“That all went way too well,” Thera said, still stunned to have received a new blessing out of the blue. “I take back everything I’ve said about your terrible luck, it looks like good things do happen to you occasionally.”

“Well obviously, you’re one of them,” He told her, giving a playful wink as they went on to his next task, trying to see Steph and Will, at least until Myriad spoke up in his head.

His god advised, not telling Ben any more than that as he did what he was told, not seeing any change until he noticed a far more significant bump to his savings than he’d get from his patents.

Don’t tell me…

Ben focused on not only the amount he now had but thought of the improvement to his skills as a whole as well and couldn’t keep himself from smiling. If the church of Eneth thought the last one was expensive, they were in for a world of trouble.

Despite his desire to make the sole god in the world to declare him his enemy hurt just a little bit more, he put a pin in that just long enough to focus on his original plan, going through the gate to the home of Steph and Will to let his friends know that he survived.

Greeting them when he got there was short but sweet. Hugs and tears were exchanged when they saw him before them, the news of his survival being overshadowed by the reveal of the invasion points so seeing him was as if he’d come back from the dead, but for as long as they wanted to talk they didn’t have the leeway of giving more than an hour.

Now that preparations were in full swing their training was taken to a greater extreme, with the two of them having the goal of getting any level they could to their blessed skills to provide whatever benefit they could have. While it was deemed unlikely they would manage in the time frame given the difficulty of the act, the fact that Steph had gotten a single level to her life magic gave the rulers of the nations they worked for enough hope that it wouldn’t be a fruitless endeavor, but it also meant their time was limited.

Still, seeing him alive and well gave the two of them the motivation they needed to work all the harder while he at least got to say a proper goodbye to his friends, knowing it would be difficult to see them again any time soon, and with that they went off to their next destination, Anailia.

Stepping through the gate, the first thing they noticed was the bright beam of light rising into the sky, letting them know that an invasion point was near as Ben took Thera’s hand.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, dad should be able to handle it alone so I’m not too worried,” She told him, giving a squeeze before letting go. “The bigger problem is that he can only deal with one gate alone, but well, not much point worrying about too far into the future right now, is there?”

He didn’t take her assurances at face value but let the matter drop, at least for the time being, as they made their way to her family home, finding the place to be a flurry of activity.

More than just her family and the usual staff present, higher-ups from all branches of the government were running through the building, everyone needing the queen's time as they searched for Abrus to ask for his assistance.

Having no luck in the matter, they tried to subtly poke their heads into the throne room, not wanting to disturb the work of the people within as they all vied for Pelenia’s attention, but even casually looking through the doorway was enough to catch her eye, making her call out as she stood up.

“A five-minute break,” She told the crowd surrounding her, not taking no for an answer as she walked over to them, closing the door behind her to give what little privacy the hallway provided before pulling them into a hug.

“It’s so good to see you both,” She told them, seeming far more tired than she usually did. “Your father told me the news, but having you both here in person is so much nicer.”

“We didn’t mean to distract you mom, we were just hoping to find dad around if you know where he is?”

“Out back helping Karly and Glob train. With everything going on… Well, things have had to ramp up. Will you two be staying a while?”

“We need to get back to Stonewall to let aunty and uncle know Ben lived, but we can stay for dinner if you won’t be too busy?”

Usually, she didn’t like staying home too much given how her family could act at times, but the worry on her mother’s face was clear enough that she put the offer out, getting a gentle smile in return.

“That would be nice, I’ll make sure I have the time. For now though I need to get back to it, I’ll see you both in a few hours then.”

With that she left, going back to her meeting and putting on a far more confident look as she did, leaving the two of them behind as Thera worried.

“I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen her act so serious before,” She muttered as Ben put a gentle hand on her back.

When they made their way to the back of the building they found a scene of chaos. As things stood, the nation was home to three of the great spirits and all of them were working to train Karly and Glob, with Furela in the background, shouting what advice he could.

Just from what they could see, a black mist was covering the two otherworlders with illusions occasionally popping in and out of it, keeping them all the more on edge as they defended themselves from Abrus’s attacks, chunks of earth flying at them from afar or tearing out of the ground to stab at them, testing the limits of how fast they could react.

Even if that was all Ben and Thera could see though, the looks on the defending two’s faces told them there was probably more going on, with the Great dark spirit Funa having access to plenty of mental attacks that would be less obvious to deal with. It seemed like things were destined to go on for a while too until Abrus saw them and called for a break, letting Karly and Glob collapse to the ground in exhaustion as he did.

Lux gave them a friendly wave as she went over to heal the two while Abrus went to them. “I honestly wasn’t sure if we’d be seeing you again so soon with everything going on, but I’m glad you stopped by,” He said happily, hiding any stress he might have felt.

“Well, I figured I should let Pelenia know I’m alive in person, even if you’ve already passed it along and I needed to buy a lot of materials since we’re still in the area anyway. I was hoping you might have my work area still set up here too?”

“Where it always is and just let me know what you need and I’ll either find it or make it for you as quick as I can.”

“You’re the best. It’s going to be a fair bit since I need to make a decent sized statue and a temporary staff for Thera, but it looks like I’ve got cash to burn so I should probably pick up some other supplies while I’m here too.” He said before giving his list, bringing out his card to transfer the funds for it as they headed to the back while Abrus went to grab what he needed.

Seeing everyone work so hard made things seem so much more real as they did their best to push away the odds of their incoming extinction but Ben tried to keep the thought out of his mind. Even if he lived on the world, even if he was happy to make any items or weapons that would help, that was all he’d be doing, all he could do even. Worrying more would do nothing, so instead he focused on the new design of the statue he was going to make, knowing it would be all the more expensive than the first one as he did.