Chapter 1117

“Come on, Dewdrop, it’s just the one more time,” Ben told the scrungle as it growled in his arms, annoyed to have its sleep interrupted again. “And also a part of the whole ‘saving the world thing’ that you should also be pretty desperate about, so long as you want to keep taking naps whenever you want and eating without care. It’s a few minutes of your time, and then I’ll get you back home, promise.”

Still looking at him through narrowed eyes, even if it would have preferred to stay sleeping, it had no choice to put up with the occasional outing if it meant it would get to enjoy more sleep in the future, forcing it to be agreeable, whether it really wanted to or not, as Ben took them to the guild at the magic towers, his next party already waiting as he greeted them, holding out his job crystal for Dewdrop as he did.

“Alright, you know which one to pick, so make your choice, I’ll make mine, and then we’ll go home.”

With a small nod, Dewdrop pawed at the crystal, choosing the one Ben was confident would be the job option specifically related to the outsider’s third tier skill and listened in its thoughts as it took the ‘dimensional dominator’ job, leaving him forced to contend with the immediate consequences of that choice.

Dewdrop’s third tier skill, reality destruction, leveled up, and with that notification, it unexpectedly activated, leaving the fastest portions of Ben’s mind to sense the result and brought the rest of him to match that speed as the universe around the outsider began to crumble.

Oh, fucking hell, he swore, pushing his planar manipulation to try to counteract the effect as cracks spread through reality and used his magic to keep them from growing further. Okay, I get it. Strengthening something with powers that don’t seem to want to align with this universe's laws of physics has been a repeated gamble. No more talking Dewdrop into taking any of its stranger jobs.

Not that it mattered by that point, now that Ben had gotten it to take its two third-tier options, but promising himself that gave him a small feeling of control as his mana rapidly drained while he forced his new magic to actively fight against the shattering, lest everyone around him be exposed to the chaos for whatever effects that would bring them.

All at a speed no one else there could perceive, not even Dewdrop was aware of the danger its new level had created but, just as fast as it had started, Ben was able to contain it. Cracks retreated and closed instead of spreading, and nothing from outside reality made its way in, even if it cost him tens of thousands of points of mana to make sure it stayed that way, all to manage something Dewdrop had done without effort.

<PLANAR MANIPULATION LEVEL INCREASED>

“Um, are you alright there?” The party leader asked, only able to notice that Ben had broken out into a sweat without being aware of all the danger they’d just been in.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” he sighed, waiting for his pool to replenish. “Just some sudden onset-stress is all.”

With reality repaired before anyone could notice, Ben saw no signs of such things happening again, nor any other indication that Dewdrop was going to lose control. It seemed more like the outsider’s depth of reality had increased when it had leveled, but, once done, showed no signs of being a continued issue, letting him breathe a sigh of relief before it was time to pick a new job for himself as well.

AVAILABLE JOBS

Craftsman: alchemy pathCraftsman: artistic pathCraftsman: blacksmith pathCraftsman: cooking pathCraftsman: stonecrafts pathMathematicianBeginner puppeteerEntréeFan user

<Down to the last few options then.> Myriad said in his head, as unaware as anyone else about what had just happened with Dewdrop. <Take a path job and it will impact just how carefully you’re giving out experience to everyone, take mathematician and it will create an even more uncontrollable level of experience than even a path job, or take beginner puppeteer and potentially have to stop touching everyone with your soul since that’s how you do your puppeting. I think we can both agree it’s finally time. Take entrée.>

No and screw you. I’m taking fan user.

<ACQUIRED JOB- FAN USER LV0>

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

<FAN SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A GROWTH BONUS>

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

<How incredibly dull of you.>

The planet is full of monsters that would eat me if they got half a chance; I am not becoming tastier!

<It’s a job no one else seems to have gotten before, aren’t you even a little curious?>

No, because I’ll tell you exactly what’s going to happen if I take it. It’s going to awaken my flavour enhancement into a unique and powerful variant, and I’m going to become so incredibly delicious that even sane mortals are going to want a bite!

<It might grow some of your other body skills too, though.> Myriad pointed out, not bothering to deny the odds of that job coming with that particularly undesirable awakening. <Just think about all of the other awakenings it might help you get. You love awakening skills!>

Again, not if it’s going to mean turning into a meal! As long as I have other options worth picking, you’ll never catch me taking that one!

