Three-Person Squad, Move Out!

"...The most famous magical beast near Magnolia? That would probably be the snow apes, Balkan, on Mount Hakobe. These magical beasts have a chance of awakening Take Over Magic, allowing them to grow stronger by continuously taking over humans.

These magical beasts live on Mount Hakobe. They often come down the mountain to plunder before hiding back in the snowy peaks. The environment up there is harsh, and few people want to go subjugate them. They've been committing evil for years and have earned an extremely notorious reputation."

After giving Aibo and the others a lesson, Macao, one of the guild's old-timers, raised his brows at them.

"What? You little brats whose feathers haven't even grown in yet want to subjugate Balkan? You'll die!"

Erza showed little reaction. She simply looked at Aibo and waited for his decision.

"Take Over Magic? What kind of magic is that? I don't think I've heard of it."

"Oh, that magic is terrifying. It's magic that 'eats people'! It devours another person's entire body and soul, stores them inside itself, and once they're digested, it can completely gain that person's power! Balkan will eat you! Rua!"

"...Are you trying to scare children, Uncle Macao? Should I play along?"

"Tch, no fun. That magic is actually quite famous. Plenty of wizards deliberately learn it to take over fierce beasts or magical creatures, greatly strengthening their bodies. Of course, there's also the risk of being devoured by the magical creatures instead.

If you haven't been taken over for long, you can still be spat back out. But if a magical creature has taken you over for too long, you'll become part of its power. That's basically being truly digested~ Though there probably aren't any wizards pathetic enough to get taken over by Balkan, hahaha!"

Macao held his wine glass and laughed like Kogoro Mouri. Having gotten the information he needed, Aibo stopped paying attention to the drunk uncle.

"Take Over Magic... Sounds interesting. I want to learn it."

"Aibo! So we're choosing this Balkan thing as our target?"

"Yeah, it'll be that. Let's go back and pack up, then set off right away."

More than a month had passed since the New Year. Magnolia had now become a popular tourist city in the Fiore Kingdom. Thanks to promotions from the Kingdom Daily and Sorcerer Magazine, more than half the country knew that an amusement park had opened here.

While the amusement park was thriving, Duke Everlue in the distance had indeed not come looking for trouble even once. Aibo had wanted to deal with him, but he could not find an opportunity.

However, Fairy Tail had no time to worry about him now. Everyone needed time to adapt to this city that had suddenly become so lively.

Aibo had not been idle during that time either. He had finally successfully produced the official version of [Summoning Cards 1.0]. After discussing it with Cana over the past few days, they decided to find a magical creature to test it on.

He had been in Magnolia for nearly two years. Aibo figured it was about time he got off his butt and went out to see the world.

Although he did not mind, and had even grown used to, being a homebody, he was still quite interested in this world's exotic sights, customs, and culture.

His magic power had long since surpassed the 1,000 mark, and the several types of magic he excelled at had all reached a respectable level. He was no longer a weak wizard.

With Erza, whose strength far exceeded that of her peers, with magic power of over 5,000, and Cana, whose magic power of over 2,000 was no weaker than his own, traveling together, they would not run into any danger they could not handle.

Aibo first teleported home and had Virgo pick out several thick sweaters for him. Then, carrying a map, he returned to the meeting spot in front of the guild.

It was worth mentioning that Aibo's earlier judgment had been wrong. After his magic power broke through 1,000, Virgo had not unlocked Intermediate Battle Mode. She said his magic power still was not enough.

Aibo felt as though he had been deceived. Could it be that for Virgo to level up, he would have to wait until he possessed magic power at the level of an S-Class wizard...?

Cana and Erza had gone to pack and had not returned yet, so Aibo studied the map.

Mount Hakobe lay roughly sixty kilometers northwest of Magnolia. It was not too far from town, and a carriage ride would take only half a day.

But Aibo had an incredibly useful long-distance teleportation skill, so traveling was the least of his concerns.

Looking at the map and estimating the distance, Aibo performed an ultra-long-distance teleport. The next second, he appeared in midair ten kilometers away. This was the furthest distance he had ever teleported blindly.

Over the past half year, due to the need to research Summoning Card Magic, Aibo had gradually invested a large amount of Inspiration Points into several necessary skills. As a result, he only had a little over a hundred thousand in "savings" left.

Several of his skills had now reached LV3. The price was that if he wanted to raise Meditation to LV4, he would need to save up Inspiration Points for a while longer.

There was no helping it. You could not have your cake and eat it too. If he wanted to happily research magic, investing Inspiration Points into other skills was unavoidable.

If he forced himself not to upgrade other skills just to hoard Inspiration Points, it would affect his mood. And if he was in a bad mood, Inspiration Points would accumulate more slowly, which would instead hinder his progress.

In any case, Aibo only needed to follow his heart. What he wanted to do most right now was develop Summoning Card Magic.

The facts proved that certain necessary "sacrifices" were worthwhile.

LV3 Space Magic not only gave him a portable space the size of a basketball court, but also meant that his teleportation distance was no longer limited by his magic power.

Inspired by Celestial Spirit Magic, Aibo could now do this: as long as he had clear teleportation coordinates, he could ignore distance and perform long-distance spatial jumps.

Unlike short-distance spatial movement, the magic power consumed by long-distance spatial jumps was all spent in the instant he "opened the door." Thus, no matter how far away the destination was, the magic power consumed was the same.

Of course, that was only when he had clear coordinates. Without spatial coordinates, Aibo could only teleport around ten kilometers at most each time, roughly the maximum distance his Telepathy Magic could reach.

Still, that was not much of a problem. Most people would have to worry about teleporting into obstacles, but Aibo had no such concern. He could fly. He only needed to teleport upward, and if he hit a bird, then that bird was just unlucky.

Aibo teleported several more times in succession. Only after seeing snow-covered mountains did he drift down to the ground, leave behind teleportation coordinates, and teleport back to the guild entrance.

After catching his breath, he glanced at his mana bar:

[Magic Power: 1147/2077]

All right, teleporting long distances so frequently did consume quite a lot of mana. Still, half a mana bar remaining was enough...

"Aibo~"

Cana and Erza happened to return just then. Aibo was about to greet them, but he immediately spotted the small cart piled with luggage behind Erza.

"Wait, Erza, why did you bring so much luggage? We're not going sightseeing."

Erza looked puzzled.

"Is it a lot? I already brought much less this time. My magic requires me to switch between multiple sets of armor to adapt to different situations. Whenever I go out, I usually bring all my armor with me."

"...Didn't you already create a portable space?"

"It's full already. 👍"

"..."

Erza had specifically learned Space Magic from Aibo. Her skill level should only be LV1.

But even LV1 Space Magic should have been able to create a space the size of a bedroom. Just how much armor had she bought over the past year...?

Aibo facepalmed helplessly and could only reach out to place the pile of luggage into his own space.

"Oh! Aibo's Space Magic really is amazing."

"Come on, hold my hand."

Aibo took both girls' hands, one on each side. The next moment, the three of them teleported to the vicinity of the snow mountains.

"Phew~ That one over there should be Mount Hakobe. It'll probably take ten or so minutes to walk there. It's cold on the mountain, so let's change clothes before setting out."

"Huh? Aibo can teleport such a long distance too?"

"Easy."

"Hm? Aibo, why are you holding your arms out?"

"I used up so much magic power just now. I'm exhausted~ Sis, carry me for a bit?"