With the demidemons mostly settled, or at least to a point where it had grown to be the realm of the healers and adventurers they were working with along with their own efforts to help finish their adjustment to the new environment, Ben was once more able to focus on his various work, slipping on his coat to do exactly that as he began overfilling his soul.
Helping them had put him behind, leaving him to still work through a job he should have already finished with ease and that led him to pushing himself more than he’d planned, the pain it put him under making him appreciate the unexpected break all of the more now that it was done.
Just a little longer of this though. I’ve been making good progress getting through everyone's jobs, I’ll be done before I know it.
It was what he was trying to tell himself at least, the ache demanding some promise of completion if he was going to keep working through it and he just needed to remind himself that the pain was just another chore to help him grow and that it at least had some side benefits as well in the form of skills that would raise with it and maybe even the acquisition of new ones too.
Because one day. One day, I’m getting pain resistance. Mark my freaking words!
I don’t know. The collective universe? Myself? Whatever garbage force has been keeping me from getting it after all I’ve been through on this garbage planet?
I don’t need any of that negativity so early in the morning.
This isn’t shame, this is indignation! If I’m going to be incompatible with every affinitied skill then I shouldn’t be incompatible with any of the non-affinitied ones, it’s a little something called fairness!
One of his many tasks to finish, he walked over to one of his mini-gates and activated it, finding not only Amy waiting on the other side to receive his lessons but Yuzu as well, the young soul mage practically wrapped around the other girl, holding her tight while he looked on.
“I’m just going to point out that it’s not going to be the easiest to learn like that.”
“Do I look like I have any choice in this?” Amy asked him, torn between looking for help and coming across as deeply embarrassed. “She’s stronger than me, there’s literally nothing I can do.”
“Don’t be like that, I’m just making sure you know I love you,” Yuzu told her, making the girl trapped in her arms blush all the harder with Ben nodding in understanding.
“So, this is the reaction from what happened in the tower then?”
A reaction in particular to the final floor where some of her insecurities about her place in her own relationship were outed by her copy, Ben hitting the nail on the head in a way that only made her want to slink all the deeper into herself.
“Let’s not mention that, please. Those two have been like, well, this ever since.”
“Because we loooove you,” Yuzu told her, squeezing tighter before taking her first proper look at Ben. “And besides, we… Ben, I hate seeing you.”
“Wow, rude. I thought we were pals.”
“We are but I feel like I go insane every time I get my eyes on you. I was already told the insane thing you did to yourself after the tower but it turned you into a demigod?”
“Ha, yeah, it’s a whole thing,” Ben laughed as he waved them in deeper through the shop. “Sounds like the gods are going to start trying to offer the surgery to others in the world too so it’s a good discovery. I am once again showing my worth.”
“Maybe you could do that without experimenting on yourself?” The soul mage pointed out, getting a shrug for her efforts.
“I would if I could but it was just convenient timing.”
“Ben, please don’t describe your heart being destroyed as convenient, you’re making me feel bad for Thera.”
“Alright, alright but everything worked out. Now, since you’re conveniently here too, can I get some help as well while you’re around?”
“What, help making sure you don’t destroy your soul? Don’t think I didn’t notice that the amount of them appearing around you immediately increased the second you noticed me here.”
The comment got him a silent look before Yuzu sighed. “I’m genuinely, constantly shocked that you don’t damage your soul more with the way you use it. I can’t imagine what the long-term effects of the things you do are going to be.”
“Well, if I live long enough to see what the long term has in store for me I’ll consider myself lucky but for now, we’ve gotta get you to work. Amy, you’ll be on the forge at first today working on some simple projects to see how it benefits your hammer skills and then we’ll end the day with some woodworking for knife practice. I don’t actually expect you to struggle much in either place but what matters for both is having an artistic eye for these things so try and grab whatever creativity you can for it.”
“Alright, should be a fun change of pace beyond hunting every day at least,” She said, looking interested. “But will this really be enough for the gods to raise my weapon skill?”
“No clue but it’s better than nothing. Now come on, let’s get started.”
