CH934

Levels coming to Delair for both material user as well as destruction by the time the day ended, while Thera and Mora walked her home, Ben instead turned to one of his many gates, a long-awaited conclusion finally within his reach.

Everything set up for me?

<Yes, they’re ready and waiting.>

Any other folks around who might catch a look at my soul?

<No, just Verbum and your teacher, as expected. Nare already told Falk to suppress his soul sight, which just leaves the first. You think you’ll be able to get through this without him eyeing the changes in you?>

Soft maybe, I’ll be getting you to be on lookout for me. This really is too soon for the gods to catch how I’ve changed. I need another couple of days at least.

<So incredibly worrying. Just tell me why.>

Gonna make one last attempt to score some extra benefits when I get to soul modifying soon, which I’m sure plenty of jerks might try to get in the way of despite how good it would be for the planet. I don’t want the extra scrutiny before that.

<Fine, whatever, get going then. They’ll all be on the dock.>

Got it.

With nothing else to do, he started making his way through the magic towers’ guild and down the streets, heading to the coast where a crowd was already surely gathered.

Yet, not quite in the area everyone else was meeting. He could see them there, all slightly off in the distance as he made his way to the water’s edge but simply joining them all there would create too much leeway for Verbum to spot him beyond his range to do anything about it, forcing him to get creative as he slipped his shoes and a few of his other goods into his rings before diving into the ocean’s depths, swimming beneath the water’s surface from there and getting to see the crowd down below.

With the aquatic half of the planet also getting to enjoy his services, it seemed what he was going to do had drawn plenty in on that front as well, all of them gathered around the dock in preparation with the parties he would be joining among them looking forward to receiving the benefits he could give, the focus of the aquatic races firmly on the surface above and barely acknowledging as he swam through them, boosting his speed with his magic and creating new pockets of air for himself to breathe as he went until he was finally close enough to connect to Verbum and, having received no warnings from Myriad to dissuade him, forced the man to fall asleep in a way that would akin to any of his fainting fits at the same time Ben shot himself out of the water and into the air above, making a spectacle of himself as he yelled out.

“Welcome, one and all, to the last great awakening event of the Church of Myriad! Many of you know the drill by now so sit tight as I get to you all, and other than that, someone look after Verbum because it looks like my grand entrance was a bit too much for the guy!”

And take my heartfelt apology for doing that to you, Verbum. I’ll make it up to you in the future.

There was already a few going to look after the other summoned before he said anything and a few other disappointed looks beyond that for the childish display but he’d take whatever opinions anyone else wanted to give if it meant he wasn’t going to be caught for the things going on within his soul and he landed by the guildmaster Toner’s side, ready to be guided through the biggest crowd yet.

And hope there’s no more surprise results akin to what happened with Abel. Seeing as how that seemed like an outlier, I should be able to finish everyone but if I can’t, I’m going to be plenty disappointed myself.

With the rest of the third tiers waiting to benefit from his power all already gathered, he searched their minds and souls for everything he could find to try and transmit all of the relevant skill information he held for whatever extra benefits it might give them, as well as ensure the rest there got it too as he was invited to the first party, touching his crystal and looking at his options once he’d joined.

AVAILABLE JOBS

• Trap user

• Craftsman- alchemy path

• Craftsman- artistic path

• Craftsman- blacksmith path

• Craftsman- cooking path

• Craftsman- stonecrafts path

• Craftsman- sewing path

• Mathematician

• High destruction mage

• Beginner puppeteer

• Assassin

• Cycler

• Beginner dancer

• Entrée

• Soul creator

• Eldritch mind user

• King of mana

• King of stamina

• Mind breaker

• Intelligence embodiment

• King of vitality

• Therapist

• Total self

• Degenerate body user

• Divine body user

• Demonic body user

• Foul tank

• Resistant tank

• Mortal realm actualizer

Twenty-nine options left, with the majority of them about to be cleared away like they were nothing. It barely mattered which ones he would pick first amidst all of the groups he was going to be able to go through that day, for no reason in particular he decided to get his king jobs finished first, beginning with the highest of that option sitting in his list.

Give me king of mana.

<ACQUIRED JOB- KING OF MANA LV0>

<MASSIVE BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING MANA AND MANA RECOVERY RATE>

<MANA ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<MANA RECOVERY RATE ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE KING OF MANA JOB ACHIEVED>

Nice and easy. He grinned; the volume of souls he could now make even without his jacket, thanks to how high his mana volume had already gotten to, made finishing that particular job simple. Next then, let’s go with king of stamina.

