CH691

“Oh, hell yes!”

Looking at his card early in the morning, the first thing he noticed was that he’d finally got what he’d been hoping for in the form of a single job level. It may have taken ages to get compared to how much he’d usually manage in the same timeframe but it validated the strategy he was operating under, confirming that once he got it done, he’d be flying through the rest of his jobs.

Just three more levels. He told himself. Three more levels and I break the job system in its entirety. Okay, when I get back to Stonewall I’m spending even more hours in the shop with my jacket and pushing my soul to the limits to make as many souls as possible to get through this. If I get another level of soul source too then it will get even faster and then… No, worry about that later. First, I need to finish surviving this meeting which means off to Yuzu.

It was early enough in the morning that he scribbled Thera a note telling her he’d meet them in the meeting before heading off, walking through largely empty streets to the gate before passing through beyond to Allfaith, arriving at a familiar doorstep before being let in.

It was one of the house servants who greeted him and led him to a seating area, letting him wait until Jake and Yuzu came out, looking groggy.

“Buddy, what are you doing here this early?” Jake yawned. “Not that it’s not great seeing you but I haven’t been allowed a ton of rest recently so waking up early isn’t great.”

“Sorry, I’m not sure if Yuzu mentioned it to you but long story short, someone tried to murder me a couple times and I want to borrow your mind and soul quickly to get my revenge.”

“What?”

He turned to Yuzu, watching her give a tired nod as Jake shook off some of his sleep to give in.

“Okay, you got it man, do what you need to do. And do you need any help beyond that? I wouldn’t mind tagging along if you need to beat someone up.”

“Thanks but I want to handle this myself, I’ll be real quick about it.”

Forming the connection and strengthening the other’s mind, Ben materialized the handful of stuff he needed before immediately going to alter the shape of the voidstone he now held, working the material to try and speed up its production of condensed spacetime so he’d be able to begin his main project.

“You’re the best, I’ll get out of your hair for now then.”

“Mmh, try not to get murdered.”

“Hold on a moment, I’ll walk back with you,” Yuzu told him. “I need to go that way anyway, I might as well make sure you aren’t attacked when you get back.”

“In that case, I’ll take you up on that.”

Jake went off to get what bits of sleep he could while Yuzu changed, eventually coming back and letting them head off, chatting while Ben worked.

“So, what are you making this time?” She asked as he shaped his enchantments, watching through her mana sense as he constructed and deconstructed them again and again on the powerful material, trying to shape them perfectly for whatever desires he held.

“Oh, you know, this and that,” He evaded. “Probably something super ethical. Maybe even the most ethical enchantment that’s ever existed.”

“Hmm, just tell me if you’re going to somehow murder an immortal with that or not.”

“Murder? Absolutely not. I’m a sweet little peace-loving guy. This is just a handy tool for me to put people who don’t share that sentiment into a timeout.”

“…Okay, sure. And are you doing okay? You didn’t seem great yesterday but you look a bit brighter now.”

“I’m probably fine. I talked about some things going on in life with Thera and it helped, even if she wasn’t thrilled about some of it.”

“Mmh, I can see why you’d stress her out. Things really would be a lot easier if you just went home, you know.”

“Maybe, but easier doesn’t necessarily mean better. Now, just one second, I’m going to concentrate for a bit.”

He had the item shaped the way he wanted, looking like an almost perfect sphere with a single flattened side with a rainbow mana crystal heart to power it, leaving him only to confirm the enchanting structure he wanted to apply to it as he went, with his earlier experimentation narrowing down the final selection of skills and configurations he would go for as he got to work putting it together.

To get the effect he wanted, the enchantments needed to be dense and beyond perfect. By any reasonable measure, everything he made could be called perfect by anyone but the crafting gods but he was at a stage where he needed to be redefining what perfection even meant with his work. Enchantments that would make every other person with the skill beyond himself and his teacher froth with envy at the talent behind them were discarded and replaced, being remade again and again until they met his standards while minutes ticked by.

To an outsider observer, it all had to look incredibly fast but when he was creating them as quickly as he could think it became clear the level of care they were each getting, with his mana draining faster than he could get it back despite the normally low cost. He was challenging himself with the thing he wanted to create and as the last enchantment went down his efforts bore fruit.

<UNENDING CRAFTING LEVEL INCREASED>

<DIVINE ENCHANTING LEVEL INCREASED>

<UNNATURAL INSPIRATION LEVEL INCREASED>

<EVIL AFFINITY LEVEL INCREASED>

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<ILL WILL HAS AWAKENED TO ILL INTENT>

“See,” He turned to her proudly. “If I took the easy way and didn’t seek revenge, I wouldn’t be able to reap the benefits of it.”

“Mmh, and am I supposed to ignore both your awakening and the last skill you just leveled with the rest of them?”

“I’d appreciate that, yes,” He told her as he admired his latest creation, a happy smile on his face as he did.

Just looking at it, those levels felt deserved, not just for the undeniable skill his eyes were telling him he pulled off but also for the brief bit of system information he got with it. He’d just created his second high-legendary item.

Arguably it could even be considered his first. While his jacket had reached that same stage, that was thanks to the thousands upon thousands of souls he had imprisoned within it essentially forcing up its ranking by virtue of how ridiculous it was. This though was different. It existed purely through regular efforts that had been honed to an outrageous degree, elevating him all the higher with his success.