A chill once more went down my spine as the weather continued to grow colder and colder the farther I traveled up the mountain.
After Master had let Laxus and I rest for an hour he immediately deemed the second portion of the exams officially ongoing. Laxus had immediately rushed off in a mad rush to find the flower first, but I wasn't stupid. Master had already told us all we needed to know to find the flower. Ice giants couldn't live in the milder, for them, temperatures on the outside of the area and could only leave at night when the temperatures were at their lowest.
However, there was a mass network of caves that ran throughout the entire mountain that trapped all the cool air that I had to continuously mark with my sword to make sure I remembered how to get back to the entrance of the mountain. Which meant I had to go through the caves in order to find the flower.
Unfortunately, I had already been searching for about three hours trying to find the damn thing and it wasn't looking like I was going to get any closer within the next few hours, the only indication I was remotely right being the rapidly dropping temperatures.
The only problem being that I would freeze at the rate it was taking to make any progress, so I sat down against the wall and began to think, closing my eyes to better sort my thoughts. At least that was the plan before a presence made itself known.
"That's right. Go sleep now, and become vessel!" While it was said in a whisper, but the noise bounced off the cave walls and reached me despite what the creature thought.
No one ever said that Vulcans were particularly smart, did they?
Snapping my eyes open, causing the giant gorilla-like monster to jump back in surprise, I pushed off the wall and buried my fist into its face, sending it careening into the opposite wall where it slumped to the floor.
I cracked my knuckles and gave it a grin as I approached methodically.
"So, do you know where to find the Laufey flower?"
The screams of the Vulcan reverberated through the mountain when it didn't tell me what I wanted.
A few minutes later, it was with a pleased expression that I walked through the caves while being led by a very battered and bruised Vulcan that had one eye swelled shut. After 'convincing' the beast to lead me to what I wanted we had been walking for about an hour, leaving me with half the required time to get the flower and heading back to the others.
Actually, I had been closer than I thought I was because pretty soon there was a faint mint-like smell that began to flow through the air and we soon came across a large cavern, easily fifty feet high with the walls iced over and a small field of flowers over the floor. It would be easy pickings… you know, if there weren't three ice giants taking a nap in the middle of the cavern.
Sighing in resignation, I turned to the Vulcan before whispering as quietly as I could.
"You wait right here and if you make a single fucking noise, I'll kill you!"
The creature nodded its head vehemently and hid behind a nearby stalagmite while I began to tip toe across the cavern, carefully making sure I didn't step on any snow or anything else that would make any noise if stepped on. Eventually, I made it to the far side of the space where the majority of the flowers were growing and began to one by one, pick the flowers and lace them in my requip space. It was slow going, but after a few minutes I felt like I had a good amount and stood up and began to turn and make my way back to the entrance.
CRACK!
What the fuck was that! I turned my head and looked towards the Vulcan who was sheepishly rubbing the back of its head from behind what used to be its hiding place. I say used to because the stalagmite it had been using as cover was now broken at the base as if it had been pushed to hard and was now rolling across the floor after making that huge ass noise.
"Grrrr?" Oh, fuck no!
Not waiting for the ice giants to fully wake up I gave up all pretense of stealth and booked it full speed across the cavern before passing the gorilla and rushing out the entrance and following the markings I had continued to make as we traversed the cave.
It was at a full sprint that I heard the familiar screams of the Vulcan echo throughout the mountain once more that day.
~x~x~
By the time I got back to the main clearing that Master and the others were waiting in I only had about an hour, maybe less, on the time limit to pass the second stage. All of the others who were there waved as I came to a stop while Laxus was scowling at me from where he was leaning on a tree, probably having hoped I wouldn't make it back in time so he'd win by default.
"Ah! Zeph, you made it. You got the items needed right?" Master asked me from his perch on a large rock on the side of the road.
Out of breath from running I simply removed the Laufey that I collected and handed them over while Master counted how much I had brought back.
"You good man? Looks like your about to keel over!" Wakaba said as he reached into my pack and grabbed me one of the waters I had brought.
