Chapter 535 - 535: Wow! The First Master Has a Shadow!

While Mavis currently couldn't tap into the infinite reserves of Fairy Heart, she wasn't completely powerless. Unlike when she was an ethereal projection, possessing a physical body allowed her to utilize her own innate magical capacity.

And her innate capacity was staggering. As the founder of Fairy Tail and the Fairy Tactician, her raw magic and combat prowess vastly eclipsed the majority of active mages. If she were ranked today, her power would likely place her firmly within the tier of the Ten Wizard Saints, or at the very least, just slightly below it.

"Understood," Noah nodded.

Having finalized their cover story, Noah didn't immediately teleport them back to the guild. Instead, he levitated the trio high into the air above the testing grounds.

He raised his right hand, pointing down at the two temporary islands he had constructed. He slowly clenched his fist.

RUMBLE!

The two barren islands instantly shattered into massive, jagged chunks of bedrock. The structural integrity collapsed completely, and thousands of tons of stone plummeted into the churning ocean depths.

A few massive waves crashed over the impact site, and within seconds, every single trace of their grueling experiments vanished without a trace.

Satisfied that no residual dark magic or restricted telemetry data remained, Noah activated his Spatial Magic. The trio vanished from the sky in a flash of golden light.

When they reappeared, they were standing near the makeshift docks on Tenrou Island.

"Gramps! You're finally back!" Gray yelled, spotting Makarov instantly.

"Man, it feels like it's been ages since we saw you, Gramps!"

"Yeah! It felt super weird not having the Master sitting on the bar!"

"Seriously, the guildhall felt way too quiet without you yelling at us."

The rest of the guild members immediately swarmed over, clamoring happily.

Under normal circumstances, the most constant, reliable sight in the entire guild was Makarov sitting on the bar counter, drinking a massive mug of ale and watching over his children. Even when he left Magnolia for official Council business, he was rarely gone for more than a day or two.

His sudden, unexplained absence over the last week had deeply unsettled the guild. Seeing him return safe and sound instantly lifted a massive weight off their shoulders, replacing the underlying anxiety with a profound sense of comfort.

"Hey, the First Master is here too! We haven't seen you in days either!"

"Yeah! You and the Master both vanished. Were you guys working on something super top-secret?"

Ultear, Erza, and the other girls spotted Mavis standing between Noah and Makarov and rushed over, their faces lighting up with pleasant surprise.

Before her sudden disappearance, Mavis had spent hours every day chatting with the girls in the guildhall. When she vanished without a word, they had genuinely panicked, fearing her spectral form had destabilized again. It was only Noah's brief reassurance that she was fine that kept them from launching a massive search party.

Now, seeing Makarov, Mavis, and Noah—the three most brilliant minds in the guild—returning together, they naturally assumed the trio had been working on a highly classified project.

"Notice anything different?" Noah asked, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.

"Different?" Sorano tilted her head, confused.

"Is something different?" Natsu scratched the back of his head, staring blankly at the trio, completely oblivious.

"Uh..." The rest of the guild followed Natsu's gaze, scrutinizing the three of them closely.

"Wait... First Master, you—!"

Prompted by Noah's hint, Ultear, Erza, and the S-Class girls—who had interacted with Mavis the most—finally noticed the glaring anomaly. Their eyes widened to comical proportions, their jaws dropping in absolute shock.

Hearing their stunned gasps, the rest of the guild zeroed in on Mavis. A collective, deafening gasp echoed across the beach.

"First Master... do you... do you have a physical body?!" Juvia asked, her voice trembling with disbelief.

"WOW! Look! The First Master actually has a shadow!" Natsu roared, pointing frantically at the dark silhouette cast on the sand beneath Mavis's bare feet.

"Aye!" Happy agreed loudly, equally amazed.

"Stop yelling, you idiot! Of course she has a shadow if she has a physical body!" Gray snapped, smacking the back of Natsu's head. However, Gray's own eyes were glued to Mavis and her shadow in utter fascination.

Natsu didn't even bother arguing with Gray. He just kept staring, his eyes darting between Mavis's physical form and the shadow on the ground.

"So that's why the three of you vanished for the last week," Carla noted astutely, her arms crossed.

"That makes perfect sense," Panther Lily nodded in agreement.

"You have a real body now! That's wonderful, First Master!" Wendy cheered happily.

"It really is!" Meredy chimed in, a bright smile on her face.

"Mhm!" Yukino nodded vigorously, equally thrilled.

"You have a body! Let me see!" Sorano squealed in excitement. She lunged forward, grabbing both of Mavis's hands to inspect them.

Mavis flinched slightly, instinctively wanting to pull away, but she remembered the invisible, micro-thin defensive barrier resting against her skin. Knowing the curse couldn't hurt Sorano, she forced herself to relax and let the younger girl hold her hands.

Sorano squeezed Mavis's hands a few times. Her brow furrowed slightly. The tactile sensation felt... wrong. It didn't feel like normal human skin; it was entirely too smooth, almost like touching a microscopic layer of frictionless glass.

Sorano scrutinized Mavis's arm, her eyes narrowing as she noticed a faint, nearly imperceptible distortion in the light directly above the skin. She turned to Noah.

"Noah, is there something coating the First Master's body?" Sorano asked curiously.

