Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

“Alright, and with that I’ll end here. If you’re interested in learning more about what we currently know about mana modifiers you can find a couple books on the topic I’ve written in the library and if you’re at all satisfied with my little presentation then do me a favour and shoot Myriad a prayer. Otherwise, thanks for having me, it’s been a pleasure talking to you all.”

He got a round of applause for his talk and while a few went off immediately, more instead went to him to pick his brain, wanting the chance to speak some more on the topic of non-affinitied magics and the magic modifiers he and his team had discovered so far, spending another hour on it before eventually they left too, many of them off to do some reading in the library to decide if any of the non-affinitied magics might be right for them, leaving only himself and the guild master Speni in the end.

“I must say, an overall excellent presentation, Ben,” The herring-person told him brightly. “At least among this crowd, I’d say you’ve done an excellent job whipping up some enthusiasm for the topic.”

“Ha, I’m glad it worked out, if the room was full of non-affinitied users then I would have had to basically cut out my first two points altogether. Mind if I ask, I know you guys ask what magic a guild member holds while registering and I’m sure a few likely update their details if they learn more but have you broken that down into a census of what percentage of members hold what magics? I honestly would be pretty curious to see the exact numbers for how many people bother learning a non-affinitied branch.”

From his experience of constantly connecting to anyone and everyone he would pass in the street, he placed the likelihood of any random person holding a magic of that variety as about one in a thousand, though that immediately got significantly worse if he took out the most common non-affinitied branch of enchanting. Drop that and the odds went to one in three thousand instead, though that was still pulling from the general populace. Pulling from an organization composed of people who outright identified themselves as mages was sure to yield better odds, even if it seemed he wouldn’t be able to get a precise answer.

“If I had to guess I’d say it’s less than one percent of our members, perhaps around one in two hundred, but that’s an estimate based on my own observation, not hard data. I haven’t checked the actual numbers for it but your presentation has piqued my curiosity as well. I must admit, I think I’ll give the numbers within our guild a closer look a bit later.”

“Well, should I get the chance to swing by again I’d love to know.”

“In that case, how would you feel about presenting again?” Speni asked him, being clear he was hoping for such a thing. “You did an excellent job inspiring the curiosity of those who were already here and given that’s part of the point of the guild as a whole, I’d love to get you in front of a larger crowd.”

“Ah, I appreciate the offer but doing it again any time soon might be a challenge, the war has me as busy as anyone else. Of course, if we win in the end I’d be happy to take some time to spread some of the virtues of non-affinitied magics.”

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“Ah, then I shall have yet one more reason to hope for a good result for the war. Still, I understand. In that case, it was wonderful to have you, Ben. Stop by again should you find the time.”

“Will do, thank you, Speni.”

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His task done, Ben made his way back to the shop, feeling rather good about himself while he did. Presenting had been a nice change of pace and given that it was the only type of magic he could access, he would be nothing but thrilled if more mages started training in it, hopefully expanding the field as a whole with whatever discoveries there still might have been to make, along with spells to develop too.

Who knows, maybe one or two of them will even go down the routes I have. He thought happily. Both material user and destruction could do to have a few more users.

Given the rarity of those two based on the information he’d found in the library, there was a very real chance he was the only person to currently hold them, even if they’d merged during his awakening and grown beyond their original limits. Still, getting more users in the world meant there was the potential for others to discover uses that he wouldn’t be able to see, an exciting prospect that only slipped away as he considered how far in the future any such discoveries might be.

They were all awakened mages, it’s more than possible that with their skills and job bonuses that they’ll be able to acquire new magics and maybe even get as far as the second level before the next wave but beyond that? I’d need to still be alive for any real discoveries they might make.

Considering his own mortality was a depressing affair he couldn’t escape, the thoughts constantly slipping back into his head as he looked at himself and what he wanted to become and still questioned if it would be enough, with the answer constantly feeling like a strong no. He needed power but just how much of it he would get was doomed to be limited from the start, with no way to escape that fact.

So I’ve just gotta cross my fingers and pray that a third-tier sacrilege will make for as handy of an anti-god tool as I’m hoping it will be, continuing to only leave me with the question of how to possibly get it. As things stand, it actually looks like I might pull off getting my third-tier connect first if any of my ideas to raise it work and don’t kill me in the process. Man, I really am going to need to kill another god, aren’t I?

He felt some inevitably to that fact but as the proud holder of three enemy titles, it wasn’t like he didn’t have options. Of course, when it came to his newest one, no matter how mad it had made him he had to admit that giving Duna a death sentence for getting in his way was a bit much. Now Eneth, whose apostle had tried to kill him and whose son the god had known was going to try and kill him made for the best contender for a bit of guilt-free deicide with Olensia coming in at a close second for both having threatened his life along with his oracle personally trying to kill both him and Sachel.

Okay, got the order down. If I get down to five or six months left before the next wave and I’ve managed to awaken connect without awakening my sacrilege, I’ll murder Eneth, Olensia, and if neither of those two gets the job done then Duna too. Still, I’m sure getting Eneth alone will do the job so that should be fine, I’ll figure out the rest later.

With no gods in his head to hear and judge his casual murder plans there were no reactions to it either, other than Ben’s own bit of comfort that, worst to worst, he did in fact have a few potential paths he could take to raise his skill should he not find any other way the divine of the world might have an easier time stomaching. It did make his own prospects feel a bit brighter though, leaving the goal from there as awakening connect as soon as possible.

“If things go well it will be a month,” He told himself. “And if they don’t, well… Then we’ll see just how hard I need to push myself.”

His train of thought was broken by a knock on the door and willing to take whatever distraction he could get, Ben went to answer it, finding Sachel standing outside it, looking uncomfortable.

“Oh, hey Sachel, what’s up? Did you just get back to town?”

“Um, hey Ben. Yeah, an hour ago and things went well on our quest and I came to tell you how things went with the bracelets you gave us as well, but… Okay, so don’t be mad.”

“...Why?”

Not saying a word, Sachel instead reached beside her, pulling another girl in sight with Delair there, awkwardly smiling at him.