Chapter 381 - 381: A Suitable Request
Soon, Ren returned to the quiet solitude of his home. Clenching his fists in the center of the living room, a thrill of excitement washed over him; he could still feel the phantom rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins.
The sheer, unadulterated power of the Perfect Susanoo was truly staggering. The memory of wielding that colossal, apocalyptic avatar of azure chakra left an intoxicating high in its wake.
He even felt a sudden, reckless urge to seek out Acnologia and challenge the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse to a one-on-one duel. However, that fleeting thought only lasted for a fraction of a second before cold rationality took over.
Uchiha Madara undoubtedly possessed the martial prowess and destructive capability to cross blows with Acnologia, but Ren knew his current vessel was still lacking. His total magic power reserves were simply too far off from seamlessly sustaining such a god-like entity in a prolonged, world-breaking battle.
To truly reach the absolute pinnacle of Lord Madara's level, he would need at least 9-Star magic power, or perhaps even 9.5-Star. Currently, he was hovering just a little short of the 8-Star threshold.
If his calculations were correct, recycling two more Gold Legendary cards should provide enough of a boost to officially level up his core capacity. Taking a deep breath to steady his racing heart, Ren opened his attribute panel to review his current standing.
[Host: Ren]
[Age: 19]
[Race: Human]
[Magic Power: 7.5 Stars]
[Magic: Take Over Magic]
[Character Cards: Ulquiorra Cifer (Gold), Edward Newgate (Gold), Minato Namikaze (Gold), Gojo Satoru (Gold), Uchiha Itachi (Gold), Escanor (Gold), Uzumaki Nagato (Gold), Coyote Starrk (Gold), Uchiha Madara (Gold)]
[Current Gacha Pulls: 0]
"Nine Gold Character Cards already!" Ren muttered, a satisfied smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.
Looking at his formidable 7.5-Star magic power and his impressive collection of nine Gold Character Cards, a profound sense of security settled over his mind. Each of these cards possessed entirely unique specialties and combat styles, covering nearly every conceivable battlefield scenario.
This diverse arsenal allowed him to adapt effortlessly, taking over different characters depending on the specific weaknesses of his enemies. In terms of raw, comprehensive combat power, Uchiha Madara was undeniably the absolute strongest entity in his possession.
However, there were many nuanced situations that Madara's overwhelming, destructive nature simply wasn't suited for. The unique spatial, elemental, and tactical abilities of his other Character Cards could perfectly compensate for those blind spots.
Furthermore, with his current magic power, he could barely activate Uchiha Madara's Perfect Susanoo without risking severe exhaustion. To manifest and command the Perfect Susanoo more freely, he estimated he would need 8-Star or even 8.5-Star magic power at minimum.
Moving forward, he simply needed to complete more S-Class missions and earn a steady stream of gacha pulls. Even if he didn't manage to pull any new top-tier Character Cards, simply recycling the duplicates to push his magic power up would be enough.
With that kind of raw magical capacity, he would be able to walk tall and completely unopposed in this world.
The next morning, sunlight bathed the cobblestone streets of Magnolia as Ren confidently made his way toward the guild. The Fairy Tail guildhall was as lively and chaotic as ever, buzzing with the familiar sounds of morning brawls, clinking wooden mugs, and raucous laughter.
When Ren stepped through the heavy double doors, the atmosphere shifted slightly as everyone greeted him one after another, offering cheerful waves and shouts of deep respect.
"Ren! You've got to let me team up with you!"
Seeing Ren arrive at the guild, Lucy immediately broke away from a nearby table and ran over, looking completely exasperated as she pleaded with him.
"Hmm? Where's Natsu?" Ren asked, genuinely a bit confused. "Haven't you always teamed up with him for your jobs?"
Ever since Lucy joined the guild, she and the fire dragon slayer had practically been joined at the hip when it came to taking requests.
"Natsu... that idiot Natsu left me behind to go off and train alone!" Lucy complained, crossing her arms with a heavy pout.
Through Lucy's frustrated explanation, Ren learned that Natsu had gone out into the wilderness to train with Igneel. It was a long-awaited, emotional reunion for the father and son, and the legendary Fire Dragon King was currently giving Natsu some brutal private tutoring.
"Gray-sama... uwaaa... Gray-sama, where are you?!"
Suddenly, Juvia walked past Ren, sobbing uncontrollably and leaving a literal trail of puddles in her wake as she acted like an abandoned wife.
A bead of sweat formed on Ren's brow at the dramatic display. "What's wrong with her now?"
Mirajane, who was wiping down the bar counter nearby, chimed in and explained with a gentle smile. "It seems Gray heard that Natsu went out to train with Igneel, so his rivalry flared up and he went off to train on his own as well."
"I see! Well, since you're both left behind, wouldn't it be fine if the two of you just teamed up together?" Ren suggested, looking between the two mages.
"Impossible!!" Juvia and Lucy shouted in perfect unison, their voices echoing over the loud chatter of the guildhall.
"Love rival!" Juvia hissed, instantly stopping her tears as she glared daggers at the blonde celestial mage.
Ever since joining the guild, the water mage had fiercely viewed Lucy as her ultimate love rival. Juvia firmly believed that a woman's intuition was never wrong; Gray clearly had a slight favorable impression of Lucy, and she absolutely refused to let that impression escalate by spending time with her.
"I've told you a hundred times! Gray and I aren't like that!" Lucy yelled, entirely speechless at the accusation.
