"Laxus?"
Moen called out in confusion, snapping Laxus back to his senses.
Coming back to himself, Laxus looked a bit flustered. In a battle, that moment of distraction was already enough to decide victory or defeat.
If this were not an exam but a life-and-death fight against an enemy, Moen could have seized that moment of distraction to put him in a bad position. Moen certainly had the ability to do so.
'Moen he still left me some dignity.'
Laxus naturally wouldn't deny this. He felt ashamed of his momentary lapse especially the reason for it.
Looking at Moen, who wore a faint, inexplicable smile, Laxus felt as if that "brother" he had just heard might have been an illusion.
Damn it! Moen, was even that within your calculations?!
Of course not, Moen hadn't expected Laxus to react so strongly at all.
He had only said it casually while showing off, just wanting to play around with a trope like "foolish older brother."
Laxus's stunned reaction left Moen feeling somewhat conflicted as well.
In fact, back when they were younger, he had obediently called Laxus "brother." Before fully understanding the situation and while still unfamiliar with the world, he didn't want to stand out too much.
But because of his nominal father Ivan Dreyar, because of the conflict between Laxus and Makarov, and because of Laxus's rebellious youth, Moen gradually stopped calling him "brother" and instead addressed him by name, just as Laxus had also basically stopped calling Makarov "grandfather."
The internal relationships of this family had indeed developed considerable rifts due to Ivan's expulsion.
Moen's relationship with his nominal father Ivan had always been mediocre. Ivan didn't want Makarov to adopt Moen at all, but he couldn't influence the old man's decision.
So Ivan simply acted as if Moen didn't exist, barely interacting with him at all. Fortunately, he was soon expelled from the guild, allowing him to completely avoid the situation.
Therefore, although he didn't fully understand the details behind that incident, Moen firmly stood on Makarov's side, which naturally created some distance between him and Laxus.
Over the years, although Moen had intentionally tried to ease his relationship with Laxus, he had not yet returned to the old way of addressing him.
"Moen, you've already passed the exam."
Laxus said with a dark expression. He didn't want to end this match in such a way, but from the perspective of the exam, he had no choice but to pass Moen otherwise, he wouldn't be able to accept it himself.
"This doesn't affect us continuing to spar. Want to keep going?"
Moen smiled and extended an invitation to Laxus. He also didn't want to end things like this, he still wanted to use Laxus to test the defensive power of his "Crystal Wall."
"Alright! Then let's continue!"
Laxus's eyes lit up as he agreed without hesitation. Moen truly hadn't disappointed him.
"Crackle!!!"
After that interruption, Laxus became even more focused. His aura was even stronger than before.
"Magic" was born from the heart, so "powering up" truly existed in this world.
Emotional bonds could genuinely create miracles whatever nonsense it was, leave it to the power of bonds!
'Does this count as triggering a bond effect?'
Looking at the aggressive Laxus, Moen complained inwardly. If this were a game, the two of them would probably have some exclusive "Dreyar Brothers" bond.
"Crackle!"
Laxus transformed into lightning, leaving a trail of golden light as he charged straight toward Moen. He wanted to see whether Moen's "Instant Transmission" was as good as Jose Porla's.
This wasn't Laxus being reckless, abilities involving spatial manipulation were inherently difficult to master.
And Moen hadn't possessed this ability for long, so Laxus believed Moen's "Instant Transmission" might not be as refined as Jose Porla's.
If it were anyone else, Laxus would have already made a firm judgment. After all, Jose Porla was one of the Ten Wizard Saints, famous for a long time, and "Instant Transmission" was one of his signature techniques. It was hard for ordinary people to compare.
But since the one being compared was Moen, Laxus wouldn't jump to conclusions—nothing strange happening to Moen would surprise him.
Laxus rushed up to Moen and attacked without mercy, striking toward the dazzling Aries Gold Cloth.
If Moen didn't dodge, the Gold Cloth's defense should still reduce much of the damage. Laxus knew that Moen's Cloths were extremely sturdy, at least sturdier than Erza Scarlet's "Lightning Empress Armor."
Though he attacked without mercy, he was actually holding back at every turn.
"Boom!"
With a loud explosion, Laxus's fist stopped in front of Moen, as if it had struck an invisible wall.
No matter how much force he used, no matter how much magic power he poured into it, he could not advance even an inch before that invisible wall.
Before Laxus could even react in surprise, he felt a powerful force rebound back. The lightning he had launched with his punch broke free from his control and surged back toward him.
Everything happened far too quickly, so fast that even Laxus couldn't react. This result was even more unexpected than "Instant Transmission." While he hadn't expected Moen to use that either, he had at least considered that Moen might dodge.
But now, he could only be blasted backward by the rebound of that "wall," as if struck by a heavy hammer.
For the first time, Laxus realized just how powerful his own punch was. It was truly a brand-new experience. Fortunately, the lightning striking his body had no effect on him, or else he might have had to taste being electrocuted himself.
"Boom!"
Laxus slammed into the ground, smashing out a large crater. Everything that happened in that flash of lightning caught everyone completely off guard.
"What just happened?!"
Gray asked anxiously. He hadn't understood anything, he only saw Laxus charge forward, then get blasted back and crash into a pit.
What did Moen do? It seemed like he did nothing at all. He stood there smiling, simply raising his hand and making a forward slicing motion, as if drawing an invisible wall.
Since he couldn't understand it, Gray looked at Erza and Mirajane beside him, only to find Mirajane also looking at Erza. Clearly, Mirajane hadn't understood what happened either.
