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Noah and the others left.
However, San Jiao Shin, Samagui, and five other outstanding individuals temporarily remained in Sun Village. Having been enslaved by Zoldeo's magic for many years, they needed sufficient time to recuperate.
The Giants also welcomed these people to stay. With their Guardian Deity gone, the Giants themselves had to protect their homeland.
San Jiao Shin was an undefeated general, and Samagui was a legendary hunter from the Northern Lands. The other five also had their respective areas of expertise. With their help, Sun Village's safety was assured.
What's more, although Noah took the Hellfire Dragon, he also left another "guardian" to back up Sun Village.
Outside the village, Samagui directed the Giants to set up warning facilities, while San Jiao Shin, wiping his crescent blade, observed the four-legged black shadow monster. It was half the height of a Giant, armless and eyeless, with a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Impervious to blades and spears, difficult to harm with magic, and despite its massive size, it could move freely within shadows... Zoldeo, who had previously enslaved them, definitely wouldn't have been its opponent.
This monster, named Shadow Eater, was truly terrifying.
San Jiao Shin had no idea that the Shadow Eater Noah left behind had devoured the shadows of two powerful mages, Jose and Jiemma, and had since hunted in various Dark Guilds...
Noah, however, was unaware that the admirable general was full of praise for his Shadow Eater, because the entertainment before him kept his eyes glued to the scene.
The guild hall, bustling like a tavern.
As the female knight pushed open the door, it instantly fell silent.
Looking at those shifty, guilty eyes, Erza knew that in the few days she'd been away, this group of people must have caused trouble again—and even if not, they'd engaged in forbidden behavior.
"Wakaba, clean up the cigarette ash on the floor!"
"Nab, since you've completed your tribe's challenge, stop loitering in front of the request board all day and quickly decide which mission to take!"
"Elfman, how many times have I told you—if you're going to compare strength, go to the backyard! Don't break the tables!"
"Cana, you are not allowed to drink until you pay off your guild tab!"
"..."
No one dared to retort, or even make a sound.
Erza's reprimands were always so reasonable, well-founded, and terrifying.
Every single person in the hall—Erza didn't spare a single one, except for Mira and Levy, who knew their limits, and the well-behaved Wendy, who escaped unscathed.
Natsu and Gray, those two troublemakers, were rarely among the reprimanded, watching Erza discipline others as spectators and finding it quite entertaining.
It felt good not to be the ones getting yelled at.
Fortunately, Flare had been taken by Lucy to settle in first—otherwise, the little girl might have been frightened by Erza's aura.
Having watched enough, Noah stepped forward and patted Erza's shoulder. "That's enough, Erza. You should occasionally be a bit more lenient with them—don't always be so strict."
Erza pouted. "Hmph, for Noah's sake, that's enough for today."
Everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief, having narrowly escaped.
Mira poured two beers for Noah and Erza, smiling. "It seems your mission went smoothly. With all twelve Golden Keys gathered, Lucy will be quite impressive in the future."
"Whether she's impressive or not, we'll see later. Lucy can only handle two at most right now—she still has a long way to go."
Noah sat down at the bar, and his sharp assessment of Lucy was something Erza and Mira largely agreed with.
What was the point of having so many Golden Keys? Not having enough Magic Power to use so many keys was Lucy's biggest problem at the moment.
Mira leaned on the table. "Speaking of Magic Power, is there any way to quickly increase it?"
A mage's Magic Power generally increases with age, then stops after a certain age, and gradually declines thereafter.
It could be said that a person's magic capacity was determined from the moment of their birth—talent determined the upper limit. Without some extraordinary encounter, it would be difficult to improve further in this lifetime.
However, extraordinary encounters were rare and hard to come by.
Not everyone had two Fire Dragons living inside them like Natsu.
Nor was everyone as lucky as Noah, awakening a magic that could draw power from other worlds.
However, as far as Noah knew, there really was a method that could quickly and significantly increase Magic Power, and this method was useful for most mages.
Erza's interest was immediately piqued. "Don't keep me in suspense—tell me what it is."
Noah chuckled, took a sip of his drink, and then said, "Mildian Magic Academy has a study on the limits of human Magic Power."
"The human body is like a container, but usually, the Magic Power everyone uses only occupies a part of the container. Another part of the Magic Power is deeply hidden within the body."
"The researchers at Mildian Magic Academy believe that in addition to their inherent talent, many powerful mages also succeeded in activating that hidden part of their Magic Power."
Listening to Noah's explanation, Mira instantly understood. "You mean most mages haven't actually developed their Magic Power to its fullest extent."
"So many mages still have room for improvement, and that room isn't small," Erza added.
Noah gave them both a thumbs-up. "As expected of Titania and the Demon—you both grasp things instantly. Your intelligence leaves Natsu far behind."
Originally, Mira and Erza were a little happy to hear Noah's praise, but as soon as they heard the comparison was with Natsu, they couldn't be happy anymore.
Who are you looking down on!
Before the two women could react, Noah quickly changed the subject. "This undeveloped part of Magic Power is called the mage's Second Origin by researchers."
"Second Origin, huh? That's a very fitting name," Erza nodded, retracting the sword she'd held to Noah's neck.
"So how can one activate the Second Origin?"
Noah shrugged. "This research can currently only confirm the existence of the Second Origin. As for how to develop this Magic Power, I personally think Magic Power is like water in a sponge—if you squeeze it, there's always some there."
Squeeze it? You really think people are sponges...
Mira's mouth twitched, but she still understood Noah's abstract analogy.
Only by constantly breaking through the "surface" shackles of one's Magic Power could one unlock the hidden Second Origin.
Ultimately, it was about effectively utilizing the Magic Power within the body.
However, there were many strange and wonderful magics in this world, and Noah thought that perhaps there was some magic that could help people develop their Second Origin.
But currently, there was no clear method for developing the Second Origin, so the three didn't delve into it too much before Erza changed the subject.
"Noah, your and Silver's plan to use a village of corpses as bait to lure out the Necromancer—is it to get Mystogan to act?"
In Erza's opinion, Noah and Silver certainly wouldn't use real corpses, so they must be using magic, and Mystogan was arguably the strongest in the guild when it came to illusion magic.
However, Noah shook his head. "The Necromancer isn't an idiot—only something real will make him take the bait."
"Lucy and I have already agreed to hire some actors to pretend to be corpses, and then have Gray and Juvia use magic to cover their body temperatures, ensuring they look even more like real corpses."
Although he had a penchant for collecting corpses, the Necromancer wouldn't easily fall into a trap. He would definitely control corpses to investigate the situation first.
And the actors were ordinary people, without the Magic Power fluctuations of mages. Coupled with Gray and Juvia's magic to hide body temperature, it was highly likely to deceive the Necromancer.
It would just be tough on those actors—not only playing corpses but also enduring the cold... but the words "extra pay" would surely make them have no complaints!
Sorry, money really can make you do anything.
But Erza still had a question. "The Necromancer has countless corpse legions under his command. How can we ensure the safety of the actors playing corpses?"
The Necromancer had existed for hundreds of years, and the number of corpses and skeletons he'd collected—if not astronomical—was certainly a quantity that couldn't be ignored.
Erza was worried that when the corpse legion appeared, they might not be able to protect all the ordinary people.
Noah already had an idea for this. "That's why, for the operation to capture the Necromancer, besides us, the experienced members from Sun Village, and Mira, I also plan to find one more person to help—someone who can definitely protect all the actors."
"Who?"
"Laxus's fan club leader."