There was strength in numbers, especially when you got paid for your work.
Thanks to everyone's efforts, it took less than two hours to bring the guild's books back to light. The books, which had been stored deep in the warehouse, were carried out one by one and temporarily piled up in the hall.
Noah looked at the stacks of books and made a rough count. There were about three hundred in all.
According to Makarov, most of them had been compiled by the previous guild master himself.
This was going to be a huge undertaking.
Noah picked up a book titled An Introduction to Magic and was soon absorbed in it.
The magic in this world came in all shapes and forms.
"Elements," which gathered a single magical attribute;
"Make" magic, which gave magic a form;
"Take Over," which used the power of the dead;
The mysterious and unpredictable "Space" magic;
Various "Lost Magic" passed down since ancient times, but gradually fading away because of their demanding requirements;
There were so many kinds of magic. Based on how they were activated, they could be roughly divided into two schools:
"Caster" and "Holder."
Caster magic only required a mage to channel their magic power to cast spells anytime, anywhere. The strength of a Caster's magic was directly tied to the quality and quantity of their magic power.
As long as their magic power was strong enough, even the most ordinary fireball could pack a devastating punch.
Holder magic, on the other hand, required the use of a corresponding magical item. No matter how powerful a Holder mage's magic was, their strength was limited by how much power the item could handle.
Because their strength was constrained by both their magic power and their magical items, Holder mages were generally weaker than Caster mages.
And if they lost the item that served as their magic's medium, they would be almost entirely unable to fight.
Unless they'd secretly trained in martial arts on the side, planning to have an all-out brawl with their enemies after losing their magical item.
Holder magic was a little weaker, but it wasn't without powerful spells.
"Celestial Spirit" magic was the pinnacle of Holder magic. Using contracted Celestial Spirit Keys, mages could summon the corresponding spirits from the Celestial Spirit World, a realm of its own, to fight for them.
They said the spirits of the Zodiac Twelve were as powerful as S-Class Mages. Unfortunately, the Golden Celestial Spirit Keys were priceless and nearly impossible to find. Collecting all twelve was harder still.
The Silver Celestial Spirits below the Golden ones varied greatly in strength. Some could hold their own against a Golden Celestial Spirit for a hundred moves or more, while others were only good for looking cute.
Aside from magical items like Celestial Spirit Keys, which required a specific type of magic to use, there were also many kinds of general-purpose magical items.
These only needed magic power to activate. Most were rather weak, but some were powerful enough to destroy cities or even entire nations—"War Magic."
Noah didn't expect to destroy a nation. In theory, his own Dragoon could do that much.
What Noah needed now was a general-purpose magical item that could keep him safe. Of course, he wouldn't say no if it happened to be just a tiny bit stronger.
He looked at the man coming out with a bucket to change the water. "Macao, do you know where I can buy a decent magical item? My magic isn't suited for combat."
Macao scratched his head. He was a fire mage who used Purple Flame. He knew a little about magical items, but if Noah was asking where to buy something suitable for combat, he honestly had no idea.
Most items in magic shops were for everyday use. On the rare occasion that they did have a combat item, it was usually pathetically weak.
"Cana, come over here."
Not wanting to lose face in front of the new kid, Macao quickly found someone who could answer Noah's question. "Noah, Cana's a card mage, and she's also the best drinker among the guild's regular members."
Even if Macao hadn't told him, Noah already knew how much Cana could drink.
Watching the girl stumble out of the warehouse with a beer bottle in one hand and a rag in the other, Noah couldn't figure out how she managed to work without slowing down in that state.
After Macao muttered something in her ear, Cana suddenly grabbed the middle-aged man by the collar, looking outraged, and shook him hard.
"Macao! How dare you bring up magical items with me!"
"You and Wakaba were the ones who talked me into going down the one-way road of 'Card' magic!"
"Do you know how much those stupid cards cost? That was enough money to buy me years' worth of booze!"
Faced with Cana's drunken antics, Macao could only look helpless. He and Wakaba did share some of the blame—but only some.
Cana had joined the guild as a little girl. Wanting to find out when a certain someone would return, she'd learned "Card" magic, which could be used for fortune-telling, on Macao and Wakaba's advice.
Of course, they hadn't just made a careless suggestion. Cana really did have a talent for fortune-telling, and Card magic was the quickest, simplest way to do it.
At the time, Macao had clearly explained the drawbacks of being a Holder mage.
But wanting to know when "that person" would return, young Cana had learned Card magic without hesitation, and worked hard at it.
Even now, Macao still didn't know who the "certain someone" Cana meant was, whether she'd found him, or whether he was a member of the guild.
Whenever Macao asked her, Cana would brush him off. Sometimes, he wondered if she drank so much because she was trying to drown her sorrows.
After letting go of Macao, Cana sat down cross-legged beside Noah as if they were old friends, not minding him looking her over.
"Noah, do you really need a magical item for combat?"
Noah nodded. From Cana's tone, it seemed she knew where he could find some decent combat gear.
Cana set down her beer bottle, looked Noah in the eye, and held out her hand. "Then pay me a consultation fee first. Ten thousand, please."
"Are you sober, Miss Cana?"
Noah was speechless. She was asking him for money before she'd even told him anything. Did she think "sucker" was written all over his face...
"Was ten thousand too much after all? Eight thousand... No, five thousand would work too." Cana tried to bargain for a little more. The new kid in front of her looked easy to fool.
Noah's mouth twitched. That would only work if you could act the part...
After teaming up with Natsu on a job, Noah had realized that mages other than S-Class ones didn't earn much. Cana was a Holder mage who loved to drink, so she probably wasn't much better off financially than Natsu.
"How about this, Cana?"
"Take me somewhere I can buy combat gear. If I find something suitable, I'll give you a five-percent commission for each item."
"Deal!"
Watching Cana accept so eagerly, Noah realized he'd greatly underestimated just how broke she was.
His old man's final lesson had been right. People were treacherous.
He should've offered one percent.
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