CH845

“So things went well with Sachel?” Thera asked as they made their way through the magic towers, that not being their final destination but instead just a close stop to get to the world’s gate network.

“Yeah, she said she didn’t need anything and she just did it because we’re friends but I’ll still try and keep an eye out for where I can make it up to her. There’s always room to try and upgrade her equipment some more, maybe Ralia’s too if I get the chance although shapeshifting would make things a bit harder on that front. Actually, how would I… Mmh, I’ll have to workshop that a bit.”

“Ha, I think that might just stress her out more in the end. I’m pretty sure she’s humble enough that she’s never going to get used to receiving ultra-rare and legendary items.”

“Well maybe I’ll have to change that,” He laughed back. “Either way, I’ll keep an eye out for anything she might need. No rush.”

“And are you okay?” She finally asked. “Even if nobody said anything, the reaction you got in town-”

“Doesn’t matter to me,” He shrugged. “The people who know me don’t seem to care and if the ones who don’t aren’t going to raise any problems then that’s fine too. They’ll get over it eventually.”

“Until someone spreads word that there’s a guy hidden in Stonewall with unbelievable godlike power,” She teased.

“Ha, well if anyone tries they’re being sent straight on their way. I am so not putting up with a whole new recruitment drive after what I dealt with awakening my crafting and I think I’ve already made that clear. There is a reason so many of my orders started coming through from the gods instead of individual nations.”

“I guess you do always have the option of just throwing anyone who bothers you as far as you can.”

“Okay, I’m not that strong yet.”

“What, don’t think you could throw someone into orbit if you had your jacket on?”

“I…”

Could I?

He hadn’t exactly tested his combat capabilities for when he’d overfill his soul. He had no doubt they’d be impressive given that if it came down to it and he didn’t worry about the damage he would sustain, he could materialize an entire building but when applying all of that power to a single, direct act like seeing how far or high he could throw something with magic…

I haven’t bothered to calculate my new mana maximum after I escaped the demon world but with the new skills I’ve gotten it’s going to be crazy high, maybe I really could throw someone into space? Not exactly something I could test, even if I tried it on a rock that was just about a person’s weight and had Myriad watch it, if it came back down that might end up pretty bad but… Well, I suppose I really do need to start looking a bit more into my combat potential.

One of many tasks still to get done but he needed to focus on his first one as they finally left the streets and reached the gate, stepping through the network and beyond to the one they needed to see what laid in wait.

With the answer still largely being devastation. The city surrounding the tower itself was still destroyed by the wrath of the spirits after they’d learned just what had been done to their kin and given was a low priority it was now that the invasion point that had been there had been permanently closed, there wasn’t even a purely defensive reason to try and clean it up. There were at most a few adventurer parties out there patrolling the area, not wanting to leave the space entirely unattended to make way for any demons or other beasts to slip through the gate, with signs of some scavenging clear in the ruins too, either people coming back to look for personal items after that destruction or else anyone who came through to find anything that might have survived and still carried any value.

Still, those few touches weren’t enough to keep nature from doing what it would, with plants growing through the rubble while other, smaller creatures made themselves at home. Nature showing that through all of that, it would win in the end.

It was enough to bring his mind to the demon worlds as the two of them walked through it. It looked like they’d done their best to clear out the planets they’d conquered in their entirety of all other life but there still had to be some scraps remaining, no matter how slim those would be. Bugs to be found here and there, some grasses too. Hell, the oceans had to be filled with algaes still at the very least and maybe a few more minuscule fish that might go unnoticed. While he could easily imagine some of the aquatic demons taking on filter-feeder roles, it would be a hard environment to truly sterilize.

But would all of that be enough? He wondered. If we could clear every world of the demons living on them, would that be enough for them to recover?

He supposed the answer was yes so long as the scale for such a thing was in the millions of years, letting bigger, more diverse plants grow from any of the simpler ones that might remain while whatever animal life still existed would have to go through the same but at that timescale, it didn’t matter. The galaxy had basically been cleansed and if the solution for that was waiting for millions of years to pass after all of the demons died off then they didn’t have a solution, it was as simple as that.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Aaand, I’m being a downer. He sighed. Chin up already, I’m about to take on craftsmans’ tower. The one that relates to me more than any other I’ve challenged! This is an exciting moment!

He tried to force some cheer back into his minds because that was the truth of it, he was excited. It was the tower that matched him the most and more important than any of that, it was one that wouldn’t kill him. Finally, a tower that he could fully enjoy for the challenge it presented without having to worry about the harm it might hold.

After all, this one isn’t going to destroy my freaking heart, and… Being positive here. Not going to think about the last one we took on.

Before they’d left Stonewall they’d gone through his workshops and fully loaded up his rings, wanting to be prepared for anything and now they were finally there. After getting through the rubble they stood in front of the door they’d be challenging, seeing it marked with the various crafting disciplines it would hold and left only to wait for the other three to arrive, with it not being long for the next to show up as Will trudged through the wreckage to meet them.

“Hey, been a while,” Was all he said as he made his way to them, looking worn out and tired on closer inspection, with signs of all the work he’d been given evident.

Will, like so many of the other summoned, had been promised riches and status in exchange for his work and with the war in full swing it was time to pay it off, the signs of how much he’d been doing leaving its mark in a way that even taking on a tower could be considered a break for him.

Jake and Amy managed to escape some of it themselves since leveling their skills and hopefully even awakening was being treated as a priority but even they would almost certainly be worked like dogs once the third wave arrived, whether they succeeded in reaching the third tier or not.

Really, given how soon the demons had invaded after the humans and other summoned arrived on the world, Ben might have been the biggest winner despite how things had started for him. He didn’t get to be spoiled for the first few years but now, despite how hard he was working for it anyway, he had no obligations to help either, freeing him to direct his focus where he wanted to rather than being tied to the whims of others. When they had all been told that the invasion could have been up to twenty years away it had surely seemed like an excellent deal but now, he couldn’t help but wonder at how many would have chosen to strike out on their own like Pato had if they’d been aware that they’d need to fight in not even five.