After their explanation of Bens ability ended, everyone's face was pale as a plain white sheet.
They lost all the colour from their face from shock that it began to worry the Val, Ben, and Tia.
For a moment they thought someone might actually die.
Finally, Kaz was able to come out of his shocked trance to mumble some words.
"Aa- *Mmhm* Ugh is this truly possible…?"
His plain white blank face stared straight at Ben, as his words gathered the attention of the rest who were still pale and shocked.
Everyone paid attention to Ben once their faces had some blood flowing through them again, as he slowly summoned some Low-Low Grade Iron Ingots from his Inventory Space, only to shock everyone once again.
"W-w-why, ummm… h-h-how did you just make them appear?"
Kaz asked, his voice shuddering with every syllable pronounced.
His mind struggled to comprehend what just appeared before his eyes.
"Ahh umm well… I also have another ability…"
Ben completely forgot about the Inventory Space he hid from the everyone except for Tia and Val, who already picked up on it at the workshop.
Not wanting to explain the existence of the System, Ben explained his Inventory Space as Space Magic, that allowed him to store most items of various sizes.
His simple explanation did not go down to well with everyone, as they felt Ben tried to skim over the significance of his abilities and functions, but Val spoke up in a hurry to ease their unstable minds.
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"The Boys Space Magic allows him to place objects into a spatial storage area or spatial dimension.
It's hard to explain how he can do it in this day and age, but for the Boy it's a simple thought process to store anything.
We conducted a round of tests when we trialled the Boys transmutation ability.
I know it isn't any better than the Boys choice of words, but it is what it is."
Vals exhausted face was enough evidence for everyone to understand the Smith had done his best to learn the exact method Bens Space Magic ability worked but he'd failed so far.
For both Kaz and Gloria, removing the Iron Ingots from the Inventory Space was enough to shock them silly that they forgot about the seeing the Transmutation ability.
The couple couldn't believe what they witnessed with their own eyes because it was rare to hear about people achieving abilities outside of the training methods they'd practise.
In Bens case, his talents had afforded him two handful abilities which easily surpassed anything they'd ever heard of.
Before Ben, the last they had heard about a person achieving an ability that reached the ears of the public was decades ago and the individual was said to have an affinity with the Water Element, allowing them to manipulate water as they pleased.
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"Benny honey… how many people know… that you have these abilities…?"
Liz shuddering voice resounded throughout the eerily silent dining room of the manor.
Out of everyone, Liz wasn't as surprised by Ben's announcement of his abilities like the others since she always had an inkling that there was more to her adopted son ever let on.
Call it a mother's intuition if you will, but ever since Liz held Ben within her arms the moment he awoke, she just knew… that this child was beyond anything the world had ever seen before or experienced.
Yet she still feared for Ben because his abilities were helpful and desirable by the powerful.
"Umm… other than the people in this room, nobody knows…"
The tension and fear stricken all across Liz face finally eased by a little.
Liz feared too many people were already away of Bens secret which might cause an uproar throughout the world.
She feared someone could come and take Ben away from her, leaving her helpless and alone.
When Ben noticed his grief-stricken mother, he quickly went into overdrive to assure her that all was well.
"Mom…" Ben called out to her while be quickly moved to Liz side, hugging her with love, care and compassion for the women who'd done her best to raise him so far.
"Nothing is going to happen, I promise…
I've been very careful so nobody would notice these abilities...
Master Vals been especially helpful in helping me to try and hide it, as well as understanding its capabilities and functions so I don't make a foolish mistake.
You don't have to be scared Mom; I promise nothing will happen or go wrong with me around."
Ben's warmth smile was like a wave of fresh air rushing into the stuffy room for everyone to finally break free from the tension and worry on their mind, even if they only felt refreshed from a couple of moments.
Liz couldn't think of any words to say, other than simply rubbing her sons luscious head of hair with a gentle touch while trying to not think about the numerous other issues that arose from revealing the nature of his abilities.
Her brief moment of solitude came to a halt by Kaz thoughts.
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"Ben… there is a long way to go before you can protect yourself without others looking after you.
Even then, you would have others protecting you in the darkness.
Right now, those around you can't offer you much protection or safety no matter how much we might try to, but the fact is… these abilities aren't something you can just hide forever Ben.
It's clearly evident by your decision to tell the very first person about your talents, you immediately put everyone at risk.
Even telling us now… you've put us at risk, and yourself in a tougher situation, now and deep ahead into the future.
What if we were captured tomorrow and forced to release information about you through torture or beaten into submission?
We have yet to deal with the Bandit Kings, who could appear at any moment, and we could all be finished...
There is enough tension and stress already on everyone's mind."
His words, however much they were right, made everyone in the dining room understand how close the shadow of death lurked by their souls, ready to reap them their lives away.
