Ed's Training and Mira's Departure

"Let's wait a little longer. Since I've found the weakness, I should overcome it. Besides, I'm confident in my talent~ It probably won't take more than a few days. Once I finish this training, we can go together." After thinking it over, Ed still turned down Mira.

Seeing Mira standing beside him with a slightly unhappy expression, Ed wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his head against her lower abdomen. His muffled voice followed. "Don't be mad. I promise that once I finish training, I'll accompany you on missions. After that, I'll do every mission with you~"

"I don't want that. Who said I wanted you following me all the time..." Mira rolled her eyes at Ed, but she did not push him away. Instead, she gently stroked his hair. "In a few days, I'll be leaving with Elfman and Lisanna. Once you finish training, remember to come back for meals. Don't stay out too late."

"Mm! My girlfriend really is the one who dotes on me most~" Ed said cheerfully.

"Um... Sister Mira... Brother Ed, I know your relationship is stable, but could you not be so lovey-dovey even while eating? You're making the food lose its flavor! Right, Brother Elfman?" Lisanna, feeling as though she had just swallowed a huge mouthful of sugar water, grabbed Elfman and began protesting against Mira and Ed.

Elfman also said, "That's right, that's right. Lisanna's right."

"Ha, fine. Next time, I'll pick a time when neither of you is around." Smiling, Ed released Mira, and amid Lisanna's protests, Mira sat down and started eating as well.

"Come to think of it, you seem to have been getting pretty close to Natsu lately... What, are you jealous because Mira has me?" Even while eating, Ed could not stay quiet and started teasing Lisanna.

"I'm not jealous~ Though, I've been so proactive, but that blockhead Natsu... It would be nice if he were more like you, Brother Ed..." Lisanna looked as though she had a stomach full of grievances. "He even wanted Sister Mira to take him on missions with her. I don't want to take him along unless he begs me next time. Hmph~"

"That's right, don't take him. He made my little sister upset, so from now on, I'll beat him up every time I see him." Mira spoke with an angry expression, but the slight upward curve of her lips made it obvious that she was only teasing Lisanna.

"No! Ah... I mean, there's no need to beat him up every time you see him... He didn't really make me mad... I'm eating. I'm ignoring you two." Lisanna hurriedly spoke up, but under the teasing gazes of Ed and Mira, her voice grew softer and softer. Then she suddenly lowered her head and ate without saying another word.

"By the way, Elfman, when you get back, do you want Mira and me to help you make a training plan? You're a man, after all. You need to protect your sisters." Seeing how quiet Elfman had been, Ed decided to train him a little. With that physique, being this mild-mannered was simply too mismatched.

"Really, Ed?" The moment Elfman heard that, he perked right up. After all, having the guild's two S-Class Mages help him train would definitely be much more effective than working out alone.

"Can we start after I return from this mission?" Elfman looked at Mira and Ed with shining eyes. "Sure~" Ed indicated that he had no problem with it.

Mira said with some concern, "The two of us are going to make a training plan for Elfman? I'm not very good at that."

"Don't worry, Mira. It's simple. Fight Elfman a few more times, find his weaknesses and the areas where he can improve, then train accordingly. Besides, Elfman isn't that fragile. Right?" Seeing Elfman's serious expression, Ed spoke to Mira.

"That's right, Sis. You've always been the one protecting Lisanna and me since we were little. Now that we've grown up, I want to protect you and Lisanna too!" Elfman clenched his right fist and thumped his chest as he shouted, "As the man of this family, I want to stand in front of you when danger comes!"

"Well said, Elfman." Ed looked fully approving, and seeing this, Mira stopped worrying and agreed right away.

"You'd better be mentally prepared. If you think about giving up too easily when the time comes, I won't let you off lightly."

"Don't worry, Sis! I definitely won't give up halfway!" Elfman shouted, looking utterly fired up.

As time passed and the moon climbed high into the sky, Ed left Mira's home. Mira walked him to the intersection, and after a farewell hug and goodnight kiss, Ed used Flying Thunder God to return to his dormitory and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Over the next few days, Ed practiced storing magic power. On the morning of the third day, he finally succeeded. "That's done too. Next, I just need to get familiar with using these two together. Come to think of it, Mira seems to be leaving today. I should go see them off first, or it'll be troublesome if she gets angry later." In high spirits after making initial progress in his training, Ed headed for the station. After waiting there for a while, he saw Mira and the others arrive with their luggage to catch the train.

"Ed? Weren't you training?" Mira was delighted to see Ed appear, though she also asked in confusion.

"I happened to make some progress, and the timing worked out, so I came to see you off." Ed opened his arms toward Mira, and she immediately threw herself into his embrace. "Watch what you eat while you're out, and pay attention to the weather. Don't be too impulsive when doing missions..." Ed began giving Mira careful reminders.

"Oh, stop talking already. I know all that. I'm an S-Class Mage with more experience than you, so you should show your senior some respect." Mira grew a little annoyed by Ed's nagging and wriggled about in his arms to show her displeasure.

"All right, I won't say any more. By the way, what mission are you doing?" Ed soothingly patted Mira's head and asked casually.

"It's just an S-Class mission to subjugate magical beasts. Some Beast King or something. Before Demon Mira, won't it be easy to catch? A tiny Beast King, easily handled~ All right, we should get going. Wait for us to come back~"

"Have a safe trip." Ed waved goodbye to Mira, then returned to the back mountain and continued practicing how to make his stored magic power resonate with his own magic power.

With Ed's diligent practice, he finally became proficient in using this combined technique. Looking at the golden patterns on his body, Ed thought, I'll call this Sage Mode. It has nothing to do with sages, but it's my magic, so I make the rules~

After achieving results in training Sage Mode, Ed did not stop. He continued training, but this time he simply activated Sage Mode to adapt to all the changes in himself under this state.

In this state, the golden patterns produced by magic power resonance were not merely decorative. They were an external manifestation of increased magic power intensity. As the resonating magic power was consumed, the patterns gradually faded until he exited Sage Mode.

That day, Ed was still adapting to this mode while thinking about Mira, who had left on her mission around three days ago. It's already been three days. She should be nearly done, right? Once Mira comes back, we can go on missions together. This will be my first mission after becoming an S-Class Mage~

Ed's mind wandered wildly when, all of a sudden, a call from magic power came from somewhere far away.

"This feeling is?"