Early morning.
The rising sun shattered the darkness.
When the sunlight illuminated the earth...
The townspeople, who had wandered all night, finally returned to their small town where they made their living.
However, when these townspeople saw the scene before them, they all widened their eyes and said in disbelief, "Hey! Are we really in the right place? Is the town we live in really here?"
Well, all that met their eyes was desolation. Their beloved small town now resembled Konoha Village after Mr. Pain, the deeply resentful and rice-carrying Celestial Path, had plowed it over with Shinra Tensei. All the buildings had disappeared without a trace~
This was still good...
The snow mountain not far away, along with the entire mountain range, had vanished.
In its place was a vast artificial lake.
The depression of this artificial lake was created by 'Star Collapse' forcefully, and the water in the lake was the accumulated snow from the snow mountain melted by the Seven Star Sword Rain, so fortunately, it was all fresh water.
If they put some fish fry in this year, by next year, perhaps their small town could live off this boundless lake, comparable to an inland sea.
Well, hunters were forcibly reassigned to be fishermen...
"I never thought that I, an old man who lived in the eastern inland for a lifetime, would have the opportunity to see the legendary 'sea'. It's truly a blessing for three lifetimes! It can also be considered my good fortune."
The town chief stroked his long beard, his eyes exceptionally calm.
"The town chief is indeed a worldly person, not scared at all!"
The townspeople looked at the calm town chief, as if they had found their backbone, and praised him one after another.
"Oh ho!"
"This dream today is quite interesting~"
"Usually in my dreams, the faces of those people are unclear!"
"Today I finally saw them clearly, they are all the townspeople from our small town..."
"Hehe, this is quite interesting!"
After hearing the voices of the townspeople, the town chief subconsciously turned his head to look, and seeing their panicked faces, he chuckled softly.
Saying that, the town chief picked up his cane and started hitting his own head, shouting while hitting, "If this is a nightmare, then wake me up quickly! Give us back our village! You bastard!!"
"Oh no..."
"The old town chief has been scared mad!"
"The old man actually thinks he's still dreaming!"
As soon as the town chief finished speaking, the townspeople immediately surrounded him in a panic. They restrained the town chief and took away his cane, constantly explaining, "Town chief, we are not dreaming! This is the small town where we used to live, and as for this 'sea', it used to be a snow mountain! I remember when I was little, you even took me into the mountains to hunt rabbits! Have you forgotten all of that?!"
"Of course I remember..."
The town chief spoke, and then started to cry. Seeing the town he had managed for many years suddenly destroyed, couldn't he be allowed to go a little crazy?!
But fortunately, everyone was still alive!
As long as people were alive, everything was negotiable...
"In any case, thank you very much for helping us defeat Deliora!"
"If it weren't for you, let alone saving the town..."
"Perhaps everyone in our town would have been buried in a sea of fire?!"
The town chief was a reasonable person, so after he soberly realized that this was not an illusion or a dream, he led the townspeople to Medivh, who had just turned Deliora into ashes, and bowed in gratitude to Medivh.
"It's nothing, just a small favor."
Medivh heard this and shook his head with a smile.
"I heard from Silver that you are a Magician from a Guild, right?!"
"I, this old man, still understand the rules of Magicians..."
"Originally, we should have shown our appreciation..."
"But as you can see, we really have nothing to give you right now. All our valuables were destroyed last night during Deliora's invasion! When next year comes and all the game we hunt from the mountain is sold..."
When the town chief reached this point, his voice suddenly paused. He seemed to have remembered something. He looked at the lake in the distance that had replaced the snow mountain, cleared his throat, and continued, "When the fish in our fish pond are all grown in the future, we will definitely make up for your reward today."
"No need for such trouble!"
"This is what I should do..."
Medivh heard this, rubbed the back of his head, and chuckled softly.
He had accidentally flattened the town, which already made him feel bad, so how could he ask for compensation from these simple townspeople?!
If he had traveled through time a few tens of minutes earlier, perhaps he could have intercepted Deliora outside the town, which was truly a pity.
