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After having a heartwarming moment with his family, where Ervas was reassured that everyone cared and loved him and that he was no less than Veronica, nor Veronica was any better than him, his insecurities flew away as he was held by care and love by Veronica's arms.

​​

Although they were metallic and supposedly cold and tough, since she acquired the 'Comfort Maintenance' Skill that was not the case anymore, even her cold metallic embrace was now comfortable due to the mysterious effects of such a Skill.

"Hmm… I want something that can also let me learn Veronica's new Skill, I don't want to be left without it…" thought Ervas, glancing at his Available Job Options.

[Jobs Available]

[Gray Wizard], [Spiritual Alchemist], [Mana Crafter], [Life Demon Druid], [Hollow Demon General], [Artisan: Phantasmal Living Equipment], [Guardian of the Spiritual Forest], [Herald of Life and Death], [Living and Undead Progenitor], [Vicious Bloodsucking Phantasmal Demon], [Dead Spirit's Prince of Death], [Malevolent Inner Skeleton Manipulator], [Demon Beast King], [Soul Healer], [Spiritual No-Life Doctor], [Aberrant Abyssal Mind Flayer], [Tartarus Phantasmal Warrior], [Elysium Bringer], [Gods Nemesis], [Vampiric Werewolf Phantasmal Prince] (New!), [Bloodline Awakener] (New!)

"Two new Jobs…" muttered Ervas.

"Oh! What are they?" asked Veronica with a curious expression.

"The names are… well. One is named 'Vampiric Werewolf Phantasmal Prince', and the other is simply named 'Bloodline Awakener'…" said Ervas.

"Oooh! The first one is because of your new puppy bloodline! You should show it more! I want to caress your fluffy tail~!" said Veronica.

"Me too!" said Jason.

"F-Father, I think this isn't something you should ask your son… And no, Veronica, having a tail still feels kind of weird, so it will remain as a phantom within my body…" said Ervas.

"What a bummer… Well, maybe you will feel better with it one day," said Veronica.

"Hmm… I don't know about that, chief…" said Ervas, as he inspected the two new Jobs information through Appraisal.

The 'Vampiric Werewolf Phantasmal Prince' Job was related, obviously, with his Vampiric bloodline that was still awakening, and his newly acquired wolf beast-men bloodline awakening on his most recent evolution. It seemed to be a Job focused on physical fighting, and it improved upon Skills related to it. It seemingly had no new Skills, though there may always be something hidden that he was not capable of seeing in the description even with Appraisal.

"This Job seems nice, but I am currently more confident in my magic than physical capabilities, I am still developing, and Veronica is the physical fighter here… well, at some point, both of us will end up becoming all-rounders, but for now, I like the dynamic of both of us completing each other, I am the Magic, and she is the Strength and Defense…" thought Ervas, glancing at the other Job information.

The mysterious and intriguing 'Bloodline Awakener' Job, seemed to be a Job unlocked by someone unique amongst the entire world of Kritias, with the ability to awaken the hidden bloodlines within their genes. It was a Job simply focused on helping the user awaken Bloodlines with even more ease through evolution. It also seemingly increases the level of Bloodsucking…

There was a last text in the Job description that said 'The Path to unfold the hidden and wicked magic of the blood is within this power… Are you willing to walk through it, young vampire?'. …It was a very chunni-sounding text.

"The hidden magic of the blood… what does this even mean? Has there ever been magic related to Blood before? I mean, maybe the Vampires know about it? But I've never met any strong enough, not even in my previous life, so I don't really know if they unlock some kind of special magic that is about blood… But it sounds like a path I would like to walk through if it can bring variety and power to my arsenal… However, for now, I am more interested in these other Jobs, especially those that I might be capable of leveling up right away as Veronica did just a few seconds earlier…" thought Ervas as he glanced back at the other Jobs, inspecting them carefully.

"Alright, let's go for it…"

Ding!

[You have changed Jobs to [Guardian of the Spiritual Forest]!]

[You acquired the [Plant Binding Technique: Level 1] Skill!]

[The Levels of the [Vegetation Charm; Level 4], [Life Drain; Level 5], [Botanist; Level 6], and [Pharmacist; Level 2] Skills have increased!]

FLASH!

Ervas felt a rush of power for a slight second, as he felt that his soul expanded to a larger scale. Everyone around felt the same presence, his soul became as vast and welcoming as a forest.

