Chapter 453: Come Help Me Out
The Dragon Knight came to a halt, facing the empty space of the training ground. Suddenly, Ultear and the others felt a distinct pulse of magic power.
The entire training ground's barrier flared brightly, with countless runic scripts flashing across its surface.
Simultaneously, a runic barrier rose in front of Ultear's group, while ten stone walls—each a meter thick—erupted from the ground a short distance ahead of the mecha.
The Dragon Knight opened its maw, revealing a massive cannon barrel. Magic power immediately began converging at its tip.
Hummm!
A concentrated blast of magic fired from the barrel, shooting straight toward the stone walls.
BOOM!
The magic cannon effortlessly pierced through all ten stone walls in succession before slamming into the floor of the training ground. Countless runic scripts materialized at the point of impact, rapidly spreading outward to absorb and diffuse the force.
A massive explosion followed instantly, completely obliterating what was left of the stone walls.
The resulting shockwave, carrying a hail of shattered rock, blasted outward in all directions. When the debris reached Ultear and the others, it was cleanly deflected by the runic barrier standing before them.
"Whoa!" Yukino let out a small gasp as the shockwave crashed against the invisible wall right in front of her. Seeing the barrier hold firm, she gently patted her chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
Having fired its shot, the Dragon Knight powered down. The cockpit hatch on its back hissed open, and Noah stepped out.
"I want to try too!" Sorano practically sprinted up to Noah, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Sure, I'll teach you. Just don't go too crazy with it. If something malfunctions, it could be dangerous," Noah warned her.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Sorano nodded eagerly.
Noah quickly walked her through the controls. The Dragon Knight's operating system wasn't overly complicated, and Sorano picked it up in no time.
Waving goodbye to Noah, she hopped into the cockpit and sealed the hatch.
Noah returned to Ultear's side, and the group watched as Sorano excitedly piloted the Dragon Knight, putting it through various movements.
"What kind of capabilities does the Dragon Knight have?" Mirajane asked Noah curiously.
"The magic cannon it just fired from its mouth is one of them," Noah replied.
"The firepower is definitely impressive. Is there anything else?"
"Of course. It has quite an arsenal. Its claws and tail are both potent melee weapons, and the tail is also loaded with various types of missiles. However, the most noteworthy aspect is its defense. The outer shell is forged from materials highly resistant to magic, further reinforced by various integrated magical items. Because of this, any magical attack that falls below a certain threshold of power is completely ineffective against it. That's exactly why the King of Edolas kept it as his ultimate trump card and dared to deploy it in the final battle," Noah explained.
"That's incredible! Exactly how strong does an attack need to be to break through its defenses?" Erza's eyes immediately lit up as she pressed for details.
"In terms of pure destructive power, an attack would need to be roughly on par with a Guild S-Class mage just to leave a superficial scratch. If the attack has a special property—like Dragon Slayer Magic—the required raw power drops significantly. However, this absolute defense comes with a severe drawback: once activated, the mecha constantly absorbs magic power to sustain itself."
"Are you saying it consumes a massive amount of magic?" Ultear chimed in. Powering a mecha this large obviously required magic, but if Noah was specifically pointing it out, the drain had to be staggering.
"Exactly. It requires an immense amount of magic. Originally, it was designed to forcibly absorb magic from its surroundings. If it activates its Black Sky form, its performance multiplies several times over, but so does its magic consumption. However, doing that causes a massive, highly conspicuous commotion. So, I disabled the environmental absorption feature and installed an SE Plug, meaning the pilot has to supply the magic themselves. But that naturally places a massive burden on the pilot's magic reserves," Noah said with a slightly troubled expression.
"Since when has any action taken by our guild members not caused a massive commotion? The warning letters from the Magic Council are practically mountains at this point," Ultear deadpanned.
Hearing Ultear's words, Noah froze, then suddenly realized his mistake. He had fallen into a logical trap! They were Fairy Tail! When did they ever fight without causing a catastrophic scene? Trying to make the Dragon Knight "subtle" was entirely pointless.
