Chapitre 291: The Exam Continues

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.

December 15, x784.

Only a few seconds after leaving the ship, Alfonzo appeared at the top of the mountain where the six caves for the exam were located.

"You're almost as fast as I am now." Laxus said with a smirk.

"Even if you're faster than me, I can still kick your ass." Alfonzo replied with a smirk of his own. "In fact, I always have."

"Don't get too full of yourself, things won't always be the same." Laxus replied confidently.

"We'll have to see about that." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Anyway, they should be showing up soon."

"Who do you think will be here first?" Laxus asked, already having an idea to the answer.

"Probably Mest and Wendy." Alfonzo said with a slight frown.

"Huh? I thought it would be Fried and Bickslow." Laxus replied.

"Did you forget what kind of magic Mest uses?" Alfonzo asked.

"Nope." Laxus replied with a smile. "I never knew to begin with. That guy just isn't interesting enough for me to care."

"Fair enough." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. Then, he turned his attention towards the beach. "Look, they're here."

Following the direction of Alfonzo's finger, Laxus saw a young man of average height and a little girl, Mest and Wendy, appear on the beach.

"[Teleportation Magic], huh?" Laxus muttered. "Yeah, I guess I could see why he got here first."

"Yeah, anyway, do you wanna go first, or should I?" Alfonzo asked.

"Let me." Laxus said as he raised his right hand to the sky.

A moment later, Laxus' entire right arm was covered in yellow lightning. Then, he fired that lightning up into the sky.

Meanwhile, on the beach, Mest and Wendy were scanning their surroundings, looking for any clues as to where the attacks Makarov mentioned could possibly come from.

"Remember Wendy, we have to be careful until we reach the caves." Mest said as he cautiously took a step forward.

"Right." Wendy replied with a determined nod.

Before she took her first step forward, however, Wendy's head snapped upwards and her eyes widened in surprise.

*Boom!*

Before Wendy could say anything, though, a bolt of yellow lightning fell in front of Mest.

"Argh!" Mest shouted as he was sent flying backwards.

*Splash!*

Although he was not struck directly, the lightning traveled through the sand, shocking Mest and temporarily paralyzing him. On top of that, the impact from the lightning strike sent him flying backwards before he splashed helplessly into the sea.

"Mest!" Wendy shouted as she ran towards where Mest floated atop the water. Then, when she was close enough, she put her hands on his chest and chanted a spell. "[Heal]."

With her chant, Wendy gathered the clean air in the surroundings and used it to restore Mest, who was only slightly injured to his peak condition.

"*Pant* *Pant* Thanks, Wendy." Mest said while shaking his head and getting his breathing in order. "I never expected the attacks to come from above."

"I think that was Laxus' magic." Wendy said. "It was a yellow bolt of lightning."

"I see." Mest said. Honestly, I didn't even see it."

At that moment, both Fried and Bickslow arrived at the shore as well. Then, without a word, they simply flew past Mest and Wendy and headed straight for the mountain.

"*Boom!*

Before the new arrivals could get too far, however, the lightning struck again. This time it was blue, though.

Reacting quickly, Bickslow controlled his dolls to move around the lightning bolt and the two continued on to the mountain.

"Well, considering how often they train with Laxus, I guess it makes sense that they have gotten used to dodging lightning, huh?" Mest said.

"Yeah." Wendy nodded.

"Anyway, we should just go." Mest said. "I'll just teleport us to the foot of the mountain."

"Okay." Wendy replied with a nod.

In the next instant, Mest put his hand on Wendy's shoulder before they both vanished from where they stood. A moment later, they appeared in front of the six paths and chose one randomly. Immediately afterward, the marking over the cave changed, letting the other participants know that the cave had already been chosen.

Then, shortly after Mest and Wendy entered their cave, Fried and Bickslow arrived at the mountain wall, as well. And although both of them were uninjured, there were light burns on Bickslow's other three dolls.

"Damn it, Alfonzo!" Bickslow bellowed to the sky. "Are you trying to destroy my babies?"

