The second official day of the Grand Magic Games began with a competition event: fishing!
Of course, what the contestants had to catch weren't ordinary fish, but a type of magical beast—man-eating fish.
For weaker mages, forget about fishing—they were more likely to be fish food themselves.
These fish possessed astonishing strength and were extremely sensitive to magical energy.
To reel them in, mages had to pour vast amounts of magic into specially-made rods to serve as bait, then overpower the fish to haul them out of the water.
Representing Fairy Tail in this round was Stella. While she possessed immense magic power and strength, unfortunately, fishing wasn't one of her strong suits.
And since this was a competition for mages, there was no way it would be as simple as just fishing. The real key was being able to catch fish while under interference from opponents.
Raven Tail was practically shameless in their attempts to disrupt Stella. Several times she managed to hook a fish, only to lose it due to lack of technique and the relentless interference.
Stella was so furious she could barely contain her magic and nearly threw the rod aside to just knock out those Raven Tail bastards.
But that only made things worse. The fish, while sensitive to magic, also acted on instinct and fled when overwhelmed by her terrifying aura.
In the end, Stella finished in seventh place, earning only a single point. Raven Tail, thanks to her retaliatory outburst, ended up dead last.
Incidentally, the first-place winner was Mermaid Heel's Millianna. A girl obsessed with cats apparently had some racial affinity here, and with her top-tier magic power, her victory wasn't surprising.
After the event, Charles spent quite some time coaxing Stella out of her sulking state, trying to cheer her up.
That afternoon's battle was against Twilight Ogre. After losing a game of rock-paper-scissors, Rogue went up and settled the boring match in one second—the opponent didn't even manage to cast a spell.
By the end of Day Two, Fairy Tail sat atop the scoreboard with a total of 41 points.
Second place was Blue Pegasus, who had finished second and third in the first two competitions and won their battles against Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus, scoring 34 points in total.
They were followed closely by Sabertooth, who had amassed 28 points so far.
Following Fairy Tail tradition, this called for a celebration. After all, it was clear to anyone watching that if things continued like this, the championship title of the first Grand Magic Games wouldn't be going to anyone else.
"For Fairy Tail—cheers!"
The group cheered and clinked their mugs together, instantly bringing the atmosphere to life.
"Let's win this thing all the way through and bring the title of Kingdom's Number One home with us!"
They laughed and joked, but in truth, the weight of the Tenrou Group's disappearance had left everyone feeling heavy until now. Only at this moment were they finally able to relax.
Charles sipped his drink but still felt something missing.
Sure enough, without Natsu and the others, while the party was a lot more "peaceful," it lacked that spark.
Back during his last return to the Fairy Tail world, Charles had searched the remains of Tenrou Island but found nothing.
The Fairy Sphere wasn't just a simple sealing spell—it was a super spell capable of sealing even Acnologia.
Tenrou Island hadn't merely been sealed and sunk—it had been transported to a pocket dimension, much like the Celestial Spirit World.
The Kingdom had definitely searched that stretch of ocean countless times in an attempt to retrieve Lucy and her golden keys, but they too had found nothing and were forced to conclude the group had disappeared.
Even more puzzling, despite being sealed for seven years, time seemed to have stopped for the Tenrou Group—they returned with injuries still fresh and unhealed.
So the only one who could undo the Fairy Sphere was the ghost of the First Master. Charles couldn't help with that at all.
Seven years was just too long... Charles quickly shook off those thoughts. Now was not the time for such melancholic things.
Besides, someone else was feeling even worse than he was.
Stella took a hard swig of her fruit wine, clearly drinking to drown her sorrows. Her poor performance in the fishing event still weighed heavily on her.
Naturally so—up to this point, she was the only one who'd scored low. Being a proud and capable mage, Stella couldn't help but feel she'd held the team back.
Even though Charles had said things like "We all make mistakes, but our comrades will cover for us"—words filled with the spirit of Fairy Tail—Stella couldn't forgive herself.
"Hey there, little lady! Drinking alone, huh?"
A slick voice rang out behind Stella, followed by a man who casually took the seat next to her.
"How about I keep you company for a drink?"
Without even glancing at him, Stella said, "Some low-life thug? I'm not in the mood. Be a good boy and scram, alright?"
But the man wasn't about to give up. Instead of leaving, he reached for Stella's shoulder.
Only for his hand to freeze mid-air, unable to move any further.
"Didn't I tell you to back off?" came a cold voice.
The man looked up to see Charles standing there, who had appeared without a sound. He wore a challenging grin.
Charles glanced at the man's hair, tied into a topknot by a headband, and noted the scaled gauntlets on his arms. The guild insignia on his back was unmistakable.
A stylized number four—the symbol of Quatro Cerberus.
Charles remembered who this was now: Bacchus Groh, a veteran S-Class mage of Quatro Cerberus.
Even though Charles had long since forgotten most of the original plot involving Bacchus, he had picked up plenty of intel on the man during his time in this world.
In Fairy Tail's world, magic considered "orthodox" typically lacked flash but had no major weaknesses—like elemental or reinforcement magic.
Bacchus possessed exactly that kind of orthodox magic: focusing magic into his palms to enhance his strikes.
Of course, that alone wasn't enough to make him an S-Class mage. His true strength lay in his martial skill.
Using a martial art called "Pigua Palm," he could fully unleash the power of his magic.
Even more, he developed a variant called "Drunken Pigua Palm," where he drank alcohol to make his movements unpredictable and dramatically boost his attack power.
It was said he had clashed with Erza multiple times during missions and had fought her to a draw.
But anyone in the know understood what that really meant—when Fairy Tail mages weren't fighting for their comrades or beliefs, they were operating at a whole different level. So that "draw" was more of a formality.
Still, Bacchus's strength was undeniable.
Charles couldn't understand why Bacchus would provoke them now, especially since the guild master of Quatro Cerberus, Goldmine, was an old friend of Makarov's.
But one look at Bacchus's sleazy grin told Charles he had no interest in thinking too deeply about it.
Crack. Crack.
A strange sound echoed from Charles's hand—the crunch of the scaled gauntlet on Bacchus's wrist being crushed.
A flash of fear flickered across Bacchus's face. Visiting Fairy Tail had been a last-minute decision, but he'd been on high alert the entire time.
The greatest strength of his Drunken Pigua Palm was the ability to bypass an opponent's predictions, making his moves unpredictable.
Yet when Charles grabbed him, he hadn't been able to dodge at all. And now the raw power pressing down on him was staggering.
Still wearing his arrogant smirk, Bacchus said, "Man… you're scarier than Erza. My soul's trembling here."
Feeling the increasing pressure on his hand, Charles frowned—and in the next instant, the gauntlet beneath his fingers turned bright red with heat.
Even Bacchus couldn't hide the pain that flashed across his face and eventually gave up struggling. Charles let go.
"Damn… wild," Bacchus muttered, standing up. He gave Charles a long, serious look, then turned and walked away.
Only after leaving the inn did he glance down at his arm. Beneath the shattered armor, his skin was badly burned.
But he wore a thrilled expression as he said, "I thought the Games wouldn't be any fun without Erza around. But this guy… damn, he's interesting. My soul's trembling!"
Charles didn't waste another thought on Bacchus's provocation. Better to focus on helping Stella recover her spirits.
And with that, the party came to a close—and the third day of the Grand Magic Games dawned.
(End of Chapter)
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