Time flew by, and soon it was the year X777.
At the beginning of the year, Ulu finally saved up enough to buy a house. She picked a place right next to Noah's home complete with a small garden, beautiful architecture, and enough space for her, Ultear, Gray, Lyon, and the others to live comfortably.
To celebrate the move, Ulu hosted a housewarming party. She invited Noah and their usual group of close friends. As expected, everyone had a blast and partied late into the night.
The next morning, Noah woke up later than usual. When he finally came downstairs, he was surprised to find Ultear, Gray, Lyon, and Erza already gathered in the living room, casually eating breakfast together.
Noah blinked in confusion.
"Didn't you guys move into your new house yesterday? Why are you still eating here?"
Ultear smirked, clearly unbothered by the question.
"Just because we have a new place doesn't mean we can't come here for breakfast. I've lived here so long, it still feels like home. Why, are we not welcome anymore?"
As she said this, Gray and Lyon both nodded along while stuffing their faces.
Noah rolled his eyes.
"Of course you're welcome. You're all free to come by anytime."
After breakfast, the group went off to train together before heading out to take care of their own respective activities.
Meanwhile, Sorano who had been in training for several months had finally reached a point where she could start learning magic for real.
Noah handed her a catalog containing all the magic types he had collected over the years and asked her to choose one. Sorano flipped through it carefully but stopped almost instantly.
"I want this one. Angel Magic."
Noah raised an eyebrow. "Angel Magic?"
She nodded firmly, then explained:
"When I was imprisoned… I used to look out through the tiny window of my cell and stare up at the sky. Every time, I'd imagine an angel flying down to rescue me. I wanted to become like that angel. I wanted to save others the way I wished someone had saved me."
Hearing her talk about such a painful memory so openly and without hesitation, Noah could tell that the wounds of her past were healing. He gave a small nod and pulled out the records he had on Angel Magic.
Back when Noah first acquired this magic, he had only stored it away as part of his research materials. He hadn't studied it in detail.
The more he read now, the more he frowned.
Angel Magic was a summoning-type magic that required the caster to sacrifice part of their lifespan. This life energy would be converted into what was known as Angel Coins, which were then used to summon celestial beings known as "angels."
Each angel possessed unique attributes and could deal different types of magical damage. However, the stronger the angel, the greater the toll on the caster's life.
Worse still once an angel was defeated or dispelled, the Angel Coins would dissolve completely, and the caster would experience intense physical pain as backlash. In Noah's opinion, aside from its flashy name, there was nothing "angelic" about it at all.
Noah tapped the parchment and looked up at Sorano.
"Are you sure this is the one you want to learn? Honestly, I don't think it's worth it. The power-to-cost ratio is way too high."
Sorano didn't hesitate to respond.
"If you don't recommend it, I'll pick something else."
She wasn't being modest she truly respected Noah's judgment. Over time, she had seen for herself just how deep his knowledge of magic ran, and she trusted his guidance completely.
Noah paused, then glanced back at the text. Something clicked in his mind.
"…Hold on. Let me look at it again."
This time, he read with the eyes of a creator rather than just a researcher.
The structure of Angel Magic wasn't particularly complex. In fact, it reminded him of a familiar case when Mavis Vermillion, the first Master of Fairy Tail, had successfully improved the spell Fairy Law. Originally, Fairy Law drained the user's life when cast on multiple targets. But Mavis had developed a method to bypass that limitation, something she had personally explained to Noah years ago.
And now, Noah's understanding of magical principles had grown far beyond what it had been then. Compared to Fairy Law, modifying Angel Magic seemed simple in concept.
With enough tweaking, the issue of sacrificing life force could be replaced with another cost entirely.
The more he thought about it, the more viable the idea became.
In truth, when it came to choosing magic, emotional connection played a powerful role. People often learned magic faster and more naturally when they felt a genuine fondness or resonance for it. And Noah didn't want to crush the sincerity Sorano had shown in her choice.
Besides, improving this kind of magic would contribute to his own ongoing research into life force and lifespan magic a complex subject he had been slowly unraveling.
