"Wait…"
"I need to calm down a bit."
"Indeed, considering August's talent, learning magic at such a speed is perfectly normal, right?"
Ian pressed his fingers against his temples.
But still…
If every magic he taught August was instantly mastered…
What would be the point of him being a magic teacher?!
This was a total loss of adult authority.
To restore his dignity as a father, And regain his towering image in August's eyes, Ian decided in the end to teach August some dangerous magic.
"August, watch carefully…"
"This spell is called Meteor, and it can increase your speed several-fold."
"It's one of the fundamentals of Celestial Magic(Heavenly Body Magic)."
"Once you've truly mastered it, those ordinary mages with average talent won't even be able to catch your shadow."
Having gauged August's talent, Ian no longer held back. He began teaching August the Celestial Magic he excelled in, step-by-step.
Celestial Magic could be considered a measure of talent. Its difficulty and power grew proportionally. Among all types of magic, it could be considered top-tier.
In fact, even Ian—praised by Makarov as a once-in-a-century magical genius—took nearly two years to go from learning Celestial Magic to fully mastering it! During that time, he even studied Gravity Magic as a transitional step…
Therefore, in Ian's view, using such a high-difficulty magic like Celestial Magic to regain his dignity as a father was the most appropriate choice.
"Alright, August!"
"Hurry up and say something like: 'Oh, dear father, the magic you taught me is far too difficult, completely beyond my understanding. Please explain it more thoroughly.' Something along those lines."
Ian thought to himself as he surrounded himself with a golden glow, transforming into a rapidly moving meteor and flying freely through the sky.
"Celestial Magic, huh?" August observed, his eyes as deep as the night sky, sparkling with starlight as he watched Ian fly freely in the sky. He murmured to himself, "Such a beautiful magic! Although it's indeed a bit difficult, I can still understand it."
As August spoke, a golden light appeared around his body.
"August, what's going on with you?!"
"Why not use Meteor, the spell I taught you?!"
"Could it be that you're having trouble?"
"Is there something you don't understand?"
"Hahaha, that's perfectly normal!"
"No worries. Just ask me, and I, your father, will help you out."
At this moment, Ian descended from the sky and landed beside August, one hand on his hip, looking at the young August with a smug expression.
Yes, Ian's smug face at this moment was truly irritating.
"No, Father…"
"I was just thinking if this magic could be improved."
August shook his head with a smile.
"Ah? Improved?!"
Ian was stunned. Honestly, he had never considered this.
"You see! If I focus the magical energy driving Meteor behind me to propel me forward, rather than covering my entire body, I can increase my speed… by about three times."
As August spoke, he applied his understanding of Meteor. After changing how the magic was channeled, a crimson glow emanated from August's body. Using less magic, at a faster speed, he soared into the sky.
"What's with this crimson glow and triple-speed thing?!"
Ian silently complained in his heart as he watched August take off.
But he had to admit that August's idea to improve Meteor was excellent: using less magic to gain more speed. He should note it down—he could use that himself later… ahem.
"August, remember, Meteor is only the entry-level Celestial Magic. Just learning Meteor doesn't mean anything! There's a lot more magic you need to learn! Next, I'll show you something even more difficult and powerful!"
Ian struck a pose for the Seven Star Sword.
His fingertips glowed with golden light, and with a simple wave before August, in the blink of an eye, Ian inscribed seven powerful magic circles in the air.
"Receive the judgment of the Seven Stars!"
As Ian's voice fell…
Those seven magic circles he had drawn lit up brilliantly!
In the next second, beams of light like a rain of swords shot forward from the magic circles, passing over August's head and instantly destroying a distant mountain.
"How about that, August?!"
After completing the spell, Ian looked at August proudly.
Yes, the technique Ian showed was a horizontal application of the Seven Star Sword. Compared to Jellal's method of drawing the magic circle in the sky, Ian's was more complex and troublesome.
More importantly, it required a deep understanding of Celestial Magic. Without ten or eight years of study, how could one reach Ian's level of instantly casting Seven Star Sword horizontally?
"I see!"
