CH376

Ben’s eyes shot open as he woke up, not from the notifications or any other stimulus, but more the lack thereof as he gently rubbed his temples, exploring the feelings and experiences of each of his many minds as a grin broke out across his face.

“Headache’s finally gone.”

It had been his constant companion for an unreasonable number of months, but in the last week he’d realized it had been wearing on him less and less, with the time of his torment finally coming to a close, bringing an all-but-forgotten level of relief with it.

<Right up until you get the ninth level of either of the other two skills.> Myriad was quick to point out.

“Quiet you, I just became a ninth-level meditation holder, there’s no way I’m gaining a level of either before my soul finishes whatever it’s doing, and I’m sure that if leveling either skill does happen I won’t be stuck with it for nearly a freaking year again. Honestly, how did I not get pain resistance after all of that? I’ve been through so much on top of the feeling of my brain trying to explode, the universe owes me it.”

<That’s not how skills or reality works. No amount of suffering is going to guarantee some sort of karmic balance just to make things fair.>

“Bleh, I guess you’re right enough about that. If there was, I wouldn’t be getting my second chance at life on a doomed world after being crushed to death on my first.”

After all, only sixty days left.

The end of the world was basically at their doorstep and it was showing any time he went outside. When he’d first returned to Stonewall after the ordeal with Galwax’s trial it had been clear enough in the people around, the anxiety and fear for the future, but it hadn’t been long for at least a lot of it to fade. No matter the horror there was to it, there was enough space where the pressures of daily life managed to be the bigger concern, at least for a time. Now though, as the day kept drawing closer, that same fear had come back in full force to infect the hearts of the people of the world, each of them showing it in their own ways.

“What do you want from me, man?” He sighed before getting dressed, off to start breakfast and the day as a whole. “I didn’t grow up hearing bedtime stories of otherworldly monsters trying to take my land and I have different nightmares taking up my dreams. I’m sure I’ll be good and traumatized if I survive the first wave so you can consider that something to look forward to if you want.”

<Mmh, I don’t exactly want that either.> Myriad grumbled. <It just seems like you should be, I don’t know, a little worried? I don’t want you any more traumatized than you already are, I just think you need a healthy concern for the future is all.>

“Ha, I’d say I have plenty of that, you just need to look a little closer at my thoughts to see it.”

“Morning,” Thera said as she wrapped her arms around him while he cooked, seeming bright and cheerful in a way that Ben could tell was her way of pushing against the mood of the town, same with Sonya. Neither women were morning people, needing just that bit of extra time to get up usually, but they were putting on a show that he wasn’t going to call them out on, especially since he wasn’t sure either of them even realized they were doing it.

Like aunt, like niece.

“And a good morning to you too,” He told her, greeting her enthusiasm with his own as he turned to pick her up, spinning her around as he did with the sounds of Sonya’s laughter coming from behind them in the hall.

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