That night, Rhodes lay alone in his room, hugging only a pillow for company.
He didn’t feel physically unwell, Mira had simply insisted that he should get proper rest for once.
So here he was, bundled up under a thick blanket... cold, bored, and very much missing his fiancée.
There wasn’t even enough room to summon Warm to chat; the bedroom was too small, and the last ti he’d tried that, Warm knocked over a lamp and swallowed half a box of cookies.
With nothing else to do, Rhodes found his thoughts drifting to a strange idea: ’Could I pluck so fur from Warm and make a real Poro pillow?’
He imdiately felt guilty for thinking it.
Still wide awake, Rhodes reached over to turn on his bedside lamp. The warm glow filled the room as he pulled out a thick book from the nearby stack.
It was one of the tos he’d borrowed from the guild library, part of his self-designed "Magic Knowledge Crash Course Plan."
If he wanted to master powerful, flashy, practical super magic, he needed to build a rock-solid foundation. Which ant reading a lot of very, very old books.
Many of the volus in this collection were over two or three centuries old, so even older than Fairy Tail itself.
Naturally, this made them a bit of a chore to read.
Over the years, writing styles and vocabulary had evolved. Characters that were once common were now obscure, and entire terms had been abandoned long ago.
Thankfully, many of these ancient books had helpful margin notes, written in a neat, sharp hand. These annotations saved him countless hours of flipping through dusty dictionaries.
When Rhodes asked Master Makarov who might’ve written them, the old man had answered without hesitation: Precht, the second Guild Master. A brilliant mage, obsessed with knowledge and the pursuit of magical truth.
It was a sha, really. The borrowing records showed that no one had touched these tos in years. Precht’s efforts had gone largely unnoticed.
That was why, when Rhodes showed Makarov the books and ntioned how useful the annotations were, the Master had looked deeply moved.
After all, Makarov had been raised and ntored personally by Precht.
Knowing that soone younger was now learning from his predecessor’s wisdom clearly ward the old man’s heart.
Rhodes smiled faintly at the mory and flipped another page.
The dense, intricate text gradually made his head feel heavier.
He stifled a yawn, then flipped back a page and tucked a bookmark inside. He knew better than to read on in a foggy state, if he misunderstood sothing this late at night, he’d just have to unlearn it later.
With a click, the lamp went out.
And Rhodes drifted into a quiet, well-earned sleep.
...
December 8, X784.
The next morning, the Fairy Tail guild hall was packed.
The number of mbers returning from their missions was nearly as high as during the Harvest Festival, buzzing with energy, chatter, and anticipation.
That morning, not long after arriving at the guild, Mira, Erza, and even Gildarts were summoned away by Master Makarov and hadn’t been seen since.
The surprising part?
Gildarts, that notoriously lazy uncle who usually strolled in around noon, had shown up early today.
As expected, the announcent ceremony for this year’s S-Class Exam candidates was just as grand as last year’s, though this ti, it had been moved to a small stage in the corner of the hall, complete with a large, dramatic curtain.
As the ti drew near, the crowd naturally began to shift in that direction, buzzing with curiosity.
Natsu, Gray, and Elfman elbowed their way to the front row, shoving and grumbling as usual.
Gajeel, anwhile, stood off to the side with Panther Lily, chatting with a puzzled expression. All they knew was that the Guild Master had sothing important to announce, nobody had told them what that was exactly.
Juvia’s eyes, laser-focused as always, were locked onto Gray. She swayed nervously in place, trying to look casual. Lisanna, standing next to her, wanted to strike up a conversation but couldn’t find the right words.
Lucy scanned the crowd and finally spotted st tucked into a corner, keeping a low profile as always.
From Rhodes’s perspective though...
If he hadn’t known st was secretly one of their own, he probably would’ve decked him on principle, and then decked him again just for Mira’s sake.
’How dare that guy bully our sweet, slightly-delusional Lucy,’ Rhodes thought, amused. She’s got a screw loose in the cutest way.
