CH233

“Oh sweet, got some levels to speed reading and my knowledge skill,” Ben happily announced as he finished his book to the yeti laying on the ground.

While Ben was having no issue with the heatwave thanks to the enchantments within his coat, his teacher wasn’t so lucky. The thick white fur that coated Falk’s body may have been perfect for his race’s homeworld and the colder climates on this one, but in a heatwave it was showing its harsher effects, even for someone who was used to spending all day in front of a forge.

“Don’t tell me you just finished another book already?” His teacher asked as he looked up at him. “You must have only started that an hour ago?”

It was the fifth one he’d read through that day, and none of them were particularly easy reads. From going through thick textbooks on advanced life and fire magic, to finally reading up on the awakened space magic needed to construct the gates, as well as a book on the limits of enchanting and ending on one on skills in general, previously he would have been lucky to get through even one of those in a day, but he’d figured out a handy trick to get through them faster by putting his skills to use.

“Since complex mind helps alter my perspective on top of giving me a few extra minds, I can use it with my speed reading to read multiple spots of a page at once and just rearrange it to the complete thing in my head,” He explained, feeling like he was bragging a little. “It’s pretty handy. As I keep gaining new minds and leveling up my speedreading it should only get faster too.”

“If you ever run into someone with a mind-reading skill I’d pity them,” Falk said with a shake of his head. “I’ve never heard of anyone using mind skills like you do.”

“What can I say, got to work to my strengths. Anyway, I know you said we aren’t turning on the forge today, but-”

“You try and I’m throwing you out. Are you trying to kill me boy?”

“But Falk, I have a theory on how to enchant with my bind skill, I’ve got to test it out!”

Ever since he failed to use it in the dryad village he’d been tossing the idea around in the back of his head, trying to figure out a way to make it work, and after making his way through his last book he thought he finally had it.

“The forge stays off unless you do something to cool down the shop, I’m melting here.”

“Hmm, I mean, I don’t think it would be too hard actually, but I’d still need to make something like an air conditioner to hold the enchantment either way.”

“Figured as much. Get to it instead of watching me suffer this entire time,” His teacher complained.

“Ha, sorry,” He said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. “I was just kind of focused on my books, you know? Anyway, will you let me use it to see if I can make you something then?”

Instead of agreeing, his teacher got up and tossed him a piece of paper and a pencil. “Just sketch up what you’d need for it and the other tool you want made, I’ll sort it out without dying in the heat.”

He did as his teacher told him, making a sketch of exactly what he’d need and explaining it in further detail as Falk listened. The tool he wanted to test bind on was simple enough, it was basically just a compass.

It was the magic air conditioner he was planning that was slightly more complex. While there were plenty of items that could produce a cooling effect, they suffered two drawbacks. The first being that unless they were enclosed like a cold box was, they tended to be weak if the user wasn’t close by, and the second being that they took a lot of mana to run for long periods of time. Even despite those issues, there simply weren’t many in town due to the weather being uncharacteristically hot. If this sort of thing was in the norm, he doubted his teacher would have ever made his home there.

For Ben though, these were no longer issues. He wasn’t just an enchanter after all, he was an eighth-level enchanter that had it as his blessed skill. Combining that fact with how he could use his connect, he could likely make something that would serve its purpose even without adding a mana battery to it, though he still included a space for one in his design, a box with both a rotating fan and a water catch at the bottom.

Once he’d explained how they were meant to look and the sizes of each he needed his teacher got started, going to the storage room to grab the metal and stone he’d need before getting to work in a way he’d never bothered showing Ben before, shaping it with his earth magic.

He watched in silence as before his eyes the raw materials reshaped themselves to match his designs, each one flowing like water until it locked into place, finishing in seconds as it did.

“God I wish I could use magic,” He muttered, mostly to himself before addressing his teacher. “And why do I never see you doing that if you make it look so easy?”

“You can get better results if you use your smithing and magic in tandem,” His teacher said with a shrug. “Since that’s not exactly an option for you there’s no point in showing it off, but it makes the work significantly quicker.”

“Ugh, so that’s why you’re still so faster than me. Man, I really am never going to be as good as you even if I do awaken my skills, huh?”

Of all the affinities magics, two were exceptionally useful when used in tandem with various crafting disciplines, earth and fire, while water and death had its uses in alchemy. It was no wonder his teacher’s items were so good when he had two of them at his disposal on top of whatever awakened skills he had, and it made Ben feel his own limits all the more. Even if he could enchant with those magics, he couldn’t make himself actively use them in his creation process, a handicap he couldn’t help but feel.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“You don’t need magic to be a great craftsman boy, I’ll admit it helps, but you’re already blowing away what I’ve seen from most others I’ve known,” Falk said encouragingly before switching focus back to what was more important. “Instead of worrying about that though, worry about your teacher being cooked alive before I get the chance to pass on all I know.”

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