Chapter 365: Learned and Improved
"Mmm, he's completely out cold. Our apprehension is a success," Noah nodded. With a casual wave of his hand, he deactivated the surrounding containment barrier.
He then pressed his palm against Velveno's chest, layering several high-level sealing spells over the thief to ensure he wouldn't wake up prematurely or attempt an escape.
"Thank you all so much! Not only did you protect my family heirloom, but you successfully brought that rogue to justice!" Count Balsamico said, stepping forward to address the members of Fairy Tail now that the dust had settled.
"Think nothing of it. It was our duty, Count," Erza replied politely to the nobleman.
"Excellent, excellent. I'm just glad the matter is resolved... though it's a bit of a shame about tonight's gala..." the Count lamented, glancing around at the thoroughly wrecked ballroom.
"We will take Velveno to one of the guest rooms to secure him for the night," Noah suggested to the Count.
"Very well. I'll have the servants show you to your quarters. If you need anything at all, just let them know." Count Balsamico gestured to a nearby house servant, whispering a few quick instructions.
"Thank you, Count," Noah said. Hoisting Velveno up with one hand, he and the rest of the team followed the servant back to their guest suite.
They requested the staff to bring up a hearty spread of food, as none of them had managed to eat much at the buffet before the chaos erupted.
Noah casually tossed Velveno into a corner of the room; the seals layered over him would keep the thief in a deep sleep until Noah personally chose to lift them.
"So, how did it go? Did you manage to parse his magic profile?" Erza asked Noah.
"I have a solid grasp of the core framework, but I'll need to run a few more analytical simulations before I can officially call it my own," Noah replied, accessing his Archive Magic. He tapped rapidly against the glowing geometric interface, deeply engrossed in parsing the data matrices he had recorded during the battle.
"His magic really is fascinating. To think he could replicate Natsu and Gray's spells so perfectly. And especially Erza's magic—even the physical armor was an exact match," Lucy remarked, staring with genuine wonder at the unconscious Velveno on the floor.
"While it's certainly a highly unique spell, it suffers from several glaring design flaws," Noah noted, keeping his eyes fixed on his magical screens.
"Flaws?" Lucy tilted her head.
"Mmm. It has quite a few limitations," Noah nodded.
"When I was trading strikes with him, I noticed the tactile feedback from his longsword felt wrong," Erza chimed in, leaning against the wall. "The blade wasn't authentic forged steel; it was a magical construct simulated by his spell. While it mirrored the external cutting properties flawlessly, its structural durability was significantly lower than the real thing. Furthermore, replicating complex material gear like my armor must demand an astronomical amount of magical power."
Erza's armor sets were meticulously forged from specialized, rare materials, each tailored with distinct magical properties. She estimated that even if Velveno's mimicry parsed the external shape, sustaining the construct would rapidly bleed his magic reserves.
"He copies the muscle memory and combat experience of the target, but he can't wield it fluidly. It behaves more like a raw, reflexive instinct," Gray added, joining the analysis. "I don't specialize in Dynamic Ice-Make Magic, yet he manifested moving constructs because his spell was blindly mimicking my output properties."
"Also, I felt like something was off about the flames he was spewing," Natsu noted, scratching his pink hair. "They didn't taste like my fire. His flames felt exactly like regular, ordinary fire."
"That stands to reason. His magic failed to replicate the specialized properties inherent to a Dragon Slayer's magic. True Dragon Slayer Magic possesses a specific conceptual attribute designed to pierce a dragon's natural defenses and inflict catastrophic damage. Velveno's copied spell lacked that fundamental essence," Noah clarified.
"No wonder! I thought his flames tasted a bit too plain. Turns out they were missing the core ingredient!" Natsu struck his fist against his palm, the realization finally clicking.
"Furthermore, I strongly suspect that his replicated profiles suffer from a strict time limit," Noah added. "We didn't see him utilize any magic profiles he might have copied from past opponents; he relied exclusively on the magic styles present in this room."
Erza and the others nodded in agreement. If the copied magic didn't expire, utilizing a barrage of unpredictable, foreign spells would have been a far more effective strategy to keep Fairy Tail off balance.
"But even with those constraints, it remains an incredibly potent magic framework. It's a shame Velveno lacks the raw magical capacity and deep academic understanding required to unlock its true potential. Otherwise, this spell alone could have elevated him into a terrifying threat," Noah smiled.
For an ordinary Mage, mastering a single magic system was an undertaking that could take a lifetime of dedicated study. Only a rare few possessing monstrous talent and massive capacity could afford to specialize in multiple branches. Velveno lacked the academic depth to properly adapt his copied spells.
But Noah was entirely different. Once he mastered the underlying mechanics of this replication magic, he could copy a target's spell profile and, by leveraging his vast archive of magical knowledge, systematically reverse-engineer and permanently acquire the magic over time. He wouldn't suffer from a ticking clock that caused him to completely lose the copied data.
