Sacred Gear Store - Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4 - More different than expected

“I’m back!”

“Welcome back!” Mirajane greeted me with a kind smile. “How was your first Job?”

“An easy success. I barely used two seconds of your Strength, and that was against a Celestial Spirit whose strength I wasn’t sure about.” I announced while handing her the confirmation for the completed Job, which she had to collect for the Guild’s documentation. “Though, maybe I should clean out my eyes with bleach,” I added as an afterthought. “And I got a Golden Key!”

“Seems like congratulations are in order, then. That sounds like a very successful first Job!” Mira hummed while placing some kind of yellow, carbonated drink in front of me.

It tastes similar to Fanta!

“Thanks!”

“You’re welcome! With your Golden Key, our Guild is now in possession of three of the Zodiacs,” Mira added thoughtfully.

Huh, so Lucy just got two Golden Keys? I’m pretty sure that’s less than she started out with. This World is pretty different from the Fairy Tail I know, yet somehow so similar.

“Oh? A new face? Who’s the cute guy, Mira?” A female voice appeared beside me at the Bar.

Hmm? Who is that?

She looks familiar, definitely a Character who appeared in the Series, but I can’t place her. Which is strange, considering I pretty much know every noteworthy Member of Fairy Tail.

A total babe. A gorgeous face rivaling Mirajane’s, luscious blonde hair, and a bombshell Top Model body with large breasts.

Wait, that strapless, light-pink, dancer-like dress, revealing her ample cleavage and leg all the way up to her waist, and that Beauty Queen vibe she gives off...

She isn’t supposed to be here! Neither should she have a Fairy Tail Guild Mark on her left shoulder. She should be in Blue Pegasus! Isn’t she Mirajane’s rival?

What was her name again?

“Did you already fall in love with me? You’re kind of spacing out.” The blonde-haired beauty sounded amused as I let my mind wander again. “It’s no surprise. After all, you’re in the presence of the most beautiful Mage in Fairy Tail!”

Yep, that’s definitely her. This World differs a lot from the one I know.

“Jenny, please don’t bother our new Guild Member with your delusions.” Mirajane said it kindly, even though her presence radiated the exact opposite of kindness right now.

But I remember her name now! It’s Jenny Realight! A Take Over Mage just like Mirajane, with the ability to take over Machines.

“Is that jealousy I hear, Mira?” Jenny replied competitively.

“Ladies, please don’t fight. Sorry for being distracted. I was just healing my Soul.” I sighed dramatically, interrupting them before matters could escalate between the two.

Jenny’s eyes fell back on me. “Healing your Soul? Why would you need to heal your Soul?”

“Let’s just say that, for my last Job, I had to face Duke Everlue. And that guy has a... well, mildly described, weird taste in beauty. Looking at two beautiful women like the two of you just fixes some of the damage that Evil caused.”

“Quite the charmer, are we?” Jenny said, amused. “Are you another Loke, Newbie? The name is Jenny Realight, by the way.”

“Lucian Zagan. It’s nice to meet you, Jenny. And I wouldn’t compare myself to Loke. My standards are higher. I only flirt with the best of the best!” I replied confidently.

Hey, I’m an attractive Devil aiming for the top. Beautiful women are part of the package.

“Heh, I like you!” she chuckled, a pleasant smile grazing her face.

At that moment, the door to the Guild flew open with a loud crash.

“Seems like Natsu is back,” Jenny commented as she looked toward the newcomer.

A pink-haired young man stormed into the Guild Hall, followed by a blue cat and a cute-looking blonde-haired woman.

“WE’RE HOME!”

So, it’s finally time for me to meet the Main Characters. Natsu, Lucy, and Happy!

“Natsu, Happy, welcome back!” Mira greeted them kindly from behind the Bar.

Wait, what about Lucy? Why is Mira ignoring her?

The moment Natsu stepped into the Guild Hall, the entire atmosphere became more lively. A guy with buckteeth outright chuckled as he exclaimed, “You overdid it again! I read about the destruction you caused in Hargeon in the newspa—”

But before he could even finish his sentence, Natsu’s foot landed in his face.

“You bastard! That info you gave me about the Salamander was fake!”

“My... Now that Natsu is back, the Guild Hall will probably just get destroyed again,” Mira commented with a serene smile.

