Although Gray didn't understand what Noah wanted a cane for, he still used Ice-Make to create one, frozen stiff as a board.
Noah carried the freezing-cold cane back to the empty library. After closing the door, he cast his magic and submitted it.
It didn't take long for Noah to receive a response.
[Otherworld Commission completed]
[Reward: Otherworld Power Kick]
[Client's comment: To my friend who prefers to remain anonymous, thank you for your help. But I'm sorry I can't return the ice cane, since it's broken into several pieces. Please accept my sincere apol—Oh! Jade! What are you doing here?!]
He'd actually wanted to return the ice cane. This archaeologist was such a good person.
After mentally giving the archaeologist he'd never met, Jackie Chan, a "good person" award, Noah eagerly checked his reward. He was dying to find out what this "Flying Kick" was all about.
A watery ripple appeared, and a string of text surfaced in the white light of Prayer.
"Otherworld Power Kick": When you perform a flying kick, there is a 99 percent chance you will enter an invincible state and land an effective hit on your opponent.
Mr. Shendu, who preferred not to reveal his name, once commented on this skill: "Ran into an unlucky archaeologist in a blue shirt. His invincibility-frame flying kick was monstrous. I gave it everything I had and still couldn't beat him."
Noah didn't know who Shendu was, but he understood what the word "invincible" meant.
He'd wondered why a mere flying kick deserved to sit at the same table as Armament Haki. Now it seemed there was a reason.
Haki required training, but it enhanced both offense and defense across the whole body. The latter, meanwhile, could easily put him into a brief invincible state, but only for one move: the flying kick.
It was hard to say which of the two was stronger.
Ignoring the one-percent chance that the invincibility might fail to activate, Noah accepted this power. In an instant, he mastered over a dozen different flying-kick techniques.
Rubbing his hands together like an excited fly, Noah now desperately needed someone to help him test out this power.
As for who he could ask to help him... Well, that had to be the guild's one and only hardheaded brawler.
Back in the hall, he challenged Natsu to a spar. As the resident battle maniac, Natsu readily agreed.
"Whoa! Noah actually challenged Natsu to a fight!"
"That's strange. Did the sun rise in the west today...?"
"Come on, let's go watch!"
"..."
As soon as they heard that Noah had challenged Natsu to a fight, the people in the hall grew curious. Even Makarov, who was usually so composed, went along to watch.
After all, over the past few months, Noah had made quite an impression on his guildmates as a chronic slacker.
Jude and Lucy, father and daughter, were swept along by the crowd and joined the excitement, though they had no idea what was going on.
"Miss Mira, why is everyone so interested in watching Noah and Natsu spar?"
Lucy had only just joined the guild, and her tone was still a little tentative.
But Mira was sure it wouldn't take long for Lucy to get comfortable with everyone, so she simply smiled at her question. "Well, you'll find out soon enough."
A crowd had gathered in the clearing behind the guild hall, an unusual sight.
At the center of the clearing, surrounded by his rowdy guildmates, Natsu felt his blood rushing. "I'm fired up!"
"Noah! I'm definitely going to beat you in hand-to-hand combat this time!"
Noah just picked at his ear. He'd heard that line plenty of times before.
Among the spectators, though, the slightly tipsy Cana suddenly perked up. She set down the barrel of booze that was taller than she was. "All right, place your bets! Will Noah knock Natsu out with one punch? Bets are capped at 100 each!"
Makarov's face darkened. He couldn't believe that Cana, the little drunkard, dared to run an open gambling ring right in front of him, the guild master.
Kids these days had no respect for their elders.
This wasn't just some ordinary guild member. He had to come down hard on her! Makarov reached into his pocket.
That little drunkard! I'll show her...
"Cana, 100 on Noah knocking Natsu out with one punch."
"Got it, Master."
Makarov smoothly handed Cana the money. It was clear he'd joined in on this sort of harmless little bet plenty of times before.
After all, Cana capped her wagers at just 100. Anyone could earn dozens of times that amount by taking a job from the guild, so nobody would mind losing.
These bets were just for fun and to liven things up. If anyone tried to make a killing by setting up big bets and exploiting their guildmates, Erza would teach them a lesson without needing Makarov to say a word.
"Ooh! They're starting!"
"Natsu's still going on the attack as always!"
At the reminder from one of their guildmates, everyone turned their attention back to the center of the clearing.
The pink-haired boy dashed forward in a few quick strides, hands curled like claws. He launched a fierce, lightning-fast attack at Noah's face.
Noah felt a rush of wind before the attack even reached him, but he simply leaned to the side and dodged it perfectly.
Natsu seemed to have anticipated Noah's move. He turned one clawed hand into a palm and swept it toward Noah in a slash.
Hearing the air tear, Noah smiled faintly.
After several months of hand-to-hand training, Natsu was no longer the boy who only knew how to charge in headfirst.
Now his punches and kicks were ferocious and hard to block, and he could change up his moves with ease.
As they watched Noah dodge Natsu's torrential onslaught by the skin of his teeth, Lucy and Jude both looked worried.
Even the two of them, who knew nothing about hand-to-hand combat, could tell that each of Natsu's moves was potentially lethal. An ordinary person probably wouldn't last through even one.
Was there really any need to go this hard in a spar...?
"Don't worry, you two."
Mira noticed their concern and immediately fulfilled her duties as the guild's hostess. "Noah is our guild's hand-to-hand combat instructor. Natsu's attacks are nothing to him."
"It looks like he's barely dodging in time, but in reality, he can predict every one of Natsu's moves. Noah can accurately judge the maximum range of each attack and dodge just beyond it."
Hearing that, Jude praised Noah inwardly. As expected of Mr. Noah.
But Lucy latched onto the key point in Mira's explanation: hand-to-hand combat instructor? Didn't that mean Noah was one of the guild's best fighters? Otherwise, how could he earn everyone's respect?
Their brief conversation was all it took for the fight to reach its climax—or rather, for Natsu to reach his.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Fire Dragon's Claw!"
"Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!"
Natsu kept throwing out one move after another. None of the attacks were infused with magic; they were pure hand-to-hand combat. Still, a fiery aura seemed to gather around him.
As Natsu's attacks grew more and more intense, Noah finally launched his first attack.
To everyone's amazement, Noah pushed off the ground, leapt into the air, and spun into a flying kick aimed at Natsu.
"When you're in the air, you've got no footing, so try not to attack from a jump. It leaves you wide open." That was something Natsu had once told everyone during their hand-to-hand training.
But now Noah had used a flying kick that left him riddled with openings. Had Natsu's attack thrown him off balance?!
"Heh, did you get your head rattled, Noah?"
"You're wide open all over!"
Both Natsu's instincts and experience told him he could easily dodge Noah's clumsy flying kick.
Clenching his fist, Natsu seized his chance and sped forward, throwing a punch at the joint in Noah's leg.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Thanks for the lesson, Fire Dragon!"
The two figures passed each other. The pink-haired boy clutched his stomach as he spun through the air two and a half times before crashing awkwardly to the ground.
Meanwhile, the white-haired boy stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from the crowd like a peerless master.
After sparring with Natsu, Noah came to a conclusion.
Even if I deliberately leave myself wide open, a flying kick with an invincibility frame is still unbeatable by the very rules of the game!
Before you continue