Chapter 289 Rules
As soon as the list of eight people taking the S-level assessment was released, the guild members began to panic.
"Except for Mester, they are all from the top 16 of the previous tournament..."
"Come on, everyone!"
In the crowd, countless familiar figures seemed lost.
"Damn it! I failed again this year..."
"Don't be discouraged, there's still next year, Arzak."
Alzak had Bisca to comfort him. Although he was not selected, people around him were still envious of him.
Since their first date with Kira's "help", the two have been officially dating for a long time, and now everyone in the guild is waiting for the day they get married every day.
On the other side, Dolor and Jet, as usual, were all tied to Rebby. When they heard that Rebby was among the candidates, they ran around and shouted excitedly in the guild.
"Levy was chosen! Yay!"
Some were happy and some were sad, but among all the people, Gajeel was the most angry and confused.
"Why...why...even Juvia is not here..."
Indeed, Gajeel was Spectre's trump card, and with his ability, he was good enough to participate in this assessment. However, he was sent by Markrov to "Crow's Tail" as an undercover agent, so as not to arouse Ivan's suspicion, he was not selected.
Besides Markov, only Kira, Erza and Laxus knew about this matter; Gildarts had just returned to the guild and was not aware of Gajeel's past; as for Mira, she was thoughtful and although she vaguely guessed that Markov and Gajeel had a secret mission, she did not ask much out of trust in the president and her companions.
Markov continued to look serious and said to everyone, "There are some new members here, so I will explain the rules."
Following the president's words, Mira, the guild's signature girl, said to everyone: "In the first few days of this week, the eight of you need to each choose a partner!"
"partner?!"
"So, this is a battle between two teams?"
"And it also tests the cooperation between partners..."
Fairy Tail is a guild that values comrades very much, so Markrov also attaches great importance to cooperation among companions.
Several assessments in previous years have more or less incorporated this type of assessment items, such as randomly pairing candidates to fight against examiners , to test the tacit understanding between participants and their companions, their magical compatibility, and the magician's combat strategies and methods when facing various unexpected situations.
After all, to be an S-class wizard, strength alone is not enough, you also need brains!
From this perspective, many people in the guild have a long way to go, because although they are good at using magic, their IQ is very low.
After Mira finished speaking, Erza also added: "There are two rules for choosing partners: first, they must be members of Fairy Tail; second, they cannot be S-class wizards!"
Seeing the expressions of "I didn't know there was such a thing" on the faces of the new guild members, Markov continued to make matters worse and said, "The details of this exam will be told to everyone when we arrive at Tenrou Island, but... all the S-class wizards in the guild, that is, the five people behind me, will try to stop you!"
“Eeheeeh!!!!”
On the platform, Gildarts said solemnly: "Don't be surprised! This is the only way for all S-class wizards!"
“No way?!”
"Could it be...even Gildarts?!"
Seeing the uncontrollable ecstasy on Natsu's face, Gray was so surprised that his mouth couldn't close, and he shouted loudly: "You guy, don't be so happy!!"
"It's impossible for anyone to win against Gildarts, right?"
"No... maybe one?"
The people who were talking silently turned their eyes to Kira on the stage.
Noticing the looks from the others, and adhering to the idea of "killing someone means destroying their heart", Kira gave them a sinister smile: "I was better off back then! I only had one S-class wizard as my opponent!"
"And now? You guys have to deal with five S-class wizards! If Mistgan hadn't gone back to Edlas , you would have had one more enemy! It might get harder and harder in the future!"
Since the assessment process is different every year, and there have been situations in the past where one person has faced multiple examiners, they did not think there was anything wrong with Kira's words.
Some people who didn't know the inside story, after hearing Kira's words, even thought that the examinees would have to face all the S-class wizards at the same time, and they were almost scared to death.
Kira made such sarcastic remarks with a relaxed look, which made the people in the audience anxious and angry.
"This guy! I'm so angry!!"
"But he was telling the truth..."
"But then again, Kira is pretty amazing to have been able to qualify as an S-class wizard under Gildarts! And he was only 12 years old at the time!"
After knowing that the assessment was not against all S-class wizards, but only one of them, Lucy breathed a sigh of relief.
But when she thought about how incredibly strong the guys she was facing were, she, as the second most complaining person in the guild, was still so scared that her eyes almost popped out of her head: "Does that mean that unless you defeat one of these five people, no one can become an S-class wizard?!"
Behind her, Wallian said helplessly: "Now you understand that this is the difficulty, right?"
Another supporting actor's analysis: "I don't think they will show their full strength... Especially Kira, he is still easy to talk to..."
"Kira? From what I know about him, he should be..."
Lucy imagined the contestants encountering Kira:
Kira said to the examinees with a sly smile: "As long as you pay enough money, I will consider you the winner. How about that? It's very simple, right? You don't want to miss the chance to become an S-class wizard, do you?"
In front of him, the contestant and his partner offered all their property with both hands, crying and begging: "This is all the savings we have accumulated this year, please let us win!"
Kira took it with one hand, an uncontrollable laugh on his face: "Wahahahaha!!! Since you guys sincerely asked me for help, I will mercifully count you as the winner!"
Next to them, there were Erza, Mira, Laxus, and Gildarts, who were all unharmed , as well as the other examinees whose faces could not be seen but who had all fallen to the ground and were unable to fight anymore...】
Thinking of this, Lucy laughed awkwardly: "Uh...how should I put it? Maybe he is really the one who is easiest to pass..."
"don’t worry!"
At this moment, Kira shouted, "If you run into me, as long as you give me enough money, I might let you off!"
“Hey hey hey!!!”
"How could you say something like this so openly?!"
"Devil! This guy is simply a devil! What should I do? I'm so tempted!"
"Are you stupid? You haven't been selected for the test, so why are you so excited? Besides, you don't have any money!"
“Oh, yeah…”
At this moment, Natsu suddenly yelled, interrupting the discussions around him: "Stop joking! Since it's an exam, you have to show your true abilities and fight it out in an upright manner!"
"like!"
Lucy was speechless: "I knew it would be like this..."
"oh?"
Kira raised an eyebrow when he heard what Natsu said, "Really, Natsu? Even if we meet me or Gildarts, it doesn't matter if we show our true abilities?"
"When...mmmm..."
Gray quickly covered Natsu's mouth, "Don't say that, idiot!"
Laxus, as always, contradicted Kira: "Don't worry! I won't let anyone off the hook!"
"Even if it's Felide? What a pity, he admires you so much..."
Hearing Kira teasing Laxus in a familiar way, Erza said seriously: "This is a crucial guild assessment, how can we let it go!"
"hehe……"
After hearing what Erza said, except for Natsu who kept fighting despite repeated failures, the hearts of the people participating in the test all jumped.
"I don't know why, but I feel like meeting Gildarts is better than meeting Erza..."
In fact, everyone knows that if they really use their full strength, the probability of these people winning is very slim, so it is enough to get their "recognition". As for what method to use, everyone has his own set of judgment criteria. Anyway, it will not be the money that Kira mentioned!
So no one took Kira's words of "giving money and loosening the market" to heart.
Everyone knows that, based on the personalities of the examiners on the stage, only Erza will never let up. If she encounters this situation, she will definitely lose. There is nothing she can do if it really comes to that situation. After all, luck is also part of strength.
Amid the noise, Marklov said the final point of the ceremony: "The eight chosen people must bring their partners and gather at Harugeon Port within a week. That's all!"
