"Waaah! It's still not happening this year!"
Alzack felt terrible, he still hadn't qualified for the promotion trial this year.
Bisca comforted him, saying, "There's always next year, Alzack. Don't be discouraged."
Gajeel looked panicked. "Wh-Why wasn't I selected? Even Juvia was selected."
In terms of strength, he was the ace of Phantom Lord, and his power was superior to Juvia's.
Erza folded her arms and smiled at Gajeel. "Heh heh... You still have a long way to go."
"Damn it!"
Gajeel bared his teeth at Erza, knowing this woman must have been behind it.
Lucy suddenly realized why everyone had been working so actively the past few days. "I see, so everyone was desperately trying to perform well in hopes of being selected."
Wendy loudly cheered for those who were selected, "Good luck, everyone!"
Makarov continued, "Only one successful candidate will emerge this year. The trial will take place in one week, so everyone, adjust your condition."
"Since there are some new members here, I will explain the rules."
Mirajane said, "Starting in the next few days this week, the eight of you need to select a partner."
Erza took over, saying, "There are two rules for choosing a partner. First, they must be a member of Fairy Tail. Second, they cannot be an S-Class Mage."
Lucy thought for a moment and said, "That means we can't choose Takeshi, Erza, or Gildarts-san."
Wendy agreed, "That makes sense. If Takeshi-nii and the others joined, it would be too powerful."
Makarov crossed his arms. "The details of this trial will be announced when we reach Tenrou Island. This time, Erza will, as usual, try to stop you."
"Ehhhh?!"
Many people were startled upon hearing this.
"Erza stopping us... Does that mean we have to defeat Erza to become an S-Class Mage?"
Lucy's widened.
Erza was incredibly strong, how could anyone possibly defeat her?
Macao guessed, "Uh... she'll probably go easy on us, right? After all, S-Class Mages are too strong."
Warren said with a troubled expression, "Now do you understand how difficult it is to become an S-Class Mage?"
Although he didn't get a slot for the promotion trial this time, thinking about the difficulty made him feel that his future path to becoming an S-Class Mage was bleak.
Gildarts smiled. "Have you complained enough? This is a necessary path for all S-Class Mages."
Everyone was startled to hear Gildarts speak up as well.
Elfman's happy expression stiffened. "Wait..."
Happy's eyes widened. "No way..."
"Gildarts is joining too?!" Natsu's face was full of excitement.
Gray complained, "Don't be so happy."
Gildarts is a monster among monsters. If he joins, the difficulty of the trial will increase drastically.
At that moment, Gray thought of something else and looked at Takeshi. "Wait a minute! Gildarts is joining... then Takeshi..."
Takeshi showed a brilliant smile. "Of course, I will join too."
"No way!!!"
Everyone's eyes widened.
Erza alone was bad enough, but now that Gildarts and Takeshi were joining too, the difficulty instantly shot up to Hell level.
The three great S-Class Mages...
Forget the few people taking the exam, even if everyone in the Guild combined their strength, they wouldn't last a few minutes against these three.
"The eight selected individuals must take their partners and gather at Hargeon Port within one week. That is all! Dismissed!" Makarov announced the dismissal.
Everyone dispersed, eagerly discussing who might be promoted to the new S-Class Mage this time.
The popular candidates were Natsu and Freed.
Although Natsu was often defeated in the Guild, his opponents were always S-Class Mages.
Natsu's strength was widely acknowledged in the Guild. With his monstrous physical strength and powerful Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, he was the most popular contestant.
Freed was the leader of the Thunder God Tribe. During the Fairy Tail Battle Royale, his formidable barrier forced almost everyone in the Guild to abide by the rules he set. Only a monster like Takeshi was able to break those rules.
Gray crossed his arms, frowning. "It looks like this year is going to be very difficult."
Lucy exclaimed in surprise, "No way, you guys are all challenging this for the first time?"
Natsu shouted excitedly, "I'm fired up! I will definitely become an S-Class Mage!"
Wendy gave a wry smile. "This really looks difficult."
She had seen the fight between Takeshi and Gildarts. In that form, Takeshi could easily toy with Oración Seis and beat the Edolas Kingdom into submission. Yet, even with Takeshi going all out in that form, he couldn't do anything to Gildarts.
Although Gildarts conceded later, everyone could tell that he still held back. That level of strength was absolutely overwhelming.
Now that these two were appearing together, just thinking about how difficult it would be was terrifying.
"No! The path to becoming an S-Class Mage has grown even longer!" Elfman wailed, clutching his head.
He felt his future was bleak, his first time getting a slot started at Hell difficulty.
"Ahaha! Everyone do your best!"
Lisanna couldn't offer any words of encouragement.
Gildarts paired with Takeshi, plus Erza.
Erza was the easiest among them, yet even the easiest one was still extremely difficult for the contestants.
"Has everyone chosen their partners yet?" Lucy asked curiously.
Natsu said without hesitation, "I will definitely team up with Happy."
"Aye!"
Elfman got petty. "Happy? That's not fair. If the trial involves a race, he can fly. What's the point of competing then?"
Gray smiled threateningly. "I don't mind. If you fly, I'll make sure you regret it."
"Don't be so mean, Gray!"
Happy raised his fist and declared determinedly, "No matter what, I will make Natsu an S-Class Mage."
Natsu crossed his arms and said seriously through gritted teeth, "I know you are all my comrades, but I absolutely cannot fail this time. I can't stay here any longer. I'm training."
"Aye!"
Natsu ran out, and Happy quickly followed behind him.
Lisanna watched the running Natsu and said emotionally, "I was only gone for two years, and Natsu is already ready for the S-Class Mage promotion trial. Natsu has always believed that if he becomes an S-Class Mage, he can see Igneel. He takes this trial more seriously than anyone else."
Only now did Lucy realize Natsu thought this way.
"I see. Go, Natsu!"
As his teammate, she could only cheer for Natsu internally.