Chapter 595

Chapter 595

Slipping off early the next day, Bens first stop was to his research center, expecting to be alone when he got there but getting the surprise of seeing someone else so early in the morning.

Kufno, what the heck are you doing here this hour?

Ah Ben, His employee greeted. Ive just been organizing some of our records, if Id known you were going to be showing up today I would have tried to get them touched up days ago.

You really dont need to worry too much about it, I dont expect you or anyone else to put in more than the agreed hours.

Im simply an early riser who enjoys an interesting problem, The man shrugged. And there arent any more interesting around than this.

True enough, just dont feel obligated to do anything extra you dont need to, Ill feel like a slave driver.

Ha, Ill keep that in mind. So may I show you to our newest records then?

Ah, in a second, thats only half the reason Im here.

Expending a fair chunk of his power, Ben materialized multiple books, all filled with information on the sections he believed were solved before placing them on the table to the side.

The gods and I believe we have a pretty decent grasp on a couple portions of the spell, wed just need them to be tested a bit. Along with the background knowledge Ive outlined a few experiments to be run to test against some of the assumptions we have in there so if you and your team could read through those and run them when you get the chance Id appreciate it. If it works then were about to have a giant leap forward in progress.

In that case, Ill make reading the priority for the next two days and well move onto experimentation once everyone at least has the background information.

Fine, lets get this over with.

With Verbum resigned enough to Bens request that he didnt bother putting up a fight, Ben was able to take in mounds of information as he prompted the record holder to move at ever-greater speeds, letting Ben take in more all the faster to let the other enjoy his peace, even if what he was seeing was going to require some interpretation on his part.

He knew about the nature of his mind, at least to a greater degree than an average person, and he knew all there was to know about the chaos that the gods of the world and the grey beyond it could teach, all he had to do was fit those bits of knowledge into the things he was reading through Verbums eyes.

But it wasnt easy. He didnt know why the system would spit out so much seemingly unrelated information to mostly straightforward questions, being forced to assume that it was seeing things and connections that he just wasnt. The only other assumption he could make was that it was making mistakes, something hed prefer not to believe, not only because it wouldnt be helpful, but because it would call into question everything he would learn that way.

And Id like to at least do Nare the courtesy of not operating on the assumption that his masterpiece is full of errors, but Im pretty sure that would be better for me than what I think Im actually reading.

Cutting through the seemingly meaningless sections, Ben was left with something, more of an implication than a certainty as he looked through it all. An implication that that brief window to the chaos may not have just changed him, but could still be changing him, slowly adapting him to it in the way certain outsiders would manage to in order to survive that mad realm, with the implication of it leaving him more worried than anything.

So it looks like this blessing didnt come from some external factor but instead it's my soul's reaction to being exposed to it? So then why isnt it listed as a passive skill? I guess theres a chance Ive been affected by something leaking in from the chaos itself, but Thera was right beside me when it happened, if I was going to be affected then so should she. Does it literally just come down to the difference being that I witnessed it in a way she didnt?

And this does lead to a few other pretty big questions for me. It seems like it's going to keep changing me instead of being a one-time effect. But how? Is it just going to keep acting on my subconscious mind? Is it just going to make me better equipped for dealing with the chaos if I ever encounter it again in the future? I dont think it should be having a physical effect by the looks of it, thank god. No turning into some sort of eldritch monstrosity for Ben this time. Of course, it would be entering the chaos that might do that, not adapting to survive it so maybe this will be a good thing if I ever fall out of reality?

Please, if there is some sort of omnipotent, omniscient god secretly watching over the multiverse, dont let me fucking fall out of reality.

On a last note, it does make me wonder how it would interact with the outsider job if I were to ever take it. Would it speed up the changes Im going through or alter them in some way? Maybe even making new changes? Wow, I hate that Im feeling curious about this. Note to self, try to take some of the other more useful or interesting jobs before I ever get to that point.

Everything hed read brought a lot to his mind to think about and consider, but in the end of it all he couldnt escape the worry the change provoked in him as he was forced to confront some unknown, deep changes to his subconscious thoughts.