Ch: 120.1 (Patreon)

The human mind can only take in so much at once. Increasing your stats and skills increases a person's mental threshold and helps with overload, but sometimes, it simply isn’t enough.

My Mind stat is decent compared to others with similar builds, and I was already used to scanning large swaths of land with Sense Mana, so when I say I was struggling to decipher the magic item on my wrist, you know how complicated it is. It took me a couple of hours just to get a general idea of how the runes are structured, let alone before I started guessing at what they did.

If all the runes were simple in design, I might have been able to piece things together quicker, but each rune was like an enchantment unto itself. No extra lines were added to obstruct people from copying the runes like other items I’ve scanned; there was no need; they were just that complicated. There was so much to look at I couldn’t process it all. My head felt like it was splitting in two, and it was only getting worse the more I scanned.

The runes alone led me to believe the bracelet was tier 6, and the more I understood about it, the more I considered the possibility that it might be even higher than that. From what I knew, tier 6 was the pinnacle of mortal understanding, but what if mortal hands didn't make the bracelet?

The piece of jewelry likely predated the rules set in place to limit the gods. And if the gods used to give their followers skills freely, what was to say they couldn’t gift them items as well? At the very least, I knew Zelous had a hand in the bracelet’s creation, especially seeing how I could only interact with it after I met his fragment.

It’s been over ten hours since I started trying to figure out what the bracelet did, and it felt like I was no closer than when I started.

Okay, I might be overly dramatic; it wasn’t much, but I had learned a few details about the magic item on my wrist.

Firstly, I was right about the bracelet having its own pocket dimension. While a part of it was physically attached to my wrist, most of the material and its runes that made up the band were contained in a separate space. I knew the space existed because Sense Mana could pierce into the pocket dimension, and because the two were physically connected, I could scan it. However, there was an added layer of difficulty in doing so.

The best way I could describe it was as if I were walking down a corridor, and halfway, the size and shape of the passage suddenly changed alongside gravity. I could continue forward, but the sudden shift was more than a little jarring and challenging on Sense Mana. I was slowly getting used to the sensation, but every minute counted, and I was wasting precious time not working at 100%. Sadly, the only thing I could do was grin and bear it.

That alone was infuriating, but it was how the runes functioned that made me want to tear my hair out. The runes worked together despite a dimensional barrier between them, which, if we were in any other situation, would probably be the main thing I focused on.

Usually, runes had to be directly connected to transfer mana and function correctly. There were some instances where this wasn’t the case, like the knife I gifted Mother and its accompanying charging block, where two items could touch to form a temporary connection, but enchantments like that came at a cost.

Mana was always in motion and hard to contain, so even the most minor gaps leaked a lot of mana. Mom's knife block worked because the base was thick steel and powered by relatively small amounts of magicite. Even then, if the accompanying knife didn’t absorb most of the mana, the rampaging mana would eventually break down the steel and the runes carved in it, causing a critical failure.

Considering vital sections of my bracelet were essentially divided into two different areas, you would think it would be losing massive amounts of mana constantly communicating between them, but it was the opposite. The runes inscribed in the part of the bracelet around my wrist lost no mana communicating with the rest in its pocket dimension. In theory, it should be impossible, but as Tabitha was here to remind me, it wasn’t something I should focus on now.

For now, I’d have to chalk it up to divinity bullshit and move on. As frustrating as that is.

The second thing I learned wasn’t as scientifically significant as the first, but it did change how I viewed the bracelet. And to think, I only learned of it due to a mandated break.

Initially, I didn’t want to stop for anything, but Tabitha insisted I did, and as usual, she was right to have me do so. After I spent the first three hours meditating over the band on my arm, Tabitha interrupted me and forced me to stop for an hour to catch my breath and ensure I was staying on topic like she said she would.

I complained at first, but that first break and the second I had three hours later quickly proved the best thing I could’ve done. The breaks were the perfect time to review everything I learned and consolidate my thoughts. The breaks also helped combat my headache, which allowed me to work smarter and not harder. Tabitha would even give me her opinion on things, and though she knew next to nothing about runes or enchanting, just having somebody with a different view of things helped.

For a brief moment, I thought I was back in Spotted Creek discussing runes with Sandra.

During my second break, Tabitha brought up something I wasn’t initially thinking about. At some point, our conversation turned towards the physical bracelet on my wrist, and according to her, the obscuring enchantment was still going strong. I didn’t think about it much after meeting the gods, but ever since I left my soul, there was a quantitative change in how I perceived the band on my arm.