<ACQUIRED JOB- KING OF STAMINA LV0>

<MASSIVE BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING STAMINA>

<STAMINA ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE KING OF STAMINA JOB ACHIEVED>

Another satisfying result that he was already looking forward to taking advantage of, he moved to his next party, a prior discussion meaning that he wouldn’t need to immediately help a party holding a third tier. After all, he’d helped Foast finish the option he’d held without taking any other ones before it, the timing and situation demanding as much yet was still something that needed to be made up, leaving him to enjoy his final king job.

King of vitality.

<ACQUIRED JOB- KING OF VITALITY LV0>

<MASSIVE BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING VITALITY AND VITALITY RECOVERY RATE>

<VITALITY ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<VITALITY RECOVERY RATE ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE KING OF VITALITY JOB ACHIEVED>

And there’s my king jobs complete for now.

<Can’t wait for all of the power you’re going to get for this to go to your head.>

Oh, it’s already going to my head, I’m just compartmentalizing it away to a secret back corner of my mind. With that done though, I think I’ll take my last option that sits in a similar vein. Let’s find out what intelligence embodiment is going to do for me.

<ACQUIRED JOB- INTELLIGENCE EMBODIMENT LV0>

<MASSIVE BONUSES GRANTED IMPROVING TO INTELLIGENCE>

<UNNATURAL INTELLIGENCE ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE INTELLIGENCE EMBODIMENT JOB ACHIEVED>

And now I’m officially a contender for an attribute enhancement. Wonder just how good it would turn out for me if I managed to get it to the third tier?

<Considering all of the other bonuses you’ve got going to it, I can’t begin to guess but lucky for me, you’re probably not awakening that one even if you take eldritch mind user.>

Ugh, yeah, I know. I really do need to see if I can figure out a way to get another fourth-tier job. World killer was so good and I now have all of these fun and exciting ways of powering through any option I get, I could do to take on a few more. What are some equivalents of killing multiple planets, power-wise? You think blowing up a star would get me any exciting options?

<I think with your luck, blowing up a star would somehow lead to the star races deciding to war on us too. Rather not take that chance.>

I’d make sure it wasn’t inhabited first. I’m not a monster.

<Your status disagrees.>

No, the assholes who keep giving me stupid titles disagree, my poor status is innocent.

<Yeah, yeah, for now, just think about what you’re taking next because you’ve got a third-tier up.>

Yeah, I’ll take a peek first then.

While he’d be sure to finish them with no difficulty so long as he took a sacrilege job, he only had a few of those left and wanted to be sure they’d be used appropriately on anything that might have been too hard for either his soul source or eldritch mind to finish alone, leaving him to search the mind of the one he’d be helping next but finding it wouldn’t require a deep dive to find the nature of their job and skill when that third-tier was the divine chef.

Okay, she won’t need a sacrilege job for sure, so in that case, since there’s a mind user in this party to gain most of the experience, let’s go with soul creator.

<ACQUIRED JOB- SOUL CREATOR>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING VITALITY, VITALITY RECOVERY RATE, MANA, AND MANA RECOVERY RATE>

<ALL SOUL SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<SOUL SOURCE LEVEL INCREASED>

<ACQUIRED SKILL SOUL REGENERATION ENHANCEMENT LEVEL 0>

A job he’d originally been putting off for fear that the nature of it was too aligned with making souls and as a result, would eliminate the benefits of making them that he was using to cheat the job system, with the power of his mind and just as importantly, now being a contender for that unique magic as well, whatever bite it might have taken out of the total experience he would produce for that group became negligible for the rest he had, leaving the expected notification only a few minutes later.

<MAX LEVEL OF THE SOUL CREATOR JOB ACHIEVED>

Do you think there’s going to be any fucked-up consequences if I become this universe’s god of soul production?

<Probably, but I think it’s better for everyone, by which I mean me, if we don’t think about it too hard until it actually happens. If you want to talk consequences though, consider the fact that, despite having a skill that reduces the level of harm done to your soul, you’ve somehow managed to claim one that would make your soul better at healing itself as well.>

That’s a good consequence, though. Gonna need to get some soul damage when I get home to start working on leveling it.

<You disgust me.>

Hey, a bit of pain now means less pain later and besides, I’ve said before I want to awaken soul resilience one day if I can, right? This is definitely the sort of skill that would merge into it, and then from there I could actually start trying to awaken my soul expansion too!

<You are genuinely going to manage to destroy your soul one day and while it will be very, very sad for everyone, no one will be surprised.>

I’m carefulish, it’ll be fine. Anyway, next job. Let’s say mind breaker this time.

