Fairy Tail: You call this Celestial Spirit Magic?!

Chapter 172, Level 1: Eliminate half of them first!

Chapter 173, First Challenge: Eliminate Half! (Please Subscribe!)

Gajeel was deeply troubled by not having his own "cat," and although he never mentioned it to anyone, anyone with a modicum of sense could tell.

Moen had already noticed the problem. After all, Gajeel couldn't keep a secret. He even went to the streets and alleys to look for his cat, and then got chased and scratched by the cat, which made a bit of a joke. It was only because he was thick-skinned and not afraid at all that he was not afraid, otherwise he would have been covered in scratches from the cat.

Of course, some people can notice it, while others can't. For example, some people are slow to notice. Natsu didn't know that Gajeel had such thoughts, otherwise he would definitely have ridiculed Gajeel.

"I'd never lose to you and Gray, no matter who I lose to!"

Natsu looked at Gajeel and his whole body was ignited. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel were now in a competitive mode, each trying to outdo the other. None of the three were willing to admit defeat to the other.

Of course, because Gajeel arrived at the guild a little later, Natsu and Gray only saw him as a provocateur they were targeting incidentally, and the two old rivals were even more hostile towards each other.

"Two silly dragons."

Gray, shirtless and wearing only shorts, stood with his hands on his hips, looking down on Natsu and Gajeel. He was also participating in the assessment alone.

Gray came here to broaden his horizons, not expecting to succeed. Of course, he would give it his all, at least to see the difference between himself and an S-class mage.

Although he was often easily defeated by Moen, Gray had never seriously fought Laxus. He wanted to see how strong Laxus was and who was more intimidating, Moen or Laxus.

"Quiet!"

Makarov spoke up, silencing the children below. Everyone immediately quieted down and looked at Makarov expectantly.

Of course, there are also veterans in the team who have participated for the second or third time, and they are very familiar with the following procedures.

These "veterans" were willing to give it a try for two reasons: first, they were inspired by Gildarts, and second, Gildarts wasn't the examiner this time!

Gildarts accepted the mission and left in front of everyone, which means that it is a foregone conclusion that he will not appear as an examiner in this S-rank assessment.

Because the exam started only a few days after Gildarts left, some people specifically asked him if Gildarts' mission would take him very far and he definitely wouldn't be able to come back in time.

Having been severely defeated by Gildarts before, they were naturally going to give it another try this time. With Gildarts absent, it was obvious who the examiner was—it was Laxus, who had been staying in the guild recently.

Laxus's age, coupled with the fact that he had only recently been promoted to S-class mage, gave everyone confidence. Of course, they didn't think they could defeat Laxus, as he already had a considerable reputation.

Their thinking was simple: if they could perform a little better against Laxus than they did against Gildarts, maybe Laxus would let them pass?

Maybe Laxus's standards aren't as high as Gildarts's?

"Everyone, stay close to me and don't let anyone fall behind!"

Makarov ignored the children's opinions and led his team away from Magnolia.

A large group of people went to the train station and boarded the train to Hargeon. Natsu and Gajeel, who had been chattering non-stop, immediately shut up and became quiet.

Upon arriving at Harugeon, before Natsu and Gajeel could even catch their breath, Makarov led everyone back onto the ship.

"."

Natsu and Gajeel both looked utterly hopeless. Had the trial already begun? Why were they being tortured like this?!

Standing at the bow of the ship, looking at the children on the deck, Makarov cleared his throat, preparing to announce the arrangements for this mission.

At this moment, they were on a large ship, already out at sea, and all around them was a vast expanse of azure water.

"Natsu, Gajeel, listen carefully."

Moen reminded the two people lying on the side that the main event was about to begin, and even if they were just there to watch, they should listen carefully.

"I'm fine."

Although Moen thought the two of them were just there to make up the numbers, Natsu and Gajeel clearly didn't think so, and the two of them forced themselves to get up and listen to Makarov explain the rules of the assessment.

The ship had been sailing at sea for quite some time, so it's no wonder that Natsu and Gajeel were feeling so unwell. Seasickness is indeed a severe form of torture; anyone who has experienced it knows.

If they had stayed at sea a little longer, Natsu and Gajeel wouldn't have needed to take the test and could have gone straight home.

Actually, having these two swim behind us might be more comfortable than it is now, and they could also get some exercise.

"The rules are simple. See that island over there? Go to that island. Only the top nine teams will qualify for the next stage. Then find Laxus. As for the subsequent tests, once you've gained approval, Laxus will tell you."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Makarov slowly began to recite the rules.

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and indeed a small black dot had appeared on the distant sea; it was an island.

"That far?!"

Someone exclaimed in surprise that the ship had stopped and was no longer moving forward; clearly, they were about to set off from here.

"A top nine group?"

The group looked at each other; this meant that more than half of the people had been eliminated!

There were more than 20 people participating in the assessment. Several of them were on their own, including Moen, Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Cana. The remaining people formed nine teams, making a total of sixteen teams.

This means that more than half of the people might be eliminated before they even arrive at the exam location. Is the competition really that fierce?!

When this rule was announced, the veterans who had participated before all changed their expressions. Although there were indeed many people participating in the assessment this time, it was too much to raise the difficulty so high all at once. This would eliminate more than half of the people at once!

Although the content of the S-level assessment is not static, the rules this time are clearly more stringent.

"No matter what method you use, as long as you're in the top nine, that's fine."

Makarov then spoke, emphasizing this point, and before anyone could think further, he shouted:

"The assessment officially begins!"

"Thump!"

Immediately, some experienced swimmers who had participated before jumped off the boat and went straight into the sea to swim. This was the most simple and unpretentious way, relying entirely on physical strength to swim forward.

