When Nare and Helori returned, they brought along six others, all gods Ben recognized as those who’d been selected in the past to help deal with him, all of them looking equally tired and annoyed to be called there as one spoke up.
“Is this really the time for you to be concerned about getting a payout?”
“We’ve been over this. I do work, I get paid, that’s how I operate.”
“You’re asking us to waste our strength on-”
“Someone who managed to already save the world once, yes, I’m aware. You should all feel honoured as gods to be able to show your fairness and grace by granting me a small boon. Really, I’m doing you all a favour here. This way you all get to look nice and just, it really conveys the image that the gods reward those who deserve it.”
All of them were wondering just how small of a boon Ben was going to ask for, with Phixth being the one to cut to the heart of that question.
“And then how exactly do you want to be rewarded for your help dealing with the outsider, apostle Ben?”
“Straight to the point, that’s what I like about you. Now, obviously I’m deserving of blessings from every god on this planet and for you guys to push me into the third tier. The world wouldn’t even be around if not for me and it sounds like plenty of you would have died if I didn’t manage to seal it after killing it so you all personally own me too-”
“Out of the question,” A different god cut in. “I don’t intend to deny what you’re saying, I’d even support it if we manage to fend off the demons in the end, but as things are right now it can’t be justified.”
Ben hadn’t actually expected to hear it would be supported at all in any circumstance, leaving him to give the one that spoke a positive evaluation in his eyes before he went on.
“And I understand that, which is why I’m asking this instead. The gods of this world will instead all grant me the experience to finish my current job, do that for me and I’ll call us square.”
“...Would that really be enough?” Phixth asked, with the others around seeming to share the same sentiment. They all had trouble believing he’d be satisfied with the completion of a job, so he did his best to clarify without overshowing his hand.
“The one I’m currently on is honestly pretty difficult for me,” He admitted. “It gives good bonuses but I don’t exactly feel the most compatible with it, you know? Still, I want to get it out of the way so I can move on to something I’m more suited to. This seemed like the perfect way to make that happen.”
When he put it that way, it made enough sense to them. They all had heard that he’d taken the soul mage job after gaining the ability to materialize souls but aside from that one aspect, it didn’t seem like one he was particularly suited to. While his new skill was sure to be one that would grant incredible experience to it, who was to say how long it would still take, even under constant use? Even optimistically, they’d assume a few years, making his desire to move onto something that suited him more as a craftsman make sense as they quietly spoke among themselves.
“We’ll agree to this,” Phixth said with a nod. “Wait just a bit and we’ll gather the others, the cost is going to be great enough that we’re still going to want to divide it up amongst ourselves.”
“No worries, that works out perfectly for me too, wouldn’t want any one person to overexert themselves. Look forward to seeing you all soon.”
He waved them off as the gods vanished from the realm, leaving only the last three to stare at him with Helori speaking up.
“You already finished soul mage.”
“Did I say I didn’t?” He asked innocently, with the goddess giving him a shake of her head at the response.
“Then what could you have possibly taken for your newest one that you’d want to spend your reward on like this? Don’t tell me you had another third-tier job?”
“Eh, something like that. For now, I wouldn’t worry about it, I have a different favour to ask.”
“What exactly is that?”
“Can someone grab me Anailia?”
----------------------------------------
“Ben, why exactly am I here?” Thera asked him after having been pulled from her brief sleep to be assaulted by the divinity swarming her.
“You’ll see in a bit, just trust me here.”
“I hate hearing that.”
“It will be great.”
He shot her his most winning look which she only regarded in suspicion as all at once the realm filled, with the only thing protecting Thera from the feeling of it being her goddess wrapped around her.
More crowded than any time Ben had seen Myriad’s home in the past, it was filled with gods of all sorts, none of them exactly looking pleased to be there but all of them forced into it by obligation. Some may not have liked it but Ben had saved the world, they couldn’t simply forgo rewarding him for that achievement, especially not with the connections he had to spread word of that fact if they tried.
“Alright,” He called out cheerfully. “Thanks for coming out everyone, I’m sure you all have things to do so I won’t keep you. No wasting time on small talk and hit me! I’ve even got my mind open so you’ll all be able to hear when I’m done since I’m just polite like that.”
His greeting going largely ignored, nonetheless they still did what he’d asked and he felt their power flowing into him from it as the divine created the experience his job needed to let him move through his levels and kept giving it as the seconds of transfer turned into minutes, all of them moving from their initial mixture of annoyance and indifference to confusion when they didn’t receive any indication that his job had yet finished before going even farther, with one voice eventually calling out to break the silence.
