Chapter 216

Chapter 216: Chapter 216

"Listen. Feel. Think... This is a power that already belongs to you. Accept it, then learn to control it..."

On Lucy’s second day as Marshall’s "pet," he privately helped her unlock her Second Origin.

Inside one of Cake Tower’s rooms, Lucy sat cross-legged on a cushion in a light, comfortable outfit while Marshall stood behind her with both hands resting on her shoulders, carefully guiding her toward awakening the Second Origin.

Since he had successfully tricked Lucy into playing along with his ridiculous pet arrangement, Marshall naturally didn’t mind giving her a reward and helping her out.

By now, he had become extremely proficient with Origin-Opening Magic.

In theory, the procedure was supposed to be excruciatingly painful, but if Marshall was willing to put in enough effort, he could reduce that pain to an extremely low level.

The difficulty also varied considerably from person to person.

Erza, for example, hadn’t even needed the Arc of Time.

With nothing more than Marshall’s guidance through Link Magic, she had awakened her Second Origin with remarkable ease.

Her Magic Power was now approaching 90,000.

At this rate, it probably wouldn’t be long before Fairy Tail gained yet another Mage with combat power on the level of the Ten Wizard Saints.

Marshall had also made another discovery recently.

Once Magic Power broke through the 100,000 threshold, its natural growth rate seemed to accelerate again.

He himself had only crossed 100,000 recently, yet his reserves were already closing in on 110,000.

Marshall suspected this explosive growth came from two factors overlapping: his body was still in a period of rapid physical development, and crossing the 100,000 threshold had somehow accelerated his Magic Power growth even further.

When he was younger, raising his Magic Power from 1,000 to 10,000 had taken several years.

Compared with that, his current growth rate was absurd.

Marshall had also discovered through analyzing a large amount of experimental data that the increase provided by awakening the Second Origin was different for every Mage.

The deciding factor appeared to be physical strength.

The stronger the body, the greater the increase.

As for Lucy...

Hmm?

Marshall finally noticed that her face had turned bright red and her entire body was trembling.

What was going on?

Under his control, the procedure shouldn’t have been particularly painful.

So why was she reacting like that?

[So numb... What is this weird feeling...? It’s... actually kind of nice... Ugh, is Marshall doing this on purpose? Why does it feel like this...?]

"..."

Marshall’s expression became strange.

What’s wrong with Lucy?

How had she somehow managed to enjoy the procedure?

Nobody else had reacted quite like this...

Actually, now that he thought about it, quite a few girls had come out of Origin Opening with red faces and strangely watery eyes while looking at him.

Their reactions simply hadn’t been as obvious as Lucy’s, so Marshall had never paid much attention.

Could it be...?

Marshall shook his head.

Forget it.

It was probably just some minor side effect.

Nothing worth worrying about.

About an hour later, Lucy finally succeeded in awakening her Second Origin.

Her first reaction wasn’t to celebrate.

She shot to her feet and bolted for the door.

"I-I need to use the bathroom!"

"..."

By the time Lucy returned, she had changed clothes.

Aside from the collar still around her neck, she was now wearing a simple leopard-themed animal costume, while the cat outfit she had been wearing earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Under Marshall’s rules, Lucy had to wear animal-themed outfits while inside Cake Tower.

After surviving the embarrassment of the first day, however, she had already adapted completely.

Her adaptability was apparently maxed out.

Marshall sensed her Magic Power.

It had risen from around 6,000 to a little over 9,000.

She still hadn’t even reached the rough threshold for S-Class.

Weak.

Far too weak!

"How do you feel, Lucy?"

"A-Amazing! My Magic Power increased by almost half!"

Lucy’s excitement immediately returned.

"This Lost Magic is incredible. Are you sure there really aren’t any side effects?"

"Your increase is actually pretty average."

Marshall shook his head.

"As for the side effects of Origin-Opening Magic, I’ve already reduced them as much as possible. Aside from a certain amount of unavoidable discomfort during the process, they’re basically negligible."

He continued matter-of-factly.

"Not every kind of power needs some dramatic price attached to it. And this isn’t Lost Magic. If anything, it’s new-era Magic."

Lucy blinked.

