"Sorry," Rowan said calmly, settling back onto the round stool as his wings folded away. "I'm still getting the hang of this spell. It takes time. Given enough of it, though, I could restore the entire hall in one go."
He wasn't being modest for show.
In raw combat power, Rowan knew where he stood. Most of the mages here could outfight him head-on, whether through brute force, elemental power, or sheer experience. Trying to compete on that axis would be foolish.
So he chose a different path.
Fairy Tail mages were legendary for one thing above all else: destruction. Missions succeeded, enemies fell, and buildings followed shortly after. Reports in the guild magazines loved to praise victories while quietly noting the collateral damage. Entire streets reduced to rubble. Houses flattened. Repair costs spiraling out of control.
In a place like this, someone who could undo the damage mattered.
Even if Rowan couldn't yet restore an entire house instantly, he didn't need to. His magic didn't drain him. Time was all it took. And one day, when the spell was refined, restoring a street or a district would be trivial.
More importantly, it kept him out of frontline combat. His goal was learning and research, not trading blows at arm's length.
The glass slipped from Makarov's hand and shattered on the floor.
The guild master stared at Rowan as if he'd just discovered buried treasure.
In a blink, Makarov vanished.
The next thing Rowan knew, he was being scooped up and shoved straight into Mirajane's arms.
"Mirajane!" Makarov shouted, voice cracking with excitement. "Stamp him. Now!"
The urgency was so intense it was almost comical, as if Rowan might fly out the door if given a second too long.
Rowan had expected approval. He hadn't expected this.
What he underestimated wasn't Fairy Tail's need for repair magic. It was just how desperate that need had become.
Makarov talked a big game about ignoring the Magic Council, but reality was cruel. Apologies had to be made. Fines had to be paid. And those fines were bleeding the guild dry. Mission income barely covered the damage payouts. Without a few reliable top-tier mages propping things up, Fairy Tail would have collapsed financially long ago.
And now, suddenly, there was Rowan.
He didn't need to fight monsters or storm strongholds. All he needed to do was show up afterward and fix what remained.
Maybe he wasn't strong enough yet. That didn't matter. He could grow.
To Makarov, Rowan wasn't just a recruit.
He was a solution.
A future.
Fairy Tail's hope.
Rowan barely had time to react before a warm pressure touched his back and a symbol burned gently into his fur. When he finally processed what had happened, he was officially a member of the guild.
A magic cat with a tattoo.
What surprised him most wasn't the speed of the acceptance, but the speed of Makarov himself. The movement had been instantaneous. If the old man had meant harm, Rowan wouldn't have had time to blink.
The realization was sobering.
It reinforced a conclusion he'd already been drifting toward. Against mages in this world, close combat was a terrible idea. Too many of them treated physical combat like a hobby.
"Alright!" Makarov boomed, standing atop the counter. "Let's welcome our two new guildmates. Rowan and Lucy. Drinks up!"
Cheers erupted.
Then chaos resumed in a different form.
The moment mugs were set down, mages swarmed Rowan from every direction.
"Join our team!""No, ours!""We need someone like you!"
Even Gray and Natsu pushed their way forward. Happy fluttered around Rowan's head, enthusiastically explaining how great it was to team up with Natsu, speaking as one flying cat to another.
Rowan froze.
He had not expected this.
All he'd done was demonstrate a single spell he hadn't even mastered yet, and suddenly he was the most sought-after mage in the room.
As he tried to figure out a polite way to refuse everyone at once, Natsu and Gray started fighting.
That escalated quickly.
Other mages piled in, and within moments the guild was once again a warzone. This time, however, the objective was clear.
Whoever was still standing at the end earned the right to invite Rowan.
Rowan lifted a paw weakly. "You really don't need to—"
No one listened.
He glanced at Makarov.
The guild master met his expression, sighed, set down his drink, and grew.
In seconds, the brawl ended.
Every mage was flattened.
Makarov loomed over them, arms crossed, fury radiating outward. "Rowan will decide for himself. Anyone who scares him off answers to me. Understood?"
Rapid nodding followed.
"And you two," he added, glaring at Natsu and Gray. "If Erza hears about this, I won't stop her."
That did it.
The room went dead silent.
Everyone knew that name.