Year X775, somewhere in Ishgar on Earth-land's Eastern Continent.
A massive airship soared through the sky. In a secret chamber aboard it, a tall old man wearing an eyepatch issued an order to a ten-year-old boy in a hood and mask.
"Blanc, you will go and bring the Black Wizard Zeref back to me."
Blanc slowly raised his head. His dark eyes met Hades's piercing gaze without a flicker of emotion.
"Yes, Master!"
After receiving his orders, Blanc walked steadily toward the door. Only when he reached a corner in the dim corridor and confirmed that no one was around did his still, expressionless eyes finally regain their spark.
He raised a hand and gently pressed it against his faintly heaving chest.
"Sending a ten-year-old to find Zeref? Why not send me to fight Sukuna while you're at it!"
"But this works out perfectly. I can leave this damned guild with a legitimate excuse. I'm finally going to be free!"
Blanc was a transmigrator, and unfortunately, he had joined Grimoire Heart at a very young age.
What had happened just now was that Grimoire Heart's master had suddenly had a flash of inspiration, recalling Zeref's close relationship with Fairy Tail's first master.
If he wanted to find Zeref, his former guild-Fairy Tail-was an important lead.
And so he had assigned Blanc, his most trusted member, to infiltrate Fairy Tail and investigate Zeref's whereabouts.
After all, Blanc was young enough to easily earn Makarov's trust. Having grown up in Grimoire Heart, he also enjoyed Hades's complete confidence.
When Blanc transmigrated into this world, he had been reborn as a baby. And when his awareness awakened, he discovered that he was out in the wilderness.
At first, Blanc had been utterly dumbfounded. What the hell was going on? Had I been abandoned right after birth? Or had I come here in my own body, only to regress into a baby? He had no way to know the details, but one thing was certain: if this continued, he would become a wild beast's next meal.
Fortunately, just as despair set in, his cheat arrived. Blanc named it the talent system. Its function was to randomly draw one ability unique to each new world he entered, giving him a starter Pokémon of sorts.
The ridiculous part was that, after all these years, he had discovered that this cheat could only draw abilities, not transport him to other worlds. As a result, it had been nothing but an ornament for all that time. What a garbage, half-finished system!
Fortunately, this world counted as a new world too. Shortly after becoming a baby, Blanc discovered his cheat, drew an ability, and pulled a golden legendary-"infinite magic."
The instant he drew [infinite magic], an utterly terrifying surge of magical power erupted from baby Blanc.
The violent tide of magic snapped the surrounding trees, tore apart the clouds overhead, and caused the sky and earth to change color over a vast area.
But that commotion also attracted an airship that happened to be passing nearby, prompting Grimoire Heart to investigate.
Fortunately, although [infinite magic] could provide an endless mana bar, its vessel, Blanc, was only a fragile infant at the time. It was like drawing water from the ocean through a tiny pipe: only a trickle could flow through at once.
As for the initial upheaval, it was more like the flashy special effects that played when pulling an SSR. Only when Blanc trained his own magic capacity to a sufficient level would he truly be able to unleash its power.
Thus, when Grimoire Heart's members found Blanc, they never realized that he was responsible for those special effects. They merely took him for an ordinary abandoned child with a decent talent for magic and brought him back to raise as a future guild member.
Being taken in by Grimoire Heart had saved his life, at least, solving his immediate survival problem.
Only after living in Grimoire Heart for a while did Blanc learn that he had transmigrated into the world of Fairy Tail.
The good news was that he had watched the anime in his previous life. He liked the friendship among the main cast and their thrilling adventures, and thought this world was wonderful. The bad news was that he had been forced into a trial membership on the villains' side.
Moreover, he had only watched as far as the Tartaros arc in his previous life. His knowledge of what followed mostly came from scattered short video clips. He had some advantage from knowing the plot, but not much.
Fortunately, he had cheats, so things should be manageable. Yet while infinite magic was absurdly powerful, it could not make Blanc invincible overnight.
