At a scheduled time in the morning the next day, Ogilt opened a portal between Stonewall and their prison out in the woods. It was both to let Thera renew her spells on the demons to keep them from getting too unruly and to let Ben do a variety of tasks, from examining their minds and cards for changes to bringing a mini gate through to make checking easier for him, on top of providing two materializers, one creating food and one water, so the space spirit could teleport both into the test su...
2024-09-20 14:20:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Ben, are you sure this is a good idea,” Thera whispered to him as they walked down the streets, heading to the gate. “It might be better if he stayed inside.”
“He can’t be there forever,” Ben shrugged while Ogilt flinched away from any passing member of the public they walked by as they made their way through the city.
“I should be. I deserve worse,” The spirit said, not bothering to pretend as though he couldn’t hear them. “All of this, this entire planet i...
2024-09-19 18:24:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
Pulling Thera long to Anailia that day, the grin on his face wouldn’t disappear.
Not because of what he was going to test, not because of the things he made or any more progress in his various projects, what was thrilling him to no end was a level, sitting at the top of his card and singing out his progress with one more going to his ridiculous job, leaving him only needing to finish it to be able to finally say he was done and move on to his next one.
Which means I need to ...
2024-09-17 15:12:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
Going through the gate from the shop back to his warehouse, Ben took over his clones once more and got back to work on making materializers, placing a special focus on making ones for himself.
Even with his jacket, he was getting to the point that trying to create all of the souls he needed for his leveling while also materializing other items in their entirety was becoming a new sort of strain, one that was going to slow down how long it would be for the next level he wanted so badly a...
2024-09-15 17:34:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sporting hesitant looks from two of them, Sachel’s party made their way to the shop, still trying to be optimistic considering how the last two times had gone for them. Sachel and Ralia had been able to speed through multiple jobs thanks to his help and the entire party had gotten to benefit from his new strengthening potions after they’d gone to collect the seeds for them, making putting up with whatever he was going to put them through currently look like a winning strategy, especially ...
2024-09-13 18:01:44 +0000 UTC
View Post
Back in the shop, laying the finishing touches on the two new materializers he’d made after discussing the topic with the gods, it was finally time to test them as Ben activated both enchantments, with each of them producing a cubic foot of material, one based off of a lost fruit of the dryad homeworld and the other modeled off the meat of a domesticated creature that had made its way to the planet with their original species, both needing to be tasted and tested as Ben prepared to do exact...
2024-09-12 16:38:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
“So, guess who’s being dragged along for some bullshit,” Ben said as he got to the realm that night, finding both Myriad and Helori at work while Nare was off for whatever reason. “I’ve been pulled to act as an observer for some rank one quest. I don’t suppose either of you know anything about it, do you?”
“Hmm? I haven’t heard anything on the matter but I’m not exactly most involved in the affairs of any major guild. Helori?”
“Why would I know, I have enou...
2024-09-10 16:24:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hearing the shop door open and signaling that morning came, Ben and all of his homunculi put down their work to turn and smile at Thera, getting a far colder reaction in return.
“Ben, I’m pretty sure you agreed you wouldn’t be putting such an insane level of strain on your soul again until after it was healed.”
“Ah, right, this. You don’t need to worry, I got it all fixed up. Not only was Falk able to do it, he was even able to make me a thing to lower the odds of it h...
2024-09-08 16:04:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
His teacher’s hands on his back, Ben felt the Yeti’s spell working, even if a little slow while he gave Falk all of the advice he could based on how the soul mages had done it for him any time in the past as the damage he’d put himself through was eventually undone.
“Oh, you really are the best, you know that Falk? And a lot easier to find. Next time I’m just going straight to your factory or asking Nare to point me to you.”
“There really shouldn’t be a next time....
2024-09-06 14:51:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
There was already an issue with attempting that goal then and there in the form of a lack of knowledge. He didn’t really know the molecular structures of many foods but that was a problem for later. When he said he wanted to do it, what that really meant was he wanted to see if he could materialize something that would be as complex and he already knew something that fit the bill, being the dryadic seeds he could already create.
If he could replicate those then it really was a complet...
2024-09-05 16:43:57 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Okay, so that wasn’t ideal,” Ben muttered, still nursing his very sore soul while Thera just shook her head.
