In the morning things went much the same as they had before, with Ben starting the day making small talk with the other contestants before moving on to working on his ideas, feeling he already had a far better grasp of what he wanted to make as he did. He’d have to go through the day’s testing to be sure, but he had his confidence.
It was as he was waiting for Amy to show up that he let himself spend a little time on other projects too, namely, figuring out how he wanted to make Greed an amplifier, as well as the constant task of deciphering the magic on the dead gods trial that kept going through one of his many minds in the days since he’d first given it a look.
I’m going to have to try to put it into practice sooner or later so try and work out the strengths and weaknesses of using it compared to other methods, but at the very worst I guess I can just leave it for later. Maybe after I talk with Greed tonight so long as it doesn’t go too long.
He felt his ever-present list of tasks continue to grow by the time Amy finally arrived, this time not just with Jake, Yuzu, and Uliel with her, but both Steph and Will as well.
“Oh hey, looks like we’ve got a full crowd today,” He said happily as he gave them a wave, not picking up on Steph's mood before it was too late.
“Nice to see you too Ben, so much to talk about,” She told him as the smile on her face did nothing for her frosty look. “Why don’t we start with your leviathan hunt and what sort of people you’re going out of your way to pick fights with?”
He felt his stomach drop in fear as Thera tried even harder than she had been to avoid his eyes as Steph stood above him, and he knew he wouldn’t be getting off lightly.
----------------------------------------
With so many people there, his table was a hub of activity as both Jake and Will chatted to themselves, Yuzu seemed to be doing her best to develop a friendship with Thera, who only occasionally looked his way and chuckled to herself, Amy tested the weapons he’d made her the day prior, and both his teacher and the archmage openly laughed as he took Steph’s scolding, eventually prostrating himself while at the same time doing his best to keep track of the results of Amy’s practice with most of his minds.
“-and you know we worry about you, right? Like I get that you don’t want to bother us about things that already happened, but you’re our friend Ben, we want to know when you’re in danger or need our help,” Steph spoke as she looked down at him, worn out and defeated after an hour of lecture.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll let you guys know if I ever need any help so can you let up just this once?” He asked, begged really. He knew that she got worried about him ever since he was left at the church, but by this point he really just considered everything he went through to be a part of the realities of the world he found himself in.
Steph though didn’t seem convinced. “I don’t know, are you sure you don’t want to come back with us when this is done? Me and Will have plenty of money and extra rooms in our home, we could take care of you. It would definitely be safer.”
“Kind of feels like you’re asking me to become a pet.”
“Nah, we’d be adopting you,” Will yelled over to them. “Don’t worry, you won’t need to call me dad right away, we can wait until the time feels right.”
“Hey, you guys can’t just take Ben from m- us,” Thera yelled back, catching herself before she said anything that would embarrass her later but still being noticed by half of them, Ben included. “It would break my aunt's heart if he didn’t come back to Stonewall after this.”
“As entertaining as this has been, I’m done with this,” Amy said, breaking in and finally giving him a chance to get out of Steph’s concerned eyes. “Did you catch everything I was saying?”
“Yep, we’re good there,” He told her with a thumbs up. “In that case, let’s move on to the next part.”
He had her take a seat at the table as he broke out the tool he’d made to judge her magic control and told her how it worked, getting her to start as he called out numbers and scribbled on some blank scraps of paper. The others around were curious enough about what he was doing to watch as well, leaving each of them to see Amy respond to his prompts and getting the right light to light up almost every time.
Let’s see, she’s not perfect but then it’s just going to take some practice is all, she can hit each one the majority of the time at least so it should be plenty good enough. Now let’s see how she does if we up the difficulty.
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Changing things around, he had her start responding to the notes he wrote instead of saying the numbers, with each page having two different ones for her to activate at the same time. After going through everything twice, he felt there was a slight decrease in accuracy for the second one, but judged it would be something that could be improved with enough practice and left it at that
“Alright, I’d say your mana control is pretty good,” He told her happily, trimming away the ideas he would have had to use if she wasn’t up to snuff as two different voices spoke up, pulling his attention to the fact that others had come to see what he was doing besides his friends.
