A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"..."

This woman is hopeless! She's truly beyond saving!

"Lord Gray, please team up with Juvia for tomorrow's assessment!"

"Are you an idiot?! This kind of thing depends on the president's evaluation criteria!"

Juvia shoved his face right in Makarov's and barked angrily, "Hey! Make me team up with Lord Gray tomorrow, you hear me?!"

Makarov: "..."

Chapter 600: The final assessment, tense and exciting...

Blue sky and white clouds, the rising sun.

On the mountain peak, the winter wind brings a refreshing breeze and a cool sensation.

The heights should have been chilly, but now, under the sunlight, they were warmer. This temperature, a mixture of coolness and warmth, swept away the hangover weariness from everyone.

Looking into the distance, the mountains are high and the waters are far. The Darussal Mountains, which were damaged yesterday, are still in a mess, but the warm winter sun and the glistening morning dew are infusing them with an invisible vitality.

The third day of the assessment.

The third stage is the final battle.

As the one who set the final challenge, Makarov marked out a piece of land on the mountaintop and used rock magic to build a huge place similar to a gladiatorial arena. It was surrounded by stands, which were slightly higher up so that one could clearly see everything changing in the center. In the center was a square arena, which was divided into hundreds of small squares. Except for the squares located at the four corners, which were slightly larger, the rest were generally the same, and they were divided into four colors: red, yellow, blue, and white.

Standing in the stands, Kira remained silent, gazing at the gladiatorial arena that had been erected below.

"This... why does it look so much like Ludo? No, no... or is Monopoly more similar?"

Kira was puzzled and went to Makarov to ask, "Chairman, what's the point of this? Is it some kind of trap and punishment system?"

"More or less... You'll see in a bit!"

Makarov squinted his small eyes and gave Kira a mysterious smile. "Today's test is going to be very interesting! Hahaha..."

Kira curled his lip: "Fun? This is just a popular board game, isn't it? My 'Fairy Tail Killer' has long since outdated it. Only you old folks still reminisce about it..."

Makarov didn't see Kira's expression, otherwise he would have started refusing to admit he was getting old.

Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, Makarov leaped down, walked to the center of the chessboard with his short legs, and then began to announce the rules of the assessment in front of everyone.

"Ahem... Today is the last day of this S-rank assessment. There are currently four candidates remaining: Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Juvia. These four will be accompanied by their supporters Kira, Ultear, Brandish, and Gildarts for the final assessment!"

Kira looked at the four people who were about to take the test. Natsu and Happy were chatting; Levy, Wendy, Erza, Mira, and Cana were cheering Lucy on; Gray and Juvia were snuggling together.

The interpersonal relationships among the four are immediately apparent.

"It's the last day already, are the supporters going to join the fight too?" Gray asked curiously.

"Of course!"

Makarov seemed to be in a good mood: "Since you're supporters, of course you should support to the end! Didn't we have a similar rule last year that you had to find companions? This is to test your understanding and cooperation with the guild members!"

"The rules of the assessment are as follows: four candidates start from four starting points and move towards the finish line, four supporters start from the finish line and move towards the starting point, and the eight people take turns throwing numbers, and according to the numbers, their teammates move forward the corresponding number of steps."

"The dice-throwing house relies entirely on luck and skill; you can't cheat with magic!"

"Upon arrival at the designated location, if there are other teams ahead, a battle will ensue, with the loser returning to the starting point to begin again; otherwise, I will randomly draw one card from this deck and execute its contents!"

As he spoke, Makarov held up the cards in his hand, drew one to show to everyone, and read out what it said: "Take three steps back, and increase your step forward by one in the next round."

"That's roughly the content."

"In addition, if the color of the square you are in is the same as the color you represent, you can exchange it for a card, but each person only has one chance!"

"Tch! Why make it so complicated!"

Gajeel grumbled indignantly from below, still reeling from yesterday's defeat at the hands of Natsu's hired help. "If you ask me, assessments should be free-for-alls! If it were that kind of rule, I would definitely be the winner!"

Upon hearing this, the people around him all gave him a knowing look.

"Mmmmmmm..."

"Yes, yes, yes..."

"I believe you."

Gajeel: "..."

Could your expressions be any more perfunctory?! Do you think I'm some kind of emotionally idiot like Natsu?

Thinking of this, Gajeel couldn't help but glance at Levy not far away, then at Natsu who was talking to Happy about something, feeling an indescribable frustration in his chest.

Just you wait, Fire Dragon! There's something I'll surpass you on!

"So, the team that reaches the destination first will be the winner of this assessment, right?"

Makarov put his hands on his hips and laughed heartily: "That's not actually the case!"

"Huh??!" Everyone was dumbfounded at the same time.

