CH893

With the day nearing its end, Ben was sure the effects of the potion he’d made had worn off which felt confirmed with the way the shifter was acting. Tossing and turning where he laid, it was clear that the depths of his rest were gone, letting the effects of his dreams spring too close to the surface and knowing that the man didn’t want others knowing about the nature of his sleep problems, went over to wake him.

“Foast, come on, time to get up,” Ben said as he reached out to gently shake him. “Your armour’s all ready, just needs to be-”

His words froze as the part of himself he let interact with the world at normal speeds was brought up to its maximum by a faster instance of what he was in reaction to Foast’s body shifting, a single large spike being formed and aimed directly at Ben’s face.

Instantly his mana was being spent, materializing a saw at the base and slicing through it, leaving the horn to clatter to the ground and a small trickle of blood running down Foast’s face that the shifter rubbed at as he awakened, yawning out as he did.

“Ugh, what happened?” He asked, still too groggy to notice anything himself. “I don’t know how long that knocked me out but it left me with a hell of a headache.”

“About six hours, but what left you with the headache was definitely something a little different,” Ben said, picking up the horn and wiggling it in front of Foast’s eyes. “You sleep shift often?”

Instantly he was awake, a grimace on his face as he changed his body structure to get rid of the small injury. “Occasionally, ever since I first started having my, er, problems,” He said, casting a small glance to Abel and Delair to see if either noticed but finding both too invested in their work to pay attention. “I didn’t injure you, did I?”

“No, but that’s only because I had the speed to be able to react to it, if my apprentice had been close by she definitely could have been hurt.”

“…I apologize. This has been a more recent symptom and since I’ve noticed it, well, I haven’t been sharing a bed with anyone but I should have considered it might happen here.”

“So long as you’re taking proper safety precautions normally then it’s fine, I just really would rather not hear any news about you skewering a lover.”

“No, I’d rather not either,” He sighed. “I thought, well, it really has only been a couple of times so far and since I already owe the inn you directed me to the cost of some new bedding, that it wouldn’t happen again so soon but it looks like that was too hopeful. As this endless bloodshed makes me worse I suppose I need to be more prepared for the symptoms to get harder for me too but… wait. Did you say I got six hours of rest?”

“You did, does it feel like it?”

A little groggy though he was from just waking up, he did in fact notice the difference. The world was just a little brighter and he already had more energy. There was no problem keeping awake just then, his mind and body were feeling the most rested they had in months.

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“I’ve already made you some more potions,” Ben said offhand. “I’ll be tacking the cost of them onto your bill for the armour but I’m comfortable assuming you’ll be happy to pay? Considering how concentrated they are, they aren’t exactly cheap.”

“Happy might be a stretch but so long as I remember to alter the structure of my mouth, nose, and digestive tract a bit before consuming… Yes. Yes, I am very happy to pay whatever the cost is. Thank you, Ben.”

“Don’t worry about it, just remember this if you’re ever around the next time someone tries to give me shit about something. In the meantime though, give yourself a minute to get sorted and then we can run our final tests because I have your armour done.”

“Genuinely? Considering how it went with Abel I did have my hopes but to be done already-”

“Well, I did my best but it still needs your seal of approval. I also had to make a couple of concessions that I’ll talk to you about when you’re ready.”