CH814

The request instantly perked Nare up, pulling him away from thoughts of how some poor trial design had almost just killed Ben and bringing him to the forefront of the conversation, light coming back in his eyes.

“You’re finally going to take it on?”

“I don’t have much choice,” He shrugged. “I want the tower blessing and more importantly, completing it should let me become a contender for my deep connection too, right? Then I still just have the problem of actually awakening the thing but that’s a whole other issue I have months to try and work out.”

“Months isn’t exactly a long time,” Helori muttered.

“Long enough, I already have an idea or two to make it happen too but that’s a future concern. Right now, all I want to know is everything that you’re allowed to tell me about the tower and hey, if you’re feeling cheeky I’ll also take anything you’re not allowed to tell me.”

“You won’t be getting anything like that,” Nare told him.

“Need I remind you that I nearly died because of some poor design? Aren’t I owed a hint or two?”

“This is this and that is that but as for the things I can tell you, well, I believe I already told you most of it in the past. Unlike the other trials, it would be rather unfair to ask anyone who devotes themselves to crafting skills to put their lives on the line so you won’t be at the same level of risk you have been for any of the other towers but in exchange, the difficulty is raised all of the higher. More than any other tower, this is built to challenge you.”

“Well, considering the number of injuries I’ve sustained in the ones I’ve done, I’ll be the judge of that. In that case, is there any major consideration to make for the door I should take?”

Unlike the magic towers, craftsmans’ tower had five different entrances to split across four different crafting disciplines, with smithing, woodworking, alchemy, and art being the four focuses to choose from while the final door was a general one that was going to pull from all of the other options and perhaps even beyond them as well, though it didn’t seem like he was going to get an answer confirming that from the gods in his company. Still, with all of those options to choose from, it left the question of which he’d ultimately pick to challenge himself.

Originally, when Nare had first started asking him to take it on before the first wave had come he’d thought he’d take on the general door, if only because it sounded more interesting and suited his qualities as a general craftsman as well, someone who wasn’t confined to a single path, but with the third wave on the way he accepted he couldn’t be so frivolous about it. He wanted his level and he wanted the tower blessing which meant he needed to pick whichever one he had the best chance of completing, with two choices feeling more likely right off the bat. 

Smithing and artistry, the first of which had been one of his stronger focuses since coming to the world and the second being his passion since long before his arrival and both being points he was tremendously confident in. It wasn’t like he doubted himself when it came to the other two options either, it was just that if he was going to be sure to give his best, he couldn’t deny it had to be one of those two.

With Nare denying either choice before he could even say them. “It has to be the general door.”

“Why? Is it going to be any easier in exchange for being more varied?”

“Well, no-”

“Pass. Smithing or artistry, everyone cast their votes.”

“Wait wait wait,” Nare rushed to say, trying to stop him from being so hasty. “Don’t be so quick in choosing here, this is an important decision to make!”

“Yeah, which is why I’m looking at making the right one. If you think the general door is the right choice then you’ve gotta convince me here man because what I’m after is the level and the blessing and as far as I can judge, you’re asking me to take on something that’s going to be harder than other options and for what? To entertain you guys?”

“I think it would be more appropriate to say impress us than to entertain us-”

“Pass.”

“Ben,” Myriad told him as his firm rejection only drove Nare deeper and deeper into despair. “If you’re going to do this, take on the general door.”

“It’s the best choice,” Helori agreed, with the three of them unanimous in a way that left him looking around the room before shaking his head.

“Why? I only see drawbacks to it. You all know my goals here, I can’t be doing something like that on a whim.”

None said anything, not one trying to make a compelling point which managed to be just suspicious enough that he sighed in the end.

“Okay, I’m going to very politely assume there is going to be a reason for this you guys just can’t talk about so at least tell me this. Compared to doing any of the other doors, will it be worth my while?”

“So long as you perform well it will be,” Nare told him, looking a bit better now that it seemed Ben was giving in and only growing more so as the mortal shook his head.

“Fine, fine, I’ll do that stupid door but if I don’t make it to the top because I listened to you guys, none of you are ever hearing the end of it.”

“I’m sure. Still, you won’t regret it.”

“Yeah yeah, next question then. What counts as a crafting skill? I’ve got one more spot available for my team for this tower and I want to make sure I grab someone who could use it.”

As it was, Amy didn’t seem like she’d be getting to level any of her awakened skills but getting her the blessing made that small trade-off worth it when his friend was trying to awaken to the third tier in the months she had left, same as he as, but when he asked the question it brought a thoughtful look to Nare’s face.

