Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

As the sun rose, marking the start of the day, a small scream came from Thera's tent while Ben was deciding what to have for breakfast, him already having enough of a guess as to why that he didn't feel the need to check and was confirmed in his suspicions when his girlfriend carried Abel out by the scruff of her neck, looking far more awake than she would most mornings.

"So, Abel's here?"

"Yeah, she showed up last night."

"And any particular reason I woke up with her face an inch from mine?"

"I was waiting to say hi," she added helpfully, leaving Thera to put her down and rub her eyes.

"It's nice seeing you too, Abel. Next time, do me a small favour and just wait outside for me to wake up, pretty please?"

Having the first thing she'd seen that morning be two empty eye sockets and a slightly too wide grin had left her feeling like she was on the edge of a heart attack no matter how harmless the intent might have been, her pulse still racing and only slowing as she sat down, taking a plate from Ben while the rest of their camp slowly began to get up as well, packing away what gear they had and eating from their rations.

With one hungry set of eyes on him. Even if he'd made sure to give her a plate as well, it was clear it wasn't what Abel had wanted and he cast a small look at Thera, his girlfriend not remotely fazed by that point, only giving a small nod while she ate to let him know she'd heal him after as he cut himself and filled a cup, reaching out for the other girl's card before letting her drain it.

"Well?" she asked, curiosity unable to be contained about how she'd grown while he'd looked it all over.

"Ten more to everything than what you'd gotten from me last time with the exception of your weeping, getting twenty more. Even considering how I've changed since then, to me that would imply that either your weeping enhancement or your new job bonuses are interacting with your meat strengthening to improve what you'll get and god, I am so jealous."

She'd entirely stopped listening after finding out that she'd gotten a total of forty points to her weeping, instantly holding her cup out for me.

"No, you just get the one. I did make arrangements with the gods on your behalf though, so they'll start sending you some bodies that have been, shall we say, inoculated with divinity. You'll be pretty well fed until the end of the war, that's for sure."

"Really!"

"Really, really, so stop trying to eat me."

"Okay, okay, I can do that," she told him, sounding full of resolve even as drool rolled down her lip. "Can you at least try to stop smelling so tasty so it's not so tempting?"

"Believe me, if I could, I would. For now though, sit tight, I need to go wake the stragglers."

While most where up, it seemed there were a few still struggling with it and as the one in charge, he took on the role of changing that, going from tent to tent to awaken each one that was left and watching as they groggily got up and began packing like the rest, eating what they could until finally, the entire crowd was ready to go.

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"Alright everyone, a bit of good news came to us during the night," Ben called out, getting their attention and directing it to the girl beside him. "This is Abel, a third tier who'd also been sent to look for Foast and she'd already scouted ahead so we'll have a new direction to follow and even better, we'll be able to get through it a lot quicker in general too now by combining her efforts with Thera's. If you both don't mind, want to set up?"

Thera nodded, spending her mana on the ground around them to create a vessel that could carry the group while Abel bit into her wrist, letting her blood drop to the ground to create a few of her monstrosities while Ben continued to explain.

"Abel is able to track through her creations, and Thera is able to carry the rest of us so we aren't stuck trekking through the woods. This should drastically raise our speed in finding him and we should all be safer for it too, so for now, get on and we'll get going."

He saw bits of doubt in some eyes as they mentally tried to calculate the power needed to carry so many for such a prolonged period of time through magic alone but they all did as he said, getting into the vessel Thera had built and feeling the surprise of it rising up with ease, Abel standing by her side to help give directions.

"Left from here and keep going, I'll get you to adjust when we need to."

"Sounds good," Thera nodded, their new journey beginning above the treetops, giving them a straight line to move while only Abel's creations remained below, running with all they had as they tracked the shifter's scent through the forest below, letting the rest of the group get as comfortable as they could while Ben quietly asked the one question he'd been putting off.

"Abel, do you smell anything with Foast? Something he might be chasing or might be running with him?"

"No."

Great. So what does that mean?

He could still be operating under something else's control which was a problem and Ben could think of at least a few ways that another person could hide any signs of themselves from being tracked if there was someone secretly with him yet none of it told him what they'd be walking into when they'd finally meet, nor the sorts of dangers it would hold for all of them.

…Worst to worst, if something is controlling him, I need to be prepared for the chance that it could control everyone here too but… Ugh, I don't want to have to try and fight a huge swarm of allies again! Not to mention at least one third tier, maybe two depending on if Abel ends up controlled! I don't care how much more powerful I am, I already felt like I was going to die last time!

God, could it be the same soul spell? It could be used at a crazy distance and even if the nature of Foast's soul makes it seem like that shouldn't work, I really have no way to be sure. It sure seemed like the last demon to use it was the one who created it but there's no guarantee that another one hadn't been able to figure it out themselves or somehow stolen it from them and… No, I have no way to know, I can't let myself fall into guesses and preconceived notions. When we find him, one way or another, I'll figure out whatever's happening here.

It was all he could do but with the answer he couldn't help but look at Abel. However it had turned out, this was one of the first people she'd gotten to know since coming to the world. What was she dealing with?

"And are you doing okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asked back in genuine confusion, getting a shrug in return.

"I don't know, just figured I should check if you're worried at all?"

"What? Nah, whatever's going on, the perv's going to be fine."

Okay, figures. If she were really worried, then she wouldn't have gotten distracted enough by eating to make the gods feel the need to send out another force.

Still, despite his worries, he couldn't help but hope that she'd be proven right in the end.