X777

How could Makarov possibly let the two of them fight without restraint? He had been watching from the sidelines all along.

Then everyone's gaze turned in unison toward the black-haired boy swaying unsteadily ahead.

Even if that strange defense could block fists and ordinary lightning, could it withstand this terrifying energy that inspired despair at a glance?

Watching Laxus's unconventional move, Jiang Bai finally showed a trace of gravity in his eyes.

Dragon Slayer Magic.

The super magic rumored to have been used to fight dragons.

This blond really had developed the Lightning Dragon Slayer Lacrima Ivan had implanted in his body.

Still, it was no problem. As long as Jiang Bai had magic power left and his opponent's attack had no spatial properties, it was all the same to him.

Jiang Bai took a deep breath and forcibly squeezed his nearly exhausted reserves of magic power, pouring everything he had into the spatial barrier around him.

The Limitless Cursed Technique was pushed to its current limit.

"Raaaargh—"

Laxus let out a furious roar that sounded nothing like a human's, his upper body lurching forward!

The raging lightning, charged to its peak, erupted from the blond boy's mouth in an immensely thick golden torrent!

Lightning Dragon's Roar!

Boom!

The entire street was swallowed by dazzling golden light.

The deafening thunder instantly robbed everyone of their hearing.

The destructive torrent of lightning surged like a roaring dragon, plowing a bottomless trench through the ground in its path. Stones flew everywhere, only to be reduced to ash by the intense heat in an instant.

That overwhelming energy, bearing the power to tear everything apart, completely engulfed Jiang Bai's slender body.

The mages in the hall were knocked off their feet by the oncoming blast, scrambling on hands and knees toward the back of the guild.

Makarov stood in front of the bar, his fingers whitening slightly around his wineglass, his aged eyes full of shock.

Had Laxus already grown this powerful?

Could that little fellow Jiang Bai withstand it?

The rampaging lightning lasted a full ten seconds.

When the last arc of electricity faded into the air, the deafening roar gradually died down.

Amid the dust that filled the air.

A breeze blew past, carrying away the dust that obscured everyone's vision.

Wakaba poked his head out of a pile of collapsed tables and chairs, staring fixedly at the center of the street.

Macao couldn't even spare the time to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth as he scrambled toward the hole in the wall.

Every gaze converged on one point.

At the far end of the ruins.

The bottomless trench came to an abrupt halt.

Jiang Bai was still standing in the same spot.

His hands were still tucked into his pockets.

Only his once-straight legs were now trembling slightly beyond his control.

The invisible spatial barrier had forcibly split the Lightning Dragon's Roar down the middle, sending the raging energy brushing past either side of his body.

He had blocked it.

Faced with Dragon Slayer Magic like that, no one present except the guild master dared claim they could take it without a scratch. Yet that six-year-old boy really had blocked it unscathed!

Thud.

Laxus's knees buckled, and he fell heavily onto the scorched earth.

The last trace of magic power in his body had been completely drained, leaving him without the strength to move even a finger.

The blond boy raised his head and looked at the black-haired figure who hadn't moved a single step. A wretched smile, tinged with relief, tugged at his lips.

"Hey, kid, what's your name?"

Laxus's bloodstained lips spread into a fierce grin.

Jiang Bai took a deep breath and forced down the dizziness in his head. His voice was weak but still calm.

"Jiang Bai."

"Good. I'll remember you. Next time, I'll smash that annoying turtle shell of yours with my own hands!"

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

After that grueling sparring match in the street, Laxus seemed to have found his only outlet and a goal to chase.

The proud, aloof blond boy no longer wore a scowl all day. Instead, whenever he got the chance, he would drag Jiang Bai off to the barren mountain behind the guild for a duel.

For the next six full years, the mountain behind Fairy Tail endured a thunderstorm almost every week.

Amid this frenzied, high-intensity sparring, Jiang Bai's strength also grew explosively.

Laxus's incomparably violent and lightning-fast attacks became the perfect catalyst for Jiang Bai to refine his magic system.

If he wanted to move with ease amid a relentless bombardment of lightning, simple defense and basic Space Cutting were far from enough.

Time and again, on the verge of exhausting his magic power, under the pressure of facing deadly lightning countless times.

Jiang Bai finally succeeded in working out the gravitational singularity that brought Infinity into reality, as well as the terrifying repulsive force unleashed by running Limitless in reverse.

Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue and Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.

Over those six years, Jiang Bai completely mastered these two supreme applications of spatial attraction and repulsion, turning them into his core powers, truly capable of overturning the course of a battle.

Sure enough, as long as he had a strong, resilient, and durable sparring partner, his skill development would advance by leaps and bounds.

But as for Hollow Technique: Purple, Jiang Bai still couldn't combine Blue and Red into one.

Jiang Bai reckoned he should be able to do it once he could control his magic power to the utmost.

But over the years, Jiang Bai had met with success everywhere he went relying on Limitless, Blue, and Red. His initial desire for infinite magic power had gradually faded and was no longer as strong as before.

And in the process, Laxus, who had no room in his eyes for anyone weak, also let down his guard over time and came to regard Jiang Bai as the only friend in the entire guild he could talk to as an equal.

Of course, his attitude toward everyone else remained the same as before.

Every day, Makarov sat behind the bar and watched the two most gifted monsters in the guild return from the mountain with their arms around each other's shoulders. A deeply gratified smile would always appear in his cloudy old eyes.

X777.

The spring breeze swept through the streets of Magnolia, sending cherry blossoms fluttering through the air.

Jiang Bai and Erza celebrated their twelfth birthdays.

The boy had shot up in height and shed his childhood immaturity. His features now bore a touch of unhurried composure.

Over the past six years, Jiang Bai had amassed a considerable fortune thanks to his astonishing mission completion rate.

The first thing he did was repay the startup funds he had borrowed from Makarov, with interest.

Although the old man had pounded the table, bristling and glaring as he refused to accept it, Jiang Bai still slipped the money into the guild's accounts.

Not only that, whenever Jiang Bai returned from a dangerous, high-level subjugation mission, he would always pick up a few bottles of exquisite liquor no longer found on the market from black markets or wineries in various places.

Makarov had long regarded the considerate and powerful black-haired boy as his own grandson. Faced with such thoughtfulness, the old man always grinned until his eyes nearly disappeared.

After settling his debt, Jiang Bai paid in full for a two-story house with a spacious courtyard, located in a prime spot in the quietest part of the town's south side.

On the afternoon the house was handed over, Erza arrived in high spirits with bags of all sizes on her back and unceremoniously claimed the master bedroom with the best light on the second floor.

Those six years had not let the stubborn, scarlet-haired girl down, either.

Erza had now completely transformed. Her combination of knightly swordsmanship and Requip Magic had grown ever more masterful, making her an undisputed standout among the guild's younger generation. She could already handle difficult B-rank missions alone with ease.

As for sixteen-year-old Laxus and twelve-year-old Jiang Bai.

Those two names had now gained a little recognition throughout the Kingdom of Fiore. Though their fame was not yet significant, everyone in Magnolia knew Laxus the Thunder God and Jiang Bai the Infinity.

(Forgive the author's terrible naming skills. If you have a good name, feel free to leave a comment. If it gets enough support, I'll change it later.)

Jiang Bai would never admit that he had secretly spread the name Infinity himself, because the original "Jiang Bai Who Can't Be Touched" sounded awful.

Ordinary B-rank missions had long since become child's play to them. Only extremely dangerous A-rank missions could pique their interest enough to make them take action.