CH36

They chatted for a while longer and Thera came out of her room after hearing Falk’s voice to greet him before he went off, letting them know he would be leaving tomorrow evening as he did.

Ben prepared some brunch for them and then chose to sit in the living room and work on the cloak rather than be cooped up in the room he was using. When she saw this Thera decided to grab her book and join him while he worked, and it was like this the hours passed.

His speed was a bit faster than it had been yesterday, with him feeling more confident with his technique than when he first attempted this, but progress was still slow, especially with how much more material he now had to work with. Still he focused heavily on the task, not letting any distraction get in his way until he noticed he was starting to get hungry and stopped to see the time. Deciding it was as good a time as any to start dinner he grabbed Thera again to help and they chatted while they prepared the food, Thera again discussing her book, a bit of historical fiction involving a political tension between two races, and the forbidden romance that sprang between the prince of one nation and the princess of the other.

Ben made an offhand comment on how the star-crossed lovers trope seemed to be one that transcended universes, making Thera quick to ask about the fiction of his own world and what he enjoyed reading.

As they spoke Ben found himself surprised to learn that while they lacked science fiction, they actually still had a form of fantasy stories, usually involving a person awakening to a previously non-existent affinity of magic and fighting off imaginary beasts that would exist in the myths of whatever race ended up writing it.

“How can anyone be sure these creatures only exist in myth?” Ben joked. “This planet’s such a hodgepodge I feel like you could find anything on it if you looked hard enough.”

Even if he meant it as just a casual bit of fun, Thera took the question seriously. “That’s actually a good question. It’s not like the gods brought over entire ecosystems with them, but so many things ended up coming along and running off that it’s hard to say what’s living in the untamed lands. That’s not even considering the fact that some of these creatures could actually exist in their race’s original homeworld. There’s a story from I think about 100 years ago where a writer from some race created an incredibly popular play that used a legendary beast, and their god stepped in to mention that they got the way it looked completely wrong, shocking everyone to learn that it had actually existed in their mother-world. Who knows how many other legends are like that too?”

“Okay that would be pretty crazy,” He couldn’t imagine how he would feel if someone could prove to him that not only had dragons existed on Earth, but nobody managed to nail the look. It must have been a surreal experience for that race at the time.

After that Ben started to talk about different stories he had read and remembered well, then tried to explain video to her, a medium he felt this world was sorely lacking, when they finished preparing food and Ben felt a notification going off in his head.

<MAX LEVEL OF APPRENTICE CRAFTSMAN ACHIEVED>

“Wow hell, really? Cooking a meal gave me the last bit of experience I needed?”

“What are you talking about?” Thera asked, confused by his sudden outburst.

“Looks like I finally completed my current job.” He casually told her.

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“That’s great! Why aren’t you more excited?”

“It is exciting and all, I’m just keeping my expectations in check for now. When I first got this one it was the only option available, who knows if anything will show up when I check this time.”

“You were an Apprentice Craftsman right? You should at least have the Craftsman job now that you’ve finished the apprentice branch.”

“Fair enough, any idea where I can change it?”

“There should be a room for it in the back of the guild, if you go and ask one of the members they’ll show it to you.”

Ben almost wanted to go check it out immediately, but he had told Sonya he would keep an eye out for Thera in the meantime, so it could wait until she was home. He enjoyed his meal with her before going back to work on the cloak, all the while hoping in the back of his mind that he would have at least a few more options available.