Chapter 272

“Holy shit! Did you just awaken a skill?” Greed called out as he saw Ben’s body flash with light as it flooded with mana.“Yeah, and it’s a sick joke,” He told the crab, feeling all the more annoyed for it. He’d have to test the difference for his enchanting skill, he was sure it would have improved leaps and bounds above what he’d just done, but that was meaningless in the face of what he was seeing. With the incredible increase to everything that came with improving his skill, he also had an increase to his mana sense unlike with any other level up. “Honestly, saying I have divine enchanting is just bullying at this point. There’s no way I can enchant like that.”

He tested it out too, trying to make a simple enchantment on his clothing that would do nothing, just to see the overall quality change of his skill, and if it weren’t for the improvements to his mana sense he would have been more than satisfied. His enchanting still wasn’t as good as what he’d originally seen from the trial, but he actually wasn’t far off. A couple of levels and he was sure he’d reach what the god who’d made the trial had done.

That was until his sense had improved and showed the enchantment to a whole other level. Along each ring, there seemed to be some non-affinitied mana binding each one. He could only assume it was strengthening it, but he didn’t know if it had any other effects. All he really knew was that he doubted he’d be able to do anything like it without being on the edge of the third tier, maybe even needing it to be a third-tier skill. He could only shake his head in frustration, all the more so for the way his enchanting had awakened.

The skill had absorbed enchanting knowledge, but it didn’t take connect like he thought it would. He’d have to test it out to be sure, but he was certain that meant he wouldn’t be able to enchant with awakened skills like he’d hoped, though he at least had Greed around to test that concern out.

Greed though had a different immediate thought. “Wait, are you seriously saying your skill is called divine enchanting? You didn’t just awaken to the third tier, did you?”

“No, second tier. Why?”

“Legs, the name your skill changes into matters. I’ve never once heard of a second-tier skill with the word divine added to it, only third-tier ones. The system is basically saying your enchanting is good enough to be considered akin to a gods.”

He could only laugh as the crab said it. “I think the system just has a bit of a sense of humour then. I’ve got a long way to go. Anyway, give me a minute, I’ve got a lot to think about.”

An awakened skill, a title, two new skills, one of which he was already feeling the changes from, and his job complete. There was a lot to think about and consider. He knew he’d be exploring the awakened skill in detail soon enough, and he could only hope that the title did something useful for him, so he focused on the two new skills.

He couldn’t be certain, but he thought that mental expansion felt akin to both parallel thought and complex mind in the extent it had just changed things in his head. If complex mind gave him more strands of thought that would arrange themselves into new minds in his head and parallel thought strengthened those strands, then he got the impression that mental expansion affected the breadth of his thoughts, letting a single mind hold bigger ideas and envision things in greater detail. He’d need to look into it to be sure, but it seemed like he’d just drifted even farther from the human standard for what was going on in his head, he was only grateful it hadn’t left him passed out again.

As for the other one, his new skill destruction, he had to assume it had come from enchanting, but he didn’t immediately know what it might do. At the very least he knew it would be easy to level since, in theory, it would get all of the same bonuses that enchanting did, meaning his crafting jobs should cover it too. Now that it looked like he’d have time he’d need to experiment with it, but that was an issue for later.

He let himself slide down the wall until he was sitting, giving Greed a chance to keep healing him as he looked out into the room and thought for a bit.

He reached his hand into his pocket, letting the options fill his mind while at the same time being immensely grateful it had worked. He’d never heard of someone bringing a job crystal into a trial before, but given that the skill system wasn’t impeded at all it made sense the job system wouldn’t be either. He made a mental note that he should try to learn more about how both worked as he let himself go over the options filling his head.

AVAILABLE JOBS

Trap userCraftsman- alchemy pathCraftsman- artistic pathCraftsman- blacksmith pathCraftsman- cooking pathCraftsman- stonecrafts pathCraftsman- sewing pathHereticHoly craftsmanKinTankMathematicianAdventurerCursed item makerScholarMaster craftsmanMaterial mageMaster enchanterDestruction mage

Of the two new jobs on the list, he’d only expected one, having known he would unlock the master enchanter job after awakening the skill. The destruction mage job was a whole other bonus entirely. At the very least, it made sense when he thought about it. For a magic skill to be the bonus skill he got from awakening enchanting seemed reasonable enough given that it was technically a magic skill as well, and some of his earliest training with enchanting had focused on using its destructive properties as a way of carving statues. He’d need to test it out still, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t happy to get it, even if it did seem like it wouldn’t be as useful to him as the material user skill seemed like it would be.

“Whatcha got there?” Greed asked him as he used his healing magic, referring to the job crystal and pulling Ben from his thoughts.

