How About We Spar?

(Many thanks to 'Tian Shang Xue Yue' for the 1176 tip! 'Ping Dan' for the 1000 tip! And 'Bing Yue Ying', 'Qi Guanxuanqi', 'Wu Guan Wei Shei Mi', 'Long Qian Yue', 'Mi Zhi Lun Hui', 'Mi Zhi Lun Hui', 'Sui Ai Er Fei 00', 'Sixflyle', 'Sing Zai', 'pokémon', '2534780324', 'Yun Qi Qing Gu', 'Diying', 'Tian Jiao~Mei Nu' for their tips!)

Under Noah's perception, Natsu's magic power was like some kind of chemical substance, every element that made up that chemical seemingly laid out clearly before Noah's eyes, imprinting itself into his senses.

Thus, while the rest of the Fairy Tail guild members were still half-doubting Natsu's words, Noah had almost already believed him.

To some extent, a person's magic power could also be seen as their very aura.

If magic power were compared to water, then every individual with magic power was a different flavor of water, but water was still water—that much never changed.

However, in Noah's perception, the feeling Natsu's magic gave him was different from others.

How to put it?

If he had to make an analogy, Natsu's magic could be likened to ink.

Sure, ink could also be considered a type of water, and it had its own flavor distinct from other water, but it couldn't be drunk, had a smell ordinary water lacked, and was even black in color—one glance was enough to tell it was different from water.

Now, that was exactly how Natsu's magic felt to Noah. Even if it was still water, it was clearly different from ordinary people's magic, very special.

Of course, special wasn't necessarily strange. After all, Natsu had learned Lost Magic, a magic passed down from ancient times and now lost, so his magic being different and extremely special wasn't abnormal.

But Noah couldn't help paying attention.

The reason was simple.

Because the feeling Natsu's magic gave Noah was far too close to the feeling he'd sensed from Laxus's magic!

Both were like magic that concealed a wild beast inside!

And Natsu, who had magic with that kind of feeling, was the owner of Dragon Slayer Magic!

Could it be that Laxus...

Just as a certain guess rose in Noah's mind, an old voice echoed through the guild from the entrance.

"What Natsu said is true!"

Under the gaze of all Fairy Tail guild members, Makarov walked in from outside and spoke these startling words.

"Natsu is indeed a mage who has learned the Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. In other words, Natsu is a Dragon Slayer Mage!"

"Dragon Slayer Mage..." Everyone looked in astonishment at Natsu, who had looked like he was about to cry moments ago but now wore a smug expression.

"Is that for real?"

"A Dragon Slayer Mage?"

"I never thought an ancient mage like that would actually appear in Fairy Tail..."

"And he's just a kid..."

Aside from the mages of Fairy Tail, Erza also looked at Noah beside her with interest and said, "That kid named Natsu seems pretty impressive."

"Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, huh?" Gray, still lying on the floor, stared hard at Natsu and grinned. "Interesting. He looks like a guy worth fighting!"

"Heh heh!" Natsu, like a little man with a long nose, puffed out his chest with his hands on his hips and laughed loudly. "What? Scared?"

"Isn't this great?" Erza stepped forward with a smile, looking eager. "How about we have a match?"

"A match?" Everyone in the place immediately got rowdy, acting like they couldn't wait to stir up trouble.

"Not bad, not bad!"

"Hey, kid named Natsu, how about going up against Erza?"

"Let us see the power of a Dragon Slayer Mage!"

"With you?" Natsu's eyes lit up, and he jumped out excitedly. "Alright! I'll beat you! That'll prove I'm stronger than that **!"

"Idiot!" Gray, for once, didn't pick a fight but looked at Natsu with pity. "You'll find out just how terrifying Erza is soon enough!"

Urged on by all the Fairy Tail guild members, Natsu agreed without hesitation, and Erza seemed a bit impatient too, apparently genuinely interested in Dragon Slayer Magic.

Unfortunately, Erza wasn't meant to take the stage today.

"Erza!" Noah suddenly looked up and said these words. "Why don't you let me take this match instead?"

The whole place fell silent.

"Noah?" Erza looked at Noah in confusion.

"Are you an idiot?!" Gray's face went stunned. "Even if that hedgehog-headed idiot is weak, he's still a mage! Noah, you haven't even learned magic yet, so why are you jumping in?!"

"You haven't learned magic yet?" Natsu was even more surprised.

"How are you supposed to fight me without magic?"

Not just Erza, Natsu, and Gray, but everyone in the Fairy Tail guild looked utterly confused.

"Little Noah, don't be reckless!"

"Even if you want to spar with someone, you should at least learn magic first!"

"That's right!"

"Wait until you've learned magic!"

Hearing this, Noah just smiled without a word, his gaze locking onto Natsu's puzzled expression.

"So, how about it? Want to give it a try?"

Seeing that Noah showed no sign of backing down, everyone except Erza started murmuring among themselves.

"Natsu!" Makarov spoke up at that moment.

"Go ahead and try with Noah!"

"Alright!" Though he had no idea what was going on, Natsu still clenched his fist with fiery enthusiasm.

"Since Grandpa Guild Master says so, don't come crying later!"

At Natsu's words, Noah said nothing, merely nodding slowly, a glint of interest flashing in his eyes.

As Erza had said, Noah was indeed intrigued by Dragon Slayer Magic.

Though it wasn't just because Dragon Slayer Magic was a Lost Magic or a powerful magic meant to fight dragons.

On the open ground in front of the Fairy Tail guild's main gate, a crowd had formed a circle, enclosing two young boys inside.

"Go for it, Little Noah!"

"Don't you lose either, Dragon Slayer Mage!"

"Fight, fight!"

"Alright!" Standing across from Noah, Natsu watched as Noah stood there casually, one hand resting on the scabbard of the Knight Sword at his waist. Natsu raised a fist, his face brimming with excitement.

"Here I come!"

As he spoke, a considerable surge of magic power rose from Natsu's raised fist, and flames suddenly burst to life around it. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he let out a yell and charged straight at Noah.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

When Natsu closed to within less than two meters of Noah, he leaped into the air, fist raised high, the flames condensing slightly as he drove it fiercely toward Noah's chest.

The oncoming breeze lifted the hair from Noah's forehead, revealing a pair of pitch-black, deep-set eyes beneath his bangs to Natsu's view. Staring at the flame-covered fist, Noah waited until it was almost upon his chest before unhurriedly sidestepping to the left.

Three months of training had honed Noah's reflexes to an exceptional degree.

And in Noah's eyes, Natsu's punch was unbearably slow compared to Erza's lightning-fast slashes.

So, with that single, perfectly measured step, Noah dodged the flaming fist hurtling toward him. He tilted his body slightly, and his hand slipped through the gap under Natsu's arm like threading a needle, landing a light palm strike on Natsu's shoulder as the boy lunged forward with his punch.

"Thud!"

A dull sound rang out. Struck by Noah's palm, Natsu jolted as if hit by lightning. With a grunt, he flew backward even faster than he had charged in, crashing onto the ground not far away. He yelped in pain, landing flat on his back with all four limbs in the air.

The surrounding noise instantly died out.