Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

Arriving at the shop for Delair to practice when she was done, provided she wasn’t suffering too much from the experience, Ben pulled out some chairs for all of them to sit and discuss just how exactly they wanted to be changed, finding himself almost bored by the results.

“Now, for Delair, as her teacher, I strongly believe that she should gain ninety-nine points in her affinities and as much as I can in her fire resistance, but Delair, give it’s your soul, and Fontesh, given she’s your daughter, I am willing to discuss the matter with you if either of you have any concerns about that choice.”

“Sounds great!” Delair jumped, hardly able to contain her excitement to be getting exactly what she’d wanted and more, while Fontesh more calmly nodded.

“I’m fine with that as well.”

“Great, and then in the case of you and Thera-”

“I’m fine with the exact same,” Fontesh told him.

“And basically the same for me too, but since my earth affinity is already so high, I’ll raise my death resistance to ninety-nine and my time resistance to nine or higher if you can manage.”

“... Okay, and I’ll of course do that, but are you both sure you wouldn’t want something a bit more balanced? Fifty-five to fifty-six in everything but your light and life resistances? All I’m saying is that it wouldn’t be bad.”

“Hmm? Why?” Fontesh asked with a nearly hurtful level of confusion. “I understand that things aren’t as safe as they used to be, but if you’re not a warrior, you’re not going to be encountering much offensive magic, right? Having high affinities would be significantly more useful.”

Unaware that she’d essentially just denied the use of his own soul, Thera patted his arm, even though she didn’t disagree.

“I’m a mage, Ben, through and through. Having higher affinities would just be more useful to me in general.”

“Alright, alright, fine. Everyone gets incredible affinities; nobody needs to care about resistances. That’s just how the world’s set up. Maybe one day in the future, resistances will finally get the appreciation they’re due.”

“I think if we all get to enjoy a nice, peaceful future, that’s actually a lot less likely,” Thera consoled him, even as she insisted on destroying his hope that souls like his own might one day be appreciated with her facts and logic.

“Bah, fine, but if anyone ever shoots a magical fire at any of you, or tries to petrify you, or traps you in a time prison, or anything like that, then I don’t want to hear any complaints.”

“Seeing as how we’d still be affected, even with higher resistances, I don’t think we will.”

“Mmh, let’s just get this over with so I can feel bad about my soul in private later. Delair, you’re going to be first, okay?”

“Okay!”

Having her start was for the duel reasons of ensuring that her mother couldn’t change her mind when Fontesh would get to be reminded of just how unpleasant soul modification could be, as well as to keep Thera’s head perfectly clear to start casting healing spells and, if needed, a sleeping one in the event Delair struggled to handle the change in herself. While not overwhelming for an adult, who had a lifetime to accumulate all sorts of minor aches and injuries, it was going to be something like she’d never been through before, and if she needed to sleep through it until the worst of it was done then he wanted her to do exactly that.

With nothing else to do, though, all that left was to start as Ben began, putting on the church of Myriad to overfill his soul as he visualized the new one he would create, spending the millions of points of mana he’d taken in all at once as he materialized through Delair, hearing her groan the second he did as both Thera and Mora began casting on her, leaving him to look into her mind to judge how she was feeling, even as he directly asked her as much.

“You alright, kiddo? Want to sleep it off?”

From what he could tell, it seemed like it was within a range that she could handle, but just because she could, didn’t mean she should have to. Why suffer when there was an alternative, but it seemed she wanted to be strong.

“No, I’m fine,” she told him. “But… wow, this sucks. I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“Yeah, soul pain is weird like that, but… okay, no. As your teacher, I’m calling it. Thera, can you put her to sleep for an hour or so? If she’s healed by you for that long, then it actually should be manageable by the time she wakes up.”

“Hey, no, I said I could handle it.”

“You can; you’re being very tough about it,” Ben nodded. “Too tough, though. Think of your mom here; how can she ask to sleep it off if you don’t? This is going to be her second soul modification, which means it’s going to be a bit worse than the first, so cut her a little slack, would you?”

“Mmh, well, okay then,” she agreed, not needing too much convincing. The experience might not have left her screaming or crying, but her entire body was tensed and it was easy to hear the pain in her voice, driving Thera to cast a quick sleeping spell before Ben picked the girl up and materialized a small bed for her to rest on.

“Thank you for that,” Fontesh said, relieved to see her daughter look more comfortable. “I know she can be stubborn when she wants to about the silliest things.”

“No worries. When she’s in my care, I’m going to make sure nothing happens to her, and there’s nothing for you to worry about either. You’re making the right choice here, for her and for you.”

