The Man Has Returned

After learning the list for the S-Class Mage exam, the guild members began discussing who would advance to S-Class, while Ye continued stuffing himself.

Suddenly, a young girl strode up behind Ye with her hands on her hips. Ye, who had continued eating, felt a sharp gaze fixed on him and looked back.

Ye said, "Mira, why are you staring at me like that? I'm still eating."

Mira snapped, "At a time like this, you're still eating?"

Then her tone changed as she asked tsunderely, "Have you picked your partner yet?"

Ye suddenly understood. "Oh~ You mean that? No. ⌓‿⌓"

Mira immediately grew bashful and said in embarrassed anger, "What kind of look is that? I'm giving you a chance to beg me. Maybe I'll become your partner. o(´^｀)o"

Just as Ye was about to say something, Mira immediately said, "No refusing! I wasn't the one who took you on your first mission. This time, I'm coming with you!"

Ye suddenly blanked out and muttered, "Mira, do you~ have a crush on me?"

Mira's face instantly turned red, though it was hard to tell whether it was from embarrassment or anger.

"Idiot, go die!"

With that, she swung a fist at Ye's face. Caught completely off guard, Ye was hit and ended up intimately acquainted with his feast. Mira ran off after punching him. Macao and Wakaba, who loved watching the drama unfold, wore knowing smiles as they said,

"You two have something going on. Ah, youth is wonderful. Tell us, what did you do? Mira was even blushing. (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)"

Ye looked at the two gossipmongers and said irritably, "What's it got to do with you two? Go drink your booze and stop meddling in young people's business!"

With that, he began cleaning up the mess.

All of a sudden, the guild doors were thrown open, and someone shouted urgently, "Oh no! Oh no!"

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" The bells rang urgently.

Ye stopped what he was doing and asked, "What's going on? Did some wild beast enter the village?"

Macao and the other veteran guild members all smiled knowingly.

"You can't call him a wild beast. He's a real monster." (✧∇✧)

Ye scratched his head and thought, "Could it be him?"

In an instant, the guild doors turned to dust.

A magnetic voice belonging to a middle-aged man said, "Long time no see, everyone."

"Whoa!!! Gildarts, you're back!"

Gildarts looked over the scene before his gaze suddenly landed on Ye. His eyes went slightly vacant for a moment.

"Looks like a lot of new members joined while I was away."

Seeing Gildarts looking at Ye, Makarov's lips curled up slightly. "Gildarts, how did the mission go?"

"Of course, it was completed perfectly."

Makarov said happily, "To celebrate Gildarts completing his mission, let's throw a party!"

"Yeah!! Yeah!! Party!!"

Ye could not help feeling a little excited as he looked at the man before him.

"Looks like he'll be one of the S-Class Mage exam's obstacles. I really want to fight him!"

Then he joined the celebration as well.

That night, everyone in the guild got completely drunk and staggered back to their homes. At that moment, Gildarts went to find the guild master.

"That boy named Ye should be one of the participants in this S-Class exam, right?"

Makarov asked drunkenly, "That's right. What do you think?"

Gildarts chuckled. "He's a very impressive boy. I couldn't sense any magic power from him, but there's an extraordinary amount of tremendous power inside his body."

After taking a couple of drinks, Makarov said, "Oh, that? I asked that brat about it. According to him, his clan is born without magic power and instead possesses a power called qi. He may be young, but he's proficient in all eighteen martial arts. His talent is enviable, and what's even scarier is that his body is as strong as a dragon's. Sometimes, I wonder whether that brat is even human. You'll have a hard time in the upcoming exam. I'm not even sure whether you can keep that brat in check."

Gildarts laughed. "Hahaha, that would be perfect. I really want to know just how strong that little guy is."

Come on, drink!

The next morning, the door to Ye's room was violently kicked open.

"You bastard, Ye! I knew you were still sleeping!"

The girl angrily rushed toward the sleeping boy lying in bed and tried hard to shake him awake.

Feeling himself being shaken, Ye blurted out, "Is there an earthquake?"

Veins bulged on the girl's forehead. (ꐦÒ‸Ó)

"Earthquake my ass! It's time to gather at the docks! Do you still want to take the exam or not?"

Ye slowly opened his eyes and looked at Mira with a dazed gaze, then turned to look dazedly out the window.

Suddenly, his eyes flew wide open. Really wide. Right! I still have an exam to take! My money is calling out to me! (✧∇✧)

Mira looked speechlessly at the boy in front of her. (≖_≖)

The two hurried to the harbor docks, only to find everyone waiting for them.

Ye said embarrassedly, "Sorry, sorry. I was delayed helping an old lady cross the road."

Seeing how shameless Ye was, Mira moved farther away from him.

The guild master looked at the shameless Ye before him and did not want to say another word to him.

"Since everyone is here, let's set off."

Laxus looked at the relaxed Ye and issued a harsh warning.

"You can only stay this calm for now. Soon, I'll make you understand the gap between our strength."

Ye picked his nose and said, "Sure, sure. I'm looking forward to it."

