The sound of laughter and distant cheers still lingered in the Fairy Tail guild hall as Lucky sat near the bar, watching the flickering lights of the evening settle over Magnolia. Most of the guild had returned to their own activities. Gray had walked off, clearly carrying more than just the weight of their recent mission.
Cana plopped down beside him with a tankard in hand. "You didn't break Gray, did you?" she teased.
Lucky chuckled softly but shook his head. "No. But something the mayor said hit a nerve. He didn't talk about it, and I didn't want to press."
Cana took a sip and leaned back. "Gray usually keeps to himself unless it's important. If he needs to talk, he will. You earned his respect at least. That's more than most."
Makarov, sitting on his usual barrel in the corner, glanced over. "He lost a lot to .... "
Makarov then sighed and said
"I'll tell you more one day, Lucky. For now, give him space."
Lucky nodded. "I understand."
He stood up, stretching lightly. The sky outside was still bright, but the sun was clearly beginning to dip.
"I'm heading to the forest," he said. "I left something unfinished."
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Lucky made his way out of Magnolia at a jog, the cobblestone streets quickly giving way to forest paths. The light filtering through the trees was warm and golden, birds chirping quietly in the distance. But Lucky had one thing on his mind: his clones.
He reached the forest clearing where he had left them. One of his clones was already there, sitting lazily against a tree. The moment it saw Lucky, it stood and crossed its arms.
"A whole day! You left us here for the entire day!"
Lucky scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, sorry! The mission ran long."
The clone huffed but handed over a hefty stacks of cards. "We made a mess. A big one."
"Massacre?"
"Massacre."
Lucky blinked. "Where is the other clone?"
The clone just smiled a mischievous, knowing grin and in the next instant, dispersed into golden light. A sharp pulse stabbed through Lucky's head.
"Agh…"
His body swayed slightly as the influx of memory and experience flooded in. It showed the clones hunting, coordinating with the summons, wiping out packs of beasts across the forest. But toward the end, it revealed a strategy: one clone would stay behind while the other returned. The idea was to reduce the memory overload by staggering their dispels.
Five minutes passed in silence.
Then, high above, a familiar cry echoed through the sky. The clouds parted as a large golden eagle swooped down, circling once before gliding to a graceful stop in front of him.
It was definitely larger.
It had leveled up.
A figure leapt down from the eagle's back—the other clone.
"You! Left us to grind without rest!"
"I know, I know! I already heard it from the other one."
"Well, you're going to hear it again!"
Lucky sighed. "Of course I am."
The clone tossed another batch of cards toward him. Another headache was coming.
"Brace yourself," the clone muttered, and vanished.
The familiar pulse of energy rushed in again. Memories played in flashes—the golden eagle evolving slightly after intense use, more summons, more battles, and still no rare creatures.
Lucky, breathing slower now, glanced through the cards. As expected: no standout summons.
"Well," he muttered, "no point wasting them."
He crushed the cards in hand and watched as golden light surged into a glowing orb—Origin Luck. One after another, he absorbed them all.
HP: 100%
Stamina: 80%
SP: 4,000/4,000 (Soul Power)
MP: 20,000/20,000
OL (Origin Luck): 100
Luck: ??? + 0.05
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"Perfect."
He reached into his inventory and retrieved the card from the cursed beast.
It glimmered ominously. A cursed aura. Dangerous power.
He didn't hesitate. Option 5. 100 OL dumped in.
The card shimmered, transformed, and reformed in a new shape.
A Talent Card. His first.
Tier: 5
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Talent: Mana Thief
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Type: Ability/Passive
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Amount of Use: 1
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Description: Allows the user the ability to steal mana from others.
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Effect:
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Siphon Strikes (Passive):
Steals 50% of damage dealt as MP from targets
Example: Deal 200 damage → Gain 100 MP
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Hunger Domain (Toggle On/Off):
Creates an invisible stealing zone with:
Size: [Your Max MP] ÷ 1000 meters (20m)
Drain: [Your Max MP] ÷ 1000 MP per second from each enemy in range (20MP/sec)
Example: 50,000 Max MP = 50m radius, steals 50 MP/sec per target
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** (????)**
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Note 1: This is an innate Talent and Cannot be leveled, but scales with user growth.
Note 2: Acquire the full experience of the card looted.
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Lucky stared, eyes wide. Then he laughed.
"Mana issue? Gone. Clones issue? Halfway solved. This is insane!"
Without waiting, he activated the talent. A rush of energy surged through him—subtle, almost quiet.
Nothing around him changed. His body felt the same. But his mana...
It was different.
He activated the Hunger Domain.
Nothing changed visually. But he could feel it—a faint pull, like a silent breath being taken.
"Let's test this."
He summoned a Wind Wolf.
The sleek creature appeared, loyal as always. But Lucky mentally flagged it as an enemy.
As the creature was within 20 meters, Lucky felt something click. A faint drain.
He checked his status.
+20 MP.
+20 MP.
+20 MP.
He laughed again.
"It works."
To confirm, he cast Solid Script: FIRE a few times. Mana dropped by 500.
Within seconds, it was recovering on its own.
He sat cross-legged. The wolf, even as an enemy target, didn't seem overly taxed. Maybe a little tired, but not harmed.
Standing in the domain, even though it seemed tired, it wasn't by much. After all, the higher the ranking of the being or the more mana they have, the more dependent they really are on magic. For example, Makarov was almost dying when he had no mana, but others would just have a pale face or be tired.
After all of this, he thought about summoning more clones but stopped himself. "I can rest today."
and he will deal with the card he got in the mission with Gray later
He deactivated the domain to avoid alarming the townspeople.
He made his way back to Magnolia under the twilight sky.
And once he arrived home, he collapsed into bed, falling asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.