66. S-Class Exam

Because he doesn't take absences this year and has finished a lot of jobs, Alex is chosen as an S-Class candidate. He has taken a lot of difficult jobs below S-Class, so he has proven himself to have sufficient abilities for a promotion too.

There are 3 other candidates for this year's S-Class exam. There's a man named Samuel who joined last year's exam but failed. The other 2 are a man named Zico and a woman named Joy.

All 3 of them are veteran members and Zico has done an S-Class exam 3 years ago but also failed. So Alex really stands out because the age gaps between him and the other participants are big, but that doesn't mean he will back down.

Besides, they'll fail the exam even if he doesn't participate, anyway. So he'd rather take that promotion that nobody will take. He wants to take more challenging jobs, so he really needs to get promoted.

As always, the place for the S-Class exam is on Tenrou Island. It's Fairy Tail's tradition to do the exam there because the 1st Master's grave is on that island. So it's like they are proving their power to the 1st Master and to receive her blessing for their promotion.

Unlike the X784 exam in the story, the candidates will do the exam alone, so they can't bring anyone with them. Each year's exam is different. After all, some people can participate a few times, so if the exam is the same, then they will know what to do already.

Before leaving, Alex gives Cana money for Meteor Destroyer's food. The bear cub has a very big appetite and needs a lot of food every day. A lot of food means a lot of money. That's why Alex prefers doing subjugation jobs, because the prey can be harvested as Meteor's food if they are edible.

But he can't hunt for the bear cub now, so he leaves money to Cana for its food. He also gives the bear cub a few rules to follow and things it's prohibited to do. After all, this kid is naughty and might cause trouble when he isn't here.

"Do you understand me, Meteor? If I hear you are causing trouble when I'm not here, then you better be ready for some punishment. I will confiscate Mr. and Mrs. Donald and maybe even burn them if you don't behave."

Meteor looks very terrified of Alex's threat, making everyone wonder who this Mr. and Mrs. Donald are.

"Hmm? They're his rubber duck toys. He won't take a bath if they're not there." Alex's explanation makes everyone baffled because it's just too cute.

"Anyway, if you behave nicely and be a good boy, I will buy you that Duck Magic Bag you always wanted."

Meteor's eyes finally sparkle when Alex mentions that. He immediately nods his head happily and stares at Alex as if telling him not to worry.

"Alright, you better keep your promise, buddy." Alex pats Meteor's head before following the exam group to leave the Guild building.

The group leaves Magnolia and goes to Hargeon where the port is located. They need to use a ship to go to Tenrou Island, after all. It feels like a trip at first, but it won't be that way soon, so they need to enjoy it while it lasts.

Similar to X784 exam, the ship suddenly stops in the middle of the sea, just when they can finally see Tenrou Island. Alex thought that the exam would be different, but maybe there are some things that are similar or used repeatedly.

"Alright, the 4 of you can only use the ship this far. You need to go to the island by yourselves now." Makarov says it nonchalantly while grabbing all 4 candidates with his enlarged hands.

"WAIT! MASTER!" The 4 of them shout, but they aren't heard.

"Good luck!" Makarov throws them into the ocean. This is different from what Alex remembers from the series.

After throwing the 4 candidates into the sea, the ship goes at full speed towards the island, leaving them only with their wet clothes there.

"Adios losers! HAHAHA!" Joy already swims to the island. She uses her Vibration Magic to vibrate her legs and arms that propel her forward at a high speed like an engine.

"... I'm sure she doesn't use her magic just to fight." Zico really takes his time to think dirty.

Alex raises an eyebrow while looking at Zico suspiciously, making the guy look away in guilt. Meanwhile, Samuel already chases after Joy using his Explosion Magic. He makes explosions on his hands and feet to shoot him forward.

Zico then chases them by making footholds using his Barrier Magic. Then he runs on the square barrier tiles that he places above the seawater. He needs to keep creating the barrier tiles to run though, so he needs to concentrate.

Because he concentrates too much on making barrier tiles, he doesn't realize that he has an illegal passenger. Alex is running right behind him, stepping on his barrier tiles before they disappear. Zico only realizes it after they go halfway.

"PFFT! WHAT THE HELL?! SINCE WHEN WERE YOU FOLLOWING ME?"

"Since the beginning?" Alex answers with a question while tilting his head as if he doesn't do anything wrong. Well, technically, he doesn't do anything wrong because it's not forbidden to use their opponents' strength for their own benefit.

"GAAH! DAMN YOU, ALEX! DON'T FOLLOW ME!" Zico finally makes the barrier tiles that he has used to disappear immediately, making Alex fall into the sea again.

"Sigh, there goes my free ride." Alex sighs before he pushes himself up above the water.

His hands strangely hold onto the water as if it's a solid ground, so he can push himself up with the water as his holding. Then he stands on the water as if it's a floor. He even goes up and down following the waves as if it's normal.

Alex starts running on the water like a ninja. He uses a ninja technique, so it's not wrong actually. While he can't use magic other than transformation magic that includes his Take Over Magic, he surely can control his magic power so well.

He can even control and use it like Chakra which makes him able to stand on water, walk on walls, stand upside-down, etc. Alex can do basic ninja techniques that need Chakra control because the Tailed Beasts taught him how.

Others see it as a type of Magic while it's actually just magic power that's controlled in an unusual way. Though Alex can only do that much. He can't use ninjutsu like those shinobi in Naruto because ninjutsu needs more than just chakra control.

Anyway, Alex is running on the water and chasing the other 3 candidates who surprisingly are very fast. They almost arrive at the same time with Samuel finishing first, Alex second, Jou third, and Zico last.

"I never knew you could run on water." Joy looks at Alex curiously.

"Everyone has their own secret weapons, right?" They look away while whistling nervously when Alex asks that.

"..... So, what should we do now?" Samuel asks because there's no instruction yet.

Suddenly, Gildarts shows up on the hill, carrying a big box on his shoulder. He puts it down and tells them their next task.

"Good, no one is drowning."

"Gildarts!"

"Don't tell me we need to fight you for the trial now?"

"I would want to, but that's not it. The 1st trial, delivery quest. There are 4 items in this box. Each one of you needs to take and bring an item to the top of that giant tree. No need to race, you only need to deliver the package on time. Your time limit is an hour. If you take longer, you are eliminated. The only rule is to not kill each other. Do you understand?"

This is not a race, so everyone can pass as long as they arrive before the time is up. But they can attack each other to slow down their rivals. If they can make their rivals fail here, then they will have less opponents in the next round.

Zico and Joy already think of ways to slow down the others so they won't reach the top in an hour. As for Alex and Samuel, they only think of the fastest way to reach the top. Attacking others will only waste their time, so they just focus on succeeding.

"Alright then, good luck." Gildarts leaves after seeing that they have understood the mission. The 1st trial of the X778 S-Class exam has finally started.

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Ch. 116: Edolas Alex