Chapter 239

Chapter 239

After a fun day of seeing a variety of places in the city that Thera wanted to visit and explore, Ben closed his eyes for the night, only to open them and find himself in his god’s realm.

There was nothing strange about that in itself. He spent a fair bit of time most nights in Myriad’s realm after all, either discussing the day, the faith, things he was trying to learn or enchantments he wanted to figure out, or else just chatting. For however they both could act at times, the two of them were quite fond of each other, even if one caused the other far more stress than anyone would expect.

What was strange however was finding two others there as he arrived. Neither of them were Sachel, the only other person with a position in his god's faith. Instead, he saw some sort of starfish person, though Ben was sure that wasn’t what he actually was. Standing as tall as him with a bright blue colour, the man would have looked perfectly in place lying along a beach somewhere instead of propped up on two limbs and it only took a second to realise that it was the same one preaching on the street he’d passed earlier in the day.

More significant than him though was the woman beside him that his mind was screaming was a god. While his sacrilege was busy drawing parts of his attention to different points of her, it was his tolerance skill that he thought gave him the best sense of her. This was only the third god he’d met in person after all, and as a skill that left him with a better time dealing with the divinity she gave off, it let him do a simple estimate of her strength. While his own god didn’t even register, she felt similar to Jagal, the goddess of the dryads, meaning the one before him now must have had comparatively few believers, at least when measured against one like Anailia whose divinity eclipsed her while in her avatar instead of right in front of him, yet still far more than Myriad could hope for.

Even more interesting though was that whoever she was, she was the most human looking of any goddess he’d encountered yet, to the point that she could have been mistaken for a particularly beautiful member of his own race if it weren’t for the clear crystal horns jutting out of her head, light and mana swirling within them in a rainbow of chaos as she looked over to him in blatant discomfort.

“Falling stars Myriad, what is wrong with your apostle?”

“Man, rude. We literally just met, come on,” He complained, getting glares from both strangers as his god sighed.

“I did warn you that my apostle has a variety of mind skills that make his thoughts feel complicated Helori. Ben, I’m sorry to spring this on you but would you mind using hidden mind on all but one? For anyone not used to it, it can feel a little loud.”

He did as he was asked, a small thought in the back of his head thinking he’d feel grateful if the stranger before him ignored most of what went on in his minds anyway as he looked to his god. “So what’s up, I’ve never seen you entertain guests before?”

“An impertinent one, isn’t he?” Helori asked, tilting her head at him and looking like he was something to examine before focusing in on his god. “But he’s right, let's get to the point. Myriad, I want to issue you a challenge. I’ve grown interested in the skill you’ve been giving your believers and want one of my own to have access to it so here’s my proposal. On the line will be both a blessing and a skill to the winner’s apostle. The contest will be to see which of them will be able to gather the most faith over the next week, not including any that comes from old believers. Do you agree to these terms?”

Before his god could speak up, Ben did, excited at the prospect before him and wanting to hear more “I wouldn’t be able to do a full week because I’m here for the crafting competition, but would five days work?”

Helori turned her eyes from his floating god and directed them to him instead, seeing that Ben would be the more agreeable of the two and not letting Myriad get a word in either. “That's acceptable, the deadline I gave was for Xizle to prepare for the birth of his young anyway so having it draw sooner is of no issue.”

“And the skill?”

“I am a goddess of magic and knowledge. I’ve heard rumours that despite the fact that you’re an enchanter, you haven’t cultivated a proper magic skill of your own to use it with, instead relying on getting around it thanks to the one from your god. Should you win, I’ll help you change that. After all, a magic can be useful in ways an enchantment won’t.”

He didn’t even have to think about the offer. Even though what he could do thanks to having both connect and enchanting was arguably infinitely better for his work than what having a single magic skill would be, that didn’t change the fact that he wanted one. He’d spent over two years now being denied one of the coolest aspects of the world he was now forced to live in, if winning this challenge could change that then he would absolutely make sure he did.

“Ben-” Myriad said in a hurry, trying to discuss things with his apostle, only to be cut off as he did.

