-0-
Calvin stood shirtless in the guild workshop, sweat dripping down his torso despite the cool basement air. Four hours of focused work generated both mental and physical exhaustion from the concentration required to trace lifeforce patterns.
On the worktable before him lay his disassembled arsenal.
The Dragon Scale coat spread flat, its black scales catching light like oil on water. An ore chunk of lightweight but durable metal sat beside it—mithril alloy, according to the workshop inventory. A piece of ethernano-infused stone, harder than steel but containing natural magical channels. And arranged in careful rows: forty-seven lacrima crystals of varying sizes and elemental attunements.
Calvin's first objective was simple: increase the coat's durability by integrating the metal.
He'd observed Erza's Requip magic during their fight. Each armor set possessed distinct magical patterns—signatures that told the equipment how to behave, what properties to prioritize, how to channel ethernano efficiently.
If he could successfully trace one of those patterns onto the metal and integrate it with the coat's organic structure, he could create hybrid armor with both biological adaptability and metallic defense.
Calvin placed both hands on the mithril alloy and focused his life sense. The metal was inorganic—dead by definition—but it still possessed a pattern. Atomic structure, crystalline lattice, the way magical energy flowed through imperfections in the material.
He recalled Erza's black armor set. The defensive configuration that had tanked Ivory's shots without penetrating. The pattern had been dense, layered, with energy distribution designed to disperse impact force across the entire surface.
Calvin pushed his magic into the metal, attempting to inscribe that pattern in his 3rd attempt.
Golden light flared. The metal heated rapidly under his touch. The pattern began forming—magical channels carving themselves into the material, organizing according to the template he held in his mind.
Then it failed.
The channels collapsed. The pattern burned out. The metal cooled back to its original state, completely unchanged except for faint scorch marks where his hands had been.
Calvin frowned and tried again. Same result. The pattern simply wouldn't hold in inorganic material.
He ran through possible explanations. His magic worked through life force manipulation. The coat and Ivory functioned because they retained remnant life patterns from their organic components—the dragon hide had been grown, the antlers had been alive. Even dead, those materials maintained echoes of biological processes.
But pure metal? Stone? They'd never been alive. They had no life patterns to manipulate, no biological architecture to build upon.
The realization was frustrating but informative. His magic had a fundamental limitation: he could only work with materials that had once possessed life, or that could be integrated with living systems.
For now.
Which meant combining the metal directly with the coat was impossible. At least with his current understanding.
Calvin set the metal aside and turned to Ivory.
The gun had performed adequately against Erza, but ammunition capacity was insufficient. And single-target damage, while high, didn't address crowd control scenarios.
He picked up two lacrima crystals—one fire-attuned from the elemental he'd destroyed in the mountain cavern, one ice-attuned from its counterpart. Both pulsed with condensed ethernano, stable and ready for integration.
Calvin disassembled Ivory carefully. The antler barrel, the bone grip, the single lacrima core that converted life force to ethernano beams. The weapon's pattern was simpler than the coat's—more mechanical, less organic.
But it still possessed remnant life. The bull's essence threaded through the bone structure, dormant but present.
Calvin embedded both elemental lacrima beside the original core, creating a triangular configuration. Then he fed life force into all three simultaneously, using the bull's pattern as a binding agent.
The weapon resisted initially. Three different magical signatures—life force conversion, fire, ice—competed for dominance. Calvin forced them into equilibrium, creating a pattern where all three coexisted in balanced tension.
The bone structure elongated. The barrel grew sleeker. The grip reshaped itself to accommodate a switch mechanism that emerged organically from the material.
When the transformation finished, Calvin held a silver revolver eighteen inches long. Three lacrima cores glowed faintly within the translucent bone structure. A switch sat where his thumb would naturally rest, marked with simple icons: neutral, fire, ice.
He aimed at a practice target across the workshop and fired in neutral mode.
The blue ethernano beam struck true, punching a hole through the target.
He flipped the switch to fire mode and fired again.
The beam burned red-orange, leaving the target's edges smoking and melted.
Ice mode produced a pale blue beam that froze the target solid on impact.
Ammunition capacity had increased as well—the three-core configuration generated power more efficiently, allowing eight shots before requiring recharge time.
Calvin set Ivory aside, satisfied with the upgrade.
His coat would have to remain unchanged for now. The metal integration was beyond his current capabilities. But he'd learned something valuable about his magic's limitations.
Progress, even when constrained by failure.
Calvin emerged from the workshop four hours later, dressed and carrying the quest notice. He intended to depart immediately for the river system where the piranhas lived.
Erza intercepted him at the guild's entrance.
"You're going on that piranha collection quest," she stated. Not a question.
"Yes."
"I'll accompany you."
Calvin processed this. "It's a C-rank quest. You're significantly overqualified."
"Consider it a mentorship opportunity. You're new to guild work. I can provide guidance on proper quest completion procedures."
While also keeping an eye on him for Makarov- he suspected.
Before Calvin could respond, Natsu appeared. "Erza's going on a quest?! Then I'm coming too! I want a rematch!"
"We're not fighting, Natsu," Erza said firmly.
"We could fight AFTER the quest—"
"No."
Lucy hurried over, looking slightly panicked. "If everyone's going, I should probably come too. Someone needs to be the voice of reason."
"Aye!" Happy flew circles overhead. "Adventure!"
Gray wandered over, shirtless as usual. "What's all the noise about?"
"We're going to catch fish," Calvin said flatly.
"Sounds boring."
"It is."
