The moment everyone made their entrance, they began demonstrating their Magic amid the children's excited cheers.
Raizel activated [Take Over: Examon.], Kurnugi returned to his dragon form, Mira transformed with her full-body Flame Demon Take Over, and Erza Requipped into her Ink Dragon Armor before soaring into the sky.
"DRAGONS!!!"
The children excitedly pointed toward Raizel and Kurnugi circling overhead.
Examon's enormous frame was imposing enough on its own, and with his massive lance in hand, the pressure radiating from him was impossible to ignore.
Kurnugi was covered from head to toe in blade-like protrusions, while his pale golden body gleamed brilliantly beneath the sunlight.
If the goal was to grab attention, he was doing an excellent job.
Even Mira and Erza's forms contained distinctly draconic elements.
Mira's right arm bore armor shaped like half a dragon's head, while dragon-head motifs decorated Erza's shoulder armor.
The children's shouting only made Kurnugi more excited.
He let out a roar, then swooped low over the students, passing directly above their heads and sending a gust of wind through the crowd that left everyone's hair in complete disarray.
Raizel was considerably less interested in showing off.
He simply beat Examon's wings and hovered above the stage long enough for the children to get a clear look at him.
Ultear casually demonstrated Arc of Time, accelerating a seed until it sprouted, grew, and became a towering tree before everyone's eyes.
Kagura followed with Gravity Magic.
More specifically—Anti-Gravity.
The children suddenly floated off the ground, allowing them to experience what it felt like to fly.
"This is so fun!!!"
Wendy and Sherria joined forces next, combining the surging winds of Sky Dragon Slayer Magic with the power of Sky God Slayer Magic.
Juvia and Gray demonstrated water and ice together, one using Water-Make while the other shaped Ice-Make creations beside her.
Lucy opened three Celestial Spirit Gates simultaneously, summoning Capricorn, Cancer, and Sagittarius. Loki, meanwhile, simply appeared using his own Magic Power as usual.
Cana conjured a bow and arrows before summoning a black panther through her Card Magic.
Natsu and Laxus were even more direct.
They wrapped their arms in fire and lightning respectively and immediately started fighting each other with Dragon Slayer Magic.
To spare Natsu the embarrassment of being knocked out in front of an entire school of children, Laxus graciously held back a little.
Jura and Richard also gave demonstrations of their respective abilities, showing the children the contrast between unyielding stone and flexible earth.
The sheer variety of Magic on display was overwhelming.
Colorful spells erupted everywhere the children looked, leaving them struggling to decide what to watch first.
Jellal and Meredy continuously explained the different forms of Magic being demonstrated.
"That is Take Over Magic."
"Erza is using Instant Requip."
"That one is Arc of Time."
"Ice-Make."
"Dragon Slayer Magic."
"Celestial Spirit Magic."
"And that is Card Magic."
One child immediately raised a hand.
"Which kind of Magic is the strongest?!"
Jellal shook his head and patiently explained.
"The modern magical system on this continent can broadly be divided into two categories: Caster Magic and Holder Magic. Each category contains countless different types of Magic."
"But stronger Magic isn't automatically better."
"What matters is finding a type of Magic that suits you, then continuing to develop it as far as you can."
That was genuinely important.
Grand Magic was undeniably powerful, but many Grand Magic spells required lengthy preparation.
Fairy Glitter, for example, possessed absurd destructive power, but its casting process could leave the user exposed long enough that allies were often needed to buy time.
In a solo battle, there were plenty of situations where Fairy Glitter simply was not practical.
Jellal used Erza as another example because she was almost the perfect illustration of his point.
Strictly speaking, Erza's Magic was simply Requip.
However, her compatibility with Requip was so exceptional that she could switch equipment at speeds ordinary Mages could never hope to achieve.
Through that talent and years of refinement, her Requip had developed into what people now recognized as Instant Requip.
Learning Requip Magic did not mean someone would automatically become capable of what Erza could do.
