NOVPUB“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. 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝘣.𝘤𝘰𝑚
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.
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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.
Well, still probably plenty of them I guess. If everyone was going to die anyway, might as well enjoy the few years of riches first and… I’m being negative again.
It could be so inescapable but that was what thinking about the world brought, leaving a constant need for distraction with his friend being the perfect thing as he slapped Will’s shoulder and gave him a grin.
“Been a while, man. How you holding up?”
“Ugh, so constantly tired,” He said, trying to smile back. “It’s felt like a long, long time since I’ve gotten a break, you wouldn’t believe how jealous Steph is.”
“Ha, well as my only human buddy without a tower blessing, I figured this would be as good a way as any to correct that. If you need a nap though, feel free while we go through this if you see the chance. I don’t expect you to do anything.”
“God, Ben, keep trying to seduce me with those sweet little words and Steph is going to get jealous,” He joked, a bit more energy coming back to him with the conversation as Thera joined in too.
“And she didn’t come to see you off then? It’s too bad, it would have been nice to see her.”
“Ah, just because I get this as a break doesn’t mean she does. Still, since she’s mainly dealing with transport and healing she’s been getting it a bit easier, especially recently. I guess we got a few new awakened healers.”
“Huh, no kidding,” Ben chimed in, his recent work with Mora coming to mind.
“Yeah, she’s still been pretty swamped but it’s been getting easier on her.”
“Gods above, I get that,” Thera sighed. “Even if things are getting easier, everyone is still getting hurt all of the time, just constantly. Anytime I have to treat the same person twice in one day I just wanna…”
She trailed off but her clenched fists were a good enough sign of the feelings behind the thought for the both of them, leaving a pang of pity for anyone who managed to get hurt badly enough that they needed the help of an awakened life mage twice in one day. On top of the injuries themselves, they were surely getting some rather pointed comments to go along with it.
“Anyway,” Thera went on. “I think every healer I know understands just how nice it is for things to ease up on all of us a bit and the good news is that it should be easing up even more soon.”
“Yeah? You guys have some crazy way to help awaken life or light mages now too?”
“Nah, not really,” Ben shrugged. “But our kid was able to make a bunch of new types of spirits, one of which is a blessing spirit so when they get a bit more comfortable with existing, that’ll be some more powerful help around.”
“...I’m missing context.”
“We adopted,” Ben clarified, with Thera chiming in.
“I don’t think being dropped on our doorstep counts as adoption.”
“It kind of does when you don’t fight it. Besides, you’ve even stopped arguing anytime anyone calls you his parent.”
“Ugh, that’s not fair, I’m just afraid that he’ll take it the wrong way if I keep insisting I’m not. Besides, we don’t even know if he thinks of us as his parents but I doubt it. We aren’t even that far apart in age.”
“You do remember he’s not even half a year old, right?”
“Mental age, you know what I mean.”
“...I’m still missing context,” Will said again at the back and forth, with Ben taking mercy on him to give him the backstory while they waited for the last two to arrive
“-So anyway, that’s the story of how we got a kid. What do you think?”
“I think Steph is going to lose her mind when I fill her in,” He sighed. “That all sounds insane.”
“Eh, that’s parenthood for you.”
“I really don’t think it is but whatever, it looks like our wait is up.”
With Amy and Jake arriving in the distance, one looking far more excited than the other with Jake basically bouncing with energy, the tower loomed above them and reached into the sky, waiting in that devastating landscape for its next challengers.