The jewelry felt a part of me, even more so now, but unlike before, I no longer struggled to notice it. How comfortable it felt on my wrist was a little terrifying, so much so that I questioned if it might indirectly influence my thoughts. I had no proof of the fact, but regardless, I'll have to keep that possibility in mind in the future.

It was scary to think my thoughts weren't entirely my own, and I wish I could say that was the worst of it, but there was still one last thing I’ve unraveled about my new accessory that put even those previous two points to shame.

From what I can tell, there are no less than three intertwined yet separate enchantments embedded inside my bracelet. The first two were surface level. And even though I couldn’t decipher a single individual rune in their makeup, I could tell they were what powered the pocket dimension and the enchantment that made it so others were more likely to ignore the band outright. Both enchantments were positively immense, containing hundreds of runes each, but neither compared to what I assumed was the core function of the bracelet.

The first two enchantments were massive in scale, but even the two combined couldn’t compare to the absolute mess that was the core enchantment that took up much of the bracelet. There were runes inside other runes, three-dimensional structures that made my brain feel like it was liquifying to scan, and runes that were in one spot one moment and in another the next. The core enchantment was so complicated and vast that I had to scan it in sections or risk my head exploding from memory overload.

It felt like I could spend weeks going over the various clusters of runes, and I could, but that wouldn’t be a very effective use of my time. No, I was focusing on a single group of runes. The cluster was just as complicated as any other and, at first glance, appeared to do little. Still, there was one reason I was focusing on this section rather than the others, and surprisingly enough, it had nothing to do with Enchanting but rather another one of my skills….

Sense Soul.

It shouldn't have surprised me that the bracelet had tethered itself to my soul, seeing how Zelous’ skills functioned, but it did. And I was struggling to figure out what that entailed. From what I could tell, the connection was paper thin, yet at the same time, exceedingly strong.

The bracelet wasn't siphoning anything from me other than minuscule amounts of mana, so that was good. But not sensing anything wasn't the same as nothing happening. There was a real possibility that my skills weren't strong enough to sense what the bracelet was doing to me or how it affected my soul in general. Meaning it wasn’t just my mind I would need to keep an eye on, but my soul as well, and the latter was much scarier than the former.

I was trying to see if I could cut power to the runes governing the connection to my soul, but saying I was struggling was an understatement. No matter what I did, the runes continued to pulse with mana, and I couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Whether it was the gods showing up unannounced, people using skills on me, or my skills trying to influence me, if there was one thing I hated above all else, it was people messing with my soul.

Everything is tied back to the soul, so to have an unknown item connected to mine was a hard pill to swallow. It sucked, but as they say, every cloud has a silver lining.

If it weren’t for the connection to my soul, I don’t think I’d have a single clue as to what the enchantment did. But because it did, and because of how the runes in question were placed at the center of the overall enchantment, it’s safe to assume the bracelet augments my soul skills somehow.

The question was, would the bracelet help me or hinder me? If the bracelet somehow helped curb the adverse effects of Soul Devourer, then that would be excellent news. However, if it does the opposite- well, I didn’t want to think of the consequences.

When I first started examining the bracelet, the first thing I did was try channeling my mana into the band to see what happened, but nothing did, or at least nothing that I could see. I couldn’t waste all my mana on it as we were still technically in a dangerous place, but the few hundred points of mana I did pour in vanished amongst the countless runes. It could be that the bracelet didn't have enough mana to function correctly, but I couldn't test that possibility until we were safely back in the village.

The simple fact of the matter was that it was almost half a day later, and I was running out of things I could safely test. I could stare at runes for the next sixty-two hours, but as previously stated, that’d get me nowhere. I’d learned all I could playing it safe; all that was left was to jump into the deep end.

If the bracelet augmented my soul skills as I hypothesized, then the only way I can confirm my suspicions is to use them and see what happens.

Gritting my teeth, I try to ignore the pit slowly growing in my stomach. Part of the discomfort was due to hunger, but most of what I felt was purely psychological. I knew it was all in my head, but that didn't make the feeling of dread any less.

Tabitha was almost back to 100%, so I shouldn’t need to worry about her if Soul Devourer sends me on a rampage. Then again, it isn’t physical damage she’d need to worry about. It was hard not to picture myself turning into the very same creature I killed. What if…

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, followed by a gentle squeeze. My eyes snap open, and I come face to face with Tabitha.

“It’s time,” she tells me.

“What?” I need a second to gather my thoughts, and when I do, I frown. “But I still have an hour left,” I complain.

Tabitha frowns and gently shakes her head. "Wrong, it’s been three hours. You lost track of time,” she informs me in her clinical voice.

