“-Thus ends the main topic of discussion,” Spoke the stone god Phixth in exhaustion at the end of the meeting among the divine. It had actually gone exceptionally well, with the outcome of the second wave being excellent compared against any time a planet had gotten to that point in the past, to the point that the proper feeling should have been elation if anything from seeing the fruits of their labour blossom.
No, it was nothing from the first part of the meeting that had exhausted him, but instead what he knew was going to come next, with news having spread between every god at lightning speed. The main topic all of them wanted to get to which he, as the one saddled with the role of trying to lead those messy meetings, was going to be forced to bring up as he went on.
“Now we can move to the matter of the reappearance of apostle Ben.”
With that having been what so many of them had been waiting for, the table exploded into conversation from there with everyone having an opinion to give on the mortal who’d been stolen from the world before dragging themself back despite the odds, with how much anyone believed that fact being called into question. A mortal that somehow kept increasing his workload despite the fact that he had no strong feelings one way or the other about the boy unlike so many others, a fact that had somehow turned him into the perfect mediator.
“Silence! All of you, I’m aware there’s some strong opinions about this but before giving into speculation and rumours, I at least would like to first hear it from a more direct source. Myriad, if you would, what can you tell us about your apostle’s return?”
“Of course,” The cube said, speaking up as the rest quieted down to listen. “Though it doesn’t seem like there is too much to tell. After being taken, my apostle was led to a demon god before being confined for the month he was gone with what seemed to be prisoners from every previously conquered world, including plenty we don’t have on this planet. By all accounts, it seems he was captured to act as a trophy from my world since it doesn’t look as though they managed to acquire any of my original people, it seems that one was able to detect my presence off him, either in his soul or his jacket, by comparing it against an artifact of my planet they’d been holding onto instead.”
“And the blessing on him?” One cut in to ask, getting to the heart of what bothered so many. “He’s already received one unusual one, you can see why we’d have our concerns about him getting another, especially from an enemy god of all things.”
Myriad wanted to groan. Despite his hopes, the other gods had in fact found out about Ben’s witness blessing by seeing his status through the eyes of Yuzu which had been enough of a pain to explain away, only to get that new one. No matter what the explanation was, plenty weren’t going to want to accept it.
Still he tried, speaking nothing but the truth. “It appears the god Oaun wasn’t able to read Ben’s mind thanks to the effects of king of sacrilege and in an effort to change that, tried to strengthen his connection to him through a blessing. What he didn’t expect was that it would have the opposite effect, leaving Ben’s mind unread.”
“And we’re just supposed to believe that?” The god Olensia sneered. “Please, what god gives a blessing so freely, and to a prisoner of all things? It’s obvious the boy turned traitor, it’s the only explanation for how he got back to the world-”
His words were cut off by the sharp laughter of a goddess, Helori looking at the other in almost pity.
“Really, how many times must we reiterate this,” She asked in amusement, only enraging the other god more. “Why would a single blessing possibly sway the boy when he already had thirteen, including three tower blessings? Adding in over forty jobs on top of that leaves his current growth potential so high that any single blessing is basically negligible at this point. Even if it is a bigger one than what we’d usually give, it’s certainly not the sort of thing he’d betray the world over. Honestly, don’t you have something better? I’d be embarrassed to present such a weak piece of evidence, but then, that is the problem with those who don’t value knowledge.”
She gave an exaggerated shrug as she said it, riling the other up with Olensia looking prepared to snap, only stopping as another spoke first.
“Both of you, enough,” Phixth sighed. “We will discuss that possibility in greater detail after Myriad is finished. Now Myriad, if you would.”
“Yes, as for how he escaped, I was just about to get onto that. If you all don’t mind I think it would be easier to show you, he should be doing it as we speak.”
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At the center of the room, Myriad created a view of Ben as he worked that day, helping those he’d brought back with him from the demon’s world get the help they’d need for living on that one as the gods surrounding him fell to an unnatural silence, with Phixth being the first to speak up.
“Myriad, what in all the realms is that boy doing?”
