After Ben finished up making all of the braces he could, Pelenia led him through town as Thera was busy training with her father. He would have liked her company but it seemed that without her daughter to tease, Pelenia became far more restrained.

“So Ben, I couldn’t help but notice that on your first night here you slept with my daughter, does that mean I can expect grandchildren soon?”

Or not. He thought with a sigh. “Aside from the issues with the phrasing, I would say probably not. You do know Thera doesn’t want kids, right?”

“Oh I know, I know. If that’s how she really feels then that’s fine, but I reserve my right to hope she changes her mind. But what about you? Do you think there are any children in your future?”

It was a question he’d always dismissed growing up when it would be asked, either by his family or amongst his friends. There would always be time to figure that sort of thing out later, especially now given the situation of the world he found himself in. Why think about children when the world might end before he could have any, or worse, have some just so they would die as the world was conquered? Why would he even consider it?

And yet, that wasn’t the feeling he got when he heard her ask it. His family had always been something that was important to him, the fact that he’d never see them again helped change his perspective on the topic, at least a little bit, making him more aware of just what he wanted in the future.

“Not any time soon, but one day I think starting a family would be nice,”

Pelenia had asked the question intent on teasing him for his answer either way, but the look on his face as he thought about it made her put that little desire to the side. She understood the complicated feelings the otherworlders experienced through her interactions with both Karly and Glob, she didn’t want to pick at a sore spot.

Instead, she changed the topic to a different one, bringing up something she’d been meaning to mention anyway when she got the chance.

“By the way, since the last time you were both here, we had another couple humans visit, surprisingly interested in taking the trial. I don’t suppose you know anything about that?”

“If it was a couple named Will and Steph then I have an idea. Did they manage?” He asked eagerly. He made sure to keep in touch through letters, but it wasn’t like they all mentioned everything going on in their lives, and he was eager to hear of his friend’s results.

“They succeeded and managed to get away without injury. Karly is actually off visiting them and some others at the moment. It does get a little lonelier without her around but she’s been in better spirits since she’s been going out into the world.”

“Glad to hear it.”

They continued chatting until they arrived at their destination, an old, ornate building, the front gated to keep out intruders while guards were stationed at it. It was only a few minutes of formality until they were let inside, but when they were Ben felt his jaw drop.

He was immediately greeted with rows of weapons, each kept in immaculate care and of a high quality. Though his crafting wasn’t good enough yet to see each item's rating, he was certain that the ones closest to him were at the very least rare in rank, and even if he could make items of that quality himself, that didn’t mean they weren’t worth his time. Right off the bat, he was sure that the techniques used to make the closest one he saw, a dark metallic sai, was different from how he would personally approach making such an item and it left him wanting to examine it in closer detail.

Pelenia gave a small laugh at his reaction and gave him a bit of an explanation. “Each item in here should be tagged with some of the more necessary information on it, such as what they’re made of and the enchantments on it, but nothing like the techniques used to make them unfortunately. You can of course inspect them to your heart's content, but first let’s get you those books.”

She took out a key and went to a back door, unlocking it but keeping him from following her as she went inside. He was able to see a single shelf with maybe a dozen books on it and felt his curiosity nagging at him as she only pulled out three, locking up behind her as he continued to peer at it with curiosity.

“As fond as I am of you, giving you access to even three books that would largely be considered as forbidden magics and spells is already pushing my authority. Of course, if you wanted to come under my nation officially then I might be able to do something.”

A brief moment of temptation flared up before he regained control of himself. “Maybe one day, but I still need to focus on my training.”

It’s a good thing nobody I’ve made braces for has given me an offer like that though.

“Well, if you ever change your mind the option is open. Now I have some work that needs attending to so you won’t be able to leave until I’m back in a few hours, but until then feel free to read through the ones I’ve left you and browse the items if you’d like.”

With that she left, leaving Ben to start flipping through the books. As much as he wanted to look at the weapons, especially those that were ultra-rare or higher, the chance to read up on some forbidden knowledge seemed like it would be much harder to come by in the future than a well-made item so he didn’t want to miss a second of absorbing the information as he took a seat and leaned against the wall.

-So then by doing that it basically becomes mind control, depending on both the target's dark resistance, willpower, and any other potential skills. Still, this makes things a lot more clear.

