Fairy Tail: You call this Celestial Magic?!

Chapter 173, First Challenge: Eliminate Half! (Please Subscribe!)
Gajeel was very upset about not having his own "cat". Although he never told anyone about it, anyone with a little perceptiveness could see it.

Moon had discovered this problem a long time ago. After all, Gajeel was a guy who couldn't hide things. He even ran to the streets and alleys to look for his cat, and then was chased and caught by the cat, which was a bit funny. It was because he had thick skin and was not afraid at all, otherwise he would have been scratched all over by the cat.

Of course, some people can notice it, while others can't. For example, some people with slow personalities. Natsu didn't know that Gajeel had such an idea, otherwise he would definitely laugh at Gajeel.

"I'll never lose to you and Gray, no matter who I am!"

Natsu looked at Gajeel and his whole body was ignited. Natsu, Gray and Gajeel were now in a competitive mode of chasing each other. None of them was willing to give in to the other.

Of course, since Gajeel arrived at the guild a little later, Natsu and Gray only treated him as a provocateur, and the confrontation between these two old enemies became even more intense.

"Two stupid dragons."

Gray was shirtless and wearing shorts, with his hands on his hips, looking down on Natsu and Gajeel. He also took part in the test alone.

Gray came here just to broaden his horizons and did not think he could succeed. Of course, he would try his best, at least to see the gap between himself and the S-class wizard.

Although he was often easily defeated by Moon, Gray had never fought Laxus seriously. He wanted to see how strong Laxus was and who had a stronger sense of oppression between him and Moon.

"Quiet!"

Makarov shouted, stopping the noise of the children below. Everyone immediately quieted down and looked at Makarov expectantly.

Of course, there are also veterans in the team who are participating for the second or third time, and they are very familiar with the subsequent procedures.

The reason why these "veterans" were willing to give it a try was, firstly, that they were motivated by Gildarts, and secondly, that Gildarts was not the examiner this time!

Gildarts accepted the task and left in front of everyone, which meant that it was a foregone conclusion that he would not appear as an examiner in this S-level assessment.

Because the exam started a few days after Gildarts left, someone even went to ask about it. Gildarts's mission this time required him to travel a long distance, and he definitely wouldn't have time to come back.

They had been hit hard by Gildarts before, so of course they had to try again this time. Since Gildarts was not there, it was obvious who the examiner was, and it must be Laxus who had been in the guild recently.

Laxus' age, coupled with the fact that he had only recently been promoted to an S-class wizard, gave everyone confidence. Of course, they didn't think they could defeat Laxus, as Laxus had already gained considerable fame.

Their idea was simple: as long as they could perform better against Laxus than against Gildarts, maybe Laxus would let them pass?
Maybe Laxus' standards aren't as high as Gildarts's?
"Follow me carefully, no one should be left behind!"

Makarov didn't care what the children below thought. He led the team out and left Magnolia City.

A group of people went to the train station in a mighty manner and boarded the train to Hargeon. Natsu and Gajeel, who had been nagging all the time, became quiet and the two of them became listless.

After arriving at Hargeon, before Natsu and Gajeel could recover, Makarov took everyone back on board.

"."

Natsu and Gajeel both looked despairing. Had the test already begun? Why was they being tortured like this?!
Standing at the bow, looking at the children standing on the deck, Makarov cleared his throat and prepared to tell them the arrangements this time.

At this moment, they were on a large ship and had already gone out to sea. Looking around, they saw blue sea in all directions.

"Natsu, Gajeel, listen carefully."

Moon reminded the two people lying dead nearby that the main event was about to begin, and even if they were just there for show, they should listen carefully.

"good"

Although Moon thought that the two of them were just there to make up the numbers, Natsu and Gajeel obviously didn't think so. They forced themselves to get up and listen to Makarov explain the rules of the assessment.

The ship has been sailing on the sea for a long time, so it is not surprising that Natsu and Gajeel feel so uncomfortable. Seasickness is indeed a top-level torture, and anyone who has experienced it knows it.

If they had floated on the sea for a while longer, Natsu and Gajeel would not have to take the test and could have gone home directly.

In fact, letting these two guys swim behind me might be more comfortable than it is now, and they can also exercise their bodies at the same time.

"The rules are simple. See that island up ahead? Go there, and only the top nine combinations will qualify for the next level. Then find Laxus. As for the subsequent assessments, Laxus will tell you once you're approved."

Under everyone's gaze, Makarov slowly began to explain the rules.

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and saw that a small black dot had indeed appeared on the sea in the distance. It was an island.

"so far?!"

Someone exclaimed that the ship had stopped and was no longer moving forward. It was obvious that they would start from here.

"The top nine combination?"

Everyone looked at each other, and this time more than half of the people were eliminated!

There were more than twenty people taking part in the assessment, and several of them were in their own teams, including Moon, Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Cana. The rest of the people formed nine teams, making a total of sixteen teams.

This could eliminate more than half of the candidates before even reaching the exam venue. Does the competition have to be this fierce?!
As soon as this rule came out, the faces of those veterans who had participated in the exam before changed. Although there were indeed a lot of people taking the exam this time, it was too much to raise the difficulty so much all of a sudden. This would eliminate more than half of the people in one go!

Although the content of the S-level assessment is not static, the rules this time are obviously more stringent.

"No matter what method you use, as long as you are in the top nine."

Makarov then spoke, emphasizing the point, and before anyone could think about it, he shouted:
"The assessment officially begins!"

"Pfft!"

At the first moment, veterans who had participated in the event before jumped off the boat and started swimming directly into the sea. This is the most unpretentious way, relying entirely on physical strength to swim forward.