The children were still too young to fully understand the lesson, but with time and study, they eventually would.
For now, many of them simply turned curious and admiring eyes toward Erza.
Under all that attention, Erza proudly planted her hands on her hips.
Crocus Magic Academy did not place much emphasis on rigid hierarchy.
There were several Mage instructors employed at the school, but even they did not normally address Jellal as "Headmaster" or "Principal."
They simply called him "Teacher," like everyone else.
Jellal and Meredy occasionally taught classes themselves, after all.
Of course, whenever either of them actually gave a lesson, it tended to become the sort of large public lecture that half the academy attended.
After spending some time as surprise guests and using their own abilities to introduce the children to various kinds of Magic, the students finally had to return to their classrooms for proper lessons.
That gave Jellal the perfect opportunity to show Raizel's group around the campus.
He opened the library doors with a hint of pride.
"This library contains copies of many introductory educational texts, along with books covering a wide variety of Caster and Holder Magic. We obtained them from both the Sabertooth Grand Library and the Magic Council headquarters."
"I wouldn't say there are many exceptionally powerful spells here, but for students at their current level, this collection is more than sufficient."
Jellal intended for Crocus Magic Academy to maintain close connections with both the Magic Council and the major Mage guilds throughout the Kingdom of Fiore.
The idea was to give students good options once they graduated.
Children who already had family connections or somewhere specific to go were another matter, but for everyone else, the academy hoped to provide a path toward future employment or guild membership.
Meredy suddenly looked toward Sherria and smiled.
"Oh, that reminds me. We even have God Slayer Magic here."
Sherria's eyes lit up.
The Magic Council's archives contained five different schools of God Slayer Magic—
Fire, Wind, Lightning, Ice, and Rock.
Jellal had copied the portions of those records that did not include their Secret Arts and brought them to the academy.
If a student someday managed to learn one of those five God Slayer Magics successfully, as Sherria had with Sky God Slayer Magic, then Jellal would obtain and provide the complete version for that student to continue studying.
Of course, finding a child with that level of aptitude would probably be a one-in-ten-thousand occurrence.
After seeing the tiered lecture halls and spacious, brightly lit classrooms—and then hearing that the academy even taught God Slayer Magic—Sherria was practically bouncing with excitement.
"This place is so nice I almost want to enroll myself!"
Lucy immediately shot her down.
"You already have more than enough books at the guild. Forget it. If you enrolled here, you'd basically be smurfing against a bunch of beginners."
She had a point.
Sherria was someone who had taught herself God Slayer Magic.
Besides, even she could only properly learn a single form of God Slayer Magic.
She could not simply pick up several different God Slayer elements and study all of them at once.
Sherria winked and stuck out her tongue.
"Fair enough. Fairy Tail is probably better for me anyway."
Then she added cheerfully,
"And honestly, I don't really like studying that much."
She loved Magic.
Studying was another matter entirely.
Ultear flipped through several books before asking,
"What exactly do you teach here?"
Sorano made a thoughtful sound.
"Mm... The curriculum isn't completely fixed, but generally it includes physical conditioning, meditation, close-combat training, magical techniques, regulated dueling, and outdoor combat across different terrain."
Kagura looked mildly surprised.
"That many subjects? Wouldn't you need quite a large teaching staff?"
Sorano shook her head.
"It's manageable. The academy currently has three full-time instructors, and with the rest of us plus Mr. Jura helping out, we have enough people for now."
Mira raised one finger as an idea occurred to her.
"Actually, Anna-san's private school could probably cooperate with your academy. If she finds any especially promising students there, she could send them here later."
Anna's school in Magnolia did not charge tuition and primarily cared for and educated orphans.
Previously, if one of those children showed exceptional magical potential, their best option had been to find a suitable mentor through Fairy Tail.
Now Crocus Magic Academy offered another excellent path.
Jellal nodded.
"That's a good idea. I'll contact Anna-san and discuss it with her."