*Boom!*

As if responding to Bickslow's shout, a bolt of blue lightning fell from above, aimed at the top of Bickslow's head. Before it could strike him, however, Fried tossed his sword upward, attracting the lightning before it could do any damage.

"Stop provoking him, Bickslow." Fried said, let's just go inside."

"Tch! Fine." Bickslow replied after clicking his tongue.

Luckily, Fried's sword was one he commissioned from Alfonzo in the past. So, although it did not have any extra offensive options, it was sturdy enough to come away from being struck by lightning without taking any significant damage. Also, thanks to the sheath on his hip, Fried was able to recall it to himself at any time.

So, after retrieving his sword, Fried and Bickslow chose one of the unoccupied caves and entered without hesitation.

Around that time, Elfman and Evergreen also reached the shore. But since Evergreen's speed was much faster than Bickslow's, she barely even slowed down and rushed straight for the caves.

"Ever! slow down! Slow down!" Elfman shouted as Evergreen narrowly avoided the falling lightning bolts.

"What are you panicking for?" Evergreen asked with a smirk. "I thought you were a real man. Don't tell me you're afraid of a little lightning."

"Of course I'm a real man!" Elfman shouted in return. "But it doesn't hurt to be careful."

Like that, Evergreen continued to tease Elfman while avoiding the lightning. Eventually, they arrived at the caves and Elfman instructed her which one to enter as she flew into the opening on the mountain wall. Meanwhile, Levy and Gajeel had just finished their swim from the ship.

"So they're chucking lightning at the people trying to get to the caves, huh?" Gajeel asked with an excited expression.

"Yeah, but you can handle it, right?" Levy asked.

"Of course." Gajeel said as he held up his right fist. "[Iron Dragon's Club]."

A moment later, Gajeel punched out and his arm elongated into an iron rod. Then, he sent it flying forward before it slammed into the ground and stood upright in the sand.

"Good thinking." Levy said with a nod. "Using a lightning rod is a great idea. But if you do that, then the people behind us will just follow the path, won't they?'

"Not if you knock all of them down when we get to the caves, right?" Gajeel asked with a grin. "Then, they'll have to deal with a bunch of iron rods that will conduct the lightning all over the place."

"I see." Levy replied with a smile. "Then, let's go."

With that, Gajeel created a number of lightning rods on the path to the caves. As a result, other than Gajeel's magic power getting slightly depleted, they were in more or less the same condition as when they arrived on the island.

Then, when the duo reached the caves, after choosing one but just before entering it, Levy turned around and wrote the word [Earthquake] in the air with her Light Pen before pushing it towards the center of the path she and Gajeel used to arrive at the caves.

A moment later, just as the [Word Magic] reached the ground, the beach began to shake. As a result of the shaking, all the iron rods that were stuck in the ground fell over and spread across the beach.

"Perfect, now let's go inside." Levy said, nodding at her work with satisfaction.

Then, the two turned around and entered their chosen cave. Fortunately for Levy, and Unfortunately for Gajeel, the cave they chose was the only one that allowed a free pass to the second round of the exam.

After Levy and Gajeel entered the cave, the beach stayed quiet for about twenty minutes, thanks to Fried's [Enchantment]. But once it timed out, the next pair of teams made it to the beach at nearly the same time.

Jumping out of the water with Marin in her arms, Sun's fish tail transformed back into her human legs as she landed. A moment later, Juvia, followed closely by Lisanna, left the water as well.

"Juvia… Juvia actually lost…?" Juvia questioned in a disbelieving tone.

"Told you Sun would get here first. Marin said with a smile while sticking out her tongue.

"We don't have time to wait around." Sun said, wearing an uncharacteristically serious expression. "Alfonzo and Laxus are throwing lightning. We need to get going before we get caught up in that."

"Right." Marin replied, her expression becoming serious as well.

With that, Sun and Marin did not waste time and started running towards the mountain wall.

