Fairy Tail: You Call This Celestial Spirit Magic?! Chapter 176 176

Gajeel had always been bothered by not having his own "cat."

Though he never ntioned it to anyone, those with a keen eye could easily tell.

Marco had noticed this issue long ago—after all, Gajeel wasn't the type to hide his feelings.

The guy had even gone around town searching for his own cat, only to end up being chased and scratched by strays, causing quite a spectacle.

Luckily, his thick skin spared him from serious injuries, or he'd have been covered in claw marks.

Of course, while so could spot his frustration, others remained oblivious—especially the more oblivious types like Natsu, who had no idea Gajeel felt this way.

Otherwise, Natsu would've rcilessly mocked him for it.

"I'd lose to anyone but you and Gray!"

Natsu glared at Gajeel, his competitive spirit flaring up.

The three of them—Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel—were locked in a fierce rivalry, each refusing to acknowledge the others as superior.

That said, since Gajeel had joined the guild later, Natsu and Gray mostly saw him as an extra nuisance in their long-standing feud.

The two childhood rivals were far more focused on each other.

"Two dumb dragons."

Gray, standing shirtless in just his underwear, crossed his arms and scoffed at Natsu and Gajeel.

He too, had co to the exam alone.

Gray had joined this ti mainly to test his limits, not really expecting to pass.

Still, he planned to give it his all—at the very least, he wanted to see how far he stood from an S-Class Mage.

Though Marco often knocked him down effortlessly, Gray had never seriously fought Laxus.

He was curious to see just how strong Laxus was—and whose presence felt more overwhelming compared to Marco's.

"Quiet!"

Makarov's voice bood, instantly silencing the rowdy crowd.

Everyone turned their attention to him, anticipation in their eyes.

Of course, among the participants were veterans who had taken the exam before—so even for the second or third ti.

They knew exactly what was coming next.

These "veterans" had returned for two reasons: first, Gildarts' absence had given them hope, and second—Gildarts wasn't an examiner this ti!

Gildarts had accepted a mission and left right in front of everyone, confirming beyond doubt that he wouldn't be part of the judging panel.

With the exam starting just days after his departure, so had even double-checked—Gildarts' mission would take him far away, making it impossible for him to return in ti.

For those who had been utterly crushed by him in previous attempts, this was their chance.

Without Gildarts, the examiner had to be Laxus, who had been around the guild lately.

Laxus' young age and recent promotion to S-Class Mage gave them confidence.

Not that they thought they could beat him—Laxus had already made a na for himself.

Their reasoning was simple: if they could perform better against Laxus than they had against Gildarts, maybe he'd let them pass.

Maybe Laxus' standards weren't as impossibly high as Gildarts'.

"Follow closely—no stragglers!" Makarov paid no heed to the thoughts of the children below as he led the team out of Magnolia City.

The group marched in grand formation to the train station and boarded a train bound for Hargeon.

At this point, even the usually chatty Natsu and Gajeel fell silent, both of them completely drained.

Upon arriving in Hargeon, before Natsu and Gajeel could even recover, Makarov ushered everyone onto a ship.

"..."

Natsu and Gajeel wore expressions of utter despair.

Had the exam already begun? Why were they being tortured like this?!

Standing at the bow of the ship, Makarov cleared his throat as he looked at the children gathered on the deck, preparing to announce the arrangents for this round.

At that mont, their group was aboard a large vessel that had already set sail.

Gazing around, all they could see was the endless expanse of blue ocean.

"Natsu, Gajeel, listen carefully."

Marco reminded the two who were lying lifeless nearby.

The main event was about to begin—even if they were just here to make up the numbers, they should at least pay attention.

"Got it..."

Though Marco thought the two were rely tagging along, Natsu and Gajeel clearly didn't see it that way.

They forced themselves up to listen as Makarov explained the exam rules.

The ship had been sailing for quite so ti, so it was no surprise Natsu and Gajeel were suffering.

Seasickness was truly a top-tier tornt—those who experienced it knew.

If they stayed at sea much longer, Natsu and Gajeel wouldn't even need to take the exam; they could just turn back right away.

Honestly, letting these two swim behind the ship might have been more comfortable than this.

It would've been good exercise too.

"The rules are simple. See that island ahead? Get there. Only the top nine pairs will qualify for the next stage. Then, find Laxus. As for the subsequent exam, if you earn his approval, he'll tell you what to do next."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Makarov slowly laid out the rules.

Following the direction he pointed, the group spotted a small black dot on the distant horizon—an island.

"That far?!" Soone gasped.

The ship had already co to a halt, clearly marking this as their starting point.

"Top nine pairs?"

The examinees exchanged glances.

This ant more than half would be eliminated right away!

Over twenty people had participate for the exam.

Several were competing solo—Marco, Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Cana—while the rest had ford nine teams, totaling sixteen groups.

Before even reaching the exam site, more than half could be cut.

Was the competition really this fierce?!

Upon hearing the rules, the veterans who had taken the exam before paled.

Though there were indeed more participants this ti, raising the difficulty so drastically was excessive—this would wipe out the majority in one go!

While the S-Class exam's content wasn't set in stone, this year's rules were clearly far stricter.

"No matter what thod you use, just make sure you're among the top nine."

Makarov emphasized this point, then without giving them ti to think, he suddenly shouted.

"The exam officially begins!"

"Plop!"

Right away, seasoned participants who had taken the test before jumped off the boat and started swimming directly into the sea.

This was the most straightforward approach—relying purely on physical strength to push forward.

Marco imdiately recognized it was Joey, the "Super Muscle Wizard," who took the lead like a swordfish cutting through the water, leaving a white trail behind as he swam at incredible speed.

