The guild was truly lively.
It always has been lively as long as anyone could remember, so it wasn't that surprising.
And today, it was no different.
"Alright brats! Let's celebrate our new recruit and soon to be s-class mage, Katherine Bishop!" Makarov stood on top of a counter and gave a cheer.
"OOOOOHHHHHH!" And like all celebrations, it was responded to many cheers and chugging of drinks.
"That was awesome! I didn't know the rookie could do that?"
"I know right? Not only is she cute, but she's also pretty strong like Ezra and Mirajane."
"Man. I still can't believe I lost that bet."
"No need to whine about it bro. You Lost. Nothing to do about it. Plus it's not the end of the world."
"You're right buddy. Let's drink up and celebrate for now. We can go for missions starting tomorrow."
"THAT'S THE SPIRIT! COME ON! LET'S DRINK UP!"
Anywhere she looks, Kate was the only topic everyone was discussing about. Wether it's about her strength, magic, similarities to Mira, or her most embarrassing, her looks. That made her feel so embarrassing, she wanted to do nothing but to hide.
'I can't believe I'm involved in this again.' she thought to herself as she remembered the first and only time she and Hinata attended a late night party. The place ended up being so chaotic in the end because of the other teens, that she swore to never go to any party ever again.
Who'll have thought, she'll have ended up in the same situation again. Even if another world.
'At least no one is looking.' she looked around before turning her attention at the system. "Draw." Her voice was a whisper, but the system heard it cause the panel was replaced by the familiar card once again swapping colors. After a while, the color settled on silver before swapping to reveal the character.
A petite, young woman of slender build and pale skin complexion, which sharply contrasts with her pink lipstick. Large eyes that lack pupils, with only a haze of gradient purple that blends with a lighter purple to a darker purple color at the bottom, along with white highlights on the upper irises, making her eyes appear similar to those of insects and are framed with black eyelashes.
She had raven-black wavy hair that fades into a dark purple hue at the ends, styled at the back of her head into a flat yakai-maki bun fastened with a white butterfly ornament with a light purple trim on the outer side of the wings, along with turquoise speckled spots. She had center-split, ear-length, voluminous curtain bangs that flow down to frame the sides of her face, with two slightly thinner chin-length locks of hair in front of her ears below them.
[Congratulations on gaining Shinobu Kocho. B-rank]
'Kocho huh? Gotta admit, didn't truly expect to gain her.' Not that she mind. Kate first got to know the sword woman from the movie 'Demon slayer: Infinity Castle', and after watching the fight against Douma, the only one word she could use to describe her style was 'beautiful'.
Even Douma, the the second strongest after the demon king ended up acknowledging her strength. And who wouldn't?
Despite her lack of strength, her speed, reflexes, agility and precision make up for her rank as one of the greatest swordmaster in anime history.
And combined with her endless rage, indomitable will, keen intellect, medical expertise and poisonous physiology, it's no wonder she was a warrior worth feared.
Sure, she's nowhere near Acier in ranking, but she's still got what it takes to handle the big boys.
'With this template, I'll be more than capable enough to handle those guys.' She got up, ready to go out to take some fresh air or perform her mission.
"Going already?" Makarov voice stopped her track. He wasn't looking at her, but his serious face was proof he wanted to have a serious conversation with her.
"Sorry gramps. I'm just not comfortable around parties. Plus I'm pennyless. I need money if I could afford at least a rent and a decent meal." She explained her reason, as honest as she can be. Though she didn't say anything about the real reason.
To get strong enough to defeat Zeref.
A plate of food was pushed towards her, cutesy of Mira. "Don't worry about meals. You can always get them on credit and pay back anytime." She told the newcomer.
"And besides, it's getting late. Why don't you stay at my place? Since I'm the owner, you don't have to pay any rent. And I get to spend more time with my sister. A win-win for both of us." Despite her friendly request, Kate couldn't help but feel uneasy at the thought of just staying with her. But despite all that, she's desperate for a place to sleep.
So she'll accept the request.
For now.
"Fairy tail always take care of each other. For us, we are nothing more than family." Makarov added before turning to look at Kate with a look of concern "So don't ever think of carrying any weight by yourself. Let us help." Kate didn't like where this was going.
"What do mean?" She asked.
Makarov just chuckled before answering "Your magic just recently awaken did it not? Which means that take over must have used a lot of your power."
Kate turned to look at him, wondering how he knew. But honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with knowing everything about magic.
"Yeah. It's true." She wasn't going to lie. Those gauntlet and boots costed almost her entire MP.
While it's true that the take over completely transform her to their prime, giving her complete mastery over their powers and abilities. It doesn't change much with their magic powers.
Simply put, each rank have their own power scaling based on their magical powers.
C-ranks power were generally on double units.
B-ranks powes were on threes, from 100 to 999.
The A-ranks were walking nukes. Between 1000 and 9999.
But the S-rank, they were the star bombs. 10000 MP going up.
And her MP were barely 130, barely enough to support b-ranks.
If it wasn't for Acier been able to hold back her magic power to two digits, Kate will have transformed back to herself before even casting her first spell.
Which means the only way to handle her power is to level up.
And that was only through missions.
Luckily, Kocho doesn't use magic. So unless otherwise, Kate can last much longer. But still.
"I just don't get what's so scary about those bandits. What are they? A big shot dark guild?" Kate wasn't asking out of arrogance. It's just that she doesn't see bandits being any stronger than mages.
"You are right. It's more complicated than you think." Makarov took one big chugg of his drink before setting it down. "About a year ago, a group of bandits were arrested by the runic knights. But it didn't lasted a week before they escaped, killed everyone, and stole some magic tools."
"The magic council tried to get back the bandits with the help of some guild, but any knight or mage that was sent to stop them is either dead, or has been mind controlled." Mirajane added. Feeling nothing but pity for the victims.
"And as if that wasn't troublesome enough, they always vanish into thin air when they're done. Hence where they got their name." Makarov finished with face grim.
"So they got a teleporting tool and a mind controlling tool. Yep, those two troublesome gadgets might be worth putting this mission as A-rank." Kate concluded after understanding the situation. For her, mind control and teleportation are the two superpowers she does not want to go against. As they are a pain to deal with.
"A-rank?" Makarov asked, confused.
"It's just my type of ranking I decided to setup. Makes level grading easier." Kate responded, to which Makarov nodded in understanding.
'I wonder how useful that ranking will be? I'll have to discuss it with her alongside the other guild masters in our next meeting about it. Which reminds me.' Makarov interrupted his thoughts when he remembered the reason for his visit. "We just got some new information about those bandits. And unfortunately, none of them are using magic tools capable of teleportation nor mind control."
Hearing that, Kate was confused. "Huh? Are you sure about that gramps?"
"Yes. Yajima confirmed it himself." Makarov solidified his claim, while Mira, upon hearing it, just accepted it as genuine. She knew Yajima was once a member of fairy tail. And ever since he became a council member, has been doing everything to help out the guild. So there was no reason to deceive them.
Kate, on the other hand, realized something else. "Wait! Are you saying that there are two mages among them using that kind of magic?"
"One actually." Makarov corrected her. "From Grimiore Heart: Zoldio."