Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

“Come in,” Ben yelled out at the knock on the door, with it opening to Sachel and Delair, the latter looking like a ball of energy while the first spoke up.

“Thanks again for this Ben.”

“Don’t worry about it, but Delair, remember I can be a tough teacher. You wanted to learn from me during a busy time which means I’m going to make you learn as much as physically possible. You ready?”

“I am!”

“Perfect. In that case, put this on.”

He tossed her a circlet and Sachel immediately knew its point, with Ben’s unsold stock of them still infamous in town even with everything else going on while his student did as he said, placing it on her head and feeling as her mind split.

She didn’t immediately heave like Sachel had been expecting though. Ben had plenty of experience with experimenting on the minds of others by that point and even if splitting one was never going to be comfortable, he’d long learned how to keep it manageable, at least to a point. The more he tried to split the worse it would be but there’d be no harm leaving the girl with three.

A flash of discomfort passed her face but she quickly got used to it, even if it didn’t go uncommented on. “This feels weird.”

“Ha, you’re going to get used to it, you’ll be wearing that a lot while you work. Now it’s just going to get a little weirder.”

He pulled two of her newly formed minds into his own, creating a mental space where he could give her two separate lessons at once while leaving her last mind in control of her body for some hands-on practice, focusing back on Sachel before they began.

“I think I’ve got her well in hand if you have things you need to do.”

“Would it be okay for me to stick around for the first day? Just to see how it goes?”

“Suit yourself,” He shrugged. “In that case, both of you, this way.”

He led the two to the back of the shop where his mini-gates were waiting before pausing to materialize, spending some of his power to make amulets appear around their necks.

“Don’t take those off while we’re through, my warehouse is big enough that you shouldn’t feel much of it but we’ll technically be in Anailia and the whole land is going to be subtly filled with charm. Don’t want any accidents while you’re both under my watch.”

“Why am I under your watch too?”

“Because if I let anything happen to his oracle while I’m around to stop it, I’m never hearing the end from Myriad. Anyway, this way.”

He went through the gate as they followed behind, not able to see him stretch out his soul but able to witness the effects of it as his clones left their cases, all of them getting to work on various projects.

Some gathered the materials his materializers had been producing and others got to work forging it all into shape, largely creating bracelets for both his mana and buff enhancements he’d created that he’d need to later finish by adding the necessary soul but there were also new materializers being constructed as well, all with tools and weapons of all sorts in a constant cacophony of movement, with every Ben having his role to fill.

He could tell Sachel had no clue how to feel about what she was seeing but Delair’s eyes just gleamed.

“Will I be able to do this one day?”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I’m going to have to give that a maybe. Technically, there are tools I can make you that would let you imitate how I do things and if you get used to having your mind split in three then we can slowly add more minds for you to work with but if you really want to be able to do the same thing through your own power then there’s a few skills I’ll have to help you get. We would be talking about pretty radically changing your mental structure though so that’s not a talk we’re having until you’re a couple years older, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good, now, why don’t we start you on the forge since you haven’t been able to practice that in a while. What do you want to make?”

“A sword!”

He laughed at the enthusiasm but prepared a table with materials for her to choose from, letting her pick what she wanted to work with before moving to the forge to begin while he spoke up.

“You’ll be enchanting on it after so give some thought to what you’ll want to place while you figure out the design too.”

“Alright!”

He watched from the side while she worked, Sachel beside him to look as well.

“So, is she doing okay?”

“Her form is good and it looks like she remembers what I taught her last time, which shouldn’t be surprising considering I had her under the effect of my knowledge skill at the time to boost her learning rate. She’s only at the first level of her enchanting and the second of her crafting right now but I’m confident I’ll be able to get her to at least the fourth of each by the third wave, and that’s at the very least.”

“Um, Ben? I know you’re kind of ridiculously talented at what you do but please don’t place too many expectations on her. The vast majority of people don’t level that fast.”

“The vast majority of people don’t have me as a teacher. Hell, the system even named me as a great teacher, that’s just how good I am. Anyway, you don’t need to worry. I expect her to work hard and she’s already shown me that she can put in the effort and she's pretty talented too, but the reason I think she’ll get those levels so quickly is only possible because I’m helping her,” He explained, tapping the side of his head. “She’s going to be benefiting from the effects of my knowledge skill which is something the vast majority of people don’t get to enjoy and by splitting her minds she’d going to get even more out of it. The two I’ve pulled into my head are also getting lessons at twice the speed the real world is going through so with all of that, it would actually be more shocking if she didn’t improve, I’m pretty sure I could help anyone level this way… Huh.”

A solution to a problem Thera had asked him for some help on once reared its head, needing only to be tested as he materialized a new circlet and, without a word, put it on the oracle’s head, watching her twitch at the change before focusing on him.

“What was that for?”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“I’m going to do you a hell of a favour, free of charge. You’re getting some lessons from me.”

“I’m sure this would be a great opportunity for someone but I don’t want to get any crafting skills.”

“And while you’re objectively wrong for that, that’s not the point of this. You’re in luck Sachel, beside you is maybe the greatest expert on magic on the planet… Okay, maybe second or third place but that’s not the point, I’m definitely the most well-read. While you’re watching Delair, you’ll be learning every plant spell I’ve studied up on in my head.”

That managed to get a positive reaction from her, the girl’s eyes gleaming now that he’d touched on her area of interest instead. “Are you sure?”

“I have literally nothing to lose doing this and everything to gain. I’m just going to put your extra minds at a slightly higher speed than Delair’s but try to bear with it, it won’t be so bad.”

He pulled her two new ones in his head and brought them up to four times the speed to give the information he had.

He didn’t expect it to be enough to get her a level, after they’d taken on the life tower together, getting her to raise the skill to its first awakened level she’d been lucky enough to continue growing it, but if his time helping so many people at the library had shown him one thing, it was that knowledge and skill were closely tied together. The more one knew, the more one could do which only left growing that knowledge further, something he was already incredibly suited for.

And add in my title of awakener which supposedly helps give me an easier time awakening others then taking the time to give people the knowledge could potentially be enough to help push them over the edge. Okay, this is good. This is a real strategy.

He’d helped a person level up before just by discussing their area of research with them, who was to say he couldn’t accomplish the same again by putting people through a hardcore cram session? Even if the results weren’t great, a greater understanding of spells and magic could only help any mage who got it and with that he began organizing his thoughts, creating his lesson plan for the coming day and calling out to the gods so they could start making the arrangements he’d need.