“How is this not done? I’m at ten times what I expected to give!”
The shout brought the sounds of agreement with it from many others, all while Ben tried to play innocent.
“Maybe you guys just underestimated how much it would take, you’re not going to quit on me, are you? Not when I literally helped save the planet? When literally the only thing I asked for out of consideration to you all was that you help me finish this one job so I can try to be more useful by taking more?”
The comment bought him a few more minutes as they each tried to finish it for him, but by the fifteenth minute they’d reached their breaking point, able to take no more.
“Enough!” A different god called out. “Who said he was just trying to finish being a soul mage? The amount this has taken is impossible!”
More calls rose from there as the flow of divinity into him stopped completely, leaving him in a bind. Looking at the crowd, he didn’t actually think he’d be able to convince them to help him through more no matter what he’d done and while he’d been prepared to casually mention how the more powerful people in his life, the third-tier skill holders he was friends with who’d one day be joining their ranks and Pelenia and Greed who’d both be able to spread word far and wide that the gods weren’t willing to pay off the smallest of requests even after saving the world, would all view their cheapness poorly, it would likely interfere with the other way he’d planned on taking advantage of them.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
That left the massive issue of how he’d get the rest of his experience but he filed that way as a future problem, one he’d be left thinking on until he was freed from its current confines as he moved to put things back to his benefit as he sadly shook his head.
“Well, if it’s too hard for you all then I understand,” He said sadly. “I didn’t think it would be so bad but if it’s really to the point that it's going to get in the way of how you’ll all be able to contribute to the rest of the war then I wouldn’t want that. You guys have done enough, I’ll figure out the rest myself somehow or other.”
Phixth looked ready to sigh in relief at the fact he seemed to be being reasonable. None of them understood why it had taken so much from them but while plenty wanted answers, there was going to be no easy way to get them.
“Thank you for your understanding, apostle Ben. You have my sincere apology that we weren’t able to satisfy your request.”
“Of course, don’t worry, if we win in the end then you can all just make it up to me later.”
“...I’m sorry?”
“Worrying about how you spend your faith won’t be an issue then, right?” He said with big, innocent eyes. “I know I said I’d call us square with this, but, well, I didn’t exactly get it, did I? Better to wait to be rewarded than to be greedy about it, isn’t it?”
“...Very well.”
The god couldn’t exactly deny it. They hadn’t given Ben the one thing he’d asked for when the fact that they were only in the shape to fight they currently were was thanks to him. Better to accept things as they stood instead of putting him in a position where he’d want to push for more then and there instead.
That raised grumbles among the rest but at that point, it was entirely a matter of image for them. Nothing could be worse than their people losing faith in them when the planet was being invaded, better to push off the problem and worry about it in the future, with Ben’s ears catching the words of one god among the rest.
“Since that’s all-”
“Ah, glad you guys are ready to move on to the next bit!” He told them in cheer, with the sorrow he’d been wearing moments before disappearing like it had never been there as he went on without letting anyone else get a word in. “After all, I’m not the only one who risked life and limb to take the outsider on. In fact, you could say that my lovely girlfriend risked even more than me! I at least was semi-confident that seeing it wasn’t going to destroy my mind, she had no such illusions. Surely you’re all not going to leave her unrewarded for the part she played when I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without her?”
“You can’t be serious,” Yet a different one groaned, a sentiment that was spreading out among the rest as they all grappled with how much greed one mortal could display so brazenly, with even Thera uncomfortable.
“Uh, Ben?”
“Thera, I asked you to trust me so this is where I really need you to do it. This is going somewhere.”
“And where exactly is that?” Phixth asked, no longer trying to hide his sigh as he waved for a few others to deal with the angriest in the crowd to keep from any outburst putting them even further into the boy’s hands.
“Thera is outrageously powerful, you should all be aware of that and making her stronger would only help. Now, to help the most people possible, that leaves a few easy options. Give her a level to her spiritual life magic and push her magic inclination to awakening.”
“I see,” Phixth muttered while the rest of the gods spoke amongst themselves as he looked between him and her before ultimately focusing back on the one with a mind he couldn’t read, seeing right through him. “You’re trying to turn her into a soul mage.”
“Yes.”
