Makarov

While the masked leader thought the two children had been reduced to ashes, the air rippled strangely in a forest two kilometers from the village.

"Where is this?"

Erza held the unconscious Jiang Bai in her arms, voicing the question.

But Erza soon realized they were still near the village.

"Why did we end up here? Was it you, Jiang Bai?"

Erza knew that if the two of them were still alive, Jiang Bai must have done something before he lost consciousness.

Although she was worried about the other children, the person in front of her was more important.

So Erza hoisted Jiang Bai onto her back and headed away from the village in another direction.

Carrying Jiang Bai on her back, Erza trudged through the forest, stumbling over the uneven ground.

She didn't know where to go. She only knew she had to get as far away as possible from the village that had become hell.

Before she had gone far, a rustling came from the bushes a short distance ahead.

Erza stopped at once and looked over warily.

A wild boar emerged from behind the bushes, its bristles standing on end and its tusks bared. Its small, blood-red eyes locked onto the two uninvited guests.

The boar had apparently taken them for a threat trespassing on its territory—and a convenient meal.

It pawed the ground with its four sturdy legs and let out a low growl, then became a black blur as it charged straight at them.

Erza's expression changed. With no time to think, she held the unconscious Jiang Bai on her back and rolled to the side with all her strength.

The boar, taller than a person, charged past her, barely missing her as it swept by in a foul gust.

Having dodged the attack, Erza chose to draw the boar away herself. She scrambled to her feet and, not daring to linger for a moment, ran in another direction, trying to lure the beast away.

"Hey, you big dumb pig!" she shouted over her shoulder as she ran. "Come after me!"

But Erza had badly underestimated a wild beast's predatory instincts, as well as the boar's intelligence.

One prey was full of life and would take effort to chase down.

The other was food lying motionless on the ground, giving off the smell of blood.

For the boar, the choice wasn't difficult at all.

It abandoned its pursuit of Erza, its massive body making a sharp turn as it charged instead at Jiang Bai, whom Erza had just put on the ground.

"No!"

Erza's pupils contracted sharply, and she let out a terrified scream.

At the thought of Jiang Bai being gored to death by the boar, torn to pieces by its sharp tusks, Erza felt as though an invisible hand had seized her heart so tightly that she couldn't breathe from the pain.

She wanted to run back and shield Jiang Bai, but how could her two legs possibly outrun the boar's four?

Just as those gleaming tusks were about to strike Jiang Bai—

Erza erupted!

"Don't touch him!"

With a heart-rending scream, a strange yet powerful force erupted from the depths of her body like a volcano!

Erza's fierce will to protect erupted, and crimson magic power surged from within her.

Requip Magic awakened at that very moment!

There were no iron swords nearby, nor any other weapons she could control.

But that didn't matter!

Instead of materializing as armor, that tremendous magic power surged directly through her limbs and bones, strengthening her body at a furious pace!

Erza felt lighter than ever before, every inch of her muscles filled with explosive power.

She pushed off the ground, becoming a crimson afterimage. In an instant, she crossed more than ten meters and, though she had started later, arrived first, appearing in front of Jiang Bai.

Facing the enormous beast charging toward her, Erza fearlessly met it with a fist that still looked slender and small, wrapped in a visible halo of magic power!

"Bang!"

An immensely loud, muffled boom rang out.

The boar, weighing hundreds of pounds, let out a piercing wail. Its massive body was sent flying by that seemingly frail punch, tracing an arc through the air before crashing heavily into the distance and breaking several large trees before coming to a stop.

After throwing that punch, Erza felt all the strength drain from her body. She braced her hands on her knees and gasped for breath.

Just then, the grass a short distance away rustled again.

Erza's body tensed instantly. Almost instinctively, she stepped in front of Jiang Bai again, fixed her crimson eyes on the direction of the sound, and took a defensive stance.

But this time, what emerged from the grass was not some man-eating beast.

It was an extremely short old man in strange clothes, with a white, drooping mustache.

The old man strolled out, glancing first at the boar that had been sent flying, its fate unknown, before his gaze settled on the wary Erza.

"I was passing nearby when I suddenly sensed an extremely rare and powerful fluctuation of spatial magic," he said, his voice old and gentle. "By the time I got here, that magic had vanished without a trace."

He paused, turning his gaze back to Erza.

"But not long after that, I sensed another burst of magic that was just as strong. That second one should have been yours, young lady?"

The old man's gaze finally fell on the unconscious Jiang Bai behind Erza, and a flicker of understanding crossed his eyes.

"As for that fleeting spatial magic from before, it must have come from this companion of yours who's still unconscious."

Erza said nothing.

Her home had just been destroyed, and her companions had been taken away. Trust had become a luxury for her.

She simply watched the old man who had suddenly appeared before her with even greater wariness, saying nothing, like a mother wolf protecting her cubs.

The old man could see her deep-rooted wariness and distrust. He paid it no mind and merely gave her a kindly smile.

"Don't be so tense, young lady. I'm not a bad person."

"My name is Makarov Dreyar. I suppose you could say I'm one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

Hearing that name, Erza's tense body finally relaxed, though only a fraction.

It wasn't the title of one of the Ten Wizard Saints that made her relax.

It was because she remembered.

Not long ago, in that peaceful village before its destruction.

Jiang Bai had mentioned a place to her more than once.

He had said that one day, he would definitely join a guild called Fairy Tail.

He had also said that the guild had a very powerful but very short old man as its master.

That master's name was Makarov.