Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.
December 15, x787.
The fifteen minute intermission passed quickly. As soon as it did, Gajeel and Masa both jumped into the ring. Not even a second later, seeing that they were staring each other down, Ur announced the beginning of the fight.
"Fight!" Ur ordered in an authoritative tone.
Immediately, Gajeel dashed forward with his right fist reeled back for a punch.
"[Iron Dragon's Club]." Gajeel chanted as he threw his fist forward.
Reacting quickly, Masa evaded with minimal movements by tilting his upper body to the right. However, by the time he straightened up, Gajeel was already in his face. Still, Masa was able to chant a spell before Gajeel began his onslaught.
"[Enhancement Magic: Full body Enhancement]." Masa chanted as he tilted his head to the left, avoiding a jab from Gajeel.
Following his jab, Gajeel threw a series of punches and kicks. However, Masa was able to avoid them easily. Then, after about a minute, Masa once again tilted his head to the left, avoiding a right cross that Gajeel overextended on. And with his years of fighting experience, Masa capitalized on the mistake, immediately.
Masa then, while riding the little bit of momentum tilting his head produced, whipped his right elbow into Gajeel's left jaw. Then he followed up by kicking Gajeels' leading leg, causing him to lose his balance for a moment. After that, he gripped Gajeels' shirt with both hands before throwing him over his shoulder.
*Bang!*
In the next instant, Gajeel, without being able to break his fall, slammed back first into the ring. However, that did not even seem to slow him down, as he flipped hup kicking both feet, which had blades extending from their soles at Masa's chest.
Dodging quickly, Masa hopped backwards, though there were a pair of tears in his suit jacket.
"Now that I think about it, how is he just fine while wearing a suit like that in this heat?" Marin asked in a curious tone.
'It's because he's Masa~.' Alfonzo and Elicia simultaneously replied internally.
At the same time, back in the ring, Gajeel was standing across from Masa while rubbing his jaw.
"Not bad, old man." Gajeel said with a battle thirsty grin. "If I knew you could hit like that, I would have challenged you to a fight much earlier. But now, I think it's time to kick it up a notch. [Iron Dragon's Scales]. [Iron Dragon's Sword]."
Chanting two spells in quick succession, Gajeel was covered in silvery, metallic dragon scales. On top of that, his right hand elongated, growing into a double-edged blade. Only a moment later, he reached to his back with his left hand and unsheathed the bastard sword that was his [Soul Armament] in its sealed form.
At the same time, Masa spread his legs, dropping into a fighting stance. Then, as he spread his arms to either sides, he flicked his wrists, causing three small knives to fall out of each of his sleeves before catching them between the fingers of each hand.
"You think those knives will be able to do anything to me?" Gajeel asked as he dashed forward. "I'm an Iron Dragon Slayer. Metal weapons can't hurt me."
"Oh, I'm quite aware." Masa said in atone filled with poise. "but I'd rather not have you damage my suit any more than you already have."
By that point, Gajeel was in striking range once again. Then, he immediately swung his right arm, the blade transformed from his hand cutting towards Masa's right shoulder.
In response, Masa turn his body by a quarter, narrowly avoiding the slash. Then, he raised his right hand, intercepting the horizontal slash from Gajeel's [soul Armament], Metalicana, with the knives he held between his fingers. A moment later, Masa threw a high kick that landed on Gajeel's chin, sending the Iron Dragon slayer into the air.
"Hahaha! This just keeps getting better and better!" Gajeel cried excitedly while rising into the air. "Even with my [Iron Dragon Scales], I felt that one."
Not paying Gajeel any mind, Masa quickly threw two of his knives up into the air. However, it was obvious they would miss Gajeel, not that it would make a difference even if they hit him.
"I gotta say, old man, you should stick to fighting in close quarters." Gajeel said as he righted his posture in the air. "Your aim sucks.
"[Knife Magic: Knife Substitution]." Masa chanted calmly, completely unbothered by Gajeel's taunt.
In the next instant, at the moment Masa's knives were positioned over Gajeel's head, Masa vanished from where he stood. At the same time, the knives he threw dropped onto the ring harmlessly in the spot where he once stood.
"Oh, sh---" Gajeel muttered as Masa appeared above him positioned upside down in the air.
"[Enhancement Magic: Right Leg Enhancement, Full Power]." Masa chanted.
With Masa's chant, the magic power that was enhancing his whole body was all transferred into his right leg. Then, with great force, he kicked the air above him, creating a shockwave and shooting himself downwards. At the same time, using the momentum from his kick, Masa flipped himself around, bringing down an axe kick on the top of Gajeel's head.
*Bang!*
*Boom!*
With the force behind Masa's kick, Gajeel was sent hurdling down towards the ring. Then, on impact, the ring exploded, kicking up a cloud of dust. At the same time, Masa once again kicked the air, changing his falling direction before eventually landing outside of the dust cloud and picking up his previously discarded knives.
It took a few seconds for the dust cloud to settle. However, thanks to [Magic Power Detection], everyone knew that Gajeel was standing up. Naturally, that included Masa, who simply waited for the cloud to settle, while retaking his fighting stance and spreading his [Enhancement Magic] to his whole body again.
"Ugh… That really hurt." Gajeel's voice sounded out from the dust cloud. "But that's not enough to take me down. Now, it's really time to get serious. [Iron Dragon Incarnation]."
In the next instant, the dust cloud was blown away by a swipe of the tail Gajeel gained whenever he used [Iron Dragon Incarnation]. In its place, Gajeel covered in a thick, metallic armor that made him look like a humanoid version of Metalicana, stood with the [Iron Dragon Sword] dispelled and his [Soul Armament] still in his left hand. However, this time, Masa did not give him the chance to attack first, dashing forward as soon as the dust cloud was cleared.
"I don't think so." Gajeel said as he raised his hands in front of his mouth. "[Iron Dragon's Roar]!"
Gajeel then blew a swirling metallic breath between his hands at Masa. At the same time that Gajeel raised his hands, Masa once again threw his knives. However, instead of only two of his knives, he threw all six of them. Then, at a speed that was barely perceivable, he swept his arm forward once again.
"[Knife Magic: Four Corner Cut]." Masa chanted as he lowered his posture.
In response, Gajeel stopped supplying magic power to his breath attack. Then, he swung his sword in an arc, deflecting five of the six knives, with the sixth knife having been sent flying by the [Iron Dragon's Roar]..
"Knife Magic: Knife Substitution]." Masa once again chanted his teleportation magic, causing a single knife to appear where he once stood.
At the same time, Masa appeared right in front of Gajeel with his posture lowered.
"What, where did you come from? My [Iron dragon's Roar sent that knife flying. I saw it sail out of the ring."
In reality, although it was true that one of Masa's knives went flying, that was by design. Because the second time he swept his arm, he threw a seventh knife that collided with the one that was hit by the breath attack, at the exact same time. As a result, only one sound was produced while the last knife Masa threw ricocheted towards Gajeel's feet as the other one was sent flying out of the ring.
"Not that it matters, you'll never be able to break through the scales of an Iron Dragon." Gajeel said as he raised his [Soul Armament].
"Why do I have to break through them if I can attack what's inside directly?" Masa asked as he threw a palm strike that landed on Gajeel's chest.
*Clang!*
Instead of flesh meeting an iron object, the sound of Masa's strike echoed around as if his hand were made of metal. Meanwhile, Masa and Gajeel remained in their positions, with Masa's hand resting against Gajeels' chest and Gajeel with is sword raised in the air, ready to swing it down.
A moment later, Gajeel dropped his [Iron Dragon Incarnation] then, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, that Masa stepped back to avoid.
"Damn… You hit me in a way that caused a vibration to go right through my scales, huh?" Gajeel asked in a pained tone.
As soon as he asked his question, however, Gajeel fainted and fell to the ring.
"The winner is Masa!" Ur announced as soon as Gajeel hit the ring.
With the declaration of his victory, Masa immediately stepped forward and picked up Gajeel. Then, he rushed over to Wendy.
"I had to be pretty heavy handed, Miss Wendy." Masa said after arriving in front of Wendy. "So, I'm afraid hes' probably pretty injured. I do hope you could heal him before it's too late."
"Oh, of course." Wendy said as Masa laid Gajeel on the ground in front of her. Then, she knelt in front of Gajeel, as well, and used the diagnostic spell she learned from Tsunade. After assessing Gajeel's injuries, Wendy lay her palms on his chest. "[Sky Dragon's Mystical Healing Palm Jutsu]."
The spell Wendy just cast combined the [Heal] spell of her [Sky Dragon Slayer Magic] and the [Mystical Palm Jutsu] from the [Medical Ninjutsu] she learned from Tsunade.
"Wendy really has come a long way as a healer." Ur said with a proud smile on her face. "Last time I saw her heal someone, she used those two spell sequentially. But now, she's found a way to fuse them perfectly."
"Yeah, I guess that time in the Leaf Village's hospital really helped her advance her techniques." Alfonzo added with a smile of his own. "I wonder what Master Tsunade would say if she saw this."
"It's too bad Ur changed the rule back to only one wizard passing each year, huh?" Elicia said while smiling mischievously. "Otherwise, she would have probably been promoted for her prowess as a healer alone."
"Yeah, but unfortunately, Mom said in the rules that only the winner of the tournament has a chance to be promoted this year." Ultear added while shaking her head in a disappointed fashion. "*Sigh* It's too bad for Wendy, huh?"
Immediately, Ur's eyebrow started twitching. Then, she glared at Alfonzo fiercely. He was the one who put the idea that there were too many S-Class wizards in the guild into her head, after all. After seeing her glare, Alfonzo felt like he knew exactly what Ur was thinking. However, Alfonzo paid her no mind. She was the guild master, and she made the decision without discussing it with the S-Classes. So, it was her responsibility to bear.
While the S-Class wizards continued discussing Wendy's improvements and ridiculing Ur's decision to lower the number of wizards to be promoted again, Alzack and Rika hopped into the ring and waited for the match to begin.
Eventually, Ur noticed that Alzack and Rika were in the ring. So, to make sure that she did not explode in anger, she announced the beginning of the fight while putting all her attention on it so that she did not have to hear everyone making fun of her.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
As soon as the signal was given, Alzack drew his pistols, Ebony and Ivory before rapid firing at Rika. In response, Rika dashed to the side, enhancing her speed with magic power, avoiding all of Alzack's magic power infused bullets. At the same time, she pulled her rifle off her back. Then, while running, she aimed at Alzack and squeezed the trigger.
In the next instant, a stream of bullets were fired towards Alzack. However, despite the fact that he was only using a pair of pistols, Alzack, after he stopped firing at Rika, managed to shoot down all the incoming bullets while occasionally reloading.
Eventually, both wizards stopped shooting as they stared each other in the eyes.
"*Sigh* If you were this good a shot a few months ago, I might have either asked Bisca to share you or fight her for you, you know." Rika said with a smile. "Unfortunately, you showed me your skill a bit too late."
Hearing that, Alzack began dripping cold sweat from his forehead.
"Please, never tell Bisca that." Alzack begged. "She said if I ever tried to copy Alfonzo and have a harem, she would use my balls for target practice."
Immediately upon hearing that, Rika started laughing hysterically. Not only Rika, though. In fact, everyone present started laughing at Alzack's panicked expression. But the laughter died down quickly enough.
"Damn, that was funny." Rika said while wiping a tear from her eyes. "But now's not the time to laugh, we've got a fight to finish.. Come on, let's go."
"No, the fight's already over." Alzack said as he pointed at a small pit in the ring under Rika's feet.
"Huh?" Rika exclaimed in confusion as she looked down at the spot where Alzack was pointing. And when she noticed a magic bullet that was still emitting magic power, she could not help but curse. "Well, shit… You actually perfected it."
"That's right." Alzack replied with a nod. "[Guns Magic: Delayed Shot: Tornado Shot."
With that, the bullet lodged into the ring under Rika burst into a column of violently spinning wind that threw Rika into the air with great force and cut at her with wind blades before twisting around and slamming her onto the ground outside of the ring.
With Rika outside of the ring, Ur started her ten count. Meanwhile, Rika struggled to pick herself up. However, thanks to all the cuts, the loss of blood, and the pain from slamming into the ground, Rika was unable to get back into the ring in time. Though, through sheer willpower alone, she did get close.
"Ten!" Ur shouted, finishing her ten count. "Winner by ring out, Alzack Connell. Now, there will be a thirty minute break. Wizards, use that time wisely to prepare."
With Ur's declaration, Rika passed out, falling to the ground. At the same time, Wendy, who had just finished healing Gajeel to an acceptable degree, sprinted towards Rika, once again beginning the healing process.
"Wow! Wendy really is the MVP of this exam." Cana said in a feigned forlorn tone. "*Sigh* If it weren't for Ur's brash decision, she would definitely be promoted to S-Class this year."
"That's it!" Ur roared in anger. "I've had enough! You wanna see a brash decision? I'll show all you brats what a real brash decision looks like."
Immediately, all the wizards who were making fun of Ur vanished from their seats in bursts of speed. At the same time, Ur started chasing them all around Tenrou Island. And the entire thirty minute break was filled with the sound of trees, rocks, and anything else that got in Ur's way, freezing and breaking while chasing the S-Class wizards.