“Oh, you know, just unhappy about how things turned out. Someone trying to murder me again and with my own weapons to boot, all while I was busy trying to close this stupid portal. Which I figured out how to do by the way so now that I’m not in any active danger I should really get started.”
He resolved himself to stand up, doing his best to ignore his wounds for the time being as he accepted just what he’d have to do to get the gate well and closed. He was going to have to kill two people.
He wasn’t even concerned about the act itself, Ben had just been more than willing to murder Ather, but he did have a bit of personal concern about how little he felt at having that as his only option. He didn’t care about these people and they’d actively put the world in major peril, even if they had the best of intentions.
Myriad had once said that Ben didn’t place any particular value on life, and while he still wanted to deny it a bit, at times like that it really shone through. He felt a little bad because he thought he should have some resistance to it, not for the act he was about to do as he materialized two new guns for himself, enchanting on the bullets he would fire so that not only would the ritualists die, but the ghosts possessing them would forcefully pass on instead of maintaining their position the way he was already seeing in some parts of the ritual.
With all of that prepared he stood beside the closer of the two and took aim at the farther before pulling two triggers in the same instant, leaving his two victims to collapse to the ground, the gate to hell closing with that act as well.
I really have gotten too used to this world.
It was an idle thought that felt like it wanted to lodge into his head just as deeply as the sights he’d already witnessed that day, but unlike some of the other things going on in his minds, he was able to shove it away as new notifications rang out in his mind.
Yep, I saved, I survived, and I was forced to waste that entire quest reward on a job I was getting passive experience to. If I hadn’t been forced on vacation I might have even been able to finish it and have a brand new job by the time this happened. Oh well I guess, no use crying over spilled milk.
Unlike usual though, he didn’t immediately go for a new job, instead looking around him first.
None of the other ritualists were freed from their possession. It looked like the ghosts that bound them had been instructed to carry out the ritual, but now that it was no longer possible, all of them stood fruitlessly in place as they kept up their attempt at something that would no longer function, trapping them all until the gods got someone to deal with them.
Seeing no urgent dangers there, he then turned his attention to himself, counting his injuries.
He was still wearing the church of Myriad but it would need to be repaired after stray spears had sliced through it into his arms, which he decided to attribute to his excellent craftsmanship when making them instead of Ather’s strength as part of his mind began to think that the church could use an upgrade while another part was more concerned about his wounds as he stripped off the jacket, wet with his blood, to see the damage.
If he was on Earth he’d have needed to get stitches, and without Thera nearby to heal him he still needed some as well, so he quickly refilled his mana by stealing from some of the bound ritualists before materializing a needle and thread and getting to work the best he could, ignoring the sting each time the pin pierced his skin as he did his best to close his wounds until he could get back to his favourite healer.
It was only once that was done that he looked at his card to view the less obvious damage, feeling himself frown as he did. Those spears had been enchanted to be used in the war, the enchantments upon each of them aimed at lowering vitality as much as possible, with Ben getting to experience firsthand how well they’d worked. Even with his vitality at over thirteen hundred along with his natural resistances, his resistance enhancement, his absorption resistance and all his other defensive skills, he was still down to almost half of what he should have been after only a few slices. One good stab would have ended him.
Which means on top of the wounds I also need to get my vitality topped up, but that’s officially a later problem, so without further ado…
He touched the job crystal hanging from his neck, letting the available options fill his mind.
AVAILABLE JOBS
* Trap user
* Craftsman- alchemy path
* Craftsman- artistic path
* Craftsman- blacksmith path
* Craftsman- cooking path
* Craftsman- stonecrafts path
* Craftsman- sewing path
* Holy craftsman
* Mathematician
* Cursed item maker
* High tank
* Destructive craftsman
* Soul defiling gardener
* Summoned enchanter
* Ritual enchanter
* Divine enchanter
* High marksman
* High destruction mage
* World killer
* Beginner puppeteer
* Freak mind user
* Unholy thinker
* Connect master
* Polymath
* Holy adversary
* Title master
* Alien mind
* Multiversal material mage
* Outsider
* Body user
* Actualizer
* Slayer
* Judge
Four new ones this time, huh?
