The theoretical knowledge behind magical formulas looked complicated on the surface, but once Ur started learning it, it became clear. It wasn't that hard to understand.
Especially since he was only learning basic-level magic, as long as your brain worked and you put in the effort, you'd figure it out sooner or later.
That said, theory was just theory. Whether or not one could learn magic still depended on the mage's innate magic power and mental strength.
To fully grasp the theories and formulas behind the few earth magic spells he was targeting, Ur spent an entire day in the guild library without even realizing it.
When he finally left that evening, he had already copied down several pages of notes to bring back to Granny Isse's house for further study.
His 17-point mental strength stat gave him a solid foundation for digesting all that information. It took about two days and two nights of intense focus, but Ur finally cracked it. He understood the casting principles behind all four spells.
Three days later, beside the fishpond in Grandma Isse's backyard, Ur pressed his hands together.
In the next instant, a yellow magic circle suddenly lit up on the ground in front of him.
Then, a sharp stone spike burst up from the dirt several meters ahead, piercing straight through a scarecrow several meters away.
"Hahh…!" Seeing this, Ur finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Three straight days of hard training had finally paid off. He had successfully cast his first low-tier earth spell, Earth Spike.
The passive skill Lava Body had exceeded all of Ur's expectations. Even though the spells he learned were technically just basic magic, he had fully mastered all three basic earth magic spells in a single day.
And the stronger low-tier spell, Earth Spike?
Just two days.
Compared to the time it took him to learn the three basic water-element spells earlier, the difference was night and day.
Sure, some of that improvement could be chalked up to his general strength increasing over time.
But there was no denying it.
The magic affinity granted by Lava Body was insanely powerful. By Ur's estimation, the passive had boosted his earth and rock affinity to about B-Class, two grades higher than his original D-Class water affinity.
"Man, cheat skills really are terrifying," Ur muttered, staring at the results of his hacked progress.
Low-tier spells were in a different league from basic ones.
Basic magic was more like training wheels—meant to help mages understand the fundamentals of magic rather than serve any real combat purpose.
But low-tier spells? Those were for real combat.
Ur might still be weak, but with Earth Spike under his belt, he finally had some ability to fight back.
That thing could kill someone if they weren't careful.
Ur hadn't taken a mission in five days due to his training.
While Fairy Tail never forced members to take missions, he wasn't the kind of person who'd be satisfied staying a D-Class mage forever.
So the moment he completed his spell training, he jumped headfirst into grinding missions like a madman.
Calling it grinding was a bit of a stretch.
After all, D-Class missions didn't exactly offer much to grind. Most of them were the fantasy world's equivalent of part-time college jobs.
Grandma Isse's fishing request had been a rare exception. Because the guild had a rule of "only one active mission at a time," even if he wanted to rush, there was a limit to how fast he could work.
He made the most of that time by diving back into books, laying the groundwork for future magic studies.
This pattern continued for about half a month.
One day, Master Makarov made an announcement.
Ur had officially been promoted from D-Class to C-Class!
Both Ur and Makarov were thrilled at the news.
Ur, excited beyond belief, immediately dashed over to the quest board, snatched up his first C-Class mission, and raced out the guild doors without looking back.
And just like that, Makarov stopped being thrilled. He had just lost another perfectly good excuse to throw a drinking party.
"Master," Wakaba said, frowning slightly as he watched Ur's back disappear into the distance."Don't you think Ur's pushing himself too hard lately? Maybe we should tell him to slow down a bit…?"
Ur's work ethic hadn't gone unnoticed by the rest of the guild.
Someone who focused on missions stood out like a sore thumb in Fairy Tail.
From the guild's founding to now, Fairy Tail has never been the kind of place that raised "model employees."
People like Ur?
They were the kind that only took missions seriously if they had some serious emotional trauma to process.
Makarov fell silent for a moment at Wakaba's words.
Then he spoke, voice calm. "Let him be. This is the path he chose. Right or wrong, it's his to walk. All we can do is keep an eye on him."
"Besides, hasn't he been doing a great job with his missions?"
Wakaba glanced over at the counter. There were over a dozen thank-you letters stacked neatly on top. He opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing.
Because it was true.
As the guild master said, they had no reason to stop Ur from doing missions.
Even in the entire history of Fairy Tail, mages who could maintain that kind of mission success rate were incredibly rare. Over the years, Fairy Tail had always prided itself on its high mission completion rate. They also received tons of thank-you letters, alongside just as many complaints.
Most members finished their missions just fine, but left behind a trail of property damage, drunken brawls, and incinerated client homes in the process.
Every mission completed by a Fairy Tail mage came with a pair of letters: one praising them and one condemning them for the collateral damage.
But Ur?
Only thank-yous.
No complaints.
From the very founding of the guild until now, there probably have not been more than a handful of people like that.
But maybe that's exactly what made Makarov and Wakaba so uneasy.
Because a member that perfect—
Clearly didn't belong to Fairy Tail.