Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

In the same place they'd raised a panic before, Foast was taking the form of a leviathan and towering above the walls of the town for all to see, with the response being far more muted than the last time. Ceselee had told him she'd spread the world and it looked like she'd done exactly that, keeping a swarm of adventurers or townsfolk from rushing forth to defend Stonewall and instead bringing out some of the more curious onlookers, leaving gawkers to the side to watch as the man changed a few times before shrinking back down and looking all of the happier for it.

"A masterpiece," The shifter said in wonder as he looked at what he was wearing, the suit standing up to his largest forms and shrinking down with ease. "May I ask its ranking?"

"Upper legendary so remember that when it's time to pay."

With the changes to his mind affecting the way he thought about his enchantments, almost everything he'd put effort into by that point wound up with that ranking but it still felt good each time he hit it. He was at the top of what a mortal craftsman could ever hope to achieve, with goals still beyond it waiting.

Because I can still improve. He told himself. There's an ocean of room between something that's barely upper legendary and something that just falls short of being mythic and I want to figure out how to cross that threshold.

He hadn't once stopped thinking about the quest he'd gotten from the crafting gods, that impossible goal constantly on his mind along with the rewards he'd get from it. Break the mortal limit and bring forth a mythic item to gain the collective blessing of those gods as a result. Even if it wasn't a priority compared to some of his other goals, there was no denying that achieving such a thing would leave him well on his way to getting there.

And it's not like it's entirely impossible, I have a few ideas but…

But even with all he'd grown, he could still feel a limit to his skill that would keep him from crossing that final gulf. Something he knew he wanted to overcome desperately for what it would mean for him but stuck with the simple reality of it. Making a mythic item almost certainly meant being in the third tier for his crafting and he couldn't just add that to his list of goals.

And then there's the issue that if I were to pull it off before being in the third tier, making an item of that caliber would almost certainly be enough to push me into awakening. He thought with a sigh. And if I were to do that before awakening connect then chances are all too good my crafting will take in my enchanting which would just be such a pain in the ass.

On the flip side though, if I awaken connect and enchanting together then I might actually be able to enchant at a level that would allow me to create a mythic item and from there, maybe even awaken my crafting as a cheeky little bonus. That could happen, right?

…God, Myriad's right, I can be way too greedy.

It was nice to hope but he had his priorities, ones that needed his focus beyond any future hope of power and success and with his current project done before him, he was just about to end things there before Abel jumped up at his side with her own piece to say.

"There's only one more thing you've gotta do then, right?" She asked, looking at Ben expectantly and leaving him to sigh, not needing to read her mind to know what she was thinking.

"If you guys both want to fight then go for it, I won't stop you as long as you aren't going to kill each other."

The town had been warned so what was there to stop and before Foast could so much as react, Abel was already lunging at him, her shape instantly liquid to try and wrap around his body and only failing as he increased his mass beyond her scope, the now giant feeling her try to slip through whatever cracks in the armour she could find but getting none, held off by Ben's creation.

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Leaving room for an attack of Foast's own, slapping the younger girl away and leaving her to splatter against the town wall, much to the horror of what onlookers they had watching before she reformed herself in an instant and bit down on her wrist, bringing forth her monstrosities as she ran back for more and leaving Ben to cover Delair's eye, catching a glimpse of another change in Abel that she had forgotten to warn them about as her outer ancestry strained against the reality holding them all.

With the expected side effects. He could hear the sounds of retching and splatter behind them as those unfortunate enough to look got an instant view of things that defied the natural order of their universe, on top of his student's complaints about him blocking her view but he kept focusing on the fight in front of him, watching the two do whatever they could to try and get a one-up on the other.

Abel killed one of her monsters in her hands, ripping it in half to further strengthen herself while Foast smashed the rest, leaving them splattered on the ground in a way they weren't coming back from, even as his opponent just made more, the girl changing her shape to match them and mixed into the crowd to bring herself closer.

With her next attack aiming to strike an expected weakness, only for it to fail in the end as she tried to slither through the space where Foast's skin met his armour, finding it wouldn't move for her. It had been built to only expand from the inside, leaving no way for her to pull it from him from where she was and getting her tossed across the field again for her attempt.

Ten more minutes it went on, destroying the area as more in town who were close enough joined to watch, leaving more sounds of vomiting behind them as they saw Abel's twisted shape before them as the two traded blows before, without a word spoken between them, Abel changed back and destroyed her remaining monsters while Foast shrunk down, the first looking disappointed while the second was thrilled.

"It's perfect," The shifter laughed out Ben's way. "I couldn't be more satisfied."

"And it made the fight boring," Abel complained. "I was trying to be polite and not just stab his eyes out but I didn't get to enjoy any fun options."

"It's not like you weren't using the armour he made you too," Foast shot back. "I could feel you using it to block all of my blows."

"What, can I not test out mine too? Or did you just want a handicap, because we can go again, it won't make a difference for you!"

"Says the one complaining about my armour. Sure, gloves off, let's-"

"Finish for today!" Ben cut in. "You both can have a no-holds-barred fight somewhere that isn't Stonewall because Abel, you didn't exactly give any warning when you used your outer ancestry, did you?"

"I mean, it was the heat of combat," She said, suddenly looking down and shifting from side to side while Ben shook his head before getting her to look him in the eyes.

"I know you enjoy that and I know you don't like being restricted but you know that skill has consequences, don't you? Look, your entire audience is doing rough so you need to apologize to them."

He nodded over to where those remaining sat, too queasy to get up after seeing a fraction of what a true outsider could do to their reality and left to only close their eyes for what peace they could get as their stomachs settled, leaving a glint of guilt to cross Abel's face.

"I mean, you did warn that one lady the other day about it, didn't you?"

"...You know what? True. I would still prefer you think about how it might affect others around you when you do it but they did make their choice coming to watch so I'll give you a pass this time, but just a small one. You still very much didn't take my student's presence into consideration when doing it but since I was with her I'll let it slide this time, it's just something I want you to be aware of in the future, okay?"

"Okay!" She said, instantly brightening now that she wasn't being scolded while Foast just looked perplexed, muttering under his breath as he did.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter too much that I completely failed to raise her if someone else is going to do the job."

Ignoring the man, Ben just shook his head. "Alright, with that officially done though, I'm sure you guys both have places to be, so-"

"Wait," Abel said, cutting in before he could try to wrap things up. "Come on, we're already out here and you promised! Come and fight me!"

"...Okay," He sighed. "Yeah, I said I would and since we're all finished up with armours, just give me a minute and we'll do this."