The trials this year are the same as the ones in the series. Only the details of how they'll do the trials will be different because the examiners and candidates are quite different.
So the first trial is still the same, crossing the sea to reach the island. Well, it's not really a trial and more of an opening because there won't be elimination.
It's just the faster they can move, the more advantage they'll get because once they reach the island, they'll need to choose a path among 5 caves for their 1st trial, so the earlier they arrive, the more options they have.
The candidates have been briefed about the 7 paths they can choose. 3 of those paths will be blocked by examiners while the other 4 paths will merge into 2 paths, so 2 paths will merge into 1.
That means 3 candidates will need to pass the examiners while 4 candidates will fight each other to pass to the next stage. That also means that 3 examiners won't have anything to do in the 1st trial.
Alex is not among the idle ones, of course. He'll block one of the paths together with Gildarts and Laxus. Makarov assigns them because they are the most experienced S-Classes, so they'll know how to evaluate the candidates because there's just no way the candidates can defeat the S-Classes to pass this stage.
Among all S-Class examiners, Erza is the last option to examine this stage. She is just too serious and will really allow the candidates to pass if they defeat her. As for Mira, they're worried she might snap back to Demon Mirajane, while Cana is too carefree with her judgment.
That's why the 3 S-Class men are doing the job because they have been examining the S-Class exams more than the female S-Classes. So they know their limit and what the Guild is expecting from the candidates to be an S-Class Mage.
Alex is waiting for a while until the pair that will undergo his trial arrives. He is sitting on the floor, leaning on Meteor's big & fluffy belly. The big bear is closing his eyes, but he's not asleep, just resting like Alex.
"Hoh, this is unexpected. I never thought it would be both of you out of all people."
Alex grins while looking at the candidate team that picks his path. They didn't know what kind of paths they would take, so everything is random, and coincidentally, the one that picks Alex's path is Gray and Lucy.
Gray is Alex's fellow disciple when they were taught by Ur, so he's like Alex's little brother. Lucy is kind of like Alex's little sister because he has lived in her family's home for around a year. So it's like Gray and Lucy are coming here to get their big brother's approval to pass the test.
"Geh! Alex!" Gray's expression turns complicated instantly. He already knows Alex longer than anyone in the Guild, so he knows that passing Alex won't be easy. Well, there's no easy path either way, so this might be better actually because they know more about Alex.
"Alright, before we start, I'll let you choose which beast form you want me to be. I'll only use that form until the end, so choose carefully because it will affect how you'll fight me."
Alex gives them half a minute to choose or he will choose it himself. Gray thinks quickly and immediately chooses Isobu form. It's because Isobu's magic is Water Magic, so his Ice Magic will have an advantage over it.
At least that's what he thinks because he knows that it still won't be that easy. Alex is still very strong, so at most, this will only help them a little. Besides, Isobu's power isn't just Water Magic, so they won't win just because of that advantage.
Lucy thinks differently though. She thinks that they need to choose Matatabi because she has Aquarius that can control water. They'll have elemental advantages over Matatabi's fire with their water and ice.
Gray and Lucy discuss and argue while the half minute time is getting closer. Alex just keeps counting down, making them even more panic. Then in the end, they finally choose to fight Alex in Matatabi form.
As Lucy said, they have elemental advantages over fire, so Matatabi is the best opponent. Also, they're used to Fire because of Natsu, and Gray even fought with Natsu very often when they quarreled, so they know how to face Fire Magic more than Water Magic.
"Alright then, it's your choice, so don't regret it." Alex grins as he transforms into the Humanoid Matatabi form. Meteor backs away to a rather hidden spot deeper in the cave so he won't be affected by the battle.
Alex taunts them to come at him and they quickly use their spells. Gray creates 5 big Ice Lances and throws them at Alex while Lucy summons Aquarius as planned.
But Alex just grins while creating 5 Fire Lances to counter Gray's Ice Lances. The Ice Lances break apart while the Fire Lances still keep going at Gray and Lucy.