"You're totally right. I was overthinking it. If we don't need to worry about the commotion, then I can just use the SE Plug optionally and re-enable the environmental magic absorption feature!"
"What exactly are you planning to do with this Dragon Knight?" Mirajane asked.
"For us S-Class mages, the mecha itself isn't actually that useful. Enemies the Dragon Knight can beat, we can beat ourselves. Enemies we can't beat, the Dragon Knight definitely can't beat either. However, the technology inside it is a goldmine for the entire guild! For example, the magic-dampening tech can be integrated into Erza's armors, our Guild Marks, and the guild's defense systems to massively boost our defensive capabilities. The technology for absorbing and storing ambient magic, the operating system, the energy routing—all of it gives me a ton of inspiration. I can use this data to upgrade a lot of my current devices and systems," Noah said, his voice brimming with excitement.
"Ohhh! That sounds amazing! Upgrade my armors for me!" Hearing the promise of an upgrade, Erza's eyes locked onto Noah, practically glowing with anticipation.
"Of course I will," Noah promised with a smile.
"Mhm!" Erza nodded, incredibly satisfied.
Hiss!
"Phew... That was a lot of fun, but it really drains a ton of magic," Sorano said as she climbed out of the Dragon Knight, wiping a thin layer of sweat from her forehead.
"I fell into a logical trap earlier and disabled its environmental magic absorption. That said, if I let it freely absorb magic inside this training ground, it would have disrupted the structural barriers anyway."
"Yeah, fair enough. Still, you basically tricked me into draining my magic! You owe me a really good meal as compensation, got it?" Sorano pointed a finger at him.
"Deal," Noah nodded in agreement.
"Alright then, I'll let it slide!" Having secured a free meal, Sorano turned and excitedly began sharing her piloting experience with Yukino and the others.
Noah continued running detailed tests on the Dragon Knight until evening fell.
Ultear and the others had left the lab much earlier. By the time Noah finally came upstairs, they had already eaten dinner and left a warm plate of food for him. They knew how easily Noah lost track of time when fully immersed in his research; if it got too late, they would drag him out, but normally, they just kept his food warm.
After setting a date to upgrade Erza's armor in a few days, Noah headed to bed.
The next day, after finishing sorting through the data he had compiled, Noah realized it was already the end of November. There was just over half a month left until the guild's most important annual event.
This was a major milestone in Fairy Tail's timeline, and he needed to start pulling out the preparations he had made well in advance.
Coincidentally, Makarov summoned him to the guild right then. Noah quickly packed his things and teleported to the guild hall.
Standing on the second floor, Ultear spotted Noah arriving and waved him over, before walking into the S-Class meeting room. Noah followed her upstairs and walked in. All the S-Class mages were already present, so he found an empty seat and sat down.
"I'm sure you all know why I called you here. This is the list of candidates I've selected for this year. Unless someone else puts on an exceptionally stellar performance in the next half month, these are the final names," Makarov said.
He handed a piece of paper filled with names to Gildarts, who sat beside him. Gildarts skimmed it and passed it to Cana. Once the paper had made its way around the room, Makarov took it back and looked at the group.
"Which of you wants to serve as an examiner?"
"I do," Erza volunteered instantly.
No one was surprised by her swift response. Makarov looked at the rest. "Who else?"
"Count me in," Gildarts spoke up.
"Eh? If the old man goes, won't it be way too hard for them?" Sorano asked in surprise.
"There is no way he is going to fight them seriously. Just like my exams, as long as they meet the criteria, he will let them pass," Noah rolled his eyes.
"That makes sense. In that case, count me in too," Sorano said excitedly. Noah looked at her and suspected she just wanted to go there to play rather than actually test anyone.
"That's three. Anyone else?" Makarov's gaze landed on Noah.
Noah instantly understood the unspoken question. Having served as an examiner for the past few years, Makarov naturally wanted to know if he was continuing the streak.
Noah shook his head. "Grandpa, I can't do it this year. I have too many things I need to take care of, so I won't be able to act as an examiner. In fact, I'd like to ask the others to come help me out."