"Perfect. I'm in."
Erza sighed but didn't argue. "Fine. But this is Calvin's quest. We're support only. Everyone clear?"
Natsu opened his mouth. Erza glared. Natsu closed his mouth and nodded.
Ten minutes later, they'd hired a wagon and driver. Calvin sat in the back with his equipment. Natsu immediately turned green as the wagon started moving—motion sickness, a universal affliction for Dragon Slayers. He spent the first twenty minutes hanging over the side, groaning miserably.
Lucy settled beside Calvin, looking curious. "So... where did you get all those lacrima crystals? The ones you paid Mira with were really high quality."
Calvin considered his response. "I found a deposit in the mountains."
"Just found them? That's incredibly lucky."
"Pattern recognition. Lacrima concentrations increase near ethernano-rich geological formations. I followed the river upstream to its source."
"That's... actually really smart." Lucy paused. "Are there more deposits up there?"
"The primary source was destroyed."
"Oh." Lucy looked disappointed, then curious again. "What about your magic? I've never seen anything like it. Creating living weapons, those vine constructs, the way your coat seems almost alive..."
"Life manipulation. I give remnant life force to dead materials, creating semi-autonomous constructs."
"That's amazing! Can you teach—"
"No. The magic requires specific neurological patterns. It's not replicable through standard training."
Lucy blinked. "Neurological patterns?"
Calvin realized he'd used terminology from his first life. "My brain processes magic differently. The technique wouldn't work for someone with standard magical architecture."
Erza, seated across from them, had been listening quietly. "You're self-taught, aren't you? There's no established school for life manipulation magic that I'm aware of."
"Correct."
"How long have you been practicing?"
Calvin calculated. "Three weeks in practical application. Fifty thousand years in theoretical study."
Everyone stared at him.
"That's a joke," Gray said slowly. "Right?"
Calvin didn't respond. It wasn't a joke, but explaining his time in the void seemed unnecessarily complicated.
Erza's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You're deliberately evasive about your background."
"Yes."
"Any particular reason?"
"My past is irrelevant to my current function within the guild."
"'Function,'" Erza repeated. "That's an unusual word choice."
Calvin met her gaze steadily. "I don't understand social expectations well. I say what's accurate rather than what's expected. If that's a problem, inform me of preferred communication parameters."
Erza's expression softened slightly. "It's not a problem. Just... different. Fairy Tail accepts different." She paused. "Though I would like to know one thing. Why did you really choose to fight me during the assessment?"
"Your magical pattern was the most interesting available. Requip magic demonstrates advanced spatial manipulation integrated with combat systems. I wanted observational data."
"So I was an experiment."
"A learning opportunity," Calvin corrected. "I needed to understand my equipment's limitations against adaptive opponents. You provided optimal testing conditions."
Erza smiled faintly. "Most people would be offended by that honesty."
"Should I lie in the future?"
"No. I prefer honesty." Erza leaned back against the wagon's side. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Calvin. I think you'll fit in better than you expect."
Natsu groaned from where he'd draped himself over the wagon's edge. "Are we there yet...?"
"We've been traveling for thirty minutes," Gray said. "It's at least another hour."
Natsu's response was another groan.
They reached the river system by early afternoon. Calvin directed the driver to a specific location—a bend in the river where the current created deep pools. His life sense confirmed what he'd remembered: significant piranha population concentrated in the shaded areas.
"How do you know they're here?" Lucy asked, peering at the water.
"Life sense. I can detect living organisms within approximately two hundred meters."
That was his passive range.
"That's an incredible sensory range."
Calvin simply nodded and approached the water's edge. He extended his awareness into the river, cataloging individual life signatures. Forty-three piranhas in the immediate area. More downstream and upstream. All showing the distinctive aggressive patterns he remembered from his previous encounter.
He pulled a containment crate from the wagon—wooden construction with breathing holes on the lid, designed to keep aquatic creatures alive during transport.
The quest required twenty piranhas. Calvin decided to collect thirty. Surplus was logical.
He focused on the nearest signatures and reached out with his magic. Not controlling them directly—his skill wasn't refined enough for precise manipulation of free-swimming fish. Instead, he influenced the water itself.
Vines extended from his coat and entered the river. They didn't grab the piranhas. They created currents, guiding patterns that funneled the fish and water toward the crate's opening.
One by one, piranhas swam into the container. Some struggled when they realized the trap, but Calvin's vines blocked escape routes without harming them.
Within fifteen minutes, he'd collected thirty-two piranhas.
"That was..." Lucy searched for words. "Efficient."
"The quest specifications required living specimens in good health. Direct capture would have stressed them unnecessarily."
Natsu, recovered now that the wagon wasn't moving, peered into the crate. "Can we cook some?"
"The client ordered twenty. The additional twelve are guild property to do with as they wish."
"So that's a yes!"
Calvin secured the crate and loaded it back into the wagon. The return journey should be uneventful—
His life sense detected something. Large. Airborne. Circling at approximately four hundred meters altitude.
Calvin looked up.
A massive bird wheeled through the sky. Easily the size of a horse, with dark feathers that had a metallic sheen. Its talons glinted in the sunlight—iron-gray and oversized even for its substantial frame.
"What is that?" Lucy asked, following his gaze.
Natsu's eyes lit up. "A monster! Finally something to fight!"
His fists ignited. Before anyone could stop him, he launched a fireball at the distant bird.
The shot went wide—the bird was too high and too fast. But the threat was clear. The creature shrieked and veered away, disappearing behind the treeline.