In the month after finishing the dark tower, the day-to-day lives of both Thera and Ben had returned to their more normal state; at least for the most part.

While Thera was still being treated differently because of the reveals of both her connections and title, it had become so much easier for her to just not care about it. Her charm was gone, and with it a weight she’d been carrying her whole life. Whatever anyone had to say about her was nothing in comparison to the comfort she was able to feel in herself.

As for Ben, his work never ended. While he got to enjoy practicing however he saw fit with the shop still closed while he was waiting for his teacher to finish up his massive project, he was mostly allowed to follow his whims with what he wanted to make, with the keyword being mostly.

Upon his return, Myriad had given him a request on behalf of the gods. He was one of the world's few awakened craftsmen, and given there was still the second wave of the war coming, that meant something. People needed to be armed, and he was the one to do it.

That wasn’t to say that there weren't already plenty of weapons and armours to go around. As things stood, everyone who was fighting would be well-supplied. The difference was that anything he could make was of a higher quality than what most would possess, and he was quick enough to get hundreds of items out a day, resulting in thousands of pounds of raw materials being taken in and out of the town at all times to aid in his work.

His homunculi were playing a big part in that too. While staffs, swords, spears, shields, and other weapons of all kinds were being created through their use, to the point that he’d had extra forges made just to make the workflow smoother, it had freed up his true body to cover the enchantments for it all, ensuring that every weapon that left the shop to whatever lands would be getting them came out the doors as upper rare at worst.

Of course, he didn’t let it take up all of his time. He had his quotas, but the moment he reached them he would let his true self drop the task for other things while the homunculi kept up their work, with the other thing in question being to try to make progress on some of his other projects, which resulted in what he was staring at below.

To someone back on his homeworld, they would have taken it to be a toy robot, and Ben supposed they would be right to think that. Looking like a man made of metal and wires but only standing a bit taller than the length of his hand, the thing was getting up and moving around under its own power, letting Ben feel just a hint of success.

Finally some freaking progress on this. Just wait Inux, only a little longer.

He hadn’t forgotten about the talos he’d met what felt like so long ago now. Essentially an ensouled robot, Ben still had his core safely stored on his desk, waiting for the day it would be released and he was doing his best to make it happen. With the state of his mind, he was always working on designs and theory-crafting enchantments, and if the miniature body he had being possessed by a demon’s soul was any indication, he was finally on the right track.

So I was able to solve the sight issue by combining a bunch of mind skills and various sense skills while tying in aspects of clairvoyance and scrying and it looks like it properly has a sense of touch, though that’s a little harder to judge. It looks like creating a fragile barrier around it that breaks and reforms each time anything gets too close is doing its job to convey that bit of sensory information but I might need to re-evaluate further when the time comes. That just leaves the issue of overall quality.

Of the few designs he’d attempted, this was the first to reach lower legendary for all of the power he managed to shove into its small frame without breaking, but that wasn’t good enough. Linux had been a mythic item, even if it felt wrong to describe a person as such, and his body had been made in a way that not even Nare could understand when he’d tried asking. If Ben couldn’t make a design that was at least upper legendary then it was pointless.

Well, I say at least, but as good as I am, I’m not getting to mythic. He thought with a sigh. Even upper legendary might be more than I can do…

Still, he’d made a promise so he wasn’t going to give up, and with that determination in mind, he pulled the soul crystal from the miniature robot’s back before envisioning exactly what he wanted to improve upon and used his mana to bring it into being.

Cool, thought that was going to take another couple hours.

He’d been keeping an eye on his job level so he’d known that it was going to be finished that day, he just hadn’t expected it at that exact moment. He’d been materializing the small bodies instead of building them from scratch for the simple reason that it would be quicker for testing out prototypes that way, but it looked like it had paid off. Or at least it would soon after he went to see Thera.

Though I still think she’s being too worried here.

His god chimed in, making his presence known.