"Did something happen?" Makarov's expression turned serious, and the rest of the S-Class mages immediately focused on Noah.
"I don't know if anything will happen, but I want to make preparations just in case. I don't need a huge crowd—just Aunt Ur and anyone else not serving as an examiner would be a great help," Noah addressed the room.
"I see. If you need anything from the guild, just let me know," Makarov said solemnly, noting that Noah hadn't elaborated on the specifics.
"I will," Noah nodded.
Seeing that the others Noah had invited didn't look like they were going to refuse, Makarov made the final call: "Then it's settled. The examiners for this year will be Gildarts, Erza, and Sorano. We will discuss the specific trials after the candidate list is officially announced. However, the venue for this year's exam will be Tenrou Island, our guild's holy ground."
Hearing Makarov's declaration, Noah silently breathed a sigh of relief. He had been planning to persuade Makarov to change the venue if it hadn't been Tenrou Island, but thankfully, that wasn't necessary.
"Tenrou Island?" Mirajane tilted her head in curiosity.
"Oh right, you guys haven't been to Tenrou Island yet. It's a truly wonderful place," Cana smiled.
"I'll definitely look forward to it, then," Mirajane beamed.
"There are still a lot of days before the exam starts. If you need to prepare things, I can come help you out for now," Sorano offered to Noah.
"Indeed," Erza nodded seriously in agreement.
"Need a hand?" Gildarts offered.
"Old man, you coming would just cause more trouble," Noah rolled his eyes at Gildarts, then turned to Sorano and Erza. "You guys can come help, but you need to come back and rest a few days before the exam starts."
"Understood," Sorano and Erza nodded.
"Since that's settled, you all can go back to your business," Makarov dismissed the group.
As the room cleared, Noah turned back to Makarov. "Can I tell them about that person on Tenrou Island?"
"Are you confident you can cure her condition now?" Makarov asked, his tone hushed.
As one of the few who knew Fairy Tail's greatest secret, Makarov had always suspected something terrible had happened to Mavis the moment he saw her appear before him in that state. However, due to his own lack of knowledge and ability, he had never been able to figure out exactly what was wrong with her. Now that Noah had surpassed him in almost every field—and was a fellow secret-keeper—Makarov naturally turned to him for insight.
"Not yet. But I can guarantee everyone's safety. Don't forget, Grandpa, I've added a lot of protective features to our Guild Marks. Besides, given her current state, I highly doubt she poses any actual threat to our members. She appeared before you back then without causing harm, didn't she?"
Makarov nodded slowly. "That was my thought as well. Part of the reason I chose Tenrou Island as the venue is because of her. She has been asleep for far too long. I want her to see what the guild has become, to see the new generation of children who have grown up strong."
"Who is this 'her' on Tenrou Island?" Sorano, having lingered behind, couldn't suppress her curiosity after overhearing their cryptic conversation.
"Her? She is our First Guild Master, Mavis Vermillion," Noah revealed.
"The First Master?!"
The remaining S-Class mages stared at Noah in shock. Laxus, eyes wide, blurted out, "Isn't the First Master dead?! She's still alive?!"
"How do I put this... The First Master's condition is extremely unique. You can't exactly call her 'alive' either," Noah scratched his head.
He didn't quite know how to explain it on short notice. Mavis's state involved far too many deep secrets, and it was something much easier to explain when seen in person.
The group's curiosity was instantly piqued even further, with Sorano pressing him, "Hurry up and explain!"
"Grandpa, I'll take them to Tenrou Island early to wake the First Master. Plus, there are quite a few defensive arrays and preparations I need to set up on the island itself," Noah said to Makarov.
"Go ahead. Wait, you plan to alter Tenrou Island?" Makarov asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. Since Tenrou Island is our holy ground, I might as well take this opportunity to upgrade its defenses and make it a better place. Waking the First Master will also give her a chance to give me some input on the changes," Noah replied.
"Very well. Take them to Tenrou Island. Once you wake the First Master, give her my highest regards. I will bring the exam candidates to the island myself when the time comes," Makarov instructed.
~~~
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