“Alright, what the fuck did you guys want so badly that you couldn’t even let me have a few days to be pissed,” Ben said as he arrived, with Phixth getting most of his glare while Myriad floated to the side. “Seriously, if you know anything about mortals then you should know that plenty of us don’t like being disturbed while we’re in a bad mood.”

“I would just like the opportunity to talk, Ben,” The stone god told him.

“Well, I’m here so get talking.”

He had no intention of being polite but the deity before him paid it no mind, having expected as much from the beginning as he brought forth a chair to take a seat, trying to look softer for the angry mortal.

“I know you’re unhappy-”

“Wow, excellent fucking detective work on your part.”

“And I understand why,” He sighed. “But all of us are just trying to do the best we can. I’m trying to do the best I can. I’ve in essence been put in charge of leading discussions involving you for a while now for the simple reason I’m impartial to your actions in a way so many others up here aren’t, either loving or hating you, and tied into that is the greater need to look at the world as a whole. There’s no way to make everyone happy with everything we do, the goal is usually more to keep anyone from being completely miserable.”

“Failed a bit on that front, didn’t you? Of course, what do I matter? I’m just some lowly fucking mortal, not worthy of the consideration of all you high and mighty gods that so graciously rule this doomed world.”

The sarcasm was thick in his voice but again Phixth ignored it, looking Ben in the eyes. “Yes, we have failed you there but I’d like you to try and understand why. Regardless of what some of the more vocal gods might say in the matter, Ben, I actually do feel a decent level of respect for you. In your time here you’ve worked hard, harder than most and your skills and talent have blossomed exceptionally under your efforts, but you’re just one man. Through the growth exploits you’ve found for yourself you’ll grow even farther but you could also use that potential to help others go beyond their limits as well. No one can force you into it Ben but I’m asking you. Please, help the contenders and the third tiers of the world grow.”

“…You know what pissed me off the most about you first asking that? It wasn’t that you wanted me to help at all, it’s that you lot have clearly never once listened to me in any of the times I’ve dealt with you.”

“How so?”

“I work, I get paid, it’s as simple as that but instead of trying to negotiate or make any sort of offer in exchange for my efforts and discoveries, you waited till some random god got in my way and then tried to weasel yourselves in.”

“I understand why you may not have been pleased with that but this costs you nothing and it would appease the more vocal among us who are upset about how paying you out your experience last time went.”

“Fuck them and fuck you. It’s not about that, it never was. There hasn’t been a single time I’ve succeeded at anything that I didn’t need to fight tooth and nail to be properly compensated for my work. Some of you felt like I tricked you with that last one? Yeah, I fucking tricked you, but would you have rewarded me otherwise? At the time I said I deserved to be gifted in levels and blessings from all of the gods of the world and you know what? I was right then and I’m right now. If you don’t think saving not only the planet but also all of you as well was worth that much then all of your desire to hold onto your faith makes you greedier than I could ever be.”

“The timing of it though-”

“What, you think that’s my only example? The braces I’ve made, the ultra-rare and legendary items I’d been flooding the world with, the fact I discovered that demons had been integrated into the system and the fact that I’ve personally helped awaken hundreds already on top of piles of other things I’ve done and yet still, all the gods of this world see is a person to exploit. How many people are alive and have benefited from me? Hell, let’s get a bit more personal. How many of your people are alive or have benefited from my existence on this planet? Have lived through the second wave after being awakened by me or survived a demon attack with one of my weapons in their hands? You want to know why I’m not going to do this Phixth? It’s because so many of you up here see the fact that I don’t respect you in a way you all think you’re due and they seem to think that makes me lower than any other mortal when all I’m doing is giving you the same courtesy I’d give any other person I’d meet. My work and my efforts aren’t appreciated and every god who thinks it’s because I’m not humble enough needs to take an actual fucking look at themselves. So you failed. I’m not helping the planet anymore and frankly, this conversation has killed the only bit of wavering I’d felt on the matter.”

For a beat, Phixth was silent, taking in what Ben had said before a notification went out between them to break it.

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“…This isn’t changing my mind.”