“You know you can’t count on the two most important people on the planet being free at all times for your beck and call, right?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t wish they were.”
He wasn’t able to get any of the strain he’d put himself through dealt with because no matter where they looked, neither Yuzu nor Elvat could be found. The most t...
2024-09-03 13:38:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
Flying through the sky on a slab of earth beneath them, Ben paid no mind to the speed Thera was moving them as he instead was lost in his thoughts, with that only being broken as Thera spoke up.
“Ben, you’re basically vibrating. What’s going on?”
“Just got something I want to test really really badly when we get home. If I’m right I might be able to make something cool.”
“We’re still trying to see Yuzu or Elvat first to get your soul fixed, Ben. You serious...
2024-09-01 17:23:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
“You doing okay Ben?”
“It’s impossible to overstate my disappointment. How did the gods let two of the world’s small supply of mythic items remain mysteries for all of these years? It kind of feels like it could have been, I don’t know, not a priority but at least somewhere on the list of things worth figuring out. What if they’re something useful? I swear to god, if any of the other ones that are left are some forgotten mysteries too then I’m going to go insane.”
<...
2024-08-31 15:59:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
After ten minutes of staring at the second mythic item of that day, Ben finally spoke up.
“I absolutely hate this thing.”
“Ben!” Thera hissed as she elbowed him, far more aware of the priests in the room, even as the one in charge laughed.
“A not uncommon reaction from those who study it, even if most aren’t so honest about their feelings,” The worm-person and a member of Wedrow’s race chuckled. “Unfortunately, with its maker gone and our surviving pantheon...
2024-08-30 15:58:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Oh god, this hurts so much. There really is no kindness in this universe,” Ben complained, feeling a pain deep in his core that was completely separate from any of the nerve endings within his flesh, getting no sympathy from his girlfriend beside him.
“You deserve this,” She said in a singsong voice, not able to muster many feelings for a suffering of his own creation. “You seem bound and determined to damage your soul, you literally knew this could and would happen if you we...
2024-08-29 16:48:18 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Oh Myriad, you precious apostle is about to destroy his little soul.”
<Please don’t.>
“How can I resist when I just got another job level? I’m so close I can taste it Myriad. I want this so bad.”
<I can already feel some of the pain you’re in coming across while we talk and that’s when you’re trying to hide away. Why would you possibly want to be in more?>
“To finish this as fast as humanly possible, obviously. Don’t get me wrong, I l...
2024-08-28 16:24:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Can I get a hand over here!”
“Coming!” Thera yelled back, rushing through the floor past other patients to reach one of the many healer’s sides, finding them focusing on someone who’d just been brought in, their large intestine hanging out of a gouge in their torso while they did their best to keep them alive.
Despite everyone around wearing one of Ben’s mana bracelets, there was still a matter of skill needed to finish a task quickly, not something they always had ...
2024-08-27 18:40:48 +0000 UTC
View Post
Uh, Myriad? What the hell is all of this?
<Looks like someone’s finally entered their popular phase, I’m sure you’re very flattered.>
That’s one word for it I guess.
There had to be a thousand people waiting outside the library when he arrived that day, all of them either locking onto him out of recognition or else seeing him for the first time but picking up on the reaction of others, with the only thing that kept him from being swarmed being...
2024-08-26 15:25:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
So I know what y’all are thinking “Oh sweet Turnip, how are you handling posting every day for a month?”
It’s a great question, an absolutely excellent question and let me just say, I’m so glad you guys overwhelmingly voted to let me take a month of regular posting in september. That will be what lets me survive this.
Like a candle burning at both ends I’m burning out but like a mixed metaphor soon I’ll be able to rise from the ashes but until then I don’t think I ...
2024-08-25 22:53:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
Going through his workshop in Anailia to grab all of his clones first, Ben walked them all through the city to the gate, ignoring any looks he got along the way as the group of them made their way to the library, keeping an eye on one unpleasant fact.
Partway through walking the streets of the magic towers, he’d begun being followed. It was only about three of them but he was only able to tell while looking through the eyes of others, the ones on his tail too far away to be within ran...
2024-08-25 17:03:37 +0000 UTC
View Post
In the days since he’d been on the world, the great space spirit Ogilt, going by the name the great earth spirit had helped him pick, had spent that time doing as little as possible.
