Learning Some New Tricks

After saying goodbye to Mira, Ed returned to the dormitory. He was like a struggling webnovel author who suddenly discovered that yesterday's bookmarks, likes, comments, and update requests had all hit 999+, while his daily earnings had broken into three digits. Excitement and exhilaration surged through him like the endless Yangtze, then overflowed like the Yellow River, utterly unstoppable.

"Mira... agreed to date me, right...?" Ed stared fixedly at his palms, his hands opening and closing unconsciously as he remained completely dazed.

After carefully recalling everything that had happened, Ed still found it unbelievable. His thoughts began running wild. I'm sure I've never offended Mystogan. He wouldn't use illusions to mess with me... So... that was all real! Mira is my girlfriend!

As an aside, being overly excited was terrible for sleep quality. Just like Ed, who kept letting his imagination run wild until after three in the morning before finally managing to fall asleep.

"The girl's name is Michelle!" With that strange bit of sleep talk, Ed suddenly opened his eyes and looked up. "Yep, familiar ceiling." He washed up as if sleepwalking, then drifted into the guild like a ghost.

"Morning, Ed. Wow... you look awful... Are you okay...?" Levy, sitting by a table, greeted Ed when she saw him, only to be startled by his haggard face and dark circles.

"What happened? Didn't you rest well? Maybe you shouldn't work today?"

"You could say I didn't rest well... And you could say something happened too..." Ed pondered how to casually yet subtly show off the fact that he and Mira were now dating.

"Morning, Ed." "Oh! Morning, Ed!" "Morn... What kind of look is that?" The moment Ed heard Lisanna's voice, he turned around and saw Mira and her siblings arriving. Lisanna and Elfman had just finished greeting him when Ed's abrupt turn startled Mira, who had been about to say hello.

"Wow... you look so worn out. Are you all right?" Mira looked at Ed's ghostly appearance with concern.

Seeing Mira looking at him so worriedly, Ed suddenly perked up. He wrapped her in a bear hug. "W-Wait... what are you doing?!" Mira was caught completely off guard by the sudden attack.

She wanted to hug him back, but she was also embarrassed. Her hands hovered awkwardly behind Ed's back.

Ed buried his face in Mira's shoulder and took a deep breath. "Mm~ All right, Mira energy replenished. Revived!" He suddenly became energetic, as though he had downed some miracle tonic.

"What kind of weird energy is that...?" Mira said helplessly. She gently hugged Ed once, then pulled herself free from his arms. "That's enough, okay?" She was still a little embarrassed.

Levy watched the scene from nearby, and the book in her hands slipped to the floor without her noticing. She immediately grabbed Lisanna and began whispering to her.

Lisanna had been about to speak when Mira silenced her with a look, leaving her no choice but to brush Levy off.

Without an answer, Levy's eyes practically began to sparkle. She stared intently at Mira and Ed, her face plainly saying, I'm curious. I want to know what really happened.

"Anyway... that's that. I'm going to work first." Like a startled rabbit, Mira quickly grabbed an easy request from the job board and dragged her younger brother and sister away, leaving Ed surrounded by a crowd.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Ed broke into a cold sweat under the wolfish gazes around him.

The girls were fine; most of them were simply bursting with gossip. But the remaining men were another matter. Their eyes are full of killing intent... Has an FFF Brigade branch made its way into Fairy Tail? Ed decided that retreating was the best option.

"If there's nothing else, I'll go do a job first." Ed casually tore down a delivery request and prepared to leave.

"Get him!" "Don't think you can run without explaining yourself!" "You actually made a move on Mira! Unforgivable!" "Burn! Burn! Burn!" Everyone rushed at him at once.

Ed immediately turned into a streak of golden light and vanished from the guild. "Tch! He got away." "We'll kill him when he comes back!" The crowd's fury only grew fiercer.

Using Flying Thunder God, Ed went straight to the farmland east of town. That was right—he had accepted another vegetable delivery job. After completing it with practiced ease, he headed to the guild library, intending to learn a few long-range attack spells.

"When I fought Bloodhand, Rasengan and Monster Strength alone still weren't quite enough... Let's see if I can find some other offensive magic to try." Ed browsed through the books in the library as he thought.

"Hey~ Ed, what are you looking for?" A clear voice suddenly called out from beside him. Ed looked over and saw Levy holding a book as she greeted him.

"Ed, what are you trying to find? I know this place really well~ Maybe I can help." Levy smiled cheerfully at him.

"I want to learn a few offensive spells. Whenever I fight, I always feel like I don't have enough ways to attack." Ed honestly explained what he had in mind.

"Offensive magic... Let me think... Are you looking for something like long-range attacks?" Levy thought for a moment, seeming to remember something.

"Mm-hm, offensive magic. Range doesn't really matter much, though. With Flying Thunder God, close or far isn't a big problem for me. I mainly want more options. It'd be best if I could use several different elements." Ed looked expectantly at this living library, waiting for her suggestion.

"The guild does have a record of an elemental magic~ It should suit what you want in terms of versatility." Levy stared at Ed and continued, "But would you be okay with that magic lacking any corresponding techniques?"

Ed considered it for a moment. "That should be fine." "All right, I can help you find that book, but if you want my help... you need to honestly explain exactly what's going on between you and Mira now!"

"Mm... We're dating." Ed gave her the answer directly.

"I knew it!" Having gotten the answer she wanted, Levy excitedly pulled out a little notebook and began firing questions at Ed nonstop, such as, "Who confessed first?" "How long have you been dating?" "What do you like about Mira?" and so on.

After Ed answered every question, Levy closed her notebook in satisfaction and led him to the other side of the library. "Here, this is the book about that elemental magic. I've read it before, but I never learned it. Put simply, this magic can transform magic power into different properties, like fire, water, wind, and so on. But it doesn't teach what attack methods each element should use, so basically nobody in the guild learns it."

"Oh! Okay, then this should suit me perfectly." Ed thought of all kinds of elemental techniques. "Once I study this thing, I should be able to boost my strength by a lot."

Ed sat down right on the floor and began reading the book.