Deep in the woods, Thera fired her spells with gusto to practice her magics. Random trees that were taking the brute of her need for distraction were dropping stone leaves one after another while the ones lucky enough not to be petrified got the benefit of the massive earth healing spell she’d put in place, stimulating their recovery in any case they might need it as dirt and dust swirled in the air, smaller stones under her control that she’d ever have managed if it wasn’t for the fact that she’d awakened her skill as Aso eventually came up beside her.

“Um, Thera? Listen, I’ve been trying to give you some time, but it’s been days and do you maybe want to talk about whatever’s bothering you?”

“Hmm? What makes you think something’s bothering me?”

“How much you’re throwing yourself into your magic for one. Your expression for another.”

Hearing that she stopped controlling her mana, letting dirt fall to the ground around them as she stopped to touch her face, feeling a deep frown as she briefly missed the privacy of her cloak. She’d never needed to get used to hiding her emotions in the past and it was clearly a skill she needed to pick up at some point as she tried to begin to put into words just what was bothering her.

It wasn’t how she ended up with a new blessing. After what she’d had to deal with in that god's land, she wasn’t exactly a fan and it had pushed both her cooking and speed reading up a level each so getting it was completely a benefit.

To say it was really any one single thing causing her stress might be too much too, though there was certainly a case to be made for saying it was a single person as she looked to the girl with her and instead asked a question.

“Aso, what would you do if someone you loved was absolutely insane?”

“Why’s Ben insane?”

“I mean, this isn’t necessarily about Ben,” She muttered as her friend laughed.

“Well Sonya’s sane and your uncle seems normal enough. Is there anyone else in town who would be stressing you out like this?”

“Fine. Ben’s insane because he’s far too prone to getting in trouble and it’s stressing me out.”

After a week he was finally at the point that light wasn’t making his headache worse, but what was going on in his head was still a source of stress as she couldn’t help but worry about any long-term effects his brain would have to deal with for going through all of that for so long, and that wasn’t even considering what she’d learned had happened between him and a large fraction of the world’s gods. She couldn’t imagine anybody acting like that, the fact he had without even considering the consequences left her with a headache of her own as she kept worrying she’d wake up to learn he’d faced some sort of divine retribution.

At her concern though, Aso couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on, I mean yeah, getting hospitalized by a system effect was downright bizarre, but how much trouble could he get in?”

Oh, you have no idea.

She wasn’t going to spread around half of the madness he’d made her and her family aware of when it came to his life and she pinched the bridge of her nose while she thought about it.

“I think I need a vacation. A nice long one where nobody tries to kill anyone and I get nothing but peace of mind.”

“Well, let’s worry about that when we get back in town ‘cause someone destroyed the area I was looking for my quests herb,” Aso told her, casting her eyes around the space that had been devastated in Thera’s own personal practice.

“Ah, right.”

Getting back to the guild with Aso, Thera went to the job crystal in the back, feeling a bit more relaxed after enjoying her company and having their talk, right up until she saw the options that filled her mind.

AVAILABLE JOBS

Queen of mana Musician Professional dancer Bard Darkness mage -charm specialized Healer Dark mage Staff user Master life mage Master adventurer Earth princess

“You have to be kidding me.”

She knew that any jobs a person could get after the master branch was supposed to be more personalized than what typical jobs would offer, but that was a little too personalized for her taste.

In theory, she understood it. The spirits had decided she was their princess for whatever reason and that was significant enough that it was reflected in her status. As the first child of a great spirit as well, it made sense that she would get a job that reflected her heritage.

But seriously, earth princess? And that’s my only option? The system didn’t see anything else worth giving me as I kept advancing the earth path?

She couldn’t help but be a little annoyed about it, with the biggest issue being that after she completed it her bonuses for earth magic might end all together if she didn’t get another job for it, but she decided to add that to her growing list of worries for later as she decided on what to take.

A part of her wanted to take master life mage because of her worries about Ben, but while it seemed like her magic was helping a little, she didn’t think it would make a difference even if she gained a whole level to her life magic, and more importantly, she didn’t know how long it would take to complete. By virtue of awakening the skill she was already one of the best healers on the planet, and with a time she’d need to fight with all of her might only a few months away, she knew she wanted to take something that might help with that.

Surprisingly enough, that left queen of mana as a genuine option despite how she’d been ignoring it all of her life. Her control had grown more than enough that she no longer had any issue with the idea of taking a job meant to help her mana develop even further and could see other areas it could help, such as letting her help larger groups of the spirits who kept seeking her out.

…But that won’t help my magics, and I’m going to be getting excellent bonuses if I take the last option… Damn it, I don’t think I’m going to be able to hide this from Ben for long. I choose earth princess.

