Thankfully over the next month there were no repeats of the same event. Ben continued to split his time between practicing his skills and hunting with Thera, and after dismantling enough corpses he even raised that skills level up to one, making him slightly more efficient.
He was still practicing making different equipment at the shop and working on his general techniques and would still spend a bit of time trying to figure out how to improve the quality of Thera's staves, but aside from some small improvements here and there he still couldn’t make it to the coveted three spells. He was determined not to give up, but that didn't mean he could neglect learning other things, some of which led into their hunting activities.
“Alright, Thera take the shot.”
“This still feels wrong, can’t we hunt like regular people sometimes?”
“I would rather not get killed trying to fight fair with a monster. You’re the one who was worried about if you could improve your magic just using pit traps so I spent weeks experimenting and testing to make this, we can debate the ethics of it after you fire your spell.”
She let out a sigh knowing there was not going to be any arguing with him. For the last couple weeks he had been experimenting and testing what he was calling a bear trap just so she would be able to practice her offensive spells, and now they had a blood elk caught in it, one of its legs trapped in the tools metal jaws as it desperately tried to pull itself free, a small aura of darkness wrapping around its form as it tried to hide from any other predators. Namely them.
She knew the creature could and would kill them if it had the chance so she put her hesitation aside and raised her staff, aimed her spell, and left a mangled mess where the body landed.
“Well, looks like I’m not getting any materials from that,” Ben said, looking at the crushed pile of meat and bone, a leg still caught in the trap.
“Sorry,” She knew he used what they caught as materials, wasting something that big just so she could practice her magic was admittedly a bit selfish of her, though Ben didn’t actually mind.
“Don’t worry about it, the sooner we raise your level the sooner you can have better control of your magic, I’ve still got a ton of other materials to use,” He especially had more screll bones than he knew what to do with from their first few hunts together, as well as plenty of materials from some harder creatures. Once Thera got used to his way of doing things it wasn’t long before they started taking on rank-six creatures. They didn’t always succeed, sometimes they would escape whatever trap they set up or notice them and run away, but when that did happen Thera got the chance to try and get it with one of her spells, so it still served as practice at least.
“So do you have anything going on for the rest of the day?” He asked her.
“Just helping a bit at the clinic.”
“Cool, in that case want to stop by the shop a bit beforehand? I was hoping to get your opinion on a few products I’ve made recently.”
“Can’t my uncle help you?”
“I already heard his take, I just wanted to get a second opinion before I try and sell some stuff at the market.”
“Alright then, sure,” She decided after a moment's hesitation. “If it won’t take too long I don’t mind.”
----------------------------------------
“So what sort of weapon did you make then?” She asked as they got to the shop.
“Not a weapon, just some toys.”
“Why would you make toys?” She asked in confusion. “This is a weapons shop.”
Falk overheard their conversation and chimed in. “It’s good to try some different sorts of things when you're starting out Thera, just cause I mostly make weapons doesn’t mean the boy will when he starts on his own. ‘Sides that, I make other things too, Sonya just got a new pan not too long ago.”
“Okay uncle but I still don’t see the point. If he’s selling at the market wouldn’t it be better to make weapons like usual? Surely the price would be better than anything he could get on toys.”
“The point,” Ben started. “Is just to try making something different is all. Besides, if someone wanted to buy a weapon they could come here literally any time, for the most part the things I’ve made are pretty simple and easy so if anyone wants to come order one it wouldn’t be much of a strain on us. Give me a second, I'll grab them.”
He ran to the back and pulled out a box of things, placing them on the table one by one to show off. He had made six types of items, three of which she recognised.
“I’m familiar with the kite, spinning top, and lute, but what are the other three?” The remaining items looked like a plate made from wood and leather, a flattened ball with a slit running through it, and a strange cross with a ball attached with a string.
“A lute huh? I’d probably call it a children's guitar, or maybe ukulele, but I guess lute works. Anyway, as for the other three, there's a frisbee, a yoyo, and a kendama.”
“I want you to realize that doesn't actually tell me anything.”
“Sorry sorry, let's start with the frisbee. Do you have a minute, Falk?”
“I can spare a couple lad, need a hand demonstrating?”
“Yep, catch,” He said, throwing it towards his teacher who gracefully caught it from the air before throwing it back to Ben.
“So you just play catch with it? Like a ball?”
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“Well yeah, I guess if you put it that way that's all there is to it. It was a good way to use up the leftover screll leathers since it’s just a light wooden frame wrapped up to be easier on the hands, but do you think it’s too simple?”
“No it seems fine, it does look graceful flying through the air like that so I think it will sell if it’s cheap. What about the other two?”
“Alright let's go with the kendama next, so this is sort of a catching balancing toy I guess. The point is to hold the base and try to land the ball on one of the sides or the spike at top,” He tried a couple times to demonstrate but failed to successfully land any of them.
“If you can’t even do it to demonstrate how can you expect anyone to want to buy it?” She asked while watching his failed attempts.
“Told you!” Falk yelled as he worked.
