A few moments later, Caelan was lying flat on his back in the dirt, clutching a single, solitary ruby in his hands.
His eyes were completely hollow, all the light and joy drained from his soul.
Meanwhile, Makarov was practically skipping with joy, humming a happy tune as he scooped up the glittering mountain of precious gems scattered across the ground.
“You finally did something right, you brat!” Makarov cheered.
“With all these gems, we can easily cover the compensation for the miners and the town at the base of the mountain!” Erza, having finally processed the absolute absurdity of the situation, raised a hand.
“Master?
What about the S-Class trial?” The moment she spoke, everyone blinked, suddenly remembering they were actually in the middle of a highly important exam.
Makarov coughed, straightening his posture.
“Right, right.
Almost forgot about the official business.
So, which one of you managed to secure the Alpha Lizard’s horn?” Caelan remained motionless on the ground, still entirely paralyzed by grief over his lost treasure.
Laxus stepped forward, his arms crossed.
“Neither of us got it.
The monster was completely vaporized in the blast.” He paused, glancing down at Caelan before looking back at Makarov.
“Give the S-Class title to him.” Makarov and Gildarts both turned to stare at Laxus in genuine surprise.
Neither of them ever expected to hear those words come out of his mouth.
Makarov’s expression turned serious.
“Laxus, are you certain?” “Yeah.
Just give it to him,” Laxus muttered, turning away.
“Right now…
I’m not as strong as he is.” The sheer, overwhelming power of Caelan’s Cero blast had left a deep impression on him.
Laxus knew for a fact that he could not casually unleash a strike of that magnitude.
“Very well.” Makarov nodded solemnly.
“In that case, I hereby announce…
the winner of this year’s trial and our newest S-Class Mage is Caelan!” Caelan didn’t even twitch.
He just continued to stare blankly at the sky.
Sighing, Erza walked over, grabbed Caelan by the head, and aggressively pulled him into a suffocating hug, smashing his face directly into her armored chest plate.
Clang!
“Ow!” Caelan yelped, flailing his arms.
“This is wonderful, Caelan!
You’re officially an S-Class Mage!” Erza cheered.
Caelan rubbed his bruised nose, blinking in confusion.
“Wait, what?
I’m S-Class?” The realization finally hit him.
And with that realization came a flood of brand-new, highly lucrative possibilities.
‘Wait a minute.
That was just one volcano,’ he thought, his hollow eyes suddenly regaining their light.
‘There are tons of volcanoes all over the continent!
Once I get back, I can just scour the Request Board for S-Class subjugation quests involving active volcanoes!’ His grin stretched so wide it looked unnatural.
‘I can get paid millions for completing the S-Class quest AND strip-mine the volcano for gems while I’m at it!
Holy crap, I am an absolute genius!’ “Hehehe!” Erza, Laxus, Makarov, and Gildarts stared in silence as Caelan’s eyes literally morphed into golden Jewel symbols, a greedy, disturbing giggle escaping his lips.
‘He’s completely hopeless,’ the four of them thought simultaneously.
Not long after the trial officially concluded, a massive detachment from the Magic Council’s Rune Knights arrived at the scene.
Seeing the entirely flattened mountain, they immediately arrested Makarov and Caelan for catastrophic environmental destruction.
By the time Gildarts led Laxus, Erza, and Freed back to the guildhall, the rest of Fairy Tail was eagerly waiting for the results.
When they asked where the Master and Caelan were, Gildarts simply rubbed the back of his neck and laughed.
“Oh, them?
They got arrested.” Despite the temporary imprisonment, the news of the trial’s outcome spread like wildfire.
At thirteen years old, Caelan had become the youngest S-Class Mage in Fairy Tail history.
A few days later, Caelan and Makarov were finally released from Council custody and returned to the guild.
“Boss!
Boss!” Finn cheered, running up to him.
“You really made S-Class!
I told everyone you’d do it!” Caelan waved him off, leaning lazily against the bar.
“Keep it down, keep it down.
This is just basic operations for me.
Though I’ve gotta say, the food in Council prison is absolute garbage, and the beds are terrible.
I am never going back to that hellhole.” Makarov’s temper immediately flared.
“You brat!
If you don’t want to go back to prison, then stop destroying entire villages and obliterating the natural landscape!
I don’t have enough money to keep bailing you out!” “Huh?
Old man, I don’t want to hear that from you,” Caelan scoffed, crossing his arms.
“The gems you confiscated from me were more than enough to cover the fines, and you definitely pocketed the massive surplus!” Makarov immediately looked away, whistling a terrible tune.
“Hmm?
