CH703

After ten minutes of staring at the second mythic item of that day, Ben finally spoke up.

“I absolutely hate this thing.”

“Ben!” Thera hissed as she elbowed him, far more aware of the priests in the room, even as the one in charge laughed.

“A not uncommon reaction from those who study it, even if most aren’t so honest about their feelings,” The worm-person and a member of Wedrow’s race chuckled. “Unfortunately, with its maker gone and our surviving pantheon not privy to its secrets, we have no idea what it might be or what it’s used for. Vovovnata’s final masterpiece eludes us to this day.”

Another one Quilith had told him about, the item in question was a sphere that floated in the air at his eye level, its length going from his torso to his head and was otherwise entirely incomprehensible to him.

His eyes could tell it was a high mythic item but that was it. He couldn’t see any sort of magic or power on it, only perceiving its shape and the red sheen it held, with the answer as to why that was the case apparent at least as he reached his arm out and it passed through without issue. The item was somehow out of phase with the rest of the universe.

Or at least that was his assumption, as much as it annoyed him he didn’t actually know and likely never would unless he somehow grew to a third-tier space mage despite the limitations of his soul to see if he could interact with it on a deeper level.

But why wish for the impossible? Maybe if Jake or Uriel manage to awaken to that tier then I can take advantage of them for a bit for some experiments, but… Ugh, yeah, this is wholly unsatisfying.

Neither his nor Thera’s magic could touch it and if it really was somehow not in line with the standard universe, that might explain why his mana sense wasn’t able to pick anything up from it, even if that left the incomprehensible issue of how his eyes were perceiving anything either, but despite the fact he had to call it his loss as he failed to get anything worthwhile from it, he still had one question.

“So, if it can’t be interacted with in any way then how did you guys manage to get it here? And by here I mean to this planet unless your gods can interact with it in a way mortals can’t.”

“Oh no, they’re as lost as we are and while our surviving pantheon aren’t gods of craft like Vovovnata was, even the crafting gods of this world looked it over without finding a solution either. No, there’s actually a bit of a trick to moving it, though it hasn’t given us any more hints that can help. If you completely enclose it then you can transport it, that’s how we’ve moved it whenever we’ve had the need.”

“…Okay, I guess that explains why it doesn’t vanish into space as the planet moves. It’s less to do with gravity that it is the walls around it?”

“No, it’s not like it floats off when we take it outside either.”

“…Yeah, I really hate this thing. Mind if I try it at least?”

“Be my guest.”

Materializing a thin layer around it, what he’d created didn’t phase through it like the rest, instead just floating there with it, letting Ben push and pull the entire item with ease while using every sense he held to try and find a change, coming up empty in the end. Whatever rules it played by were completely foreign to him and as much as that left him annoyed, it also left him in agreement that whatever it might have been, the mysterious item had to be a masterpiece.

So knowing there was nothing else he’d be able to get from it at that point, he gave his thanks and said his goodbyes as he and Thera left, walking off to their next destination through the gate network.

“Ben, please don’t tell people you hate their sacred artifacts,” Thera sighed. “Just because he agreed, doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been an issue.”

“Ah, yeah, sorry it just slipped out. I’m on my best behaviour though, won’t happen again.”

He did his best to ignore the look of distrust at that statement while they went through to the next gate to another kingdom, heading into the church of the siren’s surviving pantheon and finding a warm welcome as they went, a crowd of priests gathered in wait and bowing the moment they entered.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Ah, Myriad’s apostle, it’s a pleasure,” The bird woman said in good cheer. “And Miss Thera, you may not remember me but we met briefly when you were younger. I am Woszan, high priestess of Telenen. Please, follow me.”