Early the next morning.
Outside Magnolia train station, Erza looked at Hope, who was yawning nonstop beside her, and was infected, subconsciously yawning along.
"Hope, even though we are Mages, we should still pay a little attention to our sleep schedule." Rubbing her face, Erza said, still wearing her usual light knight armor and short skirt, looking full of heroic spirit.
Hope nodded; he had woken up halfway through his sleep last night.
The feeling of being toyed with by that bad woman in his dream was really uncomfortable, so he got up in the middle of the night to study sunflower seeds.
Hope opened his backpack and, in front of Erza, took out a small flowerpot. Inside the flowerpot, a yellow flower similar to a sunflower was blooming, with a branch inserted beside it.
Strangely, this yellow flower had a nose and eyes, looking just like something out of a cartoon.
"Why are you bringing a potted flower on a mission?"
"Why can it even make expressions?"
Erza was very puzzled, and she also noticed that Hope's backpack contained no food, no change of clothes, only a few packets of magical Plant seeds.
Hope chuckled and said to Erza, "This thing is a sunflower. It can absorb magic power from sunlight and convert it into harmless magic power that we can absorb. It's a treasure."
"Come on, Little Sun, show her a trick."
Hope raised the flowerpot towards the morning sun, and the snot-bubbling sun immediately woke up, its expression turning into a smile as it diligently absorbed the magic power from the sunlight.
Five minutes later, the entire sunflower glowed golden, and then a light orb, only the size of a thumb, popped out.
Hope used a special small glass bottle, which he had shamelessly obtained from Granny Polyushka, to collect the small light orb, and shook it at Erza, "Don't underestimate this little bit; it's enough to restore one-tenth of my magic power."
Erza took the glass bottle and poured the light orb into her palm. As expected from magic power converted from the sun, it gave her a warm feeling.
"Hope, can I try it?"
"No problem, as long as there's sunlight, the sunflower can continuously produce magic power orbs."
Seeing Hope agree, Erza immediately absorbed the light orb in her palm, but Hope didn't see the satisfied or surprised expression he had imagined.
Erza returned the glass bottle to Hope and said unhurriedly, "I didn't feel any magic power replenishment. Perhaps it's because I have too much magic power."
Ah, this... Hope felt a bit dejected.
Last night, he was still marveling at the bad woman's high magic power limit, which made him feel somewhat out of reach. As a result, early this morning, Erza unintentionally showed off again.
So what if your magic power limit is high?!
Damn it, it really is impressive... For a Mage, the magic power limit determines the quality of their magic. For the same magic, someone with stronger magic power can cast it more easily, and its power will also be greater.
Hope was quite helpless about his own situation.
His original body was just an ordinary person who couldn't use magic, but because of Hope's arrival, he learned magic through the system and became a Mage, yet his magic power limit was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person's.
Hope had also asked Makarov and Mirajane if there was a way to increase his magic power limit, but their answer was always the same.
Magic power grows as the Mage's body grows.
Ultimately, a person's magic power limit is set from birth.
To cast powerful magic now, Hope relies entirely on the Arc of the Great Tree to draw upon earth magic power, but doing so places a severe burden on his body.
Just as Hope was sighing in his heart and Erza was holding the flowerpot, teasing the sunflower, Old Book, who was half an hour late, finally arrived.
"My apologies, both of you."
As an elder, being late made Old Book feel a bit embarrassed. He really shouldn't have been soft-hearted last night and gone to help a few fallen women again.
Hope originally wanted to say a few words, but Old Book was the client, and he had accepted the mission, so he still had to give him some face.
After some perfunctory small talk, Old Book bought three train tickets and led Hope and Erza onto the magic train, beginning their journey for the day.
On the train, Old Book took out a map of Ishgar, pointing his finger to a spot on the map, "Look, this is our destination."
Looking at the direction Old Book was pointing, Erza raised an eyebrow. It was a vast forest surrounded by three countries, yet none of them were willing to incorporate it into their territory.
It was said that many ghosts roamed that forest, and the three countries had hired many Mages to deal with them, but they all returned in vain, having also lost quite a few people.
So, in the end, the three countries simply united and made an agreement that no one would ever again covet that forest.
From then on, the forest became a "no man's land."
Hope stroked his chin. Ghosts, it's starting to get interesting... Western Kingdom of Fiore, Magic Council branch.
A young man with short dark blue hair was handling official business. His name was Siegrain, and he was the youngest Council member in the Council's history.
But being a Council member was not his most widely known identity.
Siegrain had an even more famous title—a Ten Wizard Saints.
At just twenty years old, he was both a powerful Council member and one of the strongest Mages on the continent. Siegrain's future could be said to be bright.
Possessing great power and a respectable status, Siegrain was nonetheless humble and kind, giving off the impression of a friendly older brother.
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening interrupted Siegrain's work. He looked up and saw a beautiful woman with long black hair, dressed in the Council's white uniform, push open the door and walk in.
"Haha, Ultear, what happened to your face?"
Siegrain looked at Ultear's swollen face and spoke with a hint of schadenfreude.
Ultear touched her swollen cheek, and the image of that guy who showed no pity for women immediately came to mind, making her mood instantly sour.
Although her disguise magic could achieve perfect transformation, her strength would be halved during the transformation.
If not for that, she would have already tied up that hateful guy and whipped him.
Ultear casually pulled out an office chair and sat opposite Siegrain, "The Karna Island matter failed; Deliora has been dead for a long time."
"No matter, that was just a side move anyway."
Hearing that the plan had failed, Siegrain merely smiled faintly and said, "Let me tell you some good news: the Tower of Paradise is almost complete. I wonder how she's doing now."
"Ah~ Erza."
Siegrain's sunny expression instantly turned sinister, "I really can't wait to see you, my 'sacrifice' for Lord Zeref..."
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