Chapter 123: Archive
In addition, although Gildarts and Ur were strong and famous, most of their requests were overseas, were more dangerous, and in more remote locations, so not much news of their exploits made it back. Although Laxus was an S-Class wizard, he had only held the rank for about two years and was only just starting to make a name for himself. Noah's own reputation, while famous at first due to his age, had faded as he had reduced his mission load in recent years, and the missions he did take were also out of the country. Naturally, he had been forgotten by many.
The other guild members, especially the younger generation, were still growing. This all gave Jose a false impression: that Fairy Tail was not actually that strong. Although they had a Wizard Saint as a Master and had recently added another person who was said to be on that level, from their performance in recent years, the rest of Fairy Tail was nothing to worry about. That so-called potential Wizard Saint (Ur) was probably washed up. That was why he hadn't made a move. Besides, in just a few more years, his own strength would surpass Makarov's, and then he would have even less to worry about.
So Jose held back and did not allow Phantom Lord to enter into a full conflict with Fairy Tail. He believed his was already the strongest guild, and it was only a matter of time before he surpassed Makarov.
Makarov was naturally happy with this situation. It was best for both sides to avoid a major conflict; small skirmishes could be resolved. As long as the personal safety of his guild members was not threatened, Makarov did not want a full-scale guild war, for the sake of maintaining the overall order of the magic world.
Now that Noah had added the new shield and teleportation functions to the guild mark, Makarov, having tried it himself, felt even more at ease about his members' safety.
All the guild members, except for Gildarts and Cana (who were traveling abroad) and Ur, progressively had their marks upgraded. The official reason given was an "upgrade to the communication function." This wasn't wrong; Noah had indeed upgraded the communication magic, making it require less magic power, have a better effect, and a wider range. At the same time, the communication signal was given a higher level of encryption to prevent eavesdropping.
After discussing it with Makarov, the two of them decided not to tell the regular guild members about the new shield and teleportation functions, only the S-Class wizards. S-Class wizards encountered more danger and had sufficient judgment to know when to use these functions. The other guild members, however, did not; most of them lacked that level of judgment and were a bit too reckless.
Noah preferred not to tell them about the function. He would wait until they truly encountered a life-threatening situation. After the function activated and saved them, they could be told about it, which would serve as a profound lesson. Not telling them would also prevent them from relying on it to take on even more dangerous risks.
After finishing the work on the guild marks and confirming that Jose was making no major moves, there were only a few months left until the end of the year.
It was only then that Noah learned that Bob from Blue Pegasus had contacted Makarov, but Noah had been so busy adding the new functions to the mark—even splitting off Thought Projections to help—that Makarov had replied to Bob on his behalf. It turned out that Bob had already made arrangements for Noah to go to the Council to learn the new magic, Archive, and had contacted him to let him know. Makarov had postponed the study trip for Noah. Now that Noah was free, he could go.
As soon as Noah learned this, he quickly said goodbye to Makarov, went home to get some medicinal wine and other gifts, and headed to the Blue Pegasus headquarters.
When he met Master Bob, Noah quickly apologized and presented his gifts. Bob had already heard from Makarov that Noah had been swamped in his lab. "It's no problem at all, darling. Makarov-chan already told me you were too busy to come. Oh, my, and you brought gifts? ...Ooh, is this medicinal wine? I've had your wine before, it's truly wonderful! I definitely need this. I'll gladly accept these gifts!"
He took them, his smile growing even wider, and forcibly hugged Noah, rubbing his cheek against his for several seconds before letting go. By this time, Ichiya was already a member of Blue Pegasus. After a brief introduction, Noah took the documents Bob gave him and hurried to the Magic Council.
At the Council, after finding the relevant personnel and presenting Bob's documents, they took him to the place for studying Archive after a detailed check and identity verification. It was a large room. One side had rows and rows of neat cabinets with countless drawers, all labeled with the names of various magics. This must have been where the Council stored all its magic-related data. The other side of the room was a large space with many tables and chairs, where quite a few people were sitting and reading. The environment was very quiet, with only the sound of pages turning. The two areas were separated by a transparent partition, with a door connecting them that required authorization to open.
Noah immediately spotted a familiar figure sitting at one of the tables: the person Bob had mentioned, Hibiki. He was about the same age as Noah, around 14, with spiky, brownish-blonde hair, dark eyes, and long eyelashes. He was sitting there looking through some materials. Even at this age, he was already attracting the attention of many of the girls in the room.
The staff member led Noah to a table next to Hibiki and, after getting verification, went over to the archive cabinets. After a short wait, the staff member returned with a stack of materials and placed them in front of Noah, whispering, "This is the magic data you requested. Please do not take it with you. Please return it to the staff before you leave."
"Thank you." Noah nodded, and the staff member left.
Hibiki, who was sitting next to him, had already noticed his arrival. He had been told by Master Bob about the person who would be coming to study the same magic, and he nodded in greeting. Noah naturally nodded in response. Noah, having developed over the years with his training and natural talent, was also remarkably handsome. Overall, he was not in any way inferior to Hibiki, and in some aspects, even surpassed him. After the women in the room noticed Noah, all sorts of glances were sent his way.
This was a common occurrence for Noah, and he was more concerned with the data in his hands: the information on the magic, Archive.
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