Carla flies above the giant red flower and she is shocked by what she sees. Lily and Happy who see her strange reaction also fly over to check, only to have the same shocked reaction as her.
"Why are you looking like that? What do you guys see?"
The others can't see the center of the giant flower because they can't climb its petals or they'll break them. So Makarov enlarges his arms and picks up the giant flower before turning it upside down for everyone to see.
All of them are shocked when they see what the Exceeds see. On the giant red flower is a big red crystal ball. On it, there are 3 layers of big black circles and in each circle, there are 3 black coma symbols.
If Naruto fans are seeing it, they will immediately think that this giant red flower is the flower of the Chakra Tree. The red crystal in the middle is like the Rinne-Sharingan, but of course, the Fairy Tail Mages don't know that.
What's important to them is the inside of this giant red crystal ball. It's a transparent red crystal, so they can see inside the crystal clearly, and inside, is a body of a man that all of them recognize, Alexander Sterling.
"ALEX!" Everyone shouts at the same time. All of them are surprised and some even cry. After all, they have given up on finding Alex's body. Now, they can finally give him a proper burial, if he has really died that is.
Yes, Alex's body is inside this giant red crystal and his body is actually intact, showing that he was protected by the crystal before Acnologia's attack hit him. So there's a chance that he is actually still alive even though he is crystalized like this.
"First Master, this is....." Makarov looks at Mavis with a very surprised expression while wondering about something.
But Mavis shakes her head. "No, I don't think this is the same thing because the process to create it is different although it's similar."
What Mavis and Makarov talk so ambiguously is Fairy Heart or Lumen Histoire. It's because both Alex's and Mavis's bodies are encased in lacrima crystals. But as Mavis said, the processes of how the crystals were formed were different.
The crystal that encased Mavis's body was created by Precht using a big lacrima crystal and his unknown technique. While the one that encased Alex's body was made by magic, most likely a high-end defensive spell.
Though both crystals have the same purpose, maintaining their bodies and keeping them alive. Even so, both crystals have different characteristics too, hence why Mavis said they are different despite being quite similar.
Alex's crystal is definitely much more durable than Mavis's crystal, proved by how it could withstand Acnologia's attack. Also, the red flower petals around the red crystal are absorbing magic power from the atmosphere.
"They absorb magic power?" Lucy asks in amazement.
"Yes, the absorption rate is quite strong actually. But it only applies to magic power from the atmosphere. When people touch them, their magic power is still absorbed, but not as quick as when they absorb from nature. You can feel it if you concentrate a bit, but the ones with a good magic sense should've realized that the petals are absorbing magic power from the surroundings."
Everyone is curious, so they touch the petals like Mavis says. They close their eyes to feel their magic power flow and feel that a little amount of it flows into the red petals. It's not a strong suction as Mavis says, but it's quite noticeable.
"But why do the petals absorb magic power?" Lisanna asks curiously.
"Most likely, no, I'm sure it's to heal Alex-san." What Mavis says brings smiles to everyone's face. If he is healing himself, that means he is still alive.
"How are you so sure, First Master?" Makarov wants to know the reason.
"That's because he has no injury on his body. There's no way he didn't get injured at all fighting such a powerful opponent. Yet there's no trace of injuries on his body now. He must've used the spell that created this crystal as the last resort, which means he was sealed in the crystal along with the injuries he received from that battle. But now all those injuries have gone. So there's only 1 answer. He is healing himself using the magic power he absorbed from his surroundings through the petals." Mavis gives her deduction.
"I see, then why the petals prefer magic power from nature seeing how they don't absorb our magic power as fast as how it absorbs from the surroundings?" Lucy is happy knowing that Alex is alive, but she is puzzled with this matter.
"Hmm, this is just my guess because I don't really know how his ability works. But I think it's because the magic power from nature is pure. Mages' or Magical Creatures' magic power already has their characteristics." Mavis says her speculation again.
"Ah! I think I remember. Alex once told me that when he used his skill to absorb someone's magic power, he couldn't take all of it for himself. Most of it was unusable because the characteristic of that person's magic power was different from his. But when he absorbed the magic power of a pure lacrima crystal, he could use it all to replenish his magic power." Mira remembers her conversation with Alex back then.
"People's magic power is affected by their magic, races, and hearts. Fire Mages' magic power would feel hot, a human's magic power would be different from a beast, and an evil person's magic power would feel ominous. But that only happens in their bodies. The magic power in nature is the purest form of magic power and it changes once it enters living beings' bodies. That's why the red petals absorb more from nature, because it's much easier to be transformed to match Alex's magic power's characteristics, so he can use it immediately to heal himself."
Not everyone seems to understand what Mavis is saying. But all of them understand that Alex is healing himself now. They feel very happy with this because the friend they thought to have died is actually still alive.
"How long do you think it'll take until he fully recovers?" Makarov asks what everyone is curious about.
"That's..... I'm not sure. We don't know how much damage he received and whether he absorbs natural magic power just to heal himself." Mavis doesn't know Alex's real condition and she never saw this kind of spell before, after all.
"W-what do you mean he might not need to heal himself?" Mira is very flustered because it feels like her hope of being with her lover again might not be granted.
"I mean that he might not just heal his body, but also his soul, or there are other unknown conditions that make him unable to get out yet. If he just needs to heal his body, then I'm sure that he would have recovered perfectly already because it's been more than a year. Just from outside, he looks to be perfectly healed already. Although I'm not sure how many internal injuries he received, I'm sure with the rate of the petals' magic power absorption, he should have enough magic power to heal his whole body by now."
As a soul herself, Mavis knows very well that souls can also be damaged. Physical injuries are much easier to heal, especially when Alex is known to have a great self-healing rate. He could have cut wounds all over his body and get fully healed the next day without using Healing Magic.
So Mavis thinks that Alex's injuries aren't just physical, but maybe his soul or even magic circuits inside his body are damaged badly. Also, she's sure such a powerful defensive spell like this red crystal needs a big price to use.
Just from its defensive capability alone, Mavis is sure that it's as strong as Fairy Sphere. But it can only protect 1 person, its caster, while Fairy Sphere can protect a very large area although it also needs many people with strong bonds to cast.
However, Fairy Sphere won't cause severe damage to the casters. So it has a better price to performance if it's just for a defensive purpose. This ability might have its advantage that Mavis doesn't know though, that's why she isn't sure.
"But why did he drift here? I don't think it's a coincidence." Gray wonders about it because the giant red flower can move anywhere if it just follows the waves.
"Most likely, because this island is rich in magic power and the Great Tenrou Tree has an ability to enhance the magic power of those who bear Fairy Tail crests while also giving them divine protection so they won't die. He must be unconsciously attracted here by the Tree's abilities." Mavis explains.
"Well, the reason doesn't matter, as long as he is still alive. When he will fully recover and return is also not important now. Let's just make sure that we get much stronger for when he returns so that we won't embarrass ourselves. Besides, just imagining him mocking us because we can't get stronger when he's not there is irritating me already."
Everyone imagines the scenario that Laxus says and somehow feels annoyed too. All of them swear in their hearts that they'll get much stronger by the time Alex returns. But for now, they are just happy to find him still alive, somehow.
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Ch. 211. Attacking Tartaros