Picking Up Kids for the Guild

"Without a doubt, this was the effect of [Take Over Magic]. You naturally awakened magic without anyone teaching you, which was an exceptionally rare talent—not some curse of Demons."

At the Strauss Family home, Aibo set down the grotesque Demons arm in his hand and calmly stated his conclusion.

Seated before him were the three Strauss siblings—the eldest sister Mirajane, thirteen; the youngest sister Lisanna, eleven; and the middle child Elfman, twelve.

Their parents had died several years ago, and the three of them had survived on aid from the village church ever since.

A week ago, a Demon had suddenly appeared in the church and attacked Mirajane, who had happened to be there. In the end, it had instead been taken over by Mirajane, whose magic had awakened.

Mirajane's newly awakened magic was too powerful for her to control properly, causing one of her arms to become as sinister as a Demon's and terrifying the ignorant villagers.

That was how the commission to drive out the Demon, as well as today's group bullying, had come about.

After hearing Aibo's analysis, the two younger white-haired siblings immediately beamed with joy, happy for their sister. Although the eldest's expression softened somewhat, she still could not smile.

Aibo looked thoughtfully at Mirajane's Demons arm. In truth, however, he was far less calm than he appeared.

He had also learned Take Over Magic. It was an extraordinarily intricate form of magic involving quite profound magical knowledge. The person who had created it must have possessed an extremely deep understanding of souls and flesh. According to the system's assessment, it was an independent magic system that could not be broken down.

The core of Take Over Magic was fusion. To activate it, one first had to "take" before one could "take over."

—One had to completely "take" another existence into the same body, then engage in a battle on the level of the soul. The winner could fully control the other, "taking over" all of their power, including their soul, magic power, and body.

Because monsters' souls were naturally weaker than humans', while their bodies were immensely powerful, this magic was generally used on monsters. It exploited one's strengths against the enemy's weaknesses, completely seizing the enemy's combat power without any side effects. It was practically another world's version of the Northern Mysterious Divine Skill.

Still, this magic had quite a few flaws. For instance, the powers of successfully taken-over individuals could only be used separately, rather than accumulating like a snowball and growing stronger with every absorption.

Even after erasing the soul consciousness of a monster he had successfully taken over, he still needed to conduct a "Soul Judgment" before using its magic each time. If he could not win, he could not use the magic.

Furthermore, whether a takeover succeeded depended on the difference in raw strength between both sides. If the gap was too great, there would not even be a chance for Soul Judgment—the initial "take" step could not be completed at all.

Mastering this magic did not increase one's power by much, and it was nearly impossible to grow stronger through training. Its path of advancement was to take over increasingly powerful monsters.

However, once the skill level increased, it became possible to take over enemies of a higher level, and victory in the Soul Judgment duel also became easier.

Aibo's current Take Over Magic was LV1. He could only take over animals or monsters weaker than himself.

Based on Aibo's estimates, LV2 could take over enemies equal to himself in strength, while only LV3 could take over enemies stronger than himself.

And this Miss Mirajane Strauss before him...

According to her, she had successfully taken over a powerful Demon immediately after awakening her magic.

Without question, the gloomy-looking Mirajane before him was, like Aibo, a genius wizard whose magic had reached LV4 the moment she awakened it.

It was perfectly normal for someone who had only just awakened magic to lose control and partially transform their body into a Demon. Aibo himself had spent two years and still had not fully mastered Telepathy Magic.

In fact, only one arm going out of control showed that Mirajane was also exceptionally gifted at Mana Control. She was a true genius.

Aibo felt he could talk her into joining Fairy Tail. If he casually went out and came back with a genius, the old guild master would probably be so thrilled he would laugh himself unconscious.

I think far too much about the guild.

Although Aibo felt quite lucky today, Mirajane clearly did not see it that way.

"Talent? I don't need this kind of evil power...!"

Mirajane tightly gripped the ugly right arm hidden beneath her cloak with her left hand. Her head hung low, and her face was dark.

