Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.


-The Enchanter of Fairy Tail-

Chapter 58: Planning For the Trial.

Year: X758. 26 years till Canon begins.

Cade POV:

When I headed back home yesterday after seeing Lilly, I quickly wrote up some notes for the next few days. I then took some rest and relaxation, as it may be the last time I would be able to actually relax and enjoy myself until the trial coming up.

And so I headed up to bed after having dinner and got ready for the next day few days that would be ahead of me.

When the next day came, I headed downstairs for some breakfast quite early, before heading back up into my room to look properly over my notes. Today was the day that I had to learn what path I would be taking for the days until the trial.

I had placed several notes on my table to regarding all sorts of information about the S-Class wizards I may be facing, my magic, as well as information about Frag and Scarlet.

First I decided to take a look over the S-Class wizards that may be in my path.

I took a look over the notes I had on Gildarts to start with. While I had been around the guy enough times to know his magic inside and out, writing down physical notes helped me focus more for some reason.

Honestly I was hoping that I wouldn't run into Gildarts during the trial. He was nothing more than a behemoth in power. There was simply no way that I could beat Gildarts fair and square in a 1V1 match. I have dealt damage to him in the past, yes, but that was because he just wanted to see how I scaled up to him and how much I've grown over the years since I had learned magic. Of course there was two things I had to consider here.

The first was that Gildarts might decide to be a bit considerate to me and see that I may be worthy for S-Class without me beating him in a fight. The other thing was a wild card that I had been thinking about since yesterday.

Next on the list of S-Class wizards was Quikora. He was someone that never showed up at the guild too much, but he still maintained a presence that always made people remember him.

Now in terms of magic, Quikora's illusions were pretty good when it came to fooling those who didn't know he had it. Of course, many illusions had the mortal and probably everlasting weakness of being that, if you could see through it then it couldn't actually hurt you. Now the thing about Quikora is that he will often try to trick and deceive the nature of the battle using his illusions without his opponent noticing. If he did this enough then he would get the upper hand and land a good few hits on you.

In terms of winning against him I had a few options that may work. The first was that I knew how he used his magic so if I stayed alert the whole time then I would be able to see if he was maybe laying any traps. The second was that Quikora had to focus to cast some of the more powerful illusions that he had. I had a few spells that may throw him off balance, so that could work in my favour. There was also the wild card, but more on that later.

Finally… there was Ivan. Out of all the candidates Ivan was the one that would not simply step aside to let me continue. He was the kind of guy that I would have to beat physically in order to get past.

His Shikigami Magic was fairly straightforward. He could use his magic to turn small objects – sometimes small living beings, into paper dolls that he could use for fighting and communication. I had seen his magic firsthand when he fought Gildarts years back. The issue was that was years ago, and I wasn't sure how much Ivan had progressed in his magic since then. He had perhaps learned more moves or maybe he had captured more animals to turn into dolls. His magic had a lot of potential and I wasn't sure what the limit was.

When it came to trying to beat Ivan in battle, a few thoughts crossed my mind in how to get the better of him. The first was that my Delirium's Blades spell could potentially shred all his little paper dolls. Still, it would be risky to rely on the one spell for a whole battle. Ivan was a clever man, he would probably find a way to get around it quick enough if I keep using it. I could also try to find a way to maybe have Ivan run out off Shikigami dolls but that was also unlikely to happen. Again I had my wildcard, but it came with a risk.

Looking over the S-Class wizards made me realise that it would be best for me to go up against maybe Quikora out of the three of them. Gildarts despite the powerhouse that he was, would be fair and respectable. Ivan was perhaps the worst as he would do everything he could to not let me past him.

Now that was sorted, I took a look at the list of spells that I had available to me. Again, I certainly wouldn't be forgetting my own spells but writing them down just helped me focus more.

In terms of the enchantments that I had, Soft and Soar were pretty much the best spells I had for good evasion. I had gotten better at using Disappear to where I would no longer be draining as much magic and the explosion that it summoned would somewhat more controllable. I could also summon more blades using Delirium's Blades which was also good. These attacks were powerful and could be a good edge at getting me past any of the S-Class wizards.

