Chapter 139: Announcing the Exam Result
"So, Noah, what do you think of Ultear's performance?" Makarov, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
"During the battle, Ultear's reactions were excellent; she was able to respond to my attacks quickly. Her magic power and stamina are both good. And in the end, when faced with a powerful magic attack, she showed a strong ability to protect herself. My conclusion is: she passes. But whether she can ultimately become an S-Class wizard is still up to you, Gramps."
Hearing that she had passed, a smile spread across Ultear's face. After drinking Noah's potion, she had already recovered some of her strength and, with Ur's help, was able to stand up again. She stood before Makarov, looking at him with an expectant expression.
Makarov seriously considered Ultear's performance, both in the fight and in her usual work. She always completed her requests well and paid attention to the details. The battle had just demonstrated that her strength, stamina, magic power, and reaction speed all met the requirements for an S-Class wizard. After thinking it over, he found that she was excellent in every aspect, and there was no reason not to promote her.
He coughed twice. The guild members all fell silent, waiting for him to announce the result. Ultear also felt that she should be able to pass, but until the result was announced, who knew if there would be a twist? She watched him nervously.
"I declare the result of this trial is... Ultear is now an S-Class wizard!"
"YEAHHH!!!" Natsu was the first to cheer, and then the other guild members joined in, all of them congratulating Ultear.
Amidst the cheers, Ultear's face was wreathed in smiles. She hugged her mother, and then Erza, Sorano, and the others. Mirajane looked reluctant, but her body was honest, and she gave Ultear a celebratory hug as well. Kagura and Lisanna looked at her with envy, while Wendy and Yukino looked at her with admiration, imagining themselves being that strong one day.
"I'm definitely gonna become an S-Class wizard, and then I'll beat you, Ultear!" Natsu shouted from the side.
"Alright. I'll be waiting for you," Ultear replied with a smile.
Gray said grimly from the side, "You can't even beat me. You're thinking too much if you think you can beat Ultear."
"What did you say, droopy-eyes?!"
"I'm talking about you, squinty-eyes!"
The two of them started brawling again, and most of the guild members quickly gathered around to watch and cheer them on.
"When I saw you cast such a powerful spell, I thought you had lost control. I'm glad that wasn't the case," Erza said. She hadn't gone to watch the brawl and was instead standing next to Noah. His final spell had truly terrified her; the pressure it gave off after the flames appeared was an undeniable threat of death. She had never thought Noah would harm Ultear, but she had genuinely believed he had made a mistake and had even wanted to rush in.
"Of course. I'm facing a comrade, so I have to carefully control my magic. But I also have to apply enough pressure to make it a real test. It was very difficult for me too," Noah said with a shrug. It wasn't like fighting an enemy, where you could just throw whatever powerful spell you wanted. Against his own comrades, one wrong move could instantly trigger the protective magic in their guild marks, and he didn't want anyone to know about that just yet.
Ultear, overhearing him, rolled her eyes. She had been scared out of her wits. The moment the magic circle had formed, she had felt like she was standing at the mouth of a volcano that was about to erupt. The sense of danger had put her nerves on edge, and all she could do was continuously output magic to build her defense. Aside from cursing Noah in her heart for a second, all she could think about was how to survive. Now that she thought back on it, her heart was still pounding.
"If you don't want to be in such a dangerous situation, then you have to train hard. If you become stronger, this won't happen," Noah said seriously.
Ur, standing nearby, nodded. She had been on many S-Class requests over the years and had naturally encountered a lot of danger. Sometimes, one wrong move could get you killed. Now that her daughter had chosen to become an S-Class wizard, she wouldn't stop her, but she would do her best to help her get stronger, which would naturally reduce the danger.
"Now that you're an S-Class wizard, you should follow Ur on a few S-Class requests first to get used to it, and then try to do them on your own," Noah suggested to Ultear, glancing at Ur. He could see from Ur's expression that she was not at ease letting her daughter go on S-Class missions alone, so he made the suggestion himself to make it easier for Ultear to accept.
Hearing this, Ultear understood immediately. She said to her mother, "Alright! I haven't done a request with you in a long time, Mama. Let's do some together as a mother-daughter team."
Ur's face broke into a happy smile. She hugged her daughter, and they began to whisper to each other. Ultear then shooed Noah away with her eyes, and he nodded and left them alone.
Most of the guild members were still watching Natsu and Gray fight. The others who had been inspired by the exam had already returned to their training plots. The age gap between Erza, Sorano, Mirajane, Lyon, and Ultear wasn't large, so they were all greatly motivated and began to train even harder. Simon was also training hard; he was the same age as Ultear, and now that she was S-Class, he was naturally spurred on as well. Even if he couldn't become S-Class, he didn't want the gap between them to become too large.
And so, the training atmosphere of the younger generation became even more intense. Excluding Laxus, who was more than three years older than them, and Noah, who was a monster, Ultear was the first among their peer group to become an S-Class wizard. This naturally brought them great pressure and inspiration. Natsu was now talking all day about becoming S-Class and defeating Ultear. As her juniors, Gray and Lyon were naturally happy for their senior, but they also secretly resolved to become S-Class wizards as soon as possible, so as not to fall too far behind her.
And so, in an atmosphere of everyone chasing after each other, a new year arrived: X780.
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