CH817

The god’s talk had run long enough that he hadn’t been able to schedule his next job run until early in the morning, leaving Ben to walk through his gate soon after waking Thera up, with her insisting on getting up for Mora so he wouldn’t be left to himself in the early hours no matter how much the boy denied it.

He’d had the option of just coming along with him for it of course but they could both tell over dinner that the child hadn’t been interested, even less so than his usual gentle demeanour suggested and since they didn’t want to push, he went by himself, with only his god to keep him company.

<Uughh.>

You don’t sleep, why do you always sound tired?

<Because even if I don’t sleep, rest is still appreciated and that’s been in short supply for years, made all the worse for my apostle’s antics!>

I think you need to throw the word brilliant in there somewhere. You’re brilliant apostle’s antics or your apostle’s brilliant antics. Hell, I think your brilliant apostle’s brilliant antics is probably exactly what you’re looking for.

<Not in the mood. You know plenty of gods aren’t happy with you getting more power and now you’re a demigod. How do you think that went over?>

With cooler heads prevailing?

<Ugh, yes but it was still a long, painful conversation. When all of this is over I’m taking a vacation. I’m sitting in my realm and you’re not allowed to come bother me for at least a couple days.>

As long as by ‘when this is over’ you mean the war then sure. If not then unfortunately, I need pretty constant access to you.

<Uuughh…>

Come on, cheer up. We still have months before we all die, don’t spend them being a downer.

<Not helpful.>

Maybe not but it looks like it’s time to start the show so chin up.

His job run wasn’t happening in the guild that time but on the coast, with the adventurers and parties he’d be joining largely hailing from the aquatic half of the planet, all of them already lined up at a dock in waiting when he arrived, letting himself be led to the first group, even as he saw one familiar face at the end of the line.

The last party he’d been in had one of the aquatic third tiers and this time, despite the half of the world most of them would be residing in, it seemed his third tier would be terrestrial again, with Killi sparing some words with the group she was near at the end.

Well, however the gods are choosing to organize this is their business, for now, let’s get started.

AVAILABLE JOBS

• Trap user

• Craftsman- alchemy path

• Craftsman- artistic path

• Craftsman- blacksmith path

• Craftsman- cooking path

• Craftsman- stonecrafts path

• Craftsman- sewing path

• Mathematician

• High tank

• High marksman

• High destruction mage

• Beginner puppeteer

• Multiversal material mage

• Outsider 

• Body user

• Assassin

• Cycler

• Beginner dancer

• Entrée

• King of intelligence

• Soul creator

• God defiling gardener

• Expert

• Master actualizer

• Divine kin

Only a single new option but it instantly stopped him in his tracks, completely changing his plans as he took it.

Divine kin.

How could he resist? According to the gods, he’d managed to turn himself into a demigod and would be able to grow faster for that fact, why not strengthen the characteristic that made him one, and with immediate results too.

<ACQUIRED JOB- DIVINE KIN LV0>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING ALL ATTRIBUTES>

<ALL DIVINE SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<INTEGRATED DIVINE BODY LEVEL INCREASED>

<ACQUIRED TITLE- DEMIGOD OF GROWTH AND GAIN>

A new level so soon after acquiring the skill and major bonuses to go with it. Maybe it wasn’t the massive ones he thought he might get for claiming the heart of a god but it was good to pull on its own, with the new title almost certainly adding to its effects. A part of him wondered how much that new one was from the system and how much was whatever conversations the gods had spent the last day going over but it was a handy little bonus he wasn’t going to turn his nose up at when it was sure to be a good one.

With only one other change he could see that had come with the level. Ever since he’d had the skills complex mind and mental expansion, they’d played a not-insignificant part in how he’d see the world and it had only grown as they’d awakened and continued to level, with the state of his mind making it easy to see something that would have been so minor otherwise as to go unnoticed. He was taller.

It has to only be by a millimeter but still… Demigod of growth and gain, huh? I guess those aspects might pop up in other places I’m not expecting too.

He didn’t feel anything else different in his body but it was something to try and be aware of at the very least, keeping conscious of it as he made his souls and finished his job, leaving him to make his choice for the next one.

With it all the harder now that he’d taken one he hadn’t expected to show up as an option, forcing him to re-evaluate his thoughts for a bit before making his choice.

I’m making one of the few things that exists across the entire multiverse so I might have gotten experience for this anyway if I’d just taken it by myself but I want the mana bonuses. Okay, give me multiversal material mage.

<ACQUIRED JOB- MULTIVERSAL MATERIAL MAGE LV0>

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

<ALL MAGIC AND MULTIVERSAL SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<UNNATURAL INTELLIGENCE ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<SOUL AFFINITY LEVEL INCREASED>

<ACQUIRED SKILL MANA ENHANCEMENT LEVEL 0>

<ACQUIRED SKILL MANA REGENERATION ENHANCEMENT LEVEL 0>

YesyesyesyesYES!

An incredible harvest to the point he didn’t know where to start. Massive bonuses to his attributes instead of major ones along with two very handy new skills that he had no choice but to assume may have been acquired in part thanks to the trickle of divinity flowing through his veins. Skills he’d absolutely craved but never expected to get himself, at least not any time soon but tied in with the levels he’d gained and he was doing incredibly, with only one minor drawback. The experience he was getting by making souls was significantly slowed, at least relative to what he’d been used to.

As things stood, without his coat there to power him, he expected it to take an hour to finish that job through soul production alone, with the experience needed to get through it looking like it was raised for the bonuses he’d received. Major to his skills and massive to his attributes, placing it somewhere between a second and third-tier job.

But considering I’m gaining experience at all when I’m only using my normal mana pool, this puts it closer to second-tier still in my eyes, although there was one more interesting thing tucked into those notifications, wasn’t there? Multiversal skills, huh? Wonder what exactly qualifies? If I think about it the next time I see Verbum I’ll have to get him to check for me.

It was a small curiosity but not exactly pressing as he moved to speed things up, reaching out with connect to take mana from those around them to boost his production rate with it still ending at what felt like an eternity to him and ten minutes to the rest of them before he finally got the notification telling him he was done.

With one job left.

He made his way to the last two, giving Killi a nod as he did.

“Hey, how’ve you been Killi?”

“As good as anyone and I see you’ve only made yourself more important since I’ve seen you last,” She laughed. “Will you really be finishing my job in less than a month?”

“Unless anything comes up on my end or your job takes an unusual amount of experience, I’d say it’s more likely to be less than a week. Definitely before I take on craftsmans’ tower.”

That got a raise of her eyebrow. “Decided to take it on then?”

“There’s a skill I really, really want to be a contender for and finishing that tower is the easiest way to get it. Nothing to worry about though, I’m superduper confident.”

“Ha, considering it’s the safest, I don't blame you. Much better than any of the other suicidal options at least.”

“Oh man, don’t get me started,” He sighed. “I just challenged the non-affinitied tower and have some choice words about its design.”

“Tough I take it?” She chuckled, giving no reaction otherwise to such a surprising claim until he went on.

“You don’t know the half of it. I had to get a new heart after it destroyed my old one.”

“...Pardon? Is your race particularly good at regrowing vital organs or does your species have some backup systems?”

“Neither. It’s a long story, I won’t bore you with the details. For now, let’s pick my last job and get on with this.”

She looked at him quietly for a moment before shaking her head, assuming she wouldn’t get any more from him since trial takers were typically bound by covenants to keep what they held a secret from the rest of the world and leaving her to let the matter drop even as her curiosity festered, all while Ben made his final choice of the day.

I still have a couple other good ones to choose from but my list really is starting to get smaller here. As things stand though, when I look at how taking my title-related job before went, the results really were good so this time let’s take what’s presumably my job-related job I guess. I’m choosing expert.

<ACQUIRED JOB- EXPERT LV0>

<BONUSES GRANTED TO JOB EXPERIENCE ACQUISITION>

Name: Ben Heph

Race: Human

Titles: Apostle of Myriad, The Forgotten One, Miracle Maker, Skill learner, Enemy of Eneth, Trial Defier, Trial Breaker, Godslayer, Monster, Madman, God killer, Threat, The Mad Apostle, Destined Holder of Connect, God of Destruction, Creator of Life, Awakener, Maniac, Brutal Blacksmith, Defier of Gods, Title Holder, Enemy of Olensia, Great Teacher, Student of Helori, Myriad’s Monster, Outsider Slayer, Demigod Slayer, Transgressor, Destined Holder of Mental Symbiosis, Destined holder of Alien Thought Structure, Destined Holder of Soul Production, Job Holder, Destined Holder of Actualization, Enemy of Duna, Demon Slayer, World Slayer, Demigod of Growth and Gain

Jobs: Expert (lv 0)

Previous Jobs: Apprentice craftsman, Craftsman, Priest, Enchanter, Mind user, Magic item maker, Magic weapon maker, High enchanter, Fractured mind user, Tree tamer, High craftsman, Apprentice mage, True mage, Tank, Heretic, Adventurer, Divine heretic, Kin, Master craftsman, Master enchanter, Scholar, Connected enchanter, Infernal craftsman, Marksman, Destruction mage, Material mage, High material mage, Profane enchanter, Master material mage, Impious creator, Mind master, Master adventurer, Otherworldly craftsman, Material creator, Master of all, Ritual enchanter, Holy craftsman, Cursed item maker, Actualizer, Summoned enchanter, Destructive craftsman, Soul mage, Freak mind user, Unholy thinker, Polymath, Alien mind, Soul user, Soul master, Evil soul user, Soul defiling gardener, High actualizer, World killer, Connect master, Abysmal connecter, Master of destiny, Hive brain, Divine enchanter, Inclination master, Slayer, Judge, Holy adversary, Title master, Beneficiary, Divine kin, Multiversal material mage

