After coming ashore, Gray spotted Marco. He craned his neck to look around, then burst into wild excitement. "Hahaha! I won! I won!" Gray raised both fists triumphantly, cheering as if in an MVP celebration scene—though no one knew exactly what he was so fired up about. "You idiot! What exactly did you win?!" Marco strode over and smacked him on the head, instantly snapping the boy back to reality. Nothing worked better than a good slap. "Marco! I'm the second one here, right?! Natsu and the others haven't arrived yet? Not even Erza or Mirajane?" Gray asked, still grinning despite the slap, his excitement undiminished. Marco was speechless. So that's why the kid was so hyped—he thought he'd come in second place. "Erza and Mirajane left for the next stage long ago. You're fourth." Marco stated bluntly, shattering Gray's delusion in one go. Gray froze, his expression one of utter disbelief as his jaw dropped. "If they've already left, why are you still here, Marco?!" Gray exclaimed in shock. The reason he'd assumed he was second was precisely because Marco was still present with no one else around. Logically, Marco would've been the first to arrive, and since he hadn't moved on yet, no one should've been ahead of him. So Gray's assumption wasn't entirely unreasonable. After Marco explained his additional mission responsibilities, Gray deflated like a punctured balloon. All that excitement for nothing—he'd thought he'd surpassed Mirajane and Erza, but it was just wishful thinking. Collecting himself, Gray prepared to move on. The outcome wasn't too disappointing since he'd never seriously expected to outpace Erza and Mirajane anyway. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ N0velFire.ɴet A fleeting hope dashed, but no crushing blow. Before Gray could depart, more arrivals surfaced. He paused, curiosity getting the better of him. Joey and Elfman crawled ashore, dripping wet. Joey's muscular physique served him well—he'd relied purely on brute strength to swim here, something he excelled at as part of his daily training routine. Though Elfman usually dressed like a scholar, his body was equally robust. Combined with his Take Over magic granting beast-like stamina and power, he'd swum here at remarkable speed, surprisingly becoming the sixth finisher—a result that would surely raise eyebrows. Marco patted the younger man's shoulder approvingly. The boy hadn't wasted his teachings—Elfman had matured significantly, his magical talents gradually blossoming into formidable combat capabilities. However, while Elfman possessed abundant magical energy and physical strength, his aptitude for Take Over magic remained average at best—inferior to his sister Mirajane's natural prowess, and even lagging behind younger sister Lisanna in terms of absorption and control. As for Lisanna, her talent for Take Over magic was indeed quite good. She could easily and smoothly take over various animals, one might even say effortlessly. However, her own magical power was slightly lacking. Elfman and Lisanna were like two halves of Mirajane's talent split apart. When combined, their talents might only be slightly inferior to the full package that was Mirajane. "Hehe, I've been training exactly as you instructed." Receiving Marco's praise, Elfman grinned happily. As he grew older and his body developed, Elfman could feel himself becoming stronger. Though he couldn't compare to Mira and the others, he was still more talented than ordinary mages—just not to that monstrous degree. But this level was enough to satisfy Elfman. If he couldn't protect Mira, he could at least protect Lisanna. "Have Erza and Mirajane already left?" Joey greeted Marco and then asked curiously. His question made Gray, who had been watching nearby, blush furiously. 'Damn, was he the only one who had misunderstood like that?' Embarrassed, Gray covered his face and sprinted into the dense forest without waiting for Elfman and Joey, leaving the two bewildered as they exchanged glances, wondering what sudden illness had struck the boy. Marco shook his head with a smile. He felt Gray's thought patterns had been somewhat infected by Natsu's influence—though at least the boy was slightly more normal than Natsu, aside from his tendency to suddenly strip. Well, with that particular quirk, Gray could hardly be called more normal than Natsu. After Gray left, Marco continued waiting for the remaining participants. Including himself, six groups had already arrived, leaving only three qualifying spots—not many left for the others. Neither Joey nor Elfman were in a hurry to leave, as neither was competing solo; both still had teammates. Thus, Joey and Elfman hadn't actually secured their qualification yet. For duo teams, the ranking wasn't based on an individual's performance but on the average of both members. This was why Joey and Elfman hadn't arrived together with their partners—they had to push themselves to secure the best possible position first. Joey was paired with Cana, a team formed on Marco's recommendation. He knew Joey was quite capable, with advantages in many potential challenges—a pure physical combat specialist who could at least guarantee a decent baseline performance. Meanwhile, Cana was known for her versatility. Her cards could achieve various effects, making her useful in all kinds of situations. So, this pairing wasn't a bad deal for Joey—in fact, it helped him in areas he might otherwise struggle with. Joey was one year younger than Laxus, now 17. Laxus had passed the S-Class exam at 17 last year, setting the youngest record. Joey didn't think he could break it, but he could at least try—he had plenty of confidence in himself. Marco's assessment of this was, "You've trained your muscles into your brain." The gap between Joey and Laxus was roughly the size of a huge chasm. As the three chatted, the remaining participants began arriving one after another. The seventh and eighth places were both taken by veteran teams whose members arrived together. In such cases, there was naturally no need to average anything. After determining the rankings, they continued on to the next stage. The ninth-place finisher was also a veteran, but his partner was still behind, leaving him anxiously waiting. For a duo, ninth place was an extremely awkward position. To advance, they could only hope other duos performed even worse. They also had to watch out for the solo participants behind them—if their average scores were higher, they might just leapfrog into the qualifying spots. Soon, the tenth and eleventh-place finishers arrived—one with bright pink hair, the other with black hair. It was Natsu and Gajeel, neck and neck, with Natsu slightly trailing behind. A completely exhausted Happy was sprawled on his head. Spotting the finish line in the distance, both of them roared. Natsu was a little behind but pushing hard to catch up. He had to be careful with the sluggish Happy, or he would've already overtaken Gajeel. Elfman shouted from the shore—clearly, he was more familiar with Natsu. However, Elfman's cheers backfired. In his final desperate sprint, Natsu accidentally flung Happy off his head. This mishap decided the final outcome. Natsu had no choice but to stop and rescue Happy. Though the exhausted cat wouldn't drown, swimming back alone would be a struggle. Natsu would never abandon him. With no other option, Natsu turned around decisively to save Happy, who was floating on the water's surface. Just as Marco had predicted from the start, the "duo" of Happy and Natsu ended up being a case of 1 + 1 < 2. The main issue was their lack of forethought. Seeing others fly, Natsu had Happy carry him too, even mocking Gajeel for swimming. As a result, Happy was completely drained, crashing midway and spending the latter half of the race sprawled on Natsu's head. If one had swum while the other flew, they might've reached the finish line much sooner. "I won! I won! Fifth place!" Gajeel climbed ashore, practically a carbon copy of Gray earlier, shouting excitedly. Seeing only Marco and the other four on the shore, he assumed he'd taken fifth. "Wrong. Tenth place," Marco said, freezing Gajeel in place. "NANIIIII?!" Gajeel's eyes widened. Tenth?! Didn't that mean he get eliminated?! "Don't worry, tenth place doesn't necessarily mean you have no chance," Marco explained. Just then, the ninth-place contestant nearby grew visibly excited—his partner was catching up. If they overtook Natsu, they'd secure their advancement! "Natsu! Swim faster! Faster!" Realizing this, Gajeel immediately turned and started cheering for Natsu. This completely baffled Natsu, who had just fished Happy out of the water. Gajeel—cheering for him?! This had to be a trick!