"Yeah," I chugged a good bit before responding, "I just wish this year's trials hadn't been a race and then a timed event. I hate cardio."
Wakaba nodded in sympathy while Macao laughed at my plight, but Laxus scowled at me before speaking up to us, or more specifically, me.
"Than maybe you should just drop from the running now. If you can't handle a little warm up like this than maybe you don't have the strength to be S-class!"
The two of us glared at each other, trying to kill with a gaze. Laxus and I never really talked, but recently he had started going off on the whole 'strength' ideology he'd been known for in my previous life. It irked me a lot too, considering a lot of my magic was about destruction through technique and precision. For him, someone like me who fought using mostly swordplay while augmenting it with magic wasn't what he considered a strong mage.
"Okay! You both got the necessary amount to go to the final portion of the exam, but there's one problem with that. I honestly didn't think both of you were going to be able to pass this and I haven't thought up a third trial!" Master spoke before breaking out into a belly-busting laugh that made the rest of us sweatdrop.
"I've got an idea if that's the case Master." Gildarts spoke up from where he was standing, having been unusually quiet up until now, a serious look on his face.
"Oh? And what did you have in mind?"
Gildarts walked forward and began making a giant square with his feet in the clearing before walking back over and smirking.
"A full out brawl, winner takes the title of S-class mage. No holds barred, the only way to lose is to be knocked out."
The atmosphere changed and tensions suddenly rose as we waited for what Master would say. The old man rubbed his chin in thought, before sporting a massive grin.
"I like the way you think Gildarts! I want the two of you to head to opposite sides of the square Gildarts drew and wait for my mark, and if I say it's over than you better stop!"
The two of us walked over but I quickly went through all the possible plans that I could use in order to come out on top. It was the same problem I usually faced with my opponents, Laxus was both stronger and faster than me when he used magic. He could probably brute force his way through most of my magic too. The only way I was going to come out on top was to out think him. Canon dictated that Laxus was supposed to win this fight and become S-class, but I had already changed a bunch of stuff! This would be no different.
My little pep talk to myself seemed to take more time than I thought because when I looked up I realized that everyone else was waiting for me.
"Thinking of all the ways I'm going to wipe the floor with you?" Laxus seemed to take my deep thoughts as some sort of admission of weakness and tried to taunt me, but to lose my head right now would be the end of me.
"No, I'm thinking of how nice it will be to lounge on the second floor while you grovel beneath me with your lackeys."
Apparently, my little jab worked because Laxus started sparking with electricity and narrowed his eyes in anger. Good.
"Alright you two, remember that you only win through knockout and if I say to stop, you stop. Aside from that, everything goes. Are the two of you ready?"
"Always."
"Yes."
"Then fight!"
Master waved his hand and Laxus immediately disappeared from my view and I cursed under my breath. He stole my trick from the race, charging a spell before the go ahead and then releasing it on start.
I immediately began darting my eyes around, looking for any sign of my opponent, but the only notice I got was a thundering boom before I was kicked across the field.
"What's the matter? You talked big before but I guess you can't back it up, can you?" Laxus taunted but I had other things on my mind.
Like I thought, Laxus was stronger and faster than me, the problem lied in just how far his speed outclassed my own. Laxus literally could move faster than I follow through with any plan I thought up, and could hit me ten times before I got in one. I either had to slow him down or anticipate where he was going to attack me next.
The air began to smell of ozone so I dove to the side and immediately moved into a technique before he could try and follow up.
"Shigure Soen Ryu: Sakamaku Ame!" I crouched while holding my sword vertical and in the same motion summoned a wall of water to protect me.
"Lightning Body!"
Somehow, I managed to get my defense up in time, but Laxus' lightning body gave him speed that made it seem like he teleported. Almost immediately after my block he appeared to my right and went to hit me again.
"Lateral Water Wheel!" From my previous move, I went right into a horizontal slash that took the water from my wall and released it in a wave that somehow managed to sweep up Laxus with it and send him into a tree.
