Ben, Bella, Mira and Elfman get ready to attack the Dark Guild's lair. The lair was a mansion with a tall tower where the bell is located. There shouldn't be any mansion here, so the Dark Guild built it themselves.
They can just bombard the mansion with attacks and destroy it, but that would destroy the stolen magical items. Their priority is to capture the Dark Mages and recover the stolen magical items.
There were 13 Dark Mages inside the mansion and 4 Dark Mages patrolling the perimeter. Ben told Mira and Elfman to take down a single guard each, while he would take care of the other 2. Bella would tag along with him like usual.
They approach their targets stealthily to avoid attracting attention. Ben is used to this because he is a hunter. Wild beasts and animals have a keener sense than humans, so Ben is very stealthy.
Bella was also good at hiding her presence because Ben taught her how to do that. She needed to be able to do it because she was always tagging along with Ben. So at the very least she needed to be able to hide her presence even though she won't fight.
Ben got close to his first target without their knowledge. He approached the man from behind and delivered a strong chop to his neck that knocked him out. He hid the man in the bush before taking out the second guy the same way.
Mira moved a lot slower than Ben because she is not used to being stealthy. But she got close to her target after moving very carefully. Surprisingly, she didn't attack from the front, she used Sleep Magic on her target and easily incapacitated him.
As for Elfman, he had the hardest time getting close to his target. His body is big and he had a hard time hiding behind trees and bushes. His movements alert the guard who went to check it out.
The guard checked the bush where Elfman was hiding. When the guard looked in the bush, Elfman attacked him with his partial Take-Over. He used Take-Over: Black Bull on his right arm and grabbed the guard's head.
Elfman then punched the guard in the stomach. The guard couldn't scream because his jaw was gripped by Elfman's bull arm. Elfman punched the guard repeatedly until he fainted.
The 4 of them then meet back up and tie the 4 unconscious guards up. Mira then used her Sleep Magic on the 4 guards. Ben was surprised to see her using Sleep Magic.
"I thought you only had Take-Over Magic." Ben said.
"I know a lot more magic than you think." Mira replied smugly.
"Ho, then maybe you can teach me some of it. I like to learn magic and acquired a lot of it." Ben said.
"Sure, le-let's discuss it later." Mira shyly stated.
"Alright." Ben nodded.
The group then focused on their job again. They would stealthily enter the mansion to avoid alerting the enemies. There are 13 mages inside, so they won't attack from the front and instead defeat them one by one.
But suddenly, Ben sensed the dark mages move. He told Mira and Elfman while keeping their guard up. They all look at the mansion and see 13 people coming out of the mansion.
"COME OUT! WE KNOW THAT YOU'RE HERE!" One of the men shouted.
Ben and co remain silent to see what the dark mages will do next. The dark mages try to find them by looking around, but were unsuccessful. Then they take a green lacrima ball out and activate it.
"There." The dark mages said as they use the lacrima ball while pointing at the location of Ben's group.
The dark mages immediately use their magic to attack the spot where Ben's group was hiding. Ben and co didn't have another choice but to come out and avoid the attacks. They were exposed to the dark mages.
"A magic item to detect magic power?" Ben asked, looking at the green lacrima ball.
"He he, you're right. That's why hiding is useless as long as we have this magic item." A woman said.
"2 boys, a girl and a cat? What a strange setup." A middle-aged woman said.
Ben looked at the 13 dark mages. They all wear and hold magical items that appear to be high quality. They look different from the 4 guards that wore casual clothes and held normal magical items.
"You don't seem to arm your guards that well." He noted.
"Humph, they're just weaklings, so there's no need to give them expensive things." The woman scoffed.
"Enough, how long will you talk to these brats? They must be mages from the magic guild that was assigned to find us." The man in front said. He appeared to be the leader.
"They sent these brats? Is their guild master stupid?" A man asked in disbelief.
"No, they're underestimating us. They think we are weak and can only use magical items to get stronger. That's why they sent some brats that haven't grown their hair down here." The leader said.
The dark mages become angry after hearing that and look at Ben's group with hatred. Ben and co are dumbfounded seeing what happened. These people assumed it on their own and became angry.
The leader of the dark mages grinned after seeing his subordinates' reaction. These guys are too stupid and hot-headed that they fell for the bait. He just said it to make them angry and go all-out.
This guy knew that legal guilds and the Magic Council aren't stupid enough to send weak mages after them. He knew that even though Ben and co were still young, they must be strong enough to take this job.
That's why he made his subordinates angry so they wouldn't underestimate Ben's group. He is a very cautious man that won't even underestimate a baby. His cautiousness is also the reason why his plan to steal the magical items was successful.
"Mira, Elfman, be careful. They have magical items with unknown capabilities." Ben advised.
They nod and get ready for battle. They all know that this will be tricky because of the magical items with various abilities. Furthermore, the enemies had a higher number than them.
The dark mages suddenly start to attack Ben's group. The first to attack was a short man with blue hair. He threw a circular saw blade at Ben's group. The saw blade spins and created a sharp wind that will cut everything it touches.
The man controlled the blade to attack Mira, but Ben suddenly appeared in front of her. He covered his right hand with Gravity Magic and caught the blade. Ben's strong Gravity Magic stopped the spinning blade and his hand was not cut at all.
"Heh, it seems you're still not proficient at using your magical items." Ben smirked.
Everyone was surprised to see Ben catch the spinning blade effortlessly. Even if the man was not that proficient at using the spinning blade, it shouldn't be that easy to catch it.
Now the dark mages know for certain they can't underestimate Ben's group. They know each other's strength and power. All of them except their leader have similar strengths. So they know Ben must be strong if he could effortlessly catch the blade.
Ben used his Requip magic to place the spinning blade in his pocket dimension. He did that so the enemies wouldn't be able to use the spinning blade again. It is the best method to stop the dark mages from using the magical items again and also to take them back.
"Listen, you two. Use your full power from the start and don't hold back. We can't let the enemies underestimate our power and strength. They have a higher number, so they can fight longer. We need to finish as fast as possible. Longer battles will only tire us out." Ben said.
"But what about the magical items? If we go all out, then we might break them." Mira pointed out.
"Let's think about that later. Our priority is defeating them." Ben countered.