Eh!? That scene, that’s right from the start of the Manga. But the order is completely wrong.

“Here they go again,” Jenny sighed from beside me.

Next, the entire situation escalated into a guild-wide brawl. Again.

Meanwhile, Lucy watched the entire scene in awe as one important Fairy Tail Guild Member after another joined the brawl. First Gray, then Elfman, Loke, Cana, and so on.

Eventually, after barely surviving the brawl, Lucy somehow ended up in front of us.

“What is with this place... None of them is normal.”

“My... A newcomer!” Mirajane greeted her with a friendly smile.

“Mi-Mirajane, the real one!” Lucy started gushing as soon as she noticed her. Then her eyes fell on Jenny. “And Jenny! Both Miss Fairy Tails are here together!”

Meanwhile, I could clearly see it—or rather, the lack of it.

There is no Guild Mark on the back of her hand!

Yep, that confirms it. Lucy isn’t part of Fairy Tail yet.

Then who is the other Celestial Spirit Mage Mirajane mentioned?

“Shouldn’t you stop them?” Lucy asked Mira while pointing at the group brawl going on in the Guild Hall.

Mira replied as if it were the most normal thing in the World, “It happens all the time! You don’t have to worry.”

I barely managed to snatch away a bottle of alcohol that almost hit her on the head.

“Yeah, Newbie, better get used to it. That also happens all the time,” I said, holding up the bottle before placing it on the Counter.

“Thanks, Lucian. So kind of you. That’s already the second time you’ve saved me.”

“No problem.”

Just then, the brawl was about to escalate into a full-on Magic Fight when a powerful presence cut through the chaos.

“WOULD YOU FOOLS CUT IT OUT ALREADY!”

Everyone stopped as silence spread throughout the Guild Hall.

Well, almost everyone.

“Dahaha, all of you got scared,” Natsu crackled. “This fight is my w—”

Chomp.

Before he could finish, a giant foot belonging to a man the size of a mountain came stomping down on him.

“Oh, Master, you’re back,” Mira greeted him.

“Hmm?” The Giant turned toward the Bar, scaring the shit out of Lucy. “Newcomers?”

Before long, he began shrinking down into the tiny form of the Fairy Tail Guild Master, Makarov. He gave us a friendly wave.

“Nice to meet’cha!”

“Nice to meet you too, Master.” I nodded. “My name is Lucian Zagan. While we haven’t met yet, I already joined and completed a Job. She is newer.” I pointed toward Lucy.

He gave me an appraising look.

“Good lad.” He nodded before hopping onto the railing of the Second Floor. His arm and hand expanded as he pulled himself up, since his jump hadn’t quite been enough.

Facing the Guild Members below, he shouted, “You’ve done it again, you bunch of fools!”

Shaking a large stack of Paper above his head, he continued, “Look at all that paperwork the Council sent me!”

“Gray, good job sweeping out that Smuggler’s Organization. But you walked through the Town naked afterward and ran away after stealing underwear that was being dried!”

“Wouldn’t it be worse if I stayed naked?”

Okay, this shit is hilarious!

“Elfman, you had an Escort Mission, yet you assaulted your VIP!”

“He said, ‘Men are all about education...’”

That’s the way. Fuck education!

"Jenny, instigating drama amongst your competition so they would drop out."

"They shouldn't have tried to take my job..."

Sounds like Cat Fight.

“Cana Alberona, drinking fifteen barrels of alcohol and then charging it to the Magic Council!”

“They found out...”

Now I feel like a bad Member of Fairy Tail. I clearly should have robbed Everlue.

“Loke, flirting with Council Member Reiji’s granddaughter. And a certain Talent Agency charged us for damage compensation.”

What Talent Agency are we talking about here?

“...and Natsu, destroying the Devon Thief Family together with seven buildings around them belonging to innocent Townsfolk. Leveling a historical Clock Tower in Tully Village. Burning down a Church in Freesia. Damaging parts of Lupinus Castle. Nazuna Ravine’s Observatory collapsed and thus stopped operating. Destroying half of Hargeon’s Port...”

Half the shit got caused by Natsu alone...

“Guys, the Council Members are mad at me all the time.”

Everyone in the Guild Hall looked downtrodden and guilty. They even avoided eye contact with the Guild Master.

“That being said... To hell with the Council!”

