“What the hell?” Ben muttered before calling out to the ceiling, though trying to be quiet enough to not wake Thera or Sonya. “Hey Myriad, any word on enchanting knowledge cause I just leveled it up.”

“The problem is that I leveled it up while reading a book on skills, not enchanting.”

He’d been able to consume far more information since getting the zeroth level of the speed reading skill, being able to read faster while remembering more, a task made all the easier with his knowledge skill to go with it, but that didn’t mean he understood why it leveled up. Luckily though, it seemed Myriad had an idea on it.

It wasn’t the most satisfying answer, but his god was right, if the skill made it easier for him to remember information on other skills then it would be extremely useful, it would just be added to the ever-growing list of them that he wanted a bit more knowledge on.

With the day still early though he did a bit more reading before getting up, planning to make a simple breakfast for everyone to leave while he went to the shop, only to find Sonya and Thera already up with food ready and a plate for him.

“What’s got you two up?” He asked, not used to seeing either of them at such an hour.

“We’re expecting a bad day at the clinic given how the last few went so we’re heading in early,” Sonya explained, seeming exhausted as she did. “Given what day it is, we’re expecting the end of the world parties to be at their worst, meaning plenty of injuries to deal with.”

Right, looks like it’s officially been two years now. He thought as he tried to hide the sudden sadness that filled him. With all he’d been doing to keep himself busy, he’d managed to get the fact to slip his mind, typically not passing through any of the areas where things were getting a little crazy so he hadn’t been reminded.

Thera reached beside him and squeezed his hand, giving him a comforting smile as she did while Sonya tried to give him a warning. “Maybe you shouldn’t go to the shop today Ben, I’m not sure how crazy things will end up, but it might be better to stay in.”

“Thanks, but I have a few things to finish up. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to be careful and I’ve got a handy friend to look out for me. Actually, will you both be okay? Want me to meet you when you’re done to walk you home?”

If things were going to be dangerous he didn’t like the idea of them going around by themselves, but both shook their heads. “There’s going to be a few guards stationed at the clinic to ensure everyone behaves themselves and they’ll be walking us back when we're done so you don’t need to worry.”

“But you should still be home for dinner,” Thera cut in. “If things are going to be bad you shouldn’t stay out too late.”

“No worries, I’ll be back in time to cook something for everyone.”

With food done they all went off as Myriad spoke in his mind.

I just need to do something to take my mind off of things instead of being stuck in, don’t worry too much.

I have no freaking clue what to do. He thought, depressed as he looked at all of the materials around him. Maybe it was just his mood, but inspiration failed to strike. He’d made plenty of weapons since getting back to town, destroying most of them with his enchantments as well, but he didn’t think something like that would get him in the right headspace.

Myriad suggested.

Not a bad idea.

The one in his projector had been made by using a hand crank to rotate a notched wheel against a variety of metal pegs to make the sounds he needed, but really there were better ways to do it utilizing magic, he just hadn’t had the knowledge at the time. Now that he’d flipped through a few books on enchanting with air magic he thought he had a decent idea, though he’d need to see if it would work in practice.

The more he thought about it the more charmed he felt. He didn’t think he would be able to do anything that would cover vocals, but he should at least be able to make something that would do the tones, and it would be nice to try and recreate the melodies of the songs he liked before they all completely faded from his mind.

And I think I have a good idea for a very cool player too. Let’s see, it definitely won’t need it, but I’ll build everything around a rainbow mana battery to be on the safe side. It should let me add a cool effect or two as I go so there’s no harm. Yeah, let’s do it.

He carefully planned out the enchantments before shaping the materials to fit the image he had in his mind. Even if it wouldn’t strictly be singing, it would perfectly convey the feeling.

Myriad, credit where credit’s due, making a music player was a fantastic idea. I can completely cross this off my list of things to make. He told his god as he walked home for the day, early enough that he could get a start on dinner.

