Time flew by.
It had been nearly a month since Ide was blasted out of the One Piece world by Imu's Ancient Weapon and crash-landed in the world of Fairy Tail.
His Ice-Make Magic had successfully leveled up to LV4.
[Magic Origin:]
First Magic Origin:
Gains 1 MP every 1 minute in Deep Meditation.
Gains 1 MP every 3 minutes while Sleeping/Resting.
Current Total MP: 0
[Magic:]
Ice-Make Magic: LV4 (+)
Ide looked at his current stats and smiled. The future was looking bright.
"Ur, let's spar!"
After checking his panel, he called out for Ur to continue their special training.
"Ur?"
"Ur, where are you?"
He called her name several times, but there was no response. Frowning, he expanded his high-level Observation Haki, scanning the cottage and the entire mountain behind it.
Nothing. Ur was nowhere to be found.
"Strange."
"Where did she go?"
Ide was puzzled.
---
Meanwhile, in the town below.
Ur had run down to Susan's shop to vent.
"Ur, what's wrong with you?"
"It's been a month. Has your relationship with Ide heated up at all?"
Seeing Ur's grim expression, Susan couldn't help but ask with concern.
"Don't even mention it."
"For over a month, every single day, I'm either fighting him or preparing to fight him."
Ur grabbed Susan's hand and launched into a long rant.
"Ur, maybe you're approaching this the wrong way," Susan suggested after listening to Ur's complaints. Susan considered herself the expert on matters of the heart.
"The wrong way?"
Ur raised an eyebrow, not understanding.
"You have to give him what he likes."
Susan smiled knowingly and walked back into her shop to retrieve the "killer lingerie" she had picked out for Ur earlier.
"Give him what he likes?"
"Oh! I get it!"
"I understand now, Susan."
"I have to learn to love fighting!"
Ur completely misunderstood. Her eyes lit up with realization, and she spun around, sprinting back toward the mountain.
"Huh?!"
Susan, holding the lingerie she had just fetched, stood there frozen. She yelled after Ur, "No! Wait! Ur, that's not what I meant!"
"..."
But Ur was already long gone, well out of earshot.
"Forget it. Do whatever you want!"
Susan laughed, shaking her head.
Yep, that's exactly the kind of thing Ur would do.
Guess she's destined to be single forever.
---
Back at the Mountain.
"Ide!!"
Just as Ide was debating whether to scan the town with his Haki, he noticed Ur sprinting up from the direction of the village, shouting his name.
"You're finally here, Ur."
"I've been waiting for you."
Ide's eyes sharpened as he saw her approach.
"Ice-Make..."
"...Rose Garden!!"
The next second, both of them unleashed their magic simultaneously. Powerful mana and freezing cold ravaged the mountainside.
If a stranger had stumbled upon this scene—without knowing that Ide and Ur were friends, potentially future lovers, and kindred spirits on the path of magic—they would have assumed they were mortal enemies fighting to the death.
And so, the sparring continued.
Ide and Ur constantly tested each other's magic, and both of their mana reserves grew steadily.
By the way, after reaching LV4, Ide's MP accumulation rate during combat was still double that of deep meditation (triple if you didn't count recovery time).
By this calculation, Ide was racking up about 1,780 Magic Points per day. This included 13 hours of combat, with the remaining 11 hours for relaxation, eating, and sleeping.
---
Two months passed.
Ide's magic level successfully reached LV5.
[Magic Origin:]
First Magic Origin:
Gains 1 MP every 10 seconds in Deep Meditation.
Gains 1 MP every 1 minute while Sleeping/Resting.
Current Total MP: 0
[Magic:]
Ice-Make Magic: LV5 (+)
Ide didn't realize it yet, but his current magic level already placed him among the strong in the Ishgar continent.
He was strong enough to pass the S-Class Wizard trials in some guilds and take on S-Class requests. (His power level was roughly on par with the Element 4 of Phantom Lord.)
Now that his Ice-Make Magic was LV5, he also had a better gauge of Ur's strength. Her magic proficiency was probably at the peak of LV6, just a hair's breadth away from LV7.
"I'm almost catching up to Ur, huh?"
Ide smiled to himself.
---
Meanwhile, in Town.
Ur was shopping again.
"Ur, you seem in a good mood today?"
Susan saw Ur walking past her shop with bags full of groceries, humming a tune. She smiled and waved.
"Yep."
"You know what, Susan?"
"I'm about to reach that level."
Ur walked over to Susan, noticing the shop was empty, and beamed.
"That level?!"
"Isn't it a bit too soon?"
Susan was stunned. She hadn't expected Ur and Ide's relationship to progress that fast.
Already... getting married?
"No."
"It's not too soon at all."
"It's just a natural progression, right?"
"You know my strength. I've been touching the edge of that realm for a while now. I was practically knocking on the door."
"With Ide as my sparring partner, it's only natural that I'd reach the threshold sooner rather than later," Ur explained matter-of-factly.
"Huh?"
Susan felt numb. After a long silence, she stared at Ur and asked, "So... what 'level' are you talking about?"
"The level of the Wizard Saints, of course!"
"You heard me right. I'm about to catch up to my old master, who was once one of the Ten Wizard Saints—even if she was just the lowest ranked."
Ur put her hands on her hips, striking a pose that screamed, Aren't I amazing? Praise me!
"Classic Ur."
Susan laughed. Sometimes people are so clueless you just have to laugh.
"Listen, Susan."
"They say that once you enter the ranks of the Wizard Saints, the gap between each rank is massive."
"I heard that Makarov, who's ranked fifth, once one-shotted another Wizard Saint."
"And the ones ranked even higher than Makarov? They aren't even human anymore. They're in a completely different dimension," Ur explained excitedly.