"Huh?!"
After Levy patiently explained Celestial Spirit Magic, Mirajane widened her eyes and looked at Marco, who wore an utterly confident expression.
"So Marco, what magic are you actually using?" Mirajane's face was full of curiosity.
As someone new to the magical world, she was filled with a thirst for knowledge.
Having accepted magic and the power of demons, she had officially stepped into the magical realm with her younger siblings and naturally, she wanted to learn more about it.
Going out on missions meant facing all sorts of dangers, so understanding various types of magic was crucial.
Mirajane already knew that even Marco had encountered attacks from Dark Guilds, which showed just how brazen those Dark Guild members were!
Of course, she also knew that the Dark Guild in question had been wiped out by Fairy Tail, further confirming her belief that Fairy Tail was a good guild.
Her decision to leave her siblings here hadn't been made lightly.
"Celestial Spirit Magic!" Marco answered with absolute certainty.
As long as he firmly believed he was using 'Celestial Spirit Magic', then this was the most authentic Celestial Spirit Magic!
"Boo~" The children erupted in jeers.
None of them were magic novices anymore.
Even if they hadn't known the truth at first, they would have looked it up later and others in the guild would have told them.
They were no longer so easily fooled.
"If I'm strong enough, why can't I be the one to define what Celestial Spirit Magic is?"
Faced with their mockery, Marco remained unwavering.
This idea of his was quite ambitious.
He was challenging a system that had existed for who knew how many years.
The right to name it wasn't something easily claimed.
"..."
At that, everyone fell silent.
"That's great! I support you, Marco." Mirajane was the first to speak, her expression full of belief that Marco could do it.
"Mhm! Go for it, Marco! You can do it!" Lisanna nodded repeatedly, her little face filled with admiration and agreement.
"Go for it, Marco!" Elfman clenched his fists.
The three siblings were quite united, but it also proved they truly didn't understand Celestial Spirit Magic—they were genuine magic novices.
Erza, Cana, and Levy, on the other hand, all looked at Marco with expressions of shock, clearly not expecting him to harbor such ambition.
They understood just how difficult this was—it was practically impossible.
"But... if it's Marco..."
Though she thought it was nearly impossible, looking at Marco and his confident expression, Erza couldn't help but wonder—maybe he really could do it?
"Marco! Everyone! Come look!"
The group, still stunned by Marco's words, quickly snapped back to reality at the sound of a loud voice—it was Natsu.
The noisy Natsu soon burst out from the woods, holding a large egg in his hand.
"Natsu, what kind of monster egg did you steal this time?" Seeing Natsu's proud expression, Marco asked with a laugh.
"That's one huge egg. It looks delicious." Marco commented earnestly that the egg Natsu was holding was nearly half his height, undoubtedly belonging to some powerful magical beast.
Based on Marco's years of egg-hunting experience, the more powerful the magical beast, the larger its eggs—and the more delicious they tasted.
"No! You can't eat it, Marco!"
However, upon hearing Marco's words, Natsu shouted in horror, his expression turning fearful as he looked at Marco, as if recalling some unpleasant memory.
Last time, on Marco's birthday, Natsu had gifted him a magical bird egg—only for Marco to roast and eat it on the spot!
To this day, Natsu still vividly remembered the taste of that egg.
No—wait!
He remembered the baby bird that was supposed to hatch from it!
Wouldn't it have been better to let it grow up and eat the meat instead?!
Natsu shook his head, banishing the chaotic thoughts as he hugged the egg tightly.
In any case, what he wanted to say was.
"This egg is different."
"It's so big! it could be a dragon egg!"
Placing the egg on the ground, Natsu said excitedly.
And the moment he said that, everyone understood why Natsu thought this egg was special.
When they had eaten roasted eggs before, Natsu had never hesitated to say "so tasty"—he had no qualms about eating the eggs they collected.
But this time, his excitement stemmed from the possibility that this egg was related to a dragon.
The word "dragon" was like a trigger for Natsu.
Having been in the guild for nearly a year, he had spent every single day obsessively searching for dragons—yet he had found no leads.
Now that he had finally stumbled upon what might be a "dragon egg," Natsu naturally treasured it.
Most importantly, this "dragon egg" had appeared out of nowhere—falling from the sky and landing right on Natsu's head.
It wasn't something he had stolen from a monster's nest.
It truly was an egg of unknown origin.
"Why do you think it's a dragon egg?"
Though Marco understood why Natsu didn't want to eat it, he was still puzzled.
What made Natsu call it a dragon egg?
There had to be a reason, right?
" Cause it's huge!" Natsu gestured at the egg's size as his first argument.
"Thats not convincing at all."
The logic that "big egg = dragon egg" wasn't enough to persuade anyone.
"Look at the patterns on it! Doesn't it look like a dragon's flames?!" Seeing their skepticism, Natsu grew anxious.
He pointed at the blue markings on the white egg, eagerly explaining.
"Hmm, they do resemble flame patterns." Marco leaned in for a closer look and confirmed that there was indeed a faint but distinct flame-like symbol on the egg.
"It might belong to a magical beast that uses Fire Magic."
After observing it, Levy offered a guess.
Though she was well-read and had studied numerous magical beast encyclopedias—complete with details on eggs and hatchlings—she didn't recognize this one.
She could only make an educated assumption.
"Igneel is a dragon who uses Fire Magic! This might be one of Igneel's eggs!" Natsu immediately declared with absolute certainty.
"Wait a minute, Natsu. Isn't Igneel your father? That would make him a male dragon, right? How could he possibly lay an egg?" Marco sighed, rubbing his forehead.
Natsu's thought process was truly something else—suggesting that Igneel laid an egg was just absurd.
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