“I am still so insanely jealous,” Jake sighed as he watched Ben work as they all waited for the day to begin. There was a line of hundreds waiting out the door of Elvat’s terrestrial residence to be let in, all to grasp the unbelievable opportunity that had been spread around the world so urgently. The fact that there was someone who could help awaken certain eighth-level magics.

Both Elvat and Yuzu were doing their all to prepare themselves the best they could. Despite the power of their magics, it was more typical of them to stick with certain high leveled individuals, trying to raise them up as much as possible in the time they had, rather than spending days meeting a group like that, but Ben was treating it like any other day for his part as he sat with the others, his clones within range as they each practiced their carving.

“If you’re that jealous, all you need to do is get a few levels of parallel thought and complex mind to have enough going on in your head to be able to think for a different body which isn’t too hard. Of course, you also need to get and awaken connect of your own, but you can get all three skills from Zandale, plus you have Yuzu around to help with your leveling. Not to mention that you’re looking at completing the ten affinitied towers so you’d have one reward at the end to put to something other than your archmagic. I’d say it’s doable for you if you put in the effort.”

“That is not where he needs to be putting in effort,” Vasta told them bluntly, staring at her apprentice. “If he lives long enough we can see about him doing that after.”

“Besides, Zandale doesn’t have time for that with the skill he’s currently spreading,” Uliel sighed. “All of his other bookings have basically been pushed back till after the war if they can’t go and meet him themselves.”

Thera’s face took a small, guilty look given she was the architect of Zandale’s packed schedule, but Vasta waved her off. They were aware of the risk that the world would have lost the spirits otherwise, it was a worthy trade in the end.

“I know, but come on, think of how useful it could be,” Jake argued as he imagined the possibilities. “I could take lessons on magic while actively practicing my magic while working on other skills too. I could finally get some fighting skills in case I ever needed them. Not to mention the romantic implicatio-”

His words were cut off as both of his teachers along with Amy all moved as one, striking his head and gut while the last kicked him in the shin, leaving Jake on the ground.

“The hell are you saying around Yuzu and Thera?” Amy spat at him, giving him a frosty glare that dug deeper than any of the strikes. “Go be a degenerate somewhere else if you need to.”

“Come on, it’s not like Ben hasn’t brought it up!”

“I haven’t. Someone hit him again for me please, my hands are full.”

Vasta was happy to accommodate, striking her student upside the head as she muttered, asking herself if she’d gone wrong somewhere as Thera just looked concerned.

“Um, what exactly is he talking about?” She asked, leaning over to Amy as the other girl took her in her arms.

“Ignore him and just enjoy the fact that you aren’t dating a pervert,” She sighed. “It must be nice.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t say Ben isn’t a pervert,” She mumbled, getting interested looks from both Amy and Yuzu, the latter of which finished up with her preparations.

“Tell me more, tell me more,” The young soul mage said, eyes gleaming. “I smell something exciting!”

Even if he didn’t say it, Ben was interested himself in whatever she was thinking. He thought he was taking things plenty slow for Thera’s sake given how new she was to the thought of dating and romance, plus she’d been the instigator of their relationship advancing further. He couldn’t help but keep an ear open to the conversation as his curiosity got the better of him, even if it looked like he was still focused on his carving.

Realizing she let herself say something embarrassing, too swept away by being around her friends, she could only mumble out her answer as she felt the blood rush to her cheeks, giving off a golden glow.

“I mean, whenever we’re alone he’s always looking at and focusing on me no matter what we’re doing, even if it’s just cooking or something. I can always feel his eyes, even before we started dating.”

“That’s because you’re beautiful and I love you.”

The answer was a load off his mind at least, the small worry he’d done something wrong gone, even if it was replaced with the sounds of Yuzu’s excitement. The soul mage was positively shaking to talk more, only being held back by her guardians and teacher.

“And as charming as this all is, perhaps it’s time we start letting people in and you can all have this sort of talk later?” Vasta asked, looking to Elvat as the merman nodded from his pool.

“I believe I’m ready if the rest of you are.”

“Ah, just one more minute from me,” Ben called out. He was almost finished what he’d been working on and just wanted to get it complete before his real body needed to look like it was being a responsible and respectable apostle. Around the limbs of the various wooden carvings he made, he was tying strings to them and the handles made to control each, finishing eight wooden marionettes of varying shapes and sizes.