“Okay, okay, you guys are right. Glad I only made a couple of them instead of wasting a ton of time. In that case the last is the yoyo.”
“Can you at least use this one?”
“I’m actually pretty good with this one, an old friend taught me how years ago,” His smile took on a sad note for a moment before he went back to a more animated expression and he pulled out a bit of string that was hidden in the slit running along its circumference. He put the loop around his middle finger and threw it down, only for it to smoothly return, traveling back up the string and into his hand, after doing that a couple times he changed to throwing it forwards, then spun it in a loop around his hand as well. It actually ended up being a bit fun to watch.
“Alright that one actually has some pretty good potential I think, but is it hard to use?” She asked after seeing his display.
“It takes some practice to get it right but it’s not that hard, want to give it a try?”
“Sure.”
“Cool, so all you're doing at first is repeating what I did. Slip it around your middle finger, raise your arm up like you’re flexing, and bring it down. While it's at the bottom just gently jerk your hand up and it should return to you.”
She did as she was told and brought it down before jerking her hand, only for it to just sit sadly at the bottom of the string.
“That's alright, like I said it takes a little practice, just wind it back up and try again.”
She tried two more times and started feeling discouraged, wondering how much practice it would take, but on her fourth try she had her success.
“I did it!” She rejoiced at her success, only to immediately be embarrassed at the enthusiasm she showed, if her face wasn’t covered by her cloak she would be clearly blushing for them to see. Luckily Ben didn’t seem to mind the outburst and was happy to cheer her on.
“Great work! It took me a lot longer to get it right when I was first learning. See Falk it doesn’t take forever to master,” He called out to his teacher.
“Bah! Thera’s just talented, you can’t hold the average man to her standard.”
“Ignore him, he’s just sore that he couldn't get the hang of it after twenty minutes of trying. Want to try throwing it forward?”
She was already playing with it some more so why not try her on something a little more advanced. “Sure, I guess I can see the appeal of this,” She was having a fair bit of fun actually, it had been a long time since she had just stopped to play around and it was a good change of pace from the usual training, hunting, and helping her aunt.
Ben explained what to do and she started trying again, getting lost in the task before succeeding in a few minutes. She repeated that throw and the new one a few times, making sure she got the proper feel for it before stopping to return it to him.
“You can keep that one if you want, I have a bunch,” He had made plenty since they were easy enough and the material cost was low, even selling them cheap he could make a reasonable amount from the base cost so he didn’t mind giving one away, though Thera seemed to hesitate.
“Um, I don’t know...”
“It’s fine Thera, he isn’t thinking anything.” Falk yelled out.
“Well if you’re sure then I’ll accept, thank you.”
“No worries, so are you good to push hunting back to the afternoon tomorrow? I don’t know how long it will take to sell this all but if it takes too long I’ll just pack up.”
“Sure that's no problem. Your toys seem good, I’m sure they’ll sell well.”
“Well thanks, I’m going to go back to making more then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good night.”
Ben walked to the back of the shop where his work area was set up and Thera was about to leave when Falk called out to her.
“Before you go Thera mind giving me a moment?”
“Sure, what can I do for you uncle?”
“I just wanted to ask, has the boy seemed okay to you recently?”
“No stranger than usual I think, why?”
“I’m pretty sure he’s been sleeping less, and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but his smile’s been slipping more than usual, like he’s struggling with something.”
“How could he be sleeping less, doesn’t he already spend most of each night practicing here? I guess I have noticed he tends to hide his negative feelings a bit though,” It would happen a lot when he started talking about people he knew, like whatever friend taught him to yoyo, but she didn’t think too much on it. Sometimes people would have falling outs, she didn’t feel like prying.
“Well, I’m a little worried anyway. By the end of the week I’ll have to leave the city for a little while to see a client. Do you think you could keep an eye on him while I’m gone? Maybe go with him to the market tomorrow and try and ask him about whatever's on his mind?”
“Uncle, you know I don’t like getting too close to people.”
“Really? It seems like you two are getting along well though. He even gave you one of those yo things.”
“On that topic are you sure he’s okay uncle? This isn’t the first time he’s given me something either.”
“What? What else has he given you?”
“A little statue he made while he was training his enchanting and crafting.”
“Oh those, the ones he makes from random stones he picks up? That's fine then he leaves them everywhere. It’s actually a pretty clever way to practice, I don’t think I know anyone who uses the destructive properties of enchantment like that. Actually I should tell him to take a bunch to try and sell too, they’re starting to pile up in the back a bit. But I got off-topic, he’s fine you don’t have anything to worry about. Maybe if you spoke to him openly he could ease your mind.”
“Mhh,” She was not at all fond of that idea.
“Well either way, you’ve got your cloak and like I’ve said before his resistances are high, trust me you’ll both be fine. So would you do this as a favour for me?”
“Alright then uncle, I guess I can do it for you.”
“There’s a good girl, now tell your aunt I said hello. He’ll be setting up in the morning so come early okay.”
“Alright, I’ll be here tomorrow.”