With three of them being strange by all accounts. Body user was at least a known one, gained when a person acquired enough body-related skills and it looked like Ben had finally passed the threshold when taking master of all had gained him blood regeneration.
Actualizer caught his eye too. He needed no explanation for what it was for, he just hadn’t expected that particular skill to get its own specialized job to go with it. It wasn’t one he could see himself taking either. As entertaining as the skill was as a way to fill his stomach when he was talking with Myriad without actually gorging himself, he was happy to treat the ability as more of a fun hobby than anything else. A neat little benefit of the system and his own growth to be enjoyed, but not immediately useful, even if he was curious as to what attributes such a job would help him raise.
Hmm, maybe I’ll take it when I’m at the ninth level, just to satisfy my curiosity a bit.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
He was having an easy time raising it so he didn’t doubt he’d get there and if it was going to be anything like when he’d taken apprentice mage when he was already a ninth-level enchanter then he’d be able to finish it in a couple hours at most. Perhaps a waste of time but it would scratch his curiosity, something he doubted he’d be able to conveniently do with the next two jobs.
For slayer at least, he believed he understood why he got it. While it could have been a result of helping to kill the outsider, he suspected it had more to do with his titles. He now had both outsider slayer and godslayer recorded within his status. Given that when he’d gained his second enemy title, holy adversary showed up as an option for him, he was willing to bet that having a pair of them was enough for the system to take notice and create a new option.
Of course, there was the issue that he had no clue what sorts of skill or attribute bonuses it would give, nor how hard something like that would be to level. It wasn’t one he ever saw himself taking, even if it did leave him with a curious itch while looking at it.
That only left the last one. While he at least had a guess for what he’d done to acquire slayer, judge felt like it had come from nowhere. Without knowing what he could have possibly done to gain it he didn’t give it more than a second’s thought before taking the option he knew he actually wanted.
“I’ll go for ritual enchanter.”
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
Jobs: Ritual enchanter (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
Attributes:
* Vitality: 1303
* Vitality recovery rate: 35/hr
* Mana: 1519
* Mana recovery rate: 110/min
* Strength: 1053
* Agility: 303
* Stamina: 2508
* Intelligence: 8724
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 lv5*
* Divine enchanting lv5*
* Unnatural mind lv7*
Passive skills:
* King of sacrilege lv9*
* Bind
* Integrated demonic body lv6
* Defense enhancement lv9
* Absorption resistance lv9
* Knowledge lv7*
* All affinity resistance enhancement lv7
* Lesser inspiration lv9
* Fine motor control lv9
* Bite enhancement lv1
* Piercing resistance lv5
* Artisan’s touch
* Intelligence enhancement lv9
* Alien thought structure
* Blood regeneration lv1
Active skills:
* Stealth lv1
* Deep connection lv5*
* Cycling lv1
* Marksmanship lv7
* Material manipulation lv6*
* Swimming lv1
* Dance lv0
* Unnatural thought speed lv6*
* Mental symbiosis lv9
* Puppetry lv9
* Rule bender lv1
* Aim lv1
* Actualization lv6
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
Trials:
* Trial of Anailia and Tolona
* Trial of the Dead God
* Earth Tower
* Life Tower
* Dark Tower
It was something he thought wouldn’t actually take him too long thanks to his high level of enchanting, along with how complex his enchanting technique had become by that point, and with that done he properly scanned his card for all of the changes beyond just checking his vitality and felt himself grimace when he saw something that had slipped his mind sitting near the bottom.
Within his blessings was listed something new. Something that wasn’t presented in the same way as a normal blessing, not having come from a god or a group of gods, but instead a place. Ben had stared into the chaos, witnessed it in a way no mortal should, and in those seconds began to adapt to it, with that change being reflected within his status, leaving whatever effects it had as a mystery to him for the time being.
“Hey Helori,” Ben started to ask before thinking better of it, choosing to save the topic for Myriad later as he seamlessly switched to something else. “I’m done here so I’m heading back. I think it’s pretty safe to say that my vacation is officially over.”
He was as refreshed as he was ever going to be and he could already imagine a mountain of work that was going to come from that all but he didn’t care. With that done, he just wanted to start heading home.