Instantly, Laxus's eyes went blank, followed quickly by a twisted, ferocious expression.
The joy and excitement of being promoted to S-Class Mage vanished without a trace.
In his heart, there was only anger—endless anger.
When they took the quests, he had mocked Lucas, saying he wouldn't return within a week. Fortunately, it wasn't a combat-based exam.
But the result? Lucas completed an S-Class quest in a week and was successfully promoted.
And him? He barely finished at the very last moment of the deadline.
In the same amount of time, Lucas completed three S-Class quests, all of which were harder than the one he took.
But Lucas's congratulatory words just now, that smile—in his eyes, it was all mockery.
Crackle, crackle!!
Dense golden lightning appeared around Laxus's body.
"Laxus!!"
Seeing Laxus like this, Makarov immediately scolded him.
But Laxus ignored Makarov.
He stared dead at Lucas. "Lucas, I want to settle this with you!"
"Laxus, don't cause trouble!"
Makarov scolded Laxus again.
"I'm not causing trouble. We're both newly promoted S-Class Mages. We have to see who's superior. Isn't that what you want too?"
"Laxus!"
"Old man, this is between me and Lucas now. Even as the Master, you have no right to interfere."
After speaking to Makarov, Laxus turned his gaze back to Lucas, challenging him provocatively:
"Lucas, do you dare?"
Lucas smiled. "Sure! Why wouldn't I?"
"Lucas, even you..."
"Master, we are mages. Since someone has issued a challenge, if I don't accept, I'll be considered a coward. It's just a simple spar."
"But..."
Just then, Gildarts' voice rang out from behind Makarov. "Isn't it fine? Master!"
"Young people should have the vigor of youth. Didn't you teach me that there's always someone better? Regardless of who wins or loses, the other side will strive harder and train more to defeat the opponent. Isn't that a good thing?"
Hearing Gildarts say this, Makarov stopped arguing.
Seeing his grandfather no longer objecting, a somewhat savage smile appeared on Laxus's face. "Good, you agreed. Then right now..."
Lucas raised his hand. "Right now I'm tired, and I'm hungry. If you want a showdown, let's set it for three days from now."
Everyone in the guild wasn't blind. Lucas was clean and tidy, while Laxus and Freed looked quite ragged and had sustained some injuries.
Clearly, Lucas was giving Laxus a break.
"Fine!"
Laxus didn't say much. His condition indeed wasn't good. He wanted to defeat Lucas in his best state, to let everyone know that he was the strongest, and Lucas was just lucky to have picked some simple S-Class quests.
He also believed his luck was simply bad this time, having spent a huge amount of time searching for the sea monster; otherwise, he wouldn't have returned so late.
Laxus turned and left the guild, and the Thunder Legion trio immediately followed him.
The Fairy Tail guild soon became lively again.
Fairy Tail suddenly possessed three S-Class Mages. This was a great thing.
It meant Fairy Tail could complete more S-Class quests in the future. The guild's fame would grow, and the resources they could access would broaden. If this continued, becoming the number one guild in Fiore wasn't impossible.
Then, everyone began discussing who would win the duel between Lucas and Laxus.
Normally, most people in the guild would support Laxus. After all, Laxus inherited the Master's magic power, wielded powerful Lightning Magic, was a genius mage, and was four years older than Lucas.
A four-year gap was not to be underestimated, especially at this age, when mages grew rapidly.
As for Lucas? He had only been learning magic for a little over half a year. To become a Fairy Tail S-Class Mage in that time—thinking about it, Lucas really was an incredible monster.
Although they knew Lucas was a monster from his first day in the guild, learning magic and using magic were two different things.
Even with the same magic, different people produced different power levels.
But now, Lucas had proven with actual results that not only was his talent for learning magic terrifying, but his own strength was also super terrifying.
In one month, he completed three S-Class quests.
Those were S-Class quests—missions that even S-Class Mages had to risk their lives for, a difficulty ordinary mages could hardly touch in their lifetimes.
But Lucas completed them as easily as eating and drinking. That guy really was a monster.
Hearing that S-Class quests paid at least 10 million Jewels, Lucas must have earned at least 30 million Jewels this month.
30 million Jewels... for these people who lived paycheck to paycheck, it was unimaginable.
If he put it in the bank and lived off the interest, wouldn't he never have to work again?
It was too enviable.
But envy was just envy; they weren't jealous. He earned it.
<><><><><><>
Read Advanced Chapters on: patreon.com/Anna_N1
~Every 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]