CH1021

Laying in bed that night after a long day of losing, whatever team he was put on in their games having their fate largely sealed, Thera nestled into his arms, still wanting the comfort they provided, with the fear of losing him still fresh in her mind, even if she was taking it well.

“Seems like you had a good talk with Mora,” he said, the two of them not able to be so open about it earlier when the kids were around. “Everything went well?”

“It did,” she nodded. “He told me that he was thinking about killing demons, and I told him that I didn’t want him to. Cleared things right up.”

Unlike when they’d taken the boy in and Thera had first learned of the pacifism that had led to his abandonment, she seemed a lot less conflicted about whether or not she’d made the correct choice in what she’d told him, having settled into her parental role, even if she wouldn’t want to admit it, and it left Ben to smile.

“Good, he shouldn’t be worrying about stuff like that.”

“And you? Things went okay with Delair?”

“Mmh, seeing me lose my head had a bigger effect than I thought, but we talked it out. I think she’s doing better. At least living in Stonewall, there won’t be as many concerns to stress her or the adults around her out, so I think whatever lingering issues there might be will resolve themselves with time. And you? Feeling a bit better, maybe properly accepted that you’re now the world’s third living soul mage?”

“I believe I’m actually fourth,” she teased. “You were pretty smug about getting the job yourself, after all, weren’t you?”

“Ha, okay, sure, but you know mine doesn’t really count. Imagine how any normal person would react if they found out I was walking around as a soul mage without any soul magic. They’d feel cheated.”

“Mmh, well, I’m going to need to make some time to properly explore the magic a bit for myself. You’ve already shoved all the spells into my head, but since I have a variant-”

“A variant that straight up calls you a goddess,” he laughed.

“Ugh, yeah. Well, considering that, along with how much my mana pool has grown, I’m going to need to experiment a bit with new spells to see everything I can do. Once everything is a bit more settled, it’s going to be a lot of work.”

“You have the time. Besides, admit it. Doesn’t it feel good?”

“You mean besides the part where I only got this during the traumatizing experience of trying to regrow your severed head?”

“Yeah, ignoring that.”

“… Yeah, if I let myself forget about that then it’s pretty great,” she admitted, a smile coming to her face. “When I was having my magic issues for, well, most of my life, I never dreamed I’d reach this. An earth magic I either couldn’t use or could barely use and a charm I could only use too much, but now… well, for one, I’m acutely aware of just how many souls you’re constantly making and suddenly understand why Yuzu has the constant urge to shake you. Are the gods sure there’s no issue with that?”

“I’ve made more than a trillion souls by now and given that they seem to be a feature of every life-bearing universe, if there’s some multiversal god ruling over them then they haven’t even blinked. Which, admittedly, I guess makes sense. When it comes to the grand scale of the multiverse, there has to be entire universes occasionally coming out of existence. If there was anything that was going to notice the few I’m adding, a trillion might just be a rounding error.”

“Mmh, I think for everyone’s sake, I’m going to tell myself that there’s no such thing as gods ruling over the multiverse.”

“I mean, there are outsiders for sure, and seeing as how they can definitely be at the level of gods or third tiers, in all of infinity, it doesn’t seem too farfetched to think something more powerful might exist out there.”

“Then I hope if there is, it’s far, far away from our reality. I’m a lot more comfortable with you being the most powerful monster around; I don’t need anything more dangerous popping up.”

“Ah, but sadly, it’s now pretty clear that I’m nowhere near dangerous enough. Something I’m going to have to work on.”

“Ha, good, you better,” Thera told him, wanting the same now that she’d almost lost him. “Losing to something so much weaker than you has to be at least a little embarrassing, doesn’t it?”

“God, you have no idea.”

She laughed at his frustration, and they talked a bit longer until finally, Thera went to sleep, that being Ben’s sign to head up above for the night.

“Okay, today went well,” Ben said immediately as he arrived in front of his god. “Not, like, great, obviously, but better. Think the kids are going to be okay and Thera seems to be in better spirits herself. I’m going to trust Sachel to handle the rest of the dryads and I’m trusting you with the demidemons after how hard they worked to help, so other than that, do me a favour and ask Anailia to get in contact with Ogilt for me. I want to borrow him tomorrow if I can.”

