It's finally time for the year X784's S-Class exam. Makarov announces the candidates for this year's exam.
"Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Elfman Strauss, Freed Justine, Levy McGarden, Juvia Lockser, and lastly, Mest Gryder! That's it."
There are 7 candidates this year, not 8 like in the story because Cana is already an S-Class. Mest still infiltrates the exam just like in the series though and Alex lets it be even though he knows about Mest's real intention and identity.
Actually, Alex is surprised that he doesn't forget about Mest at all. He thought that Mest's magic would work on him and he would forget about Mest. But it didn't work and he always remembered Mest.
Even now, Mest's memory manipulation that is used to "infiltrate" Fairy Tail as a mission from the Magic Council also doesn't work on Alex. He still knows all the truth about Mest, but of course, he doesn't reveal anything because no one will believe him anyway.
This is all thanks to the Tailed Beasts in his body. Mest's memory manipulation doesn't work on him because of the Tailed Beasts. After all, Alex and the Tailed Beasts are actually a single entity, so it's like casting the spell on 10 individuals at the same time.
Also, despite being just clones of the real Tailed Beasts in the Naruto World, the Tailed Beasts' minds are still especially powerful because they have thousands of years of memories and they have high resistance toward mental attacks.
This memory manipulation magic is a kind of Genjutsu if it's categorized as a jutsu in the Naruto World. The Tailed Beasts have great resistance to Genjutsu, except for Genjutsu created by Sharingan or Rinnegan.
Kurama said that it was because Sharingan and Rinnegan originated from the Chakra Tree, which is also their origin. Also, Hagoromo who split the 10 Tails apart into the 9 Tailed Beasts and the Demonic Statue also used Sharingan's and Rinnegan's power to do it, that's why those eyes can affect them greatly.
Other Genjutsu won't have as great an effect on them as Sharingan Genjutsu. That's why Kurama fell under Madara's and Obito's genjutsu, but didn't fall for others' genjutsu.
Anyway, now that the candidates have been announced, Makarov tells them that they need to choose a partner each for the trials. The exam will start next week, so they can prepare themselves before that.
The partnering is similar to the series. Natsu chooses Happy, Elfman "chooses" Evergreen, Freed chooses Bickslow, Levy "chooses" Gajeel, Juvia chooses Lisanna, and Mest chooses Wendy.
Gray's partner is different though because Loke or Leo isn't a Fairy Tail member now. Layla saved Leo and Aries before Leo was forced to break the rule of the Spirit World, so he wasn't punished and didn't join Fairy Tail.
So Gray needs to choose another partner and surprisingly he chooses Lucy. It's mainly because they have been teaming up many times, so they know each other's abilities. But it's surprising that he chooses her because Cana who should be partnering up with Lucy is already an S-Class now, so she shouldn't be chosen.
Funnily enough, Lucy plans to go home to get Leo's and Aries's keys from her mother. Layla didn't give the 2 keys yet because she deemed Lucy wasn't ready yet to carry those 2. Lucy already has Capricorn, Cancer, Aquarius, Taurus, and Sagittarius when she left home.
Now, she has another Zodiac, Virgo, that she got after completing a job. She has grown a lot too since she left home, so she thinks she is ready to get Leo's and Aries's keys from her mother. It's also to help Gray in the exam that obviously will be difficult.
So basically, Gray will team up with Leo or Loke again if Lucy manages to get the keys from her mother. Actually, he will have more partners than other candidates now if the Zodiacs are counted and Lucy already contracted 6 Zodiacs now, so it's like Gray has 7 partners that can switch anytime.
Juvia who's always jealous of Lucy for being close with Gray gets even more jealous. For her, being Gray's partner for this exam is even more important than being the S-Class candidate itself. But well, there's nothing she can do about it now.
Then, the time for the exam finally comes. The candidates, their partners, and the examiners leave Magnolia and will go to Tenrou Island. They have made as many preparations as they can and now they just need to show the results.
Alex is still worried about many things, but he tries to hide all his worries. Sometimes knowing what will happen is really not a good thing because now he can't fully concentrate on the incoming exam.
He isn't just worried about what will happen in Tenrou, but also about the Guild and the members that will be left behind. Fortunately, the Guild should be alright even if the same thing still happens on Tenrou Island.
Alex has done many things to strengthen the Guild members. He has helped the young members get stronger by giving them advice and training with them. So they should be stronger now than they were in the series.
Also, they have Phantom Lord's former S-Class Mage, Totomaru in their Guild now. Totomaru is not chosen as a candidate and no one chooses him as a partner. He feels disappointed that Juvia doesn't choose him even though they've known each other for a long time, but it doesn't really bother him.
After all, since he joined Fairy Tail, he came to understand why this Guild can be the strongest in Fiore. The S-Class candidates are already as strong as most Guilds' S-Class Mages, and other members are also strong for normal members, so it's no wonder that Fairy Tail can be the strongest despite not having as many members as the now disbanded Phantom Lord.
Anyway, with Totomaru there, Alex doesn't need to worry the Guild will be in trouble anytime soon. After all, he is also a smart guy and he has become a much better person since he left Phantom Lord. He wasn't really a bad person in the past. He was just following the wrong person.
They also now have a rich supporter, the Heartfilia Family who will help them if they ever fall into a financial crisis like in the series. Alex also has left a lot of money from all his high-paying jobs for the Guild in his bank account just in case he fails to stop Acnologia later.
Heck, he even wrote a lot of advice notes for his Guild Mates and left them in the library and his room. Of course, the advice was all from the Tailed Beasts because he isn't smart enough to understand other people's magic.
But nevertheless, those notes will be useful for his Guild Mates when the Tenrou Team that's composed of their strongest members are gone for 7 years. Even if they succeed in returning, those notes will still help them, so it's still very useful either way.
Besides, they also help Alex a lot. By learning more about his Guild Mates' magic, Alex can also improve his magic, or to be precise, the Tailed Beasts can improve their magic. At most, Alex would have ideas, but it would still be the Tailed Beasts that think about how to really do it because Alex didn't know how to make his ideas come true.
Trying to help his Guild Mates was also a reason why he could get stronger at a very fast rate aside from not needing to supply magic power to break the Tailed Beasts' seals anymore. He tried to help others, but he also ended up helping himself.
Alex has done everything he could to get as strong as possible for this event. Even so, he is still not sure if he can repel Acnologia. After all, even with his very fast growth, he is still just someone who has used magic for around a decade while Acnologia has been so strong for centuries.
'I hope the Gods also gave me plot armor when they decided to give me all these powers.' That's Alex's silly but hopeful thought when the ship finally gets close to Tenrou Island.
The S-Class candidates are now gathered on the ship's deck as the ship suddenly stops even though they are still far from the island. Makarov stands on the higher floor and announces that the S-Class exam is officially started.
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Ch. 179. Alex vs Jura