CH128

Leaving the clinic took longer than expected, as soon as Sonya found out he was up she insisted on giving him a thorough look over, despite his insistence that he felt fantastic. He understood where she was coming from at least. He’d been unconscious and in bed for weeks on top of having a xenotransplant done with mystery organs in the middle of the woods. When he thought about it in those terms he became a little worried too, but once it was all done he made his way back to his favourite shop in town.

“Ah Falk, it’s good to be back,” He said, enjoying the sound of metal hitting metal when he entered the store. “I’m never leaving my forge again, I can’t go leaving it alone in the world if anything happens to me, I… wait, who’s at the forge?”

Falk was in the front of the shop, but he could hear something being made in the back, but nobody else worked there, unless…

“Did you really go and replace me when you thought I was going to die!”

“Calm down,” His teacher told him. “If you’ll remember, I didn’t even want you to begin with, no reason for me to grab a replacement.”

“True, but then who’s in the back?”

“We’ll get to that later. First things first, remember the money I took from you a while ago for supplies?”

“I do, it was a small fortune.”

“Ha, you aren’t wrong boy, but they came in and I think you’ll agree it was worth it.”

His teacher reached under his desk and pulled out a small box, something he never would have guessed cost as much as he’d paid for whatever it contained, and he opened it up, finding ten rings contained within.

They were all very plain, made of a simple grey metal and thin band, but each had a single word stamped on top, and the implication was enough to make Ben salivate.

“Are these what I think they are?” He asked, unable to tear his eyes from them.

“Depends,” His teacher replied, an excited grin stretched across his own face. “Were you thinking they’re ninth-level enchantments of each major affinity?”

“Ninth level! How did you manage to get your hands on these?” To place the entirety of a ninth level skill onto a single ring took a level of skill and patience that wouldn’t be easy to find, not to mention that it also meant finding either blessed enchanters with their affinited magics trained to the point it was almost going to awaken, or finding a regular enchanter with their skill trained just as well. Neither was an easy feat.

“I’ve gotten a connection or two in my time,” he said smugly. “Truth be told I was hoping to get more, but finding any enchanters that could make rings like those with a high level of either a combined magic or a non-affinitied magic is much harder than I thought it would be, so I’ll keep my eyes out but if you want anything like that then you’ll have to make it yourself.”

He slipped the rings on his fingers and admired them. “This is already incredible Falk. Really, thank you.”

“Bah, don’t go feeling too soft about it now, you did pay for them after all. Now aside from that, why not greet the other surprise you got,” His teacher told him, gesturing to the back of the shop where he could still hear metal being hammered.

“What, you got me something else?” He asked, excited about what it could be considering the quality of the rings. “I’m going to have to almost die more often if this is the sort of treatment I get when I wake up.”

“You’re at death’s door often enough as it is, and this one isn’t from me. You’ll understand after a bit of talking so come on.”

What Ben saw making a sword at the forge could best be described as a mass of tentacles. Sky blue at the base and turning to a bright red at the tips, he found it strangely beautiful in appearance, though he couldn’t identify the race it belonged to, even given how distinct it was.

As far as he could tell, the creature lacked eyes or anything he would consider traditional sensory organs, but it seemed entirely focused on its work until Falk called out to it.

“Zandale, he’s here if you’re ready to finish up.”

It moved at Falk’s voice as a ripple went through it and stopped what it was doing to walk over.

“I greet the apostle of Myriad, as your teacher said, I am Zandale, apostle of Ooro. It is wonderful to see you alive after hearing what you’ve been through.”

It was his first time meeting another apostle and they seemed polite enough, but he lacked knowledge on the numerous gods of the world and didn’t know what he represented.

Still, manners never hurt. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Zandale, anything I can do for you?”

He wasn’t sure why they would be here waiting for him, and they seemed confused by that lack of knowledge.

“Were you not expecting me? Your god contacted my own weeks ago about this meeting?”

Was he expecting him? Even if he wasn’t always the best apostle, he at least tried to listen when Myriad spoke, but he didn’t remember anything about a guest-

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Wait, didn’t he say there would be a surprise for me when I got back? Is this it?

For the time being, he decided to be polite in a way that wouldn’t make his god look bad if he could help it. “Myriad said there might be someone here when I came back, but that was right when I left and he was going to explain more later. Not sure how much you’ve heard, but I’ve been out of commission for a while.”