[Congratulations, Host! You have acquired the passive ability of Hero: Tiny Master of Evil's, "Evil Equilibrium"!]
[Passive Skill – Evil Equilibrium: Your magic has been tainted by the power of evil equilibrium. Any living being slain by your magic will have their magical energy absorbed and converted at a fixed rate, and permanently added to your own.]
Ur: "..."
Staring at the glowing text on the system panel, Ur didn't quite know whether he should be excited or disheartened.
Was Evil Equilibrium powerful?
Absolutely.
As the passive skill of the Tiny Master of Evil, Evil Equilibrium was undoubtedly one of the most overpowered abilities for a world like this.
A skill that could permanently increase one's magic power just by killing things? That was a surefire way to get stronger quickly.
No question. It was the ultimate shortcut to strength.
If this had been the old Ur, he'd probably be jumping for joy, running in circles, grinning like a fool.
But now…
Although he was happy on the inside, it didn't show much on his face.
"This passive… came too early," Ur muttered to himself, a bit regretfully.
Sure, the ability was strong—in theory.
But it required killing to activate.
Ur had just spent all night nearly getting killed by a boar. What use was a god-tier passive if he couldn't even kill reliably?
"I'm still too weak…" He muttered bitterly.
If he were just a little stronger, then the broken nature of Evil Equilibrium could be unleashed.
Ur felt a little bitter.
He'd finally drawn an S-tier ability from the system's lottery.
But instead of elation, he felt nothing but emptiness.
It was like, there's a beautiful woman naked in front of you, but you can't get it up.
"All this is that damn boar's fault! If it weren't for that pig, I wouldn't be in this pathetic state!"
The more Ur thought about it, the angrier he got. He couldn't help but aim a few solid kicks at the boar's corpse lying on the carriage bench beside him.
After a few kicks, his injured leg throbbed painfully.
He hissed and slowly pulled his foot back before turning toward the system.
"Hey, System. I remember my magic was shown as zero on the stat panel earlier—so how was I still able to use magic in the end?"
Still rubbing his sore foot, Ur recalled what had happened the previous night.
Even though the system panel had said his magic power was completely drained, he had still felt a surge of magic inside him when he tried to cast his last spell against the boar. While the spell had ultimately failed, he felt magic stirring inside him right before the black magic hit.
[Host, I've already reminded you: the system panel is only a reference. The human body holds limitless potential that numbers cannot fully represent. If you continue to rely solely on stats in combat… you'll die. And it won't be a pretty death.]
The system was still salty about Ur being "cheap" with the last recharge. Even its tone was full of passive-aggressive sass. Ur chose to ignore the veiled threats in its words.
Thinking back carefully, maybe the system had said something like that before.
But at the time, he had been too eager to compare numbers and brushed it aside.
"Uh… that's not my fault. You shouldn't have typed so fast."
[Excuse me?? Meow meow meow???]
The carriage returned to the guild quickly.
Before long, the familiar doors of Fairy Tail stood before him.
Ur "gracefully" paid the fare, shouldered the boar's corpse, and prepared to submit his mission report.
But just as he stepped up to the guild doors, two people emerged.
A man and a woman.
The man wore a full suit of heavy armor, had golden blond hair and beard, and a square, stern-looking face that radiated authority.
The woman was dressed rather… questionably.
The woman next to him was far more… revealing. Though she wore a holy white and gold priestess robe trimmed with gold, the wide-open neckline and bare thighs made it anything but holy. She held a wooden staff in her hand, her long white hair cascading down her shoulders, her expression cold as ice.
Ur and the two figures crossed paths at the guild's entrance, their eyes meeting for a brief moment.
All three paused, curiosity flashing in their eyes.
The two newcomers were puzzled by Ur's battered look, especially the boar corpse he was lugging over his shoulder.
Ur, on the other hand, was intrigued by them.
He didn't recognize them at all.
They weren't part of the original story.
Yet both of them gave off serious power, at least on the level of A-Class Mages, and not the entry-level kind either.
After that brief moment of eye contact, Ur stepped aside politely.
The two nodded at him in acknowledgment and calmly left the guild grounds.
Once they were gone, Ur finally stepped inside.
Fairy Tail's guild hall, as usual, was anything but quiet.
When Ur walked in, the rowdy crowd paused for only a second.
Seeing that it was him, the noise returned, louder than ever. Some of the nearby members immediately burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Ur, did you get beat up by a pig or what!?"
"LMAO!"
"Bro, you lost to bacon!!"
The guild's atmosphere turned even more festive.
Ur: "..."
Mother—!
Ignoring this rowdy bunch of "family," Ur walked straight to the front desk.
"Master, I'm here to report the quest complete."
Makarov was already tipsy, cheeks red and eyes foggy.
When he heard Ur speak, he squinted one eye open and mumbled, "You hurt?"
"A little careless," Ur replied simply.
It was just a minor injury, nothing worth fussing over.
And clearly, Makarov didn't care either. Wizards got hurt all the time. That was just part of the job.
Then Ur suddenly remembered, "By the way, Master… Who were those two that just left the guild?"
"Mm… They're—hic—…"