In fact, Rowan's guess had been completely correct. When he saw Mirajane again the next morning, the way she looked at him had changed, her eyes filled with curiosity and amazement.
It was as though she were meeting Rowan for the first time.
"The Guild Master told you everything?" Rowan asked in surprise.
He knew Makarov would tell Mirajane about his origins, but he had not expected him to do it so quickly.
"That's right." Mirajane nodded and lowered her voice. "Are you really from another world?"
"The genuine article."
"What are other worlds like?" Mirajane's eyes were filled with curiosity.
"They vary greatly. Some worlds are completely different from yours, while others are fairly similar, filled with swords and magic," Rowan replied.
Mirajane inwardly thought, Who could possibly understand such a vague explanation?
Rowan saw through her thoughts and said with a smile, "If you're genuinely curious, I can take you on a tour of another world and let you see what one is really like."
"Eh? Is that alright?"
"Of course. For me, visiting another world is no different from going on a trip. I can leave and return whenever I please. It won't take up any time at all."
After hearing Rowan say this, Mirajane stopped declining. She arranged a time with him to visit another world.
Naturally, Rowan did not refuse.
Afterward, the two tacitly moved on from the subject.
"I'm back!"
At that moment, the guild doors were suddenly thrown open. A pink-haired boy wearing a scarf strode inside carelessly, followed by a blonde girl.
They were none other than the male and female protagonists of Fairy Tail—
Natsu and Lucy.
It seemed the plot of Fairy Tail was finally about to begin.
"Welcome back, Natsu," Mirajane greeted him first.
The others quickly welcomed him as well.
"Welcome back, Natsu!"
"Did you find the Fire Dragon, Natsu?"
"Huh? Who's this pretty girl? Is she your girlfriend, Natsu?"
"Huh? Of course not!" Natsu immediately denied it. "This is Lucy. She's a Celestial Spirit Mage and a new companion who wants to join Fairy Tail."
"Ohhh! Looks like another pretty girl is joining our guild!"
Seeing this, Lucy felt awkward.
What was wrong with this guild?
It was completely different from what she had imagined.
Natsu did not care about any of that. He pulled Lucy over to Mirajane.
"Mirajane, this is Lucy. She's a newcomer who wants to join our guild."
Mirajane looked Lucy over several times.
Lucy's eyes immediately lit up.
"Mirajane! A living Mirajane! Fairy Tail's poster girl! Hello, I'm Lucy. I'm a huge fan of yours!"
"Is that so? Then I'm honoured."
Mirajane smiled graciously, and her mood visibly improved.
"So you're Lucy. Welcome to Fairy Tail."
"Could you please give me your autograph, Miss Mirajane?"
"Of course."
Mirajane accepted the pen and paper Lucy offered, signed her name, and handed them back.
She then took out the Fairy Tail guild stamp and asked Lucy where she wanted the emblem placed.
After hesitating repeatedly, Lucy eventually chose her shoulder. She successfully completed the process of joining Fairy Tail and officially became a guild member.
"Huh? Who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"
At the same time, Natsu noticed Rowan and could not help asking.
Lucy froze and looked up at Rowan.
"Isn't he a member of your guild?"
"No. I've never seen him before."
Natsu shook his head.
Rowan raised his right hand and displayed the guild emblem on its back.
Mirajane added from beside him, "This is Rowan. Like Lucy, he only recently joined the guild. Erza was the one who introduced him."
"Erza?"
Natsu was greatly shocked and stared at Rowan.
"Erza actually introduced you?"
"That's right."
"What's your relationship with Erza?"
"We're good friends."
"Why have I never heard Erza mention you?"
"Because Erza and I haven't known each other for long. I suppose we simply hit it off immediately."
"I see."
Natsu believed him. After all, he was simple-minded.
He looked at Rowan with great enthusiasm.
"If Erza introduced you to Fairy Tail, you must be really strong, right?"
Rowan nodded.
"If I had to say, I should currently be the strongest mage in the Fairy Tail Guild."
"Huh?"
Natsu did not believe him.
"It's true."
Mirajane stood beside them and spoke with a smile.
Makarov had told her that Rowan could copy other people's magic. Combined with the fact that he came from another world, who knew how many forms of magic he had already copied?
Therefore, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him calling himself the strongest.
Natsu might doubt Rowan, but he would never doubt Mirajane.
After all, they were guildmates.
"I'm all fired up!"
After confirming that Rowan was the strongest, flames immediately ignited around Natsu's fists.
"Let's fight!"
"I don't mind, but when you fight me, you'd better avoid looking into my eyes."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because I use mind-control magic. Anyone whose gaze meets mine will fall under my control."
