Seeing the totally blank looks on Mavis and the guys' faces, I just couldn't help it. I threw my head back and laughed out loud. The echo bounced right off the trees.
"Man, you guys look like you just saw a ghost," I grinned, spinning Odin's staff between my fingers. I looked over at Mavis. Her jaw was practically sitting on the floor. My smile softened a bit. "Look, I'm not gonna leave you guys hanging. Honestly, it's been forever since I ran into a bunch of newbies with this much raw talent. It's pretty cool."
I gave my wrist a quick flick. Pop, pop, pop. Six thick, leather-bound books just appeared out of thin air, floating in a neat little line. With another nudge of my hand, they drifted across the clearing. Two books stopped right in front of Mavis, two in front of Yuri, and two in front of Precht.
I didn't give one to Warrod. I just kept my arm wrapped around his shoulder.
Mavis blinked, reaching out with shaky hands to catch her two floating books. She looked down at the heavy leather, running her fingers over the gold letters, and read the titles out loud.
"Introduction to Magic and Ethernano..." She squinted at the second one, looking completely baffled. "And... The Foundations of Complex Illusion Magic? Wait... what is an illusion? Is this what you use to make those flowers appear?"
She had no clue. She didn't even realise that the "friends" she talked to back on her island were just projections she made up because she was lonely. She was a total amateur, just like the rest of them.
Beside her, Yuri and Precht grabbed their books out of the air. They looked completely lost. You gotta remember, these guys were just treasure hunters. They spent their whole lives swinging swords, climbing old ruins, and dodging traps. They didn't know the first thing about a magic container or Ethernano. To them, magic was just some scary stuff ancient monsters or crazy wizards used.
Whoa, I got the Introduction one too," Yuri muttered, flipping through the heavy pages. Then he lifted his second book. "Basic Execution of Lightning Magic? Seriously? Look, man, I'm a treasure hunter, not a wizard. I just swing a sword. You can really tell what kind of magic I'm supposed to use just by looking at me?"
"And I have... The Mechanics of Gravitational Acceleration and Weight Control," Precht murmured, his dark eyes staring at the pages. He looked up at me, his usual grumpy frown totally gone. He looked completely amazed. "This... this doesn't make sense. We don't even know how to feel this 'Ethernano' stuff yet. How are we supposed to read formulas that skip the normal magic stuff?"
I leaned on my staff, giving them a big, goofy smile. "Those books will help you guys unlock your innate magic. Just think of it like a cheat code from me. Study hard, don't blow your hands off, and listen to the depressed guy in the black robes over there. He actually knows his stuff when he isn't crying about dead grass."
Zeref just let out another long, tired sigh. He stared at me like I was a massive headache that wouldn't go away.
"Anyway! See ya!" I shouted, giving them a quick two-finger salute.
Before any of them could even open their mouths, I tapped the bottom of Odin's staff hard against the grass. Thud.
Right away, a huge swirl of bright pink flower petals exploded from the ground. It completely covered me and a yelling Warrod. By the time the petals fell to the dirt, the two of us were totally gone.
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Pop.
The air pressure snapped in my ears. The smell of the damp forest vanished, replaced by the sharp, crisp scent of high mountain air.
"Whoa-oof!" Warrod squeaked. The sudden change caught him completely off guard. He fell right onto his butt and slid a few inches down a grassy hill. He scrambled up onto his hands and knees, shaking his head wildly. He looked around at the huge, open sky and the giant mountains all around us. "What the-where are we?! Did we just teleport?! Are we dead?!"
"Relax, green-hair, no need to freak out," I laughed. I walked past him to the edge of the cliff and looked out at the awesome view of the valley below. "It's just a safe place to practice magic. No people, no crazy dragons, no distractions. Just you, me, and a whole lot of empty space."
I looked down at the dirt under my boots, a small smile creeping onto my face. It was a weird feeling. I knew this hill. In about a hundred years or so, after this kid grew up, retired from Fairy Tail, and became one of the Four Gods of Ishgar, he was gonna build his house right on this exact spot. But right now? It was just an empty hill, and he was just a lanky treasure hunter who didn't know his own strength.
"Anyway," I said, spinning my staff and pointing the glowing green gem right at his nose. "Let's start your first magic lesson. Stand up, shake the dirt off your pants, and pay attention."
Warrod stumbled to his feet, still looking super nervous. He wiped his hands on his trousers and locked his eyes on me. "Okay... okay. But why didn't I get a book like Mavis and the guys? Do you think I'm too dumb to read?"
"Nah, you can read fine. It's just that books won't help you with what you have," I said, leaning back against a big boulder. "First, you need to understand how Ethernano and magic actually work. Listen close, because I'm only explaining this once."
Warrod nodded quickly, his green hair bouncing around.