He moved when he was asked, helped when he was asked and answered whatever questions he was asked but that was it and if not for the overwhelming guilt he lived under compelling him, he would have preferred to do even less. To never move or act again, lest the choices he’d make doom the world like he’...
2024-08-24 16:42:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Oh my freaking god, why!”
<What? What has you in such a bad mood this time?>
“I still can’t figure out how to materialize with an enchantment.”
After his talk with Quilith the day before, Ben had wanted to complete that one small goal before moving his focus back to the summoning spell for a while but he still couldn’t get it to work. Not only that, it didn’t feel like he was even on the right track for success. By all accounts, making a tool that could ...
2024-08-24 15:28:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Apologies for the delay,” Quilith said, gently bowing his head. “As I’m sure you can imagine, rearranging a schedule when someone comes back to life isn’t the easiest thing, especially when we didn’t immediately notice you lived.”
“No worries, almost dying is inconvenient for a lot of people,” He shrugged. “So how have you been? Did I miss any exciting news?”
“A bit. Shall I go through your usual reading and update you?”
“Sounds good.”
Ta...
2024-08-23 16:56:04 +0000 UTC
View Post
He went home in the morning like he said he would, quietly cooking breakfast for everyone and letting the smell do its job of rousing the two women while he began plating up, watching as both came out and wiped the sleep from their eyes.
“Welcome home Sonya, did you just get back?”
“Mmh, yesterday. I only meant to have a seat but guess I was more worn out than I’d thought. Things were a lot worse than I was expecting. And you two? Both safe?”
“As you can see,” ...
2024-08-22 16:46:39 +0000 UTC
View Post
Getting home that evening after a far too eventful number of days away, the first thing they found when getting back was Sonya, passed out on the couch after having finally made her own return from the hospital she’d been working with, making Thera hold a finger to her lips.
“I’m sure she’s been worked hard this whole time so if she’s asleep, I’m going to turn in early too. If you’re going to stay up, can you try and keep quiet?”
“No worries,” He whispered back...
2024-08-21 18:39:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
Whistling a cheery tune as they flew across the ocean on a bed of sand, Ben couldn’t help but feel satisfied.
The meeting had stretched out late but that was more a side-effect of how smoothly it had gone overall, with the world’s two newest third tiers getting acquainted with the rest of them as they discussed ways they might be able to help each other and the world as a whole through their power, with Killi leading the group and hitting every point she’d wanted to a day early, l...
2024-08-20 15:19:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
A brief flash of disorientation and Rook didn’t know where he was.
One moment he was walking to another boring meeting when he got what felt like a bit of luck. He wasn’t used to being so disrespected and seeing the brat alone without the princess around to save him felt like the perfect way to kill some stress and finally get a chance to turn the girl to a better option. He would teleport behind him and then teleport the guy farther into the deeps, with the water hopefully serving ...
2024-08-19 17:03:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Oh, hell yes!”
Looking at his card early in the morning, the first thing he noticed was that he’d finally got what he’d been hoping for in the form of a single job level. It may have taken ages to get compared to how much he’d usually manage in the same timeframe but it validated the strategy he was operating under, confirming that once he got it done, he’d be flying through the rest of his jobs.
Just three more levels. He told himself. Three more le...
2024-08-18 16:02:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
“So, how was meeting the third tiers for the first time?” Myriad asked, not sparing Ben a glance while he focused on his work.
“Well, it turns out the guy who attacked me yesterday was the immortal and he tried to kill me again today after he raised a stink trying to get me kicked out of the meeting, plus I lost a fight to Abel and given the fact you haven’t mentioned her before I feel compelled to bring up that she’s the descendant of an outsider, but otherwise it was pretty ...
2024-08-17 12:27:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
After dropping Yuzu off and making their way back for the evening, the first thing Ben did was lay down and rest his eyes, neither sleeping nor going up to his god, instead trying to get the smallest bit of a break while aiming to keep any thoughts from his many minds.
He’d just lost a fight to one third-tier skill holder while being taken by surprise by another and in both times he’d been basically powerless to deal with it when his biggest goal was to somehow become strong enough ...
2024-08-16 17:05:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