"Come on, Juvia." Lisanna said, pulling on Juvia's arm. "We need to get moving, too. [Take Over: Animal Soul: Harpy]."

With that, Lisanna's arms turned into the wings of a bird with feathers the same color as her hair. Her legs also transformed into avian legs with talons and feathered thighs, also the same color as her hair, along with floppy, harpy ears.

Then, with her talons, Lisanna lifted Juvia and started flying towards the mountain, quickly overtaking Sun and Marin, while dodging lightning bolts along the way.

"I wish I could fly." Sun said in a somewhat dreamy tone. "It looks fun."

"Focus, Sun." Marin said sharply as she [Transformed] one of her daggers into a long iron rod and made a lightning rod before jamming it into the ground to attract an incoming bolt of lightning. "We can figure out how to make you fly later. For now, we need to get out of this mine field."

"Right." Sun replied, her expression turning serious again as she started running.

Retrieving her dagger after the lightning bolt hit it, Marin also followed after Sun.

'I'm glad Fonzie used nonconductive metals for my daggers.' Marin said with a smile as she continued to run.

A short while later, Juvia and Lisanna entered one of the caves. Then, while Sun and Marin were about halfway to the mountain, Gray, Meredy, Cana, and Lucy arrived on the island.

"Stay close to me, Meredy." Gray said as he made his casting gesture.

"Got it." Meredy said with a nod.

"[Ice-Make: Moving Shelter]." Gray chanted as he slammed his hands down on the sand.

A moment later, Gray and Meredy were covered by a transparent igloo. Then, when they started running towards themountain, the igloo surprisingly moved with them. Ignoring lightning bolts, Gray let the igloo absorb all the damage. Luckily, none of the lightning bolts were strong enough to destroy it in one shot, allowing Gray to repair it with his magic power whenever its durability fell below a certain point.

Meanwhile, as soon as they reached the beach, Cana reached into her card pouch and pulled out a combination of cards. Then, she grabbed Lucy by the arm.

"Huh? What are you doing, Cana?' Lucy asked in confusion.

"We're moving." Cana said solemnly as she ran her magic power into the cards in her hand. "Just don't bite your tongue, alright?"

"What are you---" Lucy began to ask.

"[Card Magic: Lightning Dash]." Cana chanted, deciding now was a good time to use one of the new spells she developed in the time leading up to the exam.

A moment later, Cana's legs were covered in currents of lightning before she took a step forward.

*Boom!*

"Kya~~~~~~~!" Lucy screamed in surprise.

With that one step, Cana shot forward at nearly the speed of sound, kicking up a cloud of sand as a result of her sudden acceleration. But that one step was only the beginning. With each subsequent step, her speed increased.

In theory, if Cana was given enough time and her body was strong enough, she would be able to move at speeds comparable to Laxus when he took his [Lightning Form]. Unfortunately, as she was not used to moving at such speeds, nor was her body that strong, her maximum speed was capped at around Mach two.

Still, it was more than enough to reach the mountain before either Gray or Sun's teams.

"You could have warned me first." Lucy complained while supporting herself on her hands and knees while dry heaving thanks to the nausea.

"Sorry." Cana said with a smile. "But still, that was amazing. What a rush. It was great being able to really let go like that."

Seeing the satisfied smile on Cana's face, Lucy's discontent expression turned into a happy smile of her own before it once again changed to a resolute one.

"If Cana is willing to go all out like that at the start, then I guess I should do the same." Lucy thought to herself. "There's no way I'm letting her leave the guild. And I'm sure Alfonzo would be devastated if she broke up with him over something like this.'

Little did Lucy know, Alfonzo had no intention of letting Cana go, even if she did not become an S-Class wizard after the exam. Instead, he would more than likely bend her over his knee and give her a spanking for having such a stupid thought.

Though, there's a good chance Cana would not really see that as a punishment.

Either way, thanks to Cana's new spell, she and Lucy were the sixth team to enter one of the caves. And they were shortly followed by Sun and Marin, leaving only one cave for Gray and Meredy to choose.

