The air was still, birds flying about lazily as a peaceful atmosphere hung over the forest critters on the outskirts of the arena.
That peace was swiftly shattered by a pillar of scorching heat that evaporated the clouds above the arena and increased the temperature tremendously, the critters running away as a menacing aura encroached over the entirety of Oak Town.
'What the fuck?' Bacchus' eyes were wide and an excited grin was on his face as he watched Eric being surrounded by a pillar of crimson flames, the young man pulling his bloody right thumb from his chest.
Waiting as he watched Eric's arms hanging limply in front of him, he quickly crossed his arms in front of him as Eric let out one of the most devastating roars that he's heard in his career, the wound on his chest burning close before he began to undergo a transformation.
Crimson scales grew out of the sun tattoo on his chest and grew to cover the entire left side of his body, his nails lengthening considerably as his canines sharpened & grew in length. His body grew a few centimeters as his muscles grew a bit in size, a ribbon of crimson flames wrapping around his shoulders behind his neck & back under his armpits before wrapping around his wrists.
"Hah…man, it's no nice to actually stretch my muscles once in a while." With each of his words, Eric let out a soft growl as he rolled his neck, grinning as Bacchus stretched his arms behind him, the cracking of bones echoing in the arena as no one dared to even speak.
"So, this is what you've been working on for the past few months?" Bacchus asked, Eric smirking as he nodded while bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Yep. It was easy to figure out how it works, but it was controlling it that was the worst part. Even now, there's this voice in the back of my head that wants me to just let it all go and burn everything. It's taking a lot to just keep myself in check."
"Not bad. Now then, let's see what you're mad-!" Bacchus was cut off by a fist coated in crimson flames crashing into his chest, Eric grinning as he drastically increased their horizontal gravity pull and they were sent crashing through the arena walls & deep into the town.
Bacchus growled as he gripped the wrist of the fist against his chest before pushing it to the side as he spun to land a heel kick, Eric flipping with the parry & smirking as he narrowly dodged Bacchus' counter before leaping backwards.
"Chains!" Eric growled as he lifted his left hand into the air before bringing it down, five chains made out of crimson flames shooting out of his fingers tips and crashing down onto Bacchus.
"Mountain Splitter!" Bacchus chanted as he spun while slashing outwards with his left hand, watching the chains being cut in half before frowning as Eric smirked.
"Needle." The dragon slayer chanted as he clenched his left hand into a fist before slamming it down, Bacchus' eyes widening as the chains morphed and twisted in razor-sharp spears before they rained down onto him.
Bacchus was naught but a blur as he waved and ducked in between the spears, but he didn't dodge all of them as he grunted when a spear stabbed into his upper arm.
Yet, that didn't faze him as he easily ripped it out before spinning it above his head, smirking at a frowning Eric as he blocked the rest of the spears before clicking his tongue as the flame spear disappeared.
"If this is your so-called best, then you're not ready to be S-Class. At least give me something that I could work for." Bacchus spoke as he spread his arms wide, Eric glaring at the Palm Magic mage before letting out a low chuckle as a violet aura covered his body.
"Fine, then. Full on force it is." Eric spoke with a grin before Bacchus frowned as he watched Eric cross the index and middle fingers on his right hand while closing his right eye.
"Black Coffin." The next instant, Bacchus' eyes widened as walls of pitch-black energy surrounded both of them as well as most of the surrounding area around them, gritting his teeth as he felt the gravity inside increasing tremendously.
"Almighty Push." He wasn't given a chance to get used to the gravity as he felt an invisible force slamming into his chest, sending him crashing into the wall.
Quickly reorienting himself and pushing away from the wall, he glared at the giant fist made of flames slamming into his previous position before spinning around and lashing out with a vicious kick, Eric's eyes widening as the kick unleashed a twisting bullet of air that crashed right through his scales & sent him skidding backwards.
'Goddamnit! What the fuck is he using?! The Gentle Fist?!' Eric groaned as he dug his heels into the ground and stopped himself, frowning at the pain flaring at the point where the bullet had hit him before glaring at Bacchus who had landed on the ground.
