A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"Huh? Which one are you talking about?" Kira asked knowingly.

Sure enough, the boss is still the same boss; he's long forgotten about that blond brat.

Ika looked excited: "It's that blond kid you invited for tea a couple of days ago."

"What kid? Isn't he about your age? You mean Rufus? I saw the list, and he passed today's test too."

Ika's smile froze instantly.

Kira turned his head and asked curiously, "Why do you hate him so much?"

"Hmph, I just can't stand him. He's not that strong, but he always acts like he's some kind of genius..." Ika said angrily. "If I ever get the chance, I'll definitely show him what Ika is all about!"

"But I think your strengths are about the same, so if you really fight, it will be a draw."

He was telling the truth, but Ika clearly didn't like hearing it and shouted right there in the street, "No way! If it really came down to a fight, I would definitely beat him!"

Ah, youthful impetuosity, honest advice is hard to swallow!

Kira thought to himself: That's how kids are. They're so competitive. They didn't meet any rivals in the orphanage, but now that they're out in the world, they happen to meet someone their age with similar talent, and they start comparing themselves to them.

Ika uses a variety of fire magic with many functions, somewhat similar to Usagi's fire control, but it is more suitable for combat and should be stronger in the future; as for Rufus, his elemental forms are good at changing but lack purity. If he learns the memory forms, his strength will increase rapidly.

So, judging from this, their overall skill levels are actually about the same. One uses fire magic, the other uses shape magic... Hmm? Wait a minute!

Kira suddenly stopped in his tracks, racking his brains for a moment: Fire magic, shapeshifting magic? A loud and boastful personality, a love of showing off? And then there's the mutual loathing... Isn't this just a low-budget version of Natsu and Gray?!

"No wonder I've always felt a sense of familiarity with these two little ones. Could this be fate?"

"Kira, what's this divine will?"

“It’s nothing,” Kira looked at Ika carefully and said seriously, “Ika, I have a feeling that you and Rufus will become good friends… no, I mean good friends!”

Ika's voice rose eight octaves: "Good friend?! Me and that guy?! Kira, I advise you to think carefully before you speak!"

She even raised her little fist as she spoke, "I would never be friends with someone like that!"

Kira didn't believe a single word of that.

When Erza first joined the guild, Gray was taught a lesson by her and even said, "I will never acknowledge such a person as my comrade." But now he treats her like an older sister.

Back on Galna Island, Gray said something like, "I will never forgive anyone who disturbs Uru," but he still forgave Leon later.

In the recent guild competition, Gray and Cana were said to have used their ultimate moves in their battle, but when they faced each other, Gray pulled out a new ultimate move in return.

Wait... why is it all Gray?

You don't know until you think about it, and you'll be shocked when you do. It turns out that Gray has said so many useless things. Compared to him, Natsu is almost adorably honest.

Kira's mind raced, filled with images of Ika and Rufus arguing and fighting at the orphanage, then Akas being Cana, and Sanmaru being Elfman—the four of them constantly bickering and frequently wreaking havoc with magic...

Wow, this is so wonderful!

Kira was quite gratified: whether it's faith, magic, or everyone's daily life, Fairy Tail has successors!

The most perceptive Akas immediately noticed Kira's change in expression. Although it was subtle, it still caught her eye: she had a feeling that Kira-sensei was thinking about something very impolite... No! There was a hint of praise in the impoliteness, what was going on?

How strange! Kira-sensei is really weird! Cana-neechan is much more normal!

Thinking of this, Akas took another sip of juice, feeling refreshed all over.

Chapter 194 Is this considered a temporary buff?

The following day, at the admissions assessment venue.

Kira sat upright in the guest area with Conas, Gran, and Hyberion, trying to make himself look like he wasn't there for the first time.

But his appearance made Konas think he was nervous, so she laughed and said, "Don't be so nervous, little Kira~ You won't need to do anything in a moment."

Kira turned his head and looked at Konas's pretty face. It was fortunate that Konas was beautiful, otherwise a woman in her thirties or forties calling him "Little Kira" would have scared him to death.

"Hmm?" He looked at Conas with a puzzled expression. "I'm not nervous!"

"If you're not nervous, then... why is your thumb keeping spinning?"

This is because I slept on my stomach last night, so I wanted to move around.

"That's... a personal preference."

"Hmm, okay, then it seems I misunderstood," Konas patted Kira on the shoulder. "What do you think of today's match?"

She is a very smart person and knows that boys of this age have a strong sense of self-esteem. In this situation, she should either go along with what he is saying or change the subject.

Kira: 'Hey... what's with that obviously disbelieving look on your face and that abrupt change of topic?!'

"I'll sit and watch..." Kira replied casually, then tentatively added, "That should reduce the number of people by half, right?"

There are three stages in total. If 80% of the participants pass the first stage, and only 10% of the participants remain in the end, then by subtracting 50% of the remaining participants in the second stage, the survival rates of the three stages will form an arithmetic progression. This is a dream come true for perfectionists.

Thinking this, Kira's lips curled into a slight smile: What perfect data! It must be! I'm so smart! I guessed it all along!

Konas squinted and nodded with a smile: "More than half. In the second round, we only plan to eliminate more than 70% and leave 100 people to enter the third round!"

Kira: "..."

Gulan asked curiously, "Weren't the children in this year's class supposed to be relatively outstanding? Why were so many eliminated?"

Hyberion also looked at Konas, his eyes revealing the same confusion.

“Because there were a lot of children left yesterday, we temporarily increased the difficulty of the second level,” Konas explained. “But in return, the pass rate for the third level will increase significantly, and it may be the highest ever.”

