As Noah continued his deep study of Nirvana, his curiosity turned toward its most unsettling feature the ability to change the moral alignment of a person, turning good into evil and evil into good. It fascinated him, but also disturbed him.
One day, as he sat across from Robaul amid the scent of old parchment and herbal incense, Noah finally asked, "Grandpa Robaul, can I ask something? How exactly does Nirvana shift a person's nature between light and darkness?"
Robaul raised a brow. "Why are you so interested in that aspect, specifically?"
Noah answered calmly, but with purpose. "Because I want to be prepared. I don't want to wake up one day and find that my heart's been twisted into something unrecognizable. If I understand how it works, maybe I can learn to defend myself from it."
He leaned forward, voice thoughtful. "Honestly, there's nothing wrong with guiding people toward the light. But forcing someone to become good removing their darkness entirely sounds far too perfect. And something that perfect always comes with a cost."
He paused, then added, "In the end, Nirvana was sealed away. That alone says a lot."
Robaul's expression grew still. His eyes darkened with memories, and he said nothing.
Sensing the shift, Noah softened his voice. "I didn't mean any disrespect. Actually... I really admire the person who created it. They must've had a noble heart. To even think of building such a magic then go on to create it that's incredible. It's just... maybe things didn't go as they'd hoped. If they'd aimed to guide people instead of forcibly rewriting them, maybe things would have turned out differently."
Robaul looked at him for a long time, then finally nodded. "...You may be right." He stood up slowly. "Noah, you can train by yourself today. I need time to think about everything you just said."
"Okay, Grandpa. Don't dwell on it too much. Rest if you need to."
Noah bowed respectfully and walked off to a nearby clearing to resume his daily routine.
The next day, Robaul resumed their lessons as if nothing had happened. Neither of them brought up yesterday's conversation. And so, their days continued morning training, followed by study and discussion.
It wasn't until five days later that Robaul finally broke the silence.
After wrapping up his usual explanation, he set aside the scroll in his hands and looked at Noah with an intensity he hadn't shown before.
Noah sensed something was different. He straightened up, his expression serious.
"Noah," Robaul said at last, "what I'm about to tell you... I ask that you listen carefully."
Noah nodded. "I'm listening."
"First... I need to apologize. I told you I was a descendant of the Nirubit Tribe. That was a lie. I am not a descendant. I am a Nirubit."
Noah's eyes widened.
Robaul continued. "And more than that... I was the one who created Nirvana. Four hundred years ago."
The air seemed to shift.
Robaul's voice grew distant, as if he were speaking from another time.
"Four centuries ago, I wanted to end the wars that ravaged the world. I wanted to create a peace that could not be broken by hatred. So I built a magic known as Nirvana a great structure with the power to invert light and dark in the hearts of all living things. A power that could turn evil into good."
He paused, eyes heavy with regret. "We lived on Nirvana. It became our home. A symbol of peace for our people, the Nirubit Tribe. For a while, it truly did bring harmony."
"But," he added quietly, "all power casts a shadow. The stronger the force, the deeper the darkness it leaves behind."
Noah listened, silent and still.
"Though Nirvana could turn darkness into light... the balance had to be maintained. The darkness it stripped from the world began to gather. It had to go somewhere. And so it came to us the Nirubits."
His voice trembled faintly.
"The darkness twisted us. Turned our hopes into fear, our love into suspicion, our peace into bloodshed. We destroyed each other. Brother against brother. Friend against friend. The Nirubit Tribe collapsed."
He looked down at his open palms.
"I am the only one who remains."
A long silence followed. Then, softly, he added:
"No... even that's not quite right. My physical body is long gone. What you see before you... is nothing more than a lingering thought. A fragment of will, kept alive by magic."
He looked directly into Noah's eyes.
"For four hundred years, I have remained here. Waiting. Hoping someone would come. Someone who could inherit my burden and end Nirvana not with hatred, but with understanding. To break it, once and for all."
Noah sat frozen, his mind reeling from the truth. The quiet old man who had made him tea and taught him magic... was the architect of one of the most powerful and dangerous magical relics in existence. And he had borne the weight of its failure for four long centuries.
After hearing everything Robaul had revealed, Noah finally said what he'd been holding in his heart since the beginning.
