A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

The fifteen people and one cat were all stunned when they heard this rule.

"The probability of 'quiet' is only one in eight..."

"Theoretically, there can be seven possible combinations. The one that gets eliminated must be very unwilling, right?"

"What are you thinking?! What gave you the illusion that you could defeat Gildarts and Erza?"

Facing Erza, it goes without saying that she would never go easy on them, and they would face countless difficulties; but facing Gildarts, they felt that even if he went easy on them, they probably still wouldn't be able to get through.

As for the other three, Mira is so gentle that she definitely won't go all out; Kira is also a very easy-going person, and based on everyone's understanding of him, he likes to test people's character more than their strength, so as long as you can withstand his teasing, the chances of passing are very high; and Laxus has always been very gentlemanly, so he will definitely go easy on girls.

In other words, the Cana team and the Juvia team, both composed of girls, have a certain chance of getting through if they encounter Laxus; Levy only has a 50% chance because she has Gajeel by her side; and Freed, as her long-time partner, also has a certain chance of being let through.

But it's hard to say for other people.

What? Abba Green? She's not the one taking the test!

"In the worst-case scenario, only two groups will be able to pass..."

"It would be great if we could eliminate everyone else in the first round!"

Just as they were talking, Makarov suddenly shouted, "Get ready!! The exam is starting!!"

"..." × N

"Huh? We're at sea, aren't we?"

Maklov waved his fan and grinned, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Those with quick minds had already figured it out, and in the next moment, everyone was "each group displaying their own magic."

Philid took the lead using spell magic, followed closely by Levy's team and Elfman's team, who could rewrite spells. The rest could only wait patiently.

Five minutes passed, and Mester teleported with Wendy, Happy flew with Natsu, Gray skated, Juvia used the water flow, and Cana, who was at the back, could only swim.

From then on, all eight teams landed on the island and began the first stage of the exam!

……

Within Channel C.

Kira surveyed his surroundings. The Spirit Bugs, which normally only appeared in the summer, were now everywhere in the passage due to the unique climate of Sirius Island, illuminating the sealed passage as brightly as day.

The eight passages here were left at some unknown time. There are a total of eight entrances and six exits. Four of the entrances are connected in pairs, which is why there is the "3 intense battles, 2 fights, and 1 quiet moment" route in the original storyline.

Now, there are two more examiners than in the original storyline, so one of the two entrance passages has to be split up, turning it into a "5 intense battles, 1 battle, 1 quiet battle" route.

"The level equipment is ready, let's see who comes next!"

Kira vaguely remembered the plot of the Tenrou Island part, but he didn't recall details like who chose which path.

"Who could it be...who could it be? Natsu just played around with it a while ago, so it wasn't interesting; Freed's team was too serious, so it wasn't interesting either; Gray and Loki were about the same, still not interesting; the rest seem pretty fun...hmm, that's interesting!"

Tread...  

coming!

Two footsteps sounded in the passage, and Kira instantly perked up.

Closer...closer...coming!

Sensing the approach of his opponent, Kira suddenly leaped out with a "whoosh," slamming a three-meter-tall tree, large enough for one person to encircle, into the ground!

"Hey! This road is mine, these trees are mine! If you want to pass, leave your toll!"

Seeing the two people in front of him clearly startled and retreating (actually to dodge the large tree in Kira's hands), Kira felt a surge of smugness: "Heh heh heh... I knew it was you two, I sensed your magic a long time ago!"

"How's it going? Did you bring enough money, Kana? Lucy!"

The two people in front of them were Cana, who had failed to qualify four times and longed for the S-class title, and Lucy, who said she would help Cana become an S-class mage.

Cana and Lucy, who had just snapped out of their daze at the banner that read "Fierce Battle" hanging in the corridor, finally breathed a sigh of relief: "We actually ran into Kira... I don't know if it's lucky or unlucky..."

"Of course you're lucky!" Kira said with a light laugh. "As long as you pay, you can pass. Isn't that simple? You don't have any money, do you? You can't possibly not, can you?"

Kana's face stiffened with anger: "How dare you say that? Half of the money I earn from each mission has been taken by you under the guise of 'paying off debts,' where am I supposed to get any money left!"

"That can't be right. How can someone get drunk every day if they have no money?"

Kana blushed: "Hmph! What do you know? Alcohol is my lifeline!"

Lucy stood awkwardly to the side, saying, "You two really have such different personalities... But, if it were possible to use money..."

"Stop thinking about it!"

Cana interrupted Lucy's thoughts, "Although Kira is a money-grubber, he won't be lenient when it comes to the S-class assessment! Using money to pave the way is a joke. If he really did that, he would definitely lose his qualification for 'taking shortcuts'!"

"Oh? Your intuition is pretty accurate!" Kira looked at Cana approvingly. "You're right, it was a trap! Let's give you a round of applause!"

clap clap clap...

Lucy exclaimed in surprise, "What?! You just admitted it so openly?!"

"Tell me, what is the test? You're not really asking us to defeat you, are you?"

Kana reached for the card pouch at her waist and said, "If you intend to stop us with all your might through combat, then you can do it now!"

At the same time, Lucy also placed her hand on the Celestial Key Pouch.

"Forget it! If we really fought, the two of you wouldn't last a minute against me!"