So Noah gave Sorano a warm smile and said:
"It's not that you can't learn it. Here's what we'll do: I'll improve the structure of Angel Magic and fix its drawbacks. Once it's been refined, you can start learning it."
Sorano's eyes lit up, and she immediately lunged forward, hugging Noah tightly.
"Really? Thank you, Noah! You're the best!"
Noah's face flushed bright red. Flustered, he grabbed her by the collar, yanked her off him, and tossed her gently out of his lab before shutting the door with a thud.
"Come back in a few days! By then, you'll have a proper magic system to learn!"
From the other side of the door, Sorano laughed and shouted teasingly:
"Aww, are you shy? How cute!"
Noah groaned behind the closed door, but a small smile crept onto his face as he turned to begin work.
The original Angel Magic was full of flaws. The fact that it required sacrificing the user's life just to summon an angel one that wasn't even particularly powerful was absurd. There was clearly a structural problem in the core design of the spell.
Noah got to work rewriting the entire magical framework.
He redesigned it so that the summoning cost would be tied to magical energy, not lifespan. The stronger the angel summoned, the more magic it required but never again would it take from a person's life.
Next, he added flexibility to the summoning conditions, allowing users to summon angels that matched different combat environments ranged, close-quarter, aerial, aquatic, defensive, and so on. Every summoned angel would serve a tactical purpose, giving the mage versatility in battle.
By the time Noah was done, the magic had evolved far beyond its original form. It was no longer a dangerous gamble for power it was now true Angel Magic, elegant and powerful in every way.
When Noah stepped out of the lab, he spotted Sorano and Yukino sitting together on the living room sofa, quietly flipping through a book.
These past few days, Sorano had rarely gone out aside from training. Yukino, devoted as always, had stayed close to her sister. The two were clearly enjoying their time together, and their bond had grown even stronger.
As soon as Sorano saw Noah, she sprang to her feet and rushed toward him.
"Noah! Did you finish it?!"
Noah casually extended his hand and pressed his palm against her forehead, stopping her charge mid-run like she'd hit an invisible wall.
Sorano pushed against his hand with her forehead, trying to break through, but Noah held her in place with ease.
"Yes, I finished it."
With his free hand, Noah handed her a thick, leather-bound tome. Sorano instantly forgot about their little wrestling match and grabbed the book reverently with both hands.
"This is the revised version. Honestly, I don't know what the original creator was thinking. It was awful."
"This one is completely different like heaven and earth."
He puffed out his chest a little, clearly proud of his work.
In the next second, Sorano tried to hug him again in excitement, but Noah calmly extended his hand and held her at bay once more.
"Alright, alright. Enough. You've got a lot to study. Learn the abilities and characteristics of each angel carefully. Make sure you know exactly what you're summoning before you do it."
Sorano gave an exaggerated sigh of surrender.
"Fine, fine. I'll go study. Come on, Yukino!"
She ran over to the couch, scooped up her little sister, and took off toward their shared room, the book clutched in her arms.
Yukino, still being dragged, managed to wave cheerfully at Noah over her shoulder. Noah chuckled and waved back.
Now that Sorano's magical path had been decided, Noah could finally turn his focus to the next big thing on his list.
Something important was on the horizon.
The year X777 a year unlike any other.
So many key events in the magical world were tied to this very year. And for Noah, one stood above all the rest.
This was the year he and Layla Heartfilia had agreed to open the Eclipse Gate.
A promise made years ago, finally coming due.
But more than just a promise, this was the culmination of a massive magical feat time travel. The gateway would allow those from four hundred years in the past to cross into the present. And according to the timeline... it had already succeeded.
This was a miraculous and unprecedented moment in the history of magic. And Noah, being both a scholar and researcher at heart, knew this was an unmissable opportunity. Gathering data from such a phenomenon would drastically advance his understanding of time-space magic.
He immediately began preparations.
To ensure he could monitor everything from start to finish, Noah set up all kinds of high-level detection and analysis instruments around the Eclipse Gate. These tools would measure temporal distortions, magical flow, dimensional overlap, and even trace residue of the crossing itself.