L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
SixthSense1029

1/2

If you wanna read 5 chapters ahead or just give me a little support, join my patr3on at:

https://patr3on.com/SixthSense1029

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the story.

Comments, Reviews, and Power Stones are always appreciated.

commentaire Commentaire 4

Voter

Chapitre 292: Fried and Bickslow Vs. Elfman and Evergreen

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.

December 15, x784.

"I wonder who this cave will lead us to." Elfman said as he and Evergreen walked through the cave path they chose.

"As long as it doesn't lead to one of the S-Class wizards, we should be fine." Evergreen replied. "But even if it does, at least we know we won't have to fight Laxus, Alfonzo, or Elicia."

"You don't think you can take the others?" Elfman asked curiously. Then, he puffed out his chest and continued. "That's not how a real man should act."

"I'm not a man, you muscle bound moron." Evergreen snapped back. "But that's not it. I'm confident If I have to face Erza, Mirajane, or Ultear. But if we have to fight Gildarts or Ur, then that's probably the end of the road for us."

Although Elfman wanted to retort, he could not, in good conscience, say that he had a chance against Gildarts or Ur. Though, he did have one point that he disagreed with.

"You shouldn't underestimate my big sister." Elfman said in a solemn tone.

"What? Are you some kind of sis-con, or something?" Evergreen asked in a teasing tone.

To her surprise, Elfman did not respond to the sis-con comment. Instead, his expression became even more serious as he replied.

"Mira may seem nice and friendly most of the time." Elfman said. "but when she fights, she's much more vicious than most other wizards I know."

Hearing that, Evergreen looked at Elfman skeptically. Even so, she did not refute his statement. As a matter of fact, even after all the years they've been guild mates, Evergreen has never fought against Mirajane. So, she does not have much information about the way she fights, other than the fight she saw between Mirajane and Ultear during the tournament a couple months ago.

"Even so, if you don't have the confidence to win, you're limiting your chances of winning severely." Evergreen said in a tone of teaching a junior. "Remember that."

Hearing Evergreen's tone, Elfman glanced at her with a bit of surprise in his gaze. Then, after a moment, he nodded in understanding.

"I'll keep that in mind." Elfman said seriously.

Hearing Elfman taking her advice so seriously, Evergreen glanced at him. Then, she looked away while trying to hide the happiness she was feeling from being taken seriously.

Around that time, Elfman and Evergreen entered an open area in the cave system. Looking around the area, they noticed two other entrances. One of the entrances was sealed. More than likely, that was the path leading to the next part of the exam. While the other had another team standing in front of it.

"So, we're facing Fried and Bickslow." Elfman said, cracking the joints around his body in preparation for the fight.

"I must say, I never thought I'd be facing you in this exam, Ever." Fried said. "Even so, I won't hold back."

"Yeah, we're gonna have to take you down, Ever." Bickslow added.

"Take you down! Take you down!" Bickslow's dolls parroted.

"That should be my line." Evergreen replied. "Come on, Elfman. Let's show them who the stronger team is."

"Yeah!" Elfman roared as he charged forward. "[Take Over: Beast Soul Weretiger]."

With Elfman's chant, his body was covered in the light of his [Take Over magic]. A moment later, his figure was revealed. Now with orange fur covering his entire body, most of that fur was covered in spots reminiscent of a leopard's, despite the name of his [Take Over]. Also, the structure of his legs changed to match that of a feline, while his hands and feet now sported dark claws. On top of that, he gained a feline nose, a long dark main growing from the top of his head, his ears became pointed and elongated, and he grew a tail from his lower back.

Not only those changes could be seen, either. As far as his attire went, his shirt disappeared and his pants were replaced with a pair of baggy pants that reached to the middle of his calves.

Meanwhile, Evergreen, using her [Fairy Wings] floated from the cave floor as she pointed both her hands at their opponents.

