A year passed quickly. During this year, under the 'torment' of Erza and Mirajane, Statiw's physical fitness grew stronger and stronger, his magic power increased geometrically, and his close-combat ability significantly improved. Moreover, after a year of knowledge infusion from his unique power, his strength quickly rose to B-Class Mage level.
Ever since his rank reached B-Class Mage, his Pict Magic also significantly improved by one level. Now, Statiw could not only materialize drawn objects but also drawn living beings. However, the drawback was that the materialized characters had no self-awareness and could only move under his control. Similarly, because they lacked self-awareness, they possessed no special abilities beyond their basic physical attributes.
Simply put, materialized characters could only use physical attacks under his manipulation, completely lacking any abilities they originally possessed. Even their physical attack style was entirely his own combat style. It was merely a change of body, with some alterations to physical attributes.
For example, if he materialized Elfman, the materialized version could only perform unarmed attacks under his control. The Take Over magic was completely unusable. Even if Statiw learned to use Take Over magic, he could only use it himself; it would be useless for the materialized character. Not just Take Over magic, he also tried other types of magic. For this, he specifically learned many simple spells. Unfortunately, the final result was that they were completely unusable on materialized characters.
Therefore, once he discovered this situation, he immediately began to select from various characters he had drawn countless times or could still draw, and for whom he still retained relevant memories. The selection criterion was having extremely high physical attack capabilities.
Since he could draw these characters with extreme detail and remembered their related information very thoroughly, the scope of selection instantly narrowed significantly.
The first character he chose was a powerful female android from a story he vaguely remembered. This was a character he had drawn countless times. However, whether due to a vast disparity in strength or other reasons, the character drawn on the paper could not be materialized.
Moreover, that wasn't all. After his materialization failed, the drawing on the paper gradually disappeared, and along with it, all of his memories of that character also vanished. In the end, he clearly remembered drawing a favorite character and attempting to materialize her. However, after the materialization failed, his memory of that character completely disappeared, and he couldn't recall who that character was at all.
This scared Statiw greatly. He dared not try again casually and could only first try with a few less important, less useful, or not particularly favorite characters.
After repeated comparisons, the final choice appeared on his drawing paper: a character known for his incredible taijutsu skills and the ability to open the Eight Inner Gates—a man renowned for his pure physical prowess.
The reason he was ultimately chosen was also because the number of male characters Statiw could draw was extremely limited, and this one was among the more feasible. If it weren't for the character's incredibly passionate performance in his story, he would not have copied him.
With this character's success, Statiw finally grew a bit bolder and began to draw some less important, less powerful characters on paper, then test their materialization.
The final test results were very good; there were no more failures. However, just to be safe, he had not taken on any more missions during these days. The only thing he did every day was to draw all the characters he could still draw on paper and for whom he still had detailed information in his mind, all in his room.
This day, Statiw woke up early, finished his morning routine, and had just taken out his drawing board and paper, ready to start drawing again. He then heard a 'thump-thump-thump' knock at the door. Opening the door, Elfman's massive body, large enough to completely block the doorway, appeared before him.
"Statiw, big sister said that while I was on my mission these past few days, you've been staying in your room and even refused her mission invitation. Are you sick?" Seeing the door open, Elfman asked with great concern.
"Didn't Mirajane tell you? The reason I haven't been to the guild these past few days," he asked, a little surprised, as he let Elfman in.
"I only heard big sister say that you haven't been to the guild for several days and have been staying in your room, so I immediately rushed over," Elfman replied as he entered his home.
"I see." Statiw pulled out a chair and placed it in the living room, then poured a drink for him, saying, "Everyone at the guild knows why I haven't been there these past few days. It's because I've been promoted to a B-Class Mage, and I've been at home preparing for various things."
"What? Really? You've been promoted to a B-Class Mage?" Upon hearing his answer, Elfman immediately jumped from the stool to stand in front of him, his face showing extreme joy.
Just as he was happy for Statiw, another knock came at the door. Opening the door in confusion, he found Natsu, with Happy on his head, Gray, Lisanna, and Cana all visiting.
After letting them in, Cana, with a triumphant air, said, "See? I told you, didn't I? Elfman must have come to see Statiw."
"What's wrong? Do you need something from me?" Hearing her words, Elfman thought they were looking for him for something and asked curiously.
"Nothing," Cana waved her hand and explained, "It's because Lisanna heard you'd returned from your mission but couldn't find you at the guild. Natsu guessed you went wrestling with beasts in the forest. Gray guessed you might be too tired from the mission and went to soak in the bathhouse. Happy guessed you went to eat a big feast after getting your reward. Hmm~, an all-fish banquet… And I thought you should be here with Statiw. So…Just right, we can also see how his preparations are coming along."
"Oh, so that's it." After Cana's explanation, Elfman finally understood their reason for coming.