Ben started his physical training. He followed his basic training regimen as usual, but this time he added more weight to his training. His current strength is very high for a human, and he can lift 500 kg of weight like he lifts a dumbbell.
That's why for his training, he used boulders that weighed 500 kg to 1000 kg. These boulders are from the rocky mountain behind their village. Of course, he asked Roubaul to carry the boulders with magic.
Ben started his training by running, doing push ups and squatting while carrying weights. While doing physical training, he also trained his magic power control and capacity. Ethernano flowed throughout his body like when he trained in the cave for a year.
The Ethernano will strengthen his cells, including his muscles. It will boost his strength and be considered cheating, but it was fine as he trained until he ran out of energy and couldn't move.
Ben kept pushing himself with his training to get maximum results. He knows that to grow stronger, he needs to surpass his limits. This is what he always did while training and if possible, battles.
3 days later...
He was going on a solo job. It involved destroying a Dark Guild that attacked several villages and killed their inhabitants. Ben was given permission to kill Dark Mages by the Magic Council because they're extremely dangerous.
Ben tried to trace the Dark Guild's location and finally found it on Saturday night. They hide deep in the forest south of Oshibana. He stumbled upon them when they performed a ritual to summon a demon from the Book of Zeref.
They're are 25 people in this group, but Ben could feel that they were all weak. However, even if they were weak, they're still a lot stronger than normal individuals that became their target.
"Are you guys the Black Hand guild?" Ben asked, approaching the people who were wearing black cloaks to cover their bodies.
"?! WHO ARE YOU!" A dark mage demanded.
"Just answer my question!" Ben snapped, gathering his magic power.
"Indeed we are the Black Hand guild. Do you want to join us?" Another mage asked.
"Do I want to join you? Well, maybe in the afterlife. But you need to go first." Ben shot back.
He raised his hands in front of him and opened his palms. Then a yellow magic circle appeared on his palms.
"Sun Dragon Light Rays!" Multiple light beams came out of the magic circle. The beams attack the dark mages that weren't prepared for a battle. Ben took out many dark mages with this attack because they were weak.
"Ugh, damn you, I won't let you leave this place alive. Brothers, let's show him the power from the Book of Zeref!" A third mage yelled.
The mage's suddenly inserted their magic power into the black book in the middle of the small altar. Ben tried to stop them, but he was too late as they were acting fast.
The magic letters engraved on the altar suddenly lit up with a dark red color. Ben had a bad feeling, so he took a few steps back. His feeling turned out to be correct, because suddenly numerous black tendrils came out of the altar and grabbed the dark mages.
"What are those tendrils? Tch, who cares. I'll attack before the process is completed." Ben said.
He took a deep breath and gathered magic power in his mouth.
"Sun Dragon Roar!" A large amount of solar energy was fired at the altar attempting to destroy it. But the tendrils suddenly moved and covered the altar. The tendrils place the mages in front of the altar to protect it.
"Damn, it used the dark mages as shields." Ben muttered.
Ben's attack only hit the dark mages and defeated them all for good. None of them were killed, but they were significantly weakened by all the damage they received.
But suddenly something horrifying transpired. The tendril's tips sharpened and stabbed the dark mages. Then the tendrils absorbed the dark mage's blood and body fluid. They even absorbed the magic power, turning the dark mages into empty husks.
Ben tried to attack again with a Sun Bomb, but the tendrils covered the altar again. They were extremely tough and became tougher after absorbing the dark mages.
Suddenly, an eerie aura appeared from the altar. Ben can feel it and knew it was too late to stop the process now. He can only stop this by defeating the Etherious that came out of the altar.
"Hi hi hi hi, HA HA HA HA, FINALLY I CAN GET OUT! HA HA HA!" The Etherious laughed.
The Etherious finally showed itself on the altar. It is a one-eyed creature with a ball-like body and numerous tendrils. It's skin is purple, it's pupil is red and it's teeth are sharp. It also floats in the air because it doesn't have legs or hands, only tendrils.
"A Beholder?" Ben asked.
"Hi hi hi hi, you must've been the one who tried to interrupt my birth just now, despicable. I will not let this insult stand. That's why I will eat you to strengthen myself, HA HA HA HA." The Beholder chuckled.
"Try it!" Ben challenged.
He got ready to fight the Etherious by himself. This might be his hardest battle, but this could also be his best chance. This Etherious might use Curses, not magic, so he can learn it. Furthermore, a hard battle is the best method to grow.
But even though he was excited with the possibility, he remained serious. He could die if he wasn't serious. This Etherious is very strong.
The Beholder suddenly shot it's tendrils at Ben. He ran and jumped to the side to dodge the attacks. While dodging, he began gathering magic power in his mouth.
"Sun Dragon Light Roar!" He shot a light beam from his mouth that headed towards the Beholder. The attack was very fast, so the Beholder couldn't dodge it. It hit and exploded upon contact, pushing the Beholder back.
The roar was hot as Ben had improved it. The temperature of his roar was 700 degrees Celsius, 7 times hotter than boiling water, but still less than the fire's heat.
The Beholder floats back up with charred and dented skin. It was the mark of Ben's attack just now, but it was only superficial damage. Then suddenly it shed the damaged skin and grew new skin.
"Regeneration? That will be troublesome if it keeps regenerating. I don't want this to be a battle of endurance, so I need to badly injure or even kill it with a single attack. But it's not going to be that easy." Ben muttered.
The regeneration was really troublesome, and Ben didn't know what the Beholder's other abilities were. He needs to be more careful now and try to uncover it's weakness.
'A.I Chip, keep scanning and try to find a weakness and it's power level.' Ben thought.
[Understood.]
He needs a strong attack on his hands to deal more damage and fast movement on his legs to dodge and evade the enemy's attacks. So Ben covered his hands in solar energy and his feet in light energy.
This method will enhance his attacks and movements like Sun Mode: Super-Heated Body. It has lower power, but it also used less magic power, so he can use it longer.
Ben initiated his attack and zipped over to the Beholder. He moved fast and punched him with his solar energy covered fist. The Beholder's tendrils blocked his punch, but the hot fist burned the tendrils.
'These tendrils can move very fast to protect the body.' He thought.
He quickly got out of the way with his light covered feet just in time to avoid a tendril that almost caught him. Ben looked at the Beholder who regenerated it's burnt tendrils and they looked like new again.
"Tsk, as I thought, it's troublesome." Ben clicked his tongue.
"HA HA HA HA, you won't be able to injure me human. Because Lord Zeref has given me, Mreye, the ability to regenerate every part of my body." Mreye laughed wickedly.
"Your name is Mreye? Maybe it's Mr. Eye, not Mreye." Ben tried to correct the Etherious.
"No, it's Mreye." Mreye insisted.
"Are you sure? Maybe you need to check again?" Ben was persistent.
"IT'S MREYE." Mreye was angry and fired a purple beam from it's eye.
Ben was surprised and jumped to the side to avoid the purple beam. Mreye moved the beam to chase Ben, so he kept running with his light-covered feet. He then gathered magic power in his right hand and created a small sun.
"Sun Dragon Bomb!" He threw the ball at Mreye and it exploded. Ben's attack stopped Mreye from using it's purple beam attack. It needs to protect it's whole body with the tendrils.
After he threw the bomb, Ben looked at where the purple beam struck. All the ground, grass and trees that were struck were turned into gray stone.
"Petrification?" He was surprised.
"That's right. This is my power, Curse of Petrification." Mreye grinned.