha had to weigh an insane amount.
Noah then pulled out a massive pile of tools. Several Thought Projections stepped out of his body, grabbed the tools, and got to work on the Dragon Knight.
During his fight with the mecha in Edolas, Noah had caused some minor damage while testing its capabilities. Though he had carefully held back to keep it operational before yanking the King out of the cockpit, it still needed to be thoroughly inspected and repaired before he could pilot it safely.
Furthermore, Noah needed to run a deep analysis of the Dragon Knight. He wanted to understand its internal structure, the specific magic formulas it utilized, the material composition, and its operating system.
He opened his Archive screens and meticulously inputted the gathered data one by one.
After quite some time and the combined efforts of his Thought Projections, Noah finally finished compiling all the mecha's data and repaired the minor damages. He even took the time to polish the exterior, making it look brand new.
"So this is the King of Edolas's secret weapon, the Dragon Knight? You actually brought it back? Didn't Mystogan mind?"
Ultear's voice echoed from behind. Noah turned around to see Ultear, Erza, Sorano, Meredy, and Yukino standing near the entrance, staring curiously at the towering mecha.
Since repairing the mecha wasn't dangerous, Noah hadn't activated the highest-level isolation barrier, allowing them to enter freely.
"You guys are back?"
"Yeah, we just got back from the training grounds with Yukino and the others," Sorano said, walking up and circling the Dragon Knight with immense curiosity.
"I asked Mystogan about it. He said this Dragon Knight requires magic power to operate. With Anima draining all the magic from Edolas, the machine is basically a giant paperweight over there. Keeping it would be useless, so he gave it to me. He also let me copy all the kingdom's magical research data," Noah explained to Ultear.
"Are you planning to make it move?" Erza looked at the Dragon Knight with sparkling eyes. She was obsessed with armor, and to her, this mecha was essentially just a colossal suit of armor. It was far larger than anything she normally wore, but she was deeply intrigued nonetheless.
"It could always move. I only lightly tested its defenses during our fight; I didn't actually break it. After I analyzed the magic protecting the cockpit, I just yanked the King straight out without destroying the mecha itself," Noah replied.
"Wait, so it can move right now?! Hurry up and test it out!" Sorano's eyes lit up immediately, urging Noah on.
Hearing this, Meredy and the younger girls also looked at Noah with faces full of anticipation. They had only seen the Dragon Knight move from a great distance; they had never witnessed it up close.
"Sure. I just finished repairing it anyway, so a test run is in order. Stand back a bit," Noah told them.
Ultear and the others quickly retreated to a safe distance.
Seeing them clear the area, Noah leaped up onto the Dragon Knight's back and climbed into the cockpit.
Pulling the hatch shut, Noah began operating the control console. He had already figured out the control scheme during his inspection. After flipping a few switches, he grabbed an SE Plug—which he had just installed—and plugged it directly into his shoulder.
As Noah channeled his magic power through the SE Plug, the various indicator lights inside the cockpit flared to life.
Noah slid his arms and legs into the designated control slots, and the internal mechanisms locked his limbs securely in place. Instantly, Noah felt his consciousness magically link with the Dragon Knight. The external cameras fed the outside view directly to him, allowing him to clearly see Ultear and the girls in front of him.
Controlling the Dragon Knight, Noah stood up tall and rolled the mecha's shoulders to test its mobility.
"Whoaaa!" Meredy and the girls gasped in awe. Seeing such a colossal metallic beast standing right in front of them was truly a spectacular sight.
Noah threw a few test punches with the mecha, his excited voice booming from the external speakers:
"I am now a man who pilots a mecha!"
BAM! BAM! BAM!!!
The Dragon Knight hopped in place a few times, causing the entire training ground to quake. Then, the mecha unleashed a flurry of high-speed punches and kicks into the air. It seamlessly transitioned into a sprint around the perimeter of the training ground, executed several flawless aerial cartwheels, and finally stuck a perfect landing.
"Brother Noah seems really excited, doesn't he?" Yukino noted, watching the giant mecha show off.
"Of course he is! He just got a giant new toy. Hell, even I want to play with it!" Sorano's eyes were practically shooting stars as she watched the Dragon Knight. Seeing how much fun Noah was having, she was itching to get in the pilot's seat herself.
~~~
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