What can I say, the authors knew their stuff, especially in the last book. Really makes you wonder what sort of people write these.

I get it’s the sort of thing that would be easy to abuse, but it’s knowledge Myriad, even if it would be bad if the average person could pull this sort of stuff off, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its uses. For example, I’m almost certain these spells could be modified and placed along the wall of Stonewall to keep monsters from getting too close without affecting actual people. Of course, the mana cost would leave that as incredibly impractical.

Bah, grey area is just a prude’s way of saying that it’s legal. Either way, I don’t intend to use this too much so don’t worry. At worst you might see me putting the information towards our hunts, but that’s it.

He understood what his god was saying at least, and even if he didn’t plan on misusing it he would do his best to keep the information from getting out by any mistake on his part, though really, that would require an enchanter to not only be able to use a high level of dark magic, but also be able to see his enchantments. He wasn’t too worried on either front since the only one he really interacted with was his teacher.

Having gotten everything he’d been hoping for and more from the books though, he moved on to his greater interest, all of the weapons being stored. He didn’t know how much time he had left, so he wanted to start with what he was sure would be the most interesting before working his way back, so with that in mind he started with the two best items being stored, a spear and a staff.

Both were labeled as mid-legendary and they left Ben salivating. The staff was clearly a composite of many different materials, from wood and metal to bone and leather, but the more interesting bit was that it didn’t look as though they’d been combined in the way he would, using the metal as a base and powdering the others to give some of the effects. Instead, it seemed like each material was blended together as one would different types of clay, creating something that managed to keep most of the initial properties of the materials, not needing to lose any through processing. He couldn’t even begin to guess how something like that was done, but the end result was beautiful, putting the best one he’d ever made, the staff Thera currently used, to shame.

The spear was a thing of beauty as well, though this time less due to the fact that the item itself was good, and more due to the sheer level of complexity the enchantments on it had. That wasn’t to say the spear itself was bad, he was sure it would have made it to at the very least upper-rare without the enchantments, but he just couldn’t fathom the density of them all. It was approaching the level of complexity he’d seen when they’d taken the trial, something he still pushed himself to replicate, even if he failed. Worse, as he read through the enchantments known to be on it, he couldn’t grasp how they worked together. It seemed that if it was thrown, it would have enough power that he could only compare it to a missile, but he wasn’t sure just where the power came from.

The only thing he felt positive of was the least useful. It was old, very old. Some of the enchantments within were clearly beginning to fray, to the point that he worried what would happen if someone was to actually use it. So much power in such a small tool, the potential devastation that would occur if something went wrong made him sweat. Surely they would be maintained before the invasion, but that could be almost two decades away, and if it didn’t happen until then…

Well, I have the time and repairing enchantments isn’t hard at least. Might as well fix them up.

“Found something that’s caught your eye?” Pelenia asked as she came back, seeing him holding one of the ultra-rare items with a look of concentration.

“Oh hey, sorry, I noticed that the enchantment on it was starting to decay so I did some quick maintenance. Really hope that’s not the type of thing that would get me executed.”

“As funny as it could be to pretend for a while, it’s fine. You’re Falk’s apprentice and he speaks highly of your work, I trust you know the limits of what you can safely do.”

“Okay cool,” It had been way more than just this one he’d worked on, with almost half of the items available needing to be repaired he had moved on to the last of the ultra-rares, ending up with a feeling of being caught doing something he shouldn’t when the queen had walked in. Of course, even with her seal of approval he didn’t mention the work on the other items, instead finishing up with the last in his hand.

Of all the ultra-rares, this one felt the most interesting. On one hand, it was only a dagger, but on the other, the enchantment configuration was one of the more unusual he’d seen for a weapon. There was almost nothing on the blade itself, instead the vast majority could be found in the handle, with smaller ones along the blade to carry its effects.

It made a great deal of sense when he thought about it. If a craftsman wanted to make a blade with a certain material that wasn’t as good at holding enchantments, no matter the craftsman’s skill, then making the handle out of something that could cover it was a good way to spread it out.

Basically just dividing up the magical load, I might need to try this out myself soon. He thought to himself cheerfully, until he froze as a realization came for how to immediately put it into practice.