Kael raised his glass and clinked it with Laxus's.
"No need for thanks! You were always a member of the aguild; now you've just returned to where you belong."
The two kept clinking glasses. After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere gradually heated up.
"Cheers!!"
Kael was also feeling a bit lightheaded at this point. Drinking really did make one happier the more they drank.
"Kael, we haven't seen each other for long, but how did you get so strong? Did you secretly take some medicine?"
Laxus had been shaken by Kael's Tailed Beast transformation. That kind of overwhelming strength was far beyond his reach and had completely redefined his concept of what a powerful person was.
"Get lost! You're the one taking medicine. I got this strong through my own hard work."
"Bullshit! If hard work was all it took, strong people would be everywhere!"
Laxus snorted at Kael's words. In the magic world, talent was undoubtedly the most important thing.
The most important was magic power talent.
Magic power was the foundation of everything. Every kind of magic needed it to work. Even if two mages used the same magic, the one with more magic power would produce a stronger effect.
Some powerful magic demanded so much magic power that, if you didn't have enough, you wouldn't even be able to learn it, much less use it.
For example, Gildarts' Crush Magic is the kind of super high-tier destructive magic everyone in the guild talks about. They all know how terrifying it is, but the only person who can actually learn and wield it is Gildarts himself.
Second was magic talent. It was like comparing a top student to a failing one. A top student could learn more complex and powerful magic, while a failing student could only learn simple magic.
The least valuable thing was hard work. Hard work could make you stronger, but if your talent was poor, seven years of effort might not even match three months from someone with great talent. Reality was just that cruel.
"Well! I just have good luck. I summoned some powerful spirits from another world."
Kael said with a smile. Even though he had drunk too much, he still couldn't speak about the System.
"That reminds me, it's been half a month already. Why hasn't there been a single S-class mission? Forget S-class, there isn't even a 500,000 Jewel mission."
Having seen Acnologia's power, Kael felt a sense of urgency regarding his strength. After staying around for a while, he wanted to do some S-class missions.
"It can't be helped! We're the weakest guild, after all. Even the 200,000 Jewel missions only appeared because people heard the core members had returned."
Warren spread his hands and said helplessly.
"Those S-class missions have already been monopolized by some powerful guilds. Take Sabertooth, for example. It's said they have so many S-class missions they can't even finish them."
"What?!!"
Kael couldn't help but shout when he heard that. S-class missions so numerous they couldn't be finished, that was exactly what he had always dreamed of.
"It's not just Sabertooth. Guilds like Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus have plenty of S-class missions too. Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus are different from before; they've become quite powerful."
"S-class missions are almost entirely concentrated in the top guilds now. A small guild like ours can't even get a slice of the pie."
"No! This won't do! Guild ranking doesn't matter, but we can't be short on S-class missions!"
Kael suddenly realized the situation was critical. S-class missions were the fuel for him to become stronger. Cutting off someone's path to wealth was like killing their parents.
If it continued like this and he had no S-class missions, how could he get any stronger?
"True... there hasn't been a single decent mission lately."
Nowadays, the guild members were always hanging around the guild, not because they were lazy, but because there truly weren't any suitable missions. Most were just small jobs for 3,000 to 20,000 Jewels.
Lucy said, "It looks like we'll have to raise the guild's rank after all."
Laki said pessimistically, "It's hard! Even though our core members are back, our strength is still what it was seven years ago..."
"Uh..."
This couldn't be argued. Even a top-tier near S-class mage like Natsu was currently suppressed by Max. Naturally, everyone lacked confidence.
Erza nodded. "Mm, this is indeed a problem. Even though Kael and Gildarts possess power far beyond others, a guild's strength isn't decided by just one or two people. It will take time to return to how things were."
"Isn't there a faster way? I can't wait anymore. I want to do S-class missions!"
Kael grumbled. He wanted S-class missions. He wanted to do draws! That was the only way to kill Acnologia.
Suddenly!
Romeo jumped onto a table. "Kael! It's not like there's no way! There is a way to quickly return to number one!!"
"Really?!"
Kael's eyes lit up.
The faces of the seven-year group members changed drastically.
"Wh..."
"No... it couldn't be?"
"Don't tell me..."
Macao broke out in a cold sweat. "We can't!! Didn't we decide that we absolutely wouldn't participate in that?!"
"What is 'that'? Fourth Master?"
Makarov looked at Macao and asked in confusion.
Macao felt a chill at the title. "Don't call me that, Fifth Master."
Romeo said with an excited face, "Kael, listen to me. During the time you were gone, a yearly festival was created to choose the strongest guild in Fiore!"
"All the guilds in Fiore gather to compete with magic. It's called the Grand Magic Games."
"As long as Fairy Tail wins the Grand Magic Games, we'll become the strongest guild in Fiore!!"
"Ooh!!"
"The Grand Magic Games!!"
"That sounds really interesting!"
"It certainly feels like it could be fun!"
The Tenrou group members all got excited upon hearing this.
"Let's do it!!"
Kael immediately made the decision. Upon hearing the name, he remembered the Grand Magic Games existed. Having stayed in the Fairy Tail world for so long, many things didn't come back to him until they were right in front of him.
The Grand Magic Games. Although he had forgotten the specifics, for the sake of infinite S-class missions, he would crush anyone standing in his way, no matter who they were.
Makarov mused, "Kael and Gildarts go without saying. But as for the rest of you, do you think you can win with your current magic power?"
Macao shouted, "Exactly!! You're being too naive!!"
Romeo said, "If we win, there's a massive prize of thirty million Jewels!!"
"We're in!!"
Hearing there was a prize, Makarov's face instantly shifted. He was currently desperate for money. Not only was the guild's location mortgaged, and everyone was cramped in this small tavern, but they also owed Kael a lot of money. If they got that kind of cash, the guild could finally recover.
"Master!!" Macao was stunned.
"It's impossible! There's Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale..."
"And Sabertooth will be there too!!"
"We've been in last place the whole time, you know!"
Makarov pumped his fist with excitement. "Don't worry! It'll be fine! With Kael, Gildarts, Laxus, and Erza, victory is ours!"
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