What’s that?
I can’t hear you.” He tapped his ear.
“Ah, the tragedies of old age.
My hearing just isn’t what it used to be.” With his hands clasped firmly behind his back, the guild master practically sprinted out the back door.
“Tch.
That greedy old ghost,” Caelan grumbled, heading toward his favorite rocking chair.
“Whatever.
My chair is the only thing that brings me comfort.” One Month Later.
The very next day after becoming an S-Class Mage, Caelan eagerly scoured the second floor for high-paying quests.
To his immense disappointment, there were no S-Class requests involving active volcanoes.
Refusing to leave empty-handed, he picked a random subjugation quest with a massive payout and left the guild.
Less than a week later, he returned, completed the job, and cashed in a staggering 10,000,000 Jewel.
He immediately went into town and purchased several prime real estate properties he’d had his eye on.
On top of that, he sold the eleven gems he had managed to hide from Makarov during the arrest, pulling in another 20,000,000 Jewel.
After buying the deeds and a massive stockpile of medicinal herbs for his lackeys, Caelan returned to his estate and fully embraced his slacker lifestyle.
Inside Caelan’s courtyard.
Finn and Rook were currently enduring their final, most agonizing medicinal bath.
Once they absorbed this last batch of herbs, their physical conditioning would finally be complete, and they could begin their Rokushiki training.
Over the past few months, the two of them had mastered the basics of Magic control.
They were now able to densely coat their arms and legs in physical enhancement Magic—a rudimentary, watered-down version of Armament Haki.
As the final traces of the medicine were absorbed into their skin, the two men felt their bodies break through their physical limits.
They slowly opened their eyes, staring at their heavily muscled, incredibly dense physiques in absolute awe.
“Boss!
This feels amazing!” Finn cheered, flexing his arms.
“Does this mean me and Rook can finally learn your martial arts?!” Caelan swept over them with his Observation Haki, carefully measuring their physical density and magical output.
He nodded in approval.
“Yeah, you’re ready.
But mastering all six techniques takes years of intense, grueling training.
I highly recommend you both pick one offensive technique and one evasion technique to focus on for now.” “You got it, Boss,” Rook nodded.
“We’ll follow your lead.” Caelan stepped into the center of the courtyard and flawlessly demonstrated all six Rokushiki techniques, briefly explaining the mechanics and applications of each.
After thinking it over for a few minutes, Rook stepped forward.
“Boss, I want to learn Tekkai (Iron Mass) and Rankyaku (Tempest Kick).” Hearing the word ‘Tekkai,’ Caelan’s lazy expression cracked.
He immediately looked at Rook with deep, serious concern.
“Uh…
Rook, are you absolutely sure you want to learn Tekkai?
I really, really don’t recommend you start with that one.” Rook blinked in confusion.
“Huh?
Why not?
It looked super defensive and solid to me.” “Just…
trust me on this,” Caelan said solemnly, placing a hand on Rook’s shoulder.
“That technique is cursed.
You won’t be able to handle it.” Although he didn’t understand why, Rook was a man who listened to advice.
“Alright, Boss.
I’ll swap it out for Soru (Shave) then.” Caelan sighed in profound relief.
“Excellent choice.
What about you, Finn?” “I want to learn Shigan (Finger Pistol) and Kami-e (Paper Art)!” “Perfect.
That matches your slippery fighting style,” Caelan nodded.
After properly outlining their new, completely inhumane training regimens, Caelan left the two of them to suffer in the courtyard and walked inside his house.
“System, unlock the next stage.” [Ding!
Unlock successful.] Instantly, a massive surge of pure, radiant energy erupted from his core, flooding through every cell in his body and violently reshaping his physical limits.
“Ahhh…
that hits the spot,” Caelan grinned, clenching his fists.
“System, open panel.” [Ding!
System Panel opened successfully.] [Host: Caelan] [Age: 13] [Template: Borsalino (60%)] [Abilities: Armament Haki (Advanced), Observation Haki (Advanced), Glint-Glint Fruit (Mastered), Marine Rokushiki (Advanced), Master Swordsman.] [Wealth: 9,000,000 J] [Cost to unlock next Borsalino Template stage: 100,000,000 J] [Inventory: Evolution Fruit x1 (Automatically consumed when Template reaches 100%)] “My physical stats, Haki, and Devil Fruit mastery all just took a massive leap forward,” Caelan noted, highly satisfied.
He glanced down at the upgrade cost and immediately groaned.
“Dammit!
One hundred million?!
I definitely need to find another volcano to mine, otherwise taking these standard S-Class quests is going to take me years!”