One week later, Harujion Port.
The Fairy Tail S-Class Exam officially began.
The group, led by the eight examinees, gazed confidently at the sailboat heading for Tenrou Island.
They had undergone a week of various torturous training under Zorn, and their confidence for this examination had increased somewhat.
Recalling the ruthlessness of Zorn's training, they felt a slight sweat on their brows.
The moment the sailboat set sail, Gajeel and Natsu simultaneously leaned over the railing and began throwing up wildly.
Everyone on the sailboat also followed their respective partners, clearly separating into groups.
The closer the sailboat got to Tenrou Island, the hotter the weather became due to the ocean currents, and Everyone's clothing decreased accordingly.
"So hot~"
"It's clearly winter, but why is the weather getting hotter and hotter? At least we have the popsicles Cana brought!"
Lucy, dressed in a swimsuit, fanned herself, holding a popsicle that she was eating with relish, her legs crossed.
Although it was very hot now, thanks to the popsicles Cana had prepared, it wasn't too unbearable yet.
"Little Lucy, you look a bit unsightly like that!" Levy, also licking a popsicle, looked at Lucy's lying posture and quietly reminded her.
This was because the other males were looking at them with longing eyes, especially Natsu, who was already drooling.
Cana had only distributed the popsicles she brought to the females in the group; the males didn't get any, so they were all looking at them longingly.
"Haha, sorry, but since we're in a competition now, you men will have to tough it out yourselves!" Cana sat in her seat, laughed heartily, finished her popsicle with a crunch, and then picked up another one to eat.
"This little bit of heat… is nothing at all, it's just this dizziness… ugh~" Gajeel stood up, clenching his fists, wanting to express that he was fine, but the layers of dizziness in his mind directly broke his composure, making him lean over the railing and vomit again.
"I… I…" Natsu, beside him, also wanted to express that he was fine, but as soon as he stood up, he couldn't last long and staggered towards Loki.
"Hey, hey, Natsu, can you please not come towards me?" Loki waved his hands, his face full of panic, afraid that Natsu would vomit on him.
"It's all Wendy's fault for not casting Troia on me~ ugh~"
"That can't be helped, Wendy is Mest's partner after all!"
Wendy apologized shyly: "I'm sorry, Natsu, Mr. Gajeel."
Juvia was still dressed warmly; she was a rain woman, so this temperature didn't bother her, but her heart was burning with passion, her eyes already full of hearts.
She was passionately clinging to Gray's naked body.
"Everyone, we can see it now—Tenrou Island."
Loki leaned against the railing and quickly saw the towering tree, which was the landmark of Tenrou Island.
Everyone was also attracted by Loki's voice and looked towards Tenrou Island.
Gray, still naked with Juvia clinging to him, looked hopefully at the island. He desperately wanted to challenge his master and gain his master's approval.
Upon seeing it, Lucy exclaimed in surprise: "That's Tenrou Island!"
"It looks so strange!"
"But from here, I can already feel that the air around Tenrou Island is filled with magic!"
Wendy finished, took a deep breath, and continued with emotion: "As expected of a sacred place!"
On the island.
On the other side, Zorn, Gildarts, Ur, Laxus, Erza, and Mirajane, the examiners, also saw the sailboat from afar.
"Alright, let's enter our respective passages!"
"Wish them good luck!"
After Gildarts finished speaking, he flicked his cloak and was the first to enter the passage starting with the letter E.
The others also walked into their respective passages with smiles.
Zorn walked through the passage, his expression exceptionally firm, but his mind was replaying what Carla had told him.
"A black shadow covering the sky, a magnificent figure propping up the heavens, the clash of the two, the sky and earth collapse."
...
On the sailboat.
Makarov stood on the second floor, at a high vantage point.
"Legend has it that fairies once existed on that island, and it is the resting place of Fairy Tail Guild's first master—Mavis Vermillion."
"Now, I will announce the content of the first examination to Everyone…"
"What, this exam is divided into stages?!"
Gray was the first to exclaim; previous guild examinations were one-on-one battles.
"This was decided by Everyone! It's also to test you in multiple aspects!"
"Next, listen carefully to the content."
The Master roughly explained, then, with a wave of his fan, a screen appeared to his left, showing a total of seven passages, each marked with the avatar of an S-Class Mage.
Under Everyone's puzzled expressions, the Master continued to speak.
"Do you see the smoke on the island? First, you must reach there, then choose a passage, and then defeat them."
"For the combat assessment, only teams that break through and reach this point will pass the first examination!"
The Master specifically pointed his fan at the finish line icon.
Upon hearing this, Everyone generally understood the rules of the examination, and they all stared intently at the opponents they wished to face, memorizing the routes on the map.
"Alright, get ready, the examination has begun!"
The Master fanned his fan, the screen disappeared, and he raised his fan, directly announcing the official start of the examination.
"Huh?"
"Aren't we still sailing on the sea?!"
Just as Gray and Loki questioned, and Everyone was bewildered.
Freed and Bickslow, on the side, had already secretly written down a magic circle on the ship, and secretly used magic to fly towards Tenrou Island.
The Master saw it and smiled slyly, making Everyone understand.
"Haha, did you hear that? Happy, let's go!"
Natsu proudly glanced at Happy, and Happy instantly understood, immediately carrying Natsu into the air and rushing towards Tenrou Island.
With a "bang," he directly crashed into an invisible barrier.
"This is… a magic circle, Freed, damn it, they've already run off."
Cana recognized it at a glance, turned to look around but didn't find Freed or Bickslow, only to spot the two in the distance.
Freed's voice came from afar: "Sorry, this magic circle will disappear in five minutes. Please wait for a bit!"
"Old man, they're cheating!"
Gray directly complained to the Master, but only received the Master's teasing: "Well, it's not a speed test, so it doesn't matter!"
While they were protesting, Levy and Evergreen, one with a deep study of ancient script and the other having teamed with Freed for a long time, managed to solve this simple magic circle.
The two only took one minute to solve it, but it only allowed two people to pass, causing the others to suffer on the ship, waiting for the time to pass.
They could only watch Levy and Elfman's teams leave first.
Five minutes later, after the magic circle was dispelled with a bang.
Everyone displayed their unique abilities and rushed towards the island.
Cana directly tapped her foot, and a sonic boom echoed.
She was still pulling Lucy, walking on air, her speed no slower than anyone else, clearly not hiding her strength at all at this moment.
"Gildarts…? Father, wait for me."
To be continued~
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