CH1023

“You know, I would have preferred if you’d mentioned something like this ahead of time,” Ceselee called out to Ben the next morning as he worked just outside of new dryad region of town, even with a crowd gathered to watch as he quickly constructed two giant arches, with materializers on standby to constantly produce all of the materials he needed for them while at the same time what was created flew through the air under the force of his magic, being shaped and enchanted on. “I don’t need anyone banging on my door in the early hours of the morning to ask me to reel you in.”

“There’s nothing to reel, I’m not causing problems here,” he told her as he worked. “In fact, I’m almost done too. I finish this up and then I can do what I need to and I’ll get rid of these after.”

“Okay, see, the fact that what you’re saying implies that these things have some sort of purpose and aren’t just a random artful whim of yours is actually the problem,” she told him, the towering arches visible from all parts of town thanks to the scale of them. “These aren’t weapons, are they?”

“No.”

“They’re not going to go wrong somehow and make all of our plants crazy again?”

“Nope.”

“They aren’t going to do anything that’s going to increase my workload?”

“…”

“Say no, Ben!”

“It won’t be by much,” he yelled back. “If it’s that bad for you, then tell our mayor to start dealing with me instead of dumping his work on you.”

“Unfortunately, interacting with you means having a certain will to deal with a maniac; it’s not to everyone’s taste. Can any of you tell me what he’s doing then?” She turned to ask, not bothering with the larger crowd that had come to watch the strange construction taking place but instead those he was close to, with Thera, Mora, Delair, along with Sachel, all there at his request, with the rest of the dryads nearby too.

“I was just told I’d come in handy when he grabbed me,” Sachel shrugged, still prepared to assist if needed, with Mora looking unsure as well while Delair didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to the guild leader, her focus entirely on her teacher’s work, using her own knowledge he’d instilled in her to both interpret and learn from the colossal structures.

Finally, her focus on Thera, she got a bit of an answer, even if it was less than she’d hoped.

“I don’t think you’ll believe it until you see it. Just… well, it’s not going to hurt anybody so it should be fine, and it will make the dryads far more comfortable here too.”

“…”

Ceselee wanted something more; she was willing to believe a fair bit if she had to, but before she could try to push it, two things happened at once. Ben finished his work, and a new being appeared.

“Perfect!” Ben cheered, looking at the giant gates he’d created while the rest of the town watched on in shock. With that, the fact that he could make such things was completely out to them, but considering that plenty of the adventurers in Stonewall had used the mini-gate he’d made when they were helping to save the dryads, word was always going to spread eventually. No need to hide a secret that was known by people the world over by that point anyway, and with the two bridging the gap between only a few feet of space between each other, Ben turned to address the new arrival who’d come to help him truly benefit from the nature of his newest construction. “Ogilt, you’re just in time.”

“What do you need?” the great space spirit asked, looking at the new gates and how they warped his domain of power with interest, before his attention fell to Ben and the different ripples in reality spreading through him.

“There’s a place I need you to take one of these. I’ll show you the way.”

Connecting to the great space spirit to transmit the information more efficiently than words ever could, Ben gave his directions, watching as Ogilt nodded before disappearing with one end, the remaining one revealing where its companion had ended up.

Through the portal for all to see was what remained of the dryad village, with the dryads themselves having negative reactions to the ruins of the old home that Ben turned to address.

“If any of you want to look for any old possessions that hold sentimental value, this is the time to do it. With Ogilt here, none of you will have to worry about searching around, but while you do that, Sachel and Hentath, I’m going to need the two of you to come with me and Thera.”