Noah

"It's time, Noah."

"I've spent so many years raising you and so much money on you, all for this moment."

"Go to another world and find me 'Lumen Histoire,' which possesses infinite magic."

"Then we..."

Wearing a crown and a heavy black cloak, the old man was about fifty years old, with a head of thick, snowy-white hair. He stood before the handsome young man on the sofa, passionately describing his grand vision.

But his only audience merely yawned in boredom. The boy lounged on the sofa with snacks in one hand and a beauty magazine in the other, letting his father's ambitious words go in one ear and out the other.

When King Faust finally finished his rousing speech, his second son Noah calmly spoke up. "Dad, do you really believe that Edolasian named Ivan Dreyar?"

"The idea of infinite magic sounds like nonsense. If you ask me, we should just stop struggling. So what if the magic in our world runs dry? Wouldn't it be better to let everything return to normal?"

Noah's lack of interest infuriated Faust. He fixed his son with a determined look and boomed with a voice that hardly seemed to belong to a man his age. "Why should we return to normal? I'll defy fate and change Edolas's destiny! I'll triumph over Heaven itself!"

Noah shrugged and said no more.

This world was called Edolas, and a supernatural energy known as magic existed within the earth.

It was a wondrous force that could power all kinds of magical devices, granting them incredible "magic." Those who used magical devices were known as mages.

Countless years had passed, and with time, the magic in the land had gradually weakened. Now it was on the verge of drying up altogether.

The "Age of No Magic" had already arrived in Edolas.

But Faust, king of this extreme human nation, refused to give up this supernatural power. So he began a bold plan.

To plunder the magic of another world!

The kingdom possessed an extradimensional spell called Anima, which could temporarily connect Edolas to a parallel world. That world, Earth-land, was filled with magic particles—even in the air—and contained dozens of times more magic than Edolas.

Anima could turn Earth-land's magic into Magic Crystals and transfer them back to Edolas.

But because Earth-land was so rich in magic, humans there were born with magic inside them. Most of its mages could cast spells without magical devices, so Anima sometimes mistook Earth-land's people for magic and sent them to Edolas instead.

Eighteen years ago, when Faust activated Anima for the second time, one unlucky Earth-land mage was transported there.

His name was Ivan Dreyar, and he was a mage who specialized in illusion magic.

When Ivan discovered that the world he'd arrived in was far weaker than his own, his ambition swelled rapidly, and he tried to usurp Faust's rule.

But magic was drying up in Edolas, and Ivan couldn't replenish his supply. In the end, he ran out of magic and was captured alive.

Faust had intended to execute Ivan, but the spineless man immediately dropped to his knees and begged for mercy, offering a plan that could bring infinite magic to the world.

According to Ivan, Earth-land had a magic guild called Fairy Tail. Though it was a guild of light, it had a dark side: it possessed Lumen Histoire, which held infinite magic.

Faust believed Ivan.

As parallel worlds similar to each other, Edolas also had a mages' guild called Fairy Tail.

Its members were righteous and helpful, but they caused far too much trouble. Faust had driven them out of the royal capital long ago and put them to work helping the Royal Army build up the border cities. Eighteen years later, Noah had heard that they were now on good terms with Knightwalker, commander of the Second Royal Army stationed at the frontier.

Although he believed Ivan, King Faust couldn't stand the man, who had so easily betrayed his former allies by revealing their secrets.

So Ivan never got the honored guest treatment he'd hoped for. Instead, he earned himself a prison cell, where he remained for eighteen years.

For eighteen years, for reasons no one knew, whenever Faust was in a bad mood, he would go to the prison and beat Ivan to a pulp to blow off steam.

After learning that infinite magic existed in the parallel world, Faust had also tried using Anima to lock onto the Fairy Tail guild there.

But every attempt had failed.

The reason was that the guild had someone with such immense magic that they far exceeded Anima's limits.

Then Faust had a sudden inspiration. If he couldn't take it by force, why not send a spy to the guild to steal Lumen Histoire?

Those loyal to Faust in the kingdom lacked the ability. Those who had the ability were people he couldn't fully trust with such an important mission. So he began his "creation" plan.

Using his own genes and those of his late wife, along with extremely precious pure magic, Faust successfully used an artificial womb to create a baby who was born with magic. The child was named Noah.

To ensure Noah would remain loyal to him forever, Faust decided to bind him with family affection. The iron-hearted king began to devote himself to playing the role of a good father.

But what Faust hadn't expected was that, after several years together, he was the one who had first been swayed by family affection, while Noah was still young and innocent.

What had been an act became real. Faust gave Noah all the love he'd denied his eldest son.

Noah hadn't inherited his mother's deep blue hair, but his father's white hair. He even looked a little like the older brother he'd never met.

