Chapter 20 - First-Time Leader
"It looked nothing like you."
The girl wiped her eyes with a sleeve, finally looking at the blonde. "Really?"
Benjin chuckled, to the girl's annoyance. "The fact you even have to ask that is retarded!" All he received was glare in response.
"Okay, but in all seriousness, you look like you can't even step on a puppy, let alone slash me with a giant flaming sword." Silence, followed by a confused look, causing Benjin to roll his eyes. "Real demon stuff." The blonde stood up, finished with his little 'talk.'
"Listen, I'm not going to force you to talk to them," the white-haired girl's glare intensified, right… "Even though I literally tried to do that yesterday…" Benjin put a hand behind his head in embarrassment, "but anyways! Just… try, okay?"
"…"
"I mean sure, none of them have ever seen a demon, but if you ask Jellal," Benjin pointed to the blue-haired teen again, before walking back to the kid corner, "he'll probably tell you the same thing."
On the subject of demons, are there such things as a demon slayer? I mean there's Dragon Slayer, God Slayer, there has got to be other ones… maybe even MONKEY slayer magic.
"Wow, big sis actually talked to you!" Benjin snapped out of his thoughts, facing the cute white-haired girl with a bowl-cut.
"Between you and me, I think I scared her a little bit…" Looks of confusion were spread around all the other kids.
"How come?" The light mage looked at Erza, who asked the question.
"I was like, the last time I saw a demon I blasted a hole through its chest."
Jellal abruptly stood up, getting into Benjin's face. "WHAT?! Why would you even tell her about that?"
The blonde shoved the blue-haired teen back, to his irk. "Shut up! It just slipped out!"
"Okay," Jellal began, pausing with his hands up, "I knew you were stupid, but this is something else entirely." Benjin didn't bother retorting, he simply responded by socking the other teen straight in the jaw.
And with that, the guild was brawling again.
It has already been a week?
Benjin looked back towards the kid corner from the job board, seeing the girl that had basically sat alone now sitting with the other kids… although, she still had her cloak up and she was hugging her knees at the outer edges. Well, baby steps I suppose.
Hmm, how long has it been since he started mass-training? Five months? Or was it six months? The teen crossed his arms, eyes closed in thought. Damn I don't even remember anymore… Whatever, it really didn't matter if it was five or six, what mattered was how much progress he made with his magic, despite not able to enhance his light-make with divine magic. Again, baby steps.
He had to figure it out eventually though. Well whatever, might as well think on it doing a mission. The mission request was absolutely cramped with tens, maybe even a hundred pieces of paper, all with various pictures, descriptions, and rewards on them.
Wow, half of them are monster quests! True to that statement, a good majority of the mission requests on the board had the red 'X' mark on the bottom right - marking it as an extermination quest.
Hmm…
Vulcans attacking farm, need immediate aid!
Reward: 100,000J - 3rd Grade B-Class Mission
- Ray Saderick
Wait Saderick? I know that name!
"…"
WAIT.
That was the same name as the guy that made that other Vulcan quest! FUCK, NO. Fuck Vulcans, Fuck that guy's farm, Fuck Saderick's. Okay next quest.
Need extra security in bandit infested routes.
Estimated travel time - 1.5 Days.
Reward: 40,000J - 1st Grade C-Class Mission
- Robert Lingard
Benjin inwardly cringed at the blue circle on the bottom right. I absolutely hate escort missions… He certainly was never going to take an escort mission again, especially what happened last time…
"Are you a mage? Are you from Fairy Tail? Can you do magic?"
The blonde looked as if he was going to explode from the hundreds upon hundreds of random and repetitive questions shot out from the inquisitive little girl sitting in the carriage.
The blonde sighed. Whatever, next one.
Required: 100kg of Roslite Ore from Savita Mountain.
Warning: Area is often sighted with Enderpods.
Reward: 500,000J + 5,000J per kg of extra ore - 3rd Grade A-Class Mission
- Vitruvius' Smeltery
Now this sounded interesting. The little green stripe on the mission showed that this was a retrieval quest, his personal favourite. 100kg of ore would have been annoying to haul from the mountain and back, but for him, it was literally just a long walk.
It wasn't even that far, perhaps a week's journey if he decides to take his time. It was only maybe only thirty kilometers from Mount Hakobe, so it would be rather easy. Heh, easy money. Taking the job, he went to the master to have him mark it as taken, passing Gildarts on the way.
"Hey Benjin, Going on another job already?" The blonde turned towards the once-again drinking man, rolling his eyes.
"Yep!" Benjin grinned excitedly, "this one is practically made for me, I'll be able to make absolute bank from this!"
