CH212

“What the hell?” Ben muttered before calling out to the ceiling, though trying to be quiet enough to not wake Thera or Sonya. “Hey Myriad, any word on enchanting knowledge cause I just leveled it up.”

“The problem is that I leveled it up while reading a book on skills, not enchanting.”

He’d been able to consume far more information since getting the zeroth level of the speed reading skill, being able to read faster while remembering more, a task made all the easier with his knowledge skill to go with it, but that didn’t mean he understood why it leveled up. Luckily though, it seemed Myriad had an idea on it.

<Interesting, if I had to guess then I’d say that since you use skills and magic to enchant with, learning about those topics must count. Of course, that creates a bit of a recursion issue when you consider the fact that magic knowledge is also a skill, and since enchanting is a magic skill it would fall under it, meaning that the skill would loop into itself and also make the user benefit from learning about skills as well. I’d assume there’s some deeper quirk to it that’s not immediately apparent, but I’d say don’t worry about it too much if it’s a benefit to you. I’ll ask around when I get the chance, but it might be the sort of thing you’d need to get someone with an awakened analysis skill to determine. Knowledge skills tend to be on the rarer end of the spectrum after all, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s still plenty that isn’t known.>

It wasn’t the most satisfying answer, but his god was right, if the skill made it easier for him to remember information on other skills then it would be extremely useful, it would just be added to the ever-growing list of them that he wanted a bit more knowledge on.

With the day still early though he did a bit more reading before getting up, planning to make a simple breakfast for everyone to leave while he went to the shop, only to find Sonya and Thera already up with food ready and a plate for him.

“What’s got you two up?” He asked, not used to seeing either of them at such an hour.

“We’re expecting a bad day at the clinic given how the last few went so we’re heading in early,” Sonya explained, seeming exhausted as she did. “Given what day it is, we’re expecting the end of the world parties to be at their worst, meaning plenty of injuries to deal with.”

Right, looks like it’s officially been two years now. He thought as he tried to hide the sudden sadness that filled him. With all he’d been doing to keep himself busy, he’d managed to get the fact to slip his mind, typically not passing through any of the areas where things were getting a little crazy so he hadn’t been reminded.

Thera reached beside him and squeezed his hand, giving him a comforting smile as she did while Sonya tried to give him a warning. “Maybe you shouldn’t go to the shop today Ben, I’m not sure how crazy things will end up, but it might be better to stay in.”

“Thanks, but I have a few things to finish up. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to be careful and I’ve got a handy friend to look out for me. Actually, will you both be okay? Want me to meet you when you’re done to walk you home?”

If things were going to be dangerous he didn’t like the idea of them going around by themselves, but both shook their heads. “There’s going to be a few guards stationed at the clinic to ensure everyone behaves themselves and they’ll be walking us back when we’re done so you don’t need to worry.”

“But you should still be home for dinner,” Thera cut in. “If things are going to be bad you shouldn’t stay out too late.”

“No worries, I’ll be back in time to cook something for everyone.”

With food done they all went off as Myriad spoke in his mind. <It wouldn’t hurt to stay home you know. I don’t get why you lied about having things to finish.>

I just need to do something to take my mind off of things instead of being stuck in, don’t worry too much.

I have no freaking clue what to do. He thought, depressed as he looked at all of the materials around him. Maybe it was just his mood, but inspiration failed to strike. He’d made plenty of weapons since getting back to town, destroying most of them with his enchantments as well, but he didn’t think something like that would get him in the right headspace.

<What about a music box?> Myriad suggested. <As interesting as the one in your projector was, I’m sure you could do something a bit better with air magic if you gave it a shot.>

Not a bad idea.

The one in his projector had been made by using a hand crank to rotate a notched wheel against a variety of metal pegs to make the sounds he needed, but really there were better ways to do it utilizing magic, he just hadn’t had the knowledge at the time. Now that he’d flipped through a few books on enchanting with air magic he thought he had a decent idea, though he’d need to see if it would work in practice.

The more he thought about it the more charmed he felt. He didn’t think he would be able to do anything that would cover vocals, but he should at least be able to make something that would do the tones, and it would be nice to try and recreate the melodies of the songs he liked before they all completely faded from his mind.

And I think I have a good idea for a very cool player too. Let’s see, it definitely won’t need it, but I’ll build everything around a rainbow mana battery to be on the safe side. It should let me add a cool effect or two as I go so there’s no harm. Yeah, let’s do it.

He carefully planned out the enchantments before shaping the materials to fit the image he had in his mind. Even if it wouldn’t strictly be singing, it would perfectly convey the feeling.

Myriad, credit where credit’s due, making a music player was a fantastic idea. I can completely cross this off my list of things to make. He told his god as he walked home for the day, early enough that he could get a start on dinner.

Mmh, I’ll have it going during dinner. Give them a taste of some poorly recreated good old-fashioned earth music. Let’s see, Thera has a few musical skills, maybe she could help me clean up the sound a little. Doing adjustments by ear is far harder than I’d expected.

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Even if it left him thinking of his homeworld, it had been a perfect distraction from how long he’d been gone, letting him focus more on the bits he enjoyed. It would also just be nice to have in general. While he would occasionally pass musicians on the street, he simply didn’t have the same access he previously did for it. It was easy to ignore just how much he was constantly exposed to different songs on earth, but with it gone there was a noticeable void.

He reminisced for the rest of the way, trying to think about the few other melodies he could remember to try and recreate later, maybe meeting up with some of his old classmates at some point to see if they could help him as well, but quickly stopped as he opened the door, only to find the house filled with smoke.

Oh crap, did Thera leave the stove on?

He ran to the kitchen, wanting to see what the damage was, only to find Thera frantically waving a towel over a burnt pan, panic on her face as she did.

Breathing a small sigh of relief seeing it was nothing major, he calmly walked up beside her and placed a lid on top of it before taking it off the heat.

“Looks like you maybe should have taken me up on some lessons after all,” He joked as he patted her back, trying to show it was nothing to worry about. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, that just went worse than I’d hoped,” She told him, sounding defeated as she did.

She looked far more disappointed than he would have expected for a bit of burnt food so he did his best to cheer her up. “Well, it can happen to anyone when they first start so don’t worry too much. I was coming home to make dinner anyway, give me a minute and we can throw something together.”

“Wait,” She told him, grabbing his hand as he went to grab ingredients. “Let me do it.”

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