The S-Class Promotion Exam was very important to the Mages of the Fairy Tail Guild.
No one knew the contents of this exam.
Even the partners chosen by the two selected members were unaware.
These past two days, there had been no shortage of discussions about it.
"Man, who exactly got promoted to S-Class this time? The Master hasn't said a word."
The burly Elfman sat on a stool, he kept grumbling.
Levy, holding a magic book, looked bored and replied, "There should be a result in two days, right?"
Gray, who had somehow already taken off his clothes, said with a half-smile, "My intelligent self has already found a clue."
Happy quickly asked, "What clue?"
The other peers all looked at him.
Gray proudly lifted his head, "Haven't you noticed that Aux isn't in the Guild?"
The peers were stunned.
They quickly searched the Guild, and indeed, Aux was nowhere to be found.
"Could it be..." Natsu scoffed, "Idiot! Aux probably went to work."
Gray slammed his hand on the table and stood up, "Who are you calling an idiot?"
Natsu was not to be outdone, also slamming the table and standing up to glare at Gray, "Pervert!"
The two started bickering again.
Elfman and the others didn't join in; instead, they analyzed with interest.
"Who would Aux partner with?" Levy asked.
Elfman replied, "Cana, probably. Mystogan isn't very familiar with him."
Happy, hugging a fish, held the opposite opinion, "I think he'll team up with Mystogan, aye~"
The group continued their analysis.
They finally concluded that if Aux truly became someone's partner, then that someone would definitely become S-Class.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Just as they were discussing, Aux returned from outside the Guild.
"Welcome back~"
Mirajane welcomed him as always.
This time, Natsu and Gray stopped fighting and immediately rushed to Aux's front.
They stared at him with fervent eyes.
"What are you all doing?" Aux asked in return.
Happy asked, "Aux, did you become a partner for one of the exam participants these past two days?"
Aux didn't hide it, "That's right."
Just as expected!
The eyes of the group lit up, then they looked at Aux with exploratory gazes.
"Who won?" Happy asked.
This time, Aux didn't answer, subtly tilting his head to indicate for everyone to look towards the open space in front of the Guild.
Master Makarov appeared!
The Guild members also stopped their clamor, knowing they were about to hear who was promoted to S-Class.
"It should be Cana..."
"No, no, no, I think it's Mystogan. In terms of strength, Cana isn't as good as him."
"But the promotion exam doesn't just test strength."
"You all think so? Why can't it be that neither of them got promoted?"
"No way..."
The members had various opinions, some supporting Cana, others supporting Mystogan.
And some thought both would fail!
"This year's S-Class Promotion Exam has concluded, and the two selected members have determined a winner."
"Cana's assessment this time was to hunt an Ice-Blue Beast with her partner in the far northern glaciers, with a time limit of three days."
Makarov began to describe the exam content.
The Guild members all looked worried.
The Ice-Blue Beast was a transparent Magical Beast, its strength comparable to an S-Class Mage.
And in icy environments, it also possessed regenerative abilities.
Even Erza wouldn't confidently say she could deal with such a Magical Beast.
They hadn't expected Cana's promotion exam to be so difficult.
"Although Cana and her partner tried very hard, they were still injured during the battle and failed to complete the exam content," Makarov announced.
The Guild members sighed with regret.
This task could be said to be very difficult; as long as the people were fine, failing the task didn't matter.
So that meant Mystogan was promoted?
"Mystogan's exam content this time was to search for and exterminate the Dark Guild, Evil Demon Claws, under the Oración Seis, with his partner."
"The time limit is two days; exceeding it will be considered a failure," Makarov added.
This time, the Guild members' expressions improved slightly.
But not by much; facing wild beasts, one could use strategy to solve the problem.
However, a cunning Dark Guild was not foolish.
And the most important thing was to find clues; this was the true test of a Mage.
And to do it within two days, it was practically impossible!
"This year, both must have failed," Gray sighed.
Promoting to S-Class Mage was indeed not simple; this year, both selected tasks were very difficult.
Levy and the others sighed regretfully.
"Mystogan and his partner perfectly completed the mission this time, so this year's S-Class Mage is Mystogan!"
Makarov announced the result.
This immediately caused exclamations from the Guild members, who hadn't expected such a difficult mission.
To actually be able to complete it!
"That's amazing! I didn't expect Mystogan to perfectly complete the mission."
"So that means he's an S-Class from now on?"
"So powerful! Our Guild has another master. Sooner or later, we'll stomp Phantom Lord underfoot."
"Mystogan is the best!"
"Sugoi..."
Cheers and shouts.
The Guild successfully gained another S-Class Mage; no matter what, it was something worth celebrating.
"Aux, you were Mystogan's partner, weren't you?"
This time, Aux couldn't hide it.
Cana and her partner were already injured, while Aux was completely fine.
Only a fool wouldn't know whose partner he was.
"How could that be? Aren't Mystogan and Aux not very familiar with each other?" Elfman was surprised.
It was hard to imagine Mystogan would choose Aux!
"Well... maybe Mystogan fell in love with me, who knows? As everyone knows, he's a particularly beautiful girl..."
Aux started spouting nonsense again.
Yet, the people in the Guild actually believed him.
Macao envied, "Being handsome means you can do whatever you want. Even a mysterious woman like Mystogan fell in love with him."
Wakaba smoked incessantly with jealousy, "Damn it~ Why have I never seen Mystogan? How beautiful is she really!"
The other Guild members all nodded; they also particularly wanted to know how beautiful Mystogan was.
Erza, however, was a little suspicious, "Is Mystogan really a beauty? I feel like something's not quite right..."
Mirajane's imagination ran wild, "I think it's very possible! She might be a princess who fell from the Celestial Palace, hiding her true name and diligently searching for her true love."
"Aux is the prince she has been searching for. They embrace and kiss, restoring the princess's authority, and she's going to take Aux back to the heavens!!!"
Hiss... Aux gasped, completely startled by Mirajane's fantastical idea.
It couldn't be said that it didn't happen; it could be said to be completely unrelated.
And embracing and kissing... his face turned pale, he didn't even dare to imagine it; it was truly hair-raising.
"Mira, you should write novels; they'll definitely be popular throughout the Fiore Kingdom," Aux said.
Not daring to linger, he immediately got up and rushed to the hospital in Magnolia.
He was going to visit Cana!