Ben went with the girls to Akane Beach for a vacation. It took them 3 hours, but they eventually got there. The girls immediately changed their clothes and run into the water to play.
Ben just laid down on a beach chair and enjoyed the sunlight. Sunbathing on a beach has never felt this comfortable to him. His body keeps absorbing the sunlight and being strengthened. The strengthening was slow, but it was free, so Ben won't refuse it.
'A.I Chip, how's the progress on Sun Mode?' He asked in his mind.
[It has 65.66% and will finish in about two months.]
'As I thought, the lack of Gravity Magic references are slowing it down, huh?' Ben pondered.
[Yes, it will be a lot faster if there are more Gravity Magic references somewhere. The Sun Mode can also be strengthened if we have more references.]
'I will do what I can to find more knowledge about Gravity Magic. But for now, we need to deal with what we have.' Ben thought.
He stopped the discussion with A.I Chip and looked at his stats.
[Name: Ben Cooper
Age: 13
Status: Alive
MP: 73,550/73,550
STR: 122
AGI: 116
STA: 120
INT: 135]
'Nothing changed expect my magic power which increased by 9 points. It has become harder to raise my power as I get stronger. The battle with the Yeti's didn't help me surpass my limit, but just helped me utilize what I have. Maybe that's why my stats didn't change.' Ben thought.
Ben then focused on relaxing. It was rare for him to enjoy a day without hard training or going on a job. He already did his daily training this morning, so he can now relax.
The girls also enjoyed the new scenery and environment. They were always surrounded by trees in a forest. Sure they had a lake, but it was nothing compared to the vast sea.
They enjoyed their vacation on the beach until that evening. The girls wanted to see the sunset before they left. They're mesmerized by the sunset and scenery on the beach.
After seeing the sunset, they had dinner at a restaurant before returning home. The others would be worried if they were gone for too long.
"Ben nii-san, let's buy some seafood ingredients for everyone." Wendy said from the back of the car.
"Alright, but we'll go to Hargeon. They have a lot more seafood variety there." Ben replied.
Ben and the girls go to Hargeon to buy the seafood. They couldn't get the freshest catches because it was night already. The freshest catches are only available in the morning. But it's fine, the seafood here is still good.
After they filled the car's trunk with many kinds of seafood, they left Hargeon. They followed the highway that will lead to Oshibana through 3 towns which were Magnolia, Onibus and Kunugi.
They've visited Onibus and Kunugi before, but haven't visited Magnolia. That town is a big guild's territory and they never get a job from that town. So they never had a reason to go there before.
"I heard the guild in Magnolia is currently the strongest guild in Fiore." Carla said.
"Fairy Tail, huh? They're indeed considered to be the strongest guild. They've achieved many great things since their guild was established." Ben said.
"Can our guild reach that level one day?" Wendy asked, curiously.
"It's possible, as long as we keep getting stronger and complete our jobs. It will take years to do that, but we need to keep working on it." Ben answered.
The girls smile and were more motivated to become stronger. They can't take jobs like Ben now, so they could only train to get stronger. When they can finally take jobs like Ben, they will surely complete them without a issue.
Ben smiled seeing them happy and motivated. But then he recalled Roubaul refusing to let his ex-students join the guild. It still seemed strange that Roubaul was adamant on refusing to let them join.
Roubau's reasons were logical to him. But he can't shake off the feeling that there is something more. He can feel it, but he can't point out what that strange thing is.
He then shook his head.
'Maybe I'm just too paranoid. Gramps' reasons might be the real reasons. I shouldn't think too much about it and focus on the future.'
Ben kept driving on the highway towards Magnolia. Then suddenly, he saw 3 kids with white hair walking on the dark road. He was intrigued by it and stopped next to those 3 kids.
There were 2 girls and 1 boy and they appeared to be siblings. The boy is the tallest among them and he carried the shortest girl with short hair on his back. Then the other girl with long hair walked alone.
Ben rolled his car's window down.
"Do you need a ride?" He asked.
"Tch, mind your own business!" The girl with long hair replied.
"Nee-chan, maybe we should accept his offer. Lisanna is very tired already and Magnolia is still quite far away." The boy told the long-haired girl. She finally agreed while grumbling.
The long-haired girl, who appeared to be the oldest of the three, looked at the little girl who seemed to be very tired.
The 3 siblings get into the car and sit behind him. Ben drove to Magnolia while talking to the boy who had some questions. His little sister was asleep while his big sister didn't say a word.
Their names are Mirajane, Elfman and Lisanna from the Strauss family. They are mages from the Fairy Tail guild in Magnolia. They've just returned from a job in Hargeon. But they lost their pocket money, so they were unable to take the train.
"You're mages too, huh? We're also mages, although our guild is small." Ben said.
"Oh, what's your guild's name?" Elfman asked.
"Cait Shelter. It's just a small guild, so you probably don't know about it." He answered.
Elfman scratched his head and giggles in embarrassment. Ben just laughed it off and told Elfman it was okay. Their guild is small and isolated, so it's normal for people not to know about them. It was a normal reaction Ben always got when taking jobs.
Wendy, Bella and Carla look at the 3 siblings curiously. But they were shy, so they peeked at the siblings from the front seat. When Elfman looked at them, they immediately hide again and make Elfman feel bad.
"Hmm, do you wear the magic power absorbing device on your hand?" Elfman asked curiously because Ben doesn't wear the device to absorb his magic power to supply the car's energy on his hand.
"No. I don't wear anything. This is the latest model that uses lacrima instead of a mage's magic power." Ben answered his question.
Elfman was surprised and Mirajane was interested now. The latest model is very expensive and not everyone can have it. Even their guild only had one for the guild master's personal transportation.
Wendy, Bella and Carla wanted to brag that Ben invented it, but he stopped them. There was no reason to brag about it to the siblings. They wouldn't believe it either way, so it was better for them to keep quiet.
They engaged in small talk before reaching Magnolia after a half hour. Ben dropped the 3 siblings off in front of the town gate. They didn't head into town because they needed to go home.
Elfman thanked them. Mirajane still hadn't said a word and Lisanna was still asleep. Ben waved at them before driving away.
He drove quickly and arrived in the village after 2 hours. The girls were exhausted, so they immediately returned home and fell asleep. It's been a fun day for them.