“Would your partner not have been easier to ask?”

“Maybe, but Anailia is a direct line to her people and seeing that basically means a direct line to a good chunk of the great spirits too. This was convenient enough for me.”

“Fine, we’ll worry about that later. Now that you’re up here, there’s something else for us to worry about.”

“God, fine, what now?”

“A meeting. Your partner just became a third tier for one of this world’s most valuable skills, and her goddess wants to have you there for it.”

“Well, fancy seeing you again so soon,” Ben smiled as he arrived, Anailia timing her own arrival with Thera to coincide with his and, noticing his girlfriend struggle with the divinity around them, extended his sacrilege beyond himself to erase all feelings of it for her, letting her breath significantly easier as more and more gods poured in.

“Thanks,” she muttered, still struggling even without that oppressive force just from the feeling of all eyes on her, relaxing a bit more as he took her hand. “I wasn’t expecting something like this so soon.”

“Mmh, some stubborn fools decided to push the issue,” Anailia told them. “But don’t worry, child. I won’t allow things to not fall in your favour.”

“I won’t either,” Ben told her, the thought of how he was prepared to act threatening Thera with another level of stress resistance that he grinned at, even as he got to work on his own part, flashing out his soul in bursts too fast for the gods to perceive, looking into their minds to see what he could expect.

With the first issue being one that was easily solved. Too many gods there intended to use their nature to look within Thera’s mind to grasp whatever advantage they could in the coming discussion, but Ben was able to make that a regrettable choice. Connecting with Thera and maintaining it, he projected his consciousness through her mind, not taking her over, nor allowing her to feel the raw power of his thoughts, merely making it so any deity focusing too heavily on that direction would feel the sting as he revealed a fraction of what he was, making diving deeper an unpleasant prospect for any of them.

Hey, you trust me to work in your best interest, right? He thought at her in that bit of privacy he’d created.

I do, but the fact that you’re asking is worrying.

No, it’s fine, there’s just some up here I think might cause a fight, so I’m going to act as your representative a bit. Just wanted to make sure you agreed so it wouldn’t come as a surprise.

With her consent given though, and the last of the gods having shown up, it was time to begin, with Phixth taking the lead of things, casting an exceptionally tired look his way.

I really have to send that guy a fruit basket or something sometime, Ben couldn’t help but think, aware that he was probably about to cause more havoc for the stone deity to work through as things began.

“First and foremost, Thera Oress, daughter of Anailia’s queen and princess of the world’s spirits, allow me on behalf of everyone to congratulate you on your achievement,” Phixth told her, trying to show a level of respect some other gods wouldn’t have bothered with, yet through that, managed to hit on two points Thera still found tremendously embarrassing. “Through your efforts, you’ve reached a level of power that few mortals have managed. You should be proud.”

“Thank you,” she told him, giving a small bow but saying no more. She knew that enough of the gods had expectations now that she’d reached that level; Anailia and Ben had made that clear enough, with her uncle Falk’s long stretches away acting as more proof. She didn’t want to say too much and risk that becoming the seed of a later argument, lest she really be forced to see Ben drop any pretense of manners.

Able to tell she wasn’t going to say anymore, Phixth gave a small smile at her caution before going on. “And with that power comes the matter of how you’d like to use it.”

“It’s obvious that there’s no time to waste,” a different god cut in, not so patient with all the formality being shown. “A soul mage is a blessing on the world. Even if we don’t have time to get her trained completely in that power, we have to at least start.”

“We need to make arrangements for her to begin training under her seniors,” another joined. “A few months left, we can arrange the appropriate housing for her station and set up a training schedule-”

“But why?” Ben asked, filling his voice with curiosity, even if it was just for show. “That seems like a bit of a waste of everyone’s time, don’t you think?”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Elvat and Yuzu are neither so talentless that they can’t train her while focusing on their own work,” another god bristled, taking issue with Ben’s very presence there like so many others did yet having the sense not to say anything when he was both the new soul mage’s lover, as well as having been summoned to that meeting at the request of Anailia as well.

“And the nature of her skill has just gone through a substantial change,” yet another deity added. “She may hold a mastery of life and even a strong understanding of death by this point, but she’s now walking the domain of souls. It’s something that has to be understood.”