I do not own Fairy Tail.
Gray's complete attention was on the other mage. Was she serious? She really thinks Acnologia can be defeated that simple? "You really are mad." His tone was matter of fact. That was the only explanation.
Her eyes narrowed into slits, "How do you mean?"
"Do you really think Acnologia can be beaten that easily? Besides, that's a job for a dragon slayer."
"And did a dragon slayer vanquish him?" She had a point. Neither Wendy, Gajeel, or Natsu could make a scratch on the dragon. Gray was silent at this. "That's what I thought. That was beside the point anyway. Did I say a single person could do it?"
Gray glanced back at her eyes. "Are you proposing a team?"
"I'm not proposing anything. I'm just thinking back on legend."
"What legend?"
"How much history do you know?" She was answered with an empty star. "Right, guess not much. You know Zeref wasn't the only dark force to ever threaten people." A nod in response. "Well, each time there was someone or a group of someones that had to deal with it. Mages, council, whatever." Gray nodded again, signaling her to go on. "Thing is though, that's the figure head that they fight. You can't just defeat the head though. That's like killing a snake but leaving a nest full of eggs." The ice alchemist saw where she was going with this. "So basically, this time around Zeref's the problem, he's who everyone's scared of. But what about his demons, who takes care of them?" That made sense, no one ever went out looking for a demon, but they were there. "Zeref's repeating history now. Plenty of demons and foul creatures have been created with the form of magic he uses, and even though other magic forms can defeat it, it's not pretty." Gray flinched at that, Ur's fight with Deliora certainly wasn't a pleasant memory. "The magic used to form Deliora and Acnologia was closer to pure magic."
"Pure magic?"
"It's sort of what some people would call a theory. You've heard of the "One Magic," right?" Another nod. "Well, the idea is that every magic comes from the same ancestor. Therefore can be closely related. But over time it has evolved and the magic cannot be easily connected again. "Pure Magic" is when the user can connect his or her magic to its ancestor, meaning it can take on characteristics of other magic while keeping its own form. Is this making sense to you?"
"No."
Masaru put a hand over her eyes and thought of a better explanation. "Okay, how about this. You know how ice works, right?"
"Well I'm an ice mage so…"
"No, regular, plain ice." Just a stare. "Okay, the common misconception is that ice makes things cold. But in reality heat moves to cold, which melts the ice as it takes on the heat." A nod this time. "But if you used heat on your magic it wouldn't work. So what pure magic does is balance that out. Meaning your ice can take on as much heat as you want and will never melt. In other words, burning ice."
"That kind of makes sense. But what does that have to deal with the side effects."
"I'm getting to that. In short, as magic came more and more developed the connection to the original faded and can no longer be reached by any ordinary mage, the connection is blocked by their own magic. But since Zeref's monsters used that before it was forgotten they still possess the ability to use it. So when one of the demons uses that specific death magic they're using what is one of the closest forms of pure magic. The side effect is everyone who is hit by the spell is "unblocked" and can reach the pure magic."
Gray pondered this for a moment. "So in short a few mages can come in contact with the pure magic."
"Yep."
"And once they do they can sort of manipulate their magic to become exceedingly powerful."
"You got it."
"But then they die from the death spell."
"Exactly!"
The sarcasm in his voice was lost on her. "So, are you going to reach the pure magic? Or are you going to give up?"
"Isn't that obvious." Somewhere along the way the choice became clear. If he could find the power to defend his friends against monsters like Acnologia of course he was going to take it. Even if he wasn't so sure weather this girl was completely trustworthy.
Masaru broke out in a grin. "Knew you would say that. So, are you ready?"
"We're starting now?"
"You mean you're starting now, and yes. It's not like there's unlimited time."
Gray looked at her doubtfully. "Fine, but I should probably talk to my guild first. I don't need them worrying if I don't come back soon."
Masaru waved the thought aside. "Don't worry about that too much."
Again, another doubtful look. "First things first. Answer my questions."
"I have been."
"Now you're answering all of them. First one, so you're one of the mages that can come close to this 'Pure Magic.'" This time a nod from her. "Second, is there anyone else?"
"Three that I know of."
