Ben resumes his journey after finding the meteor. The big explosion should've gathered the attention of people nearby. This place is also close to Lamia Scale Guild, so they might hear the explosion and send some Mages to investigate it.
He isn't afraid to face those Mages, but it will be a problem if they assume that he is up to something bad. Those Mages will report their finding to the Kingdom & Magic Council, so it will be a big problem for his guild.
Ben leaves the area hastily while still erasing his traces. He teleports many times to leave the forest as fast as possible. It needs a lot of MP but that's not a problem for his current MP capacity.
[Name: Ben Cooper
Epithet: Karna (The Sun's Child)
Real Age: 16
Body Age: 15 (halted)
Status: Alive
MP: 347,318/347,318
STR: 230 (halted)
AGI: 230 (halted)
STA: 230 (halted)
INT: 694]
His MP raised a lot in these 6 months because his INT stat also raised a lot. He has scanned more than 40% of the books in the library. So his INT points also raised a little more than 400 points.
His MP raised 40,000 points just from the raise of his INT points alone. It gets even higher because he also trained his MP capacity. The MP training raised his MP by around 50,000 points, even higher than what the INT stat caused.
But that's a good thing because that means he isn't reliant on the books scanning & his INT stat to raise his MP. If he is too reliant on that, then he will not improve without raising his INT stat.
Ben escapes to the North, toward the Central side of Fiore. There is a river on the North of the forest and he will hide there for now. Before going too far, he makes 7 clones and makes the clones transform into different magical creatures.
"You guys stay and watch if there are people who come here. Inform me when you find something. Stay low and don't get discovered, so act as natural as possible," says Ben.
"Yes, Boss," replies the clones.
Ben nods before leaving using his teleportation again. The clones also leave and spread while acting like wild creatures. They act as if they're scared because of the explosion but they don't go too far from the explosion.
Some minutes later, 5 people really come to the explosion site, and they all are women. Ben's clones see the women and know that they're Lamia Scale's Mages from their Guild Marks.
"Such a big explosion, it destroyed a wide area and caused a big & deep crater like this," says a curly red-haired woman as she looks at the deep crater.
"What can cause such a big explosion like this?" asks a short-haired woman.
"I don't know, let's look around to find any clue," says a woman who wears a black scarf.
The other women nod and they spread to investigate the location. Ben's clones keep acting like wild creatures while keep watching over the Mages. The clones keep their distance from the Mages and suppress their MP to avoid suspicion.
In another place, Ben finally reaches the river and rest there. He drinks the river water and fills his flask too. Then he hides in the bushes while keep spreading his magic sense.
"Phew, I feel like being a wanted criminal because of this thing," says Ben as he holds the meteor in his hand.
Ben suddenly feels something coming from the north. It has strong magic power, so he suppresses his MP and raises his guard. Ben also transforms into a bull and hides Bella under his body.
Soon, a massive metal thing flies in the sky from the north. Ben looks at it and knows that it is Magic Council's Magic Airship. The airship has silver metallic color and is shaped like a ship with wings.
"Damn, it even piqued the Council's attention," says Ben grumbly.
The Magic Airship keeps moving to the south and Ben doesn't get detected at all. He sighs in relief before leaving to search for a hiding place. He is still in his bull form and Bella sits on his back as they search for the hiding place.
After some minutes, Ben's clones also see the Magic Airship coming. It also gathers the Lamia Scale Mages' attention. They all look at the Magic Airship as it lands on the ground slowly.
After the Magic Airship landed, many council Mages come out of it. They are led by a man who wears glasses and a man with a scar on his left temple. They're Lahar & Doranbolt from Council's Custody & Enforcement unit.
It is not their job to investigate this, but they're the only ones who were ready to move fast. Besides, the explosion might be caused by a Mage, and their unit has strong mages who have been trained to fight strong mages.
"Are you Mages from Lamia Scale?" asks Lahar to the women.
"Yes, we came here after hearing the big explosion," says the curly red hair woman.
Lahar nods and asks, "Can you share your finding with us?"
The Lamia Scale Mages nod and tell the Council members of their findings. There isn't much that they can share, however. But it is better than nothing and they shouldn't start from scratch.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Now you can leave this matter to us," says Lahar as he leaves with his men.
The Lamia Scale Mages aren't pleased by that. It's like Lahar isn't respecting them by telling them to leave after getting what he needs. But they say nothing and leave the location.
They know they can't mess with the Council because it can endanger their Guild. But they still grumble on their way back to their Guild. They can't do anything except grumble, after all.
Ben's clones see it and ignore it. Their job is just to watch what happened here and report it to Ben. Now they need to watch what the Council members do after the Lamia Scale Mages left.
The Council members investigate the location more thoroughly. It is clear that they are more trained in this than the Lamia Scale Mages. Well, their organizations have a different purpose, so their members are trained differently too.
But still, they can't find any valuable information in their investigation. Ben has erased all his traces on this location, after all. Even experienced investigators won't find his traces easily as he is an expert at this.
The Magic Council members finally give up after an hour of investigation. They just take a lot of pictures and some samples from the location. But they can't hypothesize anything and assume that it might be a natural phenomenon or the culprit has escaped.
After the Council members left, Ben's clones dispel themselves. Ben receive their memories after they got dispelled. He sighs in relief as no one finds any clue that might make him being suspected.
Ben is in a cave located on a cliff near the river. He found it while searching for a hiding place before. There is a Red Bear inside the cave, but Ben could kill it fast and use the cave to hide.
"Phew, we're safe. Let's cook this bear and stay here for a night," says Ben.
"Kay~," replies Bella who is playing with Choco.
"Today is 27 February, so there are less than 3 months to my birthday at 12 May. I need to get some birthday gifts for Wendy & Carla who have their birthdays before mine," says Ben as he roasted the Red Bear.
"Bella?" asks Bella.
"Of course, you'll have your gift too. But you will get it together with the others, okay?" asks Ben.
"Kay~," replies Bella.
They eat after the bear cooked and slept. Their journey is getting closer to its end.
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You can read up to 35+ chapters ahead of this fanfic novel & the other one on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
Clicking that power stone/like also seem to be a good choice, hehe.
I've uploaded:
1. Chapter 166 of Fairy Tail: Sun Eater
2. Chapter 177 of Transcended as Lord Buggy
https://www.pa_treon.com/CaptMermain
(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)