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CHAPTER START---
---April, X769…
"What the hell?" Laxus yells while rolling across the grass. He tumbles to a stop and pushes off the ground with his hand, then collapses to his knees a moment later, struggling to catch his breath.
Laxus looks to see Oberon in the middle of the lakeside clearing, the noon sun beating down on them. And behind Oberon is the great lake behind the guildhall. They are many miles away to prevent any collateral damage or chaos from their training.
A decision Gildarts is more pleased with himself for making with each passing second. He, Macao and Wakaba sit on a toppled tree at the edge of the training field, enjoying their drinks and watching the battle.
"What happened to you?" Laxus forces himself to stand, betraying his burning lungs while wiping the blood from his lip. "How did you get this much stronger?"
Oberon smiles, taking a relaxed stance. "Months of back to back S-Class Jobs will do that. Hurry up and become S-Class so we can take some Jobs together."
Laxus chuckles. "Now you're just being a jerk. But yeah, I can't wait to be S-Class like you."
Laxus disappears, transformed into a bolt of yellow lightning and appearing beside Oberon faster than anyone could blink. Before Oberon could process this, Laxus's fist crashes into the side of his face, but Laxus disappears and rematerializes a few meters away, clutching his sprained wrist.
"Ahhh! What the hell!"
"Sorry sorry! Normally I lower the Barrier a bit but you've gotten a lot faster since I was gone. I couldn't react in time," Oberon rushes over to check on his friend.
"Yeah well you aren't the only one training," Laxus says through gritted teeth. "Just because you're going to be the Ace doesn't mean I can be weak. A Guildmaster has to be respected for their character, but power sure as heck helps."
"You'll be a great Guildmaster, but for now lets focus on this," Oberon holds Laxus's arm and uses Water Magic to create clear water, controlling it to wrap around Laxus's wrist. He then uses Ice Magic to freeze the water in place, hoping to prevent any swelling.
Laxus sighs with relief. "Thanks, that's a lot better."
"Yeah well that about the limit of how useful those Magics are. My efficiency is too low to make any more than that, or freeze more water than that at once."
Laxus gets up, holding his injured arm.
"It's more than useful!" Gildarts raises his glass, shaking it for the ice cubes to clink around. He then turns to Macao and Wakaba. "Remember to save some of that rum for Master Makarov."
"Oh yeah," Macao says. "He'll love this. Tastes even better knowing Oberon got it from pirates."
Macao and Gildarts look to Wakaba, seeing the man already half drunk and falling asleep beside them.
"Damn lightweight," Gildarts mutters before turning to Oberon and Laxus. "Alright I think that's enough sparring for now. Show us what else you've been up to, your majesty."
Laxus snickers while taking a seat beside Gildarts, who moves to bandage his wrist.
"Most of it was pretty boring. The things I fought was cool, and I saw some pretty fun towns. But as for Magics. I got the grasp on Fire, Ice, Water, Air, Wind, and a few others. But my affinity is so crappy that it takes a lot of Magic Energy to do anything with them.
If I tried to light Wakaba's pipe, it would take me the same amount of Magic Energy as one of Macao's big fireballs. But they are really useful for the properties they give the user. Fire and Ice help me resist heat and cold, water is useful for survival. I use Air to stay underwater longer by converting Magic Energy into breathable air. And I came across a few people using dust to hide from me, so I learned Wind Magic after that."
"Good call," Gildarts says. "Not being able to sense Magic Energy is still a blind spot. You've mostly got the defensive part covered, but you still need to rely on basics human senses to perceive targets. Getting rid of anything between you and the target is a solid move."
"Yeah but I'm limited a lot by some of the really good sensory Magics being Invasive Magic."
Oberon floats over to them, crossing his legs to sit in the air in front of them.
Macao takes a sip of his drink before speaking. "Invasive Magic? I'm not scholar like you and Master Makarov, but I don't think that's a thing."