"Do they know?"
"Yeah, I've talked to two of them. The third knows too, but he doesn't really care."
"Next question, what type of magic did you use?"
"The light one was mostly just magic power."
"And when my magic power disappeared and returned?"
"Those were called 'open spells.' Meaning they're open to anyone's use no matter what their original ability. Some people know how to use a few open spells that have not reached pure magic. But they can easily be broken or absorbed, making it useless."
"Okay, that makes sense." Gray took in a deep breath. "If I have any more you'll answer them, right?"
"Sure. You ready?"
"Yay! First off, we have to do a few things." Masaru waved her hand and Gray was once again engulfed with the soft glow that surrounded him earlier. "There, just because it's there doesn't mean you want to look at it." Gray understood what she meant by that as the glow of the magic circle on his back disappeared.
"What's next."
Masaru looked at him for a few moments thinking. Finally her gaze her on something lying on his chest. "How often do you wear that necklace?"
"Almost all the time. Why?"
"Good, make that all the time. Give it here." Gray did as he was told and hand the piece of jewelry to her. "This part is important. When a mage connects with the pure magic it throws them off their balance. Meaning they go off the deep end. Fortunately I spell can be put on something that can then be worn to temporarily balance the mage."
"Temporarily?"
"Either till the spell needs to be renewed or the mage regains perfect balance." The necklace laid in her open palm. Masaru muttered a few words that Gray wasn't able to make sense of. A few seconds later a dark purple magic circle appeared over the necklace. "Now give me your hand."
Gray held out his hand to the other mage. Taking it in her empty hand Masaru shifted the necklace on the other till she was able to unstrap the sword at her waist. "What are you-"
"Stop squirming." The command was enough to keep him from retracting his hand, but somehow he wasn't sure about this. Before he could consider the thought any further Masaru sliced her sword across his palm, leaving a trail of crimson in its wake. She moved his cut hand over the necklace and squeezed a few drops of blood on to the jewelry. A sizzling sound came from the necklace when the blood made contact. "That will do it. Don't worry about your hand pretty boy. It won't scar." Gray ignored the small insult as he was handed back his necklace. "Of course it wouldn't matter if it did." Masaru commented having noticed the scar on his forehead and the two on his lower abdomen. Gray put the newly enchanted piece of jewelry back around his neck. It didn't seem different, but a powerful aura came from it.
"So this training, what exactly will we be doing."
"Like I said, you start now. I'll teach you some open spells afterwards. First you're leaving."
That caught him off guard. "Where exactly am I going?"
"Do you know what the Celestial Spirit World is?" Gray nodded, thinking about the blonde celestial spirit mage back at Fairy Tail.
"I've been there once."
That got a grin from her. "Good, because you're going back."
"I thought humans couldn't survive there for long."
"That all depends. There are different dimensions between our world and theirs. For example, when you went did it seem like very little time had gone by but when you got back it had been weeks." A nod. "It's not like that in every dimension. Some, like the one you're going to are the opposite. It's slightly different though because it's not completely the celestial world. There are no spirits and humans can breathe there."
"And because of the time difference it becomes a perfect training grounds."
"Exactly, but since the sense of celestial and human is thrown of the dimension becomes close to the pure magic. Not exactly the Celestial Spirit World, not exactly the human world."
"How big is the time difference?"
"That's thee iffy part for you. Probably about a month there is equal to a week here. I'll get you at the end of the week."
"So I really am on my own."
"For now."
"And your reason to miss this fun training experience?"
"Are you crazy, you may have to spend a week in a winter wonderland, but I don't. Now you ready?"
"It's now or never, right?"
"That's the spirit!" Masaru spread her legs out until they were at shoulders width apart. "This is another open spell I'll teach you later. But for now just work on your Maker Magic." She held her arms out in front of her. A soft gleam of gold appeared around her. The space in front of her seemed to rip apart, leaving a hole in the air. On the other side a grey light shone and a strong wind blew from it. Gray edged closer to the portal. "Sure you're ready?"
"No."
"Oh well," Masaru's hand forcefully pushed against Gray's back. Before he knew what was happening Gray found him tumbling through the grey abyss.
