Fairy Tail: Igneel's eldest son in Anime Multiverse

At dawn, Stella had just finished washing up and was brushing her hair in front of the mirror. She then struck a cheerful, energetic pose to psych herself up before heading out.

From under the covers of the bed, Kusakabe Kagami poked her head out. School hadn't officially started yet, so there wasn't much newsworthy going on for her to report.

The most pressing issue…

Kagami grabbed the alarm clock beside her. It wasn't even five in the morning.

As a fellow girl, she honestly had to admire Stella's willpower—the kind that could sacrifice beauty sleep without a second thought.

"I say, Stella… are you gonna keep heading out this early every day?" Kagami yawned as she spoke.

Hands on her hips, Stella replied, "Of course! If people stronger than me are working hard, then I have no excuse to slack off!"

Kagami gave a mischievous grin. "I see, I see… So you're working so hard because of someone else, huh? I smell a scoop!"

Stella's face flushed bright red. She waved her hands frantically at thin air. "What are you talking about, Kagami?! There's nothing like that between us!"

Kagami had only meant to tease her a little, but Stella's reaction practically confirmed her suspicions. Her journalistic instincts flared to life—there was definitely something going on here.

Sitting up with renewed energy, Kagami grinned like a cat who'd cornered her prey. "Oh my\~? And just who is this 'us' you're referring to?

You only just got here yesterday, so you can't know many people yet. Don't tell me it's—!"

Steam practically shot out of Stella's head. "Don't jump to conclusions! I'm leaving!"

Not sparing Kagami another glance, Stella turned and bolted out the door.

Kagami rubbed her chin, grinning deviously. This little princess turned out to be unexpectedly pure-hearted. Judging from that reaction alone, she could practically read the girl's entire thought process. This was going to be a juicy story.

The sun had barely risen above the horizon, yet its rays were already brushing against Stella's face.

She squinted against the light, trying to calm the inexplicable anxiety bubbling in her chest.

"It's all Kagami's fault… She always says the weirdest things in that creepy tone…"

At sixteen years old, Stella didn't yet understand the strange emotions swelling in her heart. Without anyone teaching her, she'd already started instinctively lying to herself.

She patted her cheeks to cool the heat in them and took a deep breath before heading toward the forest clearing where she'd agreed to meet Charles.

The Bujin Academy campus was massive—so much so that it even had a small forest near the main school building.

Charles had noticed the forest the moment he'd arrived yesterday, and had chosen a clearing within it as the training location.

Walking along the forest path, Stella soon heard Charles's voice up ahead.

Before approaching, she checked her appearance one last time to make sure nothing was out of place.

But when Charles came into view… so did someone else.

He waved. "Oh, you're here, Stella-san!"

As Stella approached, her gaze immediately locked onto the "third party" with visible displeasure.

The strange tension in the air left Charles confused. Nevertheless, he introduced them:

"You two probably know of each other already, but let me make it official.

This is Kurogane Ikki, my roommate. Yesterday, when I mentioned I'd be training with Stella-san, he said he also has a regular training routine in the mornings. So I invited him to join us."

Indeed, the black-tech miracle of the regeneration pod had worked wonders. Despite being badly injured yesterday, Ikki had fully recovered by nightfall. By dinner, he was back to normal.

Charles had seen him training first thing in the morning, and figured it was a good idea to invite him along.

Ikki was happy to accept—but he hadn't expected Stella's reaction to be so… hostile.

Charles continued. "No need to introduce Stella-san, right?"

Ikki nodded. "Of course. I doubt there's a single person on campus who doesn't know the Crimson Princess. But… did I do something to upset you, Stella-san?"

Ikki wasn't being defensive—he genuinely didn't understand. All morning, she'd been shooting him looks that weren't quite unfriendly, but definitely not warm either.

He'd experienced plenty of overt malice in his life, but Stella's reaction was… different. More like she felt he was getting in her way.

Ever forgiving, Ikki's first instinct was to assume the problem lay with him.

Stella forced herself to calm down, realizing her attitude had been unfair.

"It's not your fault, Kurogane-san. I'm just cranky from a lack of sleep."

Charles's eyes lit up in realization. "Ah, I see! Well, we can always start training later. Rest is important too."

Not wanting Charles to think she was some dainty princess, Stella quickly countered, "No, it's fine! I'll get used to it soon."

Ikki watched quietly. Something about the exchange didn't sit right with him—Stella's excuse was obviously a lie. But he wasn't tactless enough to call her out on it.

What really surprised him was Charles. Despite being so sharp in battle, he completely fell for Stella's excuse. Apparently, he was surprisingly oblivious in matters outside of combat.

He really had no room to talk, considering he'd once told Asta not to pick up habits from Yami. And yet here he was, barely doing any better himself.

With the awkwardness cleared, training officially began.

Charles looked at the two of them seriously. "I hope this doesn't sound rude, but both of you have been ignoring a critical weakness.

It's not something innate like magic capacity or your abilities—it's something you can absolutely train. If you work on this, both of you will grow much stronger.

That thing… is magic control."

"Magic control?" Stella and Ikki blinked in unison.

Charles nodded. "That's right. Your control over magic is way too crude."

Their respective magic capacities were polar opposites, yet their control over it was equally underdeveloped.

Ikki's magic was so scarce that no matter how carefully he used it, it would run out quickly.

Stella, on the other hand, had so much that she'd never been forced to control it carefully—what others called 'wasteful,' she barely noticed.

Charles could only sigh.

"You two are viewing magic control too narrowly. It's not just about saving magic when using abilities!"

Words alone weren't enough. Charles held out both palms, conjuring a flame in each.

Both looked identical—until the flame in his left hand began compressing.

Its color shifted from orange to deep red, then crossed a threshold into an eerie, dangerous-looking blue.

Stella and Ikki could both sense it: despite using the same amount of magic, the blue flame was exponentially more powerful.

"Compressed magic. That's just one application of better control.

If Ikki had better control, his 'Itto Shura' technique wouldn't leak magic—he could make it last longer.

And Stella… with finer control, even your normal moves could pack the same punch as a finishing move."

Both of them stared, eyes full of determination.

Charles had hit the nail right on the head—they knew it, and now they knew what they had to improve.

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