As for Cana, Elfman, Joey, and the others, they were even more confused. The only thing they understood was that Laxus now looked just like they had earlier.
That realization shocked everyone was Moen really that much stronger than Laxus?!
"…"
Erza opened her mouth slightly. Everyone looked at her, waiting for an explanation—but she didn't understand what had happened either.
When Laxus threw that punch, she vaguely saw ripples appear in front of Moen, but beyond that, she couldn't tell anything. It wasn't her fault, Laxus's flashy lightning effects had been overwhelming.
"So strong! Moen!"
Gray exclaimed. No matter what had actually happened, it was enough to just conclude "Moen is unbeatable." The Laxus who toyed with them like children was also being suppressed by Moen!
"The gap is it really this big?"
Mirajane was somewhat dazed. She knew Moen was stronger than her and stronger than Erza, but she hadn't expected the difference to be this huge!
For a moment, Mirajane even felt like Moen was no longer in the same world as them. They were the same age, yet Moen had already accomplished so many things they couldn't. His brilliance shone so brightly it was almost blinding.
Yes, he should have been dazzling to the point of blinding but his personality, his actions, and the way he handled things made his light feel not blinding, but warm like sunlight.
"Crackle!"
While everyone was still in shock, Laxus showed no discouragement. He leapt out of the crater at high speed. A mass of lightning gathered in midair into a humanoid shape, and he made a throwing motion, forming a spear of lightning in his hand.
"Crackle!"
Magic power surged as Laxus hurled the lightning spear. It carved a golden streak through the air and reached Moen in an instant, but Moen still neither dodged nor evaded.
"Whoosh!"
There was no suspense. The golden streak struck the "Crystal Wall" in front of Moen and was unreasonably reflected back, even seeming to move faster than before.
Even though Laxus had prepared in advance and quickly transformed into lightning, he barely managed to dodge it.
"What is that?"
Laxus's expression turned serious, feeling an absurdity he couldn't quite describe. Close-range didn't work, long-range didn't work, everything was reflected back. How was he supposed to fight this?
"I call it Crystal Wall. As for its effect, it's exactly what you see."
Moen said. He was quite satisfied with the performance of "Crystal Wall."
At least against opponents of the same level, both its mechanics and raw values were practically bug-like. Laxus was not weak, yet his attacks couldn't shake the Crystal Wall in the slightest.
To break this "Crystal Wall," one had to be stronger than Moen, at the very least possess greater magic power. It required overwhelming it with higher raw values. Only pure numerical superiority could break its defense.
Laxus's values were certainly high, but not high enough. At the very least, they couldn't create a crushing advantage over Moen.
And as Moen grew stronger, as his own values increased, the Crystal Wall would become even harder to break, eventually becoming something akin to "absolute defense."
"…"
Laxus fell silent. For a moment, he didn't know what to say, this ability was a bit too overpowered, wasn't it?!
However, it was ultimately just a defensive skill. Although it could reflect attacks, it had almost no offensive capability.
That thought gave Laxus a slight sense of balance. Sure enough, no ability could be perfect, otherwise it would make people grind their teeth in frustration.
"Offense? It's not impossible."
Moen smiled. Crystal Wall was indeed a relatively pure defensive skill, and its counterattacks mainly relied on reflecting enemy attacks.
It wasn't incapable of killing, but it mostly depended on catching the enemy off guard. If the first reflection didn't defeat the opponent, no one would foolishly get killed by the same reflected attack again.
But not being able to kill didn't mean it couldn't trap an opponent. If he used four walls or even three to confine someone, then the trapped enemy would be forced to stand there helplessly.
"Buzz!!!"
Moen raised his hand and drew out a "Crystal Wall," but Laxus had already seen through his intention. He immediately turned into lightning and changed position, preventing Moen from trapping him.
"Still not proficient enough."
Seeing this, Moen shook his head helplessly. He still couldn't rapidly create multiple Crystal Walls at once.
Moreover, the more walls he created, the weaker each one became, since each required his magic power to sustain it. This was unavoidable. Even a Gold Saint of Aries would see the effectiveness of Crystal Wall decrease when their Cosmo was weakened or overly depleted.
If even using Crystal Wall was this taxing, then using the "Crystal Net," which could weave a net in an instant, was out of the question.
That was a more advanced derivative of Crystal Wall, capable of trapping an opponent like a spider's web and restricting movement.
Crystal Net was more advanced and more difficult, it didn't just surround the enemy with walls, but directly enveloped them like a web.
"Still needs practice."
Moen smiled and gave up on the idea of trapping Laxus. After all, Laxus was a highly agile opponent, and with his current mastery of Crystal Wall, there was no need to overthink it.
"Crackle!"
After dodging Moen's Crystal Wall, Laxus tried circling around. Since he couldn't break through the wall, he would bypass it. With his speed, it might be possible.
Laxus made a wide detour, wary of crashing into the Crystal Wall, that would be embarrassing and send him flying again.
But in reality, Moen was only protecting the area directly in front of himself. The larger the wall, the greater the consumption. Since he only needed to protect himself, there was no need to extend it further.
After circling around, Laxus charged toward Moen once more. This time, Moen didn't use Crystal Wall. He had already completed his test, since Laxus wasn't convinced and wanted a direct clash, then he would meet him head-on.
"Buzz!!!"
Facing Laxus, who charged in wrapped in crackling golden lightning, Moen also threw a punch without hesitation.
[For additional chapters Patreon. Com/ALLISWELL123]