"Ha ha ha." Ben laughed after Gildarts returned him to normal.

"Why are you so happy that you lost?" Mira asked.

"It's been a long time since I lost to someone. The last time is...I don't remember, ha ha ha." Ben continued laughing.

"Heh, what a strange kid. Do you know why you lost?" Gildarts asked.

"Yeah, I was too focused on countering your Crush Magic instead of focusing on winning the battle. Your magic is too scary." Ben admitted.

"It's good that you know why you lost. Although it's good you're wary of your opponent's magic, being too wary is not a good thing. But you will get better as you gain more experience. I'm sure that you can surpass me soon." Gildarts said with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it too." Ben said smugly.

"Quite cheeky, aren't you?" Gildarts jokingly asked.

Both men then laugh happily while hugging each other's shoulders. Ben is a little taller than Gildarts, so their hug doesn't look strange. Gildarts is 188 cm while Ben is 191, so they're not too far apart.

"I still have no idea how men can become closer after they fight." Erza sighed.

"Only men understand." Gildarts informed her.

The men laugh, as Mira let out a deep sigh.

"Hey, I'm curious about something, you two didn't use all your trump cards, right? If you used them all, who would've won that battle?" Erza suddenly asked.

"Gildarts/me." Ben and Gildart said at the same time.

"But if I just need to get past him in this S-Class exam, I can do it easily." Ben smirked.

"How?" Gildarts asked curiously and the others were equally curious.

"Like this." Ben smirked once again.

As he said that, Ben pointed 2 fingers at Gildarts and then he pointed those fingers upwards. Gildarts suddenly floated very high before Ben put him down.

"I can just throw him away using reverse gravity. The ceiling of the cave we use in this exam will just break if I use more power. But that doesn't allow to win because I didn't defeat him. I just get him out of my way." Ben explained.

"I see. So I will find myself flying before I can even do anything. That's a good strategy." Gildarts admitted Ben's plan was a good one.

"Yeah, I can also increase the gravity on you multiple times, but you'll just break the ground. If you use enough power, I will also be caught in that, so I will cancel my spell." Ben said.

"So it's like that. I will never think of using such a strategy." Erza noted.

"You will just fight Gildarts head on if you are in his position, right? That's how you always do things." Mira said with a smile.

"Erza's really not the best when it comes to planning strategies." Ryu stated.

"He's right." A depressed Erza conceded the point.

"Erza's been like that since she was a kid. By the way Ben, I just realized this but you haven't broken a sweat since we arrived on this island, not even after our battle." Gildarts pointed out.

"Ben like hot." Bella said.

"Yeah, heat is never a problem for me. I am a Sun Dragon Slayer, so the sun is a source of energy for me. It includes sunlight, fire, heat and even gravity. That's why if something hotter than the sun appears, I won't be affected. But I still sweat if I'm tired or ill because at the end of the day I'm still a human." Ben informed them.

"So this hot island is your playground, huh? Wait! So you aren't tired after that fight? You must have a lot of stamina." Gildarts was impressed.

Ben just smiled and didn't answer that because he doesn't want to get too cocky. He can fight with the same intensity for 3 days without rest if he pushes himself. His stats have increased significantly.

[Name: Ben Cooper

Epithet: Karna (The Sun's Child)

Real Age: 17

Body Age: 16

Status: Alive

MP: 478,692/478,692

STR: 354

AGI: 365

STA: 378

INT: 746]

His magic power is still less than Gildarts, but his spells have similar power. The only problem with having less magic power is that he can't use as many spells as Gildarts. That means if they fight a prolonged battle, Ben will run out of magic power first.

But Ben is a Dragon Slayer so he can replenish his magic power as long as there's an element that he can eat. So it all depends on where they fight and the surroundings. That is if he isn't defeated first.

After resting for a bit, they all decide to head to Hargeon Port. Ben actually wanted to explore the others, but the others can't stand the heat in this place. They still have 5 days before the exam and preparing for it was complete, so they don't want to stay on this hot island.

Then they head to Hargeon Port using Light Runner in boat mode. Gildarts has his hands cuffed by a magic sealing stone for safety. He also agreed to keep wearing while they're in Hargeon because they don't want him to break anything there.

The group informed Makarov about this and he allowed it because they really don't have anything to do on Tenrou Island before the exam started. He only told them to go there a day before the exam started.

After arriving in Hargeon, they buy 3 hotel rooms first. Erza and Gildarts knew that Ben and Mira are dating, so they prevent the two from sleeping in the same room. They said that they need to protect Mira from the beast. Ryu thought what they were doing was ridiculous.

Hence, 2 of the rooms so the men and women can sleep in different rooms. Ryu had a hotel room to himself. But even if they do that, they can't prevent Ben and Mira from going on dates in the town. Ben and Mira treat this as a holiday or even a 4 day trip date.

While they are in Hargeon, Ben found out Wendy would join the exam because her partner was Mest. Ben was still suspicious of him, so he needed to watch over their team and prevent Mest from doing something bad to Wendy.

"There are many mages in our guild, and he chooses Wendy? Damn, he must be a lolicon. If he dares to even lay a finger on my little sister, then I will burn him until nothing remains, even his ash." A pissed off Ben said.

"Burn." Bella was also pissed.

"I-isn't that too extreme?" Mira asked.

"Nothing is too extreme for a lolicon's punishment." Ben said.

Mira can only sigh and hope Mest doesn't do anything stupid. She was also suspicious of Mest but she couldn't allow Ben to burn him until nothing remained. At least Ben needed to leave something behind to be buried.

Anyway, their days in Hargeon go well without too many problems. There will always be problems wherever they go. That's to be expected from Fairy Tail mages. But Ben can always solve the problems that are usually caused by Gildarts and Erza.

Fortunately, they didn't break anything until they left Hargeon. Gildarts is unable to use his magic, so he won't break anything, although he still caused problems with some women. Erza didn't break things, she just pissed people off and also fought some punks.

Mira personally didn't cause trouble, but she caused Ben to get into trouble. Some random dudes tried to hit on her every once and a while, so he needed to teach them a lesson. There's no way he was letting those guys go after what they did.

Surprisingly, Ryu was the only one that didn't cause any problems be it personally or not. He seemed like the type of individual that kept his composure while not fighting.

Still, their days are relatively good until it was time for them to return. They leave Hargeon and head to Tenrou Island the day before the exam. Then they check the exam locations before they fall asleep and finally, the day of the S-Class exam comes.