Black Bull Banishment

by stringdog

To save Asta and Nero from execution following the Elf Incident the Wizard King has struck a deal with Damnatio Kira. What is the deal? Why to banish the Black Bulls to a place called Earth Land for 6 months while he works to clear Asta and Nero's names. What could possibly go wrong with this?

21. Chapter 21: Unexpected Power

Here is the twenty-first chapter of this story released when I wanted it to be in keeping with my self-imposed upload requirements for this series. Pandemonium is over but Erza kinda hogged all of it by taking out all 100 monsters so now they need to decide the other rankings. Thankfully they have something on hand to help decide it, albeit not as flashy or impressive as what Erza did, or is it? Regardless, there is one thing I want to stress before this chapter starts so that y'all can read it in context and that is the that all the events in this chapter, especially the final ones, are seen from the Black Bulls' perspective only and the discussion is based on how I feel they would have interpreted what they saw at the end and explaining it to each other. This does not mean that I do not know or understand the canon of the final spell used, it is simply how the Black Bulls see it as they are the observers here so please bear that in mind as you read it. Anyway, that is all the administrative stuff I have for you and while there are no questions that require answering there is a guest review that needs a response which I will do now. Do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from those who enjoy my work.

To KGBeastboy (guest), thank you for your review and support and many want to see Asta and Erza face off but naturally I won't confirm if that will happen or not. Erza probably will notice that Asta is using elements of her own style in his, as well as other styles that aren't hears, and she can switch up to other weapons like spears, that spiked club she has with her Purgatory Armor and even the shields that comes with her Adamantine Armor though I'm not sure about hammers though as the only one I know she's used is the one she got in the Key of the Starry Sky arc which isn't canon and I'm not treating it as such, but even then Asta likely can adapt to them. There is one armor that she has that I'm sure she'd use against Asta that might give her a little surprise though, if they fight of course. I'd say that they are closely matched between what their weapons do, experience levels, and other factors like ki but certainly both will need so tricks to win if they fight. As for the next battle for the Black Bulls, well soon you'll learn who will face Millianna so stay tuned for that. Keep reading and enjoying this story, it is support like this that I appreciate the most.

That is it for pre-chapter note so it is time to end it so that y'all can sit back and enjoy the twenty-first chapter in Black Bull Banishment.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 21: Unexpected Power

"The crowd is going wild and for good reason because we've just seen a historic and truly inspiring performance by Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail Team A." Chapati said as the crowd roared in support of Erza following her utter annihilation of Pandemonium. "It was truly one for the ages and an event that we will be talking about for years to come."

"It was so suspenseful at times and to end on the S-Class like that." Yajima said. "I thought that the stress and excitement was going to kill me just watching it."

"I must say that that was breathtaking." Lahar agreed. "I would never have thought someone could pull it off but I was proven wrong with such a showing."

"It was certainly something else." Yami admitted as the Black Bulls fully recovered from it and Nero's statement on Erza. "That girl's got guts, power, and talent but even then it wouldn't have been enough to win had she not pushed past her limits right at the end. That's something you should all learn from. We may be a rival Guild in the games but Fairy Tail was where Julius was so we should respect that and use what they showed us to get stronger ourselves."

"Yeah she was amazing." Asta said stars in his eyes and while he meant it purely on her combat and weapon skills it still annoyed Noelle and Mimosa to hear him praise another girl, even if said girl earned it in their opinions, and not them though as usual only Mimosa was honest as to why she wanted Asta's praise. "I learned so much from watching her fight with all those swords. Not sure about the spears and that club but I'm sure I can adapt them if I face them."

"That's good Asta." Nero said as the other members of Erza's team, well all but Elfman who was apparently still recovering after his battle with Luck and had been replaced by the team's reserve, actually original though the Black Bulls didn't know it, Wendy Marvell, stormed the field praising and mobbing Erza for her total victory in Pandemonium. "Because there's a chance you may face her in battle if one of the remaining events demand it, the battle rounds are unlikely to see us face Fairy Tail Team A again."

"Yeah I know and that will be what I need to truly understand her fighting style, or more accurately styles as I'm sure I just saw a few there." Asta said as the other 'competitors' in Pandemonium discussed amongst themselves their thoughts on it ranging from impressed, to smitten, to annoyed, to Luck wanting to fight Erza which all the Black Bulls could see and really didn't want to happen just yet. "But regardless I'm adapting all I learned as best I can into my own fighting style for anyone that I might face going forward."