In terms of training to get the spells any stronger there wasn't much I could do other than try to summon more blades and maybe some more stronger explosions.

As for my Ice/Stone Magic? Well that was a bit trickier to figure out.

I had some good far range spells, as well as some good close up spells. While that was good variety, the strength of the spells could maybe a bit better. More Ice/Stone beams would be good to maybe focus on, or I could maybe try to read and learn some more Iceflake magic that I could turn into stone. There was always the option to just keep constantly using my magic to get my attacks stronger and more powerful.

Then there was the wildcard. That being Malvel's spell book.

I could make the time to read and try to decipher a page in hopes that it could give me a spell that would give me an upper hand in the trial. The issue was I could end up spending hours at a time to try and get a spell, only to get a picture or a diary entry. The risk was high, with a hard chance of there being potentially no reward for a while at least.

I had attempted one time to use some Gale Force Reading glasses to speed up the translating process, but that ended up being a waste of time. As the symbols keep moving and shifting, it makes it hard to keep a good focus on the runes that I was translating. In the end, the glasses made no difference.

I had decided to leave the spell book for now as I felt it best to try and not risk wasting any time. Every hour counted.

When I finished looking over my magic, I decided to try and maybe focus making my spells stronger by practising them on the hills outside of Magnolia.

I glanced at the clock in my room and saw that it was 12:37am. I had been here looking over my notes for a good while now.

I leant back in my seat and gave a long sigh. There were still things like looking over things like what kind of magic Frag and Scarlet had available on them, but I think that was something I could do maybe later.

There was something else that I could do though, but it involved a trip to Fairy Tail.


Arriving at the guild and I saw that it was mostly quiet and not too busy. I found that somewhat interesting as I headed down to an area of the guild that not many people head to or even know exist.

The guilds library.

Yup. Fairy Tail has a library and almost no one knows about it! I only found it by accident when I stumbled across it when I was exploring some of the guilds other less obscure areas.

Here you can find information on magic as well as things like the history of Fairy Tail. To be honest that is mostly obscure and not entirely well documented, but it is still there.

Anyway, I was here for one thing only. Information on Tenro island.

I was hoping to maybe get a look at the island so I knew what to expect going there. Would there be any caves, hostile fauna, rocky landscapes or maybe any other dangerous things? After a bit of poking around I found a book that actually described Tenro Island in relatively good detail.

It described Tenro Island as a place that the grave of the first Master of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermilion was located. That made the place pretty important and sacred for the guild.

The book also said that there was a barrier that prevented non-Fairy Tail wizards from entering or even discovering the island. I'm guessing that was in place to not let intruders on the island. It seems only the current Master of Fairy Tail could undo the barrier.

The next page of the book showed a rough drawing of Tenro Island that I was able to get a good look at.

Tenro Island looked to be a mostly rocky and steep island covered green and yellow vegetation. One side of the island seemed to be particular rocky, with big formations jutting out from the ground. Then I saw the most distinctive element of the island: a gigantic tree with a gnarled, mildly curved trunk, ending in a number of large branches. Such a huge tree possessed a multitude of similarly large, curved and twisted roots, which right below the trunk sustain massive lumps of earth; something which creates some sort of covered area right below the tree itself.

I could only imagine how many tourists would come here if the island was not protected by the barrier. Perhaps it was for the best that Master Makarov allows the barrier to be maintained.

I saw a little box of information that said that the giant tree (known as the Tenro Tree apparently) can grant a Fairy Tail wizard a huge increase in power. If the tree is destroyed however, this boon seems to go away.

I quickly skimmed the next few pages and read up on things like the weather of the island and how it was mostly rather sunny and hot due to how isolated it was from everything else in the world. I also saw the many different creatures that were on the island. Many were hostile so that would make things harder on the island. I also saw a fun little handwritten message that said that a fairy lived on the island.

I was going to continue reading the book, but a voice interrupted me from my reading.

"I never thought that I would see someone use this dusty old room for some much needed help."

I looked up and saw Ivan standing on the top of the staircase, him looking down on me. In the last few years, he had now grown a small beard and was much taller than some of the other people in the guild. He had kept somewhat of the same clothing that he had when he was younger.

"Though I'd say considering the position you are in, you would need all the help you could get." Ivan remarked as he gave me a sinister grin.

'Ugh, why'd Ivan have to show up?' I thought with irritation. 'And WHY does he dislike me so much?'

I narrowed my eyebrows at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" I questioned. Out of everyone in the guild why did Ivan have to be the one to walk in here?

"Please, it's obvious that you'll be failing the trial next week." Ivan goaded. "I've seen that you have hardly the strength or the skill to make it to the second floor."

'This guy… just what is his deal?' I thought with annoyance.

"Master Makarov knows skill and strength when he sees it." I stated. "He wouldn't pick me or the others if he didn't think that we had what it took."

"Everyone makes mistakes." Ivan rebutted with a scoff. "Father only chose you because of that ridiculous spell book you have. Had it not been for that, you would be remaining as a low ranked ice mage. A non-stand out when compared to the rest of the guild here."

I gave Ivan a sharp glare. "This 'non stand out' that you're talking about has gone on several A-Class jobs by himself, and he has helped guide a few new members of the guild. Even if I didn't have that book, I'm certain I still would have made it to where I am." I stated not backing down.

Ivan turned his head a little and raised an eyebrow. "The new starts? If you mean those boys that started then I can only pity you for your time spent with them." Ivan rudely spoke. "They sounded far too excited and eager for what they are actually doing."

'Ivan… If he wasn't Master's son and it wasn't a week before the trial…'

"Watch what you say." I narrowed my eyes at Ivan. "Macao and Wakaba have much more heart and soul when it comes to being Fairy Tail members that you." I pointed a finger up at Ivan.

The pupils in Ivan's eye shrank a little and I saw a vein strain on his forehead. "You… accuse me of not being a true member of the guild?" He hissed with distain and anger.

I then felt Ivan's magic flair up. This really surprised me.

'What!? I didn't think Ivan was this strong!'

Right before it looked like something rather destructive and physical would happen between both of us, I heard a voice from behind Ivan.

"There you are Ivan. Never thought I'd find you down here in the library." Came the voice of Master Makarov from behind his son.

Ivan gave a look of shock as he turned around. "Father…!"

"Alexis was looking for you. She was wondering where you've been all day." Master then looked down and saw me. "Ah Cade good to see you studying down here!" Master beamed.

Ivan then grimaced before he looked back down at me. "See you next week." He spoke as he then moved past his father and out of the room.

He closed the door behind him. When the door closed behind him, Master let out a sigh of relief. "Well not sure why he was flaring up his magic so much, but he must have been frustrated." Master then gave me a suspicious look, before he replaced it with a look of curiosity. "So what are you reading?"

I held up the book on Tenro Island for him to see. Master gave me a smile when he saw the books title. "Ah reading up on Tenro Island I see." He then leapt from the top of the staircase and landed on one of the tables down here. "Good thinking to read up on what what to expect on the island." He praised.

"Thanks. This big tree here really surprised me. It's like an island on an island." I acknowledged with amusement.

Master gave me a chuckle. "Oh I've heard that one before." He then turned away from me and was about to head off to leave me in peace.

"Uh, Master? Before you go…" I began.

Master Makarov turned to look at me. "Yes? What is it Cade?"

"Um… I had some questions about Ivan…" I muttered with hesitation.

Master had a look of surprise, before he sighed and put a hand to his forehead. He then gave me a look of consideration, as if he was wondering whether to answer me here. Did he think I was maybe trying to get information for the S-Class trial?

Master just sighed, before he moved his hand, signalling me to speak.

"Well I was wondering… er how do I say this… Erm, Ivan seems to care about Fairy Tail quite a bit." I said as I gave an awkward grin and scratched my chin. "But his… bold personality seems to contrast that." I added carefully.

Master gave a deep hum, before he answered me. "Ivan's always wanted to join Fairy Tail when he was a boy. He loved seeing the colours of the magic and the spells that were cast from the wizards there. He joined when he was ten years old. But that was when his mother passed away…" Master explained with some sadness.

"Ah… I'm sorry about that…" I said with sympathy.

"It's fine." Master assured me with a weak smile. "It was an illness that took her sadly. Ivan was hurt by her passing." Master explained.

"But…" Master gave a smirk. "Ivan's been busy with someone else lately." Master winked.

"Oh you mean his girlfriend?" I questioned.

"Yup! He may not look like it, but Ivan's been quite happy and relaxed since he's been dating Alexis!" Master remarked as he chuckled. "Why I've already thought of names for my future grandchildren!"

I gave an awkward laugh with Master laughing his socks off at that remark he made. When we finished laughing, Master spoke up to me.

"Ah… anyway Cade, best of luck when preparing for the trial coming up!" Master said as he moved up the stairs and exited the room.


After Master left I spent some more time reading up on Tenro Island, but I couldn't find anything that would particularly help me for the trial.

Afterwards, I exited the library and the guild and headed back home to read up some more on the information that could help me for the trial.

As I was walking back through town I ran into Gildarts who was walking out of an alleyway. He looks surprised to see me right here.

"Hey Gildarts!" I waved at him as he moved to come and talk to me.

"Yo Cade." Gildarts gave me a smirk as he made it to me. "So how you feeling about the trial?" He asked with interest. Gildarts was now walking alongside me as we both moved through town.

"I'm feeling ready to blow past everyone else and move up into S-Class!" I grinned.

Gildarts gave a laugh as he slapped me on the back. "That's the stuff! I've been waiting for Master to select you for one of these trials. You've definitely had the spirit and good leadership to be worthy of S-Class for some time now." He praised me as gave me a smile.

"That's nice to hear coming from you." I said. "So… any information you don't mind dropping my way?" I asked with hope.

"Ah well… I'm afraid that while we are still partners in Fairy Tale, I can't share any information about the trial to you." Gildarts said with a tint of sadness in his voice which surprised me a little. He must really want me to pass. "While I am rooting for you, I'd like you to make it legit." He explained.

"Never thought I'd hear that from the guy who tried to bring a wizard who had just completed a B-Class quest for the first time on a S-Class quest with him." I said dryly.

Gildarts looked a bit abashed at his previous eagerness a few years back. He really did want to bring me on as many jobs with him when he first made it to S-Class.

"Anyway, I was curious about one thing. Have you been to Tenro Island before?" I questioned with interest.

Gildarts seemed to think about that question for a bit before he answered me. "No I haven't. But Master said yesterday that he would bring me and other S-Class wizards on there so we could see the place the day before the trial." Gildarts answered.

"Well I was reading up on the island in the guild's library there. It's quite the sight." I commented. "You're in for a treat when you see it." I said.

After a moment, Gildarts stopped walking with me doing the same and he spoke up to me. "Hey Cade. I do want you to win this trial. But if I run into you in the combat related section, then I ain't holding back." Gildarts stated, narrowing his eyes.

While I was a bit shaken hearing him say that I somehow ended up saying this:

"I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll be coming at you with everything that I have as well!" I said with a confident look.

"That will make it all the more exciting then." Gildarts grinned as he began to move way from me. "Later Cade, see you next week!" He waved as he held up his hand and walked further into town.

The idea that Gildarts wouldn't be holding back against me was something that made a bit terrified considering how strong he was, yet it gave me a sense of confidence. Gildarts wouldn't have said that if he didn't think I was ready to go up against him.

He must see me as a pretty strong and confident wizard if he challenged me like that. With that thought in my mind, I headed back to home to do some more reading over my notes and think about how to best train my magic for the trial.


While I spent about an hour in my room reading over my notes, I was interrupted by a knock on my door. I turned and saw mother open the door.

"Sorry to bother you Cade, but that's Cornelia here to see you." Mother explained as she poked her head through the door.

Realising why Cornelia was here, I quickly sprung up and out of my seat. "Ah, coming!"

I exited my room and ran down the stairs. I saw Cornelia waiting at the bottom of them for me. She gave me a smile when I reached the ground floor.

"Ah, took you long enough Cade." Cornelia joked when I reached her. "You know how long I've been waiting here for you?"

"Oh, shut up..." I scoffed lightly as I rolled my eyes at her. "So about any information for the trial…"

"Hmm… could I get some of that lovely chocolate rolls that you have here?" Cornelia asked with a smile on her face. "After that maybe I'll have a nice bit of fruit and some tea with it." She giggled.

"Don't bribe me for food! If you want some all you have to do is ask!" I proclaimed with a sigh afterwards.

"Oh I'm only joking Cade." Cornelia giggled as she waved her hand at me. "But yes about that information…" She said as she lowered her voice and came a bit closer to me.

"So I tried talking to Gildarts and used some… methods to get him to slip up. He told me that all the candidates would have to be moving fast in order to secure a place in the second part of the trial." Cornelia whispered. "That's all I was able to find out, sorry I couldn't do more."

I nodded with that information. "Thanks. I appreciate this."

"…Wait, why are we whispering? There's no one here that could hear us." I realised as I moved away from Cornelia.

Cornelia looked a bit dumbfounded by that realisation. "Oh yes… you're right about that Cade." She said. "Erm, anyway! Hope I helped you there with that information. I have to get going now, got a date with Gildarts tonight!" She said as she bid me farewell and left the manor.

I then moved into the lounge after closing the door behind her to think and process what she told to me there. I sat on the lovely armchair and thought carefully to myself.

'Right. Cornelia said that the candidates would have to be good at moving fast to make it to the second round of the trial. That… actually explains a lot!'

'It first confirms that the first half of the trial will be the non-combat related part! Cornelia said that we would need to be moving fast to make it to the second part. If the first part of the trial was the fighting part then Gildarts wouldn't have told her that.'

'That would mean that we would need to be using speed in some way to pass the first part. I'm guessing after that then we would go up against one of the S-Class wizards. Now about the first part of the trial… what could that possibly be?'

'Making sure that we move fast… hmm… Argh, it could be anything! The fact that we are on an island means that it could range from a treasure hunt to a sprint across the island. There's no real way that I can figure out what the first part is.'

'Still, at least I know that I'll have to fight an S-Class wizard at the end of the trial. That means I'll have to be careful on how I use my magic during the first half of the trial. Wouldn't want to use too much.'

As I was wrapping these thoughts up in my mind, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a somewhat familiar voice from behind me.

"That was a clever move of you to use Cornelia to rope some information out of Gildarts. I am a bit impressed, if not also frustrated."

I immediately turned around and saw Quikora!

"What!? Quikora!? How did you get in here?!" I spoke with horror at him suddenly being here unannounced.

Quikora moved a hand through his body. "It's a thought projection. A mere basic one at that, but it gets the job done." He answered.

"You know this could technically be considered breaking and entering." I pointed out. He did just show up without even knocking the door.

"Ah, but I'm not actually here." Quikora reminded me. "Also I've not broken anything yet." He said as he moved to stand in front of me, him phasing through the furniture in his way.

"Now, let's talk about the fact that you went snooping for information regarding the trial." He addressed me as he crossed his arms.

My face went pale at that moment. "Argh, look I didn't mean it! I just wanted to be prepared going in and – wait… How did you know that I was going to ask Cornelia for more information?" I asked with intrigue.

"Oh I was literally just a few feet to your right when you hatched the plan with your girlfriend. I was just exiting a shop and I decided to listen carefully when you spoke about using Cornelia as a way to get information from Gildarts." Quikora explained.

"Ah right…" I said. I then took a deep breath. "So… what are you going to do Quikora?" I asked with defeat. It was all over for me now. Quikora would most definitely tell Master about my scheming here.

"Oh nothing." Quikora said simply as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Huh?" That caught me by surprise. "You'll do… nothing? You won't tell Master what I did?" I said with rekindled hope.