Mmh, I’ll have it going during dinner. Give them a taste of some poorly recreated good old-fashioned earth music. Let’s see, Thera has a few musical skills, maybe she could help me clean up the sound a little. Doing adjustments by ear is far harder than I’d expected.

Even if it left him thinking of his homeworld, it had been a perfect distraction from how long he’d been gone, letting him focus more on the bits he enjoyed. It would also just be nice to have in general. While he would occasionally pass musicians on the street, he simply didn’t have the same access he previously did for it. It was easy to ignore just how much he was constantly exposed to different songs on earth, but with it gone there was a noticeable void.

He reminisced for the rest of the way, trying to think about the few other melodies he could remember to try and recreate later, maybe meeting up with some of his old classmates at some point to see if they could help him as well, but quickly stopped as he opened the door, only to find the house filled with smoke.

Oh crap, did Thera leave the stove on?

He ran to the kitchen, wanting to see what the damage was, only to find Thera frantically waving a towel over a burnt pan, panic on her face as she did.

Breathing a small sigh of relief seeing it was nothing major, he calmly walked up beside her and placed a lid on top of it before taking it off the heat.

“Looks like you maybe should have taken me up on some lessons after all,” He joked as he patted her back, trying to show it was nothing to worry about. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, that just went worse than I’d hoped,” She told him, sounding defeated as she did.

She looked far more disappointed than he would have expected for a bit of burnt food so he did his best to cheer her up. “Well, it can happen to anyone when they first start so don’t worry too much. I was coming home to make dinner anyway, give me a minute and we can throw something together.”

“Wait,” She told him, grabbing his hand as he went to grab ingredients. “Let me do it.”

“Hmm? You sure? Didn’t you ask me to come back in time to make dinner?

“I wanted you home in time for dinner, not to make it. I… wanted to try and surprise you by cooking something,” She admitted awkwardly, golden blush painting her face.

He didn’t know what to say, he was too caught off guard and she rushed to explain herself.

“It’s just, you’ve done a lot for me and I know you aren’t feeling great right now because of, well, you know. So me and aunty wanted to throw a little party but she’s stuck at work and uncle still hasn’t gotten back and… Things haven’t really worked out how I’d hoped but I still want to cook you something.”

He squeezed her hand, a small smile spreading on his lips. “Thanks, I’m sorry I made you worry but really I’m fine. I’ve just been a little out of sorts knowing that two years have already gone by is all, but you don’t need to do anything, I’m happy just to spend time with you like usual.”

“I told you, I’m not doing this just to make you feel better. Well, I mean that’s a part of it, but you’ve made me a staff and you’re working so hard on the brace and you’re my best friend. It feels like you’ve done so much for me, I just want to do something to thank you.”

“You do plenty just by being in my life, but if you’re sure then I won’t say no to trying your cooking.”

She didn’t meet his eyes, feeling embarrassed about being so open, so upfront about caring, instead going around the kitchen to grab what she needed and began to try again while talking about the day.

“Did you have any problem getting home? Things were crazy at the clinic, too many people drinking too much and being general idiots. I think I may have treated more broken bones and alcohol poisoning than I ever have before.”

“Ha, that sounds wild. My day was far nicer in comparison, Falk has the shop pretty well soundproofed to keep the noise from smithing getting out and annoying anyone, but it looks like it works pretty well for the opposite too. It was definitely more noticeable when I went out though.”

“Ugh, I just don’t get the reaction. There could literally be years to go, what’s the point of getting yourself killed now?”

“Sometimes you just need a distraction,” He said with a shrug. “I can’t exactly say I get it, but at the same time I didn’t grow up hearing about hundreds of worlds being conquered so I can’t really judge. Even now it feels a bit unbelievable.”

He couldn’t deny the reality of the situation, but he also couldn’t help but feel a distance from it. He hadn’t spent his whole life fearing the day it would come, and he hadn’t been training to deal with it like so many of the other summoned. Even if he knew the threat, there was a comfortable emotional distance.

They moved on to lighter topics as she cooked until the food was ready and sat down to enjoy it. Ben dug in with gusto, happy to have the meal, all the more so since it was made specifically to help his mood, but Thera only poked at it, seeming even more depressed than after the first attempt.

