Ye Yang's Power

Natsu directly asked Ye Yang, "Can you destroy the moon?!"

Ye Yang was speechless. "Do you know how far away the moon is from here? Destroy it? You really know how to dream big."

Then Ye Yang looked toward the distant ruins and asked, "What's that place over there?"

The Village Chief followed the direction Ye Yang pointed.

"That is the Moon Temple Ruins. According to our ancestral teachings, the villagers are not allowed to go there."

Gray said, "So your curse might be related to this Moon Temple."

"This... this old man does not know. I ask that you great wizards help us break this curse."

Ye Yang nodded.

"I understand, Old Man. We'll go over there first and see if we can find any clues."

With that, Ye Yang led Natsu and the others toward the Moon Temple.

The bruises and swelling on Natsu's face instantly vanished the moment he heard they were taking on an S-Class Mission.

"Whoa—!! We finally get to do an S-Class Mission!"

As they continued onward, Lucy asked, "Ye Yang, have you ever taken on a curse-breaking mission like this?"

"Huh? I'd never want to take on such a troublesome request. I noticed this S-Class Request a long time ago, but the pay was too low, it required going out to sea, and it involved breaking a curse. I couldn't even be bothered to give it a second look."

"With that time, I could have already finished two missions."

Lucy =_= "Just as expected of you. Even 7,000,000 Jewel is considered too little. I don't even know how many missions I'd have to do to earn 7,000,000 Jewel."

Just then, Ye Yang suddenly sensed something.

"Everyone, be careful. Something's coming."

The moment Ye Yang finished speaking, Natsu and the others immediately assumed defensive stances. The grass ahead rustled continuously, and judging by the sound, whatever was approaching was not small.

A Giant Rat suddenly crawled out of the grass.

The moment Lucy saw it was a rat, she froze in fright and immediately grabbed Happy, holding him in front of herself.

"Happy, you're a cat. Hurry up and catch that rat."

Happy was equally speechless.

"Lucy, I don't eat rats. Also, that rat is dozens of times bigger than me. Are you sure I'm supposed to catch it rather than it catching me?"

Seeing this, Ye Yang directly released his aura.

"Get lost!" The rat immediately shuddered in terror at Ye Yang's aura, as though Ye Yang were some great horror, and fled at top speed.

Lucy watched the rat run away with a frightened expression.

"Could that rat have become so huge because of the curse too?"

"I'd better stay by Ye Yang's side. It's safer around you."

Natsu stared at Ye Yang with shining eyes.

"Coach, what kind of technique was that?! I want to learn it too!"

Gray said, "Idiot! That was obviously killing intent! It can only be cultivated by killing lots of people!"

Ye Yang looked at the two of them speechlessly. "It's just one way of using aura. Once your strength reaches a certain level, your own magnetic field becomes powerful. Some weaker or more sensitive creatures will become afraid of you."

As he spoke, Ye Yang grabbed Happy, who had buried his head, and lifted him up.

"Isn't that right, Happy?"

"Aye~ Boss is always so scary when he does that!"

"Alright, alright. You're already a brave kitty. How can you act like this? No little cats will like you in the future."

"But it really is scary."

"Alright, alright. I'll buy you dried fish when we get back."

"Aye~!"

After hearing Ye Yang's explanation, Natsu and the others finally nodded in understanding.

Gray said, "So you really can intimidate enemies with aura alone, without releasing Magic Power."

Ye Yang scratched his head. "Huh? Magic Power? I don't have anything like that."

"Huh?"

"Huuh—!!!"

The noise made Ye Yang cover his ears.

"What's so surprising about that? Have you ever seen a magic circle appear when I attack?"

After Ye Yang said that, everyone thought back and realized that they indeed had no recollection of a magic circle appearing whenever Ye Yang used his power.

Gray said, "I thought wizards at your level simply didn't need magic circles when casting magic?!"

Natsu said, "But it's true. Whenever Ye Yang uses his power, there are no magical fluctuations at all."

Lucy asked curiously, "Then what is the power you have?"

Ye Yang did not know how to explain it, so he said, "It is the power of a Demon, and also a power that belongs to me alone."

"It is a completely different power system from magic, but the underlying principles are the same. It is not that different from magic."

"The only difference is that when you use magic, you consume Magic Power, while I consume Physical Strength."

The moment Natsu heard that, he immediately started making a fuss.

"Ahhh, I'm so jealous! It would be great if I could consume Physical Strength too! Magic Power is never enough!"

Gray did not make a fuss like Natsu did, because he knew that whether it was Magic Power or Physical Strength, improving either one required enormous effort. There was no real difference.

Gray asked, "Then what about San Mao and Er Gou? Are they the same as you?"

Ye Yang shook his head.

"No. They're the same as you. It's just that their talent for Magic Power is too poor. Unless a miracle happens, it will be difficult for them to accomplish much on the path of magic."

"So I taught them pure Physical Arts instead. Fortunately, they have fairly good talent for body training, and they have achieved some success by now."

"But if they want to gain even greater power, the effort and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures required will be beyond measure."

"So don't envy anyone. You all have exceptional talent for magic, and your future achievements will only be greater."

Gray asked again, "Then are those abilities that turn your hands black also Demon abilities?"

Ye Yang shook his head. "No, no, no. That's another cultivation system entirely. I call it Haki."

Everyone was puzzled again. "Haki?"

"That's right, Haki."

"Simply put, Haki is divided into three types: Armament Color, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki."

"Armament Color and Observation Haki can both be acquired through training. Only Conqueror's Haki is a talent that appears in one person out of a million."

"Do you remember when I played hide-and-seek with you? No matter where you hid, I could always find you."

"That was Observation Haki. It can sense attacks, predict an enemy's next move, perceive the strength of living creatures, feel their emotions and thoughts, sense the locations and numbers of things in the wild, and at higher levels, even hear the voices of all things and briefly foresee the future."

"Hey, hey, hey, isn't that way too unfair?!"

"As for Armament Color, it's actually very simple."

As he spoke, Ye Yang casually picked up a branch from the ground. When he activated his ability, the branch was immediately covered in black.

Ye Yang lightly slashed at a nearby tree, and the entire trunk was cut cleanly in half.

"You saw it too. Armament Color can further increase your attack power and defense, and it can also be applied to weapons."

"At higher levels, it can directly send power into an enemy's body and cause internal damage."

"As for Conqueror's Haki... sigh, unfortunately, I don't have the talent for it."

Lucy complained again, "How many more abilities do you want? Those two alone are already ridiculously overpowered. You haven't even explained Conqueror's Haki yet, but the fact that only one person in a million has the talent for it makes it obvious that it's even more absurd."

Natsu immediately asked, "Can we learn it?!"

Ye Yang shook his head. "No. We already tried. You can't learn this kind of power system. In other words, only I can learn it."

Ye Yang's bucket of cold water thoroughly soaked Natsu and Gray's hearts.

"The power of magic is no worse than these things. In fact, it is more versatile. Work hard, boys."

Afterward, the group continued walking toward the temple.