Another Draw

Makarov shook his head helplessly. Those little brats had all grown up and developed minds of their own.

Honestly, the moment he saw the newspaper, he had been terrified. Even though he later saw that Qi Yan had defeated the evil dragon, he was still shaken by the close call.

Dragons were legendary creatures.

Yet when he saw Qi Yan win the Swordsman Tournament and protect the people of an entire city, he also felt immensely proud.

Qi Yan and Erza sheepishly slipped back into the crowd.

"Qi Yan! Qi Yan! You really defeated a Giant Dragon?! Did it mention where Igneel is?"

Natsu immediately ran over and asked Qi Yan. He had been searching for Igneel all these years, but had never found him.

Qi Yan shook his head. "No. And it might not have known Igneel either. It had been sealed for four hundred years, and after being released, it came to take revenge on humanity."

Qi Yan knew that Igneel was inside Natsu's body, creating antibodies for him, but he could not say that. It would be hard to explain how he knew such a thing.

Besides, if Natsu found out, he might just stab himself in the stomach. It was better not to invite that kind of trouble.

Gray complained, "Qi Yan, aren't you a little too unlucky? You've taken two jobs, and both times the mission got upgraded."

"Unlucky? I think I'm pretty lucky. After all, the reward for completing an S-Rank Mission is higher."

"..."

There was no way to continue this conversation. That was far too much of a humblebrag.

Elfman asked, "Qi Yan, what exactly is your Take Over Magic? Back then, it looked like you used Demon Soul like my sister, but how can you also Take Over a swordsman?"

His sister's Take Over Magic was Demon Soul, his was Beast Soul, and his younger sister used Animal Soul. But Qi Yan clearly did not belong to any of those types.

Everyone else was also extremely curious and turned to look at Qi Yan. The forms he Took Over seemed far too powerful; he could even slay Giant Dragons.

As for that question, Qi Yan had already prepared an answer. "What I Take Over is the souls of heroic spirits from other worlds."

"Otherworldly Heroic Spirit Souls?!"

Confusion filled everyone's eyes.

Qi Yan explained, "You may not know this, but besides our world, there are actually many other worlds. My magic Takes Over the heroic spirits who died in those worlds."

Erza asked, "Then Yoriichi Tsugikuni and Ulquiorra, the ones you Took Over, truly existed as well?"

Qi Yan nodded. "That's right! Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the strongest Demon Slayer Corps swordsman in his world..."

Qi Yan began telling everyone Yoriichi Tsugikuni's story. Having seen Yoriichi Tsugikuni's memories, he knew far more details than the anime had shown.

Suddenly!

Elfman burst into tears. "Woooooo!! Mr. Yoriichi Tsugikuni is too pitiful!!!"

"Waaah! Yes! Mr. Yoriichi Tsugikuni's life was truly tragic! He was considered an omen of misfortune from childhood, his father even wanted to kill him and demanded that he be sent to a temple to become a monk when he turned ten. Before he was seven, he had not even spoken a single word. His mother, who loved him most, died; his wife and child were murdered by demons; even his older brother became a demon. It's so tragic! Those demons are absolutely horrible!"

Mira also burst into tears.

The others felt their noses sting to varying degrees as well.

They had never imagined that there could be a world as cruel as one where demons ate people.

"What about Ulquiorra?"

Someone asked curiously. They had never seen Yoriichi Tsugikuni, but Qi Yan had displayed Ulquiorra's power at the guild.

"Ulquiorra's story is relatively simpler. He lived in a place called Hueco Mundo, and Hollows could probably be considered a kind of evil spirit."

"Evil spirits?!"

Everyone was startled.

"Yes. There, Hollows devour each other to grow stronger..."

Qi Yan gave a brief introduction to Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra's life had actually been very simple. Born with a different color from his kind, he had been ostracized. Relying on his own strength, he steadily grew into a Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande, and had even completed his Arrancar transformation on his own before meeting Aizen.

He followed Aizen only because he wanted to understand the meaning of his own existence.

Qi Yan's introduction to Ulquiorra was simple, but everyone was captivated by the worldview of Bleach. They had not expected such a wondrous world to exist.

After that, the guild members asked about the Swordsman Tournament, the monster tide, and the Giant Dragon. Qi Yan briefly explained those as well, satisfying their curiosity.

Finally, as it was getting late, everyone gradually dispersed. After the Fairy Tail Guild closed in the evening, Qi Yan, Mira, and Elfman went home together.

On one hand, it was because they were headed the same way. On the other, he wanted to receive Goddess's Blessing.

Before long, Qi Yan arrived home first.

"Mira, can you do that again?"

"That?"

Mira was slightly stunned, then quickly realized what Qi Yan meant.

"Qi Yan, why do you always ask me to do that?" Mira asked curiously.

"Well! You know my magic is Heroic Spirit Summoning. I want to summon heroic spirits from other worlds, but the chances of summoning a powerful one are very low. So I want Goddess's Blessing to increase the odds of summoning powerful heroic spirits."

"I see!"

Then Mira's face reddened slightly. "But I'm not a goddess. I can't possibly increase your luck."

"No! In my eyes, you are a true goddess!"

Qi Yan looked straight at Mira with a serious expression. Two ten-pulls had produced two golden legends—if that was not a goddess, what was?

Mira felt a little embarrassed by Qi Yan's blunt words and sincere gaze.

"O-okay! Qi Yan, I hope you have good luck today too!"

Mira smiled like a flower, and her pure smile seemed to cleanse Qi Yan's soul.

Ding! Obtained Goddess's Blessing! Luck +100!

"YES!"

Qi Yan clenched his fist. With the goddess's blessing, he was definitely going to pull gold tonight!

Mira said shyly, "Qi Yan, we'll be going now. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow!"

Qi Yan stood at the door and waved. After the two left, he turned and returned to his own home.

Before he knew it, he had been away for nearly half a month. Sure enough, nowhere was as comfortable as his own home.

Qi Yan happily took a hot bath, greatly easing the exhaustion from his journey.

Once everything was settled, Qi Yan sat on the bed and opened the system interface.

"Let's begin!"