Chapter 1124 Thera’s Perspective

<MAX LEVEL OF THE MALICIOUS EARTH MAGE JOB ACHIEVED>

<ACQUIRED JOB- IDOLIZED SPIRIT MAGE LV0>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING ALL ATTRIBUTES>

<ALL SPIRIT AND SACRILIGIOUS SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS

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<EARTH AFFINITY LEVEL INCREASED>

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<DESTRUCTION INCLINATION LEVEL INCREASED>

Better late than never, I guess, Thera told herself as she finished her job, it having taken a bit longer than she’d hoped. At least I got my sacrilege level, and this one will probably be faster, at least.

While malicious earth mage had taken a day, and she hadn’t been able to speed it up more since she’d missed a night training her sacrilege with Ben, a spirit job meant her soul magic would give it experience, and since using it was the task for the day, she didn’t expect it to take long.

Even if this is a little dull, she complained to herself as she sat back and cast, deep in the woods where no innocent people could be hurt as she finally dealt with an earlier deal she’d made with the gods.

In the forest around her, different contenders fought, training their skills together while Thera let herself fulfill her role as one of the world’s soul mages, even if it wasn’t going to be to the extent the other two did. Still, it was training for her magic, and it allowed her to feel just how different having it as a blessed skill was.

Her power felt incomparable. While it was hard to be sure, even just when she’d been walking there, everyone she’d passed in the streets seemed to have benefited more than they usually would have for her presence. More levels, more skill acquisitions, and while it was harder to gauge in souls she was passing, she expected those and all other effects she provided to linger for longer too. That one change was a growth in power like no other, and that wasn’t the only one she’d gained.

All around her, the gathered spirits swarmed, a few elementals in the mix too as the range they could take in her mana and the depths of it they could absorb grew, letting both groups feast on her power to grow their numbers, while the few contenders with the right skills to see mana-based life tried to not let the scene distracted them, even if it seemed like their soul mage was standing at the heart of an apocalyptic level of power. The mana-based life would continue to flourish, even if she still had her doubts.

Having Ben make her mana empowering a blessed skill was the right move for her people, but she still didn’t know if it was the right move for the world. It wasn’t going to improve her odds of awakening her earth magic like her earth affinity would, and just based on how powerful her soul magic was, she could only assume that getting her earth magic to the same tier would mean having the sort of power that would let her dictate how the war would turn out at whatever invasion points she would be stationed at. The difference would be incomparable, leaving her conflicted.

It’s not like having thousands or millions of more spirits isn’t going to make a difference too, she told herself, trying to rationalize her choice. And they won’t all be stuck at whatever invasion points they can get to. The more I help their numbers grow, the more spirits will be at each one, and the more demons will die before they can get out to the rest of the world. If I look at the scale more spirits could operate on, it’s going to be more than I could ever do alone… except that, as powerful as they all are, they’re technically first tiers. A third tier, with more than two million points of mana… three million, if I really do get another awakening… with Ben’s mini-gates, I might be able to look after multiple invasion points by myself.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

As it was, using the death aspects of soul magic, she’d already likely be able to do as much, but there were sure to be demons who would be able to resist that power. Having earth magic to fall back on as well would only help, with those thoughts and more taking up most of her attention, her soul magic left to be cast entirely passively as she worried about what choices to make and how they’d affect the future.

… I need a distraction.

Standing up, she clapped twice, settling the brawl around her to bring all eyes to her before she spoke up.

“Alright, we’re going to mix things up a bit. All of you are going to fight me.”

There were only a dozen there, and she had already fought some in the past, back when Ben had given out his blessing to so many, so they all knew she was strong. While she thought some might worry about hurting one of their world’s valuable soul mages, not one held such concerns, with all of them far more worried about their own safety, even after whaling on each other in the name of training. They’d seen Ben make his horrific terraforming tree when fighting Uliel, Vasta, and Yuzu, and they’d seen that she’d been the one able to stop it, giving the thought of fighting her its own sort of terror that any who felt tried to suppress. They were contenders, and godhood was their goal. No matter the threat, they couldn’t back away from a challenge. All they could do was hope that, no matter what they were put through, they’d be able to be healed afterwards.

Hmm, doesn’t seem like anyone’s against it then, good, she nodded, mistaking their silence for willingness. “Alright then, all of you, stop wasting time and attack. Unless you want me giving the first blow?”

That question was sign enough for the rest of them to move. That instant they acted as one, those with ranged attacks falling back while those without rushed forward, all to attack the soul mage before them.

Light magic was cast to block her eyes, but even blinded, her soul sight and earth sense meant she was unimpeded, and quills, arrows, and spears were blocked before they could reach her as the ground itself reached up to pluck each one from the air.

Swords, fists, and claws struck out before her, but all of them broke against stone she raised to counter each one. They may have all been contenders, some of the most skilled individuals on the planet, but from their perspective, she might as well have had infinite mana to spend without concern. It left a power-gap that, while good for their own practice as she did her best to humour them, left her own feeling lacking.

I really do need to convince Ben to actually fight me at some point, she sighed. Or train with me, I guess, since his crazy brain means that he could cast before I could think in a real fight.

Having gained mental expansion herself had left her to appreciate the value of mind skills in a way she hadn’t when using a circlet, the growth to her thought structure making it easier for her to juggle smaller, more individual reactions to all of the attacks coming her way, rather than doing grand, sweeping ones like would be easier for her, and made more clear something she’d already known. At a certain level of power, what mattered most was the ability to react before an opponent, and that was one area her boyfriend wasn’t likely to be beat.

Mmm, maybe I should consider talking him into figuring out how to make a thought-speed skill for me too, then. I don’t really see myself losing any time soon, but it would be better to have it, right? She told herself. At least those you can turn off.

The fight ended while she had those idle thoughts, as the rest of the contenders were left collapsed on the ground. Those with body structures that possessed bones found many of theirs broken, but no one escaped uninjured except Thera herself; looking around her and willing them all healed, letting them sit up as she once more clapped to get their attention.

“Alright, if I’m supposed to be helping all of you grow, then the least you can do is try to take fighting me a bit more seriously,” she told them. “We have most of the day left, so get up and keep going. Don’t worry. I won’t let any of you get hurt in a way that will keep you from fighting in the next wave.”

Even if it wasn’t perfect experience for her, it was practice, and even if it meant repeated beatings for the other contenders, they needed to be challenged to grow as well so, not waiting for a response, she changed to going on the offensive, trying to take it easy enough that they felt like they had some chance to defend themselves as they pushed their powers in the face of her onslaught and the day slowly passed.

<MAX LEVEL OF THE IDOLIZED SPIRIT MAGE JOB ACHIEVED>

<ACQUIRED JOB- CORRUPT NON-AFFINITIED MAGE LV0>

<MAJOR BONUSES GRANTED TO IMPROVING ALL ATTRIBUTES>

<ALL SPIRIT MAGIC AND SACRILIGIOUS SKILLS WILL RECEIVE A MAJOR GROWTH BONUS

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