When Ben went to bother the gods that night, he was fully intending on getting every bit of information he could from them on the maker of the blade that had captured his interest. Surely they had to know something about a creation like that, but what he was less prepared for was the level of enthusiasm he was greeted with as Helori ran over to ruffle his hair while Myriad circled around him, practically vibrating in excitement. It was only Nare who stayed off to the side in a pout.

“Myriad’s right, you really are such a good boy when you want to be, you know that?” Helori laughed as his own god chimed in.

“I keep telling you all that, it's nice to see you’re starting to get it.”

“So I take it you guys like the new statues?”

“Love them,” The goddess told him brightly. “I’d expect no less from my student.”

“You’ve definitely gone above and beyond as my apostle too,” Myriad agreed. “Honestly, the little bit of faith I’d get from the priests and occasional visitors giving their prayers has been nice enough throughout the centuries, but the fact the shape’s been a little off for most of them has been bothering me forever. It shouldn’t be that hard to get right, right?”

“Well hey, least I can do to stay in your guys' good books. And any reaction from Jagal?”

“Thoroughly pleased as well, she asked me to convey her thanks.”

“Cool, let that be a lesson to all gods that getting along with me is better than trying to have me killed. Now on a slightly different note, what’s wrong with Nare?”

“Oh, it’s the same note,” Helori laughed as Myriad explained.

“He’s just disappointed you didn’t make new ones for him.”

“Hmm? Would you have wanted me to?” Ben asked the god in question. “I figured the ones you had must have been made by your believers, wouldn’t replacing them with something made by someone who doesn’t give you faith be a bad look?”

“Mmh, you’re not wrong,” The god admitted, the pout on his face changing to a more thoughtful expression as he tried to figure out a decent way he could justify it, only to come up blank. “But still…”

“If you really want one I can have a statue or two sent to your head church and some of your other branches as well. We can put up a plaque saying they were gifted by the church of Myriad in honour of the friendship between you two. Does that sound okay in a way that doesn’t seem like it will alienate any of your believers?”

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“That’s perfect! You really are excellent.”

“I’m literally the best. I’ll make them in the morning before I leave for the day so just have a few people come by to pick them up. And while I’m at it, should I also do a few for Anailia too?” He asked them. “She’s been good to me too, I’d rather stay in her good graces.”

“Ha, I don’t think you need to worry about falling out with her,” Myriad assured him. “You’ve improved the lives of her entire people, plus she’s seen the effort you put towards Thera. You’ve done nothing but leave a good impression. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to make a few statues of her the same as you’re doing for Nare, I’ll mention it to her later.”

“Since you’re engaged to their queen's daughter it’s not even as much of an issue as it would be for Nare,” Helori added. “She considers anyone with succubus blood to be her children, this is basically just a gift from a future son-in-law.”

“Cool, then I’ll whip some up for her too. Now on to the main point though. I saw something pretty incredible today. A sword bestowed with magic nullification. My main question is who made it and how come I haven’t heard of them?”

Unsurprisingly, it was the crafting god among them, Nare, who was able to give Ben something of an answer.

“Ah, you came across its current wielder, did you? It’s an interesting blade with a storied history to it but as for how it was made, well it’s the product of a long-dead non-affinity mage and a master blacksmith.”

“Okay, that seems like a big deal. Why have I not heard anything about it in all of the books on magic and smithing I’ve read? I didn’t even know it was possible to pull off something like that.”

“Haven’t you? Hmm, I suppose the mage in question must not have realized it was a proper discovery so they never reported or recorded it. If I remember correctly, bestowing on the blade at all was a favour to their blacksmith friend, they weren’t one to typically use spells of that sort so they mustn't have known that accomplishing it was so unexpected.”

“Okay, two new questions then. Clearly, the gods are aware at least so why hasn’t it been done again since, and just as importantly, why a sword of all things? Put something like that on a shield damn it.”

“Well, as for the first, because it was hard. Ridiculously so even, to the point where I believe that pulling it off earned the mage a level. Though it worked in the end, while it was being placed the magic nullification was hindering the act itself to a rather great deal. Just because it was accomplished doesn’t mean it was easy and was only pulled off thanks to an unusually high mana pool and a copious amount of potions. As for why a sword, well, I honestly don’t know. The answer to that will have been lost to time.”

“That is the most disappointing thing you could have told me.”

“Ha, not very satisfying, is it? But that’s how it is, I'm afraid. Some things just end up being forgotten or never passed on to begin with.”

Hmm, if I got Verbum’s help would I be able to find the answer in the system? Pretty doubtful given it spits out so much extra info for even straightforward questions, trying to find the motivations behind a single act that occurred in ancient history is a whole other problem. Oh well, as annoying as this is, I guess that’s life.

It did leave him unsatisfied, but with nothing else he could do he simply moved on, chatting with the gods and passing the night working on his actualization, all while eagerly anticipating the next day when he’d once again get his hands on the sword to finally see if his plans to repair it would bear any fruit.