The auburn-haired man took a swig from his mug, already ahead of his never-ending quest to rid the world of alcohol, "Have you given any thought about what I've told you?" Thought? About wh- Oh!
Benjin looked at the kid corner, seeing everyone talking to each other - with exception of the 'corner girl', before looking down in thought. "You mean the group mission?"
The ace nodded, gulping down his… whiskey probably, he's always drinking that stuff.
Hmm, now that he really did think about it, this mission would likely be the easiest A-Class mission there was! He could probably bring a bunch of the others along, have them help out with mining rocks, and basically just come back, heh, nothing more than a camping trip!
Also, it's… fall I believe? This meant that the next S-Class trails wouldn't take place for at least five months, unless Laxus was bullshitting of course… Regardless of that prick, this would give him many chances to get 'leadership experience.'
Benjin smiled confidently. "Don't worry, it'll be a piece of cake, I'll go ask the others if they want to come." Gildarts gave him a challenging look.
"Oh? Piece of cake?" The auburn-haired man pointed towards the brawling kids, namely Natsu and Gray, "why don't you take those two with you then."
The blonde widened his eyes, before shaking his head frantically. "Hah! Are you kidding?! Having those two together by itself would make the job into an S-Class! No sir!"
Chuckling, the ace got up himself, making his way to the entrance. "Well, you did say it was going to be a piece of cake," The larger man shrugged, "I can understand why you're not feeling up to it though." As soon as he said that, Benjin scowled deeply, causing a satisfied smile to crawl up the crash mage's face.
"Are you saying I can't handle those two?!"
Gildarts simply waved him off. "Of course not, I'm just saying you need to have a certain amount of…" The ace gave the blonde a sly look, before reaching for the door, "…discipline." Is he saying I LACK discipline?! "Well anyways, I got a job to do myself! Say hi to Ur for me when she gets back!" With a wave, Gildarts left.
Benjin, still with a scowl, stomped his way back to the kid corner with a grip that crumpled the job paper. "Alright!" He enunciated, getting the attention of the others, "who wants to go on a mission!" The teen could see the thinking faces on most of the kids, before grinning, "A-Class, 3rd grade, although the reward's nothing too fancy…" he shot all of them a sly look, "just a small amount of 500,000J… plus bonuses."
Natsu immediately jumped from his chair. "ME!" Gray got up next, pushing Natsu into the ground.
"NO ME!"
While the two brawlers were tumbling on the ground, Benjin looked at his go-to partner, "You coming?" Jellal put a finger to his chin in thought, before shaking his head.
"…Nah, I think I'm going to do a couple solo missions for the next while," the blue-haired boy glanced towards his redheaded companion, inching ever closer, causing him to deadpan at her, "…Erza wants to go." Said girl flinched in surprise, before looking at the blonde.
"…I do?" Hah! If she's coming Natsu and Gray will be no problem at all!
Benjin began counting on his fingers, "So right now…" he looked to his 'team,' "I have Natsu, Gray, and Erza, who els-"
"WAIT ERZA'S COMING?" The two boys suddenly stopped their fists in midair, eyes widened in shock at the new revelation.
"…I don't know if I want to come anymore." Sucks they don't have a choice.
The dumbfounded redhead just looked back and forth the two older teens, before Jellal spoke again. "Erza… just go, you never do missions with anyone but me anyway," the blue-haired teen continued, "it'll be a good experience."
Uncharacteristically, Erza replied with a meek voice, "…Okay." Benjin rolled his eyes. Seriously, she goes from hound to puppy whenever Jellal comes in…
Now, he had three people coming, should he take anyone else? Jellal's not coming so it's likely he'll have to carry the whole job by himself… actually, pretty sure Erza is competent at least. Really, having Natsu and Gray would just be an extra babysitting job, but he could probably dump that responsibility on Erza, she's naturally talented at idiot management anyways.
His attention turned towards the Strauss siblings, or rather, two thirds of them. "You guys wanna come?" The two didn't even take time to think before giving their answer.
"I don't think A-Class is for me just yet, so I'll think I'll pass." And Lisanna?
"Same for me!" The bowl-headed girl looked towards her older sister, a sly smile on her face. "You should take big sis with you! She's been making leaps with her magic!" Oh? Benjin looked towards the cloaked girl, who had the hood down, showing her white locks.
"I think…" she began, drooping downwards in nervousness due to most of the attention being on her, "I'm going to stay… here." The younger sibling, Lisanna, immediately went and tugged her cloak sleeve, causing Mirajane to brush her off.
