Kiltina is a continent northwest of Ishgar.
As for Elefseria… Weston knew that name all too well.
He was the founder of the Magic Guild 'Dragon of the Magic Array' who debuted in the 100-Year Quest arc—
the Law Dragon Slayer Mage!
The man said to possess every scrap of intelligence in the world!
So he was already this ancient at this point… no wonder Weston had felt a flicker of familiarity the moment he saw him.
Once he knew who the other party was, Weston instantly relaxed.
Elefseria was an immensely learned and powerful Mage; not only had he taught himself Dragon Slayer Magic, he could freely switch between human and dragon form at will, keeping his sanity intact without being devoured by a dragon's primal instincts.
In that regard, his talent surpassed even Irene and Acnologia!
In terms of sheer breadth of knowledge, perhaps only Zeref in the entire story could best him.
Although in canon Elefseria had only displayed 'Law Dragon Slayer Magic' and 'Spatial Transfer Magic', it wouldn't be strange for someone like him to be proficient in Super Ancient Text Magic as well.
"Well then, greetings exchanged—let's get down to business."
At those words, Weston's expression immediately turned solemn. "Please speak, Senior; I'm listening."
"Regarding your intrusion into my magical database…"
No way…
A mighty Law Dragon is going to haggle with a little kid like me?
While Weston grumbled inwardly, Elefseria suddenly shifted tack: "…I'll let the matter rest."
"Eh?? You're really not pursuing it?"
"Of course!"
Elefseria nodded with a smile. "The way your magic operates is exquisitely intricate; those various 'software' packages are things I've never seen before."
"To be honest, my daily life is rather dull; these magical programs have added quite a bit of fun to my days lately."
"Lately"… so you've long since moved all my software and data over, huh?
One of Super Ancient Text's abilities is to scan a user's memories and generate data for storage.
After awakening his magic, Weston had converted a lot of information from his previous life—songs he'd heard, movies he'd watched, books he'd read, games he'd played—into data and stored it in his own 'Magic Hard Drive'.
He would flip through them from time to time to pass the hours.
Sometimes he even modeled characters and scenes from web-novels, turning them into short anime clips.
Unfortunately, magic technology in this era wasn't advanced enough; those anime shorts were doomed to be enjoyed only in private.
As for Elefseria claiming his life was boring, Weston wasn't surprised.
According to canon, although Dragon of the Magic Array had been created by him to oppose the Six Dragon Gods, the dragons were so overwhelmingly powerful that guild members either died or deserted, leaving the old man all alone in the end.
Presumably, even if the guild hadn't yet collapsed, it was now a sorry handful of big and small fry—hardly a force to be reckoned with.
"You barged into my database without so much as a by-your-leave—rather rude—but since I've also snatched your data, we'll call it even."
Hearing that, the corner of Weston's eye twitched.
Elefseria went on: "How about we strike a deal?"
Weston blinked. "A deal?"
"I can grant you access to my magical database and share every bit of intelligence I've gathered over the years."
"I guarantee it's the most comprehensive archive in the world."
What?!
Such luck!
"The only condition…"
"…is that when you've grown strong enough, you come to Kiltina and lend this old man a hand."
As expected—there is a catch!
Weston could guess roughly what Elefseria's "favor" entailed.
Almost certainly it concerned the 100-Year Quest.
"No problem!"
"I accept!"
No need to hesitate.
For Weston, it was a bargain he couldn't lose.
"Then it's settled."
"I've already granted you access; you can browse my magical database anytime without fear of being blocked."
"Oh—and don't delete this chat function; let's keep in touch."
"Honestly, it's rather nice having a friend to talk to and relieve the boredom."
"See you later!"
With that, Elefseria waved and closed the video call.
Silence returned to the air.
"So… I've basically made an internet friend?"
Looking at the tiny dragon avatar in the corner of his mana interface, Weston suddenly felt as if the other party were his 'portable old grandpa'.
As expected of me—I'm the protagonist!
Beep-beep-beep… An alarm shattered his beautiful daydream.
"Crap!"
"It's this late already?"
"I have to hurry and pick the Young Miss up from school!"
With a yelp, Weston flipped off the branch and sprinted toward the Schoolhouse.
Tenrou Tree stands at the center of Tenrou Island; it takes ten minutes to reach the Schoolhouse from there.
When a sweating Weston arrived, Zera was walking hand-in-hand with several little girls her age out of the classroom.
"Whew… looks like I just made it."
Thank goodness—no matter the world, kids always linger after class to play with friends before heading home.
Zera, daughter of the Red Lizard guild master, is six this year, about the same age as Weston.
In canon, the real Zera died during Blue Skull's assault on Red Lizard.
Unable to accept the death of a peer—or perhaps to escape loneliness—Mavis subconsciously used her Illusion Magic to create a false Zera, keeping her company on Tenrou Island for seven years.
Later, when Yuri, Precht, and Warrod arrived searching for the tenrou jade and took Mavis off the island to reclaim it from Blue Skull, the illusion was finally exposed.
Thanks to the four's acceptance, the illusory Zera became one of the very first 'fairies'.
So long as Mavis doesn't remember 'Zera is dead', the illusion can manifest again.
During the guild's war with the Alvarez Empire, she even 'revived' to guide the members.
To Weston, illusion-Zera possessed her own personality and thoughts—practically a Thought Projection, much like Cait Shelter's guild master.
But an illusion is an illusion, and the real person is the real person.
Compared to the illusion who grew up with Mavis, the living, pampered Young Miss Zera is still a haughty little princess.
Under Weston's gaze, the Young Miss waved goodbye to her classmates and stomped toward him in a huff.