"That's all well and good but, um what now?" Magna asked as the crowd bean to chant Erza's name over and over again. "She did just win the event without giving the others a chance to participate so how will they determine the remaining places. If she knew she could do it then why'd she not go for 51 to ensure victory without the added strain of the remaining 49? It makes no sense to me."

"That was almost certainly a tactic to show that Fairy Tail was back and silence the doubters that they had on the first two days thanks to their fall from grace." Nero said which was clearly true based on what the crowd was saying. "And I'm sure they'll have something; we should just shut it and listen to see what the decider will be."

"Well folks, the booing we heard for Fairy Tail on the first day is now long gone it seems." Chapati said as the Black Bulls fell silent to see what would be used to decide the rest of the event. "Because you can feel the love returning for Fairy Tail here in Crocus and who can doubt it after that performance."

"Anyone would change their minds after seeing what we just saw, it was a once in a lifetime show I'd say." Yajima said. "I doubt anyone can replicate it and even if they did Erza's showing will be known as the original and you can't top the first person to accomplish it."

"I agree, that was inspiring to say the least." Lahar said. "I hope the members of the Enforcement Unit were watching that so that they can learn from Erza's showing today."

"Words we can all take to heart as it was inspiring." Chapati said as Erza smiled at the cheers and struck a pose with her right fist up and clenched. "And it's safe to say that Fairy Tail Team A dominated Pandemonium without a doubt and as such have scored 10 points for their team."

"It wasn't any doubt but there is still the issue of the 7 remaining teams." Yajima said as Mato walked out over to the 7 remaining participants showing that there was a new plan of sorts. "Ah, I see that there is going to be something for this then."

"I am not surprised, there was always a chance of a tie in an event so a need to determine orders should be on standby if there was no way to break the tie via what happened in the event." Lahar said. "I wonder what the decider will be though."

"Pandemonium was designed for all of you but, well, we just saw that it wasn't enough despite our expectations for it and so after some deliberation there will be another contest to decide the remaining 7 spots." Mato announced his voice amplified so that the whole Colosseum could hear and causing the announcers and crowd to go quiet as a strange device that looked like 4 black metal petals with gray edges and a red interior and an aqua blue orb in the middle floated down to hover next to Mato. "This will no doubt be a little boring compared to Pandemonium, it's going to be hard to top what we just saw for a while, but it will do for our purposes and again apologies for resorting to this."

"Huh, what's that?" Asta asked as they all looked at the device which seemed to also have a yellow vertical ring around the blue orb with some red arrows in the ring and another ring glowing inside it that they could only tell was there by the glow. "I've never seen something like that while we've been here."

"If it is what I think it is, based on what I've seen while gaining intel on Lahar and his unit to learn more about them, then it's a device that makes me thankful we sent out Luck and not you." Nero said. "Because you can't use that thing and we'd come dead last in this event."

"I'm still…" Asta began.

"This is the Magic Power Finder or MPF for short." Mato said gesturing the item and thus confirming to Nero what it was as well as to everyone that yes this was something that Luck was better than Asta at. "It's rather snazzy don't you think?"

"What does it do though?" Magna asked as they heard Jura down below say that it measured a wizard's magic power. "Oh it does that."

"Not exactly I think." Nero said thinking on it. "It's more…"

"You're right, it does just that." Mato said. "If you cast a spell on the device it will display your magic power in numerical form. This is the number that we will use to decide the rankings for the remaining teams. It's a quick and easy way to decide it."

"It sounds simple but I feel like it isn't." Mimosa said looking at it. "Spells aren't a true indication of total magic power in my experience."

"It's not for the reason you just pointed out." Nero said. "It measures the magic power of the spell cast on it, likely an attack spell would be best as it's a direct hit, but as we all know, a spell is not a true indicator of magic power."

"Our birdie is right." Yami said as there was some discussion on the field about the device. "I never use all my magic power in a single spell, it would destroy that thing if I did I'd guess and not from overloading it but just because that's what my strongest spells do, so it's not accurate."

"So it's still a more nuanced contest than one of strength alone." Noelle said thinking on the decider and realizing that Mato was being clever with this backup event. "Interesting."

"Likely we'll see them all use their strongest spells on it but whatever the score is assume that they're power is stronger than what we see, though by how much I can't say." Nero said. "It just wouldn't do to use up all your power on it. It will just be the power level of the spell used. Course one of them could use a spell that can boost power beyond normal, you'd need a lot of power to begin with to pull that off I'd presume, but that is a possibility given all we've seen here."

"It's what I'd do." Zora admitted. "I'd put a magic circle on me that rebounds magic that hits it at twice the power of the spell then use my strongest spell on the circle to get twice what I would otherwise and probably record a score above what my actual magic power levels are. This event is more than just blasting with a spell, the right amount of cunning or knowing a trick or useful spell will determine things I bet. Hell, something like Mana Zone could give a higher score if the Ethernano as they call it is high enough though that crazy lady's as strong as a Wizard Saint so she'd just use all her power and probably incinerate it knowing her."

"Yeah sounds like Mereoleona's style for sure." Noelle said. "We should get one though, might be useful."

"That would be useful but acquiring one aside, one thing I can say about this is that with a Wizard Saint in the field the others will a trick or two as he's going to be the strongest otherwise." Nero said as Mato announced that the remaining competitors would be in the order of drawn straws, which they'd not actually noticed the order for due to Erza going first and then proceeding to be the only one to partake in Pandemonium, so they were now paying attention as the cat themed girl from Mermaid Heel stepped up. "Looks like we're starting this off with that Millianna girl."

"Woah and she's super cute!" Finral said with a snort as Millianna through off her cloak revealing her back to them and showing that her Guild Mark was on the lower left of her back just above her waistline and that the tail was attached to the back of her bottoms though no one dared question or speculate more than that. "No, don't thing that, bad Finral, you only have eyes for Lady Finnes remember."

"Idiot." Noelle said ignoring a comment from Chapati about the girl's sexiness as Millianna created a pink magic circle before her and blasted out a spiral of pink looking magic while yelling 'Kitten Blast' showing the name of the spell and scoring a 365 on the MPF and adding. "Er, is that good."

"No clue." Nero said. "Didn't learn enough about these things to see what the expected scores were, I just saw some and that they were about to use them before leaving."

"Millianna records a score of 365." Chapati said in a normal tone. "Which we don't know how good it is as there was no benchmark set for this event to compare our competitors to I have no idea what that means in terms of magic power."

"I concur but it does add an interesting element to the event." Yajima said. "Makes things more surprising as we go on."

"I can actually be of assistance here as we Rune Knights use MPFs like this in training pretty regularly to assess ourselves, though of course there is more to a Rune Knight than magic power alone." Lahar said. "A score of 365 is a good score as it would qualify Millianna for Squad Captain."

"I see that is an impressive start indeed then." Chapati said as Millianna smiled her tail moving on its own which just added a whole slew of questions for the Black Bulls that none wanted to answer. "A good benchmark I'd say."

"Interesting but it seems that this is all about raw power as that enforcement guy said." Nero noted as Millianna stuck a pose. "Not bad for us as Luck has a lot of it but he's a lot better at speed than power do I'd say he could take on a higher scorer with that. Plus, if you use something like Asta's Anti-Magic or primarily fight with magic draining spells as we've seen before then this isn't the event for you."

"Tell me about it." Vanessa said recalling that creepy Mosquito Magic user from the Undersea Temple as Luck stepped forward. "Oh, it's Luck's turn. Blast that thing Luck!"

They all shut up at that as Luck stepped up to the plate so to speak and his grimoire floated up next to him and flipped to the right page as his Holy Lightning Gloves formed around his arms. They all cheered at this as they knew something good was coming and were expecting a strong score though what it would be none of them could say.

"Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt Destruction!" Luck said as a ball of lighting was focused on the tip of his glove where the magic concentrated and then he launched it.

The ball of lightning flew hard and fast and then slammed into the orb with a boom as it exploded on impact sending bolts of lighting everywhere as the crowd gasped and covering the MPF in cloud of smoke. A moment later it cleared to reveal a score of 3,650.

"Woah and Luck Voltia has just blasted this supplementary event wide open with an unbelievable score of 3,650!" Chapati said as the crowd stared at the score and the Black Bulls cheered at it. "That's got to be really good, right?"

"I bet but this is the Black Bulls, they are a strong Guild as the games have shown." Yajima said. "So it shouldn't be a surprise at all that they can achieve what appears to be a high score in this event. We saw his speed against Elfman yesterday but clearly Elfman's resistance was able to prevent us from seeing the true power that Luck could produce. Then again Luck is a S-Class wizard in the Black Bulls so he has to be strong."

"This is actually unprecedented." Lahar said stunned amazement in his voice as Millianna wailed at a score being exactly 10 times hers meaning, in her eyes, that Luck was 10 times stronger than she was even though strength couldn't be measured in power alone. "I've never seen a score that high in my life."

"That's our battle mad freak for you." Magna said with a grin as the crowd was stunned by it with several exclamations from various Guilds, especially Fairy Tail who Luck lost to the day before. "We may not come out on top but we'll be in the top half for sure."

"I'm not positive there." Nero said seriously as the crowd calmed down and Hibiki of Blue Pegasus stepped up to give it his best shot. "While I doubt this guy is a threat there's still Raven Tail who don't care for the rules so are likely to try and cheat, a Wizard Saint, that guy from Sabertooth who's no doubt strong as their Guild prides itself on strength and he's one of their strongest in terms of raw power I'd say, and that other Fairy Tail girl, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's the one with some trick to score higher than her magic power would indicate. Fairy Tail was a top Guild before their downfall after all, you don't reach that point by being all about brute force but with guile and brains as well."

"Well you were right about the Blue Pegasus guy." Asta said as he scored a lowly 95 and fell to his hands and knees weeping as the commentators noted how bad it was compared to the other scores. "It wasn't good at all."

"His magic isn't attack based; I think if I recall it's strategy based so he's not a front line fighter but brains are as dangerous as brawn in a battle." Nero said as Hibiki was comforted by Cana of Fairy Tail Team B who was allowing him to cry into her ample bosom for some reason. "Now it's Raven Tail's turn, any sense on this guy? I've not gained any intel on him for some reason."

"Well for one thing, that's not a human." Yami said seriously as Obra of Raven Tail walked forward. "Asta, you feeling it as well."

"Yeah." Asta said suddenly getting serious. "I briefly noticed it before Pandemonium started but was distracted by Erza's declaration. Only 7 of the participants were human, the last wasn't based in its ki. I figured it was Raven Tail because of the extreme malevolence coming from it but I wasn't sure what it was."

"It could only be them so my best bet is that it's some sentient creature posing as human for whatever reason, probably a nefarious one knowing them as we know this world has other sentient creatures like those exceeds we've seen around." Yami said as Obra opened his cloak and sent out a small brown creature that leapt at the orb and slammed into it as if to prove Yami's point. "Likely that is the real creature and this is what they're doing to avoid suspension. When the day's over I'll go chat with Makarov about it so that he is aware of it as I'm sure it will help him in dealing with Raven Tail."

"That would make sense." Nero said as the creature scored an impressive 4 on the orb as much to the surprise of everyone as it was significantly lower than expected. "Because that wasn't a spell so it wasn't really much to register. I guess some latent magic caused it but that's just a guess."

"Hard to say, I'll do some research on it when I have time with all the other research I'm doing here." Gordon said as Mato informed the Raven Tail wizard of no do overs before his hat was stolen by a very drunk looking Cana who they'd just noticed had been drinking the entire time for some reason, even Vanessa wasn't that bad. "But in terms of points it's good for us as the more that score below Luck the better."

"I have a feeling that Raven Tail doesn't actually care for points." Yami said looking over at the Guild in question where the girl, Flare, was complaining but was quickly silenced it seemed as Mato began to announce that at with only 3 left Luck was leading the scores by a wide margin at this point. "They have a different agenda here and doing well is just a side effect of it, and their cheating on the first day. I'm sure that will be revealed in time though, best to focus on the event for now especially as one of the two who can probably top Luck in it is up."

"Right, it's the guy who beat me." Magna said through clenched teeth as Olga of Sabertooth stepped up and held out his hand. "I hope Luck beats him in this. Next time I see that guy I'm taking him down, only Luck can beat me with lightning."

"This will give us a bit of an indication on the raw power side as this guy isn't like Rufus who's all about intellect in fighting, he's pure power." Nero said as Olga used a 120 millimeter lightning canon like the one he used on Magna to win to blast the orb which began to smoke from the impact before revealing the score to be 3,825. "See, that's where the power comes into play and I'm willing to bet that that's not his strongest spell."

"So he's got a stronger attack than Luck." Magna said as Chapati commentated on how it was just ahead of Luck's score but after one score above 3,600 the crowd were less shocked by a second. "But that doesn't mean anything in battle."

"No, raw power alone won't win if they face off especially with Luck's speed advantage." Nero said as the crowd and commentators were impressed by the second score that got higher than Lahar had seen before as Olga began to, well sing wasn't the right word but do something for the crowd. "Though that's the second time we've seen that lightning with the black tinges to. Gordon, do you know what that means?"

"I've not seen it but in my readings on all the rare and lost magics of this world, which other than the poison magic stuff has been my primary focus hence my knowledge on the subject seeing as we're claiming our grimoires as a form of Lost Magic, I've come across one kind that describes a black aspect to it." Gordon said. "And now that I've seen it again I'm certain that that is what Olga is using. He's using a Lost Magic known as God Slayer Magic. In this case it's Lightning God Slayer Magic."

"God Slaying Magic?" Asta asked as Jura stepped up to take his turn. "That exists?"

"It does and it is similar to Dragon Slayer magic in that you can consume your element." Gordon said. "The biggest difference is that God Slayer magic has a black tint to it or is actually black though I am unaware of the interplay of the two kinds if two Slayers faced off with the different types. I am also unsure if a God Slayer is immune to their own element the way a Dragon Slayer is, so I will need to do more research. So far I've only really found one book on this kind of magic and only Mimosa can really benefit from it I think."

"I can?" Mimosa asked. "How?"

"It was for Plant God Slayer Magic that I found in some ancient ruin I went to clear of some poison using monsters as part of a job because I wanted to learn more about the poison that was causing an issue there." Gordon said as Jura got ready. "I'll give it to you later, we should focus now."

"Right, the games come first then I'll look at it though I doubt my magic would be compatible with it but it should be a good read regardless." Mimosa said as they all focused in time to see Jura glow with magic that shook the stadium before he unleashed a spell called 'Rumbling Fuji' from beneath the ground and a blast of intense light erupted upwards covered the MPF and blasted up high into the sky. "Woah that was intense, the only magic I've felt that intense is Mereoleona's."

"That's right up there with the Wizard King's for sure." Yami said his eyes wide as the light faded and a score of 8,544 was recorded and the crowd was stunned by it. "That just goes to show you the power of a Wizard Saint. I'm not sure either myself or even Julius could match that but I'd be interest to test my skills against that Wizard Saint in combat, he'd get me to surpass my limits for sure."

"I think he held back a bit, given his look I don't think he's drained of magic and the place is still standing." Nero said as everyone but Lamia Scale, and Erza it turned out, were shocked though Luck quickly recovered and began bouncing around again eager to one day test himself against this powerful opponent which they all agreed to try and stop him from doing if possible. "It does prove that you need power for that title."

"That's got to be the winner, right?" Noelle asked as it was confirmed that the score was an MPF record and the last person, Cana Alberona of Fairy Tail Team B, walked up to take her turn. "I mean that was unreal and this girl looks like Vanessa on a bad binge."

"Yeah I think she's got some serious parental issues like me that she's working out with alcohol." Vanessa said. "I'd like to see if she can outdrink me though, she may actually give me a challenge."

"Well it's time to see but, er why's she taking her…" Nero began as Cana slowly stripped off her top before a glowing red mark covered her right forearm and she seemed to sober up right away. "…oh so we were right, she's got a trick up her sleeve that allows her to boost her power and she was hiding it by feigning drunkenness though she was clearly drinking the entire time. Let's see this spell in action."

"It's time to assemble!" Cana yelled for the whole crowd to hear her arm above her head as light blasted up around her and her hair stood on end as it wiped around while those who could sense magic felt the magic that was being drawn to the mark on Cana's arm. "O' river of light, that's guided by fairies! Shine your light so that I may vanquish the fangs of wickedness! Fairy…Glitter!"

As she was speaking she lowered her right arm and braced it with her left as the magic concentrated on it before blasting off a powerful offensive blast of light that the left the Black Bulls stunned both by the power of the spell and confusion over what attribute the spell was using. Then the smoke cleared and the score was revealed to be 9,999 but even then it seemed that it was staggering to hold it showing that the spell had charted above the MPF, which was now a smoking ruin as the mark vanished from Cana's arm. It was unreal and Fairy Tail had just demolished the third day with two unbelievable displays.

"Fascinating." Nero said as everyone processed the spell that Cana had just used to max out the MPF device which was now slowly falling to the ground clearly broken by the spell. "A spell that does that, I would never have expected that. As far as we know we don't have anything like that."

"What are you talking about Nero?" Noelle asked her eyes still wide at what she'd seen as the crowd began to recover. "That finally spell?"

"Yes, I've never seen something like that." Nero said as Cana held her arms wide in victory, well second place but victory in the MPF decider, not bothering to put her jacket on again. "And frankly that was rather ingenious of Fairy Tail. I doubt that this was planned, in fact it can't be because of how Erza just dominated the event so they had to use this to decide the other remaining rankings, but it seems like Cana had just the right thing to win it. Fate must be on Fairy Tail's side today."

"I'm still lost." Noelle said as the cheering began and Noelle finally began to recover which was better than the stunned looks from most of the Squad. "Was there something about that spell that was different to the others?"

"Yes, it was a spell that allowed Cana to use more magic than her actually power level." Nero said. "Perfect for this kind of event."

"Huh?" Asta asked looking at Nero as he recovered and wondered what would happen if he reflected that spell with the Demon-Slayer Sword. "That was above her actual power level. She's not at 9,999?"

"No, and frankly I doubt anyone can actually hit that as we saw with Jura, a Wizard Saint, scoring 8,544 and while he probably has more than that I doubt it would reach 9,000." Nero said shaking her head. "And besides, that item doesn't actually test how much magic power a person has which is why Cana's tactic there was so clever."

"It doesn't?" Mimosa asked as she recovered from what she saw.

"No, remember what the MPF does." Nero said. "The Magic Power Finder registers the amount of magic power that hits it, they just say that it's the power of the wizard but I just don't see how that's possible. Ergo, the thing being tested is not the strength of the wizard or mage but rather the spell being used."

"But shouldn't that still give a good indication?" Asta asked. "Like a person who uses it has to put that much magic power into the spell. I'm confused right now and that final one isn't helping me understand this any better."

"For once I actually agree with Asta here." Noelle said. "I get that an attack spell can be less than what our mana levels are and that there is a difference between one's mana level and his or her actual magic potential but Asta's right, it should at least be an indicator of a mage's power?"

"It would be unless the spell itself was special." Gordon said understanding it as he finally closed his mouth from the shock of it. "I read about them in my research to see if it's possible to learn one as it could be a big boost going forward but I don't think that our magics are compatible like that."

"Special spell?" Asta asked. "What do you mean Gordon?"

"Well, my friend, in this instance I'm referring to a stockpiling spell." Gordon said. "They are rare spells that are complex and unbelievably intricate with long incantations as we saw but they exist here. In essence they are spells that allow you to exceed your magic power by stockpiling power into them before discharging that power in an offensive blast."

"Precisely." Nero said. "That mark on Cana's arm, it was likely the where the power was stockpiled, likely some kind of magical conduit of sorts though what it exactly is I don't know as I bet that spell is unique to Fairy Tail with a name like Fairy Glitter. Hell, there's a chance that Cana is the only person who actually knows it, but she does and thus in this test it was perfect for it."

"I still don't get it." Asta said. "Why was it perfect?"

"Wait I think I get it now." Noelle said as it hit her. "That device, the MPF as they called it, measures the power of the spell so if a spell exceeds the power of the mage using it then it's still just the power of the spell used. Zora mentioned his Trap Magic earlier as a way around it and now I get it."

"Yeah but that was well beyond what I was expecting." Zora said as he recovered. "That was easily on the level of that insane royal."

"It's different than Zora's traps but the concept is similar." Nero said. "Fate seems to be on Fairy Tail's side today because with Erza's win they had to use an MPF which was the best way to determine rankings and Cana knew the spell for it."

"You could say that again." Mimosa agreed. "Fairy Tail is certainly back in the running, both teams are, and all thanks to a warrior woman's determination and whatever that spell was."

"Erza was kinda expected to at least be in the running but going against all 100 was a surprise, that final spell was something else though." Nero said. "There are plenty of details behind the spell that I don't know like does it stockpile over time or is it a quick stockpiling from the incantation? What is the cooldown as that looked like a powerful one shot spell that can't be used in quick succession? What attribute it is it associated with, and much more. Regardless, it is my deduction that that was a creative use of rules in this emergency event that played to Fairy Tail Team B's hand and got them second place when they wouldn't have without it."

"They wouldn't?" Magna asked having finally recovered himself as he was one of the last ones to manage it after that crazy display at the end. "You sure? That was a lot of power, I doubt many could have used that."

"That spell may allow a mage to use more magic than their power levels would indicate but to even handle the spell they would have to have a solid baseline." Nero said thinking on it. "So I do agree that Cana has a high amount of magic power but nowhere near 9,999."

"So where would she have been if she didn't use it?" Asta asked curious as the crowd still cheered and Cana basked in it down below them. "Would Luck have done better?"

"Certainly." Nero said as she put together all she knew about Cana Alberona. "If I had to guess, that spell requires someone around Mimosa's level of magic power or higher to wield without backlash or failure. That means that in our Squad only she, Luck, Noelle, and Captain Yami would be able to handle it if we could use that kind of magic, maybe Gauche as well, but that's it. My magic is corrupted and even then it was weak despite being born a noble, Vanessa's is irregular with the whole fate manipulation thing, and the rest of us just don't have the power to do so."

"Alright that I can get." Noelle said. "That spell was powerful; you need to be able to withstand channeling the magic that it stores but how are you certain that Luck would beat her had she not used it. I of course would want Luck to but I don't get it."

"Well it's more a theory but based on what I know I'd say Cana is, in terms of raw power, stronger than Mimosa but not as strong as Luck." Nero said as she thought on it. "This is based not just on my theory regarding the power needed to cast that spell in the first place but also what I've heard about Cana over the last few years of monitoring the Black Bulls, mainly her multiple failures at the S-Class trial for Fairy Tail, and the fact that she's a team reserve for them, not on the actual team. I'd say that if she just used her normal magic she'd have ranked below Luck but not by much."

"Really?" Magna asked. "So what would she have scored without that spell?"

"I'm not sure, Luck's mana sensing abilities will give us a better sense of course but I'd say that if she was to use one of those card spells she's known for it would be between 2,500 and 3,500 on the MPF without that spell." Nero said as she came to her conclusion. "Any less and I doubt she could handle such a powerful stockpiling spell. Of course I could be wrong and she's weaker and can only do that because of some nebulous thing like having the Fairy Tail Guild Mark on her body but that would be ridiculous. She could also be stronger of course but if she can exceed 4,000 without it then I'd be stunned."

"Perhaps but this world's magic is different to our own." Gordon said thinking on his close friend's words. "As just shown by that stockpiling spell. We don't have anything like that that I am aware of. Some items you've made Nero that store magic power but that's it."

"We may not have that but we do have tricks that would allow a mage to use magic beyond their capacity." Nero said. "Mana Zone allows for you to use the mana in the area around you which could theoretically be more than your own supply depending on where you are. Likewise, the Magic Stones can amplify magic power but as I know the hard way only elves and devils can use them to their maximum effect. There are other techniques out there that I've heard of that can boost magic power beyond what you have in some way but I'm not sure what they are."

"I believe that the Heart Kingdom has a method but it is not taught to those outside it and some with less natural magical attributes can't use it I think." Mimosa said. "I heard a bit about it when I once visited but that's about all I know."

"That would make sense, each kingdom has ways to boost magic I believe and the elves have a way as well or at least a way of maximizing one's magic to its limit which is hard to do normally and I don't think humans can do it." Nero said. "But regardless, here they've got spells that can be learned that do it for them as we saw there. A good way around that but as Cana proved not this is not the best way to measure magic power as only direct spells seem to work. I'd say that someone like Erza has a magic power level easily above 6,000 after what we say, and I'm probably lowballing that, but she'd not score highly in this test."

"She wouldn't?" Asta asked.

"Nope, her magic isn't offensive or defensive, it's something else entirely and not at all direct." Nero said. "Sure she probably knows spells that are so she likely can participate in this if she had had to, but Requip is Spatial Magic that is used for storage. Her's is clearly high as she can store a high, and unknown, amount armor and weapons in that space and summon both and not matching sets, all of those likely require a high level of magic power to do, but the armor itself is enchanted or otherwise special using her own magic as part of it. It's not actually an attack so I don't think the MPF would record it though perhaps it would record the magic levels of the enchantments. I would like to get my hands on one to test it though."

"Might be hard but I'm sure there are ways." Zora said. "Anything can be found if you know the right people."

"Keep it legal." Yami growled.

"Of course Captain Crazy." Zora said with a chuckle. "I always do."

"Also as we know measuring magic power is just stupid anyway." Nero said as the crowd finally calmed down and Cana finished basking in the attention she was getting though she still didn't put her jacket back on and kept walking around only wearing only her bra above her waist though that was clearly her style for some reason. "Just look at Asta. He has no magic power and yet he's one of the strongest here."

"True, Asta is amazing." Mimosa said with a flush.

"He is strong, I'll give him that." Noelle said almost in response to Mimosa's, which she didn't like, and then added. "But don't read into that."

"Huh?" Asta asked.

"Yeah he won't get that." Nero said. "Anyway…"

"Well folks that was certainly a surprise to end it that I can safely say none of us saw coming." Chapati said having finally recovered it seemed and getting their attention. "Between Erza Scarlet's unbelievable 100 to 1 victory in Pandemonium and whatever Cana Alberona just did to the MPF it's safe to say that Fairy Tail is back with a vengeance and making a statement to claim the top two spots in the third event in dynamic fashion."

"I always knew that they'd be back and it is good to see that they are reminding us why they were so good in the past, minus all the property and environmental damage they caused." Yajima said. "And with that the final rankings for the third event are, in first place and the only participant in Pandemonium, Erza Scarlet who gains 10 points for Fairy Tail Team A. Places 2 through 8 were determined by the Magic Power Finder and that was a surprise topping for Cana Alberona of Fairy Tail Team B to get 8 points for her team followed by Jura Neekis in third for the event and Olga Nanagia in 4th to round out the top half."

"It was some impressive readings so plenty of powerful attack spells known by the participants." Lahar said. "And that last one was especially strong, above what Cana could do without it I'd presume but still needed a strong level of magic to use."

"That's Fairy Tail for you, they always have some tricks like that." Yajima said the smile clear in his voice. "I'd expect no less from their wily old Guild Master."

"It certainly is seeming to be the case." Chapati said. "And Luck Voltia's 5th place score was still above 3,600 showing how strong he is as well and yet he couldn't crack the top half with that as for the first time all games we see the Black Bulls fail to win an event. Then we had the drop with Millianna of Mermaid Heel in 6th, Hibiki of Blue Pegasus in 7th and a surprising last place for Obra of Raven Tail with a measly 4 on the MPF."

"The MPF only measures the power of the attack spell." Lahar explained. "So it shouldn't be taken as a given for the magic power of the user as some people don't know or can't use the kind of spells that the MPF records but are still dangerous on a battlefield due to strategy or other kinds of spells. Think of it as more a tool than anything else and it was the best thing on hand to determine the remaining order after Erza's score."

"Very true and those scores have shaken the standings a fair bit as we get ready for the battles in the second half of the day." Chapati said. "So let's look at them at this midpoint of the games. Despite that last place finish with 0 points in the third event, Raven Tail is still in first place with 32 points, after that we have a tie in second place with 23 points each between Blue Pegasus and the Black Bulls and then there is a three way tie in 4th with 22 points between Fairy Tail Team A, Sabertooth, and Lamia Scale. Fairy Tail Team B comes in at 7th with 20 points and bringing up the rear is Mermaid Heel in last with 18 points. Fairy Tail is officially out of the basement and the scores are really tightening up now."

"Other than Raven Tail who still holds a commanding lead that only two teams can surpass with the battles today there really is only 5 points in it so the battles will be very interesting." Yajima said. "I am sure that they will shake things up going into the fourth day."

"They will be interesting." Lahar said. "I look forward to watching them."

"That they will be and we are starting up with a good one." Chapati said. "Because first up it's a clash between one of the biggest surprises of the games and the slightly surprising current last place team as the Black Bulls face off against Mermaid Heel to kick off the third round of battles and I've gotten word on who that will be. Get ready folks because we're starting the battles of the third day off with a battle between the surprise winner of Chariots, the Spatial Mage Finral Roulacase, and the cute kitten of Mermaid Heel, Millianna!"

"Wait me?" Finral asked as his eyes went wide and they all turned to him and gulped at the pressure.

The Black Bulls had lost their last two battles and thanks to Erza showing off, Cana's ingenuity, and two raw powerhouses they'd only gained 3 points in the event so now it was on him once again to get points for them as he was sent out to battle and a fair maiden at that, in Finral's eyes at least. Well, he'd just have to set himself because it was time to go do battle and get points for the Black Bulls.

Little did Finral, or any of them know but one of the upcoming battles, the combatants had already been determined, would change the dynamics of the games. It was coming and nothing could stop it as the third day of the Grand Magic Games moved into its battles.

Well there it is, the MPF event chapter and about as entertaining as I can make it as it wasn't that entertaining in the anime other than the ending, which the Black Bulls have at least tried to analyze as best they can. It certainly showed them the kind of power that Fairy Tail can wield between Erza's domination of Pandemonium and the spell Cana knows so they know for sure to not underestimate Fairy Tail going forward. Next up, though, it's Finral's chance to shine again as he gets to face Millianna in a battle which will be interesting and then the rest of the Day 3 battles with one in particular being the central focus. All that is to come but that is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.

Stringdog