The ability was more like a power bank containing endless magic. How much it could output at once was still limited by Blanc's own magic capacity.
It was essentially unlimited firepower. If Blanc himself was a little pistol, he would have infinite bullets. If he was an Italian cannon, he would have infinite artillery shells!
And when Blanc first arrived, he was not even a little pistol. He had yet to learn a single spell with which to use his magic. His future was promising, but he still needed to keep his head down and survive.
Life in Grimoire Heart, however, really was not pleasant. To sum it up in one sentence: "I often feel out of place among you because I'm not twisted enough."
Just look at the sort of people in Grimoire Heart. Its master, Hades, had fallen into darkness, his heart warped beyond recognition, and firmly believed that absolute power and the depths of black magic held the ultimate answer to the world.
Through his relentless brainwashing and psychological manipulation, he had turned the guild's members into a pack of twisted, arrogant people who treated human lives as worthless.
Every last one of them had swallowed Hades's delusions about the great magic world. A world where anyone could grant their wishes at will? If something that good really existed, why wouldn't Zeref do it himself? Why would he leave it to you?
Everyone was blinded by that empty goal. They had no sense of camaraderie and committed murder, arson, and plunder without a second thought. In that environment, being stabbed in the back by one of their own at any moment would hardly be surprising.
Only because Blanc possessed an adult's mind, while Hades and the others used manipulation intended for children on him, had he avoided being successfully brainwashed into a lunatic who placed no value on human life.
But to fit into an environment utterly incompatible with the upstanding citizen he had been in his previous life, Blanc lived under constant pressure. To keep others from noticing anything wrong with his expressions, he always wore a hood and mask, afraid that a slip in his composure might cause trouble.
An environment changed a person. If he stayed in a place like this long enough, there was no guarantee that he would remain unaffected.
What was more, Hades was the creator of the infinite magic source, Lumen Histoire. Since Blanc was also a source of infinite magic, Hades might notice something amiss. If Blanc was exposed one day, he might well end up as a research subject.
That was why Blanc had always wanted to escape. But defecting from such a powerful organization was no easy feat. If they hunted him down, the still-young Blanc would have little ability to fight back. He could only study magic while waiting for an opportunity.
He carefully pretended to be an otherwise ordinary child with exceptional magical talent, scraping by in Grimoire Heart.
Now that this mission to infiltrate Fairy Tail has suddenly appeared, it couldn't be better. I'll accept the mission and go undercover. As for whether I ever come back, that's another matter!
Hmm, if Hades notices something wrong and comes knocking someday, I'll say I used memory magic to erase my memories of being a Grimoire Heart member so I could go undercover perfectly. Surely Makarov won't send me back to infiltrate Grimoire Heart!
Magnolia, Kingdom of Fiore.
At the end of the street stood an imposing three-story, villa-style building.
Its roof featured a dome topped with a flag. Three prominent flags hung along the third-floor exterior, and above its heart-shaped gate was a huge, artfully designed sign bearing bold, flowing letters: [FAIRY TAIL].
Standing before the entrance, Blanc felt both emotional and excited. He had finally seen the legendary Fairy Tail. He had already removed his hood and mask, revealing a delicate-featured little boy with black hair and dark eyes. Anticipation welled up inside him.
"This is where I should've started."
Blanc entered the building. The first-floor hall held numerous wooden tables and chairs. Scattered groups sat around the tables, competing over drinks and chatting loudly.
At a table near the entrance, a man with a pompadour and sunglasses and another with blue, spiky hair were arguing about something with a scantily clad boy standing beside them.
The hall was far from quiet, but compared with the daily, building-wrecking chaos Blanc remembered, it still felt a little lacking.
That made sense. It was only the year 775, and Erza, Natsu, Mira, and the others had yet to join. Fairy Tail was not yet Fiore's number-one guild either, so things were a little less lively.
Walking down the aisle, Blanc headed straight for the counter.
An exceptionally short old man in a jester's hat sat atop the counter, holding a wooden mug. Seeing Blanc approach, he blinked in puzzlement.