"Oh come on! It'll be fun!" Benjin sat beside the secretive girl, an elbow on the counter. "With how easy the job is, it's basically free money!" The blonde pointed towards the blue cloak she always wore, "you could even buy a diamond-encrusted cloak! Hiding in style, right?" Deadpanning, the white-haired girl turned away with a huff. Oh-kay.
The blonde went back to the younger sister, whispering as he did so, "Is she still mad about the picking up thing? It's been like weeks."
Lisanna simply giggled. "Oh don't worry, she's not mad at you~" The white-haired girl turned towards her older sister, hands on her hips. "And she's going, riiiiight~?"
The elder Strauss sibling crossed her arms, still looking away. "…Fine."
Benjin smiled at that. "Alright, so I got Erza, Natsu, Gray, Mirajane, and…" Benjin looked around, seeing if there's any more 'volunteers,' "Anyone else wanna come?"
"If it's A-class, then I'll come too!" The blonde looked at the card mage, who had a determined expression on her face. Alright, five people, nothing too crazy, might as well be a field trip!
"Okay! It's decided, all of you meet me at the town entrance within an hour, pack for a two week camping trip!" Benjin happily jumped towards the entrance. "Oh and Erza," said redhead turned towards him curiously, "make sure those two aren't late, okay?"
Erza glanced at the two unwilling participants, giving them a glare that promised pain if she was disobeyed. "Of course." Gray and Natsu could only gulp, before they were dragged out by the self-proclaimed disciplinarian.
S-Class, here I come!
A bit later, Benjin woke up from his nap. This should be enough time for the others to get ready.
With a hop, he left his bed. Chains! A single construct appeared from a magic circle, grabbing onto the railings and grappling him to the ground below.
I'm so excited, this is for my mission with a team! …The one with Jellal doesn't count because it was basically a partner thing more than anything.
Okay, no big deal, he already packed enough canned food in his storage to last the trip, and he was pretty sure he had camping gear in there. Benjin smiled, giving one last look to his tiny wooden abode before making his way towards the entrance.
Where the fuck is everybody?
Benjin was now standing by himself, the only people that he saw was just regular old townspeople minding their own businesses.
"…"
No Erza, no Mirajane, no Cana, no Natsu, no Gray, no nothing. Pretty sure I timed my nap well, I should only be a couple minutes early… unless they all planned on arriving on the dot. Benjin sighed. Fine, I'll just… wait.
Normally, the blonde wouldn't have been so anxious, but that's only because he usually had something to entertain himself with. Now? He was basically just standing there, literally counting to pass the time.
308… 309… 310… 311… Ah-ha! Benjin spotted a certain brunette nearing the entrance. Thought Erza would be first… huh.
As the card mage arrived, the older teen noticed she had a sizable hiking backpack, what seemed to be a sleeping bag, as well as another bag tied to the top. Nice, that's one down. Within seconds, the second arrival popped into view, revealing it to be Mirajane. So the 'those' three are last, eh?
Nearing, the white-haired girl called to the earlier arrivals. "Just give them… a minute." The blonde rolled his eyes, deadpanning at the girl.
"Let me guess… Natsu and Gray are fighting?" A nod from the still-cloaked girl was all he needed. Well, at least I got Erza to deal with that shit.
Less than thirty seconds later, the familiar redhead showed up with the two youngest members of his team… albeit begrudgingly, extremely begrudgingly.
As soon as the group came together, Benjin's attention immediately landed on Gray, same with the all the others.
"So Gray." Said boy perked up.
"Huh?"
Benjin bit on his lips, the irritation rising up from his stomach. "Where is your gear?" I am GENUINLY surprised Erza didn't catch this.
The black-haired boy deadpanned at him, as if his answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "In my backpack, of course." It seemed Mirajane, Erza, and Cana were all annoyed by Gray's antics.
"And where," a vein bulged from the blonde's forehead, "is your backpack?" One of these days…
Scoffing, the boy made the motion to unstrap, "What do you mean?! It's on my back," instantly, his eyes widened, cheeks red in embarrassment, "…oh."
"Gray," Benjin began in a low, threatening tone, "go trace your steps, find your backpack, and put on some GODDAMNED CLOTHES!" Said boy gulped, before nodding and disappearing back into the town. My god! Benjin slapped his forehead with a palm.
"Erza," the team leader turned towards the red head, "how did that slip you?" The redhead widened her eyes in embarrassment, before bowing down in shame.
"I'm sorry! That was my fault completely, please hit me!" What?