He led her through a series of projects when they began, making simple j-hooks at first in the same way he himself had begun as well as how he’d started Delair’s training before moving on to other projects that could help her work on different techniques that a hammer could apply to, not only making a pot and a knife since they were more straightforward projects but also more artistic options as he forced her to work with care, shaping a piece of iron into a delicate flower and getting a surprise when she finished with the notification going through her head as she unlocked blacksmithing as a skill.
He blinked when it happened before a wide grin spread across his face. He didn’t think it was the hardest skill to earn but normally it still took a few days of effort, at least as far as he understood it, but not in that case. Even if it had come in a form meant for weapon-wielding, Amy already had far more tool proficiency thanks to it than any normal person would, greatly reducing the skill threshold for her and an ability to learn that was boosted by his skills.
And if it was that easy… In the past, Falk made me gain both knife and hammer wielder since they would add to my overall tool proficiency but is there any reason the opposite won’t work too? Get her some different crafting disciplines for whatever boost the shared coverage might give her weapon skill? Only one way to find out.
“Okay, change of plans,” He told her. “I wasn’t expecting you to get the skill at all today but since you did, we’re moving straight to woodworking and if you manage to get that as well then we’ll move on to other crafting disciplines as well. Stoneworking, cooking, art, I’ll think of everything I can teach which might have some joint coverage for you and we’ll see just how many skills I can squeeze into you before the day ends.”
“Um, Ben? You look uncomfortably excited right now.”
“Am I? Ah, well, what can I say? Love an interesting project.”
He was going to work her all the harder for the day he had her but she’d be fine, what mattered was what her success with gaining the skills meant as his hope for her being able to level her weapon skill in the tower ballooned with the sounds of notifications filling the shop, both hers and his as the day went on.
Well well well, what to go with this time?
Which is fine, I was prepared for that.
Wait, seriously? So he got an advanced soul mage variant and you guys didn’t immediately make me help him with it after I finished him off the first time?
Any luck with them getting advanced jobs?
Okay, hopefully there won’t be too many more so I can focus on myself a little sooner.
May I remind you that this is only happening because the gods decided to get in my way? Anyway, this will only maybe affect my choices for the last option, I think I know what I want to take for the first two.
While he only had a handful of options still that would be second-tier jobs, for that run he decided he wanted to take some different choices, gaining some more bonuses to some of his less boosted skills before he’d get whatever additional benefits would come from a new tower blessing and with that he made his first choice, hoping for some luck.
…Why does flavour enhancement grow so fucking easily?
Okay, no, whatever. This is probably maybe fine as long as nothing gets a taste of me, let’s focus on the good instead. Being a demigod keeps paying off, just need agility enhancement at this point to round out the set, even if that’s the one I’m least likely to get. Either way, next job and next bit of growth. High tank.
“God, that would have been so nice to have before my heart was destroyed.”
“What’s that?” A member of the party he was with asked, clicking her claws in curiosity that he waved off.
“Ignore me, got distracted but with that taken, I’ll finish up here.”
Leaving just the choice of the last one.
It had been ages since his list of choices had been so slim but while there were still a few decent options, he needed to look to the future. Since he was helping Elvat again, that meant the job he was helping with was one that was going to be even harder to finish than a typical third-tier job, meaning he needed to pick something good. Something he’d be able to get additional mountains of experience to on top of what he was already claiming from the way he’d think and the souls he’d make and even if it wasn’t perfect, one choice stood out more than any others. An option that, even if it might be long, would be finished instantly if he could succeed in awakening his connect after the tower. A big if to be sure but one he was already depending on, why not dare to feel a bit of hope something might work out?
God, I'm practically going to be killing myself trying to awaken this stupid skill, the least it can do is finish my job on the way. Okay, decision made, I’m taking king of intelligence.
A job that only needed a few thousand points to finish, at least when it wasn’t linked to second and third tiers to carry them along too, he was gaining almost two thousand points a week by that point and if he really did succeed in awakening his skill, his attributes doubling would do the job to give him whatever else he’d need. At least that was the hope and trying to keep a positive mind he let himself enjoy all he’d claimed from the jobs he’d taken so far, ending the day with a successful harvest.