"May I ask your esteemed name?!"
"So that we may have a chance to repay you..."
But the town chief was still very insistent. A destroyed town could be rebuilt, but a person's life was only one, and once lost, it could not be recovered.
"My name is I..."
Medivh heard this and was originally going to directly state his name...
But when he saw the boundless wasteland before him, he cleared his throat and temporarily changed his name: "I do not change my name or surname, I am none other than Gildarts, a Magician of the Fairy Tail Guild!"
"Gildarts?"
"Are you saying that you are Gildarts, known as the strongest Magician in the western part of the Ishgar continent?!"
Gildarts's name was still very famous. Even in this ordinary town, some people had heard of him. They all widened their eyes and said in disbelief.
"Precisely..."
Medivh nodded lightly.
"But I heard that Gildarts is a drunkard, a bastard, a pervert, a lecherous old man. No matter how I look at you, you don't seem like him?"
The townsperson scrutinized Medivh, looking unconvinced.
"Hey! Uncle Gildarts, your reputation outside is really loud! The whole world knows you're a bastard. I'm doing you a favor here..." Medivh's eye twitched slightly. He went against his conscience and explained for Gildarts, "Actually, those are all rumors. I... am a good person!"
"I see..."
The simple townspeople believed Medivh's 'lie'.
Although Gildarts was indeed, as rumored, a scoundrel who ran off after getting what he wanted, a jerk, and an alcoholic...
Next up.
After Medivh, posing as Gildarts, accepted the townspeople's gratitude, he sought out Silver's family.
Just now, Silver had used the communication magic Medivh had previously cast to contact Medivh again, saying he had something important to tell him...
When Medivh arrived at the place Silver had mentioned.
He saw Silver holding his now-conscious wife, Mihua, and Gray, who had his head bowed. The family of three stood under a tree, seemingly having been waiting for Medivh for a long time.
"Gray, go on!"
After seeing Medivh, Silver gently patted Gray's back, encouraging him.
So, before Medivh could even ask, he saw Gray walk forward, kneel on both knees, and loudly declare, "Senior Gildarts! I want to learn magic..."
"No..."
"What's with this 'Coach, I want to play basketball' déjà vu right now?!"
Medivh's mouth was half-open, the words he had intended to ask were forcibly held back, and he was frantically complaining in his mind. "Ahem, first of all, I'm not Gildarts, my name is Medivh..." Medivh looked at Gray, first explaining his name, and then said with some regret, "As for your desire to learn magic, I do know about it. But I'm sorry, I really can't teach you!"
"Why?"
Gray looked up, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Because you can't learn it..."
Medivh was helpless. The Celestial Magic he specialized in was not suitable for Gray.
"Is that, is that so?"
A hint of disappointment flashed in Gray's eyes. He lowered his head, lost in thought.
"Although you can't learn my magic..."
"However, if you truly, from the bottom of your heart, want to learn magic, I do have someone I can recommend to you."
"She is a good teacher, and she possesses the magic most suitable for you in this world..."
Medivh helped Gray up from the ground and smiled.
"Really?"
"I truly want to learn magic!"
"I never want to encounter a situation again where someone I cherish is attacked by bad people and I am powerless..."
Gray seemed not to have expected that there would be a turning point in his desire to learn magic...
So he looked up at Medivh, his big eyes filled with anticipation.
"Of course, why would I lie to you?!" Medivh heard this, first gently ruffled Gray's little head, and after messing up Gray's short, choppy hair...
Medivh then stopped his actions and turned to look at someone approaching from behind him, smiling, "As for the person I mentioned who can teach you magic, it is... her!"
"Her?!"
Gray was a bit confused. He followed Medivh's gaze...
Not far away, a woman with neat black short hair was walking towards them.
The woman was very unique; even in the cold winter, she only wore a thin jacket as a top, which was open to reveal a slightly sexy inner garment. Her jeans accentuated her curvy hips, making it hard to look away...
When she got closer, it was clear that the woman's features were also beautiful and proper, and she exuded a heroic spirit that young girls lacked, giving her a valiant and spirited feeling. Beside this woman was a silver-haired young man with naturally 'premature white hair'.
