Water Control Magic was the foundation of nearly all Water Magic. That was why, after learning Water Control Magic, you could find traces of it in almost any other magic you went on to study!
It took a full three days!
Ul had finally mastered all three basic spells and could use them with ease.
Three days might not seem like much, but according to the notes left by his predecessor, basic spells like Water Control Magic were the sort that anyone with S-Class aptitude could use almost as soon as they learned them!
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The magical attacks of a D-Class Mage weren't very powerful. At least, Ul's three basic spells were weak. Even the only offensive spell among them, Water Bullet, would do little more than cause a bit of pain if it hit someone. It had no real power to injure anyone!
But that didn't matter much to Ul at the moment.
After all, in a world where magic was treated as a commodity, you didn't need highly destructive magic to take on jobs...
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After eating his last free lunch in the orphanage cafeteria, Ul headed for the Fairy Tail branch located at the orphanage.
Although anyone at the orphanage who learned magic could choose to join any one of several guilds, Ul had never really had a choice.
Leaving aside the advantage of knowing the story if he joined Fairy Tail...
The fact alone that he'd been picked up by Makarov, the master of Fairy Tail, meant he could only choose to join Fairy Tail!
Ul figured that old man Makarov probably wouldn't care about it.
But as a Chinese transmigrator, certain moral principles had left a deep imprint on him...
The Fairy Tail branch at the orphanage was a simple building, and it had only one staff member.
After all, only a handful of orphans like Ul ever became Mages. And even when one or two did, their magical aptitude was never very high, so there was no reason to make the branch particularly impressive.
Ul walked into the Fairy Tail branch!
At a glance, he saw a middle-aged man sprawled lazily behind the counter. A pipe dangled from his mouth, his hair was styled in a pompadour, and his face wore a bored expression...
A faint glimmer of surprise passed through Ul's eyes when he saw the man!
He seemed... probably... more or less familiar with him. The characters in the anime were a little different from their real-life counterparts, but this man had fairly distinctive features. After all, his pompadour hadn't gone bald yet...
—Wakaba Mine!
He was one of the old-timers in Fairy Tail. Though he barely got any screen time in the anime, he was actually quite strong—a Class A Mage.
"Hey, kid. What can I do for you?"
Wakaba seemed to notice Ul's arrival. He raised his head slightly and spoke.
Ul bowed to Wakaba, putting on a polite air. "Mister, I'd like to join the guild!"
"Hm? You've learned magic?"
Wakaba perked up a little at Ul's words. He stood and looked him over.
"Yeah!"
Ul didn't waste any time. He brought his hands together and cast Water Shield, one of the three basic spells. A simple blue Magic Circle appeared, and soon a round shield about half a meter across, formed from water, appeared in front of him.
"Oh... Not bad, kid!"
A faint glimmer of surprise passed through Wakaba's eyes as he saw how quickly and skillfully Ul cast the spell.
Over the years, Wakaba had met quite a few new Mages, but not many could cast spells so quickly. After all, in battle, magical power was only one of the factors that decided the winner. Such fast casting was a significant advantage...
"What's your name?" Wakaba asked.
"Ul Gilde!" Ul replied.
That was the name of Ul's predecessor.
After Ul spoke, Wakaba slowly took a book out from behind the counter and used magic to search through it. The pages rustled rapidly, and soon the information of one person appeared before Wakaba as an image of light.
The information in the image belonged to none other than Ul.
The photo had been taken when Ul first entered the orphanage. Although several years had passed, Ul was still young, so it was easy to identify him from the picture.
After confirming Ul's identity, Wakaba smiled.
"Good. Since you want to join our guild and you've become a Mage, I welcome you on behalf of Fairy Tail!"
"Thank you!" Ul smiled too.
Ordinarily, outsiders who wanted to join a guild had to undergo a test of their strength.
But people from the orphanage didn't have to. Their magical aptitude might not be very high, but there was one thing the guilds could be sure of: none of them would be spies sent by a Dark Guild.
In other words, their loyalty was beyond doubt!
Although the guilds of this world all liked strong Mages, they didn't discriminate against the weak. At least, most guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore were like that...
And Fairy Tail was one of those guilds!
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"Come on, kid. I'll take you to the guild to get your mark. From now on, you'll be one of us!"
Wakaba's voice roused Ul from his meditation. Seeing how seriously Ul was training, Wakaba couldn't help sighing to himself.
He was already past thirty, after all. He'd come to recognize many hard truths and knew that some things in this world couldn't be achieved through effort alone. His inevitable baldness, for instance—and magical aptitude...
"Too bad. He's only got D-Class magical aptitude," Wakaba sighed inwardly.
Their guild didn't discriminate against the weak and treated everyone like family. But once you became a Mage, there were many things you still had to settle with your own strength.
And the potential of someone with D-Class magical aptitude was ultimately very limited!
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Wakaba led the way for about half an hour!
A huge building gradually came into view. Above it, a flag bearing a birdlike emblem fluttered in the breeze...
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Before you continue