章 552: Predictions

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

December 12, x787.

After Ren mentioned to Alfonzo that the Seto Group was finished installing all the signal receivers, the wizards of Fairy Tail continued to chat, with the S-Class Candidates disappearing to train for the exam. Not long after all the S-Class candidates left, the rest of the guild decided to call it a night, as well. Not until a brawl managed to break out, though.

After that, Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Sun, and Shizuka returned to the mansion floating on the lake. And while Shizuka decided to go to sleep early because she had a shift in the guild's infirmary the next day, Alfonzo and the other girls decided to have a night of fun.

The next day, Alfonzo spent most of his day in his workshop, where the terminal that connected to the lPhone network was located. ON a side note, there were two more terminals like the one in his workshop located at Hibiki Lates' home in Onibus and the Magic Council HQ in Era.

And while all three terminals had the same functions, Alfonzo may have neglected to mention one of them to Hibiki and the Magic Council. And that was the ability to track the magic power signatures of anyone holding an lPhone. He knew everyone would see that as a severe breach of privacy, after all. However, Alfonzo only had the intention of tracking one, or rather two people… for now, anyway.

And those two were Junko Enoshima and Himiko Toga. Unfortunately, that feature of the terminal would only come into use once all the signal receivers were in place. And that day would arrive soon, if Hiruzen's report on the progress of the mission before Alfonzo left the Village Hidden in the Leaves was anything to go by.

And as it would so happen, that day came the day before all the S-Class wizards had to leave for Tenrou Island to set up the exam area.

"So, who do you all see coming out on top in this little tournament Ur sprung on everyone?' Gildarts asked from the shore of Tenrou Island. "I mean, it's not the first time the guild has had a tournament. So, you all should have some ideas, right?"

"it's the first one on one tournament, though." Cana pointed out. "Usually, we're in teams of five… Well, ever since the kingdom stole our idea, anyway."

"That's true, but you should all know the capabilities of the participants, right?" Gildarts asked. "So, who do you think will win the chance to fight one of us?"

"My money is on Gajeel." Laxus said with his arms crossed. "He's experienced and a Dragon Slayer on top of that."

"I agree with Laxus." Fried added in a resolute tone.

"Yeah, so do I." Bickslow added.

"Agree with Laxus! Agree with Laxus!" Bickslow's dolls chorused.

"Of course you two do." Ultear said while rolling her eyes. "As long as Laxus is nearby, you don't have opinions of your own, after all."

Hearing that, Fried and Bickslow glared at Ultear while Laxus simply shrugged his shoulders, unable to disagree with her assessment. However, before they could flare up in anger, someone interrupted.

"Juvia agrees with them." Juvia said in a confident tone. "Gajeel will win."

In the next instant, Juvia looked at Gray with a worried gaze.

"But Juvia still knows that her darling Gray would win if they fought each other." Juvia said, sounding a bit panicked.

In response, Gray shrugged his shoulders, not bothered in the slightest by Juvia's support for Gajeel, who she had known for a long time, ever since they were still members of Phantom Lord. Meanwhile, everyone else ignored Juvia's panic, and Bickslow finally replied to Ultear's comment.

"Then who do you think will win?" Bickslow asked in a defiant tone.

"I think it will be Alzack." Ultear replied with a shrug. "I mean, he's been training with us the longest."

"You don't' have faith in Lucy to come out on top?" Mirajane asked with her usual, pleasant smile on her face. "She might cry if she heard that."

"I have all the faith in the world that Lucy will be an S-Class wizard… Someday." Ultear replied. "Unfortunately, she has much less experience than just about everyone else taking the exam."

"Yes, that is true." Erza said with a nod. "But you forget, her Celestial Spirits all have a wealth of experience. And that may be able to bridge the gap with her competitors."

"Plus, Lucy's been working, like, uber hard for this,, you know." Marin said with a smile.

"Yeah." Sun added with an energetic nod of her head. "Lucy's been trying really hard to catch up. But I'm rooting for Masa, too."

"I'm not saying that she hasn't." Ultear said, defending her point. "but she's only been training seriously for like two and a half years. But Alzack has been training with Alfonzo and Elicia for over fifteen years."

No one could argue with that logic.

"I agree with Ultear." Laki said with a smile. "Alzack is strong."

"I don't' know, I think the Elrics have a pretty good chance." Gray said. "I mean, have you seen the training their master, Izumi puts them through? It's insane. And something tells me if she were in this tournament, she would probably win… Easily"

"Don't forget about Wendy, guys." Natsu said, throwing his opinion into the conversation, as well. "She's gotten really strong, too. She's only a little older than Alfonzo was when he became S-Class, too."

"Rika is strong, too." Levy added. "And she was a knight for years. A member of the special forces, too. So, she's got as much, if not more experience than everyone else taking the exam."

"I agree with the short stack." Evergreen said with a nod.

"Yeah! Rika fights like a real man!" Elfman shouted.

In response to Elfman's outcry, everyone sighed simultaneously. Then, Gildarts, after looking around, nodded at everyone's opinions on the matter. However, he quickly turned his head toward the only two who had yet to speak.

"And what do you think, Alfonzo? Lici?" Gildarts asked in a curious tone.

Hearing Gildarts question, everyone, other than Alfonzo and Elicia, for obvious reasons, turned their attention to the two. Meanwhile, Elicia looked at Alfonzo with a smile.

"So, what do you think, Fonzie?" Elicia asked.

