Starting with Hyuga, traversing countless heavens

Juvia and Cana

Lisanna and Wendy

"What? Mystogan and Hoshino? This isn't fair!"

Gray was indignant, but Makarov remained unmoved. "Although, Hoshino is not an S-class mage yet. Even if he is strong, it is still within the rules."

Rules: Teams are formed in pairs. One team can be any guild member except for S-rank mages and guild leaders, including contestants.

Hinata Hoshino shrugged at everyone, "Who told you not to know how to use the rules? Now, let the president relinquish his position, complete the selection with you, and then become president again, it's all fine."

"hiss!"

Kana gasped. This actually works? And why didn't they think of bringing in Hyuga Hoshino to make up the numbers?

"Alright, let's stop here. You guys need to find a way to get across. Ahead lies the sacred ground of Fairy Tail, Tenrou Island."

Happy spread his wings and flew over with Natsu, while Gray and Elfman ran over together, ice blocks forming beneath their feet.

The remaining six people, Juvia, Kana, Lisanna, and Wendy, all looked at Hinata Hoshino.

For some reason, Mistgang patted Hinata Hoshino on the shoulder as a sign of mourning, and then ran alone on the sea.

"Hoshino-sama!"

"Hoshino~"

"Hoshino-nii!"

"Hoshino-nii-san!"

Hinata Hoshino sighed softly, and Wendy was the first to jump onto Hinata Hoshino's back and wrap her arms around his neck.

Juvia's reversed "love stronger than gold" seven-day lock, while Kana and Lisanna each held onto Hyuga Hoshino's arm.

Hinata Hoshino thought for a moment, then took to the air, with a cloud rising beneath his feet, carrying the group slowly towards Tenrou Island.

The initial process is the same, but that doesn't mean the process is the same. To put it bluntly, the process changes. Apart from going to Sirius Island and the final battle to determine the winner, the intermediate tests are different every year.

As we slowly descended, Sirius Island came into view. In the ocean, there was a small island covered with lush trees. Sunlight shone on the sea, and the waves gently lapped against the island's shore.

The island is covered with lush trees, their green leaves swaying in the wind, and the air is fresh. Seagulls soar in the sky, emitting clear cries.

Seagull: Go to the dock and get a French fry!

Hinata Hoshino chuckled and took a bag of fries, starting to feed the seagulls. Seeing this, the four girls also took the fries and began feeding the birds.

“Mia, mia…”

Happy successfully blended into the flock of pigeons to steal some food. Hyuga Hoshino patted him on the head, and Happy, dizzy, fell into Natsu's arms as he rushed over.

"Hoshino-kun! You can't treat Happy like this! Natsu should teach him a lesson!"

"Be careful next time."

"Men! There are three challenges this time. In the first challenge, there are two kinds of balls, black and white. I have the white ball, and you need to find the other kind, the black ball. But just so you know, the balls are guarded, and there are only four of them."

This means that at least one group of members will be eliminated in the first round. Several people took Makarov's white ball, except for Hinata Hoshino and Mistgan, who remained in place.

"Hoshino, and Mystogan, aren't you going to go look for them?"

Hinata Hoshino looked at Mistgang, who tossed his head, signaling for him to answer.

"The president just said there were white balls, not just one, which proves that the president should have black balls in his hand."

"Haha, you guessed right, there really are. Since you guessed it, you've passed the first test. Here are your black balls. Just wait here for them to come back."

"The black ball? The black ball? Where is the black ball? Is it here?"

Natsu moved the gorilla eating the banana aside and looked down; there was nothing there.

The gorilla flew into a rage, and Natsu knocked it down with a single punch.

"No, no, it's not here. Is it here?"

Natsu parted the bushes, revealing two giant pythons entwined together. "No, there aren't any."

The giant python, disturbed, was equally enraged and knocked the snake down with two punches.

Happy started sweating profusely. "Natsu, these places don't look like anything. Do you want to smell them?"

"Harpy, you're right."

Natsu took a deep breath and followed the scent, starting to move in one direction. Suddenly, a shoe appeared in front of him. He looked up and saw Gildarts.

"It's Natsu."

"Uncle?"

"Hahaha, that's right, I am the gatekeeper."

"Okay, uncle, I'm all fired up!"

"You're full of energy, Natsu! Let's begin!"

"The Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon"

"Good day, Natsu. You've grown, but it's not enough."

Gildarts threw a punch, and with the help of immense magical power, he extinguished Natsu's flames.

"Pain Pain"

Natsu kept blowing air into his fist, "Uncle's fist is so powerful, but I won't give up."