Moon knew at a glance that it was the "super muscular wizard" Joey. The guy took the lead, swimming very fast like a swordfish, splitting a white crack in the sea.

"Damn it! He reacted so quickly!" This sudden start stunned everyone for a moment, but Joey's amazing reaction made everyone react quickly as well.

For a moment, it was like "Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers". Only the top nine combinations could qualify to enter the next level. Naturally, no one would be humble at this time, and they would definitely show their true abilities to fight.

For Gray, this level was too easy. He jumped into the sea directly, clasped his hands together, and the sea water under his feet immediately turned into ice. It continued to freeze forward to form an ice road. Running on the ice was still faster than swimming.

Seeing this, some people wanted to follow Gray and ran towards him on the icy road, but they slipped and fell into the sea after only two steps.

"Hahaha! Do you think running on ice is so easy?!"

Gray smiled broadly. He dared to create such an icy road, so he was naturally not afraid of others following him, because not everyone could walk on the ice as easily as he did, or even more easily than on the road. Others who wanted to do the same as him would only fall badly.

Seeing this, Gajeel immediately gave up the idea of ​​following Gray and jumped in and started swimming.

It turns out that most of the wizards' magic is useless in this level, and they can only choose to swim through honestly.

"Haha! Just swim slowly! I'm leaving first!"

Natsu was flying in the sky and mocked Gajeel. Of course, he was not flying by himself, but was being carried by Happy. Happy spread his white wings and pulled Natsu to fly in the sky.

Seeing this scene, Gajeel's teeth were about to break. He was even more annoyed that he didn't have a "cat". If he had a cat, he could also fly!
There were many people who could fly, but Happy, who was pulling Natsu, was the slowest and had the most difficulty flying.

After all, the harpy is not very old now, and his magic power is not much. The Transcendent uses wings to fly, which is actually a kind of magic. When the magic power is exhausted, the wings will disappear.

"Fly slowly, Happy, Natsu."

Moon summoned a crow, which flew easily past Happy and Natsu, leaving behind a message. According to Moon's judgment, it was impossible for Happy to fly to the island with Natsu. His magic power was consumed too quickly, and he would probably "crash" in a while.

In Moon's opinion, Natsu should be eliminated in this first level, because after the "crash", he still had to pull the harpy to swim, and he couldn't just leave the harpy here with its magic power exhausted.

From this perspective, Natsu might as well have just swam by himself from the beginning. This was a strategic mistake, and it's not unfair that he was eliminated.

"Damn it! Come on, Happy! Overtake Brother Moen!"

After being overtaken by Moon, Natsu became excited. He urged Happy to fly faster. He couldn't help, so he could only encourage Happy verbally.

“I’m already trying!”

Happy pulled Natsu and flapped his wings continuously to speed up. He was really trying hard. After all, the reason why he could fly was not by flapping his wings, but by magic.

However, Habib's efforts did not allow them to surpass Moon. Instead, the gap between them became wider and wider, and Moon's "taillights" were no longer visible.

"Whoosh!"

Not only that, they couldn't even surpass Moon, they couldn't even maintain their current ranking. Erza, wearing a black armor with wings, flew past them quickly, and the wind she brought up made the harpy unstable.

"Damn Erza!"

Natsu had just complained when there was another "whoosh" sound next to him. Mirajane, who had received the demon, spread her wings and flew past them.

Mirajane didn't even look at them, her eyes were fixed on Erza in front of her.

"."

After swinging in the air like a kite for two circles, Natsu was too tired to complain.

But he didn't faint, because he didn't regard the harpy as a means of transportation. But looking at the few people in front who were almost out of sight, he had a vague sense that something was wrong. It seemed that he and the harpy had no advantage.

Although Moon didn't set out early, he was the first to arrive.

With the help of his magic, the crows flew like fighter jets and brought him to the island in no time.

This island is called "Tenrou Island", also known as the "Fairy Island". According to Grandpa Makarov, "fairies" used to live on the island. As to whether it is true or not, Moon cannot be sure, and this is his first time here.

For the Fairy Tail guild, this place has a very special meaning.

This is the guild's holy land and the grave of the first president, Mavis. Only members of the "Fairy Tail" guild can enter here. In a sense, this can also be regarded as the guild's territory.

There is extremely powerful magic hidden in the periphery and land of Tianlang Island. The magic distorts the vision of others and hides the island, so it is not easy to be discovered by the outside world.

Especially ordinary people without magic power would basically go around it naturally. Therefore, even if there was no one guarding here, basically no one would come to this island.

Moon saw from the sky that the appearance of the island was very special. There was a towering tree on the island, which was very conspicuous, as if the entire island was a potted plant growing on the sea, and the island below was the base of the towering tree.

Not every guild assessment is held on Sirius Island. This time there are more people, so we chose to hold it in this large venue.

If only Moon, Erza, and Mirajane participated like in the beginning, the assessment would not be held on Tenrou Island.

Moon was the first to arrive at the destination. He admired the scenery. He was not in a hurry, but was waiting for others to arrive.

Without any suspense, the second person to arrive was Erza. She was wearing a black feather armor, which had the ability to fly. With the help of her powerful magic, naturally no one could compare to her.

"Moen? Should we wait here for the others to join us?"

After seeing the conspicuous "End" sign on the beach, Erza landed and walked towards Moon. When she was in the sky, she saw Moon squatting there and teasing crabs.

"No need to wait, you can go to the next level."

Looking at Erza, Moon signaled her to move on. Waiting for people was his job. This was the task Grandpa Makarov had just assigned him. How should I put it? This might be the price of being "predetermined," doing some work that was not intended for the candidates.

(End of this chapter)