"This arm... it's disgusting... a Demon's power... it's disgusting!"

"Big Sister Mira..."

The others exchanged looks. Cana and Levy even shared a rather sympathetic glance. They were both girls who cared about their appearance, and they too found that ugly arm a little hard to accept. Their gazes toward Mirajane were full of pity.

With an ugly arm like this, I'll be discriminated against wherever I go. I'll even drag Elfman and Lisanna down with me. This disgusting power... that damned Demon...

"Your way of thinking is wrong, Miss Mirajane."

Aibo interrupted Mirajane's spiraling thoughts.

"There's nothing disgusting about it. Power is simply power; it has no inherent good or evil. And magic is quite a wondrous thing..."

"What do you know!? It's not like you have an arm this disgusting! All you can do is say things like—"

Aibo reached out and grabbed Mirajane's Demons arm again. Mirajane could not see even the slightest trace of disgust on his face, leaving her unable to continue.

"Magic is capable of anything. You simply can't fully control your power yet."

Magic power surged through Aibo's hand. As his fingers brushed over it, the grotesque Demons arm returned to the soft, fair arm of a young girl.

"Your arm is constantly surging with magic power, so I can't use Transformation Magic to reshape it for you. This is a light-and-shadow technique I developed myself, an application of Light Magic. In everyone else's eyes, your arm now looks no different from an ordinary person's."

Aibo's talent for Light Magic was no worse than his talent for Space Magic. It had long since become one of his main magic types, and he had developed quite a few skills unique to himself. This was one of them.

Although her arm looked normal in her own eyes, she could still clearly feel the Demons patterns when she touched it. This was only an "illusion"...

"Sorry, this is all I can do for now. But once you become familiar with Take Over Magic, you'll be able to control the transformation of your arm yourself. Then you won't have this problem anymore."

Mirajane's expression was complicated. Then she lowered her head toward Aibo and said sincerely,

"This is already enough. Thank you... thank you very much. Truly, thank you."

Her younger brother and sister were also extremely excited.

"That's wonderful! Big Sister Mira! Thank you, big brother! If you hadn't been here, we wouldn't have known how to get through today..."

"Big brother! Thank you! You must be a true man!"

"..."

Aibo did not think much of it, but Cana and Levy were struggling to hold back their laughter nearby. Who knew what expressions those two would make if they learned Aibo was even younger than they were?

"It was nothing worth mentioning. Let's talk about what happens next. I can see you haven't been happy in this village, so I have a suggestion... How about joining my guild and leaving this place with us?"

"A guild?"

"Yes, a wizard guild—Fairy Tail. Everyone in the guild can use magic, so you won't be discriminated against by ignorant people like you were today. Fairy Tail is an accepting family, and the guild's companions will become your strongest support."

Aibo extended his hand toward Mirajane and smiled as he made his invitation.

"Leave this ignorant little village with us. You don't belong here. The world is vast, and only beyond this village will you find a stage suited to you. Come on, come with us."

"That's right! Fairy Tail is the strongest wizard guild in the Fiore Kingdom!"

"The companions in the guild are all very nice! You'll make lots of friends~"

Cana and Levy each added a few words of persuasion. Any genius capable of naturally awakening magic would become an S-Class candidate once they grew up, so they could not just let one slip away. At least, that was what the guild master had said.

"Big Sister..." "Big Sister Mira..."

The middle child and the youngest were both tempted. They truly did not want to see their sister bullied by the villagers anymore, but they still looked to Mirajane and waited for her decision.

"Okay! I'll go with you."

Mirajane made her decision quickly. There was nothing in this village worth clinging to, and she could no longer let her younger brother and sister suffer discrimination because of her.

"Let us pack our luggage, then we'll leave with you."

"It's a shame about the home Mom and Dad left behind..."

"It's okay, Lisanna. We'll build a new home in the future."

Aibo raised a hand to stop their discussion and smiled.

"There's no need to make it so troublesome. I'll help you move. You don't need to pack anything, either. It'll be quick."