Moen immediately recognized him as "Super Muscle Magician" Joey. The guy took the lead, slicing a white rift in the sea like a swordfish, swimming incredibly fast.

"Damn it! They reacted so quickly!"

This sudden start caught everyone off guard, but Joey's amazing reaction made everyone quickly follow suit.

For a time, it was a scene of "the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each displaying their unique abilities." Only the top nine combinations could qualify for the next round. Naturally, no one was going to be modest anymore; everyone was determined to give it their all.

For Gray, this challenge was far too easy. He jumped into the sea, clasped his hands together, and the seawater beneath his feet immediately froze, continuing to freeze forward to form an ice path. Running on the ice was faster than swimming.

Seeing this, some people wanted to follow Gray and ran across Gray's icy path, but they slipped and fell into the sea after only a couple of steps.

"Hahaha! You think running on ice is such an easy thing?!"

Gray grinned from ear to ear. He dared to create such an ice road, so he wasn't afraid of others following him. Not everyone could walk on ice as easily as he could, or even more skillfully than on a road. Anyone who tried to do the same would only fall badly.

Seeing this, Gajeel immediately abandoned his idea of ​​following Gray and obediently jumped in to start swimming.

As it turns out, most mages' magic is useless in this level, and they can only choose to swim across honestly.

"Haha! You swim on and on! I'm going now!"

Natsu flew in the sky and mocked Gajeel. Of course, he wasn't flying by himself, but rather being carried by Happy. Happy spread his white wings and pulled Natsu through the air.

Seeing this, Gajeel gritted his teeth in anger. He was even more annoyed that he didn't have a "cat." If he had a cat, he could fly too!

There are quite a few that can fly, but Happy, pulling Natsu along, is actually the one that flies the slowest and has the most difficulty.

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After all, Happy is not very old now, and his magic power is not much. The use of wings to fly by the Beyonder is also a kind of magic. When the magic power is exhausted, the wings will disappear.

"Fly slowly, Happy, Natsu."

Moen summoned a raven, which flew easily past Happy and Natsu, leaving behind a message: according to Moen's judgment, it was impossible for Happy to fly to the island with Natsu; his magic power was being depleted too quickly, and he would probably "crash" soon.

In Moen's opinion, Natsu should be eliminated in the first round because after the "crash," he still needs to swim with Happy, and he can't just leave Happy here with all his magic power gone.

From this perspective, Natsu would have been better off swimming by himself from the start. It was a strategic mistake, and he deserved to be eliminated.

"Damn it! Go, Happy! Surpass Moen!"

Natsu got excited when Moen overtook him. He urged Happy to fly faster, but since he couldn't help, he could only cheer Happy on verbally.

"I'm already trying!"

Happy pulled Natsu along, flapping his wings to accelerate. He was really trying his best, since the essence of his ability to fly was not actually by flapping his wings, but by magic.

However, Harpy's efforts did not allow them to surpass Moen; instead, the gap widened, and Moen's "taillights" could no longer be seen.

"Whoosh!"

Not only that, they couldn't even surpass Moen, and they couldn't even maintain their current ranking. Erza, wearing a black winged armor, flew past them quickly, and the wind she created made Happy lose his balance.

"That wretched Erza!"

Natsu had just made a comment when there was another "whoosh" sound as Mirajane, who had received the demon's power, spread her wings and flew past them.

Mirajane didn't even look at them; her eyes were fixed on Erza in front of her.

"."

Natsu, who had been swaying in the air like a kite for two rounds, was speechless.

He didn't get dizzy, because he didn't use Harpy as a means of transportation. But looking at the few people ahead who were almost out of sight, he vaguely sensed something was wrong. It seemed that he and Harpy didn't have much of an advantage.

Although Moen didn't set off early, he was the first to arrive.

With his magic power, the crows sped like fighter jets, and soon brought him to the island.

This island is called "Sirius Island," also known as "Fairy Island." According to Grandpa Makarov, fairies used to live on the island. Whether that's true or not, Moen couldn't be sure, and this was his first time here.

This place holds a very special significance for the Fairy Tail guild.

This is the guild's sacred ground and the grave of the first guild master, Mavis. Only members of the Fairy Tail guild are allowed to enter here, making it, in a sense, the guild's territory.

The outer perimeter of Sirius Island and the land itself contain extremely powerful magic. This magic distorts the vision of others, concealing the island and making it difficult for outsiders to discover.

Ordinary people without magic will generally avoid the area, so even if no one is guarding it, almost no one will come to this island.

From the sky, Moen saw that the island had a very special appearance. There was a towering tree on the island, which was very eye-catching. It was as if the whole island was a bonsai growing in the sea, and the island below was the base of this towering tree.

Not every guild assessment is held on Sirius Island. This time, there were more participants, so this larger venue was chosen.

If only Moen, Erza, and Mirajane participate as in the beginning, the assessment will not be held on Tenrou Island.

Moen was the first to arrive at the destination. He admired the scenery for a moment, but he wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he waited for the others to arrive.

Without any suspense, the second person to arrive was Erza. She was clad in black feather armor and possessed the ability to fly. Driven by powerful magic, no one could compare to her.

"Moen? Are we going to wait here for the others?"

After seeing the prominent "Finish" sign on the beach, Erza landed and walked towards Moen, whom she had seen squatting there playing with crabs while she was in the air.

"No need to wait, we can move on to the next level."

Looking at Erza, Moen gestured for her to continue. Waiting for the others was his job, a task Grandpa Makarov had just given him. How to put it? This was probably the price of being "pre-selected"—having to do some work that wasn't part of the candidates' job.

(End of this chapter)