The stack of Papers in his hand ignited before he tossed them off the balcony. Natsu immediately reacted, jumping up to catch them with his mouth and eating up the flames.

“Listen up! Magic is not a miracle. One must have a strong mind, heart, and indomitable will to keep going. If all we worry about are the rules, our Magic will stagnate! Don’t fear the foolish Council! Follow the Path you believe in!”

“That’s the way of Fairy Tail!” Makarov exclaimed, causing a thunderous roar of cheers throughout the entire Guild Hall as everyone raised a finger. It was enough to raise the morale of the entire Guild.

That’s Fairy Tail for ya.

———

“You are a Celestial Spirit Mage too?” Mirajane asked after giving Lucy her pink Guild Mark on the back of her hand.

“Yes, there are others in the Guild?” Lucy asked with interest.

“There are.” Makarov nodded from his spot on the Bar Counter, having listened in on Lucy’s recruitment.

“Can I meet them?”

“She’s out on a Job with her Sister right now,” the Guild Master replied, making me even more confused.

Nobody comes to mind. Maybe she’s an OC? But with how much fictional knowledge is crammed into my mind, it’s hard to keep track of every side Character. And I seem to have consumed Fairy Tail rather casually in my past life.

I don’t even remember many Episodes. Probably because of how much filler there was. But even my Manga knowledge is incomplete. I took some breaks, didn’t continue from there, and just skimmed through some Chapters.

Still, I know the important Stuff, even about the Sequel, Hundred Year Quest.

“Lucian is one too!” Mira added happily, and the busty blonde immediately whirled around to me with interest.

“You are? What Keys do you have?” Lucy asked eagerly.

“It’s my secondary Magic since my main one is less Combat-Oriented,” I explained while pulling out my relatively filled Key Chain. At this point, I had eight Keys: five Copper, two Silver, and even a Golden one.

Instantly, Lucy looked at my Keys with childlike curiosity.

“Oh, you got a Golden Key! That’s Virgo the Maiden. And you got Pegasus and Corvus too! I heard Corvus is the best Spirit for spying and assassinations! Then two Sagitta’s, a Canis Minor, and Crater. I got three Golden Keys myself: Aquarius, Taurus, and Cancer. Besides that, I got a Canis Minor too, a Crux, Horologium, Lyra, Pyxis, and Lupus. What’s Virgo like?”

That checks out pretty well with Canon Knowledge, besides Lupus the Wolf. That one didn’t appear in the Show.

“Ugh... I only just got the Key from a Job and haven’t formed a Contract yet. Honestly, I’m not sure if I will.” I admitted while remembering her from my encounter in Duke Everlue’s Mansion. “Let’s say her last Summoner made her assume a rather traumatic form.”

Lucy blinked at me in disbelief.

“How bad could it be that you wouldn’t want to form a Contract with one of the Zodiacs?”

“Imagine an ugly, fat gorilla in a Maid Dress trying to beat you up... but that’s not the Main Reason why I’m still debating whether I’ll form a Contract with her. She might be wasted on me. There’s something I have to try out first before I can decide for sure.” Yes, there’s an important question about Celestial Spirits in general that I need to answer first.

“Wait, are you suggesting you want to sell her? How much?” Lucy immediately asked with intense interest.

“I said I have to confirm something first. And even at a discounted Friend-and-Family Price, since we’re both Guild Members, it will be at least three Million Jewels.” That’s slightly below the Price my Merchant Ability suggests. And that’s only because I want to score some brownie Points with a hot Chick, and I pretty much stole it from her by taking the Job first.

It would have been her Key in the first place.

“Three Million!?”

“It’s a Golden Key. There’s only one of each in the World. I already gave you a cheaper price.” I shrugged casually, knowing full well that she couldn’t afford it.

And I don’t want to sell it yet.

“I can sell you a Sagitta. I just got a second one. For 40,000 Jewels, which is a good 10,000 Jewel discount compared to a Magic Store,” I offered easily.

Lucy is hot, and I prefer having a good Relationship with the Main Heroine. She’s also probably the Person I’ll be offloading my Spirit Keys to if my concern turns out to be valid. Or maybe that mysterious other Celestial Spirit Mage the Guild has.

“Deal!” She immediately agreed, pulling out her Purse and handing over the Money before I gave her the Key.

