Chapter 8

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The night had grown deeper...

Since night had already fallen when they arrived at their destination, after a brief discussion with the middle-aged man from the Council, Noah and the others decided to rest for the night and execute the mission to infuse the Lake of Rituals with magic, activating it, the next day.

Laxus said nothing about this, simply leaving Noah and Erza behind to head to the inn the middle-aged man from the Council had arranged for them to rest. Erza also left silently, her destination unknown.

This team, which was quite incompatible in every aspect, was unique, but Noah had more or less anticipated this situation and was not bothered by it. After placing his luggage in the inn room, he took a large number of beads for practicing magic control and left the inn on his own.

This was a city that was very unfamiliar to Noah.

If another eleven-year-old child were here, they would certainly not dare to run around recklessly. Noah was the same; to avoid any accidents, even though he wanted to practice his magic control, he did not stray far from the inn. He chose a small river that could be clearly seen from the inn's entrance and headed in that direction.

However, to Noah's surprise, the riverbank had already been taken by someone else.

"Ha——Ha——!"

There, a young girl with bright red hair, visible even in the night, stood alone on the riverbank. She wore a simple dress, an icy armor over it, and a medical eye patch over one eye. In her hand, she held a short knight's sword that matched her stature, swinging it with a stern expression.

"Erza?"

Seeing the red-haired girl swinging her knight's sword on the riverbank, Noah was taken aback for a moment, then fell silent and walked to the riverbank, stopping at a distance from Erza.

"Hmm?" Erza, who was continuously swinging her knight's sword, naturally noticed Noah's arrival. She stared blankly as he walked to a spot not far from her on the riverbank, picked up a handful of beads, and scattered them into the sky.

Before Erza could react, a powerful magic suddenly surged from Noah's body, swirling like a gust of wind, carrying a faint glow, and spreading toward the beads scattered in the sky.

In the next instant, many of the beads were enveloped by the magic and floated around Noah, while others fell to the ground or were deflected.

Erza did not know what Noah was doing, but she clearly felt the magic surging from him, which was far stronger than her own. She was instantly filled with shock and surprise.

At this moment, Erza recalled Makarov and Laxus' comments about Noah from the morning.

"Unable to use magic, yet possessing a power so strong that even the Guild Master is amazed..." Erza frowned slightly, recalling the scene from the previous day when Noah left a cheese cake for her without a word and then left.

On a whim, Erza sheathed her knight's sword, which she had swung countless times, and walked toward Noah.

Noah, who was still diligently practicing his magic control, heard a stern voice from behind him at one point.

"Why don't you learn magic with such powerful magic?"

The magic surging from Noah's body paused for a moment, then slowly retreated into his body, causing the beads floating around him to fall to the ground with a series of sounds.

Noah turned around and looked at Erza, who stood behind him, holding a knight's sword, her one visible eye fixed on him, devoid of any emotion. He shook his head and answered Erza's question.

"Because I have such powerful magic, Grandpa doesn't allow me to learn magic!"

"The Guild Master doesn't allow it?" Erza was taken aback.

"Why?"

"I haven't been able to fully control my magic yet!" Noah said softly.

"Grandpa says that using such unstable magic to cast spells, if the magic goes out of control, the spell will also go out of control, and at that time, I will bring great disaster to the people around me!"

Hearing Noah's explanation, Erza understood Makarov's intentions.

Indeed, with such powerful magic, once Noah learned to use magic, his power would certainly surpass that of ordinary mages!

In that case, if Noah's magic went out of control, it would indeed bring unimaginable disaster!

Erza, who was thinking this, did not know that even without learning to use magic, Noah's magic was powerful enough to cause disaster through sheer force alone!

However, with Makarov's strength, dealing with Noah's outbursts before he learned magic was still manageable. But once Noah learned magic and went out of control, even Makarov would lack the confidence to suppress him!

Therefore, Makarov had earnestly requested that Noah practice controlling his magic until he could handle it with ease before learning magic, which led Noah to spend a year practicing magic control.

And even after a year of practice, Noah had only just reached a barely satisfactory level of control over his magic!

It was clear how powerful Noah's magic truly was.

"But..." Erza frowned.

"Your brother seems to disagree with your decision not to learn magic, doesn't he?"

"His situation is a bit special..." Noah chuckled bitterly.

"Because of certain things, he is almost blindly pursuing power. So, in his view, my decision to give up such easily obtainable great power must be quite annoying."

"What about you?" Erza stared intently at Noah.

"Don't you want to gain great power?"

"Me?" Noah met Erza's intense gaze and smiled suddenly.

"If this power is used to harm others, I would rather not have it!"

Erza's heart trembled slightly, and her previously emotionless eyes began to waver.

"Grandpa said that the power of magic is also the power of the heart and the soul. A person's magic can reveal the essence of their heart and soul!" Noah said, word by word.

"So, he hopes I can use this power to protect the people around me and strive in that direction!"

After saying this, Noah extended his hand and, under Erza's gaze, gently touched her cold cheek, and the eye covered by the medical eye patch.

"You are the same..."

"Even if one eye is covered, don't let your heart be covered. Even with just one eye, please use it to see clearly..."

"The people around you..."

The gentle words and the warm hand on her cheek made Erza's frozen heart tremble heavily. When she came to her senses, the person in front of her was gone, and the warmth on her cheek had disappeared.

However, on the ground in front of Erza, a strawberry cake was placed there, its sweet aroma filling her nostrils, leaving her stunned for a long time, unable to react.

The night continued to deepen...

...

The next day, Noah woke up early, changed into a new set of clothes, put on a jacket, opened the door of his room, and walked out of the inn, heading downstairs.

The first floor of the inn was similar to a typical bar, with wooden tables scattered around, each with a drink. Many people had risen early, some even staying up all night, drinking and chatting, making the place lively.

At one of the wooden tables, Laxus sat with his feet on the table, wearing a magical device that played music. Seeing Noah come down the stairs, he sneered and stood up, saying the same words as when they set out the previous day.

"Let's get this boring mission over with!"

Just then, Erza also came down the stairs, her gaze immediately fixing on Noah. Rarely, she nodded at him, a form of greeting.

Noah smiled and walked out of the inn.