Chapter 270

All he wanted to do was give into his body's demand that he pass out, but he knew that he couldn’t. They were in a state of emergency. Even though Greed would be able to repair the damage he’d put his body through working it like that, it would take days that they didn’t have. If he couldn’t move, he needed to at least be able to think.It was with that goal in mind that he looked at the enchantments that were within his field of view and focused on them, making himself fall into everything that made them what they were. They both needed more time than what they had, and he was determined to get it, if alone to spite the god that went to all of the effort to make the trial.

As he did, Greed spoke to him and he let one of his minds listen half-heartedly, though he didn’t speak back. He didn’t think he could. Rolling over and his brief exchange with his sole companion had used up his last bit of whatever energy Greed had managed to provide him and all that was left was pain.

He wasn’t positive what had been done, but he was fairly sure that instead of a buff, Greed had forcefully used magic to make his body work beyond its limits, destroying itself in the process. It was one of the more destructive potential aspects of the life affinity, one most people couldn’t manage unless they’d awoken their skill, and even then wouldn’t use unless things were beyond desperate, not that Ben disagreed with his choice. If Greed hadn’t done that, they’d both be dead.

Ideas kept spinning around his brain and he wanted to test them, but it would need to wait. He would need Greed’s help, as well as enough strength in his arms to move them, which meant none of what he wanted to do could be put into practice until later into his healing. For the time being, he could only refine his thoughts to a razor's edge, ready to cut away the problem that was the trial.

“Greed, I need a knife.”

Those were the first words he spoke as soon as he could after almost twelve hours of healing. He could have asked by connecting to the crab, but his arms were still too damaged to move at the time, there had been no point. Now at least one was functional enough to grab onto something if he had to, and he didn’t want to waste another moment.

“Is it important? Honestly legs, if we have to go through the next section in what? Two days or less? I’d rather get you into the best shape you can be for it.”

“It is. I’d go so far as to say if I succeed we’ll probably live, and if I fail we’ll die. I think we both know that I won’t be in tiptop shape by the time the countdown’s done, and you must need to stop to replenish mana soon, right?”

“Well, I’m still buffing myself, but yeah it’s getting tight. Alright, give me a minute ‘cause lucky you, there’s two piles of old crap this time.”

“Yay,” He managed to get out sarcastically as the other left to get what he was looking for, dragging it to his hand as he did before restarting on treating all of Ben’s wounds, ensuring he wouldn’t die before the next part of the trial came.

With knife in hand, he grasped it tightly, placing the arm that held it across his chest so he could get a better look, only to need to make one more request of Greed.

“Looks like I may need some cloth to prop my head up a bit too please.”

It wasn’t for comfort, though he would definitely appreciate whatever little bit he could get. He needed to prop his head up to be able to get a better look as he worked on the knife, wanting to see every enchantment he’d be making in detail as he did.

This time Greed did exactly as he was asked without arguments. He knew as well as Ben that things were already looking bad, if there was a chance then he’d take it.

It was only as Ben was set up that he looked at the fragments of ancient enchantments and cleared them all away that he got to work. Using the ring system that he’d experimented with before the last section, he placed a series of them on the knife before breaking them down.

It was harder than usual, another sign of the stability of the system, but nothing as impossible as breaking down the enchantments on the trial itself had proven to be, and he remade them again, different this time and repeating the process.

He let the hours roll by as Greed healed him, spending the time making and breaking enchantments, drawing more and more accustomed to the new system as he did, slowly learning the ins and outs, along with what worked and what wouldn’t. If he wasn’t in so much pain, if he wasn’t so angry both at the people who had thrown him in there as well as the god who’d made it, he would have found the work interesting and rewarding. As things stood, rage was his main motivator, even more so than a desire to live. He wouldn’t die just to spite whoever wanted him to, he would get out and see the people he cared about again, and he would destroy this trial.

It took another twelve hours of healing by the time he was good enough to stand, but by then he was feeling confident in himself. He wasn’t constantly studying enchanting for nothing, and if what he had seen at the crafting contest was any indication then he had one of the broadest understandings of the skill on the planet. There was always more to learn, but what he did he knew well.

He forced himself to his feet despite Greed’s protests and placed his hands against the wall, using it to support his weight as he did to keep himself from falling.

“Greed, I need you to buff my mana and my regen again.”

“Legs, we still have plenty of time. Let me treat you a bit longer before you try anything.”

“Every second counts man, come on. The sooner we do this the better.”

The crab could only sigh at his stubbornness but did as he was asked, making Ben's still sore body flood with mana in the process as he began talking, as much to the trial itself as he was to Greed.

“You know, I don’t actually know what happens when a god dies. Do they get a ghost? Do they ascend to whatever afterlife is waiting for the rest of us mortals? I hope so. I hope whoever it is that made this is still around in some capacity to watch in horror at what I’m about to do.”

He activated all of his skill rings and connected to each of them while at the same time pushing his mind skills beyond the ordinary limits he would be trapped by as he envisioned an enchantment unlike any other. He knew he couldn’t break what was on this trial, but at the very least he could see about adding to it.

Unlike how he usually made his enchantments he didn’t build it up with time. Instead, he took all of the mana within himself that he could without passing out and shaped it all at once, every mind in his head devoted to the task of working them into the form of those on the trial, only with a few touches to enhance them. He couldn’t compete with what the god who’d made them had done if he played completely by those rules, but in his hours of practice he’d figured out as much as he needed to while learning how it could be incorporated into his existing methods, and once he was certain everything was as perfect as it could be he placed them all down at once, interlocking them with the rings controlling the floors countdown and locking them into place, keeping them from moving again, only for his eyes to fill with light and notifications to fill his minds.