Mest and Lucy were actually the first to arrive, but after entering the cave, they waited for a while under the Fighting Banner, waiting for their opponents to appear.
Because they traveled by teleportation, while Gray and Loki were third from last in the race.
"Too slow." Mest smiled, "But wow, starting off with strong opponents."
Gray stopped in his tracks, "Of all people, we had to run into you two."
Loki adjusted his glasses and smiled, "Although I don't want to fight Lucy, it's still better than running into Erza and the others."
Mest asked Lucy, "No problem?"
"No problem at all." Lucy confidently held a key, "I have a Star Spirit on par with Loki!"
"Oh? Really?" Loki thought Lucy was talking about the Aquarius Constellation's Aquarius and laughed, "There's no water here though."
"No need for water, open the gate of the Aries Constellation, Alyes!"
Golden light flickered, as if a door opened from the void, and the pink-haired woolly girl Alyes appeared, her first words soft and cute: "Sorry~"
"Alyes?" Loki didn't react at first. Since when was Alyes on par with him? Did Lucy think he wouldn't go all out?
"Sorry~ Leo~"
"This is fine too." Loki chuckled, getting into stance, "Come on, Alyes. Last fight was unavoidable, let's have a proper battle this time."
"Yes~" Alyes blushed a little, holding her small fists to her cheeks, wriggling as she ran toward Loki in an ultra-girly style, "Pardon me~ may I jump into your arms?"
"What?!!" Lucy and Gray were shocked. They were about to fight, so what was this?
Loki covered his face with one hand, "I say, Alyes..."
Alyes had already reached Loki, raising her hand to attack with pink wool: "Wool Attack!"
"Don't use the moves I taught you against me!" Loki punched forward, emitting golden light.
"Ah~" The pink wool dispersed in the golden light, and Alyes was knocked back into Lucy's arms, "Sorry~"
Lucy caught her with difficulty, puzzled, "Why did you suddenly act cute with him?"
Alyes said, "Because Leo said, 'Men are simple creatures,' and learning this move would help Lucy."
Lucy angrily shouted at Loki, "What on earth have you taught them?!"
'Them' referred to both Alyes and Balrog.
Loki, even back in the Star Spirit Realm, still loved to tease young girls, telling one to act cute and another to call him brother.
Loki smugly said, "Did I say anything wrong?"
"Of course, you're wrong! How can you win a fight just by acting cute?!" Lucy, feeling she had a right to speak on this, thought the idea of a beauty trap was useless!
Originally wanting to joke around with Lucy a bit more, but noticing Gray's resentful look, Loki finally got serious, "Okay, Alyes, fight seriously."
This was Gray's exam, and he promised to help him pass, not to make a mess casually.
"Yes!" Alyes quickly moved forward to battle Loki.
Lucy also unhooked the whip from her waist to join the fight.
She really wanted to smack Loki a couple of times on the face.
"Now then..." Just as Gray was about to say something, Mest suddenly vanished.
He quickly turned, raising an arm to block Mest's flying whip leg.
Just as he was about to grab Mest's ankle, Mest disappeared again, reappearing behind Gray and punching at the back of his head.
Gray ducked and swept his leg, tripping Mest.
But before he could continue his attack, Mest appeared ten meters away.
"Such a troublesome magic... Ice-Make: Lance!"
Dozens of ice spears shot out, aimed at Mest's location.
Mest disappeared just as Gray activated his magic, appearing at Gray's side and landing a punch on Gray's left cheek.
Gray flew horizontally, maintaining his stance in mid-air to activate magic.
As Mest teleported to continue his attack, Gray suddenly activated: "Ice-Make: Knuckle!"
Two ice fists rose from the ground, one hitting Mest's face, the other his chest.
Mest was knocked back, trying hard to adjust his stance in mid-air.
However, Gray activated his magic the moment Mest landed: "Ice-Make: Floor!"
"What?" Mest misjudged the ground's composition and slipped with a thud.
"Great opportunity!" Gray seized the chance, "Ice-Make: Hammer!"
A massive ice hammer appeared above Mest, crashing down. Mest's limbs slipped and shuffled on the ice as he narrowly escaped by rolling and crawling.
The ice floor shattered with a boom.
Mest was left staring fearfully at the massive hammer, taller than him, thinking the mages of Fairy Tail were really over the top.
Wasn't this supposed to be an exam? It felt like he might get killed if he wasn't careful!
Speaking of which, Makarov had said before the exam to fight without reserve...
Did becoming an S-Class Mage in Fairy Tail mean risking one's life?
Mest was feeling reluctant to fight.
His magic power should be used to investigate Celestial Wolf Island, not wasted on this exam.
An examinee who lost shouldn't be immediately disqualified, right?
Gray charged forward again, forcing Mest to focus and strategize how to naturally end the battle quickly.
Elsewhere, Lucy was in a predicament.
While dealing with Alyes, Loki also managed to kick Lucy's wrist, causing her whip to fly from her hand.
Not only that, Loki repeatedly attempted to snatch the keys.
If not for being ridiculed by Rhode before the exam and being extra cautious, Loki might have succeeded the first time.
"I'm really sorry, Alyes, but I must send you back first!" Loki evaded a pink wool ball, seizing the moment to punch, "King's Light!"
"Ah~ Sorry~" Alyes cried out, turning into starlight and disappearing.
Lucy looked stunned, pointing at Loki, "Liar! This can't be right. Weren't you two evenly matched before?"
"I am, after all, the leader of the Zodiac, the strongest warrior Star Spirit. Last time..."
Though reluctant, Loki revealed the truth, "Last time, the person who summoned Alyes was much stronger than the one who summoned me."
"True..." Lucy nodded in agreement, then, realizing something was wrong, flared up, "Are you calling me weak?!"
Loki, as if pacifying someone, pressed his hands down in front of him, "Relatively, relatively speaking. If it were the current Lucy, the outcome would be different."
This was true since joining the guild, Lucy's power had been growing quite rapidly.
Just not as freakishly as some others.
Plus, she picked keys for battles like she didn't use her brain most of the time.
"Open the gate of the Taurus Constellation, Taurus!"
"Moo~~" Taurus appeared dominantly, holding a big axe, "As long as it's Miss Lucy's order, even if it's Leo, I'll..."
"Wait a minute, Taurus!" Loki raised a hand to pause, "Look back at Lucy!"
"Hm?" Taurus turned back in confusion, seeing Lucy in a very seductive bikini.
It was only loosely tied around her waist to hold the keychain and whip.
"Moo~~~" Taurus's eyes turned into pink hearts, his gaze steady on something extremely captivating, panting white vapor from his nostrils.
He dropped his axe, eagerly rubbed his hands together and leaned over to eye Lucy intensely, "Today's Miss Lucy is extra sexy!"
Lucy yelled, "Fight properly, you perverted bull!"
"Opportunity!" Loki sneakily launched a sneak attack, with a gold-glowing fist, sending Taurus back to the Star Spirit Realm with a punch.
Then while Lucy was distracted, he succeeded in snatching her keychain.
"Moo~~~ Miss Lucy's bosom, the best~~~" Taurus made no secrets of his preference.