After watching Ian's Seven Star Sword Rain, August's eyes shone with starlight. He murmured softly, waving his finger in the air as Ian had, but then…
The next second, where August had set as the target...
In the sky, on the ground, to the east, south, west, north, southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest, in a total of ten directions, all were filled with magic circles of the Seven Star Sword.
"Receive the judgment of the Seven Stars!"
As August's voice fell, the ten directions where August had written the spell immediately shot out an endless rain of light, destroying an apple tree that August had set as a target until not even ash remained...
They even left behind a crater a hundred meters in diameter on the ground.
"Eh?!"
Ian was dumbfounded at August's Seven Star Sword barrage. This had already reached the threshold of super magic, right?! This was no longer Seven Star Sword Rain; it was more like a Seventy Star Sword Rain! No, maybe it should be called Seven Star Light Prison. Any chosen target would have no chance to escape, not even a mosquito.
Watching August's use of the Seven Star "Light Prison," Ian felt as if he were seeing Precht's Amaterasu Hundred Styles—stacking what was already a formidable magic a hundred times over, demonstrating the difference between a genius and an ordinary person.
"Father, am I amazing?!"
At this moment, August looked like a happy puppy wagging its tail, seeking Ian's praise after doing something good.
"This isn't just amazing…"
"This is beyond amazing!"
Ian couldn't find the words to compliment August. His talent was too overwhelming, making Ian's scalp tingle.
"Actually, that magic wasn't all that great…"
"Next, what I'm going to teach you is truly powerful."
Ian wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. The truth was that August had already mastered the hardest magic among Ian's repertoire. What he would teach next had moved beyond standard magic into Super Magic.
"August, watch closely!"
"Next up is the essence of Celestial Magic! This spell is called Dark Paradise!"
Ian raised both hands above his head, creating a massive black void that swallowed everything around it, including light and shadows.
"Oh!"
August imitated Ian's movements, also raising his hands and summoning a black void slightly smaller than Ian's Dark Paradise.
"August, Dark Paradise is nothing. The next move is the ultimate move of Celestial Spirit Magic, the essence within the essence, the essence of the essence! This is the combination of Gravity Magic and Celestial Magic, a profound technique called Super-Dark Space."
Sweat beaded Ian's forehead. Seeing that August had mastered Dark Paradise at once, he immediately switched to a move he created himself—a combination of Super Gravity Orb and Celestial Magic's quasi-super spell, Dark Paradise. This simulated a black hole in space, a super magic known as Dark Space.
"Oh!"
After a brief pause, August directly improved his Dark Paradise to a Dark Space.
"You can do that too?!"
Ian's eyes widened, stunned by August's talent.
"Six-Star Chain!"
"Nine-Star Chain!"
"Twelve-Star Chain!!"
"Eighty-Eight Star Chain!!!"
Next, Ian continuously demonstrated Six-Star Chain up to Eighty-Eight Star Chain, and August learned them effortlessly.
The only difference was that August's version, due to his currently immature magic power, wasn't as powerful as Ian's. But in terms of skill proficiency, August seemed even better than Ian.
This made Ian's forehead twitch, and he began chanting incantations.
"Measure the sky, open the horizon, reach the firmament!"
"The stars shine, blazing with glory, all before me!"
"Arbiters of the heavens, I am the guardian of the starry skies and the ruler of the cosmos!"
"With full alignment, open the primordial gate, let all eighty-eight constellations shine for me! Star Chart: Historia!"
Without further ado, Ian used an ancient form of super Celestial Magic, also Lucy's ultimate technique.
"Boom!!"
In an instant, the entire sky was filled with countless stars!
Starlight shone down for Ian's sake. Those stars continually fell, unleashing infinite power, plowing through the entire back mountain of the town.
Yes, the same spell used by different people yields different results.
This was what super magic should be like.
"Phew…"
"How about this move, August?!"
After using Star Chart: Historia, Ian turned to August.
"It's a bit difficult, but I can still do it," August frowned slightly, then softly recited:
"Measure the sky, pierce the horizon, up to the firmament! Let all the stars shine before me… Star Chart: Historia!"
"Boom!"
