C-Rank Mage

The theoretical knowledge of magic formulas seemed complex, but learning it wasn't actually that difficult—especially for the basic magic Ul was studying. As long as someone had normal intelligence and put in the effort to study, they would eventually figure it out!

But that was only theoretical knowledge!

Whether one could ultimately succeed in learning magic still depended on the Mage's own talent and willpower.

To master the theoretical knowledge and magic formulas of these few earth-attribute spells as quickly as possible, Ul unknowingly spent an entire day in the library.

It wasn't until evening, when he was leaving the guild!

That Ul specially copied down a portion of the knowledge from that book, planning to take it back to Granny Is's house to continue studying.

His seventeen-point Mental Power attribute provided a certain foundation for Ul's study of theoretical knowledge.

It took nearly two days and two nights!

Before Ul finally understood the release principles of the four spells...

Three days later!

By the fish pond in Granny Is's backyard.

Ul suddenly pressed his palms together. The next second, a yellow Magic Circle abruptly appeared on the ground in front of him, and then a sharp Earth Spike shot up from the earth not far ahead, swiftly piercing straight through a scarecrow on the ground...

"Phew!!"

Seeing this sight, Ul couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief!

After three consecutive days of hard training, Ul had finally managed to successfully release the only lower-tier spell he had learned, "Earth Spike."

The ability brought by the "Lava Body" passive was unexpectedly powerful beyond what Ul had imagined.

Although they were all classified as "basic magic," this time, when cultivating the three basic earth-attribute spells, Ul had mastered them all in just one day. Even the "lower-tier spell," which was a step stronger than basic magic, took him only two days.

Compared to the time Ul had spent cultivating the three basic water-attribute spells at the very beginning, the gap between the two was far from insignificant...

Although this might have partly been due to Ul's increased strength!

He had to admit that the "Lava Body" passive granted formidable talent in earth-attribute magic power.

Based on Ul's guess.

The earth and rock dual-attribute magic power aptitude that "Lava Body" gave Ul had likely reached B-rank, a full two ranks higher than his original water-attribute magic power aptitude.

"A cheater really is a terrifying existence," Ul couldn't help but sigh inwardly as he looked at the results his cheating had brought him.

Lower-tier magic was different from basic magic!

Generally speaking, basic magic was only meant to help Mages understand the essence of magic—its teaching value outweighed its practical combat value.

But lower-tier magic belonged to true combat magic!

Although Ul's strength was still very weak now, with the lower-tier spell "Earth Spike," he had already begun to possess some combat capability.

In other words!

From now on, if one wasn't careful, "Earth Spike" could actually kill people...

Because of his magic training!

Ul hadn't taken any quests for five whole days.

Although "Fairy Tail" didn't force its members to take quests, Ul himself obviously wasn't willing to remain stuck at the level of a D-rank Mage...

So, right after successfully mastering the magic, Ul immediately threw himself into a frenzy of grinding quests.

But even if he called it a frenzy of grinding quests, there really wasn't much to grind among D-rank quests...

Most D-rank quests were no different from the part-time jobs Ul had done in his previous life during university. The quest Granny Is had posted was already an extremely special case among D-rank quests!

Because of the guild's rule that "only one quest can be taken at a time," even though Ul was diligently grinding quests, he still had plenty of free time in the process.

And taking advantage of this opportunity, Ul also worked hard on reading books, learning more magic fundamentals, and preparing for future magic training...

This state lasted for about half a month!

Finally!

One day, Makarov announced that Ul's Mage rank had been promoted from D-rank to C-rank!

When this news was announced, both Ul and Makarov were very happy...

Ul, in his excitement, immediately ran to the quest board, picked up a C-rank quest, and quickly left the guild!

Then!

Makarov was no longer happy!

He had lost one more legitimate excuse to drink to his heart's content.

"President, that kid Ul has been pushing himself too hard lately. Don't you think we should let him take a break?" Wakaba watched Ul's figure disappear through the guild's entrance and spoke to Makarov with a hint of concern.

Ul's recent behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by the guild members. After all, someone this diligent about taking on quests was quite eye-catching—or rather, abnormal—around here.

As mentioned before!

Ever since "Fairy Tail" was founded, they'd never raised a member who actually took quests this seriously!

Someone like Ul, who threw himself into quests every day, was the kind of person in their guild who only did so because they had serious psychological issues. Only through this method could they vent their emotions...

Hearing Wakaba's words!

Makarov lowered his brows and fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "Let him be. This is the path he chose himself. Right or wrong, he should walk it on his own. All we need to do is watch from behind... Besides, hasn't Ul been completing his quests well lately? What reason do we have to stop him?"

Looking at the dozen or so thank-you letters on the counter, Wakaba's lips moved, but in the end, he fell silent.

Indeed!

Just as the president said, they had no reason at all to stop Ul from taking quests!

Because even looking back through the entire history of "Fairy Tail," the number of people who could maintain a quest completion rate like this could be counted on one hand.

Over the years!

The success rate for "Fairy Tail" members completing quests had been very high, and they'd received plenty of thank-you letters...

But "completion rate" and "success rate" were two different things!

In general!

After every "Fairy Tail" member finished a quest, the guild would receive a flood of thank-you letters and... a flood of complaint letters!

These two types of letters usually arrived in the guild's mailbox at the same time!

And someone like Ul, who only had "thank-you letters" without any "complaint letters," was probably rare in the guild's history since its founding.

But precisely because of this, Makarov and Wakaba were even more worried!

Because a guild member this "perfect"...

Clearly didn't belong to their "Fairy Tail"...