It’s still a master-ranked job, even if it's easy it won’t be that easy. But don’t worry, I’m a man of my word. I guess it doesn’t hurt to be a little cautious about this.

It would only put him out a few minutes as he went to the clinic and back so it wasn’t going to be the end of the world, but the part of him that craved efficient leveling made him rush over to get things done.

When he arrived, he found everyone he needed already there, waiting at the front for him. For the sake of more than just himself and Thera reaping the benefits of her master adventurer job, she’d invited her aunt, Aso, Sachel, and Ralia into her party earlier when she’d first taken it, leaving just enough room for himself.

But why’s Sachel and Ralia here? They don’t do any clinic work?

This isn’t going to be exciting.

“Well, don’t I feel like mister popular,” He laughed. “All of you came out for little old me.”

“It made taking bets easier,” Thera teased. “We’re all putting money on how long this takes you to finish so we all have to watch you begin.”

“What? Okay, just for the record, how long do you each think this is going to take?”

“From what Myriad’s said, I was guessing two weeks,” Sachel told him, with Sonya taking a far closer date.

“I’m saying a day so don’t disappoint.”

“I didn’t bet,” Ralia told him, looking at Sonya with discomfort over the ridiculous answer she so confidently gave.

Aso looked the least sure of herself after hearing the others as she gave her number. “I was betting a month and I only went that low because of everyone else. You’re taking a master job, right? What have you done to inspire this sort of confidence in the rest of them?”

“I honestly have no clue. What about you Thera?”

She gave a bright smile at the question. “I’m putting you at sub ten minutes.”

“...Okay, I get you were worried about me taking it before I came here, but you do realize I’m going to be responsible for basically everyone's experience here, right? I’m pretty sure Sachel has the win in the bag.”

Since the master adventure job was one that combined job pools with all party members, that meant the total amount of experience needed was outrageous, especially considering what the others had. With Sonya still at the early levels of master life mage and Sachel in the same boat for master plant mage, it was only Aso who had a somewhat more normal job as a light mage, with whatever Ralia had being left unknown to him. Accounting for all of that, the total experience for all of them would be huge.

Of course, the only reason we’re doing this at all is because I know my mind is crazy enough that it will be quick, I think they just need to lower expectations a teeny tiny bit here is all.

Still, he felt himself being looked at with curious eyes so he didn’t delay, accepting Thera’s invite when she asked him to join the party before touching his job crystal and taking the one he knew he wanted.

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

Jobs: Mind master (lv 99)

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

Attributes:

Vitality: 1121 Vitality recovery rate: 30/hr Mana: 1297 Mana recovery rate: 94/min Strength: 912 Agility: 285 Stamina: 2304 Intelligence: 5104

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 lv4* Divine enchanting lv4* Unnatural mind lv4*

Passive skills:

King of sacrilege lv9* Bind Integrated demonic body lv6 Defense enhancement lv9 Absorption resistance lv7 Knowledge lv5* All affinity resistance enhancement lv6 Lesser inspiration lv9 Fine motor control lv7 Bite enhancement lv1 Piercing resistance lv3

Active skills:

Stealth lv1 Deep connection lv3* Cycling lv1 Marksmanship lv6 Material manipulation lv4* Swimming lv1 Dance lv0 Unnatural thought speed lv2* Mental symbiosis lv9 Puppetry lv5

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

Trials:

Trial of Anailia and Tolona Trial of the Dead God Earth Tower Life Tower Dark Tower

…What?

Thera didn’t need to give any ‘I told you so’s’ but that didn’t keep the smug look from her face as the rest of them looked surprised. Forget ten minutes, it hadn’t taken a second.

So I guess it's a good thing that I didn’t take it earlier. Good to know.

“Ahem, so let's not make this weird and move on to the second part of this,” He told them, not looking at Aso, Sachel, or Ralia while the three stared at him like he was some sort of monster. “Make sure you guys take jobs you know are going to be hard and we’ll all just enjoy getting to cheat just a little after.”

