"Gildarts, that guy, leaves and still dumps so much trouble on me."
Looking at Gildarts' departing figure, Makarov bared his teeth in irritation.
Gildarts had encouraged everyone for a bit, then just patted his butt and left. In the end, all matters regarding the S-Class exam were left for Makarov to handle himself, of course he found it troublesome.
Originally, only Moen, Erza, and Mirajane were participating in the exam. A simple arrangement would have been enough. Makarov knew that among the three, only Moen would be able to pass the test, this time, Erza and Mira were merely accompanying runners.
After all, the S-Class Mages of Fairy Tail still had strict strength requirements.
Although Erza and Mira were both exceptionally talented children, at their current level they still did not meet the requirements of an S-Class Mage. They wouldn't even be able to pass the first stage guarded by Laxus.
So this S-Class Mage exam was basically arranged specifically for Moen. In reality, it was just a formality, Moen's strength was already obvious to everyone.
"Makarov Grandpa! Let us participate too!"
Natsu shouted loudly. He had always wanted to take part in the S-Class Mage exam, but had been rejected before. Makarov believed it was still too early for them and never gave them a chance to sign up.
Now, after being stirred up by Gildarts' words, Natsu naturally felt very unwilling, and he and a few of the others started pestering Makarov again.
"Even if it's just to join the fun and experience the atmosphere!"
Gray also shouted. He longed to become an S-Class Mage.
After all, he had been picked up by Gildarts, and Gildarts himself was an S-Class Mage. Gray regarded him as his goal.
However, Gray was more clear-headed than Natsu. He knew that with his current strength, he definitely couldn't pass the S-Class exam. But failing this time didn't matter, even Laxus didn't pass on his first attempt. At worst, he could just try a few more times!
"Alright, alright, all of you can come! Anyone who wants to participate can join!"
Surrounded by Natsu, Gray, and the others chattering nonstop, Makarov had no choice and finally agreed.
"Yay!"
The youngsters cheered and began signing up one after another.
Meanwhile, some of the adult mages were also inspired by Gildarts and became tempted. Before long, a number of A-Class Mages also signed up.
To register for the S-Class Mage exam, one must at least be an A-Class Mage, this was a basic requirement.
Compared to S-Class, promotion to A-Class was much simpler; it wasn't even on the same level. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel were already A-Class Mages.
After Makarov agreed, Moen noticed Cana nearby visibly let out a sigh of relief, and then she went over to register as well.
"Are you really going to participate?"
After Cana returned from registering, Moen patted her shoulder and asked.
"Mm, I want to become an S-Class Mage!"
Cana nodded and gave a very serious answer. The earlier conversation with Gildarts seemed to have given her a goal—after becoming an S-Class Mage, she would confess everything to her father!
"…"
Moen fell silent. He always felt that Cana seemed to have a considerable misunderstanding about Gildarts, which was why she had kept her identity a secret.
"Moen, do you know any relevant information? What do we have to do in this S-Class exam?"
Cana looked at Moen, her eyes bright. She was truly serious, not like the other kids who just wanted to participate.
"If I'm not mistaken, the first stage is to fight Laxus."
Moen did not hide anything and directly stated what he knew.
Of course, it was also his guess. From Makarov and Laxus' reactions, it seemed like a default assumption, but no clear answer had been given. It was also possible that Makarov himself would step in.
"What?!"
After hearing Moen's words, Cana was completely shaken. Her eyes widened as if she had heard shocking news.
"Laxus… how could we possibly defeat him…"
Cana lowered her head, her whole demeanor turning gloomy. No matter how confident she was, she didn't think she could defeat Laxus.
Cana had joined Fairy Tail very early, she came at the age of six, even earlier than Gray. Naturally, she was very familiar with Laxus.
When Cana joined, Laxus was only eleven. She could be said to have watched him grow stronger step by step, and she understood his terrifying talent better than the other children.