"Universal Pull." Eric chanted as he held his left hand out to Bacchus with the palm facing him while slamming his right palm into the ground, the mage frowning as he felt himself slowly being dragged towards Eric.
Digging his feet into the ground, he took a deep breath as he felt the pull go from weak to intense before he grinned as he relaxed his entire body, Eric wheezing as a blue bullet crashed into him with the force of a train.
However, he quickly shook away the pain and gripped Bacchus in a tight headlock, roaring as he flipped and drove Bacchus back first into the ground with a suplex, the mage not even caring for the pain as he rolled backwards & drove his knee into Eric's chest before jumping away.
Eric gritted his teeth as he kip-upped to his feet while slamming his hands into the ground, a sea of hell-fire roaring out of the ground and rising up like a tidal wave before crashing down onto Bacchus only for a tremendous force to part the flames as the drunk grinned at the frowning dragon slayer.
"You said that you wanted me to go all-out, right?" Bacchus asked with a smirk and the next moment, Eric's eyes widened as Bacchus crouched lowly while stretching his right leg out to the side, pulling his upper body forward until it was parallel to the ground while his arms were pulled back & to the side until the fingertips were pointed at the sky.
"Oh shit!" Eric exclaimed as he slammed his palms together to increase gravity even more, but it was only for a moment before his vision went white as a burning pain exploded in his chest, looking down to see Bacchus' hand stabbed up to the knuckles in his chest as the Palm Magic mage grinned at him.
Pulling his hand back out and jumping back as Eric fell to his knees while wheezing, Bacchus glanced around at the barrier around them falling while bouncing on the balls of his feet.
However, his eyes widened as a force slammed into the back of his head and smacked him face first into the ground, Bacchus letting out a groan as Eric gave a soft chuckle as the two of them stood back up.
"Haha…hah…that's good. Very good." Bacchus spoke with a grin as he glanced at the ball of bricks & dirt that had smacked into his head, Eric just smirking before wincing as he rubbed his chest.
"I could say the same. Were you actually trying to kill me?"
"At the end, yes, but that was more out of instinct if anything else. Also, why didn't you fully activate that barrier thingy of yours?"
"And force myself to experience gravity being shifted nearly a hundred times within the span of a second? I may be resistant to the effects of my magic, but that doesn't mean I'm immune to it." Eric said with a shrug as he patted his chest until the pain became numb, Bacchus blinking at the insanity happening in front of him before letting out a chuckle as Eric grinned.
"Well, then. The two of us fighting would be fun, but it would just lead to even more destruction to the town so why don't we give each other one final attack?" He spoke and Eric hummed before shrugging as he nodded, Bacchus watching as the flames around his wrists unravelled while he rose into the air.
"Okay, then! Give it your all!" Eric exclaimed with a grin before he rocketed up into the air, Bacchus holding a hand above his eyes as he watched Eric rise higher and higher until he was nothing more than an orange speck floating in the sky.
'This might be overkill, but they all said go all out so it's time to pull out the BFG.' Eric thought with a grin as he stopped high up in the air, marvelling at how Oak Town looked to be just a small city before he took a deep breath as he raised his hands above his head.
"Let the flame of hell burn." He muttered to himself as he lowered his arms, curling the thumb, ring and pinky fingers on his left hand and leaving his index and middle finger uncurled.
Forming a V sign with them while also curling them into a hook-like shape, a small crimson flame appeared floating in between the two fingers before he hooked the top of the flame with his right index finger, pulling it backwards as if drawing back the string of a bow as a flaming arrow formed in his hands.
On the ground below, Bacchus was back into his Drunk-Chop Hanging Palm, but this time, his entire body was overflowing with ethernano as the area around Bacchus was slowly crumbling away from the pressure of his aura.
'Ten Flaps. The wind is calm. Let the heavens sing.' Bacchus chanted in his mind as he slowly stretched his arms forward, standing back upright before stretching his hands above his head.