Attributes:

• Vitality: 3213

• Vitality recovery rate: 77/hr

• Mana: 8201

• Mana recovery rate: 680/min

• Strength: 2596

• Agility: 694

• Stamina: 5588

• Intelligence: 27046

Affinities:

• Light: 3

• Life: 2

• Fire: 4

• Water: 3

• Air: 4

• Earth: 2

• Death: 3

• Dark: 1

• Space: 4

• Time: 5

Resistances:

• Light: 68

• Life: 72

• Fire: 75

• Water: 69

• Air: 66

• Earth: 81

• Death: 78

• Dark: 85

• Space: 63

• Time: 61
  

Blessed skills:

• Unending crafting lv8*

• Divine enchanting lv9*

• Unnatural mind lv9*
  

Passive skills: 

• King of sacrilege lv9*

• Bind

• Integrated demonic body lv9

• Defense enhancement lv9

• Absorption resistance lv9

• Knowledge lv9*

• All affinity resistance enhancement lv9

• Unnatural inspiration lv8*

• Bite enhancement lv8

• Piercing resistance lv9

• Artisan’s touch

• Unnatural intelligence enhancement lv6*

• Reconstructed alien thought structure*

• Blood regeneration lv6 

• Extraction enhancement lv9

• Soul affinity lv5*

• Modifier compatibility

• Material sense lv9

• Flavour enhancement lv3

• Ill intent lv6*

• Balance enhancement lv5

• Soul expansion lv8

• Defiler of ambrosia

• Destruction affinity lv7*

• Evil affinity lv7*

• Soul resilience lv7

• Defense inclination lv1

• Vitality enhancement lv1

• Vitality regeneration enhancement lv1

• False Ben

• Integrated divine body lv1

• Mythril blood

• Mana enhancement lv0

• Mana regeneration enhancement lv0

Active skills: 

• Stealth lv2

• Deep connection lv8*

• Cycling lv2

• Marksmanship lv9

• Material manipulation lv9*

• Swimming lv2

• Dance lv1

• Unnatural thought speed lv9*

• Hive mind lv8*

• Rule bender lv1

• Aim lv9

• Esoteric actualization lv6*

• Soul source lv6*

• Lucid dreaming

• Condemnation lv9

Blessings:

• Myriad’s Blessing

• Anailia’s Blessing

• Helori’s Blessing

• Galwax’s Blessing

• Elvat’s mana regeneration Blessing

• Eneth’s Blessing

• Earth Pantheon’s Blessing

• Life Pantheon’s Blessing

• Dark Pantheon’s Blessing

• Olensia’s Blessing

• Nare’s Blessing

• Yuzu’s mana regeneration Blessing

• Witness of Chaos

• Oaun’s Blessing

• Phixth’s Blessing

• Passive Pantheon’s Blessing

• Duna’s Blessing

• Jagal’s Blessing

• Non-Affinitied Pantheon’s Blessing

Trials:

• Trial of Anailia and Tolona

• Trial of the Dead God

• Earth Tower

• Life Tower

• Dark Tower

• Non-Affinitied Tower

“Ben, are you alright?” Killi asked him, his hands completely hiding his face the instant he’d claimed the final job for himself.

He couldn’t help it though, it felt like the grin he was wearing was about to split his head. “I’m better than okay. This may actually be the single most useful job I’ve ever taken. Oh my god, I wish I’d taken this one sooner but… No, this is fine. Friendly piece of advice, when you finish your third tier one, do your absolute best to get fifty jobs completed as fast as possible, you won’t regret it.”

“I doubt I even have that many options, although it has been a good many years since I've had the chance to check.”

Even as they spoke his mind was going over those two small notifications he’d heard again and again. No attribute bonuses, no skill bonuses, and no levels but none of that mattered. The system had just told him for the first time that he’d be getting bonuses to his job experience in general, a bonus that would become permanent so long as he finished it and there was no way he wasn’t going to now that he had it.

It may have just been the standard bonus but what did that matter? He didn’t even know what it meant to get a standard bonus to experience and no matter how much or little it would be, that meant all jobs were going to be easier from there on out, including when he was helping the third tiers with their own. His heart was left pounding in excitement as he considered both it and some of the other options he’d been able to take recently that had given him some surprising effects, with slayer granting him titles and title master strengthening title effects, all of it rolling together to bring one thought to the front of his mind.

I wonder what other uncommon job effects the system might be holding on to?

He wanted to know. He wanted to find every bit of creativity and growth potential it held and he wanted to take them for himself once he did and he couldn’t help but look at the jobs he had left in wonder as he considered if there were still any surprising to be had in any of his remaining options, already eager to find out.