Gildarts Mode

Finally, after relentless exploitation and manipulating Leo, Lucy managed to catch a Dream Pearl Fish.

She held the fish in both hands as if it were a rare treasure, her face beaming with the joy of "the rent is paid off."

Wendy delivered two in the end, a faint smile on her face. Although she was exhausted, she felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Carla followed beside her, her little hands on her hips.

Everyone else took their own fish back to eat, Natsu's fish was already half-eaten before it even reached the shore, much to Happy's dismay.

When we returned to Magnolia, just as we reached the edge of town, a piercing alarm blared throughout the entire street.

"Waaaaah... Activate Gildarts Mode! Activate Gildarts Mode!"

A sudden earthquake shook the ground violently, and the stone pavement beneath our feet seemed to be split open by an invisible hand, creating a wide passage in the middle of the street.

The houses on both sides were moved aside by mechanical devices like building blocks, revealing a straight, unobstructed avenue leading directly to the guild hall.

Lucy was startled and instinctively hid behind Erza, gripping the edge of Erza's armor tightly with both hands, peeking out with half her head out.

"What happened? Magnolia cracked open?! Was that an earthquake?!"

Wendy also hugged Mirajane's waist, shrinking behind her, her voice filled with obvious panic.

"What's going on? Have monsters attacked Magnolia?"

The others remained calm; Riyao had his hands in his pockets, Natsu yawned, and Gray was expressionless.

Mirajane reached out and gently patted Wendy's head, her movements soft and her tone gentle as well.

"Don't worry, this is a model Magnolia developed for Gildarts. Because he destroys buildings and crashes into houses all the time when he's distracted, we simply built a direct road to the guild for him, so he doesn't have to pay for several buildings every time he comes back."

Wendy, Lucy, and Carla all looked speechless; the two women and the cat all had the same expression, and their lips twitched simultaneously.

Lucy's lips twitched even more violently, and her voice trembled.

"To transform an entire town for one person... that's just outrageous..."

Carla muttered to herself.

"The mages in this guild are all abnormal."

Gildarts scratched his head sheepishly and chuckled twice, but his smile clearly carried a hint of nonchalant acceptance.

"Hehe, please excuse the poor appearance. You'll get used to it, you'll get used to it."

The group walked straight to the guild entrance.

Gildarts stood at the guild entrance, looking up at the brand-new guild building. His mouth slowly opened, widening until his jaw almost dropped to the ground.

The brand-new stone exterior walls, the more imposing and magnificent gates than before, and even the windows have been replaced with stained glass, with sunlight casting colorful shadows on the ground through the glass.

"Wow... the guild has become so grand! How much did the guild leader embezzle?!"

"Gildarts! What the hell are you talking about?!"

Makarov's voice carried far through the guild, powerful and resonant, making the doorframes vibrate.

Immediately afterwards, a wine glass flew out from inside the door and hit Gildarts squarely on the forehead with a dull thud.

Gildarts touched the bump on his forehead, not annoyed at all, but instead burst into laughter, his laughter as hearty as a bell.

"Haha, the old man is still so healthy, it seems Riyao has been taking good care of your health!"

Another wine glass flew out of the guild, Gildarts dodged it this time, laughing even more heartily.

Riyao and Mirajane bid farewell to everyone at the guild entrance, with Riyao waving to Gildarts.

"I'm going back to the manor first to prepare a potion for Gildarts."

Gildarts was taken aback by what he heard, subconsciously touched the wound under his cloak, and then nodded.

"Hey, can't you fix it like that, just like you do, in a flash?"

He mimicked the movements of Riyao healing process, gesturing with both hands.

"The wound healed on its own when that emerald green light shone on it?"

Riyao rolled his eyes, his tone carrying a disdainful "You're dreaming" vibe.

"Of course not, that's my own power. Repairing myself is easy; I know my own body best, I could heal myself with my eyes closed. Besides, you've lost an arm and a leg, and your muscles and bones are damaged, making it many times more difficult. Why would I use medicine to deplete my life energy?"

Gildarts scratched his nose and gave an awkward smile.

"Alright, whatever you say."

Wendy and Carla followed. Wendy jogged to catch up with Riyao, her little face full of anticipation and curiosity, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

"Brother Riyao, Sister Mira, wait for me! I want to see how potions are mixed! I only know how to use Healing Magic to heal directly; I've never seen the potion-mixing process before."

Carla hugged her arm with her little paws.

"I didn't want to watch, I was just keeping Wendy company."

Riyao glanced back at Wendy, then smiled and nodded.

"Sure, we just happen to need a... helper."

Gildarts entered the guild and, before even stepping over the threshold, saw Cana sitting drunk at the bar.

