Chapter 330

Chapter 330

“Huh, looks like I was right. Alright guys, you can stop now,” Ben told the two gods who were speaking in his head, spewing a stream of information about the plants in the world as he finished up a book on the same topic. Specifically, he’d been learning about plants in so far as how they related to his crafting and alchemy, wanting to see if that would level up both of his knowledge skills and finding it did.

Helori sighed in relief as Myriad was quick to agree with the feeling.

“It was just to speed things along, don’t worry. I’ll try and improve my speed reading some more anyway, but first, I’ve got to focus on today.”

He had big plans after all. After plenty of time devoting himself to working on the god bone weapons with Falk and tending to his new, ethically dubious garden, the weekend had finally arrived, meaning he had a promise with Thera to fulfill, and with that in mind he left his room to get started on it.

Sonya had already left for the clinic for the day and he knew Thera planned to sleep in a bit with how early she’d been going to help, followed by plenty of time spent hunting with Aso after, so he was going to use it to push his culinary skills to their maximum potential.

She said she wanted the best day of her life, let’s see if I can make that happen.

Breakfast was a priority, but his main focus was things that would be enjoyed later as he began on the last thing they’d be eating that day, dessert. He wanted to have a variety of flavours, but even with as good as he was, there were limits to how much he could make, so to get around that he decided on cupcakes. After making the initial batter, it was easy enough to separate out portions to add different flavourings to, as well as all of the fillings and frostings and creams that would go with them, ending up with so many combinations that he thought would work in the end that after they were complete no two were the same, even though he had over two dozen.

“Hmm, maybe I made too many actually? Well, it will be good to let Sonya have some and who says there can’t be dessert after breakfast too? Let’s see, Thera seems to have a sweet tooth anyway but a sweet breakfast followed by a cupcake might be a little too much. We have some meat and veggies that should go well with a light syrup so let’s go with those to start.”

Plan in mind, he began exactly that as he heard Thera beginning to move around, the smell of his cupcakes making its way to her and her stomach rousing her to get up and see just what was waiting in the kitchen.

“Mmh, morning,” She said as she walked up behind him, placing her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed in a futile resistance against her hunger to stay asleep.

“Morning. Give me just a minute and I’ll have breakfast out.”

“Sounds good, it smells fantastic.”

“It will be.”

She grabbed her seat while he left the food to cook, grabbing something from the cold box to make drinks. Frederick was yielding berries year-round now, and while he enjoyed snacking on them as he worked, most went to the freezer if he ever needed them, in this case being boiled and mashed in a pot with some water and sweetener before straining to make a simple juice.

Once done, he plated everything and laid it out for them, both digging in as the last bit of sleep left Thera.

“Alright, this is definitely a good start, but you’ve got a long way to go before I’m over my title,” She teased. In the weeks since she’d gained it, she found herself caring less and less, but she still liked the idea of Ben going all out for her enough that she wasn’t going to drop it, and he was happy to anyway given how their first date turned out.

“Well, I’ve got one or two things that should entertain you, namely a new game. Come on.”

“Ben, as much as I enjoy passing the time playing games with you, beating you has lost some of its magic.”

“Ah, but you’ve never beaten me like this.”

“I think you’re not a mother.”

“That’s completely beside the point,” He laughed as he thought about it. He didn’t need to do it to earn more money, he had plenty of that already, but it might end up as a nice way to keep a bit of his homeworld alive, even if there ever came a time that humans were all but forgotten in the universe. At the very least, he thought it would be a good way to leave a mark from his race in a purely cultural sense beyond whatever any of his classmates achieved in battle.

Well, that’s just one more thing I can send off with Falk before he leaves. I’ve got some time so maybe I’ll work on getting a few more equivalents as well. Something to consider at least.

With lunch done, the two of them wandered through the town after, enjoying the day and the sun while it was out before making their way back home. When Thera had told him she wanted to do this, she’d emphasized one point in particular, so he was happy to spend a few hours trying to manage it, failing miserably as he did.

“You are absolutely terrible at this,” She laughed as she spun in his arms, trying to teach him the moves for a dance that had no need for a tail. “I don’t think we’ll be getting you the skill today.”

“Hey, don’t give up on me so quick, it might happen.”

“It really won’t. All of those minds in your head but you can barely use them to keep your feet moving right. You get points for being good with your hands though; it’s like your top half and your bottom half are from two different people.”

“Ha, if I can figure out a way to craft with my feet I’ll get better at using them in no time. For now though, should we start to end things and I can begin dinner? I’ve been marinating a roast since yesterday and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.”

“Mmh, one thing first,” She told him, guiding his hands to her hips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “We can at least do some of your silly human dancing.”

With that they swayed to the music, Ben staring into her eyes as they sparkled from the light of his music player, and feeling the mood, began to lean in as she did as well, only stopping with the sound of the door opening, making Thera slip from his hands before anyone could walk in on them.

“Aunty, you’re home early,” She called out before Sonya joined them.

“It was a shockingly easy day at the clinic today. Of course, having my mana more than triple what it was a week ago helped so I was able to leave early for once. Though, am I maybe interrupting something?”

She saw Ben’s music playing flying around the living room and her niece’s blushing face, but Thera was quick to refute her. “Not at all, Ben was just going to start dinner.”

“Hmm, okay, but if you two ever want some time to yourself you can just let me know,”

Definitely should have let her know.

“You don’t need to worry about that aunty,” She told her, casting Ben a look from the side.

“Alright, well if you’re sure I’ll go clean up first.”

As she left, Thera leaned up, giving him a quick kiss before whispering in his ear. “Sorry.”

“Hey, it’s all good. Even if it ended a bit earlier than usual, would you say it was still a good date?”

“An excellent one.”