First Phase

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[X779, Tenrou Island]

— Dannis Martell —

Makarov's announcement was met with a second of confusion, as everyone stood on the deck of the ship in bewilderment. The beach was still a good hundred meters away, and I bet they expected the exam would start when the ship actually docks.

Not me though. The brief moment of silence was interrupted as I grabbed my pack and ran towards the edge of the boat, my partner running beside me.

"Mira!"

"I'm on it!"

Mira transformed midair, her form covered in light before revealing a new appearance. Her white hair that was tied up in a ponytail flew freely as a dark skimpy one-piece suit replaced her previously gothic look. 

Two bat-like wings emerged from her back as she took to the skies. I jumped into the air, allowing my partner to grab me by the arm as we flew towards the island.

"Let's get a headstart!" Mira cackled happily. "See you losers!"

"Dammit, get back here!" Gray yelled.

"Come on Levy! We can't let them get too far ahead!"

"Right!"

Their voices started to echo behind us as we got further away from the ship. Mira and I reached the shoreline quickly as I let go of her hand and landed on my feet.

She landed beside me and looked at the numerous paths that could be taken.

"So what's the plan? I doubt finding those orbs would be easy."

"For everyone else, perhaps. But we got this one in the bag." I say as I pumped magic into my left eye, the irises glowing a deep red as the future played right into my mind.

The way my Clairvoyance works is the more magic I use, the further into the future I could see. Usually, I just use enough to have the next few seconds played out in combat situations. Using it to play out the next twenty minutes like I'm doing now would take an enormous amount of magic, one I use very hesitantly due to the consequences.

Case in point, I grit my teeth in pain as blood started leaking from my left eye. It pulsed greatly as I felt my reserves dwindle from the use.

Although this is a spell I can't use consecutively, it's power is one that I secretly have as a trump card for the future.

I wiped the blood off my cheek with the back of my hand as Mira looked at me worriedly. I wave off her concern as I let out a breath, finally deactivating the technique.

With this, the entire first round of the trials is completely negligible. Which is good, since I'd much rather save up as much energy as I could in the inevitable fight against Gildarts. While using this much early on was a risk, it's one I had to take.

I don't plan on succeeding in these trials, I plan on dominating. To show Master Makarov his faith in me was not misplaced.

I will become S-Class this year. That is a promise.

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Tenrou Island had very thick foliage. As I walked deeper into the island, the very minimal sunlight that got past the dark clouds were swallowed up by the large vegetation around us.

I had to use my sword to cut through a path to the location I saw with my clairvoyance. Mira helped by using her sharpened claws to do the same thing.

In the future, I saw both me and Mira find one of the orbs in a cave that had numerous beasts inside it. Those beasts ranged from oversized lions to the occasional giant spiders. Creatures that would prove no threat to mages of our caliber. 

Cutting down a large vine, I walk past it to see a large circular hole on the side of a large hill. 

"This is it." I announce to my partner.

"That eye of yours is one heck of a cheat, you know?" Mira says in a chipper tone. "Finding this thing would've been much harder if we had to find it the regular way."

"It's precisely the reason I chose this magic. There were some others I was interested in back when I had to choose one to be implemented into the lacrima eye."

Mira looked at me as she asked, curious. "Oh yeah? What were they?"

"There was one called Analysis. A subversion of Archive Magic where I could use it to analyze magic on the microscopic level. Learning its potential uses, parent source, weaknesses. I decided on Clairvoyance since it had more practical uses. Like this one."

Mirajane whistled. "That sounds useful. Hey, do you think I should get my own lacrima eye? Having an ability like that in my back pocket could really help beat that tin can to the ground next time I fight her." She grinned.

I roll my eyes at that. "Don't go rushing into it. A lacrima eye means you have to replace your real eyes. Erza has a lacrima eye like me, but from what I heard from Porlyusica, Erza's give her immunity to certain types of eye magic and illusions. And besides, if you really want more magic of your own, then find an eye magic that complements your abilities. Don't waste your real eye by exchanging it for the slightest need of power."

