(Heartfelt thanks to 'Die Xue Aoshuang' for the 1888 reward! And thanks as well to 'Bing Yue Ying,' 'Cang Yue Can Xue,' 'ooosyrooo,' 'Xiao h Zhai,' 'Ice Ling,' 'Diying,' '703's Rabbit,' and 'Yun Qi Qing Gu' for their rewards!)
(I am truly grateful to all the friends who have worked tirelessly and promoted this book everywhere so it can achieve better results. I believe that, with your support, this book will definitely do even better...)
To those who knew Noah, he was merely an orphan whom Makarov had adopted by chance.
However, not even Makarov knew that Noah was far more than just an orphan.
Noah had no memories of ever existing before!
When he first met Makarov, Noah already looked like a ten-year-old child. He had been attacked by Magical Beasts in the wilderness, causing his magic power to run wild and drawing the attention of Makarov, who happened to be passing nearby. That was how Makarov came to adopt him.
When Makarov had first adopted Noah, he had asked him about his background, but Noah simply could not answer.
There were two reasons for that.
First: Noah could not speak at the time.
More accurately, Noah had not understood the language of this world at the time. He had no idea how to speak or express himself verbally. He was like a newborn infant who had somehow already possessed intelligence and the appearance of a ten-year-old child—especially strange.
Second: Noah had no memories concerning his own origins.
After Noah learned the language and became able to speak, Makarov, upon learning of this, said that Noah might have lost his memories.
But Noah knew that Makarov was wrong.
Noah had not lost his memories!
Just as stated above, Noah had been like an infant who possessed intelligence and the appearance of a ten-year-old child in advance. That was not a metaphor, but the actual truth!
In other words, rather than saying Noah had lost his memories from before the age of ten, it would be more accurate to say that he had lost ten years of time, as though he had been born ten years old!
Though he did not know why he felt that way, Noah vaguely knew it was true, as if someone had been telling him this fact in the dark. Yet it was simply too inconceivable.
Therefore, Noah had never mentioned it to anyone. As time passed, he even stopped pursuing the matter.
In Makarov's words, Noah was running away from his own origins.
Of course, that could not be helped.
Makarov had once asked others to investigate Noah's past, but they had not found even the slightest clue. It was as though Noah had never existed before, without a trace left behind.
Coupled with Noah's vague sense that he had not lost his memories, but had been born with the appearance and intelligence of a ten-year-old, no one would have thought Noah was ordinary. They might not even have thought he was human!
Under such circumstances, how could Noah possibly not run away from his own origins?
He did not want to be treated like a monster!
Taking in every complicated emotion in Noah's eyes, Makarov sighed.
"You may have your own unspeakable difficulties, or perhaps you know something yourself. I will not ask, nor will I force you. Whether you wish to run away or abandon it all, no matter what, I only want to say this: you are my grandson, Makarov's grandson, and you always will be!"
"Grandpa..." Noah closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the clarity in them had returned.
"I am Noah Dreyar. I remember that very clearly!"
"That's good." Makarov smiled in relief, but immediately became serious again.
"What I want to tell you this time is not about your origins, but about your physique!"
"My physique?" Noah froze.
"You really haven't noticed?" Makarov stroked his chin and looked at Noah.
"Do you remember what happened when you first entered Magnolia Forest and encountered that snake-like Magical Beast?"
At Makarov's words, Noah remembered.
When Noah had first joined Fairy Tail, he had not known that Magnolia Forest contained countless powerful Magical Beasts. In order to train his control over magic power, he had rashly entered Magnolia Forest and encountered a snake-like Magical Beast.
Noah remembered that he seemed to have been bitten by that snake and passed out. When he woke up again, Makarov had already sent him to Porlyusica for treatment. Only after recuperating for quite some time had he fully recovered and returned to the guild.
"Actually, I never told you that after that snake bit you, you were afflicted by enough deadly poison and curses to kill you!" Makarov said something that shocked Noah.
After all, Noah clearly remembered that Makarov had only said he was slightly injured at the time. He had never mentioned poison or curses at all.
"I didn't tell you because I wanted to hide it from you. It was because your condition at the time was truly strange." Makarov spoke solemnly, as though recalling the past.
"I remember when I first found you, you clearly showed severe signs of poisoning and being cursed. You were at death's door. Yet when I sent you to Porlyusica, all the deadly poison and curses in your body had disappeared!"
"The poison and curses disappeared?" Noah could not help touching his own body, frowning.
"Could this have something to do with the physique you wanted to tell me about, Grandpa?"
"That's right!" Makarov nodded heavily.
"To be safe, I asked Porlyusica to give you a physical examination. As a result, we discovered that your physique seemed different from that of ordinary people. It possessed traits ordinary people did not have."
"First, your physique possesses an extremely strong rejection response!" Makarov raised one finger.
"Negative forces such as poison and curses simply cannot affect you. Poisoning you or using curses against you would be useless. Your body can reject all negative forces, such as curses, poisoning, weakness caused by outside forces, and even methods that increase strength but bring certain side effects. They would only leave behind the strengthening effect, while the side effects would be expelled!"
"Second, your physique possesses extremely high compatibility!" Makarov raised a second finger.
"This compatibility allows you to absorb powers that originally do not belong to you but enter your body. For example, before I sent you to Porlyusica after that snake-like Magical Beast attacked you, I injected some of my magic power into your body. In the end, you completely absorbed that magic power!"
"Lastly, your physique possesses great independence!" Ignoring Noah's shocked expression, Makarov raised a third finger.
"Everyone knows that everything in heaven and earth possesses magic power, which circulates among all things. A mage's magic power comes from this. Once a mage's magic power is exhausted, the body automatically draws Magic Particles from the atmosphere to replenish it. But you are different. Even if your magic power is consumed, it recovers automatically. You do not need to draw upon any external power at all!"
At this point, Makarov murmured softly.
"If that is the case, then it is almost as though..."
As though his very existence were an entire world unto itself!
Makarov shook his head, burying the thought that had surfaced in his heart, then looked at the silent Noah.
"I came here to tell you this. You will begin learning magic next, and you will certainly encounter all kinds of opponents in the future. It is absolutely necessary for you to grasp the peculiarities of your own body. I hope you remember that well."
He could become immune to all negative forces and side effects!
He could absorb power that entered his body but did not belong to him!
He could restore his own magic power!
All three effects demonstrated just how extraordinary Noah's physique was, and they also told Noah something.
He truly was not an ordinary person!
"You're a smart child. I believe you'll definitely be able to overcome every difficulty on your own!" Makarov smiled meaningfully.
"If you want to learn my magic, you're welcome to come find me anytime..."
After leaving those words behind, by the time Noah looked up, Makarov had already vanished from where he stood.
Noah remained where he was for a long time. Only after quite a while did he let out a long breath and pat his cheeks.
"Forget it. I won't think about that for now. I should solve my magic problem first!"
Looking at the library before him, Noah lifted his foot and walked inside.
Before you continue