CH1022

Stating that he intended for her to devote her time to raising herself after already securing the blessing, the realm finally exploded into a chaos of voices, the havoc leaving Ben a small sense of peace.

Ah, there it is. It really doesn’t feel right at this point if my meetings up here don’t piss someone off.

Immediately, there was a back and forth of reactions among the divine, with so many words aimed at him that he could pretend he couldn’t tell what everyone was trying to say until things calmed down, with his god on one side of him dealing with a new migraine, Anailia on the other, chuckling to herself without getting involved in the chaos that filled the realm, and Thera, squeezing his hand all the tighter, unable to believe what he’d just said.

He could see that the reaction from the gods was stressing her out though, as a mortal not used to that sort of divine reaction, even with him safely blocking her from the divinity they gave off, so revealing a larger portion of his mind to get their attention, he spoke up to try and ease their concerns.

“Okay, I see more than a few of you are unhappy about this, but I’m confused. Is this not the most reasonable choice?”

“Reasonable?” One spat. “You extracted a blessing from us, just to tell us you had no intention of doing any actual work!”

“Hmm? No, I clearly said that the soul mage, Thera Oress, will be working to awaken the earth magic contender, Thera Oress. What part of that wasn’t clear?”

Clenching their teeth so hard that Ben briefly wondered if they’d be possible to break, the god he’d spoken to was pulled back before he could say too much, another god taking their place.

“And what exactly is the point in paying someone to look after themself?”

“The security and freedom that comes with the authority to do it without anyone else getting in the way,” he shrugged, his casual attitude angering even more. “Listen, to keep the conversation smooth, I’m going to keep it to the adults in the room so the rest of you just pay attention while I talk to Phixth and then if you’re all still unhappy you can say your pieces.”

And while you’re saying your pieces, I’ll slip this bit of me back down to the mortal realm.

With the way he said it only worsening the mood of the surrounding gods, Ben simply decided to ignore them, focusing entirely on Phixth and the brand new level of stress the deity had been put under.

“Very well,” the stone god still gave in. “In that case, do me the favour of explaining your thought process.”

A part of the god wanted to add that they could withdraw the other agreed-upon payments, but there was no point. Neither Ben nor Thera actually needed the money, and the help Ben could give to all of the soul mages was actually something they would benefit from, not something to be withdrawn. Declining to awaken a skill might have been worth doing, but as things were, not until they’d had a proper conversation first.

Nodding to the other in gratitude, Ben began. “The reason for it is simple. Thera is just the one it makes the most sense to devote a soul mage to. Don’t forget how many contenders I’ve met in one way or another by now. Even just the ones I looked at while modifying their souls or all of the ones that joined in on my job runs, unless you have someone exceptional completely hidden from me for some reason, she’s objectively the best choice.”

“Objective is a strong word to use when comparing someone to your lover.”

“A fair concern, but you’re right, so let’s go over it. Thera awakened her life magic, this is true, but of the four magics she holds, it’s the one she was the third least likely to, only beating out her non-affinitied magics, and that’s for one obvious reason. Her affinities.”

The gods looked around, with it being clear that only a few among them remembered what she’d held, if they’d bothered to learn them at all. Her birth had come with curiosity and excitement at the inception of the first half-spirit and what that would mean for the world, but when it seemed that all but her passive magic was unusable, that interest had quickly faded, letting Ben go on.

“Obviously, there’s no affinity for non-affinitied, making it the hardest to learn and wield of any option. At least, sort of. If you’re like me and don’t have affinities of fifteen at the very least, then that’s the only option, with the compatibility with a given magic type only growing from there. Yet, despite being on the low end of the scale in regards to that compatibility, Thera has successfully become a soul mage through life, while only having a value in it of twenty-two.”

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