Unwrapping Gifts

Many people received their gifts, and cheered as they opened them, with exclamations of surprise echoing throughout the guild hall.

Levy finally found her gift, which was pressed at the very bottom of the bag. She almost dropped it when she pulled it out.

He lowered his hands and staggered forward a step.

"It's so heavy."

She opened the package, froze for a full three seconds, then her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open.

"This is the ancient book I've been wanting for so long! I've been searching for it for ages, thanks Riyao and Mira! Where did you find it?"

The ancient book's cover is engraved with unreadable ancient characters. The pages are yellowed and the edges are slightly worn, but it is well-preserved.

Levy hugged the book, running her fingers over the cover, clearly delighted.

"This is from the royal library."

Riyao's words startled Makarov so much that his eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets. His hand holding the teacup trembled, and he spilled tea all over his pants.

"I had the Princess Hisui deliver it to me."

Makarov finally breathed a sigh of relief, picked up his teacup and took another sip, only to find that the cup was already empty.

He also opened his gift box, slowly tearing it open a crack, peeking inside, and then slamming it shut.

His facial expression changed three times in a single second, from curiosity to shock to guilt, and finally he coughed twice with a straight face.

"Ahem, thank you so much, Riyao."

Riyao wore a smug expression, his lips curled to one side, and his eyes narrowed into slits; he looked utterly irritating.

"You're thanking the wrong person. You should thank Mira. She went to the headquarters of Sorcerer Weekly to get it; she went to great lengths to obtain the seven-year collector's edition."

Upon hearing this, Macao and Wakaba pounced at the same time.

The two men, one on the left and one on the right, pounced on the magazine in the chairman's hands like hungry tigers.

Makarov reacted even faster, twisting his waist, grabbing the magazine and running. His short legs moved with incredible speed, and he dashed into the chairman's office, slamming the door shut behind him.

Thanks, Mira!

The sound came through the crack in the door, accompanied by an echo.

Macao and Wakaba were pressed against the door, their faces pressed against the door panel, their fingers digging into the crack.

I looked down at the Riyao Special Life Ancient Wood Pipe in my hand. The wood grain on the pipe was indeed beautiful, and smoking it felt very pleasant, but it just didn't smell as good anymore.

The two people lay by the doorway, wailing.

"President, please let us take a look too!"

We promise we won't steal.

A muffled thud came from inside the door, as if something had been stuffed into a drawer.

Wendy opened her gift box. The box wasn't big, the wrapping paper was light green, and there was a small bow tied on it.

She unwrapped it very carefully, tearing it little by little without breaking the wrapping paper.

"Thank you, Brother Riyao and Sister Mira."

She put on the vine-woven bracelet, which fit her wrist perfectly, neither too loose nor too tight.

A few tiny, tender leaves dotted the emerald green vines, their leaves shimmering faintly under the light.

Mirajane ruffled her hair, gently pressing her palm against Wendy's head, strands of hair slipping through her fingers.

"This was woven by Riyao using his life energy; he said it can even promote growth."

This made Wendy even happier. She held the bracelet to her chest with both hands, stood on her tiptoes, and swayed slightly.

Carla sighed and rubbed her forehead. She stretched out her paw and gently sliced the tape across the gift box with her nail, cutting it cleanly.

What on earth is "Transformation Magic Even Kittens Can Understand"?

She looked down at the words on the cover, her brows furrowed.

Taking the opportunity, Riyao patted Carla's head, his palm landing precisely on the top of her head, which was fluffy and felt very nice.

"This was written by Mira. You're always saying you absolutely have to learn the Transformation Magic to help Wendy, right? This book has Mira's annotations."

Carla slapped Riyao's hand away with her claws, leaving a claw mark on the back of Riyao's hand with a loud crack.

Then he tucked the book into his coat and wagged his tail slightly.

Thanks, Mira.

Happy opened his gift box, and as soon as the box was slightly ajar, a shadow popped out.

A beautiful, Dream Pearl Fish leaped out of the gift box, its body contorting in the air as it flicked its tail.

Snap!

It lashed out at Happy's face with its tail.

Happy was whipped so hard he spun two and a half times in the air before crashing face down into the bar, making a clanging sound.

"Aye~"

The sound was muffled, coming from the pile of junk.

Carla's lips twitched, she flicked her tail, and turned around.

"Silly cat."

Lily quickly tore open his gift box, ripping off the wrapping paper with a couple of swift movements, just like his fighting style.

"Thanks, Riyao and Mira, for having such a small suit of armor."

"This can be adjusted to your body size, so it should fit you perfectly."

Upon hearing Riyao's words, Lily put on the armor, then grew larger and tried it out.

The armor enlarged in sync with his body size, its joints moved freely, and the patterns on the shoulder armor were all aligned.

