The next day, after everyone had eaten breakfast together, Gildarts and Zorn headed for the opposite shore of Tenrou Island, while the guild members stayed behind and continued camping with the master.
Along the way, Gildarts kept finding things to talk about, and Zorn responded to everything he said. The atmosphere was fairly pleasant—or at least, Zorn thought so. Gildarts, however, found it a little strange, as though Zorn were being difficult.
"All right, this is the spot. Laxus took his exam here too." Gildarts and Zorn had reached the shore opposite the campsite. Gildarts stopped, put a hand on his hip, and smiled at Zorn.
Neither of them paid any attention to the ruined surroundings, because they might look even worse afterward.
"The exam begins." Gildarts's tone became formal, and his expression immediately turned serious. As soon as he spoke, a powerful surge of white magic boiled out of his body and shot straight into the sky. The ground cracked and collapsed, and as he poured out more magic, the fissures grew wider and gradually spread to Zorn's feet.
The pressure of that terrifying magic whipped up a fierce wind that swept straight toward Zorn. Apart from his clothes and hair being blown about, Zorn remained completely unaffected, calmly watching it all.
Zorn was thrilled by such terrifying magic. His strength had now reached ninety percent, and he was eager to find out where he stood in the world of Fairy Tail. Now he had an excellent sparring partner right in front of him.
Zorn immediately released all his magic in turn. His golden magic, no less powerful than Gildarts's, also soared into the sky. The two immense forces collided, neither yielding an inch. Gildarts withdrew his magic first, and Zorn followed suit, slowly gathering his golden magic into a sword of light in his hand.
"Heavenly Sword of Clouds."
"Gildarts, please show me what you've got."
"You're one scary kid. You're younger than Laxus, aren't you? To have this much magic at your age, you're undoubtedly S-Class. Come on, let me see how far you've come."
Zorn held the light sword horizontally before his chest, charged it, and swung with all his might. A huge golden crescent slash sped toward Gildarts. Narrowing his eyes, Gildarts thrust out his right hand, white magic swirling around it. The golden slash struck a barrier formed from the white magic and held for a moment before Gildarts clenched his hand. The barrier crushed it into particles of light that scattered into the air. At that moment, Zorn appeared to his right.
Zorn knew that attack wouldn't stop Gildarts, so the moment he unleashed it, he turned into a flash of light and vanished, reappearing at Gildarts's right side. He coated the light sword in Armament Haki and brought it down in a purple-gold arc.
"When did you—" Gildarts was surprised by Zorn's speed and combat awareness, catching him when his right hand was occupied. But Gildarts had plenty of fighting experience. He kicked off the ground and exerted force with his right hand at the same time, dodging Zorn's second attack and shattering the first.
The descending slash split the shore in two, then continued on to part the sea for more than ten meters before flying into the sky. Seawater flooded onto the shore, gradually filling the deep trench.
"Kid, that was close! Hahaha, not bad, not bad." Gildarts looked at the spectacular sight before him. It was a little unfortunate, but he was deeply impressed by Zorn's strength.
"Tch." Zorn clicked his tongue softly. If not for the light sword in his hand gradually turning into particles of light, he would have been very pleased to hear Gildarts say that.
"You really are as ridiculously strong as Laxus said. You managed to do that in such a short time." As it turned out, in the instant he dodged, Gildarts had struck the light sword with his left hand, which was also charged with Crush Magic.
"It's not over yet." Zorn flew into the air, pressed his palms together, and slowly drew them apart. A ball of golden light appeared between them, growing larger as the distance between his hands widened. "Holy Light Magic: Yasakani no Magatama!" Countless laser beams rained straight down, blanketing the entire area around Gildarts.
Booms rang out without end. The already ravaged ground was destroyed all over again, with craters even larger than the previous ones covering them. The tremendous explosions reached the guild's campsite, prompting everyone to stop what they were doing and look toward the exam site. Cana stood where she was, watching anxiously. Though it was only an exam and nothing should happen, she still worried that the two of them might get hurt.
When the smoke cleared, the view from above showed that the relentless assault had caused the ground to sink. Only the ground around Gildarts remained relatively intact, protected from most of the attacks by a round barrier of white magic.
