One week later, Hargeon Port
Fairy Tail's S-Class Exam has officially begun.
The group, led by eight participants in the assessment, looked confidently at the sailboat heading towards Tenrou Island.
They had undergone a week of grueling training under Zorn, which boosted their confidence for the upcoming assessment.
Recalling the ruthlessness of Zorn's training, they felt a little sweaty at this moment.
The moment the sailboat started moving, Gajeel and Natsu both leaned against the railing and vomited violently.
The people on the sailboat were also clearly separated from their respective partners.
As the sailboat got closer to Tenrou Island, the weather became increasingly hot due to the ocean currents, and everyone took off their clothes accordingly.
"It's so hot~"
"It's winter, but why is it getting hotter? Luckily, Cana brought me some popsicles!"
Lucy, dressed in a swimsuit, was fanning herself with a fan, enjoying a popsicle, and had her legs crossed.
Although it's very hot now, Cana had already prepared popsicles, so it's not too unbearable yet.
"Lucy, you look really bad!" Levy was also licking an ice pop, glanced at Lucy's lying position and whispered a reminder.
Because the other men were looking at them with longing eyes, especially Natsu mouth was already watering.
Cana only gave the popsicles she brought to the women in the group, while the men didn't get any, so they all looked on longingly at the women.
"Haha, sorry, we're in competition now, so you men will have to bear it yourselves!" Cana sat down, laughed heartily, finished her popsicle, and picked up another one to eat.
"This heat... it's nothing... it's just this dizziness... ugh~" Gajeel stood up, clenching his fists, trying to show that he was fine, but the waves of dizziness in his mind directly broke his composure, causing him to lean against the railing and vomit again.
"I... I..." Natsu tried to reassure Loke, but he couldn't hold on for long after standing up and staggered toward him.
"Hey, Natsu, could you please not come this way?" Loke waved his hands frantically, his face full of panic, afraid that Natsu would vomit on him.
"It's all Wendy's fault for not letting me cast Troy Magic ~ Ugh~"
"There's nothing we can do about it; Wendy is Mest's partner now!"
Wendy apologized awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Natsu, Mr. Gajeel."
Juvia was still bundled up; as the Rain Woman, this temperature didn't bother her, but her heart was burning with passion, her eyes already filled with hearts.
She lay hot and sizzling on top of the naked Gray.
"Everyone, you can already see it— Tenrou Island."
Loke leaned against the railing and soon saw the towering tree, the very landmark of Tenrou Island.
Everyone was drawn by Loke's voice and turned to look at Tenrou Island.
Gray, still naked with Juvia clinging to him, looked hopefully at the island, eager to challenge his master and gain his approval.
Upon seeing it, Lucy exclaimed in surprise, "That's Tenrou Island!"
"That looks strange!"
"However, I can already sense from here that the air around Tenrou Island is filled with Magic Power!"
After Wendy finished speaking, she took a deep breath and continued with a sigh, "No wonder it's Sacred Ground!"
On the island.
On the other side, the examiners Zorn, Gildarts, Ur, Laxus, Erza, and Mirajane also spotted the sailboat in the distance.
"Alright, let's enter our respective passages!"
Wish them luck!
After Gildarts finished speaking, he flicked his cloak and took the lead into the passage that began with the letter E.
The others, each with a smile, entered their respective passageways.
Zorn walked through the passage with an unusually determined expression, but his mind was filled with what Carla had told him.
"A dark shadow that blots out the sky, a magnificent figure that reaches for the heavens—when they collide, the earth shatters."
On a sailboat.
Makarov stood on the second floor, which was high up.
"Legend has it that a fairy once lived on that island, which is also the First Guild Master resting place of Mavis Vermillion, the first Fairy Tail master of Fairy Tail."
"Now, I will announce the content of the first exam..."
"What?! This exam is divided into stages?!"
Gray was the first to exclaim in surprise, as the Fairy Tail's previous assessment had involved one-on-one combat.
"This was decided upon through everyone's discussion! It was also to test you in multiple ways!"
"Listen carefully to what follows."
The Guild Master gave a brief explanation, then waved his fan, and a screen appeared on his left, showing that there were seven passages in total, each marked with the portrait of an S-Class Mage.
Amidst the puzzled expressions of the crowd, the Guild Master continued speaking.
"See the smoke rising from the island? First, you need to get there, then choose a path, and then defeat them."
"In the martial arts assessment, only those teams that break through and reach this point will pass the first round of testing!"
The Guild Master pointed to the finish line icon with his fan.
Having heard this, everyone roughly understood the rules of the exam. They all stared intently at their desired opponents, memorizing the routes on the map.
"Alright, get ready, the exam is starting!"
The Guild Master waved his fan, the screen disappeared, and with a flick of his wrist, he announced the official start of the assessment.
"Ha?"
"We're still sailing at sea!"
Just as Gray and Loke raised their questions, everyone was completely bewildered.
Meanwhile, Freed and Bickslow had secretly written down spells on the ship and were using Magic to fly towards Tenrou Island.
The Guild Master saw this and smiled slyly, making everyone understand.
"Haha, did you hear that? Happy, let's go!"
Natsu glanced proudly at Happy, Happy instantly understood and immediately took flight with Natsu, rushing towards Tenrou Island.
With a "bang," it crashed directly into an invisible barrier.
"This is... a spell, Freed. Damn it, they've already escaped."
Cana recognized them at a glance, but when she turned around to look around, she didn't see Freed Bickslow. Instead, she spotted the two people in the distance.
Freed's voice came from afar. "Sorry, this spell will be canceled in five minutes. Please wait a moment!"
"Grandpa, they're cheating!"
Gray complained directly to the Guild Master, but was met with the Guild Master's teasing. "Well, it's not a speed test, it doesn't matter!"
During the protest, Levy, who had a deep understanding of ancient scripts, and Evergreen, who had been teamed up with Freed for a long time, were both familiar with this simple technique.
The two untied the knot in just one minute, but only two people could pass at a time, leaving the others on the boat to wait in vain.
They could only watch Levy and Elfman's teams left first.
Five minutes later, the procedure was terminated with a bang.
Everyone used their unique abilities to rush towards the island.
Cana simply pushed off with her feet, creating a sonic boom.
Holding Lucy's hand, he walked on air at a speed no slower than the others, clearly not hiding his strength at all.
"Gilda...? Father, wait for me."
To be continued~