Chapter 271: A week without Ben

Thera put down the book she was reading, surprised to have gotten the level up. Even if she was doing her best to learn it, she felt that she was too distracted by the last week for anything to have really gotten through.Ben still hadn’t gotten out of the trial. She could still feel his direction thanks to the skill they shared, but that was a small comfort that did nothing for her misery. She was so horribly lonely, in a way she’d never been before they’d met. Her life had been filled with nothing but solitude and awkward encounters for as long as she could remember, she should have been used to it, but then he’d come in and stripped that all away. She’d gotten to see just how nice having friends could be, to care about someone and to be cared about in return, and now he was gone.

She chided herself.

As much as she hated it, it had only been a week. While there were plenty of shorter trials, there were longer ones too, she just needed to wait it out. No matter how bad it felt, she just needed to be patient.

Looking down from her seat in the woods, she cast a few more healing spells before firing off some dark ones too towards the swarm of fighting beasts below her. She was trying to be a bit more creative with it than she’d been in the first few days, using her life magic to enhance the strength of the weaker creatures around her while her dark magic was put towards weakening the stronger. It took a lot of concentration and effort to do both, the power behind her magics wanting to explode around her instead of hitting specific targets, but she held it in, pushing her control to the limits to get the results she wanted.

She no longer let herself worry about how raising her dark magic could affect her charm, she just wanted to be better. She didn’t want to feel so powerless, even though increasing her levels wouldn’t change things for her at all. Raw strength or skill couldn’t change the fact that she was alone.

It was as she was doing this that a swarm of earth spirits came to her, buzzing about her head as they did as she tried to hide some of her feelings to keep herself from taking them out on them.

One asked hesitantly as it saw the carnage below them. Thera had been using the same spot for her training for days and the ground was soaked with blood as a result, with its surface covered in bones.

“I’m fine. Did my father ask you all to check on me?”

It asked in confusion, only to immediately be brushed off.

“No, it’s fine. In that case, what can I do for you all?”

“The usual then. Okay, come on, one by one.”

She held out her hand leaving each spirit to fly to it as she did, filling them each with mana to make up for what they’d lost. Earth spirits were nice because of just how easy they were to give mana to. There was no mana loss and the process was fast enough that it didn’t take long at all, leaving them to thank her as they went on their way.

She ignored the notification in her head and decided it was time to clean up for the day. She’d been there for so many hours that even though it was still bright, night would be falling in Allfaith and she wanted to get back to rest while she could, even if she doubted she’d be sleeping well.

To finish things up below her she used her dark magic to debuff every beast she could see, the quantity of her mana keeping them all but defenseless as she used her telekinesis to pull some fallen logs from the surroundings and crush each creature one by one.

If it wasn’t for the constant worry she’d been feeling she would have been elated. To have so many skills level up at once had made it an exceptionally lucky day, with the growth of her two magic skills being excellent news for her control as a whole.

She knew that she didn’t typically train those two magics enough. Dark magic was almost entirely untouched with the exception of a little bit of practice should she ever find herself needing it in an emergency, and telekinesis was mostly just used to enhance her earth magic. Since she had a staff that could stand up to her magic and nothing but time to practice both with, it would do her no harm to try and get more levels of each as she distracted herself from everything like she wanted to. A goal that got harder from the guests standing outside the embassy waiting for her.

Steph and Will were both standing around and she could tell from their eyes that both had been crying. They looked terrible and exhausted, like they’d been getting as much rest as she had, but they still came to see her.

“Hi,” Steph said, putting on a small smile. “We, uh, we thought we’d come see how you're holding up?”

“I’m fine,” She told them, feeling glad to have her cloak on to hide however she was looking from the world. “I was just going to get some rest.”

“Oh, okay. But if you need anything, you can stop by or call for us you know. We want to help.”

“...Thank you, I might visit in a couple weeks, I just need some time to myself.”

