CH452

Thera’s agreement was swift. How could she decline? Even if she didn’t care too much about advancing farther into the library, this was a request to them as rank-one adventurers, off to protect one of the most important figures in the world. It was the sort of thing she dreamed of when she’d first started, now waiting to be fulfilled.

It was obvious she was itching to take on the task now that it had been given, but they weren’t exactly being rushed for it either. There were still a couple days to go before they needed to head out. Days Ben fully intended to put to use in the top floors of the library.

<Just don’t go getting attacked again.> His god sighed in his head as Ben flipped through the books on the fifth floor, taking them slower than he had on the third to try and savour the wealth of knowledge they contained, even if it still left him going at an outrageous pace. <I swear, I take my eyes off you for a few hours and then something like that springs up?>

Hey, I absolutely held my own I’ll have you know. I’m like, properly powerful now.

<Sure, until a rodent catches you from your blind spot.>

We’re ignoring that. Instead, do me a favour and get me access to the basement. I want to know what’s so special to be hidden away like that.

He’d been told he needed permission from the gods, but he was someone lucky enough to be on good terms with more than a few. He was absolutely going to abuse that for all it was worth. Or at least he was going to try.

<Absolutely not.>

Boo. Why not? I’m such a good little apostle who just helped the entire world become more powerful, I deserve this.

<You were already well compensated for your work with awakening.>

Yeah, and if I’d known about how hard it was getting into the basement then I would have tried to force that too. What’s the big deal?

<The big deal is that you’d try to use the information it contains.>

Obviously. This is a library, Myriad.

<The issue with that.> His god sighed. <Is that it’s a repository for forbidden spells, same as the one you saw in Anailia, only on a disgustingly larger scale. The only people allowed access to it are high-ranking members of the communal church when they’re investigating suspected crimes throughout the world, and even then there’s a strict verification process. Meanwhile, we have you, someone who would happily exploit any interesting bit of knowledge you could get your hands on for your own amusement. Not only would the other gods not want you getting in there, I don’t want you getting in there.>

Hey, calling knowledge good or bad is close-minded. It all comes down to how you use it. I promise I wouldn’t abuse anything I learn.

<Still no.>

So incredibly lame. He sighed as he put away all of the books on soul magic that floor contained, sitting back briefly to take it all in since it didn’t seem he’d wear down his god.

Even if he couldn’t get that final floor, the fifth was already proving itself interesting enough for him from all of the texts on one particular third-tier magic alone. A branch that so few had achieved, yet was largely responsible for so much of what the world had achieved thanks to the gods making sure there was always one on the planet, even Ben couldn’t help but think it almost seemed inherently noble. Soul magic. Sure, it kept its roots from the life and death it had originally grown from, but it was a magic that raised others in all ways.

Beyond just helping to lower the difficulty in leveling skills, raising attributes, and breaking through tiers for the people lucky enough to feel its effects, it had other uses too, ones that managed to be impressive enough to catch him off guard.

There were two he’d seen and heard of that surprisingly weren’t in any of the books, both giving blessings and extending life spans being largely considered rumours to keep any soul mage on the planet from being more bogged down and harassed than they already were, but they could do more beyond that.

Much in a similar vein to Zandale, it seemed if they put their mind to it, they could help people acquire skills. From what he read, it still seemed that his fellow apostle was more suited to the task, his skills being specialized towards it, but they were matters of the soul, meaning it still fell within the domain of the soul mages, and more than that, it provided bonuses that Zandale couldn’t.

While the tentacled apostle could teach someone any of the numerous skills he knew, it looked like the soul mages operated slightly differently. They would instead prime a person’s soul for learning, reducing the difficulty of gaining anything it seemed like they might acquire. It was less direct than Zandale’s method, the target not being able to choose what would come of such a thing, but then it also gave the potential for a far greater range of skills to be achieved as well.

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And that’s not even considering how things might turn out if the two were used together in tandem. I can already imagine people gaining Zandale’s skills instantly if he had a soul mage by his side, which would be cool enough if there wasn’t also that one signature skill to compare it against.