“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Thera muttered as they got to the shop, having just finished eating and saying goodbye to her aunt. “Literally every time we finish one of these we say we’re never doing it again.”
“We can mean it for realsies after this one,” He said innocently while she shook her head.
“No, I’m done believing that. I’m putting money on the next wave being bad enough that we do the non-affinitied tower or something.”
“Huh, that would be the first one that I’d really get anything from, wouldn’t it?” Ben mused. “I mean, okay, obviously I’ve gotten plenty from the last two, really enjoy the feeling of my attributes growing so much thanks to the blessings, but that tower would let me level enchanting or material manipulation… No, not worth it and I don’t need it that bad. I’m a machine, if I need some new levels then I’ll just grind myself into paste later.”
“I’m sure you’ll end up doing both,” Thera sighed. “I know you love shortcuts almost as much as you love working.”
“Ha, true. But when it comes down to it I love being alive more. Of course, I can and should look into finding people who’ve taken on that tower as well. Might as well make things a little easier on me if it does come up.”
“Well, let’s see how this goes first,” She said, trying to regain the confidence he’d inspired in her only the night before as they arrived at his workplace, stepping in and through the gate to her old bedroom. “So are we meeting this mysterious benefactor at the towers?”
After she’d given her agreement and asked just who it was that was coming to help, he’d insisted on being cagey and mysterious, saying that she’d see and leaving things at that and it seemed he wasn’t done yet.
“A bit closer to home than that,” He told her with a wink. “Come on, this will be great.”
“It would be great if you just told me,” She said, shaking her head but following him out as they passed the staff along the way until they were out, seeing two familiar faces waiting by the gate as what Ben had planned snapped into place like the smug grin he was suddenly wearing.
“Is this even okay? This feels like cheating.”
“I asked both her and Myriad. The fact that no god was smart enough to make a rule against this is their problem. Besides, we’re going to be the only ones pulling off this cheat. Well, there’s a pretty similar workaround if your parents ever end up with another kid but that’s for the future. For now, why don’t we say hey to our lovely benefactor.”
The two were already walking their way to give their greetings. Karly, one of the summoned that Anailia had taken in would obviously be a handy addition to the team, what with the fact that she had an awakened dark magic and the two got along well enough that Thera didn’t foresee any problems working with her, but it was clear she was basically nothing but a tag along for who Ben had really gone to ask for, with her aunt Funa, the great dark spirit standing before her.
“Hello child,” She said, the mana that made up her face being shaped into a smile. “You're little husband-to-be gave me quite the proposal, hope you’re feeling ready.”
“Well, since you’re the one who’s helping us how could I not?”
Ben's overwhelming confidence suddenly made so much more sense. Finding out the details of so many potential floors was one thing but bringing a great spirit was another entirely. As dangerous as taking on a tower was, going with her aunt made it seem like they'd be dropping a mountain on someone looking for a fistfight. Her presence couldn’t help but be reassuring and made Thera’s confidence skyrocket. There was still a risk, there always would be, but they could do it.
That same spirit was clear in the eyes of both Ben and Karly too, both feeling victory in hand and they made their way to the gate to get to the magic towers.
“So you both studied up the documents I gave you, right?” Ben asked the two as they went on their way. “I’m not anticipating any nasty surprises for the first three floors at least but I just want everyone to be ready.”
“There’s nothing there I can’t manage,” Funa told them confidently, with Karly giving voice to her own positive outlook.
“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to need to be saved again,” She said. “Thanks for the invite by the way.”
“Hey, we had a free spot so why not? Gotta help out the humans that aren’t trying to take advantage of how awesome I am.”
“Yeah yeah, it’s appreciated. If we ever have another meetup I’ll make sure I continue on not seducing you.”
“God, don’t remind me. It was fun enough at the end but that first part absolutely sucked. Love me for who I am, not my incredible skills and the awesome stuff I can make.”
Thera listened as they bantered back and forth a bit on the way to the gate but focused on her own feelings rather than joining in the conversation. Ben really had planned all he could to make this work and it filled her with a level of hope she wasn’t sure she was ready to have. If they really got to the top of the tower then she might finally be free of that cursed skill, but it still didn’t feel impossible that it would just get worse. That when her dark magic took in her charm it would be the passive trait that dominated its growth in the end, only making the power worse.
I really should have brought my cloak to be safe… No. I trust Ben. If he thinks that this will work then there’s no way he hasn’t spent days working this out. I mean, it’s not like he’s never been wrong before so it doesn’t hurt to be a little emotionally prepared… Gods above I really wish I could just stop thinking for a bit.
With the tower drawing near as they approached the gate it just ended up setting her thoughts in a frenzy that she couldn’t completely escape no matter how much she wanted to, but she did the best she could. Maybe things would go wrong, but Ben believed it would work out and she wanted to believe in him. It would be fine, and if it wasn’t then he’d think of something else.
“By the way,” He said, pulling her from her thoughts as they got within sight of their goal. “For the record, I just want to say this wasn’t my idea but she was there when I was talking to Funa and I couldn’t say no.”
“Oh, it will be fine,” Her aunt told them. “We had the spot so why not fill it?”
“What are you guys talking about?”
Instead of answering, Ben just nodded off into the distance, pulling her eyes to the front of the trial door and the person standing as she waited.
“Oh, you are kidding me,” She muttered, holding back a groan of disbelief. She could all too well believe what she was seeing, even if she didn’t want to. “Seriously?”
“Hey, the more the merrier, right?” Ben told her, scratching the back of his head and not meeting her eyes.
Well, I guess if she was going to join us for one then this is probably the best choice she could have made.
Still, she couldn’t help but think about just how much more draining the trial was about to end up now that her mother was there to join in.