Chapter 52 - Trials

---Next Day---

As the morning rays of the sun broke through my window, I let out a yawn. Sensing I had two people in bed with me, I took a peek and found Erza and Mirajane under the sheets. Wrapped around me, the two of them were still fast asleep. Noticing they were in just bras and panties, I could only smirk as this was every man's dream to wake up too.

"They snuck in last night.", Irene whispered holding her morning coffee in hand, "You must be pretty happy to see them like that."

"Good morning beautiful.", I said with a smile as she walked over, "How about a kiss good morning?"

Letting out a sigh, with a smile on her face, she came over like I asked. Leaning forward to kiss me, I pulled her on the bed while making sure none of her coffee spilled. Glancing over to make sure none did, Irene didn't make a fuss about it. Pulling her in for a kiss, she gave me one then another before we started making out. She was becoming more accustomed to my playful advances, and fortunately had started reciprocating them quite eagerly. It started out with hugging, kissing, and now she even sometimes slept in my bed with us. She was still a bit awkward about it, but she was steadily getting better.

"Why are you being so aggressive this morning?", she asked with a playful smile, "You know a mature woman needs to wake up a bit before she can play around."

"Maybe it has to do with the button down shirt and scarlet panties you are wearing.", I whispered, "You did that on purpose, I am sure of it. Wearing such tempting clothing around a growing young man, that is just torturing me."

"Oh, so it's my fault?", she replied teasing me, "If it's a problem, I can go change."

Grabbing a nice portion of her butt, she let out a very faint moan. Blushing a little as she sank her hips onto me, and definitely felt my morning wood press against her. Feeling it made her happy and nervous at the same time. Having only slept with a single man before, she still remembered what came of that quite clearly in her mind. She was growing closer to me everyday but this was still a big hurdle for her to cross.

"You don't have to do anything, it's just a natural reaction to having three beautiful women in my bed.", I chuckled as I brushed the hair out of her face, "Take your time, and let met know when you are ready. This isn't something I will push on you."

Leaning her face into my hand, she nodded her head. Telling me she was getting better slowly, she admitted she still had nightmares of the torture she endured. The clubbing, the stone throwing, the whipping...all of it haunted her dreams, and made it difficult to sleep some nights. Even though she gave off the vibe of a strong, proud woman...this was one area that she was as meek as a child. Saying she could come to me if she ever had any issues, I promised to help calm her down.

"I...I may take you up on that.", she whispered as she got up, "Now I will get out of here, I know they are probably wanting your attention too."

Feeling Mirajane and Erza pulling themselves out of the sleeping bag, I watched Irene walk away with a happy smile. That smile was something I wanted to see more often because she rarely ever did.

"Good morning.", Mirajane purred popping out of the sleeping bag.

"I need...five more hours of sleep...", Erza complained.

Chuckling at them, I gave them each a kiss and asked why they didn't stay in their tents. Saying that it got pretty cold outside, they came to me since I was so warm all the time.

"You aren't complaining, are you?", Mirajane questioned with a smile.

"Of course not.", I replied smacking their butts, "Let's get up and have some breakfast."

---Three Hours Later---

Once all the participants were up and had eaten, Makarov made the announcement that the second trial would start in an hour. Telling them to sit tight till Irene gave the word, Makarov, Gildarts, and I headed into the caves to get into position. Taking a seat in my spot, I waited in relative silence for the trial to begin. Hearing people enter the caves a while later, I wondered who I would find me first.

"Crap...", Magna groaned as he rounded the corner, "It had to be you, didn't it?"

"Your sense of direction sucks, it's not my problem.", I chuckled.

Watching Luck, Vanessa, and Charmy come in behind him they also looked a bit frustrated. Getting up from my spot, I said we should begin immediately since an enemy wouldn't just let them get ready to fight.

"You are going to take it a bit easier on us...right?", Charmy questioned nervously, "Maybe...maybe I can share a cracker with you?"

"Haha!", I laughed.

She must have really seen me as a threat, she would never part with a crumb so easily.

"Critical Over!!", I shouted as I bolstered my stats.

Feeling a wave of power hit them, Magna and Luck backed away in shock. The fear was painted clearly on their faces like they were looking up a mountain from the bottom.

"Crap, don't give him any-", Magna shouted before taking a punch to the gut.

Shooting out of the cave, his teammates couldn't even register what happened. To them I hadn't moved an inch, but in reality I had gotten right in front of him, hit him, and resumed my original position.

"We can't go down with out a fight!", Luck stated as lightning danced around him.

"Agreed, I am not turning tail just yet!", Vanessa said as her grimoire lit up.

"Let's go!", Charmy shouted with excitement as she started creating cotton all around us.

