In Riyao Manor, Riyao was conducting some dangerous experiment in his workshop.
The workshop door was tightly shut, with a crooked note stuck to the door panel. Written in large red ink were the words "DANGER," along with a skull drawing that looked like a child's work but emitted an aura that made people afraid to approach.
Mirajane stood at the door, her long silver hair swaying gently in the evening breeze. She reached out to push the door, but it was locked from the inside.
"Riyao, let me in to take a look," she said, tilting her head with a hint of coquettishness.
"No, no, it's very dangerous in here," Riyao's voice came through the crack in the door, sounding a bit nervous and urgent.
Mira pouted but didn't persist. Her silver eyelashes lowered slightly, and a helpless smile played on her lips as she headed to the guild by herself.
A puppet lay in the center of the workshop.
It was an exquisite puppet, about 1.7 meters tall, with a beautiful and determined female face. Her short, neat hair was braided with fine silk threads.
There was a hollow in the center of its chest, just large enough to fit a crystal ball.
Riyao crouched beside the puppet, holding the crystal ball he had recovered from Deliora. A pale green light swirled inside the sphere, like a trapped firefly.
He rubbed his chin in thought, his golden eyelashes lowering slightly, his brow furrowing and relaxing alternately.
Does this count as resurrection? Probably not. Didn't they say Absolute Freeze turns life into ice? Turning it back into life now should be fine, right?
It seems the regenerated bodies of Tartaros weren't cursed either.
This is so frustrating. Ankhselam above, give me a hint, okay?
If you don't agree, give me some kind of sign to warn me.
He held his breath and pricked up his ears to listen.
Silence~
I'll take that as a yes then!
Riyao quickly stuffed the crystal ball into the hollow in the puppet's chest. It fit perfectly. The moment the sphere was embedded, green light burst from the hollow, like the first sprout breaking through the soil in spring.
The light grew brighter and more intense, filling the entire workshop and illuminating every corner.
Riyao squinted at the stinging light, but he didn't back down.
Thinking of his love for Mirajane, he reached out a finger and gently touched a white daisy in a nearby vase.
The flower: "You're so noble! You're so high and mighty!"
Riyao remained in a touching posture, motionless like a statue.
The daisy trembled slightly but didn't wither; instead, it bloomed even more brilliantly.
One minute, two minutes, five minutes...
It didn't trigger the Death Predation.
Riyao breathed a sigh of relief, but his brow still didn't fully relax.
No, I need to observe more.
He continued to maintain the touching posture, frantically recalling scenes of being with Mirajane: her gentle smile when they first met, her determined gaze when fighting side-by-side, her sleeping face on his chest when waking up in the morning, and the way she poked his forehead when she was angry...
The flower bloomed more and more vibrantly at his fingertips, with no sign of wilting.
At that moment, the puppet moved.
First a finger twitched, then the arm, and then the neck.
The puppet slowly sat up, its wooden body making a slight creaking sound. Its movements were somewhat stiff, as if it had just woken from a long slumber.
"I am...?"
The voice came from the puppet's throat, clear and filled with confusion, like spring water in a mountain stream.
Riyao was still holding the flower. He tilted his head to look over, his lips curling into a slight smile.
"Yo, it worked. Congratulations on regaining consciousness, Ur."
He refused to use the word "resurrection" even if it killed him; he would never admit it.
Ur looked down at her wooden hands, turning them over several times. She then touched her face, feeling the wooden texture, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.
Riyao put down the flower and turned to explain, his tone as casual as possible.
"I'm a guildmate of Gray's, and now I'm basically his 'foster father.' I used a special crystal ball to collect your life energy to see if I could bring you back. It seems that while Absolute Freeze uses life to seal, the result is reversible."
Ur tried to move her body, but it was still very stiff. Her joints creaked, and she couldn't move flexibly. She raised her arm, her fingers only able to open and close slowly, like rusty machinery.
"Can't I regain my physical body?" she asked, her tone flat, as if asking about the weather. "But it doesn't matter; I've used ice prosthetics before."
Riyao was still holding the flower, pinching the stem between his thumb and index finger, shaking it nonchalantly.
"I rushed this body together. There will be chances to change to a better one later; you'll even be able to dance then."
He paused and added, "By the way, you can't use magic right now, since you don't have a magic source."
Ur tried, closing her eyes to feel the flow of magic within her, only to find a void, like a dried-up riverbed. She opened her eyes and waved her hand, her tone candid.