"The whole world is filled with Ethernano," I began, waving my hand at the open air. "It's an invisible energy source. It's in the sky, the dirt, the grass, and inside you. Normal people just breathe it in and out like regular air. But Mages? We have a Magic Container inside our bodies. Think of it like a second stomach. We suck the Ethernano from the air, squeeze it inside our container, and then, using our own willpower, we change that raw energy into a specific spell. The problem is, most mages rely on complicated math, strict magic circles, and chanting just to get that container to open up. It's slow, it's clumsy, and it keeps you weak."
"So... the books you gave them have those circles?" Warrod asked, trying to follow along.
"Exactly. Because their magic needs structure," I explained. "But there is a very specific reason I chose you out of those four, Warrod. And that reason is your innate magic."
Warrod blinked, tilting his head. "Innate magic?"
"Yeah. See, every single person who can use Ethernano has a specific type of magic that belongs entirely to them. It's a manifestation of your personality, your soul, or sometimes it runs in your family. It's the magic your body wants to cast. When a mage finds their innate magic, they don't need complicated formulas or big, glowing magic circles. They can do it entirely without training because their soul already knows how the spell feels. It's pure instinct."
Warrod looked down at his own hands, squeezing his fingers into fists. "My innate magic... what is it?"
"Green Magic," I said clearly.
"Green Magic?" he repeated, frowning. "Like... making grass grow? That sounds kinda useless if we're trying to fight a whole wizard guild in Magnolia."
"Useless?" I laughed, tapping the green gem of my staff against his chest. "Kid, Green Magic is the magic of life, growth, and the absolute authority of the forest. It isn't just about growing a pretty flower. You are tapping into the old energy of the earth itself. When you master this, you can command roots thick enough to crush mountains. You can grow forests out of a handful of dirt to swallow entire armies. You can drain the energy right out of your enemies and use it to make your own body harder than ancient oak wood. It's one of the best magics in existence because as long as the planet is alive, your fuel tank is infinite."
Warrod's eyes got wide. A tiny spark of excitement finally broke through his fear. "Seriously? I can do all that?"
"If you stop whining and start listening, yeah," I grinned. "Alright, let's try it out. Don't look for a magic circle. Don't try to remember any words. Close your eyes."
Warrod squeezed his eyes shut.
"Now," I said, my voice dropping its playful tone, becoming steady and calm. "Don't try to force the magic out of your body like you're throwing a punch. That's what bad mages do. Instead, I want you to feel that warm pool of Ethernano sitting right behind your belly button. Got it?"
"Yeah... yeah, I feel it. It feels hot," Warrod muttered, focusing really hard.
"Good. Now, don't push it. Let it leak out through your boots, straight into the soil under you. Don't think of the dirt as a solid wall. Think of it as a part of your own body. You aren't forcing the earth to move; you're just waking it up. Talk to the roots sleeping under the grass. Tell them to rise."
"Tell them to... rise," Warrod whispered.
For a second, nothing happened. The wind just blew quietly across the empty hill. I watched him through my Eyes of Gilgamesh. I saw the bright green Ethernano inside his body slowly trickle down his legs, flowing like glowing rivers into the dirt. The kid's container was huge, way bigger than he realized.
"I... I don't think it's working, Merlin," Warrod grumbled, his eyes still closed. "I don't feel anything-"
"Shut up and focus," I said gently. "Stop thinking with your brain. Feel with your soul. The forest doesn't think in math, Warrod. It feels. Give it a command."
Warrod took a huge, deep breath. His chest expanded, and suddenly, his whole body flickered with a faint, green light. He slammed his right hand firmly into the grass, his fingers digging into the dirt.
"Rise!" he yelled.
RUMBLE. RUMBLE.
The entire hilltop violently shook. Warrod gasped, snapping his eyes open just as the ground three feet in front of him tore completely apart. A massive, twisted wooden root—easily as thick as a carriage—erupted from the soil like a giant snake. It shot ten feet into the air, its bark dark and hard, before curling over and slamming back into the grass with a heavy THUD that sent dust flying everywhere.
Warrod fell backward onto his butt again, staring at the giant, new root in absolute shock. He looked at the wood, then at his dirt-covered hand, then up at me.
"I... I did that?" he whispered, his voice shaking. "Just... just by telling it to move?"
"Told you so," I laughed, walking over and leaning on my staff right next to his massive new creation. I kicked the bark with my boot. It made a dull, heavy sound. "See that? No magic circle. No chanting. Just pure instinct. You told the earth to grow, and because your body loves the green magic, the universe didn't even try to argue with you."
Warrod slowly stood up, running his hand over the rough, warm bark of the root. "It feels... alive. Like it's a part of me."
"Because it is," I said, ruffling his messy green hair. "That's the beauty of Green Magic, kid. You're never fighting alone. The whole planet has your back. But don't get cocky just yet. That was a baby sprout. Tomorrow, we're gonna see if you can summon a root big enough to lift that giant boulder over there."
Warrod looked over at the massive, twenty-ton rock I was pointing at, and his face instantly turned pale again. "You're kidding, right?"
"Do I look like a guy who jokes about heavy lifting?" I laughed, flashing him that big smile again. "Welcome to your new life, Warrod. Let's get to work. We've got a guild to build."