She had been treated as a love rival by Juvia from the very beginning, a completely exhausting dynamic considering she clearly didn't harbor any romantic feelings for the ice mage whatsoever.
"Then there's nothing I can do to help you!" Ren said with a dismissive shrug, effectively shutting down Lucy's original plea.
The missions he took were exclusively highly dangerous S-Class missions. While Lucy's strength had grown to a decent level now, it was only just 'decent' by standard mage metrics. Why should he bother teaming up with someone for a catastrophic-level job he could effortlessly complete himself?
If he brought her along, he would undoubtedly have to act as a babysitter and share a significant portion of the reward money. Wouldn't it be vastly better to simply take all the Jewel for himself?
"Dammit!!" Lucy stomped her boots against the floorboards in utter frustration.
"Don't underestimate me! I'm also a very powerful Mage now!!" she shouted after him.
Watching his retreating back, Lucy secretly vowed to herself that she would take on and complete a difficult mission solo. She was determined to make these guys see her in an entirely new light.
Ignoring the blonde's outburst, Ren calmly walked over and took his usual seat in front of Mirajane at the bar.
"You're here! Right on time," Mirajane chimed warmly.
Seeing Ren settle into his stool, the white-haired barmaid immediately placed a steaming plate of freshly prepared food and a cold drink in front of him.
"Yeah, thanks. Hey, Mira, is there any suitable S-Class mission for me on the board right now?" Ren asked, immediately digging into his meal.
Mirajane was completely in charge of the guild's logistics, heavily managing the intake and sorting of all official requests. Because of this, she was always the absolute first to know about any newly available, high-paying missions.
"Unfortunately, no!" Mirajane explained, offering an apologetic smile. "The Kingdom of Fiore is only so big, and newly issued S-Class missions are very limited."
She leaned against the counter, continuing her logistical breakdown. "As for requests from other neighboring kingdoms, S-Class missions are always prioritized for their local, native guilds first. Unless absolutely no one in the local guilds is capable of taking them, they won't be transferred across borders."
"And even if they do get transferred for Fairy Tail to handle, the bureaucratic process would take at least a month or two for the paperwork to reach us," she finished.
The reality was that the Kingdom of Fiore's borders were relatively small, and genuine S-Class threats were inherently scarce. The available ones were fiercely distributed among the continent's top guilds.
While Fairy Tail already took the absolute lion's share of these dangerous jobs, the kingdom's underworld simply couldn't produce disasters fast enough to keep up with the terrifying speed at which Ren completed them.
"No requests again!" Ren sighed, suddenly feeling like his delicious food had lost a bit of its flavor.
He hadn't taken a proper S-Class mission in nearly half a month now. For someone with his overwhelming reserves of magic power, not working or fighting for such a long time made him feel incredibly restless and stifled.
Just as he was about to ask if there were any exceptionally difficult A-Class missions he could take just to kill time, Makarov's gruff voice suddenly rang out from the second-floor balcony.
"Kid, there happens to be a request that perfectly suits you. Are you willing to do it?"
Ren immediately stopped eating and turned his sharp gaze up to the diminutive Guild Master. "Old man, really?! There's actually a mission tailored for me? What is it?"
Makarov leaped down from the balcony, landing lightly on the bar counter. From his coat, he slowly pulled out an incredibly old, heavily sealed request sheet. "It's this request right here."
Mirajane's breath hitched the moment she saw the ancient, weathered parchment. She was completely stunned, her vibrant blue eyes widening in absolute disbelief. "Master... could this be?!"
"That's right! This is the legendary Hundred Year Quest," Makarov nodded, his tone dropping into a grave, serious certainty.
"The... Hundred Year Quest?!!"
The originally noisy, chaotic guildhall suddenly fell completely silent. The sound of clinking mugs and boisterous laughter vanished in an instant as every single mage turned their shocked gazes toward the bar.
"The... Hundred Year Quest... Could it be that one...?" Lucy couldn't help but stammer, her face paling slightly.
The very first time she had heard the terrifying moniker of the 'Hundred Year Quest' was back when Gildarts had briefly returned to the guild. Gildarts, an absolute monster in human form, had confidently left to undertake the quest.
He was gone for three grueling years, only to return in absolute failure, having been brutally mutilated and missing several of his limbs and organs.
At that time, Gildarts was undisputed as the strongest Mage in all of Fairy Tail. The fact that even the strongest Mage had failed the Hundred Year Quest so catastrophically showed just how unfathomably difficult it truly was.
Moreover, it was a mythological quest that absolutely no one in the world had managed to complete for over a hundred years.
Unexpectedly, was Ren actually going to take on the Hundred Year Quest already?
But as the initial shock washed over the guild members, they realized it made perfect sense. Ren was already leaps and bounds beyond being the strongest Mage in the Fairy Tail Guild.
He was currently reigning as the First Seat of the Ten Wizard Saints, officially recognized by the Magic Council as the absolute strongest human Mage on the entire continent of Ishgar. If anyone was genuinely qualified to take on the Hundred Year Quest and survive, it was him.
Hearing the fabled name of the Hundred Year Quest, Ren didn't feel a single ounce of fear or hesitation. Instead, a fiery surge of excitement ignited in his chest, making his blood boil.
Having been restricted to casually sweeping through standard S-Class missions all this time, he had almost completely forgotten that the ultimate challenge of the Hundred Year Quest even existed.
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