Chapter 512: Radiant and Rejuvenated
"The starlight in the Celestial Spirit World isn't as volatile as the starlight we gather directly in the Human World; it's much gentler and purer.
"Furthermore, the ritual matrix is specifically designed to filter and process the starlight, making it perfectly compatible with human biology. And since the starlight here is practically infinite, you can continuously bathe your body in it, refining your flesh and magic indefinitely," Noah explained to the eager guild members.
"Whoa! Does that mean if I just stay inside the matrix forever, I'll keep getting stronger until I can beat up Acnologia?!" Gray yelled, his eyes wide with excitement.
"YEAH! If that's the case, I'm staying in there until I'm the strongest Dragon Slayer ever!" Natsu roared, already bouncing on his toes.
The rest of the guild looked at Noah with absolute anticipation. A shortcut to infinite power? Who wouldn't want that?
"But... the effect probably won't be that dramatic for us, right?" Gildarts asked, gesturing to himself, Makarov, and Ur, then looking at Noah.
"Yeah, the enhancement effect follows the law of diminishing returns. For you guys, the sheer power boost won't be massive, but it will still be highly beneficial. At the very least, the concentrated starlight will purge deep-seated physical impurities, dramatically improving your overall health and effectively rejuvenating your bodies.
"As for infinite power..." Noah turned to Natsu and Gray, deadpanning. "Don't be idiots. Once your body reaches a certain saturation point, the starlight's enhancement effect will plateau. Dreaming of matching Acnologia just by taking a shiny bath is pure delusion."
Hearing this, Natsu and Gray instantly deflated, groaning in disappointment. Even though they logically knew infinite power was a pipe dream, hearing Noah shoot it down so bluntly still stung.
Gildarts hadn't responded yet, but Ur's eyes suddenly lit up.
Ultear, Mirajane, Sorano, Erza, and the other girls also snapped to attention, their eyes practically sparkling with intense focus. They had zeroed in on a very specific phrase.
"If the starlight purges physical impurities and improves overall health... does that mean it physically rejuvenates the body and makes you look younger?" Mirajane asked, voicing the collective thought of every woman present.
"Yes. That's a natural byproduct of cellular purification and vitality enhancement," Noah confirmed, seeing their sudden, intense interest.
"This is amazing! Can we start right now?!" Sorano asked, bouncing excitedly.
Everyone stared at Noah, whether they were eager for the power boost or the magical anti-aging treatment. They were all ready to go.
Noah turned to the Celestial Spirit King, who nodded with a booming chuckle.
"Since my old friends are well-fed and rested, we may commence whenever you wish! I have already prepared the staging ground. Follow me," the King announced, standing up and leading the way.
The entire guild eagerly followed the massive Spirit King until they reached a wide, flat expanse of crystalline stone a short distance from the plaza.
"I have already carved the runic arrays according to the schematics you provided. The physical components and magical catalysts have been sorted and placed nearby. You simply need to install them," the King pointed to the ground.
Ten highly complex, circular runic arrays were carved deep into the crystalline stone. A short distance away, ten massive piles of rare magical reagents, gemstones, and alchemical catalysts were neatly sorted.
Noah walked over and quickly inspected the materials, nodding in satisfaction. "Everything is perfect. Thank you for preparing this."
"Think nothing of it, old friend. These purification arrays will be a tremendous boon to the Celestial Spirit World as well. A few trivial materials are nothing compared to the gift you have given us," the King shook his head, his tone incredibly sincere.
Several Fairy Tail members looked confused, wondering why the Spirit King was thanking Noah for setting up a training ground for humans. Others, however, quickly connected the dots.
"As my old friend mentioned earlier, this matrix is highly beneficial for Celestial Spirit Mages. However, that is only half the truth. The entities who will benefit the most from these starlight purification arrays... are the Celestial Spirits themselves. We are beings born of starlight. Bathing in this concentrated, refined matrix will exponentially increase our own power," the King explained, seeing the confusion on some faces.
"Did you know about this all along?" Lucy whispered to Loke, who was standing beside her.
"Yeah. We actually helped gather and process the materials. Noah sent the schematics to the King recently, and the King immediately mobilized us to set everything up," Loke smiled.
"Well, I only finalized the matrix design a few days ago, and I had to run simulations to ensure the filtration process was completely safe for both humans and Spirits," Noah shrugged.
"As long as it works, who cares when you invented it! Let's get started! What do we do? Where do we put the shiny rocks?" Sorano urged, eager to get her anti-aging power-up. The others nodded in agreement, waiting for instructions.
