"Release."
Standing before the sealed door, Makarov traced a complex unlocking spell through the air. Layer after layer of ancient magic unraveled, the seal dissolving with a low, resonant hum.
"There is a secret within Fairy Tail," he said quietly. "One known only to the guild master. It concerns the safety of the entire world. Ivan learned part of it from me and tried to use that knowledge to cooperate with dark guilds and rule the continent. That is why I expelled him."
"The entire world…?"
Rowan froze. Then he realized something was wrong with his earlier assumption. This place wasn't protecting the guild's three ultimate spells. As powerful as those were, they shouldn't carry the weight of global catastrophe.
His curiosity sharpened instantly.
"Come," Makarov said.
They entered the chamber together.
At its center stood a massive crystal. Makarov placed a hand against it. "This is Fairy Tail's greatest secret. Fairy Heart. Also known as Lumen Histoire, the Myth of Light."
Rowan stared.
Inside the crystal was no radiant artifact, no beating heart. Suspended within was a small girl, naked, unmoving, her expression peaceful enough to be unsettling.
"What…?"
Then Rowan's perception pushed deeper.
His face changed.
"So much magic…!"
The power sealed within the crystal dwarfed anything he had ever encountered. It surpassed his own reserves. It surpassed every mage he had met.
"She's not a fairy," Rowan said slowly. "Who is she?"
"Our first guild master," Makarov replied. "Mavis Vermillion."
He explained.
At the height of Fairy Tail's prosperity, Mavis passed leadership to the second guild master and vanished. Years later, her body was discovered at the guild's entrance. Her heart had stopped, yet her magic continued to circulate. She existed in a state between life and death.
The second guild master sealed her within a magic crystal and spent thirty years experimenting, attempting to revive her. Every attempt failed. But through countless magical combinations, something unprecedented occurred.
Mavis's body gained infinite magic.
With her as a power source, even spells that took the Magic Council decades to charge could be fired at will. If someone with ill intent obtained Fairy Heart, they could quite literally erase the world.
That was Fairy Tail's burden.
"To protect her," Makarov finished. "And to protect the world."
Rowan exhaled slowly.
"So there really are monsters beyond monsters."
His own magic was limitless in theory, but not like this. If he were to fuel something on the scale of Etherion, he'd be supplying power for years. Mavis could do it in moments.
And beyond that, Rowan sensed something else.
Mavis looked small, fragile. Yet she had created the three ultimate spells of Fairy Tail. And someone, somewhere, had once struck her down and left her in this state.
The world was deeper than he thought.
"Only you may know this," Makarov said. "Now come here."
He opened a cabinet and removed three thick tomes, placing them in Rowan's hands.
"These are Fairy Tail's three ultimate spells. Fairy Law. Fairy Glitter. Fairy Sphere. I mastered only Fairy Law. Before you leave, I'll teach you what I know. The others, you'll have to decipher on your own."
Rowan accepted the books, suppressing his excitement with effort. These weren't spells to skim. They demanded study, patience, respect.
After learning how to open and reseal the chamber, Rowan didn't return upstairs. Instead, he went straight to the library.
He couldn't take the books with him. That meant memorizing everything before the Hundred-Year Quest.
With enchanted lenses and every fragment of his mind focused at once, it took less than an hour to engrave all three tomes into memory.
"No wonder they're called ultimate spells."
Fairy Law was the easiest to learn, devastatingly powerful, but it consumed life force and lifespan. That didn't bother Rowan. He had time to spare, and a body that could recover.
Fairy Glitter was far more demanding. A merciless beam of condensed celestial light, requiring mastery of light magic far beyond Makarov's own level. Raw power alone wasn't enough. Control was everything.
Like giving a cannon to a child.
Rowan closed the final book, eyes burning with intent.
These spells weren't just weapons.
They were responsibility made manifest.