Fairy Tail Guild
Second Floor
The second floor of the Fairy Tail guild was generally off-limits to regular guild members, except for the infirmary when someone was injured.
Unless, of course, you were an S-Class Mage.
Because the Request Board on the second floor held only S-Class quests and above.
These were life-threatening missions. For an ordinary mage, taking on an S-Class quest meant a high risk of death.
At this moment, Lucas and the others stood before this very board.
Makarov announced, "The content of this promotion exam is simple: choose an S-Class quest and complete it. Anyone who can complete an S-Class quest can be promoted to an S-Class Mage."
Laxus's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "An S-Class quest? Interesting."
S-Class quests were challenges all guild mages aspired to, but due to their danger, the guild only allowed S-Class Mages to take them.
And even then, not every S-Class quest could be taken by just any S-Class Mage.
The Master would judge whether to allow it based on the danger level. But to be able to do one for the S-Class exam made Laxus excited.
Lucas hadn't expected the exam to be this, either.
"Master, if we complete the quest, the reward..." Lucas rubbed his fingers together.
Gildarts laughed. "You brat, already thinking about that? Don't worry, the guild won't embezzle your money. This is both an exam and a real simulation of an S-Class mission. If you complete it, the reward is naturally yours."
Lucas stuck out his tongue. "Just asking, no other meaning."
Makarov continued, "Alright, choose your quests."
The four of them stepped forward to look.
There were a total of four S-Class quests on the board, and all of them were subjugation missions.
[Quest Name: Subjugation of the Deep Sea Monster]
[Difficulty: S]
[Description: A gigantic sea monster has recently appeared in the shipping lanes of the Bay of Bengal. It attacks all passing ships, causing heavy casualties and losses. A mage is required to kill the sea monster.]
[Reward: 10,000,000 Jewels]
Hm? This quest wasn't bad! Simple and clear.
The reward was high too—10 million Jewels was roughly 600,000 RMB, enough to live comfortably for a long time.
Lucas reached out to take the request.
Suddenly, a hand appeared quickly and snatched the request before he could.
Lucas looked at the person. Laxus smirked, looking at Lucas triumphantly. "Guild rules: whoever grabs it first gets it. Who told you to have short arms and slow hands?"
Lucas raised an eyebrow. Although he knew from the anime that Laxus wasn't bad at heart and cared about the guild, this bratty behavior was truly annoying. He suddenly had an urge to give this guy a good beating.
Just then, Lucas sensed a wave of anger.
He turned and saw Erza staring at a request, her body trembling slightly.
Lucas looked at the request.
[Quest Name: Subjugation of the Dark Magic Cult]
[Difficulty: S]
[Description: A Dark Magic Cult has appeared in the Kingdom of Avaro. This cult has attacked many villages and towns in the kingdom, abducting numerous villagers. A mage is required to destroy the Dark Magic Cult and rescue the villagers.]
[Reward: 15,000,000 Jewels]
Seeing this quest, Lucas understood why Erza was angry. She had been abducted by a Dark Magic Cult as a child and enslaved. Seeing such a thing happen again, how could she not be angry?
"Master, does the Magic Council not care about this kind of thing?" Lucas asked Makarov.
The Magic Council showed inconsistent strength in the Fairy Tail anime, but they held significant deterrent power on the continent of Ishgar.
Especially their ultimate weapon, "Etherion," which claimed to be able to hit any location on the continent and destroy an entire country.
Makarov shook his head. "The Magic Council only has jurisdiction over countries on Ishgar that have joined the Council. They won't interfere with countries that haven't joined. The Kingdom of Avaro is one of those that haven't joined."
"Why didn't they join?"
Gildarts explained, "Because they have to pay a hefty protection fee. The Magic Council isn't a charity; all protected countries pay high fees. But for some inherently poor countries, they can't afford such costs. For those countries, even if wars break out between mages, the Council won't intervene. There are many such countries on Ishgar. So when things like this happen, they turn to mage guilds, which cost less."
Gildarts loved to travel and had seen all kinds of countries. Not every kingdom was as wealthy as Fiore.
It was normal for kingdoms that couldn't pay the protection fee to be carved up by other nations.
When he encountered such things on his travels, he usually helped out.
Hearing this, Lucas understood. Wasn't this just the Fairy Tail version of the Heavenly Tribute?
In the One Piece world, many countries couldn't pay the Heavenly Tribute and were subsequently pillaged by pirates, with the Marines ignoring them or even intentionally allowing it.
It seemed every world was the same.
Of course, Lucas wasn't a saint. He understood that this was normal. Expecting protection without paying—where in the world would you find such a good deal?
Lucas reached out and took the request.
"I'll take this one."
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