Since the S-Class exam at the end of last year, Laxus had given Cana a suggestion: she needed to add powerful cards to her arsenal.
After much painful reflection, Cana realized that, fortunately, she had saved up some money over the years.
In truth, whenever she went on missions alone now, she often felt overwhelmed. If a fast opponent closed in on her, it was always difficult for her to handle.
Additionally, she didn't have a single card that could decisively turn the tide of battle.
This was exactly what had happened last year when she challenged Ultear.
She struggled hard to keep Ultear at a distance but was powerless to stop her from closing in. Ultear's close-quarters combat skills were not weak, and Cana was ultimately defeated by her ice sword strikes.
Holder Magic inherently relies on powerful magical tools.
But powerful magical tools mean spending money—they're simply too expensive.
Bisca's guns for her Requip Magic aren't cheap either.
The same goes for Celestial Spirit Mage keys. Even a key for a non-combatant spirit like Canis Minor can sell for a high price, which speaks volumes about the market.
Erza is a prime example.
Over the years, most of the money she earned went directly into her armor and weapons.
By now, probably no one but Erza knows exactly how many sets of armor she owns. In the girls' dormitory, she has already merged three rooms just to display her armor and Requip outfits.
Right after last year's S-Class exam, Cana immediately contacted Gildarts, asking him to keep an eye out for any powerful cards while he was on missions.
After all, he's her dad; it's not embarrassing to ask him to help his daughter find equipment.
Currently, her obsession with becoming an S-Class Mage wasn't very deep.
It was mainly because she is Gildarts' daughter and didn't want to embarrass him. Besides, everyone in Fairy Tail was so capable—if she didn't work hard, she would fall behind.
However, if she truly wanted to grow stronger, Card Magic might not have been the most suitable choice for her, as it wasn't typically considered a particularly powerful form of magic.
One could even say that Card Magic had held her back.
She possessed abundant magic power—more than Natsu, Gray, or Kagura had at the moment.
Her combat skills were solid, and she was willing to strategize in battle.
In contrast, Celestial Spirit Magic, which also falls under the Holder Magic category, has powerful spirits like the Zodiac and Ophiuchus.
The goal for a Celestial Spirit Mage is clear: just find Zodiac keys.
Unlike her, who had to search for cards aimlessly.
She had only chosen Card Magic because Tarot cards had supported her during her earliest days.
Gildarts respected her choice and never interfered.
This time, Gildarts did bring back a decent card for her. It might not have been an ace-level card, but it was stronger than her current deck.
For such a short trip, it was impressive that Gildarts managed to find even one.
Moreover, Gildarts promised her that during his journey on the Century Quest, he would visit places he'd never been to before and help her collect more.
Cana had even asked Raizel, Laxus, and Ultear for help in searching.
They had all grown up together, so there was no need to discuss whether it was troublesome or not.
Using Archive Magic, Raizel directly searched for information. The number of cards in the Fiore Kingdom wasn't overwhelmingly large, but neither was it small.
However, he found that in Ishgar, there was a kingdom called the Kingdom of Kars.
It was located southeast of Fiore, not too far away, with a straight-line distance of about 3,000 kilometers.
The Mages in this kingdom primarily used cards, with some cards resembling Celestial Spirit summons—sealing monsters or mechanical creations within the cards and summoning them when needed.
Raizel shared this information with Cana, who immediately decided to set out in search of these cards.
Erza and Ultear were very interested and accepted several tasks along the way, deciding to accompany her since they had never been to the Kingdom of Kars before.
Although it would have been simpler for Raizel to take Cana using Teleportation Magic, he thought it would be better for her to go on her own.
The sense of accomplishment from finding her desired cards herself would be entirely different.
After Gildarts set off on the Century Quest, Cana, Erza, and Ultear began their journey to the Kingdom of Kars.
In June of X781, Loke, the Lion of the Zodiac, was banished by the Celestial Spirit King and forbidden from entering the Celestial Spirit World for indirectly causing the death of his summoner, Karen.
After a period of despondency, he was persuaded by Bob, the Guild Master of Blue Pegasus, to join Fairy Tail.
Fairy Tail gained another "Casanova," and within just one month, several girls had come looking for him at the Guild.
This made Makarov somewhat doubt whether accepting Loke was the right decision—after all, even Gildarts wasn't this much of a lady-killer back then.
....
Eastern Forest—
Today, Raizel and Natsu, with nothing better to do, were fishing, mainly to feed Happy.
Ultear and Cana had been away for over three months, and Raizel began to suspect they were just using the opportunity to travel and enjoy themselves.
Eventually, Ultear and the others slowly emerged from the Eastern Forest.
Raizel and Natsu, with their backs turned, were too focused on fishing to notice them.
"Raizel, Natsu! Ultear and the others are back!" Happy tugged at Natsu's clothes with his paw.
"They're back?" Hearing Happy's voice, Raizel turned to look at them.
"Yes, the tasks are completed, and Cana found her cards," Erza nodded proudly.
"I've spent all my savings on this and even ended up in debt," Cana said with a bitter smile, shaking her head.
She had borrowed large sums from both Ultear and Erza and would have to work hard to repay them.
"It seems you've made some gains. Care to show us?" Raizel felt Cana was showing off but had no proof.
"I want to see too, hurry up!" Natsu was also very interested in Cana's new cards and kept urging her.
Cana's lips curved slightly as she pulled three cards from her bag, showing the backs to Raizel and Natsu.
Raizel couldn't help but feel like he was witnessing Cana's smug, almost villainous grin, as if she were possessed by some arrogant dragon king...
"First card." Cana flicked the card downward with two fingers.
From the magic circle, a black panther slowly emerged.
It was about three meters in length and 1.2 meters at the shoulder, entirely black with subtle dark golden spots.
Blue flames flickered where its forelimbs connected to its body.
With sharp eyes, making no sound when stepping on the ground, and making no noise when appearing.
'Quite impressive,' Raizel thought, silently assessing the creature.
Except for the flames on its forelimbs, it's quite stealthy.
'I wonder if they can be retracted. If so, it could even be used as an assassin.'
Perhaps black is slimming, but the panther gave Raizel a sense of lightness. Its muscles were well-defined but not bulky.
Though he hadn't experienced it firsthand, its speed was likely not slow—after all, it was a feline.
Without any command from Cana, the black panther lay down beside her, guarding her immediately after being summoned.
"COOL!!!" Natsu, the ever-punctual hype man, never failed to chime in.
"Kitty!!!" Happy's eyes quickly turned into stars!
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