In the evening, heavy snow began to fall from the sky.
Kael and Mira walked along the riverbank together on the street.
"You're a bit uneasy, Kael, ever since you found out about the S-Class exam."
Mira said to Kael.
Kael was taken aback: "Mhm? Is it that obvious?"
Mira shook her head: "No, it's just that it's wrong for you to not show it. Is there something that even you need to worry about?"
Kael's strength was already at the very top of the Ishgar continent.
She didn't know what kind of thing could still make Kael this worried.
"Yeah, I've just been feeling a bit restless lately. Don't worry."
Mira hugged Kael and said: "No matter what happens, I will be by your side."
Kael also hugged Mira and whispered into Mira's ear: "I know. I will also be by your side forever."
Wendy stood on the other side of the river holding Carla and saw the scene of the two of them embracing. Her face turned slightly red.
"Kael and Mira really do match well."
"Wendy, you're still too young. Don't learn things like that."
Wendy said somewhat shyly: "What are you saying, Carla?"
Not far away, Lucy walked behind them with her pet Celestial Spirit and saw this scene as well.
"A boyfriend? It really makes one jealous!"
"Plue?"
"No! I didn't say I wanted a boyfriend."
"Plue, plue!"
"Fine! I do want a boyfriend, but it's normal for a seventeen-year-old girl to want to date a boyfriend!"
"Plue!"
"Alright! Let's go home!"
Just as Lucy reached her door and was about to go inside, she saw an acquaintance lying in the alley next to her house. There was also a pile of wine bottles beside her.
"Eeeek!! Where do you think you're passing out?!"
Lucy quickly brought Cana back into the house. If she didn't care for Cana on this snowy day, she would freeze to death in one night.
"Ah, thank you, Lucy. You really saved my life. If no one noticed, I'd be a dead person by now."
"Is something wrong, Cana? Didn't you get a spot in the S-Class exam? Why would you drink yourself into a stupor?"
"Yeah! Anyone else would be happy to get a spot in the exam, but I..."
"What's wrong with you?"
"This is my fifth time participating. I've already failed four times. I'm such a disappointing mage!"
"Four times? How did you fail four times?"
"The first failure was when Mystogan became an S-Class mage. The second failure was when Erza became an S-Class mage. The third failure was when Mira became an S-Class mage. The fourth failure was when Kael became an S-Class mage..."
"Uh..."
Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit speechless hearing this.
Indeed, the several S-Class mages in the Fairy Tail guild were all monster-level. It was just bad luck for Cana to run into such opponents and lose.
"There, there! It can't be helped. Those guys are all monsters! No one will mind."
"I'm the only one who has failed four times, so I will treat this time as the last time. If I can't become an S-Class mage, I will leave Fairy Tail."
"Why?!"
"Because I must succeed!! If I fail to become an S-Class mage, I won't have the right to see that person..."
Cana told Lucy the reason why she had to become an S-Class mage.
"If I can't become an S-Class mage this time, I'll leave the guild. I've already decided."
"I'll be your partner, Cana!! I absolutely won't let you leave the guild!! I'll definitely make you an S-Class mage."
A week of time passed quietly.
"So hot!!"
"It's clearly winter, so why is it like this..."
A ship was sailing on the sea. All the members participating in the evaluation were sitting on the ship.
"I'm about to melt. I'm being eaten by Happy like ice cream."
Lucy slumped in her chair. It was still snowing heavily in Magnolia, but they became incredibly hot just by taking a ship to this area. The temperature in the air was soaring past 50 degrees.
"I feel like that would taste bad."
Happy also slumped down beside her.
Cana fanned herself and explained: "Due to the convection currents nearby, the climate is like this all year round."
Lisanna drank a cold drink and said to Juvia, who was still wearing winter clothes: "Juvia, aren't you hot dressed like that?"
"I'm not hot. However, if I must say it, Gray's naked body is making me very hot!!"
Hearts surfaced in Juvia's eyes as she looked excitedly at Gray, who had even taken off his underwear nearby.
"So hot..."
Gray groaned. As an ice mage, he didn't fear the cold, but he feared the heat the most.
Loke said: "If you're hot, use magic to create some ice blocks. You'll cool down then."
"I'm not letting these guys leech off my air conditioning for nothing."
"Seriously, you're about to become enemies, and yet you're still so close."
Evergreen said. She had still teamed up with Elfman to participate in the evaluation. Although Evergreen was a bit scary to Elfman, her strength was undoubtedly greater. By teaming up with Evergreen, his probability of becoming an S-Class mage was also higher.
Suddenly, Lucy looked up from where she was lying and saw an island.
"Ah! That's it!"
Everyone in the guild also looked over quickly.
"Are we here?!"
"Is that Tenrou Island?!"
"What an amazing shape! There's an island on top of an island!"
Makarov's voice rang out: "In the past on that island, legend says that spirits lived there. At the same time, it is the final resting place of Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion."
"I will now reveal the content of the first stage of the exam."
Everyone in the evaluation became serious upon hearing Makarov's words.
"You can all see that smoke has already risen from the shore of the island, right? Go there first. There are eight paths there, and only one team can pass through each path. The end of the paths is like this."
A magic script panel appeared beside Makarov with a simple explanatory diagram drawn on it.
There were eight paths on it. Some paths would meet together and lead to a battle. The winner could pass. There were two sets of such battles. There were also three 'Hard Battle' icons with the portraits of Kael, Gildarts, and Erza on them. Besides those, there was also a 'Quiet' path.
Makarov explained: "The paths marked with 'Fight' are where two of the eight teams will meet and one team will win. 'Hard Battle' is the most difficult hurdle where you must defeat a current S-Class mage. 'Quiet' is a path where you pass the first stage directly without having to fight anyone."
"The first stage tests your 'Power' and 'Luck'."
"Only the teams that break through here are the qualifiers of the first stage!!"
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