"Alright. I've double-checked the arrays. Grab those materials and place them exactly on the primary runic nodes I point out," Noah ordered, directing the guild members to distribute the catalysts.
With the Celestial Spirits also pitching in, the ten massive runic arrays were fully prepped and loaded with the necessary materials within minutes.
Noah stepped forward. He raised his hand, his index and middle fingers extended, and rapidly drew a glowing golden sigil in the empty air. He then slammed his palm flat against the floating sigil, pumping a massive surge of magic into it.
Instantly, ten identical golden sigils materialized directly above the ten runic arrays on the ground.
Under the influence of Noah's magic, the physical catalysts and gemstones placed on the arrays began to glow blindingly bright. The solid materials liquefied into pure magical energy, flowing smoothly into the carved grooves of the arrays before solidifying once more into glowing, crystalline conduits.
With the circuits complete, the ten runic arrays hummed to life, emitting a soft, ethereal light. The ambient starlight drifting through the surrounding void immediately began gravitating toward the arrays like water swirling down a drain.
Noah pulled his hand back, dispelling the master sigil. The ambient starlight stopped swirling, hovering gently above the completed arrays.
"It's ready. Once someone steps into the center of an array, a secondary operator needs to stand outside and channel magic into the primary activation node. That will initiate the purification process and draw the starlight into the subject's body," Noah explained to the group.
"I'LL GO FIRST!" Natsu roared, sprinting toward the nearest array.
Noah casually reached out, grabbed Natsu by the collar, and effortlessly yanked him backward.
"I designed it, so I go first to verify the output," Noah stated firmly.
He didn't just step onto the array himself. His body blurred, and ten identical Thought Projections separated from his true body.
Noah's true body stepped into the center of the first array. One of his Thought Projections stood outside the array and placed its hand on the activation node, channeling magic. The array instantly flared with blinding light.
The other nine Thought Projections moved to stand by the activation nodes of the remaining nine arrays.
As the first array activated, the ambient starlight in the immediate vicinity rushed toward Noah like a glittering waterfall.
Seeing this, the Celestial Spirit King raised his massive hand and swept it across the horizon. Instantly, rivers of pure, concentrated starlight from deep within the celestial void surged toward the plaza, funneling directly into the active array.
Within seconds, the entire array was flooded with such dense, brilliant starlight that Noah's figure was completely obscured by the blinding glow.
The runes carved into the ground flared with intense brilliance. Guided by the matrix, the chaotic starlight began to swirl in a highly structured, accelerating vortex. A cylindrical wall of translucent energy materialized around the perimeter of the array, preventing the concentrated starlight from leaking out, while allowing the rivers of fresh starlight from the sky to continuously pour in.
"Roughly how long does the process take?" Ultear asked one of the waiting Thought Projections.
"It varies wildly from person to person. It depends entirely on your magical capacity, physical density, and the amount of impurities in your body. Don't worry about the time; I'll monitor your vitals and manually shut down the array when your body reaches absolute saturation and can no longer absorb any more starlight.
"Oh, and make sure you stay completely conscious during the process. Actively meditating and feeling the changes in your magic will yield the best results," the Thought Projection advised.
"So, can we go now? You look perfectly fine in there," Natsu bounced on his toes, impatient to get his power-up.
The Thought Projection monitoring the primary array nodded after confirming the matrix was operating flawlessly and safely.
"WOOHOO!" Natsu cheered, instantly diving into the center of the nearest empty array.
Seeing Natsu claim a spot, the rest of the guild stampeded toward the remaining eight arrays.
Gray, Elfman, and Macao nearly threw hands trying to squeeze onto the same array, forcing Erza to intervene. She casually grabbed them by their collars and tossed them into separate arrays to maintain order.
Ultear, Laxus, and the other S-Class mages held back. Knowing their bodies and magical reserves were significantly stronger than the regular members, they anticipated their purification process would take much longer. They opted to let the weaker members go first.
With the nine arrays occupied, Noah's Thought Projections channeled magic into the activation nodes. Nine more blinding pillars of swirling starlight erupted into the sky.
"Wait, you said this matrix actively drains magic to operate. If you've split your magic into ten Thought Projections, won't that drastically reduce your true body's purification efficiency?" Mirajane asked, shielding her eyes from the blinding pillars and looking at the nearest clone.
