Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Magma Dragon King! Now that the S-Class trials have started in earnest, who will pass the first trial? There’s also the suspicion that Mest isn’t who he says he is, and may, in fact, not be a member of Fairy Tail at all. At the moment, however, only Panther Lily, Carla, and Happy have come to this realization. But once the first trial is complete, what will the second trial be?
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Chapter 63 – Fierce First Trial Battles
Gildarts had a small smile on his face as he fought against Levy and Gajeel. ‘Levy’s come a long way from that small, shy bookworm she used to be.’ He redirected Gajeel’s punch and brought his elbow up, crashing it into Gajeel’s jaw—ignoring the durability of the iron scales covering the Dragon Slayer—and then slammed a backfist into Gajeel’s face, staggering him backwards. But even his success in dealing with Gajeel, was only an opening for Levy to exploit.
“Poison Dragon’s Scale Shot!” Levy’s arms were coated in thick clouds of reddish-black smoke, and when she swiped them forward a barrage of sharp, reddish scales made from the poison tore through the air straight at Gildarts.
“That looks dangerous.” Gildarts said nonchalantly as he raised his left arm and appeared to ‘knock’ on the air with his knuckles.
The poison scales separated into dozens of perfectly square pieces before dispersing into nothing.
Levy landed on the ground, her hand touching the pebbles and dirt to steady her, while she locked eyes with Gildarts. “Crash Magic…” It was devastating when used offensively, but when controlled, it also made for an incredibly powerful defense.
“Big deal!” Gajeel called out as he swung his transformed arm at Gildarts. “Iron Dragon’s Sword!” The massive blade was a blur as it came towards Gildarts, only for the Ace of Fairy Tail to stop it cold with his outstretched hand.
“You’re not this reckless just because you have a strong defense, right?” Gildarts looked amused as the huge iron sword shattered into tiny cubes under a brief flash from his magic.
Gajeel proved his combat prowess as he spun and lashed out with a kick towards Gildarts’s face. When the older man raised his hand to catch the kick, his eyes widened and he deftly moved his hand to catch Gajeel’s calf, rather that his foot. The sharp iron blade that would’ve pierced his palm, was now hovering only a handful of centimeters from his eye; jutting out of the heel of Gajeel’s boot. Gildarts tossed Gajeel away and waved his cloak to scatter a cloud of poison from Levy’s sneak attack.
“Poison Dragon’s Breath!” Levy continued to spew out the thick cloud of reddish-black poison, but Gildarts just kept blowing it back while waving his thick cloak around.
Gildarts examined the situation carefully as Levy continued to try and engulf him in a cloud of poisonous smoke. He was easily repelling the spell, so a smart girl like Levy should’ve instantly understood that this tactic wouldn’t work. ‘It has to be some kind of plan. What’re you up to, Levy?’ He wondered as he added a bit of magic power to his next wave of his cloak and dispersed the spell entirely.
“Iron Dragon’s Chain!” Gajeel swung his legs low, barely above the ground, a thick iron chain lashing out, following the arc of the kick, and spinning through the air like a bolo that wrapped around Gildarts.
“Is this supposed to stop me?” Gildarts questioned, not even having taken a single step back from being hit by the heavy chain.
Gajeel smirked as he held out his arm and then clenched his hand into a fist. The iron chain wrapped around Gildarts glowed green and silver before constricting the S-Class mage powerfully.
Gildarts actually grunted at the pressure being put on him. “I’m not really into this kinda stuff.” He joked and flexed his Crash Magic to shatter the chain…only for nothing to happen. “Huh?!”
Levy grinned from the side, a portion of the ground glowing and connected by a line of glyphs to Gildarts from behind, where the powerful Crash Mage couldn’t see it. “It’s really amazing that you can fight us without taking a single step, Gildarts. But that really limits your field of view!”
“Ah…you did that earlier.” Gildarts realized that Levy’s landing, her hand touching the ground, hadn’t been to break her fall. She’d written something in the loose dirt of the cavern floor with Script Magic and activated it while he’d focused on Gajeel; waiting for the perfect time that he’d be distracted enough for her to spring her trap. ‘My movement is sealed by the chain trying to crush me, and my magic is disrupted by the Script Trap. Not a bad plan in the middle of battle.’
“Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Karma Demon:” Gajeel’s magic exploded powerfully around him, shaking the cavern as he glowed with a green and silver aura. “Iron God’s Cannon!” He clapped his hands together in front of him as they shifted into metal and formed a massive round cylinder of pure iron.
BOOM
The cannon fired, not with gunpowder, but with pure magic power, and the huge, super-dense iron cannonball was in Gildarts’s face before he could even blink. The projectile practically roared with Dragon Magic as Gildarts took the attack head-on with a loud blast making the cavern rumble and shake.
Levy smiled, her eyes bright at the direct hit from a Dragon Slayer Secret Art. But she still felt Gildarts’s magic power, meaning he wasn’t out of the fight yet. ‘I can’t hesitate! I have to fight too!’ She gathered her magic power, not letting it expand, no matter how much it wanted to as she brought more and more to bare and poured it into the spell she was constructing.
“Whew…” Gildarts let out a breath as he waved away the dust and smoke from the spell that Gajeel had hit him with. “That could’ve been bad.” His cloak was less than strips of cloth now, ruined beyond saving despite its magical durability. His feet had left trenches through both the loose, rocky dirt and the solid stone beneath it from taking the Secret Art directly. “If your spell hadn’t torn up the ground, I wouldn’t have been able to use my magic at the last fraction of a second to stop it.”