Sensing that the two in front of him had already entered battle mode, Kira didn't waste any time. "Didn't the old man just tell you that the first test is about 'strength' and 'luck'?"

"I'll continue with this question to test your abilities and luck!!!"

Chapter 296 Kira's Test

Cana and Lucy actually have a lot in common.

From a magical perspective, both cards and celestial spirits belong to the holding and spatial types. After Kana switched to Kira's new cards, they also gained the label of summoning. As for themselves, they are all the type with special talents, heavy mana consumption of magic, and weak melee ability.

Even in the original work, when someone uses a cheat code, it's by directly using their ultimate move.

Whether it's Lucy's "Star Chart History" learned in the Oración Seis arc or Cana's "Fairy Radiance" obtained in the Tenrou Island arc, those are both super magic!

Throughout the entire manga, among the younger generation of mages, only Laxus can use "Fairy Law" at the same level, and even Jellal can't use super magic!

It is said that when Majima was initially designing Lucy's character, there was a draft that depicted her as a mage who could summon Celestial Spirits using cards. Therefore, Kira always felt that Lucy and Cana had an inexplicable bond from the very beginning.

"Skill and luck...how do you plan to test them?"

Despite her deep understanding of Kira's personality, Cana still breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that he didn't intend to completely stop her with his strength.

"It's very simple!"

Kira suddenly sat down, then waved his right hand, tearing open the space around him to reveal a dark storage space. He reached inside and rummaged around, finally pulling out a set of exquisite cards.

"Let's play cards!"

In Kira's view, cards are undoubtedly one of the things that best test "luck" and "skill"!

"Playing...playing cards?" Cana was bewildered as she looked at the deck of cards in Kira's hand. "When it comes to playing cards, luck probably plays a big part, right? And how are you going to test your strength? Are you testing your calculation ability?"

Unlike Cana's hesitation, Lucy looked delighted: "Playing cards is better than resorting to violence... There's a chance! I'm quite lucky!"

That's true!

Kira silently scoffed, then gestured for the two to sit down. He then explained the rules: "The rules are simple. Each person controls a character, and the character will generate corresponding skills based on the user's strength. Take this, and you can infuse it with magic to display your character!"

Cana and Lucy took the character cards Kira handed them and infused them with magic as instructed. Instantly, their portraits appeared on the previously blank cards, with red and blue numbers on the upper left and right sides, and the character's skill bar at the bottom.

"The red numbers represent stamina, and the blue numbers represent magic power. Casting 'magic' requires magic power, and when stamina reaches zero, the character dies."

Cana and Lucy each focused their gaze on their respective characters, which displayed the following information:

[Character: Kana]

【Life: 4】

【Magic Power: 4】

【Skill

Drunkard: Locked skill, discard all cards at the end of the turn.

Sobering Up: After you take damage outside of your turn, draw cards of 'corresponding value'.

Card Master: Once per turn during your play phase, you may discard any number of cards and redraw the corresponding number of cards.

Monster Summoning: Consumes 3 mana to randomly summon a monster.

PS: A monster can protect you from attacks until your health reaches zero. Remove the monster after you use its abilities.

"What is this?" Kana exclaimed, looking at her cards. "What's with this 'Drunkard' card? Is that even considered a skill?"

Kira replied, "Those are skills I designed based on each person's personality! Only a very few people possess them. You should be glad that your 'drinking' trait is so prominent, which is why you have two extra skills!"

Kana laughed in exasperation: "Well, I really should thank you!"

Kira pretended not to understand her sarcasm: "You're welcome! By the way, this deck has four types of cards in total. Besides the character cards, they are:

Equipment Cards: Equipping these cards grants the character equipment skills. Each character has one equipment slot.

Item cards: Special function cards that have no cost; each character has one item slot.

Magic cards: require magic power to use; they cannot be used if you do not have enough magic power.

Basic cards: Divided into three types: Attack, Defense, and Recovery. If attacked, you must play a Defense card; otherwise, you lose 1 health point. Using a Recovery card allows you to restore either 1 health point or 1 mana point, but cannot exceed the maximum limit.

After explaining the card types, Kira then said to the two who were checking their skills, "The rules of the game are as follows: Whoever goes first is determined by rock-paper-scissors, and then they take turns clockwise, each person starting with 4 cards."

"A round consists of a draw phase (2 cards), a play phase (using skills and playing cards), and a discard phase (the number of cards in hand cannot exceed the number of lives); when the life reaches zero, the character dies; by the way, when you are dying, you can ask everyone in turn for 'recovery', and if someone saves you, you can continue the game."

Kana has over ten years of experience playing cards and can be considered an expert in this field. No matter what type of cards they are, she can quickly become familiar with and utilize the rules.

After listening to Kira's explanation, she only thought for half a minute before suddenly understanding, and then asked Kira to confirm, "It doesn't sound difficult! Besides that, are there any other rules to follow in this game?"

This is them looking for game vulnerabilities!

'Hmph...a treacherous fellow!'

Kira thought for a moment and replied, "Everyone's unplayed cards must be kept secret, and there can be no communication about them! Apart from that, both character skills and card skills are public!"

Kana was taken aback: "Then can we see the other person's skills too?"