Erza had always been a straightforward person, earnest and unguarded. She answered all of Rhodes' questions about her magic and fighting style without a hint of reservation.
After explaining, she even took the ti to encourage both Rhodes and Cana.
Rhodes, not missing a beat, moved on to ask about Mystogan and Laxus.
"As for Mystogan," Erza said thoughtfully, "I haven't interacted with him much myself, but I do know he specializes in illusion and sleep magic. He's the one who once cast a spell strong enough to put the entire guild to sleep."
She paused, thinking aloud. "A spell like that must require preparation. I think the key lies in the staffs he carries. If you're going to fight him, your best chance is to feign sleep before he draws the staff. Or strike him while he's casting."
"Hehe..." Rhodes chuckled awkwardly.
Yeah, easier said than done. Neither of those options seed particularly doable for the average person.
Unless he really followed through on that wild idea he brought up on the train once—having Alzack and Bisca snipe him from behind before Mystogan got his spell off.
But Rhodes doubted he'd go unnoticed. He could already sense when powerful eyes were watching him—Mystogan was on another level.
Ambushing him wouldn't be so simple.
"You've already seen Laxus in action," Erza continued. "He uses Lightning Magic and possesses imnse magical power inherited from the Master. He's a monster—speed, power, range, close-quarters, everything."
She frowned slightly. "Honestly, I don't know if I could beat him even with my Lightning Empress Armor."
Rhodes sighed. "This is going to be rough."
"The road to becoming an S-Class wizard was never ant to be easy," Erza said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "But I believe in you. If anyone can rise to that level... it's you."
Mira chid in with a teasing smile, "Erza, just a reminder—Cana is the one taking the exam."
"Huh?" Erza blinked. "Ah... right. Cana!" She suddenly looked flustered. "As one of the examiners, I can't believe I made such a basic mistake. I must atone by giving 120% effort during the test!"
Rhodes waved his hands quickly. "That's really not necessary."
But Erza wasn't listening anymore. "It's decided. I'll start my pre-exam training imdiately!"
"Erz—wait!"
Before Rhodes could stop her, Erza had already marched out of the guild with her sword in hand, presumably off to train until sunrise.
"Ara ara..." Mira laughed, clearly enjoying the chaos without a care in the world.
"Mira, please keep this a secret," Rhodes said grimly. "If word gets out, especially to whoever ends up facing Erza, they'll kill ."
Mira tilted her head playfully. "But I'm not very good at keeping secrets."
Rhodes thought for a second. "How about, I treat you to ice cream next ti?"
"Deal," she bead. "I'll try my best."
Even in winter, ice cream was irresistible.
" A hot seafood stewover here!"
"Coming right up~" Mira called out.
Rhodes turned toward the custor and grabbed a clean cloth to help with service. hot seafood stew? In this weather? Must be doing well for himself.
That guy clearly didn't take on any jobs, so how the heck was he affording this?
...
That evening, the four of them gathered again in the guild courtyard.
The ground had been freshly paved with wooden planks, sothing Mira had asked Laki to arrange during the day. The paynt? A detailed drawing of a chanical clamp that Rhodes had sketched out, a diagram Laki absolutely adored.
Rhodes couldn't help but wonder if Laki would ever find a boyfriend. And if she did... well, he offered a mont of silent sympathy for the poor guy.
Cana shared her latest findings with Rhodes. "Mickey's partner is confird, it's Joey."
"Joey?" Rhodes raised an eyebrow, imdiately picturing a buff figure. "You an that Joey? The guy whose muscles are even more over-the-top than Elfman's?"
Elfman looked mildly offended, but he couldn't really argue. When it ca to muscle training, no one in Fairy Tail could rival Joey. "That guy... he's a real man."
Cana ignored Elfman's comntary and continued. "Yep, that's him. His magic lets him enhance the muscle strength of himself and his allies, which pairs really well with Mickey's brawler style."
Rhodes nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense. Both of them specialize in close combat. And we'll also need to be ready for Mickey's magic bird—her interference might make things tricky."
"Be nice to Little Bi if you run into them, okay?" Mira chid in gently.
Little Bi—that was the na of Mickey's enchanted bird companion. While it could talk, it wasn't like Happy or Carla. It didn't count as a partner and was more of a support pet. It often transford into a microphone when Mira perford and helped her send ssages across the guild, which made Mira especially fond of it.
"Don't worry," Rhodes replied with a nod, then paused. "Wait... Are you assuming we'll have enough energy left over to hold back against two and a half fighters?"
"Ah..." Mira looked a little flustered. That might've co off as impolite toward Mickey and Joey. "It's just, because I believe in you and Cana. You're both really strong."
Her words gave Cana a much-needed confidence boost. "Anyway, as for st, his partner seems to be Wong, but st hasn't shown up all day, and Wong refuses to confirm it."
Wan, full na Wan Chanzi, was from Joey's generation. Their relationship was kind of like Macao and Wakaba's: rivals, but also good friends.
The main difference was that Wan didn't talk much. He was the type of person who stayed quiet no matter what. Even if you hit him with a stick, he still wouldn't say a word
Which was probably why he and Joey argued far less than Macao and Wakaba ever did.
Still, Wan might not have fewer fights under his belt. Just because he didn't talk much didn't an he couldn't throw down.
"He's just got that kind of personality, huh?" Rhodes said. "I don't think I've exchanged more than three sentences with him in the past six months."
He suspected st had chosen Wan as his partner precisely because of that personality, it lowered the risk of getting exposed.
"Yeah, his magic lets him transform his arms into steel hounds for attacking," Cana added. "Kind of reminds of Elfman."
Elfman imdiately looked offended. "Why do people keep comparing others to ? His magic's nothing like mine!"
"Well, he's still a close-range fighter," Rhodes said. "But the real trouble is st's space magic." He shared what the Master had told him—though, of course, he left out anything about mory magic.
"He can teleport. If you're even a bit slow, he could hit you with a sneak attack before you realize it."
It was basically unlimited blink. And he could even bring allies along with him. Rhodes was half-jealous, practically drooling at the thought.
"Spatial magic is a pain," Cana said, "but not impossible to deal with."
Her plan was simple, bait him into making a move. Whether it was by showing an opening or setting a trap with her card magic, there were always options if you kept your head.
After reviewing their opponents' strengths and weaknesses and drawing up a few rough battle plans, the two moved on to the next topic.
"Erza gave away so things earlier," Rhodes said, recounting her words from that afternoon. "And though she didn't say it outright, I'm pretty sure we'll be facing an S-Class wizard no matter what."
"In other words, one team will be eliminated in the first round, and then each of the remaining three teams will have to take on a different S-Class wizard."
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