As August's words fell again, the sky cracked open once more. Starlight rained down, plowing through the already ruined land once again.
In the distant Violet Town: "Strange! It keeps thundering today, but no rain. What a weird weather!"
Ahem…
Back to the mountain—
"August, you can even improve the chanting for super magic?!"
At this moment, Ian, who had trained in magic for decades considering his simulation time, felt like a rookie next to August.
"I didn't really improve it; I just adjusted it to suit myself better."
August answered with a smile.
"Heh heh…"
"August, see if you can handle this next spell. It's a forbidden magic: Abyss Break! Its power is enough to destroy an entire town!"
After a short, dry laugh, Ian displayed his true skill.
This move was also one of Jellal's ultimate attacks in the original story, powerful enough to destroy the Tower of Heaven in one shot.
"Boom!"
When this move was placed in Ian's hands, its power was even greater. It could instantly destroy more than half of the town of Magnolia. As for the remaining half of the town, it would be destroyed in the next instant, cough cough.
"Abyss Break!!"
Ian roared and unleashed this forbidden magic on the entire back of the mountain.
The moment Ian released the magic, a terrifying dark wave swept across the land...
The villa that Ian usually lived in when he was training in seclusion in the back of the mountain, along with the entire back of the mountain, was all blown into the sky. The entire mountain range in the back of Violet Town, dozens of consecutive mountains, were completely flattened.
"How was it?!"
After doing all of this, Ian looked at August, who he had carefully protected using his highest defense magic, the Three Pillars God, and asked.
"Got it."
August replied, unleashing an Abyss Break with much smaller scale and power than Ian's.
"Next!"
"This spell is called Fairy Law!"
Because August is Mavis's son, Ian had no psychological burden teaching him Fairy Law—it was like returning it to its rightful owner.
"Got it."
August watched Ian's demonstration, fell silent for a moment, and then easily replicated Fairy Law.
"Fairy Glitter!"
Ian immediately used the second spell.
"Got it!"
August learned it just as easily.
"Fairy Sphere!"
Ian then displayed Fairy Tail's third great magic, Fairy Sphere.
"Got it."
For some reason, August found these three Fairy Magics even easier to learn than the previous ones, as if they were tailor-made for him.
"Self-Destruction Magic Array!"
"Genesis Zero!"
Ian now tried two moves he had learned long ago from Brian's memory after killing him.
"Got it. But it's too disgusting, I don't want to use it."
August learned it easily, dismissing them as distasteful.
"Amaterasu Formula."
Ian's eye twitched. He used Precht's signature Amaterasu Formula next.
"Simple." August smiled lightly, then as if he discovered something: "Father, this magic array is quite amazing. It seems it can be stacked! With my current magic power, I can stack it fifty times. But given time, I can definitely stack it over a hundred times."
"…"
Ian fell silent.
Even Ian himself could only manage about twenty-eight layers of the Amaterasu array. More than that was troublesome; it would require preparation beforehand, which wasn't practical in actual combat.
He had other spells as substitutes anyway.
But from another angle, August's ability to instantly cast over fifty layers of Amaterasu already surpassed Ian in that regard.
"Boom!!"
"Next, I'll teach you True Celestial Magic!"
At this point, Ian had given up entirely…
What's the point of worrying about what a child shouldn't know or handle?
It didn't matter anymore.
"Oh!!"
At this moment, August looked at the pitch-black sky and the splitting clouds, his eyes wide with astonishment. "Father! This magic is so powerful!"
"Hahaha…"
"If you think it's powerful, learn it quickly."
As Ian's voice fell, along with a booming sound...
A huge meteorite, surrounded by a fiery shell, dragging a long tail, fell onto the back of Violet Town, where the mountains had been flattened.
"Boom!!"
In the midst of a huge roar!
A giant meteor crater appeared in front of Ian and August.
"August, give it a try!"
Ian said, giving August a thumbs-up.
"Hmm…"
At last, August seemed to find something challenging. It took him a full five minutes to learn the True Celestial Magic Ian just used. With his efforts, the massive crater created by Ian's Starfall spell was made even larger.
"Now you should understand, August! There are still many spells in this world that are incredibly difficult for someone as young as you!"
