Mira pushed open the door, drying her hair with a towel as she said, "I'm done with my shower."
"Mm." Rhode was engrossed in reading and responded absentmindedly.
Mira paused her actions, glancing at Rhode's profile, feeling something was off. Wasn't his reaction unusual?
Could it be... the fabled seven-year itch?!
Although they hadn't held a wedding yet, tallying up the time, it had indeed been seven years since they got together!
As she thought about it, Mira herself laughed it off. How could such a thing be possible?
She moved close to Rhode and intentionally pressed her damp hair against his face.
"Hmm..." Rhode smiled and avoided it, then directly pulled her onto his lap, holding her with one hand while the other pressed the book spread open on the table.
This degree of intimacy was nothing unusual. Once Mira settled down, she continued to tidy her hair and glanced at the book, "What are you reading so seriously?"
Rhode casually joked, "This contains a supreme martial art. Once mastered, it can unblock your body's channels and make you unparalleled."
Mira playfully kicked Rhode's shin with her bare heel, complaining, "Speak human language."
"Basically, it's as I just described." Rhode pointed out the highlights for her to see, "It's this year's latest research breakthrough in the Magic Realm—the 'Second Magic Source'."
"Second Magic Source?"
"Simply put, if you consider a mage's body as a vessel for Magic Power, then the capacity of that vessel should be our Magic Power's upper limit.
"And within that vessel, there's a considerable amount of space that is often unused, representing the untapped potential each person possesses.
"If we can utilize that space, it's like creating a second vessel within the body, thereby increasing the Magic Power.
"Scholars in the Magic Realm refer to this part of the vessel as the Second Magic Source."
Mira's eyes lit up, and her body squirmed a little, "So, to solve my problem with severe Magic depletion, the best short-term solution is to develop my Second Magic Source?"
"Yes, and compared to the already well-trained 'First Magic Source,' this undeveloped Second Magic Source, once activated, will see rapid improvement over a considerable period of time."
Feeling something familiar, Mira playfully slapped Rhode's arm, "Stop joking around; we're discussing serious matters here."
"Who told you to move around?" Rhode adjusted his posture and continued,
"Once the Second Magic Source was discovered, it was immediately made public, including the theory and the best known activation methods written here. Many mages have already verified its effectiveness."
Mira said happily, "In that case, won't everyone be able to quickly close the gap with the current era? Hmm... you haven't already activated it, have you?"
"Perhaps, it's not just me; the President, Kildas, Laxus, and maybe you and Erza have also activated it, just without conscious training, so there's still quite a bit of room for improvement in the short term."
"Does it say how to determine if it's been activated?" Mira reached out to flip the book's pages, leaning forward, causing her towel to loosen more and more.
Rhode, who had tolerated her long enough, directly lifted her and tossed her onto the bed, "No need for such trouble, I'll help you check."
"Ah..."
After a thorough, detailed, and comprehensive examination, the two embraced and exchanged a few tender words.
The blush on Mira's face hadn't faded. She gently punched Rhode's chest and asked teasingly, "So, what did you find, Dr. Rhode?"
Rhode, in all seriousness, held her tightly, "It's quite likely it's already activated, but since it's such an important matter, I think we need to carefully review it again."
"You rogue!" Mira pushed against his shoulder in mock rejection, but soon loosened her grip, burying her head into his embrace, "Let's wait a little longer."
Rhode patted her head and pondered, "Alright, but I can't wait for nothing."
Mira's voice was muffled, "What else do you want?"
Rhode whispered in her ear, "Can you bring out that tail from earlier today?"
"..."
The next morning, Teacher Luo held a class directly at their home.
He mainly introduced the concept of the Second Magic Source to Elfman and Lisana, then assigned them reference books to diligently study.
Rhode and Mira decided to include their younger siblings in the formal training when they officially began concentrating on this.
After getting to the Guild, Rhode even compiled a summary on the bulletin board because the people in his Guild, who didn't like reading or paying attention to the news, weren't aware of it at all.
Reby was the second person to see the paper on the bulletin board not related to a quest, "Second Magic Source... Ah, I read about this yesterday and was planning to ask you."
"What's that?" Nabu, the first to see it, was clueless and needed Reby to explain it to him.
"Did you really train hard over the past six years?" Rhode stared at Nabu's beer belly, which showed no signs of workout success.
"Of course, I did!" Nabu answered with some guilt; although some trained diligently, he obviously wasn't one of them.
"In any case, those looking to quickly increase their Magic Power should gather some information on the topic and study it seriously," Rhode said. "If you have any questions, feel free to discuss them with me."
Even if there are issues everyone doesn't understand, Rhode felt confident that if he put his pride aside and asked for help, he could get one of the Ten Wizard Saints to come and teach them.
After all, Rhode had a bit of a reputation now.
The topic of the Second Magic Source sparked a small discussion within the Guild—Rhode hadn't misjudged them; these people really didn't pay attention to that kind of news.
Yet, when asked, they would assertively say that even if they had newspapers and magazines, they would only search for news about them and wouldn't bother about anything else.
With that said, Rhode remained silent.
He could only remember their goodwill and show them more 'consideration' later when actual training was involved.
For now, the matter was put on hold.
Because, for everyone, something more important was happening today.
Even before the agreed time, Yukino had already arrived at Fairy Tail.
Rhode greeted her, "Good morning, did you rest well?"
Yukino, still with little expression, softly replied, "Good morning, the inn you recommended, Lord Rhode, was very nice."
Mira still found Yukino pleasing to look at and warmly said, "Have you had breakfast yet? Our Guild has some great breakfast dishes that you must try."
Yukino hesitated a moment, but upon seeing Mira's smiling face, she nodded slightly, "Thank you, Lady Mirajane."
After breakfast, Rhode curiously asked a few questions about Sabertooth, which Yukino answered carefully.
As the time approached, Yukino stood up with a key, "Open up, Gate of the Libra Constellation!"