Ervas soul began to exude streams charged with life and mana everywhere, spreading wildly across the Devil Forest. He felt more and more connected with nature and the plants of this forest, and perhaps, even further than the Devil Forest itself.

He felt the connection even more than before, to the point that he was even able to sense the often silent and almost unnoticeable souls of plants.

In Kritias or any other world that had souls, Plants also had Souls, any living being that was complex enough (multicellular) possessed a soul. This was because even living being such as plants that only lived tranquil lives inside of forest or anywhere needed a soul to exist…

Although it seemed to be possible for them to live without one, it was often convenient for the Transmigration God Hekaton to put souls into plants, as this would keep the stream of souls going around in a cycle faster. Plants are born and die incredibly quickly, receiving souls and then acquiring them, especially plants such as grass that were billions of billions over a hill could harbor as many souls as possible.

The thing is that when a soul became one with a plant, it would enter in a similar state to a coma, and it would be so low in mana waves or action that it would often be unnoticed, and the plants that died would often not generate plant ghosts… unless in very rare cases.

"The souls of the plants, of the trees… even the grass, the fungi… everything… It is so harmonious… they are happy to be felt, to be noticed… It is as if many people had woken up," said Ervas with a smile.

"What… kind of Job you changed into?" asked Veronica with surprise and admiration.

"It was named Guardian of the Spiritual Forest," said Ervas.

"I see… well, that explains it, the name itself says a lot…" said Veronica.

"Ervas, your Aura is so welcoming! So much life! How joyful!" said Gaia as she danced around Ervas while floating, as she was a Spirit of the Life Attribute, her connection with nature was also exceptional, making Ervas seem even more wonderful than before.

And just as Ervas felt more connected with nature and felt as if he was very close to make the whole Devil Forest his true domain, the Job leveled up by itself as the streams of mana and life he shared with nature were counted as experience points.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!...

[The gained Experience has reached the required Level, User's Job has reached Level 1!]

[The gained Experience has reached the required Level, User's Job has reached Level 2!]

[The gained Experience has reached the required Level, User's Job has reached Level 3!]

[The gained Experience has reached the required Level, User's Job has reached Level 4!]

[…]

[The gained Experience has reached the required Level, User's Job has reached Level 100!]

"I did it…" said Ervas, feeling a small boost on his stats as he maxed out the Job level in an instant.

"Ervas, you maxed the Job, right? You're so OP!" said Veronica.

"You're OP too, don't make me feel guilty…" said Ervas.

"Hahaha! I guess!" laughed Veronica as Ervas felt happy over the level reaching its max value.

Ervas quickly glanced at his Available Job Options window with quite an extreme speed, seeing yet another Job that might level up straight away.

"The Herald… Huh. The Appraisal results say that it is a job that will help me regulate Life and Death… but what does that even mean? Well, as long as I can manage to… I think while I have my soul connected with Veronica, I might be capable of handling Death better alongside Life" said Ervas, selecting yet another Job that he felt like could level up quickly with the right actions.

Ding!

[You changed Jobs to [Herald of Life and Death]!]

[You acquired the [Life and Death Cycle: Level 1] Unique Skill!]

[The Levels of the [Death Attribute Charm; Level 4], [Golem Transmutation; Level 4], [Soul Binding; Level 4], [Dominate Created Undead; Level 4], [Out-of-Body-Experience; Level 3], [Grotesque Mind: Level 2], and [Yang: Level 1] Skills have increased!]

FLASH!

Yet once again, Ervas felt as if his soul transformed! And even more, Veronica at his side as well!

Both of their consciousness was suddenly sent to a different space, as they glanced at both of their souls rotating with each other in a cycle… Veronica's Soul was dark and abyssal, while Ervas was golden and white.

Both Ervas and Veronica quickly realized what was this.

"Life…"

"And Death…"

Ervas' soul seemed to represent Life, while Veronica's was Death, both of such mystical and ethereal presences rotated with each other in an infinite cycle.

Flash!

Suddenly, both were sent back to reality, as Ervas somehow had learned a bit about what the cycle really meant… while Veronica received an unexpected gift from Ervas' Job change.

(Veronica)

[You acquired the [Life and Death Cycle: Level 1] Unique Skill!]

"Eh?! I got a Skill out of nowhere!"

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