Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.
December 15, x784.
As the last team to reach the caves, Gray and Meredy were naturally the last team to reach their opponent in the first round of the S-Class Promotion Exam. But when they arrived, they realized that this exam would be much more difficult than they thought.
"Of course, we'd run into Master." Gray said in an exasperated tone with a wry smile on his face. "I guess my luck isn't all that good today, huh?"
"It's good to see you, too, Gray." Ur said in a solemn tone. "Now, show me that you're worthy of becoming an S-Class wizard.
Hearing that, Gray breathed out all the hesitation he was feeling in a deep sigh. Then, his expression turned solemn as he made his casting gesture.
"Meredy, are you ready?" Gray asked as he began gathering his magic power. "This is going to be one of the hardest fights either of us has ever had."
"Yeah." Meredy said as she also prepared for the fight.
"Then let's go." Gray said as he pushed his hands forward. "[Ice-Make: Lance]."
A moment later, nearly a hundred ice lances materialized in front of Gray as they started extending towards Ur at high speed.
Meanwhile, Meredy, running alongside the extending [Ice Lances], covered her right hand in teal colored magic power.
"[Maguilty Sodom]." Meredy chanted as the teal magic power formed into the shape of a blade.
Reacting quickly, Ur made the same casting gesture as Gray. Then, she pushed her hands forward in a similar fashion to Gray, as well.
"[Ice-Make: Dahlias]." Ur chanted.
In the next instant, an ice shield in the shape of several dahlia flowers grew from the ground in front of Ur.
*Shatter!*
Then, as soon as Gray's [Ice Lances] smashed into the shield, both Ur's shield and Gray's lances shattered on impact.
"Impressive." Ur said with a slight smile as she took a step to her left.
Meanwhile, standing in the spot where Ur just stepped away from was Meredy with her right hand extended forward, having just missed piercing her [Maguilty Sodom] into Ur's abdomen.
"And your teamwork is pretty good, too." Ur added. "But you'll have to do better than that."
With that said, Ur whipped her left leg at Meredy's abdomen faster than she could react. Though, Ur did have to praise her young student for the way she tried to guard against her kick with her magic blade. Still, she was just a bit too slow to realize her plan.
*Bang!*
"Gah!" Meredy groaned in pain.
After receiving Ur's kick, Meredy was sent flying backwards at a much higher speed than when she approached.
"[Ice-Make: Slide]." Gray changed as he slammed his palms into the cave floor.
A moment later, a winding slide made of ice appeared in Meredy's flight path, stopping her from slamming into the wall behind her while reorienting her back towards Ur.
"[Ice-Make: Geyser]." Gray chanted once again, with his hands still in contact with the cave floor.
"Like I said..." Ur said as she stomped her right heel on the cave floor, freezing over her surroundings instantly. "You'll have to do better than that."
With the area surrounding Ur now saturated with her magic power, Gray's spell failed to cast, leaving him completely dumbfounded as this was the first time that he had ever been completely stopped from casting a spell. Sure, Ur had reduced the effectiveness of his spells before, but never had she completely negated his casting.
"Seriously?" Gray asked in a confused tone. A moment later, however, he shook his head and brought his focus back to the battle.
Meanwhile, Meredy, who had been sliding around the room on the slide gray created was once again facing Ur with her hands pointed in her teacher's direction.
"[Maguilty Rays]." Meredy chanted as yellow blades of magic power were manifested and fired in Ur's direction.
Noticing the incoming volley, Ur performed her casting gesture once more as she created a pair of thorny ice whips in her hands.
"[Ice-Make: Rose Whips]." Ur chanted as she elegantly danced through all the incoming magic blades.
Swinging her whips dozens of times with every step she took, Ur slowly closed the distance between herself and Meredy. Before she could get too close, however, Gray approached at high speed while carrying a large, spiked, ice hammer in his hands.
"[Ice-Make: Ice Impact].' Gray chanted as he swung the spiked, ice hammer down on his teacher.
At the same time, the volley of magic blades came to a stop. Though Meredy could definitely continue to fire them, the consequences of hitting Gray would not make this battle any easier.
