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"Sure thing," Alex said without a moment's hesitation.
The magic in Fairy Tail's world was no joke—powerful, and most of it focused on close combat.
"Good," Erza replied. "Take a look and see which kind of magic you want."
A file appeared on his screen a second later.
Alex opened it to find a long list of magic types with brief descriptions beside each name.
Requip Magic, Word Magic, Take-Over Magic, Molding Magic, Celestial Spirit Magic...
All common magics from Fairy Tail, but none of the ones he really wanted—no Dragon Slayer, God Slayer, or Enchantment Magic.
A little disappointed, he still decided on Word Magic.
It wasn't exactly flashy in the original story, but it had a unique charm: versatility.With the right words, you could manifest almost any kind of power.
After making his choice, Alex messaged Erza back.
Not long after, another file popped up in the chat—this one containing training methods for Word Magic, along with a primer on the basic magic theory of Fairy Tail's world.
In return, Alex sent her the details of Unlimited Blade Works, complete with the fundamentals of magecraft from the Fate universe.
Alex: "Magi in the Fate world use magic circuits. You don't have those. Can you really learn this stuff?"Erza: "Relax. I just need to understand the principle behind it."
Magic, magecraft—different names for the same thing: manipulating mana.
Erza believed that once she understood the theory, she could reproduce Unlimited Blade Works using her world's magic as a substitute.
Alex: "Then go for it. Good luck!"
After ending the chat, Alex left the abandoned factory with Hestia and Merlin, heading back to their hotel.
The moment he walked in, Sakura ran over, eyes bright.
"Welcome back, big brother!" she said, holding out a cup of water. Clearly, she'd been waiting for him.
"Good girl," Alex said, ruffling her hair before taking the cup and downing it in one gulp.
He hadn't had a sip of water all afternoon—the drink felt like heaven.
Sakura closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying the simple moment.
Just then, Roxy approached, looking a little bashful."The magic you just traded with Erza... would you mind letting me see it?"
"Of course not!" Alex replied instantly.
After all, Roxy had taught him so much about the magic of her world without asking for anything in return. The least he could do was share.
He made a copy of the document Erza had sent and forwarded it to her.
"Thank you so much!" Roxy said happily.
"No need to thank me. We're guildmates—no formalities between friends." Alex grinned and gave her a quick wink.
Roxy's cheeks turned a soft pink, her eyes darting away.
After dinner, Alex hit the hotel gym, walking on the treadmill for a bit to digest.When he was done, he ran a hot bath, filled the tub, and sank in with a sigh.
"Man, that feels good."
He usually just showered, so soaking in warm water felt like a rare luxury. The fatigue from days of intense training slowly melted away.
Opening the group's shared document, he began studying the Word Magic training guide.
By the time he'd read through it once, Alex realized this magic was way more complex than it looked.
There were multiple systems—Western alphabets, Eastern characters, even dark variants of the language.
In Fairy Tail, only two members practiced Word Magic: Levy and Freed.
No wonder Erza's training notes were so detailed.
Following the guide, Alex gathered mana into his fingertips and began writing glowing characters in the air.
Lines of light traced through the space before him but quickly faded away before forming stable words.
"Bit tricky... but that just makes it fun."
He smirked, focusing harder.
Just then, a massive surge of mana rippled through the hotel.
"This power... is that Roxy? But something's different."
Startled, Alex jumped out of the bath, quickly dried off, threw on his clothes, and rushed out of the room.
The others had already stepped out into the hallway, all eyes on Roxy's door.
"What's going on?" Alex asked Hestia and Luo Hao, the two strongest among them.
"She's breaking through," Luo Hao said simply.
Hestia nodded. "She's fusing her mana."
That made sense. Roxy's original mana came from her Mushoku Tensei world. After studying magecraft from Fate, she'd developed a second type.
And now, after learning Word Magic, she'd gained a third—Fairy Tail mana.
Having three different types of energy inside her had been driving her crazy. So, she decided to merge them all into one.
And somehow, she pulled it off.
Not just that—she'd broken through to King-rank Mage in the process.
Alex was stunned. "Wait, different world mana can actually fuse?"
He thought about his own situation.
He had several types too—curse energy from Campione!, magical energy from Fate, and mana from Mushoku Tensei.
If he started practicing Word Magic, that'd add a fourth.
Maybe he should try merging them like Roxy did?
But Luo Hao caught the look in his eyes and said calmly, "Mana is energy. Different worlds just give it different properties. In theory, they can merge—but the result is unpredictable. The new energy might be stronger... or weaker. It's a gamble."
"I see." Alex nodded, understanding—and immediately dropped the idea.
He'd played enough gacha games to know his luck sucked. He'd never pulled an SSR before.
Better not test fate now.
He could only hope someone in the chat group would eventually come from a world with a reliable mana fusion method.
After a while, Roxy's aura began to settle.
She'd succeeded.
A moment later, her door opened, and she stepped out, beaming.
She'd done it—Roxy had officially reached King rank.
"Congrats!" Alex said, grinning.
"As my subordinate, you've done well," Morgan said proudly, as if she were the one who'd advanced.
"Roxy-chan, that's awesome!" Rin cheered, pumping her fist.
"You're amazing, Roxy!" Sakura chimed in, eyes sparkling.
"Roxy," Hestia added with a teasing smile, "how about joining my Familia? A talent like you doesn't come around often."
"..."
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