Chapter 672: I'll Take It From Here
Chapter 672: I'll Take It From Here
"Hibernate until a hundred years later...?" Mebis blinked, deeply trusting in Feng Ye's words. What astonished her was the sheer power of Feng Ye's divination magic, as if he had seen through the next decade or even decades, a feat unheard of.
She had encountered diviners during the war, but their magic could only offer glimpses of the future, like trying to understand a beast from a mere glimpse of its tail.
"Are you planning to continue adventuring in this era?" Feng Ye smiled, his eyes deep and mysterious. "All clues over the centuries point to a hundred years from now as the most fascinating era."
A glimmer of hope shone in Mebis' eyes, but she was conflicted as she had friends like Yuri and Precht here in this era that she hadn't bid farewell to yet.
As if reading her thoughts, Feng Ye smiled gently and said, "Aside from Yuri, whose life is fleeting due to the Tenro Jade's corrosion, Precht and Wall Eerie will still be alive a hundred years from now."
Mebis pondered this carefully. With Precht now leading the guild, she didn't need to be as involved, and even if she chose not to hibernate and continued adventuring in this era, Yuri, Precht, and the others wouldn't be able to accompany her as they had their own paths to tread.
It seemed that whether she continued adventuring or hibernated made no difference, so as Feng Ye suggested, if the world a hundred years from now was more intriguing, it was indeed the better choice.
"Then, I shall accompany you, Teacher, to a hundred years later." Mebis smiled softly, having made her decision. "But before that, I need to write a letter to Wall Eerie and the others."
"Mhm." Feng Ye nodded in agreement.
Mebis spent an afternoon writing a letter, which she then sent using her magic to the Fairy Tail guild.
After sending off the letter, she and Eclair utilized the hibernation magic of the Phoenix magic and fell asleep amidst the flames.
Above the palace floated a ball of flame, within which Mebis and Eclair's figures could be seen, facing each other closely, their clothes gradually melting away in the fire as they slowly drifted into a deep sleep.
Feng Ye did not hibernate with them. He stood quietly in the palace, watching Mebis and Eclair fall asleep before shifting his gaze and sweeping his eyes across the entire palace. With a gentle wave of his hand, a portion of his power settled over the palace, seamlessly merging with Eclair's Phoenix magic and reinforcing the magic array.
While Eclair's Phoenix magic was sufficient to safeguard the palace, a being like the Black Dragon Acnologia could still breach its defenses.
But with Feng Ye's reinforcement...
Even the Black Dragon King Acnologia would be unable to shatter this palace.
Since Feng Ye possessed the ability to jump through time, he didn't need to hibernate with Mebis and Eclair. He could simply travel directly to a hundred years in the future. However, during the hundred years of his absence, he wouldn't exist, and it would be difficult to discern what transpired. Thus, to prevent unforeseen circumstances, it was best to add an extra layer of protection to the palace.
"Next stop, a hundred years later." After reinforcing the palace's defenses, Feng Ye looked up once more at the glowing sphere floating in the air, surrounded by faint golden flames. With a thought, he turned the wheels of time.
His figure was enveloped in golden light, silently blurring as the entire palace became indistinct. He was leaping through the scale of time.
In an instant, time around him returned to normal.
Everything within the palace remained intact, with Eclair and Mebis appearing as if they had just fallen asleep, facing each other in an embrace and floating quietly in the air.
"This is... x775, a little early." A faint golden glow shone in Feng Ye's eyes as he gazed through the palace, taking in the outside world to determine the current time period before refocusing his attention.
It had not yet been a hundred years since Mebis' previous hibernation.
Feng Ye looked up at the still-sleeping Mebis, stroking his chin thoughtfully before smiling casually. "Never mind, I guess I won't wake her up yet. The Fairy Tail guild at this point in time should also be getting interesting."
Withdrawing his gaze, he strode forward and passed through the palace's main door, disappearing outside without a sound.
...
X776.
In Magnolia Town, within the Fairy Tail guild...
A short, elderly man walked through the door.
"Yo! Welcome back, Master!"
"Good afternoon, Master!"
Seeing the short, elderly man enter, the numerous mages in the guild hall greeted him with smiles.
The short, elderly man was none other than the third master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar, son of Yuri, one of the founders of Fairy Tail.
"Yo." Makarov responded amicably to the guild members.
As he walked into the guild, a small, bare-armed boy of about ten years old followed him in, eliciting surprised reactions from several mages.
"Hey, Master, who's that with you?" they asked, unable to contain their curiosity.
Makarov strolled casually towards the counter, jumped onto a chair, and took a sip from the teacup handed to him by someone nearby. "He's a mage I met outside, and he'll be your companion from now on. Oh, and his name is Gray."