Name: Thera Oress

Race: Succubus/Spirit Hybrid

Titles: Spirit Child, Madman’s lover, Spirit princess

Jobs: Earth princess (lv4)

Previous Jobs: Beginner Dancer, Dancer, Apprentice mage, Earth mage, True mage, High earth mage, Spirit mage, Life mage, High life mage, Telekinetic mage, Adventurer, High telekinetic mage, High spirit mage, Master earth mage

Attributes:

Vitality: 2056 Vitality recovery rate: 29/hr Mana: 498,714 Mana recovery rate: 160/min Strength: 270 Agility: 742 Stamina: 621 Intelligence: 679

Affinities:

Light: 4 Life: 22 Fire: 11 Water: 14 Air: 12 Earth: 103 Death: 3 Dark: 43 Space: 2 Time: 1

Resistances:

Light: 5 Life: 9 Fire: 11 Water: 16 Air: 12 Earth: 35 Death: 13 Dark: 42 Space: 7 Time: 8

Blessed skills:

Spiritual earth magic lv0* Charm magic lv4

Passive skills:

World speak+ Coordination lv4 Bind Mana recovery rate enhancement lv3 Earth sense lv2

Active skills:

Calculate lv1 Dance lv4 String instrument lv3 Woodwind instrument lv3 Cleaning lv1 Staff wielder lv1 Meditation lv2 Speed reading lv4 Spiritual life magic lv0* Telekinesis lv7 Dark magic lv7 Spirit empowering lv8 Cooking lv1 Mana examination lv3

Blessings:

Anailia’s Blessing Elvat’s life magic Blessing Quox’s Blessing Eneth’s Blessing

Trials:

Trial of Anailia and Tolona

“Damn it,” She sighed. “This seems like a really good job too.”

“Why, what did you take?” Aso asked as she popped up behind her. A question Thera was quick to brush off for all of the other ones it might bring.

“Doesn’t matter. Instead, since it’s not too late, let's grab lunch. It’s my treat.”

With Aso successfully distracted by the prospect of free food and company, Thera did her best to enjoy the rest of the day while trying not to let every point of stress on her mind pick at her.

“Never mind, this isn’t a good job, it’s an incredible one. Ugh.”

After going to sleep for the night, she couldn’t help but check her card again in the morning, smiling despite her conflicted feelings for her current job title as she admired just how much she’d grown in the past few years, only for her eyes to catch a change on it from the day before, something so small she could have easily missed it yet spoke volumes for how exceptional a path it was, to the point that it was likely going to be easier for her than her last one because of it.

Despite not using a single bit of earth magic between when she’d taken the job and when she’d woken up, she’d gained two levels to it, bringing her current job level to six, pointing her to an inescapable conclusion. It was a job that gave her passive experience.

She knew of course that there were jobs that could get a bit of passive experience from any passive skills that were always working, but she doubted that her earth sense or mana recovery was responsible for so much growth in a single night when there was nothing in particular to push either skill, meaning it likely had more to do with what she was, a half spirit, as her opinion on it took a far more positive tone, even if she was still going to put off mentioning it to Ben for a while.

So if this really is a job related to the spirits considering me their princess, does that mean that just by existing I get experience for it? Gods above, if that’s true and I combine it with my regular practice, isn’t that incredible? Doesn’t that kind of make this the best job I could have?

It was good enough news that she wasn’t even worried about not having another earth magic job to choose from after. There was always a chance that her current one would spawn an advanced variant after it was complete after all, and if it was along the same path… Well, she had the potential to have a lot to look forward to in the future, assuming she lived long enough to take advantage of all the job system had to offer of course.

It was with that far more positive outlook that she got up and dressed and made her way to the kitchen as she found Ben there, just preparing to make breakfast as he noticed her coming in.

“Oh hey,” He said, giving her a happy smile that she returned.

“Hey, are you okay to be out here?”

“Yeah, but I think I’ll still take another week before going back to the shop. Forging isn’t exactly quiet but I need to do something other than sitting and trying to recover in my room or I’ll go insane. Hence breakfast.”

“Alright, well give me a second and I’ll give you a hand,” She told him, tying her hair back as she tossed some of the ingredients he had out in a frying pan as she watched it with spatula in hand.

Even with having made it to the first level of the skill, she didn’t feel as comfortable as she wanted to be with cooking, some of her earlier failures still in her mind so her focus was fully on what was in front of her, only pulled away as she felt her boyfriend’s lips on her cheek as she jumped in surprise.

“Ben!” She elbowed him as he laughed. “No flirting while cooking, you’re going to get burned.”

“Ha, sorry, sorry, I couldn’t resist. You just looked a lot more relaxed today.”

“Mmh, maybe if my boyfriend didn’t pick fights with gods while he has a brain on the edge of exploding I wouldn’t need to worry so much,” She told him with a sigh, hearing a chuckle coming from behind them as her aunt made her presence known, going up to Thera and wrapping her arms around her to comfort her niece.

“Well, since Ben hasn’t been smited yet and his brain’s still working against all odds I’d say you shouldn’t stress too much about it either. Also, it looks like you have mail.”

She saw the letter in Sonya’s hands and felt a small bit of joy as she recognized the handwriting. Until recently the small bit of mail she’d been receiving had come exclusively from her parents, but despite the trouble that had come with their visit to Allfaith, she was now getting some from three other sources too as she opened the letter from Yuzu, the first few pages being a happy ramble as it seemed like the other girl wrote as much as she enjoyed talking, with the smile slipping at what it contained in the end, an invitation for both her and Ben.

It was something that needed proper thought before she could even begin to consider responding, and as much as she wanted to keep it from him, it was an offer he needed to be aware of. She just did her best to take comfort with the fact that she was sure he would personally decline, but it didn’t stop her mood from dropping as a pit formed deep in her stomach.