Cana pulled out her deck of magic cards. Many of them had been collected for her by Gildarts. As an incredibly powerful wizard, Gildarts had the connections and ability to acquire the best cards, and ever since he'd properly acknowledged her as his daughter, he'd become a total pushover, giving her only the best.

In the years she had spent traveling with him on jobs, he had even managed to change his womanizing ways, spending his time adventuring with his daughter instead. Because of this, he'd finally managed to save up a respectable amount of money (after paying for his usual property damage) and had spent it on upgrading her deck. In many ways, the powerful cards in Cana's hand were the result of Gildarts's hard work.

And now, the massive magic power she had inherited from him was beginning to truly awaken. She already had far more magic than the average wizard, allowing her to wield the powerful cards Gildarts had given her.

Bickslow was on guard. He would never underestimate a woman who was on her third S-Class Trial. He summoned his "babies" and launched the first attack. Cana clutched her cards and met his charge, and the two of them clashed.

The guild members watched the four battles on Noah's magic screens, completely engrossed. All eight participants were powerful wizards, each of them already at or near the S-Class level. Their fights were naturally fierce and spectacular, which was the ultimate entertainment for the battle-loving members of Fairy Tail.

Natsu, Gray, and Elfman were on the edges of their seats, looking like they were ready to jump in themselves. The younger ones, like Wendy, Yukino, and Meredy, watched nervously, just hoping no one got hurt too badly. Wendy was already mentally preparing her healing magic, ready to patch everyone up the moment their matches ended.

Others in the crowd were excitedly guessing who would pass the first round. A few even tried to start a betting pool, only to be immediately and painfully shut down by Noah. He wasn't about to let Wendy and the others get corrupted by gambling. That kind of bad influence had to be stamped out.

The battles quickly reached their peak, with all eight combatants unleashing their magic.

The first match to conclude was Freed versus Erza.

Everyone knew Erza didn't hold back during the trial, and the power gap between her and Freed was obvious. Although Erza didn't go all-out from the start, Freed was still decisively defeated after a short, intense struggle.

Lying on the ground and panting, Freed felt the sting of his first S-Class trial failure. He'd sparred with the S-Class wizards before, but this was the first time he'd faced one who was really trying. The gap was bigger than he'd ever imagined. 'But I gave it my all,' he thought, 'I didn't bring any shame to Laxus...'

The second match to end was Simon versus Mirajane.

Although Simon had a high resistance to dark magic, Mirajane's magic power, speed, and spells were all superior. She completely overpowered him in every aspect, and the outcome was clear. After a valiant effort, he fell. Simon wasn't surprised; he knew he'd probably lose the moment he saw her. But he would never surrender without a fight. From the sidelines, Kagura watched with a bit of sadness, but she was relieved to see her brother was taking the loss in stride.

The third result came from Lyon and Ultear. Despite knowing her techniques, Lyon was simply overpowered by the gap in their strength and was eventually defeated. But just as he was bracing for the news of his failure, Ultear looked at him thoughtfully.

"You pass," she declared.

Lyon, who had been expecting to fail, was stunned. "What?"

Ultear had intended to fail him, but on second thought, she changed her mind. His strength, his technique, and his judgment had all clearly reached the S-Class standard. There was no reason to hold him back any longer.

The fourth and final match was Cana versus Bickslow.

Their battle was the most drawn-out. While Cana was slightly stronger, she didn't have enough of an advantage to end it quickly. Bickslow, being older and more experienced, held his ground. They traded blows for a long time, neither gaining a clear upper hand.

Finally, Cana saw an opening. She drew one of her most powerful cards and unleashed a devastating attack, injuring Bickslow and finally tipping the scales. After a few more exchanges, Bickslow collapsed, and Cana was declared the winner.

With all four matches decided, Noah had them all return.

"The results are in," Makarov announced. "The candidates who have passed the first round are Lyon Vastia and Cana Alberona. You will now rest, and then you will face each other in the final battle. The winner will become our new S-Class Wizard."

Fire lit in both Cana's and Lyon's eyes. They looked at each other, seeing the same unyielding determination. They knew this would be a real fight.

Noah had the candidates rest. Wendy went over to heal Freed, Bickslow, and Simon. (Cana and Lyon had to recover on their own; it was part of the test.)

The guild members were all buzzing about the fights. Kagura went to comfort Simon. Evergreen, seeing her teammates down, went over to Freed and Bickslow, and Laxus followed her.

Freed looked up and saw Laxus coming over to console him. He was so overcome with emotion that he felt the entire fight had been worth it; he'd do it all over again.

Noah, watching Laxus's awkward attempt at being comforting, couldn't help but snicker. Laxus immediately sensed it and shot Noah a vicious glare. Noah just grinned and waved cheerfully. Laxus let out a deep sigh and turned back to his defeated teammates.

~~~

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