More shock around them but none more so than from Thera herself who’d had no idea where he’d been going with that, not that he could help it. He hadn’t had a chance to run it by her when he’d thought of it but it was something he couldn’t resist. If she could become a soul mage then their odds would only improve further. She already had more raw power than either of the other soul mages, if she could reach that level of skill then the amount of people that would benefit would be uncountable, especially when adding in that she’d learned to bind spells to her soul.
Just as important was the fact that she’d be able to use any soul spells on herself too, an aspect that could make an already powerful fighter stronger by letting her improve her magics even quicker than she already could, with the benefits of having an awakened inclination added in on top of that.
Combined, she might even be able to awaken her earth magic to the third tier too if she was able to unlock soul magic fast enough, although that was still a big if. There was no guarantee that even with what he wanted for her that she’d be able to cross the final threshold herself in the next few months, it was more reasonable to assume she wouldn’t.
But even if it didn’t work out, she’d still be able to help heal others even more with that extra level and she’d be able to raise her other magics easier, practically guaranteed to gain a few more levels in her lower ones in the months to come. In his eyes, empowering her would be good for her, the world, and even the gods, with at least one of them seeming to agree.
“And where does she currently sit for her inclination skill then?” Phixth asked as he looked at her in contemplation.
“Fifth level, admittedly she’d need a few.”
“That’s more than a few,” A different goddess called out. “Phixth, you can’t honestly be entertaining this?”
“I personally don’t view him as wrong and compared to how much we just gave him without reaching the goal, it wouldn’t even be as hard when we consider the ease we had raising her in the different towers,” The stone god said. “She’s powerful enough as a mortal that she single-handedly made a difference at the points she was stationed at, you should all be aware which makes me inclined at least to agree, but I’d add a caveat. If we give her all you’re asking for, we will be, as you like to say, square. No coming to look for more benefits when the war is over.”
“Tsk, fine,” Ben agreed, disappointed but willing to take the hit for all of the good it would do in the long run. “So you’ll do it?”
“We’ll discuss it,” The god clarified. “This isn’t as simple as your own request, it bears proper consideration. We’ll all need to talk about it so leave this realm for now and we’ll come to a conclusion by the morning.”
“Alright, we’ll get out of your hair and I look forward to some good news.”
He pulled his mind from the realm with that, expecting Anailia to send Thera’s down and getting a start as she jerked up, the usual hint of sleep nowhere in her eyes despite the still-late hour of the night as she looked at him in exasperation.
“Ben, that was in no uncertain terms, the most stressful thing I’ve ever watched you do. I have no clue how you are so comfortable talking to gods like that.”
“If you show a weak front they’ll try to take advantage of you,” He shrugged. “Gotta be confident and firm.”
“That was a bit beyond that! And what the hell is this about you trying to turn me into a soul mage?”
“I mean, if we win then that’s more a matter of time then anything else, isn’t it? It would be better for everyone if we could speed that process along.”
He said nothing of his own concerns. He still hadn’t told her his worries about how involved he thought he was going to have to get if he wanted the world, and more importantly, the people he loved on it, to survive in the end, but that was at the forefront of his mind when he’d first known he was going to try and manipulate the gods into it.
While the fact that his job still went unfinished was outside of his calculations, he’d known it would take a lot and since they at least acted like they tried to be fair, they couldn’t turn down giving out a comparable reward. Of course, the fact that she really was incredibly powerful only helped his point and he hadn’t expected to hear that it would be less than he’d received for the one job but all of that had worked to his favour.
And then if they still don’t do it, the entire world is finding out the gods weren’t willing to reward someone who’d actively saved the world once already, and in a way that would only help now to boot.
…Really glad that didn’t happen up there while I was letting them all listen in on my thoughts.
Thera flicked his head. “You look like you’re thinking something nefarious.”
“That’s currently a little hard to deny.”
“...Well, I’ll just count myself lucky that your actions can’t raise my sacrilege,” She eventually sighed before getting up. “There’s no way I’m getting any more sleep today so I’m going be having an early day at the hospital I guess. Ben, I know I say this a lot but please don’t give any other gods a reason to hate you when I’m not around.”
“Uh, I can probably manage that.”
The look she gave him was one containing nothing but doubt but with nothing else she could do she eventually just shook her head and kissed him goodbye before heading off, leaving him time to begin his own set of work, with the shop he loved so dearly sitting just beyond the gate in the room, waiting for his grand return.