I saw Mira furrowed her eyebrows for a second as she looked at me. I quirk my own eyebrow in question. 

"Hey Dannis." She started slowly. "I never really asked before. How did you lose your eye?"

Her question made me pause in my step. My eyes widened slightly as my mind was clouded with a memory of that event a long time ago.

"That eye of yours looks pretty bad there kiddo, let me help with that."

An ugly grin and the swish of a blade rang in my mind as I shook my head, forcibly dismissing the memory.

Mira looked panicked at my reaction, as she waved her hands quickly. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to! I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's fine, Mira." I sighed. "It happened a long time ago. Remember when we first met? I told you that Master Makarov saved me. That wasn't an exaggeration. My village was attacked by bandits. They pillaged everything, killing everyone I knew for their own gain. My parents died that day."

Mira's eyes widened as she gasped. She probably sympathized with the dead parents, I thought.

"One of the bandits got a hold of me, cut my eye straight with a blade. I couldn't even defend myself." I raised a palm, darkness began pooling around it as black smoke wafted over my fingers. "That was when I awakened my magic. I pushed them back, only to pass out immediately from exhaustion. I was lucky the Master was there that day. From what he told me, he was on his way to a meeting between guild masters when he decided to take a more scenic route. He heard the ruckus and went to investigate. That was how he found me."

Mirajane was quiet as I told my story, something I've never done since Laxus, all those years ago. Her eyes wide with unshed tears. 

"When I woke up, the Master invited me to join the guild. He saved me from a life of misery. Since then, I have tried my best to always be strong." I clench my fist. "Strong enough to make sure something like that never happens again. I will make sure to protect my new family. Which is why I will not fail today. I will succeed Gildarts as Fairy Tail's Ace one day. Getting S-Class is simply the first step. To protect everyone who bears the mark of Fairy Tail. That is my vow."

I felt arms around my stomach as Mira hugged me. I felt wet stains as she cried to my chest. 

I paused for a second before hugging her back. She looked up at me with a teary smile, "Then I'll help you! I'll make sure you get that S-class title! You helped me and my family back then, now it's my turn!"

A small smile graced my features as I nod. "Thank you, Mira. Now come on, let's get that orb and finish this trial."

"Let's go!" Mira cheered as we both rushed toward the cave.

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— Gildarts Clive —

"So what do you think, Gildarts?"

Gildarts shook his head with a smile as both he and Master Makarov looked as Dannis and Mira entered the cave that held one of the orbs.

Unknown to all the candidates, Makarov had implanted vision and audio lacrimas all over the island to monitor the exams. It was their way to see personally how each candidate would act in the face of the exams. How they chose to pursue the problem spoke volumes of whether or not they were S-Class worthy.

Gildarts knew however, that there was really only one examinee worth looking into this year. Don't get him wrong, Cana and Erza had great potential and Wakaba was an accomplished mage in his own right. But Dannis was on a whole nother level compared to those three. 

It was when he was monitoring the boy when he picked up the conversation between him and Mirajane.

His story was a tragic one, and Gildarts regrets that he had to go through all that at such a young age. But his interest peaked at the last part of that sentence.

'So the brat wants to surpass me, eh?'

A wide grin appeared on his face. Gildarts was still at the prime of his life, but that doesn't mean that he shouldn't already look for potential successors. 

"He's got his heart in the right place. His goal is admirable. Even I didn't have his resolve when I was his age."

Makarov nodded at his assessment. "Agreed, Dannis is a wonderful child. I'm proud to see him grow into the young man he has become." The old man stroked his beard as he glanced at Gildarts. "Nevertheless, I have mentioned to you what that boy intends to do when he becomes S-Class, right?"

The corner of Gildarts' lips twitched upwards. He caught onto Makarov's words. When he becomes S-Class, not if. "Yeah, I remember. Something about Zeref's demons or something."

"You and I both know how dangerous the Etherious are. However, if my suspicions are correct, then Dannis needs to find these demons to understand what he truly is."