Does this work too?

Kira fell silent: 'Sure enough, women's minds are always so hard to fathom, no matter their age! Wouldn't a simple arithmetic progression be better? Raising the difficulty first, then lowering the requirements—isn't that just bullying honest people? But that's none of my business; I'm just an observer!'

After the children entered the venue one after another, the examination area became much more crowded. This familiar scene reminded Kira of the guild competition a while ago.

However, he was a contestant before, and now he was a guest. The status and position were different, and the feeling was quite different. Sitting up there, Kira had an irresistible urge to give orders.

A cool summer breeze blew through the examination room, carrying the noisy chatter of children to the guest area.

"Look, the old lady sitting up there is the dean of the academy. Whether we can get into the academy depends on her."

"Pfft-cough-cough-cough..."

Even though he tried his best, even stopping his thumb from spinning and secretly pinching his fingertips to suppress his laughter, Kira still couldn't maintain his composure and could only cover up his laughter with a cough.

Glancing to the left out of the corner of her eye, Konas indeed had a dark face, and the murderous aura emanating from her was about to affect Kira. Her eyes revealed a cold light, and her pair of black pupils were fixed on the boy who was speaking.

Haha, let's have a moment of silence for this child first.

Kira looked past Konas and then at Gran and Hyberion. The former squinted and pretended to sleep, as if to say, "I'm old and hard of hearing, I didn't hear anything just now." The latter looked perfectly normal, shaking his milk glass, taking a sip, and appearing calm and collected.

Wow, they're so strong! They're really strong! I'm still too young! I'll never boast again, saying things like I'm on par with the top Ten Wizard Saints or trying to take on the Twelve Shields!

Just then, the same gust of wind carried the words of other children: "Wow~ that old lady is so pretty!"

Kira was speechless: "Everyone says I'm pretty, so don't call me 'Auntie'! Is this kid really that brainless? Who taught her that?"

Another voice came over: "Who's that guy next to that old lady? He looks so young! How can he sit there? And he's so handsome!"

Kira nodded to himself: That's right, this is how children should be taught! This child has good taste! High emotional intelligence! A promising talent! He's bound to achieve great things!

Huh, that's weird. Why do I suddenly have this feeling of being watched?

"Little Kira seems very happy?" Konas's gentle voice came from beside her ear.

murderous look!

Kira stiffly turned his head and found the woman next to him facing him, smiling with her eyes narrowed. She looked very friendly, but the black leather gloves on her hands showed signs of aging.

"No!"

At the critical moment, Kira unleashed his years of honed acting skills, "This kind of exam reminds me of the guild tournament not long ago. Demisor Magic Academy truly lives up to its reputation as the premier magic academy in the Kingdom of Fiore, it's brimming with talent."

“They’re still far from being as good as Kira,” Konas said softly, pointing to the child who had just spoken. “In every respect, these kids still have a lot to learn!”

Kira stared at her outstretched, slender fingers. The black leather glove, meant to prevent magic from leaking out, was almost pierced by her uncontrollable magical power. Startled, Kira quickly nodded, "You're right!"

The second exam was hosted by a teacher from Demisor Academy. He was plain-looking, much less attractive than Kira, but he spoke concisely and clearly, explaining the exam rules in a way that was easy to understand: four people in a group would fight each other, and the last one standing would pass!

Kira looked at Konas in surprise: "Is this what you meant by temporarily strengthening the second stage?"

This is such a low-tech thing called an "enhancement"? What were the original rules? Was it a three-person free-for-all?

Konas didn't answer Kira's question, probably because she was still angry, so Kira naturally didn't dare to provoke her further.

“A four-person free-for-all? Interesting,” Gran said in his weathered voice, uttering a statement that shocked Kira. “This way, we can easily determine who will clear the level, and also conduct an overall strength test for the children…”

Kira felt his intelligence had been insulted, and for a moment he couldn't tell whether the old man was being sincere or sarcastic.

A multi-player free-for-all—isn't this the most clichéd assessment? Does it really deserve such praise? Or is there some hidden strategy I can't see?

Hyberion said seriously, "With the number of participants far exceeding expectations, multi-player free-for-all is indeed a good way to quickly select outstanding contestants."

So, is it because the world's overall intelligence is too low that my arrogance has been fostered?!

"But wouldn't it take too much time to hold hundreds of events like this?"

“The testing venue is large enough to hold 2 or 30 matches at the same time without any problem,” Konas told Kira. “Besides, children have less magic, so a match only lasts about 10 minutes, and the results can be obtained in half a day.”

"What if two highly talented children are put in the same group?"

"Don't worry about that. The proctors will make the judgment, and if both of them demonstrate enough talent, they can both advance!"

"What if a genius encounters a genius far surpassing him and is instantly defeated, without even having a chance to demonstrate his own strength?"

Konas: "..."

Kira's repeated questions eventually stumped her. She hadn't thought of this before, and was about to say, "That's just their bad luck," but then felt it would be unbecoming of the dean.

In the end, he could only bite the bullet and make up a story: "In fact, those who fail the second round still have a chance in the third round!"

Konas: Looks like I'll have to work overtime again tonight...

Chapter 195 Emerging New Generation

As Konas predicted, the match proceeded quickly, and a round ended in no time.

With more than 20 testing stations operating simultaneously and four people on stage at a time, the testing efficiency was extremely fast. In less than half an hour, a quarter of the children completed the test and were then taken to the advancement zone and the revival zone respectively.