CH791

To his two students’ misfortune, Ben’s impatience only grew the next day as their circlets were modified, not only splitting their thoughts like they’d been originally designed to but now speeding up their thoughts as well, letting them cast all forms of magic they were training in even faster to squeeze even more out of the day.

Of course, his favouritism was still clear in how he did it, Thera’s time only doubling while Jake’s quadrupled, with the other man acting like his day had grown far longer than a mere four times, giving the impression that he’d instead been given a death sentence.

A reaction Ben happily ignored, keeping his eye on the prize instead and on that day getting his first result, even if it wasn’t the one he really needed.

“I got my level!” Thera cheered, ripping the circlet from her head the second she had it in pure zeal. “Sorry Jake, looks like you’re on your own now!”

The comment got her a look of pure betrayal that she didn’t so much as glance at, even as Ben gave his own reaction, gently clearing his throat in a way that brought her back to reality.

“So then, what did you think of enchanting and bestowing?” He asked her.

“Honestly, fine but not really my thing. Still, it’s nice to see that I’ve gone from destroying any enchantment I touch to being able to make them and I’ll admit that finishing something up could be a little satisfying but I don’t think you’ll be seeing me doing it in my spare time.”

“Ha, well just saying, by virtue of the fact that you’ve got your awakened magic and you’ve been taught my personal enchanting system, you can now probably count yourself among the best enchanters on the planet. Something to consider if you ever want to retire from adventuring and or show off somewhere.”

“Ben, look at me, there’s already plenty I can show off if I want to.”

“Ugh, what’s your secret Thera?” Jake cut in, talking fast because of the effect he was under and looking desperate. “How do I get this stupid level? I just want to be free!”

“Sorry but I’m not sure what to tell you, I think I was probably just pretty close,” She shrugged. “Every affinitied spell I used is enhanced with my non-affinitied magic so it’s always getting practice, but with that done-”

“Hold that thought,” Ben told her before she could go and run off. “You remember what I said when you first joined for this?”

“...No.”

“I mentioned that I might be able to force you up a level and while that’s still technically true, it’s the sort of thing that’s going to be a lot more likely to succeed the more experience you have before attempting it.”

“You don't mean…”

“It’s your choice,” He shrugged. “You’ve got one level and as long as we beat the tower then you’ll get another, but if you want one more as well then you know what I’d suggest. Still, if you’re not interested then it’s all good, I know you have your work and all.”

“...”

The comment left her weighing two things she really didn’t want to do. As much as she loved him, training under Ben was dreadful, at least when it was under the goal of getting her to level up as fast as possible, but despite that, it really did manage to be a decent break from the endless healing she needed to help with and from there it moved to comparing skills. 

She was doing her best to try to awaken her life magic to the third tier and every bit of practice she got on that front would be experience towards that goal but even if she was doing her best for it, she couldn’t deny she still thought it was basically an impossible hope for such a short term. Leveling her non-affinitied magic once more though, especially when Ben felt he had a way to help her get an extra level? That felt distinctly possible.

The decision made, with a look of defeat on her face she put the circlet back on, feeling its effects alter her mental structure and prepared to get back to work, even while Ben did his best to reassure her.

“It’s only until Jake gets his level. Who knows, he might even be done by today.”

“That feels optimistic,” He chimed in.

“It shouldn’t be, you’ve got ten tower blessings by this point and a soul mage lowering your leveling thresholds and just as importantly, you’re training under me. You’re officially one of the better enchanters on the planet for learning from me as well I’ll have you know. Make me proud.”

“That sounds hard, ganna pass.”

“It literally could be easier. Delair and Mora are both making me proud because they’re both doing their best.”

The two had been exceptionally well-behaved under the guidance of his clones, learning the finer details of crafting from him to the best of their abilities. Even then, while he listened to Jake complain, the two were working together at the forge, with Mora taking a turn at trying to make a pot while Delair practiced some of the basic enchanting spells on it once he was done, with simple projects like that having made up what they’d been doing ever since Ben had taken up trying to level the other two.

Still, even if this might take another few days I’ll make this work. After all, even if it takes a little while longer, Jake should be able to get this before long and if he’s not confident at it, well, that just means I need to increase how much his mind is splitting and the speed he’s thinking at. And if that’s still not enough… Eh, I can go a few days without sleep and his stamina should be…

“Hey Jake, how high is your stamina?”

“I’m afraid to answer that.”

“Just tell me.”

“...Around five thousand, why?”

Yeah, that tracks, he came with a high level of it and not only got a god potion and my growth potions, but he’s also been under Yuzu’s spells pretty much since he’d arrived. Hell, when I think about it that way, he really should be significantly higher in it, but…

But it was enough that it really meant he could work Jake a bit harder without any real issue, at least as long as he gave him the occasional break and that fact was there to only ruin Jake’s day as Ben spoke up the instant his thoughts were in order.

“Alright, seeing as how you aren’t enjoying this, that just means we need to get you your level as fast as possible and there’s an easy way to speed that up. We’re just going to both give up sleeping until you get it so until then you’re with me. Let’s both do our best here.”

He ignored as Jake’s face fell, instead focusing his thoughts on teaching and figuring out any other way he might make the task even faster.