Everyone was buzzing with excitement for this year's S-Class Trial, especially Lyon, Simon, and Cana. Having all participated before, they were more determined than ever to finally pass.

A few days before the trial, Makarov announced the candidates. This year's participants were Cana Alberona, Simon Mikazuchi, Lyon Vastia, Bickslow, and Freed.

The examiners would be Erza, Mirajane, and Ultear. Sorano had declined, saying it was too much trouble and she'd already done it once.

As usual, Noah had selected a remote island and prepared the trial grounds. However, this time he had done it all using a Thought Projection, as his real body was still at the ruins, immersed in his research.

On the day of the trial, everyone gathered at the guild, and Noah teleported them to the island.

The moment they arrived, Sorano looked at Noah in surprise. "I thought you said you were too busy to be an examiner? Why are you here?"

The other guild members were also curious. Noah just smiled and explained, "I'm the one who picked and set up this location. If I didn't come, how would you all get here? Besides, I am busy. This is just a Thought Projection. My real body is still working."

Everyone stared at him. Sorano even walked over and poked his shoulder. "I really thought you were the real you! Just how strong are you if your projection can teleport this many people?!"

"Not strong enough," Noah replied. "Still need to work harder."

Nearby, Natsu's eyes lit up with a look of pure "genius." "Wait, if this is just his projection, that means it's weaker than the real him. If I beat his Thought Projection, that still counts as beating Noah, right?"

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu roared, launching himself at Noah. Happy immediately abandoned him and flew over to Wendy and Carla for safety.

"Not even considering how we'd get home if you did beat him," Gray muttered, "you can't even win against his projection..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Noah's hand flashed, and he one-chopped Natsu straight into the ground, leaving a large crater.

Gray didn't miss a beat. "How pathetic!" he taunted.

Natsu pulled his head out of the dirt, heard Gray, and immediately shot over to him. "You wanna fight?!"

"Bring it on!"

The two immediately started brawling, while the others, completely unfazed, began to cheer. Elfman even let out a bellowing shout of, "Manly!"

Noah looked on, a bit confused. He turned to Lisanna. "When did Elfman start doing that? I don't remember him shouting that before."

"Oh, that," Lisanna said, thinking. "It started after... that incident. He felt so guilty about not being able to protect us, he's been trying to become a 'real man' ever since, so he can be strong enough to protect his family."

Noah understood. It was the trauma from The Beast King incident.

The fight between Natsu and Gray was abruptly ended when Makarov, using his Giant Magic, slammed both of them into the ground with two massive fists. "Behave! The trial is starting!"

After knocking them out, Makarov announced the first round.

"There are five paths. Three of them are guarded by an S-Class wizard. To pass, you must defeat them. The last two paths merge in the middle. The two candidates who choose these paths will fight each other. The winner passes."

The five candidates looked at one another. Lyon, Simon, and Freed each chose a path. Cana and Bickslow chose the last two.

Noah and Makarov led the other guild members to the finish line to wait, while Noah created four large magic screens in the air so they could watch the battles.

The first to encounter his opponent was Lyon. He found Ultear waiting for him in the middle of the path. The two, as former pupils of Ur, didn't waste time on words and immediately began to fight. Ultear was stronger, but Lyon had sparred with her countless times and knew her moves. Though he was on the defensive, he wasn't defeated easily.

The second was Simon, who ran into Mirajane. Both of them were users of dark magic—one through Take Over, the other directly. Because of their shared element, they had high resistance to each other's attacks, and they were locked in a fierce, evenly-matched battle.

The third was Freed. He saw the flash of scarlet hair in the center of his path and his face fell. Erza wasn't the type to hold back, and he knew there was a significant power gap between them. But he quickly steeled his resolve. As a member of Laxus's Thunder Legion, he would not bring shame to their name. Even if he was going to lose, he would lose giving it his all.

Erza, seeing the determination on his face, nodded in approval. She instantly requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and waited. Freed took a deep breath, raised his sword, and began to write his runes in the air, launching his first attack.

Finally, the last two paths merged. Cana and Bickslow stepped out and saw each other at the same time, both pausing for a second. They instantly knew what this meant.

Bickslow lifted his visor, but Cana had already put on a pair of sunglasses.

Bickslow looked exasperated. His powerful "Figure Eyes" magic, which could control the souls of his targets, required direct eye contact to work. With the sunglasses in the way, his best weapon was useless.

Cana just smiled. She had come prepared. She wasn't going to bring shame to Gildarts.

Bickslow sighed. His Figure Eyes were sealed, but he still had his Seith Magic, "Human Possession," and his "babies." And if he could just knock those sunglasses off her, the fight would be his.

~~~

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