CH797

“So I’m second then? Darn.”

“Third actually,” Vasta laughed. “Jake’s teleportation isn’t restricted on this floor, remember? As much as it annoys me to admit it, he got here first and only ran off to try and find the rest of you after I arrived, though it seems he’s not been having the best luck at it.”

“Okay, good to know. And then does this look like a safe area?”

A few meters around the door there was a small ring of light to mark it and nothing seemed to be going their way, with it being confirmed when Vasta nodded.

“Seems to be, nothing’s gotten through since I’ve been here and it’s been around twenty minutes now.”

“Damn, how did you get here so fast anyway?”

“Ha, the trial itself gave a hint. I’m assuming you noticed these are all barriers?”

“I have.”

“Well, if the trial’s own magic nullification could get rid of them, there was no reason I couldn’t as well. I essentially had a straight line here, I just had to walk to it. Something Thera should have been able to manage as well, she really should be here by now.”

“Oh god, don’t say things like that, you’re going to stress me right out.”

“Just an observation considering I spent a span training her, I’m sure she’s fine. On that note though, were you hurt?”

She could see the giant hole in his jacket but with the metal filling the gaping wound in his chest, she took it to be armour. The concern in the question was directed entirely towards his limp arm, looking at it with worry as Ben tried to downplay it a bit, at least until everyone else was there so he wouldn’t need to repeatedly have the same conversation again and again.

“A bit, I was hit the second we came in but I’m pretty sure I’ll live.”

“What? Poor luck, I didn’t see any attack for the first three minutes, it felt more like a shifting maze than anything.”

-AWFUL FUCKING EVIL NO GOOD GODS ON THIS STUPID FUCKING-

“Is that so?” He said diplomatically, trying to contain his immense jealousy. “Lucky you. On a completely different note, do you have any idea how much a person might have to go through before they gain pain resistance as a skill?”

“Hmm? Hurts that bad, does it?”

“A little.”

“Ha, well you seem to be taking it well. Anyway, when it comes to passives it really depends on your compatibility with that branch of skill, doesn’t it? Obviously, you can improve your likelihood with the jobs you take but one person could get it after stubbing their toe while another will never see it even after days of torture.”

“...Yeah, that sounds about right.”

How many days of pain and torture have I been through by this point? If overfilling my soul would count towards getting pain resistance then it's going to be a lot.

He almost started counting every pain he’d been through since arriving on that world, both major and minor, but the thought was broken off by Jake’s arrival, bringing Amy with him.

It was obvious she was hurt, it was clear from the look on her face and blood pouring down her arm while Jake for his part looked in a panic, barely acknowledging the other two as he looked around.

“Thera isn’t here yet?”

“She’s not,” His teacher told him. “But might I remind you that two types of healing magic and the spectrum that exists within your skill are just as capable of managing it.”

“Yeah, but part of her bicep is missing and I’m not as good at regrowing things and I’m also panicking!”

Vasta could only sigh. “Get her under control then to the best of your abilities before you go off looking for our last member. You know which direction I came from and Ben came from that way so when you’re done, look at what area relative to the door you and Amy would have come from and go searching for Thera in whatever big gap is left.”

“Right, good plan, thank’s Vasta!”

Jake began healing her the best he could and while he did it, Ben both connected with him to try and forcefully calm his mind while also pulling food from one of his rings, forcing it into Amy’s good hand.

“Here, eat, you’re going to need something in your stomach for when Thera gets here.”

“Ugh, thanks,” She told him as she made herself take a bite. “You know, no matter how many bones I’ve broken doing these stupid things it never actually gets easier to deal with.”

“Ha, for neither yourself nor Ben from the sounds of it,” Vasta chuckled, content to treat it like a learning opportunity since the girl’s life wasn’t on the line and only asked another question once Jake had done all he could before rushing off to find Thera amid the growing swarm of attacks taking place outside. “So how did you end up in this sorry state?”

“Mmh, I was hit in my blind spot early on,” She admitted. “But it’s not like I have eyes on the back of my head, I’d been doing my best to keep a lookout.”

“Ah well, I suppose I can’t fault you for that. Taking on a tower with only augmentations is certainly going to carry more risk than a proper magic, all the more so when even the gods hadn’t seen an example of a non-affinitied one until you arrived.”

“Jee, thanks,” Amy muttered, more concerned about her arm than whatever reassurance Vasta was trying to give before a new portal opened at their side, bringing both Jake and Thera through, with her obvious safety being a load off of Ben’s mind.

“And what took you so long then?” Vasta asked, resuming her role as her teacher in a way that made Thera straighten up. 

“I still struggle with clairvoyance so trying to make sure I was aware of attacks at my back slowed me down until I realized that having four layers of barrier up around me was enough to be sure nothing would get through.”

“And did you not notice the attacks were breaking the pillars?”

“I did.”

“But it didn’t occur to you that you’d be able to nullify them yourself, leaving only a straight line to go through?”

Thera blinked as Vasta said it, taking a moment to mentally yell at herself before answering.

“No, no I completely failed to consider that.”

“Well, it’s always important to consider-”

“Lessons later maybe! Amy is still hurt!” Jake yelled, pulling their attention back to the place he thought mattered while his teacher nodded.

“Fine, I suppose we can deal with that first, and with all of us here it looks like the door will open now. I suppose if any of us died it would have accounted for that but at the same time, what a depressing way to learn our numbers have diminished.”

“Fun musing, I’d still like my girlfriend healed please!”

“Coming,” Thera told them as she made her way over, inspecting the wound as they went through before she began healing the other woman.

“Wow, this really tore through you with a lot of force,” Thera muttered after getting to work, watching flesh grow and rebuild itself under her power. “But lucky you, I have loads of experience healing one particular human at this point, this is easy.”

“That other human has an injury as well,” Vasta chimed in, with Thera nodding.

“Yeah, I see his limp arm. Dislocated I’m assuming? An easy fix, I’ll get to you in a moment when I’m done here, Ben.”

“Oh, take your time,” He told her, not sure if he was ready for the reaction the actual severity of his injury was going to cause and happy to put it off just a little longer until all too soon, his girlfriend nodded at her current patient.

“Done and good as new. You’ll have no issues using it, although Jake, I’d personally recommend getting Ben to fill your head with as many life and light spells as possible while we take a break and then when we’re out of here, consider working some shifts at a hospital to get you more hands-on experience with healing. If you couldn’t fix this then you need the practice.”

“...Yeah, okay, I’ll do that,” He agreed, his love for Amy trumping his desire to avoid Ben’s mind ever again while Ben for his part had a different take on the suggestion.

“Are you just trying to get another awakened healer working?”

“I can be doing multiple things at once, it’s a good suggestion no matter what the underlying goal might be. Now let me get at your arm instead of calling me out, if it’s just dislocated then it’s an easy fix.”

She stepped forward and he stepped back, getting a funny look while he returned it with an uncomfortable chuckle.

“Okay, so see, here’s the thing. My arm isn’t dislocated.”

He watched her eyes narrow as he said it, with her catching on from how he was acting that there was something more at play without it being enough to make the other three suspicious.

“Then what is it, Ben?”

“Okay, well, you know how some of the gods of this world think I’m a heartless monster?”

“Yes, and?”

“And they’re currently a bit more correct than usual.”