Ben resumed his journey back to the village after finding the meteor. The explosion was bound to have attracted attention. This place is also close to the Lamia Scale guild, so they have heard the explosion and sent some mages to investigate.
He wasn't afraid to face those mages, but it would be a issue if they assume he was up to something bad. Those mages would report their findings to the kingdom and Magic Council, so it would mean trouble for his guild.
Ben left the area hastily while still erasing any traces of his presence. He teleported several times to leave the forest as fast as possible. It required a lot of magic power but he had a lot of it to spare.
[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 magic power had increased over the last 6 months because his INT stat had increased as well. He scanned more than 40% of the books in the library. So his INT points also increased a little more than 400 points.
His magic power increased 40,000 points just from the increase of his INT alone. It also increased because he trained his magic power capacity. The magic power training raised his magic power by around 50,000 points, even higher than the INT stat.
But that happened to be a good thing because that meant he wasn't reliant on the books scanning his INT to increase his magic power. If he was too reliant on that, then he will not improve without increasing his INT stat.
Ben escapes to the north, towards the central side of Fiore. There is a river north of the forest and he will hide there for the time being. Before going too far, he made 7 clones and had the clones transform into different magical creatures.
"You guys stay and watch if anyone comes here. Inform me if you find something. Stay low and don't be discovered, so act as natural as possible." Ben instructed.
"Yes, boss." The clones replied.
Ben nodded before teleporting away again. The clones also leave and spread out while acting like wild creatures. They act like they're scared because of the explosion but they don't go too far from the explosion.
A few minutes later, 5 people came to the site of the explosion. They were all women. Ben's clones spot the women and know they're all members of Lamia Scale from their guild marks.
"Such a large explosion. It destroyed a wide area and created a big, deep crater like this." A curly red-haired woman said as she looks at the deep crater.
"What can cause such a large explosion like this?" A short-haired woman asked.
"I don't know. Let's look around for any clues." A woman wearing a black scarf said.
The other women nod and they spread out to investigate the location. Ben's clones keep acting like wild creatures while continuing to watch over the mages. The clones keep their distance from the mages and suppress their magic power to avoid suspicion.
Elsewhere, Ben finally reached the river and rested there. He drank the river water and filled his flask too. Then he hid in the bushes while spreading his magic sense.
"Phew, I feel like a wanted criminal because of this thing." Ben said as he held the meteor in his hand.
Ben suddenly felt something coming from the north. It has strong magic power, so he suppressed his magic power and kept his guard up. Ben also transformed into a bull and hid Bella under his body.
Soon, a massive metal object flew in the sky from the north. Ben looked at it and knew it was the Magic Council's airship. The airship had a silvery metallic color and was a ship with wings.
"Damn, it even piqued the Council's interest." Ben grumbled.
The Magic Airship continued heading south and Ben wasn't detected at all. He sighed in relief before leaving to search for a hiding place. He was still in his bull form and Bella sat on his back as they search for a hiding place.
After a few minutes, Ben's clones also spot the Magic Airship. It also got the attention of the mages from Lamia Scale. They all look at the Magic Airship as it landed on the ground slowly.
After the Magic Airship landed, a group of Magic Council mages disembark from it. They are led by a man that wore glasses and a man with a scar on his left temple. They're Lahar and Doranbolt from the Council's Custody Enforcement Unit.
It's not their job to investigate this, but they're the only ones who were ready to move quickly. Besides, the explosion was likely caused by a mage, and their unit has strong mages who have been trained to fight other strong mages.
"Are you mages from Lamia Scale?" Lahar asked the women.
"Yes, we came here after hearing the large explosion." The curly red-haired woman answered. Lahar nodded.
"Can you share your findings with us?" He asked.
The Lamia Scale mages nod and tell the Council members about their findings. There isn't much 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." Lahar said as he left with his men.
The Lamia Scale mages aren't pleased to hear that. It's like Lahar wasn't showing them respect by telling them to leave after getting the information he needed. But they say nothing and leave the location.
They know they can't mess with the Council because it might put their guild in danger. But they still grumble on their way back to their guild.
Ben's clones see it and ignore it. Their job was to observe what happened here and report it to Ben. Now they need to watch and see what the Council members do next after the Lamia Scale mages left.
The Council members investigate the location more thoroughly. It's clear they're better trained at this then 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 from their investigation. Ben had erased all traces of himself from this location after he left the area. Even experienced investigators won't find a trace of him that easily as he's an expert at this.
The Magic Council members finally give up after investigating for an hour. They just take a lot of pictures and some samples from the location. But they can't hypothesize anything and assume this was natural phenomena or the culprit had escaped.
After the Council members left, Ben's closed dispel themselves. Ben received their memories after they were dispelled. He sighed in relief as no one suspected his involvement.
Ben was inside a cave on a cliff near the river. He found it while searching for a hiding place. There is a red bear inside the cave, but Ben quickly killed it and used the cave to hide out.
"Phew, we're safe. Let's cook this bear and stay here for the night." Ben said.
"Kay." Bella replied as she played with Choco.
"Today is February 27th, so there are less then 3 months till my birthday on May 12th. I need to get some birthday gifts for Wendy and Carla as their birthdays are before." Ben noted as he roasted the red bear.
"Bella?" Bella asked.
"Of course, you'll have your gift too. But you will get it together with the others, okay?" Ben informed her.
"Kay." Bella replied.
They eat after the bear was fully cooked and then they go to sleep. Their journey was nearing it's end.