Chapter 558: Crossing the sea
Rhodes had no intention of fighting for a head start. But there was absolutely no way he was letting Freed get there first.
If that guy reached the island ahead of everyone else, the place would be covered in traps and nasty runes by the time the others got there. It’d be more trouble than it was worth.
Natsu and Happy, Gray and Loke, Cana and Panther Lily, Juvia and Lisanna. One by one, the teams surrounded Freed and Bickslow.
Some hovered in the air, some stood firmly on deck, but all of them had the same expression:
’You’re not going anywhere.’
This situation had escalated fast.
Freed gave a dry smile. "Well... even if I don’t cancel the spell, it’ll automatically dispel in five minutes..."
Dead silence.
Everyone continued to glare at him with eyes sharp enough to kill.
Just then...
SPLASH! SPLASH!
Two figures dove off the side of the ship.
Levy and Gajeel were no longer on deck.
It turned out that Levy’s revised magic formula from last time, something she hadn’t yet tested, came in handy after all.
"Right!" Cana brightened. "Levy figured out how to rewrite Freed’s enchantments last time!"
Natsu immediately rushed over to try, eager as ever.
BAM!
Still blocked.
"Huh? Why? Did she only open it for herself?" Natsu grumbled, slamming into the barrier again.
As if on cue, Evergreen appeared holding a fountain pen with a smug smile. She scribbled on the barrier, opening a gap, and winked at Elfman.
"I’ve teamed up with Freed long enough to learn a trick or two."
"Ohhh! You’re amazing, Evergreen!" Elfman beamed.
It hadn’t been his original plan, but he was starting to think he’d picked the perfect partner.
"Let’s go!"
"For the manly spirit!"
The two of them leapt after Levy and Gajeel, swimming with impressive speed toward the island.
Behind them, Natsu was repeatedly slammed into the wall by Happy, who was trying to get through by brute force.
"Okay, okay, I get it," Freed groaned, rubbing his temples. "I’ll take it down."
With a reluctant wave of his hand, the glowing runes faded and vanished.
"Better?" he asked.
"Happy! Go!" Natsu shouted without missing a beat.
"Aye, sir!"
With nothing holding them back this time, the two blasted off at full speed, quickly gaining on the groups ahead.
"Miss Cana, let’s head out," Lily said calmly, handing his oversized sword to her.
His tiny Exceed body wasn’t exactly ideal for carrying giant weapons.
"Just call me Cana," she replied with a chuckle. "And thanks."
Lily gripped her by the shoulder and soared into the air, flapping after Natsu and the others.
Mest and Lucy had already vanished, slipping away while the others were distracted.
Meanwhile, Juvia and Lisanna chose a different route.
With a graceful dive, Juvia transformed into a rushing stream of water, while Lisanna morphed into a swift sea creature, the two disappearing beneath the waves.
Gray, prompted by Loke, quickly slipped on his shorts before leaping off the ship.
"Ice Make: Floor!"
The two must’ve practiced this move before. They skated expertly across the frozen path, gliding swiftly toward the shore.
"Hurry up, Freed!" Bickslow called out, hovering midair on his floating dolls.
Freed turned to Rhodes. "You can let go of me now, right?"
"Sure," Rhodes replied, loosening his grip. "I look forward to seeing you in the exam."
As he released Freed, a pair of elegant blue-and-white wings burst from Rhodes’ back.
Partial Take Over: Cloud Dragon’s Wings.
He scooped Wendy up with one arm at his waist and launched into the air with a powerful beat of his wings.
"Good luck, Wendy! And be careful!" Carla called from the ship, worry written all over her little face.
"I know!" Wendy answered brightly. She’d been planning to scold Rhodes for acting on his own again, but Carla’s shout had totally distracted her.
Before she could gather her thoughts, Rhodes had already surged forward, overtaking Lily and Cana with ease and quickly closing in on Natsu and Happy.
"Huh?!" Natsu blinked in disbelief. "Since when can he fly that fast?!"
Happy was equally stunned. "He couldn’t even catch up before, unless we bribed him with fish!"
Luckily, the distance to the island wasn’t long, so the gap between teams couldn’t grow too wide.
Just moments after Rhodes and Wendy landed, Natsu and Happy caught up.
A wide bonfire blazed at the center of the flat terrain. Ahead of them, nine separate tunnels gaped open like the entrance to a trial, each marked with a bold letter.