“A good question I suppose, given it’s not as clear as the affinitied towers where you can just know what an affinitied skill is to raise, our own is less defined but as for the answer… well, if there’s any uncertainty then we will know for sure when we try to raise it.”

“Wow, tremendously not helpful.”

“I could list off all of the skills we either know or assume count as crafting skills if you like but that would mostly cover skills you’re already aware of. What it’s ultimately going to come down to though to make the difference is if the skill is used for or related to crafting or not.”

“Wait, really? That simple?”

“Largely.”

“In that case, how’s everyone’s breakdown look? I’m comfortably assuming that Thera and Jake will be able to level their non-affinitied magics given everything that can be done with them but will Thera be able to level her earth magic if she wants to instead?”

“Sure, we’ve done it in the past. We’ve even raised someone with water magic before since they specialized in ice sculpting.”

“Interesting. And Amy? I’m sure her augmentations won’t count but what about her weapon skill? I got knife and hammer wielding in the past since it would help with my tool proficiency, would she be able to get the benefits as well?”

“More up in the air. Her skill is rather general and she doesn’t use it for crafting so the odds are lower without her having any real experience with it.”

“Okay, very good to know,” What that meant to him was that Amy might have the potential to get herself a level so long as he could borrow her to try and raise the odds a bit, even if that left him still unsure about who to grab for his fifth contestant. “In that case, for situations where you aren’t sure, give me some more details about how that works. I can’t imagine you guys just spending your faith when you aren’t positive.”

“Well, I suppose you’re mostly right about that. What happens when we aren’t sure about a skill is we first transmit only a small bit of our faith and feel how it’s absorbed. From that, we can judge whether or not the skill qualifies.”

“Interesting, interesting,” Ben muttered to himself, going over all of the skills he held that he was either sure qualified or thought just might in curiosity, even if his decision was still already made and not going to change. “And just for the sake of clarity, the reward is still either two levels for unawakened skills, a level to an awakened skill, or awakening a skill with the potential of getting a level as well depending on its original level?”

“Correct.”

“What about awakening an unleveled skill?”

It was a question that was rewarded with a deep grin. “Acceptable if you choose to do so.”

Interesting.

It was an answer that left him curious about a couple other skills he held that had all the more potential to help him in the future if he’d only choose them but he held himself back despite his curiosity. Raising connect was the goal, he wasn’t going to let himself get distracted just because something else could have potentially been helpful as well, even if that question seemed to have raised expectations in Nare as well.

“Anyway,” Ben started, changing the subject, if only slightly. “Marginally related question then, what counts as a combat skill?”

“Infinite hells, don’t tell me you’re really considering taking on warriors’ tower as well,” Myriad sighed.

“Lightly considering, it kind of relates to if you guys think I’d even be qualified to take on that tower as well on top of what benefits you think I’d be able to claim from it if I did. So, combat skills?”

“It’s going to be a similar case. If it’s not obviously a combat skill then there will be a small test to confirm whatever skill you’d pick but I wouldn’t worry about that in your case. Defensive skills will count and you’ve had more than a few at the ninth level for a while, haven’t you? You could easily choose one to awaken.”

An answer that instantly raised his interest in that particular tower. He’d had defensive skills stuck at the edge for years that he would have loved to awaken, with defense enhancement making the top of the list for the hope it might finally save him from some of his endless pain and suffering, leaving only the question of if he’d even be able to claim it.

“Okay, very very good to know. In that case, what exactly can I do in a tower like that? Is it exclusively things like weapon skills and unarmed combat and weapon skills or does magic make the cut?”

“Ah, warriors’ tower is probably the most straightforward of all in terms of challenge. All it cares about is your ability to kill and come out on top, not about how you go about doing it and given that most warrior gods are also gods of a magic it makes sense they’re not going to discriminate. Each floor gets harder than the last and it doesn’t care what skill or magic you use to make it happen, though similar to craftsmans’ tower, it has two doors as well, although less choice is involved.”

“Yeah? What’s the difference between them?”

“One is for holders of tier one skills and one is for holders of tier two as a way of dividing up the level of the challenge.”

“Wait, seriously? That feels way more fair than the way the other towers run.”

“Given the simplicity of the challenge compared to the other towers it was easier to divide up in such a way.”

“So is that one getting added somewhere in your list of goals as well then?” Helori asked him. “Not busy enough already?”

“Eh, we’ll see at least. Craftsmans’ tower is still my priority and then if I still can’t even awaken a single skill in the next couple months after… Well, dying in a tower and dying in the war aren’t really that different when it comes right down to it, right?”