He clenched his claws and twisted his waist, but the armor made no scraping sound.

"Yes, that's perfect, thanks."

Juvia opened the gift box, cracked it open, and peeked inside.

She immediately covered the box, pressing her hands firmly against the lid, and took a step back.

Blood flowed from his nostrils, dripping down his chin and onto the floor.

Wendy turned her head to look at Juvia.

"Miss Juvia, are you alright? You have a nosebleed."

"Juvia is fine, it's just too hot, haha."

Juvia wiped the blood from her nose, rubbed her hand under her nose, then grabbed the gift box and ran out of the guild in three strides, faster than she had during a battle.

Although no one saw what was inside the gift box, they could all guess what it contained.

All eyes turned to Gray, their gazes full of mockery, and someone even whistled.

Gray scratched his head, fiddling with his hair, looking bewildered, wondering why everyone was staring at him.

Riyao casually tossed a gift box to Laxus, the box arcing through the air.

Laxus caught it, hesitated for a moment, his fingers lingered on the lid for two seconds, but he still opened it.

He took off his old headphones, put them on the table, and put on the new headphones from the gift box.

The headphones are black, with a lightning bolt pattern on the earcups, and they fit perfectly, covering the ears.

Thanks.

He closed his eyes again, leaned his head back in the chair, and tapped his fingers on the armrests.

Freed opened the encyclopedia of spells, the pages flipping rapidly. His gaze swept over the lines of spells, his fingers tapping the pages as he muttered incantations.

Halfway through the page, he looked up and nodded solemnly at Riyao.

"I didn't expect so many interesting new techniques to have been added in the past seven years. Thank you."

Bickslow squeezed the wooden totem in his hand, tapping it with his knuckles, producing a dull thud.

"These wooden totems are quite sturdy, and they seem to increase the power of magic. I'm very satisfied, thanks!"

Evergreen opened the gift box, saw the black mud mask inside, her eyes twitched, and she pinched the jar between two fingers.

"Is this black mud mask something Mira left over again?"

"Of course not."

Mirajane shook her head, Evergreen breathed a sigh of relief, putting the jar into her bosom.

You know what's inside Elfman's gifts without even opening them.

The two dumbbells were wrapped in paper so tightly they looked like they were about to burst.

He tore open the packaging, picked them up one in each hand, and weighed them in his hands.

"Can this adjust gravity? Thanks, sister and brother-in-law."

Lisanna's eyes lit up when she saw the clothes in her gift box. She picked them up with both hands and held them up against herself.

"Is this Sorcerer's latest model this year? I love it, sister!"

She hugged Mirajane and kissed her cheeks several times, leaving four or five lipstick marks on Mirajane face.

Riyao quickly pulled her away, grabbing Mirajane's wrist and pulling her behind him to shield Lisanna.

Bisca received a collector's edition billiard cue; the shaft was dark brown and fit perfectly in her hand.

She ran her fingers along the shaft a couple of times, her eyes momentarily glazed over as she thought back to the days before she joined the guild.

Alzack received a pair of diamond rings. The box was small, and when he opened it, the diamonds reflected the light, dazzling his eyes for a moment.

He stared wide-eyed at Riyao.

Riyao nodded to him, a slight smile playing on his lips, and gave him a thumbs-up.

Alzack took a deep breath, clutched the box in his hand, his palms sweaty.

Little Asuka also received a gift. She bounced around with her magic pistol, pointing the muzzle at the ceiling and making her own sounds, "Da da!"

Romeo hurriedly opened the gift box, tried to tear the wrapping paper with his fingers but couldn't, so he bit it with his teeth in frustration.

Upon opening the box, I found glass beads just like Natsu's, each one round and rolling around inside.

He stared longingly at Riyao, his mouth opening and closing, wondering what use this bead was to him since he couldn't eat flames.

"Try opening it."

Romeo listened to Riyao, pinched a bead between his fingers, and poured magic into it.

A crack appeared on the bead, and a blue flame emerged from the crack. The flame flashed and shot directly into his body.

He shuddered, instinctively raising his hand. Blue flames shot out from his palm, dancing at his fingertips, and a wave of heat washed over him.

"Thank you, Riyao- ge!!"

Natsu suddenly darted over, grabbed Romeo's wrist, brought him close to the flames, and licked his lips.

"Let me taste your blue flames! Hmm, they taste quite similar to the flames of the Riyao."

Ur held a crystal ball and scratched his head.

"This is the crystal ball that Ultear always used; Riyao stole it."

Mirajane explained it to her.

Ur's lips curled up; the thought of his daughter's frustrated and aggrieved expression made him want to laugh.

Everyone was very satisfied with the gift, and their faces were filled with joy.