Half a month has passed since New Year's Eve.
The lively atmosphere of Magnolia has gradually faded, but there is a place in this city where such liveliness remains.
"Noah! Come and accept my challenge!"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
With a plop.
The hot-blooded cherry-haired boy who was fighting passionately just now was lying on the ground with a bump on his head, causing laughter from his companions who were watching the show around him.
"Natsu wasn't knocked down by Noah's punch this time."
"Of course, it was Erza who took action today, but it was just one punch."
"Even Erza can't stand Natsu's constant challenges to Noah anymore…"
"That's harassment, right?"
"…"
Listening to the discussions around him, Noah looked with pity at Natsu who was knocked unconscious by Erza's punch.
Although the move Natsu used just now was a dragon-slaying magic move, it was actually just a name.
After Natsu's constant pestering, Noah couldn't stand it anymore and agreed to have a physical training session with him, but this promise was difficult to handle.
Adhering to the frequency of a small fight every day and a big fight every three days, Natsu challenged Noah tirelessly for two weeks and made Noah and his men numb.
At first, Noah chose to fight with Natsu before knocking him down, but later, out of impatience, he chose to end the fight with one punch.
Until today, even Erza couldn't stand it anymore and gave Natsu a sleeping set.
However, during this period of sparring with Natsu, Noah found that this kid perfectly fits the saying "God closes doors but opens windows."
Although Natsu's IQ is not high and it is not an exaggeration to call him a fool, he has a strong sense of battle and his physical fitness can be described as amazing.
Even if we ignore the property of the "Fire Dragon Slayer" magic that it consumes fire to recover, Natsu's physical recovery ability is the strongest among anyone Noah has ever seen.
"By the way, is Natsu's father really a dragon?"
Noah asked Erza curiously, and the latter shook her head.
Natsu has been a member of the guild longer than Erza. She has never seen the dragon father that Natsu mentioned. She only knows that Natsu's dragon father is named "Igneel" and that it was he who taught Natsu the dragon-slaying magic personally.
"Igneel…"
Noah repeated the name silently. He had heard of this name from the blacksmith master Dolan. The iron dragon that their clan was waiting for was on good terms with the Fire Dragon King Igneel, one of the "Three Kings of Dragons".
Natsu's dragon father has the same name as this fire dragon king. Is it a coincidence? Or are they the same dragon?
"The newspaper I subscribed to today has arrived. There's big news!"
Mira held a stack of newspapers, and sat forcefully between Noah and Erza, distributing the newspapers to her companions around her.
The guild subscribes to many newspapers every month and receives roughly twenty newspapers a day, including both serious and entertainment articles. But today, almost all the front pages of the newspapers published news about the same person.
"Alternate Saint Ten! But Mr. Councillor"
"Shocked! The youngest member of parliament is actually him! "
"A newcomer to the Magic World Boyfriend List has reached the top"
Who is Zeke Laine?
...
Such big news at the beginning of the new year.
His name is Zeke Rein. This 19-year-old wizard has become a candidate for the "Ten Holy Wizards" at such a young age. As long as he passes the multiple tests of the Magic Council, he can officially become one of the Ten Holy Wizards.
You should know that this title is almost equivalent to the ten strongest wizards recognized by the Council.
If he really becomes a Holy Ten Mage, then with Zeke Rein's potential, it can be said that he has a promising future surpassing veteran Holy Ten like Makarov.
But the phrase "a promising future" may not be appropriate when applied to this new powerful figure in the magic world.
Because Zeke Rein's current status is no lower than Makarov's, and in some sense it is even higher.
Defeat Lahar, the most popular person in the Council.
Became the youngest member in the history of the Magic Council.
This is Zeke Rein's other identity.
With the "golden body" of a senator, it was a foregone conclusion that Zeke Rein would become one of the Ten Saints.
But Noah didn't care about these impressive titles or positions. He was only interested in the appearance of the man with dark blue hair in the newspaper.
Everyone in the guild who saw the newspaper couldn't help but turn their eyes to Noah.
Zeke Rein looks about 60% similar to Noah. If the tattoo on Zeke Rein's right cheek was removed, the two of them would be even more similar!
Mira looked at Noah with joy, "Is he the brother you are looking for?"
Before Noah could answer, Erza, who was lost in thought at the people in the newspaper, came back to her senses and asked in confusion, "Brother? Noah, do you have any relatives?"
"It seems you don't know that Noah left his secluded home just to look for his brother."
Mira was a little happy to see that Erza didn't know. Erza and Noah had been so close during this period, but she didn't expect Noah didn't tell her about this.
Of course Noah didn't tell Erza, because he almost forgot that he used this thing to disguise his identity.
"This great wizard with a promising future has nothing to do with me."
Noah gave his answer to Mira, then turned to Erza and explained, "My brother's name is Jellal, and the person in the newspaper is obviously not him."
What Noah didn't know was that after he said the name Jellal, Erza clenched her hand under the table into a fist.
Noah turned out to be that man's younger brother!
For a moment, Erza felt very complicated.
The lively discussion woke Natsu up. Lying on the ground, he noticed a girl he had never seen before sticking her head out of the guild gate, looking furtively at the inside of the guild.
Seeing someone noticed her, the blonde girl stood up awkwardly.
"Hi, my name is Lucy."
"Um, can I join Fairy Tail?"