Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

Perfect, exactly what I’ve been waiting for.

It had already felt like she’d hit a wall in trying to raise her sacrilege, the skill only at its first awakened level despite spending every night in Ben’s head working on it for what felt like days at a time, and while she did have plenty of bonuses in the forms of all of her blessings, she wanted more, leaving only the touch of her job crystal to see if she’d actually get them.

AVAILABLE JOBS

MusicianBardDarkness mage: charm specializedMathematicianApprentice chefMind userDivine KinExpertMalicious earth mageDisillusioned life mageSinful dark mageCorrupt non-affinity mageIdolized spirit mage

Oh, thank the gods, she sighed to herself, not noting any irony over thanking the divine for jobs that would help her grow her strength against them, as she took in the six new options waiting for her.

She’d crossed the limits needed to unlock expert, a job that, when finished, permanently increased how much experience other actions would produce, but she cared about that far less than she did all of her new sacrilege-aligned jobs, not expecting any of them to be particularly hard.

She was still gaining experience through Ben’s efforts after all, and she held a high level in all of the skills they were linked to. Combine those two facts and they’d all be finished in a matter of weeks at most, though there was one she expected to have done in a single day.

Considering that there was a goal for her to awaken her earth mage, taking her new job for it was important, but she was willing to bet she’d be able to choose that one in as little as an hour. All of those were second-tier jobs, but one would be directly linked to her third-tier skill, meaning the experience for it would come easily and made her choice for her.

Disillusioned life mage.

That turned out well. Still, disillusioned life mage? I mean, I guess I’m a little disillusioned with the gods, but not, like, all of them.

At the same time, that was a more minor complaint compared to a few other options she received. Even if it would be helpful, she wasn’t looking forward to being named a sinful dark mage for a while, and idolized spirit mage really only managed to spell out her paternal race’s infatuation with her, the spirits of the world placing her well above the gods as far as they were concerned, even if she was still mortal.

“Well, whatever,” she muttered to herself as she walked through different streets, casting her soul spells as she did. “I wanted this, and these jobs will help me grow. I can’t complain.”

The bonuses were good, and it had led to a variety of levels, there wasn’t more for her to hope for, and considering she now had a new job that would give bonuses to her spirit empowering as well, reaching the second tier of sacrilege really was proving to be a powerful boon.

Though not to the extent that Ben seemed to be able to, Thera was able to feel the faith around her, and while her own second-tier sacrilege hadn’t pulled in the ‘tolerance’ skill his had when it had grown, she believed she was experiencing a reduction in how divinity would affect her too.

Which means I should also stop into a church to see if I can feel the flow of faith like Ben can, but… him being able to force his mind to different divine realms has nothing to do with his sacrilege, so even if I can feel it, it probably doesn’t matter.

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Ultimately, the effects of it really were minor when one wasn’t having constant arguments with the divine, and while she would continue working as hard as she could to get it to the third tier, when it came to increasing her overall power, there was more she knew she could be doing as well.

Even though sacrilege was her priority to raise, wanting it at the third tier so that Ben wouldn’t go off alone to try and fight the mad god whose creatures were ravaging the galaxy, she’d acquired other skills that could make a meaningful difference when that time came as well. She now had a knowledge skill and, considering that her partner could directly fill any person’s head with information, she had the chance to become a contender for it quite easily, and while she wasn’t exactly a fan of connect, given she lacked hidden mind, she couldn’t deny that the way it seemed to interact with both her soul magic and her mana empowering made it a worthwhile investment as well.

And then there’s mental expansion…

She couldn’t deny it had only taken her a few hours to get used to that particular change in herself after acquiring it, and given how certain Ben seemed to be that he could push Valaria who held the same skill to the third tier of it, that meant it was a path Thera needed to pursue too. The attribute bonuses that came with a third tier skill were life-changing on their own, even ignoring whatever power the skill itself would have at that tier, and as sad as it was, that meant she’d likely have a better chance of reaching the third tier with it than any other skill, even the earth magic she was so proficient in. How was training in magic supposed to compare to being pulled into Ben’s head for what would seem like a few days or weeks to train, when it would really only be a few hours? She didn’t have the same drive as Valaria or the demis on the front, but what she did have was more access to Ben. He was already helping her train her sacrilege, begrudgingly or not; getting him to help train her soul connection, knowledge, and mental expansion at the same time wasn’t exactly a greater leap.

