As days passed while Ben worked on his project, eventually Falk left, off for whatever work he had to fulfill for the craftsman’s guild and leaving the shop closed down for orders. That didn’t stop anyone from trying of course, but Ben was sick enough with what he had, he didn’t want to take more when his teacher wasn’t around to help reduce his load.

He was tuning out the sounds of knocking coming from outside as he experimented, making the thinnest metal wires he could with his material user skill along with metal sheaths they could slide against in order to mimic the way muscles would expand and contract far beyond what had been done for the prototype.

It involved pushing his magic skill to the limits as he not only tried to use it to get the sizes and shapes perfect, but also experimented to create the ideal ratios of metals and other materials that would give the artificial muscle fibres the exact properties he was looking for as he created piles of them, more than he would realistically need but enough to be able to fail a few times as he went and tried to create something that would help him reach his goal of creating a fully functional prosthetic.

“Oh, I love job bonuses so much,” He muttered. “I’m sorry I was ever not grateful enough for quests that granted levels to them.”

The effects on his skill and attribute growth since he’d managed to complete so many was becoming more and more apparent, and the joy he felt when his magic would level up was a huge motivator, especially considering the part it was playing for his work. It was enough to make him reconsider the job he planned on taking after he finished up with master enchanter, but he pushed the thought away to focus on what was next.

With all of the wires complete, he got to work cutting them to the lengths he would need, using his destruction skill to do it as a way of training it as well while he organized them all and applied a reasonably complex enchantment to each and every one, using a level of skill on each individual wire that would have destroyed them back when he’d first been starting out.

It was a long, time-consuming process, but it felt like only an instant for him as he got absorbed in the task and was able to move on to the next bit, organizing each wire together to act as an artificial muscle.

Comparatively, that was much, much quicker, and once it was finished he let himself move on to the rest of it. He’d taken measurements of Kelf’s remaining arm early on, doing his best to use those for constructing the bits the muscles would be clinging to, namely the bones. Those had been an interesting problem in themselves, needing to be both strong and light, able to take a hit without shattering but not bending like metal, but as with the rest of the parts of that particular project, the result was achieved through a combination of research, experimentation, and many sleepless nights to get it right.

Once those parts were combined and one of the simpler aspects, the artificial tendons, had been incorporated, that left the final bit to add; the skin.

He hadn’t expected it going into the project, but that managed to be the hardest to decide on by far. It was the aspect that would be protecting the internal workings of the arm, but there were a lot of different ways to manage it. Originally, he’d planned on just a strong metal exterior but decided against it for the same reason he had for putting so much care into the bones. If he made something that would dent, it could affect the arm as a whole. He needed something better.

For that it came down to experimenting with making more composite materials, blending things that normally wouldn’t blend with his material magic to create things from metals, bones, skins, and woods that couldn’t exist otherwise, at least not without someone who had the same rare skill as he ultimately ended up creating something that was a complex blend of things but nearly fifty percent orichalcum.

He couldn’t deny it hurt to use so much of such a precious metal, especially when he wouldn’t be getting paid for it, but this was to pay off a favour he’d requested, he fully intended to put his all into it.

Having the material though, it then came to making it work structurally, manipulating the substance to take the shape of long thin strings before he began to cut and braid them, using his mana to merge the braids so that it would be one piece but still of a far greater strength overall.

Once done he shaped each piece to fit over the external parts of the arm, connecting everything that still needed to be joined, added a rainbow mana crystal to the interior and finished the last of all of the enchantments, leaving it finally complete in the end, perfect as far as his eyes could see.

“Oh, I am so freaking good at everything I do,” He muttered to himself, thrilled with the notification like he was any time he finished a job. He’d known it was going to be coming soon given just how many of the items he’d been making for his various orders were making it to lower ultra-rare, a task that was a bit easier than it should have been given how many of them wanted weapons similar to Amy’s, and upon succeeding in making the arm, an item he could see had made it to the middle of that ranking, it wasn’t shocking that it had paid off in experience.

Even better was what that meant for him. When he’d first started learning from Falk, he’d been told that a person who could regularly make items that were classified as ultra-rare only happened once every century or so, usually needing to be around the fifth level of their awakened skill to pull it off, but Ben was getting there at his early level. He still wasn’t at the point where he could guarantee he’d get to that rank if he tried, but it was happening more and more as he practiced, meaning that he’d still be having a relatively easier time with jobs, and with that happy thought he reached into his pocket and touched his job crystal, grinning at the pile of new options.

