### Chapter 12: Mantra
Fruit Awakening, a higher realm among Devil Fruit abilities, is a power called 'Awakening'.
Only a very small number of Devil Fruit users can unlock the realm of Awakening.
Awakening is often accompanied by great power.
Awakening is not a realm one can reach simply by training the fruit ability; it requires certain opportunities and chances.
According to "Teacher" Kaido, a user can only unlock Awakening when their mind, body, and technique all reach the extreme.
According to Riku's understanding, "mind" should be 'willpower', "body" is the 'physical body', and "technique" is the 'fruit ability'.
Although he wasn't sure how to train his willpower, he could ask Teacher Gildarts.
Gildarts was undoubtedly a top-tier mage in terms of mind, body, and technique.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three months had passed since Riku joined the Fairy Tail guild.
In these three months, he had mingled well with everyone in the guild, completely integrating into Fairy Tail and becoming a member of the family.
He had done some missions, all of which were highly dangerous subjugation missions. Under the bombardment of the Goro Goro no Mi's absolute power, all missions were completed successfully, earning him very generous rewards.
Because of the high danger level, the rewards for subjugation missions were relatively more generous. Just doing one mission casually earned him more than five times his previous monthly salary.
This made him love life in this world even more.
During this time, Natsu and Mira challenged him quite a few times. Riku accepted all of them. While deliberately suppressing his strength, the two sides fought back and forth, eventually ending with Riku's victory.
Because of Gildarts, Natsu and Riku's relationship was like that of fellow disciples. They often gathered at Gildarts' place to eat, drink, and have fun.
Lisanna and Natsu were close, so she often brought Mira along.
Over time, the group became more familiar with each other and often played together.
Although Mira had a bit of a fiery temper, she was at the age where romance begins to bloom.
Riku was handsome, powerful, and treated her and her siblings well. Mira gradually developed a lot of affection for Riku.
Through his interactions with Mira during this time, Riku also discovered that this usually fiery-tempered girl was actually just a fragile little girl inside. It was only to protect her siblings that she had to force herself to act tough.
This made Riku feel a few degrees of pity for Mira in addition to liking her, and he gradually fell in love with this girl.
As a Devil Fruit user and Mira with her Take Over Demon Soul Magic, perhaps it was fate's arrangement.
Lisanna, the little matchmaker, saw that Riku and her sister Mira had feelings for each other. So she would occasionally bring her sister to find Riku and Natsu to play, and then send Natsu and Happy away to leave Riku and Mira some space alone.
Naturally, Riku wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. After taking the initiative multiple times, after a period of time, he successfully held hands with Mira.
While Riku and Mira were holding hands, unbeknownst to them, not far behind them, a few people were hiding there.
"Riku and Mira? Since when?!"
Natsu looked confused. In his impression, Riku and Mira were always at each other's throats, and Mira was always fierce towards Riku. When the two were together, he worried they would fight. He never thought the two would develop into a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.
Lisanna blinked playfully and said: "You didn't know, right? There's an old saying: 'Hitting is affection, scolding is love'."
"Aye!"
Happy agreed.
Suddenly!
A voice rang out behind the two of them: "Riku, that kid, not bad! taking down Little Mira so quickly. He has a bit of my style."
Natsu, Lisanna, and Happy were startled and almost shouted out, but were covered by a large hand.
The three of them also saw who it was.
"Gildarts?!"
"Uncle?!"
Seeing Gildarts, the three of them relaxed.
"Uncle, why are you here?"
"I was just passing by and saw you guys sneaking around. So I came to take a look. Riku and Mira, huh! They are quite a match."
As an old father figure, Gildarts was also very happy to see his children falling in love.
He watched Mira grow up, and Riku was his disciple. having spent a few months with him, he understood Riku's character quite well; he was a good kid worth entrusting.
"Right?!"
Lisanna was also happy to hear Gildarts say this.
She knew her sister had always been protecting her and her brother, so naturally, she also hoped there would be someone to protect her sister.
Gildarts said: "Shh~! Let's go. That kid Riku has sharp senses. Don't let him discover us."
The group tiptoed away quietly, unaware that Riku had long discovered them. The Goro Goro no Mi could sense electromagnetic waves, and the range was huge.
The electromagnetic waves emitted by mages due to their Magic Power were greater than those of ordinary people, and everyone's electromagnetic waves were different.
This feeling was like radar; the more powerful the Magic Power, the more obvious the detection. Let alone hiding not far behind him, even if Gildarts hid a few kilometers away, he would be very conspicuous.
By narrowing the range and sensing carefully, he could even clearly perceive the opponent's Magic and movements.
This ability gave him a considerable advantage in combat, able to produce an effect very similar to Observation Haki.
Riku also named this move—Mantra.