Giving them a nod, I said they had guts for facing me head on.

"Rule 2, always go into a fight with a strategy in place. Charging in half cocked will only lead to unnecessary injuries and potential deaths.", I told them as I looked them over, "Clearly you didn't do any research here."

"What do you mean?", Vanessa asked.

"Absolute Cancel.", I said casting the spell.

Watching their magics fall apart instantly, the three of them wore stunned expressions.

"I am the only one in our Guild capable of using Anti-Magic Spells, you should have known that. Not only that, what would be your plan if you ran into something resistant to your elemental attacks?", I questioned.

Pondering that question for a bit, they realized that they didn't have a plan. Fighting someone with Anti-Magic techniques never once crossed their minds before.

"Tartaros, a Dark Guild made of Zeref's Demons, uses primarily Anti-Magic Techniques. If you were caught in a fight with them, your best bet is follow Rule 1.", I advised, "Always size your enemy up, never underestimate them. Last thing I am sure you want is bury your friends because you didn't consider the risks."

Looking at each other, the three of them agreed with that assessment. Giving their word of surrender, the three of them went to pull Magna out of the sea. Taking my seat again, the next group to show up was Noelle, Grey, Levy, Hermione, and Cana. The five women stopped short of entering the room where I sat.

"I don't think this is the enemy we want to fight.", Levy said to Noelle.

"Agreed...this isn't a fight we can win.", she sighed, "Do we go back and find another way?"

Looking them over, I saw they came with emergency medical equipment, some headlamps, and a map which meant they were semi-prepared for this. Levy and Hermione understood they weren't my equal so they were hesitant to jump into combat. This told me they were capable of sizing up the enemy, but...they lacked the imagination to understand the challenge.

"So what do we do then?", Noelle asked.

"The options are going and finding a different path, or fighting him.", Grey said.

"Neither option sounds the best, we could run into Gildarts and I don't want to deal with him right now.", Cana complained.

"So we are going to give up then?", Levy questioned.

I was forbidden from giving them any hints because in the field they wouldn't have that luxury. Deciding that they just couldn't do it this year, they decided to surrender and try again next year with better preparations. The changes to the trials meant they were left scrambling to come up with a suitable plan. Accepting their surrender, I gave Levy a smile.

"The only require was to reach the exit, we are just obstacles.", I told her, "You could have gone around, under, or above this room to avoid a fight."

"What do you mean!? There aren't any other paths we could have-", Hermione argued.

"...we could have made our own.", Levy sighed with frustration.

"Sometimes thinking outside the box is the best way to solve a problem. Fighting something head on isn't always the best option, in some cases making it back alive to warn people is the better option. You recognized that I wasn't an enemy you could fight, you at least understand you need to size your opponent up.", I stated.

"I am sure Erza and Mirajane size you up every morning.", Cana teased me.

Letting out a sigh, I said she needed to leave before I called Gildarts over. After that, the rest of the trial time period was pretty uneventful. When Makarov blew a horn signifying the end of the trial, I headed out of the cave to see who made it through. Unsurprisingly Erza, Mirajane, Laxus, Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen all made it through the trial this year. Glancing over at the other girls, they were quite visibly shaken up.

'They probably had a run in with Gildarts, and he used his overwhelming magical power to strike fear in their hearts.', I thought, 'He did the same with Natsu in the proper timeline.'

Asking them if they were okay, they nodded their heads saying they needed some time to recuperate. Turning my attention to the five Guild Members that passed, Makarov was congratulating them on their hard work before giving those that didn't pass words of encouragement. Once that was done, he let out a sigh as if what came next was frustrating.

"So these are the people that will be taking the test?", an old man said approaching the five, "I can tell they are quite powerful wizards."

"Whose this old guy?", Laxus asked Makarov.

"Hush it!! That is Grandmaster Dumbledore, he is the one in charge of the S-Rank test!!", Makarov stated, "Don't be rude, he can ban you from the test!"

"It's alright.", Dumbledore laughed, "That was much easier to deal with than a fiery red headed girl I met a week ago. Sabertooth took her in, her name was...Mereoleona Vermillion I believe."

Hearing Noelle and the others let out a groan, they appeared to understand the pain of dealing with her. I didn't think she was so bad, having a straightforward mindset was quite an attractive trait. That said, the way she tried to encourage people sometimes...that left something to be desired.

"Grandmaster Dumbledore, preparations are ready.", Triss said walking up behind him.

"Please follow us, you will be returned to Magnolia after the test is completed.", Yennefer assured them.

'Jeez...Dumbledore has two really hot assistants.', I thought with smile, 'Maybe I should pay the capital a visit more often.'

Leaving with three people from the Kingdom, the rest of us returned to Magnolia to await the results of the tests.