The long-distance race soon reached its conclusion.

Even though Erzi summoned two Celestial Spirits to help her and slightly delayed the other contestants, Loke’s speed was ultimately not that fast. Even after giving it his all, he still couldn’t catch Jellal, who could transform into a meteor, or Sawyer, who could lower others’ perception of time.

In the end, Jellal and Sawyer took first and second place respectively, while Erzi only managed to grab third.

As for fourth place, it was Happy.

The ice that Lyon had used to freeze him earlier had been melted by Natsu’s flames. After escaping, Happy took flight while the others were attacking each other, quietly following behind Erzi to take fourth.

Lyon took fifth, successfully fulfilling his wish of beating Gray. His Ice-Make magic was fundamentally practiced better than Gray’s, and his magic power was stronger; his final result led the others by about two seconds.

Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel finished with similar results, with a difference of only half a second between them.

Soon, Cana, acting as the witness, declared the result of the first competition—the winner was Erzi.

Facing such a result, Gray, Natsu, and the others were naturally unwilling to accept defeat. They all started arguing to immediately begin the second competition, while also inviting Jellal and Sawyer to join.

However, Jellal and Sawyer declined. They had won once and had witnessed the strength of Natsu and the others during the race; they were now satisfied. They subsequently took their leave to go watch their other companions’ matches.

Happy, on the other hand, was quite happy to move with the group and chose to stay.

Before long, the group left the large playground and headed to the venue for the second sports event—the campus swimming pool!

The pool was built next to the playground; many students were also gathered here at this time. Upon reaching their destination, the group spotted a familiar figure.

"Is that... Lisanna?"

"Oh?! Everyone, did you all sign up for the swimming competition too?"

Lisanna was one year younger than the others present and was currently enrolled in the sixth grade of the Fairy Academy primary school.

"Yeah, I didn’t expect you to be here too."

Though the group was surprised by Lisanna’s participation in the swimming competition, thinking about it further, it seemed normal. After all, her magic was "Animal Take Over," and she often took over animals like cats, dogs, birds, or fish; the last one was perfectly suited for a swimming competition.

Soon, everyone ducked into the changing rooms to quickly change into their pre-prepared swimwear, then came to the poolside to register with the referee.

"The second competition event is swimming!"

"The rules are also simple: contestants must swim three laps in the pool at their fastest speed. The one with the shortest time wins."

During the race, magic could also be used, similar to the previous long-distance event; the difference was that one involved running and the other involved swimming.

"So the battlefield this time is in the water?"

"For a certain someone, this is a massive disadvantage!"

Gajeel glanced sideways at Natsu, a laugh escaping his mouth. Natsu’s magic was fire; his combat power in water was destined to be greatly reduced. He would likely be at the bottom of the rankings again for this match.

Gray and Lyon understood Gajeel’s meaning immediately and shared the same gloating expression.

However, facing their contempt, Natsu was not discouraged.

"Is that so? That might not necessarily be the case!"

The three were stunned and subconsciously asked, "What, you sound like you have a trick up your sleeve?"

Natsu held up a ball of fire in his right hand, looking smug: "Are you guys prepared to swim in boiling water?"

Boiling water?

Erzi’s face showed horror: "Are you planning to boil the entire pool?"

Though she usually took baths and had a decent resistance to hot water, if Natsu really boiled all the water in the pool, she definitely wouldn’t be able to stand it.

"Wah-ka-ka..."

"Correct guess!"

"During this period, I’ve been taking hot baths every day to train my hot water resistance!"

Natsu said this while proudly puffing out his chest, full of confidence in taking the victory for this match. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

However...

"Pfft—"

"That’s just hilarious!"

Gray and Lyon on the side were doubled over with laughter: "Did you forget? We are Ice Wizards! Creating ice to cool down the water is an absolute piece of cake for us!"

"..."

Natsu blinked, and the air momentarily fell silent. It was as if a row of crows flew across the sky overhead, cawing "idiot," "idiot."

"Ah!! That’s right!! I completely forgot about that!!"

Erzi roared in disbelief: "How can you forget that?! Do you have a pig’s brain?! Hurry up and drop that idiotic tactic of yours!"

Natsu clenched his fists unwillingly: "But if I do that, won’t all my suffering these past days be for nothing? At least the hot water should be effective against Gajeel..."

Gajeel sneered: "Are you an idiot? My skin is made of iron! How could 100-degree boiling water break through my iron hide?"

Fine! All that suffering really was for nothing!

After half an hour of underwater struggle, the results of the "swimming competition" came out.

The one who came out on top was Lisanna. She had taken over the soul of a certain "fish," turning herself into one, which greatly increased her movement speed in the water.

Following her were Lyon and Gray. Their Ice-Make magic could be used to clear paths, interfere, or provide leverage. It could be said they had every advantage in the water. Aside from Lisanna, who had transformed into a fish and could dodge their attacks, the other contestants simply couldn’t resist.

After them was Erzi. She chose not to summon the Aquarius Celestial Spirit, because if she did, there would be no outcome other than killing the competition, and she might even be injured by the aftermath herself.

Next was Gajeel. Although his physique was strong and his swimming level was decent, he was unfortunately given "special attention" by Lyon and Gray during the race. Additionally, the resistance iron faced in water increased, severely slowing his speed, thus his ranking was low.

Of course, he wasn’t the one with the worst results.

The person at the bottom was Natsu! He was held back by Gray’s various ice creations the whole way. To make matters worse, he couldn’t freely use fire magic to melt the ice in the water, making it difficult to move an inch.

By the time he finally finished the three laps, the others had long since returned to shore, dried themselves off, changed back into their original clothes, and were resting to recover their strength while eating.

Fortunately, Natsu did not get depressed because of this.

The setbacks of two consecutive matches instead made him "know shame and then find courage." Thus, after coming out of the pool, Natsu also began to replenish his physical and magic power. His method of replenishment was more convenient and cost-effective than anyone else’s—eating fire!

Gray, Lyon, and Erzi were not users of "Slayer" type magic and could not rapidly recover their strength. While Gajeel could, he lacked the financial resources and couldn’t afford to buy iron blocks.

And so...

Clang Clang Clang—

"The third match ’Rock Climbing’ has ended. The winner is: Natsu!!"

"Heck yeah!!"