A Challenge: The Approaching S-Class Mage Examination

In the end, Mirajane chose white and had the emblem stamped on her left thigh.

After all three had received their emblems, Makarov announced to the entire guild that they had officially joined.

Over the following days, Mirajane and her siblings spent most of their time with Yuri, since they needed to learn magic.

Notably, once Mirajane had overcome her emotional hang-ups, her magical talent had fully revealed itself. She mastered Take Over Magic in just ten days and could easily perform a full-body takeover.

Elfman and Lisanna were not extraordinarily gifted like Mirajane, who had Devil Take Over, but they too learned Take Over Magic in about a month. Elfman learned Beast Take Over, and Lisanna learned Animal Take Over.

Perhaps because of his mindset, though, Elfman could only ever take over one arm, which left him dejected for quite a while... But whenever he thought about fighting the same way as his big brother Yuri, he could not help feeling a sense of longing.

For some time afterward, Mirajane began pulling Yuri into training with her again. Both of their magic had to do with devils, and Yuri really could give her plenty of advice on fighting.

That, however, left certain people unhappy.

"What's wrong, Cana?" Erza asked, walking over when she saw Cana slumped listlessly over a table.

"Nothing..." Cana gave a feeble shake of her head, unhappiness written all over her cute little face.

"I know."

Macao suddenly popped up from the next table and teased, "Cana's been down ever since Mirajane and the other two got here..."

"She's probably afraid Yuri will be snatched away. Those two have always been close, after all," Wakaba added from the side.

"Sigh..." Cana glanced at the two older men she usually got along well with, but only sighed, too listless to even argue.

She and Yuri really were close, and they always had been.

Even after Gray joined them, and Yuri spent several years away on and off, their relationship had remained unchanged.

But her worries weren't because she was jealous... Okay, maybe a little, but the main reason was a rumor that had spread through the guild years ago.

Gildarts had brought Yuri back to the guild in X770. The only thing anyone knew was that Gildarts had found the boy while investigating the Sky-Splitting Grand Canyon.

That shocking bit of information immediately piqued everyone's interest, and countless guesses about Yuri's identity sprang up throughout the guild.

The theory everyone talked about most, of course, was that "Yuri was actually Gildarts's illegitimate son."

Although everyone else treated it as a joke, Cana, who was only a few years old at the time, did not.

She really thought Yuri was Gildarts's illegitimate son, her older half brother, and as a result she had been hostile toward him for a long time.

Yuri, however, had not minded at all. Instead, despite knowing nothing about who she was, he had looked after her like a proper older brother.

Gradually, she had actually come to accept that she had an older half brother.

Even after her misunderstanding was cleared up, their relationship remained close.

But now... the rumor had resurfaced in the guild, and Cana had no choice but to determine whether it was true all over again.

After all, those four looked far too much alike!

Although Yuri had made it clear that he was not related by blood to Mirajane and her siblings, it was hardly convincing coming from him.

The same white hair, the same good looks...

Even Elfman saying it would have been far more credible.

Could Gildarts really have illegitimate children out there? And more than one!

When it comes down to it, do I really know Yuri...

Like Cana, Erza had actually had similar worries.

After teaming up with Yuri for two missions, she had thought they had become default teammates who could make plans to go on missions together.

After all, how should she put it?

If two people who weren't very familiar with each other happened to go to the cafeteria together more than three times, wouldn't they generally become regular meal buddies?

But when it came to her... she was turned down for all sorts of reasons.

Could it be because we were one time short? Erza wondered, her train of thought taking an unusual turn.

In fact, before Mirajane and her siblings came to the guild, Erza had also approached Yuri to ask him for guidance in swordsmanship.

Back in Caro Town, she had witnessed Yuri's wild fighting style with her own eyes, as well as the sharp flash of his blade at the end.

That had convinced her that Yuri must have considerable insight into sword techniques, so she had gone to ask him for advice.

She had been flatly rejected then, too.

In Yuri's words, "You're not suited to practicing the sword. At the very least, you aren't suited to it as you are now."

Although Erza did not understand what Yuri meant, she knew he would not be stingy about something like that.

Even so, it had still left her a little disappointed for a while.

Several months had passed since Mirajane and her siblings joined the guild.

With the addition of new members, the guild had become much livelier.

Though by livelier... that meant more fighting.

Erza and Mirajane had now joined Natsu and Gray, super doubling the trouble!

After completely mastering Take Over Magic and training with Yuri for some time, Mirajane's strength had entered a period of rapid growth.

She could now reliably overwhelm Natsu, Gray, and the others, and was evenly matched with Erza.

Whether it was because she had bounced back from rock bottom or not, Mirajane, who had been quite insecure just a few months earlier, was now supremely confident... or rather, she had an inflated ego. In any case, she was nearly ready to "explode."

She had even started picking fights with Erza out of boredom.

She had also changed her clothes, putting on a daring black crop top with shoulder straps, hot pants, and a pair of tall black boots.

Her long white hair was tied in a ponytail with a purple skull bow, and she wore an accessory around her neck that resembled a collar.

"She's just like a delinquent girl going through a rebellious phase," Yuri remarked, taking a sip of beer.

"A guy who drinks, gambles, and has a tattoo has no right to say that."

A voice rang out, and Yuri turned to see someone leaning against a pillar by the bar.

Seeing who it was, Yuri smiled back and said, "I've always drunk in moderation, and I only gamble for fun, never for money. As for the tattoo... Griffon, he's talking about you."

"He's talking about you, Yuri," Griffon replied, taking a moment away from playing happily with Lisanna and a group of other children.

Despite his frightening appearance, he was especially popular with children for some reason.

"When did you get back?" Yuri asked, pushing a glass of beer over.

"Not long ago." The newcomer took the beer but did not drink it.

"What do you want with me?" Yuri raised an eyebrow.

"At the S-Class Mage examination, let's have a duel," the other said with a serious expression.

"Did you... catch something from Natsu?"

Yuri gave the blond-haired boy before him, who looked just as rebellious, a peculiar look. It was Laxus Dreyar.