Stepping back to avoid being crushed by the hammer, Ur flicked her eyes in its direction as it passed by her head. When she saw its properties, however, she quickly snapped the whip in her right hand at it.
A moment later, just before the hammer slammed into the cave floor, Ur's whip wrapped around its handle just under its head. As a result, the hammer came to a stop, less than an inch (2.54 cm) away from the floor.
"Not bad, Kid." Ur said with a grin. "Adding a little trick to the hammer that would freeze the immediate area upon impact was a good idea."
"Tch!" Gray clicked his tongue as he tried, with all his might, to force the hammer down onto the cave floor. "What good is it if you see through it and stop it before I can put it to use?"
"That's true." Ur replied with a chuckle. "Still, I should praise you for a good idea regardless, right?"
*Tap!* *Tap!* *Tap!* *Tap!* *Tap!*
At that moment, Ur heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. Raising her head, she looked over Gray's shoulder and saw Meredy approaching from behind him. Once again, her [Maguilty Sodom] blade was on her right hand as she ran.
"So, that was your actual plan, huh?" Ur asked as she raised her right hand to flick her other [Ice Whip] in Meredy's direction.
Seeing Ur's actions, and the fact that she took her attention off of him for a moment, Gray's eyes lit up as he flung the [Ice Impact] hammer upwards, before taking his casting posture once again.
Meanwhile, Ur, who had been using a decent amount of strength to stop Gray from slamming the hammer into the cave floor, had her balance disrupted greatly when Gray raised the hammer so abruptly.
Simultaneously, Gray made his casting gesture. Then, once he pushed his hands forward, Meredy arrived behind him and put her hands on his back while connecting the two of them with [Maguilty Sense].
"Do it, Gray!" Meredy shouted as she flowed her magic power into her team mate.
"Right." Gray said calmly as he cast his spell.
"[Unison Raid: Ice Cannon]." Gray and Meredy chanted in unison.
In the next instant, a large, bazooka-shaped cannon was formed out of ice above Gray and Meredy, before it fell onto their left shoulders. Catching the cannon and making sure it was held securely, Gray aimed its muzzle at Ur, whose arms had been spread out due to preparing to attack Meredy and having her balance thrown off by Gray.
Then, without any words or hesitation, Gray pulled the [Ice Cannon's] trigger.
*Boom!*
Fired from the [Ice Cannon's] large muzzle was an equally large missile made of ice, making contact with Ur almost immediately afterward. At the same time, the recoil from the cannon shot pushed Gray and Meredy backwards until they came to a stop against the wall behind them.
"Ow, that really hurt." Meredy said as she stepped from between Gray and the wall while rubbing her butt.
"Yeah, sorry about that, Meredy." Gray said, not taking his eyes away from the explosion sight. "I've used the [Ice Cannon] before, but it never kicked back like that."
"Well, this one was made with both our magic power." Meredy replied with a smile. "So, it makes sense that it would be stronger than before, right?"
"Yeah." Gray replied with a nod.
"By the way, Gray." Meredy asked, sounding a bit awkward.
"What's up?" Gray asked curiously.
"Well, when we cast the spell, you were fully dressed." Meredy said awkwardly. "But how did you end up almost naked between the time we fired the cannon, and I stepped out from between you and the wall?"
"Huh?" Gray exclaimed in confusion before looking down at his body. "What happened to my clothes?"
Letting his eyes scan cave, Gray noticed that his clothes, excluding the underwear that he was still wearing, were scattered all over the floor between the spot where he stood and where he fired the [Ice Cannon] from.
"I often wonder the same thing, Meredy." Ur's voice replied from inside the cloud of diamond dust Gray and Meredy's spell created when the ice missile exploded.
Hearing Ur's voice, both Gray and Meredy's head's snapped in its direction. A moment later, the diamond dust was scattered when Ur swung the [Ice Whip] in her right hand.
"Seriously?" Gray asked in dumbfounded amazement. "Even an explosion like that at point blank couldn't take her out?"
"Ur's kind of scary." Meredy said, hiding behind Gray.
