Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

Ah- Damn… it. I… guess- it…’s not… so bad since- I- won’t need- to… remake- my bracelets… yet, but- still, that’s gonna… make it- harder- to train.

“Ah, dang it Myriad, trying to think in your stupid language just raised my mental expansion level!” Ben complained as he felt his head throb, both from feeling the change to his minds, as well as having spent so long trying to talk with his god exclusively in the language he was being taught.

“Don’t be silly Ben, learning a new language wouldn’t get you to the seventh level of the skill.”

“No, learning a normal language wouldn’t. I still feel like my eyes are going to bleed every time I work on yours.”

“Well, you’ve almost got it, even if it is giving you problems. Though I’ve got to say, I’m a little offended that my own apostle had such an easier time learning the language of another god than my own. And now you’re learning a new one from her before you’ve even mastered mine.”

“That’s because Helori’s are structured in a way that actually makes sense!”

As weeks of working on weapons with Falk went by, Ben never stopped practicing the languages he was learning in his head, and combining that with the fact that he was spending almost an hour of real-time a day in the archive, it was more like he’d been practicing it for months. It had made learning the one Helori was trying to pass onto him a breeze, even if his own god’s would need more work if he was ever going to get it right.

Still, it keeps my very full head occupied at least. At thirteen minds right now I need at least that much.

“See, it’s fine,” Myriad told him as he heard Ben's thoughts. “If you really don’t like it then just don’t do it. It’s not like there’s any need to actually figure out Galwax’s language, right?”

“The need is just my own satisfaction, but either way I need a break for now. Think I’ll stop by the house to finish up before going to the shop a bit earlier than usual so time to wake up.”

“Wait,” Myriad stopped him. “Before you go, there’s something we really need to talk about.”

“Sure, what’s the emergency this time?”

“The fact that you haven’t gotten any true sleep since you delivered my statue to the church of Eneth.”

“What, that’s all? Myriad, buddy, my body’s resting while I’m up here so it’s fine, it’s basically the same thing.”

“It’s not even close to the same thing. Even if your body is fine your mind needs to rest too. Combining real-time with all of the time you’ve spent in the archive, it’s basically been months of constant activity. That’s not natural Ben.”

“Come on, I feel fine so don’t worry,” He told the cube, trying to brush it off. If he was being honest with himself he was beginning to feel a bit of constant exhaustion around him, but it wasn’t to the point that it would be a problem. It was just another way of pushing himself. “Who knows, maybe if I keep it up I’ll get something like sleep or exhaustion resistance. That would be pretty cool.”

“Or you’ll get hurt before that can happen. I know you’ve been avoiding it but I’m not saying this as your god but as your friend Ben, have a proper nap soon without coming up here. I don’t care if you keep your mind active for a few weeks at a time between doing it, but this is too much.”

“Too much as in maybe it would help awaken my focus?” He asked, giving his god a curious look as waves of annoyance came off the cube. “Fine, I will later when I have less to do or if I start feeling pretty bad. For now though-”

The thought hung in the air as Ben pulled himself from his god’s realm, waking up with a well-rested body, even if the minds it contained got none.

Myriad asked him as Ben was busy installing a new lock on the house he’d purchased for making a greenhouse.

Maybe, but it was fun so cut me some slack.

Hey, I’ll have you know that this lock is a masterpiece.

That’s what makes it a masterpiece!

Ben had never made a lock before, but he remembered enough videos on their structure from his world that it only took a little bit of experimenting to get it right, and from there he improved it with the thanks of his divine enchanting, giving each pin a different effect that would shoot out if anyone tried to pick it instead of using the key it went with. It wouldn’t kill anyone with a normal level of vitality, but then he didn’t actually expect anyone to try robbing him. It was more of a proof of concept than anything that he didn’t want to see rotting in a box somewhere, even if it meant using a little bit of his white mana crystal to keep it powered at all times.

Hey, I’ll also have you know I’m very proud of that one too.

The door handle was set up with a similar curse he’d occasionally put on weapons depending on what their owners wanted, making it so that only they could use them without falling ill or feeling pain. It was a bit of a legal gray area, but it wasn’t like he would just stop practicing what he knew and anyone that got something like that was always informed about the legality of distributing them so as far as he was concerned it was fine.