Gajeel grunted, his arms already back to normal as he stared down Gildarts. “What the hell are you made out of, old man?” That was a Dragon Slayer Secret Art…a spell made to specifically kill a Dragon! Yet Gildarts had managed to not only survive it, but match its force enough to cancel it out…for the most part.
Gildarts shook out both of his hands. “Hey, it still hurt a bit.” He told Gajeel with a little grunt, having only managed to use his magic and prevent a direct hit by the skin of his teeth. “Speaking of, where did Levy go?”
“Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Hyper Toxicity: Ten-Thousand Poisons!” Levy cast her newest spell, one that she’d worked incredibly hard to learn before the S-Class Promotion Trials. Instead of her magic power exploding outwards as it rose, she focused it down into a single space between her hands, creating a sphere of red, black, purple, and dark green gases, liquids, and even solids. She thrust her hands straight at Gildarts’s back and the toxic sphere shot forward like a bullet.
“CRASH!!!” Gildarts could see a VERY different kind of danger from that spell, compared to most other types of magic. His spell formed a glowing white grid of lines on the sphere and made it burst into the tiniest of fragments as the magic was dispersed.
Unfortunately, it was also the magic that was keeping it contained in a spherical shape.
BWOOOSSSHHH
Gas, liquid, and tiny dust of solids exploded in every direction and Gildarts covered his mouth and nose with his hand while leaping backwards to make distance. The smoke spread into a wide area, a mixture of colors—and Gildarts would bet that the worst of the toxic gases were invisible to the eye—while tiny droplets of various poisons rained down on everything, and the dust of the solids spread along with the smoke.
“Gehee!” Gajeel grinned, still with his Iron Dragon Scales active, protecting him from the various liquid toxins falling onto him like a light rain. “Wrong choice, old man!”
“Very good.” Gildarts said with a gentle smile as he looked at Levy. “Now that I’ve seen your power, your resolve, and your forethought…I think that, as your proctor, I can allow you to pass.”
Levy blinked once, then twice. “Eh?”
Gajeel wasn’t so stunned. “What the hell are you talking about?! We haven’t taken you down yet! What’s the point of being S-Class if we don’t defeat you?!”
Gildarts sighed, an almost fond look on his face at how similar Gajeel was to the other dragon-raised young man he knew. “Yeah, I thought you might say that.” The air around him shifted as his expression became deadly serious. “If you’re going to walk the path of magic and try to get to the top, you’re still missing something you need.” The air shook and the ground started to shake as Gildarts released his magic power, making both Levy and Gajeel shiver as instinctive fear flared up. “I’ll let you know what it is!” Light poured off of Gildarts’s body and became so bright that neither Gajeel nor Levy could see as the rumbling of the ground grew stronger and louder.
-Juvia, Ur, Freed, and Bickslow versus Cana-
“Huh?! Is that an earthquake?!” Bickslow asked as the ground began to shake.
Ur blinked as she steadied her footing. “No. That’s magic. Incredibly strong magical power.”
“What the hell is my old man doing over there?” Cana questioned, knowing her father’s unique magical power as soon as she sensed it.
Juvia nearly gaped as the ground continued to shake. “That’s all from Gildarts?!”
“He’s as unfathomably powerful as ever.” Freed said as he floated in the air thanks to his dark magic wings.
-Levy and Gajeel versus Gildarts-
Gajeel and Levy were both kneeling on the ground, just looking at Gildarts in shock for a long moment.
“I…lose.” Gajeel uttered out as his body shook slightly still.
“Excellent.” Gildarts reined in the last of his magical power and everything stopped. The ground stopped shaking, the air returned to normal, and even the stones that had been defying gravity and rising into the air, fell back to the ground. “I never fault anybody with the bravery to stand and face their enemy.” He smiled at Gajeel, seeing the Iron Dragon Slayer ready to listen now. “But the number of people with the courage to place that ‘sword’ back in its scabbard is very low.” He looked at Levy, seeing that the young woman had wrapped her arms around herself in fear from his display. “Fear is not evil. It’s about knowing your own weaknesses. When people know their own weaknesses, they become stronger, and gentler, human beings. It’s a necessary part of becoming an S-Class Mage.” He smiled at Levy as she calmed down. “That’s why Levy was ready to be selected for the Promotion Trials…” He turned his eyes to Gajeel. “…and why you weren’t ready yet, Gajeel.”
Levy gained a small smile as she unwrapped her arms from around herself and slowly stood up. “Thank you, Gildarts.” She gave him a small bow of gratitude for his advice.
Gajeel slowly got back to his feet as well, still looking at Gildarts.
“Now, go on. You’ve passed this first trial.” Gildarts said with a little wave of his hand. “But don’t think this is the hardest trial you’ll face. We’re talking about Master, after all. Your next trials are only going to be harder!”
“Yes!” Levy agreed as her smile grew brighter and she nearly leapt into Gajeel’s arms, hugging him tightly as she laughed. “We passed! We passed!”
