CH496

Attempt five… failed. Dang, let’s crack it open I guess and see if it’s at least obvious.

Sitting at a table in the shop, Ben was examining a side project of his. Nothing significant, just something to try and help him with some mechanical aspects of his designs for Inux. He was attempting to make a watch.

It wasn’t an easy task by any stretch, not least because he didn’t even really know how they were supposed to be put together. Thanks to his knowledge skill and unnatural mind, he was able to recall the few times he’d seen examples of their inner workings back on Earth, and combined with the knowledge he’d gained through his constant study and any relevant bits he’d learned from Quilith he was doing his best to combine it all into a functioning whole, even if his attempts had been met with failure so far.

Given how small a timepiece was, he was making each one the quickest way he could, figuring out the structure and composition in his head before spending a bit of mana to materialize it, with each end product being small enough that he still had plenty left in his reserve, but after creating them each in such a way he had no choice but to manually disassemble them in an attempt to see just what went wrong.

Everything looks like it should work, what could it be? Did I mess up somewhere when I was redesigning it to fit the longer days I work under here? Should I have tried to make one for Earth time first before I started trying to adapt what I remembered?

…Probably. Oh well, too far in to quit now. Maybe if I shrink that and add another small gear…

There was always the option of asking the grey for help during his next lesson but he had no desire to do that. Part of learning and growing for him was figuring things out for himself when possible. If he believed he couldn’t then he’d take any helping hand but with that project he felt too close to give into such thoughts and with a renewed determination he created his sixth attempt, feeling his heart pound as its second hand ticked.

“Success!” He cheered, throwing his hands in the air.

It wasn’t perfect. Just comparing against his internal timekeeping, it was not-so-subtly off in a way that would have it an hour behind in just a few days, but that was a minor issue he could work on in the future after a bit more testing and refining. He was undeniably on the right track, for whatever small bit of help it would give him.

And with that, it would be about time to go.

With that little bit of fun done he left the shop after getting the few things he needed. A couple of books and a variety of circlets of copper and mythril, not needing much to power the enchantments that would be on them, unlike the bands on his arm where enchantments were constantly being made and destroyed.

While they’d had a variety of fixed magical effects on them before Thera’s charm had been dealt with, all in an effort to raise his resistance enhancement, it was now no longer a concern which once again left it as a skill he wanted to neglect. As handy as it was for the most part, he couldn’t help but think that making himself harder to heal was probably something to be avoided if he could help it, lest he ever end up injured without an awakened healer around.

Should probably try and come up with a solution to that too, one day. I’m probably pretty boned if I’m ever gutted with only a standard healer nearby. Oh well, that’s a later problem.

With everything he needed in hand, he hopped on his bike and raced back home where a small crowd had already gathered, all standing around the cart to head off for their destination at warrior’s tower with Thera, Sonya, and Sachel’s party ready and waiting to go.

While he had his mini-gate stored away at the shop, they weren’t going to be using it for that particular outing, as much as he was sure he’d regret that choice. Even though Sachel was aware he’d made it given how he’d wanted to show off after his success, they were keeping the other end in the home of a nation’s queen. It wouldn’t be good if anyone got the idea that it would be fine to use to save some time, at least, it wouldn’t be good if it was anyone other than the people she’d expressly allowed.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

It’s okay, I’ve dealt with plenty. I can manage hurtling through the sky at speeds where a crash would kill me before I even notice. This is fine.

…except there’s nothing I can’t notice with my thought speed skills and I’d definitely be forced to live out my final moments in slow motion. Hmm, going to try and not think about that.

Shockingly, his self-reassurance failed him in the end, so instead he focused on the distraction he’d be using during the trip. His would-be test subjects.

“Why’s he looking at us like that?” Skoe muttered after seeing the look in Ben’s eyes, one of his four arms getting hit by Ralia for the comment.

“Don’t acknowledge it. Just pretend you don’t see him and maybe he won’t do whatever he’s thinking.”