“Wait what? Explain,” There were still too many gaps in his knowledge of the world and this was clearly one that needed to be filled as fast as possible.

“It’s just how the system is set up,” Will told him, trying to calm down his friend while leading them both back to camp. “Think about it, when the gods made it they wanted a system to help the people in it grow, but the main point was so they could survive the future invasion. When the war comes if all the soldiers and other combatants are wiped out then everyday people will be forced to fight, but if a person is halfway through their job it would be a nightmare to have to give up the bonuses on it by changing it so instead all of them can get experience killing invaders and demons. That way everyone can move on to their new jobs worry-free. Well, minus the fact that they’re all probably going to die if things get that bad anyway.”

Wait, but that means… Damn it I should have brought all of my traps! He was cursing himself for coming unprepared, but there was nothing he could do. Either that piece of information had been kept from him or everyone assumed he would just know, either way he just needed to figure out what to do for it now. All he had was some magic rings, his barrier gauntlet, a trap for small and weak animals, and now about a hundred corpses. Even if he wanted to try and score some of that experience for himself, his options were limited.

Well, I’ll see if there’s anything I can come up with anyway, but this really is training for Will and Steph. I probably shouldn’t go stealing any of their kills when they’ll actually be fighting on the front lines.

With a regret-filled sigh, he got back to where the others were waiting.

“You guys mind storing these for Ben?” Will asked Steph and Wedrow. “We got a lot and he doesn’t want them to go to waste.”

“Since Steph still isn’t comfortable enough with her time magic to delay rot I’ll look after them,” Wedrow told them, surprisingly agreeably. “There’s nothing worse than discovering your storage is filled with spoiled goods, especially if your race is particularly susceptible to strong odors.”

“Cool, in that case I’ll start running them back here. Ben, you can wait here and get some rest with everyone.”

“I’m not going to make you carry all of that alone.”

“It will only be a couple trips. Besides, you should fiddle around with how the new skill feels now that you got it.”

He wanted to argue but ultimately just shrugged. “Well if you’re up for doing all the work I guess I won’t fight you. Thanks though.”

With a smile and a nod, his friend ran off far faster than Ben could ever manage as the corpses he left disappeared, taken into Wedrows storage. That left Ben with nothing to do but see if the knife wielder skill made any noticeable improvements to his crafting.

He found a thick fallen branch and began carving into it, using his crafting to make the material easier to work and the same knife he’d been hunting with to shape it into his desired form, in this case a raccoon. It only took a few moments to feel a small but not insignificant improvement to his ability to use the tool.

It was like it moved more naturally in his hand, almost becoming an extension of himself in some ways, and he immediately understood why his teacher wanted him to get it. If he could already feel a difference for his woodworking as a whole just by getting one level zero skill, then how much better would he be at the forge once he got hammer wielder?

Both his fantasies for the future as well as his carving ended up being interrupted though by a face coming beside his own to look at what he was doing.

“You’re not going to be able to see much of a difference from my usual work if that’s what you're curious about, but it’s definitely there,” He told Thera.

“I guess I don’t have much of an eye for that sort of thing. Does it feel any different?”

“Enough to make some impact, and every little bit helps. Any luck with your own training?”

At that she slumped against him. “No. I even tried to ask your friend if she had any advice on it since she has an awakened version of the skill, but she wasn’t able to help.”

“Well Steph did come to the world with it, I doubt she would know where to start to actually acquire the skill.”

“That’s pretty much what she said,” She sighed. “And I can’t believe you got your skill while I’m out here struggling. Where’s some sympathy?”

“Ha, you’ll get it eventually, don’t worry. Besides, I think there's a world of difference between learning a combat skill for a tool I already know how to use compared to learning how to feel a whole new type of mana.”

“Yeah, but it still sucks being stuck trying to feel the mana without knowing what it’s like. If the spirits don’t come through for me I don’t know how I’ll… Wait,” An idea popped into her head and she grabbed Ben’s arm and started pulling her toward Steph, much to his surprise.

“Hey hey hey, basic knife safety means not pulling someone in the middle of carving. What if I cut myself?”

“That might be pretty convenient actually.”

“What?”

She ignored his protests and instead addressed Steph. “I’m sorry to ask you this, but would you be willing to let Ben connect us again?”

Steph for her part was caught off guard, focusing on relaxing and replenishing her mana after all the spells she’d used earlier. She certainly wasn’t expecting a request like that.

“Um, I’m not too sure about that,” She said apologetically. “I don’t really like the feeling of completely baring myself like that.”

“Oh, alright,” Thera said, sounding crestfallen. “I guess that was a bit much to ask.”

“Thera, why don’t you explain why you want to before giving up so fast,” Ben told his friend, curious about what her goal was himself.

“I was just thinking that if I could feel her use her life magic while connected to you then it might help me feel the life mana within myself, but I can just wait to see if the spirits can help me out whenever they get to Stonewall. After all, you didn’t exactly make that a fun experience for anyone,” She told him, a hint of accusation in her voice.

“Hey now, I think things are less awkward between you both now since you were willing to ask so I’m calling it a win. Anyway Steph, what do you think?”

A look of uncertainty filled her eyes, but it seemed like her desire to make up for how she’d first treated Thera won out. “Okay I’ll do it, but I need an injury to treat.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Thera told her before she turned to Ben with a look of silent expectations.

“What?”

“I mean, you’re the one that insists on calling me your beautiful fiancée. Just think of this as your husbandly duties.”

“If you think bleeding for you is a husbandly duty then I want a divorce!”

“Should have thought of that before scamming all those magic materials from my parents, now come on and stop being a baby, I’ll make it up to you later.”

“Uhg, fine.”

He wiped down his knife, making sure to clean it well after the day it had seen before making a long cut along his forearm and connecting with them both. Considering some of the injuries he’d gotten since he first arrived in the world it wasn’t too bad, and his knife was sharp so the cut was clean, but it was still a bit unpleasant.

Steph was able to pick up on his feelings just before he put up hidden mind and started healing him immediately. Her healing was faster than Sonya’s at least, but based on the speed his wound closed he got the impression Steph still wasn’t as competent with the skill as she could be. Awoken skills were supposed to be on a whole other level after all, He didn’t think his resistance to the magic should be slowing her spell down this much.

Still, after just a minute it was done and Ben was healed, though Thera still didn’t seem satisfied. “That was pretty quick, do you think we could do it again?”

“Not super into the idea of dying of blood loss out here,” He told her, trying to dissuade her from the idea. Unfortunately, Steph came to her aid.

“I can speed up the regeneration of your blood so you’ll be fine. The connection isn’t too bad if I have something to focus on so I don’t mind.”

“Traitor.”

“Please Ben,” Thera said, trying to appeal to him. “I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to be able to try this with someone with an awakened skill again, and there’s no guarantee trying it with the life spirits will actually work.”

He looked at her for a moment before giving in. “Oh fine, I guess it will be nice if you have the skill in case of an emergency so it’s not a bad price to pay, but you owe me one,” And I’m definitely going to collect. Maybe I’ll practice connecting with her for a solid day, the only one I can get to do it for that long is Fredrick or some other plant.

As he thought on that and other possibilities he made a longer, deeper cut into his arm, hoping this would be the end of it, otherwise it could be a very long week indeed.