As Rowan spoke, he decisively activated his mind-control magic.
Natsu was immediately controlled.
Dragon Slayer Magic might be powerful, but Natsu was a Fire Dragon Slayer, not a Mind Dragon Slayer.
His mental resistance was pitifully low, and he instantly succumbed.
"Natsu? Natsu?"
Seeing Natsu standing there blankly, Lucy could not help pushing his shoulder.
Natsu did not react in the slightest and continued staring vacantly ahead.
"He really was controlled! Is this magic seriously that ridiculous?"
She could not help commenting.
Although Lucy was the female protagonist, she initially served primarily as the straight man who reacted to everyone else's absurdity.
Rowan turned and glanced at her, frightening Lucy into immediately covering her eyes.
Rowan chuckled.
"Relax. I rarely use this magic."
With that, he released the mind control.
Natsu regained control of his body. Recalling everything that had just happened, his face turned bright red.
"You bastard! You actually used a trick like that! If you've got the guts, fight me properly! Fire Dragon's Iron—"
Before Rowan could refuse, Natsu swung his fist and charged at him.
Rowan flicked a finger.
A translucent ghost shot from his fingertip and passed through Natsu's chest.
The previously aggressive Natsu immediately dropped to his knees with a thud, his emotions sinking to their lowest point.
"I'm so useless. I've searched for so long and still haven't found Igneel. I'm worse than an ant. I've lived all these years only to waste food and air…"
"What is this now?"
Lucy was completely dumbfounded.
The difference between Natsu's behaviour before and after being struck was far too extreme.
Rowan calmly explained, "A Negative Hollow. Anyone it passes through enters an extremely negative state. As you can see, they lose all ability to fight."
"Isn't that ability way too unfair?"
Lucy looked at Natsu, who was still endlessly doubting himself, and complained again.
"It isn't as terrifying as you imagine," Rowan explained. "It can be attacked and blocked with magic. Natsu was simply caught off guard because he had never seen it before."
"That's already terrifying enough," Lucy said.
It was practically an instant defeat against anyone encountering it for the first time.
Meanwhile, Rowan and Natsu's clash had already attracted the attention of the other guild members.
Seeing Natsu defeated twice in succession, many cried out in surprise.
Gray, Natsu's sworn rival, could not help bursting into laughter and mocked him relentlessly.
However, instead of arguing back, the negative Natsu only became even more depressed.
Gray quickly lost interest, finding it no fun at all, and shifted his attention towards Rowan.
"Hey, newcomer. You just said you were the strongest person in the guild, right?"
"Yes, I did. So?"
"You called yourself the strongest. Did you ask me first?"
"From the sound of it, you want to fight me."
Rowan looked at him with a faint smile.
"That's right."
Gray casually stripped off his clothes, exposing his well-built upper body and fully displaying his battle-crazed nature.
"If you claim to be the strongest, then defeat me."
Lucy looked utterly confused.
"If you're going to fight, then fight! Why are you taking off your clothes?"
Mirajane smiled.
"Because he's Gray."
Everyone nodded.
"That's right. Because he's Gray."
"I have absolutely no idea what any of you mean! What is wrong with this guild?"
Lucy trembled, beginning to feel that joining Fairy Tail might have been an overly hasty decision.
Rowan smiled and beckoned to Gray.
"Come on."
Gray brought his hands together.
"Ice-Make Magic… Huh?"
Just as he prepared to create ice, he suddenly discovered that Rowan had vanished from in front of him.
At the same time, a hand reached out from behind and touched his shoulder.
"Ice-Ice Fruit—
Ice Time!"
In an instant, powerful freezing air erupted from Rowan's hand.
Gray was completely frozen in the blink of an eye, transformed into an ice sculpture.
For a moment, everyone stared in shock.
Macao could not help sucking in a cold breath.
"Gray… Gray was frozen solid."
"You've got to be kidding! Gray, who uses Ice Magic, was actually frozen?"
"That's unbelievable!"
At that moment, Rowan gave the Fairy Tail Guild a small taste of shock from another world.
After the brief spar, Natsu quickly recovered, and Rowan released the ice as well, setting Gray free.
The two exchanged a glance before dropping to their knees with a thud and pressing their foreheads to the floor.
"I admit defeat."
Both of them knew how to accept a loss.
A defeat was a defeat. Neither would make excuses.
After standing up, Gray asked curiously, "Was what you used just now also Ice Magic?"
He could sense that the cold Rowan had released far surpassed his own Ice Magic.
It was simply unbelievable.