Makarov let out a chuckle and said, "Impressive, isn't it? This will be your new home from now on! Hey, Macao, why don't you introduce him to the rest of the guild?"
"Sure thing, Master!"
Macao approached Gray, offering a friendly handshake, but upon seeing that Gray was just a child, he changed his gesture to a warm wave, smiling as he said, "I'm Macao. You must be Gray, right? Let me give you a tour of the guild."
Gray politely replied, "Thank you."
Macao scratched the back of his head, letting out a hearty laugh, and then proceeded to give Gray a brief introduction to the guild, pointing out the numerous mages on the first floor and introducing them one by one—though there were far too many names for Gray to remember all at once.
After finishing the introductions, Macao pointed to the bulletin board on the first floor and said, "That's where we usually pick up jobs. But you're still too young, so it's best to stay in the guild and practice your magic some more."
Gray's lips twitched as he said, "Don't underestimate me. I'm a mage of Ice Make magic, and I'm quite powerful."
"Sure, sure," Macao said with a laugh. He continued walking forward, passing by the stairs to the second floor, and his expression turned slightly more serious as he looked at Gray and said, "By the way, you're free to go anywhere in the guild except for the second floor."
Gray also stopped in his tracks, taken aback by Macao's serious demeanor. He looked up at the second floor and asked, "Why?"
"Because the bulletin board on the second floor is completely different from the one downstairs," Macao explained.
Makarov, sitting by the bar, took a casual sip from his drink and added, "The jobs posted on the second floor are far more difficult than the ones here. They're all S-rank and above, so only S-class mages are allowed up there."
Gray's eyes widened slightly as he asked, "S-class mages?"
Macao took over the explanation, saying, "They are mages who have passed the S-class exam. Their strength and abilities far surpass those of ordinary mages, making them the strongest in our guild. Currently, only two people have attained that rank."
"Are they the ones up there?" Gray asked, pointing upstairs.
From where Gray was standing, he could see two figures sitting near the corridor on the second floor. One was holding a newspaper, while the other casually sipped tea.
"Yes," Macao confirmed with a smile. "The one with the newspaper is Gildarts, and the tea drinker is called Feng Ye. You can challenge anyone in the guild, but I suggest you steer clear of them. A regular mage doesn't stand a chance against them, hahaha!"
As Gray listened to Macao's words, his gaze flickered towards the two figures on the second floor, his expression thoughtful.
Just then, Gildarts, who had been reading the newspaper, suddenly crumpled it up and tossed it downstairs towards Makarov, saying, "Hey, Master. Take a look at this."
"Hmm?" Makarov caught the paper and squinted at it. "Hmm... The Dark Mage Guild has been active in the southern region of the Fiore Kingdom, and several villages have already been destroyed... I thought we wiped out a batch of those guys a few years back. How did they resurface?"
Gildarts shrugged. "Who knows? This time, their target seems to be children. The newspaper says they've already abducted quite a few."
"Despicable bastards," Makarov muttered, tossing the paper onto the counter.
Gray watched Makarov's reaction and couldn't help but speak up. "Aren't we going to do something about them? They've done some terrible things."
"Ah..." Macao turned to Gray, interrupting him. "I understand how you feel, but we haven't received any requests to deal with them, nor have we gotten any orders from the Magic Council. While we're not prohibited from taking action, it would be a huge hassle, and not everyone has the time for that."
Gray's expression tightened, and he clenched his fists, saying, "But we can't just stand by and do nothing."
Macao wore a slightly helpless expression.
The Dark Mage Guild wasn't something that one or two mages could handle. It would require a group effort, and many of the mages in the guild had their own responsibilities and families to support. Without a request or an order, they didn't have the energy to get involved in such matters.
Makarov closed his eyes and took small sips from his cup.
As Gray stood there, filled with righteous indignation and clenching his fists, unsure of what to do, a voice suddenly rang out from the second floor.
"Gray is right."
"Since those Dark Mages are doing such despicable things and they're operating relatively close to us, it would be hard to just ignore it completely."
This voice caused many in the guild to pause, including Makarov, who looked up towards the second floor.
Gildarts also turned his head to look at the person who had spoken.
"Feng Ye..."
Gildarts had joined the guild before Feng Ye, and he had achieved S-class status before him as well. But if anyone asked him who the strongest person in the guild was, he would never claim that title for himself.
The reason? He had sparred with the young man sitting upstairs, and the youth's strength far surpassed his own!
Swoosh!
Under the watchful eyes of the guild members, the handsome young man sitting by the corridor on the second floor set down his teacup and blew on the hot liquid before taking a sip. With a casual smile, he set the cup down and stood up, saying, "In that case, I'll take care of it."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
