Ryoma shook his head helplessly.
Hearing the word Salamander, he charged out like a madman, not even verifying the most basic information.
Thinking about it, a real dragon like Igneel is so massive. If he appeared in a port city, he would have caused earth-shattering panic and commotion long ago. How could he be so silent?
A hint of regret quietly crept into his heart. He actually really wanted to witness the live broadcast of this "Salamander" farce and see the classic scene of Natsu's first encounter with Lucy.
Unfortunately, with his current strength or rather, the predicament of having magic power but being unable to effectively use it, in the storm-level events that would sweep across the Kingdom and shake the continent, he probably wouldn't even qualify to be a peripheral observer.
'This is probably... the deepest despair, isn't it?'
A heavy sense of powerlessness seized him.
'Knowing the future, possessing immense power, yet only being able to watch everything unfold, unable to change a single thing. Transmigrating to this world, with no cheat, no system, and even this magic power feels like a sarcastic joke.'
'Perhaps... it would have been better to have no magic power at all from the start, at least then I could completely abandon these unrealistic thoughts.'
A long and heavy sigh involuntarily escaped Ryoma's lips.
"Haa..."
"Ryoma."
A gentle and pleasant voice sounded beside him, carrying a hint of concern.
Mirajane had walked over at some point and gently placed a cup of warm water on the bar in front of him. She had heard his sigh and thought he was once again frustrated by his elusive magic.
"Why don't you go for a walk outside?" She said softly.
"It's quiet here for now. A change of scenery might... lead to a different discovery."
Ryoma paused slightly, pulling himself away from his chaotic thoughts. He looked up into Mirajane's gentle gaze, and after a moment, he reacted and slowly nodded.
"...Alright. Thank you, Mira."
Preoccupied, Ryoma got up and left the noisy Guild. He wandered aimlessly through the familiar streets: shop windows, the chatter of pedestrians, the scent of flowers on the street corners...
Unconsciously, the cobblestone path under his feet turned into soft earth, and the city's hustle and bustle were gradually replaced by birdsong and the sound of the wind. Ryoma stopped, looking up somewhat bewildered.
The sight before him made him slightly stunned. He had unknowingly walked out of Magnolia and arrived at an open, suburban clearing. Ahead lay a lush, green forest.
The wind in the forest carried the fresh scent of grass and trees, blowing across Ryoma's face, yet it reminded him of the unfamiliarity and coldness of that forest when he first opened his eyes seven years ago.
"Heh..."
A self-deprecating sigh escaped his lips.
He suddenly clenched his fists, knuckles turning white, as if trying to grasp some ethereal hope, but ultimately he released them in defeat.
"Seven years..."
He murmured to himself, his voice scattered by the wind.
"Even if I'm unwilling, what can I do? I've tried my best to study and research, and my magic power has grown, but this damned Dust Magic can't even create a decent ripple."
Thinking about years of effort and their results, and then experiencing the natural scenery here, a nearly numb sense of fatigue quietly spread.
"Perhaps... fate is already decided? Just like this, in this world called Fairy Tail."
"Perhaps... living an ordinary life... isn't so bad?"
When this thought emerged, when he first tried to reconcile with his unwillingness, an unprecedented feeling quietly arose.
He slowly closed his eyes, emptying everything. However, what he waited for was not inner peace, but... gradually, an unprecedented feeling quietly arose, as if he was no longer an individual separate from nature, but had become a part of nature, developing a subtle resonance with nature and the world.
Buzz!!!
A strange, brutal force, powerful enough to tear the world apart, erupted from the deepest part of his body.
Ryoma suddenly opened his eyes. Distorted space reflected in his pupils, his face filled with extreme shock and absurdity. "No... no way?!"
Centered on him, a transparent, distorted force field, about two meters in diameter, suddenly opened.
The surrounding air was violently pulled and spun, forming a visible, light-devouring miniature vortex. The edges of the vortex were blurry, and inside the vortex were surging, boundless darkness and distorted flowing light.
"This... what is this?!"
Ryoma instantly recognized this familiar yet terrifying feeling, but he couldn't stop it, nor could he escape. His body was drawn by a huge suction force towards the depths of the vortex.
"Damn it! No way?!" Ryoma roared, his voice distorted and fragmented.
"Again?! Which bastard god can't stand me living a peaceful life?!"
His body was uncontrollably dragged, and the cold sensation of tearing space reminded him of his memories from seven years ago.
"Damn it!"
A terrifying thought surfaced in his mind.
"This damn thing... it's not going to take me to some other cursed world again, making me start all over, is it?"
At this moment, in Fairy Tail, Makarov, holding a wine glass, suddenly trembled, spilling wine everywhere. He abruptly stood up, his aged face filled with solemnity and shock, looking in the direction Ryoma had left.
"This spatial tearing fluctuation... there's no mistake. It's exactly the same as the night I found Ryoma seven years ago. Did something happen to that child?!"
Meanwhile, Ryoma, at the core of that terrifying vortex, saw the fallen leaves, grass clippings, and even light caught in the vortex moving extremely slowly.
It was as if time was being stretched and solidified by an invisible force, and the scene before him was flickering and switching frame by frame.
In a trance, he seemed to glimpse an unfamiliar mountain forest shrouded in night. In that darkness, only a faint light emanated from a mountain shrine in the distance.
However, this time there was no tearing pain, only an indescribable fatigue and coldness that instantly swept through his entire body. His vision blurred, and when light returned to his pupils, a suffocatingly deep night sky replaced the daytime of Fairy Tail. He was in an unfamiliar mountain forest.
"Where is this?"
Ryoma fell heavily onto the damp, cold humus. He leaned on a rough tree trunk beside him, struggling to stand, and looked around. In the distance, he could vaguely see a shrine emitting a faint light.
He instinctively tried to mobilize his magic power to sense his surroundings.
His heart suddenly contracted, and his body, which had just recovered from the spatial tear, instantly stiffened.
It was at this moment that he realized with horror — the magic power within him seemed to be bound by invisible shackles, flowing incredibly sluggishly.
"Magic power... suppressed?"
An unknown environment, restricted power... every element exuded a dangerous aura.
But at the same time, he clearly sensed that his magic power itself had not disappeared. It was merely bound by some rule or power of this world.
He also had a vague premonition, a faint sensation connecting him to the world he came from. That line hadn't broken, it had just become extremely distant and dim.
"Can I... go back?"
This thought gave him a glimmer of hope, but only that much.
How to go back, when to go back, everything was unknown.