AVAILABLE JOBS

Trap user Craftsman- alchemy path Craftsman- artistic path Craftsman- blacksmith path Craftsman- cooking path Craftsman- stonecrafts path Craftsman- sewing path Holy craftsman Mathematician Cursed item maker Scholar Material mage Destruction mage High tank Otherworldly craftsman Infernal craftsman Destructive craftsman Master adventurer Soul defiling gardener Summoned enchanter Ritual enchanter Connected enchanter Divine enchanter Profane enchanter

It was almost too much to take in. He’d already seen the options for otherworldly, infernal, and destructive craftsman when he completed the master branch of the job, but now there were seven new ones on top of it, making his mouth water as he looked at it all.

He didn’t care much about the master adventurer job unless he saw a way to take advantage of it like he had the first adventurer job, but what was immediately below it pulled his interest like nothing else.

Soul defiling gardener. It wasn’t hard to imagine why he’d gained that one in particular given how he was patiently waiting for the trees he’d forced foreign souls into to bear their fruit, and he was willing to bet money that was a job nobody but him had gained before, maybe one nobody would again.

For that reason alone it was tempting, to roll the dice to see what stats would be buffed and what skills would grow from it, not to mention what jobs might come after, but he resisted, instead mentally scrolling down the list more as he felt his eyes stop.

Two words, but they instantly meant so much to him. Connected enchanter. He’d had jobs in the past that he knew added some bonuses to connect and jobs he suspected had, but none so clear as to have it in the name. He’d already thought he knew what would be tempting him away from the choice he was going to make, but that made the other options look like garbage in comparison. A job beyond the master branch that would grant him significant bonuses to connect as well, it was more than he could have dreamed of for finally awakening the skill, but he still held off. If he was right then the next one would be another quick job, he could afford to wait.

Once he went over the last two he tried to firm up his resolve as he planned for what he would try to take in the future so long as no more tantalizing choices showed up for him. He’d take what he’d originally wanted, hopefully finish it and take connected enchanter in no more than two weeks, and then alternate between the next two that were drawing him in, infernal craftsman and profane enchanter.

From the names alone, it wasn’t hard to guess what skills they would be associated with and he wanted more bonuses to that particular skill as soon as he could get them. He doubted that either would be enough to push king of sacrilege to whatever it would become at the third tier, but it would be more bonuses around in the event he ever got to do anything that could help him along again.

Of course, Myriad doesn’t need to know anything like that that’ll just stress him out. Instead, let’s do this and hope it gives me the skill I really want ‘cause I’m taking scholar.

Name: Ben Heph

Race: Human

Titles: Apostle of Myriad, The Forgotten One, Miracle Maker, Skill learner, Enemy of Eneth, Trial Defier, Trial Breaker, Godslayer, Monster, Madman, God killer, Threat

Jobs: Scholar (lv 15)

Previous Jobs: Apprentice craftsman, Craftsman, Priest, Enchanter, Mind user, Magic item maker, Magic weapon maker, High enchanter, Fractured mind user, Tree tamer, High craftsman, Apprentice mage, True mage, Tank, Heretic, Adventurer, Divine heretic, Kin, Master craftsman, Master enchanter

Attributes:

Vitality: 653 Vitality recovery rate: 15/hr Mana: 513 Mana recovery rate: 36/min Strength: 532 Agility: 196 Stamina: 1655 Intelligence: 1771

Affinities:

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

Resistances:

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

Blessed skills:

Unending crafting lv2* Divine enchanting lv2* Focus lv9

Passive skills:

World speak+ King of sacrilege lv9* Complex mind lv8 Bind Integrated demonic body lv4 Defense enhancement lv4 Parallel thought lv8 Absorption resistance lv4 Plant knowledge lv6 Mental expansion lv7 All affinity resistance enhancement lv2 Material knowledge lv7 Biology knowledge lv1 Trap knowledge lv3 Physics knowledge lv3

Active skills:

Stealth lv1 Connect lv9 Hidden mind lv7 Calculate lv4 Meditation lv4 Cycling lv0 Marksmanship lv0 Speed reading lv5 Material user lv6 Destruction lv5 Swimming lv1

Blessings:

Myriad’s Blessing Anailia’s Blessing Helori’s Blessing Galwax’s Blessing Elvat’s mana regeneration Blessing

Trials:

Trial of Anailia and Tolona Trial of the Dead God

If he could have, Ben would have complained as the notifications went off. What he’d wanted was something along the lines of language knowledge given how much effort he’d put into studying the topic recently, but he didn’t have time to get any such words out. With the notification came pain like none he’d felt before as each of his minds split once more, ripping his thoughts to shreds, and before he could feel the blood pouring down his face he mercifully passed out.