Geno had come to Mount Hakobe this time for one purpose: to find an ice-attribute Magic Lacrima that had been nurtured for a hundred years.
He had watched the Fairy Tail anime back in his original world, so of course he knew that this was a world where magic reigned supreme. Even though he already possessed the legendary five Great Magic Eyes from Legend of the Legendary Heroes, that didn't mean he could neglect the study of magic itself.
Especially since Geno genuinely loved magic. The feeling of riding the storm and soaring freely through the skies, or casually unleashing a colossal inferno with a single gesture, all of that was something he enjoyed very much.
Among all the magic in Fairy Tail, the one Geno was most familiar with was naturally the protagonist Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. There was no way he would pass up the chance to study that spell.
However, even though Geno possessed the Copy Eye and could replicate and learn any spell at high speed, he also understood very clearly that Dragon Slayer Magic worked by transforming a person's body into that of a dragon. Overusing it meant facing the risk of Dragonification.
And there was an even more annoying problem. The greatest drawback of Dragon Slayer Mages was that they all got horribly motion sick on any kind of vehicle.
When Geno had first arrived in this world, the very first thing he thought of was indeed to copy Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. But after considering the risks of Dragonification and that cursed motion sickness, he chose to give up on it for the time being.
Recently, though, Geno had gained a deeper understanding of his Copy Eye.
If, while copying Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, he altered the original spell formula at the same time, he could completely remove the motion sickness side effect.
On top of that, if he embedded within his body an Ice Magic Lacrima that had been nurtured for a hundred years and then modified the Dragon Slayer Magic formula with that as a base, he would no longer have to worry about his body transforming into a dragon at all.
Right now...
Geno had already walked up to the fallen Icefang Snow Wolf.
He raised his right hand. Flames surged into being in his palm, gathering at his fingertips and shaping themselves into a blade of fire.
"Slash..."
With a light flick of his wrist, Geno sliced a large opening across the beast's body.
In that instant, he released his magic power.
From within the wolf's body, a glowing crystalline orb was drawn out by his magic and slowly floated from the wound.
"An Ice Magic Lacrima that has been nurtured for a hundred years should lean toward a golden hue. This one's color is only a pale yellow."
Looking at the Ice Magic Lacrima that emerged, a faint look of disappointment crossed Geno's face.
"So this Icefang Snow Wolf may have lived for a century, but the Ice Magic Lacrima formed in its body is only a little over ten years old at best."
"Forget it."
Geno sighed softly, then tightened his grip around the lacrima.
"Either way, having something is better than having nothing."
He let out a long breath, then smiled calmly.
"Even a ten-plus-year Ice Magic Lacrima is still quite valuable. Once I have time to bring it to the mage market, I can probably sell it for at least three to four million J."
"Alright, time to head down the mountain. Otherwise those two are going to get impatient."
"Wind Magic, Modified Form, Azure Gale."
Geno's steps paused, and a blue magic circle spread out beneath his feet. A fierce gale immediately surged up beneath both of his legs.
The storm scattered the falling snowflakes and propelled Geno straight into the sky.
In a flash, his figure vanished from sight.
...
Not long after Geno left, in a jagged area of Mount Hakobe filled with oddly shaped rocks, a man in a tattered white robe, with a close-cropped head of hair and the look of someone in his thirties, stood on the tip of a massive boulder, surveying the surroundings.
His clothes were in ruins, as if he had gone through several intense battles.
"Counting the one just now, I've taken out eighteen Vulcans in total. But that's still far from enough. I have to defeat more Vulcans. Otherwise, how am I supposed to face Romeo when I go back?"
"I absolutely... absolutely cannot let Romeo be looked down on by the other kids."
Romeo was this man's son. He was the very same Romeo who, in episode two of the Fairy Tail anime, angrily scolded the guild master Makarov. And this man was his father, Macao.
The time when Fairy Tail's story began was also the time when Macao came to Mount Hakobe to exterminate Vulcans. According to the original plot, Macao defeated nineteen Vulcans, and when he fought the twentieth, he was taken over and turned into a lecherous monkey-like creature.
Right now, Macao had slain eighteen Vulcans. That meant that once he defeated one more, the next Vulcan after that would be the one to possess him.
"Damn it, if only I were stronger. I wouldn't be stuck patrolling the outer edges of Vulcan territory, just looking for ones that got separated from the group."
In the anime, it was never mentioned in detail, but the nineteen Vulcans Macao defeated were all on the outer fringes of Vulcan territory, where only a few of them roamed.
In the central region of Vulcan activity, however, many more Vulcans lived, and they often moved around in groups.
What was more, deep in the very center of Vulcan territory lived the Vulcan Queen. While ordinary Vulcans were just low-ranked monsters, the Vulcan Queen was a mid-ranked monster. Ordinary guild mages were no match for her at all. Only some of the strongest mages from top-ranked guilds had the power to fight her.
Macao, as a mage of the Fairy Tail guild, might not be young anymore, but in terms of magical strength, compared to the main fighting force of Fairy Tail... let alone monsters like Laxus, Erza, Mirajane, Mystogan and the others...
Even among the younger generation of Fairy Tail mages, such as Natsu and Gray, or later members like Juvia, Wendy and Gajeel, Macao's strength was far inferior.
For someone like him, being able to defeat over a dozen Vulcans already counted as impressive. In most other guilds, especially small ones, even their strongest members might not be able to accomplish what he had done.
Of course, Fairy Tail was the main focus of the story in the anime. Naturally, its members' strength was far beyond that of ordinary guild mages. In this setting, Fairy Tail was firmly established as the number one mage guild in the Kingdom of Fiore.
"Here on the outskirts of Vulcan territory, it's getting harder and harder to find lone Vulcans. Should I..."
Macao looked up toward the snow-covered boulder range behind him. Beyond those icy rocks lay a narrow mountain path that led further in. His eyes flickered with a mix of emotions: there was hot-blooded impulsiveness, but also helplessness and frustration.
He knew he didn't have the power to storm into that place, which was practically forbidden ground for someone of his level, yet he desperately wanted to at least see what lay beyond.
But instinct still made him hesitate. He couldn't let Romeo down, but he also couldn't afford to lose him. If he was taken over by a Vulcan in there, he would never get to see his son again. No matter how Romeo viewed him as a father, Macao could only choose to back down. He told himself to stop thinking about it and stay honestly on the outskirts of Vulcan territory, hunting only the Vulcans that wandered alone.
"Ahh... I'm sorry, Romeo. Your dad still wants to stay by your side and watch you grow up."
Even though the anime did not show it in depth, Macao loved his son Romeo very much.
"I'll just keep searching here on the edge. It's hard to run into Vulcans out here, but that doesn't mean they're not around. It'll just cost me more time, that's all."
Muttering to himself, Macao continued his search. He leaped from one huge boulder to the next, peering into the holes in the rock faces as he went. Vulcans were not small in size, so their caves were easy to pick out at a glance.
"This cave is too small, can't be a Vulcan's lair. Probably belongs to some small creature like a Dream Snow Rabbit."
"This one's no good either. Looks more like where a Flame-tailed Salamander would live."
"Hmm, this one... the cave is pretty big, but there are so many snow-flowers blooming around the entrance, so it's probably a female monster's nest."
Searching like this, Macao gradually started to feel tired. He finally chose a large rock and sat down to rest.
...
He hadn't even rested for long when, in the direction he was facing, a quiet, leisurely youth was already walking toward him.