Iron Furnace Ridge

Eastern Kingdom of Fiore, Iron Furnace Ridge.

A black-clad youth and a lightly dressed girl stepped off the train, gazing into the distance at several ring-shaped mines glowing red from scorching flames.

On the train ride over, Noah had already heard Cana's explanation: Iron Furnace Ridge was the collective name for these mines. Because the terrain resembled an iron furnace, combined with the unexplained high temperatures, it had earned the name Iron Furnace Ridge.

Though the heat was unbearable for ordinary people, the high-quality iron ore attracted many magic blacksmiths who traveled long distances to set up shop at the mountain's base, smelting metal and forging magic items on-site.

Due to the frequent production of high-quality magic items, more and more people came here drawn by reputation, gradually forming a "Magic Item Trading Market" at the foot of Iron Furnace Ridge.

This was the destination of Noah and Cana's trip.

Watching two squads of fully armed soldiers pass by, Noah felt a bit puzzled. "Why are there troops here?"

"Soldiers of the Kingdom of Fiore, keeping the peace." Cana didn't elaborate, just gave Noah a knowing look.

And Noah immediately understood—because of the massive circulation of magic items, the kingdom kept a close "eye" on this place. If any powerful magic item appeared, the first to know about it would definitely be the high-ranking officials.

The market was huge. Cana led Noah through a maze of twists and turns, and they were stopped twice by patrolling soldiers for questioning, as if something had happened. But neither Noah nor Cana bothered to get involved.

Finally, in front of a shop with no signboard, Cana stopped.

"Here it is."

As soon as she finished speaking, Cana grabbed her wine bottle and pulled open the shop's door. A burst of flame shot out from inside. If Noah hadn't been quick enough to yank Cana behind him, she would probably have "gone up in flames," as Natsu liked to say.

"Damn it, how did I forget that old man's habit..."

Cana remembered something and looked at Noah with concern. Having taken the brunt of that old man's forge flames—hot enough to instantly melt iron ore—he must be badly hurt.

A pang of guilt hit her, and she grabbed Noah's hand. "I know a healing mage in the market. I'll take you right now—"

"Huh?! Noah, how are you fine?!"

Noah turned his head and gave Cana a resentful look. "You really want me to be hurt?"

Cana waved her hand awkwardly. "I just didn't expect there to be someone in the guild besides Natsu who can treat fire like it's nothing."

Funny thing was, the reason Noah dared to tank the flames was because of the Flame Resistance (Strong) he'd gotten from Natsu's Prayer commission.

When the flames hit him, Noah felt nothing at all.

Patting his completely unharmed clothes, Noah realized that Flame Resistance didn't just affect his body—it also extended to the clothes he was wearing.

So that reckless cherry-haired kid's magic was pretty impressive. He wondered what kind of magic it was.

"Who's there?!" A spirited, sturdy old man carrying a large iron hammer walked out of the shop.

Seeing it was Cana, the old man set down his hammer. "Little Cana, you're bringing someone to look at goods again? How much commission are you getting this time?"

"Five percent!"

Watching Cana proudly hold up five fingers, the old man's eyes gleamed as he looked at Noah. "Ho! You've hooked a big fish!"

Cana's expression shifted instantly, and she rubbed her hands together at the old man. "Old man Doran, don't forget my referral fee for bringing you customers."

"Tch, you little drunkard, as if this old man's short on that 50,000." Blacksmith Doran pulled out 50,000 on the spot and handed it to Cana.

Watching this scene, Noah felt like he'd fallen into a trap.

On one hand, she brought customers to the blacksmith, getting a fixed 50,000 reward for every willing buyer.

On the other hand, she took a five percent commission from him on any magic item purchase.

So Cana was raking it in from both sides!

And the fact that Blacksmith Doran could hand over money so generously made Noah suspect that the price tags on his magic items would have a lot of zeros.

"Don't worry, Noah. Old man Doran's prices are fair—no cheating kids or fooling adults."

With Cana's endorsement and Blacksmith Doran's invitation, Noah still stepped into the magic shop.

If it was really too much of a rip-off, he could just walk out.

After learning what Noah needed, Old Man Doran hauled out a large crate of magic weapons and enthusiastically introduced them.

