Waking up from his talk with his god, the first thing he did was prepare breakfast. The room he was given was small, but it had all of the necessary amenities he needed, including a small kitchen and a loaded cold box. Ben could only assume his teacher was able to get them such nice conditions thanks to his connection to Pelenia and he made a mental note to see if he could get the same sometime. To have a place to stay in any country the succubi had an embassy could be pretty handy, though it might defeat the purpose of traveling if he did.

Well either way, better to have it and not need it right? I’ll ask Falk about it later and then maybe pop over to Anailia since they’re both gate cities. I need to get a new copy of barrier magic on my ring as well.

There was always so much to do. A part of him couldn’t help but wish he had multiple bodies to go along with his multiple minds so he could accomplish more at once, but that was nothing but a nice dream.

With breakfast done he knocked on the doors of his two companions, handing them over plates to eat before running off to embrace the day, with Falk needing to meet some acquaintances while he was so close to a gate, leaving Thera to put up with Ben's whims.

She knew what she’d be getting into the moment she saw how he reacted to seeing one of the trials yesterday, but thankfully the first bit was nowhere near as long as she expected. Despite how much larger both the craftsman and mage’s guild branches were compared to the ones in Anailia, thanks to the massive changes to his mind he only spent an hour in both, flipping through books and making lists of ones to order, getting a copy of just one immediately before running off to the library which ended in a far shorter visit. There simply wasn’t anything he was looking for there, as depressing as it was.

It was only as he got to the dead god’s trial that she knew he was going to be there a while, possible days if nobody pulled him away as he opened the single book he got, one describing what little bit of theory had been built up about the magic that made it while he examined it himself.

“Let’s see, from what I can see of the structure of the enchantments it’s made up of a series of spirals and interlocking rings, but something seems odd about that,” he muttered to himself, making notes as he did. “I mean, this structure simply isn’t tight at all. Every other trial is dense with enchantments, but this one allows so much empty space to exist, what’s the point?”

As he stared deeply into what was there he tried to compare it to the other enchanting systems he made use of in his work, but neither seemed quite right. Weaving mana had the effect of lowering the mana cost when using the item it was enchanted on, as well as keeping it organised compared to just putting loose partial enchantments down to ensure both the consistency of the effect, not to mention making it easier to make more complex effects as the enchantment was built upon. He could see using rings of mana to keep it organized, but he was less sure about how it would affect the mana cost, as well as how making a simple item with that type of enchantment would alter its overall properties.

As for comparing it to blended enchantments, well he wasn’t sure if there was any real comparison to be made. It was a means of enchanting built upon the principles of ritual magic, something that normally would take groups of people to pull off that he could only do as easily as he did thanks to the sheer volume of minds in his head. While he could see small sections of the trial’s magic where the rings would bleed into one another, if he had to guess it was more to help ensure each individual ring worked together in better harmony compared to the way he would blend his enchantments to get a significantly increased effect, or an entirely different one, at the price of a higher mana cost.

He did his best to mentally compare it to some of the other, less significant systems he was aware of, but any comparison fell flat there as well. He didn’t think there was anything life-changing in the rings of mana some long-dead god had built, but the more he stared at it the longer he was sure that there was at least something useful in it, he just needed to grasp what it was and grab it for himself. Anything he could take and work into his own enchantments he would, no matter how unorthodox. He had too many goals not to take everything he could to make them a reality, but even more than that, there was the sheer joy that came with learning something that interested him so much.

He could have stayed there for days, carefully examining different stretches of wall, getting funny looks from the guards stationed at the tower’s entrance that kept anyone from wandering in by mistake as he poured over every inch of it, but someone was there to make sure he took care of himself, a fact he was reminded of as he felt something hot pressed against the back of his neck hours into his study.

He jumped with a yelp, turning to find Thera standing behind him, a hot sandwich in her hands held out for him as she carefully slipped her own under her hood to nibble on.

“Figured it was probably time for you to eat something,” She told him as she handed it over. “Have you moved at all since I left?”

“Um, no,” He said awkwardly. Not only did he not notice that she left, but he had gotten too absorbed and forgotten she was there.

Good going idiot.

Thera could only laugh as he gave an apology. “Sorry, this really isn’t the way to be spending our free time before the contest, is it? Come on, let’s go do something. What are you interested in while we’re here?”

“You don’t need to worry about me Ben, I know just how interested you are in your work, I just wanted to make sure you ate something before I went to explore a little.”

She meant it in all sincerity too. It was obvious how much this particular trial had captured his attention from the moment he laid his eyes on it, she didn’t want to keep him from getting all he could out of it, but that only twisted the knife as he made a firm decision about what was more important.

“I can look at it a little bit more on other days if I need to. Besides, with how much I’ve spent on it today and the ten minds in my head I’d say this is the perfect time to stop.”

“You sure? I really don’t want to feel like I’m dragging you away.”

“I am, I want to spend time with you, not a wall.”

Even if he couldn’t see her face at the moment he thought he felt her mood brighten as he said it and she took his hand, pulling him along as they went.

“In that case, I heard there’s some free performances going on by the water, I haven’t seen a play in ages so it should be fun!”

The excitement in her voice made it obvious to him he’d made the right choice as he picked up on some of it himself, wondering just what sort of performances the world had to offer, especially in a city as diverse as this.

As they rushed down the streets to get themselves a good spot he happily listened to Thera tell him about some cultural sites she wanted to visit after. He gave her his full attention, only pulling away briefly as he felt a tingle on the back of his neck, but seeing nothing on the streets but the crowds that were always there and one starfish man trying to draw in an audience as he preached he brushed the feeling aside and focused on enjoying the day.