Just Say Whether It Achieved the Effect

"This one was powerful, but it consumed an enormous amount of magic power." Ed picked up the grimoire on the left and placed it in front of him, then picked up the one on the right. "This one doesn't increase power, but it can increase the amount of magic power available."

"Wouldn't combining this with this do the trick?!" Feeling as though he had discovered some secret manual, Ed hurried off to report to Makarov.

"Old man, take a look at these two!" Ed handed the two books to Makarov. Makarov accepted them and glanced over them. "These two? I know them. If you master both and use them together, they can be quite useful. For you... they might work too."

"Then I'll train in these two. Come to think of it, hasn't anyone else noticed this?" Ed had been about to leave and begin training when something occurred to him. He asked, "Wouldn't this combination be pretty strong?"

"That's not it. Others have noticed it, but these kinds of magic are simply very difficult. It takes an ordinary person a long time to learn even one of them." Makarov took a sip of wine and answered casually.

"Besides, most Holder-type mages don't really need this sort of thing. Among Ability-type mages, those who specialize in offense usually already have abilities similar to this state-type magic. Most of the rest are like you—their magic itself barely involves attacking, so they have no similar abilities at all."

Makarov spoke calmly, then waved a hand. "All right. Now that you've found your direction, go train. You're an S-Class Mage now, after all. You need to know what direction to work toward."

"Okay, I understand." Ed nodded and headed for the mountain behind the town to begin his training.

Ed soon arrived at the back mountain. Looking at the two books in his hands, he decided to train in Magic Resonance first. After an entire morning, Ed had successfully memorized all the key points and was ready to put them into practice.

"Let's see... like this... then this... and then... Resonance!" Following the book's instructions, Ed released half of his magic power and guided it into resonance with the magic power remaining within his body.

Pale golden markings immediately appeared on Ed's body, spreading outward from around his eyes and taking the shape of eye shadow. Markings also appeared on both of his arms.

They formed circles starting from the backs of his hands, then stretched along his arms like ribbons all the way to his chest. The two trails met there, forming an egg-sized circular golden pattern that emitted a golden glow.

Ed walked to the stream and looked at his reflected resonant form in the water. "Hmm... this look feels awfully familiar... Isn't this Sage Mode? Hmm... the thing on my chest kind of looks like an energy indicator. Never mind that for now. Let's test the power after Resonance. I'll start with this one—Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Shaking his head to cast aside his wild thoughts, Ed opened his mouth and unleashed a sea of fire into the sky. Enhanced by Resonance, the flames he exhaled covered a far wider area, and their color changed from fiery red to a blazing bright orange that looked even hotter. The surging inferno shot toward the heavens as though it intended to ignite the entire sky.

The townspeople suddenly saw the mountain beside town erupt with towering flames like a volcano. Panicked, they rushed to the Fairy Tail guild for help.

"President Makarov! Help! That volcano erupted!"

"Since when did Magnolia have a volcano?" Makarov was utterly confused.

The nearby townspeople dragged Makarov outside and made him look at the sight of the sky seemingly burning. The moment Makarov stepped out and looked up at the sea of fire, before he could even make sense of his question—Since when was there a volcano there?—the flames dispersed.

Looking in the direction where the fire had vanished, Makarov recalled Ed taking two grimoires to the back mountain. Then he remembered the flames from Ed's fight with Laxus, flames that had been visible even from the ship. Gradually, he found the answer.

"Everyone, there's no need to worry. This is our guild's new S-Class Mage practicing magic. I'm very sorry for the trouble he's caused you. When he returns, I'll make sure to discipline him properly." Makarov immediately apologized to everyone. Hearing his explanation, the townspeople relaxed.

"A new S-Class? He's that strong?" "Wouldn't it be even better for our town to have such a powerful mage?" "He isn't the same type as Gildarts, is he...? How are we supposed to guard against fire?" Amid all sorts of discussions, the crowd dispersed.

"That sure caused a big scene, you brat. Still, learning it so quickly... his talent really is extraordinary." Stroking his beard, Makarov spoke with some satisfaction. Then an image suddenly flashed through his mind: Ed unleashing a sea of fire and burning down a city, a forest, or perhaps even destroying a dock. His whole expression turned sour.

"When he gets back, I have to strictly forbid him from using this move anywhere ordinary people are present!" Makarov clutched his chest and declared firmly.

On Ed's side, he had just successfully unleashed an enhanced Majestic Destroyer Flame. He was quite satisfied with the increase in power, but the magic power consumption really was too much to bear.

"Damn, the power's good. It feels like it increased three or four times, but this magic power drain is brutal... It feels like it uses twice as much as before..." Ed sensed the magic power remaining in his body.

"And activating it consumes half my magic power to begin with, so that means... four times the consumption?! Suddenly, this move doesn't seem as useful as I imagined. Four times the consumption for four times the power doesn't seem like a loss, but it doesn't really seem like much of a gain either..."

Ed had intended to try the Rasengan as well, but after thinking about it, setting aside the issue of power, the Rasengan was a technique that became stronger the more magic power he poured into it. If he used resonant magic power instead, its increase might be even greater than that of elemental magic.

For the sake of still having a mountain to train on in the future, Ed quietly gave up on testing it. After resting for a while and waiting for some of his magic power to recover, he began practicing the storage technique from the second grimoire.

"This seems pretty similar in concept to the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Come to think of it, the Strength of a Hundred Seal seems to be an application of sealing techniques... Later, I should find Freed and learn some formula magic from him. Maybe I can cobble together some kind of sealing technique? Forget it, I'll learn this first. Let's see... hmm... like this... then this... and then..."

Time flew by as Ed studied. The sun had already set, and the moon had risen.

Yet Ed still had not succeeded in storing his magic power. He had only vaguely grasped the slightest hint of the method, so he had no choice but to stop for now and head down the mountain to find Mira. After all, they had agreed to have dinner together, and honestly, he really liked Mira's beef stew.

Ed soon arrived at Mira's house. Familiar with the place, he entered, changed his shoes, washed his hands, and sat down to wait for the meal.

"How did it go today? Any results?" Mira asked Ed as she served the food.

"Yeah, I've already learned one of them. Once I get more familiar with it, I can try using it in actual combat, but the consumption is just too high." Thinking of Resonance's outrageous drain, Ed could not help shaking his head. "I'm planning to combine the two types of magic I picked this time, but I haven't succeeded with the second one yet."

"Do you want to put it aside for a while? You can't keep burying yourself in training all the time, can you? How about we take a job together? The two of us can bring Lisanna and Elfman along." Learning that Ed's training had made initial progress, Mira was delighted and once again invited him on a job.