probablyaturnip

CH850

Sweating and panting, Ben alone looked fine as he watched from the side while the other four moved their bodies for whatever workout they could get, suffering through it for the vague hope it might help ensure that they’d get through that floor of the tower but finally getting it to end once Ben called out.

“Alright guys, I’m going to take the dishes out in ten minutes so you call all stop for now-”

“Oh thank god,” Jake sighed as he collapsed to the ground. “That suc...

CH849

“Alright, three courses, nice and simple! Appetizer, main, and dessert, the classic trifecta so let’s get this started!”

Even without pulling out his extra bodies he was doing multiple things at once, pulling out pots, pans, and cutting boards with his magic while knives seemed to do their job by themselves, peeling and chopping ingredients for future use while spices and seasonings were measured out into different bowls at the same time, with his first task being focused entirely...

CH848

“Alright, guess it’s time to see if I passed or not,” Ben muttered once the time limit ran out and a new doorway appeared. With the reassurance that failure wouldn’t mean his death like in so many other towers and trials, that meant the only way to know if he’d succeed or not was to step through and see where it would leave him, with a bit of fear inescapable as he stared at it.

It was something he couldn’t help. That floor had seemed so simple, it was practically forcing hi...

CH847

He was already pushing the next door open as he asked and rushing through to the one beyond it, barely even noting the lack of a rest area that all of the magic towers had given them with his curiosity not able to be contained. The first floor had been both fun and a challenge, certainly something he could have completed in a far easier manner if he’d let himself but that would have cut down on some of the entertainment he’d gotten from it, something he was already hoping he’d get again...

CH846

“Oh yeah, here we go!” Jake yelled while Ben pressed his hands against the doors, preparing to walk through. “Second last tower and second last tower blessing, here we come!”

“Jake, we’re not even doing anything to earn this one,” Amy sighed. “Considering we’re about to be carried through, maybe take it down a notch.”

“Hey, in group projects as long as your name’s on the assignment then that’s all that matters.”

“And you don’t need to remind m...

CH845

“So things went well with Sachel?” Thera asked as they made their way through the magic towers, that not being their final destination but instead just a close stop to get to the world’s gate network.

“Yeah, she said she didn’t need anything and she just did it because we’re friends but I’ll still try and keep an eye out for where I can make it up to her. There’s always room to try and upgrade her equipment some more, maybe Ralia’s too if I get the chance although shap...

CH844

“Hey, any chance you know where Bloom went off to?” Ben asked at the start of the day, getting a nod from Lux while her focus remained on playing with her son.

“He’s out helping in the fields right now.”

“What, like farming?”

“Ha, I suppose you could say that. You put the country in charge of your god crystals and they’re seeing some good use. We already had a handful of awakened dryads hired to look after them and since his magic is still new to him, getti...

CH843 Thera's Perspective

“Princess, doesn’t the morning mist make for such a lovely greeting?”

Not as nice as the smell of smoke, why not indulge? I hear mortals tend to find comfort in such things.”

Better to start the day energized,” Another voice said. “I’m pretty sure the subtle signals in your biochemistry will-”

“I don’t need to be electrocuted, thank you,” Thera said as she walked through the halls, surrounded by the new great spirits of the world as she dealt with a sma...

CH842

The blessing and curse spirits, lightning, fungal, and magma spirits, decay spirits, mud spirits, and more. If the great spirits were able to find holders of a given magic then they had brought them, no matter how obscure the combined affinity might have been and ended with more combined great spirits than pure ones by the end as the yard was filled with them and the smaller spirits they’d rule over, the very nature of their race and their status within the world permanently changed. They h...

CH841

Two days later a small crowd had gathered in the yard of Pelenia’s home, the guests all wearing amulets to protect themselves with few really understanding why they were there. The only thing they knew was they were all being paid for only a little bit of time to stand there as a ghostly child walked around them, staring deeply into their souls and watching as they cast some simple spells before calling out once he was done.

“Alright, I got everything I needed.”

“Alright, ...

