Amidst the cheerful rhythm of winter, the year X784, which had been full of ups and downs, finally came to an end.
The year X785 arrived.
In the very first month of the new year, the magic world welcomed a major piece of news. Hope's name appeared on the front page of the Magic Daily, with a bold headline that almost leaped off the paper: "The First Page of a New Era: The Youngest 'Ten Wizard Saint' is Born in Fairy Tail!"
The report detailed Hope's legendary achievements from the previous year: sealing lullaby, crushing the Oración Seis, thwarting the Tower of Paradise plan, and performing decisive feats in the operations against the dark alliance, the "Balam Alliance."
He won the joint recommendation of three current Ten Wizard Saints: Hyberion, Makarov, and Jura.
In just one year, the speed at which his strength and combat records soared was so exaggerated it was as if he were using cheats. Each event was an achievement enough to shock the entire Ishgar magic world.
Magic Council Headquarters.
After a series of tedious formalities, the bored Hope finally donned the "Ten Wizard Saint" cloak, which symbolized the highest honor in this magical world.
The current Chairman of the New Council, Gran Doma, personally pinned the Ten Wizard Saint emblem on Hope. "I originally thought that as a Mage from 'Fairy Tail,' you would be lawless as well. I didn't expect you to have a steadiness far beyond your years."
Gran Doma's style was serious and rigid. As someone who strictly followed rules, he had never had much of a favorable impression of a guild like "Fairy Tail" that caused trouble everywhere.
However, the old man did not bring personal emotions into his work. While doing his best to maintain order in the magic world, he also took great care of the new generation of Mages and Council juniors.
Of course, Gran Doma's care did not include the daily trouble-making Fairy Tail... Generally speaking, aside from being a bit stiff in personality, he was a good person who lived up to his duties as the Council Chairman.
After the Ten Wizard Saint investiture ceremony ended, Hope chatted with some elderly Council members for a while, and then, led by Mest, headed toward the Council's archives.
"Congratulations."
Mavis, using the name Doranbalt, couldn't help but tease him as she led the way. "Those vacant seats among the Ten Wizard Saints finally have a newcomer."
Hope asked with interest, "From your tone, can the Ten Wizard Saints not even gather ten people?"
"Of course. The Council isn't stupid. It's a title representing the highest combat power in Ishgar, after all. They'd rather leave a seat vacant than give it away haphazardly."
Hope nodded. Including himself as a newcomer, there were currently only seven Ten Wizard Saints in total. Even if the expelled Jose and Jellal were included, they would still be one short of a full roster.
However, that last seat... Hope suddenly remembered a rumor. "I heard the Old Council once posthumously awarded a Ten Wizard Saint seat to a certain Master Mage who sacrificed themselves to commemorate them. Is that true?"
"There seems to be such a thing." Mest thought for a moment and then continued, "That person was a female Mage, apparently named Ur. It's said she was originally a candidate for the Ten Wizard Saints, but unexpectedly perished while taking down a Great Demon."
"When we issued the wanted poster for Ultear a while ago, we discovered she was actually Ur's daughter."
Hope's mouth twitched. The world was small; he had just casually asked about rumors regarding the Ten Wizard Saints, and it managed to link back to someone he knew.
Passing through layers of guards, Hope entered the Council's archives without any obstacles, relying on his status as a Ten Wizard Saint.
Calling it an archive was an understatement; in reality, it was twice the size of the Mildian Magic Academy's library. Ten or twenty minutes wouldn't even be enough for a tour.
The Magic Council had existed for a long time, and the data and intelligence collected could even be traced back a thousand years. This was also the reason Hope had come here.
Accepting the Ten Wizard Saint title was just incidental.
By searching, Hope quickly found the section regarding records of gods. However, even with the Council's deep heritage, there was only a small bookshelf of information on gods.
Most of it consisted of vague and unclear legends.
There was essentially no practical value.
Hope was somewhat disappointed, but since he was already here, he used 'Archive Magic' to integrate and analyze the data. To his surprise, he actually discovered some information.
'God Slaying Magic' was suspected to originate from the power of the gods themselves, which was basically consistent with Hope's previous analysis.
However, another piece of information was quite interesting.
This intelligence described how some ancient gods would actively mate with humans, and their human descendants would naturally inherit a portion of the gods' power.
Although this power would be diluted through generations of reproduction, it would never completely disappear. After all, those were the genes of a god.
This made Hope think of the 'Inferno Slayer Magic (Fragmented)' he had studied before. Perhaps Zancrow, the Inferno Slayer Mage of Demon Heart, was a descendant of a fire-related deity.
He relied on his own bloodline to learn God Slaying Magic, but due to the mixed nature of the inherited bloodline, Zancrow's God Slaying Magic was incomplete.
If he wanted to study God Slaying Magic in depth, it seemed he would have to find clues from the descendants of gods.
But in such a vast world... Hope shook his head. He decided to continue practicing his invincible 'Magnetic Field Power.' Instead of worrying about ankhseram targeting the people around him, it was better to directly train his power to crush Him.
After sweeping through the archives and using 'Archive Magic' to collect a large amount of knowledge and intelligence, Hope finally left with satisfaction.
Getting something for nothing like this was truly addictive.
Just as Hope was preparing to return to Magnolia, Gran Doma found him once again. "Hope, I wonder if you would be willing to accept a commission from the Council."
Hope was taken aback. "Huh? Isn't your Council an official organization? Do you also issue commissions?"
It was no wonder Hope was surprised. The Magic Council's sphere of influence spanned the entire continent of Ishgar, and its personnel far outnumbered all the current legitimate Mage Guilds combined. Otherwise, how could they serve as the guardians of the magic world's order?
For such a massive power, if they encountered a problem they truly couldn't handle, they only needed to summon the legitimate guilds to do the work.
Moreover, the Council now had a powerful "Sinner Squad." Logically, there was no need to issue a commission at all, let alone to a Ten Wizard Saint.
Seeing Hope's suspicious expression, Gran Doma cleared his throat and explained, "Actually, it's not a commission from our Ishgar Council. It's the Council of the Northern Continent, Giltina, seeking assistance."
Hope suddenly understood. No wonder Gran Doma had come to him; it turned out to be a diplomatic matter.
However... for the Council of another continent to send a request for aid, this commission must be quite troublesome, right?
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