A through I.
The cave marked F had already been sealed with magic, meaning someone had entered it first.
"Someone beat us here?" Wendy wondered aloud.
"Probably Mest and Lucy," Rhodes guessed.
"Outta the way!" Natsu shouted as he bolted forward.
"What’s the rush? Nobody’s racing you now," Rhodes muttered. "So? Which one are you picking?"
Since Master Makarov had said luck was part of the challenge, the cave entrances clearly gave away no hints.
To Rhodes, they were all the same.
Natsu sniffed around a bit. He caught a faint scent of Lucy and Mest at the entrance to tunnel F, but nothing more.
After a moment of thought, Natsu suddenly slapped his palm and declared,
"I choose E! For Erza! Just you wait, Erza, I’m coming for ya!"
"Why choose Erza?!" Happy yelped, flapping after him as the entrance to tunnel E sealed shut behind them.
Watching Natsu’s dramatic exit, Wendy grew a little anxious."Brother Rhodes... which one should we choose?"
"Well, by Natsu’s logic, I’d pick M for Mira," Rhodes replied with a grin. "But too bad, there isn’t one."
He looked at her gently.
"You pick. Just say whichever letter you like."
"Eh? Me?" Wendy blinked, a little flustered. Her voice grew softer. "Then... I like D."
Rhodes nearly teased her for that, but, he swallowed it down.Corrupting such a sweet kid? Absolutely not.
Still, Wendy seemed to understand more than she let on.
"Alright then," he smiled. "D it is. Let’s go."
As Rhodes spoke, Lily and Cana also touched down nearby. Rhodes gave them a casual wave before turning and leading Wendy into their chosen cave.
Naturally, the Scuttle Crab was sent ahead to scout the way. The two of them followed closely behind.
"Cana, which path should we take?" Lily asked, smoothly adjusting to a less formal tone.
"Well, since it’s supposed to be a test of luck, let’s really leave it to luck," Cana said with a grin.
She pulled out six cards, gave them a few expert shuffles, then flicked one out with her thumb.
"It’s decided. We’re going with A!"
Not long after, Freed and Bickslow landed and strode straight into entrance B without even hesitating.
One by one, the cave entrances sealed behind each group.
Next to arrive were Juvia and Lisanna, followed closely by Gray and Loke.
"Gray-sama~" Juvia’s eyes sparkled with dreamy affection.
"Juvia, if you keep bothering Gray, he’s going to dislike you," Lisanna whispered quickly. "Just pick a path already."
"Juvia!" Snapping out of her daze, Juvia blinked, then pointed at a tunnel with newfound determination.
"H!"
The two of them entered hand in hand, and Lisanna secretly marveled at how effective her brother-in-law’s advice had been.
Loke nudged Gray playfully with his elbow.
"You really are popular with girls."
"You’re one to talk," Gray muttered, clearly not in the mood to entertain the topic. "Let’s go. We’ll take G."
With that, another two tunnels closed off behind them.
Shortly after, Elfman and Evergreen reached the shore, followed by Levy and Gajeel.
Elfman stared blankly at the two remaining entrances and nearly collapsed to his knees.
"A Manly Man’s first battle ends in defeat! We were among the first to leave, and we’re the last to arrive!"
Evergreen winced, a bit flustered.
She could fly, after all, but had completely forgotten in the rush. Hopefully Elfman wouldn’t bring that up...
"Hey!" she said quickly, trying to distract him. "If you’re really a Manly Man, then stop whining and pick a path already!"
The word "Manly" had an instant effect.
Elfman’s eyes lit up with intensity.
"Of course! A real man charges forward! We’ll take C!"
As they jumped into the cave, the entrance sealed behind them.
Levy and Gajeel ran up just a moment later, only to find a single passage left, I.
"Damn it, all of them can fly now!" Gajeel growled, clearly frustrated. "If only Lily hadn’t partnered with someone else."
Levy looked down, disheartened.
"I’m sorry... It’s my exam, but I’m just slowing you down."
"Ah, no! I didn’t mean you," Gajeel said quickly, scratching his chin awkwardly. "Anyway, it’s not like the test is about who gets here first."
He paused, then added with a grin, "And hey, I for Iron! I like it!"
Levy glanced at Gajeel.
This big hunk of metal... sometimes he could really say the right thing.
And right now, he actually seemed... dependable.
...
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