CH670

“You really are trying to turn yourself into a monster, you know that?” Myriad sighed. “Nobody awakens skills after only a couple days of having them Ben, nobody.”

“Sure they do, I’m right here. Besides, if I’m really under a fourth-tier job then a second-tier awakening has to basically just be like raising any other level to skills that apply to it. Honestly, with how easy getting it was, getting material manipulation to the third tier might not be an unreasonable dream either.”

“You are never going to get anything done if you keep raising your list of goals.”

“It’s not a goal, just a thought, don’t worry. I was already thinking about how I might try and lift my mind skills to that level in the next few years if I survive, it’s the same thing there.”

“Just how powerful do you want to become?”

“Hey, as long as I don’t die in the process, if we win then I’ve got over a century of life ahead of me after all of my current awakenings. More if Thera keeps trying to extend my lifespan with her magic and I’d extend it even further with even a single third-tier awakening. Do you really think I wouldn’t take advantage of that time to try and grow more? Heck, with all of that time, I could aim to raise some other skills too, I certainly wouldn’t say no to seeing what a third-tier inclination would look like or maybe my intelligence enhancement given how much growth I’m already seeing in that attribute after awakening it only a couple days ago.”

“…Just keep that musing up here away from other prying ears,” Myriad told him. “Honestly, the sort of nightmare it looks like you have the potential to grow into, I can only wonder how things would have turned out if the demon’s invasion had held off for another decade?”

“God, I wish.”

With that much extra time to grow, he felt confident he could have been a contender in a few more skills by then, even if he wouldn’t have necessarily had the same drive to awaken them. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t have wanted to or had it as a goal but the threat of obliteration was a powerful motivator, one he could feel even then.

“Well, ignoring your quest for horrifying levels of power, the other gods have accepted your offer to produce your new tools in exchange for getting to see the mythic items of the world. It’s not something we’ll be able to do immediately seeing as how they’re currently getting some heavy use as I’m sure you can imagine but I’ll let you know when they’ll make them available.”

“And in that case, after I’m done tomorrow I’ll drop off what I already have at Anailia’s church so her people can handle distribution and then focus on making more when I have time.”

“Not exactly like it takes you long since you’re materializing then all in one go. I’ve told you you’re horrifying before, right?”

“A hurtful number of times, yes. Doesn’t matter, I’m useful. Anyway, I should probably head down and start the day.”

“Fine, fine. Let me know how your potion affects your attributes after you drink it I guess.”

“…”

“What. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re getting your results for how all of your tests turned out when you leave and tomorrow is the day you’d be drinking your strengthening potion anyway. What was with the pause, what the hell are you about to do?”

“The lack of trust hurts so much, you know that, right?”

“Ben, tell me so I don’t feel compelled to watch you all day.”

“In that case, just feel compelled to watch me while I’m in Stonewall and you’ll see.”

“You are the worst and are on the edge of giving me a panic attack. It’s only been a few days since you got back and you’ve already done so much, what the hell are you going to do?”

Not giving another word, Ben left the realm for the night, not wanting to have the talk he knew would ensue if he explained himself as he instead ran away, leaving with the feeling that it would be easier to ask for forgiveness while his god fell into despair.

“Hot damn, this is better than I was hoping for. Like, a lot better.”

Going over all of the results from his various potions, only three recipes were weakened for his experimentation along with a few people who got only three point bonuses but across all of the data, there was far more to see.

Interestingly, there were a few potions that seemed to raise a few attributes more than others and there were a handful that doubled the expected result, giving a dozen people lucky enough to get them attribute bonuses of six to everything.

Any one of those would have been good enough to invest in, if not for his holy grail. The single recipe he’d found among them all that raised all attributes by seven for the few volunteers who drank it, threatening to make him break out into a wide grin for all to see while he was busy dropping off the new bracelets to Anailia’s church.

Assuming the effects of defiler of ambrosia kept up the same way they had after eating Jagal’s fruit, that meant he’d be getting fourteen points for each one, a monthly bonus that others would kill for.

There really is nothing better than being so compatible with magical steroids. He thought happily as he passed through his gate back to Stonewall, with Myriad picking that exact moment to pop into his head.

Stolen novel; please report.

<Yes yes, you’re extraordinarily blessed so what exactly are you going to do already? Tell me so I can stop panicking.>

You’re exaggerating.

<I’m feeling levels of anxiety that even the invasion doesn’t cause me. There’s nothing more worrying than you not telling me what you’re up to Ben!>

I have no clue what I could have ever done to cause that sort of feeling in you.

He got less of an answer to that than he did a pained scream but for the most part he ignored it to instead set up the shop for potion making, using the recipe that had pulled the best results as he pulled out ingredients he had prepared from the day before, carefully measuring everything out to make a large cauldron of the stuff by the end before divvying it out across a few hundred bottles and repeating the process to make more.

He was creating it for himself, his friends, and the entire dryad village. It was important to make sure he got everything he needed to finished for the months to come ahead of time, but Myriad didn’t see it that way.