“Job crystal. If you complete yours while we’re in here let me know.”

Hearing that, Greed looked like he wanted to say something but in the end only shook his head and got back to work treating Ben’s many wounds, leaving him to think on just what to take.

It was honestly tragic he hadn’t taken the master craftsman job earlier. Even if awakening enchanting wouldn’t have been nearly enough to get it complete the way it had for his true mage job, it would have been good experience and likely given him a few levels. Now though, given the situation they were in he needed to think long and hard about just what he thought would give him the best chance he could have at surviving.

He eyed the heretic job, thinking about how improving the skill might help him considering he was in the trial of a god but ultimately decided against it. He’d just leveled the skill up, and its effects felt too vague to immediately be useful if he did.

There was a chance adventurer wouldn’t be completely useless, but it really seemed more like a combat job than anything else, and he didn’t see any immediate benefit to merging his job pool with Greeds. In the end, there was one option he felt reasonably sure of, even though it still seemed like a gamble.

Taking a breath, he did something he’d never done before when selecting a job. He grasped the crystal in both of his hands, holding it tightly in front of his face as he closed his eyes and began to pray.

"Please, please you great and powerful system on my soul, do me a solid and give me something good with this. A skill, a level, anything to help out. If I was ever going to gain anything from this, now's the time."

“Feeling desperate, are you?” Greed asked as he watched.

“If there was ever a situation to be called desperate, I think this is it.”

He continued to pray and hope despite the fact that he was sure nothing was listening, until he gave in and named his choice.

“I’ll take tank.”

Name: Ben Heph

Race: Human

Titles: Apostle of Myriad, The Forgotten One, Miracle Maker, Skill learner, Enemy of Eneth, Trial Defier

Jobs: Tank (lv 9)

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

Attributes:

Vitality: 401Vitality recovery rate: 6/hrMana: 306Mana recovery rate: 19/minStrength: 430Agility: 161Stamina: 1416Intelligence: 1249

Affinities:

Light: 3Life: 2Fire: 4Water: 3Air: 4Earth: 2Death: 3Dark: 1Space: 4Time: 5

Resistances:

Light: 68Life: 72Fire: 75Water: 69Air: 66Earth: 81Death: 78Dark: 85Space: 63Time: 61

Blessed skills:

Unending crafting lv0*Divine enchanting lv0*Focus lv9

Passive skills:

World speak+Tolerance lv6Sacrilege lv7Complex mind lv6BindPartial demonic bodyDefense enhancement lv3Parallel thought lv5Absorption resistance lv2Plant knowledge lv4Mental expansion lv0Healing enhancement lv0All affinity resistance enhancement lv0

Active skills:

Stealth lv1Connect lv9Hidden mind lv7Calculate lv4 Meditation lv3Cycling lv0Marksmanship lv0Speed reading lv3Material user lv1Destruction lv0

Blessings:

Myriad’s BlessingAnailia’s BlessingHelori’s Blessing

Trials:

Trial of Anailia and Tolona

“HOLY CRAP YES!” He screamed out, throwing his arms in the air despite the pain. “ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE GREED, I DON’T THINK THAT COULD HAVE ACTUALLY GONE BETTER!”

He’d been hoping desperately for levels in those skills given what he thought might be to come, or maybe to receive a new skill that could be useful, and it looked like the system was being merciful.

Given the beatings he’d gone through, as well as the fact that he always remade his ring to make it take as much from him as he could safely manage, he’d thought he must have been close to getting levels in both anyway, but the new skills were a whole other matter. Not only a skill that improved his ability to heal, but also one that improved all of his resistances? Ever since he’d learned about that particular class of skill, he’d known that in theory at least he had a good compatibility with them thanks to his naturally high resistances. Combining that with both the title that gave him better odds of acquiring rare skills and the job that he never expected he’d actually take, and he was golden. There was just one small concern it brought along with it.

“Hey Greed, I don’t suppose you felt any difference healing me now, do you?”

“No, why?”

“Got a new skill, but if it’s not interfering yet then it’s fine.”

There were a lot of things to think about for all of it. If he was right about the trial then there was a good chance that it was going to be a struggle to keep both skills leveling at the same rate, but that was a worry for later. More important was what else his new skill meant. He had something else he could use for the braces now. At least as long as he got out.

He let the hours pass, barely moving as Greed healed him. He briefly checked how his awakened enchanting would work with connect and was disappointed to see that he’d been right, he couldn’t do anything with Greed’s blessing magic.

With that sad discovery made, he had no choice but to focus on his magics to pass the time, using the knife from before to figure out exactly what his destruction skill could do.

