Chapter 117: Carla is Born
"I'm so full!" Natsu said, patting his enlarged stomach as he lay sprawled on the sofa. Gray and Lyon were in a similar state, their bellies also round.
"I had no idea Noah's cooking was this good. You really can't tell just by looking at him," Levy said, sitting with Kagura and enjoying the post-meal leisure time.
"Big Brother Noah is a really good cook. You should come and learn too," Kagura suggested.
Levy was very tempted by the thought. "Can I?" she asked hesitantly.
"Just now, Big Brother Noah agreed to let Lisanna and the others come here every day to learn. Let's go ask him together." Kagura pulled Levy up, and they got to their feet with some effort and went over to Noah. After hearing their request, he said directly, "Of course. I'd love to have more people to research cooking with."
Levy breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, everyone heard the sound of an eggshell cracking. Wendy's voice rang out, "Big Brother Noah, it's starting to hatch!"
Everyone immediately got up from the sofas and crowded around. Just like when Happy was born, the egg was shaking continuously, and the shell was falling away. Wendy and Yukino, the two youngest, stood right next to it, their little fists clenched in front of their chests, their expressions a mix of focus and nervousness.
Finally, the eggshell split in two, and a small white cat emerged from the center.
"So cute!" All the girls in the room had sparkles in their eyes as they looked at the little white cat, all of them itching to go up and hold her.
At the same time, various magic circles flashed before Noah's eyes, and other magic circles flashed around the white cat, so fast that only a very few people present were able to see them. Everyone was startled by Noah's sudden use of magic, and they all took a step back to watch him.
Noah didn't answer them right away. The magic circles in front of his eyes continued to flash, and the white cat, who had just lowered her head, suddenly raised it again as if she had been frightened. Noah's magic circles gradually disappeared. Seeing this, everyone relaxed. Wendy, the most anxious, was the first to ask, "Big Brother Noah, is she okay?"
She looked at the white cat with worried eyes. Noah shook his head. "She's fine. Her body is very healthy. It's just that I sensed a special magic power fluctuation from her the moment she was born, so I investigated it."
"Did you find anything?" Ultear asked from the side.
Noah nodded. "I did, but it should be a good thing. The fluctuation came from her. It's very likely that she innately used her own magic the moment she was born."
"Could it be magic like Happy's?" Erza glanced at Happy, who was sitting on Natsu's head. Over the past couple of days, everyone had learned that the wings on Happy's back were actually a type of magic called "Aera," a magic he was born with.
Noah shook his head. "The magic fluctuation was different. It's not Aera; it's a much more advanced magic. Wendy, you should help her train it in the future, so she can slowly explore and master this magic."
"Mhm, I will, Big Brother Noah." Wendy, hearing that the little white cat was fine, finally relaxed. She took Noah's words to heart, planning to focus on that in the future.
"Alright, the kitten is fine. Now we need to think of a name for her. Wendy, you should name her. She's a little girl cat."
"Ah? Me? Name her? I can't," Wendy said, quickly waving her hands nervously to refuse.
Erza encouraged her from the side. "You're the one who brought her back, and you've been the one taking care of her all this time. You're the best person to name her."
"Me?" Wendy looked around timidly at the others. Everyone smiled at her, silently encouraging her. Seeing their expressions, she gained a bit of confidence.
"Then I'll give her a name. Hmm... I've got it. Let's call her Carla. Is that okay?" Wendy asked, looking at everyone nervously.
Ultear, hearing the name, nodded. "Carla? That's a good name. Then from now on, she'll be Carla."
Everyone else nodded in agreement. Seeing that everyone liked the name she had chosen, Wendy happily picked up the white kitten. "From now on, your name is Carla!"
Now that the name was decided, all the girls wanted a chance to hold her, and a tense rivalry began to spread among them. The boys weren't interested in holding Carla, so they all backed away. Noah gathered up all the pieces of Carla's eggshell to save as a memento. He had done the same for Happy's, but he was keeping those himself, afraid that Natsu would accidentally burn them.
After Carla had been held by every girl at least once, their emotions finally calmed down.
Having witnessed Carla's birth, everyone began to gradually leave to do their own things, with most of them heading to the training ground. Noah also began to perform a more detailed check-up on Carla and then prepared a special nutrient potion for her. Under his special care, both Happy and Carla grew very well. Natsu and Wendy were always with them, and the four of them were almost never apart.
Time flashed by again. Several new members joined the guild, including Jet and Droy. Not long after joining the guild, the two of them asked Levy to form a team. She agreed, and thus Team Shadow Gear was formed. All three of them met the requirements and began to take on requests as a team.
Most of the guild's younger generation were now able to go out on requests. Although the Strauss siblings had only joined a short time ago, Mirajane's talent was so good that her strength increased very quickly, and she soon met the requirements. Lisanna and Elfman, after their training, also had a certain amount of strength, and they formed a team with their sister, Mirajane.
The only ones left in the guild were the youngest members, Wendy and Yukino. Since they were both living at Noah's house, Makarov wasn't worried about them.
During this time, Noah had added a new topic to his research: Dragon Slayer Magic. Slaying magic was capable of many things that ordinary magic couldn't do. The most obvious was that it could change one's physical constitution, allowing the user to consume their element to restore magic and stamina, and granting the body a high resistance to that same element.
Noah was now able to constantly analyze the data from Fire Dragon Slayer Magic and Sky Dragon Slayer Magic. After a period of study and research, he had already learned both types of magic. But he had never once cast them. This was because once he used Dragon Slayer magic, the dragonification process would begin. Until he found a solution, Noah would not cast these two spells.
Although he could analyze the data from the two magic types at any time, he was still at a loss as to how to eliminate the side effects. He needed more magical knowledge to fill in the gaps.
Just then, he received a message from Makarov, telling him to come to the guild.
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