180 Speedrun 32

(Fairy Tail - Magnolia - Andy POV)

I floated in the sky, popcorn in hand, with the stunned Aly and Erza by my side. We remained hidden from the peanut gallery's perception as we watched the old man fight my hastily made clone.

It wasn't a mirage; it was the real flesh-and-blood deal, a product of my [Existence] Authority. However, it was nowhere near as strong as me, nor as capable. It didn't have a system or access to my abilities. It lacked a soul or any brain activity, simply manipulated by one of my mental instances.

What it did possess, however, was a robust body that defied most magic and a few genetic/generic superpowers that allowed it to hold its own against the grandpa below.

"So..." Aly started, not quite understanding what was happening. "Why is there another you now?"

"That's just a simple clone," I said with a shrug, continuing to stuff my mouth with popcorn, while she gave me a confused glance, then sighed and asked, "Didn't you want to leave the girl here? That's not really possible like this..."

"Eh, I'll fix it in a minute," I explained, making her raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are we even doing now?"

"We're observing. Also, enjoy the show," I stated, creating a pack of popcorn for the girls and then continued to ignore their worried expressions, focusing on the physical fight happening below.

Before this, with the help of my sphere of perception and a swift application of probability calculation, kinetic energy manipulation, and a hint of future sight, I had kicked down the door with enough force to kill the quest objective – Ivan Makarov, a future villain.

[Quest: [Makarov Junior] Completed 800 WP (1/4) (200 WP) Received]

The quest reward was barely worth the bother, but it was such an easy kill that I couldn't ignore it.

The consequences might seem dire, as Makarov Dreyar, one of the Ten Wizard Saints and the father of the quest objective, was in the establishment. However, getting him mad was also one of my objectives and not the quest kind.

Magic in this world was... the best way to describe it is... interesting.

The inhabitants of This world were born with major affinities towards certain elements, even the rarer ones like space and time. This affinity could be strengthened by training, study, unique circumstances, and, more importantly, the power of emotions.

But having an affinity didn't lock you out of every other type. They still had access to other affinities, but their progress would be slower compared to their primary affinity. For example, if someone had a primary affinity for fire magic, they could easily master ice magic, as both were closely related to thermal energy. However, they would struggle with water magic.

Additionally, magic in this world had two main classifications: Holder Magic and Caster Magic.

Holder Magic required a mage to use an external source to produce magic, such as a staff, playing cards, weapons, or even souls. Caster Magic, on the other hand, was expelled directly from the caster's body, without the need for a medium.

The old man used his signature Caster Magic called Giant, which amplified his physical attributes significantly. It increased his muscle density and allowed him to alter the size of any body part at will, all without the need for a chant or spell circles. He simply willed his body to change, and his magic responded.

As if he were a cartoon character, superheated air seemed to be leaving his ears, and I couldn't help but chuckle. The midget was understandably angry. I had 'accidentally' killed his son with my 'reckless' entry, and now he was fuming, quite literally.

Although, in his current form, I couldn't label him a midget anymore. He towered over my clone with his nearly two-meter-tall frame, ready to deliver his wrath.

"Alright, I got what I needed," I exclaimed with a smile, shutting off [Assimilation] and willing my hand to double in size.

A grin spread across my face as my magic followed my will, suddenly puffing up my hand as if it were a balloon. Although I could do something similar with [Universal Physique], this magic offered an instantaneous, non-permanent way to alter my form, requiring only a small, continuous energy expenditure.

"You did all that for... This?!" Aly exclaimed with exasperation.

"Yeah," I replied, turning towards her. "Imagine the pussybilities," I added, wiggling my brows while a satisfied grin spread across my face. Her eyes widened in realization, and she swiftly looked away, her face turning a deep crimson.

My grin only broadened as I nudged her with my shoulder. "I see you're already imagining something hard and long spreading you apart, ready to tear you-"

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" She interrupted, her face now a new shade of crimson as she swiftly covered my mouth, making me chuckle.

I pulled back and continued to chuckle. "You have a vivid imagination," I teased.

Her eyes widened, and she swiftly averted them. "D-did you look?" She stammered.

"I took only a glimpse," I said with a grin, referring to the mind-reading I had just done while teasing her. She looked back at me, her expression uncertain. "H-how often do you do that?" She asked timidly.

"Don't worry, I rarely do it," I assured her with a wink. "I will only occasionally tease you for those dirty thoughts you have, you 300-year-old virgin," I added with a grin as she squealed and averted her eyes once again.

While she continued to mumble in embarrassment, I refocused my attention on the happenings below us. The old man was quite the fighter, and even the reinforced clone had trouble against him in a physical fight.

The surroundings had suffered greatly. The town was already in ruins, but the old man didn't particularly care about it, his mind clouded by rage.