<Mmh, we’ll see, but I know you. You’re curious and I’m patient. If it comes down to it, if you have nothing else on your list, you’ll go with that one eventually. I just know it.>

Mmm.

Ben wasn’t going to argue with his god on the prospect, if it came down to it and he felt he was still lacking power then he agreed it was something he’d give into if he was desperate enough, but that level of desperation still felt far off. He had other ways he could grow, and he was even in the process of exploring them, so with that current task done, he went to take Dewdrop home before going to test some of his other options.

Hey, how are results looking for my potion test, by the way? Ben thought up to the heavens while he walked through Pelenia’s home, making his way to where Ogilt waited, having brought the church of Myriad with him for all of the mana he expected to use. We should know how it turned out by now, so what’s the word?

<Various results, some better and some worse, that we can go over tonight, but since you only care about the best one, a single recipe gave ten to each attribute. Three points better than your original divine potion.>

Oh damn, that’s fantastic!

Given the way defiler of gods had grown, that meant he’d be able to expect forty extra points each month he drank one and, even with all he would grow in that time through his own efforts, it still made him grin.

<Mmh, before you started modifying souls, I would have called it world-changing, but now in comparison, it feels rather lacking against everything you’ve already been giving people.>

Maybe, but smaller, more controlled growth is going to be more manageable in the long term for everyone to deal with than sudden bursts where people are getting thousands of points to their attributes. Speaking of, though, we’re cutting it close. Any final word on whether you’re all going to get me to do a second soul modification on everyone?

<That’s still been a fairly common topic of discussion, but as things are, assume the answer is no.>

Seriously?

<You weren’t seeing how careless everyone was after the first round, nor the damage they’d done. As things are, we now have a planet of people with attributes equivalent to any second tier, and in the case of everyone’s intelligence, significantly higher.>

Mana too. Every mage on the planet getting an extra two thousand points to play with is nothing to turn your nose up at.

<Yes, and that’s exactly it. While the next wave is going to have the demons’ second tiers involved in their invasion, that’s only going to be a portion of the invading force. All of our soldiers, mages, and other warriors are going to have attributes equal to or greater than them. Even if they’ll still have the numbers advantage, for the first time ever, we’ll have the advantage in strength. We can survive this wave, and when we do, we don’t want the mortals to be left with so much power that they decide to destroy it themselves after in any fit of carelessness.>

Well, suit yourselves, then, Ben thought, even if that decision couldn’t help but make him worry. He understood where it was coming from, Ben was capable of giving a frightening level of power to people who didn’t know what it meant to work for it themselves, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel like the gods were growing too confident in their odds of victory when none of them had even been able to last until the end of the third wave before being forced to flee with their people, and the majority of them had run away far earlier. Sure, the world was currently in the best state it could be, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t work even harder.

Well, that’s something I’m already working to deal with, so whatever, he told himself, trying to ignore the stress the gods of the world seemed to want to leave him with. Experiments today, something new to build tomorrow, and maybe even a chance for the war to end before the next wave begins. If I do get to the third tier for my enchanting, then it would make the most sense to try and attack Oaun before the next invasion can start, and if I win instead of being as brutally murdered as a person can get, then no casualties from more demons invading and after that… Well, I’ll worry about after that if I’m around to see it.

Pushing aside his concerns about the future, Ben put on a smile as he found Ogilt waiting for him outside, the great space spirit nodding at him when he arrived.

“Ben.”

“Ogilt, great to see you. Funa told you I needed your help today?”

“She did. How can I assist you?”

“Same as the last time, I need to experiment on some demons. I should be done all of my testing by the morning if you’re free?”

“I can make that work. In the untamed lands again?”

“Yeah, wherever you can find a good concentration of demons for me to use.”

“Very well. Let’s go.”

Ogilt opened a gate and they both stepped through, ending up deep in the forest before the great spirit ran off to get Ben the supplies he needed, leaving Ben alone to set up as a new lab grew from the ground before him.

Though prison might have been a more accurate descriptor. Each of the thousands of rooms it held were essentially closets, not meant to be comfortable or for long-term habitation, and with them ready, Ben began pulling the petrified demons he had in his rings into each of them, waiting only for Ogilt to come back with more before he’d begin releasing the curse on them for the tests he had in mind. In all of Ben’s previous experiments with soulcraft, little had been done with the living souls of mortals, and it was time to fix that gap in his tests. He would find whatever other value it held, no matter how many demons he had to burn through to get there.