As soon as Gildarts finished speaking, Laxus became a streak of lightning.
There was no probing attack, no warning.
A golden fist shot straight for the map at Gildarts's waist, moving more than ten percent faster than it had a year ago. Almost simultaneously, Lin Yuan folded the distance and reached for it from Gildarts's side.
Both of their fingertips were just half an inch from the map.
Gildarts didn't even move his feet.
An invisible force spread from him. The lightning shattered into countless tiny arcs, the folded space was forcibly broken apart, and even the road beneath their feet turned into neat blocks.
Laxus skidded several steps after landing.
Lin Yuan's hand bounced back out of the distorted space. He wasn't hurt, but the path that had connected him to the map had been broken into dozens of segments, making it impossible to reestablish his position for the moment.
"Too direct," Gildarts said with a smile.
"It's not over yet!"
Laxus slammed both hands against the ground. Lightning surged along the shattered road, spreading out to surround Gildarts from all directions at once.
Rather than seize the chance to snatch the map, Lin Yuan watched where the arcs vanished.
Every bolt of lightning that came within three feet of Gildarts was crushed into the most basic magic power. There were no obvious blind spots in its range, and its strength far exceeded anything they could break through head-on.
Laxus had clearly reached the same conclusion.
He stopped attacking. "Is your True Magic always active?"
"More or less."
"What about when you sleep?"
"Are you planning to wait until night?"
"I'm just checking."
Gildarts grinned even more broadly. "Not a bad idea, but unfortunately, we still have to reach the island before sunset tomorrow."
Lin Yuan looked up at the sun. It was still a long way from noon, yet Gildarts didn't seem to be in any hurry.
The fight itself wasn't the point.
If he and Laxus insisted on trying to snatch the map separately, they would only keep getting in each other's way. Gildarts wouldn't even need to make a move to keep them occupied for the entire morning.
"You make him turn around," Lin Yuan said.
Laxus frowned. "Why should I listen to you?"
"Because thunder is louder."
"That reason had better be useful."
Golden magic power erupted once more.
Instead of charging at the map, Laxus leaped into the air and gathered a dense mass of lightning around his right fist. The lightning scorched the air, filling it with a pungent smell, while the surrounding trees bent outward in the fierce wind.
For the first time, Gildarts raised an arm.
The lightning crashed down.
The instant Crush True Magic broke it apart, Lin Yuan appeared behind Gildarts. Black-and-silver magic power curved around the disintegrating area and looped back from farther away as his fingers reached straight for the map scroll.
Gildarts reached back, the light of Crush True Magic already glowing in his palm.
Just as he was about to touch Lin Yuan, Laxus swooped down through the lightning and grabbed for the other end of the map.
Gildarts had no choice but to turn and block Laxus.
Lin Yuan grabbed the map but didn't retreat immediately. A metal clasp still connected the scroll to Gildarts's belt, and if he yanked on it, the map would likely tear first.
"The clasp!"
A tiny arc of lightning sprang from Laxus's fingertip, crossed over Gildarts's shoulder, and struck the metal clasp dead-on.
Snap!
The clasp sprang open, and the map fell into Lin Yuan's hand.
At the same moment, Gildarts's fist stopped in front of him.
The fist hadn't actually touched his body, but several strands of hair above Lin Yuan's forehead had already broken apart neatly, turning into tiny black blocks that drifted down.
Laxus took half a step back. When he saw Lin Yuan's hair, he couldn't help letting out a laugh.
Lin Yuan touched the missing patch. "You're half responsible for it."
"Leave me out of it."
Gildarts withdrew his fist and glanced at his empty belt. "Not bad. When you couldn't break through head-on, you used each other to create an opportunity."
"The map is mine." Laxus held out his hand.
"It's in my hand."
"My lightning opened the clasp in the end."
"Without the space folding, you couldn't have hit it."
The two had only just finished working together, and the next moment they were arguing over who got the map.
Gildarts listened beside them for a while before finally asking, "Why does it have to go to just one person?"
Lin Yuan and Laxus both stopped.
"There's only one map," Laxus said.
"But there's no rule saying only one person can go to Black Reef Island."
The two looked down at the map.
There were three routes from Magnolia to the western coast. After that, they would have to take a boat through waters full of hidden reefs. The route was complicated, but they didn't need to keep the map with them the whole time.
Lin Yuan memorized the land routes and the island's location, then handed the map to Laxus. Laxus scanned the coast and the sea route, then tossed the scroll back into Gildarts's arms.
"I've got it memorized."
"Me too."
The next instant, a streak of lightning and black-and-silver spatial ripples shot westward together.
Gildarts stood in the middle of the road that had been broken into blocks, watching the two youths rapidly disappear into the distance.
Makarov stepped out from behind a tree and looked down at the fragments covering the ground. "Did you really have to destroy the road in the first test?"
"If I didn't break it up a little, how would they know they couldn't get through head-on?"
"You're responsible for fixing it."
"I still have to go to Black Reef Island to prepare the next test."
"Fix it before you go!"
Gildarts pretended not to hear and unfolded the map to study the way to the coast. After looking at it for a moment, he suddenly realized he was holding it upside down and silently turned it halfway around.
Makarov sighed. "Do you actually know where the test is being held?"
"More or less."
In the distance, Lin Yuan and Laxus were still arguing over who would reach the coast first.
Gildarts put the map away, but the smile never left his face.
"I only said there was one map. I never said they couldn't work together."