"My money is on Masa." Alfonzo replied calmly with a smile of his own.

"Yeah, me, too." Elicia said while nodding, as well.

At that moment, everyone seemed to remember that Masa was a candidate this year, as well. And then, they remembered that Masa had fought Laxus to a standstill during the first Battle of Fairy Tail tournament.

"I happen to agree with the two of you." Gildarts said with a smile.

"Hey, I said Masa, too, ya see?" Sun said in protest after her predition had been ignored.

"Masa might be the most skilled fighter I've ever seen." Gildarts said, ignoring Sun's protest since she mentioned two competitors in her chance to state her prediction. "Even if he's not the strongest of all the candidates when it comes to magic power reserves. But with his physical strength and battle awareness, not to mention his skill with many weapons and hand-to-hand combat, he's got a pretty damn good chance of winning this little tournament."

Hearing Gildarts analysis, no one had the words to refute them. However, they were all confident in their own predictions. At the same time, the group started moving towards the place where they would set up the arena for the tournament.

After arriving at a clearing suitable for the ring, Alfonzo, Fried, Laki, and Levy began creating the ring with their magic. Meanwhile, everyone else began setting up the camp around the battle arena.

By the time the sun set, the entire camp had been set up. The arena, on the other hand, would probably take another day to complete. However, everyone decided to call it a day for now. As a result, they were all sitting around a camp fire while Alfonzo used it to roast some meat for dinner.

"So, we all have our predictions of who will win the tournament." Laxus said after chewing and swallowing a piece of meat. "but who do you think they will challenge if they win?"

That question caused everyone to stop eating and look at Laxus with pondering gazes. Everyone except for Natsu, that is.

"I hope they pick me!" Natsu said with a smile as he was covered in flames created by his magic power. "I wanna fight all of them. Oh man, I'm all fired up just thinking about it!"

Natsu's outburst immediately made everyone drop the subject. It was hot enough as it was on Tenrou Island. And if Natsu got even more excited by thinking about who he would possibly get to fight, they would have to relocate… Or knock him out… probably knowck him out.

"Anyway, we all had a long day of work." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "We should probably get some rest. Well, Me, Fried, Laki, and Levy should, anyway. We still have work to do. The rest of you can stay up and do whatever you want. I mean, it's not like you're gonna be working tomorrow, right?"

With that, Alfonzo grabbed a plate of food for himself. Then, he made his way to the tent set up for him and his lovers. At the same time, Elicia, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, and Sun also stood up, with their plates, and alcohol in Cana's case, in hand before following him. Meanwhile, the others only looked on for a moment before returning to whatever it is they were doing beforehand.

December 13, x787.

The next day, the entire group, other than Elicia, woke up early to either finish the arena or get some training in. Elicia, on the other hand, continued to sleep until Alfonzo stopped working on the arena to cook breakfast.

"*Sigh* This feels like old times, doesn't it?' Levy asked as she smiled with a plate of breakfast in her hands. "When's' the last time we got to have Alfonzo's cooking for breakfast, anyway?"

"It hasn't happened since Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Lucy broke the guild rules and went on that S-Class quest like idiots." Laxus replied. "Since then, Alfonzo hasn't taken a single breakfast shift because of that damn point system."

"Yeah, I miss having Alfonzo's cooking first thing in the morning." Natsu said while eating happily.

"Did he just tune out the fact that it's partly his fault that we don't get to have this anymore?" Evergreen asked in a disdainful tone.

"The point system isn't that bad, though." Erza said while cutting her breakfast. "It keeps the collateral damage down."

"You don't' have the right to say that, like, at all, Erza." Marin said with a giggle. "You still cause just as much collateral damage as when the point system was put in place, don't you?"

"Besides, the point system doesn't matter to you or Cana, who can't control yourselves, since you live with Alfonzo." Fried added. "*Sigh* Nepotism is a horrible thing."

*Smack!*

"Hey, don't blame us for having the goods that he can't resist." Cana said with a smile as she ran her hand, the hand not holding a bottle of liquor, from her shoulder, down her breasts and abdomen, to her thigh, before slapping it. "You're just not what he's looking for to look past the guild rules for you."

"And the fact that you wake him up with a special service whenever he's thinking about limiting your access to his cooking because you start taking things too far on your quests has nothing to do with it, right?" Ultear asked with a grin.

"Oh, it most definitely does." Cana replied after licking her lips seductively.

Meanwhile, Gildarts felt as though he would cough up a mouthful of blood because of the conversation. However, he managed to hold it in. All the while, he glared at Alfonzo for tainting his baby girl.

Ignoring Gildarts' glare… Well, ignoring would be inaccurate… Not responding to Gildarts' glare while wearing a triumphant grin on his face, Alfonzo was thinking about his raid on the place where Junko and Himiko were hiding.

'According to the scans, those two are on an island off the north Coast of Fiore.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'From here, it would take about a day by sea if I pushed the Sixth sense's engine to its limit. But I could get there in a few hours if I flew. So, after the arena is set up, it looks like Lici and I will be taking a trip to tie up some loose ends.'

With that thought, Alfonzo's grin turned blood thirsty for a moment. He could not help but remember Elicia's retelling of her encounter with Junko three years ago. Junko had wanted to make Elicia suffer and fall into despair. And Alfonzo was not okay with that. Even though the way Junko wanted to make Elicia suffer was by torturing him in front of her, which he was not happy about, either. The fact that she had such intentions towards someone he cared about was enough to see her dead.