<ACQUIRED JOB- MIND BREAKER>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING INTELLIGENCE, MANA, AND MANA RECOVERY RATE>

<ALL MIND AND DESTRUCTION SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<MIND BREAK LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE MIND BREAKER JOB ACHIEVED>

Oh neat, wasn’t expecting bonuses to my destructive skills or my mana. This was better than I’d hoped.

<And one more absolutely horrible-sounding job to add to your ever-growing list.>

Are you just here for the colour commentary or is there a real reason you’re sticking around?

<This is me trying to get a jump on any horrific options that might pop up. I don’t want to be unprepared for whatever might happen when you end things here.>

…Fair.

He couldn’t exactly promise nothing would happen considering how much he was going to have to go through but at the very least, he could say that so far things had seemed normal, perhaps even a little dull. While he hadn’t been expecting to gain any new skills from his embodiment or king jobs, the fact that he’d gone through six options already and only gained a single new one couldn’t help but be disheartening.

<I wouldn’t be too down about that when you consider how you do things. With the way you take jobs and gain skills and other status benefits, there genuinely can’t be a ton of spare potential still sitting around your soul to grow into something fuller at this point.>

Ugh, I know, but I like getting them. It’s exciting to see what I end up with each time.

<I suppose it would be when it seems you have a greater than not chance of getting something nobody else in the world has ever heard of. So what’s the next one?>

Mmh, I’m thinking we’ll see what total self has to offer.

<ACQUIRED JOB- TOTAL SELF>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING ALL ATTRIBUTES>

<ALL SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<MULTIVERSAL INCLINATION LEVEL INCREASED>

<ALIEN SENSE LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE TOTAL SELF JOB ACHIEVED>

<Well, that was unexpected.>

Yeah, in the best possible way. Oh god, I get it. Total self may have appeared after I’d taken body master but that was also long after I’d finished mind and soul master too. Mind, body, and soul, I’d bet completing the master jobs for all three unlocks that, a job that covers everything. Sweet, then on to the next third tier. Looks like our next lucky godling is going to be another one of the summoned. The zone of empowering holder? A mass buffing skill then? Mmh, I don’t think it should be anything too crazy but to be on the safe side, we’ll take a sacrilege job. Let’s see what degenerate body user has in store for me.

<ACQUIRED JOB- DEGENERATE BODY USER>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING ALL ATTRIBUTES>

<ALL BODY AND SACRILEGE SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<FLESH REGENERATION LEVEL INCREASED>

<FRACTURE RESISTANCE LEVEL INCREASED>

<BLUDGEONING RESISTANCE LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE DEGENERATE BODY USER JOB ACHIEVED>

Alright, marginally less murderable now, big fan of that and with two more jobs in the same vein, might as well keep going. Let’s take demonic body user.

<ACQUIRED JOB- DEMONIC BODY USER>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING STRENGTH, AGILITY, AND STAMINA>

<ALL BODY AND DEMON SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<STRENGTH ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<AGILITY ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE DEMONIC BODY USER JOB ACHIEVED>

<...So like, did you consider the fact that taking that job might have awakened your integrated demon body skill? And even if it didn’t, it’s definitely going to make it easier to awaken in the future.>

Of course, I considered it. You know what else I considered, though? How good a second-tier body job would be, and would you look at that? I was right. Now just one more to go.

<ACQUIRED JOB- DIVINE BODY USER>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING STRENGTH, AGILITY, AND STAMINA>

<ALL BODY AND DIVINE SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<INTEGRATED DIVINE BODY LEVEL INCREASED>

<BALANCE ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE DEMONIC BODY USER JOB ACHIEVED>

<Knowing that you still have more to go is making me nauseous.>

Not to put too fine of a point on it, but how could that even be possible? Were you not technically a machine?

<And all of the souls it holds, with every piece of me remembering well what it was like to feel sick to my stomach. I’m just imagining what you’ll be like if you live another decade and getting shivers.>

Of excitement?

<Clearly horror. This entire day is just going to make it easier for you to awaken so many of your stupid skills and I’d rather not find out what some of them are going to do.>

You talking second or third tier?

<If you live long enough, both. Of course, the idea of you somehow awakening something like your condemnation has a special sort of dread to it. I’d rather not imagine what you’d be capable of if you did that.>

That’s one of my more interesting options, how could you not want to see what it would turn into? And I’m also pretty into claiming more and more power over the domain of the gods at this point, I’d love to see what realm access would awaken to too.

<Ugh, of course you would.>

Don’t worry, you’re gonna love it if I get to properly ascend, we’ll have a blast up there. For now though, since I couldn’t help Rook even if I wanted to-

<Because he’s still trapped at the bottom of the ocean.>

For who could guess what reason, that means I only have three third tiers left to help with so long as none of them get an advanced option and since the ones I already helped didn’t, I’m just going to take my last sacrilege aligned job with… Regnal? The guy who murdered ten of the summoned he came with?