"Alright, time to get to work," I announced, slapping my legs to get the blushing girls' attention. I stood up and spread my hands for dramatic effect, then focused on the simultaneous usage of my temporal and informational abilities through my Authorities.

[Existence] and [Relativity] activated, spreading and projecting my authority across the globe, condensing and basking my view in the information of reality, the connections of cause and effect, or as one might even call them, the threads of fate.

Although they weren't actually threads, from afar, they simply looked like it. In truth, they were the representation of interpersonal connections and individual actions, connected to objects and people. Forcing my Authorities further, the information was condensed and then displayed to me as an observable, understandable, and more importantly, alterable, array of text.

I focused my attention on the string connecting me and the old man, and instead of altering and untangling it, I followed it back to the lifeless body lying in the ruins of the guild building.

To my surprise, there were still thousands of threads connected to it, with some almost faded, barely visible, and some already coming apart, their future information slowly getting unwritten. However, none but one interested me: the one tying me to Ivan through a heavy wooden door.

I grinned madly and grabbed ahold of it, ripping it asunder.

At that moment, Ivan Makarov, from reality's perspective, was in a quantum state, both alive and dead, and reality couldn't comprehend what was happening. The reason for Ivan's death no longer existed, yet he was still dead. Reality shuddered, attempting to fix a huge error that just occurred, as the cause no longer existed for the effect.

I grabbed ahold of both Aly and Erza, shielding them from what was to come, as reality rewrote itself, altering the past so the present could continue to exist.

The destroyed town was instantly restored. The peanut gallery was nowhere to be found, and old man Makarov, instead of being furious, was sobbing inside the guild hall, next to his still-dead son, who moments ago, died of heart failure.

No one remembered the earlier alteration, as it, from their perspective, never happened. No one but the three of us.

"Well, that's one way to fix things," I mumbled awkwardly, scratching my cheeks.

"What did you do?" asked Aly, rapidly looking around, confused by the happenings, already forgetting her earlier embarrassment.

"I just changed the past while staying in the present," I said with a casual shrug.

She looked at me in confusion, then sighed. "Only you can say something so outrageous in such a calm manner."

"I am who I am," I replied with a chuckle before adding, "We'll move forward in time about a month, so we don't come into contact with them while they're grieving," I said but instead of waiting for their reply, I fast-forwarded time to a month later.

"What do you mean grieving?" asked Aly, in a confused manner, not even noticing the sudden, instantaneous temporal travel, as little jumps like these were barely just a thought away.

"The kill quest is still completed," I stated without explaining anything, then turned my attention to Erza, and removed the last few minutes of her memories, and ushered her forward.

"Come on sweetie," I said in a gentle tone, while I ignored Aly, who pestered me from the side, "Let's meet your new family." I grabbed her outstretched hand and walked into the guild hall.

(Fairy Tail - Magnolia - Makarov Dreyar POV)

A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I drowned my sorrow in liquor.

It had been a month, a long, grueling month since Ivan fell off that cursed chair.

At first, the guild had laughed at him, thinking he had once again drunk himself into unconsciousness. We all believed that it was just another one of his drunken antics.

But when I, angry at his behavior, walked up to him to slap him awake, he never stirred.

Porlyusica, our healing expert, was immediately notified, and the guild tried desperately to revive him. However, when she arrived and took a single glance at him, she pronounced him dead. Stating, that his soul had already moved on.

The cause of death, as she identified, was a heart attack, possibly triggered by the excessive amount of alcohol he had been ingesting lately.

His loss was sudden and incomprehensible. It left a gaping void in my chest, one that only booze could temporarily fill. I couldn't help the unjustified anger I felt at him.

"He should have been the one to bury me, not the other way around," I muttered, bringing my glass up to my lips for another sip.

My grief ran deep, but I knew I was coping better than little Laxus.

The young boy had all but shut himself in his room, refusing to communicate or eat. Every day, we had to drag him out and force something into him, and it was taking a toll on us all.

He needed a friend, someone he could connect with and form a bond with, someone he could talk to. But he refused to talk to us, and it didn't help that he was the only child currently in the guild.

"I might need to seek professional help," I mumbled to myself, contemplating the idea that it might be beneficial for me as well.

The screeching sound of the guild hall door briefly interrupted my thoughts, but I didn't pay it much attention. "That door needs some oil," I muttered in annoyance, taking another sip of my drink.

Today was one of those rare, tranquil days in the guild, and I simply wanted to relish the peace and quiet. Most of our members were with their loved ones or out on quests across the continent, leaving the guild relatively calm.

So when the chattering and accompanying laughter from the reception area sliced through the silence like a knife through butter, I finally turned my attention toward the source and noticed the three unfamiliar figures who had entered my guild.

