(Please vote with Sanjiang Tickets! It's my first time making it onto Sanjiang! Friends, you have to support me!)
(Many thanks to 'Qi Guanxuanqi,' 'Bing Yue Ying,' '?Lu He Gan Qia?ⅰ?The Praying Child?ⅰ??Homebody,' 'Yun Qi Qing Gu,' 'Mi Night Remnant Shadow?,' and '?Closing Your Eyes Means Dawn' for their rewards!)
(I've been hovering between first and second place, but I'm sure that if everyone reading this book could spare one or two minutes to cast a vote every day, we'd definitely secure first place! So please vote for this book with a Sanjiang Ticket...)
Magnolia, forest riverbank...
Clang—!
Amid the clash of steel against steel, two figures wielding different Knight Swords sprang apart by the riverbank, retreating rapidly before finally steadying themselves after opening some distance between them.
"Phew... phew... phew..."
Their battle-hungry gazes collided in the air. Noah and Erza looked at their opponent, and after calming their breathing slightly, the corners of their mouths rose at the same time.
"You've gotten stronger than before, Erza."
"You too, Noah."
Like opponents who appreciated one another, Noah and Erza both let out a breath, fresh fighting spirit immediately surging into their eyes.
"Again?"
"Again!"
After that extremely brief exchange, the man and woman—best companions and best rivals—once again raised their Knight Swords and assumed positions ready to charge.
Unfortunately, before Noah and Erza could follow through on their preparations, a voice rang out from nearby.
"Alright! That's enough!"
Mira stood up and glared at Erza.
"Are you trying to extend the match on your own again? It's my turn!"
"Big Sis Mira!" Lisanna, sitting beside Mira, complained.
"Why are you timing it so precisely? Wouldn't it be great to let Brother Noah and Erza keep going?"
"Not great at all!" Mira said bluntly.
"If they keep fighting, doesn't that mean Erza gets more training time? What if she becomes stronger than me then?"
"Big Sis Mira, you're way too petty, aren't you?" Lisanna puffed out her cheeks.
"Brother Noah, Erza, and you are the three strongest among us. You're also the only wizards the Guild Master allows to work outside Magnolia. Natsu, Gray, Kana, Brother Elf, and I are only allowed to take jobs in Magnolia. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?"
"Of course I can't be satisfied!" Mira said as though it were only natural.
"I can lose to anyone except Erza! And Noah too—I can't let him climb over my head!"
"Big Sis Mira..." Lisanna sighed.
"Honestly..."
In the center of the clearing, Noah and Erza, still holding their charging stances, exchanged a glance and both grew helpless.
With Mira causing such a fuss, the state they had worked so hard to enter had been thoroughly disrupted. Mira must have spoken up at precisely that moment because she had noticed that, right?
With no other choice, Noah and Erza could only put away their Knight Swords unhappily and let their bodies, which had trained all morning, rest for a while.
Originally, this place had been a secret location known only to Noah and Erza. Unless Noah or Erza led the way, the chances of anyone discovering it by accident were very low.
As for why Mira was here, the reason was simple.
"What? Erza is going to train? I absolutely won't allow her to secretly become stronger on her own!"
That was what Mira had shouted on the spot the day after she and Erza had officially started butting heads, when she saw Noah and Erza planning to train at the forest riverbank.
Thus, Mira became one of the users of this secret location as well.
As for Lisanna, her reason was even simpler.
"If Brother Noah and Big Sis Mira are going, then I'm going too!"
And so, Lisanna became a regular at this secret location as an observer.
Actually, Natsu and Gray had wanted to come too. However, Erza, who was already annoyed that Mira had interrupted her training, glared at them. Sweating profusely, they declared their withdrawal.
It seemed that the powerful and occasionally violent Erza had completely become Natsu and Gray's nemesis—the devil in their hearts.
Now, whenever they had no jobs, Noah, Mira, and Erza gathered here almost every day. They occasionally paired off for sparring matches to hone one another's strength.
At first, Erza had been deeply dissatisfied with Mira coming along too. However, after Mira fully mastered Take Over Magic, her strength improved at an astonishing rate. Before long, Makarov acknowledged her ability and allowed her to take jobs outside Magnolia.
Now, among those of the same age in Fairy Tail, Noah, Mira, and Erza had indeed become the leading figures Lisanna described—the three strongest children of their age.
Even some of the weaker wizards in the guild were no longer their opponents, leaving the guild's wizards amazed.
Because of this, Mira and Erza became increasingly incompatible. They constantly wanted to determine a winner, even dragging the innocent Noah into it, all to prove that they were the strongest of the three.
In truth, if the three fought with all their strength, they would probably be evenly matched. Deciding a winner would be extremely difficult.
Of course, both Mira and Erza knew that this so-called even match was only under the condition that Noah did not use his trump card—the magical effect of his Knight Sword.
To this day, both girls knew Noah's Knight Sword was a Magic Weapon, but only Noah, its owner, and Makarov, its former owner, knew what abilities and magical effects it possessed.
"Come to think of it, Brother Noah, Big Sis Mira, Erza, aren't you going out to work?" Lisanna tilted her head.
"I remember you haven't gone out for work in a month."
"What's wrong?" Mira frowned.
"Are we running out of living expenses?"
"If we don't make any extra purchases, let me calculate..." Lisanna adorably counted on her fingers.
"We should still be able to last another month."
"I see..." Mira thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Then we'll go out to work in a few days!"
"I'm not in a hurry either." Erza shook her head.
"Although I really want to save money to buy a Magic Weapon, I'm still looking around, so I'll wait a few more days too!"
After saying that, Mira, Lisanna, and Erza all turned their gazes toward Noah, their eyes full of inquiry.
"Me?" A rare expression of pleasure and excitement appeared on Noah's face.
"I probably won't be going out to work for quite a while!"
At those words, the three girls present were slightly stunned.
Noah grinned. Without explaining, he directly pulled a handful of pitch-black beads from the backpack beside him and tossed them into the sky.
Buzz—!
Vast magic power surged upward like rolling ocean waves, then exploded outward, sweeping over the pitch-black beads falling from the sky.
At once, the outlines of every pitch-black bead were covered in a faint glow, causing the black beads dropping from the sky to freeze in midair.
Then, the pitch-black beads began to dance.
It was a sight that could truly only be described as a dance.
Like comets orbiting a satellite, the pitch-black beads, driven by that dense magic power, traced circles around Noah. At times they spun up and down, at times drifted from side to side, at times accelerated in swift flights, and at times leaped nimbly, constantly flashing through the air.
After a long while, Noah held out his hand. The pitch-black beads tracing graceful arcs around him immediately returned like bees heading back to their hive, lining up neatly and falling into Noah's hand in orderly succession until every last one had returned to his palm.
Noah casually put away the pitch-black beads in his hand.
Mira, Lisanna, and Erza, however, were all completely dumbfounded.
"Brother Noah..." Lisanna said blankly.
"You just..."
Mira and Lisanna, who had joined Fairy Tail, could not possibly have failed to hear that Noah had yet to learn magic because he could not fully control his magic power. Erza had known it long ago.
Therefore, all three understood exactly what it meant that Noah had just controlled those pitch-black beads as though they were performing a beautiful dance—magic control that had reached a masterful level.
Before the three girls, Noah smiled, smiling with immense joy.
;
Before you continue