"Grandpa Robaul, you're not some weak, pitiful undead. I can still feel it your magic power is incredible."
He looked at the old man firmly.
"If someone like you is considered weak, then very few people in this world deserve to be called strong."
Robaul blinked, caught off guard. Then he let out a tired sigh and offered a sly smile.
"Well, even so, I can't break Nirvana myself anymore. My body's long gone. That's why I've been waiting for someone like you." His tone shifted dramatically. "Will you help a poor, helpless old ghost and break Nirvana for me?"
Noah gave him a look somewhere between sympathy and exasperation. "Grandpa Robaul, I already promised to break Nirvana... just not right now. Because honestly I'm still weak, too. So I can't do it yet."
Robaul choked slightly on his own words, realizing Noah had thrown his phrasing right back at him. He fell silent.
Noah continued, soft but firm. "Also, Grandpa... you're the last of the Nirubit Tribe. Nirvana it's not just a building to you. It's your final bond to your people. If I destroy it now, I'm afraid you'll lose the last reason you have to keep going."
He paused, eyes full of sincerity. "Instead, I think what you should do... is share everything you know. Pass it all on especially your magical knowledge. But also your culture, your history, the way the Nirubits lived."
He looked out the window at the quiet ruins. "Let people know that this peaceful nation once existed... and that it should not be forgotten."
Robaul sat motionless. Then he let out a slow breath, his expression unreadable.
"So... what you really want is my magic knowledge after all?"
Noah smiled. "That too. But I also want the world to know who you were."
Robaul's voice wavered. "You think it's really okay to record the Nirubits? To let their name be known again?"
"No matter what happened," Noah said, "you shouldn't be erased. Let future generations decide what to remember. But you should at least be remembered."
The elder's eyes softened. He was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.
"Alright. Then let's do it. I'll teach you all the Nirubit magic I still remember. And together... we'll record everything else."
From that day forward, their study deepened. Noah spent long hours learning not just spells, but the day-to-day life of the Nirubit people how they cooked, how they dressed, how they celebrated the seasons, what games they played, and what music they sang.
To speed things up, Robaul even created phantoms magic illusions of his former tribespeople, complete with personalities based on his memories. The process left Noah blinking in disbelief.
"Grandpa! You said you were weak, and now you're summoning ghosts with full personalities?"
Robaul chuckled but didn't deny it. "They're not ghosts. Just projections of thought."
Still, Noah was intrigued. He quickly asked to learn the technique himself. Within a short time, he mastered the art and began creating his own phantoms gentle helpers that assisted with documentation and sorting historical records. Though they weren't combat-capable, they were surprisingly useful.
Eventually, Noah left behind one of his thought projections to continue training and studying with Robaul, while his true body returned to handle other responsibilities.
First, he traveled back to turn in the completed commission. Then, without missing a beat, he stopped by the Heartfilia estate to check on their training progress.
To his delight, the improvements were obvious.
Layla, once pale and frail, now had color in her cheeks and a strength in her posture that hadn't been there before. She moved with ease and grace, her eyes shining with spirit.
Jude had also made progress. He stood straighter, looked healthier, and no longer showed signs of his old workaholic habits. Even Lucy looked energized, practically glowing with vitality.
The family welcomed Noah joyfully and insisted he stay for at least two days. Caught in their warmth, Noah couldn't refuse.
He stayed two nights, enjoying meals, laughter, and training updates. On the third morning, after a heartfelt goodbye, he left the Heartfilia home and returned to Magnolia.
Back at the guild, things had returned to their usual high-energy chaos.
Noah quickly fell back into rhythm. He resumed training with Erza, Kagura, and Simon guiding them, learning from them, and testing his own limits.
With Noah tailoring potions to each person's physical condition, everyone's training results saw a noticeable boost. The guild was pushing harder than ever.
Sparring matches became a daily routine. More often than not, it took Erza, Kagura, and Simon teaming up just to hold their own against Noah and even then, he usually had to hold back for the fight to be fair.
Still, those matches filled the guild hall with the sounds of crashing magic, clashing steel, and laughter. And in the middle of it all, Noah smiled.
He was building something not just strength, but bonds.
And far away, in the mountain ruins of a forgotten tribe, his thought-projection quietly continued the work of preserving a legacy.
.....
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