After the guild members safely returned from the parallel world of Edolas and rested for a few days, they quickly resumed their daily routine of accepting standard commission tasks.
As the end of the year rapidly approached, the members of Fairy Tail entered their annual phase of feverish excitement and incredibly hard work.
Except for those who were already official S-Class Mages, everyone was frantically taking on solo tasks to significantly boost their performance metrics.
Nab Lasaro now spent his days staring blankly at a completely empty request board, shedding silent comical tears because all the jobs were gone.
"Why is everyone suddenly so enthusiastic about taking on quest?" Lucy asked, sitting safely at the bar.
She blinked and rubbed her eyes vigorously, even starting to genuinely suspect that the other members were under some kind of mind-control spell.
"This time period every year is always exactly like this," Mira replied sweetly while diligently wiping a glass with a cloth.
"This time period? Is there something significant happening soon?" Lucy asked, leaning in.
"Around mid-December, the Master holds the S-Class Mage Promotion Exam. Those who successfully pass the trial can be officially promoted to S-Class Mages and take on dangerous S-Class quests."
"Eh?! There are actually specific rules for that? I thought you S-Class Mages were chosen purely based on raw strength alone," Lucy gasped in surprise.
Mira tapped her chin thoughtfully with a delicate finger and smiled.
"Well... you are not entirely wrong about that. Strength is definitely the primary requirement for an S-Class Mage, but each examiner has their own specific focus and criteria."
"Examiners?" This was yet another new piece of guild information that Lucy was completely unaware of.
"They are usually the current S-Class Mages of the guild. Raizel, Laxus, and Erza have all served as official examiners. That also includes Gildarts, who did it a very long time ago. However, he stopped participating in the exams right after Raizel became an S-Class Mage."
"According to Raizel, Gildarts happily dumped all of his examiner responsibilities right onto him," Mira giggled.
"I see," Lucy nodded in complete understanding, knowing Gildarts' lazy habits.
"Time for work! Time for work!" Natsu cheered loudly.
"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed.
After accepting a new task flyer from Lisanna, Natsu and Happy hoisted their travel packs over their shoulders and prepared to dash straight out the door.
"Wait! Why didn't you call me to come work with you?" Lucy raised her hand, trying to stop the speedy duo.
"Sorry, Lucy! During this specific period, everyone has to work on their own!" Natsu yelled back.
"We will play with you when we get back!" Happy promised.
Natsu and Happy ran off at full speed without even looking back.
As a direct result, Natsu collided head-on with Gray, who had just returned from a mission.
The heavy crash left both boys groaning on the floor with large, comical bumps on their heads.
"Watch where you are running! You brainless, porcupine-headed idiot!" Gray yelled, rubbing his sore forehead.
"You are one to talk! Don't you share any of the blame for this collision, you exhibitionist underwear freak?!" Natsu roared back, glaring at him.
"Do you two honestly have the time to argue here right now?" someone pointed out from the crowd.
"Huh? I almost completely forgot!" Natsu and Gray suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing the ticking clock.
"I'm back..." Gray suddenly rushed over to the wooden bar and slapped his completed commission form down for Lisanna.
"Welcome back, Gray. Where are your clothes?" Lisanna asked, unfazed.
"There is no time to worry about that! I need to take on another high-paying job right away!"
"Okay, please be careful on the road," Lisanna smiled.
But her kind words were only directed at Gray's retreating back, as the Ice-Make Mage had already run off at top speed.
"He is leaving again so soon?" Lucy was utterly stunned by the intense hustle.
"Lisanna! I am taking this mission! A real man works hard!" Elfman also rushed over, forcefully grabbing a commission form from the counter.
"Watch where you are going!" Raizel warned.
He had just entered through the guild's main double doors and had nearly gotten knocked over by the sprinting Gray.
Fortunately, Raizel was incredibly quick-eyed and swift-handed.
He smoothly blocked with his arm just in time to prevent Gray from delivering a reckless charge right into his ribs.
"Raizel, Erza, Ultear... Huh, where's Kagura?" Lucy greeted the returning group, noticing one person missing.
"Kagura went on a solo mission too," Ultear answered her gently.
"Oh right, Kagura isn't an S-Class Mage either," Lucy realized, nodding in understanding.