“An interesting tool,” The ant person said, his antenna rubbing together in curiosity. “I suppose that’s one way to measure a person's control, but why would you need it to such an extreme?”
“Bah bug, he has to be going for a fancy magic weapon,” The goblin woman to his side said. “Let me guess, you’re going to arrange your enchantments to make a weapon that switches between magics depending on how mana is run through it?”
The two who appeared were other contestants, people he’d chatted with before starting for the day, and he couldn’t help but be pleased that they had come to see his work. With everything sold now his table wasn’t the most exciting, but it was still nice to have guests.
“Ha, well you’re close at least. I think I have a good idea on what I’m going to make now. Even if it might fail, may as well go with the best option.”
“You’re only just figuring out what to make now?” The goblin asked incredulously. “You know most people come already knowing what they’re going to make, right?
“There are only four days left after this,” The ant told him in concern. “Are you going to be alright for the end?”
“Oh yeah, I’m fine, don't worry too much. Even if it might not seem like it, I’m going to give you guys a run for your money, just you wait.”
“Ha, good, these things are better when they’re interesting.” The goblin cackled as she spoke, before dragging the ant person off with her. “Anyway, we won’t distract, just wanted to stop by.”
“Come again if you’re free,” He yelled back as he waved them off, enjoying the chance to meet different high-quality craftsmen. No one with him seemed to think much of the encounter either, other than Jake that was.
“This isn’t right,” The other human said with a shake of his head. “This is a competition! If all of your competitors are friendly, then where’s your motivation to win? What else is going to make you claw victory from the hands of defeat!”
“Man, despite what some people might think about me I don’t go looking for enemies,” He shot back. “I’m just here for some friendly competition, I just need to put my best in, right Falk?”
“Aye boy, even if you don’t win you’ll be fine.”
Still, Jake shook his head. “Well, it just feels like it defeats the point, what’s life without enemies?”
“I already told you who considers me an enemy, it’s even marked on my status! That’s a big ‘no thanks’ to making more from me.”
He still looked disappointed not getting to see Ben go through the drama he thought such an event deserved, but Amy put a stop to him saying more with a pinch to his ear.
“So was that all you needed from me today?” She asked, getting a nod in response.
“Just make sure you come again tomorrow, I’ll probably get started on actually making it then, but it would be good to have you for any last-minute changes.”
“In that case, it looks like I can take you now,” Steph told her as she swooped in and grabbed Amy’s arm, already having Thera in her grasp with his hooded friend unable to escape, not that she seemed to be trying too hard, even if she didn’t seem thrilled. “We’re having another girl’s outing so if any of you need us we’re going hunting through one of the untamed land gates.”
She took no argument as she started dragging them off, Yuzu following without needing the same motivation as the other two with Uliel close behind, unwilling to let both of those in her care go somewhere so dangerous without her and judging that Jake would be fine in the city, leaving the three human men and Falk to their own devices.
“You know, Steph’s always been a little forceful, but hasn’t she gotten a bit… more so since I’ve seen her?” He asked Will, who only shrugged.
“She’s just excited to have people around who aren’t looking at her with the weight of the world behind their eyes, I’m pretty sure she’ll calm down after a couple more days.”
“You know, if you guys are that lonely you could always come visit me,” he pointed out. “She’s a space mage, it shouldn’t be too hard.”
“But still long enough that we usually can’t spare the time. The only reason we have what we do know is because we worked hard enough to make up for taking a week off.”
“Or come visit us man,” Jake told him with a slap on the back. “Since we both live in gate cities it’s gotta be a whole lot easier.”
“Well, that could be nice,” Will said happily. “But anyway, what do you guys want to do now? You’re basically done, right Ben?”
“Sorry, you both go off and have fun. I had a guy come yesterday to order something so we’re going to go over it a bit today.”
“You’re loss,” Jake told him. “If you finish up early, come to my place later.”
With that they parted ways for the day, with Falk taking his leave soon after. “You going to be okay on your own boy? I promised the goblins a drink today.”
“Yeah, go have fun and I’ll see you later Falk.”
Now alone, he focused on his designs for both the contest, as well as Greed, until he heard the small crab's voice calling out to him.
“Hey legs, what have you got for me?”