"Dammit! He reacted so fast!"

The sudden start caught everyone off guard, but Joey's lightning-fast reflexes spurred the others to react quickly as well.

In no ti, it beca a classic case of "everyone showing their unique skills to cross the sea."

Only the top nine pairs would qualify for the next round, so naturally, no one held back—everyone gave it their all.

For Gray, this challenge was a breeze.

He leaped into the water, clasped his hands together, and instantly froze the seawater beneath his feet, creating an icy path that extended forward.

Running on ice was much faster than swimming.

So tried to take advantage of Gray's ice path, attempting to run across it, but within a few steps, they slipped and fell into the sea.

"Hahaha! Did you really think running on ice was that easy?!"

Gray burst into laughter.

He had no fear of others following him because not everyone could tread on ice as effortlessly as he could—so even found it harder than walking on land.

Anyone trying to mimic him would only end up falling miserably.

Seeing this, Gajeel imdiately abandoned the idea of tailing Gray and obediently jumped into the water to start swimming.

It turned out that most wizards' magic was useless in this round, leaving them no choice but to swim the old-fashioned way.

"Haha! Take your ti swimming! I'm off ahead of you!"

Natsu flew through the air while taunting Gajeel.

Of course, he wasn't flying on his own—Happy was carrying him, white wings spread wide as he hauled Natsu through the sky.

Watching this, Gajeel gritted his teeth in frustration, annoyed that he didn't have a "cat" of his own.

If he did, he could fly too!

There were quite a few who could fly, but Happy dragging Natsu along was actually the slowest and most strenuous.

Happy was still young after all and his magical power wasn't particularly strong.

Exceeds using their wings to fly was a form of magic—once their magic ran out, their wings would vanish.

"Take it slow, Happy, Natsu."

Marco summoned his crow and effortlessly flew past Happy and Natsu while leaving behind a remark.

Based on Marco's judgnt, Happy wouldn't be able to carry Natsu all the way to the island—his magic was depleting too quickly, and they'd likely "crash" soon.

In Marco's eyes, Natsu was bound to be eliminated in this round.

After "crashing," he'd have to swim while dragging Happy along—he wouldn't just abandon his exhausted partner.

Looking at it this way, Natsu would've been better off swimming from the start.

This was a strategic mistake, and getting eliminated wouldn't be unfair.

"Dammit! Co on, Happy! Overtake Marco!"

Being passed by Marco fired up Natsu.

He urged Happy to fly faster, though he couldn't help physically—all he could do was cheer verbally.

"Aye! I'm trying my best!"

Happy was pulling Natsu along, flapping his wings as hard as he could.

He truly was giving it his all, since his ability to fly wasn't actually dependent on wing flapping but rather on magic power.

However, Happy's efforts didn't help them catch up to Marco.

Instead, the gap kept widening until they couldn't even see Marco's anymore.

"Whoosh!"

Not only couldn't they overtake Marco, but they couldn't even maintain their current position.

Erza, clad in black winged armor, swiftly flew past them, the gust from her flight causing Happy to wobble unsteadily.

"Damn you, Erza!"

Natsu had just grumbled when another "whoosh" sounded beside them—it was Mirajane, who had taken on a demon form with wings, flying past without even glancing their way.

Her eyes were fixed firmly on Erza ahead.

"..."

After swaying through the air like a kite for a couple of loops, Natsu was too exhausted to complain.

At least he wasn't getting motion sick, since he wasn't treating Happy as a mode of transportation.

But seeing the others disappearing into the distance, he began to realize the dire situation—he and Happy didn't seem to have much of an advantage.

Though Marco hadn't set off particularly early, he was the first to arrive.

With the boost from his magic, the crows carrying him streaked across the sky like fighter jets, bringing him to the island in no ti.

This island was called Tenrou Jima also known as the "Fairy Island."

According to Makarov, fairies once lived here—whether that was true or not, Marco couldn't say for sure, as this was his first visit.

For the Fairy Tail guild, this place held special significance.

It was the guild's sacred ground, the resting place of their first guild master, Mavis.

Only mbers of Fairy Tail were permitted to enter, making it, in a sense, the guild's territory.

The island's periphery and land were saturated with incredibly dense magic power, which distorted the vision of outsiders and concealed the island from view.

As a result, it wasn't easily discovered by the outside world.

Ordinary people without magic would naturally bypass the area, so even without guards stationed here, hardly anyone ever set foot on the island.

From the sky, Marco could see that the island had a very distinctive appearance.

A towering tree stood prominently, making the entire island look like a potted plant growing in the sea—the landmass below serving as the base for the colossal tree.

Not every guild exam took place on Tenrou Island.

This ti, due to the larger number of participants, they had chosen this spacious location.

If it had still been just Marco, Erza, and Mirajane taking part, the exam wouldn't have been held here.

Being the first to arrive, Marco took a mont to admire the scenery.

He wasn't in any hurry and simply waited for the others to catch up.

Without any surprise, the second to arrive was Erza.

Her Black Wing Armor naturally allowed flight, and with her imnse magic power propelling her, no one could match her speed.

"Marco? Are we waiting here for the others?"

After spotting the conspicuous "Finish" sign on the beach, Erza descended and walked toward Marco.

She had noticed him crouching there playing with crabs while still in the air.

"No need to wait, you can proceed to the next stage."

Looking at Erza, Marco signaled that she could move forward.

Waiting for others was his job—a task Makarov had just assigned him.

How should he put it?

This was probably the price of being "pre-selected," having to take on responsibilities beyond those of a regular examinee.

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