"Huh, it doesn't look like they're here to post a new quest," I muttered under my breath as I observed their interactions.

A short, blonde-haired woman stood next to a red-headed child who seemed too dissimilar to be her own. Next to them, a broad-shouldered brown-haired man engaged in conversation with the receptionist, Lyra, and judging by the blush on her cheeks, it appeared the man had been flirting with her.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as Lyra eventually gestured in my direction, and the man, accompanied by the timid little girl, made their way over to me. I scoffed, annoyed that my solitary reflection was being interrupted. Nevertheless, I adjusted my attire and posture before addressing the approaching man.

"Can I help you?" I asked, my voice slightly rough. There was something oddly familiar about him, though I couldn't quite place it.

"They tell me you're the guild master," he said with a warm smile, gently pushing the shy little girl forward.

"They were right, I am, or at least what's left of him" I replied with a chuckle, but he didn't seem to get it, so I shrugged and added. "You seem familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

"We haven't met, and I doubt you've heard about me," he explained.

I nodded, but a strange feeling washed over me in his presence. My senses told me he was extremely dangerous, yet my rational mind couldn't fathom why. I felt no trace of magic within him and this could only mean one of two things: he was one of those incredibly rare cases born without magic, or he possessed such an extraordinary level of magical control that it rendered him undetectable, even to someone like me.

Both options were equally improbable, yet here he stood.

"I'd better play it safe," I murmured under my breath, unwilling to test whether he might, heaven forbid, be as dangerous as he seems. I gestured to the chair next to mine and asked, "Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you," he replied, shaking his head. "I have other matters to attend to today, and being sharp could make a difference."

His response increased the likelihood that he was an expert who knew how to conceal his mana, so I simply nodded and asked, "So, what can I help you with?"

He flashed a wry smile and placed his hands on the little girl's shoulders. "From what I've heard, you tend to accept orphaned children into your guild," he said. I nodded, my gaze briefly falling on the girl.

"This cute little munchkin is Erza. She possesses a type of spatial magic, and I was wondering if you would welcome her to your guild," he continued.

I gave the little one a warm smile and unconsciously patted her head. "Would you like that, little one?" I asked, and she timidly nodded. "Alright, we'll take care of it. Have you eaten anything today?" I inquired in a gentle tone, though I didn't wait for her answer.

"Lyra, come here, sweetheart!" My voice must have startled her, causing her to fumble with some paperwork, which made me chuckle. "You'll pick that up a bit later. Take little Erza and get her something to eat, my treat."

"Yes, Master!" the diligent girl replied, swiftly running up to us and taking Erza away. She talked gently to the girl about the items on the menu, showing her a natural skill with children. I was genuinely surprised that none of our members had succeeded in courting her yet.

When they were far enough for our voices to be muted by the gentle ambient noise, I turned my attention to the man. "So, Mr... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Ah, where are my manners," he extended his hand, "The name is Thompson, Andrew Thompson, to be precise."

"A unique name," I replied while shaking his hand. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Not exactly," he shrugged. "Anyway, thanks for taking in the little one. While she could accompany me and my companion on our journey, it would be too dangerous for her."

"Understandable, and no problem, my guild is always open for the less fortunate." I nodded in understanding. "Do you know what happened to her parents?"

"She doesn't remember," he said, and I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "But from what I found out and where I found her, it's clear that they are dead. Her village was wiped off the maps, destroyed by a group of cultists trying to resurrect Zeref."

A grimace formed on my face. "That's dangerous," I muttered, deep in thought.

The reports of entire villages disappearing were not uncommon, but the rate of their disappearance had decreased significantly over the past month.

"Where did you find her?" I asked, turning back my attention to the man.

"In a metal tower, on a small island, in the middle of the ocean," he replied. "The cultists there referred to it as the Tower of Heavens."

I inhaled sharply. "The council must be informed about this!" I exclaimed, my annoyance growing at his casual demeanor when discussing such dark matters. The name, tied to ritualistic sacrificial magic, was a taboo. Anyone who knew about it understood the gravity and avoided discussing it.

"It has already been taken care of," he waved off nonchalantly. "If you want, I can mark the location on a map for your guild to investigate. But I should warn you, there isn't much left to find there," he added with a shrug.

I instructed someone to fetch a map, and the man, no Andrew, pointed out the location. As we delved into a conversation about his discoveries, I listened to the gruesome scenes, inhumane conditions, and child slave labor he had found on the location. It was at that moment I made a solemn promise to myself. I vowed not only to investigate but also to eradicate all the dark guilds connected to it.

"Fiore needs cleansing," I muttered under my breath, as I watched him and his companion leave the guild, while little Erza waved them off with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.