CH743

After all that they’d been through, Thera just wanted to rest when they got back to Stonewall but for Ben, that was a far greater challenge. He was practically vibrating in excitement, already imagining what the future held for him now that he’d finished his ridiculous job and was free to take the rest of what he had that even the idea of spending a few hours with the gods was too much and eventually, once he heard the sound of Thera’s soft breathing beside him, he decided to give up on the prospect and instead start his day.

Really, he wanted to race off to the guild then and there but he forced himself to hold back on that front, at least briefly. It wasn’t like the parties he’d called for would be there after all, they were still a few days away from the big event but it would at least tell him how many to expect and then he could gather others to help his friends take advantage of what he was about to do as well.

And I asked for seventy but even if I don’t get all of them, I’ve gotta be snagging twenty at the very least, right? And then even if that slows me down by a day or two, once word spreads about what I’ve done I’ll be able to gather the rest a lot easier and then… Focus, I’m not going off to do this yet. Just get one teeny tiny chore done first.

That chore led him to the shop and through the newest of the mini-gates it held, bringing him to a building out in the untamed lands where the great space spirit still sat waiting as Ben arrived, a bright grin on his face.

“Well hey there, Ogilt, no problems while I was away?”

“None, they’re still all contained with no obvious issues.”

“Love hearing it. In that case, just gotta see what the results are like.”

With that done he went around the rooms, looking at the cards of all of his test subjects for any further changes and finding none, not that such a result was unexpected when every demon there was trapped in a closet-sized room while being kept docile by one of Ben’s enchanted circlets. There had been no opportunity for them to train and grow and as far as he was concerned they’d never get it, with what progress that front would provide being reserved for once he moved on to testing the peoples of the world while his current test subjects would be receiving nothing but more of the same until it was time to put them down.

Before he began the next round of experiments on them though he took a thorough look at all of their minds to judge how much pain they were each still under, finding that those who’d only had their soul modified once were freed of it, with varying degrees lingering on those who’d gone through a second modification and only the slightest of improvements for those who’d gone through a third, with no signs that the minds that had collapsed under the suffering he’d created had healed at all. All valuable information as he began the process of incorporating new soul structures into the ones who seemed to have returned to a normal condition, letting him gather even more data.

With results for attribute growth seeming consistent with earlier tests where he’d immediately added a second soul after his first one. There was no greater or lesser acquisition of attributes for the demons despite letting their souls heal and adjust to the changes which told him that on that front at least it didn’t matter, even if there was a single result that made it worth considering once it became time to start doing it on the people of the world. While it still caused pain in those receiving it, it was only a little worse than what they went through having only a single soul added to their own, not the compounded suffering that resulted from having a second applied immediately after the first.

That in itself was a good result, one that told him that if he was going to share the results of his tests with the world then he’d be able to boost people’s attributes at least twice without harming them, assuming that the pain of the second modification faded the same way as the first, and possibly even further beyond. He’d still need to see how his other tests fared and he’d still need to confirm that modifying people’s attributes in such a way wouldn’t kill their growth rates but so far things looked promising enough that he was ready to prepare a round of testing amongst any volunteers he might be able to gather.

But it also means one other thing too.

“Hey Ogilt, how long are you willing to stay here to help out? I’ve already had you for a few days, if you want to quit then that’s all good.”

“I’ll stay here forever, it makes no difference to me.”

“Alright, well it does to me. Are you not bored?”

“Compared to the last segment of my life, how could I be? I’m not caged but I get to enjoy being alone, this is all I could want.”

“...Okay, I’m only going to ask you to spend another couple weeks out here for me then but if you change your mind at any point just let me know when I come through. Or if an emergency comes up, if you could ask a few of the other space spirits to look this place over, just to be sure nothing escapes, then that would be great.”

“Alright,” Ogilt nodded, feeling no compulsion to leave while Ben sighed as he looked the spirit over. While not as bad as so many of the other prisoners who were still being kept in Anailia until Ben could do anything about their crumbled mental health, it was obvious the space spirit was far from anything approaching good shape either and leaving him alone wasn’t going to improve that. He may have been happier by himself but he wasn’t going to get better that way.

And yet, Ben needed these tests done and he needed to have someone watch to ensure nothing went wrong. This was another experiment he could use to strengthen the world and if it worked out would save lives.

It didn’t change the fact that it left some guilt festering in him though and in an effort to relieve it, just a little, he began materializing, catching the great spirit’s interest.

“What are you doing?”

“Making you things,” Ben told him as he created books, video games, and even film and a projector through his power. “They’re for entertainment. Since you have worldspeak bound to you like everyone else you should be able to read but for the games, just run a few points of mana through these slabs and you’ll have something to play and just insert different films into the projector for something to watch.”

He demonstrated what he meant by each to give the spirit some context, even if it just left it looking confused by the end.

“Why?”

“Because if I don’t do this then the guilt is going to eat me up. Just try to avoid sitting around doing nothing but feeling bad while you’re here, okay? I get you want time to yourself but I still want you to live.”

The spirit said nothing to that and with a small shake of his head Ben left, hoping the other would at least try to enjoy the things he’d made.

---

With that bit done, Ben moved from one of his gates to the next, going through the network to eventually end up at the magic towers adventurers’ guild, letting himself in while trying to keep a level of positivity despite the worry he felt for Ogilt.

He wasn’t going to be able to undo millennia of harm but he could at least focus back on the positives of his life and the things he was looking forward to, along with one other chore first as he waited in line to talk to one of the employees, pulling out a book from one of his rings as he did while showing his card.

“Hello there, Ben here to submit the report for a rank one quest, I was told giving it to any guild on the network would be acceptable.”

“Alright, thank you very much,” The employee said with a nod, even if they looked confused as they spoke again. “But there really was no need to have it bound.”

Hmm, yep, I can see why that would look weird.

“Just a hobby, don’t mind it. And I also put in a request for a quest myself, it’s still a few days away but I’m mainly here to see how many have been confirmed to have accepted so far.”

“Alright, just give me a minute to check,” They told him, rifling through some papers as Ben waited, not holding any expectations until their expression took a turn and their voice grew stiff.

“I’m sorry sir, it looks like no one has accepted your offer.”