Except for the part where working on all of that every single night is going to eventually drive me insane, she groaned. There were so many areas she could grow with his help, but they’d undeniably take a toll, and their time left was too limited for her to be able to get away with being casual about it. If she was serious about it, then she couldn’t take breaks, she’d just have to grit her teeth and deal with it.

… At least when I finish all of my current sacrilege jobs, I should get a couple new ones when I start working through the mind path, she told herself, as if that were any consolation for what she was going to need to put herself through in the little time she had remaining before the world might end. It’ll be fine. I can do this. Just get as strong as I can, and then… and then, I guess see if the world is still going to end, anyway.

She did her best to shake the thought from her head; the fate of the planet not being something she needed to dwell on. Either they’d win or they wouldn’t; all they could do was try, and with that frame of mind, she continued on her training, leaving the city she’d been walking through to go to another one.

Gate to gate, she was still feeling the benefits of her soul magic being a passive skill. Even without looking, she could feel the souls around her, and all of the spells that mattered were applied to them without any will behind them, and the life aspects of her magic had grown just the same. If she sensed an injury or ailment in anyone then, so long as she knew how to treat it, it would be cured, leaving anything as minor as simple cuts and bruises to greater issues like lingering injuries and infections treated, all by doing nothing more than walking around.

She still needed to do it with intent for training, but when it came to just helping people grow, all she needed to do was be present to give them her benefits, and for the majority of people, that was enough. Just by passing her, they gained levels and skills, and the effects of those spells would linger for a while after she was gone. The part she’d played for the world had just grown tremendously, yet at the same time, she barely needed to do anything, which gave her mind room to wander.

It almost makes me want to do more hospital work again, but… yeah, no, all of the other healers lose out on practice when I go in on my off days, and even if I’m a little free, I’m not so bored that I want to throw myself back into that hell yet.

Even if her current power left her incomparable to when she’d been a contender for her life magic, the memories of just how long the days had been when she’d been helping out constantly were enough to stop her. As bad as she felt for all of her old coworkers, she wasn’t ready to return to that misery if the ones in charge didn’t want her to.

Maybe I should see if the adventurers’ guild has any more construction quests, she considered. I could go out, build something, train my earth magic a bit while also giving the people that live in any place I’m sent the benefits of my soul magic. As things are, trying to balance both powers isn’t giving the best results.

… But then, I haven’t really been looking for ways to train my earth magic more while doing this, have I?

If she really looked around, it wasn’t like it was hard to find little ways to use it. Buildings and monuments both had cracks that she could fix or smooth out, and roads would take damage that was easily repaired as well. Even if insignificant, they were ways to get practice, letting her do a little with her magic, even if it was going to be far from what was needed to push it over the edge.

I’ll have to think on more ways I might manage to awaken it, Thera sighed. I’m sure there’s more I could be doing, but-

Her thoughts cut off at the sound of a scream, instantly putting her on edge and prepare to fight whatever demons or other threat had appeared in that city but, as she looked around for its source, what she found was a group of eyes placed squarely on her, shrinking back in fear and left her confused for only a moment before she understood.

Right. I did rain terror down on a lot of places, and I didn’t exactly go out of my way to disguise myself while doing it, she realized, the terror being directed at her as a result of her actions when Ben had been dropped into hell. And my appearance is a bit distinct. Okay, it might be time to take a stroll through a different city. One I haven’t visited before.

The group reacting to her were already fleeing the opposite direction, and while most others in that city both hadn’t seen her when she’d leveled a few of the gods’ churches in that land and hadn’t understood what those others were panicking about, it still made her turn around to head back to the gate. There was only a bit more time before she’d need to go pick up Mora, anyway, and since Ben wouldn’t be back till the morning, that meant she needed to handle making food for the boy and Dewdrop as well.

So, with nothing else, she made her way back, hoping no one around was paying attention to how her face sparkled as she blushed out of embarrassment, knowing that she might get similar reactions to her outburst for a while to come.