“Ahem, good seeing you too Taltho,” Ben said, trying to be light and friendly, even as he kept the unconscious Verbum from falling on his face. “And it’s really more of an accident that we ended up here. It’s complicated.”

“And your friend?”

“Also complicated. Um, since we’re here, why don’t we do a little tour of the village and I’ll give you a rundown?”

“Sound’s good, I’d love for you to see what we’ve built up since you’d last been here.”

The leader of that splinter group of Myriad’s believers was in good cheer, not feeling the need to probe too deeply given the man before him was a servant of the god he’d converted to and had done so much for them, and he wanted to show that they’d been putting what they’d been taught to work, even if they still had room to grow. It was a chance to let them see how their lives had changed for the better and let their gratitude for the lives they now got to live be known.

“In that case, I’ll find you in a bit,” Thera told him as she was being led away by some of the younger students she’d taught while they’d been there last. “Looks like I’m seeing how well they’ve been practicing their instruments.”

“Sounds good, have fun.”

With that they parted, with Thera being swarmed by most of the free demidemons while the rest got back to whatever work they had, leaving Ben with Toltho to walk around and tell the tale of how their impromptu visit had come to be.

“So we’re helping this guy with some of his work, and part of it was investigating rumours of a mysterious village,” Ben said at the end to sum it up. “It just so happened that the mystery ended up being you guys.”

“And he’s asleep during his work because…?”

“Because he’s an absolute scaredy-cat who’s having some trouble coming face to face with the unknown,” Ben sighed, getting tired of how much he was having to carry Verbum.

Though I’ll admit, this might be a little bit my fault. Seriously, how the hell have I been involved with three of these investigations already?

He expected some sass from his god but got nothing and was left assuming Myriad must have been busy as they continued the tour, seeing the changes that had come in his time away from them all.

The demidemons had been busy since he’d last been there, that much was obvious. Beyond how much more housing had been established as well as the growth of their fields, all of which were full of the crops that Sachel had helped guide them on planting after he’d dumped the task on her, he was seeing a lot more of one thing in particular.

Bodies. Specifically, those of demons, with their skins out to be preserved and their meat being cooked and stored as those they shared heritage with made sure to put everything to use, even if the volume spoke loudly of just how many of those otherworldly beasts they were seeing.

“You haven’t lost anyone to them yet, have you?” Ben asked, nodding to the pile that was in the middle of being processed.

“No, they aren’t coming too close to the village either, at least not yet. This is just what the hunting parties are coming back with each day. As bad as it may be, they’re keeping us fed.”

Bad? Yeah, that’s probably an understatement. It’s been almost two months since the gate closed and they’re already seeing them all the way out here? There’s no way any have already been born on this world, right? I mean, I know they breed fast but I don't know how fast and this seems like a lot. There has to be a place with an invasion point reasonably close by, it would make the most sense. Still…

“How many are you finding a day?”

“It’s not so much a daily occurrence but for the last month, we’ve come across herds of around twenty each nearly once each week. It’s nothing we can’t deal with.”

For now. Unless things get worse. Okay, maybe it’s a good thing I came out here.

He knew the demidemons and in plenty of ways couldn’t help but feel responsible for them. He was the one who took them in for Myriad and he’d played a large part in making them aware of the wider world.

And I may have traumatized a few of them by killing their old gods. Either way, I can’t just do nothing.

His decision made, he focused on the man beside him as he worked out everything he’d need to do with the time he had.

“Alright, in case things get worse I can’t leave you guys like this so for now let’s find Thera again and after that we’ll see just how equipped I can get you all in only a few hours. Actually, Toltho, do me a favour and grab me both the smith and enchanter teams I put together last time I was here, they might as well get a decent lesson out of this.”

Verbum was left tucked away in a corner as Ben focused on what he needed to do with the hours he had, taking advantage of Thera’s mana to do it.

He had her make large volumes of iron for him to work since that was the only one she was comfortable materializing while he took from her what he needed to make everything else, ending with a sore soul and a mountain of raw materials to use to make his vision a reality.

The main three things he created were a hammer, tongs, and forge, leaving the two teams he’d gathered to watch him work and observe as he showed just what made him an awakened craftsman when he began heating vast quantities of metal to put to use before he took his hammer to it all to shape it.

There was a lot he needed to make with the time he had, armours to fit everyone, wanting something for even the children in case anything came to it, along with shields and spears, the two weapons that the majority of them had been becoming acquainted with since he’d left the village, with his hands moving in a blur, metal being shaped with his skill and mana, all to match people he’d only eyeballed before but still ending perfectly sized. He was a master of his craft, even his quick works were leagues above what an average artisan could produce and it showed with every blow of his hammer and final product, where he moved on to the next of what he needed to be done. Enchanting.

He hadn’t packed many rings, only having the ten affinity and one barrier he always wore on his fingers, but that didn’t matter. He had all of them in their awakened forms and didn’t hesitate to put them to their full potential, along with taking from everything that existed within his personal status. His skills were high and his resistances outrageous, it was easy enough to use what little there was at his disposal to make a masterpiece, or even hundreds of them as things were handed out to the villagers around to make sure they all fit properly.

Little was needed to adjust by the end and even if none of them could tell immediately, it wasn’t hard for him to see how excellent it all had been. Before enchantments had gone down, everything was ranked as upper-rare in his eyes, and after that busy round of enchanting it was all lower ultra-rare. Not the best he could do, but considering that in the span of a few hours he’d made a few hundred items that reached such a quality it was an excellent result. That one small village was outfitted better than any army, with their protection as secured as could be with the time he had to work with.

But no levels huh? With so much stuff made at those ranks, I was honestly hoping for something from my enchanting or crafting but oh well. I know it’s a high boundary, I’ll break it eventually.

He’d just keep making all he could and learning from each experience, but for the time being he’d done all he could. It was time to wake Verbum whether he liked it or not to move on to their final destination to bring the quest to a close.