Every mind in his head was racing to try and make sense of what he was seeing. Magic nullification was the one skill that he knew couldn't be enchanted with, the very nature of the power destroyed the enchantments it was a part of, but when he looked at the sword as a whole he found another reason that couldn't be the case.

The sword couldn't be enchanted with magic nullification because there were no enchantments on it to begin with. He didn't see a single weave of mana or any of the other less common forms of enchanting, he didn't even see a skill or magic placed on the item in a way a beginner might go about it, which pointed to a single direction that could have been possible.

Bestowal. The rarest of rare crafting skills with no known way to acquire through training. It had to have been accomplished through that mysterious ability which meant it was compatible with magic nullification in a way enchanting just wasn't, but that only raised more questions.

Ben didn't know of many famous craftsmen in the history of the world, but he would have heard of that. Someone with those two rare skills at once wouldn't have just left a mark, there'd be artifacts of their work across the globe. The few books he'd read on either topic would have addressed them by name, just for having proven that the two skills were compatible in such an unexpected way.

I mean, it's not like that's the only option of course. Technically, since neither bestowal or magic nullification are affinitied that means any non-affinitied mage should be capable of it too, but that's also easier said than done. I'm literally partially responsible for three of the five that currently exist on the planet and if we'd never been summoned there'd only be one, it is not an easy skill to awaken to. Plus, at least from what I've read, they typically don't seem to lean toward the few crafting-type magics. Like, it's possible one decided to fiddle with it and didn't realize what they'd pulled off but that still seems unlikely.

And why a sword of all things? If I could get magic nullification on anything it would be on an armour. I mean, I guess I can see an argument against it. You want to be able to pass it down to future generations so height differences would make that less than ideal, but in that case, do a shield! Not a sword, good god. I so badly want to meet whoever made that and ask what they were thinking, but…

But they were almost certainly dead, likely for centuries, if not thousands of years. The condition of the blade told him as much.

For all of the criticism he held for some of the design choices, there was one he wouldn't argue against. The sword has been made of orichalchum.

Binding a type of magic that destroyed all others to a material that could only be damaged by magic was both obvious and genius. It meant the blade should have been practically indestructible, with practically being the keyword, for despite how powerful a weapon like that should have been, slowly as the decades passed by, it had to have faced enough attacks to get through and warp it to its current state.

And that same level of strength would mean nobody would normally be able to repair it either. You'd have to be insane to try.

<I take it that means you want to try?>

Obviously, yes.

It would be a ridiculous amount of work, but rather than dread it, the thought was making him salivate as he imagined just what he'd need to do to get the blade to a better shape. The act would strain not only his body, but his mana as well, with every point he had fighting against the nullifying effect while he'd have to do his best to use those split seconds to get it back into shape.

Imagining it didn't do the challenge it was sure to be justice but that just made the thought sweeter. Perhaps taking a vacation had been good for him at first, but now it was wearing on him a different way. He was craving that sort of stimulation. He wanted to put himself against a challenge and see who would break first, same as the various competitors of the contest before him.

The contest he'd all but forgotten about before coming back to his senses and returning to his seat to watch, promising himself that he'd corner the man regardless of how the fight turned out when it ended as blows were exchanged on stage.

In a match like that, the spear was always going to have the advantage as it gave a level of range and control that the sword couldn’t replicate, but as Ben watched the swordsman struggle, he knew there was more to it than that. Given that the blade itself was warped from untold centuries of use, it wasn’t going to move through the air in the way its wielder desired, with each attack just a little hampered by its poor form.

It looked like the swordsman was used to that to an extent and compensated the best he could while weaving and ducking around the rain of blows coming at him, but there was only so much he could do on that front too as he stalled the best he could, waiting for just a single opening that eventually showed up.

It was only a small misstep on the spearman’s part, but it was enough. With the spear just slightly off target, the swordsman lunged, bringing his blade to his opponent’s neck as the match was called.

With a few quiet words exchanged, both parties left the stage as the day came to a close, leaving the rest of the matches to follow the next as people began filtering out of the stands as a representative of the city came to talk to Thera.

They were hoping that she’d be able to stay for the next two days, just in case anything happened to which she agreed since that had been the plan from the start for them, but as those talks were going on, Ben slipped by to start his own discussion, going to the swordsman who was busy catching his breath.

“No.”

“Wait, what?” Ben asked. “I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“I see where your eyes are pointed. The blade’s not for sale.”

“Okay, I can see why you’d get that a lot but that’s not what I’m here for. The name’s Ben, mister…”

“Get to the point.”

“Okay then, Mister get to the point, your sword is currently a piece of crap-”

His words were briefly cut off as the swordsman grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him to the air, but Ben went on like nothing had happened and hoped that Thera wasn’t about to get the wrong idea and kill the man he was talking to.

“But it doesn’t have to be. If you love that sword as much as it seems like you do then this is the luckiest day of your life. In your big, strong hands you happen to be holding a master craftsman. I’ll fix it for you, free of charge.”

“Pfff, some master craftsman you must be. If you really had the eyes, you’d see that it can’t be done.”

“Yeah yeah, the combination of magic nullification and orichalcum would definitely make it hard, but I’ve got something that can overcome any of that.”

“...What?”

“Gumption and a can-do attitude. Now sure, maybe I won’t get it perfect but I can guarantee it’s going to be better than the abysmal state it’s currently in. So what do you say, wanna let me have a shot?”