Kaien stepped out of his house, crouched low with one knee bent forward and the other extended behind him, planting both hands on the ground in a sprinter's stance.
BOOM—!
With a powerful push, Kaien vanished from the spot.
Back in Magnolia, townspeople strolling the streets after dinner suddenly felt a gust of wind rush past.
"Kyah—!"
A gust flipped up the skirt of a passing girl, giving a few nearby onlookers an unexpected treat. The girl quickly pressed down her skirt with both hands, cheeks flushing red.
"Huh? Where'd that wind come from?"
There wasn't supposed to be any breeze tonight. So where did that sudden gust come from?
About thirty seconds passed—
Whoosh!
Kaien reappeared at his doorstep.
Fwoooosh—!
As he came to an abrupt stop, the wind stirred up by his movement sent small stones rolling across the ground.
"Thirty-three seconds."
He didn't need a stopwatch. His body was like a machine, capable of timing with pinpoint precision down to the decimal.
Even Kaien was left speechless by what he had just accomplished.
To adapt to the intensity of his transformations, he had made it a habit to complete the system's daily training routines.
There was no reward attached to them—but for him, the true reward was the improvement in his physical capabilities.
The first time Kaien ran a lap around Magnolia, it took him a little over thirty minutes.
But now?
He had done it in just over thirty seconds.
A full lap around Magnolia was roughly 10,000 meters.
Thirty-three seconds meant he was covering almost 300 meters per second.
"One second… three hundred meters!!"
Kaien was startled by his own calculations.
That was near the speed of sound.
No wonder even Gojo's Six Eyes wouldn't be able to track it.
He could feel it—his current body was still holding back Toji Fushiguro's full potential.
If he could unleash everything, he was sure he'd break the sound barrier.
"Powerful! Insanely powerful!"
Kaien was ecstatic. This golden card was too good—Mirajane really was his goddess of fortune.
He released the Take Over form.
Just as he did—
A wave of excruciating pain erupted across every muscle in his body.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
Kaien couldn't help but scream.
It hurt—way too much!
He had never experienced this kind of pain before.
His muscles felt worse than if his bones had snapped.
"System! What the hell is going on?!"
When in doubt, just ask the system.
[You've exceeded your body's physical limit. Your base stats can't keep up, so your muscles are tearing from the strain.]
"What?! There's a side effect like that?! Why didn't you warn me?!"
[You didn't ask.]
[But if you keep training and master Sun Breathing and Total Concentration: Constant, the pain will decrease significantly.]
So it will still hurt!
Kaien ground his teeth in frustration, but the pain was so intense he couldn't even be mad properly.
He could only lie flat in bed, unable to move.
Even a slight breeze made him grit his teeth.
He didn't dare scream again—it just hurt more when he did.
The night dragged on. Kaien suffered through it all, feeling like it would never end.
Only when the sun began to rise, casting its rays through the window, did he barely regain some movement—just enough to twitch his fingers.
Kaien opened his system panel.
He selected all his blue, green, and white character cards.
[Recycle these character cards?]
"Yes!"
[Recycle successful! Congratulations—Magic Power ↑☆!]
A surge of magic flowed from his magic source, spreading through his body like a warm current, easing his pain.
"System, what the hell? I recycled so many character cards! And you're telling me I only gained half a star of Magic Power?!"
Magic was the foundation of everything. The stronger your magic, the more you could unleash the true strength of your character cards.
[All values are determined by algorithm. The higher your star level, the more points it costs to level up.]
"Always with the algorithms! What even is this algorithm?!"
[To upgrade from four stars to five stars in Magic Power requires 1000 Magic Points.]
[White: +10 pts | Green: +20 pts | Blue: +50 pts | Purple: +800 pts | Gold: +3000 pts]
Kaien's mouth twitched.
So there really was a formula.
Purple and gold cards were clearly worth the most…
But to him, the value of a single gold card far exceeded that of thousands of lower-tier ones.
Below blue? They were just experience fodder.
He clearly wasn't going to the guild today.
With the high-intensity missions he'd been doing lately, his body needed recovery.
It was the perfect time for a break.
Just as he was dozing off—
Bang bang bang!!
"Kaien!! Kaien!!"
Groggily, Kaien opened the door…
Only to find a crowd gathered at his doorstep.
All familiar faces—Natsu, Gray, Happy, Erza, Mirajane, Elfman, Levy, Laki...
Kaien blinked. "Y-You guys… why are you here?"
"We came to hang out with you!!"
They all answered in unison.
Mirajane smiled, "You moved into a new place, right? We all heard and came to celebrate!"
Kaien slapped his forehead. "Ah—sorry! I've been so busy I completely forgot! Welcome, welcome! I'll go buy groceries and cook!"
He remembered he still owed Mirajane a meal.
Erza said, "No need! We brought everything! Let's have a barbecue party right here!"
"Ooooooohhhhh!!"
Everyone sprang into action.
Some started the fire, others set up the grill.
Everyone brought their signature dishes.
The courtyard quickly filled with laughter and delicious smells.
They gathered to eat meat, drink, and chat, carefree and joyful.
Kaien sat back, watching the scene unfold.
His heart felt strange—
It had been so long since his home (previous one) had felt this lively.
The party lasted late into the night before people reluctantly went home.
Lying in bed afterward, Kaien reflected on the day.
"The guild… companions…"
Only now did he truly understand what the guild meant.
Only now did he truly feel like a member of Fairy Tail.
"This feeling… it's not bad at all."
✧✧✧
Time flies. Months pass like flowing water.
Half a year slipped by in the blink of an eye.
Ishgar Continent – Eastern Region
Kingdom of Eurari
Inside a hidden building...
Over a thousand figures clad in black robes stood together, performing a mysterious ritual.
In the center, a group of people had been tied to wooden stakes, the bases piled with firewood.
There were hundreds of them—men and women alike.
Their mouths were gagged, but their eyes brimmed with fear and despair as they looked around in panic.
A masked man stepped forward.
"Let the sacrificial ritual begin!"
"These villagers are innocent. These three hundred pure lives… shall serve as the guide for his arrival!"
"Oh great Black Wizard… Zeref!!!"
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The robed figures roared with fanatic fervor.
"To walk beside him in this world—let the sacrifice… BEGIN!!"
Suddenly—
BOOOOOOM!!!
An explosion tore the gates apart.
"What's going on?!"
A playful voice called out:
"Ahhh~! You guys were a pain to find!"
A young man stepped into view, bare-chested, freckled, wearing an orange cowboy hat.
"Yo! You cultist scumbags from the Black Magic Order—
Good evening!"