"What he truly is?" Gildarts questioned. "What are you talking about, old man?"

Makarov let out a breath. "Tell me Gildarts, have you ever heard of the term the Eclipse-Born?"

Gildarts wracked his brain for a second before shaking his head. "I can't say I have."

"I'm not surprised. Not much is known about the Eclipse-Born, I've only heard it from a story Master Precht told me long ago. They say the Eclipse-Born is someone born with a perfect affinity for Demonic Magic."

"And you think Dannis might be this 'Eclipse-Born'?" Gildarts asked in a curious tone.

Makarov shook his head. "I'm not going to make any assumptions regarding something such as this. These are all mere hypotheses. What I do know is that Dannis's future is uncertain. If all of it is true, then there is no doubt that nefarious beings from all over Earthland would seek him out the moment they learn of his existence."

"And when that day comes, you want him to be ready." Gildarts realized.

The third guildmaster nodded. "Yes, I have no doubt that he will be more than capable of handling things when that day eventually comes."

"But if he can't?" Gildarts asked with a small smile, already knowing the answer.

Makarov's lips stretched into a wide grin in response. "Well, Fairy Tail always takes care of its own. If that happens, they'll regret making us into an enemy."

"Aye." Gildarts leaned back on the tree as they looked back into the lacrimas showcasing the candidates in action. "That they will."

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— Dannis Martell —

"That was easy."

I flicked Obsidian to the side, splattering the blood away from the blade as I sheathed it back at my waist. I took a drag of a cigarette as I replied to Mira's statement.

"They were high B-class monsters. I guess the master had made sure there were no actual dangerous beasts lurking around since our first master's grave is on this island." 

"Yeah, but still. I was kinda hoping for something more challenging. This test hasn't really been all that difficult. If these are the S-Class trials, then I'm sure I can ace this when I qualify!" She said with a grin as she did the peace symbol, standing on an assortment of monster corpses that she piled up five meters high. 

Mira had gone back to her regular form. According to her, Satan Soul has a limit to the amount of time she could use it, since it's not a magic she could utilize for a long period of time. 

"It's easy because I'm here." I quipped at her as I began walking to the center of the cave. "Tell me how exactly you would find these orbs if you were doing this alone?"

"Oh please, I can scour the entire island! With my wings I can get around and find it from the sky easy!"

"And if all of the orbs are underground or inside caves like this one?" I rebutted as I grabbed the lacrima orb that sat on a pedestal. It pulsed slightly with a blue light.

She paused as a bead of sweat fell from her forehead. "Uhhh…"

"Exactly. Don't underestimate the Master. From what I've heard, Master Makarov holds S-Class mages to a higher standard than the magic council, or even other guilds for that matter. That's why we have so few S-Class wizards in the guild right now. However, the ones we do have are much stronger than the average S-Class wizard." I snorted. "How many people at the top of your head that you could think of could beat Gildarts in a fight?"

"....Aside from Master Makarov, absolutely no one."

"Exactly. The first trial was meant to challenge a wizard's skill in terms of tracking, investigations, and sensing. Skills that are probably needed a lot in S-Class missions." I glance at her. "Focus on the orb, tell me what you feel."

She had to focus for a second before her eyes lit up in recognition. "That's magic! There's magic in the orbs!"

I nod at her. "I bet we were originally supposed to find these orbs by using magical sensing. The magic in the orbs are so miniscule that only a very skilled sensor should be able to pick it up. We just cheated by using my Clairvoyance. The second phase of the exam will be much harder than this."

"Wow, Dannis. You're really smart, huh?" Mira considered. "Never realized that from you."

A small tick mark appeared on my head as I paused in my steps. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

She smirked at my reaction before giggling. "Oh nothing~ Now come on, let's go to the rendezvous point!" 

Mira ran ahead as I shook my head at her antics. I pocket the lacrima orb before following behind.

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AN: Dannis clearing the first trials easily. Next phase won't be a walk in the park.

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