He could see the question in some of their eyes but ignored it, instead pulling out his job crystal again to let the options fill his mind for the second time that day.

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 Otherworldly craftsman Destructive craftsman Master adventurer Soul defiling gardener Summoned enchanter Ritual enchanter Divine enchanter High marksman High destruction mage World killer Material creator Beginner puppeteer Freak mind user Unholy thinker Connect master Polymath

Unlike before when the only new option was ‘beginner puppeteer’ he now had four new ones, all of them mind jobs and he looked them over, unable to deny the bit of excitement and curiosity that came with seeing the new choices.

Considering that now that he’d completed the master path, the ones he got were going to be more specialized, there was no guarantee they would be completed anywhere near as fast as what he’d just done, but there were still a few he felt his eyes being pulled to.

Of them all, unholy thinker was likely to be the quickest while at the same time giving the fantastic bonuses he’d get from any sacrilege-type job, but when he looked at the others he couldn’t help but feel a different draw.

Connect master. He’d had jobs that were related to connect before, but this was the first to be fully devoted to it and seeing it made his heart pound. He still needed to level the skill with all he had to make sure he could keep getting and using higher-leveled rings for enchanting with and now he was seeing a job that would help him do exactly that. How could he not want to take it?

Then there were the last two which he found ignorable. Polymath had the potential to be another quick one, but given how rude freak mind user felt to see, he could only assume it was a job that was only available for a mind like his own, meaning it would be harder to level and not worth the bother.

Okay, these are things to think about for the future though. I already know what I'm going to be taking.

“I choose master adventurer.”

It was his turn to play the role of bringing their experience pools together and he put out the party requests for each of them as they all took the hardest jobs they could, until it was down to the one who would be filling his previous role of gaining the majority of the experience for them.

“I’ll take queen of mana.”

Thera said it confidently, no longer afraid of raising her mana pool so much now that she already had a good level of control for her most important magics, and he could see in her eyes that she got even more than that too.

“A level?” He asked, wanting to know.

“Plus a skill. I’m officially at the fifth for my mana crystallization and I just got mana enhancement too.”

“Oh nice, that should pair well with your regen enhancement.”

And now she only needs another level to barrier magic and I can try pushing her over the edge for non-affinity magic. With the job she picked, this should be easy.

It was something they’d discussed back when they were looking at what to take after he finished mind master for them with it coming up as the obvious choice. For anyone else, queen of mana was a difficult job. King and queen attribute jobs were ones that became available once someone managed to have a value at or above ten thousand in anything, with bonuses comparable to those one would receive for specialized ones like the mind master he just took or else the kind that tier three skill holders might unlock, but it had disadvantages too.

Despite the fact that it had just helped her push mana crystallization up a level, that was likely more of a coincidence than anything else. No matter what one might think, it wasn’t a magic job. It was one that exclusively gained experience by growing the job holder's mana pool and regeneration rate, needing about a thousand to complete it.

For anyone else, that could mean being stuck on it for years as they desperately tried to raise the amount of mana they could hold, even with the help of the impressive job bonuses, but Thera wasn’t anyone else. Growing her mana pool came to her naturally, even with the rest of them acting as tagalongs by merging experience pools together like that, it would still be a matter of a month at the worst, nothing Ben couldn’t deal with and an absolute boon to their friends.

With things going better than he’d expected, how couldn’t he feel great? It was obvious that the others were in just as good of a place, getting their bonuses and claiming a few levels for themselves for how things had just worked out. It left the lot of them beaming as they parted for the day.

With their small meetup done, Sonya went back to work while Sachel and Ralia went to rejoin Skoe at the guild, being followed by Thera and Aso as they left the clinic to take a quest. Sonya’s presence was enough to make sure that neither of them was strictly needed and they both had other things they wanted to work on, leaving Ben to head back to the shop alone to chip away at his various projects.