Alzack thought for a while. "If I had to name something, I heard that demons once appeared in the north. And somewhere to the west there's a region inhabited by a people called the Machias."
That was Zeref's territory, so demons made sense. The Machias, though, were new to Rhodes.
"What are the Machias like?"
"Automatons made entirely of metal, more or less. Some have obvious mechanical features and move with a certain stiffness. Others look completely human at first glance. They aren't puppets controlled by anyone.
They have lives of their own, their own thoughts, and they can use magic." Alzack paused. "Actually, they remind me a little of Jenny from Blue Pegasus. Specifically her Take Over Magic. I just don't know how strong a Machias's magic tends to be."
That gave Rhodes a clear enough picture.
So Jenny's Machina Soul Take Over might have some actual connection to the Machias. Could machines genuinely possess a Machina Soul?
He filed the thought away. After a little more time, Alzack and Bisca managed to surface one more fragment, a vague legend about someone called the Reaper, but after that the well ran dry.
"We'll let you know if anything else comes back to us," Alzack offered.
"That works. Now go get changed. You're swimming. I'll have Asuka cheer you on."
Alzack and Bisca stared at him.
Was he serious? They had just handed over everything they knew and they were still being punished?
Rhodes was not entirely heartless. Given that the two of them had only just returned from a trip, he cut their distance to half of what everyone else had swum.
The group on the bank, still exhausted from their own laps, watched the couple suffer through it and appeared to experience a remarkable second wind. They borrowed Rhodes's lines from earlier, adjusted them slightly, and directed every one of them at Alzack with great enthusiasm.
By the time the group doing extra training with Erza made it back, Alzack and Bisca had pulled themselves ashore to Asuka's cheering.
Everyone sat down together for dinner at the guild.
Afterward, Rhodes looked around the hall. "There's still some time before rest. Since we have nothing pressing, how about Mirajane sings us something?"
The response was immediate.
"Yes!"
"It's been so long since we heard her sing!"
"My singing is just as good, and I happen to have a new song ready"
"Mirajane! Mirajane!"
Something seemed to get mixed into the cheering toward the end, but the room ignored it by unanimous unspoken agreement. Why would anyone choose the sound of scrap metal grinding together over a voice like hers?
Mirajane stepped graciously onto the small stage to a wave of anticipation and began singing a cappella, no accompaniment at all.
"Her voice is as beautiful as ever, I" Lucy had barely finished appreciating the first line when her eyelids turned to lead. Her body swayed. Her eyes drifted shut. She was about to fold onto the table.
Then something hit her squarely on top of the head.
"Ow!" She jolted awake and turned just in time to catch Rhodes's silhouette streaking past as he delivered the same treatment to Levy, who had been drooping beside her.
"That hurts!" Levy clutched her head and let out a cry almost identical to Lucy's. By the time she looked up to find the culprit, Rhodes had already crossed the room and flicked Wendy on the forehead.
Wendy pressed both hands to her forehead with tears forming in her eyes, and watched in real time as Carla received the same.
After that, Rhodes moved through the crowd like smoke, working his way from one drowsy head to the next, human and cat alike.
"That actually hurts!"
"Why are you hitting people out of nowhere?"
The hall dissolved into chaos.
Erza turned to the stage with a puzzled frown. "Mirajane, why are you using Sleep Magic right now?"
Mirajane paused her singing and smiled pleasantly. "Because this is also part of Rhodes's training plan."
Erza drew her sword and brought it down in a single clean stroke, opening a crack in the floorboards that ran from the middle of the crowd all the way to the door. The hall went quiet.
She considered for a moment. "Is this the Mental Tempering listed on the training schedule?"
"Correct," Rhodes confirmed. "Everyone just finished heavy physical training and had a full meal. That's exactly when the body wants most to shut down. Add a little assistance from Mirajane and falling asleep becomes almost effortless. What you need to do now is hold that off through sheer willpower.
Mirajane isn't using her full power, and she isn't transforming into anything. You should, in theory, be capable of resisting. As for the penalty for falling asleep."
He raised his fist and smiled pleasantly. "Did anyone feel that was too light just now?"
Before the grumbling could fully begin, Lucy spoke up first, right on schedule. "How could anyone think that was light? That was more than enough already!"
Rhodes brightened. "Wonderful. Since everyone is in agreement, let's continue!"
When did we accept anything? The entire hall went still for a moment. Every head turned slowly toward Lucy.
Lucy said nothing.
She wanted to apologize, but even that felt too dangerous now. She pressed both hands over her mouth and quietly sat back down.
"An interesting training method." Erza had already claimed a seat in the front row, expression sharp with focus. "Let's do it."
Seeing Erza treat it with complete seriousness, the rest of the guild had little choice but to resign themselves and get ready.
Happy rubbed his sore head with one paw, and the moment he saw Mirajane drawing breath to start again, he dropped both paws to his sides and began desperately propping his eyelids open.
The singing resumed. Beneath it, the sounds of thuds and yelps rose and fell at irregular intervals. More than one person ended the session with a noticeable lump on their head. By Rhodes's estimation, the average height of the guild was set to increase by roughly one centimeter today.
Wendy, unfortunately, missed out on the benefit entirely. Rhodes had flicked her forehead rather than rapped the top of her head.
Truly unconscionable.
The good times came to an end when Mirajane finished her song. Rhodes spoke up before anyone could organize their thoughts into revenge.
"Time's up. While you're still settled, sit properly and meditate however suits you best."
It was part of the training, and Rhodes said it with enough gravity that everyone swallowed their grievances and complied. This much was basic to any mage. Even Natsu, who had little patience for anything that didn't involve hitting something, knew what to do.
Makarov watched the uncharacteristically quiet hall and felt faintly out of place.
"Is this your method?" he asked, keeping his voice low.
Rhodes glanced at him. "Didn't I show you the plan beforehand?"
Makarov looked away. "Ahem. I was simply confirming."
He had absolutely not read it. Rhodes couldn't be bothered to say so.
"Whether the body or the will is being trained, magical power grows as a natural result. The problem is that one or two days of training produce changes too small for most people to notice on their own, and that leads to complacency. According to what the research into Second Origin calls the Container Theory, adding meditation directly after pushing the body and spirit makes the difference far easier to perceive. In plain terms, the positive feedback becomes more immediate, and that lifts the mood. Magic is rooted in the heart, so it responds to emotional state. The overall effect of the training improves as a result. That is the core principle the entire plan is built on. The specific sessions will shift as we go, but the underlying approach to growing everyone's magical power stays the same."
Makarov nodded slowly. "I see."
It wasn't that the knowledge was beyond him. It was simply something he had never had reason to consider. Makarov had been born with extraordinary aptitude. In his entire life, insufficient magical power had never once been a genuine concern.
And so he had never thought to study how one might deliberately increase it.
"Magic power?" he said, half to himself. "Doesn't that sort of thing just go up on its own if you eat well and sleep enough?"