The Pict Magic Of Fairy Tail

Chapter 41: Mission Preparation

As they left the guild, Natsu rubbed his head, his face brimming with excitement and joy. Happy flew alongside him, constantly playing and messing around with him on the way.

"Honestly, I admire that guy's boundless energy," commented Silver, who was walking behind with Gray. Gray looked at Natsu and Happy up ahead with a mix of exasperation and awe.

"Come on, don't talk like an old man—you're not that old yet," Silver retorted with an eye roll.

"I'm just saying his energy is beyond normal. How does that make me sound like an old man?" Gray shot back defensively.

"Hey, Silver, Ice Block! We've arrived!" Natsu and Happy had stopped at the edge of a small hill and were waving toward them.

"What did you just call me? Can't you use proper language?" Gray, annoyed by Natsu's nickname, hurried over with a disgruntled look.

"Didn't you call me a 'Fire Brain' back at the guild?" Natsu retorted, picking his nose as he tilted his head, giving Gray a sidelong glance.

"Are you seriously holding onto that?" Gray said, exasperated. "I can't understand how your memory works. Sometimes it's worse than a fish's, and other times it's oddly sharp."

"Fish?" Happy, who had already landed on the ground, suddenly sprouted small wings and floated up to Gray's face, his eyes shining at the mention of the word.

Looking at the cat, whose thought process was as bizarre as Natsu's, Gray sighed and explained, "It's just a metaphor. I didn't mean actual fish."

"But Gray, you said fish," Happy insisted, unwilling to let it go. "You're so stingy—keeping fish to yourself and not sharing even a bit."

"Exactly! Gray's being super stingy, hoarding fish and not giving any to Happy," Natsu chimed in, still picking his nose, clearly enjoying the banter.

"When did you see me holding fish?" Gray ignored Natsu's teasing and raised his voice slightly as he tried to reason with Happy.

"What's going on?" Silver, who had almost caught up to them, frowned when he noticed Gray's rising voice. "Keep it down. We're at the mission site. If the bandits sense something is off and flee, we're in trouble."

"Ah, sorry," Gray quickly lowered his voice at Silver's reminder.

"Silver! Gray had fish and didn't share it!" Happy flew over to Silver, tattling with a pout.

"Oh, so that's what this is about." Silver immediately understood the situation and said, "That's easy. After the mission, Natsu can catch you ten—no, a hundred fish. You can even roll around in them if you want."

"Yay!" Happy's face lit up with joy at Silver's promise.

Meanwhile, Natsu was left dumbfounded. What's going on? Weren't they talking about Gray? How did this end up on me?

Ignoring Natsu's bewildered expression, Silver climbed to the top of the hill, set up an easel, and began sketching.

His drawing skills had improved significantly, and within an hour, he had accurately captured the landscape.

Using magic, he quickly pinpointed the bandits' hideout.

"So that's where they've been hiding. No wonder the town's sheriff couldn't locate their base," Gray remarked as he looked at the marked location on the drawing.

"Can we attack them now?" Natsu asked eagerly, his fists clenched in anticipation.

"Not so fast," Silver said, glancing at Natsu, Gray, and Happy. "I need to make some preparations first."

After speaking, Silver found a large boulder nearby and retrieved several anime character drawings he had previously completed from his magical space gallery.

He began materializing the characters one by one. Since Silver's materialization didn't rely on magic power but rather on reconstructing matter from the real world, the large boulder gradually developed a massive hollow in its center as the characters took form. The hole was large enough for Silver to hide inside.

"What's he doing?" Gray asked, beginning to grasp what was happening. Natsu and Happy, on the other hand, were utterly confused, question marks practically floating over their heads.

"These materialized characters are controlled by my consciousness," Silver explained to Natsu and Happy, noticing their puzzled looks. "While I'm controlling them, I'm completely unprotected. That's why I need a secure place to hide to avoid potential danger."

"Oh, I see," Natsu and Happy finally understood after the explanation. Happy, however, couldn't resist teasing, "Silver's magic is so impractical—it requires so much prep work."

"Is that so? Well, in that case, I won't give you any of the fish I catch next time," Silver replied nonchalantly as he stepped into the hollow of the boulder.

"I was wrong!" Happy, the shameless cat, immediately bowed in apology upon hearing the word "fish."

After adjusting the inner walls of the stone hollow, Silver dismissed the materialized characters, leaving only one outside.

He then returned to his easel and, with a few quick strokes, reformed the dissolved parts of the boulder, seamlessly merging it back together, save for a few small air holes for ventilation.

Once everything was ready, Silver's consciousness took control of the remaining materialized character.

As the character moved around, Silver explained to Gray, Natsu, and Happy, "This character is named Might Guy. His physical abilities are extremely strong, equivalent to a Class B wizard just with his body alone."

"Really?" Natsu's eyes lit up. "Then why don't you draw a dragon? That way, you'd have a dragon's power!"

"Idiot," Gray rolled his eyes. "It's not that simple. If it were, Silver would've done it ages ago. Besides, while pict magic users aren't common, they're not unheard of, and none of them have ever materialized a real, powerful dragon."

"What? So it's not possible?" Natsu looked disappointed at the revelation.

"It's not entirely impossible," Silver said with a smile. "The strength of a materialized character depends on how well I understand them and the power they're supposed to have. If I were as powerful as a dragon and had a deep understanding of dragons, I could potentially materialize one."

"Really? Then you have to work hard, Silver!" Natsu's eyes sparkled with renewed enthusiasm as he encouraged him.

"Humans can't possibly match a dragon's power. Don't get your hopes up," Gray interjected, pouring cold water on Natsu's excitement.

"Alright, let's focus on the mission," Silver said, quickly shifting the topic before another argument broke out between Natsu and Gray. "Remember, don't kill these bandits. If we do, the Magic Council might come after us. Worst case, we could lose our mage licenses and end up as dark mages. That's not a path you want to go down…"