Anyway, enough complaining, it took a while but it’s all finally done! I’ll run through everything I did with Sonya later and then she can decide what she wants on her home, but for now it’s off to the shop!

Grabbing his bike, he pedalled there as fast as he could, eager to start the day. In the month they’d been working on the weapons, they’d used up one whole skeleton already, but the orders were finally slowing. They had one more to finish up that day and then expected that all of the remaining ones that would be coming in for the shop wouldn’t happen till after the first wave as everyone evaluated how to act from there, meaning he’d have more time to focus on his own interests again.

It was only as he arrived, seeing a light already on in the shop that he got to know he wasn’t the only one who had been looking forward to finishing up as his teacher was already hard at work making the dagger that was their final order to deal with.

Ben was happy to watch as the yeti was absorbed in his work, hammering the slab of metal into shape, filing and sanding it down till it was comfortable and working on its edge, making it as sharp as it could be as a smile stretched across his face and he turned to Ben.

“Instead of just watching boy, toss me that job crystal of yours,” He said, well aware of Ben’s presence as his apprentice did as he was asked.

It was only a few moments before Falk tossed it back, looking extremely satisfied as he did.

“It’s been a while. Forgot how good that felt,” The yeti laughed happily as Ben tried to take advantage of his teacher's good mood.

“That's great, congrats! So what did you take?”

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Falk told him, knowing exactly what he was trying to get. “Instead, add your enchantments to the knife so I can add mine and we can send it off.”

“Ugh, fine.”

He’d already known exactly which ones he was going to apply to it so he pulled out his rings and got to work, blending, weaving, and shaping his mana until the enchantment was perfect, or at least as perfect as he could manage before handing it back over to his teacher.

“Excellent work as always boy, now just some finishing touches…”

His teacher turned away, applying what he needed to in a few minutes till it was complete. So much of what they’d been making for the past month had been products of their teamwork, and it was clear it had been elevating the final product. Falk was so used to working on things alone since others couldn’t meet his standards, but having the boy with him was proving to be a blessing, with that very same boy taking to his hands and knees as he begged.

“Falk, I’ve been quiet about this for so long, but this is the last one man! Please, we’ve got to test it out, I need to see what a legendary item can do.”

“Mmh, boy…”

“Look, I know you don’t want me peeking at your status so I won’t look at what enchantments you’ve added, but not letting me see the results of my hard work is cruelty to your loving and devoted student.”

Hearing that, he could only sigh. “Fine, but not in town. Put a sign up that we’ll be opening late today and come on.”

Falk couldn’t deny that if he were in Ben’s position, he’d also want to see the fruits of their labour, but using a legendary item in the middle of town was just begging for problems, so instead they left, taking their time to walk to the woods and then go deeper in, ensuring that there was nobody else around who could potentially end up injured.

Ben was all but vibrating with excitement as Falk got his attention, walking over to the nearest tree, and with what looked like almost no effort, sliced it through the trunk as they both watched it come down.

It was obvious to see that Ben's mood fell from the performance. He’d been expecting much greater than that and his teacher could read him like a book as he laughed.

“Boy, that’s what it can do without activating any of the enchantments, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Like a switch was flipped, Ben was back to raw excitement, every one of his minds focused on watching his teacher as Falk ran his mana through the blade and gave what looked like a half-hearted swipe in the direction of the trees nearby, not even close enough to hit any of them.

But as he swung, what Ben could only describe as a pulse of mana came out of it, tearing through the forest in a flash as the trees around them seemed unchanged.

Before he could ask what happened though, Falk spoke up as he walked over to the closest one. “Ha, well would you look at that? We did even better than I thought for even that to go so well.”

He placed his hand against the trunk and pushed, the upper half of the tree sliding from its base with ease and collapsing to the ground with a firm thud, shaking the forest and knocking down everything else in the area that had been hit by the pulse for meters around them as Ben ran over to look at just what had happened.

Examining the trunk, it didn’t even look like it had been cut, the combined might of their enchantments more erasing the part where they were originally joined than anything else as he ran his fingers over the surface.

There was so much he wanted to ask about, but as he looked at his teacher only three words came out.

“Can I try?”

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