"You're not to blame here Cade. Gildarts is for giving away trial information!" Quikora grunted. "He should know better than to just tell anyone important details about that."

'If Cornelia used the methods I think she used… then Gildarts may have truly had no choice in the matter.' I thought darkly.

"So why are you here then?" I asked curiously.

"I'm here to say that while I don't plan to report you for getting that information as it was quite vague, any further attempts to get information for the trial will result in me telling Master Makarov." Quikora said with danger in his voice. "Mind what you do from here on out. I'll be watching you carefully." He informed me.

"Right… I understand." I nodded. It was a big relief to not know that my position was not at risk for the trial.

"I will however be giving Gildarts a few special illusions of mine to harass him being the man that he is." Quikora said with some small glee. "Don't worry I won't be annoying your girlfriend or Gildarts girlfriend. They aren't to fully blame here." Quikora assured me.

"Ah that's nice to know." I nodded with some relief.

"That's all I had to say here Cade. Good luck with the training." Quikora gave me a thin smile as his thought projection disappeared, leaving me alone in the room.

Well, this had been quite the eventful day, hasn't it? I got to see all three S-Class wizards in the guild!

I took a sigh of relief and looked around me, before collapse in the chair that was sitting in before. For the rest of the day I chose to relax for a bit, before I decided to think about what spells in particular, I wanted to learn for the trial coming up.

I spent the next five days doing some rather hard training, in which I practised my spells and made sure to improve them the best I could.

I also made sure to do some running across the hills around Magnolia. Whatever sort of activity Master had planned for that first section of the trial, I wanted to make sure that I was fast and agile at moving.

I did sort of have a feeling that I was being watched during these five days of training. I always checked my back to see if anyone was there, but I saw no one. Perhaps a certain illusion mage was watching over me.

Nothing that eventful happened over those five days. I did get some of friends come and check up on me and see how I was doing, but nothing else of of the sort that was that interesting occurred.

It was the final day before the trial. I was up in my bedroom and was sitting at my desk thinking whether I had prepared enough for the big day tomorrow.

I felt confident with what was coming. I had been practising hard and had been doing my research on the island I would be tested on.

On the desk was Malvel's spell book. I hadn't brought it out for any particular reason, just to skim through the pages and see them again. I felt like my mind was getting distracted due to all the training I had been doing for the past few days.

It was as I closed the book I heard the sound of the floorboards creaking behind me.

Wait… the door hadn't been opened…? Ah that's right.

"What do you want Quikora?" I sighed as I stood up and looked behind me, expecting to see the illusion mage using a thought projection to visit me.

But it wasn't Quikora that was standing there.

In fact, this was the last person that I expected to see here.

My mouth dropped when I saw who it was. I could barely get out a response from my mouth.

"Y-You!" I exclaimed in surprise. My words then turned into anger. "Wh-What are you doing here?! Why have you shown up now of all times!?" I demanded as I pointed at the man that stood in my room.

It was him!

I had almost forgotten what he looked like, and could you blame me? It has been over six years since I last saw him.

He had brown hair that was beginning to turn grey at his sides. He had red eyes as well as a scar shaped like an X that was located on his right cheek, one of the lines was smaller than the other. He wore a purple shirt, with a rich green coloured blazer over it. His lower half consisted of smart brown trousers and black boots.

One might think he is a human at first glance, but I knew his true identity.

"Good to see you again Cade. You sure have grown up." Remarked Sirius as he smiled at me.


Duh duh duh! What a way to end things, am I right? Hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Feel free to leave a review of your thoughts.

With his determination to make it to S-Class held strong, Cade set out to learn as much as he could about everything relating to the trial. Still, meeting all the S-Class wizards in one day must have felt like a lot.

Just when things were looking to calm down for Cade, Sirius reappears with no sign that he would appearing. What is his aim here?

Anywho, we are getting closer to the S-Class trial! Who will Cade face?

I do hope that you liked this chapter, and I'm hoping to see you all in the next one!