CH981

Alright, off to see if this is even hypothetically possible to do without killing my girlfriend.

<You know, with how self-destructive you can be in the name of your own progress, you really shouldn’t be so against someone else being the same.>

Yeah? Well I’ll have you know that I’m a raging hypocrite. It’s fine, I’ll run all of the tests I can think before showing her this is impossible, and once I do, then we can let the matter drop.

But to do that, he was going to need some help which meant finding a great spirit to assist him as he passed through the gate to Thera’s family home, happy to grab the first one he could find who’d be willing to lend a hand, even if the one he got left him a little less so when it was Abrus he ran into and would be requesting assistance to see if the tests Ben had in mind would kill that great spirit’s daughter.

“Oh, Abrus, hey,” Ben still said, trying to put on his best smile and hoping he’d be declined so he could find someone else, with the spirit smiling back.

“Ben, lovely to see you. No Thera with you today?”

“Ah, no. She’s watching Mora while I’m trying to get a little test done on her behalf. I just needed to find a free great spirit to help me out, if you know any that are currently available and might be willing?”

“If it’s for my daughter then you have me, of course. What do you need?”

Great.

“To capture some demons,” Ben explained, pushing the sarcastic thought from his head. “Living and preferably somewhat unharmed, I need to check the results of some mind alterations on them.”

“And Thera’s the one requesting this?”

“She is.”

“I believe the question behind it was somewhat implied.”

“… There’s a mind skill she’s hoping I can help her get, which I’m worried about the consequences of her getting, so I’m trying to test if it’s going to be safe first, though I have low hopes.”

“Mmh, I see. Then I suppose we shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

“Seriously, that’s it?”

“What else is there to say? My daughter is an adult and I believe you have her best interests at heart. If there’s a skill she wants then she can get it, and if you think it’s too dangerous then you can stop her, but first we should at least see if it’s really as dangerous as you’re afraid.”

“… Okay then, yeah, let’s go. Although really, the first thing we’ll be doing is checking if it’s even possible. Odds seem slim, so I’d keep my expectations in check.”

When they got to the untamed lands and flew deeper into its depths, it wasn’t long until Abrus came back with a demon by the neck, the beast struggling and thrashing in his hand until Ben brought the totality of his mind to its highest speed, examining everything the demon was for all its worth, to a level of detail that left it perfectly replicated within his thoughts.