Ben woke up that night after fainting. He felt like his body was sluggish and his muscles are sore. He looked at his body and it is covered in a dried layer of blood with a brownish color.

The blood came out of his pores after he fainted. It was a side effect of the magic he just used. But he didn't think about it much because he already knew about it.

"A.I Chip, was I successful?" He asked A.I Chip.

[Yes, congratulations. The magic has affected your body and stopped all it's physical growth.]

"Display my stats." Ben said.

[Name: Ben Cooper

Real Age: 15

Body Age: 15 (halted)

Status: Alive

MP: 154,452/154,452

STR: 230 (halted)

AGI: 230 (halted)

STA: 230 (halted)

INT: 241]

"Hmm? Body age?" Ben curiously asked.

[Your body will stop growing until the magic is dispelled. So your body won't age and will remain the same as your 15 year old self. But you will still become older, that's why there is a Real Age.]

"Oh, alright then." Ben said.

Ben sighed in relief after knowing that the magic was working. What he did was very painful, but it paid out in the end. Still, he will stay the same physically for 3 years, and it's quite disturbing for him.

"At least I am not that short and small now. So I will be fine until I turn 18." Ben said to humor himself.

Ben's current height is 170 cm and he is quite muscular. At least he is not too short now and his height is still acceptable until he turns 18. Not that he cares much about height, but it's better to not be too short.

A.I Chip then scanned Ben's body thoroughly because he wanted the details. It took 5 minutes for the scan to be completed and A.I Chip displayed the results on the screen. The results left Ben speechless.

His body parts are covered in invisible magic letters. They're planted on his skin, organs and bones. The magic can only be removed by the caster, which is why Ben needed to use it himself.

He went out and boiled water for a bath. He needed to remove the sweat and dried blood from his skin. He boils a lot of water to make sure he can remove all of it.

When he steps into the wooden bath, the hot water suddenly turned brown. The dried blood peeled off of his body and floated in the water. The hot water made it easier for the dried blood to be peeled off.

Ben rubbed all the surfaces of his skin to remove the dried blood. Then he changed the water and cleaned himself again. Now he can relax in the warm water to soothe his sore muscles.

"I need to test the magic's effect tomorrow. It should stop my physical growth, so there shouldn't be any progress even if I train my physique for a whole day. A.I Chip, scan my training tomorrow and find out if my growth really stopped." Ben said.

[Understood]

Ben took a bath for 15 minutes before returning to his house and going to sleep. The next morning, he woke up and immediately trained. It's normal physical training that he did every day.

After finishing his training, Ben checked his results on A.I Chip's screen. There wasn't a change even after A.I Chip scanned the stats in detail. He was relieved because it means he is safe until he dispels the magic.

Now he can take jobs again after 2 months of rest. Ben asked Roubaul for a job and he said Ben would get one next month. He wanted Ben to rest for now and adapt to his body that has stopped growing.

Ben accepted it and did as Roubaul said. He starts to train like usual, but he trained his magic more than his physique. He still did physical training, but it was only to keep his body in shape.

The following month, Ben got a job. But it wasn't the usual job he completed alone. He was going to work with mages from another guild. He was surprised to see the 2 mages he would be working with.

"So, it's you guys." Ben said after seeing the 2 mages he would be working with.

"Long time no see Ben." Elfman said with vigor.

The mages that would work with Ben were the Strauss siblings, minus Lisanna. She's still in a coma, so only Mira and Elfman work now. Ben meets them in front of Magnolia's town gate.

They started to take less dangerous jobs after that incident. Both of them agreed not to take S-Class jobs even though Mira is a S-Class mage. But they, they would make an exception because they will work with Ben.

"Well, it's a good thing that I will work with you guys. At least I know you, so it won't be too awkward. But why's she hiding behind you like that?" Ben asked, pointing at Mira who was hiding behind Elfman.

"She's just shy after not seeing you for several months. Come on, Nee-chan, you need to greet him too." Elfman said while looking at Mira.

"I-I know, h-hi, long time no see." Mira said while peeking out from Elfman's left side.

"Y-yeah, long time no see." Ben sweat dropped at Mira who didn't come out of her hiding spot and just peeked at him.

Elfman sighed and pulled Mira's arm so she came out of her hiding spot.

"E-Elfman!" Mira angrily shouted.

"You are being inappropriate greeting him like that. Also, don't you want to show him your new look?" Elfman said.

Mira blushed and looked down a little. She had a new appearance that contrasted with her previous one. It surprised Ben because she now looks gentler and more mature. It was different from the ruffian and angry kid appearance.

Ben smiled.

"As I thought, you look more beautiful this way, Mira." He said.

Mira's face got redder and steam came out of her head. Ben was stunned to see this and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have a fever?" Ben asked as he touched Mira's forehead.

It makes her even redder and makes her forehead hot.

"Hot!? Oi, are you sure you want to take a job now? I think you need to rest with a high fever like this." Ben said with a worried tone.

"It's fine, she doesn't have a fever. She's just too happy to see yo-UGH!" Elfman wasn't able to finish his sentence because Mira punched him in the stomach really hard.

"I-I'm fine, don't worry. The temperature outside is just too hot, so it affected me." Mira said before taking some breaths to calm herself down.

Ben looked at Elfman who was on the ground.

"Well, you should be fine if you can do that." He said.

"Then, let's go to the job's location." Mira said.

Ben nodded and then they get into his old model car. He hadn't built a new car despite receiving the materials from the kingdom as compensation. There was no time to build a new car because he was focusing on his magic to stop his growth.

Elfman weakly walked over to the car because Mira punched him without holding back. Ben wanted to help him, but he said that a man can handle something like this. So he let him do it and got into the car with Mira sitting in the front seat and Elfman in the back.

Then they head to the job's location which was in the southern forest. They talk on the way there and Ben told them the story of his last job. The siblings were surprised to find out there were such dangerous creature out there.

"There might be more strong creatures like that out there. Unless we explore the world and see it for ourselves, we will never know. The world is full of mysteries that we can't find in books. That's why I want to see and find it myself." Ben said with a smile.

"You want to explore the world?" Mira asked.

"Yeah, it must be very exciting to see all the things in the world. New places, new cultures, new creatures, a new challenge, etc. I want to see it all." Ben said excitedly.

Mira was surprised to see Ben this excited. But then she became sad because that means she won't be able to see him anymore after he leaves.

However her eyes then widened.

"Do you want to join me?" Ben asked.