With excellent genes and the best resources, Noah had become Edolas's strongest human warrior despite only recently reaching adulthood. He had mastered superb martial arts and combat techniques, and was thoroughly skilled at using all kinds of magical devices.

Though Faust was pleased with his son's growth, one problem continued to weigh on him.

Noah was strong, but his way of life was far too laid-back. Apart from his scheduled training, he spent almost all his time holed up in the palace, doing nothing.

Watching his son grin foolishly at a beauty magazine, with the words "I'm giving up" practically written on his face, Faust was furious. How had he spoiled his perfectly good son so badly?!

He smacked the snacks out of Noah's hand and ground them underfoot right in front of him. Then he snatched the beauty magazine away and started to tear it—no, he couldn't. He hadn't read it yet.

"You little brat. You eat my food, drink my water, and use my things."

"Every time I ask you to do something, you've got some excuse! You've put this off until you're an adult. Are you trying to play games with me?!"

"I'll ask you one last time. Are you going to Earth-land or not?"

Faust put on a sour face and delivered his final ultimatum.

But Noah still lay listlessly on the sofa. He'd been through this too many times over the past two years. If he just slacked off and played dead, his old man would be helpless to do anything.

"Bastard!"

After spitting out an insult, Faust's furious expression vanished, replaced by a triumphant smile.

"Brat, when you came back from training today, did you happen to notice anything missing from your palace?"

Hearing the strange tone in Faust's voice, Noah could no longer pretend to be dead. He knew his old man well enough to realize he was about to take some kind of drastic measure.

He scanned the familiar palace and immediately spotted what was wrong: all his magical devices and weapons were gone!

Before Noah could figure out what his old man was up to, the palace began to shake violently. A beam of rich, pale golden light blasted down through the ceiling and locked onto him.

The powerful magic flowing through the beam lifted Noah into the air. He recognized the spell, though he'd only ever heard about it and had never seen it with his own eyes.

The extradimensional spell Anima, which hadn't been activated in eighteen years!

No, it was Anima, activated in reverse!

Dad was going to forcefully send me to Earth-land?!

Though he'd seen through Faust's plan, the magic he'd been born with meant Noah couldn't escape Anima's lock.

"Don't struggle. Anima has been charging for eighteen whole years. Its magic is more than you can handle, brat."

Faust strolled over to Noah. Other than Noah, the people of Earth-land had no magic in their bodies. Unless they entered the beam themselves, Anima wouldn't lock onto them.

"Noah, this is the last lesson your father will teach you."

"People can be cruel. Even someone closest to you might stab you in the back."

Noah showed no surprise or resentment at being betrayed. Instead, he looked helpless and reluctant to part. "At a time like this, you're still trying to play the villain and fool me. Dad, can't you just say what you really feel?"

Faust paused, then gave a bitter smile. "You really did notice..."

"Of course. Who could know my own body better than I do?"

Noah opened his palm. He was an artificial human, and the only person in Edolas whose body could contain magic.

That difference put Noah in great danger in this world.

For the people of Edolas, the land's dwindling magic meant nothing more than a shift from the supernatural to the ordinary. But for Noah, it was a change that could cost him his life.

Because he was born with magic, if the magic in the land disappeared, there was a strong chance he would develop Magic Deficiency Syndrome. No matter how strong his body was, he would decline toward death at an unimaginable speed.

Noah knew this very well.

Faust knew it too. He didn't dare gamble on even that tiny chance. He no longer cared about infinite magic. All he wanted was for his child to be safe.

In the few moments the father and son spent in silence, Anima's beam had nearly pulled Noah out of the palace. They had at most one minute left to say goodbye.

"Noah!"

Faust suddenly called his son's name. He pulled a palm-sized object from his clothes and threw it into the teleportation beam.

Noah caught the magical device as it rose against the flow of magic. It was a tiny, finely crafted mechanical dragon in human form, and Edolas's strongest weapon: the Dragoon!

Noah hadn't expected his old man to give him even the national treasure.

As his son rose higher and higher, Faust seized his last chance to speak. "If you see your older brother Jellal in Earth-land, please pass on a message from your father."

"Your father... is sorry to him."

Noah smiled easily. Seeing the tenderness in his old man's heart as they parted wasn't so bad.

But he couldn't just let his old man have his way.

"Dad, I'm not going to pass on your message."

"I'll bring my big brother back with me, along with a way to save the magic. You can tell him yourself!"

"Take care of yourself too, Dad! We'll be back!"

The pale golden light grew brighter. In a dazzling flash, it vanished, and Noah disappeared with it.

Faust stared blankly at the sky as it returned to blue and white. It was as if he'd suddenly aged several years.

You take care of yourself too...

Noah.