Benjin turned towards the others, who had the same expressions of confusion, except Natsu, with how hard he was shaking his head he was bound to get a whiplash. "Um… okay?" The blonde walked up to the still-bowed girl, hammering a fist straight onto her head.
*Thud* "Ow!"
"Uh Benjin, you're not supposed to actually hit her…" Benjin turned towards Cana, who had an anxious look on her frame. Well WHOO-PEE.
Finally, Gray returned to the entrance, fully clothed and backpack ready. Okay! Time to go.
"Alright, everyone ready?"
"Yep!"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh-" God Damnit Natsu.
"Um, maybe?"
"…I guess."
"Yes." Good enough.
"Okay, let's- actually, before we leave," the blonde turned to the redhead, who had been shooting him a glare. Hey, you said 'hit me.' "Erza, make sure Gray doesn't strip again." A silent nod, good enough.
"Alright!" Benjin gave his team an excited smile, all while pumping his fist into the air. "Let's go and get some free money!" This time, everyone - Benjin shot a glance to the kind-of-sulking Mirajane, well mostly everyone - responded with a bit more excitement.
"Yes!"
"Sure…"
"Alright I'm all fired up!"
Gray immediately got into Natsu's face, again. "I bet I can get more jewels than you!"
"No fighting!" Thank god for Erza, seriously.
"Um… it's supposed to be an even split," Cana looked to Benjin for reassurance, "right?"
"Yes…" the blonde turned and began trekking towards their destination, "now let us leave!"
"…lettuce leaf?"
Okay, now I'm having second thoughts.
"But I'm hunnnngry!" It's only been THREE fucking hours, did he NOT eat before coming?!
Benjin was about to open his mouth, but Erza was quicker to the reply. "Natsu, I'm sure Benjin has meal breaks planned, just be patient."
"…fine," It seemed that the redhead wasn't exactly… satisfied with how he replied.
A glare promising pain. "What was that?" Instantly, the dragon slayer straightened up, his eyes widened in fear.
"GOT IT!" I really don't know how she does it…
Despite Natsu's whining, he did have a point. Not everybody got a stamina boost when walking in the hot sun - pretty sure it's the reverse actually - and three hours was… maybe a good break time.
Benjin suddenly stopped, to the group's surprise. "Alright show of hands," the blonde glanced around the five younger kids, "who's hungry?" Immediately, four hands raised into the air, with Erza begrudgingly doing it herself after her stomach embarrassingly grumbled. Really guys? Jellal and I once went half a day without food and we were basically fine.
Sighing, the blonde pointed towards a large tree in the distance. "We'll take a break when we hit that t-" With that, Natsu immediately ran ahead, leaving a trail of dust, blowing it all over Benjin's face, "…tree." One day I'm going to blast him… one day.
Alright, nothing too big, just a quick lunch… dinner? Lunch-dinner? Whatever, quick break and then we continue.
"Okay, we're not making camp," the others, especially Natsu, groaned at his announcement, "we're just taking a break, an hour tops, and we're continu-"
"But my feet is tired!" Benjin deadpanned at Cana, who was massaging her bare feet.
"…"
"Cana, it's only been three hours!" Getting up, the blonde grabbed a few dried sticks from the side, dumping them into a pile in the middle of the group, "how did you expect to get all the way to the mountain and back if you're done after three hours!"
The brunette looked down, unable to come up with a reply, before sprouting. "I didn't think walking would be so hard!" Benjin's eye twitched. Didn't think walking WOULD BE… okay calm down, this is fine, you can handle this.
Taking a slow breath, Benjin began, "Listen Cana, the path to our destination is relatively mountainous, if you can't handle even walking up a hill for three hours, maybe it's best you turn bac-"
"NO!" Her sudden outburst shocked the entire group.
"…"
Cana looked away, embarrassed, "I'm… sorry for yelling suddenly, but I have to finish the mission!" Ugh… stupid stubborn girl.
"Fine…" Benjin relented, before taking out a lighter, attempting to start a fire, to a certain dragon slayer's irk. "But I don't want to hear you complaining about sore feet, yeah?"
The girl paused for a few moments. "…Okay." This is harder than I thought it would be…
*Whoosh*
While Benjin was crouched down, trying to get the lighter to work, he was suddenly blasted by a plume of flames, courtesy of a certain pink-haired kid. WHAT THE FUCK?! Thankfully, the blonde reflectively upped his magic, preventing burns despite parts of his robe catching on fire. That, THAT, JUST HAPPENED.
"…Natsu." The blonde spoke, his aura leaking out as he bore into Natsu with a death-glare, causing him to sweat in place.
"…Yes?" Slowly, the boy began backing away.