Although the fact that Ur walked out of an explosion like the one she and Gray just made, the reason for Meredy to find Ur scary was the constant twitching of her teacher's eyebrows while she smiled at them kindly.
"Definitely." Gray replied with trepidation. "I can tell that she's super pissed off right now."
"I'll admit it, that was a well-executed attack." Ur said with a warm smile. "I honestly did not see it coming. I'm just lucky I had that ice hammer wrapped up with one of my whips. Slamming it into the missile weakened the explosion by just enough that I wasn't too badly hurt by it."
With that, Ur threw away the remains of the destroyed [Ice Whip] she held in her left hand. At the same time, Ur started walking towards her two students. And as she did, her clothing began to fall apart, leaving a trail of ice dust behind her as she stepped forward. By the time her clothes finished crumbling away, Ur was walking towards her pair of students barefoot while wearing only a set of black lingerie with purple lace.
"Unfortunately, the two of you need to be punished for destroying my clothes." Ur said, her smile growing warmer as she approached. "I paid an arm and a leg for Lici to make those for me."
A moment later, not only Gray and Meredy shuddered in fear, but even Ultear began to shudder violently as her expression paled rapidly.
"Lici is gonna kill us when she finds out about this.' Ur, Gray, and Meredy thought simultaneously.
With that thought, all three combatants slumped their shoulders in dejection.
"*Sigh* There's no point in continuing this fight." Ur said in a depressed tone. "You've proven that you're strong, resourceful, and skilled enough to be an S-Class wizard of Fairy Tail. So, you pass the first part of the test."
"No, I think we should continue." Gray said with determination in his eyes. "At least if you knock me out after a hard fought battle, Lici might show me some mercy."
Hearing that, Meredy nodded her head rapidly in agreement.
Ur, on the other hand, smiled at Gray with the warmest smile yet. Then, she approached and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"That's not an option, Gray, Meredy." Ur said in a bright, cheerful tone. "If I have to suffer Lici's wrath because of this battle, then as my students, shouldn't you weather this storm with me?"
Hearing Ur's shameless words, Gray and Meredy both glared at her disdainfully. Ignoring their glares, Ur wrapped her arms around her student's shoulders and started dragging them towards the newly opened entrance.
"Anyway, since you passed, we should hurry so the two of you can get some rest before the second part of the exam begins." Ur said, seemingly having not noticed her students glares at all. "And you're in luck, the resting area is a hot spring. So, you'll definitely be able to relax between rounds."
While all the teams who passed the first part of the exam were gathering at the hot spring to rest before the second part began, the two teams who were eliminated, Elfman and Evergreen, and Mest and Wendy, were brought to the base camp the S-Class wizards set up in the past few days while preparing the island for the exam.
"Ugh… where am I?" Wendy asked in a groggy tone as she woke up.
"Oh, you're awake, Wendy." Mest replied.
Opening her eyes slowly after hearing Mest's voice, Wendy saw him sitting next to the place where she had been sleeping.
"Did we… lose?" Wendy asked, sounding a bit downcast as she already had an idea what the answer to her question was.
"Unfortunately." Mest said with a nod. "Still, I think we did pretty well. Considering that was our first time fighting together and the fact that Juvia and Lisanna have teamed up a lot over the past few months. Don't you think?"
Though she did not respond verbally, Wendy nodded her head in agreement.
"If you're up to it, why don't we go for a walk and discuss what we could have done better in that fight?" Mest asked with a smile. "Besides, getting to see the beach without being attacked might take your mind off the loss, too."
Hearing that, Wendy looked at Mest skeptically once again while thinking that he was definitely a loli-con.
Meanwhile, Mest, though he did not know why, felt himself becoming quite irritated by Wendy's stare.
"Okay." Wendy replied quietly.
Even though she was skeptical of Mest's motives, she knew that at the very least, Alfonzo, Ellicia, and Ur were watching the whole island with [Magic Power Detection] to make sure nothing happened to any of the exam participants. So, she had very little to worry about.
With that, while discussing the battle they had with Juvia and Lisanna's team, Mest and Wendy left the camp and walked towards the shore.