"This 'Sure-Hit Bow' has a 'lock-on' ability, paired with 'sensing' arrows. As long as you aim at an enemy and shoot, the arrow will automatically track them."

"Only 99,800! Comes with 20 sensing arrows!"

"Magic-Severing Greatsword, forged from the Kingdom of Stella's exclusive starlight ore. It has a strong 'obstruction' property against magic. The only drawback is it needs starlight magic to recharge."

"This weapon is also just 99,800!"

"These gloves I call 'Empty-Handed Blade Catch.' Made from strong magnets, the gloves have positive and negative poles. When using them, you have to remember 'opposites attract, likes repel'—you don't want your hands locked together by the magnetic poles in the middle of a fight, do you?"

"Still one price: 99,800!"

"Powerful Sunlight Cannon, devastating power, but needs 24 hours of sunlight charging to use..."

"Its price, as you know, is just 998!"

"Boss, stop with the '998' and bring out the better stuff."

Noah didn't know if Old Man Doran was tired after rattling off dozens of magic weapons in one go, but if he didn't stop him, Noah himself would be brainwashed by that catchy "998."

These magic weapons were undeniably unique and matched their 99,800 price tags. But on the flip side, their flaws were way too obvious. What Noah wanted wasn't such unbalanced gear.

At Noah's words, Old Man Doran's smile instantly turned peculiar. "If you want to see my other magic tools, you'll need to prove your strength. Otherwise, you're only fit for these 998-junk items."

Oh, quite the personality.

Noah now understood why Doran had to ask others to help drag in customers.

"It seems you're very confident in your craftsmanship. But how can I be sure your other weapons aren't defective like these?"

Noah pointed with a half-smile at the weapons Doran had just introduced. He'd only suspected before, but with Doran's current words, he could now confirm that all these "998" items were failures.

"Sharp reaction, kid."

Doran spoke with confidence. "Looks like you're from Fairy Tail. The armor and weapons of your guild's 'Fairy Queen' were all forged by my own hands."

Seeing this, Cana whispered in Noah's ear, "He's talking about Erza, one of our guild's S-Class Mages. Her magic is 'The Knight: Requip,' so she needs a lot of weapons and armor. I was the one who introduced Old Man Doran to her."

Erza, huh...

Noah had never seen Erza's magic, but he knew of her title as an S-Class Mage. He just hadn't expected that gallant female knight to be a Holder-Type Mage.

"In that case, how should I demonstrate my strength?"

"Let me state upfront, my magic isn't suited for combat. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here buying magic tools."

That said, Doran only saw a look of "confidence" on Noah's face.

What an interesting kid.

"The Dark Magic Cult's scum have their eyes on the market. The Kingdom's regular soldiers won't fare well against those unscrupulous bastards."

"Consider this my request. Take out that trash, and afterward, I'll open up my true works to you, along with a decent reward."

Dark Magic Cult? What's that?

Noah hadn't even finished reading one book at the guild before Cana dragged him off to buy magic tools, so he knew nothing about the Dark Magic Cult Doran mentioned.

Before Noah could ask, Cana cut him off with a cold face, glaring angrily at Doran. "Noah's just a newbie who joined the guild. Asking him to go up against the Dark Magic Cult is going too far!"

Doran was stubborn too; he never broke his own rules.

"Hmph, I'm only asking him to deal with a small branch cult. They don't even have a Priest. If he doesn't have the power to clean them up, then he can stick to playing with these 998 items."

A Dark Magic Cult Priest was equivalent to an S-Class Mage in a magic guild, but Cana kept arguing. "Old Man Doran, if you want to rid the world of evil, why don't you do it yourself?"

"Nonsense. I'm a magic blacksmith. Why the hell should I go out and risk my life fighting?"

Doran's words infuriated Cana, but they also made perfect sense, leaving her unable to refute him.

"I'll take this request."

Noah's sudden declaration stunned the two arguers.

Doran: He agreed just like that? No more haggling?

Cana: Is he this brave? Does his family even know?

Seeing the different expressions on Cana and Doran's faces, Noah gave a relaxed smile. "Don't worry. Even though my magic isn't suited for combat..."

"But I'm still pretty strong."