“Sorry it’s not great,” she told him, wishing she’d done better. “I’d been practicing a bit and I thought with all the times I’d already helped you I’d be able to get the cooking skill easily enough, but that didn’t work out.”

“It’s good, don’t worry so much,” He told her as he ate. “Still, if it is something you want to get better at I’ll help you out, it just takes some practice.”

“Well, maybe that would be nice. For now, is there anything you want to do next? Our plans kind of went out the window but there's still a bit of day left.”

“Yeah, I can think of something.”

“And it looks like I lose again,” He said as he laid down his cards while Thera leaned against him on the couch.

“This is the same thing we do every day!” She complained as she won another game. “Wasn’t there anything else you’d rather do?”

“I mean it’s late and I don’t really want to get caught up in anyone's partying. Pretty sure everything in town is closed by now anyway so it doesn't leave many options,” He told her with a shrug before his eyes lit up. “Actually, give me a minute, you can help me out with something.”

He never did use his music player during dinner, being too caught off guard by everything when he’d gotten home, but now was a good enough time for it as any so he took it out of his bag. It looked like a simple cylinder with two thin wings coming out of the side, but since he’d designed it with a very specific idea in mind it was exactly how he needed it.

Removing the cap from the back, he took out a variety of smaller tubes from his bag, trying to decide which one to go with before settling on something slower and calm. It was late so he wasn’t in the mood for anything too energetic, so he slid it in the back of the player, inserting a rainbow mana battery with it after and giving it a gentle toss into the air.

The melody began as the other two enchantments he placed activated, causing it to gently fly in a circle over their heads thanks to an air spell while an illusion of a glowing blue bird covered the tool, creating the impression it was flying.

He looked at it, not feeling as satisfied as he would have liked. The illusion was stiff and felt lifeless, and it was obvious the sound quality needed some work, but at the very least it was alright as a first attempt. Thera though seemed transfixed.

“It’s so pretty, how are you getting it to sing?”

“The inner tube contains the air spell with a song on it, while the outer one helps amplify it while holding the enchantments for the illusion and making it float. It was a fun little project,” He’d originally pulled it out to get her thoughts, as well as see if she could think on how to improve the song, but with it up there he decided to tease her a little and held out his hand. “Would my lovely fiancée care to dance?”

He’d expected her to complain as she always did when he called her that, but instead she took his hand and got up.

“Sure, I guess this is at least something different, did you mean real dancing or what your race calls dancing?”

“Hey now, plenty of humans can dance really well, I’m just not one of them.”

“So not real dancing, got it,” She placed her hands on his shoulders while looking up at him. “You know, I could teach you how to actually do it sometime, especially if you’re going to teach me how to cook.”

“We’ll place that as a maybe for the time being.”

“Well, if you’re ever feeling up to it let me know, I wouldn’t say no to a dance partner,” She told him with a smile as she made him spin her, managing to completely have the lead as they went. The time passed as they spoke and enjoyed the moment, until Thera had to ask the question that only grew on her mind. “So does the song not end?”

“Oh, well normally it does but since I could only figure out how to get a single one on a tube I made it so they all loop instead of having to change it every time.”

“Makes it kind of hard to know when to stop though.”

“We can finish now if you want,” He told her, gently pulling away, only for her to hold on tighter.

“Just one more minute,” She told him, seeming to grapple with something before gently leaning up, leaving him feeling the gentle touch of lips on his cheek, before slowly pulling away, looking shy as she did. “I know you have some complicated feelings about being here, but even still I just want you to know I’m glad I have you in my life,” Not meeting his eyes as her face twinkled in the light of his flying music box, she gave a small smile. “Anyway, it’s getting late so I should get to sleep. Have a good night Ben.”

“Sleep well Thera,” He told her as she ran away and he went to his room, not realising he was holding his cheek till he went to lie down. “Hey Myriad, are you there?”

“I think I might really like Thera.”