Chapter 168: CH168

“Hell yes, look at me go! I’m such a great freaking craftsman!” Ben yelled as he peddled about, not drawing any more stares than he was already getting as he zipped through town on his freshly created bike.

It had been two months since he got back from the dryad village and he hadn’t wasted a second of the time, being able to change his job as fast as he predicted, acquiring the new one ‘magic item maker’ as soon as he returned to Stonewall and working on the numerous projects that captured his interest, having just finished the one he hoped would be most profitable to him.

It hadn’t been easy either. Creating the frame had been simple enough, but wheels were a whole other issue. As he’d thought, he couldn’t simply make wheels out of wood or metal like a carriage might have, it reduced the stability and handling far too much for it to be practical. He thought he was going to be completely stuck without a way to produce rubber, but after days of experimenting to find a solution, his teacher had come in with the save. It turned out there was a similar material on this world. It lacked the bounciness of its earthen counterpart, but it managed to be flexible yet firm and provided the grip he seemed to need his wheels to have. All it took was a little alchemy to extract the material from the plants it could be found in and treat it appropriately, but as soon as that was done it could do the job.

He thought that had been the end of it, he created the tires he needed and built his bike, but with the first test ride came an obvious problem. The ride was horribly bumpy, and the bike felt much harder to control than he thought it should. It didn’t take much to figure out the issue though, and it was his own fault. He’d cut a corner, trying to simplify the construction process. He’d made the wheels solid.

He hadn’t thought it would be a huge problem. Solid wheels should have had a number of benefits from not needing to pump then to not having to be as concerned about them breaking, but he had been short-sighted. They existed as they did on Earth for a reason, and at least one of those reasons seemed to be shock absorption. That meant he quite literally had to redesign the wheel, hollowing out the rubber component while creating an air-tight membrane to put within, and that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that he had to create a pump as well, making one model that would work through hand-pumping and another powered through mana and an air magic enchantment.

How many long nights had he spent trying to make it, to make his travel through the world a little quicker and his wallet a little heavier? And it was finally complete. He was sure there were ways he could improve his design a little, but this was more than enough to get his patent.

“Are you sure you don’t want to give it a go Thera?” he called out to her as he did circles up and down the street, doing a wheelie for good measure.

“I’m as certain that it takes more skill than you’re making it look as I am that I don’t have the range of motion,” She told him, gesturing to the long cloak that covered her legs.

“Well, you may be right about the cloak, but I’ve made training wheels and everything for getting started out, I’m also an incredibly thoughtful craftsman!”

“Don’t forget humble.”

“None are more humble than me!” He yelled. He couldn’t help it, he was having too much fun. He’d never even been a big cyclist back on earth, breaking his out only on occasion to ride with his brother, but the fact that he would have never gotten to do it again unless he created the chance with his own skill left him feeling great, almost as great as what happened once he finally stopped.

 

<ACQUIRED SKILL CYCLING LEVEL 0>

<ACQUIRED TITLE- SKILL LEARNER>

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“That’s right, random system notification, I guess I’m also the greatest cycler on the entire planet!”

<I’d like to remind you that as the person with the highest level of connect, you’re the greatest at that on the planet too, maybe something a bit more valuable to be excited about considering how much it does for you.> His god spoke in his head as Thera commented on what he’d just yelled out.

“What, did you just get ‘riding’ or something?”

“Close, I got cycling and a title. Speaking of, since you’re around Myriad, do you know anything about the title skill learner?” He spoke aloud for Thera’s sake, knowing she would be curious as well.

<Actually yes, I happened to expect you would get that one soon enough so I looked into it a bit more. It’s a title bestowed by the world if someone somehow manages to gain three skills that nobody ever has before. Since I gave you connect, you got your little demon skill, and now with this you’ve met the conditions. It’s impressive really, quite a few centuries have passed since someone got it, but I and the other gods were all fairly sure at least one summoned would manage it.>

“Wait really, has anyone else yet?”

<No, you’re the first. While technically there were three individuals who were summoned that met that qualification, they came with the skills, not actually having learned them so they didn’t get the title.> He gave Ben a minute to feel smug and pass on what he was told to Thera before he continued. <As for the effect, it seems to lower the difficulty in learning uncommon skills. There’s no guarantee they’ll be anything particularly helpful since the majority of the ones that would be considered uncommon are so because the vast majority of people see them as having no value, but then there are also plenty that are simply too hard or random to acquire that makes this a useful effect.>

“What, then isn’t this like, the best thing to happen to my status since getting stuck on this world?” He asked, excitement leaking out of him.

<Well, first of all, the best thing to happen to your status would either be getting my skill or blessing. Second, keep your expectations in moderation. Holders of this title in the past could typically expect to have around two more uncommon skills on their status by the end of their lifespan than an average person, so it’s not going to exactly be life-changing. And three, given how unusual your status already is as a whole, I would say you don’t have much issue getting rare skills as it is.>

“Alright, alright, my expectations have been thoroughly put back in check. It’s not like there are too many skills I need to personally learn anyway when I have connect, so you’re right, that’s definitely the best thing to happen to my status since coming to the planet. Thank you Myriad,” He said aloud, clasping his hands in prayer to appease his god.

<Ah, well as long as you understand that’s all that matters.>