"Imperial Flaming Cuspid!" Eric chanted lowly with a smirk as he let the arrow go, the temperature immediately skyrocketing to boiling as the arrow grew to nearly twenty times its size whilst rocketing down towards Oak Town.
"Heavenly Sky Splitter!" Bacchus roared as he sliced downwards as hard as he could, the world standing still as a flash of blue illuminated the entirety of Oak Town before the world was painted crimson by an eruption of blazing flames hanging like a curtain in the sky.
Crackling flames burned everything that they touched, Guy cursing as he spread his arms wide and created a series of giant mirrors above the arena that reflected the attack back into the sky whilst glaring at the two causes of the explosions.
'Damn…that's everything…I've got.' Eric thought tiredly as he felt himself slowly floating back to the ground, smirking at the sight of Bacchus waiting for him on the ground before giving a tired yet victorious grin at the man taking deep breaths as he had his hands on his side.
"Damn, kid. I didn't think I'd have to use one of my ultimate spells on that. Not bad at all."
"Good…for you, but…I'm going…to pass out now."
"Sure, go ahead." Bacchus spoke with a roll of his eyes and Eric didn't need more incentive as he closed his eyes and fell over, grunting softly with a smile as he felt the drunk catching him before letting out a sigh as he felt his mind sinking into blissful sleep.
When Eric came to, it was to a burning headache and a parched throat, letting out a cough that sounded more like a wheeze before he felt a soft hand lifting his head up and a cold glass being held to his lips.
He didn't even know when he started drinking, but when he came to, it was to a soft giggle escaping Flare's lips as she softly helped him lay back down while placing the glass on the bedside table next to him.
"How do you feel?" She asked & giggled as Eric groaned and shook his head, twisting around to face her as she sat on the bed next to him.
"Next time I try to fight Bacchus, punch me in the throat for being stupid." He muttered as he laid his head on her lap, groaning in bliss as she slowly massaged his scalp while her hair spread out as if wrapping the two of them in a blanket.
"Will that work?"
"No, but it will help me remember this pain and perhaps make me think twice about doing so." He spoke, making her giggle as a calm silence hung in the air before he broke it.
"So, how long have I been out?"
"About a week. Turns out your body isn't ready for the transformation like you thought. Also, Guy wanted me to let you know that he's taking half of every mission you and Bacchus are doing from now on to pay him back for fixing the town."
"Yeah, that makes sense. What about the Master? Did he leave any messages?"
"Nope. He wanted to announce the results of the Exams, but decided to wait until you were awake so that everyone can hear it for the first time."
"Good. That can wait until I wake up again." Flare blinked at his answer before rolling her eyes as she felt him wrapping his arms around her left thigh and snuggling deeper, deciding to make a pillow behind her head as she was sure that she wasn't going to be allowed to move until he woke up.
When Eric had you in a sleep grip, you were his teddy bear until he let you go.
"Yo, Eric!"
"Heyo, Eric! We have a game of blast ball later if you want to join."
"Eric! Now that you're becoming an S-Class mage, you can finally give me that 100 Jewels that you owe me."
"I've already paid you that back, Blake. Don't try and scam." Eric spoke with a smirk, the black-haired man letting out a chuckle as Eric followed Flare into the guild.
"Since when am I so popular with the guild?"
"Since you managed to not get your ass kicked in the first ten seconds of fighting me." Eric heard Bacchus say to the side, turning to see the man sitting at the bar counter, already three pitchers of beer deep and drinking his fourth while Warcry & Guy enjoyed their wine next to him.
"Oh…eh." Eric shrugged as he sat down next to Bacchus, Flare sitting down besides him as she ordered a glass of wine while Bacchus chuckled.
" 'Eh' he says when he nearly destroyed the town with his last attack. I swear I was hoping for you to be like me, but you're just as destructive as the rest of these idiots."
"You can't be pissed at me when you guys gave me permission to use my strongest attacks."
