Chapter 1275 – A Sudden Windfall & New Options

Jake just stared for several moments, long after the dings had stopped. He needed a moment to collect himself as he stared at the familiar, yet slightly unfamiliar-looking notifications. Unfamiliar, because Jake still wasn’t used to seeing that name in the notification, and familiar, because he damn-well knew what a level-up sounded like.

And for some reason, Jake had just gotten a lot of level-ups.

’DING!’ Profession: [Primeval Alchemist of Malefic Origins] has reached level 351 – Stat points allocated, +125 Free Points

…

’DING!’ Profession: [Primeval Alchemist of Malefic Origins] has reached level 359 – Stat points allocated, +125 Free Points

’DING!’ Race: [Human (B)] has reached level 350 – Stat points allocated, +135 Free Points

…

’DING!’ Race: [Human (B)] has reached level 354 – Stat points allocated, +135 Free Points

He went back to staring, none of this making any fucking sense to him. For a moment, he even wondered if the levels were real, but the sense of power and stats gained were definitely there.

Something had clearly earned him a lot of experience at once, and Jake went through his notifications to see what it could be. He skipped some stuff he would get to later, but even after going all the way up to his Spirit of Man notification… nothing.

Jake remained confused, but fortunately, he had already started reaching out to a certain someone who could have answered. That someone had waited for Jake to get his bearings before finally latching onto the telepathic connection Jake initiated as the snake god spoke.

“And here I thought you’d just evolved to B-grade, but look at you, already several levels in!” Villy said in a regular joking voice, though Jake did detect a certain undertone.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Jake asked directly, not bothering to beat around the bush, and also speaking with telepathy to make sure no one could be listening in.

“See, that’s funny. I was planning on asking you the exact same thing. Here I am, watching my little Chosen go from C to B-grade, curious what’ll happen. I had expectations, predictions, and even a few bets with myself just for the fun of it, yet nothing had prepared me for what you did. So, how about you start… what do you think you did that could have caused your sudden growth spurt?” the Primordial asked, throwing the ball in Jake’s court.

Jake didn’t have to think long. The only thing that had happened during his evolution that could have affected even Villy during Jake’s evolution. “Spirit of Man.”

“Are you telling me you got a special leadership-related Spirit of Man variant?” the god asked skeptically. “Actually, you know what? Don’t answer. We’ll have a nice sit-down once you’re done with all your evolutions and stop by my Order. While I would love to know the details, I can wait, but allow me to sate your curiosity for now.”

The newly evolved B-grade kind of wanted to just brag about his new overpowered skill that definitely surpassed all of Villy’s expectations, but remained quiet for now and just nodded instead.

“Upon your evolution, I felt a little something. Personally, at first. An echo of sorts, going through our rather powerful karmic connection caused by you being my Chosen and all. An echo of Records related to growth. The effect was so faint it was barely detectable… but I could detect it. And that’s significant in its own right. What’s more, following this effect, it wasn’t just having an impact on me, but everyone in the entire Order, with humans curiously being more affected than everyone else.”

Jake had to consciously stop his mouth from gaping as the Malefic Viper continued.

“Once more, the effect is so slight that it’s unnoticeable to all but a scarce few. At least none of the affected will be noticeable. Compared to the growth-amplifying effect I personally have on every being part of the Order, what you just did is minuscule in comparison, but, again, you did something. Something that affected the Records of every living being within my Order. A positive effect, even. For a mere B-grade, no, for my little B-grade Chosen to perform a feat that positively benefits my entire Order… now isn’t that something worthy of a reward? Of the system’s recognition?”

“Assuming that’s the explanation, wouldn’t there have been some notification from the system indicating that?” Jake asked quickly, thinking that the Viper’s words were sound and made sense, and he had considered it for a moment, but seeing no system notification filled him with doubt.

“Do you get a system notification every time you read a book about poisons? Every time you eat a new ingredient? Attend a lesson on alchemy? Display your power and inspire awe as my Chosen? No, yet all of these things earn you Records and experience. It’s just that all of these are not necessarily singular events that lead to it at all. It’s not a grand happening like when you roasted me to the multiverse or killed the Usurper of Yip of Yore. Those are huge events that are the culmination of a large sequence. What you did today isn’t that. Instead, it’s countless small happenings, individually none worthy of a notification, but collectively… well, the level should speak for itself. I am a bit surprised you didn’t get more, actually, but I also feel that your new profession isn’t as closely tied to my Path as before, so it may have something to do with that. Either way, we’ll have a long, nice talk over a case of cold beer once you’re done with everything on your end and return to the Order. Until then, enjoy the rest of your evolution. I do miss those days of rapidly evolving very few years… then again, I do prefer being a god. Yeah, godhood is definitely better. You should try it sometime.”

Before Jake had a chance even to say goodbye, the Viper cut the connection. Jake had a lot of questions, but it was clear the Viper wasn’t interested in answering any of them now. All of that would have to wait. He also suspected that Villy wanted him to think about things a bit more on his own; the snake god was always a fan of Jake figuring things out himself rather than being spoonfed everything.

Regarding what the Viper said, Jake had to admit it all made a lot of sense. It was just that a part of him hadn’t believed that his Primal Spirit of Man effect would actually do that, despite what the description said.

“Increases experience gain of all those deemed your kin, comrades in arms, allies, partners, or subordinates.”

The wording was pretty straightforward, yes, not including any specific limits, with the only uncertainty being how significant this experience gain was. Members of the Order of the Malefic Viper definitely met at least one of those qualifiers. Even so, Jake had assumed that he, as a B-grade, wouldn’t be able to influence what had to be trillions of others, across universes and grades. Turned out, he was wrong. His Spirit of Man was even more overpowered than Jake gave it credit for.

From what Villy said, the actual experience increase was so low that it was definitely not even measured in whole percentages. Perhaps it was a 0.00001% increase… but if one considered that it affected everyone, even the gods, it could no longer be called insignificant from an organizational standpoint. Chances also were that it affected those weaker far more, while gods wouldn’t even be able to detect the difference. If that were the case, it would raise questions about whether Jake’s growth would also benefit everyone else… he was nearly scared to find out.

Shaking his head, Jake chose just to be happy he was one overpowered hunter with the best Bloodline in the multiverse. Complaining about a good thing would be silly, even if he found it unsettling.

Also, this was essentially instant gratification, rewarding Jake for having picked this profession over Harbinger of Primeval Origins. If he’d gone with that one, Jake’s profession would have had far less to do with Villy and Jake being a Chosen, thus rewarding him little or no experience for this, outside of the initial level to Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper.