Chapter 7: It's time...
The clanking of metal against cobble was heard as she walked towards Fairy Tail. Donning her armor and with her red hair flowing freely behind her, Erza opened the doors to her Guild. Her brown orbs scanned the members of Fairy Tail before her eyes landed on a particular table. She blinked a few times to make sure what she was seeing wasn't an illusion. She then rubbed her eyes to be doubly sure something wasn't wrong.
There stood Mira, her self-proclaimed rival, dressed in a tight black dress that ended right above her knees. Erza couldn't believe that the eldest Strauss wasn't wearing her skimpy clothes. And she would've thought that's an impostor, were it not for the words that came out of Mira's mouth.
"The fuck are you staring at, tin can?" Yeah, that was definitely Mira. No other girl her age had a foul mouth like that.
"Your clothes," Erza muttered in disbelief. She didn't like Mira, but she did consider her family. Those were the words of the Master. Fairy Tail is one big family, and family helped each other no matter what.
Erza had tried to make Mira change her skimpy clothes so many times without any success. They just didn't fit the clothes of a Mage. She had almost resigned herself that Mira would never change her clothing, yet, here she was, dressed in a beautiful black dress. Erza had to admit, the eldest Strauss looked good in that. So good that for a moment, she considered trying out a dress as well. That thought was quickly squelched. Erza felt more secure and confident in her armor. She also viewed herself as a knight, and knights wore armor, not dresses.
Mira's face morphed between a smile and a frown. Those words reminded her of how she met Gerald, but it also reminded her of how much he suffered when she dragged him around the various clothing stores of Magnolia. Thinking of the brown-haired boy, she hadn't seen him in the past two days. He'd been doing a good job avoiding her, even though she had mostly stayed in the Guild. A grin formed on her face. 'I will make him suffer when I catch him.'
Erza was even more confused when Mira was grinning randomly to the air. What has happened in the past two weeks and a half that she was gone? She had returned from her first-ever solo A-rank job and wanted to rest up before taking another job. But now, she wanted to get to the bottom of this. What had happened to make Mira, of all people, to change her clothing? Who had managed to succeed where she had failed numerous times?
"How? Why?" Erza wasn't even sure what to ask. Not that she was good with words, to begin with.
"Sis is wearing a dress because of Gerald," Lisanna, the youngest Strauss, said with a giggle, fully knowing what Erza was trying to ask.
"Gerald? Who is that? How strong is he?" In her mind, Erza believed that Gerald was someone incredibly strong. She was just a bit stronger than Mira, but no matter how many times she beat the eldest Strauss, she never changed her mind on her clothes. How strong was Gerald to be able to beat her out of her skimpy clothes?
"Pff, he is nothing compared to me." Mira puffed her chest. Cana had boasted how they had killed a Wyvern, but she hadn't seen him fight even once. And she was able to drag him across Magnolia with ease. He was definitely physically weaker than her. Unless he was hiding some incredible type of Magic, then Mira was certain that she was stronger than him. Even then, she confident that with her Magic, she would be able to beat him.
"He is weaker than you? But I'm stronger than you, yet I failed in..."
Erza had to raise her hands to block the incoming punch.
"Who says your stronger?!" Mira bellowed. Flat, square-shaped scales-like parts covered her body before disappearing and revealing her new form. Mira's hair was raised in the air, her ears had elongated like an elf's, and her eyes had narrowed. Her dress was replaced with a very revealing set of red clothes. Her hands were covered in scales, and each sprouted a fin-like protrusion on its outer side. And a large, stocky tail formed behind her. "Take Over: Satan Soul!"
"I'll show you who exactly is stronger, tin head!" Erza was barely able to block the second punch that sent her skidding away. Mira wasn't holding back against her rival.
"I told you this would happen."
"Come on. Now's our chance."
Two figures entered the Guild and dashed towards the archive while everyone was watching the fight between Erza and Mira. Nobody saw them, except for Makarov, who had an amused expression on his face. 'Well, I better stop those two before they bring down the Guild'
Makarov's body expanded until his head reached the second floor, and with nimble hands, he caught the two rivals with ease.
"Don't fight in the Guild, you two!" The Master gave them a light scolding before releasing them from his grasp.
"Master! I want to meet Gerald!" Erza stated.
"Hell, no! I've been waiting all day to go shopping, you are not going to ruin it for me, tin can." Mira glared at Erza.
'Ughh, tomato head's presence alone makes me angry. I need me some good Gerald suffering to get better. And there's also this new clothing store that opened in town...'
Gerald had unleashed an evil far greater than a Demon. A woman's love for shopping.
For a moment, the Master taught of telling them where Gerald was, but he decided against that. Having the blond magician being sent to freeze his nether region was not something he wanted to experience. And he didn't want to be like Macao and Wakaba, who were too afraid to enter their own Guild.
After Gerald and Cana, entered the archive, he took a deep breath. "Finally..." He exhaled. "It's time to read!"
It took him about two weeks more, but he had finally done it. He had converted all of his memories to magical data. From now on, he wouldn't have to go through this process. Everything he learns, everything he does, will be stored in magical data. With a simple mental command, he will be able to recite books with his eyes closed as if he was reading them.
Despite learning the Magic completely, he wasn't proficient at using its other capabilities. Creating the screens wasn't as easy as it seemed and required constant focus to keep them stable. They also weren't as durable as described, but he believed that with enough practice, they would get there.
Connecting to another person's mind was also pretty hard. So far, he had succeeded once with Cana, and it was a one-way connection. Gerald was able to speak with her telepathically, but she wasn't able to speak back to him. He didn't have the same problem with his summons, however. There was already a form of connection between them. He was able to use that to connect and speak freely with them.
Gerald would have finished converting his memories faster had it not been for Mira. The girl had made it her personal mission to drag him shopping whenever she saw him in the Guild. He had tried running away, but Mira had caught him with ease. He had even tried flying away on Baby Dragon, but she flew after him. Destroyed the poor thing with a beam of darkness, nearly exhausted his Magic Power reserves, and dragged him to a clothing store while giggling.
Mira had made him take precautions against her. Early in the morning, he would take a C-rank job with Cana that's away from town. They would quickly grab takeout from a restaurant and leave Magnolia as quickly as possible. After completing the job, they would find a quiet spot where Gerald would focus on Archive while Cana practiced with her Card Magic. She hadn't found a Magic that interested or suited her, but she had taken a different approach.
Gerald might've been delayed by Mira, but that had allowed him to gather some Jewels. He was even forced to buy a wallet from how much he had accumulated. 220, 000 Jewels was a substantial amount, and it was the equivalent of about 2, 200$. He was planning on finding a place of his own soon, but there was something more important than that. Namely, reading all the books in Fairy Tail's archive. That was easier said than done since there were thousands of books in the archive. Not all of them were Magic books, but he loved reading, and some of them might end up being useful for him in the future.
The first two days, he mainly stayed in the archive, but when he learned that Mira left on a job that would take some time to complete, he started his training. Every time he went on jobs with Cana, he always sat in the back while his summons and partner did all the work. He wasn't happy with that. He wanted to do more than just summon one of his cards and then watch.
Since Gerald knew that his cards required Magic Power to be kept summoned, he figured that increasing his strength and learning how to use a weapon was the obvious thing to do. That way, he could fight alongside them and not be a sitting duck. But before he started training, there was something that he wanted to try out. Something that he had been delaying until now. He left the Guild and went to the lake situated behind the building.
Gerald summoned Alligator's Sword and Baby Dragon. With a simple mental command, he ordered the lizardman to climb on top of the Dragon. He then stared intently at the two, but nothing happened.
'Fuse!' He commanded, but again, there was no change.
"Fuse! Combine!" Gerald tried calling out, but his two summons tilted their heads in confusion.
"What am I missing?" He mused out loud. He knew that the two were able to fuse and become stronger, but there was no change. 'Maybe this is the fusion? No! I refuse to believe that!'
"What are you trying to do?" Someone asked from behind him.
"They should be able to combine and become stronger," Gerald answered while staring at the two.
"Like a Unison Raid? I've never heard of monsters that can achieve that."
"I'll figure it out," Gerald said with determination and dismissed his summons before turning around where a red-haired woman was looking at him with interest. She was wearing a chest plate, armored skirt, and metal boots. On her hips, she had a sword, with her hand unconsciously staying near it. He had to admit, even though she was wearing armor, she was almost as beautiful as Mira, and she was still a teenager! He didn't know how Magic Power interacted with genes, but those girls could put supermodels from Earth to shame.
"I'm Erza. Erza Scarlet." She stuck her hand out.
"Gerald Nore. Pleased to meet you." He shook her hand and noticed that it was filled with calluses. The sword on her hips wasn't just for the sake of appearance.
"I heard some good things about you. I would like to spar with you," Erza said bluntly. No one had seen him fight except for Cana, and she spoke highly of him.
"I'll pass. Maybe some other time."
Gerald had no desire to spar with her. He knew from Cana how strong Erza was despite her age. With the way she was progressing, she would probably participate in next year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial. And chances are, she would more than likely pass it, becoming the youngest S-Class mage of Fairy Tail. Mira was the only one able to contend with her, but she lacked Erza's experience.
The eldest Strauss relied on her large Magic Power reserve and her incredibly strong Magic, where the Scarlet Knight relied on her skill and hard work. There was no one in the Guild that put more effort into training than Erza. Her natural Magic was Telekinesis, yet she was so proficient in using Requip that one might think that's her natural Magic. The girl was the definition of a prodigy.