"Yes. Her physical body is still recovering from some lingering complications, so I applied a specialized, full-body magical barrier to stabilize her," Noah replied smoothly, not missing a beat.

It wasn't a complete lie, and it perfectly explained the strange tactile sensation. However, Noah mentally noted the flaw: while the barrier effectively contained the curse, it was tactilely obvious to anyone who actually touched her. He would need to research a way to integrate the barrier beneath the dermal layer later. For now, the external coating would have to suffice.

"Is her body going to be okay? Is there anything we can do to help?" Ultear asked, stepping forward with genuine concern.

"Not right now. We've already resolved the major, life-threatening issues. The remaining complications just require time and slow, methodical research," Noah shook his head.

"That's a relief. Just remember, if you need any help, all you have to do is ask," Mirajane smiled warmly. The rest of the guild nodded in unison, ready to do whatever was necessary to help their founder.

"I know. I'll definitely call on you guys if I need anything," Noah smiled back.

"Still... I have a question. When the First Master was a spectral projection, it made perfect sense that she looked so young. But now that her actual, physical body has been revived... shouldn't she look older?" Erza asked, tilting her head in confusion.

If her memory served her right, Mavis Vermillion was officially well over a hundred years old. Reviving an eighty-year-old corpse shouldn't result in a flawless, vibrant teenager.

"That's because she didn't actually die," Noah replied, launching into the cover story they had prepared.

"Eighty years ago, the First Master suffered catastrophic, near-fatal injuries. To save her life, she was placed into a profound, magical stasis. She has been asleep in the guild's deepest sanctum ever since. Over the last week, my advanced medical treatments finally managed to stabilize her condition and awaken her. Because she was in absolute stasis, her physical body simply didn't age."

Hearing the explanation, Ultear and the S-Class mages finally understood why Noah had kept the project an absolute secret.

Noah was notoriously tight-lipped regarding classified guild intelligence. If the project involved the secret, coma-bound founder of Fairy Tail, absolute secrecy was mandatory. If his treatments had failed, keeping it a secret would have spared the guild the heartbreak of false hope.

Furthermore, the stasis explanation perfectly accounted for her youth. A magical coma designed to perfectly preserve a dying body would naturally halt the aging process.

"So that's what you've been doing," Laxus noted, walking over from the docks.

"Exactly. It's been a very long week," Noah nodded.

"Well, it's incredible that you're finally awake, First Master! It's actually perfect timing. We're right in the middle of overhauling the airship. You should come look! Tell us if there's anything you want added or changed!" Ultear offered enthusiastically.

"I'd love to! Show me everything!" Mavis beamed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She had already noticed the massive, imposing silhouette of the Grimoire Heart airship parked in the distance, and she was incredibly eager to see what her children were building.

Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, and the rest of the girls immediately swarmed Mavis, happily escorting her toward the massive vessel.

"Grandpa, come with me to the engine room. There's something you need to see," Noah said, turning to Makarov.

"Alright. You mentioned it earlier, but I haven't actually seen it with my own eyes yet," Makarov nodded.

"You sealed off the engine room and forbade anyone from entering when we started the renovations. What exactly is in there?" Laxus asked, his curiosity piqued.

"A few extremely unpleasant remnants from Grimoire Heart. I figured this was a good opportunity to show everyone exactly what we're dealing with," Noah replied casually.

"Unpleasant remnants? You mean dark magic artifacts?" Laxus guessed.

"You'll see when we get there," Noah deflected, leading the way toward the airship's lower access ramp.

Makarov followed closely behind him, and Laxus naturally fell into step.

Hearing Noah's cryptic comments, the curiosity of the surrounding guild members instantly overrode their desire to work. They dropped their tools and eagerly followed the trio.

By the time Noah's group reached the heavy, reinforced blast doors of the engine room, Ultear's group had already noticed the massive crowd gathering and led Mavis back down to join them.

"Where are you taking everyone?" Sorano asked, looking at the heavy doors.

"You guys should come too. Remember how I locked down the engine room and told everyone to stay out? I'm opening it now. I want you all to see what's inside," Noah told the girls.

"The engine room..." Mavis murmured. She immediately knew exactly what Noah was about to show them. She hesitated for a fraction of a second, but ultimately remained silent.

It was good for them to see it. It was a harsh, necessary lesson.

Many of the younger guild members knew that "Dark Guilds" were evil, but they had never actually fought one in a life-or-death scenario. They had only heard sanitized stories. Seeing the horrific, twisted reality of dark magic firsthand would serve as a brutal wake-up call.

Hearing that Noah was finally opening the restricted area, the rest of the guild crowded around the blast doors, buzzing with anticipation.

Noah stepped up to the heavy metal doors. He raised his hand, his index and middle fingers extended, and rapidly drew a sequence of sigils in the air. A golden runic lock materialized over the seam, flashed brightly, and dissolved.

"What you are about to see is highly disturbing. Mentally prepare yourselves," Noah warned the crowd.

He caught Ultear and Sorano's eyes, giving them a subtle, meaningful look. The older girls instantly understood the silent command. They subtly shifted their positions, moving to stand directly behind Wendy, Chelia, Meredy, and Yukino, ready to comfort or shield the younger girls if necessary.

Seeing that everyone had braced themselves, Noah grabbed the heavy release lever and hauled the blast doors open, revealing the absolute horrors hidden within the Devil's Heart.

~~~

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