Gildarts chuckled a little at the sudden energy from Levy, watching Gajeel return the hug after a moment. “What I’m about to say, I say not as your proctor, but as a fellow Fairy Tail Mage.” Seeing that he had both Gajeel and Levy’s attention, he gave the couple a grin. “Great power isn’t the be-all-end-all when it comes to magic. But I understand the ‘gotta win’ attitude. Regardless of age or experience. I’m the same way. I don’t want to lose to any of you either.” Gildarts smirked at Levy and Gajeel challengingly. “I’ll fight you again anytime!”
“Right.” Gajeel said, his normal smirk slowly returning.
“No, thank you.” Levy shook her head once, not anywhere near as ‘fight happy’ as Gajeel. But she did understand the advice that Gildarts was giving them, perhaps even more than Gajeel did.
-Gray, Loke, Alzack, and Bisca versus Natsu-
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
The burning holt basalt floor erupted into explosions of flame and lava as Natsu ramped up the power of the four-on-one fight.
“Come on! You want become S-Class like this!” Natsu laughed as he was cloaked in flames and his fists and feet were covered by bubbling lava.
He was answered by four rapid shots from Alzack. Each of the magic bullets exploding into massive amounts of water as they hit Natsu’s raised guard.
Hissssssssssssss
Steam exploded as water met molten rock, obscuring Natsu from view and blocking his vision.
“Ice Make: Mausoleum!” Gray poured his magic into the steam, flash-freezing it into solid ice as more and more ice was created by his spell, entombing Natsu in a towering, intricate, and deep blue mausoleum of ice and frost. “Hah…” He exhaled a frosted mist from how cold the air around him was compared to everywhere else in the cavern. “Got you this time, flame brain!”
Crack
The ice cracked from within, the sound nearly resounding in the cavern.
“You just had to say that, huh?” Loke deadpanned at Gray as the ice rapidly melted while a heat haze grew from within the structure.
“Nice try, ice prick!” Natsu explode from the collapsing Ice Make spell and tore up the ground with ever step he as she charged towards Gray.
“Tar Shot!” Bisca’s accurate bullet struck Natsu, even in a full charge, and engulfed him in thick, black tar. “Now!” The tar was already rapidly boiling and turning from thick, sticky muck into black liquid just from the heat off of Natsu’s body.
“Regulus Starfall!” Loke cast one of his Light Magic spell and beams exploded from a golden lion head in the air to rain down onto the trapped Natsu over and over again, every beam exploding with radiant light.
“Blizzard Shot!” Alzack fired twelve rounds so fast that everyone else only heard six shots. The very instant that Loke’s spell stopped slamming into Natsu, Alzack’s bullets erupted into swirling masses of ice, snow, and subzero temperatures that hit Natsu’s tar-covered body, solidifying the tar again while encasing Natsu in sheets of ice.
Gray shot forward, his hands together as he poured a large portion of his magic power into his next spell. “Ice Make: Subzero Excalibur!” The incredibly frigid sword of deep blue ice formed, looking much more intricate than it had back during the Battle of Fairy Tail, a testament to Ur’s further training of Gray, and all of the hard work that Gray had been putting in to get ready for the S-Class Promotional Trials. He slashed his ice sword straight through the trapped Natsu and skidded to a stop behind his rival as ice erupted from the cut are and into a towering mass of frozen spires.
There was no movement from the ice for a moment, making the four examinees glance at each other. Just as they were about to celebrate their victory, however, Gray, Loke, and Alzack all hissed and started hopping from foot-to-foot as the ground steamed and smoked while the black basalt heated up and started to glow red.
“Ouch! Damn it!” Alzack cursed as he quickly hopped onto a higher rock and then another one to get off the burning hot floor.
“He’s underground!” Loke warned as he also hopped up onto a large boulder to spare his feet from burning.
Lines of heat spread throughout the floor of the cavern, glowing orange as the basalt began to melt and become molten rock again. The ground cracked in multiple places as the difference in temperature changed so quickly.
Bisca’s eyes widened as the cracks reached the edges of the caver and then began to trail up the walls. “Is he trying to bring the entire cavern down on us?!”
Rmmmbbbllleee
The ground began to shake and the shaking rapidly intensified into a powerful tremor. In the next instant, large, sharp spires of rock punched their way up from the ground, shattering the boulders that Loke, Alzack, and Gray had climbed on to escape the nearly molten floor.
“Mud Shot!” Alzack fired bullets of Earth Magic towards the ground as soon as he began to fall. The thick mud covered the super-hot basalt and hissed, but Alzack landed safely on the safe space he’d created with his quick thinking.
“Damn it, Natsu!” Loke yelled out as he skipped along the fragments of stones from his previous boulder and managed to climb onto another boulder without getting burned. He was sweating heavily from the intense heat of the floor though.
Gray was standing on a four meter tall block of ice…that was rapidly melting…as he looked around for any trace of Natsu. “How the hell do we get him out of the ground?!”
Lava began to drip from the high walls as the molten lines continued to crawl upwards. The hissing sound they made as they touched much cooler stones near the wall was a dire warning of the time that was running out for the four examinees.
Bisca eyed the center of the floor, where all the lines of heat were spreading out from and took aim with her sniper rifle. “You’re there, aren’t you?” She flicked through the settings of her scope with her magic and finally found what she was looking for with the heat sight…a humanoid figure under the molten ground that was even HOTTER than the molten earth around it. “Loke!” She called out, getting the Celestial Spirit’s attention. “Hit the spot where I fire with your strongest spell!”
