CH491

Huh, combining scrying with space magic is pretty obvious so I’m not sure if that really belongs in here, but I can’t deny that the level of skill it was done with was masterful. I don’t really see any way I could apply it to my enchanting, but I’ll at least keep it in mind.

With that book done, the cover turned red to mark his comprehension of the memories it contained, Ben put it back and looked at the progress he’d made.

With fifteen red covers now, he was nearly halfway through what the archive had to offer, far enough that he couldn’t help but consider if it was time to take a break and leave the rest for another day. Before he’d gone in, Thera had said to avoid spending too many hundreds of hours in there, but the combination of his awakened focus and an interesting problem made it all too easy. His overcrowded head was being stimulated in a way he could rarely achieve otherwise as he chipped away at each book until he knew what secrets they contained, but he couldn’t deny that he’d already done a lot and combined with the time dilation effects he was under, he missed Thera and Myriad, along with his other friends.

It was a strange feeling to have when he knew that none of them would even have perceived him as gone. As far as they would have been concerned, he was just laying in bed. Thera was even beside him, not that he could tell in that state.

But if I stay too long I might end up being needy by the time I’m out.

…Just one more. What could it hurt?

Even if he wanted to finish up so he could go talk to Myriad in his god’s realm to shake off some of the feelings being in there had left him, he couldn’t deny his curiosity either. His hopes were raised enough that something might happen once he finished everything that he wanted to make all of the progress he could, even if he couldn’t begin to guess just what it might be. It was the mystery of it that captured his imagination and made him push just a little bit further to see what secrets it held, and that same motivation that led him to reach out for the next book, opening it to see the life it contained.

All at once, Ben was somewhere else, an observer in a body he couldn’t control, as was the case for all of the other books. The difference from the rest of them was the setting he found himself in.

For the others, he’d found himself in battlefields, training grounds, labs and other similar locations. All places one might expect mages to be honing their crafts. This time though it was an area unlike any in the past, yet a place that felt more familiar to him than any of those others. The person he was witnessing the memories of was sitting in a workshop, something resembling a forge by his side and holding a simple metal pan.

All at once, Ben was overcome with the urge to take in everything he was seeing more than he cared about whatever magic was about to be cast. This was his first time seeing something that matched his interests so specifically, and for a culture that not only no longer existed, but one that had left no impact on the world. He couldn’t begin to guess what would be made there but desperately wanted to know, hoping against hope that the man focusing on the pan would get just a little distracted and look around.

Instead though, his eyes remained tied to his work, showing a focus Ben could at least approve of, even if it was keeping him from the mysteries that the area contained as the person began enchanting, making and breaking rings over and over, trying to do something.

It caught his interest at least. From what he judged through the enchanter’s mana sense, they weren’t quite as good at their craft as he was, though they were surprisingly close, meaning on a world that predated the system, they had to be the highest level of master available in that era. By all accounts, he was watching a genius enchanter at work, which made it all the more unfortunate that he couldn’t make himself impressed.

The quality of the skill was fine and all, the issue was the form the enchantments took. It used the same ring system that could be found on Galwax’s trial. It was novel and had its strengths, Ben would never deny it, but he’d already made it his own. By combining it with both the weave and blending systems, he’d elevated it above what had previously existed, making the show he was getting interesting in a purely academic sense as he watched a person practice a method that as far as he was concerned was outdated.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Although, it does feel like he’s doing something a little strange with his mana. Maybe there’s a subtlety I’m missing here?