"Given that the first two rounds were too easy, some of you managed to get through them by cheating and didn't receive the test you deserved, so I've decided to make this round more difficult!"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their gaze to Lucy and Juvia.

Lucy: "..."

Juvia: "??"

Why don't you just call us by name?

Seeing everyone's reaction, Makarov seemed to feel a little embarrassed, but he really couldn't let the guild have another mage like Kana who seriously lowered the S-class level.

"Ahem... This isn't meant to target anyone specifically! It's just that if it's just a board game, luck plays a huge role, and some people might disagree. So, we also need to assess skill!"

"As an S-class mage of 'Fairy Tail,' no matter how lucky you are, you still need to be smart and strong!"

Kira and the others nodded, accepting Makarov's explanation.

"Listen carefully! After both members of the same team arrive at their destination, I will give you a test. The first candidate to complete this test will be this year's S-class mage!"

Hmm? In that case, it might not be so necessary to be the first to finish the game... although seizing the initiative is still important.

"Furthermore, if no one can complete this test before sunset, then no one will be promoted to S-rank mage of the guild this year!"

This doesn't sound like an easy test!

"I thought it was something serious, but it was just a test! It scared me to death..."

"No problem, sir! We accept!"

"Let's get started! I can't wait!"

"Ugh...this seems like such a hassle..."

"President, since this game has nothing to do with the final test, why bother setting up this chessboard? Wouldn't it be more convenient to just make one and play with pieces?"

Everyone fell silent again.

Yeah, why not make a chessboard? What's the point of making such a huge track?

Makarov paused for two seconds: "This is to test your physical strength!"

Everyone: "..."

Your expression... this reason is clearly something you just came up with! You wouldn't be so old and blind that you thought making a small chessboard was too much trouble, so you simply used magic to create one, would you?!

"Ahem... Besides, this way everyone can see it clearly, ensuring the fairness and transparency of the assessment!"

Here it comes! The familiar tactical cough! Every time the old man does this, it proves he's guilty!

The chessboard is very large, with squares arranged in the order of red, yellow, blue, and white. Starting from the four corners, players enter the track and spiral towards the center, with the finish line at the very center.

But most importantly, there are 100 squares of each color, which means there are a total of 400 squares!

What does 400 squares mean? Ludo only has about 50 squares! This is about eight times the length of Ludo!

The dice are wooden cubes with sides of 30 centimeters. Each person carries one, and the numbers range from one to six. Roughly speaking, it would take about a hundred rolls to complete the course. Not to mention the various unknown tasks involved and the rule that "one person dies immediately upon meeting another," the number of rolls would only increase.

Is this even humanly bearable?! If the dice weren't hollow, these people would have given up on the assessment long ago! Otherwise, just throwing a hundred or so solid wooden dice would have exhausted them to death!

The only saving grace is that there are no rules like "you have to throw a six to take off" or "it explodes after three sixes".

Unsurprisingly, the red team consists of Natsu and Kira; the yellow team consists of Lucy and Brandish; the blue team consists of Juvia and Gildarts; and the white team consists of Gray and Ultear.

"Could the president have chosen this color based on each of their individual appearances?"

Kira stood at the finish line and complained.

Gildas, who was standing next to him, laughed a few times and said, "Probably... The president didn't get any rest all night yesterday because he was designing the assessment content!"

"At his age, it's amazing he can keep going..."

After everyone had repeatedly confirmed the rules, the game began!

Chapter 601 Kira has a completely new way of attacking this MPF.

The game order is Natsu, Lucy, Juvia, Gray, Kira, Brandish, Gildarts, and Ultear, eight people per round.

Since the points are thrown for teammates, although Natsu is the first to throw, Kira is the first to start and will be the first to experience the thrill of the game.

"Ah...is it just my imagination? I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen..."

Natsu had already made his move. He held the wooden die, which was about the size of two or three Happy, in front of him with both hands and threw it forcefully into the air. The die spun several times in the air and then fell to the ground with a 'thud' a few seconds later. It bounced a few times before coming to a stop.

"Natsu threw a 3!"

Makarov transformed into the form of a giant, sitting outside the chessboard with his arms crossed, providing a live broadcast for the players inside the game.

"So you want me to move forward three spaces, right?" Kira's face twitched, and he kept muttering, "So few points, only four hundred spaces, how long will this take to play!"

"Hehehe... Keep it up!"

Gildarts, with a beaming smile, cheered Kira on. He hadn't played this kind of game in a long time, and now he was not only playing with the young people in the guild, but also playing a real-life game, which he found particularly interesting.

"Just think of it as helping them grow up as quickly as possible!"

"If you want to help them grow, you don't have to play these complicated games... I think a beating would be more effective!"