“Got it!” Loke agreed as the boulder he was on was starting to get hot to the touch.
“Al! Water! As much as you can!” Bisca yelled out to her crush.
Alzack flicked the chambers of his revolver open and with barely a flick of his wrists, had the twelve spent casings in the air while he used his magic to load another twelve bullets into them. “I get it, Bisca!” He’d caught onto her plan from how long they’d worked together.
As Bisca took aim, she called out to Gray. “Gray! Give it your all! Freeze everything!”
Gray, not quite sure where Bisca was going with this yet, decided to bank on her plan anyway. “Right!”
“Tactical Round!” Bisca requipped the special bullet into the chamber of her rifle and fired it. The center of the molten floor exploded into a geyser of lava as the powerful blast scattered it away from the point of impact.
“Regulus, brightest of the Lion Constellation, roar and illuminate!” Loke’s magic power became intensely bright light as he aimed both his hands right at the pint that Bisca had hit with her spell. “Lion Star Cannon!” The beam of light was larger than anything the other three Fairy tail Mages had ever seen from Loke. The light shattered the ground that wasn’t molten yet and spread out in all directions through the cavity that Bisca had made in the floor.
Alzack fired all twelve of his bullets right into the gaping hole in the ground. Water Shot!” The sound of twelve shots was only heard as three this time as Alzack pushed his gunman skills even harder along with pouring more magic power into each shot.
Water hissed and steamed even as it flowed outward with force, spreading through the cracks in the floor and falling down upon the intensely hot core beneath the ground.
“Ice Make: Geyser!” Gray jumped from his boulder and slammed his hands on the water that was hissing and boiling, uncaring of the stinging pain of his skin from the scalding hot liquid. The heat vanished near instantly as his magic took effect and froze all of the water in the ground. The cracks widened as ice expanded and ruptured upwards from them, shattering part of the floor. The molten core was pushed downwards as the ice expanded and stole its heat, the melting ice that turned to water refreezing and rendering the ground cool and solid once more.
The loud sound of stone cracking got everyone’s attention, especially Bisca as it came from right behind her.
Natsu had a wide smile on his face, even as he placed his hand on Bisca’s back and shoved her into the ground up to her neck, the stone parting like it was water before solidifying again. “That was a great plan, Bisca! You’re definitely the brains of this group!” Natsu complimented the Guns Mage with a bright grin.
“Hey!” Bisca struggled against the stone encasing her, but it was rock and wouldn’t give in the slightest to her strength. “Cheap shot, Natsu!”
“Bisca!” Alzack fired at Natsu, a bullet of Wind Magic meant to pierce straight through a target without slowing down.
Natsu practically fell back into the ground as the bullet passed through the space he’d been a fraction of a second ago. In the next moment, his hands erupted out of the ground, grabbed Alzack’s feet, and pulled the Guns Mage down into the ground as well, mimicking Bisca as both of their heads were the only things left above ground.
Alzack struggled against the stone encasing him, but couldn’t move at all. “Natsu! Darn it!”
“Shit!” Gray stomped on the ground and rose into the air on a pillar of ice. “Loke!”
Loke leapt from his boulder and landed on the partially frozen floor. He ran towards Gray’s ice pillar, but only made it three steps before the ground rose up and snapped on him like a pair of jaws, pulling him into the earth completely.
“Looks like you guys lose this one!’ Natsu said as he hopped out of the ground behind Gray’s ice pillar with a grin.
“I can still fight!” Gray yelled down at Natsu while putting his hands together. “Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!” He threw his hands forward, unleashing a dozen large lances of ice straight at Natsu.
“Magma Dragon’s Wing Attack!” Natsu’s arms erupted into lava as he swung them around and destroyed all of the ice lances. “Did you forget this is a test for each pair, ice for brains?” He lashed out with a kick. “Magma Dragon’s Talons!” The lava coated foot destroyed the base of Gray’s ice pillar and dent it crashing to the ground. “Without your teammate, you lose.” Natsu repeated what Makarov had told the S-Class hopefuls on the ship.
Gray ground his teeth at that, but knew that Natsu was right in this case.
Natsu exhaled thin smoke from his nose as he saw that Gray was standing down. “Out of all of you, Bisca was the closest to making S-Class today.”
“Huh?” Bisca blinked at that. “Why?”
“Being S-Class isn’t just about raw power.” Natsu said while tapping his foot on the ground and bringing Loke’s head above the surface, but leaving him trapped from the neck down. “You need power, sure, but also knowledge, teamwork, and good judgement.”
“Oi!” Alzack, Loke, Gray, and Bisca all said at the same time.
Gray swiped his arm through the air. “None of us wants to hear YOU of all people talk about good judgement!”
Alzack nodded from where he was trapped. “Fairy Tail literally got its reputation for destruction from YOUR exploits!”
“That wasn’t all me!” Natsu shot back.
“You and Gildarts make up the majority, Natsu.” Loke commented from the ground.
Bisca sighed. “I appreciate the praise, Natsu…but you have to admit, they’re right about this.”
Natsu ‘tsked’ and lightly kicked the ground, shooting Loke, Alzack, and Bisca upwards. Loke fell on his butt, Alzack stumbled and hit one knee as he landed from the sudden launch, Bisca landed and spread her arms to maintain her balance. “Fine. But I’m telling gramps that I won!” He said before walking over and placing his hand on the red magical barrier, making it disappear. The metal gate rose up out of the way after that and Natsu motioned for the four to follow him through the tunnel beyond.
