Joe then flipped open his skills and found several bonuses that intrigued him. He had two bonuses for a stat boost on his Wisdom, but wasn’t quite sure what the amount was as he saw no significant evidence of it in his stat listing, nor did he want to calculate what the total wisdom he had from all his jobs. He might spend some time doing that later as he was too exhausted now to do so and needed to continue his leveling spree to get his stats up to a base line that would be useful and allow him to pursue any job he wished at a later date.
The other skill seemed quite interesting as it was a skill to increase the skills of the party, which seemed to mean he could boost his party members’ skills. He didn’t know if that meant all skills for all situations or only skills directed at him. His help didn’t offer much and he didn’t have his theorist jobs available right now to figure it out, either. Ultimately, it didn’t really matter as Garnedell didn’t have any party skills to use, and he didn’t know if Zilnek and Kilniara did either, but as clothiers, he was pretty certain they wouldn't. And they're still not in the party... so... so maybe get at least one in? Or... they could party together? That should be useful. Or is there a point? Gotta be a point! Maybe... ask Garnedell? Joe added that to the list.
In any case, the skills proved disappointing and Joe dismissed the whole skill screen before flipping over to his available jobs to look for anything new. However, nothing new showed up as Kukurnal had already told him that his next job would have been an acolyte, and as expected, it was available. The twenty or so other gods and goddesses also had opened up jobs named ‘Faithful’ as well, but with their strict tracking of any who joined, Joe felt a bit concerned about joining them, especially with how the last temple priestess seemed a bit disgruntled with his attempt at joining Mimir’s temple through another temple.
Maybe he would just have to raise a few red flags until he got the change job skill, although what he would prefer to do was find the old village priest and work through him. The man seemed willing enough and discreet as well, but Joe had no idea where he was, nor did he think, given the rapid change in the man over the last days, that the man wanted to be found.
As he mulled over his problem, he finally decided to put it aside and seek out what help he could before making a decision. He couldn’t dig too much through Kukurnal or other priests. It would only raise questions. The library was out of reach, but maybe it was time… Wait! The Matriarch! Maybe … it would be possible with her? Right… so, one option: the library in the inner city. Second option, interrogate some priests discretely in such a way that they don’t know what I’m asking. Um… let’s put that at the bottom of the list. Joe’s mind swirled, lost, as he looked or any other options but found himself coming up blank. Finally, he decided that he only other real option he had left was to trust Garnedell to find help. He seemed much more likely to help him even with taboo subjects and could only hope that he might have a suggestion. Which left the only option to be one of waiting until he had a chance to meet the Matriarch again.
So what to do in the mean time? Just keep pumping up jobs? Not sure if I want to take a break from leveling. The deadline is coming up. As Joe’s thoughts returned to what job he could actually level now that the priestly line was now a minefield, he found himself glancing over the available jobs tab, staring at the various jobs, but finding nothing immediately appealing until his eyes lit on two jobs that instantly piqued his curiosity and another that would prove very useful for an adventure group. Huh! I forgot about those! OK! I can take the time to look at these before I can finally figure out the religious stuff. Joe found mana-ologist, spell caster, and physician; three very interesting jobs that might prove immediately useful both for developing his mana skills and for having a way to heal and take care of injuries. Right… well… I’m going to go for mana-ologist. That should be a huge help on my mana manipulation! The skills should probably help me cheat the whole thing! Besides, nobody’s really getting hurt much right now except for Kilniara and unless physician is some kind of magic healer, which it doesn’t seem like, this job is really only going to be useful to patch up until we get to a ‘real’ healer. But still… healer.
