10 Chapter 9: He Is Holding My Hand.

Ben, with a happy smile, walked towards the other side of the arena where the selected examinees were standing in groups according to the squad they were chosen for.

Some of the guys in the arena looked at Ben, who was happily walking towards the group of two girls.

'Hehe~ You commoner, you wanted to waste your chance to choose a good squad. Instead, you chose Blue Rose. Go and wipe the floor there, while I will be battling criminals and improving my rank.'

This was the prevailing thought among the guys, who smirked at Ben.

Both the girls looked at Ben, who was walking towards them with a wide smile on his face.

"Hi! I am Ben." Ben raised his hand to introduce himself to the girls.

'Even though he was powerful and talented, why does Captain Charlotte seem so interested in him? According to the information I had, she hates men.'

The teen girl with golden hair didn't answer Ben. She looked at him up and down in deep thought.

"Hello???" Ben shook his hand to get the girl's attention, as she was staring at him without blinking.

"Huh... I... I am Mary." She snapped back to reality, understanding what she was doing all this time.

Immediately, she lowered her gaze, and there was a slight red hue at the edge of her ears in embarrassment.

'Don't worry, girl. There's nothing wrong in admiring handsome men.' Ben patted himself in his mind, completely misunderstanding.

"I am Anny Jobstar," another teenage girl introduced herself with an emotional face. She wore a dress like a normal woman.

She had dark black hair like a black cat, with bangs covering her forehead, milky white skin, and cold black eyes showing an icy temperament and showing no emotion.

'_____'

'She looks like a noblewoman.' Ben shook her hand after shaking it with Mary.

After introducing themselves, the group of three stood awkwardly. Silence filled the air.

Mary and Anny talked among themselves from time to time, avoiding Ben like he was not standing there.

'_____'

Sigh...

Ben shook his head in disappointment, not able to involve himself in the conversation the girls were having. He started to doubt his decision to choose Blue Rose.

Suddenly, Ben felt a few gazes on him from the captain's stand. He lifted his head and looked at the captain's stand.

There he saw Yami, Jack, Fuegoleon, and Nozel giving him looks of pity.

'_____'

'Did I make a wrong decision due to my impulse?' Ben started to think about the decision he made.

After an hour, the selection was completed. The sky had already started to darken.

Examinees who failed to be selected as magic knights started to look depressed in the arena. Some were crying, unable to accept the result; some were cursing the tough exam; some were cursing themselves for their inability.

The captains of magic knight squads started to descend from the stand along with their accompanied magic knights and walked to the groups of recruits they selected.

Charlotte and Sol arrived near the group of Blue Rose recruits.

"Good, you guys are here. I am Charlotte Roselei, captain of Blue Rose, your captain." Charlotte introduced herself to the group of three before her.

"I am Sol Marron, your senior." Sol, with a bright smile, introduced herself while shaking hands with the recruits one by one.

'Why is sister so interested and fixed in her decision to select him for our squad? Even prepared to fight other captains for him. What's so special about him?' She looked at Ben with interest.

"Hi, I am Ben."

"Now take your things with you. We are going to our base now," Charlotte said, eyeing Jack who was walking towards them.

Suddenly, an anti-bird crashed into Ben's head and climbed back to its throne. Ben was retrieving his things from the corner of the arena, where he had kept them.

"Is that an anti-bird, your pet?" Sol, who was observing Ben all this time trying to figure out the mystery, asked.

Nero, who heard Sol call her a pet, narrowed her eyes looking at Sol.

"No, she is my friend named Nero. She was traveling with me from a huge village," Ben introduced Nero to others while petting her head with his finger.

"She looks cute. May I touch her?" Sol asked Ben with stars in her eyes. Even Anny, who was like an ice princess, was now looking at Nero without taking her eyes away.

When Sol tried to touch Nero, Nero escaped from her hands using her agility. Each time Sol tried to touch her.

"Sorry, she won't allow others to touch her easily without knowing them," Ben said with a worried smile, looking at Sol who was trying to touch Nero.

"For an anti-bird, she is quite clever," Charlotte commented, looking at Nero who was looking at her with a blank expression.

"Now shall we leave." Charlotte and Sol started to walk out of the arena.

Ben and others followed Charlotte to the exit of the coliseum.

After they exited, a royal-looking carriage, white with a golden line covering the edges and the decoration of the carriage, was at the door.

At the door of the carriage, the big Blue Rose emblem was present.

