"Sorry to trouble you, Levy-chan~! I'd like your help finding some books on basic magic control and the elemental transformation of earth-type magic!" Ur deliberately stretching out the end of her name to tease the shy girl a little.
Sure enough, as soon as he called out like that, Levy's face turned bright red in an instant!
Mumbling a soft reply, she quickly scurried off, cheeks still flushed, to help Ur find the books.
Watching her flustered retreat, Ur couldn't help but curve his lips into a playful smile.
A moment later, he pulled his gaze back and finally turned his attention toward the Strauss siblings.
"Hmph!"
Mirajane had been staring right at him a second ago, but the moment Ur looked over, she suddenly hmphed, turning her head away with a full-on tsundere expression.
Ur: "...???"
What… what was that even supposed to mean?
Mirajane's unexpected burst of sass left Ur completely dumbfounded.
As far as he remembered, they hadn't even spoken since he joined the guild!
Ur honestly didn't know much about this younger version of Mirajane. There wasn't much about her childhood in the original story.
He vaguely remembered that during this period, she had a reputation for being extremely violent.
Didn't she use to fight Erza practically every other day?
Don't tell me… Mirajane's got a tsundere side, too?
Ur let his imagination run wild for a bit before shaking his head to clear it. Dismissing those random thoughts, he greeted the siblings.
"Hey there, everyone!"
"Hi, Ur!" Lisanna instantly responded with a sweet smile.
"H-Hello!" Elfman replied a little nervously.
Honestly, seeing Elfman like this, timid and soft-spoken, felt weird to Ur. After all, in his memories, Elfman was one of the loudest muscle-heads in Fairy Tail.
Once the younger two had greeted him, Ur turned his gaze to Mirajane.
Noticing his eyes on her, she finally spoke, but only after some reluctance.
"…Hi."
"Here you go, Ur! These are the books you wanted!" Levy returned with a small stack in her arms.
"Thanks a lot, Levy!"
Ur accepted the books with a grateful nod.
Though he'd been close with the Strauss siblings in his previous life, things were different now. They weren't exactly close yet, at least, not for the time being.
After exchanging greetings, he only chatted with Lisanna. There wasn't much else to talk about with the other two.
But that wasn't a bad thing!
At least now, while studying in the library, no one would come over and bother him.
Strangely enough, despite having been someone who hated reading in his past life, Ur found himself genuinely enjoying these magical textbooks in this life.
One of the biggest revelations since his transmigration was, "So this is what it means when they say learning brings joy!"
The books Ur had asked Levy to find were still introductory-level magic materials. The first was titled Magic Manipulation and Techniques, which covered how to control and release magic without the use of magic circles.
Magic, in its raw form, held inherent power, but magic circles amplified that power and precision. However, the downside of magic circles was time. Constructing a circle during combat wasn't always feasible.
Like during his fight with the monster boar. He didn't have the time to even finish forming a magic circle before it was on him.
That's when a mage had to rely on raw magical output to attack or defend.
Most seasoned mages were well-practiced in these techniques. Often, they used them to rapidly form a protective barrier over their skin, not impenetrable, but enough to survive sudden attacks.
The second book, Basic Theory of Elemental Transformation in Earth Magic, was preparation for learning rock-type magic.
Though the passive Lava Body seemed to boost two types of magical affinity, in reality, it only enhanced one: rock magic.
Rock magic was a mutation derived from earth magic, which meant his earth affinity was strengthened, too.
But earth magic was the foundation of rock magic.
To learn rock-type spells, one first had to master earth-type magic. Only by learning the properties and behaviors of earth-type magic could he evolve it into something more volatile, like molten rock.
Both books were fairly lengthy.
But for someone like Ur, who had become thoroughly addicted to learning, this wasn't a problem.
Especially now, with his leg injury still healing, studying was the only thing he could do.
❖≔﴾═══════ﺤ
Happy times always pass quickly.
Ur had unknowingly spent a full week switching between the guild library and Grandma Isse's home, completely immersed in study.
By the end of the week, he had thoroughly absorbed everything in Magic Manipulation and Techniques. While not fully proficient yet, he could now release raw magic energy with ease.
The other book, Basic Theory of Elemental Transformation in Earth Magic, was also nearly finished. All that was left was to start experimenting with rock-based magic.
Not only that, after a week of rest and recovery, his leg was about 90% healed. Which meant it was time to add physical training to his daily routine.
Fairy Tail's library also had a collection of physical combat manuals. Compared to magic, martial arts weren't considered very valuable in this world.
Still, despite their lack of popularity, true combat manuals were rare.
Even with Fairy Tail's century-long history, the guild had only managed to collect a dozen or so complete training manuals.
Ur spent some time carefully studying each one.
And finally, he picked out three styles that suited his needs best.