CH840

No one said anything at first, no one could. What possible response could there be for such a request? The fact that Bloom and all of the other plant spirits now existed implied that any combined affinity could be made if Mora wanted to, with only the issue of the request being the reason behind it.

There was no reason to create new types of spirits, not really. Sure, Ben himself was for it if only to satisfy his curiosity at what alterations within a soul would even allow for such a th...

March Poll!!!

Alright time for the poll but as a form of enrichment to my environment, we’ll be doing things marginally different for this one. So, normally I give you all a list of characters to choose from and the main reason I started doing that instead of giving you all minor plots or storylines to vote on is because there’s plenty of times doing these where I’ll start working on something, only to decide the idea I’m working on isn’t working for one reason or another. I give you a plot then ...

Side Story: And now for something a little different. Coffee shop AU

The smell of the fresh sweet loaves bled into the aroma of the coffee filling the air as Ben pulled them out of the oven, carefully slicing them to put on display and feeling proud of what he’d made that day, needing only one thing to pull it together.

Some freaking customers.

Taking a seat, he flopped down on the front counter, head leaning against the till. Even if his boss was rich enough that he was comfortable running the place at a loss, keeping it for passion alo...

CH839

“You owe Sachel.”

The first words his god told him when he went up to the realm for the night, leaving Ben to give the cube a confused look.

“Why?”

“She helped make sure no angry mob would try to kick you out of town.”

“Wait, seriously? I mean, I know what happened and all but come on, I’m such a sweet little guy.”

“Eh, I'd say they had some valid points.”

“Apparently not valid enough.”

“Well, if we’re being serious it wa...

CH838 Sachel's Perspective

“Sachel, Ceselee’s requested your immediate presence,” Onk said as soon as she opened the door, the knocking ensuring she got up when all she’d wanted was an early night, leaving her rubbing her eyes as she answered.

“Ugh, Onk? What is it and why couldn’t it wait until tomorrow?”

“An impromptu town meeting where some are suggesting trying to kick Ben out of town. Seeing as how you and him devote yourselves to the same god, she was hoping you’d come to try and hel...

CH837

It was only as he finished up as much as he could in Stonewall that he passed through the gate to Anailia, relying on bind to tell him where to find Thera as he navigated the halls of her home to find far more than he’d expected, with the room holding not only her, Mora, and Bloom, but a variety of spirits as well, with connecting to them revealed them to be plant spirits.

“Well, looks like things have been interesting here,” He said, pulling their attention to him and forcing bot...

CH836 Thera's Perspective

Calling demons the enemy of the world was really thinking too small by that point, they’d destroyed and conquered countless worlds and shown no inclination to stop. Even Ben, a mind reader with no preconceived notions about them when he’d arrived, had looked in their souls and found nothing redeemable. The universe was something for them to kill their way across before they’d set their sights on each other and there wasn’t a single part of her that viewed reality as better for their e...

CH835 Thera's Perspective

She tried to keep the headache from touching her face as she left Ben, taking her first step through the gate to her old room and trying to seem positive for Mora and Bloom both as she went, even if she was expecting things to instantly become a mess.

When Ben had brought Ogilt back with him, all of the nearby great spirits had reacted almost immediately. She was sure the same thing was going to happen there but for whatever bit of mercy it held, they didn’t rush to her side, instead ...

CH834

He tried to keep from looking injured as he rushed back, acting like he hadn’t just been briefly crushed by the time he reached the shop door, the new great spirit held in his arms making for a good distraction to keep Thera from seeing any bit of pain when he got in, her eyes locking onto it instead.

“Wait, is that-”

“A great plant spirit. Its name is Bloom.”

“Hello princess,” It greeted, catching her off guard as the first great spirit to refer to her as such...

CH833

Where the heart of Stonewall had once stood there was now a forest, the streets filled with plants towering higher in the sky than anything outside of their walls and only growing still, up and out as the stalks and branches spread while Ben struggled to take in just what he was seeing, examining it for all it was worth to try and make sense of it.

While there were a few trees mixed in among the dense mass of plants, they weren’t the only things reaching into the sky with flowers and ...

CH832 Mora's Perspective

Delair was humming as she pulled him through the streets, the young dryad as full of energy as ever while Mora looked at her, filled with his own curiosity from the bits in her soul that were standing out, forcing a question to the front of his mind.

Just what is Ben doing to her?

He’d been there for all of her last levels, crafting and enchanting and plant magic as well, and while he’d helped her along a bit with each of them he could already see she was getting clos...

CH831

Man, I hate the gods of this world so fucking much.

<Might I point out you’re talking to one of them?>

No, I’m having an idle thought that you walked in on, and besides, you know I’m not talking about you. Mostly at least. Just not exactly pleased about how my payment worked out this time.

<Why? Five hundred points to your attributes is nothing to turn your nose up at. In exchange for the work you’ll be doing modifying peoples’ souls, I�...

CH830

With the demidemons mostly settled, or at least to a point where it had grown to be the realm of the healers and adventurers they were working with along with their own efforts to help finish their adjustment to the new environment, Ben was once more able to focus on his various work, slipping on his coat to do exactly that as he began overfilling his soul.

Helping them had put him behind, leaving him to still work through a job he should have already finished with ease and that led him...

CH829

“Ben, what exactly are you doing to my guild?” Ceselee asked as she came out near the day’s end, after all of the work that he’d already dropped on her to find him building supports at the building’s side, with him looking innocent as he answered.

“Just some simple renovations.”

“You know, you should typically ask about doing those sorts of things first.”

“But if I did that, I would have been in some trouble if you’d said no.”

She looked at him ...

CH828

Adding the last item to one of his rings before the shop’s door flew open, Delair finally arrived for the day, looking bright and cheery as she did.

“Morning, Ben!”

“Morning, Kiddo. We’ve got something a little different on the agenda today so we won’t be in the shop this time.”

“No? Where are we going?” She asked him, her eyes alight with curiosity as she looked to the mini-gates he kept there, getting a laugh as he went over to ruffle her hair.

“N...

CH827

With the first rays of the sun out once they were at their doorstep, Ben’s mind was still full of all he’d have to do before he stopped, banging his head against the door with the new problem that came to his thoughts.

“You okay there, Ben?”

“Just realized we have a young little resident in town who’ll be able to see the system info for the demis if he ever runs into one.”

Thera’s face fell as he said it with the new issues obvious once it was pointed out. Mo...

CH826

It didn’t take long to convince the demidemons; their god believed it was for the best and so did Ben, with both of their words carrying weight with them. Regardless of how he viewed the deaths that had taken place as a product of his own lack of thought and consideration, to them he was still their savior, someone who had appeared when their old gods had betrayed them and argued for their fate to all of the ones who really ruled the world and who had come once more in their time of need. D...

CH825

Ben was linked to Thera’s mind as they flew, increasing the rate she’d think to let them go even faster than the insane speeds she would normally take them at as the ground below passed by in a blur, breaking the hours it should have taken them to get so far out into the untamed lands to merely half of one, with only a couple minutes left until their destination would be in sight, all while Ben’s heart twisting in worry as they went.

Myriad had told him that the attacking demons c...

February Poll and an update

New month, new poll but first a different thing.

So, don’t wanna beat around the bush about this, I need a little break. This isn’t some notice of a prolonged hiatus or anything of the like, no need to worry about that, but I need a day off and after some thought and comparing how I’ve been feeling, I won’t be posting on tuesday, march 4th to give me that three day span where I won’t need to worry about writing, editing, plotting, or posting. Sorry about this, I just feel like...

Side Story: Abel

“Um, miss Abel?” Came a nervous knock at her door as the sun rose. “It’s-”

“Morning!” Abel yelled out brightly, a too-wide grin on her lips as she threw open the door and grabbed her attendant's face, pulling it right up to her own yet not noticing the fear that brought to the other’s eyes. “Let’s get this day started and… Who are you?”

“Ahem, Zine,” He managed to squeak out, getting a confused look for the answer.

“What happened to the last guy...