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Noah's face immediately showed confusion when he heard Warrod mention "Anima." He had witnessed this magic in Ishgar, and it should only be known to guild members.
However, Warrod's tone suggested that an outsider wanted to exchange for "Anima."
"Who is she?"
Warrod stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Her name is Anna. She must have sensed the spatial magic fluctuations the day you left and then came to us, saying she wanted to exchange for your magic."
Anna? Noah silently repeated the name.
Since she could track the guild through the spatial fluctuations of "Anima," she must be a powerful Mage with deep knowledge of spatial magic.
Yet such a powerful individual was unknown. Could this Mage named Anna be a recluse?
Seeing Noah lost in thought, Warrod turned to Mira for a glass of juice. Looking at the yellow liquid squeezed from oranges, the old tree-man suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead.
"Oh, my memory isn't what it used to be with age."
"Noah, I forgot to tell you—Anna has the same golden-blonde hair as little Lucy, and she's also a very powerful Celestial Spirit Mage."
Warrod lowered his voice. "I've interacted with Anna. In terms of Celestial Spirit Magic, I think she could probably leave Lucy ten streets behind. When did such a monster appear in this world?"
Noah automatically ignored the old tree-man's last sentence and began analyzing.
Blonde, female, Celestial Spirit Mage.
The combination of these three characteristics was very obvious—this Mage named Anna was definitely a Heartfilia.
Could she be Lucy's elder?
But he had long heard Jude say that the Heartfilia family only had Lucy as their sole descendant.
So it was better to ask this sole descendant.
Noah waved Lucy over and asked directly, cutting to the chase. "Lucy, do you have a relative named Anna in your family?"
"Eh?"
Lucy hadn't expected Noah to start with such a question. Didn't he know that the Heartfilia family now only consisted of her and her father?
Thinking with a puzzled expression, Lucy replied, "If you're just asking about the name Anna, our family does indeed have one."
"However, using 'relative' to describe Anna's relationship with me is a bit inappropriate. I should call her an ancestor."
Under Noah's suggestion, Lucy had previously gone home to look through the family's ancestral magic books and successfully found the super magic belonging to Celestial Spirit Mages. Among them, she unexpectedly discovered a family tree.
For the five hundred years leading up to Lucy's mother, Layla, the birth and death years of every family member were recorded—with only one exception.
Anna Heartfilia.
A Celestial Spirit Mage of extraordinary talent, it was said that she successfully collected the twelve Golden Celestial Spirit Keys but mysteriously disappeared on July 7, X377. At the same time, she also left a mysterious mission for her descendants.
That was all Lucy knew. In fact, she was also very curious about this ancestor.
Firstly, the other party had contracted the zodiac twelve, just like herself.
Secondly, Lucy really wanted to know what important mission it was that made her mother, Layla, willing to pay even with her life.
Listening to the information Lucy provided, a glint flashed in Noah's eyes.
X377... X777... Wasn't that exactly four hundred years before Natsu and the others arrived in the present world!
A powerful individual would not appear in the world without a trace.
Noah now strongly suspected that the Anna who wanted to exchange for "Anima" was Lucy's ancestor Anna, who mysteriously disappeared four hundred years ago—because she had traveled to the present day with Natsu and the other Dragon Slayer children.
However, these were all just guesses. The mystery might only be revealed when he met the real Anna.
Noah looked at the old tree-man. "Elder Warrod, the matter of exchanging spatial magic can be discussed. Please arrange a meeting between Anna and me."
Warrod chuckled. "I don't have Anna's contact information. You'll have to find her yourself. She said she would be staying in the forest north of the city, but I don't know the exact location."
So you were really just passing on a message... Since he knew the person was near Magnolia, Noah wasn't in a hurry to visit immediately. After all, he had just returned from Edolas, so he certainly needed a good rest.
What? You said he had already rested well in Edolas?
Does that affect my continued lounging... continued resting in Earthland... In short, Noah's laziness relapsed, and he could only recover after Erza and Mira thoroughly checked on him in the evening.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Though the gentle embrace was good, one should not be too greedy.
Noah, who had been jointly kicked out of bed by Mira and Erza, comforted himself with a clumsy excuse. He couldn't very well say that he had exhausted himself completely.
After tidying up, Noah headed to the forest north of Magnolia.
The forest path was soft and damp, sinking slightly with each step and making faint rustling sounds. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the branches, casting shimmering light spots on the moss-covered ground.
Because it was close to a human town, there were no dangerous animals in the forest, but it still wasn't very suitable for long-term habitation. Only an old stubborn woman like Porlyusica used to live in such a quiet mountain forest.
But that was in the past. Now Porlyusica had moved back to Magnolia because she needed to take care of Wendy.
Walking through the forest, Noah didn't see any traces of human life along the way. Apart from the occasional startled titmouse or wild rabbit from the bushes, there seemed to be very few living creatures.
However, Noah calmly and purposefully advanced in one direction until he stopped before a small lake.
Looking at the calm, mirror-like lake, Noah smiled slightly.
Although well hidden, it was incredibly conspicuous under the perception of his Magnetic Field Power.
Since he was visiting, Noah felt he should be polite. With a light touch of his finger, his Magic Power caused the air in front of him to vibrate, forming wave-like ripples.
The ripples passed over the lake's surface but seemed to hit something and were forced to spread out.
A gate emitting a faint starlight slowly appeared. On the gate was a winged horse, which Noah, with his slight knowledge of constellations, immediately recognized as Pegasus.
Pegasus soared through the sky, symbolizing freedom, inspiration, and creativity.
Just as Noah stepped onto the lake's surface, about to knock, the gate suddenly opened from within. A blonde woman in a robe looked at Noah outside the gate with some surprise.
"You must be the junior Warrod mentioned. To be able to activate large-scale spatial magic at such a young age is truly remarkable."
"You should know my request. Please come in and sit."