"When I had to stay up for an entire 12 hours to fix your mess…yes. Yes I can." Guy grumbled, Eric just giving an apologetic shrug at that before he looked up at the second floor as he heard someone clearing their throat.
"I see that our guest of honour has finally decided to wake up from his beauty sleep." Goldmine spoke with a smirk as he looked at where Eric was sitting with the others, the Gravity mage rolling his eyes with a smile as the rest of the guild cheered at his words.
"Now that Eric is finally up, it's time to announce the results of the Exams. Will our three finalists please make it to the front right here?!" He asked while pointing at the ground below the railing he was standing up, to which Eric took a deep breath as he stood up and walked over.
"I'm so glad I didn't fight you." Nobarly said as soon as the mage stopped right next to him, making him chuckle as Screecher nodded.
"Same. My hit-and-run style of fighting doesn't fit well with your mass destruction style."
"I could say the same for you. The only reason I could see you when you're invisible is because any ethernano that touches you is turned invisible as well."
"Wait, your eyes are that good?" Screecher asked in surprise as he looked at him, Nobarly looking just as shocked as Eric grinned and nodded while reaching up to peel the blindfold away from one eye.
"Yes and no. I simply use-!"
"Ahem! While I like how there's no hard feelings, I'm pretty sure most of us don't want to hear you three ladies gossiping any longer than needed." Goldmine cut them off, making the three mages roll them eyes as the guild chuckled before Goldmine looked down at the screen floating in front of them.
"Eric, turn off the eyes and take off the blindfold."
"I wasn't even using them." Eric muttered with a roll of his eyes, drawing snorts from the guild as he reached up and undid his blindfold, his eyes a dull red as Goldmine nodded & looked back at the screen.
"First, we'll start with Screecher. While some had looked down on your Voice magic and thought that it wouldn't give you enough power to reach the ranks of S-Class, you've shown time and time again that your magic is not to be messed with. Your illusions were incredible, your invisibility spell is ingenious and you've also shown that you can use it both offensively and defensively. Thus, there is no reason…not to make you the fourth S-Class mage Quatro Cerberus. Congratulations!" A roar of cheers broke out amongst the guild and I reached over & patted the Voice mage on the shoulder as Nobarly did the same, Screecher stunned silent as he just blinked in shock.
"We'll let him recollect his thoughts. Nobarly, onto you. While you may have lost your chance to become an S-Class in the first round, you persevered and won the opportunity to be in the finals. Even with the fact that your opponent was invisible for most of your battle, you still managed to make it a close match and nearly won the battle. However, if it wasn't for the second chance, you wouldn't have made it to the finals and on S-Class missions, there are no second chances. Therefore, I cannot in good faith make you an S-Class mage."
"I understand, Master." Nobarly said with a smile and a bow, smiling at Eric as he gave him a pat on the back before the dragon slayer looked up at Goldmine as he looked down at him.
"Firstly, I know we allowed you to go all out, but from now on, I don't want that dragon transformation thing being used in town again until you can control it."
"Yeah, that's expected." Eric said with a nod, Goldmine snorting before he continued.
"Onto the second thing, you were given the promotion before the finals could even start, but YOU didn't feel like you were worthy of it. You felt that you needed to prove not only to everyone in the guild & the town, but also yourself that you are worthy of your rank. After that battle last week, who here believes that Eric isn't worthy of his rank?" Eric blinked at that question as he turned back, smirking as he saw that the rest of the guild were grinning widely while staring at him.
"And of our S-Class, who believes that he's ready to be your equal?" Eric turned to the S-Class mages, a sense of excitement and joy flooding his body as Guy, Bacchus and Warcry gave a thumbs-up & a nod.
"Then we need no further comments. Eric Creed, as of today, congratulations on becoming the fifth S-Class mage of Quatro Cerberus.
A/N: And there we are! The S-Class Exams done! Next is probably going to be a filler chapter/ rest chapter before we continue with the next arc.
As for those that like power-scaling, Eric right now is on the same level as Natsu when he fought against Hades.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!