Hic

Outside the manor, Gray stood in the middle of a frozen forest, staring dumbfounded at the scene he had created, which stunned even himself.

"Hehe, this will surely deal with that fire-breathing idiot..."

The trees and flowers in front of him were all frozen, ice crystals covered every leaf and every branch, the whole area was like a dream, like a world in a painting.

The grass was frozen into crystal-like grass, even the dust floating in the air was frozen, sparkling like broken diamonds in the light.

Gray looked down at his right hand, gripping the ice-forged Tang sword in his hand. The blade was a translucent ice-blue, with a chill emanating from its edge. It was no different from the turquoise Tang sword that Riyao had condensed, except that one was turquoise and the other was ice-blue.

He swung the blade twice, the blade whistling sharply as it sliced through the air. It looked almost identical to his Ice-Make, but the main difference was the freezing effect.

Riyao condensed the ice attribute he had absorbed into a seed and planted it into Gray's body using a spell. It contained only ice attribute, unlike Natsu who had other attributes mixed in.

"That's much better, instead of always thinking about hitting people with ice."

Riyao appeared behind Gray at some point, hands in his pockets, speaking casually as if he were commenting on a dish.

"What's the use of freezing ice so hard? It won't do any good if you hit someone with it. It's better to freeze the other person like this. Even if you can't freeze them completely, it will hinder their movements. If they slow down, that's your chance."

Gray scratched his head, trying to explain, his voice tinged with resentment.

"The more familiar you are Molding Magic a shape created by ice, the better the effect..."

"Ice-Make? You only care about the form, not the ice, right? Besides, the old man said that magic is something you can just do whatever you want."

Riyao waved his hand, interrupting his explanation.

Gray paused, his mouth opening and closing.

Did the old man ever say that?!

"Well, as long as the meaning is roughly the same, that's fine."

Riyao patted Gray on the shoulder, quite forcefully.

"Come on, let me teach you a few more tricks, strike while the iron is hot."

After a while, Gray collapsed to the ground, his limbs spread out in a starfish shape, his chest heaving violently, panting heavily. He had no magic left, not even enough to maintain the ice-forged Tang sword. The blade shattered into ice dust in his hand and dissipated.

"No, no, I'm out of magic power! If I keep practicing like this, I'll die!"

Riyao stood next to Gray with his hands on his hips, nudging Gray's shin with his toe.

"My son, a man can't be immobile! Stand up!"

Gray covered his ears, turned to the side, curled up in a ball, and ignored Riyao, muttering things like "Don't call me 'big brother'" and "You're so annoying."

Riyao crouched down and poked Gray's shoulder, then his cheek. Seeing Gray's nonchalant attitude, he sighed and his footsteps faded into the distance.

As soon as Riyao's footsteps faded away, Gray sprang to his feet with a somersault.

His movements were so nimble, a stark contrast to when he was sprawled on the ground. He dusted off the ice shards from his clothes, a smug smile playing on his lips.

However, when he caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye, he assumed it was Riyao who had returned. He instinctively lay down on the ground, his posture crooked and awkward, like a salted fish that had failed to turn over, its limbs sprawled out in a mess.

"Lord Gray..."

Gray recognized Juvia's voice, breathed a sigh of relief, slowly got up from the ground, and patted the ice and dirt off his bottom.

"Huh? Juvia? I thought it was that bastard Riyao, you scared me."

Juvia moved closer to Gray, folded her hands over her chest, tilted her head slightly, and stared at him with shining eyes, as if she had seen some glittering treasure.

"Lord Gray has gotten stronger! That patch of ice was so beautiful and impressive; he must have worked so hard to protect Juvia."

Gray rolled his eyes and started putting on his clothes much faster than usual.

"What nonsense are you talking about? What does my becoming stronger have to do with you?"

Gray quickly got dressed and headed towards the guild, completely ignoring Juvia's words.

Juvia followed behind, then suddenly remembered something, her voice as soft as if she were telling a secret.

"Lord Gray's tattoo on his back... that's really unique."

Gray paused, turned his head to try and see the tattoo on his back, but even with his neck twisted to its limit, he still couldn't see it. Helpless, he reached out and conjured an ice mirror, then leaned over to look at his back.

In the ice mirror, his back was completely bare, without a single mark on his clean skin.

"Huh? Where's the tattoo?!"

Gray stared at his reflection in the ice mirror, twisted his body, looked left and right, but still saw nothing.

Juvia tilted his head, recalling intently.

"Juvia saw that the tattoo disappeared slowly; it must have been the tattoo's power that made it appear."

Gray paused for a moment, thoughtfully touched his back, and then shook his head.

"Whatever, I'm going home to sleep. I'm exhausted today."

He turned and left, his pace quickening even more than before.

"Juvia too..."

Gray turned around abruptly, his eyes wary.

"Um?!"

Juvia swallowed the second half of his sentence and changed his words with a grin.

"It's time to go back to sleep. Juvia's place is on the way to Lord Gray's."

Gray's eyes twitched, his lips trembled, and he hurried home, his pace quickening until he was almost jogging.

Juvia followed behind with a grin, her steps light as if she were taking a stroll, keeping up at a leisurely pace no matter how fast Gray walked.

On the second-floor balcony of the manor's main building, Mirajane was laughing so hard she was almost choking. She was curled up in a deckchair, one hand covering her stomach and the other wiping away tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes. A portable telescope sat on a small table next to her.

Riyao walked over from the side and pulled her into his arms. She kept laughing, her shoulders shaking, and she couldn't even finish her sentence.

"Haven't you laughed enough yet?"

"Hahaha... hiccup... my face is frozen from laughing, hahaha..."

Mirajane laughed so hard she hiccuped, and the hiccup made her laugh even harder. She covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking even more violently.

Riyao smiled helplessly, reached out and rubbed her face, pinching her stiff cheeks. It took him a while to calm her down, and her breathing gradually became steady, but the corners of her mouth still couldn't help but turn up.

Riyao looked at her, a smile playing on his lips, and then added another sentence.

"Gray is going to have a duel with Natsu tomorrow."

Mirajane's shoulders, which had just calmed down, started trembling again. She stared wide-eyed at Riyao, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. After holding it in for two seconds, she finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Haha... you did that on purpose, didn't you!"

Mirajane laughed and punched Riyao in the chest. The punch wasn't hard, but her smile was even wider than before. Tears welled up in her eyes as she laughed, and she nestled into Riyao's arms, her whole body going limp from laughing.

Riyao put his arm around her, a triumphant smile playing on his lips, and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Of course, the best shows are those that go on and on."

Mirajane punched him again, but this time the fist lost its strength when it landed on his chest, turning into a light thud. She buried her face in Riyao's chest, her muffled laughter continuing.

"Belch."

"... You hiccuped again."

"Stop talking! Hiccup..."