"I understand." Erza nodded. "I'll await your challenge when you ready." She turned around and left without saying another word. Erza was just as bad as Mira when it came to conversations.
Left alone, Gerald unfolded the cloth covering his straight sword and summoned Celtic Guardian. With the weapon in hand, he said. "I want you to teach me how to fight!"
The elf warrior's neutral expression turned to one of uncertainty. He opened his mouth, but no words came out of it.
"Is there a problem?" Gerald asked when Celtic Guardian stayed quiet.
"I can't teach you, Master," The elf warrior said with shame and looked down.
"Why?"
"You... are too weak, Master." Celtic Guardian didn't even dare look at Gerald after he said that.
"Then it's simple. Train me until I'm strong enough to learn how to fight." Increasing his physical strength was also part of his plan. Most mages relied on their Magic, but some were physical monsters. Magic Power made their bodies stronger than normal, and they took it even further.
Celtic Guardian nodded, and his eyes filled with determination. His respectful tone turned to one of authority. "On the ground, give me 100 push-ups!"
Since then, Gerald's routine changed. Each day, he would go on a mission with Cana in the morning, train with Celtic Guardian afterward, and read the books in the archive until night.
He had also found an apartment to rent, for 120, 000 Jewels a month. The place wasn't even that far away from the Guild. The 3-room apartment had everything he needed. A bedroom, bathroom, living room, and a kitchen. He had to furnish it on his own, but with the number of jobs he had been doing with Cana, that wasn't a problem.
It took Gerald about two weeks of training his body before Celtic Guardian deemed him good enough to start being taught how to use a sword. For one week straight, the elf warrior showed him how to swing a sword and made him repeat it thousands of times. When Celtic Guardian was sure that Gerald wouldn't hurt himself with his own weapon, the two started sparing. During that time, the elf warrior made sure that his Master didn't stop training his physical body while sharpening his skills with the sword.
About four weeks after he had learned his first Magic, Gerald was reading the last book in Fairy Tail's archive.
"And I'm done!" Gerald exclaimed. He had read 2327 books in a month. That wouldn't have been possible without the Gale-Force Reading Glasses. And the best part was that all those books were stored in his Archive, making sure that he would never forget them.
'You have studied, and you have proven yourself. I am at your service, Master.' The second he closed the last book, a voice filled with wisdom spoke in his head.
Gerald checked his cards for his newest addition. Tall with blue hair, dressed in purple magician robes with a green staff in his hands.
"Dark Magician." He uttered, and the man appeared in front of him.
'Please summon me as well, Master!' Fay begged, and he obliged. "Dark Magician Girl."
"Teacher!" Fay greeted the taller magician with a hug. Dark stiffened from the physical contact. "Release me, student."
"You are no fun teacher." Fay stuck her tongue out before hopping next to Gerald and embracing him. "Master is a better sport than you. See? He hugs me back."
Dark let out a sigh. "If you were as dedicated as him, you could've achieved so much even with your low amount of talent for the arcane arts."
"Blergh. Well, Master thinks I'm special, so take that!" Fay happily giggled.
Dark ignored her comment and addressed Gerald. "You have studied all the books available to you. Now, it's time to start putting them to practice. Have you chosen a Magic to learn, Master?"
"Yes." Gerald nodded. There were so many different types, but he already had one in mind that he wanted to learn. He wouldn't focus on it, but it would be a Magic that would be as useful as Archive. "Requip."
Having a pocket dimension to store items would be invaluable. Gerald wasn't sure how long he had before the start of the canon, but he knew he had at least a year or two. Maybe even more. He wanted to use this chance to explore this magical world and see what it has to offer. Requip would allow him to travel lightly.
"I want to have a pocket dimension large enough to carry my necessities. After that, I want to start focusing on other Magics that would be useful in the future."
"As you wish, Master. I would be happy to help you." Dark nodded. He was Gerald's summon, and his job was to help him.
"Me too, me too! I also want to help!" Fay happily called out.
"You should focus on your own Magic. You are not fit to teach." Dark rebuked her.
Fay turned towards Gerald with teary eyes. "You'll let me help, right, Master?"
"Of course. I can't say no to you, can I?"
Dark frowned, but he didn't go against his Master's wishes. He believed it would be a waste of his Magic Power. With the two of them summoned, they will drain it faster, and he will have less time to learn under him. It was pointless for Gerald to fulfill his summons' wishes since they were there to serve him.
"Yippie!"
Since then, Gerald's reading time was replaced with learning Magic under Dark Magician and Fay. With the help of his summons, he was progressing quickly in both mind and body.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone