The wizards gathered in the Hargeon port alongside a massive sailing ship, with a red guild logo on the largest of the sails, marking the identity of the ship.
"Greeting's youngsters" Master Makarov said, wearing a yellow and green floral designed shirt and orange pants, "go ahead and load yourselves onto the ship and I'll make note of the pairings".
"Juvia and Lisanna" remarked Makarov, checking off on a clipboard, as the ladies made their way up.
"Bickslow and Romeo" the old man mumbled, as the guys walked on board.
"Gray and Max" he continued, "Elfman and Evergreen", "Natsu and Happy", "Lucy and Levy", "Gajeel and Pantherlily", "Cana and Terra Mere" and finally "Freed and Zeldris" he finished.
"Saving the best for last, eh master?" Freed remarked
Makarov rolled his eyes "well considering you were the last ones to arrive, did Zeldris oversleep again?"
The red suited wizard rolled his eyes and got on the ship, relaxing in one of the deck chairs, as did many of the others, the s-class wizards then got on the ship, not long after the ship set off, heading towards Tenroe Island.
The once cool sea breeze of Hargeon turned into a stagnant, muggy, hot mess, as everyone minus Zeldris and Juvia were in bathing suits, much less, or nothing at all though Juvia was getting steamed up at Gray, who was complaining about the heat as well.
"Now kids" Master Makarov "you need to be briefed on how things will be run this year". All the wizards turned to face the master.
"Instead of starting this afternoon and going all out, things will be more civilized" he continued.
"First, we will dock on the island itself, and make our way to the village where our first master was born and lived for a time. We will then spend the night and begin the trial tomorrow morning at nine AM sharp! We will draw straws to determine who goes in what order. From there, teams will leave in ten-minute gaps and choose their routes from there, and most importantly, there will be no serenity route this year"
The wizards murmured amongst themselves about the rules, some were excited about the many battles, and some were nervous for the same reason. The lack of a route that would guarantee a team an easy pass unlike the previous years, scared a number of the contestants and their partners.
The island was now beginning to come into view of the ship, much to the relief of the many wizards who were lacking clothing at all now due to the heat, and the motion sick dragon slayers.
With the boat on the makeshift dock, and supplies being unloaded, including the wizards themselves, which came to the delight of the dragon slayers who were ready to leave a trail of stomach contents that would be as good as any road map to the island.
Zeldris was one of the last wizards off the ship, he marveled at the island, perplexed by its shape and design, Freed stayed alongside making sure he didn't get lost.
"Stay beside me, you're smart, but you shouldn't run off exploring, while it might do me good to set traps, it would disqualify us" Freed said.
"Darn, that would have been nice if we had thought about it," Zeldris said.
"As nice as it would be, being s-class is not just about power, a good mind, and good ethics are important too" Freed added, as Zeldris followed Freed and the other to the abandoned city.
It soon came over the horizon, an interesting plot of many stone buildings that resembled a town. The buildings themselves were surprisingly intact considering their age and some of the things they have endured, weather phenomenon like storms, wizarding raids, and the aging of the materials themselves.
Once things were set up, small buildings that may have been homes or possibly businesses, were designated to the various pairings. Men stayed on the western side of the village, the ladies to the east. Freed and Zeldris got assigned the furthest house from the main square, a few meters away. It was now late afternoon when they began getting settled in. Zeldris set his sleeping bag near the window, gazing out at the others, himself lost in thought while some were planning battles, others were sitting around joking, the rest were working on food for that evening.
Once food was served, and the wizards turned into their quarters it began to rain, a storm had been brewing to the west of the island finally made it's way there. As night was beginning to fall behind the clouds of the storm, Zeldris asked to Freed, "so, I don't recall you saying, but why do you want to become an s-class wizard, and what is the benefit of being one?"
"For one thing, I want to follow Laxus's footsteps in becoming an s-class wizard. The title itself, is a prestigious one, and that title proceeds you, and you can do the much higher paying jobs, that one we did with the jewels was about the highest non-s-class job to be posted within the guild" Freed said.
"I see, I hope I can become s-class soon" Zeldris said.
Freed sarcastically remarked "only after you help me get there first". Zeldris laughed and began to fall asleep. Freed did the same, eager for the morning to come to begin the trial.
It was now 5 AM and light drizzle was coming into the window, right on to Zeldris who was sitting in his sleeping bag. Freed woke up not too long after that and saw his fellow wizard seeming to be nervous.
"Something wrong Zeldris? You seem beside yourself with nerves" Freed asked.
"I have a bad omen" Zeldris responded, gazing out at the ancient town square.
"What bad omen? That we won't succeed?" Freed asked, seemingly lighthearted.
"Worse than that, I feel like in battle, we'll lose, and that somehow I'll go too far and severely injure or worse to our opponents" Zeldris said.
"I wouldn't worry Zeldris, get some more rest, no one from this guild has died on this island in over a hundred years" Freed said.
"If you say so" Zeldris said, not at all comforted by his words, but still going back to sleep, tossing, and turning in his sleeping bag.
Freed woke Zeldris up a couple of hours later, breakfast was already being made, and the many wizards were now eager for the day's trials. Many of the partners were working on strategies and getting ready to eat. The two got some bacon and eggs to eat and conferred to themselves about strategies till the master got everyone's attention.
"Now everyone, I am sending the current s-class wizards out so they can get to their designated routes, and no you won't know which routes they're on until you get there, and when you draw your straws, you'll be handed your portable communication lacrima so we can keep a better track of each of you this year and avoid problems, Natsu and Happy, you two are first to draw straws" the master finally finished.
"Aye sir!" the tiny blue exceed remarked, the pink haired fire wizard picked up a portable communication lacrima, and drew a straw that said "5" on it. The two shrugged "just means we get to wait a bit eh Natsu"
"Aye sir!" the fire wizard remarked.
"Gray and Max, you're next" the master said, they picked up the draw marked 3.
Lucy and Levy drew 6. Wendy and Carla drew 9. Juvia and Lisanna drew 1, drawing mixed emotions from both. Cana and Terra Mere drew 7. Elfman and Evergreen drew 4. Gajeel and Pantherlily drew 8. Bixlow and Romeo drew 2. Finally, master called on Freed and Zeldris, and they drew last number left, 10.
"Now then children, in 10 minutes, your trial will start, each of you will leave in 10-minute intervals. Once you start out, a 3 hour timer will be set once the last pair leave, you must meet at the next area as marked on your portable communication lacrimas in the time allotted otherwise you cannot pass. For those of you in team on team battles, the pathway will open either when you defeat your opponent or there is 15 minutes left on the timer" Master Makarov said, laying out the rules. The rest of the wizards murmured amongst themselves, getting ready to go.
The 10 minutes passed and Juvia and Lisanna started out of the path leading west from the village, and to the pathways for the various routes.