Chapter 411

Chapter 411

After only a few quick jumps, they managed to get to their first destination. A city named Castlelto, it was another mixed city, bustling like any other he’d been to as his eyes darted around to the many sights, trying to take everything in for their brief time there as he considered if it would be worth a second visit in the future.

Not that I need to decide that now of course. After this, I can pop by any time I’m near a gate.

Which was exactly where they were going as they walked to the city’s center, seeing the very structure that was their reason for being there.

Like any other gate, it was a huge metal arch, just waiting to be stepped through, but unlike the ones he’d seen in the past, it lacked the enchantment that made it work, the archway just leading to the other half of the city instead of the network it was all but begging to be a part of. Something he was eager to correct.

He had his deep connection set up and spread out, letting him know that the awakened skill holder he was waiting for was already there and leaning against the arch, looking around in wonder about just why he’d been asked to be there as Ben discreetly took a copy of his skill, advanced calculation.

“Hey there, you’re all good to go,” He yelled out to him, getting a confused look in return.

“Uh, sorry?”

“Someone asked you to wait here to meet a guy named Ben, right? That’s me, got what I needed so you’re all set.”

“Um, okay?”

Still clearly confused by how the interaction he’d been asked to take part in by his god had gone down, the man left, leaving Ben to focus on the structure as he ran his hands over it.

“Oh, you’re beautiful,” He muttered. “Whoever was in charge of putting you together did such a good job. I wonder how many decades or centuries ago they did it? Either way, today you finally get to fulfill your purpose.”

“Ben, this is getting weird,” Thera chimed in as the three of them watched him talk to the arch.

“Let me get a little emotional, not only is making a gate a huge deal, it’s my first time getting to properly use my connect since it awakened. This is a special moment.”

“And it will be a special moment for the city as a whole once you begin, so if you would?” Wedrow asked, clearly wanting to get it over with as Ben gave in.

“Fine, fine, ya bunch of killjoys. In that case, Thera would you mind starting to pour your mana into me and then carry us across to all of the parts I can’t reach?”

His mana regen was one of the properly good attributes he’d come to the world with and had only gotten better with all of his practice and the skills he’d awakened, but most mages might need an hour or two to get back to their top if they let themselves get too close to empty, and given that long-distance space magic could be intense, that meant that both Wedrow and Steph had been burning a lot for him.

But then, I already have a bit of a potential solution to that, don’t I? Boy oh boy, looks like I’ve got another thing to test.

“Well first then, let’s see if I’m able to help at all with that,” He told her happily before moving to do two things. Taking her hand, he opened a connection with her and from there poured his mana through it.

And that works. Excellent.

Connect had always been a very two-way skill, letting the recipient of it see into the mind of the user in the same way their mind would be watched, at least until he got his hidden mind skill, and it kept up that property as Steph squirmed, not feeling the sort of pain he dealt with under Thera’s massive strength, but a smaller bit of discomfort that came from her soul not absorbing mana at its own pace, but having it forced within her.

“Alright, not a crazy fan of that experience,” She muttered as he laughed.

“Sorry, but you might have to put up with it. If I keep topping you both up, then combined with how fast I’m able to do this you can forget a week, I could get us done this in less than two days if you all don’t mind giving up your sleep.”

“We are not giving up sleeping just to have this done a few days early,” Thera told him firmly, knowing that Ben was dead serious about it and seeing that the other two wouldn’t argue no matter how much they wanted to given the importance of what they were doing.

“Fine then, four days. Still not bad, I’ll be done plenty earlier than expected so all that matters is that the higher-ups keep up their end of the deal.”

In that case, hope Pelenia’s feeling appreciative as my continued actions make her richer and richer.

Uh, maybe? I’m getting to the point where I don’t know if I could actually spend all of this in a lifetime but I’m not going to start working for free.

Irrelevant. Doing free work to help out common people is different from doing free work for nations, and I’m sure I’ll be able to find a use for all of that somewhere. Who knows, maybe I could go and get myself a full staff to help take some of the load off of me.

He gave the thought with a small chuckle, only for it to fade as he felt his eyes widen. He had so many projects, but there really wasn’t a need for him to test everything alone, and the money that was rolling in from his god potions each day was already more than enough for him to be able to hire dozens of people and pay them well for their work. It was just a matter of knowing what he could delegate and finding individuals he could trust to do the projects he needed.

“Okay, there’s an actual idea,” He muttered under his breath as the others looked at him. “But one for later. I’m getting this done and then I’ll figure out that whole ridiculous logistics thing.”

He still had days of work after all and wanted to get it done as fast as possible, so he kept the idea in the back of his head as they went off to their next destination.