Chapter 107

Chapter 107

As the weeks passed Ben fell comfortably into his new routine. From working on his enchanting and connect throughout the week, as well as taking more time to improve his alchemy and some of the tools he’d been designing for his hunts on the weekends, he’d made sure every minute of his time was filled.

It had only taken him a few days to get the zeroth level of calculate since he’d been practicing, having plenty of knowledge of math after taking it for years in school and being able to spend all day solving problems thanks to his extra mind made it rather easy, and he was lightly working on getting the next level for it too. Though it was dull work, it helped keep his thoughts busy most of the time as he did other tasks that were less thought intensive.

Most exciting of all though, tonight should be the night. As long as the grey, Quilith, kept his word he should be able to expect a visit sometime later to start submitting some of the questions he’d thought to ask, and Ben had many. One of the worst things about coming to a new world was not having access to the internet at all times, it was hard to realize just how much he’d taken for granted being able to use the total of human knowledge at any given time.

Of course, it was always possible he wouldn’t show. Their race as a whole had pretty much instantly gained the world's goodwill the moment they revealed themselves, his little threats that started it all would have pretty much no effect on public opinion, even with his god on his side. If that did end up happening it wasn’t the biggest deal, his biggest concern of trying to help the planet he was stuck on had been fulfilled. Worst to worst he could travel to one of the bigger craftsman guilds to see if they had any info, though in a few cases he seriously doubted it. Failing that it all came down to trial and error.

“What are you making?” Thera asked as she peered over his shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts and back to his work at hand.Ñøv€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

“Lifeblood potion, or at least something like it. I had to make a substitution for one ingredient but Falk thinks it will be fine so I’m not concerned.”

“Isn’t that the one that will corrode your blood if you make it wrong?” She asked with concern, having taken his suggestion to read through Falk’s alchemy books as well and getting to the first level in her knowledge skill.

“Yeah but as long as I make it right it will replace any lost vitality and can start stitching together flesh at a significantly enhanced rate. Considering how often things try to bite chunks out of me I want one on hand just in case.”

He was happy that even without acquiring life magic yet, Thera had started to gain more knowledge on how to treat wounds, but he wanted all assurance he could get in case of emergency.

“I’m mostly just concerned you’re already making modifications to a dangerous potion that you haven’t even made the correct way before.”

“Falk’s watching, it’ll probably be fine.”

Thera made a clear and pointed look to the other end of the shop where Falk was busy with his own work, very much not watching Ben make it.

“Well, he’ll give it a look later.”

“Maybe he’s hoping to get out of any more training for any future apprentices.” She told him with a laugh.

“Haha,” He responded dryly. “Weren’t you supposed to be studying or practicing magic or something?”

“Why do I even care?” She said aloud, mostly asking herself, though Ben answered anyway.

“Because you’re a wonderful fiancée,” He told her, trying to be funny. “But it feels fine so far, I’m pretty sure things are supposed to start burning immediately if something’s wrong. It does kind of itch though.”

“That still sounds bad. Couldn’t you have done this at the clinic to be safe?”

Ben didn't have an answer for that and looked to his teacher for help, who was making a distinct effort not to look at his niece.

It was clear that Thera was exasperated. “Can you please at least go to the clinic next time you want to test something like that? I’d rather not watch you poison yourself.”

“Ha, will do,” He said awkwardly, completely seeing her point. “But the good news is the itching seems fine, it looks like a result of my body just rapidly healing.”

It was slow, but Ben could clearly see a scab starting to form over his cut and couldn’t help but marvel that he’d made something that pharmaceutical companies from his world would salivate at. It may have been a fairly complicated potion to make with plenty of room for error, but the fact that not only could it do that, but he was capable of making it left Ben overjoyed. The presence of mana in the world having not just an effect on its residents but the properties of all life, and meant that with enough training anyone could throw a potion like it together.

He wished he could just stick to potions given how effective they could be and his resistance to healing magics, but they did tend to have their side effects one couldn’t avoid, and too much of them at one time would typically be disastrous. Still, now that he could make them he was going to keep a few around for his hunts from now on, on top of a basic first aid kit he made sure to buy after having carelessly forgotten one on the trial.

“It looks good,” Falk told his apprentice as he watched the wound close on Ben's arm. “It looks like it’s a bit slower than it would be if it was made correctly but that doesn’t matter much as long as it doesn’t affect the overall performance. I’ll have Ceselee send out a letter to one of the main guild branches later to see if this is already a known substitute and they can start their own testing to see what races it’s compatible with or poisonous to. Since it’s just a modification to a recipe anyone can use there’s no patent, but a small reward is offered for discovering new ways to make common medicines so you might get some luck.”

“Oh sweet!”

“What happened to you being stressed getting all that money for your braces that has you already wanting more?” Thera asked when she saw his excitement.

“Hey now, it was just crazy getting all of that at once. Trust me, if I’m paid appropriately for my work then I’m happy.”

It wasn’t like he would be getting anything close to what he’d made while he was making the braces anyway, and even though that money would last him for many years if he didn’t buy anything too crazy for it, there was never any harm in getting a little more.

As he, Falk, and Thera stopped to chat before he moved on to his next task he heard the shop door open behind his back, and a familiar voice call out.

“‘Scuse me, Looking for Ben if he’s here?”