x787 S-Class Promotion Exam; Part 1

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

December 15, x787.

Not long after docking the ship, Ur led the wizards from Fairy Tail onto the island. Then, about half an hour later, the group reached the temporary arena that was set up for the S-Class Promotion Exam.

On one side of the stage that would be used for the fights, there was a viewing stand set up, where all the S-Class wizards who were already on the island were sitting. Upon seeing it Alfonzo , Irene, and Brandish immediately made their way there. Meanwhile, Ur led the eight S-Class candidates onto the ring.

"Didn't expect to see you two today.' Gildarts said after noticing Irene and Brandish approaching with Alfonzo. "I thought newly promoted wizards who were promoted without an exam weren't eligible to be examiners."

"Ah, I guess Ur didn't tell anyone." Irene said with a smirk. "Apparently, that was the last master's rule. But Ur decided to do away with it."

"I see.' Gildarts said as he turned his attention back to the ring.

'She bullied Ur into letting them participate, didn't she?' All the other S-Class wizards thought simultaneously.

While Alfonzo, Irene, and Brandish were getting seated, Ur was once again explaining the rules to the S-Class candidates. And since none of the rules had changed since last week, it did not take long.

"Alright, you all know how this works." Ur said as she made her casting gesture. "[Ice-Make: Lottery]. There are eight numbered balls of ice in here. Each of you will take one. Then, the bracket for the tournament will be set up based on the numbers each of you receive. So, who's first?"

As soon as Ur made her casting gesture, she cast the spell while continuing to speak. Then, a box made of ice was materialized in her hands. And just as she said, there were eight ice balls, number one to eight, inside the box. And once she finished speaking, the eight participants exchanged glances, as if they were trying to decide who would go first.

"Fine, if you are all too scared, I'll go first." Gajeel said condescendingly as he took a step forward.

A moment later, Gajeel thrust his hand into the ice box. Then after swirling it around for a moment, he pulled his hand back out.

"Two." Gajeel said after looking at the ball in his hand. "I guess that means I'll be in the first match. I feel sorry for whoever pulls the ball with one on it."

After that, Gajeel tossed the ball off the ring. Then, he stepped away from Ur, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and smirked at the remaining candidates.

Thanks to Gajeel's provocation, the others were no longer concerned with who went next. So, they each stepped up and pulled a ball out of the box. In the end, the first round of the tournament looked like this.

Alphonse Elric Vs. Gajeel Redfox

Masa Vs. Edward Elric

Wendy Marvell Vs. Alzack Connell

Lucy Heartfilia Vs. Rika Minami

"With that, the bracket is set." Ur said once Lucy, the last one to pull a ball from the box reported her number. "The rules are simple. You fight until someone is unconscious, stays down for ten counts, or is unable to return to the ring after ten counts. Got it? Good. Now, the rest of you, get out of the ring. Alphonse, Gajeel, you stay and prepare for battle."

With that said, Ur turned around and started walking towards the viewing stands. Then, once she took a seat in the front row at the center of the stands, she glanced at the fighters in the ring.

"Fight!" Ur ordered without introducing the fighters.

With that, the fight began. While Gajeel used his [Dragon Slayer Magic] to pressure Alphonse, Alphonse was able to counter smoothly with his [Alchemy]. And for a while, the fight was a stalemate. However, when Gajeel used [Iron Dragon Incarnation], things turned in Gajeel's favor. In the end, due to fatigue, Alphonse was unable to avoid a powerful punch and was knocked out.

The next match was between Masa and Edward. And this match was much shorter than the previous match. Although Izumi had trained Edward well, Masa was not human. So, he was physically much stronger than Edward. And when Masa was able to bring the match into close quarters, Edward had no chance, making Masa the winner by ten count after Edward had taken too many hits to continue.

The third match was between Wendy and Alzack. And it was the longest match of the first round of the tournament. While Wendy's use of [Sky Dragon Slayer Magic] was able to counter most of Alzack's [Guns Magic] by altering the bullets' trajectories, and her use of Tsunade's [Magic Power Strengthening Technique] made it dangerous for Alzack to fight at close range, she lacked patience when compared to Alzack. So, after nearly forty minutes of back and forth, Wendy made a risky move. Unfortunately, that risk did not pan out for her. As a result, Alzack managed to land several [glue Shots] that adhered her to the ring long enough for Ur to count to ten.

"She's quite skilled for her age." Irene said after Alzack was declared the winner. "Unfortunately, her experience and battle awareness are lacking. But I'll make sure to rectify that shortcoming during our training to come.

"You know, I kinda feel sorry for Wendy." Ultear muttered, though it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

In response, all the S-Class wizards nodded their heads in agreement. All of them except for Alfonzo, anyway.

"I don't know why you'd say that, Tear." Alfonzo said with a smile. "I mean, Wendy has had two of the most powerful women on Ishgar train her in the past. And now, she's about to be taught by the most powerful of them. Is there really any reason to feel sorry for her? Sure, I'm sure she's gonna go through some shit, but… No pain, no gain, you know?"

With that, everyone stopped to think about Alfonzo's words. Then, they all realized he was right. A moment later, most of them were looking at Wendy with envy. Meanwhile, Irene was looking at Alfonzo with appreciation in her gaze.

