Ankh led Lisanna back to the guild.
It was then that he noticed Mirajane had disappeared somewhere.
"Yo, Ankh! You're finally back!"
At that moment, a rather boisterous voice suddenly rang out.
Ankh turned to look and saw it was Cana, already completely drunk.
This girl Cana, when she was just a little kid, used to be Ankh's loyal little follower.
How did she suddenly develop into a sexy older sister type after growing up...
Ankh annoyedly patted her head and said, "Don't drink so much. Be careful not to pass out on the street."
Cana burped nonchalantly, her face flushed as she mumbled, "Not at all! This little amount of alcohol is nothing... it won't defeat me."
Ankh shook his head, then suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "Haven't confessed to Gildarts yet?"
Cana's eyes immediately dimmed.
She silently shook her head and then lifted the beer barrel to drink again.
Ankh said with a headache, "Actually, if you can't say it, then I'll do it. What's there to be embarrassed about?"
"That stubborn blockhead Gildarts—if we wait for him to figure it out on his own, we'll be waiting till the cows come home, won't we?"
Cana's eyes were bright, and her attitude was resolute.
"No way! We absolutely cannot tell Gildarts about this!"
"I'm telling you too—we can't keep delaying this any longer!"
This time, Ankh didn't back down. He said firmly, "The next time Gildarts returns, I'll explain everything to him."
"His own daughter has been right beside him all this time, yet he has no idea, letting you waste all these years?"
Ankh had long wanted to tell Gildarts directly, but out of respect for Cana's wishes, he had kept his mouth shut.
But now, with the world's timeline already in motion, it's better to resolve these lingering concerns within the guild as soon as possible.
Cana bit her lip, her long brown hair cascading down, covering her sun-kissed face.
"Do I… really deserve to be Gildarts' daughter?"
Ankh sighed and patted Cana's head, saying, "No matter how strong Gildarts is, he's still your father."
"Even if you don't dare to acknowledge it yourself, Gildarts, as your family, has the right to know the truth."
Cana nodded silently.
After putting down her barrel, she wrapped her arms around her knees, lost in thought, her mind wandering to who-knows-where.
Seeing that Cana seemed to tacitly accept his idea, Ankh couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Gildarts and Cana's reconciliation was something that happened during the Tenrou Island arc.
Ankh's grasp of the original plot only went that far…
Although he didn't know how everyone in the guild managed to escape Acnologia roar in the subsequent storyline, avoiding this calamity was actually quite simple.
At worst, couldn't they just skip holding this year's S-Class Mage exam on Tenrou Island?
Ankh wasn't particularly worried about this major event.
That beast, the Black Dragon—could it really just waltz into Magnolia, open its mouth, and blast them with a single roar?
That seemed utterly unrealistic.
Moreover, over the years, the fusion of Seram's Death God Power with his own Life God Power had progressed to a certain extent…
If Ankh were truly pushed to the brink, he could unveil that trump card, pay the "price" Seram had mentioned, and perhaps even manage to kill that Black Dragon, whose exact combat prowess was unknown…
Of course, Ankh had no real certainty about such things…
Frowning, Ankh's thoughts gradually drifted away.
Cana had already snapped out of her reverie. Watching the dazed Ankh, she couldn't help but chuckle.
"What's wrong? Thinking about Mira?"
Ankh shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "I'm finding it harder and harder to understand what Mira is thinking lately…"
"Since I returned, I've noticed her personality has changed quite a bit."
Cana curled her lips into a smirk, slinging an arm over Ankh's shoulder like a cheeky ruffian, and laughed.
"After you left, Mirajane seemed to lose her spirit for some reason. It wasn't until Erza challenged her to a fight that she slowly started to recover."
"But as for her personality… well, it's turned out like this…" Cana shrugged, her tone playful.
Erza? So Erza knew about this too?
'Well, that's fine. If it's about Mirajane, I can just ask Erza directly.'
"Where is Erza, then? I haven't seen her around."
Cana propped her chin on her hand, thinking.
"About half a month ago, Erza took on a mission out of town. By my estimate, she should be back soon."
Ankh nodded.
It had been a full two years since Ankh last saw Mirajane, Erza, Cana, and Lisanna, and he genuinely missed them.
Oh right, there were also Natsu, Gray, and... well, never mind, those guys probably weren't worth reminiscing about...
Ankh glanced around the familiar guild hall and sighed, "There are so many more people now."
Cana, seemingly unconcerned, replied drowsily with drunken eyes.
"Really? Feels about the same to me."
Ankh gave the drunkard a speechless look.
How could there not be more people? Did she really think the guild's reputation now was the same as when they were kids?
Under the leadership of the third Guild Master, Makarov, Fairy Tail had now entered its peak membership period.
The golden generation of prodigies in Fairy Tail had largely matured.
Combined with some alterations Ankh had made to the world's timeline, Fairy Tail had firmly become the most powerful Mage guild at this point.
Even the Phantom Lord guild, which was nominally on par with Fairy Tail in the original storyline, now fell slightly short.
Consequently, talented Mages flocked to the guild in an endless stream.
Even though Makarov had raised the entry requirements again, the number of people wanting to join showed no signs of decreasing.
Watching Gray and Elfman roughhousing nearby, Ankh quietly sorted the members into strength tiers in his mind.
Excluding Master Makarov, the current members could be divided into five levels based on strength.
The strongest members could be considered Super S-Class Mages, with Gildarts as the upper limit.
Ankh himself possessed strength comparable to his, Laxus was on the verge of realizing his potential, and while Mystogan might be slightly less capable, he still far surpassed ordinary S-Class Mages.
As for S-Class Mages, Erza and Mirajane—Fairy Tail's two strongest female members—needed no explanation.
Unlike in the original storyline, Mirajane hadn't neglected her Magic Power for years, so her future prospects were promising.
Erza's potential was limitless; if she pushed beyond her limits in battle, she could reach Super S-Class strength as well.
By the later stages of the original plot, both would likely achieve Super S-Class power.
Next came the A-Class Mages, including future guild members like Gajeel and Juvia, the Thunder God Tribe, as well as Cana, Natsu, Gray, Elfman, and others in that category.
These members formed the main combat force.
In less exceptional guilds, any of them might have qualified as S-Class Mages.
Among them, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Freed from the Thunder God Tribe were all potential powerhouses who could become Fairy Tail's S-Class Mages as soon as they crossed that threshold.
Thus, these A-Class members could tentatively be considered quasi-S-Class, since their performance wasn't consistently stable yet.
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