Chapter 103: Enchantment Magic
"Did Grandeeney teach you any other magic?"
"She did, but I just... used a lot of magic power. I have to recover before I can use it."
"Then just recover slowly. There's no rush," Noah said, quickly comforting her when he saw tears welling up in her eyes again.
Wendy nodded, her eyes watery. To speed up her recovery, she began to "eat air," cupping her hands as if holding something and bringing them to her mouth, chewing with small bites. Everyone watched in amazement. When Natsu ate fire, they could at least see the flames. But when Wendy ate air, she was truly just cupping her hands in the air. To an outsider, it looked like she might have a serious problem.
As she ate the air, Wendy's recovery speed increased significantly. Combined with the high concentration of Ethernano in the training ground, her magic and stamina were restored very quickly.
"Big Brother Noah, I'm going to cast the other magic now."
"Go ahead."
Wendy raised her hands towards Noah, a magic circle unfolding at her feet as she chanted:
"Grant me the swift wind that soars across the heavens! Vernier!"
A magic circle also appeared beneath Noah's feet. He instantly felt his body become much lighter. He moved slightly and, sure enough, with the same amount of effort, his speed was much faster than before.
"Mhm, my body is much lighter, and my speed has increased quite a bit. This is the support magic Grandeeney taught you, isn't it, Wendy?"
After casting this one spell, Wendy's magic power was almost completely drained. She sat down on the ground, panting heavily. Ultear quickly took out a handkerchief to help her wipe away her sweat. Wendy, while thanking her, answered Noah, "Mhm. This is the other magic Grandeeney taught me."
"What's this magic called?"
"Grandeeney said it's called Enchantment magic."
"What does it do?"
"She said it can be used to support others, to increase my own or my comrades' attributes, just like how I increased your speed just now."
"Indeed, my speed did increase. In a battle, that would be a huge enhancement. This magic is incredible, Wendy. You can be more confident in it."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Wendy's face. She hadn't known Noah for long, but she could already tell how powerful he was. For him to say her magic was incredible naturally made her happy.
Noah thought for a moment, then spoke to Wendy with great sincerity. "I would like to learn that Enchantment magic from you. You can ask for anything you want in return. As long as it doesn't harm the guild, hurt our comrades, or violate public morals, I can do it."
Wendy was so young. Wanting to learn magic from her already made him feel like he was tricking a child. Furthermore, this was important magic that her foster mother had left her. Noah felt that he had to offer a high price to make up for it.
Wendy was startled by his serious attitude, and tears welled up in her eyes again. She quickly said, "You don't have to do that! If you want to learn it, Big Brother Noah, I'll teach you. But... I don't really understand it very well myself. I'm afraid I won't be able to teach you."
"That's not a problem. You just need to repeat what Grandeeney taught you to me. I know what you want most right now is to find Grandeeney. As your comrade, I'll naturally help you keep an eye out for news. That doesn't count. How about this: you think about what you want me to do, and you can tell me later. This offer will always be valid."
Hearing this, Wendy calmed down a little. She slowly repeated the lessons Grandeeney had taught her. Noah listened and found that Grandeeney had already arranged the content perfectly, from simple to complex. The first few spells even had incantations, but the later ones did not. As long as one followed her teachings, they could progress from basic enchantments all the way to advanced ones. Grandeeney had truly put a lot of thought into it.
Noah closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Wendy watched him, worried she had said something wrong, and her eyes began to fill with tears again.
Suddenly, Noah opened his eyes. "I think I understand. It should be like this... Grant me the swift wind that soars across the heavens! Vernier!"
As he spoke, magic power surged within him. A magic circle appeared at his feet, and then similar circles appeared beneath the feet of Wendy, Ultear, and Erza. They all felt their bodies become significantly lighter.
"You learned it just from hearing it once!" Wendy's tears instantly vanished, her face a mask of pure shock.
Ultear, standing beside her, just gave a bitter smile. "Noah just gets more and more incredible. He's learned so much magic over the years... I don't even know what his limits are anymore."
"Noah's a total monster," Erza said. "But since he's our comrade, the stronger he is, the happier we are."
Noah, having finished testing the spell, heard Erza's words and walked over. "I've just learned and seen more, so I can understand it a bit faster, that's all. I've learned the basics of Enchantment magic, so now I know how to help you with your training, Wendy. For this period, you should first focus on training your body and your magic power. Just use your Dragon Slayer magic and Enchantment magic once a day to stay familiar with them. When you have more magic power, you can use them more."
Wendy nodded repeatedly. Noah then turned to Ultear and the others. "You all should go and start your training. I'll stay here and watch over Wendy and Natsu."
"Actually, I've been wondering," Erza said, looking at Noah with a confused expression. "Why don't you just learn Dragon Slayer magic from Wendy?" Ultear and the others also looked at him, puzzled.
Wendy herself added, "If you want to learn it, Big Brother Noah, I can teach you."
"No, I can't. I can't learn Dragon Slayer magic. At least, not right now. If I learned Dragon Slayer magic with my aptitude, what would the Black Dragon even matter? But the later developments would be... very troublesome. It would be a disaster for the world."
Erza and the others looked confused. Seeing this, Noah didn't elaborate. "In short, you just need to know that I can't learn Dragon Slayer magic right now."
Since he had said it like that, they didn't ask any more questions and left for their own training plots.
Noah didn't learn Dragon Slayer magic because he currently had no way to solve the "Dragon Seed" problem. Those who learn Dragon Slayer magic have a Dragon Seed appear inside them, which constantly transforms them toward becoming a dragon, and eventually, they will become one.
Natsu and Wendy wouldn't have this side effect because someone—or rather, a dragon—was helping them. Noah had no dragon to help him. Laxus also used Dragon Slayer magic, but he was fine because he learned it from a Dragon Slayer lacrima, a method that avoids dragonification.
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