Superb Magic Control

(Seeking Sanjiang votes! It's my first time on Sanjiang! Friends, you have to support me!)

(A huge thank you to Qi Guanxuanqi, Ice Moon Shadow, Lu He Gan Qia, Dao De Xie, Zhai, Yun Qi Qing Gu, Mi Ye Can Ying, and Eyes Closed is Dawn for the rewards!)

(I've been hovering between first and second place, but I'm sure that if all the friends reading this book could spare a minute or two each day to cast a vote, I could definitely secure first place. So, please cast a Sanjiang vote for this book...)

Magnolia, forest riverbank...

"Clang————!"

Amidst the clash of steel against steel, two figures wielding different knightly swords separated on the riverbank, retreating violently. Only after creating some distance did they stabilize themselves and stop their backward momentum.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Eyes filled with fighting spirit collided in the air. Noah and Erza looked at their opponent, and after slightly calming their breathing, the corners of their mouths turned up at the same time.

"You've become stronger than before, Erza."

"You too, Noah."

Like opponents who appreciated each other, Noah and Erza simultaneously let out a breath, and then new fighting spirit surged in their eyes.

"Again?"

"Again!"

After an extremely brief exchange, the best partners and best rivals, a man and a woman, once again raised their knightly swords in their hands and adopted a stance ready to charge.

Unfortunately, before Noah and Erza could carry out the follow-up to this preparatory action, a voice rang out from the side.

"Alright! That's enough!"

Mira stood up and glared at Erza.

"Are you trying to extend the sparring time again without permission? It's my turn!"

"Mira!" Lisanna, sitting next to Mira, complained.

"Why do you have to cut the time so precisely? Wouldn't it be nice to let Noah and Erza continue?"

"Not at all!" Mira said unceremoniously.

"Letting them continue to fight would mean letting Erza get more training time, wouldn't it? What if she becomes stronger than me then?"

"Mira, you're too competitive, aren't you?" Lisanna puffed out her cheeks.

"Noah, Erza, and you, Mira, are the strongest three among us, and the only Mages among us who are allowed by the Guild Master to take jobs outside Magnolia. I, Natsu, Gray, Cana, and Elfman are only allowed to do jobs in Magnolia. What's there to be dissatisfied about?"

"Of course I can't be satisfied!" Mira said as a matter of course.

"I can't lose to Erza, and Noah can't climb over my head either!"

"Mira..." Lisanna sighed.

"Honestly..."

In the center of the arena, Noah and Erza, who were maintaining their charging stance, also exchanged a glance, both feeling helpless.

Mira's disturbance had successfully broken the state they had finally entered. Mira had probably timed it precisely to prevent them from continuing.

With no other choice, Noah and Erza could only reluctantly retract the knightly swords in their hands and allow their bodies, which had been training all morning, to rest for a while.

Originally, this place was a secret spot known only to Noah and Erza. Unless Noah and Erza led the way, the chances of someone accidentally discovering it were not very high.

But Mira's reason for being here was very simple.

"What? Erza's going to train? I absolutely won't allow her to secretly get stronger alone!"

This was what Mira had shouted on the second day after she and Erza had officially started feuding, when Mira saw Noah and Erza planning to go to the forest riverbank for training.

As a result, Mira also became one of the users of this secret spot.

As for Lisanna, the reason was even simpler.

"If Noah and Mira are going, then I want to go too!"

Thus, Lisanna, as an observer, also became a regular at this secret spot.

In fact, Natsu and Gray also wanted to come along, but they were glared at by Erza, who was in a bad mood because Mira had disturbed their training, and they announced their withdrawal with a sweat-drenched brow.

It seemed that the powerful and occasionally violent Erza had completely become Natsu and Gray's nemesis, a demon in their hearts.

Now, Noah, Mira, and Erza gather here almost every day when they don't have work, occasionally sparring and honing each other's skills.

Originally, Erza had a very serious dissatisfaction with Mira also coming along, but after Mira became fully familiar with Take Over Magic, her strength improved so rapidly that she was soon recognized by Makarov and allowed to go out and work.

Now, among the people of the same age group in Fairy Tail, Noah, Mira, and Erza have, as Lisanna said, become leading figures, the three strongest among the children of the same age.

Even some of the weaker Mages in the guild are no longer a match for the three, leaving the guild's Mages in admiration.

Because of this, Mira and Erza are increasingly at odds, constantly thinking about determining a winner, even dragging the innocent Noah into it, all to prove that they are the strongest of the three.

In reality, if the three were to go all out, their strength should be considered evenly matched, and it would be difficult to determine a winner.

Of course, Mira and Erza both knew that the so-called evenly matched strength was under the condition that Noah didn't use his trump card, namely, using the magic effect of his knightly sword.

Until now, the two girls knew that Noah's knightly sword was a magical weapon, but only Noah, the owner, and Makarov, the original owner, knew what kind of abilities and magical effects this magical weapon had.

"Speaking of which, Noah, Mira, Erza, aren't you going out to work?" Lisanna tilted her head.

"I remember, none of you have gone out on a job for a month."

"What's wrong?" Mira frowned.

"Are we running out of living expenses?"

"If we don't make any extra purchases, let me see..." Lisanna adorably counted on her fingers.

"We should be able to last another month."

"I see..." Mira thought for a moment and nodded.

"Then let's go out on a job in a few days!"

"I'm not in a hurry for now." Erza shook her head.

"I really want to save up to buy a magic weapon, but I'm still looking around, so I'll wait a few more days too!"

After speaking, Mira, Lisanna, and Erza simultaneously turned their gazes towards Noah, their eyes full of inquiry.

"Me?" A rare look of joy and excitement appeared on Noah's face.

"I probably won't be going out on any jobs for a while!"

Hearing this, the three girls present were slightly stunned.

Noah grinned, not explaining, and directly took out a handful of jet-black beads from the backpack beside him, throwing them into the sky.

"Buzz——!"

Vast magic power, like rolling waves, surged upwards and spread out violently, washing over the jet-black beads that were falling from the sky.

Instantly, the outlines of all the jet-black beads were covered with a circle of dim light, causing the jet-black beads falling from the sky to linger in mid-air.

Then, the jet-black beads began to dance.

It was a scene that could only be described as a dance.

Like comets orbiting a satellite, each jet-black bead, driven by the rich magic power, drew circles around Noah, sometimes rotating up and down, sometimes hovering left and right, sometimes accelerating and flying past, sometimes jumping nimbly, constantly flashing in the air.

After a long while, Noah stretched out his hand, and the jet-black beads that had been drawing graceful arcs around him immediately fell into Noah's hand in an orderly queue, like bees returning to their hive, until all of them returned to Noah's palm.

Noah leisurely retracted the jet-black beads in his hand.

Mira, Lisanna, and Erza were completely dumbfounded.

"Noah, big brother..." Lisanna said blankly.

"What you just did..."

Mira and Lisanna, who had joined Fairy Tail, couldn't have not heard about Noah not learning magic yet because he couldn't fully control his magic power, and Erza had known it for a long time.

Therefore, all three of them understood what the scene of controlling the jet-black beads like a graceful dance meant, with a level of magic power control that had reached a divine level.

In front of the three of them, Noah smiled, smiling very happily.