“Really? Shit!” I can’t help but curse. Losing an hour didn’t sound like much, but was of the essence. I'm about to curse again when Tabitha sends me a pointed glare. I knew that look.

Without being told, I stop and take a series of deep breaths. “I’m good,” I tell her before refocusing Sense Mana away from my bracelet and instead using it to scan our surroundings, the same thing I did the last two times she pulled me out.

After I was sure nothing had changed in our vicinity, I relaxed my shoulders and turned my full attention to Tabitha, who gave me a nod of approval. That simple gesture was enough to bleed away much of the stress I felt….

But not all of it.

Taking one last deep breath, I reaffirm my resolve. "Okay, an hour break, and then it’s back to work,” I tell myself.

I was ready to start reviewing my progress with Tabitha, but one word from her stopped me. “No,” she says to my face.

“Come again?” I ask her to repeat herself, probably with a dumb expression on my face.

"I said no," Tabitha calmly repeats herself. “We’re done for today,” she informs me with an air of superiority.

“What!” I jump to my feet in protest, but the action loses some of its impact when Tabitha is forced to steady me. “I’m fine,” I weakly tell her as I gently brush aside her arm.

“Sure, you are,” Tabitha deadpans, letting me remove her hand from my shoulder and giving me a look that said she didn’t believe me.

“Just give me a second,” I hold up a finger as I let my sense of equilibrium settle. Even during my previous breaks, I hadn’t gotten up from my seated position, so it made sense that I was dizzy after standing up too fast.

Watching me, Tabitha ruefully shakes her head. “This is why we’re stopping.”

"But I can continue," I plea, but Tabitha quickly stops me.

“I know you can; I'm not questioning your resolve. But it’s time to rest. You’re pushing yourself too hard,” Tabitha’s eyes soften slightly.

“Or not hard enough,” I counter, but Tabitha doesn’t budge.

“Do you even know how long we’ve been up?” Tabitha asks a seemingly simple question.

I scoff, "Of course I do. It’s been….” I start counting the hours in my head, only to frown when I realize we’ve been up for over twenty-four hours.

“That’s right,” Tabitha interprets my silence for what it is. “The last time you stopped to rest was after you hammered out the dents in my armor. Since then, you’ve opened the chamber, helped me slay the undead guarding it, helped me bury it, picked up an unknown magic artifact, got your soul sucked into a statue.”

“Hey,” I try to protest that last point, but Tabitha ignores me and continues as if I didn’t interrupt her.

“Got a history lesson. Unlocked access to said unknown magic artifact,” she continues to count off. “Studied it the last eleven hours. Did I miss anything?” Tabitha looked at me like she was daring me to contradict her.

“When you put it like that,” I lower my head and grumble.

Once again, Tabitha places a hand on my shoulder, but this time, she waits for me to look up and meet her gaze before she continues. When I do, she gestures for me to sit back down. I do, and Tabitha plops down in front of me.

“You’re letting your emotions get the better of you,” Tabitha flatly tells me. “I could see it all over your face these last few hours.”

“Then why didn’t you stop me?” I ask, a hint of sadness leaking into my voice. If she saw me struggling, why didn’t she do anything to help?

"Because this is something you must overcome yourself," Tabitha informs me. "I can't tell you how to feel. All I can do is make sure you don’t burn yourself out and remind you that you aren’t alone. We’re in this together.”

“But the bracelet,” I weakly protest.

Tabitha struggles to glance at the piece of jewelry on my wrist as if it were invisible, but when she does, she reaches out and tapes it with her gauntleted right hand. When her gauntlet makes contact, it doesn't sound like two metals hitting each other; it sounds more like metal touching stone. “This does not guarantee us victory,” Tabitha’s words are like a bucket of cold water being dumped on me.

“If it’s useful, then good. If not,” Tabitha shrugs. “We’ll figure it out. What won't help us is you hyper-focusing on an unknown.”

"Then why let me examine it at all?"

Tabitha lazily shrugs again. “As I said, it may help us, it may not. You seemed excited to try, so I let you.”

“But I failed,” I mumble in defeat.

“You did,” my head snaps back up when Tabitha doesn’t deny my shortcomings. "Maybe you'll learn some humility for a change," she smirked at me while my mouth hung open in shock. "But I doubt it," she playfully adds. Tabitha chuckles to herself, and after a second, I join her.

Laughter really is the best medicine; by the time the two of us finished giggling, my headache was gone, along with the pit in my stomach.

"That was mean of you,” I playfully retort.

“You deserve it," Tabitha quickly fires back.

“So, does this mean I can’t work on my bracelet anymore?” I hesitantly ask Tabitha after the two of us sufficiently calmed down.

