"I can't deny it... it's really cool." Raizel withdrew his gaze from the black panther and looked at Cana, giving her a thumbs-up.
Honestly, Raizel was even a little tempted to get one himself. He felt that just this black panther alone was a huge upgrade for Cana.
Such a powerful card summon—he wondered if they had obtained it through sheer luck or by spending a fortune.
"If an enemy closes in, I'm easily defeated, so I bought this black panther to protect me," Cana explained. "Its close-combat ability is very strong, but my primary command for it isn't to attack, but to defend. That way, I can focus on dealing damage. It can also serve as a mount."
"Can the blue flames on its forelimbs be retracted?" Raizel pointed at the panther's front legs.
"Oh? That's a good point." Cana's eyes lit up.
Without even needing Cana to issue a verbal command, the black panther retracted the flames from its forelimbs. It seemed highly intelligent, capable of distinguishing friend from foe and understanding silent commands.
"Is it still available for purchase?"
Cana quickly shook her head. "It's very difficult. These are extremely rare. I bought it at an auction. The auction is held once a year in mid-June, and even then, it's not guaranteed to have one. We spent so much time on this trip just waiting for the auction to start."
"According to the auction house, they need to raise these magical beasts from birth, and even then, it's not certain they'll succeed. Even within the same species, the strength and level of sentience of magical beasts can vary greatly." Cana finally explained why they were so scarce.
"Alright." Raizel nodded helplessly. He decided he would pay more attention to such auctions in the future.
"Second card." Cana turned the card around to show Raizel and Natsu.
Both had sharp eyes and saw the details before Cana even activated it.
It was a bow, which Raizel hadn't expected.
He never thought Cana would choose such a weapon, as she had never used one before.
The bow appeared on Cana's left arm, made from the bone of a magical beast. The upper and lower ends of the bow featured blade-like designs, making it usable for close-quarters combat if necessary.
The bow was attached securely to Cana's left wrist, with a red, diamond-shaped Lacrima embedded on the back of her hand. Raizel thought this design was quite practical, avoiding the awkward scenario of dropping the weapon mid-fight.
"This bow is made from the bone of a magical crocodile. It's charged with Magical Power, and using cards, I can switch its elemental attributes. Right now, it's set to the Fire attribute. Currently, I have five attributes available: Fire, Lightning, Ice, Wind, and Water. It can perform spread attacks or single-target strikes."
"If that's the case, the Lacrima on it should change color when you switch attributes, right?" Raizel asked, pointing at the crystal on the back of her hand.
"Right." Cana nodded, casually pulling a yellow card from her bag and swiping it over the Lacrima.
The crystal quickly changed from red to yellow. "This switches it to the Lightning attribute."
"COOL!!!" Natsu really wanted to say that this bow was exactly his style, and the color-changing feature made it even cooler.
"Can you demonstrate the spread attack?" Raizel guessed that the single-target strike was probably something like a piercing arrow of a certain attribute, so he didn't need to see that.
Cana was very compliant and immediately gave Raizel a demonstration.
Rapid shots, double arrow volleys, triple arrow volleys, and finally an arcing arrow rain all landed in the lake, effectively blasting a wave of fish out of the water.
It was indeed quite impressive—the destructive power wasn't weak, and the coverage area of the arrow rain was quite extensive.
"Last card: Storm Wings—wings imbued with Wind Magic." Cana used her final card.
BOOM!!!
Raizel hadn't expected the wings to come with their own sound effects.
'You had to admit, it was pretty flashy.'
These weren't physical wings with bones and feathers; though called Storm Wings, they appeared as a coalescing black mist dotted with red specks.
Looking at it this way, Cana's aesthetic was quite consistent—black and red with bone white, leaning heavily into a dark theme.
'So, edgy makes you ten times stronger, huh?'
"It's so dark, and you're telling me it's imbued with Wind Magic?" Raizel blinked in disbelief.
"Don't dismiss black wind as not being wind, you know." Cana slightly raised her head, hands on her hips, looking proud and a little tsundere.
You're right. Raizel had no retort and could only give Cana a thumbs-up.
Now Raizel understood that Cana wasn't exaggerating about being buried in debt—none of this looked cheap.
"Cana! Quick, quick, quick! Let's spar right now!!!" Natsu clenched his fists, excitedly challenging Cana.
"Natsu, do you really have to fight as soon as they get back?" Happy helplessly poked Natsu's thigh with his paw.
"It's fine, I'm okay with it. I want to test it out too." Cana nodded at Natsu.
Natsu and Cana took their positions, while the black panther stood by Cana's side, watching Natsu's movements closely.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Natsu stomped his right foot and charged at Cana with a powerful, flame-wreathed fist.
The black panther was quick too; as soon as Natsu closed in, flames burst from its forelimbs, and it accelerated to clash with Natsu's Iron Fist using its claws.
Natsu was sent flying back by the panther's swipe, tumbling repeatedly on the ground.
Cana didn't just stand there watching; she flew up using her Storm Wings, switched her arrows to the Water attribute, gathered her magical power, and sent a water tornado hurtling toward Natsu.
Natsu, having scrambled up, saw that he couldn't dodge the water tornado in time.
He took a deep breath, unleashing a full-powered roar.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The blue water tornado and the fiery vortex collided, quickly filling the area with steam and mist.
"What?"
Natsu caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye.
The black panther emerged from the shadows beside him, swiping at his side and sending him flying straight into the lake.
At that point, the spar was over. Natsu wasn't knocked out and simply swam back up on his own.
"That black panther can use Shadow Magic, too?" Natsu asked indignantly as he climbed ashore.
He had lost sight of it in the mist but had actually smelled the panther before seeing it.
However, he hadn't expected it to emerge from the shadows, so he couldn't react in time.
Cana had held back a little, not revealing the panther's abilities earlier.
"Yep. Otherwise, why would am i bother buying it?" Cana nodded proudly, clearly pleased with her acquisition.
"Did you pick all these yourself?" Raizel asked.
He thought Cana's three choices were quite good—she had close combat covered, along with attack power and mobility. If she had enough magical power, she could even use her previous cards as supplements.
Cana's lips curved into a faint, knowing smile as she said, "No. Ultear, Erza, and Kagura all gave me suggestions. This bow was made from the bones of a magical crocodile, and the bones were provided by Erza."
Hearing Cana's words, Erza's lips lifted slightly as she patted her breastplate with a hand, producing loud, metallic thumping sounds.
Ultear and Kagura exchanged a glance at Erza's display and chuckled softly.
Gathering collective wisdom had indeed proved beneficial.
Cana's set only required more practice with archery—specifically when facing powerful enemies.
Against common soldiers, a rain of arrows would be enough to give those minions a hard time.
Moreover, judging from that water tornado earlier, Cana's accuracy wasn't bad at all; she had been aiming precisely at Natsu while he was tumbling about.