CH549

After spending the rest of the night talking with Quilith while figuring out what most of the known magic materials were initially made of, Ben’s typical schedule for the coming day was changed completely by the implication of what he’d found.

He knew that the universe he was in had ninety naturally occurring elements with a few hypothetical more that could have briefly existed in the hearts of stars or formed during their deaths, meaning there were potentially that many possible magic materials out there to be discovered if he could only create them.

It was exciting, engaging, and more than a bit dread-inducing. Even if he succeeded in creating them, they’d have to all be thoroughly tested to confirm their effects, lest he accidentally create some sort of super-deathstone that was going to absorb the vitality of all life around it. That meant he’d need to set up an entirely new research institution to study them all unless he wanted to be spending years of his life going through them one by one.

Just thinking about that killed some of the magic of it for him but he did his best to ignore the crushing feeling of his workload increasing. This was too important to ignore so after thinking of the best way to do it safely, he and Thera went to her family after breakfast, his girlfriend too curious about such a potentially major discovery to not want to see where it would lead with him.

After going through the mini-gate to her old room, they needed to find the key to making sure Ben didn’t accidentally kill himself, finding Abrus training with Karly and Glob outside.

The two haggard summoned looked grateful that at least one of the three great spirits beating them down had decided to take a break thanks to their presence as he walked over, giving a cheerful wave.

“Thera, Ben, what brings the two of you here today? Looking to buy a bit more?”

“Not quite. I’m looking to kill a lot of birds with one stone so I kind of need your help Abrus, do you have some time? I can almost guarantee it’s going to help make Anailia significantly richer.”

“Why don’t you give me the details first and then we can discuss it.”

“Okay, so you know how only nine kinds of magic materials exist?”

“Better than anyone, yes.”

“I’m going to try and change that, but seeing as how I don’t know what any new ones I manage to create will do I kind of want you around to make sure I don’t accidentally kill myself or anyone else. On the positive side, I’m assuming that once they exist, you’ll be able to make most of them yourself so it’s a win all around.”

The great spirit gave off an air of shock upon hearing that, not knowing how to react other than to look around before focusing back on Ben.

“Alright, well if you’re going to try something like that I suppose we’d best move to a different location.”

With the explanation given, Abrus grabbed the two of them and flew them through the gate, taking them deep into the untamed lands until he found a clearing, far from other people.

“This should probably be safe enough,” The spirit said with a nod before focusing on Ben who was laying on the ground.

“Just give me a second to catch my breath,” He told them, grabbing his heart and waiting for it to calm down. “I thought Thera got her need for speed from her mom’s side since Sonya enjoys it too, but I guess it’s an entire family sort of thing, huh?”

“I think you might just be unusually bad with this sort of thing,” She teased him, only for Ben to strongly deny it.

“No, think of every person you’ve ever transported anywhere. Other than your aunt and Ceselee, the rest of us end up feeling pretty mortal by the end of it.”

“You’ll get used to it one day.”

“I can only hope.”

It was only after a few more seconds of collecting himself that he got up, prepared to do what he had come there for. Abrus waved Thera to stand back while he stood before Ben’s outstretched hand, right where he intended to materialize whatever matter he could.

The idea was that the second it appeared, Abrus would grab whatever was made instantly, pulling it away and collecting it so it would do no harm to Ben while being fully prepared to toss it into space should it prove to be too dangerous.

Which means all there is left is to finally give it a go.

With that frame of mind, Ben concentrated on his first element, pouring his mana into a space that was no bigger than a grain of sand as something came into being, only to get an immediate negative from the great spirit. Ben had failed, not creating anything new but instead just having wasted too much mana on something that already existed.

He didn’t let that stop him though and he tried again and again, running over to Thera each time to quickly refill his mana pool to see if he’d get any success. After all, he knew that to a point, failure was expected for him. There were two known magic materials in the world that came from affinitied mana, deathstone and vergatios, meaning there could easily be more too, and it was only by the fifth attempt that he finally had a success.

In an instant, whatever Ben had created was ripped away by the great spirit as Abrus did something unexpected, he tossed it into his mouth.

“Uh, taste good?”

“It’s not a matter of taste,” He said excitedly. “You did it Ben. Infinite hells, the fact that this was possible and I didn’t even know, to call myself the great earth spirit when there’s still so much more depth to be found in the world…”

“So do you think you’d be able to take over then now that you’ve seen me do it once?” He asked, a small part of him hoping he could dump this part of the new project on the great spirit too when he seemed so enthused. “All you need to do is try and apply more mana to the atomic structure you’re trying to create. Easy-peasy.”

The earth spirit fell deep in thought before answering, putting his all in thinking it over.

“I wouldn’t be able to,” He finally said. “I don’t know how to explain it to you, but when I’m materializing I don’t think in the same way you do. I frankly can’t understand how you’re doing it to get this outcome. You said that you’ve applied extra mana when making carbon to get white mana crystal, but if I try the same, I’ll just get more carbon.”

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“A fundamental difference in worldview then, huh? Damn it. Okay, give me a second and we’ll move on to the next one.”

“Ben, are you okay?” Thera asked him in concern as he walked over to take more of her mana. “You seem strangely unenthusiastic.”

This seemed like the sort of thing he’d normally go crazy for, not something he’d be disappointed he couldn’t dump on someone else. The fact that he was reacting like that spoke of some deeper issue, but he did his best to brush it away.

“It’s exciting, it really is, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I have a lot to do. Adding to my plate with everything else is a bit much.”

She didn’t look like she trusted that answer but decided to let it slide until later, letting Ben take what he needed as he moved on to his next attempt, once again getting another success with three more coming soon after, leading to a notification ringing out in his head.

<MAX LEVEL OF THE OTHERWORLDLY CRAFTSMAN JOB ACHIEVED>