"[Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun]." Evergreen chanted as a large amount of [Fairy Dust] was ejected from her body and condensed into a number of glowing needles. Then, as she waved her arms, all the needles were fired towards Fried and Bickslow.

In response, Fried and Bickslow remained calm. While Fried was slashing at the air with his sword, using his [Dark Écriture] to place runes in the air, Bickslow made his five dolls take a formation above him.

"[X-Formation], my babies." Bickslow ordered.

Immediately, by linking the corners of the dolls, they made an X-shape. Then, the all released a blast of magic power that flew forward in the same shape.

While it looked like Elfman was fated to be caught in the middle of these two spells, with the use of his [Take Over], he vanished from his spot in a burst of speed just before the two attacks collided in mid-air, resulting in an explosion.

A moment later, Elfman appeared to Fried's right with both hands raised and preparing to slash him with his claws.

"No, don't attack!" Evergreen shouted in panic.

Before Elfman could stop, however, Fried finished his spell.

"[Dark Écriture: Reflection]." Fried chanted.

Hearing Fried's chant, Elfman's eyes opened wide. Still, he did not panic. Although he was unable to stop his attack completely, he was able to slow It to a crawl. So, when his claws came in contact with Fried's [Enchantment], the reflected force barely registered and the [Enchantment] vanished.

"I saw this trick during the tournament." Elfman said in a much more beastly tone. "Don't think you can just use the same tricks over and over."

With that, Elfman thrust the claws on his right hand forward, aiming to incapacitate Fried as quickly as possible.

"I see, it seems I've underestimated you." Fried replied as he flicked his sword upward.

*Clang!*

Wit that flick, Fried was able to deflect Elfman's claws to the outside. Still, Elfman followed up by slashing his left hand at Fried almost immediately afterward.

'I gotta stay close to him.' Elfman thought as he continued to exchange attacks with Fried. "If I give him time to use his [Enchantments, it's over for us.'

Meanwhile, Bickslow and evergreen were both flying around the cavern while firing at each other with long range attacks. Yet, neither was able to gain the upper hand so far.

"Do you really think Elfman is strong enough to beat Fried, Ever?" Bickslow asked with his usual manic smile on his face. "if you don't go and help him, he's gonna lose pretty quick, you know."

"Oh, don't worry, I already know all your tricks, so taking care of you won't take long." Evergreen said in an aggressive tone.

Like that, Evergreen and Bickslow continued to exchange long ranged attacks in mid-air.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, Elfman had just avoided a slash from Fried's sword. Unfortunately, he had to move back further than he wanted to do so. However, as he tried to close the distance again, he was caught off guard when Fried rushed forward while swinging his sword in rapid succession.

"Argh!" Elfman shouted after being slashed several times.

If that had been all, Elfman would have been able to shrug off Fried's attack. But Fried was only getting started.

"[Dark Écriture: Pain]." Fried chanted and the runes he slashed onto Elfman's body took effect.

In the next moment, Elfman came to a complete stop as his senses were flooded with an overwhelming amount of pain. Even so, Fried did not stop his onslaught. Slashing his sword several more times, he inscribed the runes for two more spells on Elfman's body.

"[Dark Écriture: Fear]. [Dark Écriture: Suffering]." Fried chanted twice more in short succession.

Like before, Elfman felt pain flood his body. Though, it was on a much larger scale than before. On top of that, his mind was overwhelmed by incredible fear, sapping his will to continue his fight with Fried.

"That should end things on this end." Fried said as he turned around to help Bickslow defeat Evergreen.

*Boom!*

Before Fried could act to assist Bickslow, however, the sound of a heavy impact on the cave's floor drew his attention. Glancing back over his shoulder, he was surprised to see Elfman on his knees while holding his head in his hands.

*Boom!*

"No!" Elfman roared, drawing the attention of Bickslow and Evergreen, as well. "No! I'm a real man! And a real man will never be defeated by fear and pain!"

With every few words, Elfman would slam his head into the floor, causing the sound of impact that drew Fried's attention. In fact, Elfman was slamming his head against the floor with such force that a small crater, which was splattered with his blood, began to form underneath him.