They gave a nod and walked away as Thera went in and threw herself in bed. It was nice enough of them to come by, and she was lonely, but there was really only one person she wanted to see.

Falk walked down the darkened empty street of Allfaith, a strong drink and two glasses in hand as he got to where he wanted to be, the trial of the dead god, and took a seat beside the great spirit leaning against its sealed door.

“Don’t suppose you’d share a drink with an old friend,” The yeti said as he handed a cup over and filled it as Abrus chuckled.

“Does a few decades make us old friends?”

“It does for any other race on this world. Good friends then?”

“Yes, I’d love to share one with a good friend,” The spirit said as he patted Falk's shoulder as they both had a sip.

For a while they just drank in silence, doing their best to enjoy each other's company and the night before Falk leaned his head back against the wall, covering his moistening eyes with his hands.

“Infinite hells,” He muttered. “You know, I never even wanted a damnable apprentice.”

“Ha, I know. I remember you always going off about what a waste of time it was to train someone up when you still had so much to learn. I also remember you scaring off more than a few hopeful students with your ridiculous challenges if they wanted to be under you.”

“Aye, just my luck that someone without the sense finally came along and pulled it off. Worse luck that I discovered training someone wasn’t actually so bad.”

“Falk…”

“The boy was incredible Abrus. He had a passion and drive I’ve rarely seen. A love for making things that anyone who views smithing or other works as just a job could never hope for. I think it was only a year into training him that I realized he was actually going to awaken a skill one day. He had so much bloody potential, I know there were only greater things to come for him, and that selfish fuck ripped it all away.”

“Is there an execution date yet?”

“Couple days away,” Falk told him as he took a deep swig. “A scandal this big, they want it done fast. The fact that someone with so much power in Allfaith of all places was acting like this… There’s talk the gods might actually toss his soul into the infinite hells for the act, I can only hope they actually do.”

"He's not dead yet you know," Abrus pointed out, wanting to give his friend a bit of hope. "His god would know if his apostle died, and Pelenia asked to be informed. He's still hanging on."

Despite the intention behind it though, Falk easily brushed it away. "I'm not one to hang onto something so slim. Anyway, enough about me, I'm more worried for your daughter. Do you know how Thera's holding up? I've barely seen her in days."

"I have a couple air spirits watching her from a distance. She's behaving destructively, but at least not self-destructively, which is really the most her mother and I could hope for. I knew she'd have to get used to experiencing loss eventually, but I always thought it would be a few more decades away," the great spirit sighed. "I doubt she'll leave the city until things end one way or another. We've already arranged things to ensure she'll have her room at the embassy for as long as she needs, but what about you?"

"I'm heading back after the execution. Sonya cared for the boy too, I'd rather she hear what happened in person than through a letter. I'll try to talk to Thera a bit before I go."

"You're a good man Falk."

They quietly finished their drinks and Falk walked away once he was done, turning back to cast one last look at the trial and felt something about it scratch at his mind, but he just shook his head and walked away.

In the heavens, the goddess Anailia was dealing with her own stress. All of the gods had been in an uproar over just what had happened in Allfaith. The fact that someone who had so much power in a city where many of them kept their trials and their churches was a scandal, even more so for the fact that it had escaped their notice for so long.

They couldn't escape any blame for it. An investigation on the matter had shown almost a dozen people had been killed that way, with likely plenty more in the past from anyone else who'd had the same idea. They were just all so caught up with other matters, guiding and strengthening their people, discussions on strategy for when the invasion finally began, what to do in the event that this world fell too. All important, but narrowed their focus.

She left her realm to make her way to the edge of another, where a different goddess was already waiting and watching Myriad stare down at the world.

"How is he?"

"He hasn't moved from there since Olop was secured," Helori told her, worry covering the goddess’s face in a way she'd never show her believers. "He's taking this harder than I would have thought."

"Can any of us blame him though?" Anailia sighed. "It was the first believer he'd had in how many centuries? Not only that, but one who'd done incredible things for getting him faith. Honestly, I feel this loss more than I expected myself, I'd say any god whose worshipers have a passive magic do."

