Chapter 170: The Mountain... Collapsed

Erza looked worried. "Master, Laxus..."

"It's okay. I'll have a good talk with him later," Makarov shook his head gently, then smiled at Kana and Rhodes. "First of all, congratulations on passing the second stage!"

"Master, what's the next test?"

Kana's initial excitement had subsided, and now she was a little anxious.

If the next stage was of the same difficulty, given her and Rhodes's current condition, it would be tough to handle.

Makarov smiled, "No need to rush. Let's go to the camp and rest a bit first."

Getting some rest before the third test was certainly good news.

The two followed the master toward the camp. Kana could still manage to walk by herself, but Rhodes was practically being carried by Erza.

"What about the others..."

Boom!

Rhodes was about to ask about the other teams when a loud rumble came from behind them.

The ground began to shake, and before Rhodes could turn around, Erza had already picked him up, grabbed Kana, and followed the master to a safe distance.

When Erza finally put Rhodes down, he saw the mountain wall, which he had previously cracked with a punch, now collapsing before his eyes.

The crack spread from the mountain to the ground, linking up with the large pit where Laxus had been struck, extending all the way to the opposite cliffside.

As a result, the previously towering twin peaks, forming a scenic "Heaven's Narrow Path," crumbled into a low, chaotic heap of rubble.

Makarov's mouth hung open, and he looked like he was about to turn to stone. "I remember, we specifically reinforced this test area with earth magic before the exam..."

Erza thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it was because Rhodes's summoned beasts were tunneling through the mountain and underground. Also, when using the Takeover magic, he extracted rocks to create the floating cannons, and then there was the punch that hit the mountain wall, plus the aftershocks of the fight with Laxus...

I guess it was a combination of all these factors that caused a chain reaction, leading to the failure of the magic reinforcement on the mountain."

"Do I need to pay for this...?" Rhodes asked sheepishly, realizing he might have accidentally caused trouble.

But that punch against the mountain wasn't just reckless. It was part of his strategy to obscure Kana's movements—it was all part of the tactics...

Makarov sighed, "You probably won't need to pay, but causing this kind of commotion near the railway... I think a written apology might be in order."

He even felt a bit relieved that he had moved the test site a few kilometers north.

At least it hadn't affected the railway. Thank goodness for that.

Next year's S-Class Exam would be held back on their own land.

Though it would still be painful to have things destroyed, at least they wouldn't need to write an apology.

And on their own land, the kids might behave a bit more—at least Rhodes, who was generally well-behaved, probably would... right?

Makarov rubbed his temples, hoping that Rhodes wouldn't be led astray by the others in the coming year.

Rhodes watched the master, deep in thought. Was that receding hairline due to all the stress...?

It must be tough, being the master for such a group of troublemakers... no, problem children.

The temporary camp for the exam was set up in a relatively open area not far from the test site.

In the center of the camp was a simple tent. Warren and Marcus lay inside, while campfires burned in front and behind for warmth.

Miki, Joey, and Wang Qiangji were setting up a pot to prepare food.

From the bandages wrapped around Miki and Joey's arms, and the ointment on their foreheads, it seemed that Warren and Marcus had really gone all out.

A makeshift table had also been set up. It seemed like the master came well-prepared.

Then again, Rhodes recalled seeing Erza's luggage cart back at the guild and suspected that it was actually her who had brought all this.

Kana did a quick headcount and asked, "Where are Mystogan and Mest?"

"Mystogan had other matters to attend to, so he left early," Makarov explained. "Mest said he wanted to wander around a bit, but he'll head back later."

Makarov knew that Mest was trying to use this opportunity to investigate some "secrets" about Fairy Tail. As long as he didn't interfere with the exam, Makarov didn't mind.

"Are you cooking? Let me help!" Erza suddenly got excited, pushing Rhodes towards Kana, "Requip!"

Warren and Marcus, who were lying in the tent, immediately sat up, exclaiming in horror, "No requip! We surrender!"

Kana helped Rhodes over to a seat and asked, "Did you guys... run into Erza?"

Seeing that Erza had only changed into a chef's outfit, Warren sighed in relief. "Yeah, it was terrifying."

Marcus pointed to the bandages on him and Warren. "We got defeated pretty badly."

"That much is clear." Rhodes laid back down and asked, "So, Mystogan and Wang ran into Mystogan? Did they pass?"

When talking about others' misfortunes, Marcus's tiredness seemed to vanish. "They did even worse. Apparently, they fell asleep as soon as the exam started, and Mystogan just sent them back to camp."

They had spatial magic, and they still couldn't pass a flag-stealing test?

Rhodes suspected that Mystogan must have pulled some kind of trick, either using full-scale sleep magic right away or creating a fake flag with illusions or something.

Kana and Rhodes exchanged a look. They were lucky not to have faced Mystogan; they might not even have realized how they lost.

"Hahaha, in that case, we're not doing too bad," Warren brightened up. "At least we fought several rounds with Erza."

Getting beaten up is also part of a fight, after all.

Rhodes couldn't help but comment, "But Mystogan's team didn't get injured."

Warren fumed, "How dare you say that! You got beaten by Laxus even worse!"

"But we passed."

"Argh..." Warren clutched his head in frustration, lamenting how they ended up with the knight who never held back.

Apparently hearing someone talking about her, Erza looked back at Warren and gave a thumbs-up with her knife-wielding hand. "You've still got a long way to go!"

Warren lay down in defeat. He was tired. Maybe he wouldn't come back next year... unless he could get a little stronger.

Rhodes laughed and joined in the banter. Just chatting with everyone made him feel a lot less tired.

After resting for a while, Kana suddenly said, seemingly out of nowhere, "Thank you, Rhodes."

"Hmm?" Rhodes smiled wryly, "Maybe hold off on the thanks. I probably can't be of much help in the third stage, sorry."

The wolves and birds, his two most useful summoned creatures, had all been used up and weren't available yet.

And his own state was still pretty bad. It was hard to say how much he could recover before the exam.

If the next part involved searching, he could try his best to summon a shadow wolf to help sniff around.

But if it was a battle... he wasn't sure how much he could contribute.

"Don't say that." Kana shook her head gently. "No one could have done more than you did. For the next stage, I'll give it my all."

A fragrant aroma wafted over, and Erza waved her ladle in the air. "Hey, you lot, dinner's ready!"