CH284

Acting fast, Ben stripped off his armour as he figured out what to do. He quickly and carefully placed Greed on the ground before taking the glove he’d made to use in place of a staff and putting it on, running his mana through it to alter the shape of the helmet he’d been wearing, ever so carefully modifying it to act as a sealed container that he could put his companion in and applying the strongest time enchantment he could on it, blending it with his other magic rings to enhance the effect to get it as close to a standstill as possible, giving him time to think.

“Okay, that should do for now. Now I just need to…” There was too much for him to do. He couldn’t heal Greed and Greed couldn’t heal himself when he was in such a state, not to mention that without the crab’s buffs he wouldn’t be able to use the armour for the last section, the part where he wanted it the most. Not to mention that Greed’s life was on the line. He might have a couple days at the very best, something that Ben didn’t want to bet on. The only way he could be sure that the person who’d gone through all of that with him survived was if they both made it out, and soon.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he understood what he’d need to do. His entire body hurt and he quickly washed it off, understanding that if Greed was filled with bacteria then any on his flesh where still there too, and after that he ate some of the bread the trial provided and added enchantments to his jacket, giving it light and life buffs along with one to speed up his time, even if he knew it wouldn’t be anywhere as useful as what Greed had been giving him.

As a final act, he took the box Greed was stored in, placing it in the spatial bag left in the trial and stood at the entrance to what he hoped was the final section.

A part of him didn’t want to step through. He wanted to take a few days to prepare more, to try and do anything he could to get a better chance, but then the odds of Greed dying would explode beyond what they already were at. He couldn’t just tell himself it would be fine and he couldn’t abandon the person who’d been dragged in there with him, so without any more hesitation he ignored the pain he was in to walk through the doorway, into whatever the trial was about to throw at them.

As with all but the early sections, Ben found himself in another empty expanse, the exit off in the distance. Unlike the later sections though, he immediately felt an effect on it. One he didn’t understand. One that by all accounts seemed helpful.

Am I… having clairvoyance forced upon me?

As soon as he entered the doorway he found he was no longer seeing with just his eyes. His mind was filled with the surroundings in no particular order and he got to work trying to figure out just what he was seeing, all the while trying to understand why it was happening.

Along with what his eyes could see, he was seeing himself from a top-down view, a third-person perspective, and multiple places off in the distance, along with a number of empty viewpoints and some putting him at various distances from the exits, with one even having him right beside it.

With no other landmarks than himself and the glowing doorway that was his goal, at least so far, he didn’t immediately understand the point. This was something that could only be a benefit. Sure, if the number of perspectives he saw started to grow it could eventually give him some trouble, but-

Wait, this is actually a challenge. He thought happily, understanding what was going on. At least for anyone else. How’s a standard mortal with only a single mind going to process all of this? As for me with a cool twelve and some very complementary skills to go with them, well it looks like dear assface made a blunder right at the finish line.

The fact he had any good news he could take was already great and it became all the more so as he went on his way. The multiple points of view let him see anything coming his way, or at least he thought.

It was only a brief glimmer, but the moment he’d spotted it he was thrown through the air, having seconds to try to land without major injuries, his coat taking much of the damage but still ending with a broken finger in the process.

“Fuck, okay that’s what I get for feeling confident for a second. That’s on me,” He muttered to himself as he got up and ran, doing his best to pay more attention to his mana sense as he went.

Since every magic he had was of the non-affinity variety, that was where it was strongly geared to, meaning he should be able to see anything that was thrown at him, but it all came down to his reaction speed. Something like that last attack could only be dealt with by responding immediately, and he was still only at the starting line. Without the buffs he’d been relying on the entire time, there was a very real chance it would take him a day to get to the exit. Maybe even more.

Despite his altogether average agility, he pushed every point of stamina he had despite the pain throughout his body to keep going, all of his minds busy keeping track of the surrounding trial to look for any changes while at the same time throwing himself out of the way of any attack he saw. It was only as he was on the ground from dodging one, struggling to get up, that the clairvoyance forced on his mind was showing him something he didn’t know how to deal with. An attack coming on all sides.

It seemed like the trial had decided to kill him then and there, at least that was the only way he could interpret it. All around at every distance he could see, what looked like crystals made of pure mana were popping into existence in the air, with the second after they appeared they seemed to lock onto his direction, rocketing through space towards him.

Even though it was pointless, the speed they were moving being too great, he ran as hard as he could, mentally watching everything around him as the first attack arrived, aimed at his feet.

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In that split second, he jumped and avoided it, only for the next one to hit his back as he did, throwing him through the air as the enchantments on his jacket took most of the damage but leaving him with a broken rib as he landed on his feet and continued to run.

Ignoreitignoreitignoreit! No matter how much it sucks, dying will suck more!

He felt a migraine forming on top of all of the other aches and pains his body was going through as he pushed his minds to see every little thing, jumping and dodging to get out of the way, taking the hits he couldn’t avoid but doing his best to ensure they were both hitting the jacket and pushing him forward each time, getting him a little closer towards his goal off in the distance.