22 Trouble

[Spearmanship Level Max]

[Spearmanship Derivation Skill Failed - Requirements Not Met]

[Warrior Job Has Reached Level 40]

[Warrior Job Max - Status Fusing]

[Swordsman Job Unlocked]

[Fighter Job Unlocked]

[Dagger Arts Skill Obtained]

[Dagger Arts Has Reached Level 4]

[Stealth Level Max]

[Stealth Derivation Skill - Shadow Meld Obtained]

[Silent Movement Level Max]

[Silent Movement Derivation Skill - Ninja Step Obtained]

[Surprise Attack Level Max]

[Surprise Attack Derivation Skill - Fatal Strike Obtained]

[Thief Job Has Reached Level 12]

[Assassin Job Unlocked]

[Trapper Job Unlocked]

[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded] x 4

Jim was a bit concerned, he had too many jobs to level up now, each of them advanced far faster than his base level, but it would take forever at this rate. 'Let's browse the shop.' It had been a day since Jim started hunting, he had dozens of animal corpses in his inventory now.

[Lifestyle Magic Aptitude]

[Price - 100]

"Wait, what? This was in the hundreds of thousands before!", 'No, wait, is it because the skill level maxed? Let's grab it!' Nothing was added to the skill list, but Jim felt that casting Lifestyle Magic was far easier now, with barely a thought the objects he was looking at would suddenly become sparkling clean as though he had just bought it. 'Hm hm hm, very nice'

[Create Oil Spell]

[Price - 20]

[Sound Proofing Spell]

[Price - 50]

[Contraceptive Spell]

[Price - 10]

'This is...uh...whatever, they're low price', Jim headed to the Functions Shop

[Second Job]

[Price - 10 System Upgrade Modules]

[Third Job]

[Price - 20 System Upgrade Modules]

[Skill Share]

[Price - 8 System Upgrade Modules]

His heart was aching as he made these purchases, with only 4 System Upgrade Modules left he felt broke. Assigning Cook, Jeweler, and Trapper Jobs, he headed to the hobby shop to purchase a lot more wood.

[Wooden Spike - Quality: Common]

[Attack - Piercing - 3]

[Durability - 2/2]

Jim wanted to try the Trapper skills out, he carved a lot of spikes and entered the Illusion Barrier, purchasing a Shovel from the system shop he dug a trench and laid spikes throughout it. Then, moving around behind a Large Beetle he activated Intimidating Presence and caused it to run towards the trench.

[Trapper Job Has Reached Level 18]

[Tool Handling Level Max]

[Digging Skill Obtained]

[Digging Has Reached Level 4]

[Trap Setting Skill Obtained]

[Trap Setting Level Max]

[Trap Disarm Skill Obtained]

[Trap Disarm Level Max]

[Trap Sense Skill Obtained]

[Congratulations Host, Host Has Achieved Maximum Level In A Skill, Skill Max Gift Pack x 1 Awarded] x 3

Spending 18 hours, Jim continuously placed, removed, and replaced traps to max out the new skills, Trap Sense didn't seem to increase, perhaps because he already knew it was there? He was disappointed at not even getting a derivation failure notification, seemed these wouldn't yield a higher skill no matter what.

Bill had contacted him for another painting, he was unusually thankful while handing over a case filled with $50,000. Jim felt awkward but didn't have a reason to refuse it, then got back to carving, he decided to take the wood and make rings out of it.

[Jeweler Job Has Reached Level 10]

[Quick Fingers Level Max]

[Quick Fingers Derivation Skill - Godhand Obtained]

[Mystic Portrait Has Reached Level 6]

[Puppeteer Has Reached Level 8]

[Infusion Crafting Has Reached Level 4]

Taking a moment to inspect his, Jim nodded in satisfaction.

[Exquisite Wooden Ring - Quality: Great]

[Infused +200 Dexterity]

[Nice Wooden Ring - Quality: Good]

[Infused +70 Agility]

He went ahead and placed wore 10 rings, the effects seemed to cancel if he tried to put more than one on a finger. The sudden feeling of energy surging into him when putting them on made him feel fantastic. Now with Bracelets, Anklets, Rings, and a Necklace his status skyrocketed.

