Survival Game

Makarov went to great lengths for this S-Class Exam, even borrowing a magical airship from somewhere. Although it was a small one, it still looked very expensive and was extremely fast, taking them directly to the entrance of the Grand Canyon of Terror without wasting any time.

Eleven, mouth agape, leaned on the railing of the airship, gazing down at the Grand Canyon passing by, utterly awestruck. Even a fleeting glimpse revealed the canyon's jagged rocks, strange trees, and thick fog in some areas—clearly not a pleasant place to be in.

What's most striking is the terrain. Looking around, it's a flat plain with no towering mountains. In other words, the entire canyon is below the horizon and was formed by cracks in the earth.

If you fly a little higher, you can see that this flat land is covered with countless serpentine ravines, intertwined and crisscrossing to form complex and eerie patterns. The texture of the crimson rock walls of the canyon sways with the sunlight, reflecting points of light almost imperceptibly, like the scales of countless crimson pythons swimming, sending chills down your spine.

After parking the spaceship at the entrance of a large canyon, Makarov's first action was to place a Teleportation magic circle on each person—the kind that could teleport and recall the target—before leisurely pulling out four glittering Magic Crystal- like objects from his pocket.

"Alright! I'll explain the rules of this assessment to you now." With that, Makarov distributed Magic Crystals to the four participants, one for each of them.

The theme of this assessment is strategy!

"This thing is called Sensing Magic Crystal; it sparkles like this when they get close to each other."

"This is also your token for this test. What you need to do is snatch the magic crystals from the other side. Only those who bring back three or more magic crystals to me will pass the test!"

"Will I lose my eligibility if my magic crystal is stolen?" Eleven raised his hand in question.

Makarov glanced at Eleven and shook his head. "No, not at all. The assessment has a 24-hour time limit. As long as you can retrieve the magic crystal within the allotted time, you'll still have a chance to advance."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a one-hit kill, there was a lot of room for maneuver. They could confidently use tricks like using magic crystals as bait at crucial moments.

"But! There's something to be careful about!" Makarov suddenly interrupted the four's thoughts, continuing, "Gildarts will also join the fight. Once your magic crystals are taken by Gildarts, you'll be disqualified on the spot! Your magic crystals will also be destroyed by Gildarts, rendering them useless and unusable as tokens."

Macao: Σ(゜゜)

Wakaba:(꒪Д꒪)ノ

Eleven: [·_·]

Laxus:(￣~￣)

"Will Gildarts join too? Isn't that a bit too difficult, Guild Master!" Macao and Wakaba subconsciously glanced at the smiling Gildarts beside them and swallowed hard.

Makarov waved his staff noncommittally without saying anything, clearly indicating that his mind was made up and he would change the content of the assessment.

Eleven stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then frowned slightly and raised his hand again. "Grandpa, I have a question."

"Ask away."

"You just said Gildarts would destroy the magic crystals that serve as tokens, right? But isn't our advancement condition to bring back at least three magic crystals? What if Gildarts destroys two of them? We'll only have two magic crystals left at most!"

After hearing Eleven's question, Makarov's lips curled into a wicked smile, and he said in a deep voice, "So you only have one chance to fail! Once two people are eliminated by Gildarts, the assessment will be declared over, meaning no one will have a chance to advance!"

Macao:(;￣д￣)

Wakaba:ﾍ(;´Д`ﾍ)

Eleven: (○o○)

Laxus:(￣￣)

"Alright, that's all the rules. The rest is up to you. Let the assessment begin!"

Makarov didn't give the four much time to think. With a wave of his staff, the magic circles around them lit up instantly, and the next second, they all disappeared from their spots and Teleportation to the location Makarov had planned.

"Alright, Gildarts, the rest is up to you."

"Oh, don't worry, President, I'll definitely give them a good workout!" Gildarts replied to Makarov, tossed his cloak, and strolled into the Grand Canyon, looking as relaxed and carefree as if he were really on a spring outing.

When his vision refocused, Eleven was surprised to find himself in a mushroom forest. These mushrooms grew directly in the soil and rock crevices, each nearly as tall as a person; they could easily be mistaken for strangely shaped shrubs.

However, Eleven didn't have much time to observe the mushroom's growth. He was still pondering the assessment rules given by Makarov, staring blankly at the magic crystal in his hand that had stopped shimmering.

In general, the rules are simple: steal magic crystals from other people while avoiding Gildarts who are trying to capture them; collecting three magic crystals will complete the test.

However, the problem is that Gildarts will destroy magic crystals, reducing the total number of magic crystals on the field. If there are fewer than three magic crystals on the field, everyone will fail to advance.

This means that they not only have to compete with each other, but also protect each other from being captured by Gildarts while competing, and even fight Gildarts side by side at crucial moments.

This is troublesome. One minute they're enemies, the next they're allies. It'll drive you crazy!

No wonder the assessment theme was "strategy"—it's so annoying! Why can't we just hold a tournament, have everyone fight it out, and decide the winner directly?

Eleven himself didn't realize that he, who always prided himself on using his brain to do things, had been influenced by Natsu and the others at some point. He would get a headache when faced with complicated problems, and only brute force would make him happy.

While contemplating, Eleven continuously projected his Spiritual Power to explore his surroundings. It must be said that this place truly was a natural maze; even using his Spiritual Power to explore, Eleven felt dizzy.

His Spiritual Power flowed like a stream through the complex canyon, scanning every strange place along the way. He even discovered many powerful monsters that made Eleven wary. Heaven knows why the old man chose such a place to hold the assessment.

However, the more complex the environment, the more advantageous it is for Eleven. When he is fully focused on using his Spiritual Power to probe, the detection range is extremely wide.

If Makarov wanted them to decide the winner within 24 hours, their locations couldn't be too far apart, so Eleven didn't expend much effort to find the other three's positions.

The next step was to consider how to proceed. Although he knew the other party's location in advance, he didn't have a significant advantage, because even if he sneaked closer, the magic crystal in the other party's hand would still flash and reveal his location.

Even if he sets a trap in advance, he can't stay nearby; it might not be very effective. Besides, he doesn't know how to set traps; you need to know how to draw magic circles!

After pondering for a long time, Eleven suddenly connected the four people's Spiritual Power through Telepathy. He didn't try to eavesdrop on their thoughts, but instead coughed lightly and spoke in the Telepathy channel.

"Hey everyone, listen up, how about we take out Gildarts first, since he might be causing trouble?"