Fairy Tail: You said you were just acting, are you serious

Time flies, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Woohoo! Woohoo!

On the day of departure, Ron boarded the bus to the first stage of the written test, with Makarov watching him go.

Before leaving, Makarov gave Ron some instructions. He said that only the two of them knew about this matter at the moment, and that they would notify her only after they confirmed that she had won first place and could enter the council, so as not to let her greater hopes lead to greater disappointment.

Ron understood Makarov's concerns, nodded, and stepped into the carriage, heading to the town of Croba where he would take his written exam.

After several hours, the train finally arrived in Kroba and, as Makarov had instructed, went to the auditorium where the written exam would be held.

This auditorium was originally a well-known tourist attraction in the town of Caroba, but after negotiations, it was chosen by ERA as one of the venues for the written test.

Ron pushed open the doors to the venue, where a large number of young faces from various reputable guilds and magic academies had already gathered.

He had heard Makarov say that this was actually just one of the written test areas on the continent of Ishgar. After the written tests in other areas were completed, the top sixteen teenagers in the overall score would be selected to enter the final second stage.

Ron casually found a corner to lean against, his gaze sweeping over the crowd in the hall.

"Why is there a written exam to get into the council? Can't we skip that?"

"That's right, the power hidden within my muscles can't be displayed in this first stage of the assessment!"

"What should I do if I fail the assessment? I'm the guild's only hope..."

Ron listened to the noise coming from the hall, rubbed his temples speechlessly, and regretted coming over.

Why does this youth assessment feel so familiar? Am I here for the Chunin Exams or the Hunter Exams?

"The legitimate guilds around here... are really rude."

Just as Ron was complaining, a teenager wearing glasses muttered to himself nearby, catching his attention.

The teenager wearing black-rimmed glasses adjusted his glasses with a serious expression and continued, head bowed:

"Expecting them to follow the exam rules is overestimating them."

Ron looked at the somewhat familiar teenager and raised an eyebrow.

Lahar?

Ron looked at his standard school uniform and was surprised to find that he was still a student at the magic academy at this time.

Ron lowered his head and thought for a while. It seemed that he would run into quite a few acquaintances in this assessment. Maybe he should take this opportunity to search for any other acquaintances in the examination room.

Having made up his mind, he released his mental energy to subtly sense the overall magic power level of the examinees in the hall.

Ron stopped leaning against the wall and started walking quietly through the crowd of test takers.

Currently, apart from Lahar's magic fluctuations being slightly lower than his, the magic power gap between the other teenagers and him is too large.

He wandered around the hall casually, and then a casual probing led him to some discoveries.

He raised an eyebrow and sensed two young mages behind him whose magical energy fluctuations surpassed Ron's, mingling in the crowd.

He stopped and turned around to see which two experts they were.

Ron glanced around and instantly caught sight of two figures, causing his pupils to shrink slightly.

To his left, a young man with short red hair was standing on a pillar, cautiously scanning the surrounding crowd.

On the right, a dark-skinned man stood with his arms crossed, back straight, and eyes closed, seemingly resting.

Ron looked surprised, taken aback by their appearance.

Although they were all still young, Ron recognized their faces immediately.

Two high-ranking members from a dark guild managed to sneak into this assessment?!

Among the Oración Seis, there's Eric, codenamed Cobra, and Azuma, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, the heart of the devil?!

Furthermore, Azuma was wearing standard magic academy attire, which meant he had sneaked in by using his status as a student at the academy.

Ron frowned. Was this when the Balam Alliance infiltrated the Council?

The Balam Alliance is a dark guild alliance comprised of three major dark guilds: Oración Seis, Devil's Heart, and Tartaros. They aim to control the magical world and frequently carry out their plans on this continent.

The academy uniform worn by Azumana was clearly not something that could be easily obtained from the street. The fact that they were able to infiltrate such a crucial youth assessment within the Council suggests that their position as moles within the Council is not insignificant.

It seems that there are insiders on the council cooperating with them, or that their people have already infiltrated the council with the aim of sending more people into the council.

Ron, who was familiar with the plot, naturally had several candidates for the mole, but he did not expect that this test would be the beginning of everything.

He could only lament that the author hadn't written about this in detail; he'd have to guess the inside story himself.

Ron shook his head helplessly. He originally thought that participating in the assessment was just a simple formality, but now it seems that the assessment is much more difficult than he imagined.

but......

Ron recalled the trump cards in his multiverse inventory, and his sense of crisis dissipated considerably, revealing a confident smile.

He couldn't care less what the Balam Alliance was up to; it seemed his goals wouldn't be affected for now.

If they really try to stop me from getting into the top three, then I won't hold back.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Just then, the large bronze bell hanging in the auditorium was struck, its sound instantly drowning out the noise of the entire hall.

Then a uniformed councilor examiner opened the door on the second floor and came out. He stood at the central stairwell, looking down at the young mages below.

At this moment, all the mages on the first floor quieted down and stopped making noise, waiting for the proctor's instructions.

"Silence, everyone! The first stage of the ERA (Enchanted Registrar of the Magic Council) examination for teenage mages, the written test, is officially about to begin!"

The proctor picked up the magic megaphone and amplified his voice throughout the room.

"Now, all the mages who are taking the exam, line up and enter the auditorium according to the numbers I have given you."

Anyone who dares to make loud noise or disrupt the order during the written test will be immediately disqualified!

As the proctor's warning faded, all the young mages in the hall swallowed hard, dared not say anything more, and quickly lined up.

Lahar was the first in line, and then he smiled, feeling that his behavior should attract the attention of the proctor.

Azuma and Kebula silently joined the crowd in line, trying their best not to attract attention.

Finally, Ron walked to the back of the line and leisurely followed the crowd into the examination hall.