Chapter 196: 196. Failure
Gajeel & Levy keep attacking Ben with many strategies. But nothing works and they can't touch Ben or force him to use his magic at all. It's not that their attacks are bad, Ben is just too good at this.
He is very observant and has a monstrous reflex that can help him evade an attack from a very short distance. Furthermore, he has more experience than them in high-leveled battles and has fought far stronger enemies than them.
In the end, both Levy & Gajeel get exhausted and can't continue their test. They've used all their Magic Power and stamina to attack Ben. But they still failed despite going all out in this test and never giving up.
Ben smirks and says, "This is it, huh? Too bad, both of you. I have high hope for you, but it seems you aren't ready yet. You might pass if you fight other teams or maybe Mira, her passing standard in this exam is the lowest, after all. Too bad that you met me instead. But hey, at least you don't meet Erza or Gildarts."
Levy is panting hard as she lays on the ground and says, "So this is the power of a Mage at Wizard Saint level. The gap between our power is very big."
"Yeah, and it seems he is stronger than Master Jose," says Gajeel.
"Jose, huh? If you compare the current me with Jose when he attacked Fairy Tail, then I am sure that I am stronger than him back then," says Ben.
"Eh? How did you know his strength when he attacked Fairy Tail? Wait! Don't tell me," says Gajeel with a surprised tone.
"I was the one who fought him before Master took over the fight," says Ben while smirking.
Gajeel & Levy widen their eyes because they still remember what happened back then. Ben & Jose's clash has created a big effect that could be felt by all Mages in the surrounding. If Ben has clashed equally with Jose back then, then he was already at Wizard Saint-level too back then.
Levy slumps down and says, "Sigh, this is so unfair. We are basically fighting with a Wizard Saint. There's no way that we can win."
"Fair? Nothing is fair in the world of Mages. This is the world where the strong survive while the weak perish. If you think that this is unfair, then get stronger until nothing is unfair to you," says Ben.
"What a ridiculous advice," says Gajeel.
Ben just smiles and concludes the test with their failure. Then he picks them up and carries them on his shoulder to get out of the cave. He takes them to the camp that has been prepared for the participants.
While he walks, Ben contacts his clones and asks about the situation in other caves. They inform that all of them have finished and Ben's test is the last one. Well, his test really took a lot of time because it lasted until Gajeel & Levy ran out of energy.
'Where's Wendy?' asks Ben through telepathy.
'She is in the camp with me. That Mest guy tried to take her for a walk, but I have prevented that so now he walks by himself. Another clone is following him right now,' replies the clone that stays with Wendy.
'Good, don't let that lolicon bastard do as he pleases,' says Ben through telepathy.
After a while, Ben reaches the camp and puts Gajeel & Levy down. There are Mira, Erza, Juvia, Lisanna, & Wendy in the camp. Ben asks about the others as Mira checks on Gajeel & Levy.
"Freed & Bickslow failed and now they return to the guild with Gildarts. The other participants have passed and now they are with Master to prepare for the next exam. They just wait for the result of your test," says Erza.
"Hmm, so that means the ones who passed are Natsu & Happy, Elfman & Evergreen, Gray & Loke, then lastly Cana & Lucy. 4 teams passed and 4 teams failed," says Ben.
"We faced Erza-san, it's so unfair," says Juvia.
"Yeah, we know that feeling," says Levy.
"But Elf nii-chan & Natsu passed even though they faced Mira-nee & Gildarts," says Lisanna.
"WHAT!? Salamander passed after facing that Gildarts?" asks Gajeel with a shocked and angry tone.
"Well, Gildarts' test wasn't to defeat him or that will be impossible. Even I won't be able to do that now, not to mention you guys," says Ben.
"Damn, his test must be easier than yours. How else could Salamander passed if that's not the case," says Gajeel angrily.
"Oi Oi Oi, you shouldn't badmouth others just because you're frustrated. Anyway, you guys need to rest and replenish your energy. In the meantime, I have something to talk about with this little girl here," says Ben as he looks at Wendy, making her flinches.
Wendy looks away guiltily as Ben asks, "Wendy, why are you here?"
"T-That's, Mest-san asked me to join his team," says Wendy with a low voice.
"And you agree? Don't you know that the S-Class exam is dangerous? You don't forget what happened to me in my S-Class exam 4 years ago, right? I got a lot of injuries in that exam and you might get injured too," says Ben, lecturing Wendy.
Ben keeps lecturing Wendy for some more minutes and she just listens while apologizing. The others just let him be because they know he is very worried about Wendy. Even more so after they get suspicious of Mest.
"Sigh, anyway, I'm glad that you are fine. But you need to be careful with Mest from now on. There is something strange about him that makes us suspicious. Don't just believe him because he said he is Mystogan's disciple. Everyone can say that now because Mystogan isn't here to confirm it," says Ben.
"Yes, I'm sorry," says Wendy while looking down.
Ben pats her head and smiles. Wendy is still a kid, after all, so she is still too naive. She still needs to learn a lot and that's his responsibility to teach her as her brother figure.
After lecturing Wendy, Ben leaves the camp and goes to meet Makarov. He needs to report the result of Levy & Gajeel's test. But Ben leaves a clone on the camp to watch over Wendy so she won't do anything dangerous again.
Ben reaches the gathering point and tells Makarov that Levy & Gajeel have failed. Makarov nods and then explains the 2nd test to the ones who passed the 1st test. The 2nd test is to search for the first Master's grave within 6 hours.
After Makarov gives them some clues, they spread to search the grave. Ben stays with Makarov and talks about Mest. Makarov says that he has monitored Mest since the S-Classes called him, but he didn't find anything strange in these few days.
"It will be good if he doesn't try to harm us, but once he does it, I will not let him go," says Ben.
"Don't get overboard when you handle this. We are a Legal Guild and we have laws to follow," says Makarov.
Ben looks at Makarov with stinky eyes and says, "Laws to follow, you say? How can you say that after everything that our Mages did? Or maybe destroying towns & buildings are ordered by law?"
Makarov looks away guiltily and can't say anything. Fairy Tail Mages have caused trouble many times when they do their jobs, after all. So, him talking about following the laws is very funny for Ben.
Both of them then leave the topic and talk about the exam. Makarov then asks Ben, "Who do you think will be an S-Class after this?"
"Honestly, I don't know. I haven't known them for a long time so I can't judge them. But if I need to choose then I will choose Elfman. I have trained him personally before I even join the Guild," says Ben.
"You're not thinking objectively, aren't you?" asks Makarov.
Ben just smiles and doesn't reply because that's really the case. But suddenly his smile stiffens when he senses a wave of ominous Magic Power. Makarov doesn't seem to sense it because the source is quite far.
"Master, this is bad. I think we need to halt the exam. I sensed a wave of ominous Magic Power. It's not from our Mages, so it must be an enemy. None of them can handle this, so we need to stop this exam," says Ben with a very serious expression.
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