<His punishment may be pending, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be as useful as possible until then.>

Fair enough. Either way, I’m taking foul tank.

<ACQUIRED JOB- FOUL TANK USER>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING ALL ATTRIBUTES>

<ALL DEFENSIVE AND SACRILEGE SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<DEFENSE INCLINATION LEVEL INCREASED>

<PERFECT ABSORPTION RESISTANCE LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE FOUL TANK JOB ACHIEVED>

With the level to his absorption resistance, Ben quickly redid the enchantments that were enhancing the effects of his moribusial and deathstone bands before putting them away and moving on, once more following the trend of the last one.

Resistant tank.

<ACQUIRED JOB- RESISTANT TANK>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING VITALITY, VITALITY RECOVERY RATE, STRENGTH, AND STAMINA>

<ALL DEFENSE SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE RESISTANT TANK JOB ACHIEVED>

And with that, I’m left with only one guaranteed second and third tier job with only first and a couple mystery options left, along with a whole lot of disappointment about not unlocking more as I worked my way through all of these because man, I was at least expecting a few new things to pop up during all of this. Alright, I guess I’ll take my last magic option then. Give me high destruction mage.

<ACQUIRED JOB- HIGH DESTRUCTION MAGE>

<BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING MANA, MANA RECOVERY RATE, AND INTELLIGENCE>

<DESTRUCTION AND ANY RELATED SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A GROWTH BONUS>

<UNENDING EXTRACTION ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<DEEP MATERIAL SENSE LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE HIGH DESTRUCTION MAGE JOB ACHIEVED>

Oh, better than I’d hoped for if I’m being honest, and that means the next person is Verbum. Definitely owe him an apology sometime.

<To be clear, however you knocked him out isn’t going to leave lasting damage, is it?>

Of course not. I just applied the way I’d force my body to sleep to him when I connected to him, he’s fine. Hell, he’s going to be better than fine, seeing as how he’s going to wake up from a nice little nap with his job done, and to make that easy on me, I saved this option specifically. Mortal realm actualizer.

<ACQUIRED JOB- MORTAL REALM ACTUALIZER LV0>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING VITALITY, VITALITY RECOVERY RATE, AND INTELLIGENCE>

<ACTUALIZATION AND ANY RELATED SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<MORTAL REALM ACTUALIZATION ENHANCEMENT HAS AWAKENED TO UNNATURAL MORTAL REALM ACTUALIZATION ENHANCEMENT>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE MORTAL REALM ACTUALIZER JOB ACHIEVED>

An excellent result that still left his brow furrowed and a comment on his lips that he only barely managed to keep confined within his mind.

Is every skill I have that’s vaguely mind related going to get the unnatural prefix? Except it’s not like actualization got it when it awakened, come on.

<I can assure you, of the gods who know you’re capable of doing this, all of us view it as fairly unnatural.>

Ah, so I might be able to blame the current name on all of you talking behind my back, got it.

At the very least it would level quickly and since he’d begun doing exactly that as soon as he’d taken the job, it had finished too under the benefits of his mind and the speeds he could think at, leaving one final third tier to take advantage of his work, with plenty of jobs still on his list to go, letting him turn to the guild master beside him.

“There are groups prepared in case I had extras I could do, right? I’ve currently got seven more I can work through, are there enough to fill them up?”

Technically, he had nearly twice that but he’d decided to leave his various crafting path jobs in the event he ever had anyone specific he wanted to help speed through or else if the gods wanted to make a new deal for him to help anyone else. While every bonus was sure to help, he had to admit that by that point, first-tier ones weren’t going to do much in the face of his goals when he already had so much else going to his various attributes and skills. They could be handy of course and they’d do their part in chipping away at the mountain that was his goals, but he was neither curious nor excited enough about them to make taking them then a significantly better option than saving them for a future use.

“Ah, from what I understand, they only prepared two more beyond what you’d normally do. My apologies.”

So four more jobs before my last third tier.

“It’s fine. I’ll talk to the gods about getting those last few finished later then. In that case, show me who’s next.”

Led to another group, he eyed the choices he had left, thinking them over the best he could when none of them were particularly exciting, ultimately making a choice for entirely personal reasons.

Beginner dancer.

