"Inhale... Exhale..." Riyao closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the first morning sun on his face. Health preservation was definitely something that had to start from childhood. In this high-risk magic world where destroying the heavens and earth or blowing up mountain peaks was a common occurrence, having a healthy and long-lived body was the foundation of any revolution. He slowly exhaled the last bit of turbid air and pressed his hands down to his Dantian, completing his closing stance perfectly.
After finishing his morning exercise, Riyao turned and returned to his dormitory room on the second floor of the guild. He stepped into the simple bathroom and turned on the faucet; icy groundwater instantly gushed out, drenching his body.
Riyao casually dried his hair and changed into a clean white shirt and black trousers, still wearing his iconic white lab coat over them. He looked refreshed, yet exuded the aura of a refined scoundrel.
He pulled out a chair and sat down at his desk. Several heavy medical classics were piled messily on the surface, but in the center of these texts lay a black-covered notebook he had bound himself.
Riyao picked up a quill and stared deeply at the dense handwriting in the notebook. What was recorded there were not ordinary herbal formulas or trauma suturing techniques, but one crazy and highly subversive concept after another.
His fingertips lightly brushed over one of the pages, which detailed his proud masterpiece that he had previously exhausted himself to develop: "Healing Magic: Hundred Battles."
He had once hopefully tried to learn magic of other attributes—fire, frost, lightning... each was full of the temptation of destruction.
But reality had given him a harsh, loud slap in the face. Leaving aside the profound and difficult mysteries of magic, the most fatal factor was each person's "affinity" for different types of magic.
This was why, despite a decent population, Mages only accounted for a small minority.
Precisely because of this strict affinity threshold, some Mages could only settle for the next best thing, relying on Holder-type Magic, such as those jingling celestial spirit key, or complex Magic Guns and Standard-issue Magic Weapons.
As for our protagonist, Riyao, he had a very good—top-tier, even—affinity for Life-type Magic. It wasn't that he couldn't learn other magic, but the power he could unleash was relatively weak. It was fine for fighting ordinary Mages, but it wouldn't cut it against the powerful ones.
This made him so angry that he would roll around on the floor and crawl gloomily in the guild's library.
Other Life-type Magic also lacked offensive power, so he had to continue developing his own. If pushed too far, he would just follow that bald hero who was a hero for fun—doing a hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats, and running ten kilometers every day until he went bald. By then, he'd be able to take down a small black dragon with a single punch.
He chuckled, fantasizing about stepping on a black dragon and punching Zeref. Wiping away his drool, he tidied his desk and walked toward the guild hall to see if there were any healing requests.
He kicked open the guild's front door with a flying kick; surely, this was the correct way to open it.
Makarov shouted at Riyao, "You brat! We just replaced the front door last week. If you break it, I'll deduct it directly from your request reward!"
"Oh, come on, Gramps, it's fine. It's the door of our Fairy Tail, after all; it's very strong. You have to believe in it."
While bickering with Makarov, Riyao walked toward the request board. He skillfully plucked a request form from the board, which was covered in various pieces of parchment. After examining it for a moment, he was about to head out to start a new day of "amassing wealth" and "practicing medicine."
Gray, who had only recently joined the guild, had eyes sparkling with an intense desire for adventure and wanted to step forward to pick a request and test his skills. However, as soon as he reached out, he was ruthlessly sanctioned by the guild master, Makarov, who had appeared out of nowhere. Makarov's short arm accurately struck Gray's head with a crisp "thud."
"That hurts! What are you doing, old man?" Gray clutched his head, looking indignant. "Why can't I? That bastard Riyao can take requests!"
"Right, right, why can a handsome guy like Riyao take requests?" Riyao had somehow doubled back and naturally inserted himself into their conversation, a punchable smirk on his face.
Makarov gave Riyao a disdainful side-eye before turning to explain to the indignant Gray, "Don't compare yourself to him. He's taking specialized healing requests. These requests were meant for his Healing Magic from the start. What can a kid like you who only knows how to play with ice do? Freeze the patient into an ice sculpture?"
"You've only just joined the guild; there's no rush to do requests."
"But I want to get stronger! How can I get stronger without real combat?" Gray clenched his fists, a stubborn defiance in his eyes.
"This is non-negotiable. If you're that bored, go find someone to play-fight with." Makarov shook his head helplessly.
Beside them, Riyao picked his nose without any regard for his image and mocked nonchalantly, "With those few pounds of scrawny ribs on you, what can you do? Charge in howling just to become a snack for the magical beasts in the forest? But then again, if you freeze yourself into an ice cube first before being delivered into the beast's mouth, that crunchy texture might actually satisfy it. It might even give you a five-star review."
"You black-bellied, poison-tongued quack! Who are you calling'scrawny ribs'!" Gray's face turned red with rage, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
"Tsk, you can't even beat a weak, fragile, and kind doctor like me who couldn't even lift a chicken, yet you want to go hunt magical beasts?" Riyao spread his hands, putting on an extremely innocent and frail posture.
"Bullshit! I clearly... instakilled you yesterday!" Gray argued, exasperated.
"Oh? Is that so? Then... shall we try again?" Riyao raised an eyebrow, intentionally dragging out his words and even arrogantly clicking his tongue, his tone full of provocation.
"You said it! Don't regret it!" Gray roared, ripping off his shirt to reveal his lean upper body. He punched one hand into the palm of the other, and an ice-blue magic circle instantly unfolded in front of him as the surrounding temperature plummeted.
"Ice-Make: Lancer!"
With Gray's roar, a dazzling ice-blue magic circle instantly unfolded in front of him, its complex geometric patterns spinning at high speed. The surrounding temperature dropped sharply, and the moisture in the air rapidly condensed into ice crystals, transforming into dozens of incomparably sharp ice spears. Carrying a bone-chilling cold, they whistled toward Riyao like a rainstorm.
Seeing this, Riyao revealed a villainous smile and let out a "Jie Jie Jie" cackle.