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack"

"The Fire Dragon's Horn Strike"

"Fire Dragon's Fiery Elbow"

"Fire Dragon's Grip"

"Natsu, it's no use. This move will finish you off. Disintegrate."

Natsu was hit and turned into countless miniature Natsu. The miniature Natsu were still unconvinced, but the decomposed Natsu could not even exert magic power and could only wave their fists in protest.

Half an hour later, Natsu recovered, and Gildarts smiled and threw the black ball to Natsu.

"Uncle, I clearly didn't beat you, why?"

"The rules don't state that you have to defeat the gatekeeper. In other words, I approve of you, so you can get the ball. You have to work hard, Natsu."

"Of course, uncle, we're Fairy Tail! I'm on fire!"

Gildas shook his head helplessly; what an energetic young man.

Lisanna came up with the same method as Natsu: relying on scent to receive the magical cat. Lisanna followed the scent and successfully found Mira.

"elder sister?"

“That’s right, Lisanna, I’m a gatekeeper too!”

Looking at Mira smiling in front of her, Lisanna felt a little helpless. "Sister! Can you give us the little ball, please?"

"Lisanna, this is the selection for S-rank magic! It's not fair that you can just be cute and I'll let you pass."

"Well, there's no other way, Wendy, let's go!"

"Okay, Sister Lisanna. Roar of the Sky Dragon!"

"Naughty Wendy, receive the magic of Satan's Soul, super sadistic berserk."

Dark energy coalesced into a storm, tearing apart Wendy's breath. Lisanna used the shockwave generated by their clash to receive the magic, Qilin.

"Fire Rain".

Lisanna appeared above Mira on a cloud, unleashing her elemental control, condensing flames into rain. Mira chuckled, thinking her little sister had grown up. But when she saw the scales on Lisanna's body, she remembered Hinata Hoshino's special training and felt a pang of jealousy. Hinata Hoshino hadn't given her anything like this all these years.

However, since she was his younger sister, with whom he depended on each other for survival, he was mostly happy.

"Dark Torrent"

Dark energy condensed into claws, tearing apart large swathes of fire rain and attacking Lisanna. Lisanna plummeted to the ground, her terrifying magic resistance allowing her to ignore the attack.

The unicorn horn on his head gathered magical power, "Unicorn Horn Strike".

Mira looked at Lisanna and suddenly decided to go easy on her, using a reduced-power version of the Super Cruel Flash. Lisanna broke through the dark pillar of light and appeared in front of Mira.

The sisters looked at each other, and tears welled up in Lisanna's eyes. "Thank you, sister."

The impact struck Mira, who promptly rolled her eyes and fell unconscious. Lisanna found the black ball on Mira.

Juvia and Kana appeared not far from Laxus. Looking at the two girls, Laxus cursed inwardly for being boring and threw a black ball at Juvia.

Juvia caught the black ball, realized it was black, looked around but didn't see anyone, but she had cleared the level, so that's it.

The people who cleared the level were: Natsu and Happy, Mystogan and Hinata Hoshino, Juvia and Cana, and Lisanna and Wendy.

The five people and one cat returned to the starting point. Makarov gave a signal, and Gray, upon seeing the signal, knew he had failed and dejectedly returned to the starting point.

"The first challenge tests your intelligence gathering ability. The second challenge tests your teamwork. There are still black and white balls. Without being able to talk, you have to guess the color of the ball your teammate chooses."

Natsu and Happy team passed, Mystogan and Hyuga Hoshino team passed.

Juvia and Kana's pairing failed, as did Lisanna and Wendy's pairing.

Kana looked at the ring on her hand, feeling like crying. She hadn't even had a chance to demonstrate the ring's power before it was over, and she would have to come back every year.

Neither Hyuga Hoshino nor Happy are participants, so the final duel will be between Mystogan and Natsu, and whoever wins will be this year's S-class mage.

"I'm on fire! Mystergan, get started!"

"Ok."

"The fire dragon's... whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Mystogan hypnotized Natsu right away, a complete victory!

However, this was mainly because Natsu was less vigilant towards a member of a guild; otherwise, he wouldn't have fallen for it so easily if it were someone else.

Makarov was somewhat helpless; Natsu really was a regular at the S-class mage exam.

"I hereby announce that this year's S-Class Mage is Mystogan!"

Mystogan dispelled Natsu's hypnosis. Natsu was momentarily dazed and confused, but seeing that he was the only one standing there, he knew perfectly well that he had lost.

"Ah! I failed again!"