"Hey! Don't just randomly take disciples for others!"
After the woman arrived, she first gave Medivh a glare, then looked at the young Gray, who was standing there in a daze, and said in surprise, "You know what, this child really does have a talent for Creation Magic! Since that's the case, I'll reluctantly take him in."
"Gray, hurry up and acknowledge your teacher?"
Medivh heard this, nudged Gray beside him, and smiled.
"Is she? Is she strong?"
What Medivh didn't expect was that Gray, this kid, was actually being picky. He turned to Medivh and asked.
"Idiot! Of course she's strong..."
"If in your eyes, Ur, whose strength rivals the Saint Ten Wizard and who can even be called the strongest Ice Magician in the Ishgar continent, is not strong enough..."
"Then you can only go find those old monsters who have lived for hundreds of years and are known as 'Heavenly Kings' on the continent, whose whereabouts are unknown, to become their disciples!"
"In that case, even I can't help a picky kid like you."
Medivh pressed Gray's head and lectured him.
"It hurts, it hurts! Damn it..."
Gray clutched his head, tears in his eyes. As he spoke, he strode towards Ur and bowed his head, "Please, can you accept me as your disciple?!"
"I'll accept you, this 'unappreciative' disciple!"
Ur heard this, first revealed a gentle smile, and then forcefully brought down her loving iron fist on Gray's head.
Well, Ur was still very angry about Gray initially questioning her strength and resisting becoming her disciple.
"It hurts!"
The tears that had been welling up in Gray's eyes finally flowed out uncontrollably.
"Once you've cried, you're my good disciple."
Ur smiled and then looked up at Medivh, a gentle smile on her face, "So, next, shouldn't we discuss matters between you and me?! Do you have anything you want to explain to me?"
"Explain? Me?"
Medivh was a bit confused. He didn't feel he had anything he needed to explain to Ur.
"Mr. Gildarts, please tell me, why do you look somewhat different from the lecherous old man I remember?!"
"You've recently learned Time Magic and are getting younger and younger, right?"
Ur looked at Medivh with a smile and asked.
"Ah, right, it was mentioned in the extra story that Gildarts and Ur know each other..."
"After all, there are only so many Magicians on the Ishgar continent who can be called strong. It's not a big deal for them to know each other, it's a very normal situation."
Medivh was helpless. He didn't expect Ur to be here to question his identity.
"That magical power last night was truly terrifying! I could feel it from dozens of miles away... So, I rushed over overnight."
"As soon as I arrived here, I heard the townspeople saying that the great hero Gildarts defeated Deliora and saved all the townspeople!"
"I originally thought of saying hello to Gildarts, since we know each other. But I didn't expect to meet an impostor. So now, can you tell me who you really are?! Why are you impersonating Gildarts?"
Ur narrowed her eyes, staring intently at Medivh, as if she intended to attack if he said anything wrong.
"As you can see, I am indeed a Magician of the Fairy Tail Guild."
Medivh said nothing, directly revealing the Fairy Tail stamp on his arm.
At least this thing couldn't be faked.
"Eh?"
Ur clearly paused after seeing the mark on Medivh's body. She began to doubt her own judgment and Medivh's intentions...
Originally, in her opinion, perhaps Medivh intended to use Deliora's and Gildarts's names to stage a self-directed illusion magic show in the town and take the opportunity to harvest the town's wealth, but now it seemed she had guessed wrong.
"You know, Gildarts's reputation is too bad."
"By using his name, besides clearing his labels, it's also for the reputation of the Fairy Tail Guild."
Medivh sighed helplessly at this point.
He truly put his heart and soul into Fairy Tail.
"Alright, I understand."
Ur looked at Medivh, and she seemed to recall the first time she met Gildarts.
At that time, Gildarts had left a deep impression on her. Although that guy was as strong as a monster, he was indeed quite troublesome.
Thinking of this, Ur walked up to Medivh, gently patted his shoulder, and said, "Yes, you've worked hard."