"Child, what brings you to Fairy Tail? Are you here to post a request?"
"Hello, sir. I'd like to join the guild! Is this where I apply?"
Makarov was slightly surprised. He studied the quiet, rather composed child before him, scratched his head in consternation, and chuckled.
"Haha, I'm Fairy Tail's master-Makarov. I am indeed the person to ask about joining... but joining a guild isn't a game of make-believe. A wizard's work is dangerous!"
"Where's your family? Do they know you came here? If you ran away after arguing with your parents, I can't simply take you in. They must be worried sick."
Blanc remained calm, replying casually as though discussing some minor matter that had nothing to do with him.
"You don't need to worry about that. I have no family in this world. That's why I need to join a guild and take on requests to support myself."
Makarov paused. Looking at this child, all alone yet seemingly unconcerned, a trace of instinctive concern entered his eyes.
Then he set down his mug, broke into a broad grin, and hopped nimbly off the counter.
"Of course you can join. Fairy Tail always welcomes children who want to become part of our family."
As he spoke, Makarov drew a magic stamp bearing the guild's emblem from inside his clothes.
"Come, tell me your name. And what color would you like? Where on your body should I place Fairy Tail's mark?"
Blanc raised his right hand in response.
"My name is Blanc. White, please, on the back of my right hand."
Makarov deftly pressed the stamp against the back of Blanc's hand. A white Fairy Tail emblem instantly took shape, giving off a faint magical glow.
On that ordinary afternoon, Blanc became a member of Fairy Tail without a hitch.
"Umm... this feels awfully casual. Don't you need to test my magic or anything?"
Seeing Blanc's serious yet slightly bewildered little face, Makarov blinked before suddenly throwing his head back and bursting into utterly unrestrained laughter.
"Ha... hahaha! Child, what do you think this place is? A magic academy's admissions office?"
The old man's sudden laughter left Blanc's ears ringing. A rare flicker of speechlessness crossed his eyes.
He blinked, his expression perfectly earnest.
"...Isn't it? I thought you'd at least check whether I was a wizard, or have me write an application or something."
"The magic coming from you is proof enough that you're a wizard. I won't ask where you came from. As long as you bear that mark, you're part of Fairy Tail's family. Anyone who dares lay a hand on you will have the entire guild to answer to."
As he spoke, Makarov hopped nimbly back onto the counter, raised his mug high, and shouted to everyone in the hall.
"Hey-listen up, all of you! I have a big announcement to make today!"
The clamor of drinking contests and conversation briefly subsided.
A little girl in a green dress seated farther away looked over. At the table near the entrance, the man with the pompadour and sunglasses lifted his chin. The blue-haired man still had his drink at his lips, while the half-naked boy beside them rose onto his toes to peer toward the counter.
"Starting today, Fairy Tail has a new family member! His name is Blanc! He's ten years old, so look after him!"
"Ten?!" Macao, the blue-haired man, nearly choked on his drink. "Master, you've taken in another kid?"
"What do you mean, 'another'?" Makarov glared at him, then chuckled. "I call it having an eye for talent. Blanc, everyone here is your comrade now."
Wakaba, the man with the pompadour and sunglasses, whistled and tipped his chin toward Blanc.
"Hey, kid, you're pretty composed. Unlike certain people who got into a huge fight the moment they joined."
"Who are you talking about?!" Gray, the boy beside him, immediately bristled.
"All right, I'll repeat the guild's rule-there are no outsiders in Fairy Tail. From the moment that emblem is stamped on you, you have each other's backs! Blanc, that goes for you too. Everyone, give him a welcome!"
"Yeah! Welcome!"
Scattered cheers rose around the hall. Though hardly in unison, they washed over him with warmth. Some waved him over, some raised their mugs in welcome, and others smiled and nodded at Blanc.
Standing beside the counter and facing everyone, Blanc could not tell whether he felt nervous or excited. Smiling, he gave a slightly awkward little bow and spoke loudly.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Blanc. I look forward to being part of the guild!"