While Natsu was being lectured by the Master, Erza went straight towards Gray and Statiw.
"Er...Erza." Seeing her heading straight for him, Gray immediately panicked, and cold sweat broke out on his back.
Just when everyone, including Statiw, was watching the show, Erza walked past Gray and Statiw and went straight to Cana, who was sitting behind them: "Cana, for this S-Class Mage Exam, I hope you will be my assistant."
"Eh?" Cana pointed at herself with a bewildered expression: "Are you talking about me?"
"That's right," Erza replied with certainty, then grabbed Cana's hand and said, "Come on, let's go formulate a battle plan now. This time, we must win against Mirajane."
With that, she dragged Cana out of the guild without further explanation.
Watching the two leave, Gray patted his chest and let out a long breath. Only then did he feel that the cold sweat on his back had frozen into ice shards.
On the other side, Gray wasn't the only one watching Erza leave; Mirajane was also paying attention. When she heard Erza say she wanted to win against her, Mirajane came over to Statiw with an annoyed expression: "Statiw, what do you think Erza's purpose is in choosing Cana as her partner?"
"How would I know? I'm not Erza. You should ask Gray or Natsu about this, shouldn't you? After all, they are more familiar with her and are more likely to guess her intentions," Statiw considered for a moment, then suggested.
"That makes sense," Mirajane turned to look at Gray.
Gray's mouth twitched, then he forced a smile and said, "I can't think of it right now. After all, I thought Erza was coming over to... Why don't you go ask Natsu first?"
Lowering her head, Mirajane saw the ice shards on the ground behind Gray, a sweet smile appeared on her face, and she said in a very gentle tone, "Alright, I'll go ask Natsu first."
With that, she walked towards him.
"Phew~, my luck is really bad today. Both Erza and Mirajane came over." Watching her leave, Gray breathed a sigh of relief, then complained to Statiw, "Hey, Statiw. Why did you drag me into this just now?"
"I don't know why, but Mirajane has been getting angry at the drop of a hat these past two days. I don't even know why she's angry. And even if I ask her, she won't say. It's gotten to the point where I don't dare to talk to her much anymore. Besides, even if I didn't drag you into it, do you think you could have escaped?" Statiw rolled his eyes at Gray and explained, then added, "However, I actually think you're very lucky today."
"Huh? Why?" Gray asked, puzzled.
"Because neither of them paid attention to you today. Leaving Mirajane aside, her personality has softened a lot during this period. As for Erza, she usually comes out and beats you up whenever you and Natsu fight, but today, you two were arguing, and she didn't pay attention. Doesn't that prove your luck is good today?"
"When you put it that way, you're right," Gray nodded in agreement after hearing his explanation.
At this moment, a commotion suddenly came from afar. Turning to look, Natsu was challenging Laxus, while Lisanna held Happy with one hand and tightly pulled Natsu with the other. Mirajane, however, was glaring at Natsu with an angry expression, and Elfman was pulling her arm, trying to plead for him.
"What's going on?" Statiw looked at the scene in the distance with some confusion. Mirajane had just gone over, so why was she angry already?
"Who knows? It must be that fire-breathing idiot who pissed Mirajane off," Gray said cheerfully from the side.
"Who are you calling an idiot? You're a despicable Gray!" As soon as his words fell, Natsu in the distance suddenly turned his head and roared.
"I'm talking about you, you idiot!" Gray retorted, and taking advantage of Erza's absence, he walked towards Natsu with an angry expression.
"I'm telling you, you guys are too much. How can you start fighting after just a few words?" Following behind Gray, Statiw watched speechlessly as he, with a heavy aura of impending battle, walked towards Natsu. Natsu, not to be outdone, put aside everything else and walked towards Gray with a full aura.
When the two stood together, head-to-head, cursing at each other, the surrounding guild members tacitly gathered around. Macao then shouted, "Place your bets, place your bets! Natsu and Gray!"
With his shout, everyone who had gathered immediately ran to him to place their bets. After everyone had placed their bets, Natsu and Gray began to punch and kick each other.
"They're fighting again. Seriously, I'm not going to bother with you, Natsu!" Watching the two start fighting again, Lisanna stood on the sidelines, holding Happy with an unhappy expression.
"You don't need to bother!" Natsu yelled, tilting his head while fighting back against Gray.
Mirajane, hearing his words, immediately said angrily, "You brat, how dare you yell at Lisanna? I'm not going to let you off!"
Statiw walked to her side at this moment, patted her shoulder, and said, "Alright, alright, it's just children playing. Besides, the term 'old hag' shouldn't be coming out of your mouth."
"Hmph, that Natsu brat dared to bully Lisanna, what's wrong with me scaring him?" Mirajane argued when she heard him, but she didn't mention the term 'old hag' again.
Although their conversation was simple, the guys around them, who were cheering for their chosen bets, suddenly looked over with strange eyes.
Seeing the strange looks from everyone, her face instantly darkened and she said, "What are you looking at? Your stares are very annoying."
Seeing her expression, everyone immediately turned their heads back, pretending not to know anything, and continued to cheer for their chosen bets.
At this moment, Lisanna, from the side, tugged at her arm and asked, "Sister Mirajane, are you choosing Brother Statiw to assist you?"
"Huh?" She was stunned, then shook her head and said, "No, I've decided to have Elfman assist me."
"Why?" Lisanna asked, very puzzled.
Mirajane, however, replied as a matter of course, "Because we're fighting a Dragon this time. After defeating it, Elfman can use his 'Take Over' magic on it. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"
Just as the two sisters were chatting, and Natsu and Gray were fighting fiercely, the guild's main door was pushed open, and Erza and Cana, who had finished their battle meeting, walked in from outside.
Seeing everyone gathered there, Cana walked forward in confusion and asked Macao, "Macao, why is everyone gathered here? Did something happen?"
"Natsu and Gray are..." He was about to answer, but he suddenly noticed Erza standing next to Cana and immediately stopped mid-sentence.
"Natsu and Gray, huh?" Erza only heard the beginning and already knew what was happening here. Natsu, Gray, and Erza grew up together; while they were familiar with her, she was also very familiar with them. These two getting together when she wasn't around, plus the circle of people gathered outside, did she really need to think more about it?
So, Erza decisively parted the crowd, leaped into the air, and directly gave each of them a heavy punch, instantly knocking them unconscious to the ground...