-Elfman and Evergreen versus Mirajane-
“Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!” Evergreen waved her fan and unleashed a constant stream of light bullets at Mira. When Mira zipped around them, flying through the air at speed, Evergreen grimaced.
“ROOOAAARRR!!!” Elfman’s massive Chimera form tried to swat Mira out of the air, but she deflected it huge paw and then punched Elfman backwards, despite his current immense weight.
Mira hovered in the air with a dark grin on her face. “Come on, come on! It’s like you don’t even WANT to be S-Class, Elfman!” Her Satan Soul form flapped its bat-like wings once to maintain her position in the air as she looked down at her little brother and Evergreen. “We’ve been fighting this whole time and you’ve barely landed any hits!” The fact that both Elfman and Evergreen were VERY roughed up showed just how long the fight had been going on.
“Why don’t you come down here and say that to my face!” Evergreen demanded, pointing at Mira with her hand fan. Mira had made her Stone Eyes a non-factor by staying too far away this entire fight.
“You could come up here, instead.” Mira challenged with a demonic smile, making a beckoning motion with her hand.
Evergreen gathered her magic in front of her and sent it at Mira like a sandstorm of fine golden dust. “Fairy Sandstorm: Djinn!” The explosive golden dust was scattered by Mira with a wave of Darkness Magic from her hand. But Evergreen detonated it anyway as it hung in the air surrounding Mira.
BOOM
Knowing that wasn’t nearly enough to take Mira out of the fight, Evergreen ran over to Elfman, seeing the massive chimera righting itself. “I have a plan!”
The baleful eyes of the chimera looked at Evergreen curiously. “Plan?” Elfman asked, glancing up at the cloud of smoke in the air that was briefly obscuring his sister. “Like what?”
“Hit her as HARD as you can.” Evergreen said, only to get a deadpan look from Elfman. “Don’t look at me like that! I’m going to distract her to make sure that your attack hits her! Be a man!”
Elfman straightened up at that and let out a powerful roar of challenge that blew away the last of the smoke in the air. “I AM A MAN!!!” Seeing Mira looking down at him with one of her delicate eyebrows raised, Elfman knew exactly what to say to his big sister to get her to stay still. “Come on, sis! One-on-one! Let’s see who’s stronger!”
Mira laughed at the challenge from her little brother. “Oh? What’s this, Elfman? Where did this confidence suddenly come from? Did your little girlfriend give you a pep talk?” She put her hands together and focused on her magic, a black orb formed between her hands and seemed to suck in light and wispy streams of darkness as it grew large before shrinking down and then starting to grow larger again. “Fine! Big sister will take you on! But don’t think I’m going to hold back!”
Elfman opened his lion jaws and a large fireball formed, only to quickly be wrapped in Darkness Magic and turn into a black flame that burned with far greater intensity. As he poured more and more of his magical power into the spell the black fireball became a swirling conflagration of dark flames. “Dark Fire Roar!” He launched the torrent of black fire straight at Mira, scorching the very air as it rushed towards her.
“Soul Extinction!” Mira had a wide, devilish smile on her lips at seeing just how strong her little brother had become. Just as she was about to unleash her spell, Evergreen yelled so loudly that Mira clearly heard the other woman over the roaring blaze rushing towards her.
“I’m pregnant with Elfman’s baby!” Evergreen yelled at Mira, her cheeks burning red.
Mira’s head whipped around to look at Evergreen so fast it was a small miracle that there wasn’t a snapping sound. “WHAT?!”
Elfman, seeing Mira distracted, activated the ‘Balor Eye’ of his Chimera form and destabilized Mira’s spell, weakening it significantly right as his spell impacted.
BOOM
The Dark Fire Roar blasted Mira into the fire wall and exploded, the blast amplified as Mira’s own Soul Extinction detonated as well. The wall shattered into the gravel as the cavern shook and parts of the ceiling fell to the ground. A massive cloud of dust was kicked up from the blast and the collapsing wall.
Evergreen beamed as her plan had worked and it looked like Mira had partially taken herself out. She wasn’t expecting Elfman to turn back to his normal form and rush over to her.
“What was that about being pregnant?!” Elfman demanded, pointing at Evergreen in shock. “We’ve never…! We’re not even…!”
“Oh, shut up!” Evergreen hid her face behind her hand fan. “I told you I’d distract her, and I did! The method doesn’t matter!” The fact that she was blushing so much that her entire face was red showed just how ‘little’ the method actually mattered to her.
Elfman looked away, his face a bit red as well. “It’s not the most manly way to win, but it worked.” He looked over at the collapsed wall where Mira was and wondered if they needed to dig her out so that she could pass them. There was also the worry that he might’ve actually hurt his big sister too.
The red barrier vanished from the gate and the wooden bars lifted up to open the pathway for them after ten seconds had gone by without movement from Mira.
“YEAH!!!” Elfman cheered as it was now obvious that he’d passed the first trial.
“Yes!” Evergreen cheered as well, the two even hugging each other for a moment…before Evergreen realized what they were doing and pushed Elfman away. “Hands off!”