“Oh, I’m sure I am; I just still can’t help but worry about her. Still, unless Thera wants to go next, I believe I’m all ready.”

“In that case, I’ll make this quick.”

Once more he overfilled his soul and once more he materialized through another’s, leaving Fontesh to give a small grunt at the feeling of it before shaking her head.

“And if you both don’t mind, I think I’ll be a bit less tough than my daughter wants to and sleep the first part of this off too.”

“Ha, go ahead,” Ben nodded as she moved to curl up with her daughter on the small bed he’d made before Thera’s spell took her, leaving only one more to do.

“And then there’s me,” Thera lamented. “The only one getting their soul modified who has to stay awake for it.”

“Sorry about that. I’ll make it up to you.”

“No, I’ll live, so let’s get this over with,” she told him, remembering exactly how going through that had felt the last time and did her best to mentally prepare for it as her soul changed, growing her in a way she never could have before and brought with it an immediate effect.

Originally, Thera’s soul magic had been built upon an admittedly flimsy foundation. A power that could grow from two different types of magic, her life affinity had always been low at twenty-two, and her death affinity had been an abysmal three. Now though, with both aspects at ninety-nine, her magic had incredible legs to stand on, that fact shown in just how much stronger the spells she was casting with it were, with an immediate level to her soul inclination to cap it off.

With an immediate amplification, it meant that Delair and Fontesh both would be far better off than originally planned when they woke up, and it meant that as Thera cast on herself, she could feel the progress within herself as it happened, even if she’d still need a little bit before she was more comfortable. As it was, she groaned like the other two had and rested her head on the table in front of her for the minuscule bit of comfort the act brought.

“Okay, I’m just going to suffer for a bit, so do me a favour and try not to be too loud, okay?”

“Got it. In that case, me and Mora will go out to grab snacks for everyone. We’ll be back in a bit. Mora?”

“Sounds good,” the boy nodded, taking Ben’s offered hand as they moved to leave the three to recover, along with the sleeping Dewdrop in the shop.

Once the door was quietly closed behind him, though, Ben scooped the boy up and placed him on his shoulders as he walked before addressing the real reason he’d taken him out.

“So, you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing’s bothering me.”

“Kiddo, you wear your feelings on your sleeves. Come on, I think I know what’s up anyway, but talk to me about it. I’m not going to judge.”

“... It just still sucks that I’m the only one who can’t become anything more than what I am,” he said, wearing the same pout he hadn’t been able to hide since Ben first modified Delair’s soul. “I know I’m strong in ways most people aren’t, I shouldn’t be jealous about it, but I’m stuck like this and no one else is. I’m powerful, but I’m limited.”

“Yeah, it would suck feeling like that,” Ben nodded. “But Mora, just because you can’t gain skills the way we can, doesn’t mean you can’t grow. Look at you, you’ve been getting better at art and you’re making progress anytime you’re working with me and Delair in the shop, and you’re constantly learning other new things too. You’ve definitely grown since you first came here.”

“Mmh, maybe, but not in the way anyone else is. You all learn things and it becomes a part of you, but me? I’m soul magic. Everything I do is an extension of how I use soul magic. It’s not the same, and it’s not like you’ll change my soul if I ask either.”

“Is that what’s bothering you then? It feels unfair?”

“Mmm, I know you’re worried since I’m different from mortals, but when everyone else can get all this potential that I just can’t, it feels bad,” Mora told him, resting his head on Ben’s own. “I don’t know. It’s stupid. I don’t expect you to get it.”

“Kiddo, I probably get it a lot more than you’d think. Feeling like you don’t have the same potential everyone else does isn’t fun, and I understand why it’s bothering you, so I’ll tell you what. I’ll make you a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Yeah. If you can be happy for Delair and Thera and Fontesh despite that, then when the world’s a bit safer, I’ll work on it. I can’t make you any promises, but I’ll do my best to figure out a way to test to see if I can safely modify your soul like I would for any other mortal, and if that would let you learn skills like a mortal can, and if that doesn’t work then I’ll keep working to find a different option for you. Sound good?”

“I mean, even if I’m jealous, I am happy for them…”

“Well then,” Ben laughed. “There we go. Deal firmly in place, so try not to worry about it for now. If it’s possible for me to safely modify your soul to give you the potential for all of the affinities and skills the world holds then I’ll do it for you, and if it’s not, then I’ll work until I find a different option. If things are bothering you, kiddo, or you have any worries, then you just need to let me or Thera know. We’re both in your corner.”

“Alright, thanks, Ben.”

“Of course. Now, since you’re my little companion for this food adventure, you can pick out what we’re all going to have. Be greedy about it, because if you don’t, I will.”