“It’s not supposed to,” He sighed. “It’s to show that I don’t disagree with you and for what little it’s worth, I appreciate the efforts you’ve put towards this world. And to hopefully buy me a few more minutes of your time without you storming off.”

“…Fine.”

“Thank you, I’ll be back shortly.”

He left them there, only Ben and Myriad still in the realm as the apostle slumped down.

“Man, what a pain in the ass,” He muttered before turning to his god. “So what’s up then Myriad?”

“Worrying about you,” He said, sounding hurt. “You’ve never cut me off like that before, I was concerned.”

“Ugh, sorry, you know it wasn’t because of you. It’s like I said, I just needed a break from everything… Well, a bit more than that. Hypothetical question for you. If I was to abandon this planet entirely would you come along?” 𝘙

“That doesn’t feel particularly hypothetical right now.”

“Super hypothetical, it’s not like I have a spaceship.”

“No, just a space spirit and the ability to pour infinite volumes of mana into him.”

“Wow, absolutely never considered that. How devious of you Myriad. Now answer the question.”

“…Ben, if you could save yourself then I’d be thrilled but I now have hundreds of people giving me faith on this world. I couldn’t just abandon them.”

“Oh, no need to worry about that, if I leave I’m kidnapping all of them and bringing them along. Hypothetically of course.”

“…”

“Anyway,” Ben went on, changing the subject to give his god time to think things over. “What’s been happening up here while I’ve been having my break? It’s been great for me personally, I’ve worked on my art in a way I haven’t done in ages and bought all sorts of new ingredients on top of experimenting with a bunch of new dishes. Honestly, if I hadn’t spent the time so incredibly pissed it would have been a nice couple days.”

“How nice for you,” Myriad said dryly. “It’s been a nightmare of meetings and arguments up here.”

“Hmm? Why, what’s going on?”

“You. They were obviously about you and how things worked out. Hell, Nare and Helori both basically took charge of the crafting and knowledge gods to force the others to try and fully understand the scope of what you’ve done for the world so far in terms of how projections for casualties have ended up alone.”

“Considering how the first wave ended up, I feel a bit complicated about that.”

“That wasn’t being considered, only your own efforts. When looking at all you’ve made and accomplished, they’ve made a fairly compelling point that you’re the single greatest factor in keeping losses so low and with a few of your latest inventions, if you stop making things we’ll have a noticeable drop in our odds of surviving the third wave.”

“And I’m sure plenty up here still didn’t care.”

“Well… What matters is that a lot did. Just all the awakenings you’d helped with can’t be understated, Ben. For that fact alone, entire cities still exist. Regardless of how others might feel, the gods who know you want to see you getting the appreciation you’re due.”

“…Well, thanks. I’ll take that into consideration when deciding if I’m going to abandon the planet.”

“Hypothetically.”

“Hypothetically.”

A thin smile on his lips from the back and forth, with those final words Phixth reappeared in the realm and Ben turned his eyes back to him.

“Well then? Come back with a compelling argument for my help?”

“Perhaps.”

The unexpected flood of notifications left him to pause as he processed them all, neither having expected to get something like that or been prepared for it, nor what it meant. If it was what it sounded like then he’d just received something equivalent to a tower blessing, one given by the gods of the world who ruled over those with passive magics.

A completely unexpected boon, big enough that he felt himself soften just slightly at the idea of doing what they wanted but not enough for him to give in. It was great, but was it worth the weeks or months he’d be losing out on to do what they wanted?

He didn’t know but he wanted to see what the god who’d given it had to say.

“So what’s that supposed to be about?”

“To show you that there are gods in this world who really do appreciate you, Ben. The passive gods especially will never forget what you’ve done for their peoples.”

He wanted to say that if that was the case then getting their collective blessing shouldn’t have come as a result of him giving up on the world but held his tongue on that matter, saying something else instead.

“So now that I’ve gotten it, I should just do what you want, should I?”

“No. Take it as a show of sincerity and a request to be given a chance to talk things through. You were right before, I’ll do what you say I should have from the very beginning. I would like the chance to negotiate for your help.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep