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CH762 Thera's Perspective

Feeling the spell she’d placed at the beginning of the day start to fade, Thera reached out around her once more with both her senses and her mana to again cast her earth healing, a wasteful spell for most people that helped produce a mild healing effect for anyone who stood within its range.

Wasteful and mild for anyone else to cast of course, for herself, she barely noticed the loss and between both her mana and levels it drastically helped those who fell within it, treating their simpler wounds while leaving it easier for the other healers around to help with anything more complex, a fact that improved their work and saved lives while she went around, healing a few of the more critically injured before ending her work for the day.

She still wished for there to be a few more awakened light and life mages around but little by little, the work was easing. By then, every healer on the planet had to have had one of Ben’s mana bracelets and even if it wasn’t to the point of awakening, with how much they were all being worked the majority of them had to have gained a level since the second wave’s end. It still didn’t feel like enough, far from it, but it allowed her to leave a little earlier without any guilt so she could focus on other aspects of her training.

With that being her intention, she went on her way to the gate network nearby. As unreasonable as it felt to hope, she wanted to get her earth magic to the level of a contender before the third wave and there were a few other skills in her arsenal that would be good to raise up too. Her dark and non-affinitied options would both obviously be useful but even a few of her sense skills could be handy to raise, just needing a bit more practice than what she’d been giving them.

That wasn’t mentioning that Ben still had his hopes she’d be able to get her life magic to its third tier but beyond all of the healing she was already constantly doing she didn’t know how else she might force it, with the only option she had being to keep going.

And I guess getting two new tower blessings will help with that. She admitted to herself, thinking about Ben telling her his intent to take on both the non-affinitied tower along with craftsmans’ tower. It wasn’t like she was against challenging them, if anything she’d held some expectations before the wave began that they’d end up taking on at least the non-affinitied tower before the third wave, but it was still another point of stress on her mind. She could feel herself growing tired of all of the constant work and training and watching people die, with months still to go of it. The knowledge that she could do more for the world propelled her to try and keep growing but it was also wearing on her a little more each day.

If I really am challenging a couple towers then maybe I’ll take the day after each one off for some rest and recuperation. She told herself. I’m no use to anyone burnt out. Yeah, I’ll do that.

Just how nice that idea felt was almost embarrassing but it was something to look forward to, just a couple of days of peace in the not-to-distant future while she otherwise drowned in her work and training and she let herself indulge in the thought of a day to do absolutely nothing until she was interrupted. Not even a few feet from the gate she was stopped, an absolute swarm of spirits standing in her way.

They’d arrived almost instantly and all began talking at once, a sound of panic and urgency in their voices that left her to otherwise struggle to make out what they were all saying through the crowd of them that forced her to try to put things to order so she could understand just what had caused it, speaking up with her own mana.

All of you, I can’t tell what you’re trying to say if you all speak over each other.” She told them, instantly quieting them down as she pointed at one near the front. “Now, just you, what’s happening?

Singled out and speaking for the rest, that one spirit began. “We need help!

---

After a quick talk that ended with the first space spirit Thera had seen outside of her home nation opening a portal for her, she was brought into what was by all accounts the edge of a battlefield, one where spirits and elementals alike were warring on thousands of demons somewhere off deep into the woods and leaving her to watch as the lives of her kin where being snuffed out despite just how much more power they held.

In all of her time healing, she’d only seen a handful of people whose souls had been damaged by the demons but it seemed that group had been quick to relearn that was the only way for them to take out the mana-based life of the world and had been even faster putting it to practice in that confrontation between them. Her kin were powerful but demons were savage, destroying all they could as spells flew and teeth gnashed, 

It was also a sight that gave her no room to pause. All at once she was stretching out her mana empowering and wrapping in her life magic to heal the spirits within her range while at the same time entering the fray herself, raising up high walls of earth behind the distant swarm of demons to do it and tearing through the forest they were in to keep any from escaping while other spells were being formed, with the demons taking note of her presence.

She watched as a hail of bullets rose from the ground to shoot at her and she let them come before overwhelming the mana within them to alter their direction, shooting them right back and killing hundreds of demons at once as they ripped through flesh and bone alike, bringing many to the ground for the rest of their kind to push past and stomp over while more spells were shot off for Thera to manage.

Both fire and water came her way but both were defeated by raising a cloud of dirt to break it up with that same dirt going back in the form of a million small pellets to hit the crowd without any need for aim. It was the less physical magics that were a greater problem, but where she lacked the spirits and elementals were there to assist, protecting her from the harder applications there were to block while they in turn carried out their own attack, granted leeway both by Thera’s help and healing that made the tide of battle turn significantly less even as the demon’s numbers dwindled, breaking them down until there was none left and letting her nearly collapse in relief.

<SPIRITUAL EARTH MAGIC LEVEL INCREASED>

<MANA EMPOWERING LEVEL INCREASED>

<SPIRIT COMPREHENSION LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE MASTER SPIRIT MAGE JOB ACHIEVED>

Well, there’s one of the earth magic levels I’ve been hoping for at least.

With the unexpected battle over with, she called the spirits to her to help them however she could while at the same time touching her necklace to replace the job she’d just finished, looking at the few new options that showed up.

AVAILABLE JOBS

Two new choices to look at, with Ben having been right that she’d get the chance to take master of all, leaving it less curious to her than the second one.

Spirit embodiment, almost certainly something she’d gained for finishing master spirit mage, even if it was less than she’d been hoping for. What she’d desired was new options for each of her magic branches, at least her affinitied ones, but what she’d ended with was so much less.

It’s fine. She told herself. My spirit-themed jobs have always been good ones, I’m sure that one will be as well, leaving me only with the question of what to take now.

The choice was between her new ones, that was obvious enough and both were perfectly reasonable options. Master of all gave bonuses to everything and gained bonuses in the same way spirit embodiment was sure to give her bonuses to her magics that were beyond what she’d get from a simple master job.

In the end, it was the latter that made her choice. As nice as bonuses to everything could potentially be, she cared about her magics the most and getting that job would let her raise them easier than the other, it was as simple as that, so with nothing else to think on she gave her choice and let the notifications for it fill her head.

<ACQUIRED JOB- SPIRIT EMBODIMENT LEVEL 0>

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

<ALL SPIRIT RELATED SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS>

<MANA ENHANCEMENT LEVEL INCREASED>

<LIFE SENSE LEVEL INCREASED>

<DARK SENSE LEVEL INCREASED>

<DARK SIGHT LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAGIC AFFINITY LEVEL INCREASED>

<SPIRITUAL DARK MAGIC LEVEL INCREASED>

Name: Thera Oress

Race: Succubus/Spirit Hybrid

Titles: Spirit Child, Madman’s lover, Spirit princess, Saintess, Destined holder of Spirit Empowering, Outsider slayer, Friend of Elementals

Jobs: Spirit embodiment (lv7)

Previous Jobs: Beginner Dancer, Dancer, Apprentice mage, Earth mage, True mage, High earth mage, Spirit mage, Life mage, High life mage, Telekinetic mage, Adventurer, High telekinetic mage, High spirit mage, Master earth mage, Earth princess, Master life mage, Life princess, Saintess, Crystallization mage, Master adventurer, Queen of mana, Mana embodiment, Dark mage, High dark mage, Master dark mage, Dark princess, War mage, Annihilation mage, Homunculus creator, Chimera maker, Non-affinity mage, Construct mage, Professional dancer, Healer, Master spirit mage

Attribute:

Affinities:

Resistances:

Blessed skills:

Passive skills: 

Active skills: 

Blessings:

Trials:


No new skills with it, the job at the very least came with plenty of levels she’d wanted, to the point that just that act of taking it had granted her a sizable amount of job experience to go through.

If it yielded her passive experience simply through existing as a half spirit then it would be all the better but that was something she wouldn’t be seeing for sure until the next day at the earliest and with that out of the way she continued on treating the spirits with her, healing the ones still around to benefit from it from there.


Comments

Death god tower probably. The one that Ben was pushed inside with the crab Greed.

CataFlan

Death tower as in Oaun's trial yeah? I don't think Ben challenged the death tower for the death pantheon buff

Corvusamous

As I recall, she is still using her staff, it just isn't a mainstay of the plot anymore since Ben built her a good one and services it for her regularly. I think the last time she burnt one out was when Ben was gone. I think in the Death Tower.

Carl Mason

Of all this, i am aware. Though i also distinctly recall that weapons skills encompass the whole of the weapon as a point that was made early in the story... I am going to have to reread this and verify my remembrance. I remember the Staff User skill being something that included the magical aspect as well as the physical "whacking things with a stick" aspect. Need to reread.

Carl Mason

@Carl Mason: Staves are not inherently magical. Thera was going through them so quickly because they were magical foci, but anything could be a magical focus if it was built for that purpose. Ben uses a glove, for example— it just doesn’t get mentioned often. The reason staves are popular for most mages is because they’re 1) cheap to make, 2) large enough to be easy for lesser crafters to enchant, and 3) able to be used as a weapon in an emergency. Thera’s Staff User skill and job are a reflection of that last property only. It’s probably basically the same benefits you would get for “Sword User” or “Club User”.

Sesharan

Can Thera use a staff now? She wasn't using it anymore, a thing she used in bulks in the beginning...

CataFlan

The * is for tier 2 skills. Skill who got level 9 then awakened to a more powerful skill got this *.

CataFlan

I mean if she awakens it by using all of her magics for one spell then I can see it but she is trying to break through life magics limits not her magics limits like Jake.

Isiah Debarros

I don't know the gods would agree with Ben to try to make her soul mage I've it was that easy

Isiah Debarros

She is only a contender for life mage and needs one more level to get to 9th with earth magic

Isiah Debarros

Thera is definitely a contender now, right? With 4 lvl 9's? I forget what the * mean in the status

Meredith

A staff is a magic weapon. I do not see the issue. It would absolutely help her whack stuff with a stick better, yeah, but a staff is also a magic focus and channel that mages use to fight with. If I remember correctly from WAY BACK when she was going through staves like candy staff wielder is as much magical as physical, it encompasses all aspects of the weapon. Am I wrong?

Carl Mason

I thought you needed at least a 15 in an affinity to get a magic? Usually a 20

Corvusamous

Soul resistance would be better for Thera. She might be able to resist Ouan if she had enough

Corvusamous

Oof

Corvusamous

Exactly Isiah, from what we k in ow of awakening the system takes related skills when one awakens. All of Thera's magic skills are related to her the way she uses them

Corvusamous

Tftc

Lyncher98

Ooooooh buddy if you want some female leads not in need of rescuing, check out works by Mecanimus =p Admittedly their 2 best works have basically the same female lead with minor changes, but the character is entertaining enough that it works. She is always "evil", but not like ridiculously evil. Likable, but still the bad guy. But also there are worse bad guys. But she is totally not the good guy most of the time. The lesser evil at best. More evil in the first story than the second.

Emily Gurnavage

...just a big ol can of whup-ass! It's a refreshing change from female leads that need rescuing all the damn time. (Which admittedly is getting rarer in general)

Person

I mean, I mean unless her life magic eats her earth magic I see why she wouldn't come one

Isiah Debarros

Staff wider is a weapon skill

Isiah Debarros

That was a pretty great chapter, thanks. It managed to keep the same general vibe all of the Thera chapters somehow manage to have despite the content veering out of her norm a bit. We have had fight scenes from her POV before, but im honestly a bit surprised (in a good way though) Thera dove right in without even thinking of getting help first. Supreme confidence in her current abilities vs the meagre force of a couple thousand demons is nice to see. No hesitation. No thoughts of failure.

Emily Gurnavage

TFC

Rain

On the plus side, low tier jobs would benefit her skills and be quick to get through at her current level of power. All her basic and high mage jobs would help with her magic leveling and gain her further more advanced options, not to mention the bonuses. Low as they may be, bonuses are bonuses. I still don't know why she hasn't taken Staff User yet either, it would improve her Staff Wielder skill and help her channel more mana while presumably making the staff more resilient to her power.

Carl Mason

Is it weird that I want them to take Mathematician and tier up their Calculate skills until they get Super Math Brain, like you might sometimes see on TV shows or in movies? I feel like it would be useful.

Carl Mason

I didn't look in depth but she has Professional Dancer listed in both Available and Completed Jobs

Connor Butler

There's multiple mistakes in Thera's Status. I'll look it over in detail later on, but for now, I'd recommend someone look into it maybe. Sorry, it'll take me a couple hours till I have the time

max grok

Sacrilege LVL2 would help in gaining new jobs ;-)

Luboš Hemala

I definitely don’t mean to imply that Thera doesn’t have any options left. But as you both assessed, her remaining choices right now mostly involve going through the first-tier jobs and hoping they lead to some second-tier jobs. This close to the third wave, anything less than a second-tier job is kind of wasting Thera’s time. If it gets to that point, she should just go with Ben to his next job speedrunning session and get him to run her through four or five of them. It would be a rounding error to him with that setup, but for her on her own it would be valuable days or weeks spent working on barriers or charm magic instead of healing people.

Sesharan

I wonder if Zandale can learn and tech Soul Expansion. Single level for Thera would mean around 80k mana.. not that she doesn't have a lot already, but still XD But probably nah, no way for them to learn.

Luboš Hemala

I don't think Thera's going to be a soul mage. I think she's going to be able to incorporate non-affinitied magic into her spells directly in the same vein as her earth healing but to an unbound degree. Why stop at one spell? She's going to create a school of magic dedicated to mixing and matching

Corvusamous

Honestly I'm eyeballing her Water Affinity and thinking "For how much Mana she has, 14 isn't that bad", so if she legitimately runs out of Mage jobs then picking up some Water Magic and then using her massive Mana pool to surge through Water Mage Job levels might be the play, but that'd likely be something to look at once she's eyeballing grabbing Darkness: Charm Mage as her last Mage Job option

Thomas Keller

Also the non-attribute jobs would probably lead to something

Isiah Debarros

I mean most of her jobs were influenced by her title and master of all should unlock some new ones if it worked like what happened with it will give her skills that she's talented and doesn't have yet probably would give her a new branch of Jobs

Isiah Debarros

Thera really is running into a lack of jobs, huh? I thought for sure that completing master spirit mage would unlock a bunch of new ones. She’s getting to the point where she either needs to hit the prerequisites for some new tier 2 jobs (Golem Maker feels like a job that should exist and be easy for her to unlock) or awaken one of her skills to tier 3 and take the job for that.

Sesharan

Tftc!

brennon Petersen

TFTC!

CataFlan


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