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If it weren't for him, Ultear would have joined Grimoire Heart in the future and become one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, even though that was not the life she wanted.

But she later came to her senses and founded Crime Sorcière with Jellal to atone for the mistakes she had made.

She had also used forbidden magic during the Grand Magic Games to save countless people.

The price was that a girl in the bloom of youth became a decrepit old woman.

Though the ending was heartbreaking, she hadn't died. She hadn't died!!!

Yet now, because of his appearance, everything had changed. Eight-year-old Ultear had lost her life. Aside from him and Ur, perhaps no one would even remember her.

Pain, guilt, regret, and countless other emotions churned within him, like a thorn-covered vine lashing Cain over and over, leaving him in agony.

At last, tears poured down like a burst dam. Hugging his blanket in his dormitory, Cain cried soundlessly.

Aboard Grimoire Heart's airship.

Ultear, who had been reading, suddenly sneezed. Somewhat puzzled, she muttered, "Strange, did I catch a cold? Forget it, I should put on another layer."

After putting on a coat, she immersed herself in the book before her again. The interesting stories about time within it fascinated Ultear.

She wondered whether she could learn time magic like the protagonist in the book and travel through time to return to the past.

That way, she could ask Ur why she had abandoned her. She also wanted to tell Cain that he hadn't needed to knock her out. If he had simply told her, she would have chosen to stay of her own accord.

Morning sunlight streamed through the window and fell upon Cain's face after a sleepless night.

There was no longer any guilt or regret on Cain's face. All that remained was hatred for Brain.

After a night of reflection, he understood that guilt was useless. Only by killing Brain to avenge Ultear could he honor her spirit in heaven.

Cain also realized that this was a living, breathing world. The people here had flesh and blood, and events would not unfold along some predetermined plotline like in novels or anime.

Therefore, if he did not want to face such a situation again in the future, he had to train even harder.

Although the final boss, Acnologia, would be defeated by several Dragon Slayers, he would inevitably face other problems. He couldn't go running to the main cast every time something happened.

Now that he had set his goal, it was time to put it into action.

"I'll start by running two laps around Magnolia."

After washing up, Cain rushed out of the dormitory and began his two laps around the city at an astonishing speed.

The nearby residents were no longer surprised by Cain's behavior. For the past few days, they had seen the little guy running to train every morning.

"Cain, have a ham-and-chicken bread roll. You'll have more energy for running after you eat."

"Uncle Beiduo, save one for me. I'll eat it when I get back from my run."

"Hahaha, all right. Uncle will definitely save one for you."

After two laps, Cain was drenched in sweat as he carried the oversized ham-and-chicken bread roll Uncle Beilan had specially made for him into the guild.

He had already finished the previous book. This time, he wanted to look up information on Holy Light Magic.

Cain believed that his magic was not appearing in this world for the first time. Only by learning more about it could he further develop his magic.

Wakaba stood before the request board, looking conflicted. He had originally wanted to drink with his best buddy, Macao.

Unexpectedly, Macao had gone out on a job. Drinking alone was far too boring, so Wakaba decided to take a request as well.

After searching for a while, he finally found an escort request with manageable difficulty and fairly good pay. Its only drawback was that it would take a rather long time.

While registering the request at the counter, Wakaba saw Cain enter with dark circles under his eyes and asked in surprise, "What's wrong with you, Cain? Didn't you sleep last night?"

"Yeah, I didn't rest well yesterday, but it's nothing serious." Cain swallowed the last bite of his ham-and-chicken bread roll, then asked curiously, "Uncle Wakaba, you actually take requests?"

Cain's doubt made Wakaba rather unhappy. "Hey, do you think all I do is drink?"

When Cain nodded, Wakaba felt it was necessary to restore his image in the newcomer's eyes.

"I'm one of the guild's old-timers. I only drink because there usually aren't any requests worth my effort. If there's a suitable request, I'll definitely take it."

With that, he ignored Cain, held his head high, and left the guild.

Cain clicked his tongue in amazement. At that moment, Cana came over and whispered, "Actually, it's because Macao went out on a request, and Wakaba had no drinking buddy, so he decided to take a job."

"That's what I thought." After chatting with Cana for a few moments, Cain headed toward the library. Seeing his condition, Makarov understood that Cain had already emerged from his grief.

Cain searched the library for a long time but could not find any books about Holy Light Magic. He did find quite a few books on Light Element Magic, however.

"Why doesn't such a huge library have a librarian?" Cain grumbled inwardly.

Right, if he couldn't find anything in the library, he could ask Grandma Porlyusica. But Grandma Porlyusica did not like people visiting too often. Hmm, what should he do?

Cain quickly came up with an idea: he could give Grandma Porlyusica some medicinal herbs, then ask her a few questions while he was there.

Surely Grandma Porlyusica would not refuse, right?

As someone from China, Cain was perfectly adept at handling social etiquette.

However, Cain was not in a hurry to look through the books on medicinal herbs. After all, he had just returned from there yesterday; going again today would seem a little too strange.

He picked up the books on Light Element Magic and magic theory that he had found earlier and began reading.

Cain opened the book on magic theory and was instantly drawn in by its contents. It said:

"Casting magic requires constructing a magic circle, and a magic circle consists of three parts: the core array, the middle array, and the outer array."

"The so-called core is the essence of the magic being used. For example, the core of fire magic is fire, while the core of water magic is water."

"The middle section adds effects to the core. For example, if the core is fire and the middle section adds explosion, then the resulting fire magic will explode upon striking its target."

"The final outer section determines the form of the magic. For example, if the outer form is set as a fireball, then together with the previous core and middle section, the result will be an explosive fireball."

"A magic's core array can only have one component, but the middle and outer arrays can have multiple. The more middle and outer arrays added, the greater the consumption of magic power."

"However, that does not mean more middle and outer arrays are always better. The more of them you add, the greater the chance of failure."

Seeing this, Cain could not help thinking of computer programs. Each line of code was like a magic array, while a perfectly functioning program was like a magic circle capable of casting magic.

And once there was too much code, it could easily cause bugs. At best, the program would malfunction; at worst, the entire program would crash.

By now, Cain had gained a general understanding of magic. Looking at the simple magic circle in his hand, he muttered, "Because I awakened Holy Light Magic on my own, I already have a core array. I don't need to learn one separately; I only need to learn middle and outer arrays."

Flipping to the back, Cain saw a sentence left by the book's owner: "The above applies only to most elemental magic, not all magic."

"Looks like the person who wrote this book was pretty rigorous."

Stretching lazily, Cain realized that he had spent the entire day reading without noticing.