[Big Horn Rabbit Statue]

[Level 0]

[HP: 1,000/1,000]

[MP: 0/0]

[Strength: 230]

[Dexterity: 50]

[Vitality: 800]

[Agility: 900]

[Magic: 0]

[Subordinate Of Jim Garrett]

Jim couldn't seem to make his statues gain any magic or the spirit stat, is it because the base was originally just wood? Or is it a limitation of puppets in the first place? Unsure, He started attempting skill share.

'Hm?' He added Slashing Resistance, but the rabbit only obtained Lv. 1 of the skill, 'Guess it isn't all-powerful...' He added all sorts of passives and active skills, magic and cultivation types wouldn't apply though. Jim guessed it was similar to the problem he encountered with Copper Body, it doesn't matter how much you throw something into a bottomless pit, it'll just fall. The statue's skill list quickly became bloated, he felt it was time to test it's battle abilities.

Jim stealthily approached the Bee Hive, he had seen several Horn Rabbits jump from their cover and impale a bee before quickly dragging it and hiding again, he figured this method would suit his new pet, too. One drew close, he waited, still, even if something looked directly at him they wouldn't notice he was there, he had melded into the scenery.

A brown shadow darted out, Jim could hardly tell its movements, before he knew it the bee had been eviscerated and the rabbit returned to his side, looking at him innocently before trying to clean it's head, no saliva came from its mouth though so it just ended up as useless rubbing.

[Tamer Job Unlocked]

[Coordination Skill Obtained]

[Leadership Skill Obtained]

[Taming Skill Obtained]

Setting his jobs as Thief, Assassin, and Tamer he moved along, having the rabbit slaughter enemies while he assisted when it got overwhelmed, soon enough there were no bees exiting the hive. 'There's no queen as a boss?'

[Level Up]

[Jim Garrett Is Now Level 7]

[Big Horn Rabbit Has Reached Level 10]

[Thief Job Has Reached Level 27]

[Assassin Job Has Reached Level 10]

[Tamer Job Has Reached Level 22]

[Dagger Arts Level Max]

[Dagger Arts Skill Derivation Failed - Requirements Not Met]

[Coordination Has Reached Level 7]

[Leadership Has Reached Level 8]

[Taming Level Max]

'Why is your growth so much fast than mine...?' Jim decided to sit down and let the rabbit continue hunting, he started taking out the corpses of the rabbits slain before to process them. Taking out his knife, he started cutting. It didn't go well, he shredded apart the leather and fur, he damaged the horn while trying to remove it, the meat had a gamey smell and wasn't palatable at all.

[Hunter Job Unlocked]

[Dismantling Skill Obtained]

Swapping out Assassin for Hunter, several hours passed, he finally obtained a pelt that didn't look like a cat had gone at it, the horn was in perfect condition and the meat looked appetizing, he was ready to grill some up, the trick was to drain the blood before fully cutting it open.

[Hunter Job Has Reached Level 12]

[Dismantling Has Reached Level 4]

Storing away the fruits of his efforts, he recalled the rabbit and placed it in his inventory, he was about to leave when a pressure nearly sent him prone. 'Not Again!'

Activating Focus, he struggled to move his head, a cloud of mist was approaching at terrifying speeds. Jim activated Parallel Processing and Appraisal.

[Lesser Heart Demon]

[Level ???]

[HP: 120,000/120,000]

[MP: Infinite]

[Strength: 80]

[Dexterity: 80]

[Vitality: 2,000]

[Agility: 5,000]

[Magic: 4,000]

[Manifestation Of Jim Garrett's Traumas, Insecurities, And Fears. Anything It Touches Rots Away Instantly]

Jim Activated Body Movement and Dodge, he was able to get out of the way of the creature's charge, a thin beam of pale green light shot out of the creature and struck his shoulder. Before he could react, a dozen more beams shot out and hit various points on his body. 'Shit!' The pain was immense, he could feel the nerves dying off, it was like burning claws were ripping him apart from the inside. Jim tried to dodge while using Flame, a chunk of the demon vanished but it seemed unperturbed. Jim knew he couldn't keep going like this, he'd die before it did in a battle of attrition.

Lunging forward, Jim activated Surging Thunder Steps, Great Dark Fist, and Beast Assault simultaneously. A dazzling array of black and blue energy burst out from his speeding figure and tore the demon to shreds, but his wounds were too much, he collapsed as passed out the instant his momentum stopped.