The rubble of the wall shifted and then the large rocks were nearly blasted away as Mira emerged, her eyes glowing as she looked at Evergreen and Elfman. In a blur, she was right in front of Evergreen, glowing demonic eyes drilling into dark brown. “What…was…that…about…being…pregnant?” She hissed out slowly, her hands practically latching onto Evergreen’s shoulders.
Elfman raised both hands in a placating manner as he spoke to his big sister. “S-Sis…she was just trying to distract you…” He recoiled as Mira turned her eyes on him. “…it w-was out last chance to b-beat you…and pass…”
Mira’s head slowly turned back to look into Evergreen eyes again. “Is that true?” She asked with a dark rumble in her tone, her grip tightening just slightly on Evergreen’s shoulders.
“Y-Yes, ma’am!” Evergreen nodded rapidly, her entire body shivering in fear. “We’re not even d-dating, I swear!”
“Oh, is that all?” Mira clamed down immediately as she smiled at Evergreen and then at Elfman. “Well, as long as you’re not making me an aunt already, then it’s fine.”
Elfman nodded quickly in agreement that he wasn’t doing any such thing. ‘Mira can be so scary!’
Mira let go of Evergreen’s shoulders as she brushed herself off and then, in a shower of black squares, she returned to her normal form. “Well, I have to admit, you got me good with that one! Since you put me down for a whole ten seconds, you pass!” She said, as if she HADN’T just been a few seconds away from tearing into both of them for being irresponsible in a hidden relationship that didn’t actually exist.
“Yes!” Elfman was regaining his cheer now that the danger had passed.
“It was all thanks to me, naturally.” Evergreen declared with a self-satisfied grin.
Mira turned to look back at both of them with a terrifying smile that shut the two up instantly. “And just remember one thing. Out of the three Strauss siblings; I’M the one that will have children first!”
Evergreen nodded in agreement instantly, not really caring, but still terrified.
“Y-Yes, Mira.” Elfman nodded once, before a thought came to him. “But didn’t Lisanna say…”
“Hm?” Mira’s tiny little hum cut Elfman off instantly.
Elfman looked directly at the ground. “Nothing, sis.”
Mira nodded once as she continued walking towards the open pathway; leading Elfman and Evergreen along.
-Juvia, Ur, Freed, and Bickslow versus Cana-
Cana laughed brightly as Bickslow and Freed staggered a bit, their movements having become sluggish and disorientated. “You lightweights! Is that all you can handle?” The thin alcoholic mist within the cavern had finally worked its magic and inebriated the two, their faces flushed red.
“Give me…back my…hic…babies…” Bickslow slurred out as he pointed in Cana’s general direction.
“Nope!” Cana denied, holding up four of her magic cards. She’d taken away Bickslow’s main way of using his magic by trapping each of his four totems into a separate Card Dimension, and then placing each of those cards into a second, individual Card Dimension on top of that. The little totems couldn’t get out, and the cards they were in couldn’t be affected without someone going into the Card Dimension that the cards they were trapped in.
Freed tried to steady his sword and write out a Jutsu Shiki, but his arms shook and his coordination was shot. “This…won’t stop…us…” He said, slurring his words as well while looking over at Cana.
“Sea Dragon’s Roar!” Juvia blasted a spiraling torrent of seawater straight at Cana.
“Ice Make: Rosen Krone!” Ur unleashed her spell as Cana deftly avoided Juvia’s attack. The ice roses and vines filled with thorns surrounded Cana and tried to wrap around her, but Cana shattered them with a brief flash of Crash Magic. “Full of surprises, aren’t you?” The slightly older woman had a little smile on her face, having gotten to test out her recovered magic power quite well, so far.
Cana grinned right back. “I like to think so!” She threw out a handful of cards that cut through the air.
Juvia dispersed into water, letting the cards fly overhead harmlessly. Ur froze both of the cards in midair, letting them fall to the ground.
“Thunderbolt’s Fate!” Cana activated her cards and, from behind Juvia and Ur, lightning erupted with a loud thunderclap.
“GAAAAHHHH!!!” Bickslow and Freed cried out as they were shocked by the lightning spell. The two drunk men hit the ground and twitched slightly, clearly out of the fight.
Cana kept on the move, avoiding the swirling water on the floor that Juvia could control and use to trap her. “You two hold your liquor WAY better than those two.” She said to Juvia and Ur, hoping to distract them slightly.
Ur placed her hands together in front of her. “It’ll take more than this thin mist to get me drunk.” She spread her arms wide and unleashed her spell. “Ice Make: Volcano!” The entire floor erupted upwards with rapidly expanding ice, slamming into the ceiling and breaking through it, letting a tall spire glitter in the sunlight above.
“That’s not enough.” Juvia noticed a portion of the massive ice spell had already melted away as Cana swirled alcohol around herself in a sphere. “Sea Dragon’s Riptide Claw!” he slashed her hand downwards in a clawing motion and four thin, but powerful, lines of high-pressure water cut through the floor, the ice, and Cana’s alcohol barrier.
“Card Magic: Seal!” Cana had a card held face out and the four powerful cutting jets of water swirled into the card. “And now: Release!” She flipped the card and Juvia’s spell shot back towards Ur and Juvia.
Juvia let her own spell pass right through her water body, completely unaffected.
“Ice Make: Rampart!” Ur created another massive ice construct in the time it took to blink. The powerful jets of salt water cut right through it, but they’d lost much of their power and speed, allowing Ur to easily dodge.