"WHAT THE HELL?! SHOULDN'T WE SUPPOSE TO HAVE THE ELEMENTAL ADVANTAGE?" Gray shouts in surprise while jumping away to dodge.
"You sure have it, but my spell is just too strong compared to yours, so even the elemental advantage won't matter anymore. You won't always have the advantage even if your Magic's elements should be superior to your opponents. After all, you can overcome some disadvantages just with brute force. Lucy, seems like you forget that I could evaporate sea water not long after you joined Fairy Tail when you did an S-Class job illegally. Do you think I can't do more than that now?"
Lucy's face becomes pale when she remembers that. Alex can evaporate the sea, but she can't make more water than the sea even with Aquarius. So now the advantage that she thought of has gone.
"There's no use thinking about that anymore now, Lucy. Let's just think of how to deal with his Fire Magic. For now, just attack him with your strong Water Magic." Gray says it while moving in front of Lucy and Aquarius.
"Alright. Aquarius, Big Water Drill!"
"Tsk! So annoying." Aquarius complains as usual, but still does what she's ordered to do.
She swings the jar on her hands and a lot of water comes out of it. The water then forms a massive rotating drill that flies toward Alex who raises his right hand, ready to send his Fire Magic to counter it.
But then, another massive drill appears beside the big water drill, but it's made of ice. Gray makes the Ice Drill very quickly to support Aquarius's Water Drill. His Ice Drill rotates in another direction too, so this should give Alex more problems.
"Heh, not a bad move." Alex is honestly impressed by Gray's quick thinking and spell casting speed. After all, Gray can create such a big drill very quickly even though it should need a significant amount of magic power to create.
Too bad for them though, Alex can cast his spells even faster. He can even change the spell he's about to use midway because Matatabi can control fire as she pleases and Alex can do the same when transforming into her.
He was planning to counter Lucy's Water Drill with a Fire Drill. But now that Gray makes an Ice Drill, Alex changes his Fire Drill into a Rotating Fire Shield that looks like a massive Circular Fire Saw.
The Circular Fire Saw's rotation is so powerful it cuts the ground beneath it that it touches. Its powerful and fast rotation also breaks the Water and Ice Drills that touch it. They are grinded and evaporated by the big Circular Fire Saw Shield.
Gray and Lucy try using different attacks from different angles. They even try to use sneak attacks like hiding another attack behind an attack, but Alex can destroy them all with his Fire Magic.
Then after a while, Gray realizes that Alex hasn't moved from his spot and never attacked them first. He doesn't attack even when they stop attacking for a while and chats with them instead even though it should be a good chance to attack them.
"Don't tell me, you are not allowed to move from your spot and can only defend yourself?" Gray asks with a frown.
"Eh?! Really?!" Lucy hasn't realized it, but then she also realized that Alex hasn't moved from his spot since the beginning.
"Who know? Maybe I just don't need to move to fight you." Alex smirks mockingly and irritates them, but it just makes them more sure that it's the case.
"Wait! Then that means we can just walk around him and he won't attack us as long as we don't attack him, right?" Lucy asks while rubbing her chin.
"As if it will be that easy, idiot!" Aquarius clicks her tongue in despise.
"WHAT'D YOU SAY?" As usual, Aquarius and Lucy always quarrel every time they meet.
"Calm down, Lucy. She's right, it won't be that easy. I guess that instead of defending himself, he is defending his area. So if we just try to pass him, he will attack us. But he doesn't attack us first now because we are not trespassing the area he protects." Gray explains his assumption.
"I see! That must be something like a limitation put on him because there's no way we can defeat him if he doesn't have any handicap."
"Yeah, there's no way we can pass someone like him or Gildarts if they aren't limited by some rules."
Both of them confirm it by not doing anything for a minute and Alex really does nothing to them. But he attacks them when they try to pass by him. So they decide to discuss their strategy to pass Alex's protected area because there's no way they can defeat Alex even if he can't move.
So the best way is to just pass him. But they need to find a way to do it because Alex will not just let them pass. Now that they've finally discussed their strategy, they are ready to face Alex again.
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Ch. 180. 2 Monsters