"Is he fighting off my magic with his will alone?" Fried asked in an amazed tone.

"Now isn't the time to be impressed." Bickslow shouted. "Take him out while you have the chance."

"I won't let you!" Evergreen shouted, waving her arm in Fried's direction and sending a volley of her [Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun] in his direction.

In response, Fried spun on his heels and slashed the air behind him, erecting another [Dark Écriture: Reflection] before spinning again and charging towards Elfman with his sword in position to strike.

Meanwhile, after firing her spell at Fried, Evergreen intended to charge at him to buy time for Elfman to regain his senses. Unfortunately, thanks to Fried's [Reflection], she was forced to alter her flight path. As a result, she would not reach Fried before he reached Elfman.

"it's over." Fried said as he raised his sword overhead and swung it down at Elfman's torso.

Just before the slash landed, however, Elfman raised his head. Then, his left hand shot out and caught Fried's blade. Though the edge of the blade dug into his palm, Elfman was able to stop Fried's attack.

"[Take Over: Beast Soul]." Elfman chanted once he had a bit of breathing room.

At the same time, using the index finger of his free hand, Fried quickly started inscribing runes onto his own body.

*Roar!*

While Fried was busy, Elfman was covered in the light of his magic before he transformed into the Beast, the monster he almost lost his mind to in the past. Then, once his [Take Over] was complete, Elfman drew his free hand back, balled that hand into a fist, and threw a devastating punch that landed on Fried's torso.

As a result of Elfman's attack, Fried was sent flying into the cave wall behind him, creating a hole on impact. Meanwhile, Evergreen used that time to disengage from Bickslow and approach Elfman.

"You actually broke the effects of Fried's magic." Evergreen said in an impressed tone while keeping her eyes on Bickslow. "I'm just glad you're al--- Urgh."

Before Evergreen could finish, she was forced to a stop when the large hand of a beast wrapped around her neck and lifted her from the floor.

"Elfman… why?" Evergreen asked in pain and confusion.

However, as soon as she looked at Elfman, she knew exactly what had happened. Especially when she saw that Elfman's eyes were now red and the coloration of his body was a shade darker.

"[Figure… Eyes]…" Evergreen muttered as she struggled to breathe.

A moment later, Evergreen flicked her eyes in Bickslow's direction and noticed that his eyes were glowing in the same red color through his visor.

As it turns out, after landing his punch on Fried, Elfman raised his head as he was rising to his feet. Unfortunately, when he did, he met eyes with Bickslow, who had activated his [Eye Magic], [Figure Eyes]. Which led to the current situation.

"Well done, Bickslow." Fried said, climbing out of the hole that was created when he was knocked into the wall.

When Fried reappeared, however, his appearance had changed completely. His size had increased, his skin had turned grey, and he grew a few sharp horns on his head. On top of that, scales grew around his right eye.

"And now, it's time to end this. [Darkness Breath]." Fried chanted as he amassed [Darkness Magic] for his next attack.

A moment later, taking advantage of the fact that Elfman was under Bickslow's control and Evergreen was immobilized, Fried fired a tornado-shaped, highly destructive blast of [Darkness Magic] at his opponents.

*Boom~~~~!*

As a result of the attack, both Elfman and Evergreen were thrown against the wall behind them and were left unconscious in the crater the attack created in the wall.

"I thought that spell was a last resort type of spell." Bickslow said, lowering himself to the ground next to Fried.

"If I didn't use it, I would have been defeated by Elfman's last attack." Fried said while dispelling his transformation. Then, as soon as he was back to his normal state, he took a few deep breaths to calm his magic power. "Still, that spell uses up too much magic power at once. Even if it didn't empty my reserves, losing that much at once is still tiring."

"I see." Bickslow replied with a nod. "Either way, the entrance that leads out of here is open now. Should we go?"

"Yeah." Fried replied with a nod. "I'm sure someone will be along to collect those two before too long, as well."