Chapter 382 - 382: The First Guild
He had successfully completed his fair share of S-Class and even SS-Class missions, but until this very moment, he had never laid eyes on a 10-Year or 100-Year Quest.
"Is this from the sacred peak of Mount Zonia?" Ren asked, curiously taking the heavy, aged parchment from the Guild Master's hands.
Mount Zonia was the infamous 100-Year Quest that Gildarts had attempted and ultimately failed. Makarov had originally harbored passing thoughts of letting Ren tackle it eventually, but the boy had been a bit too young at the time. Makarov felt he needed several more years of rigorous training before even looking at such a monumental task.
In any case, there had been no rush for a 100-Year Quest. It hadn't been completed by a single soul for over a century, so what difference would a year or two make? The old man simply hadn't expected Ren's strength to soar so rapidly, breaking past every conceivable ceiling.
Makarov shook his head, taking a slow sip from his oversized mug. "No, the request for Mount Zonia was transferred to another guild seven years ago. This right here is an entirely different 100-Year Quest."
"Another 100-Year Quest?! I didn't even know we had one," Ren said, his eyes widening in genuine surprise. "Master, I haven't seen any 10-Year or 100-Year Quests on the second-floor request board at all!"
The highest difficulty he had ever seen pinned to the prestigious second-floor board was SS-Class.
"That is because 10-Year and 100-Year Quests are far too dangerous to be left out in the open. They aren't posted on the standard request board," Makarov explained, his tone turning serious. "Instead, they are kept strictly secret by the guild masters. It's a necessary precaution to prevent reckless idiots like Natsu from showing up and getting themselves killed."
Hearing that, Ren recalled a past incident. When Natsu had stubbornly snuck off to attempt a stolen S-Class mission on Galuna Island, Ren had been the one dispatched to drag him back and handle the fallout.
However, noticing the highly suspicious, narrowed glare the old man was currently giving him, Ren felt a sudden twitch in his brow. He quickly realized what that look meant.
"Master, are you actually guarding against me?!" Ren protested, placing a hand over his heart in feigned offense. "I wouldn't sneak off to do a mission behind your back! And I'm certainly not a reckless idiot like Natsu!"
"Who knows?" Makarov huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Makarov was indeed fiercely guarding against him. The kid was so notoriously obsessed with grinding S-Class missions that he would undoubtedly be drawn to the allure of a 100-Year Quest. If the old man wasn't careful, this workaholic brat really might run off to challenge it the moment he turned his back.
Ignoring the old man's suspicion, Ren carefully opened the sealed request and scanned the contents. It didn't explain the intricate details of the job, only stating two very important facts. The location was the Guiltina Continent, and the requester was the world's oldest Mage Guild, Magia Dragon.
"Guiltina Continent..." Ren muttered, unable to stop a slight frown from creeping onto his face upon reading the name.
[Akarin's Note: The raw text originally referred to the Northern Continent as 'Xerthia', which is a phonetic mistranslation. In official Fairy Tail lore, the Northern Continent is named 'Guiltina'. The text has been corrected to maintain world-building accuracy.]
Makarov, mistakenly thinking Ren was unaware of the geography, took it upon himself to explain. "The Guiltina Continent, the Alakitasia Continent, and the Ishgar Continent make up the three primary landmasses of this world. Our Ishgar is widely known as the Eastern Continent, Alakitasia as the Western Continent, and Guiltina is the Northern Continent."
The old man pointed a thick finger at the map laid across the bar. "Guiltina is very similar to our Ishgar, complete with its own Magic Council and an intricate network of Mage Guilds. Magia Dragon is heavily recorded in history as the world's very first guild. As for any other details, I'm not entirely sure myself."
Makarov sighed, a hint of ancient weariness in his eyes. "After all, our continents are separated by a vast, treacherous ocean. Besides a few brave traveling merchant caravans, there isn't much contact between us. However, one thing is absolutely certain: Guiltina's magical foundation is stronger than Ishgar's. Much stronger, in fact."
"The first guild?!"
A chorus of gasps echoed through the bustling guild hall. The members of Fairy Tail who had been openly eavesdropping on the conversation were completely shocked. Clearly, this was a piece of grand historical lore they hadn't known about.
Meanwhile, Ren's mind was racing. He knew exactly what this mission entailed. It was the precise 100-Year Quest that Natsu and his team were supposed to embark on in the future.
He truly hadn't expected this legendary mission to fall into his lap right now. By claiming this parchment, he was essentially intercepting Natsu's greatest future adventure.
"This mission... I'll take it!"
The corners of Ren's mouth curled up slightly into a confident smirk. Although he was effectively stealing Natsu and the others' future job, the world of magic was strictly first come, first served. Since he had encountered it now, the glory and the rewards belonged to him.
Moreover, a familiar, translucent screen had just flashed across his vision. According to the System's notifications, the reward for completing a true 100-Year Quest was a staggering 100 Premium Draws.
[Objective Triggered: Complete the 100-Year Quest issued by Magia Dragon.]
[Reward: 100 Premium Draws.]
With 100 consecutive draws, if he was exceptionally lucky, he might even be able to push his base magic power straight to 8.5 stars.
