Titania's Sparring Invitation

"Expelled from the guild by the master himself?!"

Mira's voice suddenly shot up, as if she'd heard something unbelievable.

Noah had only just joined Fairy Tail, so he didn't understand why firing someone would shock Mira this much.

Cana explained: "I heard about this guy when I was little, from some idle chatter between Wakaba and Macao."

"In all the years Fairy Tail has existed, there have been members who left or chose to quit, but everyone parted on good terms, and plenty still kept in touch with the guild afterward."

"But Ivan was different. He's the first member in the guild's history to be expelled for breaking a guild taboo."

Mira curiously pressed for what taboo Ivan had broken, but Cana didn't know either.

After expelling Ivan, Makarov, to keep the curious kids from prying, outright hid the guild taboo completely. Not only did the new generation not know, even guild elders like Macao and Wakaba were in the dark.

But Noah knew what that so-called taboo was—the "Lumen Histoire" that Ivan claimed held Infinite Magic.

Only something that could stir up blood and chaos would make a gentle old man like Makarov do such a thing.

"Still, Cana, you haven't answered—what's the relationship between Ivan and the master? Are they relatives?"

"Heh, more than just relatives."

"Ivan is the master's own son, and Laxus's biological father."

Now Noah was just as stunned as Mira.

Putting family before kin for the greater good, huh, Master.

But then Noah thought about how Ivan, caught by his own father Faust, had been sent to the guillotine without even enduring torture.

Right in front of the guillotine, Ivan hadn't hesitated to sell out the information on "Lumen Histoire" to Faust.

Noah could kind of understand Makarov's anger now.

Still, if Noah were in that situation, he'd just find a place to lock Ivan up for life instead of letting him go.

Maybe Makarov never expected his own son to have nothing but arrogant ambition without the backbone to match.

Good thing Noah's father had already cleaned up after Makarov.

Ivan would likely rot in an Edolas prison for life, getting a steady taste of Faust's "kindness."

After chatting with Mira and Cana for a while, Noah left—after all, it was a girl's room, and it wasn't convenient for a guy to stay too long.

Before leaving, Noah made sure to tell Cana to keep the "Soul Resurrection" card safe. Little White's life was tied to that card now.

Card lives, dog lives. Card dies, dog dies.

Of course, the reverse was also true, but probably no one would bother killing a pet dog.

Back in his own dorm, Noah activated "Prayer" to claim his reward.

[Local Quest Completed]

[Reward: Mastery of "Card" Magic]

[Client's Comment: Noah is such a good person. If only he hadn't raised Little White's price to 1 million just to mess with me...]

This little girl had the nerve to complain about him. Wasn't it her fantasy of getting a freebie that made him tease her in the first place...

Noah curled his lip and accepted the reward.

In an instant, a flood of "Card" magic theories and techniques neatly arranged themselves in Noah's mind.

"I see. Full-spectrum development, but forced to be a jack of all trades because of a key limitation."

"Card" magic was a type of Holder Magic, but it wasn't particularly impressive.

Most magic cards were mediocre in quality, leaning heavily toward functional types, and offensive cards had lackluster power. In combat, they couldn't compare to "Celestial Spirit Keys" at all.

And card mages who fought with cards had physiques that were completely outclassed by "Requip" mages. The latter's battle-hardened bodies, combined with various "Requip" items, made for a force not to be underestimated.

Stuck in the middle, "Card" magic sat in an awkward position.

Offense was average, and the mage's physical ability was often lacking. The only upside was the variety of "functions," but those cards were expensive on the market, and their practicality wasn't guaranteed.

The "Flight Card" Cana used to cross Iron Furnace Ridge to find Noah was one such functional card, but it had a cooldown of 30 days, making it a bit of a letdown.

That didn't matter to Noah, though. Even without a single magic card right now, he was still confident in his "Card" magic.

After all, there was still a long-term Prayer quest. Having seen the effect of "Soul Resurrection," Noah understood just how terrifying the cards from Yugi Muto's world could be.

He just wondered when this "ordinary high school student's" next quest would start, and if the reward would still be cards.

Straightening his clothes, Noah grabbed the two books he'd borrowed yesterday and headed back to the guild. He'd finished Common Knowledge of Magic, and Amaterasu was beyond his understanding, so he planned to look at other magic books.

Not for any other reason—just to learn more about the characteristics of magic.

Common Knowledge of Magic clearly stated that tailoring a battle plan to an enemy's magic could often yield unexpected results.

So, gathering intel on a wide range of magic was essential.

This was a world of magic, with all sorts of bizarre spells out there. Noah didn't want to capsize in a ditch one day.

And among the guild's library collection, there was a book that compiled introductions to many types of magic. Unsurprisingly, that book was also edited by the second master.

"Noah, are you free right now?"

The door to the temporary library hadn't even been opened yet when Noah was stopped by a calm voice.

Turning around, he saw the "Titania" Erza, whom he had met once before. She was still dressed in heavy armor on her upper body, with a short skirt and tall boots below.

Wondering what this S-Class Mage wanted with him, Noah spoke politely, "I was planning to read. Is there something you need?"

"Master Doran told me what happened at Iron Furnace Ridge."

"Let's spar, Noah."

Doran had asked Cana to pass a message to Erza, and Cana had told her about it when they returned yesterday. Before dawn today, Erza had gone to Iron Furnace Ridge to retrieve a new set of armor from Doran, and from his mouth she learned of Noah's outstanding performance.

In particular, Doran was full of praise for Noah's exceptional martial arts, which stirred Erza's desire to test the guild's new recruit.

An invitation to spar in martial arts from an S-Class Mage...

"Alright. Now?"

Noah agreed readily. He also wanted to see if the "Titania" of this world was as formidable in martial arts as the "General-in-Chief" of another world.