61. Laxus's Exam

As usual, the S-Class exam is held at the end of the year. Too bad for Alex, his leave for half a year when he was helping Ur and Ultear by staying in the Heartfilia family has exempt him from being chosen even though Makarov says that with his power and abilities, he can already try joining the exam.

But half a year was a long time for him to not take any Guild job. It will be very unfair for the other Guild members who have been working hard for the whole year if he is chosen for the exam too even though everyone knows his capabilities.

So unfortunately, Alex still can't be chosen as an S-Class candidate. Much to his annoyance, Laxus is chosen and as he has predicted, the blonde guy mocks him for not being chosen.

"You know, maybe I'll take you to do some S-Class jobs after I become an S-Class. Or maybe I won't." Laxus says it smugly while putting his elbow on Alex's shoulder and drinks.

"Are you sure you will pass though? Heh, it would be very funny if you don't pass. Then next year, I will make sure to join and become an S-Class before you. I'm sure it will be very embarrassing if it really happens, right?"

Alex knows that Laxus will become an S-Class soon. But he doesn't remember whether it's this year, next year, or even the year after that. But even if he knows that Laxus will be an S-Class soon, it somehow still annoys him, mainly because they've become good friends and it feels like he is being left behind.

"Hah! As if I will fail. Oh wait! Maybe I should fail this year so I can fight you next year and snatch that S-Class promotion in front of your eyes." Laxus doesn't want to lose the verbal fight.

"Oho! You sure know how to dream, Laxus. I don't remember you ever defeat me in a fight." Alex doesn't back down too.

"Because you never accept my challenges, so we never really fight, you dammit."

As everyone has predicted, they end up brawling in the Guild Hall. Everyone is cheering on them, but as usual, everyone also joins the brawl. Erza is doing a job, so there's no one to reprimand them and she can't really stop them yet with her current power anyway.

Anyway, a month before the S-Class exam, Gildarts stays in the Guild and doesn't take any job. He has been taking S-Class jobs all the time and now he will join the exam as an examiner.

When Alex returned from the Heartfilia mansion, he was surprised to know that Gildarts was taking Cana on his S-Class jobs. Sure, he wanted to get closer to his daughter, but Cana shouldn't be strong enough to be taken to S-Class jobs.

Fortunately, Gildarts was just too strong to do those S-Class jobs and he only took the ones he deemed to be safe if he brought Cana. He taught Cana many things while doing the jobs and they also visited Cornelia's grave sometime ago.

Anyway, before the S-Class exam, Gildarts tells Alex to team up with Cana again from now on because he will start taking more dangerous jobs again. So for a month before the exam, Alex needs to train with Gildarts again after a long time.

It's not just him who trains with Gildarts though, Cana also joins the training. During their training, Alex can finally see how much Cana has improved after being taught by her father and followed him in his jobs for months.

Her magic power has grown significantly under Gildarts's tutelage and her battle skills have improved greatly too. Now she surely can fight actively when she teams up with Alex. She was mostly working as a support before, but now she can even be the main fighter.

So Alex and Cana train for a month with Gildarts before the S-Class exam starts. It really is a good chance for Alex to learn a lot of things, so he doesn't waste it. Most of their training are battle practices with Gildarts giving them advice.

While Gildarts is goofy and seems stupid most of the time, his knowledge about magic is surely greater than most Mages. Maybe the only one in Fairy Tail with more magic knowledge than him is Makarov.

His teaching skill is not as great though because he has difficulties explaining stuff with words. That's why he always explains while showing how to do it because he doesn't know how to say it. So Alex and Cana really need to have a good comprehension skill.

Anyway, a month is a short time. It doesn't feel that long since Alex started training with Gildarts but the S-Class exam finally starts. The examiners are just Makarov and Gildarts, while the participants are just 3 people including Laxus.

Alex and Cana decide to take a job instead of just waiting for the exam to finish. They take a beast subjugation job, the most common job for Mages. This will be a good chance to test their teamwork after not taking a job together for quite a long time.

Surprisingly, Natsu, Gray, and Erza want to join them. Alex doesn't see any benefit in bringing them. Instead, it will reduce his share of the reward significantly.

But Cana seems happy, so he agrees to take them too. He can take this as a chance to see their current abilities and skills. Besides, his main goal isn't the money reward anyway.

His main goal is the beast itself, a Rock Ape, a beast he never fought before. It's said that this beast can control rocks with its magic, so it will be an interesting opponent to fight.

The team goes to the location that's quite far from Magnolia using the train. Natsu still hasn't had his motion sickness because he is still weak now. So he doesn't have any problem with the train although he looks like a country bumpkin when riding the train.

They still need to walk quite far even after using the train. Natsu and Gray always bicker along the way, but Erza will always stop them when they go overboard. Cana is taking care of Meteor Destroyer while Alex is navigating.

Alex might not be that bright when it comes to studies or other things, but he has a great navigating skill. It's because he often hunts in the wilderness, so he has a really good sense of direction and it really helps with reading maps.

They arrive in a village in the evening after walking for hours. It's the village that posted the job because a wild Rock Ape often appears near their hot spring. This village is famous for its hot spring, but because of the Rock Ape, they need to close the hot spring for the visitors' safety.

The team stays in an inn the village provides for the night. They need to rest first before going on the hunt. Also, they can't hunt at night because it's too dangerous when they don't even know the terrain and how strong the enemy is.

So they start their job the next day and the first thing they need to do is tracking the beast. It's Alex's specialty to track wild beasts, but he takes his time when tracking this Rock Ape to teach the others because this is an essential skill for Mages like them who often need to hunt beasts like this.

It is not easy to learn in the beginning, but they show great interest, especially Natsu who can also smell the beast's traces with his sharp nose like Alex. Though Natsu's nose is still not that sharp at the moment, so he can't smell the beast's traces as well as Alex for now.

It gets tougher for Natsu to find the smell because of the sulfur smell coming from the hot spring. This is why Alex doesn't just rely on his sense of smell to track his targets and learned to use other methods as well.

Eventually, they find where the Rock Ape hides. It hides in a kind of stone hut that seems to be made with its magic. The beast looks like a Gorilla with pieces of rocks covering many parts of its body.

There are many normal monkeys around the stone hut that go around carrying fruits for the Rock Ape. They are like servants serving their King that only lays around lazily while eating the fruits its servants brought for it.

They can feel that the normal monkeys are terrified of the Rock Ape. So they can guess that the Rock Ape is forcing the normal monkeys that can't fight it to serve it. It must've attacked the hot spring to enslave these monkeys that often hang around there.

The more they look at this Rock Ape, the more annoying it looks, making them want to beat it up quickly. But Alex wants to see how the others fight, so he tells them to fight without him.

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Ch. 111: Surprising Mystogan