Ben was sitting out at the front of Falk's shop, waiting for everyone else to arrive. They had agreed to meet up there early in the morning before heading off, but he still got there hours before anyone else would to try and get a few things done while he could.
He’d already packed everything he thought he would need just the night before, many of which were the same things he’d packed for the trial. He had his jacket, his barrier gauntlet, sleeping rolls for both himself and Thera, as well as a couple staves packed away for her. The main difference was the presence of a first aid kit, as well as a proper tent to sleep in. Though his friend Steph had an advanced form of life magic he wasn’t going to take any chances with his safety again, even if it might seem like overkill.
Finally, on top of a hammer and a knife, Ben made sure to bring a charm enchanted bear trap he’d made in the early hours of the morning. Usually, he’d make them so that it would require a sufficient weight to set them off, but he’d lowered that threshold considerably with these ones as well as reducing its crushing force. It wasn’t for use against any demons they might encounter though, as Will and Steph were going out to get experience for fighting them in the future he couldn’t go lowering the challenge for them by capturing it, they needed the full experience.
No, the trap was for his own training. He didn’t want to go to the effort of fighting whatever small animal he needed to in a fair situation, he wasn’t a warrior and that seemed like a fast way to getting himself injured. He would get the hammer and knife wielder skills as safely as he could to improve his crafting and then be done with them.
As he was inspecting the hammer and knife he would be using for weapons in front of the shop, Thera was the first to show up.
“Did you get everything you needed done?” She asked him as she arrived.
“Yeah, it was all pretty quick. How about you, feeling ready for the day?”
“Mmh, for all I’ve heard about demons this will be my first time seeing one. Honestly, I’m a little worried about how things will go,” She said, seeming a bit off.
“It doesn’t sound like there will be many, and even if you, Will, and Steph struggle then there’s still Wedrow so it’ll probably be fine, unless there’s something else you’re worried about?” He asked, having a decent idea of what was actually bothering her. Demons after all were just another monster to hunt, at least while they existed in such low numbers on the world. Interpersonal relations were a whole other matter.
“I guess I’m just worried about how the week will go is all,” She told him. “You’re the only one I’ve had any luck hunting with. I understand why uncle wants me to have this opportunity, I just think it’s going to be awkward.”
“It might,” He conceded. “Sorry my friends didn’t make the best impression, I’ll try and keep things positive while we’re out there.”
“It’s alright, it’s not like I don’t understand why they were worried about you. Besides, I've dealt with this plenty in the past. I can handle a bad week if it happens, and I don’t want to get in the way of friends you haven't seen in so long.”
He reached out and took her hand. “Well don’t forget you’re my friend too. I don’t think there’ll be any problems since I explained things to them but if there is I’ll set them straight, don’t worry.”
“We interrupting something?” Will yelled out to him as he, Steph, and Wedrow arrived at the shop.
“Just chatting while we wait,” He called back, dropping Theras hand as he did.
Despite the fact that the worm-like Wedrow didn’t seem to have eyes, he appeared to be looking at them all appraisingly.
“All of you just remember this is a training exercise to prepare for the coming war. I don’t intend to put up with whatever mating behaviour your species participates in.”
“I already told you our engagement is a sham, you don’t need to worry about anything like that,” Ben told the giant worm, who still seemed to give off a lack of faith as he floated in front of him. “Anyway, since you’re Steph's spacial magic teacher are you going to whisk us away to our destination, or should I expect something a bit less magical?”
“You’re partially correct,” Wedrow told them. “My young apprentice will be taking the lead for now to get practice with her magic, when she tires out I’ll take over. Now if you’re all ready?”
“Actually there’s one thing I have for you all first,” Ben told them, holding off their departure to give them each an amulet, or at least trying to. When he got to Wedrow he was a bit unsure what to do as the worm didn’t have hands of his own, but he also didn’t want to just put it on him without permission.
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Seeing Ben hesitate though he took the matter into his own proverbial hands, and before Ben could react used his magic to teleport it around his neck. The act caught him off guard, but as everyone else seemed to be looking at their own curiously he explained just what they’d received.
“They’re resistance amulets that should cover the death and darkness affinities. I’ve heard that demons tend to have the death attribute so hopefully this will provide some protection, and the dark resistance is so you guys will be fine if Thera uses a trick we’ve been doing for our hunts.”
This way they would all be a little safer from any potential demon attacks while at the same time hopefully being less wary of Theras charm too. Luckily for him making a resistance amulet was easier than one of his resistance braces, and they could be made with a one size fits all approach as opposed to the braces that seemed to lose effectiveness if someone other than the person they were made for wore it. The biggest difficulty was putting two resistances on the same one, but he was still able to manage.
While Thera didn’t really need the dark resistance given how high her own was he had just made hers the same as everyone else for the time being. If she wanted a different resistance placed on it he could always remove the current enchantment and replace it later.
Though everyone else seemed grateful as they inspected their gifts, Wedrow came off as indifferent to it. “Hm, I thank you I suppose, but wasting your time on something like this wasn’t needed.”
“Ah, sorry. Did you already have high resistances to those affinities?”
“No, but there’s no point in wasting the effort to make something that would provide such a minor difference in battle, if you’re a craftsman wouldn’t it be better to make armours instead?”
“I mean I wouldn’t say that. Sure armour is probably better overall, but don’t knock my amulets. Weakening a spell's effects by about thirty percent for dark and death magic is nothing to turn your nose up at.”
“I’m sorry, by how much?” The worm asked, completely taken aback by the numbers told.
“Roughly thirty percent for each. Dark is slightly higher than death, but you shouldn’t notice a difference.”
“In that case I must apologize,” Wedrow said while bowing his head. “I did not realise you had an awakened enchanting skill.” He had been informed that the boy in front of him came to the world with skills only at the first tier, but he was sure that must have been a mistake when he heard the details of the amulets, at least until Ben corrected him.
“Oh no, I’m just level four in enchanting,” He said, waving him off and trying to ignore any bubbling feelings about his own inferior skills. “Since it’s blessed though I can enchant with fifteen percent of my resistance for every level, lets me get it pretty high.”
“Wait, you’re already at leave four?” Steph yelled. “Didn’t you only get level one when you got here?”
“No need to remind me.”
“I think what she’s saying,” Will cut in. “Is that it’s incredible for you to have gotten three levels in just the year we’ve been here. Neither of us have been able to raise our blessed skills at all.”
“Maybe, but yours are already awakened, of course it would be harder for you,” Ben countered. “If you guys gained levels as easily as someone at the beginning of their skill I would be yelling out at the injustice of the world.”
While they talked Wedrow ignored them to focus on his own thoughts. Along with the rumour Steph and Will had heard about Ben's engagement, there was also another one coming from Anailia. Supposedly a genius enchanter of an unknown race had discovered a new way of suppressing passive magics. When he’d seen who the boy's teacher was he’d assumed it had been him, but now Wedrow would have to begin to adjust that evaluation.