"That magic really is a pain. If even that won't work, let's settle this with Physical Arts." Zorn covered himself in Armament Haki and gathered magic throughout his entire body, cloaking himself in purple-gold armor. He kicked off the air, producing a sonic boom, and turned into a flash of light that shot straight at Gildarts.
"Hahaha, now I'm fired up too, kid!" Gildarts laughed heartily. He was delighted to see so many powerful young people emerging in the guild, and he wanted to find out just how strong Zorn was.
Zorn raised his right fist and punched with all his might, meeting the terrifying power of "Break Evil, Reveal Righteousness: One Heaven." The two forces intertwined and shattered against each other. A wave of energy burst outward from between them, crushing the ground beneath it in an instant. Rocks flew along with the shockwave, destroying everything around them. In the end, both were sent flying by the immense force. Zorn tumbled through the air several times before planting a foot on it and stopping himself. Gildarts skidded across the ground, then dug one foot in to bring himself to a halt.
They exchanged excited glances before charging at each other again, their fists crashing together. Zorn leaped and brought a leg down in an axe kick, which Gildarts blocked with both hands. Gildarts bent his legs, channeled the force into the ground, and used the rebound to push Zorn away. Both fought using the Physical Arts they took pride in. If the guild members had been here to see it, they would have felt they could eat a few extra bowls of rice—such a thrilling fight.
After fighting for who knew how long, the two stopped their Physical Arts duel. Zorn's purple-gold armor was damaged all over and could no longer be called armor. Breathing heavily, he stared at Gildarts, whose clothes were torn and whose body bore a few bruises, but no other injuries.
"Try this too. My final attack." Zorn dispersed the magic armor around him and slowly rose into the air, raising one hand over his head. Golden light gathered to a point in his palm and gradually grew larger. From the ground, it looked like a second sun, radiating an overwhelming pressure. Up close, the orb could be seen to contain an immense amount of magic, with some of it spilling out and circling its surface.
Everyone on the shore looked up at the second sun, amazed that Zorn was so powerful. "Whoa!" Natsu and Gray exclaimed, their eyes shining as they watched the figure in the sky. Neither gave a thought to what would happen if that spell were unleashed.
"Those two idiots." Dark lines covered Makarov's face as he rushed faster toward the exam site.
Gildarts looked at Zorn, suspended in the air and illuminated by the light. His gaze grew slightly serious, but the smile on his lips revealed just how happy he was.
"Very nice, kid. Then I'll use my full strength too."
"Break Evil, Reveal Righteousness: Heaven-Cutting!"
"Holy Light Magic: Starlight Radiance!" Zorn hurled the orb of light with all his might, and it instantly collided with Gildarts's strongest Crush Magic. A blinding white light burst from the point of impact just as the master arrived. He immediately cast the defensive spell Three Pillar Gods to block the force of the collision.
When the light faded, the shore had vanished with it. Only the ground beneath Gildarts and the master remained; everything else was completely gone, and seawater poured in.
Zorn slowly descended and landed beside Gildarts, panting and feeling that he had expended quite a lot of energy. Gildarts didn't look much better. His cape was completely gone, the front of his clothes was badly torn, and his hair had been blown into an afro.
But he was still laughing heartily, repeatedly patting Zorn on the back in praise.
Seeing this, the master transformed into a giant and drove them both into the ground with two punches. "Both of you, that's enough!"
"Zorn, from now on, without my permission, you are absolutely forbidden from using that spell unless your life is in danger. If Gildarts hadn't crushed most of it with his magic, the consequences would have been serious." The master looked sternly at Zorn as he climbed out of the crater.
"Yes, Grandpa Master." Zorn nodded guiltily.
The guild members arrived at the scene just then. The sight of the devastated shore left them deeply shaken. Laxus clenched his fists, now determined to train hard and catch up to Zorn.
Erza and Mirajane also found it hard to calm their hearts for a long time.
The guild members then came forward to check on the two men's injuries before helping them back to the shore where they were camping.
The master held a banquet to celebrate Zorn and Laxus both becoming S-Class Mages. Everyone in the guild cheered and bustled about, while Zorn thought about learning other kinds of magic to broaden his future path as a mage.