NOVEL NEXT CH678
“Man, work really never ends, does it?”
“If you want it to, you really need to stop making such crazy things,” Thera told him. “At least it will be some good practice for me too.”
It seemed that arrangements had been quick for one of his inventions, with plans to have more of the tool he’d made for his teacher produced and given to the awakened warriors of the world set up so soon after their first production and leading them through one of the gates to the untamed lands for all of the free biomass around to take advantage of.
Meat was more efficient but it was also a commodity in war times, something not so easy to waste when there was a world to feed, leading to that boost in difficulty for Thera while they went to meet the gathered crowd.
Across the planet and largely due to the summoning that had brought Ben to the world there were hundreds with awakened combat skills who could grow more powerful when not limited by having only a singular body, with him getting to see plenty of humans in the gathered group as well, thought only caring about a few as he made a beeline to the ones he’d see the most.
“Well well mister Benjamin, we meet again,” Jake laughed amidst the crowd. “What zany thing have you done in the last couple days to get a gathering like this?”
“Just came up with a handy tool to help people escape the limits of a single body. More important though, why are you all here? Don’t you have a lot more to be doing?”
He only needed to help both Amy and Will given the skills they had but not only was he seeing Jake, Steph, and Yuzu, but also the two older mages who acted as both teachers and guardians, Uliel and Vasta.
“Got a heads up from a knowledge god saying we should come grab lessons from you,” His friend shrugged. “Did you not hear about it?”
“No. Myriad?”
He was already being generous by only asking to get a glimpse of the world’s mythic items for that bit of work but getting extra dumped on him was an annoyance, even if it was for people he cared about.
Offended but okay. Steph too?
Okay, sounds good.
“Just let it be known that if I traumatize any of you I plan on taking no responsibility.”
“Awe, come on man, how bad can it be? I’ve already put up with years of lessons by now. I’m a veteran at learning, through and through.”
It looked like Jake’s teachers had some strong comments on that idea but kept them to themselves while Ben looked around.
“Okay, I was told I’m helping the lot of you brush up on your magic lessons so take a seat and let's get started. Steph, you want some free theory classes from the most well-read guy on the planet?”
“What was that about traumatizing us?”
“Basically not going to happen. Tell me when you’re done and I’ll let you out.”
“Mmh, giving a cautious okay.”
“Alright squad, get ready to be educated then.”
He created a mental space for them and pulled the group into his mind, using the effects of hive mind to improve the quality of their learning before going to look at the rest of them, finding Thera’s eyes looking at him questioningly.
“Yes?”
“Benjamin?”
“Ah, that. On Earth, Ben is typically the short form of that name but my parents’ philosophy was just to name me what they intended to call me. It’s why my brother was named Mark instead of Marcus too.”
He watched her mouth the name a couple times to herself before ultimately shaking her head while Amy held back a chuckle, trying to focus on what they were there for.
“So should we get started then? Plenty of people to get through from the looks of it.”
“Ah, we’ll give it two minutes, we have our first dropout.”
Among the dazed sitting on the ground, Jake gasped, freed from Ben’s mind after finally tapping out and looking all the worst for it.
“You were right, that was traumatizing. How long was I in your head?”
“Barely even the equivalent of a full day, you’re fine.”
“A day straight of learning? No wonder I have a headache. Ugh, how do you know so much?”
“Mind skills are fun and taking advantage of the library for all it was worth was satisfying. I still need to finish the surrounding buildings too but one day I’ll master them all.”
And then I’ll just need to get the basement somehow but that’s a future problem.
A distant one from all accounts. It seemed the gods really didn’t want him getting free reign in there meaning that was yet another problem to somehow overcome in the future but for the time he had other things to focus on, with the second person tapping out of his thoughts.
“Okay, I’ve learned enough so let's never do that again,” Steph said the moment she was freed. “What sort of maniac even created a spell like ossification?”
“Ah, that one’s a Ben original,” He happily admitted. “Thera won’t try it though, she says it feels too unethical.”
“At least petrification is reversible if I mess up on it,” His girlfriend told him. “Converting a person's entire body to bone without a way of undoing it is messed up no matter how you cut it.”
“Okay, we’ll agree to disagree. For now though, it looks like we have our third one coming out.”
Uliel opened her eyes, looking a lot more calm compared to the other two until she turned her head to see who was left.
“Damn it, not only did I not last as long as Vasta but I couldn’t even hold out as much as Yuzu? Now that’s embarrassing.”
“Third’s a respectable place, you did a lot better than Jake at least.”
“How much better?”
“She doesn’t need to know that!”
“Seven times.”
Both his attempts to silence Ben and his poor holdout got Jake a glare, with his teacher speaking up.
“You get an hour break and then you’re doing that again. You should be able to feel what a good resource that is with all of the new spell information in your head, you aren’t letting it go to waste.”
“This is tyranny!”
“And something you can argue with your other teacher because she’s coming out next. Enjoy.”
Looking around like the one before, Vasta wore a gloating smile when she saw Uliel awake before her until she saw the last to take advantage of his mind.
“I lost to Yuzu?”
“Were you all having a competition in there?” Thera asked from the side after hearing the last two, with Ben answering.
“Just them. Now, on to whenever Yuzu finishes up.”
He could have moved on to the rest of his work while doing it but wanted to wait it out given he expected her to run out of steam in a few more seconds, not having expected entire real-world minutes to pass while he kept up his lessons for her until she eventually gave in like the rest.