The ice mage, who had been eating a loaf of bread, laughed at his rival's predicament. "Somebody is in trouble!"
*Whack!*
A bulb grew at point where Benjin hit Natsu, the boy's hands now rubbing the bump to nurse it. "What in the living fuck were you thinking?! Spewing fire at ME. ME! Are you not capable of any rational thought?! And YOU!" Benjin aggressively pointed towards Gray, causing him to freeze. "SHUT UP!" Okay deep breaths, deep breaths, this is just the first day, I can get through this, no big deal. Wait…
"Natsu… what did you bring for food?" Said boy looked back incredulously, with a tinge of fear.
"We were supposed to bring food?" Outwardly, Benjin didn't react. From the bottom, a tremble ran through the blonde, increasing in intensity by the second.
"Uh, Benji-"
"AURRRRGGGHH!" A pillar exploded from the blonde, before dying as quick as it came. Deep… FUCKING, BREATHS! Instantly, Benjin took out multiple cans of beans, vegetables, and assorted meat from his storage, putting them in front of Natsu before stomping away.
"I am going for a WALK," the oldest shot a glare to Natsu, "I want to see all the cans empty when I return," this time, he looked towards Erza, who had been silently sitting in place throughout the whole ordeal, "make sure, he actually eats it!" With that, Benjin angrily made his way into the forest.
"…"
As the blonde's form retreated, Cana took a bite of the sandwich she made prior to leaving. "Guys, I think… we made him mad."
Mirajane, who had been watching from the corner, crossed her arms. "You think?"
"There's no need for that kind of attitude, I'm sure we're all just hungry." All Erza received from the white-haired girl was a mocking tongue, causing the two to glare at each other.
"Why is this so hard!" Kicking the ground, the blonde continued in the forest, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did so. "Augh…"
Okay, this was his first mission as a leader. If he had any chance of being selected for S-Class, he had to get this right! Not to mention, if he took the walk of shame back to the guild, within a fucking day, the others would not let him hear the end of it!
Damn it, what can I do?
Benjin crossed his arms and sat against a tree. Erza seemed to be doing okay, he didn't think there would be any issues regarding her during the trip. Listens to orders and isn't stupid… god that's so rare.
Cana seemed to be smart, but if she couldn't walk, and refused to go back, then what could he do? I guess I could always just put her stuff in my storage… If she couldn't walk three hours with all her gear, then she would probably fare significantly better without it. What if she still couldn't make it to Savita Mountain? There were definitely going to be parts where they would have to scale rock walls and if she couldn't make it up by herself, he would have to… carry her. Benjin shook his head, pressing his hands to his temples. Okay, no. Even if that did take care of the problem, Cana was the one to insist on coming. She has to carry her own weight, or nothing.
What about Mirajane? Hmm, she didn't seem to have any problems… yet. If that girl was anything like Erza, then he shouldn't get any maddening issues from her. That leaves us with 'those' two.
Natsu and Gray were definitely going to biggest issue for him on this trip. Erza's presence was already helping tons as without her, they would probably be fighting every five minutes and he would have to stop them every time. Even with the redheaded disciplinarian, he was not spared from their antics… ESPECIALLY Natsu. With Gray, at least the only problem he could expect from him would be the annoying stripping. But really, Erza has got that covered.
*Rustle Rustle*
What the fuck is it now?! Benjin immediately turned towards the sound, trying to spot any auras. It's not any of the others… The blonde retrieved his staff from storage, before prodding the bush.
"Grr….." A rather large bear, maybe slightly smaller than a Vulcan, emerged from the bush, standing up challengingly. You know what? He wasn't dealing with this shit right now.
"Ethereal Guardian!"
Back with the group, most of the kids, except Natsu, had finished with that they were eating. The pink-haired boy was scooping spoonful after spoonful of the final can, begrudgingly.
"…I hate these vegetables." Very begrudgingly.
"Benjin wants you to eat all of the cans, besides, it's good for you!" Natsu could only look at Erza, who gave him a smile, before the dragon slayer significantly increased the speed of his 'eating.'
In that moment, Benjin emerged from the trees, his robe covered in leaves and an amused expression on his face.
"You guys like bear meat?"
.
.
.
.
Chapter 20 Done! Next Chapter: Home of the Enderpods
Nice, really had fun writing all the different interactions with the kids - especially Natsu being… Natsu. What did you guys think of the group mission so far? Leave your thoughts on the Shenanigans down below :)
Also, as a slight teaser, let me just say this: The climax arc of the original book two will rustle the living shit out of your jimmies :)
…
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