"Hahaha, I lost," says Ben gleefully after Gildarts revert him to normal.
"Why're you so happy that you've lost?" asks Mira.
"It's been a long time since I lost to someone. The last time is... I don't remember, hahaha," says Ben.
"Heh, what a strange kid. Do you know why you lost to me?" asks Gildarts.
"Yeah, I was too focused on countering your Crush Magic instead of focusing to win the battle. Your magic is too scary, after all," says Ben.
"It's good that you know it. Although it's good that you are wary of your opponent's magic, being too wary is also not good. But you will get better as you gain more experience. I'm sure you can surpass me soon," says Gildarts while smiling.
"Yeah, I'm sure of it too," says Ben smugly.
"Quite cheeky, aren't you?" asks Gildarts jokingly.
Both men then laugh happily while hugging each other's shoulders. Ben is a little taller than Gildarts, so their hug doesn't look strange. Gildarts is 188 cm while Ben is 191, so they're not too far apart.
"Sigh, I still can't understand how men can get closer after they fight," says Mira.
"Only men understand that," says Gildarts.
The men laugh again, making Mira sighs deeper now. But then Erza suddenly asks, "Hey, I'm very curious about this, but both of you haven't used all your cards, right? If you use them all, who will win that battle?"
"Gildarts/me," says Ben & Gildarts.
"But, if I just need to get past him in this S-Class exam, I can do it easily," says Ben while smirking.
"Oho, how?" asks Gildarts curiously, the girls also get curious.
Ben smirks and says, "Like this."
As he says that, Ben points 2 fingers at Gildarts and then he points those fingers upwards. Gildarts suddenly floats very high before Ben puts him down again.
"I can just throw him away using reverse gravity. The cave ceiling that we use in this exam will just break if I use more power. But that doesn't make me win because I don't defeat him. I just get him out of my way," says Ben.
"I see. So I will find myself flying before I can even do anything. That's a good strategy," says Gildarts.
"Yeah, I can also increase the gravity on you multiple times, but you'll just break the ground. If you use enough power, I will also get caught in that, so I will release my magic," says Ben.
"So it's like that. I will never think of using such a strategy," says Erza.
"You will just fight Gildarts head-on if you are in his position, right? That's how you always do things, after all," says Mira while smiling.
"Ugh, I'm just not good at thinking about strategy," says Erza depressedly.
"Erza is always like that since she's a kid, right? By the way, Ben, I've just realized this, but you haven't broken a sweat at all since we arrived on this island, even after our battle," says Gildarts.
"Ben like hot," says Bella.
"Yeah, heat is never a problem for me. I am a Sun Dragon Slayer, so the sun is my source of energy. It includes sunlight, fire, heat, and even gravity. That's why as long as something hotter than the sun itself appears, I won't get affected. But I'm still sweating when I'm tired or ill, I'm still human, after all," says Ben.
"So this hot island is your playground, huh? Wait! So you aren't tired after that fight? You must have a lot of stamina," says Gildarts impressedly.
Ben just smiles and doesn't answer that because he doesn't want to get too cocky. He can fight with the same intensity for 3 days without rest if he pushes himself. His stats have increased a lot, after all.
[Name: Ben Cooper
Epithet: Karna (The Sun's Child)
Real Age: 17
Body Age: 16
Status: Alive
MP: 478,692/478,692
STR: 354
AGI: 365
STA: 378
INT: 746]
His MP is still far from Gildarts, but his Magic Spells have similar power. The only problem with having less MP is that he can't use as many spells as Gildarts. That means if they fight in a prolonged battle, Ben will run out of MP first.
But Ben is a Dragon Slayer so he can replenish his MP as long as there's an element that he can eat. So it all depends on where they fight and the surroundings' situations. That is if he doesn't get defeated first.
After resting for a bit, they all decide to go to Hargeon Port. Ben actually wants to explore the island, but the others can't stand the heat in this place. They still have 5 days before the exam and everything has finished here, so they don't want to stay on this hot island.
Then they go to Hargeon Port using Light Runner in boat mode. Of course, Gildarts has his hands cuffed by a magic sealing stone for safety. He also agrees to keep wearing it while they're in Hargeon because they don't want him to break anything there.
The group informs Makarov about this and he allows it because they really don't have anything to do in Tenrou Island until the exam starts. He only tells them to go there a day before the exam starts.
After arriving in Hargeon, they rent 2 hotel rooms first. Erza & Gildarts know that Ben & Mira are dating, so they prevent both of them from sleeping in the same room. They said they need to protect Mira from the beast.
Hence, they rent 2 rooms so the men & women can sleep in different rooms. But even if they do that, they can't prevent Ben & Mira from having dates in the town. Ben & Mira treats this as a holiday or even a 4 days trip date.
While they are in Hargeon, Ben learns that Wendy will join the exam because Mest has chosen her as his partner. Ben is still suspicious of Mest, so he needs to watch over their team and won't let Mest do something bad to Wendy.
"There are many Mages in our Guild, and he chooses Wendy? Damn, he must be a lolicon. If he dares to lay even a finger on my little sister, then I will burn him until there's nothing remain, even his ash," says Ben with a pissed tone.
"Burn!" says Bella rather pissedly too.
"I-Isn't that too extreme?" asks Mira.
"Nothing is too extreme for a lolicon's punishment," says Ben.
Mira can only sigh and hope that Mest won't do anything stupid. She is also suspicious of Mest but she also can't let Ben burns someone until nothing remains. At least Ben needs to leave some remains to be buried.
Anyway, their days in Hargeon go well without too many problems. There will always be problems wherever they go. They are Fairy Tail Mages, after all. But Ben can always solve those problems that are caused mostly by Gildarts & Erza.
Luckily, they didn't break anything until they leave Hargeon. Gildarts can't use his magic, after all, so he won't break anything, although he still makes problems with some women. Erza didn't break things, she just pissed some people and also fights with some punks.
Mira doesn't make any problem, but she caused Ben to make problems. Some random dudes tried to hit on her every once in a while, so he needs to give them some lessons. There's no way he will let those guys go after doing what they did.
Still, their days are relatively good until the time to return comes. They leave Hargeon and go to Tenrou Island a day before the exam. Then they check the exam locations before they sleep and finally, the S-Class exam day comes.
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