"Of course not. How could they directly require you to defeat him? You only need to gain his recognition."
Moen smiled helplessly. Cana really dared to imagine things—if the requirement for passing the S-Class Mage exam was to defeat a previous S-Class Mage examiner, the difficulty would be far too high.
"Gain his recognition? That still sounds very difficult…"
After hearing Moen's explanation, Cana clicked her tongue. The difficulty didn't seem to decrease much. Laxus had very high standards now, and she didn't think she could gain his approval.
"That's why I asked you are you really going to participate?"
Moen spoke again to persuade her. He understood Cana fairly well. She wasn't someone with extremely firm willpower, and because she carried things in her heart, her emotions were more sensitive than others.
In other words, Moen felt that Cana was the type who, after failing too many times, might lose confidence.
Of course, this was just his speculation and might not be accurate.
When it comes to personality, no one can be completely certain.
"I'll participate! I have to give it a try!"
Cana bit her lip and finally decided to participate; her father, Gildarts, had just encouraged her.
No matter what, she had to try. Maybe as long as she became an S-Class Mage, her father would truly notice her!
Just as Moen had thought, Cana indeed had some misunderstandings about Gildarts.
Cana always felt that Gildarts couldn't see her, but in reality, Gildarts treated her no differently from the other children.
The truth was that Cana regarded Gildarts as her father, while Gildarts didn't know this and thus didn't show her any paternal favoritism, which made her feel like he couldn't see her.
But if she didn't take the initiative to get close to Gildarts, then Gildarts would naturally interact more with the children who approached him first. That was only natural, and it had nothing to do with whether she was an S-Class Mage or not.
Laxus became an S-Class Mage, yet it wasn't like he was particularly close with Gildarts. There was no connection between the two.
"Alright, do your best."
Moen didn't try to persuade her further. It wasn't a big deal, and Cana did indeed have good magical talent. After all, she was Gildarts' daughter, her bloodline had that part well covered.
"Brother Moen! Are you teaching Cana some kind of secret trick?"
Gray, who had just finished registering, came over and looked at Moen and Cana suspiciously.
Although Gray had already prepared himself to just make up the numbers, if there were any "exam tips," he was naturally willing to listen.
Gray's attitude was much more proper than Natsu and Gajeel's. Those two had already started fantasizing about the glory after becoming S-Class Mages.
"There are no tricks, just some guesses."
Moen naturally didn't refuse anyone. Whoever came to ask, he told them, and he didn't mind them spreading the information either. In the end, the S-Class Mage exam still depended on strength.
Very quickly, the news spread. Almost everyone participating in the exam knew that the first round might involve fighting Laxus—only the two "dragons," Natsu and Gajeel, still didn't know.
Knowing the exam content in advance, some people really did come up with ideas, such as acquiring magical items that could defend against lightning.
Laxus scoffed at this. If they thought they could defeat him with those things, they were underestimating him too much.
However, Laxus wouldn't target those who prepared items in advance. He would even give them extra points, because gathering information and preparing tools beforehand were also essential professional skills for a Mage. Magical items themselves were part of one's strength.
On this point, Laxus was actually quite open-minded. He didn't think Holder-type Mages should be discriminated against. Being able to possess magical items that could unleash powerful strength was also a form of ability.
Amid the tense "exam preparations," the day of the S-Class Mage exam arrived as scheduled. Makarov had been extremely busy these past few days.
After all, as the Guild Master, he had to accompany the entire process. He would follow from the shadows to ensure everyone's safety during the exam.
"I shouldn't have let so many people participate at once!"
Looking at the more than twenty people participating this time, Makarov complained. He felt the number was still a bit too large.
However, he wasn't working alone. Some veteran A-Class Mages in the guild who weren't participating in the exam had been recruited. Most of them had participated several times before and had been so discouraged that they had completely given up on advancing to S-Class.
These people were very familiar with the entire exam process, making them well-suited to serve as staff during the exam.
