"So, who are you going to make your partner?" Cana looked at Kazu with hope in her eyes.
"Definitely not you." He replied almost instantly, before chuckling.
Cana shot him a betrayed look. "You could have at least pretended that it was a difficult decision when you said 'no'. What's with the almost instant reply?"
Kazu shrugged. "My bad. It almost instinctively came. Though, to be honest, I wasn't really expecting you not to get selected. So, you weren't in my options. Maybe, I will reconsider."
Cana snorted. "Actually, on second thought, I don't want to team up with you. Gray! Let's do it!" She put her hand on Gray's shoulder as she dragged the latter out of the tavern.
"Wait, you didn't even ask me whether you could join. Stop imposing." Gray protested, but his words were ignored.
"Jeez. I was just kidding." Kazu muttered as he watched her go.
He turned to his right and saw Laxus approaching.
"Yo! You feel like a different person than before. Did you get a training arc of your own or something?" Kazu chuckled. Though he did say in a joking tone, he wasn't really wrong about the feeling his instincts were giving about Laxus.
'He might have reached S-rank.' Kazu felt various emotions erupt inside him, which he suppressed almost instantly. Kazu felt that the gap between him and Laxus wasn't that big during the Eris mission.
However, he was sure now that the gap had become pretty big. Kazu hadn't gotten a significant boost in his combat power in the last few months. On the other hand, Laxus seems to have gotten a significant boost.
"Something like that." Laxus smiled. He genuinely smiled.
Kazu stiffened like a deer caught in the headlights.
He was not the only one. Everyone who was paying attention and was familiar with Laxus had the same reaction.
"You can smile like that!?" Kazu blurted out.
Laxus shot a glare at him. "What do you mean, smile like that? Are you implying that I don't smile properly normally?" The temperature in the room slightly increased, causing people to instinctively raise their guard up.
"Hey now! I never said that. I just didn't think you could smile without looking cocky or arrogant." Kazu grinned as he put his arms over Laxus's shoulder.
The people looked at him as if they were seeing a crazy man.
"Is he provoking him?" Jet muttered.
"Don't they usually have a duel around this time of the year. I thought they were going to have one in the trials, but it seems it might happen now." Droy chimed in from beside him.
"Maybe we should bet too. I feel like I would regret it if I don't bet." Levy had a feeling that this might be the last spar the two would have in the guild.
Laxus glanced at the arm around his shoulder. He could feel a barrier covering Kazu's arm, but Laxus could instantly tell that the barrier wouldn't even be able to stop the lightning if Laxus chose to electrocute Kazu.
"Aren't you very daring today? Luckily, I think the matter we are going to discuss would require a fight anyway. How about we take it somewhere else?"
Kazu grinned. "With pleasure." He was pretty excited to see the gap between him and Laxus firsthand.
---
23rd December x778
"Is everyone here?" Makarov glanced at the people in front of him as he counted the numbers.
This time, the trail was happening in an isolated area in a high-density Ethernano zone.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "I could understand Laxus, but are you also going solo, Kazu?" Unlike his problematic grandson, Kazu had several close friends in the guild.
"About that master. I wanted to inform you about this before, but you weren't present when I was in the guild. I want to withdraw from the exam as a nominee."
His words shocked almost everyone present in the guild.
"What? Why?" Makarov asked him with a dumbfounded expression. 'Is this related to the spar he had with Laxus? I don't know the specific details other than the fact that he lost. Did he make a bet with Laxus, involving his participation?'
Though Makarov always considered Kazu to be mature, there were times when the boy had shown himself to be childish, so he wouldn't be surprised if something like that did happen.
"Master, I don't think I am ready to become S-rank yet. I don't think it would be the most efficient use of time if I attempted it." Kazu's words caused people to become dumbfounded again.
"Bruh. If you say that, then aren't we just wasting our time?" Cana muttered, rolling her eyes. She instantly saw through Kazu's bullshit.
"Kid, you good? Though you still have a way to go from that blonde idiot, you are very qualified to attempt this. It's fine even if you passed the trial. S-rank is pretty vague in terms of combat power.
The guy you and the blondie fought was pretty powerful in S-rank. So, don't use him as a milestone for S-rank." Gildarts looked at Kazu with a frown.
Makarov nodded. "Gildarts is right. Though I am sure that you are smart enough to consider all that. Are you sure about this?" 'Well, if he had an agreement or made a bet, then I can't really intervene.'
"Yeah, master. I am sure. I have considered this thoroughly." Kazu nodded with clarity.
"Very well. We now have just 5 candidates." Makarov glanced at the faces of others present.
He blinked when he saw Kazu still present.
"Others are waiting there." Makarov pointed in a direction, thinking that Kazu didn't know the way.
Kazu waved his hand. "I don't need to go there. I have withdrawn as a participant. I am still part of the exam as a partner." He pointed his finger beside him.
"Laxus? You are Laxus's partner?" Makarov's eyes widened. This was beyond his expectations.
"Yeah."
"Are you two planning to team up and beat me or something? I didn't think Laxus of all people would do that." Gildarts joked.
Laxus smirked. "He is just a backup in case I wasn't able to beat your old ass. Isn't planning ahead of time a trait required for S-ranks?"
"Indeed. I just didn't think you could do that." Gildarts retorted.
Before the two could fight, Makarov interrupted, "Alright. Let me explain the rules of the first round."
"We are doomed. It was already hard with Kazu and Laxus individually. Now they have teamed up?" Levy groaned.
"It's not like it would make any difference." Gray shrugged.
"I have trained seriously for this in the last few months. I would beat both of them!" Natsu pumped his fist.
Gray deadpanned at him.
"You all would be leaving from 8 different positions in this forest. Your goal is to find this medicinal herb. Fighting is allowed. But no maiming or killing." Makarov passed a flyer containing the details about the medicinal herb.
"What's the time limit?"
"3 hours. You must bring it to this place with your partner before the time runs out. Any other questions? If not, then start going to your designated positions." Few guild members were present to guide each of the 5 teams to their positions.
It took Kazu and Laxus 5 minutes to reach their position.
"How would we know when to leave?" Kazu asked the person.
"Master would shout that. It should be loud enough to be heard till here."
"Right..." Kazu deadpanned. 'The old man's speciality is to shout. How can we not hear him?'
Just as the person had told, after 2 minutes, Makarov's voice resonated throughout the forest.
"BEGIN!"
The guide started leaving as Kazu and Laxus were left alone at the same spot. They seemed relaxed, as if not really in a hurry to leave.
"So, what's the plan?" Kazu turned to Laxus.
"I go in that direction, and you go in this. How will we communicate?"
"Just fire a lightning bolt in the sky if you found the herb. In my case, I will just find you directly." Kazu had confidence in his instincts in tracking.
Laxus made a pondering expression. "What if Gildarts is present in this round? It would be troublesome if you got caught."
Kazu frowned. "In that case, I will just fire a large magic bullet in the sky and make it explode." To demonstrate his point, Kazu made a small magic bullet before firing it in the air.
It exploded after reaching a few metres.
"Fine." With that, Laxus turned into lightning and disappeared.
Kazu turned in the direction he was assigned.
"Guess, it's time for my magic to be tested in tracking again." He smirked as he disappeared in a blur.
---
Kazu deadpanned as he looked at the plant in his hand. "Didn't even take 10 minutes. This round is a joke."
He got up from his crouch and looked around. "Well, till when are you guys going to wait? I already know that you are here."
"Tch. I told you that we should have attacked him directly."
"It was worth a try."
Natsu and Gray came out of the bushes.
Kazu grinned. "Now, I didn't expect you two to partner up. Let's see what you have got."
***
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