“My head feels like it’s going to explode,” Sonya muttered over breakfast as Ben poured her more water. “I’m never letting Ceselee talk me into having that much again, everything hurts.”
Thera placed a hand on her aunt, using her life magic to help get rid of the hangover and sped up her body taking in the water she drank as she came back to life.
“Much better,” She sighed before leaning into her niece. “Sorry about that, I didn’t do anything too embarrassing, did I?”
“Nope.”
“No aunty, you were fine.”
If she didn’t remember what happened then neither of them was going to remind her, even if the night still hung in both of their thoughts.
“By the way guys, I’ll probably be home late tonight so I won’t be able to cook dinner,” Ben told them. “Got a bit of extra work to do.”
“That’s fine, it will let me get some practice,” Thera said, giving him a smile before they all split up for the day.
Ben’s first stop being the guild, with Ceselee waiting near the front entrance for him instead of her office, looking as bad as Sonya had right up until she’d gotten healed.
“Alright, let’s get this over with,” The guild master grumbled. “All of your land is at the west gate so I’ll point it out and then no more outrageous purchases like this. Do you have any idea the reaction I got when I told them you wanted the land today?”
“You’re the best Ceselee, I appreciate your work,” He told her happily, tapping his card against her own to transfer over the outrageous sum he’d just spent. “But before that, let’s just swing by the shop, I gotta see if the contractor I hired is out there waiting for me.”
“Fine fine, let’s just get this over with.”
He briefly wondered about whether they should stop at the clinic first but brushed it off. Ceselee was an adult, if she wanted to then she didn’t need him suggesting it so instead they made their way to Falk’s store, finding it open with two large people already inside.
The first was his teacher, the yeti looking tired as he spoke with the hooded man before him, his form hidden away except for the large white hand placed comfortingly on Falk's shoulder.
He wondered for a second if he should give them a bit of time alone, but both noticed his entry and they dropped the serious mood they’d been carrying.
“Boy, I hear you’re already planning something outrageous,” His teacher told him with a hearty laugh that the other man, Abrus joined while Ceselee winced at all of the noise.
“Could the two of you have some consideration for the suffering of others?” She grumbled, making Falk laugh all the harder.
“If you didn’t go so overboard all of the time then you wouldn’t have to deal with it. Just go to the clinic already.”
“Never, if I can get hangover resistance then it will be worth it.”
“How many years have you been aiming for that now?”
“We aren’t going to think about that, it will just make me sad.”
“Okay, ignoring the fact that the guild master is a victim of sunk cost fallacy, shall we go get this done?” Ben asked. “And want to come along Falk, see firsthand just how outrageous I’m getting?”
“Ah, sure boy, why not? Spending a bit of time out won’t kill me.”
Once all of them were ready, Ceselee was quick to rush them along, eager to finish up so she could enjoy the quiet of her office as soon as they were all done.
The lot of them walked through town, drawing a few eyes before they got out the western gate where Ceselee pointed out some marked boundaries, giving him nearly half a kilometer of space to work with.
“There, that’s all of the area you bought so just give me a heads up when you’re going to actually start construction and I’ll let the town know.”
“Huh? Ceselee, I wanted it today because I’m obviously starting today. Speaking of, here you go Abrus, think you could make this happen?”
He pulled out some basic floor plans from his pocket for how he wanted the new section of town to be arranged as the great earth spirit glanced it all over and nodded.
“It looks simple enough, just give me a few minutes to get it done.”
“What?”
Ceselee didn’t get an answer though. Before she could, Abrus began, flattening and compressing each section where new roads would be before identifying the areas where houses would stand, digging out basements and separating the dirt into raw materials before recombing them as need be, building up walls and roofs for houses before working on the two biggest parts, his research center and storage room.
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He noticed Ceselee looking shocked by it all which he hadn’t expected either. Since she was friends with both Falk and Sonya, he’d just assumed she’d known their connection to the queen of Anailia, but if that was the case then she should have understood just who was doing all of the work before her.
Oh well, word was always going to spread fast about this so what’s one more surprised person?
As Abrus was working he was keeping one particular base element from all of the ground he was extracting. Carbon, specifically to save him the trouble of having to materialize it himself for the next part of Ben’s request, the thousands and thousands of diamond sheets he would need.
“Of course, I’m going to materialize some of them,” He said offhandedly. “If I pull too much from the earth itself then I’d be killing the ecosystem around here as well, so this is still going to be pretty costly.”
“I always knew it would be, you know I’m good for it.”
“Ha, true enough, you’re already throwing around a fortune at this point so this much really is nothing.”
The town kept going up around their eyes until eventually it was complete, done faster than any construction team he could have hoped to hire and ready for any new occupant Nare had managed to find him.
“Alright, I’ll just need to finish adding all of your sheets to the storage area and then I’ll head off unless there’s anything else you need me to do?”
“I think I’m all good here, thanks Abrus.”
“But you sure you shouldn’t see your daughter while you’re here?” Falk asked. “This is your first time in town after all.”
“Ah, I saw her only a day ago and I know she likes her space. Of course, that doesn’t mean either of you should be a stranger. Swing by Anailia a bit more, both of you. My wife always loves the visits, you know.”
“Will will,” Ben agreed while his teacher nodded.
“I’ll try to make a bit more time for it. It was good seeing you, friend.”
Final words spoken they parted, with Ceselee looking significantly more sober as she switched between looking at both him and Falk.
“So I take it that was Thera’s father? Unless there’s someone else in the world who can wield that level of mana.”
“It was,” Falk said simply.
“Huuh, you know, I’d never bothered to think too much on her heritage, every now and then there’s people who are just born with a bit too much power, but since Sonya’s a succubus that means she’s half, so should I take that to mean-”
“What my niece is is her own business,” The yeti told her sternly. “Don’t go spreading any rumours just ‘cause you’re feeling clever.”
“Who do you take me for? Of course I know it’s her business, it just wasn’t the hardest thing to put together. Of course, Sonya will be getting a much bigger earful the next time we spar. Honestly, how many years have I known her for her to not tell me who her sister is?”
With that bit of extra grumbling, she walked off, leaving teacher and student to go back to the shop, ready to indulge in a day of work.
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Okay, talking to Falk can come later. For now, it’s time to see what my new skills can do.
He now had over a hundred new rings enchanted with awakened skills and he wanted to put them to use. Making so many gates had been fun, but it hadn’t let him flex his creativity, and that wasn’t even mentioning his goal. He was going to make a legendary item.
His teacher for his part seemed content to let Ben do what he wanted as he focused on his own tasks, so instead Ben got started on the first thing that came to mind as he heated up the forge, creating a long hollow tube to be filled with the most complex enchantments he could put together.
The item itself was simple, suitable for a bit of practice before he let himself truly fall into his goal, but enchanting it would be an act of pushing himself as he put together one making use of each magic ring in his possession, weaving, blending, and intertwining each strand of mana until the tool was dense with magic and it was complete in his hands.
Not sure I’d say this is particularly inspired, but I’ll take it. Still, high ultra-rare huh? A first for me, but lower than I should be able to do.
It felt weird to think like that, but it was the truth. His crafting skills were powerful and there was nobody else in the world who could enchant like him, but it was still a good start on his way to breaking down that boundary and raising his skill levels all the faster. After all, legendary items were rare for a reason. If he could make them consistently though, he’d be in a place to change the world.
“Hey Falk, come watch me test the first high ultra-rare item I’ve ever made!” He called out, pulling his teacher from his own work as the yeti walked over.
“So you really did it then boy? Congrats.”
“Ha, thanks, but this is just a warm-up. The real show is still to come.”
Still, he wanted to see just how much power he’d gotten out of the tool he’d made compared to the mana it would cost, so standing as to not aim at anything else in the shop he held it out and ran his power through it, watching as eight feet of a powerful blue flame shot forward, creating exactly what he’d wanted to. A flame thrower.
There was more to it than that of course, the fact that the small tool it was enchanted on didn’t destroy itself or his hand under its heat was due to all sorts of other enchantments as well, including the high barrier magic that he’d made sure to take from Furela back in Anailia, and the flame itself was filled with other complimentary effects that would speed up the rate of death for anyone who was caught in it, as well as mind effects that would make it so the target wouldn’t want to leave the moment they were hit. It was violent and beautiful and some of his best work, and he knew that he could push so much farther.
His teacher let out a low whistle, clearly impressed with what he was seeing. “I’ve got nothing to add boy, at this point you're about as good an enchanter as me. The quality is excellent.”
He couldn’t deny what his teacher said, it was a fact. Back when he was at his first level of divine enchanting he hadn’t believed that he’d have reached Falk’s skill with only two more, but now here they were, all of his work paying off.
It felt a little emotional, but he didn’t want to show it, so instead he put the tool down in favour of getting started on his next task.
“Just you watch Falk, the day’s still young and there’s plenty more to come.”