Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
The date was December 16, X784.
A sailing ship packed with Mages was slowly leaving the docks of Hargeon, heading toward the azure sea to the south.
Less than two hours after leaving the port, the sudden change in temperature caught everyone off guard.
"Ah—it's so hot!"
Lucy, wearing only her underwear, lay slumped on a canvas lounge chair. Her long blonde hair clung to her neck and shoulders, making her look like she was about to melt.
"Isn't it winter? Why is it so hot here..."
"Lucy, watch your image."
Levy, sitting at a small wooden table nearby, spoke up to remind her, though she herself was dressed in a cool camisole and shorts, sprawled across the table from the heat.
On the table, a small blue cat had already melted into a cat-pancake shape.
"Aye... I can't take it... I want to go home and play in the snow..."
In Magnolia, snow was already falling, but the temperature in this southern sea was at least over 40 degrees. The humid sea breeze brought no relief; instead, it felt like steam in a steamer, sticking clammily to everyone's skin.
It was hard to imagine this was weather from the same season.
Cana fanned herself. "This area is affected by warm currents, so it's basically like this year-round. I remember Macao saying that one year when he did a mission nearby, it was so hot he almost got heatstroke."
"So why was the S-Class Promotion Exam chosen for a place like this!" Droy wailed. He, Salamander, and Gajeel were slumped over the ship's railing like three salted fish, looking more dead than alive.
Lisanna brought out several cups of ice water from a large ice bucket prepared in the cabin and distributed them to everyone.
She glanced at Fried and Bickslow, who refused to take off their clothes to maintain their poise and were so hot their souls were escaping, then looked at her partner, who was wearing winter clothes but didn't have a single drop of sweat.
"Um... Juvia, aren't you hot?"
"Not at all. I'm made of water; I'd be fine even if I were boiled."
Juvia stared intently at the other side of the deck where most of the boys were gathered, her eyes turning into heart shapes and a dreamy smile on her face. "But why does Juvia feel like her whole body is burning up now..."
Lisanna followed her gaze and saw Gray, who had stripped naked from the heat and started running around; her mouth couldn't help but twitch twice.
Love-struck brains are terrifying... Gajeel, Droy, and Salamander were slumped over the ship's railing like three salted fish, looking more dead than alive.
Gray was not far from them, sitting spread-eagled on a lounge chair, with a small ice bucket perfectly blocking certain indescribable body parts.
As an Ice Mage, he could easily have created ice and cold air to cool down, but Gray didn't do so because the motion-sick Natsu was slumped right next to him.
Anyone could benefit from his ice magic, but Natsu absolutely could not.
Looking at his partner who was clearly suffering from the heat but still holding out, Loki's face was filled with nothing but helplessness. "Even though you two are rivals and competitors, we haven't even reached Tenrou Island yet. There's no need for this..."
"Naive. We're all going to be enemies in a moment, so why be friendly?" Evergreen complained. Her hand fanning herself never stopped. Elfman, sitting behind her, was already so hot that his eyes were closed and his mouth was open, looking a bit dead.
Loki shrugged. He was the Leo Celestial Spirit, after all; this temperature meant nothing to him. If this bunch of idiots wanted to endure it, he'd let them.
"By the way, Gray, what's that on your back?" Loki pushed up his glasses, noticing something on his partner's back.
Gray sat up at the words. Without the chair back to block it, Loki immediately saw that it was a fist-sized blue rose pattern.
Juvia, who had been paying close attention, rushed to Gray's side. Seeing the blue rose tattoo, a look of grievance immediately appeared on her face.
Instantly, a wave of overwhelming jealousy filled the entire deck.
Lucy, Cana, and the others, smelling the gossip, immediately gathered around. The weather might be hot, but they couldn't miss out on watching the drama.
"Oho, a tattoo, huh?"
"It's blue, and it's an Ice Rose!"
"Could it be some kind of couple's tattoo?"
"So Gray has finally walked the path of a scumbag after all..."
Hearing his companions' gleeful and frantic instigation and seeing Juvia's increasingly aggrieved expression, Gray couldn't sit still. "That's enough! I'm not the type of person to have a change of heart!"
"Then how do you explain the rose tattoo?"
"It's all because of that bastard Hope!"
It turned out that three nights ago, when Gray was finishing his training and preparing to rest, Hope suddenly showed up. Without a word, he pinned him against the wall and forcibly placed a blue rose pattern on his back.
Hiss—!
Everyone gasped.
Breaking into a handsome young man's room late at night, pinning him against the wall, and unleashing a sequence of output on his back... Could Hope be into both men and women... Everyone instinctively looked at Cana, their eyes filled with a bit of pity.
Although Cana couldn't read minds, what these guys were thinking was written all over their faces. How could she ignore it? "Hey, hey, hey! What on earth is in your heads!"
"Hope isn't that kind of person!"
Everyone laughed it off, knowing that although Hope liked to mess with people, he wouldn't go out of his way to prank a companion about to start the exam for no reason. Thus, the teasing came to an end.
"Gray, what does the rose pattern do?"
"I don't know."
Gray shook his head, equally confused. "Hope only told me that when this pattern takes effect, it will bring me a big surprise, and told me not to cry too pathetically when the time comes."
"Are you kidding? Am I the type to be a crybaby?"
Hearing him say this, everyone became even more curious about the function of the Ice Rose pattern. Unfortunately, because Hope had deliberately kept it a secret, even Gray didn't know how to use it.
"Look! That's..."
Gajeel, slumped over the railing, let out a weak Voice.
Everyone looked in that direction. An island appeared in the distance on the horizon.
The island had a peculiar shape. A towering giant tree that had grown for an unknown amount of time stood upon it. Its lush, leafy canopy looked from a distance like a small island being held aloft.
"That is Tenrou Island."
"It is said that fairies lived there long ago."
Makarov stepped out from the small air-conditioned room he had secretly prepared, gazing at the approaching Tenrou Island. "And it is also the location of the grave of our guild's First Master, Mavis."
Makarov pressed the ship's Control Crystal. Once the ship came to a steady stop on the sea, he said, "I will now announce the first stage of the exam."
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