After the list of candidates was announced, the Guild spent the entire morning arguing.
Natsu insisted that if he beat Lin Yuan on the spot, his name should replace Lin Yuan's. Gray argued that a candidate should at least know how to dress properly. The two fought all the way from the stairs to the bar, until Erza dragged them back, one in each hand.
Makarov stood on a table and struck his glass three times before everyone quieted down.
"The S-Class Mage promotion exam will begin in three days. Candidates may not bring partners and may only prepare their personal equipment. The location and rules will be announced when we depart."
Laxus folded his arms. "Three days is too long."
"That time is for you to finish the jobs you have on hand, not to tear apart the training ground."
"Who's the examiner?" Mira asked.
Before Makarov could answer, a faint sound came from the wall on the side of the Guild.
The masonry broke apart as if disassembled by an invisible force, the entire wall neatly separating into countless blocks. A tall man in a cloak walked through the opening, studying an old map in his hands.
"Strange. I remember the Guild entrance being over here."
The hall fell deathly silent.
The man looked up, saw everyone, and broke into a smile. "Looks like I'm in the right place."
Makarov stared at the wall, now reduced to blocks, and cracks appeared in the glass he was gripping.
"Gildarts!"
Cheers and an angry roar rang out at the same time.
The Guild members swarmed forward. Natsu ran across the tables to get to the front. "Gildarts, fight me!"
Gildarts casually held him back by the head. Natsu waved his arms wildly, but his feet couldn't carry him even half a step forward.
"Isn't it a little early for a fight? I just got back."
"You just got back and tore down a wall!" Makarov roared.
"That was an accident."
"You say that every time!"
Lin Yuan didn't join the crowd.
The moment Gildarts entered the Guild, the space around him seemed to fracture ever so slightly. It wasn't because he was deliberately releasing magic power, but an instinctive effect left by his Crush magic. Matter, magic, and even the structure of space itself near him seemed liable to be disassembled at any moment.
Gildarts noticed Lin Yuan too.
He let go of Natsu and walked through the crowd to the young man. "You're Lin Yuan, the one Makarov mentioned in his letter?"
"That's me."
"I hear your magic can even eat space."
"Only the parts I can analyze."
"Then you'd better not try it on my magic without thinking," Gildarts said with a smile. "Once you've been broken into little pieces, putting you back together would be a real pain."
He spoke casually, but the magic power inside Lin Yuan instinctively tightened.
The man before him was unlike any mage he had met before. If they really fought, ordinary space folding would probably be crushed before it even made contact. That gap didn't come from their total magic power, but from the weight of experience accumulated through countless battles.
Laxus also took off his headphones, his gaze turning serious.
"He's the examiner?"
"That's right." Makarov finally recovered from the loss of the wall. "Gildarts will oversee the combat portion of the exam, and I'll make the final evaluation."
"All we have to do is beat him?"
The Guild suddenly erupted in laughter.
Lightning immediately crackled around Laxus. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing." Macao struggled to hold back his laughter. "It's nice to be young."
Gildarts wasn't angry. He simply patted Laxus on the shoulder. When his hand came down, a fine crack quietly spread across the floor beneath Laxus's feet.
"Of course you can try to beat me," Gildarts said. "But whether you can become S-Class isn't decided by a single victory or defeat."
"Then what decides it?" Lin Yuan asked.
"Once the exam begins, find the answer yourself."
Over the next three days, the Guild grew even busier than usual.
Mira dragged Lin Yuan to the training ground and attacked him for two hours straight, saying she couldn't let herself lose her bet too badly. Erza gave him an entire book of mistakes recorded during past jobs, while Lisanna stuffed his luggage full of food.
"Lin Yuan, will they test you on cooking?"
"Probably not."
"You should still take it. If the examiner gets hungry, you can trade cake for points."
Not far away, Gildarts was chatting with Wakaba while holding a barrel of wine. At the mention of cake, he actually nodded seriously in their direction.
Makarov immediately dragged him away. "No bribing the examiner, and the examiner isn't allowed to drop hints either!"
Early on the third morning, Lin Yuan and Laxus met outside the city.
Gildarts had brought neither a boat nor a carriage. He only took out a map marked with mountains, rivers, and coastline.
"The exam site is Black Reef Island, about three hundred li from here. You must arrive before sunset tomorrow to qualify for the next stage."
"That simple?" Laxus asked.
"There's only one map."
Gildarts rolled up the map and tucked it into his belt, then beckoned to the two of them.
"First stage-take the map from me."