The Nerfed Star Dress

In the guild's infirmary, Riyao lay sprawled on a recliner, holding sunflower seeds in his left hand and a newspaper in his right, looking like a retired old man.

The crisp sound of people cracking sunflower seeds was particularly clear in the quiet infirmary.

I miss my phone so much! I want to watch short dramas.

Riyao spat the sunflower seed shells into the trash can, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Without a cell phone, he's practically worn his teeth out from all that chewing.

Virgo was sweeping the area with a broom, her movements meticulous, not even missing a crack in the wall.

Lucy sat cross-legged on the ground, her eyes closed, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

She was working hard to construct the magic circuits of the Star Dress, her expression so focused it looked like she'd been constipated for three days.

Mirajane stood by, giving instructions, and even wore a pair of thin-rimmed glasses and held a pointer in her hand, looking every bit the strict female teacher.

Riyao wasn't too worried that Lucy wouldn't be able to learn it.

The Star Dress was something Lucy developed herself; she just needed someone to give her a push and show her the way.

However, one problem has been troubling him.

Are his Star Dress and Lucy's Star Dress the same thing?

After all, there are no tutorials in the anime; he figured it out entirely by feeling.

If my approach doesn't suit Lucy, it might actually mislead her.

So on the scroll he gave to Lucy, he deliberately obscured most of his thoughts.

Only the core framework was left; Lucy was left to figure out how to fill it in herself.

This way, it won't affect her own ideas.

Riyao was eating sunflower seeds when he suddenly had an interesting idea. He racked his brains for a while.

"Lucy, once you've mastered part of the Star Dress, you can try using the powers of two Celestial Spirit simultaneously."

Lucy opened her eyes, having finished constructing this magic circuit, and looked at Riyao with some confusion.

Is it possible to do it this way?

"Have no idea."

"Huh?! You don't know? Then why did you ask me to try?"

Lucy's expression screamed, "Are you kidding me?"

"Nonsense, I only had one Celestial Spirit, Virgo, how could I give you experience with Star Dress?"

Riyao rolled his eyes, and the sunflower seed shells flew precisely into the trash can.

"Oh, I see, hahaha..."

Lucy scratched her head, chuckled awkwardly, and looked away embarrassedly.

Mirajane poked Lucy's waist with her pointer.

"Stop chatting, hurry up. The circuit is only in its initial stages; it's far from complete."

"Mira is so strict..."

Lucy streaming down her face, Lucy resignedly closed her eyes and continued constructing the magic circuit.

Riyao looked at Lucy, who was covered in sweat, and clicked his tongue twice.

With her eyes closed, Lucy's forehead showed prominent, ridged veins.

Although Riyao didn't say a word, she was willing to gamble with all her possessions, so Riyao was definitely complaining that she didn't have enough magic power.

The contempt contained in that "tsk tsk" was even more infuriating than being directly insulted.

Lucy took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to rush over and punch someone, and refocused her attention on the magic circuit.

After Mirajane and Riyao repeatedly corrected, adjusted, and corrected, Lucy finally succeeded in condensing the Star Dress on her right hand.

A pale golden light enveloped her right hand, forming a pair of shackles on which the Virgo could be faintly seen.

I did it!

Lucy was so excited she almost jumped up from the ground, holding up her right hand to look left and right at the light, her eyes shining brightly.

Riyao clapped his hands perfunctorily, three times, the rhythm so slow it sounded like a clapping machine had jammed.

"Congratulations! You've successfully learned the nerfed version of the Star Dress."

"Couldn't you have said something nicer?!"

Lucy's smile was completely extinguished by Riyao's words, and she raised her right hand, unsure whether to be happy or angry.

Mirajane patted Lucy on the shoulder, her tone much gentler.

"Don't pay attention to what Riyao said. You already have considerable combat strength yourself, how about sparring with me? Real combat is the best teacher."

"Is it going to be this intense right from the start?! My small frame can't handle it!"

Lucy took two steps back, her face full of resistance, and crossed her arms in front of her chest, making a big X.

Sparring with Mirajane? That's not training, that's just one-sided beatings.

Just then, the door to the infirmary was pushed open.

Levy walked in and saw Mirajane cornering Lucy against the wall, one hand on the wall, in a classic wall-slamming pose.

Lucy huddled in the corner, trembling, while Mirajane looked down at her with an imposing aura.

Levy looked puzzled.

"Mira, Lu-chan, what are you doing?"

When Lucy saw Levy, it was like seeing a savior. She crawled out from under Mirajane's arm and ran over to her.

"Levy-chan! It's so good to see you!"

"Um?"

Mirajane sighed, her expression instantly changing.

Just a moment ago she exuded an aura of immense power, but the next second she collapsed weakly against Riyao, resting her head on his chest, looking utterly aggrieved.

"Waaaaah, Riyao, look, Lucy hates me."

"What?! There's such a thing?! That's outrageous! I have to get revenge for you!"

Riyao sat up abruptly, put his arm around Mirajane, and looked righteous and awe-inspiring, as if he was about to rush out and do justice to the world.

"Hey, you two... you drama queens!!"

Lucy was so angry at their rudeness that she shouted it out, her fingers trembling.

Seeing Lucy's exasperated expression, Levy couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Haha, Lu-chan, you've finally met your match."

The commotion was quite loud, attracting Erza, Gray, Natsu, and a few others who were passing by.

"What's going on?!"

Erza pushed open the door and came in, her hand already on the hilt of her sword, as if something terrible had happened.

Levy's eyes darted around, she cleared her throat, and began to recreate the crime scene on the spot.

She first stood on tiptoe, then brought her head close to Lucy's chest, mimicking a "wall slam" pose.

Although her head only reached Lucy's chest, the scene looked utterly ridiculous.

Then Levy nestled weakly into Erza's arms, mimicking Mirajane's tone with a soft and aggrieved voice.

"Waaaa, Erza, look, Lucy hates me."

Then she jumped out of Erza's arms, stood up straight, and mimicked Riyao, putting one hand on her hip and pointing forward with the other, looking righteous and ready to act on behalf of heaven.

"What?! There's such a thing?! That's outrageous! I have to get revenge for you!"

Finally, she imitated Lucy's exasperated manner, stomping her feet and shouting.

"Hey, you two drama queens!"

The series of performances was executed flawlessly, with incredibly smooth transitions between expressions.

Erza tilted her head, watching Levy's performance, and blinked.

"So? What did they do?"

Levy shrugged, shook her little head, and looked completely innocent.

"Have no idea."

All eyes in the room turned to Riyao.

Riyao highly praised Levy's performance, giving her a thumbs up.

Levy returned a thumbs-up, the two behaving as if they had rehearsed it.

"I don't understand at all." Natsu scratched his head.

"Of course an idiot wouldn't understand." Gray put his hands in his pockets.

"What did you say?!"

"Truth."

Their foreheads bumped together, and they began their usual glaring at each other.

Lucy finally sighed and recounted the whole story from beginning to end.

From the Star Dress training to Mirajane wanting to spar with her, and then the two of them putting on a dramatic show.

Erza nodded after listening.

"I see. Lucy, you've indeed made great progress."

"Right, right!" Lucy finally heard a normal sentence and was so moved she almost cried.

So, how about we practice together?

"Don't want!!"

Lucy's screams echoed in the infirmary.