This was exactly why he had asked his comrades to rotate through their spells during the battle; it granted him the perfect window to run a comprehensive diagnostic and fully map the parameters of Velveno's unique magic.
Just then, the house servants arrived with a massive tray of hot food. Dropping their academic discussion, the team happily gathered around the table to enjoy their late-night meal.
Once they finished eating, Noah ran a final check on Velveno's seals. Confirming the security parameters were perfectly stable, he left the thief in the drawing-room area, and the group retired to their respective rooms to sleep.
The following morning, Noah and the team enjoyed a spectacular breakfast courtesy of the Count's enthusiastic hospitality.
Shortly after eating, the group politely declined the nobleman's insistence that they extend their stay and officially departed the palace. They had all noticed a distinctly calculating gleam in the Count's eye as he repeatedly looked back and forth between Noah, Natsu, Gray, and his daughter Aceto.
The implicit matchmaking vibe made the boys incredibly uncomfortable. Realizing that staying any longer would invite a mountain of personal complications, they used the excuse that "the high-profile fugitive requires immediate containment at a secure facility" to make a swift exit.
Sensing the Count's deeply disappointed gaze boring into their backs, the group accelerated their pace down the mountain path.
Only after they cleared the palace perimeter and broke line of sight did they finally let out a collective sigh of relief. They navigated to the nearest Magic Council branch office, handed the unconscious Velveno over to the custody officers, and Noah smoothly deactivated his sealing framework.
The Council staff verified the fugitive's identity. Finding him in perfectly healthy condition—aside from being aggressively starved for twenty-four hours—they processed the paperwork and handed the hefty bounty over to Fairy Tail.
"Awesome! Two million J is officially ours!" Lucy beamed, staring at the thick stack of currency in her hands.
"How shall we divide the spoils?" Erza asked Noah.
"You four take 330,000 J each, and I'll claim the remaining portion. And then, I'll treat everyone to a spectacular meal," Noah suggested after a quick calculation.
"Heck yeah! Feast time!" Natsu cheered, his face lighting up.
"Aye!" Happy cheered right on cue.
"Let's see if we can locate a highly rated tavern in this district," Noah smiled.
Erza and the rest of the team flashed bright smiles as well, always happy to wrap up a successful mission with great food. The group headed into the commercial district of the adjacent town, tracked down a renowned local restaurant, and enjoyed a massive feast before catching a train back to Magnolia.
Over the next several days, Noah completely sequestered himself inside the guild's laboratory, focusing his absolute attention on reverse-engineering and refining the replication data he had compiled. He wanted to integrate the framework into his active repertoire as rapidly as possible.
Meanwhile, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy resumed their routine, frequently teaming up to knock out standard requests from the board.
Gray found himself firmly in Juvia's crosshairs; she aggressively dragged him from one mission straight into the next, barely granting him a window to catch his breath. Lyon had attempted to visit the guildhall a few times to invite Juvia out for dinner or joint requests, but failing to find her open, he was forced to take on assignments solo.
Erza didn't take any active requests either. Instead, she spent her days consulting with the specialized blacksmiths who engineered her armor sets. She had conceived a few new combat concepts and wanted to commission a brand-new set of plate armor.
A week flew by in a flash. On this particular morning, Noah walked into the guildhall, his posture radiating absolute triumph.
"You've finalized your research on that spell?" Mirajane asked, picking up on the bright smile on his face the moment he approached the counter.
Erza and the girls looked over with interest. Noah had been practically living in his laboratory for days, so this sudden burst of high energy meant only one thing.
"The optimization is complete," Noah smiled, ordering a glass of warm milk. Taking a slow sip, he elaborated:
"If I had settled for the baseline mechanics of Velveno's original Magic Mimicry, I would have mastered it on day one. But I wanted to drastically eliminate its structural limitations. I spent the last few days rewriting the data-retention parameters, successfully extending the shelf life of a copied magic profile from a measly twenty-four hours to a full seven days."
"Seven days is more than enough time for my Archive Magic to systematically deconstruct, analyze, and permanently memorize any copied spellcraft. Furthermore, I optimized the casting speed, meaning I can now replicate an opponent's magic signature almost instantaneously during combat."
"And best of all, I stripped away the physical contact requirement entirely. The replication framework can now seamlessly parse and absorb an opponent's magic profile as long as they operate within a specific radius of my position. While there's always room for further micro-adjustments, pushing the spell any closer to perfection would demand an excessive investment of time and energy. As it stands, its utility is perfect for my current combat parameters, so I've officially concluded the optimization phase," Noah chuckled, holding up his glass.
"That's... incredible!" Lucy gasped from the side, her jaw thoroughly dropping at his casual display of magical genius.
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