"In the future, we still need to set stricter standards and not let people with no hope participate."
As a candidate, Moen stood beside Makarov and made his suggestion. He supported setting a threshold for participating in the S-Class Mage exam. Based on past experience, taking this exam too many times really did damage one's confidence.
In the past, it wasn't unheard of for people to fail the S-Class exam multiple times and eventually become so discouraged that they left the guild altogether.
This was precisely why Makarov had established a participation threshold for the S-Class exam. There was no helping it, the S-Class Mages in the guild were simply too strong, raising the bar far too high.
Although Gildarts wasn't a particularly strict person, if he felt someone's strength wasn't sufficient and that undertaking S-Class missions would be dangerous, he would still strictly block their promotion.
Failing again and again, losing confidence, and leaving the guild—situations like that were quite damaging to morale.
Therefore, Makarov would screen the list in advance. Those lacking strength or the right mindset would have their qualification to participate postponed.
The reason Makarov so readily agreed to let these youngsters participate was also because he trusted their mindset. Even if they were discouraged, it wouldn't matter—they wouldn't collapse, only work harder to improve themselves.
Moreover, a single setback wouldn't have too great an impact.
"You brat! Hurry back to your candidate group!"
Makarov snapped at Moen irritably. Although Moen passing the exam was basically a certainty, the process still had to be followed.
Standing there beside him, the kid made it look like he was already an examiner. While his strength might qualify, to truly have that status, he'd at least need to officially obtain the title of S-Class Mage.
"Hehe~"
Moen chuckled and returned to the group.
In fact, with Moen standing beside Makarov like an examiner, the others below didn't find it strange at all. After all, everyone knew Moen's strength. Everyone was certain that he would pass the exam this time.
So when it was announced that they could form teams of two, many people came to Moen, hoping to be paired with him. Such a powerful "thigh" was something everyone wanted to cling to.
But Moen rejected them all. He stated that he didn't need a team. Both times Laxus participated, he also went solo. Naturally, he wouldn't bring a teammate—teammates would only hold him back, unless it was Erza or Mirajane.
However, Erza and Mirajane were also highly sought-after teammates. After all, they originally qualified to participate in the exam alongside Moen.
Moreover, these two girls, the same age as Moen, were both genius Mages who had already begun to gain fame. Teaming up with them would also greatly increase the chances of success.
But both Erza and Mirajane firmly refused as well. Seeing that Moen wasn't taking a teammate, Erza followed suit, and Mirajane naturally didn't want to fall behind. She didn't even bring Elfman, while Lisanna hadn't registered and instead came to cheer them on.
"Grandpa Makarov! Hurry up and explain the rules! I can't wait any longer!"
Natsu shouted loudly, extremely excited. Natsu also didn't have a teammate—no, that wasn't right. His teammate was Happy. Although according to the rules, Happy didn't count as a "candidate," Natsu strongly objected, insisting that Happy was his teammate.
Makarov naturally wouldn't argue with Natsu over something like this. In fact, it was a good thing, it clearly showed Natsu's shining quality. This child truly valued companions and friends, which was very much to Makarov's liking.
A chosen one of Fairy Tail, indeed.
"Natsu, I'll definitely become an S-Class Mage before you!"
Nearby, Gajeel competed with Natsu. He was also alone, without a teammate, because he saw that Natsu didn't have one either. Clearly, Gajeel didn't consider Happy to be Natsu's teammate.
Of course, Gajeel was actually a bit envious of Natsu, because Natsu had a "cat." Not only Natsu, but the other Dragon Slayer, Wendy, also had a "cat." Only he didn't!
Although Laxus didn't have one either, Laxus was different from the three of them. Laxus became a Dragon Slayer through a Dragon Slayer Lacrima, while Natsu and Wendy were taught personally by dragons. So it wasn't strange for Laxus not to have a "cat," but Gajeel felt that he should have one of his own!
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