Early the next morning, Natsu and the others woke up.
Since today was the day of the graduation exam, the four mages taking the exam—Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Lyon—had barely slept the night before. Natsu especially had tossed and turned excitedly after returning to the dormitory, his mind filled with scenes from today's exam. He had only managed to fall asleep late at night.
As dawn barely began to break, Natsu impatiently leaped out of bed, grabbed Happy, who was still snoring, and shouted excitedly, "Happy! Wake up! Today's the graduation exam! We can't be late!"
Happy drowsily opened his eyes, yawned, and said lazily, "Aye~ Natsu, you're way too excited. It's not even fully light yet..."
"Enough nonsense! Get up!" Natsu said as he rushed out of the room. Happy had no choice but to flap his wings and follow him.
At the same time, Gray, Gajeel, and Lyon also got up one after another. Although they were not as visibly excited as Natsu, their slightly tense steps and the fists they clenched from time to time showed that they were hardly relaxed either. After all, the graduation exam was not merely a test of the results of their years of training—it was also an important step toward becoming higher-level mages.
Natsu excitedly charged into the cafeteria with Happy. The moment he entered, he shouted, "Good morning, everyone!"
Quite a few guild members were already eating breakfast in the cafeteria. When they saw Natsu and the others enter, they all greeted them.
Macao was sitting in a corner. When he saw Natsu, he walked over, patted him on the shoulder with a smile, and said, "Natsu, do your best today! I bet you'll pass!"
Natsu confidently patted his chest and said boldly, "Uncle Macao, don't worry! It's just a