Over on his side, Wendy and Carla were standing close by, already waiting for the big announcent.
Carla, as usual, took the initiative to strike up conversation.
"I’ve got a weird feeling about this year’s exam," she said, tail twitching anxiously.
Rhodes glanced over. "What, did you have another one of your visions?"
He didn’t put too much stock in Carla’s prediction magic. Not because she lacked talent, far from it.
The problem was she couldn’t control when or how the visions ca.
Sotis, she could predict events with uncanny detail, down to who would talk to whom, when the conversation would shift topics, and how it would end in a brawl.
Other tis... not so much.
There was the ti she’d seen a table shaking and dishes flying. Her grim warning of an impending earthquake had everyone on edge, only for the real event to be Master Makarov, in a foul mood, transforming into a giant and flipping a table in irritation.
The crockery hadn’t stood a chance.
The worst part was Carla’s mindset, always pessimistic. No matter what she saw, she imdiately assud the worst possible outco.
Carla squinted, trying to recall the hazy fragnts of her vision.
"I think... I saw Natsu crying."
"..."
Rhodes blinked.
Natsu? Crying?
’That sounded... unbelievably unlikely.’
Even Wendy tilted her head and offered gently, "Maybe he failed the exam?"
"I don’t know..." Carla muttered, frustrated. Her visions were as unreliable as they were intrusive, sotis too clear, other tis just emotional noise. And when she couldn’t make sense of them, they only made her more anxious.
Rhodes scratched his chin thoughtfully.
Most likely scenario? Natsu was eliminated, and in such a dramatic way that it completely shattered his pride.
But... how should he be eliminated?
If Rhodes went easy on him in a battle, that would be insulting.
If he went all out, that might crush him even more.
Rhodes glanced toward the stage where Natsu was currently jumping up and down, yelling for the old man to hurry up and make the announcent already.
The large curtain was drawn open with a soft swish.
Above the stage hung the Fairy Tail guild flag, proudly swaying.Master Makarov stood front and center, arms folded behind his back. On either side of him stood Erza and Mira, both calm and composed.
Just behind them, a step removed from the front line, was Gildarts—for once, wearing a serious expression.
That alone made so people whisper.
The usually lazy, carefree powerhouse was actually focused? Sothing big was coming.
The guild hall fell quiet for a brief mont...
Then soone broke the silence:
"C’mon, Master! Get on with it!"
Makarov cleared his throat softly to signal everyone to be quiet. The old man didn’t have a habit of long speeches during etings; he went straight to the point as soon as he opened his mouth:
"Next," Makarov said, his voice clear and steady, "I will announce the details of this year’s S-Class Mage Promotion Exam!"
A few gasps echoed through the crowd.
Most of the guild already had so idea, but Gajeel and Lily looked genuinely surprised.
Gajeel scowled, not out of hurt, but frustration.
Makarov didn’t pause.
"This year’s exam will take place on our guild’s sacred ground, Tenrou Island!"
"Tenrou Island?!" A wave of awe swept through the guild hall.
Even so of the senior mbers looked stunned.
Tenrou Island, the rumored birthplace of Fairy Tail. Many had heard of it... but few had ever seen it.
Whispers passed from ear to ear.
So said the island held the guild’s founding secrets. So said ancient history was inscribed upon its rocks.
Others claid the guild’s hidden treasure, accumulated over a century, was buried deep within, and that’s why Fairy Tail could afford to pay for all those property damage fees.
Rhodes had seen vague ntions of Tenrou Island in so of the older guild records while reading in the library. He knew it was protected by advanced concealnt magic, a domain of Fairy Tail alone.
But even Rhodes, despite all his reading, had never seen a single image of what the island looked like.
And what everyone didn’t know was, that on this small island, hidden from the world by powerful enchantnts and untouched by outsiders for decades....
A lone figure was quietly resting.
...
Bonus @400
Read Chapters ahead @patreon/Keepsmiling818
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