However, the creation of a Dragon Slayer Lacrima requires the heart of a dragon. Both the dragon's heart and the lacrima itself are extremely rare. Laxus was lucky to obtain one, but Noah could not possibly find a second, and the thought of having something like that forced into his body always felt strange.
With Noah's rate of growth, it was only a matter of time before he surpassed dragons through his own power. Turning into a dragon would only be a disadvantage.
For that reason, Noah decided not to learn Dragon Slayer Magic right now. At most, he would study it in theory and revisit the idea if he made new discoveries.
The best approach was to learn the advantages of Dragon Slayer Magic while discarding the weaknesses. For example, the ability to consume elements of the same attribute to restore stamina and magic power, or the natural immunity to magic of that attribute those were useful traits worth studying.
But directly transforming into a dragon, or reshaping the body toward one, risked all sorts of complications, from motion sickness to far worse outcomes.
To achieve this, Noah needed to deepen his knowledge of magic. That meant more study and more effort.
He remained behind to oversee Natsu and Wendy's training, while also practicing the supportive magic he had just learned.
The new spell had nearly exhausted Wendy's magic, but within the training grounds, where the air was thick with magical particles, her Dragon Slayer Magic quickly accelerated her recovery. Before long, her strength and energy returned in full.
Seeing Wendy restored, Noah began teaching her physical conditioning exercises alongside ways to better control her magic.
The training was difficult, and Wendy's eyes welled up with tears more than once, but she refused to give up. She pressed forward with determination.
Meanwhile, Natsu, who had already burned through a wave of magic with his Dragon Slayer techniques, once again threw himself into the stone wall with fiery attacks.
When he finally paused, Noah stepped in to instruct him on how to balance his magic with physical training. Natsu listened intently, eager to grow stronger as quickly as possible.
Training did not last too long. Even if they could restore their magic and stamina, mental fatigue still built up.
Noticing their growing exhaustion, Noah called a stop. He let them rest inside the training grounds and turned back to studying supportive magic himself.
"Grant me the power of the Iron Arm to cleave the sky! Power of the Iron Arm!"
As Noah spoke, a glowing circle of magic unfurled beneath his feet. At once, he felt a surge of strength flow into his arms, heavier and sharper than before.
Wendy's eyes went wide, full of awe.
"Brother Noah is incredible!"
"It only seems that way because I've studied so much," Noah answered calmly. "It's easy to start, but as I go deeper, the difficulty will rise. I won't be able to learn everything as fast as I did just now."
"But it's still amazing. It took me ages to learn my spells."
"Wendy, you'll be able to do the same in time. You can become truly powerful."
"Really?"
Her eyes sparkled, and Noah replied with complete seriousness.
"Of course. I promise."
Wendy's face lit up with joy at his words. Seeing her restored, Noah smiled and said:
"All right, that's enough for today's training. Let's go find the others and head back together."
"Okay!" Wendy nodded happily.
Calling Natsu over, Noah and Wendy set off to meet up with Ultear and the others.
On the way, they found Gray training on his own. Even though he was exhausted, Natsu only exchanged a few words before immediately picking a fight.
Wendy tried to stop them, tears rising again, but Noah scooped her up in his arms.
"Don't worry about those two idiots. They'll quit when they're worn out. Let's find Ultear and the others first."
From Noah's arms, Wendy looked back with teary eyes as Natsu and Gray clashed wildly in Gray's training ground, their fight echoing behind them as she was carried farther away.
When they returned with Erza, Ultear, and the rest, they discovered Natsu and Gray lying flat on the ground, completely spent. Lyon sat nearby watching them with amusement, the training ground's enchantments now dormant.
"Okay, let's head back. Get up already."
Natsu and Gray both struggled to their feet and glared at one another. "Hmph!"
They turned away at the same time, refusing to look at each other, then followed Noah and the others back.
When they reached Noah's home, Simon and Kagura had already returned. Erza and the others immediately went to help Wendy decorate her new room. Noah also called Laxus over, and together everyone held a cheerful welcome party to celebrate Natsu and Wendy joining the guild.
After the party, Laxus was the first to leave since he had a commission scheduled for the next morning.
Once the cleanup was done, Ultear, her fellow apprentices, and Cana said their goodbyes and departed.
Noah put away the supplies he had bought for Natsu and followed him back to his small cabin on the edge of the forest.
After helping tidy up the little house and arranging the new items, Noah left Natsu's place.
When he returned, Erza had just finished bathing with Wendy and was chatting with her in the living room.
Hearing that Wendy still felt uneasy in her new surroundings, Erza immediately volunteered to stay with her.
Excited, Erza carried her blanket straight into Wendy's room, set it down, then rushed back out, took Wendy by the hand, and pulled her into the room to sleep together.
Noah had originally planned to continue teaching Wendy some lessons that evening, but since it was already late and she was tired from the welcome party, he let it go.
The next day, Noah trained with Natsu and Wendy, then shifted into cultural lessons, covering vocabulary as well as basic knowledge they would need for everyday life.
For Natsu, studying was definitely tough, but Noah was patient. To help, he even created a thought projection to tutor both Natsu and Wendy.
When they first saw the thought-form, Natsu and Wendy were stunned. Wendy nearly cried out in fright until Noah calmly explained.
Back at the guild, Cana was present, and so was Gildarts. While Gildarts was around, Noah sought him out to hear stories of his travels and broaden his own perspective.
When Noah arrived, he found Natsu recklessly challenging Gildarts, only to be flattened by a single punch.
Noah paid little mind to the scene. Instead, he listened carefully to Gildarts' tales of the road, using them to understand future commission routes. He then asked Gildarts to gather a few materials during his next journey.
Gildarts agreed readily. He and Cana were planning to rest for about half a month before setting out again, and collecting a few things along the way would be no trouble.
With that settled, Noah returned to his routine training and studying with Natsu and Wendy, then working on his own practice and research.
Once the two of them had learned enough to continue daily training by themselves, Noah's main role became teaching them cultural knowledge.
It was worth noting that after Natsu began joining the sessions in the training grounds, the atmosphere instantly grew more lively and spirited than before.