Mind made up, Joe found himself much calmer and preparing for the day instead of the underlying fear and uncertainty over the future of his religious jobs. It would require that he take a bit of a detour, but it would give him some help figuring out the magic side of things. His combat skills weren’t something he was too worried about, considering he was already well trained from home. But… combat… His thoughts wandered through the numbers and quickly realized he had two hundred days to go and his more physical stats were just about equalized so he could relax a bit on his push towards equalizing stats. The only ones really concerning him were his physical resistances, which obviously the combat jobs would help immensely with that, however… magic! Just… magic! A grin stole over his face as he considered it. That, and a healer job of some kind. With the others unable to use armor and how hurt Kilniara had gotten last time, he really wanted to get a healer job for the group. Especially if I can’t find a healer … and everyone’s warned about how unlikely that is… so…
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Considering any last options, he finally decided that he could also ask Garnedell. He knew everything about Joe anyway, and was willing to keep his secret, so he knew he could trust him. It was just a matter of whether Garnedell knew anything or not. Hmm… I should be able to ask Zilnek and Kilniara as well, right? They have skin in the game what with Zilnek’s current thief job. That would work, right? And they know the city pretty well, so…
That left him with three options, two of which could be possible sources of information. He could only hope the library would be useful, but it would at least give him access to knowledge a bit more private. Other people wouldn’t be able to ascertain or judge him based on what he was looking up. He could just keep what he was looking up private. The second, if this place was anything like back home, would be some form of black market or a clandestine information dealer. The problem with these options was the same as asking Kukurnal: someone knew what he was looking for and could make some guesses about Joe’s purposes. They could also pass on what he was doing to others as well. Regardless, he needed information and it couldn’t hurt to at least look for possible sources, including in the more criminal portions of society.
Or… do I delay? Put off pursuing the priest lines? The old priest guy warned about this… makes sense now… he’d know everyone would see me swapping jobs left and right and leveling up way too fast… was that what he was worried about? But then… just going to the priests and always asking to change jobs … and changing successfully… Hmm. Hopefully, swapping between the twenty or so temples makes it hard for them to notice or remember me… but… Still safe for now… only gone through eleven of them… haven’t even gone back through the cycle yet… but… I still gotta get my base physical resistances up… Could do that with these next couple of run through the temples… but probably have to give up on the others… I can do the combat jobs… solidify my physical resistances… get magic and probably access to a healer job… or try to figure out the priest jobs. Just… one of those… maybe two … then… wouldn’t be able to change jobs anymore without starting to be noticed… This… Joe’s frowned and pondered. So… half a cycle done… maybe… what, two… three cycles before the temples start freakin’ out about how many people are successfully changing jobs? Maybe start noticing that I’ve been coming through three or four times and realize I change PERFECTLY… EVERY TIME! That’s… gotta raise bells… Gotta either find a way to change my own job… or stop leveling any more jobs… they will notice soon. That gives me maybe… sixty job changes… I got sixty days to figure this out or I gotta move to another city and do this all over again. So… not a problem for a while… well… got maybe two months before things go bonkers… less if they start sharing information…
Joe calmed with that thought, realizing that it was unlikely, especially considering how reclusive with information Mimir priests were. But even then, any gossip down at the local pub, if they did that… someone’s bound to say they had a successful job change that day. If too many start saying that… that’s gossip… right? Not knowledge… they’re going to brag as much as anyone else… And the other guy says… oh hey, me, too. And the priestess in the corner says… well… I had two… just my luck I went in on the same day as another lucky idiot… makes that day special in her mind… Joe’s thoughts darkened, growing grimmer. I… need to … I gotta find a way to change jobs. And… Zilnek, that’s my fault… and I promised to figure this out… so…
An epiphany hit Joe. Wait! Another option… get a noble to absolve him, right? Or… maybe become a noble? So… information broker, three options: find dark priest, bribe a noble, become a noble. Still… best option would be try to become a priest myself… then I can swap jobs and not have to worry about hiding it from the priests… Joe wrestled with his choices, really preferring to continue into the priest lines somehow, but now understanding the dangers. He finally decided to possibly put it on hiatus until he could at least consider his other options.
Joe’s thoughts moved on and he suddenly looked up around the room when heard the distant rustle of blankets followed by light footsteps and a creak of a door. Kilniara entered with some concern, staring at him with trepidation but firmly stepping towards him. Joe looked at her and saw her honest concern and his face broke out in an equal smile. His smile calmed her and she quickly leapt across the room in joy. She wore a simple light dress and he felt relieved to know she’d taken his concerns seriously. She came to stand before his bed then quickly stopped, seemingly uncertain of what to do but smiling softly.