<ACQUIRED JOB- BEGINNER DANCER LV0>

<BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING VITALITY, AGILITY, AND STAMINA>

<ALL DANCING SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A GROWTH BONUS>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE BEGINNER DANCER JOB ACHIEVED>

<Really?>

What can I say? Thera likes to dance and I like trying to make her happy, so taking a job that would help me improve gets high marks from me. Plus, it has the small, added benefit of being the first job today to give me an advanced option, even if it is just the dancer job. Considering that I have only first-tier options left, I’m not expecting anything life-changing.

<I feel comfortable saying that even if that’s true, assassin would have been better than beginner dancer.>

Yeah, yeah, and I’ll take that next then.

<ACQUIRED JOB- ASSASSIN LV0>

<BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING VITALITY, AGILITY, AND STAMINA>

<ALL ASSASSIN SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A GROWTH BONUS>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE ASSASSIN JOB ACHIEVED>

Huh, same attribute bonuses as beginner dancer, that’s kind of neat. Nothing else to it though.

<It will almost certainly be giving you bonuses to some of your defensive skills. Also that stealth you never level.>

It’s not like that comes up often. Besides, if we’re being serious, then the bigger benefit would be anything it should be doing for my marksmanship or aim. Wouldn’t mind awakening either of those options if I could just get the chance.

<What would either even do if they awakened? At this point, I think the only thing that could improve your aim more would be if your vision was enhanced, and your marksmanship seems to mostly depend on the quality of the guns you can make.>

Well, seeing how it would change me is just a part of the thrill of awakening, right? Anyway, next job. Hmm, I’m thinking therapist.

<ACQUIRED JOB- THERAPIST LV0>

<BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING VITALITY, STAMINA, AND INTELLIGENCE>

<ALL THERAPY SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A GROWTH BONUS>

<ACQUIRED SKILL CALMING LEVEL 0>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE THERAPIST JOB ACHIEVED>

Alright, nothing crazy but a new skill, so I’ll take it. Any idea what calming does?

<Haven’t heard of it but I could try to guess.>

Mmh, give me a minute first. I’ll see if I can figure it out.

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<CALMING LEVEL INCREASED>

<...Do I want to ask what you just did?>

Quox’s soul continues to make for a decent place to experiment, but relax, that was arguably the nicest I’ve treated the guy in millennia. Calming appears to do what it says, let me calm a person I’m connected to and helps stabilize their mind a bit which means, not only will I be able to give a bit more help to the prisoners I’ve still got put away, I might be able to use this to fix Quox fast between rounds of, let’s call it training.

<And ignoring the fact that you sound like a sociopath for that second bit, I feel the need to remind you that altering people’s minds is a crime, just in case you ever feel tempted to use it on someone you don’t like.>

Hey now, I’m both better and worse than that because if it ever came to using a skill on someone I don’t like, I’m sure as hell not making them calm when I have so many other, funner options instead. Weird fun fact for you, as far as I can tell, no nation anywhere has written any laws about doing anything to souls since that’s normally the domain of the gods and soul mages. I could condemn any of my enemies and have a strong legal case that I've done nothing wrong, and even all of you gods would have a hard time arguing that fact when you all do the same when you want to.

<Okay, not sure how that would work out for you in practice but let’s not find out, shall we?>

Relax, it was just a hypothetical. Even I view this particular skill of mine as being unethical.

<Even though you both continue to train it and are curious about how it might awaken.>

Who says you can’t be curious about things you think might be problematic? Besides, since I can send souls up to you instead of hell, there’s room to argue it’s not entirely bad.

<Fine, whatever you say. For now, one more left and then your last third tier. What are you picking?>

Well, while I can’t deny the potential allure of jobs as excitedly named as cycler and beginner puppeteer-

<And don’t forget entrée.>

We’re absolutely forgetting entrée. Anyway, as things are, we're going back to the top. I’m taking trap user.

<ACQUIRED JOB- TRAP USER LV0>

<BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING STRENGTH, STAMINA, AND INTELLIGENCE>

<ALL TRAP SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A GROWTH BONUS>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE TRAP USER JOB ACHIEVED>

Mmh, underwhelming way to end things. Was one skill or level really too much to hope for?

<You’ve gained so many new skills and levels today, learn to be satisfied with what you’ve got. Besides, it’s not like you don’t have one more third tier to go through.>

Well, yeah, and I guess I know what job I’m taking for him too, so let’s go see what my very absent teacher’s been up to for the last little while.

Author’s note

Squad, this chapter was such a pain in the ass and I'm genuinely so happy it’s done. Updating my various notes, from Ben’s status to his job options to the excel sheet I’ve got for calculating how much his attributes grow based on the bonuses he has going to them, took me almost as long as writing the chapter itself. But that’s okay because, no matter how many jobs Ben may get in the future, he’ll never again have this many. It’s almost like being free, just not quite.