Whether he appreciated the fact or not, that child had helped change the world with his creation during his brief time on it, the effects that were felt would last forever, not just for the people, but for his god. As long as races had passive effects that needed to be suppressed, Myriad would have to have believers. Even if disaster struck the cube and lost him all he had, the other gods would have no choice but to ensure he gained at least a few.

To make a mark on the world in whatever short time they had was typically all a mortal could hope for in their life, and Ben had managed it. All Anailia could do was her best for those left behind.

With that she entered Myriad's realm and approached him, trying to figure out just what to say. He was a god that was making himself closer to his believers than most did, taking the time to interact with them all at a frequency that the mortals experiencing it could only find shocking, but in the past week he’d all but fallen silent. It was concerning not only to the gods around him, but his followers as well.

Losing a pillar of their faith always hurt. Apostles, head priests, oracles, these were the ones a god would interact with the most, being in charge of the day-to-day operation of managing the faith, but it was something any god had to be used to. It was only Myriad who’d been alone for so long that he’d forgotten just what the experience was like.

It was only as she was almost behind him that he suddenly burst into laughter, talking to himself and leaving her more than worried for the state of his mind. She knew he was an unusual god in many ways, but the last thing anyone needed was him falling into madness.

“Ben you absolute psycho! You maniac! What other mortal would even think about trying something like that, let alone succeed? Does this mean you awakened the skill only days after leveling it up? You really are ridiculous!”

“Myriad, that’s enough,” She tried to tell him gently. “We can’t have you trying to escape the reality of this. I know he may not be dead yet, but it’s a matter of time. You still lack a head priest, you should at least try and find someone to take the role while keeping an eye out for someone to take Ben’s place.”

It felt harsh to say, but the cube turned to her, seeming to be surprised by her presence yet in good cheer despite everything.

“Oh Anailia, sorry I didn’t notice you arrive. I guess I have been a little distracted these last few days, but don’t worry too much. I have a person in mind for my priestess and I’m feeling confident I won’t need to find a new apostle any time soon.”

She held back a sigh as she tried to look at him kindly, not wanting to be too harsh but needing him to accept the reality of the situation. “Myriad, your apostle was competent, I would never deny that, but that’s not enough. We may not know what goes on in that trial, but the fact that nobody who’s ever tested themselves against it has come out is telling enough. Mortals who’ve spent years planning for everything before entering to see if they’d beat it still fail to come out in the end, someone thrown in there doesn’t have a chance.”

“Well, why don’t you give this a look first, and I’ll hang on to my little bit of hope for now.”

She indulged him, leaning her head over the top of him to look down at the trial from the heavens, only to feel herself gasp.

“That’s impossible,” She muttered while knowing her eyes weren’t betraying her. “He’d have had to have deciphered an entirely unique enchanting system and had the strength to interfere with the magic on the trial, that’s too much to expect of any mortal in such a short span of time.”

Yet she couldn’t deny what she was seeing. A section of the trial, so small it would be unnoticeable to anyone not looking for it, had a single new enchantment on it. It was far clunkier than anything a god would do, but by the standards of a mortal it was exceptional. More important than that though was the fact that while it largely used the same enchanting system as the rest of the trial, it was clearly modified to incorporate two others.

“That’s my apostle,” The cube said proudly. “As annoying, unlucky, and completely undevoted as he is, he’s also stubborn and clever and not one to give up. Just you wait, he’s going to survive this.”

“The trial should have a self-correction mechanism on,” She pointed out, not wanting to take his hope but wanting him to be prepared for the worst. “One change doesn’t mean much.”

“No, but as long as he keeps doing it that’s all that matters. As far as I’m concerned this is proof he hasn’t given up. The others should keep their eyes out as well, if anyone is feeling in a gambling mood I’ll bet all the faith I have he survives this.”