“We’ll do it,” He told the goddess before him confidently, hearing a system notification ringing out in his head as he did.

As the words rang out for all to hear, Helori broke out into a thin smile. “Well well, I didn’t know the system would accept the apostle’s agreement without the gods, but then I guess no apostle has ever agreed to something like this without caring for their god's opinion. I must thank you for letting me learn something interesting,” She said before disappearing along with her apostle, leaving Myriad to crash to the ground in response to Ben's rash decision as more notifications rang out in his mind

“You really are the worst apostle, you know that? How are you so bad that you just revealed an unknown, horrifying aspect of the system? I’m almost certain nobody else knew you could agree to that without me either!”

“Er, honestly my bad,” Ben told his god sheepishly as he ignored the notifications going off in his head. “I didn’t mean to go all in, it was just... she found my weak point Myriad, you know I want a magic skill.”

“For all the good it would do you,” The cube said with a sigh. “Despite being a god of knowledge, she clearly didn’t do her research enough. Of course, she would always get tunnel vision when she set herself on something. Either way, she’s a goddess of affinitied magics Ben. her homeworld never developed any non-affinitied ones so she isn’t compatible enough with them to give you one.”

Trap userTree tamerCraftsman- alchemy pathCraftsman- artistic pathCraftsman- blacksmith pathCraftsman- cooking pathCraftsman- stonecrafts pathCraftsman- sewing pathHereticHoly craftsmanKinTankMathematicianAdventurerCursed item makerHigh craftsman

And even if I’m wrong and it doesn’t work out, I just need to devote myself to some quests to get through it, there’s got to be an achievement or two in this world just waiting for me if I look a bit.

Having talked himself into one he normally never would have picked, he called out his option, letting enough context for what he had planned accidentally slip into his mind to cause his watching god no end of despair.

“I’ll take tree tamer.”

Name: Ben Heph

Race: Human

Titles: Apostle of Myriad, The Forgotten One, Miracle Maker, Skill learner, Enemy of Eneth

Jobs: Tree tamer (lv 2)

Previous Jobs: Apprentice craftsman, Craftsman, Priest, Enchanter, Mind user, Magic item maker, Magic weapon maker, High enchanter, Fractured mind user

Attributes:

Vitality: 212Vitality recovery rate: 3/hrMana: 161Mana recovery rate: 9/minStrength: 227Agility: 86Stamina: 753Intelligence: 662





Affinities:

Light: 3Life: 2Fire: 4Water: 3Air: 4Earth: 2Death: 3Dark: 1Space: 4Time: 5





Resistances:

Light: 68Life: 72Fire: 75Water: 69Air: 66Earth: 81Death: 78Dark: 85Space: 63Time: 61





Blessed skills:

Crafting lv9Enchanting lv8Focus lv8





Passive skills:

World speak+Tolerance lv4Sacrilege lv5Complex mind lv5BindPartial demonic bodyDefense enhancement lv2Parallel thought lv3AmbidexterityAbsorption resistance lv1Enchanting knowledge lv5Plant knowledge lv2

Active skills:

Dismantling lv5Stealth lv1Connect lv8Hidden mind lv6Calculate lv4 Knife wielder lv0Hammer wielder lv0Meditation lv2Cycling lv0Marksmanship lv0Speed reading lv3

Blessings:

Myriad’s BlessingAnailia’s Blessing

Trials:

Trial of Anailia and Tolona

Alright, I think that’s my first bonus to my vitality so nice. A new knowledge skill too which sounds like it will be handy, though between that and connect I only have two skills that seem like they would count towards my job experience if I level them which doesn’t leave me in the best spot, especially considering I don’t have the main skill people are supposed to have when taking it. If things don’t work out I might be in a little trouble, but oh well.

Hey, it’s like they say, the devil’s in the details. It’s how we’re going to win this too so don’t stress too much. First things first, I’m going to have to do a lot of work and buy some very expensive materials, not to mention find a forge to use. Since it’s still dark out here but we’re conveniently close to a gate, what time is it in Anailia?