Now they felt even closer to death, and it was a terrifying sensation to deal with, knowing there wasn't a clear solution to the problem.
The words were somewhat of a wakeup call for everyone seated around the dining table.
Ever since they had been in Alynthn, there was always felt secure and safe within the boundary of the Estate and city walls, leading them to ignore the threat of the Bandit Kings over the years.
Most of their thoughts about the Bandit Kings were pushed deep aside in their minds, as to not worry them on a day-by-day basis.
However, it came blaring back to the forefront of their minds after Kaz mentioned the impending threat of the Bandit Kings that needed to be resolved if they wanted to have a future in the Plano Ranges and make something of their future.
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"That's quite enough dear…"
Gloria's resounding voice echoed throughout the silent dining room, all the while she glared at Kaz who tried to convey some words to apologise for his brutal words, but she raised her hand to stop him from further speaking and embarrassing their family.
Kaz wasn't the type of person to be told to stop, especially by a hand gesture, but his wife… Well, she terrified Kaz, even if he was the City Lord of Alynthn before his wife Kaz was a delicate butterfly.
"You've made everyone worried for no good reason.
Even more you've blamed an innocent child that really doesn't have a clue about the dangers constantly lurking around us, which I admit is our fault, but there are some plans and choices we decide on that could benefit us all.
Ben's abilities shouldn't be seen as something troublesome but our advantage."
After they were all able to calm down from the fright, they began to discuss how to utilise Ben's abilities and how they could use it for their benefit.
Ben first used the Low-Low Grade Iron Ingots he placed on the table to showcase his Transmutation ability, resulting in a Medium-Low Grade Iron Ingot once the function of the ability melded the ingots together.
His 'Space Magic' was enough to shock everyone silly, but after witnessing the Transmutation ability in action, nobody felt as excited and or surprised as before.
It left Ben quite annoyed that he didn't receive the same shock and awe he expected.
Instead, the calmness disturbed him.
It was calm…
Too calm…
It didn't take long for one of them to speak up, initially it being Liz who praised Ben for his talents, Gloria reprimanding Kaz before he could get a word out and Val, who couldn't help but just smile and pat his daughter's head.
They all stayed within the dining room for quite some time, discussing the various ways they could use the abilities in conjunction with their current plans and future ideas.
Much to Bens surprise, there were extensive plans crafted by his mother, Gloria, Kaz and the others regarding the establishment of his own Kingdom, with the Plano Ranges being the first step and eventually his own Empire once his lands increased.
One of these plans came together with Master Val in mind to raise an army of Blacksmiths that would be loyal to Ben and his future Monarchy.
The thing was, all the Empires across Ullan required a huge number of Blacksmiths that were able to build anything required of their Empires.
Kros Empire, for example, have several thousand Blacksmiths that were in direct control of the Emperor.
Specially, the Kros Emperor had tasked them to forge weapons and armour for his personal guards and army, but they also knew a great deal about their Empires culture and design styles in the case of war that could lead to the buildings of the Empire being destroyed.
It was each ruler's choice how they wanted to employ them, but based on the newly discussed plans, they would be trained by Master Val and other Smiths from around the city.
They would be tasked to craft tools to clear out parts of the surrounding forest on the Outer Wall of the city so they could begin expanding the perimeter of the city again and begin plans for another wall.
The problem with these plans were, Ben never wished to be a ruler.
Even if he considered his life as the first born of the Kros Emperor, Ben didn't think he would accept the role
In fact, he had no clue what he wanted to do and with the system giving him missions and instructions, he would have to follow them and see what occurs from it.
Right now, Ben's mind focused on travelling beyond the Endless Sea of Forests, but he knew there was a lot he had to accomplish before he could leave for such a dangerous journey.
He wanted to deal with the Bandit Kings and the other tasks the System asked of him instead of staying couped up at home or at Val's Workshop.
Since Kaz had raised the importance of the Bandit Kings once again in their minds, Ben was determined to finish them off before he set off, but he had no information on their organisation, nor did he have the necessary strength to deal with any of them right now.
He had yet to master any of his Shadow Energy skills, much less the Shadow Force he was gifted by the System.
Other than the training Ben received from Kage, Alfred and the Withering Rose members, he wasn't quite their yet based on his estimations of his power and abilities.
Ben focused heavily on improving his mastery over swords, spears, bows and the shield, but he still felt it was far from being enough and heavily lacking in refinement.
He wanted to improve his fighting strength, but his focus on blacksmithing meant Ben lagged behind with his mind on forging equipment for his trip instead, further pushing his plans back.
Based on the discussion currently happening, Ben thought he might be stuck within the smithery for the foreseeable future, but to his delight his mother and Val urged against it.
Instead, they both pushed for a stringent regiment of training for both himself and Tia so they could be prepared for anything if things went awry.
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