It's finally time for this year's S-Class exam. There shouldn't be a new S-Class this year if it goes the same as in the original story. But Alex can't be sure because many things have changed and maybe something different will happen in this year's S-Class exam.
Well, maybe Alex was just too optimistic about it because no one passes the exam this year. Cana and Erza are actually chosen as candidates, but they fail in the 1st trial.
This year's 1st trial is a test of willpower. They simply need to stand for 10 minutes. However, they need to stand while being pressured by Gildarts' magic power. Of course, Gildarts doesn't use his full power. Even so, it's still enough to put the candidates on their knees.
Only 1 person passes the 1st trial. It's Samuel, the man who fought Alex in last year's exam and lost. But Samuel fails again this year and this failure strengthens his decision to retire soon because he is already too old and his power is also stuck at this level.
After the exam, Cana tells Alex that she wants to quit his team. She wants to work alone because she feels she can't improve if she keeps following him or her father. She can't push her limits when she's with them because they will handle most of the problems themselves.
Alex lets her do what she wants because he also realizes that he is actually slowing Cana's progress instead of helping her by teaming up with her. She is already at a stage where she needs to find her own way, not just following others to learn.
So now, Alex's team has lost a member. But well, he got 2 new members last year, so he doesn't need to recruit more members. Wendy and Carla might still be very weak, but their abilities are more helpful to him than his other Guild Mates.
Alex is already very strong by himself and he doesn't really need help to clear most jobs. He can even do most S-Class jobs alone. So having strong teammates isn't really necessary for him.
But he knows that anything can happen in his jobs because S-Class jobs are still very dangerous. So he still needs others to help him. Wendy's and Carla's abilities are the best helps for him even if they are still weak.
Wendy can raise his power a little and heal his injuries which are very helpful. Carla still doesn't know about her future sight ability, but her ability to fly and her small size are very helpful because she can be a scout sometimes.
Alex needs teammates who can support him more than those who can fight alongside him. Wendy, Carla, and Meteor are enough to help him. The bear cub is working now. He carries the team's luggage, so he doesn't just eat for free.
Well, besides, Alex has promised to take care of Wendy and Carla. Taking them on his jobs is his way to take care of them because he can teach them many things and give them valuable experience.
Though he won't bring them when the jobs are too dangerous for them. He will team up with other members temporarily or even go by himself. Alex has proved himself enough to Makarov that he is allowed to do even S-Class jobs alone.
Laxus is also allowed to do it now, but he already has a team, so he always goes with his team, the Thunder God Tribe. His team is finally complete now because Evergreen has joined them.
Year X780 goes by with only some big events, based on Alex's opinion. The 1st event is Mystogan finally joins the Guild in the middle of the year. He already hides his identity from the beginning, so only some people know his face.
Alex was always curious how Mystogan joined the Guild. Turns out that it was because of Porlyusica. They met and Mystogan found out that she was also from Edolas.
Seems like she told him to join Fairy Tail to help him in his mission while he is on Earthland and she recommended him to Makarov. Alex guesses that it's also Makarov who tell Mystogan to hide his real identity.
After all, not only he has another version of himself who is the native of this dimension, his other self is also someone important to a member of this Guild. If his face is revealed, it will cause too much problem.
Porlyusica is very lucky to not have that problem because her counterpart is a Dragon. So they don't look the same, unlike Edolas Jellal and Earthland Jellal.
But Mystogan's appearance actually makes Alex think about something. He wonders if he also has an Edolas version of himself. It might be possible because he should be born in this world normally, so another version of himself might also be born in Edolas.
Thinking about it is interesting, but he can only wonder for now. He won't find out the truth without going to Edolas anyway, so he should have just focused on what's in front of him.
Mystogan, A.K.A Edolas Jellal is surprised to see Wendy in the Guild when he joins. He doesn't say anything though because he needs to hide his identity. But he soon finds out why Wendy is here and it makes him feel guilty for leaving her with a lingering spirit that he thought to be a real human.
Even so, he is glad that Roubaul truly took care of her until Alex destroyed Nirvana and took her here. He still doesn't reveal himself to Wendy and just keeps doing everything he needs to do while hiding his identity.
Another big event that happens this year is 2 Tailed Beasts are finally unsealed. The 6 Tailed Slug, Saiken is unsealed on March. Then the 7 Tailed Beetle, Chomei is unsealed on November, some days before the S-Class exam.
When Saiken was unsealed, Alex's body lets out slimy substance from the pores. It doesn't seem dangerous at first, but when some drip onto the ground, the soil starts sizzling as it melts. The slimy liquid is very corrosive.
Then when Chomei was unsealed, the side effect that appears on Alex's body was skin shedding. He suddenly grows a new layer of skin underneath his original skin. Then the old skin dries up and hardens.
Alex needs to break out of his old dried skin like an insect. He is surprised when he sees his new skin. Most of his scars are gone along with his old skin. Only the small scars are gone though, the big ones remain, but it's not a problem.
Anyway, Alex already has 7 Tailed Beasts inside his body now. There are only 2 Tailed Beasts left to unseal. But the last 2 seals are also stronger than the previous seals, so it won't be that easy and fast to break the seals.
He's not in a rush to break their seals though because he still has time until the main story time in X784. It will take at most 2 more years for him to break the 8th and 9th seals. So he'll still have 2 more years to fully train to use all of the Tailed Beasts' abilities.
The last big event that happens this year is the S-Class exam. Erza, and Mira are chosen to participate this year. Cana should be chosen, but she is still away, doing a very difficult SS-Class job with her father, so she can't participate.
Gildarts' absence makes Alex and Laxus do most of the work as examiners for this year's exam. But it's still Makarov who decides the trials for the exam. They just need to test the candidates in the trials.
The result of this year's exam is the same as in the story. Erza passes and becomes Fairy Tail's next S-Class Mage. She almost fails and barely passes the last trial though.
The last trial is defending against a bombardment of Makarov's Light Bullet rain for an hour. It is very difficult for Erza and she breaks almost all of her current armor.
But she has a very strong willpower and keeps holding on until the time is over. Most people would've surrendered in her situation, but she keeps going even when she can't even stand properly.
She collapses right away when Makarov's attack stops, showing that what made her stand till the end is sheer willpower. In just a year, she has gotten much stronger because last year she collapsed simply from the pressure of Gildarts' magic power, which was not much compared to this.
Her genetics as the daughter of Irene Belserion is really shown by her very quick growth. Erza's Magic depends greatly on her physical and magical power. Magic mastery doesn't contribute much to her power.
Basic stats matter the most. That's why the talent and potential she gets from her genetics are very important for her growth. But of course, everything will be useless if she doesn't work hard, so her effort also contributes to her achievement.
Alex is the believer of hard and smart works beat potential and talent. That's why he still does his best to get stronger and better. He can only do his best and if the result is not what he expected, at least he won't have regrets for not working harder.
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Ch. 134. Grimoire Heart