Ultear looked at Lucy and kindly offered, "If you want to take on missions, you can always come with us. Of course, if you want to seriously compete for an S-Class Mage position, you will have to complete your missions entirely on your own."
"So that is exactly why Gray and Natsu are doing their missions alone?" Lucy asked curiously.
Erza nodded her head and explained, "Yes, that is the Guild Master's strict rule. During the final three months right before the S-Class Exam, anyone who wants to actively participate must prove themselves by completing missions independently."
"Hey, that is my mission!"
"I saw it first! Back off!"
"The Shadow Gear team is temporarily disbanded for now! Every man for himself!"
Across the room, guild members were scrambling for request forms so fiercely they were fighting tooth and nail.
Watching the absolute chaos unfold, Raizel casually thought to himself that these crazy people would definitely excel at modern-day panic buying in a supermarket.
There were simply far too many people crowding the request board, so Mira quickly went over to help Lisanna handle the massive flood of mission applications from the frantic members.
Nearby, Wendy and Carla were chatting peacefully, completely free from the surrounding exam pressure.
"The amazing ability to foresee the future..." Wendy murmured, her bright brown eyes lighting up with awe.
"Right! Didn't Queen Shagotte say I possess the rare power to see the future? Since safely returning from Edolas, I have actually learned to control this special ability just a little bit," Carla explained.
She was standing proudly on the bar counter with her white tail swaying back and forth, feeling quite pleased with herself.
"You are so amazing, Carla!" Wendy praised.
"Then tell me, who will I eventually become the bride of?" Lisanna asked with teasing interest, having just finished processing a stack of member requests.
"Um... I cannot foresee things quite that far ahead into the future yet," Carla admitted, blushing slightly.
"Then why were you looking so incredibly proud of yourself just now?" Raizel joked, mercilessly exposing Carla's little bluff.
"How mean!" Carla protested angrily, crossing her paws.
"Hmm... Let me see what I can do..." Carla muttered, carefully looking around the noisy guild hall.
"For example, Macao is sitting quietly over there, right? In just a moment, Wakaba will walk over to him and start discussing inappropriate topics about the guild's younger generation." She pointed a paw directly at Macao, who was peacefully reading a daily newspaper.
"Oh, this is so exciting..."
Everyone standing near the bar counter focused their eyes intently on Macao.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, Wakaba approached the table with his hands casually stuffed in his pockets and a lit cigar clamped in his mouth.
He greeted his old friend smoothly. "Yo, Macao."
"Yo!"
"Incredible! He really went over there!" Wendy looked at Carla with pure, sparkling admiration.
"The real show hasn't even started yet. It is pretty normal for Macao and Wakaba to hang out together often," Lisanna commented practically.
"This busy time of year has finally come around again," Wakaba sighed, leaning back in a chair. "It really brings back good memories, doesn't it?"
Macao agreed, lowering his newspaper. "I remember when we were young, we were just as full of fiery fighting spirit as they are."
"The youngsters these days are really something else," Macao noted.
"Yeah, just look at their..." Wakaba started, trailing off with a dirty snicker as he eyed the younger female members.
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?! I am a family man with a kid!" Macao suddenly slammed his hand hard onto the table, loudly emphasizing that he wasn't that kind of perverted person.
"Well... maybe we shouldn't listen to the rest of this conversation..." Lucy and Wendy both smiled wryly, sweatdropping at the older men's antics.
"So... so amazing."
"You really did predict it perfectly! Even if the actual conversation content was completely crude..." Wendy and Lisanna were quite envious of Carla's remarkable new ability.
"Foreseeing such trivial, childish matters is rather pointless," Carla huffed, looking away.
Though she said this dismissively, Carla's tail completely betrayed her true happy feelings—its constant, rhythmic wagging clearly showed she was quite enjoying Wendy and Lisanna's exaggerated reactions.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Suddenly, the loud, ringing sound of clashing metal weapons furiously echoed through the Guild hall.
Kinana, who was carefully holding a serving tray full of drinks, protested loudly about how this dangerous brawl prevented anyone from passing safely through the room.
"Hey, hey! This is far too dangerous! Stop fighting already! If you guys must fight, take it outside to the training room!" Kinana scolded them.
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