The dense canopy of Tenrou Island broke apart, revealing a sun-drenched clearing at the heart of the jungle.
Massive roots from the Tenrou Tree ford a natural amphitheater, offering a quiet haven from the island's oppressive, heavy magical atmosphere.
Ace walked into the clearing, his hands resting casually in his coat pockets.
Gajeel trailed behind him, tossing a new piece of scrap iron into his mouth with a loud crunch, while Levy hurried to keep up, wiping a smudge of dirt from her cheek.
Sitting in the center of the clearing was Master Makarov.
He relaxed on a large wooden stump, sipping from a small cup of tea.
Surrounding him were several glowing, floating lacrima orbs, each projecting a live magical feed from the other tunnels.
Makarov looked up, a warm, proud smile spreading across his wrinkled face.
"Ah that was fast... congratulations, you're the first team to clear the preliminary round. And you managed to get past Ace, no less. Well done, Gajeel, Levy!"
"It wasn't a walk in the park, Master," Levy breathed out, dropping onto a nearby grassy patch to rest her tired legs.
"Ace summoned a giant dinosaur. We had to get creative to pin it down."
"He's tough," Gajeel smirked, crossing his arms and looking at Ace. "But we hit harder."
Ace took a seat on a thick root next to the Master, leaning forward to look at the glowing lacrima screens.
"They earned their pass, How are the others doing?"
"The battles are just starting to reach their peak," Makarov said, gesturing to the floating screens.
"None of them are making it easy on each other. Take a look for yourselves."
Gajeel and Levy gathered around the glowing orbs. Their eyes were imdiately drawn to the screen displaying Route F.
Inside a cavern filled with heavy, dripping stalactites, Gray and Loke were locked in a fast-paced ga of cat and mouse against st and Wendy.
Gray slamd his hands into the stone floor, sending a massive wave of sharp ice spikes rushing down the corridor.
st didn't try to block it.
He grabbed Wendy's hand, his body glowing with a pulse of spatial magic.
In a flash, they vanished, teleporting safely to a high rock ledge across the room just as the ice shattered against the wall.
"He's fast," Gajeel noted, narrowing his red eyes. "Teleportation magic is a massive pain in the neck to fight. You can't hit what isn't there."
"He's evasive, but he isn't fighting back," Ace observed, watching the screen closely.
st was keeping Wendy out of harm's way, but he wasn't launching any counterattacks.
"If all he does is run and waste his magic reserves, he can't win. Gray just needs to freeze the entire room to cut off his landing spots."
On the screen, Loke leaped into the air, his fists glowing with blinding golden magic as he chased after st's teleportation trajectory, keeping the pressure high.
Levy shifted her gaze to the next lacrima, which displayed Route D.
Inside a flooded, knee-deep tunnel, Cana and Lucy were fighting a desperate battle against Freed and Bickslow.
Cana was breathing hard, her clothes soaked.
She threw a rapid barrage of glowing magical cards, explosions rocking the water's surface. Lucy stood back-to-back with her, summoning Taurus.
The massive minotaur swung his giant axe, trying to swat Bickslow's erratic, floating totems out of the air.
Freed stood calmly near the back of the cavern, his rapier drawn but not striking.
He traced a glowing purple rune in the air, creating a solid barrier that easily absorbed Cana's explosive cards.
"Cana looks really intense," Levy whispered, a hint of worry in her voice. "She's fighting like her life depends on it. I've never seen her push herself this hard."
"She has her reasons," Makarov said softly, taking a slow sip of his tea. "But determination alone won't break through Freed's Jutsu Shiki. If she wants to beat the commander of the Thunder Tribe, she'll need to pull out sothing extraordinary."
The next screen showed a destructive, chaotic fight in Route C.
Gajeel winced the second he looked at it.
"Ouch. That's a massacre waiting to happen."
Mirajane was hovering above the ground in her terrifying Satan Soul form, her dark, leathery wings spread wide.
A sinister, echoing laugh escaped her lips as she fired a relentless barrage of explosive dark energy at her brother and Evergreen.
Elfman was forced entirely on the defensive. He transford his right arm using his Beast Soul, crossing it in front of his face to block the explosive blasts.
The sheer force of Mira's attacks pushed him backward, his boots carving deep trenches into the stone floor.
Evergreen flew above them, frantically firing blasts of Fairy Dust from her hands, but Mirajane just casually swatted the magic away with the back of her demonic hand.
"Mira doesn't pull her punches when she transforms," Ace noted. "She's testing his endurance. If Elfman doesn't find a way to break her focus, she'll just wear him down until he drops."
"I don't know how they're going to get past her," Levy said, shaking her head. "Mira is just too strong."
They moved to the next screen, Route B, where the gap in power was just as obvious.
Erza stood in the center of a wide cavern, wearing her dark, imposing Purgatory Armor.
She held a massive, jagged broadsword in one hand, her posture relaxed but radiating a lethal intensity.
Juvia and Lisanna were attacking together, trying to coordinate their strikes.
Juvia unleashed a massive, pressurized wave of boiling water, aiming to sweep Erza off her feet.
At the exact sa ti, Lisanna transford her arms and legs into those of a tiger, rushing in from the flank with blinding speed to deliver a slashing strike.
Erza didn't even take a step back.
She simply swung her heavy broadsword in a wide circle.
The sheer wind pressure generated from the physical swing parted Juvia's water wave right down the middle, rendering the spell useless.
Without missing a beat, Erza brought the flat side of her blade up to easily parry Lisanna's claws, sending the younger girl stumbling backward.
"Your teamwork is sloppy," Erza's voice echoed through the lacrima feed. "You're attacking at the sa ti, but you aren't covering each other's blind spots. Try again!"
Juvia gritted her teeth, water swirling furiously around her body as she prepared another spell.
"Erza is playing the role of the examiner perfectly," Makarov nodded. "She's pushing them to see how they adapt to a wall they can't simply break through."
"Speaking of walls you can't break," Ace said, his eyes locking onto the final active screen.
Route A.
Inside a massive, open cavern, Natsu was roaring at the top of his lungs. His entire body was engulfed in blinding, white-hot flas.
He charged forward, launching a furious, high-speed barrage of punches and kicks.
Standing in the center of the inferno, looking entirely bored, was Gildarts.
Gildarts didn't dodge.
He just stood there, using a single hand to casually block every single one of Natsu's blazing strikes.
The force of Natsu's punches created explosive shockwaves that shattered the rocks around them, but Gildarts didn't move an inch.
"Take this seriously, old man!" Natsu yelled, leaping into the air and bringing a massive, flaming kick down toward Gildarts' head.
Gildarts just sighed.
He raised his left hand, catching Natsu's ankle effortlessly.
With a lazy flick of his wrist, Gildarts threw Natsu across the cavern. Natsu crashed through a thick stone pillar, tumbling into a pile of rubble.
"Natsu is stubborn," Gajeel smirked, leaning closer to the screen. "He's not gonna stop until he's out of magic."
"That stubbornness is his greatest strength, but also his fatal flaw," Ace said, his expression serious.
"Gildarts isn't even using his magic yet. He's just using his physical strength. When he actually activates his Crash magic, Natsu is going to hit a reality check he isn't ready for."
On the screen, Natsu burst out of the rubble, his flas burning even brighter than before.
He slamd his fists together, a feral unyielding grin on his face as he prepared to launch another reckless assault.
Makarov watched the fiery Dragon Slayer, his expression a mix of fondness and worry.
"The true purpose of the S-Class trial isn't just about winning. It's about recognizing your own limits! Let's see if our candidates can figure that out before the examiners break them."
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