"Small matter. Being able to see Gray and Lyon is good enough."
She thought for a moment and tilted her head. A subtle expression appeared on her wooden face; though she couldn't make rich facial movements, the light in her eyes was clearly serious.
"How much longer can I live like this?"
Riyao held the flower and thought for a moment, his golden eyelashes blinking slightly as his gaze fell on the slightly glowing crystal ball in Ur's chest.
"About twenty years or so, I'm not sure exactly. The life energy recovered by the crystal ball is limited. Once it's used up, it's gone, and I have no way to help someone replenish their lifespan."
Ur nodded. Twenty years was enough.
She looked curiously at the flower Riyao had been pinching for a long time and tilted her head slightly: "What have you been doing holding that flower all this time?"
The flower was still in Riyao's hand, its petals a bit crumpled from being pinched, but it still bloomed tenaciously. Riyao sighed, released the stem, and put the flower back in the vase.
"Don't worry about that."
He stood up, patted the dust off his knees, and reached out to Ur: "Let's go, I'll take you to see Gray."
He got a set of clothes for her to wear, a deep blue robe with exquisite patterns embroidered on the collar and cuffs.
A puppet body going out wouldn't be shocking to the residents of Magnolia—after all, they had seen all sorts of strange Mages—but Ur still had some sense of shame and didn't want to parade around naked.
The two arrived at the guild entrance.
Riyao pushed open the door and scratched his head as he looked at the chaotic scene inside.
The guild hall was in total chaos. Members were stumbling around, some were chasing others, some were staring blankly into mirrors, and some were speaking with other people's voices.
Levy stood in the center of the hall, holding a magic book. Her glasses reflected an eerie light as she recited some incantation.
Ur walked in, her gaze searching the crowd, and quickly locked onto a figure. She walked over, opened her arms, and hugged the person from behind.
"Gray, you've grown up."
The "Gray" in her arms turned around, looking completely bewildered.
"Um, I'm Lucy."
Ur's hands froze in mid-air, her expression stiffening.
Riyao slapped his forehead, remembering there was indeed such a segment in the original plot. He saw that Levy had just broken the spell and was about to recite the final incantation, light already condensing in her hands.
Riyao acted quickly, grabbing Mirajane's wrist with one hand and Ur's arm with the other, and swiftly backed out of the guild's main door.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Ur stumbled as he pulled her, her wooden body creaking: "What's wrong?"
Riyao didn't explain; he just pulled the two of them outside. Ur's current state wasn't suitable for this Soul-Swapping Magic; without a magic source, something could easily go wrong with her wooden body.
As for Mirajane, Riyao didn't want to face an old-man version of Mirajane all day. Just the thought of it gave him goosebumps.
The moment they exited, there was a flash of light inside. White light spilled out from the crack in the door, illuminating the entire porch.
The three of them stood outside, Riyao pricking up his ears to listen to the commotion inside. After a burst of chaos, the noise gradually subsided.
"It should be over now. Let's go."
The three walked back in.
In the guild hall, a group of people looked at each other with various expressions—some confused, some terrified, some angry, some dazed.
Riyao looked at them, hands on his hips, and asked loudly, "Who's who now? Sound off!"
Lisanna called out, but her voice had the tone of a cat, making the scene both eerie and hilarious.
"I'm Happy!"
Happy looked down at his paws, wanting to cry but having no tears, his voice filled with deep grievance.
"Brother-in-law, I don't want to be a kitty."
Makarov spoke, his voice loud and youthful, not at all like an old man's, with surging magic power pulsating in his small body.
"Whoa! The magic power in this body is so massive!"
Natsu scolded Makarov using Makarov's aged voice but with Natsu's irritable tone, creating a total sense of dissonance.
"Natsu! Don't you dare misuse my magic power!"
Gray shuddered, hugging his own body and screaming.
"Gray, stop right there! Don't move!"
Erza grabbed the hem of her armor with both hands, her face as red as a tomato, speaking awkwardly in Gray's voice.
"Ah, sorry, sorry."
Riyao watched this scene, his lip twitching before he couldn't help but burst into laughter. Mirajane also giggled, her shoulders shaking.
Ur stood at the door, watching the rowdy group, a smile slowly appearing on her face. Although her face was wooden and couldn't make rich expressions, the light in her eyes was gentle and nostalgic.
So this is the guild Gray is in; it really is as lively as Riyao said.
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150 POWER STONE = BONUS CHAPTER
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