“I didn’t say that," Tabitha fixed her posture as she returned to her serious persona. “You can keep working on your bracelet, but sparingly. Don’t forget, you said you’d try to craft me a shield, and we have much to discuss about how we'll deal with the dragon above. You can do neither if your head is filled with runes.”

I nod along, seeing the logic behind Tabitha’s words. It would be unwise to put all my eggs into one basket. I should have multiple baskets and spread my eggs equally. My time is the eggs, the baskets, my various tasks. You know what? Screw the analogy; I need to manage my time better.

“You’re right, as usual," I say, the second half barely above a whisper, but I knew she heard me.

“I know,” Tabitha proudly sticks her nose in the air.

I can’t help but smile at how silly she looks, but I notice a few things while Tabitha is lording her superior intellect over me. She wasn't moving very much, and while Tabitha rarely made unnecessary movements, I could tell she was keeping movement to a bare minimum even by her standards. Was she still injured?

Tabitha’s left arm still looked like a mess, but she was moving it okay. Her breathing was shallower than usual, but she didn’t look like she was in pain. It almost looked like….

Of course! I’m such an idiot. It was clear what was wrong with her, she was exhausted. I wasn’t the only one who’d been up twenty-four hours. Tabitha’s been watching me this whole time without rest.

Wait, hasn’t she been watching me even longer than that? That's right, she stayed up while I rested after fixing her armor. How long has she been up? Thirty hours; more? It’s hard to keep track of time down here, but I know she's had almost no sleep since we woke up after the soul horror incident.

Crap, I was only thinking about myself. I was struggling, but I never even considered I might not be the only one. I’m such an ass.

Ashamed, I pretended not to notice Tabitha's condition. Instead, I let my body relax, and as soon as I do, I feel the urge to yawn. Usually, I'd hold back so as not to appear weak in front of Tabitha, but this time, I allowed myself to let out a long yawn, hopefully shifting the topic back to sleep.

My plan works. Tabitha snorts in amusement like I expected her to. "See, tired," she continues, looking down her nose at me, but not maliciously.

“Yeah, yeah,” I pretend to be annoyed, but in my head, I’m trying to think of a way to take the first watch to let Tabitha get some much-needed rest.

“You should get some sleep,” Tabitha suggests before I can devise a good excuse.

“Tabitha, maybe you should,” I begin to broach the subject but stop when I see Tabitha putting up a strong front.

"Should what?" Her eyes narrowed, trying to decipher what I was about to say.

I desperately wanted to suggest she sleep first, but the words refused to leave my mouth. I like to think I know Tabitha pretty well after spending so much time with her, and if I knew her as well as I thought I did, then I’m correct in assuming she’d only feel insulted if I offered to take the first watch.

I’d already not considered her position once; I wasn’t keen on doing it again. Activating Sense Mana, I scan our surroundings one more time. Again, there wasn’t so much as a brick out of place. We could probably both sleep without worrying about anything, but Tabitha would never go for that.

It was funny in a morbid kind of way. With the winged serpent above us and the ruins cleared of undead, we were probably in one of the safest spots in The Endless Forest. And yet, it was still one of the most dangerous.

Should I respect her wishes and say nothing, or should I offer to take the first watch?

Letting out a deep sigh, I bite the bullet and hope I don't appear rude. "Are you sure I should go first? You've been taking the first watch for a while now; shouldn't we switch it up?” I purposely ask in a joking tone with just a hint of seriousness so as not to appear like I'm pitying her.

“Please,” Tabitha brushes off my questions by rolling her eyes. "You should sleep first," she insists.

"Fine," I relent before she gets suspicious, letting out another yawn. I don’t say anything else as I crawl over to a nearby wall and lay against it. But before I close my eyes, I secretly glance at Tabitha. She had already closed her eyes and started meditating.

I don't look long because I know she'll sense me staring. As I close my eyes and feel myself drifting off to sleep, I can't help but think about how great a person Tabitha is. Behind her rough, battle-hungry exterior was a genuinely thoughtful person. I wasn’t going to forget this any time soon.

I’ll make this up to her, I silently vow to myself.

I’ll catch a few hours of sleep and switch places with her then. And I won't take no for an answer. After that, I’ll make her the best damn shield I can.

I can hear the ringing of metal already. I might not be the best warrior, but I’m a damn decent blacksmith. Those are my final thoughts as everything goes black.

**********

4,000 words.

Happy singles appreciation day! Oh, and a happy Valentine's Day to you lucky couples.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm trying to get through the battle prep in a timely manner. I think we all agree: I've put off the winged dragon fight long enough.

Thanks for reading, and as always, stay safe.