"The times keep moving forward, and Magic develops along with them. I’ve never believed that knowledge from the past automatically has to be superior to what people can create today."

Lucy was still riding the excitement of having her reserves suddenly jump so dramatically.

Now she finally understood why everyone in the guild had been fighting so desperately over Origin-Opening appointments.

The feeling of becoming stronger really was intoxicating.

"But isn’t the Arc of Time itself Lost Magic?"

Lucy tilted her head.

"I heard it’s incredibly difficult to learn."

"I think that’s more of an education problem than a problem with the Magic itself."

Marshall folded his arms.

"There simply aren’t many people born with an aptitude for Time Magic, and the current education system is terrible at identifying the people who actually have the right talent."

He shrugged.

"What Magic someone learns is mostly left to luck. If nobody capable of inheriting a branch of knowledge is ever found, then of course it eventually becomes ’lost.’"

"...Not everyone has ridiculous magical talent like you, Marshall."

Lucy shook her head and decided not to argue any further.

Then another thought immediately brightened her expression.

"Oh! Marshall, didn’t you say Celestial Spirit Magic gets stronger as the Mage gains more Magic Power?"

She leaned toward him eagerly.

"Does that mean I’m stronger now?!"

"Unfortunately, no."

Lucy froze.

"Your current Magic Power still isn’t enough to access the second level of your Celestial Spirits’ strength. Keep working at it. Once the Second Origin is open, your Magic Power should grow faster anyway."

"Eh?!"

Lucy grabbed her head in despair.

"Th-Then didn’t I basically get no stronger at all?!"

Nearly all of Lucy’s combat ability came from her Celestial Spirits.

If they hadn’t become stronger, then neither had she.

"You can work on completely mastering the ability to keep two gates open simultaneously."

Marshall thought for a moment.

"Your increased reserves also mean you can maintain your spirits for longer periods. And you could start learning Star Dress too. You shouldn’t need me to teach you that part."

"O-Okay... I guess that’s all I can do."

Lucy flopped onto the floor in disappointment.

Marshall took the opportunity to pat the leopard ears on her costume, and Lucy didn’t even bother resisting.

Very good.

She was already developing excellent pet awareness.

"Marshall... what am I supposed to do next?" Lucy asked with a faint blush.

Being her younger friend’s "pet" was still horribly embarrassing whenever she thought about it, but as long as nobody else found out, it wasn’t unbearable.

It could just remain a strange little secret between the two of them.

"You don’t need to do anything."

Marshall looked puzzled.

"It’s not like Lucy has any particular skills I need."

"Ugh... I-I’m not that useless..."

"Just keep me company and talk to me. Isn’t companionship the main point of having a pet?"

Lucy wanted to argue that he was looking down on her.

Then she thought about it seriously.

In front of Marshall...she really didn’t have any particularly impressive skills to offer.

Even Celestial Spirit Magic, the thing she was best at, was something Marshall understood frighteningly well.

’Waaah... Am I actually useless?’

Marshall patted her head again, clearly enjoying himself.

"Don’t look so discouraged. Lucy is perfectly qualified as a pet."

He smiled.

"I like having Lucy’s around~"

Just then, Marshall suddenly sensed one of the alarm arrays he had placed elsewhere being triggered.

That direction was... the old laboratory deep in the eastern forest?

A message immediately arrived from the Gugas upstairs, who had been monitoring the Super Archive.

[Master! The teleportation array in Laboratory No. 2 has activated! The surveillance feed shows a severely injured man!]

Marshall’s expression changed instantly.

The teleportation array?

There was only one person who possessed the coordinates needed to use that location—

Gildarts?!

Marshall vanished from the room.

A moment later, he appeared inside the old laboratory.

"Gildarts?! How did you get hurt this badly?! Don’t move—I’ll treat you!"

Gildarts was covered from head to toe in blood.

He blinked at Marshall, then somehow managed to show that same carefree grin Marshall remembered.

"Hiss... Huh?"

He squinted.

"You’re... Marshall?"

His grin widened despite his condition.

"Damn, kid. You got tall! Ahahaha... Sorry you had to see me looking this pathetic."

"Shut up!"

Marshall rushed toward him.

"You’re almost dead!"