CH242

<PLANT KNOWLEDGE LEVEL INCREASED>

<MAX LEVEL OF THE TREE TAMER JOB ACHIEVED>

God I love knowledge skills, they’re so easy to level with just a bit of work.

<You just think they’re easy because of how ridiculous your reading speed is. Most people wouldn’t be able to get through four or five thick books a night to read up on a topic.>

They could if they started buying my circlets with my mind skills tied to them. I still can’t believe all the ones I made are rotting in the shop without any buyers. Don’t people have taste?

<Your average person doesn’t want to deal with the waves of nausea and vomiting that comes with wearing it. Now come on and change your job already since it looks like hypnotizing an entire forest paid off like you hoped.>

Hey, don’t act like you aren’t enjoying the faith you’re getting right now. I could always pull out all of the nails if you’re really against it.

<Mmh, well they are just trees, this really is no different from using them as materials in the end.> Myriad was quick to say, changing his tune. Despite the optics of the act, it really was harmless, and it ensured a steady, if small, stream of faith for as long as the forest survived.

Yeah I figured as much. He thought to his god with a laugh as he reached into his jacket pocket to touch his job crystal, feeling the options flood his head but only seeing one new one.

Hey, any chance you’ve heard of the scholar job?

<I have. It’s a rarer one since the condition for unlocking it is gaining two knowledge skills, but given how fast you’re able to get through books now I wouldn’t be surprised if you could complete it by locking yourself in a library for a month.>

Hmm, tempting, but I know what I want. I’m heading into a crafting competition after all, I should at least be a proper craftsman.

<ACQUIRED JOB- HIGH CRAFTSMAN LEVEL 0>

<BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING STRENGTH, STAMINA, AND INTELLIGENCE>

<ALL CRAFTING RELATED SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A GROWTH BONUS>

“Oh yeah, that’s the stuff.”

It had been a long time since he had taken the craftsman job, having devoted a lot of time and energy to other interests along the way, but even if this didn’t grant him a skill or any level-ups, it felt good. It felt right. Like this was the path he was meant to be on. As nice as it was when he’d had both ‘magic item maker’ and ‘magic weapon maker’ as options, this was a direct part of the path he knew he wanted to walk. A path that technically ended if he managed to awaken the skill to unlock the master craftsman job, but if what he’d heard was correct, the system got more creative with options after that, leaving him with nothing but curiosity for what the future held for him if he got to that point.

<Muse about future jobs later and go to sleep. We need to see how this ridiculous contest ended and if I’m about to have to spend all of the faith you’ve just earned me and more.>

Hey, we did the best we could, right? Ben thought to his god as he closed his eyes.

<No, not really. In fact, I feel like you could have done significantly more if you wanted to.>

Rather than respond to that, Ben laid in bed and let himself drift off, opening his eyes again as he found himself in his god’s realm, both Helori and Xizle already there and waiting.

Helori stood, impatiently tapping her foot to get to the results as Xizle just looked disappointed. He had wanted to win, but not like this. A challenge on equal footing was what he’d desired between the contest of the two apostles, but even though he started with what he couldn’t help but view as an unfair lead, the fact that he’d seen Ben wasting away his afternoons exploring the town and treating each day like a game instead of doing his best to bridge that initial gap was disheartening to say the least. If he was going to give up, he shouldn’t have accepted in the first place and saved his god some trouble.

“Well, shall we get this started already?” Helori asked, eager to claim her victory as Myriad hovered in the air, feeling far less confident despite how Ben’s planning and efforts had worked out.

“Let’s just get this over with,” The cube said with a sigh as both revealed just how much faith their apostles had earned them as they both lit up and the system rang out.

<MYRIAD’S VICTORY>

“What, how?” Helori called out while Xizle simply seemed shocked from the side. Neither had expected this turn of events but Helori was especially stunned. She hadn’t done something as distasteful as spying on the other apostle to judge his progress, but she knew enough to guess what he’d probably do to gain more believers. She was certain he’d either preach the benefits of the connect skill his god offered, as well as visit some of the nations he’d already had converts to as a way to try and gain some more, but her apostle had been laying the groundwork for ages, getting people to the edge of converting and working to seal the deal after the challenge was issued, ending it with thirteen new believers she could gather faith from. She had been certain that Myriad would gain a couple at most in that time, it simply didn’t make sense.

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“Devil’s in the details,” Ben told her cheerfully, his relief that it had worked out clear to both gods. “Anyway, time to make good on your rewards, I didn’t work my butt off for nothing.”

Myriad wanted to refute that Ben had worked anything off but let it be. He was simply too happy that he didn’t get stuck having to spend so much faith that he had to hold himself back from giving a cheer of relief as he watched Helori deal with her loss and give Ben her blessing.

<ACQUIRED HELORI’S BLESSING>