Ten minutes later, the four of them arrived at the guild hall right on time. Allen was already waiting there. The other guild members were all watching and whispering among themselves. Macao and Wakaba were huddled in a corner, and when they caught Natsu's eye, they gave him an encouraging gesture. Natsu simply gave them both a thumbs-up, signaling for them not to worry.
After seeing that everyone had arrived, Allen nodded at them. "Follow me."
The four men and one cat followed Allen to the training ground.
The S-Class Mages who were not out on missions were scattered around the training ground, sitting here and there. Mavis stood on the arena platform, with four rings of light beside her.
After bringing the four men and one cat there, Allen first called Happy over. Happy could not participate in this exam. Then he said to the four men, "You can see the four rings of light in front of you. Each of you will choose one. Once you enter a ring, the conditions for clearing it will appear inside. The exam will last one hour. You must come out of the ring within that hour. Do you understand?"
The four of them looked at the differently colored rings of light in the distance and nodded at Allen.
Allen and Mavis exchanged glances and nodded to each other. Then he said to the four men, "Go ahead and choose a ring. Keep an eye on the time."
Natsu was the first to walk toward the unusually conspicuous red ring. Gajeel stepped toward the green ring beside Natsu. Gray and Lyon exchanged glances, and both understood the other's answer. Lyon walked toward the yellow ring at the far side. Gray wanted to switch with Lyon, but during their brief exchange of glances,