An 8.5-star rating—this level of power was undoubtedly the absolute pinnacle of magic in this world. Achieving that realm would ensure he could effortlessly unleash the maximum potential of his most devastating Character Cards without suffering any immense stamina drain.
"Ren, do you want to reconsider this?" Macao asked, stepping forward with a deeply worried expression.
"Yeah, man! That's a 100-Year Quest!" Wakaba added, nearly dropping his unlit pipe. "That's a job literally no one has managed to complete in a whole century!"
The surrounding guild members couldn't help but crowd around, all trying their best to persuade Ren to back down. It was a 100-Year Quest. Who knew just how many monstrously powerful experts had tried to challenge it over the past century, only to disappear forever or return completely broken? Its difficulty was beyond human imagination.
"There's no need to worry. I can complete this mission," Ren replied smoothly, his voice radiating an unshakable calm.
It wasn't an arrogant exaggeration to say that his current level of strength was the absolute highest in all of Ishgar.
Especially since he had successfully pulled the Madara Uchiha card just last night, his self-confidence had expanded to astronomical heights. The Five Dragon Gods of Guiltina were legendary, and while rumors claimed they boasted the same cataclysmic strength as Acnologia...
In Ren's calculating view, those overgrown lizards were still quite a bit behind the true Black Dragon of the Apocalypse.
They were absolutely perfect to serve as his current opponents. As long as he successfully completed this 100-Year Quest and harvested the massive System rewards, he would be unstoppable. Even if he had to face Acnologia head-on in the near future, it was still entirely unknown who would be the one walking away alive.
Makarov's lips curled slightly beneath his thick mustache. He knew perfectly well that this stubborn brat would definitely take the job. Originally, he had felt Ren needed more time to temper his spirit, but looking at him now, he realized it wasn't necessary at all. This brat's rate of progress was simply too terrifying to restrain.
Standard S-Class missions were basically treated like child's play in this brat's hands. Even the grueling SS-Class missions posed absolutely no real difficulty or threat to him anymore.
Only a genuine 100-Year Quest might finally force this kid to show his true, bottomless limits. If Makarov delayed this any longer, there was a very real chance that even a 100-Year Quest might eventually become too easy for him.
The very next day, after bidding a fond farewell to his rowdy guildmates, Ren officially set off to conquer the 100-Year Quest.
Whoosh—!
Without wasting a single second on standard travel, Ren immediately equipped his Minato Namikaze card. Tapping into the immense, refined spatial chakra, he utilized the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantaneously teleport directly to Hargeon Port.
From the bustling docks of Hargeon, he secured a private cabin on a sturdy ocean vessel bound for the Guiltina Continent.
Hargeon Port possessed a few dedicated merchant ships that regularly traveled to and from Guiltina, trading exotic specialties and magical lacrima between the two distinct continents. This specific kind of transcontinental business usually brought in astronomically huge profits, but it also carried incredibly severe risks. After all, this was a magical world, and the deep sea was never calm.
Besides the massive, ship-swallowing sea monsters that lurked beneath the waves, there was also the constant, bloody threat of dark wizard pirates.
If a merchant vessel was unfortunate enough to be intercepted by a competent pirate crew, even if the sailors managed to survive, their financial losses would be utterly devastating.
Ren had personally cleared out a massive alliance of pirate crews in these waters roughly seven years ago. However, time waited for no man, and a whole new generation of arrogant pirate crews had emerged to plague the trade routes.
During this particular trip, several utterly blind and overconfident pirate crews attempted to ambush their ship. They swung aboard screaming bloodcurdling battle cries, completely unaware of the absolute monster sitting quietly on the deck.
They were all effortlessly taken out by Ren in passing. He didn't even bother drawing a weapon or equipping a high-tier card; a few casual bursts of concentrated Ethernano were more than enough to shatter their weapons, splinter their galleons, and send them plummeting unconscious into the freezing ocean depths.
After a long, salty journey across the endless blue expanse, Ren finally arrived at his designated destination on the frozen northern shores. He trekked through the harsh, untamed wilderness until he stood before the legendary Mage Guild—Magia Dragon.
It was an incredibly dilapidated, ancient stone castle situated in a severely remote, desolate location. There wasn't a single human village or settlement for hundreds of miles around. The massive outer walls of the fortress were completely swallowed by thick, creeping vines that no one had bothered to clear for decades, making the once-glorious guild look as if it had been long abandoned to the elements.
Perched majestically atop the guild's highest spire was a towering, immaculately carved Dragon statue. Even covered in moss, it looked incredibly powerful, projecting a silent, imposing aura over the dead lands.
Creak!
Ren pressed his hands against the massive, heavy wooden main doors and slowly pushed them open, stepping into the grand hall. The moment he crossed the threshold, the atmosphere shifted violently. The air inside was so impossibly dense with raw, unfiltered Ethernano that the magic power was completely visible to the naked eye.
It manifested around him, slowly drifting down from the vaulted ceilings in glowing, crystalline points of light that looked exactly like falling snowflakes.
"You have arrived! The 99th brave soul!"
At that exact moment, an ancient, booming voice echoed from high above Ren's head, vibrating through his very bones.
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