CH562

<ACTUALIZATION LEVEL INCREASED>

A new day, a new gate to pass through, with the one they’d chosen feeling a little more special compared to a few of the other options available to them. It was one Ben had enchanted himself, picked for the dual reasons that it was a city they hadn’t been to before, as well as one on a coast to let them enjoy all the ocean had to offer.

After a night of socializing with Greed and his partner, followed by practicing his actualization in Myriad’s realm, by the time they’d woken up, neither had anything specifically in mind that could be done that day, leaving it to Ben to think of something fun.

The city was close enough to the world’s equator to make it warm, though not as warm as Nare’s city had been with its uncomfortably active volcano so close beside it, and they both wandered the streets and enjoyed it, stopping only long enough to find a hotel to stay in for the night since Anailia lacked an embassy for them to take advantage of there before trying out the local foods, with fish making up most of the menus.

And while tasting food and wandering around was fun, it wasn’t what either of them had in mind for their stay.

“We passed an art gallery earlier,” Thera offered, fully aware of Ben’s interest in such things and enjoying them plenty herself. “Why don’t we give it a look?”

“How about tomorrow? There’s actually something else I was thinking for today if you don’t mind.”

“Alright, then lead the way.”

They started going down to the coast from there, finding exactly what Ben had been hoping to see. A beach in all its glory, with sand and waves and a cool breeze to cut the bite of the sun, along with plenty of folks around enjoying as people lounged or swam.

It really only lacked a single thing, but one that was pretty necessary for what he’d been hoping to spend the day on. In all of their walking since they’d arrived, he couldn’t find a place to buy any swimwear.

He knew there had to be one somewhere, he could tell as much from the people enjoying their time there. Both different species and different people within a species all had their own standards for what would be considered appropriate to wear, but he was seeing a range from folks completely in the nude to full-body suits. All he’d been hoping to find was a place with some comfortable option that wouldn’t land in either extreme for them.

Oh well, if you want something done right then you’ve gotta do it yourself.

With no other choice, Ben materialized something for himself, looking like the sort of swim trunks he would have used back on Earth as he used his magic to construct a material that would be both light and flexible enough to act as fabric without absorbing water, all while Thera watched, shaking her head as she did.

“I’m beginning to think I’m never going to get used to seeing everything you can just make,” She sighed before directing her focus to the thing he’d chosen to create. “So what’s with the shorts?”

“Swim shorts specifically. You’ve said before that you can’t swim and here we are at a beach on vacation, it’s the perfect time.”

He saw her make a face, clearly not hiding that she wasn’t as sure about the idea as he seemed to be, but he decided to push just a little.

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“It’s fun, relaxing, and more than anything else, just a handy skill to have,” He told her. “Being able to swim has literally saved my life. I know it’s not likely, but if you ever end up in the middle of the ocean without any stone around to use then you’d regret not knowing.”

“Ben, I do have other options now beyond my earth magic,” She told him, using her non-affinitied power to raise herself a foot about the ground to add to the point. Even if she was thrown a hundred miles from the nearest bit of land, she would be fine thanks to the level of her skills and the power of her mana. Still though, she could see it was something he wanted to do so she gave in at the end. “But fine, in that case, make me something to wear too.”

“Awesome, any preferences?”

“Whatever you think would look good on me.”

“That doesn’t even slightly narrow it down.”