She was slumped over the table, a pile of empty wine barrels in front of her, her cheeks flushed, mumbling something incoherently, and clutching a wine glass in her hand.

Gildarts paused for a moment, his smile widening.

"Cana, Daddy's home."

Cana groggily raised her head, glanced at Gildarts through her blurry eyes, and her vision blurred for a few seconds.

Then his pupils contracted sharply, and the effects of the alcohol seemed to be instantly dispelled by some stronger emotion. His entire face changed in a second, transforming from a drunken, confused state into an angry and aggrieved expression.

"You damn old man! You finally decided to come back?! You've been gone for three years! Three years! Do you know how I've been doing for the past three years?"

Cana's fists rained down on Gildarts's chest and shoulders, and she kicked him in the shin, making a series of loud thuds.

Gildarts stood motionless, letting Cana punch and kick him, showing no pain whatsoever, but rather a blissful expression, smiling like Natsu.

"I'm sorry, Cana, Daddy's back."

The guild members tacitly averted their gaze, some drinking, some chatting, and no one disturbed the father and daughter.

Lucy stood in the doorway, watching this scene, covering her face and muttering a complaint through her fingers.

"Why is even the guild's strongest mage so... unimpressive?"

Happy flew above Lucy's head, his two little paws covering his mouth, grinning, his tail wagging like a rattle.

"Lucy meant something inappropriate, hehe."

"Shut up, you stinky cat."

Lucy slapped Happy away.

Gray approached Ur, Juvia was already standing behind Ur, expertly massaging her shoulders with a technique so professional it seemed she had practiced it a thousand times.

"Ur, continue teaching me how to master Ice-Make."

Gray stood in front of Ur, his hands in his pockets, his tone calm, but his brows were slightly furrowed and there was a hint of barely perceptible anxiety in his eyes.

Ur spat out the sunflower seed shells, glanced at him sideways, and looked somewhat surprised.

"Huh? You've already mastered it, what else do you need me to teach you? I've already taught you everything I need to teach you about my Ice-Make."

Gray paused for a moment, his lips moving as if he were choosing his words carefully.

"How about... a dynamic Ice-Make?"

Ur rolled his eyes, popped another sunflower seed into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and spoke in a casual tone as if he were talking nonsense.

"Simply put, 'Molding Magic' is about creating whatever form you want to create. Whether it's dynamic or static depends entirely on your mindset. If you want it to move, it can move. The key is whether you have that image in your mind, not whether I teach you or not."

Juvia nodded vigorously beside him, removed his hands from Ur's shoulders, and made a gesture of swirling water, looking very serious.

"Juvia knows this! My water flows however I want, it flows however I want, it turns however I want, entirely according to my will!"

Gray didn't respond, his brow furrowing even more. It wasn't that he didn't understand the principle; he just... couldn't find the direction.

Recent battles have been increasingly difficult for him; Riyao's casual ice attacks are even stronger and more domineering than his own, Natsu's flames are constantly evolving.

His Ice-Make seems to have hit a bottleneck, and he just can't seem to break through it.

Moreover, the S-Class Exam for this year is approaching, and he must become stronger.

Ur cracked some sunflower seeds, turned his head to look at his silly apprentice, and a knowing glint flashed in his eyes.

She knew Gray too well; that kid was prone to getting stuck on things, and the more he tried to break through, the less he could.

"I used to be pretty much the same, stuck at a bottleneck I couldn't break out of."

Ur patted the sunflower seed crumbs off his hands, his tone casual but earnest.

"Why don't you go ask Riyao? His magical theory is much better than mine. Aren't most of his spells self-created? Hundred Battles Spell Formula, Life Mimicry, all those strange and wonderful moves—he figured them all out himself. This guy's understanding of magic is much deeper than ours, these old folks."

Gray's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just gave a muffled "hmm".

Gray felt lost, as if a thorn was stuck in his heart, making him restless.

He walked out of the guild alone, wandering aimlessly through the streets. His mind was filled with Ur's words and the image of the blue ice crystal Tang sword he wielded during the battle with Riyao. The chilling aura that was even more frigid and domineering than his own ice filled him with both resentment and a hidden envy.

Juvia secretly followed Gray, somewhat worried.

After struggling internally for a long time, I unknowingly arrived at the gate of Riyao's manor.

He stood outside the iron gate, hands in his pockets, staring at the manor gate for a long time, his face full of conflict.

The aroma of food wafted from inside, along with Wendy's surprised exclamations and Carla's disdainful mutterings.

Gray took a deep breath, then exhaled, muttering to himself.

"Weren't they coming back to prepare the medicine? I just went in to see what he was up to... it had nothing to do with asking him for advice or anything."

He reached out and pushed open the iron gate, but his steps were a beat slower than usual.