“And we have our winner!” He cheered, materializing a small crown on her head after having gotten invested in how it would turn out. “Let’s give her a round of applause folks, didn’t she work hard, lasting a grand total of nearly thirty straight days in my head!”
“That was… something,” She told him diplomatically, suddenly having a lot more sympathy for whatever lessons Xilly had gone through with him.
“What matters is we all got something out of this. Now, Uliel and Vasta, since you’re here do you mind helping direct the crowd and I’ll start with Amy and Will. Which of you guys wants to go first?”
“I will,” Amy volunteered. “What do you need me to do?”
“First put on this,” Ben told her as he handed over a circlet. “Just activate the enchantments and we’ll go from there.”
He felt her mind split when she did as he asked and watched her flinch as he modified them on the fly, increasing the amount each time until it went beyond what he thought she’d be able to handle comfortably.
“Alright Thera, looks like she’s getting five.”
“Sounds good. Amy, give me your hand. This will only sting a bit.”
Quickly cutting across her palm, Thera collected her blood and began growing the homunculi for a minute before pausing in thought to look at the other girl.
“I should probably ask to be sure but would you be uncomfortable with everyone here seeing you naked?”
“Um, yes. You can pretty safely assume yes.”
“Ben hasn’t seemed to mind anytime I’ve made him homunculi so I wasn’t sure if that was a human thing or a him thing,” She said with a shrug before raising a wall of dirt around the small area she was directing the clone’s growth. “Glad I double-checked. Hmm, in that case, she’ll need something for them to wear. Ben?”
“Yeah, coming up.”
He materialized five simple outfits in her sizes before handing them over to Amy, getting a suspicious look in return.
“These look like they’re going to fit way too well.”
“You’re talking to a master craftsman. Sorry but I can eyeball a difference in micrometers, creating you an outfit that will fit is nothing.”
“Hmm.”
She decided that whatever the answer was she didn’t really want to know anything he might have seen while probing their minds in the past and moved to go into the enclosure to dress her clones, being stopped by Ben as he handed her five new circlets.
“This is the tool you’ll need to control them, it should make things easier to get them dressed. Just put it on each of them and run your mana through yours. You’ll get a distance of eight meters in any direction.”
Getting a nod in thanks, she went off to do exactly that, letting Thera move on to Will next.
“I’d also prefer not to expose my dangly bits, thanks.”
“Understood, Ben’s just the weird one again.”
“Hey, what do I care? They aren’t me.”
“Aren’t they?” Steph muttered as she watched Amy walk out with five perfect replicas, only able to tell who the original was from the difference in outfits.
“Not in any way that matters. Now go on already and just remember when you’re using them you won’t be able to direct any mana through them so no augmentations. They’re also alive so make sure you feed them and take care of their other biological needs.”
Will nodded while he slipped inside with the clothing Ben handed him to meet the six he had being made while Amy stood around, looking almost ill.
“This is going to take some getting used to,” She said in one voice and jumping a little at that fact. “No, more than a little, this is weird as hell. Ben, how do you live like this?”
“It’s convenient,” He shrugged. “And a good way to train your skills more, especially for you. It won’t exactly help you out with your augmentations but for your combat and other skills? You’re going to see a few levels coming your way after getting some good use out of them, especially in the field. Slay a swath of demons by yourself and the experience is going to come pouring in.”
“Doesn’t change that I’m going to get motion sick trying to process the sights of a dozen eyes.”
“The ingratitude,” Jake shook his head, his own eyes gleaming with everything he was seeing. “Ignore her Ben, I’m more than willing to suffer any sort of motion sickness if you’d make me a couple too.”
“You’re a mage and they aren’t magic compatible, I already said. No forcing any mana through the connection.”
“Could not matter less to me. Let me get my hands on a couple and I’ll finally have the leeway to learn some swordsmanship too. Come on, is there any greater romance than a magic swordsman?”
He was about to give in, it wasn’t like it would matter if they made him some once they were done with everyone else and if it would help Jake gain some more skills then it really would be worth it but Uliel spoke up before he could.
“If you want them then the only way of getting them is spending a week taking lessons in his head,” The archmage told her student. “Prove it's worth it and then you can enjoy the benefits of a bit more flexibility.”
That left him looking well and truly torn and his eyes turned to Ben, hoping his friend would help cheat him through it, only to be denied.
“If you agree then I’m actually making you do it. The more spells you understand the theory of the better equipped you are to survive in the long run.”
“Ugh, fine, just let me have a couple breaks between days,” He pleaded. “You’re going to be here all day, I can enjoy an hour off in between everything.”
“That’s acceptable,” His teacher nodded and with the agreement made he sat down again, letting Ben once more pull in his mind while his eyes regarded both Uliel and Vasta.
“So, you actually going to let him use these for what he wants?”
“Of course,” Uliel nodded. “This works out perfectly. As long as he can handle three of them then we can have one taking lessons from me, one from her, his main body getting practical experience and then whatever’s left can go towards his silly desire for swordsmanship.”
“Ah, if he can handle four or more we really should have one devoted to independent study,” Vasta pointed out.
“A good point. Well, we’ll see how many he can handle. The more there are, the better for him in the long run.”
With his friend’s fate sealed, Ben did his best to continue giving him lessons while getting the other warriors around equipped while the rest of the day wore on.