My relief however was short lived as he got up before laughing loudly at me.
"Ha ha! Is that all you've got? I've taken baths that have hurt me more than that attack just now!"
Cursing I tried synching up my breathing with his in order to effectively read his movements, but like all the previous times I tried anything he moved too fast for me to handle. I needed to think of something, anything! I… maybe that was the problem.
I just needed to not think.
Recalling what I had read when I was first coming up with my water techniques about going with the flow and going with the path of least resistance I stopped and stood still with my eyes closed. I was relying too much on my eyes and it was making me hesitate. I just needed to go with the flow. When I finally opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the field against Laxus but standing in a calm lake with an endless sky as I finally used the technique that had been eluding me for so long.
"Dead Calm." My body moved on its own and when my vision cleared my sword was up and blocking Laxus' fist, the man himself having a surprised look before vanishing and trying again.
Unfortunately, that was a weakness to this particular technique in that the more numerous the attacks the less effective it was. While blocking and parrying most hits, Laxus was still able to get a good few in and dead calm was a purely defensive technique, meaning that in order to attack I had to give up the advantage it gave me.
"Fight back!" My moment of contemplation made my concentration slip and another hit got through to me.
That was another thing. This was the first time I had been able to get this move down and I wouldn't be able to hold it for long without more practice. With that in mind it needed a good, solid hit against Laxus.
"Waterfall Basin!" Swinging my sword down in to the ground, multiple pillars of water shot up around the field, making it so Laxus had to swerve around them to get to me, slowing him just enough for one more attack.
"Whirlpool!" Releasing the techniques, a… well, a whirlpool of water was released and caught Laxus and span him around and around until the magic powering it ran out and Laxus was on the floor, green in the face.
I was confused for a second before mentally face palming. Laxus was a dragon slayer and got motion sickness just like the rest of them. The sudden twirling from a whirlpool must have counted if he was looking so sick.
Deciding not to waste the chance I had been given I went to strike only for Laxus to recover enough to block and counter, pushing me back where I took stock of the total damage I had done, which admittedly was not as much as I had hoped.
Laxus was bruised lightly from the times I had blocked and had a massive black and blue on his torso from when I used whirlpool, but I wasn't much better. I could feel my eye beginning to swell shut from when he had hit me earlier and my ribs were bruised if not cracked from the hits I couldn't block. We were both probably nearing our limit. This next attack would probably decide the match. I switched out my sword for a blunt one I used when practicing, if I wasn't careful this could kill him.
"Dead Calm."
"Lightning Body!" Laxus rushed towards me in a fury but I managed to block his punch, the two of us were practically forehead to forehead from how much he was trying to break my block. But he was right where I wanted him.
Dropping my sword from my hand, I stopped fighting before headbutting Laxus and in the same motion kicking the handle of my sword so it shot straight up into the underside of his jaw, the bluntness of the practice sword and the water that surrounded it being the only reason it didn't pierce through his jaw.
"Shigure Soen Ryu: Yarazu no Ame!" The surprise attack of the Shigure Soen Ryu caught him completely off guard and Laxus landed on his back.
The clearing was quiet and I stood ready, not quiet believing that Laxus was done before Master called out.
"Laxus has been knocked out! This year's winner and new S-class mage of Fairy Tail is Zephyr Halliwell!" Master seemed just as surprised as I was but one thought still ran through my mind.
Holy shit.
~x~x~
And the S-class trials are done! I hope they came out well, but as a writer I always feel like I could have done more when writing a chapter. I was actually stuck on whether or not to have Zephyr win, but I'm satisfied with how the chapter turned out although there is one thing I want to address since I'm not sure if I got the point across well. The only reason that Zeph won against Laxus was because of Dead Calm and because of the last surprise attack. While he is S-class material, he wasn't quite up there to take on someone who literally moves as fast as lightning. Hopefully that was obvious enough but I'm still getting used to writing fight scenes so any constructive criticism is welcome. We still got maybe four chapters to go before the start of canon so stick around and see you guys next time.