It had a blue rose depicted with elegant, swirling patterns on each petal, giving it a sense of both delicacy and strength. The central point where the petals meet is highlighted, emphasizing the unity and cohesion of the squad.

The carriage had no horse or anybody to pull or drive it.

"Enter the carriage. We will go to the Blue Rose squad base now," Sol opened the door of the carriage, waiting to instruct the recruits.

Anny and Mary entered the carriage, followed by Sol and Charlotte, and sat on the seats, which were in bright blue, matching the description of the blue rose.

Ben took a last look at the coliseum.

When he was about to enter the carriage, there was a hand placed on his shoulders. When Ben turned back, he saw the captain of Green Mantis standing before him.

"Hey, kid, you've got quite a talent for a newcomer. I thought you would choose Green Mantis, though, but you chose Blue Rose. Well, if you're not able to mix in with them, you're welcome to my squad," Jack offered his hand to Ben.

"I think I will..." Ben was replying to Jack while scratching the back of his head. A hand came out from the carriage and pulled Ben inside and closed the door instantly.

'_____'

"Hehe~ At least give your fellow captain some face, Captain of Blue Rose." Jack, with a smirk, looked at the carriage door, which closed after pulling Ben in.

"Are you comfortable?" Charlotte didn't care about the complaints of Jack from outside the carriage.

She was holding Ben's wrist tightly, sitting very close to him, their shoulders and hands touching each other.

"...Yeah, I am fine, Captain," Ben said, breaking his eye contact with her, while his heartbeat started to rise.

Charlotte realized what she had done and turned her face, which had turned red.

"So... Sol, let's go. It's already late," Charlotte said to Sol in a raised voice, changing the subject.

"OK, sister." Sol, not understanding, nodded her head.

The carriage started to move automatically through the roads in the busy streets. After crossing the busy streets, the carriage started to go faster and slowly started to fly in the air.

After a minute, the carriage was flying in the night sky, with stars twinkling here and there and a round moon emitting light in the night sky.

"It's beautiful." Mary looked at the scenario with wide eyes outside the window.

Hearing Mary's words, Ben and Anny also looked through the window and were stunned by the situation.

The carriage was moving in the sky above a lake where it reflected the carriage along with the moon and starry dark sky like a mirror.

"Hehe~ It's just the beginning," Sol said with a smirk, puffing her chest proudly.

Ben suddenly remembered something and widened his eyes in realization.

'System.' Ben called the system in his mind.

[Ding...]

[Host has completed the task: Pass the Magic Knight Selection Exam.]

[Ding...]

[Requirement for the reward distribution was completed.]

[Reward: Element affinity unlock to the host according to the alien's host has...]

[Do you want to integrate into your grimoire and body host.]

[Yes] [No]

'I choose yes.' Ben chose to integrate now since there was time until he reached the base of the Blue Rose.

[Integrating the reward to the host body and grimoire...]

[Completion rate- 00%...]

[...]

The rate for completion started to rise by 1% with each passing second. Ben started to feel pain all over his body like someone was thrashing him.

Ben unknowingly gripped Charlotte's hand and started to tighten his grip on her hand due to the pain increasing each second.

'Shit...shit...ahh... why am I feeling pain all over my body.' Ben started to curse in his mind, gritting his teeth.

Charlotte, who noticed Ben holding her hand suddenly and started to tighten his grip, blushed silently, enjoying the feeling of holding Ben's hand.

[ Completion rate-98%... 99%... 100%]

[Ding...]

[ Reward is integrated into host body]

[now host has 5 elemental affinity.]

[1. Fire element.]

[2. forearms are physical type so there is a change in reward improved physique is provided.]

[3. acid element]

[4. crystal element.]

[5. illusion element.]

'...improved physique, huh... I didn't expect that,' Ben looked at the reward with satisfaction, a wide smile on his face.

"Ben, are you all right?" Charlotte, noticing Ben was sweating a lot, suddenly started to smile.

"Huh..."

That's when Ben noticed he was holding Charlotte's hand all this time.

"Sorry, I didn't mean..." Ben took his hand back immediately and started to apologize to Charlotte.

"It's okay," Charlotte said in a low voice, turning her head with a slight pout.

The three others who were chatting didn't notice this scene, where their captain was pouting.

Nero, on the other hand, looked at everything with a blank expression on her face, sitting on top of Ben's head. The journey continued towards the Blue Rose squad base in the night sky.

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(Author's POV)

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