“Currently? He didn’t just save himself, I’m not sure if that bit of news made it out but he was able to save everyone he was trapped with too. Unfortunately, that means only the terrestrial races, it’s likely there’s aquatic ones elsewhere but he wasn’t able to help them so I’d like to apologize to the gods who rule over those species for that, but as we speak he’s explaining the situation to the ones with the mental strength to handle it to get them prepared for life on this world. Honestly, he is a rather good boy if you give him the chance, which reminds me, if you could all dedicate some resources to help, I’m sure at least a few hundred of these people will be in a good enough condition to make their place on the planet-”
“That is obviously not what we’re talking about!” A different god cut in. “What is he doing with those… those…”
“Souls,” The cube finished, trying to hide the touch of smugness he was feeling as he and the others watched souls come in and out of existence while Ben worked. “And as for what he’s doing, well, what can I say? I have been blessed with an exceptional apostle. While he was trapped he knew he didn’t have enough mana to escape so he came up with a solution.”
“What solution?” Phixth asked, his mouth dry as he watched with the rest of the gods, trying to understand where that could possibly be leading.
“Ben’s been able to take mana from others since he first awakened to deep connection, all he needed was something to take from to give him that extra power, leading to this. He figured out how to materialize souls and reaped even more benefits than any of us could have expected from it. The boy you’re currently looking at, my apostle, has become the third living soul mage on the planet.”
The statement made the room explode in shouts and yells once more, with Phixth not even trying to calm things down immediately. There was no point, everyone needed some time to process what they’d been told and the gravity of it.
Really, the idea that Ben might have unlocked the soul mage job for his accomplishment was the lesser surprise. Different jobs could have a range of hypothetical acquisition conditions, as shocking as it would normally be to hear someone had gained a third-tier job without a third-tier skill, that was nothing compared to what else they’d just been told. The boy had materialized souls. Was actively materializing souls from the looks of it, and lots of them at that.
Phixth’s eyes were already scanning the crowd, narrowing in on the different soul and magic gods to try and gauge their reactions with all of them ending up as some form of shock or disbelief, telling him what he already suspected. None of them could do it. By all reasonable accounts, what they were witnessing was impossible.
Just what is this boy?
The thought drifted through his head as he continued to watch, a thought he was sure more and more around him were having as well. Someone who had seemed so unremarkable at first was continuing to ever grow into the title of monster he’d ended up with.
And what could he have become if he’d had more time?
Another question that had no good answer. None of them had enough time and they couldn’t dwell on things no matter how impossible they seemed. Ben was doing exactly what Myriad claimed and as far as things went, it was a good enough explanation for how he’d escaped, leaving the god to try and quiet things down so they could continue.
Myriad gave him a small nod before going on. “Of course, he was only able to break free from his prison thanks to that, what got him back was something else you were all going to become aware of sooner or later. Another prisoner on that world, the great space spirit.”
Not one god there couldn’t grasp the implications of such a thing as feelings exploded out once again, not ending until Phixth physically waved some down and forced the rest to follow suit.
“Enough! We will talk about all of this after but we need to finish here first! Now Myriad, is there anything else we should be aware of?”
The stone god was hoping the answer would be a firm no, it felt like the cube had already dropped far too much at their feet which was sure to lead to hours of unending discussions, but unfortunately, none of them were so lucky as Myriad spoke one final time.
“There is one last thing. When Ben told me a bit more about the god he encountered later, he was able to mention one quality of it. In the eyes of his sacrilege, it seems that Oaun resembles me.”
“Resemble you how?”
“He couldn’t say, just that we seem similar. It’s possible that he’s a constructed being like myself or maybe shares my properties as a composite soul. It could also be that he for some reason shares my undefined divinity, but without any other examples it doesn’t seem like something Ben will be able to get an answer to.”
“So be it, a bit more information on our enemy will do us no harm, if you or Ben get any more ideas on the topic then let us know. For now, we can move on to the rest of the discussion.”
The presence of a new person holding the soul mage job, the ability to create souls, the fact the space spirit was likely largely responsible for their conquered worlds and whatever properties Myriad shared with the demon god, the room wasn’t going to be quiet for many long hours after getting so much news at once, leaving Phixth to fight off a headache as it went on, all while he was forced to be the one to try and manage such a proud and strong-willed bunch.