Chapter 193: The SS-Class Request
On the way, Lisana asked Noah various questions about this new world and what she needed to pay attention to, all of which he answered patiently.
But when they arrived at the training grounds and she saw what was happening, she stumbled back several steps. She stared in horror at the scene unfolding before her, then turned to Noah in a panic.
"I'm not going to be trained like that, am I?! That'll kill someone!"
In the training field before them, Mirajane was "fighting" Elfman and Lisanna.
No, "fighting" wasn't the right word. It was a one-sided beatdown.
Lisana watched as Mirajane sent Lisanna (Earth-Lisanna) flying with a single backhand, then spun around and buried her fist into Elfman's face. She could clearly see the pained grimace on his face as he was sent soaring, crashing into the ground so hard he formed a small crater. Saliva flew from his mouth on impact. He twitched twice, then went limp, knocked out cold.
In the distance, Lisanna (Earth-Lisanna) struggled to her feet, her face a mask of terror.
"What's wrong, Lisanna?" Mirajane called out, her voice dangerously calm. "Hurry up and attack. If you don't come to me, I'm coming to you."
Lisanna (Earth-Lisanna) finally drummed up her courage, used her Take Over magic to transform, and charged at her sister. She was, in turn, defeated in an instant. It was clear Mirajane was using different levels of force on her siblings—for Elfman, it was a ground-shattering blow; for Lisanna, it was just enough to knock her out without causing serious secondary damage.
After felling Lisanna, Mirajane released her Take Over and looked over at Noah and Lisana, who were standing at the edge of the field.
When Lisana (Edo-Lisanna) saw Mira's gaze land on her, she flinched and took another few steps back. Mirajane just looked at her, confused, and then turned to Noah, silently asking for an explanation.
Noah chuckled. "She just watched you beat up Elfman and Lisanna and is afraid she's going to get the same treatment."
"Hmph. What do you mean, 'beat up'?" Mirajane scoffed. "I'm training them, helping them get stronger. They can't even last a few minutes when I'm holding back. They're still too weak."
With that said, she turned back to Lisana (Edo-Lisanna), and her voice softened considerably. "Of course, I won't train you the same way I train them," she said gently. "Your body isn't as durable as theirs, and you don't have magic to protect yourself. I'll just be helping you with physical conditioning and combat techniques, to improve your hand-to-hand skills."
Lisana (Edo-Lisanna) let out a massive sigh of relief. She had genuinely feared she'd be subjected to that same brutal regimen. A single one of those hits would have seriously injured, if not killed, her.
"Don't worry," Noah chimed in, giving her a thumbs-up. "Mirajane will control her strength. And you don't need to be afraid of getting hurt. As long as you don't die on the spot, I can always heal you. So go on, give it all you've got!"
The heart that had just settled back into Lisana's chest leaped right back into her throat. "No!" she yelped. "Saying it like that just makes me more scared!"
Despite her words, she squared her shoulders and walked into the training field. Mirajane led her to the other side of the arena, away from her unconscious siblings, and began her training.
Noah watched for a little while, and seeing that Mirajane's teaching style was methodical and not too crazy, he went to his own training field to begin his personal routine.
Since Lisana had no magic power of her own, the magic-related functions of the guild mark were useless to her. Noah had already adjusted its enchantment, changing it to bolster her physical attributes instead. In a world without magic, physical prowess was paramount. He had been able to modify it quickly because he'd done it once before—for Mystogan, another person from Edolas.
Mystogan was dedicated to closing the Anima portals, which often opened in remote, dangerous wilderness, forcing him into frequent combat. With no innate magic, he relied entirely on magic items. While he was skilled with them and his physical condition was excellent, Noah had still adjusted his guild mark to give him an extra edge.
Over a month passed, and Lisana settled into Fairy Tail wonderfully. Her life fell into a simple routine: working at the souvenir shop in the mornings, training with Mirajane in the afternoons, and living at the Strauss house. Everyone in the guild warmly accepted "Mirajane's distant relative," and Lisana, in turn, felt right at home in the guild's chaotic atmosphere, which she said felt just as warm and familiar as the Fairy Tail she had known.
Her training progressed steadily, and her strength grew day by day.
Elfman and Lisanna (Earth-Lisanna), meanwhile, were getting rapidly stronger under Mirajane's relentless beatings. Their desire to not get beaten so badly was a powerful motivator. But Mirajane, seeing their rapid improvement, simply concluded that her training methods were working perfectly and began to train them even harder.
The result was that Elfman and Lisanna's suffering increased, but so did their power. Noah, seeing that the end result was positive, decided not to intervene and just offered them his silent blessings.
One day, feeling restless, Noah decided to look for a job. He went to the S-Class request board to see if anything interesting was available. After scanning for a moment, he found one. The reward was one thing, but the monster to be subjugated was... very suitable for Mirajane.
It was an SS-Class Request.
Noah remembered seeing this request posted for a long, long time—at least eight or nine years. He had never taken it, first because he wasn't strong enough, and later because he never had the time. If no one took it soon, it would officially become a Ten-Year Request, a class of mission so old it signified an even higher level of danger.
Thinking about it, Noah realized that none of the current S-Class wizards had ever done an SS-Class mission. Even Ultear, the first of their generation to be promoted, had not been deemed ready by Makarov. Only Laxus had ever tried one, and he had returned severely injured, only managing to complete the quest thanks to the potions Noah had given him.
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