“Nice doing Business with you.” After a moment of thought, four more Keys appeared in my Hand. These were also golden in color, but much shinier. “Here, have one of these too. You too, Master, Mira, and Jenny.”

“Hmm, what kind of Key is that?” Makarov asked as he took one of the Keys from me. “I can feel some form of Space Magic on them, but it isn’t Celestial Spirit Magic.”

“Quite the sharp senses, Master.” I nodded. “They belong to my Main Magic. These Keys can be put into any Door and will connect to my Store instead. While my Store isn’t open yet, you can use one in an emergency if you need a quick escape.”

“That’s interesting. So it is a Spatial Magic?”

“Not really. My Magic is called Merchant Magic. It gives me Spells related to Merchants, ranging pretty much from exchanging Currency to allowing me to trade and purchase conceptual things. For example, if I had enough Money, I could learn any Magic I wanted right at this Moment.”

“That can’t be true, can it?” Jenny asked in disbelief from beside me.

“It is, but the price is steep. It’s cheaper if I negotiate with someone directly. For example, I could buy your Take Over: Machina Soul Magic from you if you agreed to some form of deal with me. You would then lose all knowledge of that Magic, and I would gain a Potion like this.” I pulled the Bottle of Earth Magic: Diving out of my bag, having already drunk the Celestial Spirit Magic Potion myself.

“It’s just a bottle with some brown liquid.”

“This contains an Intermediate Level of Mastery over Earth Magic: Diving. Anyone drinking it would gain that level of Mastery over the Magic. Duke Everlue was so friendly as to hand over his Knowledge of Magic to me after turning out to be quite the Criminal.”

“Wait, you took a Criminal’s Magic in exchange for letting him go?” Makarov picked up on the implications, his eyes narrowing at me.

“No, he handed his Magic over to me so I wouldn’t personally go to the Rune Knights. That Deal doesn’t include my Client, the son of one of his Victims, who directly received the Proof from me.” I shrugged. “Anyways, I can basically buy and sell Magic, among other things. If I do it through negotiations with a Person who directly owns such Knowledge, I get it a lot cheaper than otherwise.”

This time, Lucy asked, “And otherwise means?”

“I guess from the World or something? I’m not sure where the Stuff I can buy actually comes from. But it’s a lot more expensive than through direct negotiations. For example, I could buy Take Over: Machina Soul Magic directly. But even a Beginner Level of understanding starts in the Billions of Jewels, depending on which Machina Soul it uses.”

“Billions!? That is insane!” the Blonde Celestial Spirit Mage cried out in shock.

Such a price is even hard for S-Rank Mages to afford.

“Sounds like you need a lot of Money, lad!” Makarov laughed. “Even with our Guild funds, we could barely afford such Magic.”

“Well, Machina Soul, like Demon Soul, is a rare form of Take Over Magic. Something like Dragon Soul is even more expensive! While Animal Soul and Beast Soul start in the range of Millions. So do most Common Magics. The cheapest Stuff is something like Dancer Magic and other very limited Spells, and those still go for over a hundred thousand. You have to remember that you’re directly buying Knowledge that would take you Years to acquire through study and training. I can even buy Items too.”

Makarov nodded thoughtfully. “Hmm, maybe the price is so high because you don’t take it from nowhere. Instead, you purchase it from someone, somewhere in the World, for the lowest Price acceptable to them. Obviously, something that is more Common is cheaper to acquire.”

That makes sense. I hadn’t thought of it like that. It’s just an aspect of my Merchant Ability that I discovered earlier today. There isn’t exactly a manual for it.

“That could be it. After all, I can buy information like the locations of different things too. And that is far cheaper than buying the things directly!” I nodded in understanding.

“Your Magic is very powerful. Be careful who you tell about it,” Makarov warned me.

“I know.” I nodded in easy agreement. “So, anyone interested in Intermediate Level Mastery of Earth Magic: Diving? No? Well, if you change your mind, I’ll have it in my Store.”

“Will Magic go for the same Prices it would take you to acquire them?” Mirajane asked.

“Depends. If you want me to purchase some Magic for you, then yes, with a commission on top. Magic I acquire through other Methods, like this one, will be priced fairly based on how difficult it was to acquire, plus a slight Profit for me.”

[-- End of Chapter --]