CH850

Sweating and panting, Ben alone looked fine as he watched from the side while the other four moved their bodies for whatever workout they could get, suffering through it for the vague hope it might help ensure that they’d get through that floor of the tower but finally getting it to end once Ben called out.

“Alright guys, I’m going to take the dishes out in ten minutes so you call all stop for now-”

“Oh thank god,” Jake sighed as he collapsed to the ground. “That sucked so much.”

“Jake, I know your attributes. That should have been a light workout.”

“I’m a mage, I don’t do light workouts.”

“Well anyway, you’re not exactly done either-”

“Boo!”

“Will, did you just boo me?”

“When I saw you outside the tower you told me I could sleep through this.”

“Yeah, and don’t think I didn’t notice you having a couple naps on the first and second floors. Now, what I was going to suggest was that Thera, could you use some life spells on everyone to enhance their digestion rates? We’ll get you all just a bit hungrier and then we’ll get to eat, promise.”

“…Well, this is still far from the worst trial we’ve done,” She told herself as she did what he’d asked, feeling her body grow hungrier on top of the effort she’d just finished putting it through while the others groaned and their stomachs rumbled.

“Perfect.”

They were officially in peak eating condition which meant he just needed to add the finishing touches, pulling his frozen syrup from the freezer and turning it into a fine powder before placing it back and putting the dumplings in a pan to cook with a bit of water and oil, sending the rest of them to take their seats while he started plating everything, carrying the appetizers out for everyone and being rewarded with hungry eyes as a result, placing a dish in front of each person before taking a seat himself.

“Alright everyone, dig in.”

They needed no prompting as the first morsels were shovelled into each mouth with one change coming to that floor as they did. As the four of them bit down, a mark appeared above each of their heads, forcing Ben to look above his own in surprise but finding nothing there.

“…What does that mean though?”

He could only guess that they were either a positive or negative mark, at the very least they didn’t seem to be doing anything other than existing, but he had to assume that the absence of one for himself meant he wasn’t getting a perfect score. Either he alone had satisfied the floor’s conditions or everyone else had.

But that doesn’t make sense because I think this is delicious and it’s obvious they all do too and… another fucking tower’s broken for me, hasn’t it? If this stupid thing is supposed to be gauging my mind then it might not be reading it right and oh my god Nare, fix these fucking things for people who think like me! Seriously, why am I constantly being discriminated against for my mental structure?

…But this is a genuine problem. I don’t know if I need a perfect score or not but if I do then I’ve already lost and even if I don’t, three courses probably means three marks each. Failing every single one is not going to be a good look so is there any way I can turn this around?

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He still had food left so he did his best to control his mind. Mediation was one of the skills that unnatural mind had grown from so in an attempt to try and trick the trial and make his thought structure seem more normal he quieted all but one of them and ate another gyoza, with no change coming for it.

With only one other option he could think of, he then went the opposite route by placing his very first mind skill in charge, the focus that had grown so far beyond its initial limits being directed at all of his minds to hone in on experiencing the dish he’d made, tasting it with all he was and finally getting marked for it as a result.