"Therefore, you must remain humble, with a modest attitude, when learning any magic in this world. Never underestimate them…"
After a moment of silence, Ian approached August and tried to lecture him seriously.
"I understand, Father. I will learn humbly."
August nodded gently.
August: "Humble? Sorry, I don't even know what humility means! These spells are just too easy for me. It's like… if you have hands, you can do it, right?!"
"So, August…"
"Your first assignment for today is to understand the meaning of 'humility'."
"Yesterday, Asuna and the others told me about how the local lord sent knights to cause trouble at our shop. I want you to show them what humility is."
As Ian spoke, he gently ruffled August's small head.
If it were before today, Ian wouldn't trust August to handle this.
But now, August had learned dozens of super spells from him, and his magic power had grown from near S-Class to stepping into the "Ten Wizard Saints" realm and even heading towards the limit of human potential. This August was more than capable of facing any enemy at this point in Ishgar, except perhaps the "Black Dragon" Acnologia or Tartaros's demons. Before August, all other enemies would be powerless.
"Yes, Father. I will teach them."
With that, August took the direction Ian indicated, where the marquis's mansion lay. He used the improved scarlet Meteor, disappearing into the sky in a flash.
Meanwhile, at the marquis's mansion:
"Damn it! You dozen knights couldn't handle a single girl?!"
The marquis, whose body was so fat he couldn't move from his luxurious chair, roared angrily upon hearing that his knights failed to handle the magic item shop. He grabbed a nearby cup of water and threw it at their heads.
"Bang!"
A crisp sound rang out, leaving a small bloody mark on the knight's head.
A flicker of malice flashed in the knights' eyes, but they endured. Even though they were part of the privileged class, at the bottom of it they lacked the courage to overthrow this rotten system.
"Go get me a court mage!"
"I want to kill that damn, oblivious store owner."
"Then bring those girls here for me to enjoy~"
"Hehehe…"
The marquis cackled lecherously.
"No need. Father won't come."
"A person like you would only dirty my father's eyes."
At the marquis's moment of delight, a cold voice suddenly echoed through the grand hall.
"Eh?"
"Who's there?!"
The marquis's face changed dramatically, and the knights drew their swords, guarding him and scanning their surroundings warily.
"I…"
In the sky of the luxurious hall…
A beam of light distorted and gradually formed a small human figure.
It was none other than August, here to teach humility.
At this moment, after learning about the marquis's nature, August had decided that humility was impossible to teach this man. But 'tombstone inscription' was a lesson he could deliver.
"Hahahaha…"
"A brat dares to talk so big?!"
"Knights, seize him!"
Seeing August's appearance, the marquis laughed loudly.
He believed only his eyes, and from what he saw, August was just a child.
He never thought about how August got into his heavily guarded castle unnoticed.
"Let it all vanish without a trace."
August ignored the marquis.
He flew into the sky with Meteor and used the True Celestial Magic Ian taught him.
"Where did the little boy go?!"
In the lavish hall, the marquis was still confused about August's whereabouts.
Yes, he hadn't even seen how August disappeared.
"He turned into light!"
Some knights with sharper senses noticed August's transformation into light.
But that was all they saw.
"Find him for me!!"
The marquis roared in rage, unwilling to accept that his prey had escaped.
"Whoosh!!"
Before the marquis could think further, his entire castle began to tremble. A howling wind rose in their ears.
"An earthquake?!"
The knights guarded the marquis, puzzled.
"My lord, run! It's a meteor!"
Before they could think more, the door to the grand hall was pushed open.
An elderly butler dressed in a tailcoat, who looked perfectly proper, shouted loudly at the lump of flesh on the luxurious throne: "My lord, a meteor is falling!!"
"Boom!"
Too late!
When the meteor fell, everything turned to dust.
The entire marquis's estate vanished into oblivion, leaving no trace in history.
This was not August's doing…
It was just a coincidence that the heavens couldn't stand it anymore, and sent a meteorite to the Marquis.
This was divine retribution!
As the saying goes, those who do too many evil deeds will eventually bring about their own demise.
After completing his task, August quietly left.