Rain fell softly over Magnolia, the kind that wasn't strong enough to keep people indoors but made the streets shimmer like glass. The guild hall buzzed with energy, but Ren sat quietly in a far corner, a half-empty glass of juice on the table beside his untouched request form.
He had read it a dozen times.
> Request: Help remove an ancient seal from an abandoned shrine near the eastern gorge. Minimal danger expected. Modest reward.
Client: Priest Alwin
Urgency: Low
Magic specialty requested: Nullification or rune-breaking magic preferred.
He had the perfect magic for it. No fighting. No attention. Just dispel, report, done.
So why did his hands feel cold?
"Still thinking about it?" a voice asked.
Ren looked up. Mira.
He nodded. "Just not sure it's… safe."
She leaned on the table beside him, arms crossed, smiling. "You think too much. That can be good. But sometimes you gotta trust your instincts too."
"My instincts say this seal isn't what it looks like."
"Then take someone with you."
Ren looked back down at the form. "I was hoping to try one alone."
Mirajane paused. "Then come back if it turns bad. That's what the emblem is for."
He touched the Fairy Tail mark on his wrist.
"…Right."
---
The forest was quiet when Ren arrived at the shrine.
Moss-covered stone pillars jutted out of the earth like broken teeth. The seal in question pulsed faintly on an archway above a sunken stairwell, glowing purple with a reddish tint—more volatile than standard barrier magic.
Ren circled the perimeter. There were no traps. No wild magic zones. No magical creatures.
Just silence.
Too quiet, he thought.
He stepped forward and drew a sigil in the air with his finger.
"Void Mark," he whispered.
A black glyph hovered in front of him and drifted toward the seal. As it touched, the magic flickered… then began to unravel.
So far, so good.
Ren raised his palm. "Void Flow – Erase Pattern."
The seal convulsed like it was alive. It screeched—a high, ethereal cry that rang in his ears—and suddenly the air cracked like glass.
The seal shattered.
And something ancient screamed in response.
---
A black cloud poured out of the archway.
Not smoke—essence.
It twisted into form—eyes without a face, fangs without a mouth, and a thousand whispering voices slithering around him.
Ren froze.
He had no idea what kind of spirit this was.
It lunged.
He fired off a Void Barrier—but it passed through it like mist and struck his chest, sending him flying into a tree.
Ren coughed hard, gasping.
It wasn't physical.
It was a curse entity—a remnant of magic emotion. And his magic couldn't destroy what wasn't made of normal mana.
Anti-magic doesn't erase curses…
"Big mistake," he muttered, wincing.
The entity circled him, growing bolder.
"Emptiness… bearer… you broke the seal," it hissed. "You're mine."
Ren forced himself to stand.
He couldn't run. Not now. If he did, this thing might reach Magnolia. Someone could get hurt. Erza could sense it—or worse, Natsu could come barreling in and light everything on fire.
Ren reached into his satchel and pulled out a charm—one of Levy's experimental containment seals.
"Let's hope you're worth your ink."
The curse lunged again.
Ren didn't dodge.
Instead, he focused all his Void energy into the charm and slammed it into the entity's form.
The charm ignited—black and blue fire flaring in all directions.
The curse howled. It didn't vanish—but it recoiled, weakened.
Ren dropped to one knee.
"You're not from this world," the curse hissed. "You reek of another plane."
"I'm from a lot of places," Ren spat. "And none of them are afraid of you."
He triggered the charm a second time.
The seal flared.
This time, the curse scattered—banished, not destroyed, but contained.
For now.
Ren collapsed against the base of the shrine.
He had won.
But he had also made a mistake.
---
Back at Fairy Tail, Makarov examined the charm with grave interest.
"This… was no simple barrier. It wasn't just keeping the entity in—it was keeping it dormant."
Ren nodded quietly. "I know."
"You broke the seal without understanding the source. That's recklessness, not courage."
"I thought my magic could erase it."
Makarov studied him. "Ren, your magic is unique. It's powerful, yes—but it's not universal. Magic has layers. Curses. Emotions. Ancient laws. You can't undo them all with the same spell."
"I understand."
"Do you?" Makarov asked, his tone softer now. "Because one day, the thing you erase might not deserve to be forgotten."
Ren flinched.
Erza entered the room, silent as ever.
"I heard," she said simply.
"I handled it," Ren replied.
"You survived it," she corrected. "You got lucky."
Ren clenched his fists. "I didn't ask for your approval."
"No," she said, turning away. "But I expected more from you."
Those words hit harder than the curse.
---
That night, Ren sat on the roof of the guild hall, staring at the moon.
He felt… heavier.
Like the world had reminded him that his power was more weapon than gift.
Mira joined him after a while, handing him hot tea.
"You're not the first Fairy Tail mage to screw up," she said gently. "And you won't be the last."
"Doesn't feel like just a screw-up," Ren said. "I let something ancient out. I didn't know how to fight it. If I hadn't had that seal—"
"But you did," Mira interrupted. "You learned. And now you know better."
Ren looked into the cup.
"What if one day I make a mistake I can't fix?"
Mira smiled sadly. "Then we'll fix it together. That's what being part of a guild means."
Ren looked at her—and for the first time that week, felt the weight ease, just a little.