'He's probably the smartest person in this guild full of muscle heads.' Irene thought to herself. 'Now, I can understand why Erza is so in love with him. *Sigh* If he wasn't married to my daughter, perhaps I would try my luck with him.'

With that thought passing through her head, Irene glanced at Erza, who was paying attention to the ring, where Lucy and Rika were climbing into it. Then, she shook her head with an unreadable expression on her face.

Alfonzo, on the other hand, was thinking something totally different.

'If I didn't say what I did, I can only imagine the shit Irene would have put the others through.' Alfonzo thought to himself while quickly glancing at Irene. 'I mean, with her personality, she would have, at the very least, made Tear pay for saying that about her. And the rest would have probably been punished a little for agreeing with her. *Sigh* The things I do to keep my guild mates safe.'

"Anyway, this match probably isn't gonna go well for Lucy." Alfonzo said.

"What do you mean?' Cana asked curiously. "Lucy can summon like three of her Celestial Spirits at the same time now, right? So, there will be like four of them coming at Rika all at once. And if you add Lucy's [Star Dress], she's a freakin' powerhouse."

"In most cases, you would be right, Cana." Elicia said while shaking her head. "but Rika's [Multiscope] spell makes numbers useless. On top of that, she's probably one of the better trained candidates in the tournament. I mean, she was basically the ace of the Knights' Special Forces Unit, remember?"

At that moment, Ur gave the signal for Lucy and Rika to begin. And just like Cana said, Lucy quickly summoned three Celestial Spirits, Leo, Gemini, and Aries. A moment later, Gemini transformed into Lucy and summoned another Spirit, Scorpio, while Lucy used Taurus' [Star Dress], which transformed her outfit into a white, cow-patterned bra with white tassels hanging over her ribs, a black sleeve on her left arm, a pair of fingerless, cow-hide gloves, a pair of pants with no left pant leg, and a pair of cow-hide cowboy boots. On top of that, thanks to using Taurus' [Star Dress] Lucy's physical strength increased by a considerable margin.

Despite the fact that the fight had turned from a one on one to a five on one, Rika remained calm. While Lucy was summoning her Spirits and wearing her [Star Dress], Rika backed off to the edge of the ring. Then, she pulled a rifle, not her favorite sniper rifle, though, off her back and loaded a cartridge filled with [Magic Bullets].

"[Target Magic: Multiscope]." Rika chanted as she raised her rifle. "[Guns Magic: Stun Shot]."

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

In the next instant, just before Lucy's [Star Dress] transformation was completed, Rika pulled the trigger five times in quick succession, firing once at each target on the other side of the ring. While Leo and Scorpio were able to dodge the incoming bullets and Aries was able to get up a [Wool Wall] just in time to protect herself, Lucy, whose transformation had ended only an instant before, and Gemini were hit. And as the [Stun Shots] made contact, they released a current of Electricity that immobilized Gemini and rendered Lucy unconscious.

"Wow…" Marin muttered after seeing how quickly Lucy was taken out. She then continued after Ur declared Rika the winner and announced a fifteen minute break. "What… just happened?"

"More than likely, because Lucy considered this a duel between guild mates, she probably thought that Rika would wait until she was prepared." Alfonzo said. "So, she had yet to raise her guard. But this is not just a duel between guild mates. This is an exam to see if the wizards are ready to be promoted to S-Class."

"That's how it looked to me, too." Laxus added. "She needs to work on her situational awareness."

"Well, in her defense, this is her first exam, you know." Cana pointed out. "and most of us didn't pass on your first time, either."

"I did!" Alfonzo said with a smile while raising his hand. "I beat an S-Class wizard in that exam, too."

"Dick…" Laxus muttered in response. Then, he raised his volume to a normal speaking volume. "I passed on my first time, too."

"As did I." Erza added.

"Ooh! Me, too. Me, too." Marin exclaimed excitedly.

Everyone else, however, could only remain silent. Because of the nineteen S-Class wizards present who passed a promotion exam, those four were the only ones who passed on their first try.

Even Gildarts, the longtime ace of the guild, only passed on his third try, courtesy of Bianca, who scored higher than him in their first promotion exam. As for the second, Gildarts managed to piss Bianca off only three days before the exam. So, she vowed that she would make sure he did not pass, allowing Orlando to become the second member of their old team to make S-class.

"Fonzie's right, though." Elicia said, circling back to the previous topic of conversation. "If we had been allowed to train with her for the exam, we could have gotten Lucy out of that mindset. In fact, we could have done it a lot sooner. But with Fonzie working outside of the town, taking care of Mar'e, and all the other stuff going on, we kinda forgot."

"Well, if she qualifies again, she can try again next year." Ur said. "There's no doubt in my mind, she'll be an S-Class wizard in the next five years."

"Either way, this is where the tournament starts to get fun." Alfonzo said with a smile. "The four most experienced wizards are left in the tournament. And I still say Masa is going to win."

With that, a new discussion about who would come out victorious in the tournament started. And it continued until the fifteen minute break was over. Then, everyone once again focused on the matches to come.