It actually wasn’t that hard, once he knew it was a magic skill and that it came from his enchanting, all he did was consider the point where they were related and flooded the item with mana, feeling it turn to dust in his hand like it would any time he’d gone too far with an enchantment. The mana cost was far higher than if he did it the way he normally would, but it was quicker too, giving him plenty of possibilities where it could be used.

Once he was holding nothing but a metallic powder he switched to material user, changing the consistency of the dust he held and forcing it to blend back together into a single solid clump of metal. He repeated it a few times too before he began testing other things.

He learned that he could use the skill to destroy parts of the metal without touching it, though that resulted in such a sharp rise in its mana cost that he marked that off as unviable, at least at his current level. He also figured out that he could use it to destroy less physical things as well, breaking down an enchantment he’d put on the block, but as with every other test, at a higher mana cost than how he’d typically do it.

He kept going for as long as he could, but by the six-hour mark of practicing he had to get up.

“Hey legs, get back down here, I’m almost done.”

“If it’s nothing that won’t heal on its own then I’ll let my body deal with it itself. It’s probably better to raise my new skill anyway. Besides, I need to deal with this.”

He’d been keeping an eye on the enchantment he’d put on the trial and it had just broken. He didn’t want to lose another second to that countdown if he could help it, so he placed his hands against the wall to add it again, feeling himself connect with his rings as the mana left him and seeing it hold.

He left it for the time being, going to the other end of the room where the entrance to the next section stood and began looking over the enchantments that could be seen there and swore.

“Bad news, I think one of my theories was right.”

“Well, mind sharing with the rest of us which one?”

“I’m pretty sure the theme of the next section is going to be water.”

“...You aren’t seriously saying we’re going to have to go through eight more of these freaking things?”

“It’s looking more and more like this is the trial of a god of magic so I’d say probably. Also, if I’m right it will probably be nine, not eight, though I really really hope I’m wrong.”

“What are you talking about there’s only ten magics…”

Greed trailed off as he understood what Ben was saying and began to swear, cursing out a god who was no longer there to listen.

Ben couldn’t disagree. If they were exceptionally lucky then the eleventh floor would be where they would claim their rewards, but he wasn’t feeling that lucky, nor was he willing to bet on the generosity of the god who’d made that trial. As far as he was concerned, they were going to have to deal with a non-affinitied floor.

He couldn’t begin to express just how much he hated the idea, in part because that left it impossible to plan. Non-affinitied magics were typically harder to use and had a larger mana cost, but for the trial of a god that would be meaningless. Then there was the problem of just how flexible non-affinitied magics were. Looking at the examples he possessed alone, there was enchanting, material user, and destruction, all of which were plenty varied in their own way, but then there were so many others too. Clairvoyance, strengthening, magic nullification, corpse song, telekinesis, empathy, the list went on and on with many options being extremely rare. Whatever the trial contained would reflect whatever uses the god and its people had found for magic like that, but in principle, it could be used for almost anything.

He told himself.

“I don’t suppose you can breathe underwater?”

“Thankfully I do well in both land and sea,” Greed told him, casting him a more concerned look. “And you? I don’t suppose your race is built for that sort of thing, is it?”

“No, I’m not.”

He knew there were water and air affinity skills that might help him, but there was no way for someone like him to gain them, it was the curse of his garbage affinities. He’d need another option if it was going to be anything like the air trial.

He looked to the pile of items in the corner, having a small idea but needing to sort them all out first before he did so he went to examine the two piles, finding the larger of the two to be surprising as he did.

“This one’s all the stuff from the last section. Does it just keep bringing them forward after? Why though? You know what, no I’m not going to question whatever little bit of kindness I can get here, this is good news. What about the other one?”

He looked through it the same as he did on the last floor, finding mostly the same items as he did. Nothing greater than lower rare, with most of them having fragmented and decaying enchantments. The few that were whole were just of the magic variety, nothing worth copying onto a ring for later.

Of everything he saw, the only thing he felt that was worth his time was five more items from the race that made the trail and he put them to the side to study later. He was going to make use of everything around he could, starting with every piece of metal available to him as he grabbed a sword and walked over behind the fountain, turning it to dust and then reassembling it into a flat sheet of metal.

“Greed, hope you’re ready to be pushed a bit, between this and keeping the timer stopped, I’m going to need a hell of a lot of buffs.”

“Ha, call me a prophet ‘cause I can already see what my future looks like until we get out of here. So what are you making now?”

“If the next trial is actually water then I want to prepare the best I can. That means making things, testing things, and hopefully getting a new skill. That means I need a pool. Here’s hoping there’s no limit on the fountain.”

Building it by hand, constantly expanding his mana as he did while buffed to all hell and then having to actually fill it up. It was going to be far from easy, but now he had all of the time in the world. He’d already sworn to himself he would live, what was just a little work to make it happen?