Two for each of his homunculi’s hands, he’d made them for one simple reason. Raising his puppetry. If controlling his four clones each counted towards the skill, then using actual puppets surely would help too, meaning he could practice with twelve at once like that, fiddling about with the time they had, putting on shows for himself while his true self was dedicated to building the minds of others for his work.

It was only as his clone bodies began fiddling with them that he gave the okay, the real him sitting at the ready with both soul mages while Thera was at the side chatting with the others, ready to top up his mana as need be.

The guards outside were alerted, ready to let the first one in as a dryad entered, Ben’s face lighting up to see a familiar one as well.

“Right! Hentath, you were at the eighth level of low plant magic, weren’t you?”

The moment she saw him she stopped in her tracks, mouth briefly hanging open before shaking her head.

“Of course it’s you.”

“Hey, you can be happy to see me, you know.”

“Let me get over my shock first. You’re the one who figured out how to help awaken people?”

“Of course I am, I’m great like that. Now come on and take a seat already.”

It took another second for her to get herself together, but in the end, she just shook her head and did as she was told.

“You know, if I’d known it was you I would have brought Delair. The little flower is working so hard to make sure she'll be a good apprentice for you one day.”

“Tell her I’ll visit soon. I’ll even send her and the other kids some new toys with my next shipment of potions too. Is there anything else you guys might need?”

She showed a faint smile at the question, even if she hit his arm at it. “Don’t go trying to take our independence from us. Sending some toys for the kiddies and those potions is already more than enough.”

“Alright, well just shoot me a letter if you ever need anything, but for now let’s get started.”

He already had a hand on her back and cast a quick look to the two soul mages, getting nods of confirmation that they had cast the spells they needed to before he began breaking down his minds, merging them and the necessary knowledge to create the seed with her own as he tried to guide her, pouring his personal supply on mana through the elder dryad as she tried to ignore the feeling, instead focusing on doing what she’d come for. Materializing herself a seed.

He wasn’t sure what was different compared to doing it with Sachel, be it his bit of experience he had from her that he couldn’t have accessed during the first attempt, or else his new awakener title, but things went shockingly smoothly. There were still things to correct along the way, bits of mana that didn’t need to be lost vanishing into the ether after being improperly spent, but in the end, Hentath was glowing from the effect of her skill awakening as the power that came with the change filled her, all while he enjoyed his own notification.

Score. I am so good at mind skills.

He unraveled his mind from Hentath’s watching as she reacted in mostly the same way her granddaughter had. She may have been doing a better job of keeping control of her emotions, but she was clutching the small seed, not wanting to lose it before Ben passed over a pre-prepared jar, having expected as much.

“Thank you,” She told him and the soul mages earnestly, in perhaps the most sincere display he’d ever gotten from her. “I don’t know how to possibly-”

“Don’t worry about it,” He told her. “This was a deal between me and your god, and as long as I’m alive I’ll be able to keep doing it. Let that be a little motivation for the rest of your village, huh? As long as you all get up there eventually, I’ll keep pushing you over the edge.”

“I’ll be sure to tell them,” She said, her eyes smiling, even if watery. “That’s another reason for you to visit soon. After this, I’m sure our sixth and seventh levels will work themselves to the bone to improve.”

“Ha, then I’ll look forward to great things next time I’m around. Are you heading back right away or going to stick in town for a bit?”

“When you’re done with the other from the village we’re heading right back. Gotta share the good news, don’t we?”

“True. Well in that case it was nice seeing you Hentath, tell Delair and Fontesh I say hey.”

At that she burst into laughter, her good mood radiating from her. “The moment I tell Delair I saw you and didn’t bring her along she’s going to be nothing but complaints, but I suppose it really is the least I can do. Be safe, apostle boy.”

With that friendly exchange done, she left, a spring in her step that wasn’t there before as strength and a few extra years came to her old bones.

He stretched his arms as the next person came in, confidence radiating from him as they did. Hentath took longer than expected, but that was only due to the fact that they properly knew each other. He was sure to chat a bit with the other dryad that came from her village too, taking up some time, but from there, all bets were off.

As long as I make sure that both me and the soul mages are topped up and we try to keep everyone we can moving fast, if we’re lucky we might be able to do one every two or three minutes. At one and a half thousand people to do, working pretty much all day each time, it will take about a week to get them all done but it will be worth it in the end. I can all but taste some levels coming my way.

Even if it was sure to kill his mana growth rate in that time, it was a period he could devote to working on the technical aspect of a few of his skills, something he wasn’t going to let himself miss out on as he worked to take all he could.