CH932

Despite the conversation with the gods going about as well as it could have, Ben still felt worn out as he made it home, left to wonder just what the fallout would be. Warning Phixth had been a whim, something to let him see if it would ease some of the expected angry results, but he was already sure that the next time he enraged the gods wouldn’t be the last, leaving a certain level of stress with it. Time felt so short, he didn’t want to waste it having to defend all of the things he would do nor argue for the sake of his existence, he just didn’t want anyone getting in his way.

Which is going to happen. He already knew. Even if I don’t level my sacrilege anymore, once word eventually gets out, someone’s going to raise a stink and maybe even try to get in the way of what I can accomplish in the time I have left. Ugh, there’s just too much.

It had been nine days since his last level to that particular skill. Considering it had gone up only a week before that, he knew that hoping for another so soon was unreasonable but it just felt so unbelievably slow. Each day he was spending tens of thousands of years using Quox’s soul to try and improve, breaking it down and rebuilding it any time the mental damage became too great but he still wasn’t getting the sort of progress he wanted.

And on a lot of fronts too. He thought with a sigh. I know I’m being unreasonable trying to level a third-tier skill as fast as I can, but I’m never going to get used to how long this is taking considering how I’m training it. No wonder nobody else ever managed to get more than a single level to one.

He tried to keep it from touching his face as he went inside though, finding Thera reading in the living room with Mora asleep against her arm, instantly lightening his heart.

“How’d that go?” she asked him as he went over, gently kissing her for what comfort it could bring before he scooped Mora up to tuck into bed.

“About as well as I could have hoped. Even if it wasn’t much, I think I managed to talk him into working as a healer from here on out which is better than leaving him to wallow in despair and Abel’s going to stay with him for a while till he gets back on his feet which will… probably be fine? No, she wanted to, it will be fine, even if they’ll probably end up bickering.”

“And is any of that related to a notification I got not too long ago?”

“Ah, Velmet’s blessing? Yeah, she was grateful we managed to save Foast instead of taking any potentially easier options. Love a god that knows how to properly show their gratitude, she goes in my good books.”

“Hmm, and are you okay?” she asked, seeing right through him as they put Mora to bed and retired to their own room. “You seem stressed.”

“I think being stressed is currently a pretty normal response to things right now,” he smiled, trying to lighten up amidst thoughts of all of his worries and goals swarming his head. “But I’m fine. Just thinking about how much it feels like there still is to do in the next few months and how it’s all going to go.”

“Ha, what? Suddenly you don't like working yourself to death?” she tried to joke, making his smile slightly more earnest as he took her hand before she could start to change, to spin her and pull her into a dance in the comfort of their room.

“Working myself to death is only fun when it’s on my terms. When the world’s falling down around me and forcing me into it, not so much. Little moments like this though? Much, much better.”

“This is nice,” she muttered, resting her head against his chest. “Could use some music to go with the dance though.”

“Coming up.”

A small bit of his power went to materializing a music box, playing as it went and was rewarded with a sparkling smile.

“And showing you’re pretty talented when it comes to romance too, maybe you could get a title for that one day instead of the insane ones you usually do.”

“Ha, maybe Anailia could give me one sometime. Beloved son-in-law of the love goddess has a good ring to it, right?”

“It’s a little wordy.”

“Maybe something along the lines of ‘romantic little guy' then?

“You don’t even seem little by the standards of your race, unless the gods managed to pick the shortest options they could find for some reason.”

“Okay, I’m tall enough for my species but being a little guy is more of a state of mind than anything else. It’s because I’m so sweet and innocent.”

“Just the first one.”

“I think the second one’s in there too.”

“Mmh, remind me again what happened the last time we went to Eneth’s church?”

“His priests ended up mysteriously beaten up and through no fault of anyone’s, his church blew up. I think it just did that though, you know how churches are.”

“And the god-killing knife you made in craftsmans' tower?”

“God torturing knife,” he clarified. “And I haven’t even had the chance to use that yet, that would be like holding an unused doomsday weapon against me.”

“Oh lord, you haven’t been making any doomsday weapons, have you?”

“Not yet,” he said innocently before breaking down, letting a grin stretch across his face while Thera laughed back, breaking off to turn off the music box before pulling him to bed.

“Alright, enough being a crazy person. I can’t help but notice that we’re alone and awake and seeing as how a certain somebody now has a body that needs sleep, we can be guaranteed a bit of privacy again, I at least could use an hour of your time before getting any rest myself if you’re in the mood?”

“Absolutely.”

---

Thera resting beside him, her arm and tail both clinging to him in a way he couldn’t have escaped if he wanted to, Ben quietly worked on his magic in the early hours of the morning, coming to a cautionary conclusion after what had been days of testing by that point. He didn’t need to sleep anymore.

While he’d ended up physically tired more than once since awakening his skill, he’d never been mentally, what rest he’d gotten since gaining eldritch mind something he’d forced himself into but in the days since he’d been given his quest to find Foast, he hadn’t slept once and felt no change for it.

A discovery that had been a coincidence more than anything. Even if he didn’t find himself tired too often, he knew the benefits of getting sleep but after skipping that the night before he’d gone off and getting none in the days of their search, he had developed a suspicion that had led him to continue putting it off in the days since, reaching a point that seemed almost certain. He’d been freed from that mortal constraint.

For good or ill. He knew he could force himself to if he so desired and it wasn’t like he was going to start staying at the shop for days on end but there was no denying that while Thera was resting peacefully beside him, he was no longer going to be doing the same. He no longer needed to in order to visit his god and that time could instead be used for other things, his enchanting and other magics all hard at work thanks to the massive mana and regeneration pools he’d grown and his actualization on the mortal plane got its practice too. Even deep connection, the skill that he truly wanted to push beyond its limits, was seeing what work it could get as he stretched his soul beyond the confines of the walls that held him, connecting to whatever he could for the practice he could get.

No, it was too useful as far as growth went so he knew he would be taking advantage of it but he couldn’t deny the conflicted feelings in his chest that came with the knowledge that, as of that day, he’d officially be giving up sleep.