CH226

<ENCHANTING LEVEL INCREASED>

The notification meant nothing to him in comparison to everything else. In the days since Falk left to get her a new cloak Thera had only come out of her room occasionally to eat, leaving him with nothing to do but extract information from his god and direct his lingering anger about the situation into his creations, and as he finished altering the barrier enchantment tied to his shoes to fit his needs he got his level up.

A part of him wanted to redo the entire thing, but he heard the door open and tried to look casual as he rushed to it, Thera not meeting his eyes as she left her room to get a snack.

“Ben, I’m sorry I’m just really not up to anything right now. Maybe later,” She said the same way she did every time she’d left her room since, only this time, instead of just accepting it as he had been, he threw himself to the ground, shocking her as he did.

“I’m sorry,” He told her before she could try to leave. “I knew you’d hate it when I told you to do it, but I still got you to cast a sleep spell on everyone. I’m sorry I couldn’t think of a better way to handle things.”

He couldn’t meet her eyes. He wanted her to swear or yell at him or something, not lock herself away again like she’d been doing. He waited for anything, but he hadn’t been expecting her to pull him from the ground into a hug.

“I’m not- I was never mad at you Ben,” She said as she squeezed him tighter. “It’s just, things had been going so well recently. Nobody’s been bothering me about it and it’s been looking like I might not need the cloak at all soon and then this happened and… it’s just a reminder that I’m basically a monster to the people around me without it.”

“Thera-”

“I know you don’t think that, but I do. Nobody else in the entire world does this to people Ben, not like I do. How could I be anything other than a monster? Since you have my brace so good right now I should just hide away in Anailia where I won’t hurt anyone.”

He gently took her face as she held him, bringing her eyes out of his chest to look into his, letting him see the tears in them.

“Listen-”

“You can’t change my mind on this. It just takes the same thing happening in Stonewall and I’ll have to go through all of this again. It would be safer for everyone if I just hid from the world.”

“Well if that’s something you want to do then I’ll come too,” He told her, watching her eyes widen in shock as he went on. “I’m sure your mom would employ me, and like you’ve said before, it’s weird for me to still be acting as an apprentice with my levels what they are, I should be cutting the cord.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” She told him as she let him go, beginning to walk away. “I know you want to learn more from my uncle, it would be stupid to just leave.”

She wanted to ignore the offer. It was something he’d said in the heat of the moment, there was no way he’d actually do it. It was only the feeling of him gently taking her hand that stopped her as he quietly spoke.

“You’re more important to me than that.”

“What?” She couldn’t help but ask, turning back and seeing eyes filled with gentle earnestness. “Ben, you’re being silly. Your life is in Stonewall.”

“Sure, there’s Sonya and Falk and a few other acquaintances, but Myriad will be available wherever I am, and more importantly it wouldn’t feel like home if you aren’t there. Besides, I just don’t like the thought of you being alone.”

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She went back to his chest, hiding her face in it, not wanting him to see the vivid gold of her blush and hoping he couldn’t feel her heart pound as she stood there against him. For a while they both stayed there, neither saying anything until Thera broke the silence.

“You’re not leaving Stonewall.”

“Thera-”