Laxus snorted and ignored Ye.

The group boarded a ship and headed for their destination.

At that moment, Makarov gathered everyone and said, "The location of this exam is an island inhabited by numerous magical beasts. The contents are simple: on the island, you must find Gildarts and gain his approval."

After hearing the rules, Laxus and Ye each seemed to be pondering something.

Once the ship docked, Laxus and Ye disembarked. Laxus suddenly said, "Ye, I know you have extremely strong senses. This exam is too easy for you. Let's decide the winner here. Whoever wins will go challenge Gildarts."

Ye looked at Laxus in surprise. "I didn't expect you to know me so well. But you're right. This exam is far too advantageous for me. From the moment I set foot on this island, I had already found Gildarts's location."

Laxus said seriously, "I knew it would be like this. So come on, let's fight and see who is the strongest among the younger generation!"

Ye looked at the battle-hungry Laxus and said, "Then let's do it."

Mira and Fried looked at the two men, who were ready to start fighting the moment they got off the ship, and unconsciously turned to the guild master.

The guild master looked seriously at the two brats who were about to fight and sighed softly.

"Sigh... Fine, let the two of them have their way."

Laxus took off his coat and began the duel.

"Lightning Strike!"

Lightning surged from Laxus's entire body, and a bolt of lightning struck Ye directly.

Standing within the lightning, Ye slowly said, "Don't tell me that's all you've got."

Laxus smiled. "This is only the beginning!"

"Lightning Punch!"

Lightning gathered in Laxus's hand as he charged at Ye. A straight punch struck Ye, sending him spinning through the air several times before he landed safely on the ground.

Laxus stared at the scene before him in disbelief.

"I clearly hit you. Why aren't you hurt at all?"

Ye looked at the puzzled Laxus and slowly said, "Force Release. It's a technique that minimizes physical damage."

Mira and Fried looked at what had just happened and asked the guild master,

"Grandpa, what kind of move was that?"

Relying on his exceptional eyesight, Makarov watched what had happened and said, "That should be a technique. When Laxus struck Ye, Ye cleverly deflected Laxus's attack."

After hearing Ye's explanation, Laxus considered how to deal with him. At that moment, Ye said excitedly,

"Don't worry, I won't use Force Release again. Satisfy me with your strength!"

Laxus looked angrily at the arrogant bastard before him. "You bastard! Who do you think you're looking down on? Lightning Spear!"

Ye charged straight into the electric current, coating his hand in Armament Haki and smashing the lightning apart before arriving in front of Laxus and throwing a punch.

Facing the incoming fist, Laxus activated elementalization. Yet the scene he had imagined did not occur. The fist struck him directly.

Laxus was blasted backward, but he immediately got back on his feet.

"Why can you hit me? I clearly used elementalization!"

Ye looked at Laxus and exclaimed, "Well, well, I didn't expect it to actually work. I thought that since our systems were different, it might not affect elemental bodies."

Ye said seriously, "Enough with the boring tricks, Laxus. Show me what you're really capable of. Don't hold back. I can sense violent lightning within your body."

Hearing Ye's words, Laxus burst into loud laughter.

"Hahahahaha! I was saving this to deal with that old man. I've never revealed it in front of anyone—not even my grandfather knows. It seems I really can't defeat you without using it. Since you want to see it..."

The lightning around Laxus grew increasingly dense.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Lightning ravaged the open ground around Laxus. Lightning Dragon Slayer Mode!"

"Roar of the Lightning Dragon!"

Ye said excitedly, "That's more like it! That's more like it! Entertain me."

Qi gathered in Ye's hands.

"Kamehameha!"

White qi collided with yellow lightning, causing a massive explosion. As the explosion erupted, the two charged at each other at high speed.

"Iron Fist of the Lightning Dragon!"

"Armament Crash Fist!"

The two fists collided, yellow lightning and black lightning raging wildly against one another.

Mira and Fried were both dumbfounded as they watched the two.

Mira said angrily, "Damn Ye! Stupid Ye! So he'd been holding back when he fought me! I never expected the gap between us to be so huge."

Makarov looked at the two before him with great satisfaction.

"I never expected Laxus to have grown to this extent."

At some point, Gildarts had arrived.

"Hahaha, what an incredible fight."

Makarov cried out in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Gildarts said indifferently, "It was too boring over there. This side is much more exciting. Both of them already possess strength beyond that of ordinary S-Class Mages. Hahaha, the guild's future is promising."

The two fought with fists and kicks, completely disregarding their injuries as they grew more and more excited!

Laxus suddenly leaped into the air.

"Jaws of the Lightning Dragon!"

Ye crossed both arms to block the Jaws of the Lightning Dragon, his feet sinking into the sand.

"As expected of a Dragon Slayer physique. Your strength really is impressive. I acknowledge your power!"

Laxus roared, "I don't need your acknowledgment!"

Laxus exerted even more force. At that moment, Ye raised a leg and kicked straight into Laxus's chest. Laxus was instantly sent flying by the kick, coughing up blood before smashing violently into the ground.