"So many kinds of magic…"
Rowan had just finished an entire volume outlining this world's magical system, and the differences were impossible to ignore. Compared to the wizarding world he came from, where magic leaned heavily toward convenience and daily life, magic here was built for combat. It was sharper, faster, and far more aggressive.
Elemental magic was only the beginning.
There were specialized systems he'd never encountered before. Take the dark mage he'd killed earlier. That man had used Requip Magic, storing weapons in a personal space and summoning them instantly in battle. The more refined the mage, the larger and more complex that space became. There was also Take Over Magic, allowing users to fuse with beasts or entities, and Maker Magic, which shaped raw elements into structured weapons or constructs to amplify destructive power.
Other branches branched even further. Spirit Magic that relied on keys to summon beings from another realm. Smoke Magic, Script Magic, Painting Magic, Sound-based magic, super-speed magic, curse songs, possession-based combat arts, and dozens more, easily numbering in the hundreds when fully categorized.
And beyond all that lay the truly dangerous things. Forbidden magic. Lost magic. Ancient spells capable of leveling cities or reshaping entire regions.
At its core, however, everything fell into two broad paths.
Holder-type magic relied on tools, artifacts, or intermediaries. Spirit keys, cards, enchanted items. Power was external, amplified through objects.
Caster-type magic manifested directly from the mage's own power. Shaping, transformation, possession, and raw spellcasting all belonged here.
After a short break, Rowan turned his attention to the journals detailing the major mage guilds of the kingdom.
Two days later, he left his room through the open window, wings spreading as he took to the air. He flew past Magnolia's central cathedral, crossed a clear river, and headed toward the forested high ground northwest of the city.
There it was.
Fairy Tail.
A three-story building stood proudly on the hill. Two dancing fairy figures adorned the sign above its doors, and the guild's emblem was mounted high on the roof, unmistakable even from a distance.
From what Rowan had gathered over the past few days, Fairy Tail was over a century old and carried an excellent reputation among civilians. Its members didn't bully ordinary people, which already set it apart from many guilds. Their biggest flaw was restraint. Or rather, the lack of it.
They completed nearly every job they took. Unfortunately, they also had a habit of reducing surrounding infrastructure to rubble in the process, earning frequent public scoldings from the Magic Council.
At his current level, Rowan wasn't anything special in this world. Joining a guild with solid ethics and stability mattered if he wanted to study magic in peace.
More importantly, Fairy Tail already had precedent. A talking magic cat had joined before. That alone raised his odds considerably.
Standing before the entrance, Rowan reached out with a paw and pushed the ornate doors open.
A vast hall opened before him. Tables filled the room, surrounded by groups of mages drinking heavily, laughing loudly, and swapping exaggerated stories of past jobs. The atmosphere was chaotic, noisy, and alive.
The sudden opening of the doors drew attention.
Conversation stalled as eyes turned toward the entrance.
A small, golden-furred cat stood upright in the doorway.
For a moment, the entire hall blinked in unison.
"Happy?" a young mage with prominent teeth called out. "Since when did you dye your fur gold? Where's Natsu? Didn't you two head to Hargeon to look for a dragon?"
Rowan didn't answer him directly.
He activated his flight magic and drifted up to the counter, landing lightly.
"I'm not Happy," he said clearly. "My name is Rowan Mercer. I'm here to apply to join Fairy Tail. What's the process?"
"You do look different," a woman behind the counter said lazily. She wore a blue bikini top and flared pants, her expression unfocused. "Honestly, you seem smarter than Happy."
She punctuated the comment by hoisting a massive barrel nearly three times her size and drinking straight from it.
Rowan's whiskers twitched. He'd never seen anyone drink like that.
"Kana," another voice chided gently. A white-haired woman in a red dress stepped forward, smiling warmly. "Happy would be upset if he heard that."
She turned her attention to Rowan. "Joining requires the guild master's approval. Wait here. I'll go fetch him."
"Thank you," Rowan said politely, hopping onto a nearby stool.
He recognized her immediately. Mirajane Strauss. Fairy Tail's public face. A regular model for Weekly Sorcerer, adored across the kingdom. The magazines rarely mentioned her strength, which suggested it wasn't her most notable trait.
As Mirajane headed upstairs, the guild's members resumed talking, now with Rowan as the topic of discussion.
Rowan, meanwhile, quietly scanned the room.
The half-naked man wandering around in nothing but shorts had to be Gray Fullbuster, the Ice-Make specialist. The blond man flirting shamelessly with two women was clearly Loke, a Holder-type mage. The towering white-haired man beside the counter was Elfman Strauss, known for his Beast Take Over.
Natsu and Happy weren't present. According to earlier chatter, they were off searching for dragons.
That alone made Rowan pause.
According to the history books, dragons were supposed to be extinct in this world.
And not weak creatures either. Dragons here were intelligent, sapient beings capable of devastating Dragon Slayer Magic. Once rulers of the world, supposedly wiped out for reasons history no longer recorded.
Very different from the mindless beasts of his old world.
"No S-class mages here," Rowan noted internally, a trace of disappointment surfacing.
Fairy Tail had several S-class mages, second only to the Ten Wizard Saints, among whom the guild master himself ranked.
Just as he finished that thought, the guild's doors were kicked open with explosive force.
"We're back!"
A pink-haired boy with sharp eyes and a scarf strode in first. Behind him floated a blue cat with a bundle on his back, followed by a blonde woman with a striking figure.
Rowan's gaze fixed on them.
So this was Natsu Dragneel.