"Ow! Ow! Ow!"
Charles rubbed his arm as he got up from the ground. That fall from the spatial rift had definitely not been gentle.
If not for his body growing stronger after learning Dragon Slayer Magic, that fall alone could have seriously injured him.
Charles never imagined something would go wrong when crossing the Eclipse Gate.
Just moments ago, after stepping into the gate that Anna had opened, a magic circle suddenly expanded from his body for no apparent reason.
At first, he thought it was a normal part of passing through the Eclipse Gate, but then he saw a look of panic appear on Anna's face.
Only then did Charles realize that something was wrong with him. He had no time to think. He could only toss Natsu to Anna behind him before being swallowed by the magic circle himself.
When Charles saw light again, he was plummeting through the air, eventually crashing hard into the ground. It took a long while for him to regain his senses before he stood up and started inspecting his surroundings.
"Hopefully I didn't stray too far from Natsu's era... If I'm off by a hundred or two hundred years, that's going to be a real problem...!"
Halfway through his sentence, Charles suddenly froze. His eyes locked on something in the distance, as if he had seen something unbelievable.
It was a massive skull, as large as a small mountain. But aside from its size, the shape was bizarre. In addition to the standard two eye sockets, there was a circular indentation in the center of its forehead, as though an eye had once grown there.
On either side of the skull were two enormous curved horns. There was no way this belonged to a normal creature—it looked much more like the skull of a demon god.
Charles pinched himself. He had thought that a mishap with the Eclipse Gate would only send him to a different point in time. He never expected to be transported to an entirely different world.
Such a distinctive landmark made it easy for Charles to recognize where he was. He had left the world of Fairy Tail and entered another magical realm.
This was the world of Black... Three, four, five... who knows how many leaves that clover had!
Though like the Fairy Tail world in that it revolved around magic, the nature of magic in this world was completely different.
In this world, the amount of mana a person possessed was determined at birth, and even the type of magic one could use wasn't something learned—it was an innate gift. True potential could only be awakened at the age of fifteen, when one received their grimoire.
That's right—the grimoire was the most important thing in this world.
The size, thickness, and appearance of the grimoire varied from person to person. Grimoires chose their owners, making the moment one received theirs the first true test of their magical talent.
There were four countries in this world, and the crest on each grimoire differed depending on the country.
The main events of the story took place in the Clover Kingdom, where grimoires bore the three-leaf clover symbol.
And the number of leaves on the clover also represented the bearer's magical aptitude.
At this moment, Charles was on the border of the Clover Kingdom, in the village of Hage—hometown of the protagonist Asta.
Charles sighed, his face full of worry. This kind of accident had never been part of his plan, and even someone as mentally mature as he was found himself at a loss.
Lifting both hands, he slapped his cheeks hard, encouraging himself: "No! It's way too soon to give up now. Don't forget the promise with Igneel—Natsu is still waiting!"
Charles quickly adjusted his mindset. He had long understood a truth in his past life—every problem stemmed from a lack of ability.
This was a world of magic, and magic meant the power of miracles. Even traversing worlds wasn't out of the question.
The magic circle that appeared on his body when he was brought here was proof enough of that!
Grrrrumble...
Just as Charles was feeling pumped up again, he instantly deflated, his whole body going limp.
Come to think of it, he hadn't eaten since yesterday. Ever since learning Dragon Slayer Magic, his body had become stronger thanks to the influence of dragon power, and his nutritional needs had also skyrocketed.
He wasn't as bad as Luffy from that pirate world—who looked like a shriveled corpse if he skipped a meal—but hunger still made Charles sluggish and powerless.
Clutching his empty stomach, Charles dragged his weary feet toward the skull of the demon god.
Although he had read the original work in his past life, Charles had no idea about the specific terrain. He knew Hage Village was near the demon god's skull, but from where he stood, there was no sign of a village.
His only option was to head toward the skull, hoping to run into someone and maybe get some food.
The demon god's skull was even bigger than Charles imagined, so even though he could see it, hours of walking barely brought him any closer.
It was like chasing a mirage—his stamina was almost completely drained by the time he realized how far it really was.
Despite having the physique of a Dragon Slayer and far exceeding a normal ten-year-old, Charles still had his limits.
He picked a tree and leaned against it, sighing at his misfortune. Half-conscious, Charles just wanted to fall asleep.
Suddenly, a sweet aroma drifted over. Charles twitched his nose and snapped his eyes open, then grabbed whatever was being handed to him and stuffed it into his mouth.
It was something similar to a sweet potato. The texture was nothing like the improved varieties he'd eaten in his past life—it was dry and so fibrous it nearly made him choke.
But to someone starving like Charles, it was a rare delicacy.
While devouring the food, Charles looked up at his savior.
The person before him was short—clearly about the same age as Charles, yet half a head shorter.
He wore coarse clothing and a headband, with short gray hair and a big, bright smile on his face.
"Your stomach's been growling nonstop. You must've been starving!"
Charles recognized him instantly—Asta, the main protagonist of this world. The hot-blooded youth often called the "Screaming Emperor" by countless fans.
In this world where mana was everything, Asta had none at all. Yet he never gave up on his dream of becoming the Wizard King—a boy who embodied pure perseverance and determination.
He once said that never giving up was his magic! For that reason, Charles had liked him a lot in the past.
After swallowing the food—still far from full—Charles at least regained some strength.
He leapt up and said, "You really helped me out! I'm Charles, Charles Gidofmir. Nice to meet you!"
Asta replied with equal energy, "I'm Asta, from Hage Village! Great to meet you too!"
Charles couldn't help but think—no wonder they called him the Screaming Emperor. Even at such a young age, the kid had lungs like a lion.
Asta asked, "So where are you from, Charles? I've never seen you around before."
Charles answered, "I'm from a very faraway place! This is my first time here."
Stars sparkled in Asta's eyes. "You're traveling all by yourself at such a young age? That's amazing!"
Asta assumed Charles was a lone traveler, and Charles didn't correct him. A traveler was definitely easier to accept than a world-hopper.
So Charles said, "It's not too bad. But I plan to stay here for a while. I'll be counting on you!"