"That's why I'll be asking the Celestial Spirit King to take over the channeling duties for my true body once you guys are all finished. The reason my clones are operating the arrays right now is because after you undergo the purification, your magic will be significantly enhanced and highly volatile. You won't have the delicate control required to safely channel magic into the activation nodes without accidentally destabilizing the matrix," the Thought Projection explained calmly.
Mirajane nodded in understanding. The others simply watched the glowing pillars for a few minutes before wandering off to chat or relax, realizing that staring at opaque tubes of light was incredibly boring.
Several hours passed.
One by one, the Thought Projections shut down the arrays as the mages inside reached their saturation limits. As the regular members stepped out, the S-Class mages stepped in.
Eventually, every single member of Fairy Tail had undergone the starlight purification, leaving only Gildarts, Makarov, Ur, and Noah's true body still inside their respective, continuously swirling pillars of light.
"This is incredible! I feel so much stronger! My magic is practically overflowing!" Natsu cheered, staring in awe at his hands, which were spontaneously igniting with incredibly dense, hot flames.
"Yeah. My baseline power has easily doubled. The problem is... it spiked so fast I can barely control it," Gray muttered, staring at his own hands.
Thick, freezing mist was constantly leaking from his pores, instantly flash-freezing the crystalline ground beneath his feet. The other guild members unconsciously gave him a wide berth.
Every single Fairy Tail mage was experiencing similar issues. The sudden, exponential increase in their magical capacity and physical strength resulted in their magic leaking uncontrollably, causing their auras to fluctuate wildly.
Laxus, Ultear, and Erza—having the strongest foundations—exuded the most terrifying, oppressive auras upon exiting the arrays. However, because their baseline magical control was already elite, they managed to reign in their volatile magic within a few minutes, stabilizing their auras.
The regular members struggled significantly longer, forced to sit down and meditate deeply to adapt to their newly enhanced bodies.
"How much longer are they going to take?" Sorano asked a Thought Projection, having finally stabilized her own significantly boosted magic.
Noah aside—since he had been in the array since the very beginning—Gildarts had been in his pillar the second longest, followed by Makarov and Ur. While they were the absolute elite of the guild, the time discrepancy was massive.
"Because their physical constitutions and magical cores are exponentially denser and stronger than yours, the starlight requires significantly more time to fully penetrate and purge their impurities. Furthermore, because their magical capacity is so vast, saturating their cores takes much longer," the Thought Projection explained.
"Makes sense," Sorano nodded. She pointed to one of the pillars. "Is Aunt Ur about to finish?"
"Yes. She has reached saturation," the Thought Projection confirmed.
The blinding pillar of starlight surrounding Ur gradually began to dim. The moment the light faded, a terrifying, absolute zero wave of freezing air violently erupted from the array, threatening to flash-freeze the entire plaza.
The Thought Projection standing outside instantly snapped its fingers, erecting a localized containment barrier to trap the freezing gale.
"Aunt Ur, please take a moment to stabilize your magic before stepping out," the clone advised through the barrier.
There was no verbal response, but the violently expanding freezing aura slowly began to recede. After a few minutes, the temperature within the containment barrier normalized.
Noah's clone dropped the shield, and Ur stepped out.
The entire guild gasped.
Ur looked incredibly radiant. The deep-seated exhaustion and subtle signs of aging that had marked her face were completely gone. Her skin was flawless, her posture was vibrant, and she looked as though she had literally reversed time, appearing like a stunning, energetic eighteen-year-old woman, yet retaining the elegant, mature aura of a seasoned master.
"Mom! You look so beautiful!" Ultear gasped in sheer delight, rushing forward to grab her mother's hands and inspecting her from every angle.
Ur smiled radiantly, clearly feeling the incredible changes herself.
Ten years ago, the agonizing supposed 'loss' of Ultear had inflicted deep, indelible scars on both her body and soul. The chronic depression and stress had aged her prematurely. Even after they had reunited, cleared the misunderstandings, cured Ultear's illness, and received Noah's miraculous healing, those deep-seated, psychosomatic scars hadn't entirely faded.
But now, after the absolute, molecular-level purification of the starlight, every trace of that old, lingering trauma had been scrubbed away. She felt lighter, healthier, and more vibrant than she had in decades.
Over the past few years, seeing Ultear thrive and grow so happy within Fairy Tail had slowly healed Ur's heart. Ultear had constantly encouraged her to let go of the past and look toward the future.
With her heart finally unburdened, and her physical body now completely purified and rejuvenated by the starlight, her internal and external states were in perfect harmony. It was no wonder she looked like a vibrant eighteen-year-old again.
~~~
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