Okay, this is incredible but I can study it more later. Gotta work on the next thing first.

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out his knife he’d used when killing the forbidden gods, stripping it of its enchantments before going through his packed rings. He had so many by that point that soon enough he would have to rethink how he organized them, though that would be a later issue. For the time being he grabbed the main two he’d need. The beast form one he’d copied from Ralia, as well as the one new one he’d made while in the village, minor soul magic.

While his knowledge on it was more geared to how it acted as a third-tier skill since he’d had no clue it could exist in the first before they’d come to the woods, he had a good enough idea from that as well as talking with the villagers who had it on what sorts of spells could be used with it, and since it was available to him he was going to happily use it, incorporating the magic into the design he’d been planning for so long to make use of the beast form skill.

Taking those two rings, as well as the life and death ones that constantly had a place on his fingers, he blended the enchantments for all of them, altering the ratios of what went into it each time he did as he made his rings of it, laying them down to interlock and braid around each other, putting his unique system of enchantments to work until he had the item exactly as he wanted it. He’d still need to test it to see if there needed any adjustments, but that was coming as he pulled out his used-up soul crystals.

Let’s see, I probably shouldn’t use the one that has a bunch of souls in it, not sure how that would turn out. As for the ones I used when killing the forbidden gods… Hey Myriad, what’s the odds I trapped the souls of those gods in these?

He was almost certain he had, his sacrilege was telling him as much when he looked at it, with the soul crystals he’d used on them seeming starkly different from the others, but it never hurt to confirm.

Interesting, interesting, and just hypothetically, between you and me, nobody else has to know, what do you think might happen if I try and use the soul of a god with the beast form skill?

His god told him bluntly, sounding exceptionally tired as he did.

Don’t let evil gods into my body, gotcha. In that case, is there anything I can actually do with these or are they just fancy decorations at this point? If the body of a god is as useful as you made it sound then the soul has to be good for something, right?

Well, aside from this what can I use souls in general for? I’m sure there’s some applications that would translate extra well to the soul of a god.

He’d spent so long on the topic for his few goals, until then he hadn’t even noticed how narrow his focus had been, but now with souls in hand he wanted to know just what applications they could be put towards. Applications his god had no interest in sharing.

Come on, give me something, I won’t tell on you.

Very lame, but it does give me an idea. If I could hypothetically find a way to permanently bind them to the souls of people, could the same sort of change the nagual went through take place? Basically making a semi-divine race as a whole? It seems like having a god descended on you lowers your fertility, but what if that god was actually a part of you? Do demigods have less children as well?

That’s weird, I didn’t hear an actual answer to my question.

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Okay, but you keep going on about how out of the norm I am for that so it could be handy if applied. I wouldn’t exactly want to test it on myself but it’s an idea to look into, especially for the long-term potential. If I can find a way to bind a god’s soul to someone so they have control and they’re able to keep passing down the trait like the nagual, then we’d have the potential for a very interesting future for the world.

Hey, this could be used to save the world too if it’s done quickly enough. Besides though, I’m not sure if I even could do anything like this. I don’t think it would actually be possible to do it with an enchantment, which means I’d need to figure it out as a spell and then get one of the soul mages to do it instead. Or maybe it could be managed as a ritual? That might actually be easier…

Myriad was quick to point out in an effort to distract Ben as he started thinking about just how exactly a ritual like that would be pulled off.

Yeah yeah, it’s just an idea anyway, not a serious thing to look into. Yet. If you won’t tell me any ways I can use the souls I worked so hard to figure out how to store then what about telling me how the bodies of the demons they were wearing are used? Just what’s so handy about the flesh of a god?

Consider me on my best behaviour. He thought, trying to get across as much sincerity as he could. But while on the topic, you’ve gotta teach me how those potions are made.

It’s for my intellectual curiosity. Just ‘cause I won’t get to make them doesn’t mean I won’t be able to learn anything from the process.

You’re the best.

His conversation done, he put aside the crystals that were almost certain to contain god souls, instead grabbing one he was sure only possessed that of a single demon, placing it into the slot in his knife.

“Are you sure about this?” Thera asked him, looking exceptionally unconfident as he held it.

“I’m sure it will be fine. If I prove this is viable then maybe I can talk the gods into letting me make more with some more useful creatures without wanting to toss me into hell for it. Imagine getting a beast form skill with something like a leviathan attached. Just gotta prove it could actually be useful first.”

With that he ran his mana through it, activating the enchantment and slowly feeling its effects. Considering both his resistances and his skill that would be fighting against it since the magic of the enchantment was activating on him directly he didn’t have the immediate effect he’d expected, but after a few moments they could both see the change.

Starting at his fingers that grasped the handle, his flesh morphed to the red scales of a demon, creating a painful itching sensation as it continued on up to his elbow as he broke into a grin.

“I’d call that a success,” He said happily, feeling thrilled to have gotten the enchantment right on the first try. “Now just to see what it’s good for. Actually, I didn’t stop to consider what it might be good for, did I? Put all my focus on just figuring out how to make it work. Um-”

Oh, that’s probably not a good thing.

“On second thought, let’s quit now and… hmm, also not good. Thera, I might need some help!”

He couldn’t cancel the enchantment. The hand that held the knife was grasping it tightly, forcing mana into it against his will and wouldn’t drop it to break him off from the effect. He’d completely lost control of the limb and with no other choice, tried to pry his fingers from it with his other hand, only for it to react badly.

Showing a level of strength greater than he normally possessed that could only have come from the effects of the beast form skill being applied to him, the arm wielding the knife ripped away from the one going at it and either by accident as it flailed about randomly, or as an intentional attack, it stabbed into his stomach, his grip on it only ending as Thera reacted with a spell, a large rock flying from the earth, smashing his fingers and making the item fall to the ground as the effect of it faded, the scales that sprouted returning to regular flesh in the process.

The moment it fell Thera rushed to him, kicking the knife away as she placed a hand on the wound to his gut, focusing her life magic there as she made him lie down before moving to his mangled hand while he tried to laugh it off through the pain, not thinking about the two levels he’d gained far too quickly.

“Alright, let’s mark down ‘using the soul of a creature with soul magic’ as not one of my best ideas.”