"I'm sorry, I lost."
After shaking hands with Lucy, Jimmy dejectedly returned to the team.
"It's okay, Miss Lucy is a very strong Star Spirit Mage." Big sister Yeluo'er hugged her in comfort, just like Mira hugged Wendy.
Captain Locke said, "To think you'd lose to yourself, Jimmy, your training isn't enough."
Yeluo'er, always protective of Jimmy, retorted, "What's so strange about losing to yourself?
"If it were you facing an opponent who knows all your magic, all your weaknesses, and has the same power as you, what would you do?"
Locke crossed his arms: "It's simple, to surpass the current self, just be stronger in the next second than you were in the last."
"..." Yeluo'er asked, "Then what if that 'self' has two helpers?"
Besides Gemini, Lucy can summon a Star Spirit, coupled with herself, that indeed makes two helpers.
Locke offered a straightforward solution: "Take one down first, then the other two."
Yeluo'er patted her forehead, wondering why the President made such a simple-minded person the captain.
On the other side, Lucy received unanimous praise from her companions.
Natsu: "Well done, Lucy!"
Erza: "You responded to everyone's expectations wonderfully."
Gray: "Beautiful strategy."
Kana (whispering): "Did you secretly get some extra lessons from someone weird?"
Lucy smiled a bit sheepishly: "Three against one, it does feel a bit like bullying."
Kana gave a thumbs up: "No problem, the essence of tactics is outnumbering the opponent."
…
"Lucy wins, Fairy Tail A Team earns 10 points!"
The audience burst into cheers. They'd seen Star Spirit Mages before, but never one as impressive as Lucy.
Especially Gemini's transformation left a deep impression.
Though Lucy and Jimmy weren't very popular initially, their brilliant performance won the audience's approval.
"Next up is the second match, Blue Pegasus's Ren against Mermaid's Heel's Alani!"
One was a handsome dark-skinned man in a suit, the other a curly-haired beauty in a webbed bodysuit, both receiving loud applause as they took the stage.
One used Air Magic, the other Silk Thread Magic, their battle evenly matched, suggesting they knew each other's magic well.
"What a fantastic pair of contestants," praised Jabadi. "I remember they've faced off before last year, right?"
"Yes," Jenny confirmed, "but last year they met during the competition and couldn't determine a winner, so this year they were voted into the battle segment, right?"
Amidst a tight battle, a red-haired girl from Lamia Scale suddenly cheered loudly for Ren.
It was his fiancée, Jie Li.
Ren awkwardly said a few tsundere lines, then, like bursting with passion, confessed his love and released his ultimate move together.
Alani was instantly defeated.
"Troy sure has a good eye," Rhode sighed.
"Right?" Mira was delighted that Rhode remembered her gossip she shared before. "Too bad he was rejected, plus he's clinging to Reby now, otherwise it would be nice to care a bit."
"Yeah, too bad he clings to Reby," Rhode looked at Gajeel and said, "but Reby did clearly reject both him and Jet, didn't she?"
Gajeel turned away: "Don't look at me when you say that."
Mira laughed, suddenly asking Rhode, "What if I had rejected you back then?"
"Then I would have..." Rhode paused, "Isn't this the wrong question?"
"Oh, right," Mira blushed, thought for a moment, then said, "Then you ask me."
"I won't ask, there's no way I'd reject you."
Mira laughed: "Saying nice things now won't increase your favorability anymore."
Jubia: Envious!
The referee had announced the result of the match.
Jabadi regretfully said, "What a shame, with this, Mermaid's Heel has zero points today."
Alani, somewhat embarrassed, apologized to Kagura.
"It's fine, discovering shortcomings counts as a gain too."
Besides, the points were lost to the guild her brother belonged to, which wasn't too hard to accept.
Kagura felt ashamed of her thoughts for a moment, then said, as if to make amends, "It's only the first day, we'll catch up later."
"Yes!" Her companions, oblivious to Kagura's thoughts, were instead encouraged by her confident speech.
Jabadi announced: "Then for the third match, Sabertooth's Dobe Gal will face Dragon's Treasure's Reavers!"
Though Sabertooth lost their first match, their basic popularity remained, and cheers quickly arose.
Oroga advised, "The opponent is a guy from a new guild, don't lose to such a half-baked mage."
Dobe Gal wanted to say that for a new mage to survive until now, they must have some merit.
But he decided not to speak and silently nodded instead.
Rufus encountered the Ten Wizard Saints last time, so not winning was excusable. But if he lost this battle and returned with zero points, the President wouldn't be pleased.
He adjusted his mask and cloak, touched the ninja tool bag at his waist, and walked steadily into the arena.
Walking towards him was Dragon's Treasure's Reavers.
With short hair, a bushy beard, a scar at the corner of his eye, a burly body draped in a half-worn red coarse cloak, and a double-barreled shotgun on his back.
— Quite fitting his stereotype of a mercenary.
The two didn't know each other and neither was talkative, so when the referee shouted 'start', the battle commenced immediately.
Reavers charged forward in an instant, pulling the shotgun from his back, but instead of pulling the trigger, he swung it like a club at Dobe Gal's head.
This caught Dobe Gal off guard—he thought a gunman would maintain distance first.
Luckily, his combat experience wasn't weak, and he rolled to the side, dodging the attack while tossing a few smoke bombs.
Reavers retreated cautiously but was still enveloped by the smoke.
When he emerged from the smoke, wearing a mask, Dobe Gal was nowhere to be seen.
"Invisibility Magic?" Reavers wasn't unfamiliar with such magic.
He listened intently, suddenly swinging his gun to the left.
With a bang, the butt of the gun collided with Dobe Gal's hand blade.
Dobe Gal's hand blade glowed with dazzling colors, clearly not an ordinary body technique move.
He glanced at the silvery barrel of the gun in front of him, judging it probably wasn't an ordinary firearm either.
Reavers swiftly withdrew his gun, firing a shotgun shell in Dobe Gal's direction with a bang.
But Dobe Gal's figure disappeared once again.