The duration of his meditation has been shortening; it used to last over ten days at a time, but now he automatically awakens after only three days. Gaal got up and stretched his body: "It's been over a year, time to get moving."
Stepping out of his room, Gaal looked up at the skeletal dragons soaring in the sky. He scanned his surroundings but couldn't find any sign of Gengar: "Where did it run off to this time? And Articuno is missing too, did it head to the Guild?"
Over the past year, Gaal not only enhanced his Magic Power but also gathered materials brought back by Gengar from sweeping nearby cities of Magical Beasts. These materials allowed him to unlock several Pokémon Origins, the legendary trio being one of them.
——
Fairy Tail, Guild Headquarters.
Gaal used Space Magic to teleport into the Guild. Scanning around, he found that many people were absent. Yet he could already sense Articuno's presence by the lakeside behind the Guild, where it was alongside Ur, a powerful ice mage paired with a formidable ice-type Pokémon.
At the bar, Mirajane was working part-time as a waitress. When she saw Gaal approach, she smiled and said: "It's only been three days since you last showed up. Oh, our hardworking Gaal!"
The bar's service staff weren't fixed; whoever was free would help out, and Makarov would calculate commissions on a part-time basis. With an exasperated expression, Gaal said: "What kind of ridiculous title is that?"
Gaal didn't mind Mirajane's teasing. Nowadays, she had developed a more scheming side—perhaps because she hadn't experienced much hardship on the road, she never became a rough-and-tumble delinquent but instead evolved directly into her cunning persona.
Only when facing Erza or when pummeling the provoking Gray and Lyon would she transform into her mischievous side.
Gaal walked over to the bar and sat down: "A juice, please."
Mirajane poured him a glass and brought it over, curiously saying: "You never seem to drink alcohol, do you? Aren't you old enough by now?"
Gaal replied: "Alcohol numbs the brain. It hinders combat."
Mirajane said: "But there's no battle going on right now."
Gaal laughed and added: "Better safe than sorry. What about the Guild Master?"
Mirajane replied: "He's gone into hiding. I heard that while on a mission, Gildarts destroyed two more mountains. He left in the middle of the night last night and the Magic Council's summons arrived this morning."
With that, Mirajane handed him a summons from the Magic Council. It detailed which mountains Gildarts had destroyed, the impact on the local populace, and the amount of compensation required. Gaal clicked his tongue and, with a smile, pushed it back: "Better let the Guild Master worry about it. Got any suitable missions?"
Mirajane asked in surprise: "Are you heading out as well?"
Gaal nodded and said: "Yeah, I've been here too long; I'm getting a bit restless. Even my meditation sessions are shortening, might as well go out for a stroll and relax."
Of course.
Most importantly, after more than a year of rest, the Dark Guilds across the Ishgar Continent should have regained much of their vigor, and the Magic Council had delivered plenty of intelligence last time. Gaal planned to go out and harvest a fresh batch.
Otherwise, his Pokémon Origin points would still be insufficient, and the system's Origin restoration was far too slow. Although Gengar's gathered materials had lit up 90% of the Pokémon Origin, it was that remaining 10% that was crucial, especially considering the astronomical cost in Origin points.
Gaal had only exchanged them for the legendary trio, for something like the Three Dragons of Fiore, he'd need to venture out again to gather more Origin in order to exchange for them.
Hearing this, Mirajane lowered her gaze and retrieved a stack of mission orders from beneath the bar. They had all been delivered along with the compensation reports that morning.
"There's one for exterminating the Snow Mountain Monster, though it's a bit far and another for providing escort duty to the Fiore Kingdom's capital? Who would dare cause trouble in the capital? Hmm... let's leave the pet-finding missions to Lisanna, shall we?"
Gaal rubbed his forehead and reached over to grab the mission orders from Mirajane: "I'll find my own missions."
Flipping through the orders, Gaal frowned; indeed, none of them seemed suitable. The levels were too low, and even the travel required felt like a waste. However...
Gaal pulled out the order for escort duty to the capital: "Does it not have any mission details? And the posted time is already from a while back. Has something happened recently in the Fiore Kingdom?"
Mirajane thought for a moment and shook her head: "Nope, the only significant event this past year was the destruction Gildarts caused during a mission. Nothing else noteworthy happened."
Gaal nodded: "This...."
Gaal came to an abrupt halt, as if everything around him had frozen. He could clearly see every motionless detail, including the unknowing Mirajane still smiling. An invisible force emanated from a far distance, sweeping through the entire world in an instant.
For a brief moment, Gaal felt the sky darken, only to suddenly flare up again. He continued: "This is... weird...."
Then his expression changed as he looked up at Mirajane:
"Did you feel something unusual just now?"
Mirajane responded with a hint of confusion: "Something unusual? What do you mean by unusual?"
Frowning, Gaal shook his head and activated his magic, teleporting to the lakeside behind the Guild.
At that moment, by the lake, Ur was comfortably lounging on Articuno's back, lovingly caressing it. Seeing Gaal arrive, Ur greeted him: "Gaal, came to see Articuno?"
Gaal shook his head and glanced toward Ultear, who had just risen from a lounge chair, her expression now oddly shifting: "Did you feel it?"
Ultear was taken aback before catching on, after all, Gaal was also skilled in Time Magic: "You felt it too?"
Frowning deeply and pondering for a moment, Ultear said: "Someone has disrupted the flow of time throughout the world. It originated from the Western Region."
Upon saying that, Ultear couldn't help but get a chill down her spine. Disrupting the time of the entire world, that would require extraordinarily powerful Time Magic or an immensely gifted Time Mage. Is there really someone capable of such power? It's simply outrageous!
Ultear couldn't fathom what kind of magic could send that force of time sweeping across the entire world. And that's not even considering the whole world; even if it were confined to the Fiore Kingdom, the terrifying energy cost would be beyond what any ordinary mage could muster.
Meanwhile, Gaal looked westward, pondering over that perplexing escort mission to the capital from the mission order: "That direction... is toward the capital. What date is it today?"
Hearing this bizarre question, Ultear replied: "July 7—what's the matter?"
July 7, X777....