"It's not," Oberon says. "That's just something I call the Magics that aren't really compatible with me. While I was away I figured out how Cosmic works and what it actually does, well, mostly."
Macao taps Wakaba away while Gildarts's expression shifts, becoming more focused now than during the reunion sparring match. "Some Magics have their own special properties. Fire and Ice Magics are hot and cold inherently, using them increases resistance to those things respectively because that hot or cold Magic Energy is constantly flowing through you. But Cosmic doesn't seem like that type. Are you sure?"
"Well I have a idea for it," Oberon takes out his journal from a storage card and flips through the pages. "See, I tried to learn Teleportation Magic while I was away. And I figure out what all the Magics with a dead affinity like Teleportation Magic have in common. I solved why I can't learn them."
"Ahh, so you can overcome this hurdle now."
Oberon frowns. "No, I don't think so. At least not for something like Teleportation Magic."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Makao says. "I know you're excited to learn lots of Magics, it must have been hard for you to adjust to the news."
"It was. But I figured the tradeoffs I make are worth it. Or at least they will be worth it when I'm stronger."
"So how does it work?" Laxus asks as Gildarts finishes bandaging his wrist. "And I want a rematch when I'm healed up. You and I are gonna race, all flying, no Lightning Transportation!"
"Sounds like fun," Oberon says. "But about my Cosmic. Well, the special property is that it effectively seals me off from the world. See, there is Ethernano in everything and everyone. All Magic Energy is connected through that, but Cosmic acts as a barrier that breaks that connection.
Teleportation doesn't just make you appear somewhere else. It uses the connection of all Ethernano to send you to a different location. Telepathy does the same thing with your thoughts, that's why I'm immune to both those Magics. They have to connect to the Ethernano in a person or place to operate."
"Invasive," Gildarts says. "I get it now. So you can't do anything that requires a deeper connection between you and the target. That's why my Crash Magic doesn't work on you! My Crash Magic permeates everything or everyone it touches and breaks it apart, but it does so by using the connection of Ethernano. Your cosmic blocks that, which is also why Master Makarov can't simple Dispel your spells."
"Yeah, but I'm still trying to solve all the properties of Cosmic, and figure out how to actually use it in a battle. I've adapted my Cosmic Barrier so it's on every second of the day, even while I'm asleep. But I don't know how to implement it into other spells and attacks since this was kind of a intuitive thing."
"Have you tried?"
"Of course I've tried. But…it's dangerous. So after the first time I figured I should stop until I get back here."
This immediately gets his guildmates excited. "Show us!" they demand in unison.
"No way. I need Master Makarov here in case things get dangerous."
Gildarts nods. "That's probably for the best. If my Crash Magic doesn't work, using some dangerous Spell should only be done with Master Makarov around. He probably has a way to stop it if needed."
"Yeah, but gramps is almost here," Laxus says. "I can hear him."
Moments later, Makarov Dreyar descends into the clearing, wearing his Wizard Saint medal and formal attire, a deep frown on his face. "Good, everyone is already here. But we need to take this into my office."
Wakaba gestures to the ornate bottle beside them, and Makarov instantly recognizes it.
"Damn it. As tempting as that is, I need my head on straight for this meeting. The world is about to change, and Fairy Tail will be in the crosshairs of many because of it."
"We were just about done here anyway," Gildarts says. "Oberon was about to show us his first real Cosmic Magic Spell, then we were heading back."
Makarov's eyes widen in excitement. "You figured out your Magic?!"
"Not yet, but I think I've started. I just need some guidance. I only tried it once and it kind of went…poorly."
Makarov feels the weight of his responsibilities dragging him down, but in his heart he is a Magic enthusiast first, so he floats over to the log and takes a seat. "Well then, show us."
Oberon smiles and retreats to the middle of the clearing, placing his feet on the ground and focusing his Magic Energy. "I can't use anything else while doing this, including my Cosmic Barrier, so I figured training with friends would be safer. Just tell me what you think…"
CHAPTER END---
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