“Sea Dragon’s Depth Prison!” Juvia combined one of her Water Magic spell with her Dragon Slayer Magic as all of the water in the cavern, swirled around under her control. The rapidly moving water converged from every direction, forming a rapidly shrinking sphere that may as well have been filled with razor blades with the salt in it and the speed the water was moving.
Cana, seeing herself trapped as Juvia let the surging water passed through her while Ur, Freed, and Bickslow had been passed over entirely, knew she was in a spot of trouble. Juvia naturally had absurd amounts of magical power, much like her dad. Her Dragon Sister was a rare outlier among humans who possessed enough magic to alter the weather, even by accident. And now that she had become a Dragon Slayer and the natural limits of magical power had been removed, Juvia’s power and control had only grown even greater. “Still, can’t let her just win! She focused and then aimed a palm thrust at the incoming wall of water as her hand glowed brightly. “CRASH!!!”
The water gained a grid pattern of glowing lines on it before it was neatly separated into thousands of small cubes. The magic with the water dispersed and a large hole was left that Cana easily jumped through. “Booze Dragon’s Acrid Mist!” She exhaled a thick fog of pure alcohol at Juvia and Ur that went burn the eyes, nose, and irritate the skin.
Ur placed her hand on the massive spire of ice she’d made with her previous spell and simply undid her magic. The ice shattered into a miniature avalanche that was headed straight for Cana. In the same instant, Juvia, still with control of the rest of the massive amounts of water she held under her power, brought a tidal wave straight at Cana’s back.
“FRACTURE!!!” Cana amped up her Crash Magic and used one of the most powerful spells. Glowing lines spread and superimposed themselves over the world, looking much like fractured glass. A half-second later and the lines became reality, the avalanche and the tidal wave of water shattered and were reduced to nothing more than fine mist.
Cana took a second to catch her breath from that. Crash Magic was notoriously power-intensive, which is why most Mages could never learn it. Even for her, using ‘Fracture’ on a large scale took a second or two to recover from.
Unfortunately, it was a second or two she didn’t have.
“Ice Make: Straight Jacket.” Ur practically skated by Cana, her hands gently touching the Booze Dragon Slayer’s body for a brief instant, and then Cana found herself wrapped from ankle to mouth in dark blue ice. The fine detail of the straight jacket showed the depth of Ur’s understanding and control of Ice Make magic as the ice cloth almost looked like actual blue cloth of some kind.
“Sea Dragon’s Jaws!” Juvia clapped her hands together and water in the shape of massive fanged jaws formed and then slammed closed on Cana. The jaws exploded into a blast of water that cracked even Ur’s specially made ice straight jacket, but the spell held and Cana hit the floor on her back, the wind knocked out of her and completely soaked, the ice chilling her rapidly as well and slowly freezing the saltwater too.
Cana shivered badly as Ur let the muzzle fall away from her mouth. “C-C-Call it a d-draw?” She joked while her teeth chattered.
“But Juvia needs to win to pass, doesn’t she?” Juvia asked curiously.
Cana shook her head once and the red magical barrier blocking the gate vanished, letting he gate open and clear the pathway. “Y-You p-pass…” She said with a shiver, only to be relieved when the ice straight jacket fell into tiny fragments of ice a second later and She was pulled to her feet by Juvia and Ur.
“L-Let’s grab those two and h-head to the meet up p-point.” Cana was rubbing her arms rapidly to try and warm.
“I’ve got the big guy.” Ur said with a chuckle as she walked towards the downed Bickslow and Freed.
-Lisanna and Lucy versus Erza-
The ruins had been destroyed.
Flames burned everywhere and earthen walls, spikes, and boulders littered the area.
“Hah…hah…how is she so strong?” Lucy as breathing heavily, her magic power low after the drawn out fight against Erza. She’d done everything she could to help Lisanna win, she’d used Star Arms, she’d summoned Virgo to help deal with Erza’s Earth Dragon Slayer Magic, she’d used her Celestial Dragon Slayer Magic…and yet, Erza was still standing.
“Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!” Lisanna was nothing more than a brilliant golden flame arrow of intense heat and speed as she crashed into Erza’s defense.
Erza actually grunted, her feet cracking the rocky ground and digging trenches through it as she was pushed back. Her Earth Dragon’s Granite Scales were already torched black and some were starting to crack from the ever-increasing heat that Lisanna was putting out. “You’ve certainly grown, Lisanna…” Erza praised her dragon sister before the ground gave out and she lost her footing, being launched backwards as Lisanna’s feet and legs exploded with even larger flames to boost her forward from her stalled charge.
“RAAAHHH!!!” Lisanna roared, somewhere between human and dragon, as she poured every last bit of her magic power into her Secret Art. The granite scales shattered and the two women impacted a far wall.
BOOM
The wall…and everything around it and behind it…vanished in a massive explosion. The flames spread out, reducing stone to half-molten slag and drying out the air until it was painful to breathe. The flaming crater that was left behind roared with a blaze as a silhouette appeared in the flames.
“I…win…” Lisanna huffed out, staggering on unsteady feet as her vision faded in and out.
Erza, her scales and her Flame Empress Armor, both destroyed around her midriff area—along with her gauntlets missing and her top having been destroyed, leaving her tits free to the open air now—could only feel heat, some pain, and pride. Lisanna had come a very long way since they’d bene children. Her strength had eclipsed what Erza had believed Lisanna possessed, yet she couldn’t recall ever being so happy to have been proven wrong.
“You did well…” Erza got out as she slowly pushed herself up, grimacing at the pain in her stomach. “…as your proctor…you pass.” She smiled while picking up some rocks in the crater and munching on them to help recover her magical power.
“Lisanna!” Lucy rushed forward, as best she could with her own magical power so low, and caught Lisanna before she could fall flat on her face.
Lisanna looked up at Lucy as she was given a lap pillow on the blonde’s soft thighs. “I passed…” She said with a little smile on her lips, her eyes half open.
Lucy nodded, her own fatigue obvious. “Yeah, you did. You’re amazing, Lisanna.” She praised her dragon sister warmly, gently running her fingers through Lisanna’s white hair that was matted with sweat and covered in dust and soot.
“You wouldn’t happen to have…any fire on you…would you?” Lisanna asked as her stomach growled loudly.
Erza walked out of the crater, gingerly rubbing her stomach. “I could eat too…and maybe get a quick nap.”
“One sec.” Lucy smiled as she inhaled deeply, light visibly dimming around her as it was consumed. Once her reserves were restored a bit, Lucy let out a relieved sigh and picked up one of her Copper Keys. “Open, Gate of the Chalice! Crater!” The item Celestial Spirit appeared in a flash of light. “Could we get some water, please, Crater?”
The little Spirit didn’t make a sound, but Lucy could feel the happy agreement from her friend as the large chalice filled with cool water. Lucy took a drink, then helped Lisanna sit up a little and drink until she had sated her thirst. Erza took the chalice Spirit from Lucy and tipped it back, nearly guzzling the cool water down as her body was nearly overheated from being set ablaze by Lisanna’s fire.
Crater glowed slightly with its own magic before floating above Erza’s head and then pouring cool water onto her. The Spirit could tell the woman needed more than just a drink, so it provided what its user needed.
“Ooohhh…” Erza nearly moaned in bliss as the cool water cascaded over her half naked body. “Thank you.” She ran her hands over her skin, and didn’t even realize that both Lucy, and the half out-of-it Lisanna, were watching the water run down Erza’s body—especially her large tits—with enjoyment. “Oh?” Erza opened her eyes and saw Lucy and Lisanna looking at her. “Sorry, I got carried away.” She apologized with a soft smile. With some of her magic power restored from her short meal, she requipped her Flame Empress Sword and poured some magic into it, making flames alight on the tip.
“Mine!” Lisanna slurped up the flames like she hadn’t eaten in days. Erza, still low on magic power, let Lisanna eat as much as she could offer while she munched on stones, keeping a near-constant stream of magic flowing. “Hah…” Lisanna breathed out a couple minutes later, patting her stomach. “Much better.”
Lucy giggled and kissed Lisanna’s cheek. “Should we head out then?”
Erza nodded as she helped Lisanna get to her feet. “I’ll show you the way.”
“Maybe put a shirt on before we get there.” Lisanna suggested while still clearly eyeing up Erza’s large tits. “Not right now though, if you don’t want to.”
“I’ll let you two enjoy the view as a reward.” Erza smiled playfully as she took Lisanna’s hand in her right hand and Lucy’s hand in her left hand. Both of her dragon sisters watching the way her breasts bounced with every step she took.
The first trial was over.
Once everyone met up at the designated location, then the second trial would begin for those that had passed, while the others recovered at the set up Rest Area.
-End Chapter-
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Woo! Talk about some fighting!
Three of the teams failed to pass the first round!
Unlike in Canon, Juvia passed by not fighting Erza, but Cana instead. While Lisanna and Lucy fought until they nearly collapsed and only JUST managed to bring Erza down enough to earn a pass.
Mira was distracted with something MUCH more serious than a fake marriage this time around, a fake pregnancy! Kek!
Elfman certainly wasn’t expecting Evergreen to make THAT kind of claim either!
Mira makes it clear that SHE will be the first of the Strauss siblings to have a child! She’s the oldest! It’s only right! Hehehe!
Lisanna MIGHT have something to say about that though!
Cana took out Freed and Bickslow by inebriating the hell out of them until they collapsed from her Card Magic! But the powerhouses that Juvia and Ur are make it nearly impossible for her to Cana to take them both down.
Gildarts gives Levy the pass, because she was brave enough to fight, she thought ahead, showed great teamwork, reasoning, and judgement; everything an S-Class Mage needs! But he also imparts a lesson onto Gajeel…power alone is not the be-all-end-all when it comes to magic. Just because your brave enough to stand up and fight, doesn’t mean that it’s not equally brave to stand down against an opponent that outclasses you so much you’d only be throwing your life away. It takes both a willingness to fight AND a willingness to listen to become a good person and a good Mage.
Natsu took out BOTH of the teams facing him. Controlling the terrain is an incredibly potent ability! But he’s still Natsu, so he still wanted to fight all four of them at the same time! Kek! Bisca was the closest to understanding what it took to be S-Class…and she wasn’t even the one nominated!
There may have also been a little of their rivalry going on with Gray fighting harder and Natsu keeping him from S-Class for at least once more year!
Those two will never change.
What will the second trial entail? Will the Exceed alert everyone to their suspicions about Mest? How much longer until Grimoire Heart arrives at Tenrou Island?
Keep reading to find out!
Until I get your reviews, later!