Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
2.53 Classing Up I

After rinsing off all the dirt and sludge and goop off my body, I slip deep into the hot water of the bathtub. I take special care to make sure my hair gets an extra long soak. And as I take deep breaths and let the steam seep into my pores, I’m able to relax and really give my body the long, slow stretch I didn’t realize I needed.

My head and neck spin around in slow, deliberate circles. I arch my back, puffing out my chest and forcing my arms, easing tension out of my deltoids and trapezii with each cycle of extension and flexion. And I repeat the process with my arms and legs, closing my eyes and letting soothing heat etch sweet relief into my weary body.

Some amount of time passes. I’m not sure if it’s a lot or a little, and I’m not sure I was fully awake and fully conscious through all of it. I do know that when I step out and dry off, I’m feeling much, much better than I was before. Of body, yes, but mostly of mind.

I’m a bit perturbed after everything. Not at the battle itself, but at how easily I was able to kill a human being. I can’t say it was in cold blood— it was the heat of battle, a woman actively trying to kill civilians in order to further the cause of the Order of the Wilds and its sinister leader. The sight and smell and that last, blood-curdling scream as her life spilled onto her bonded beast. Plenty of innocent lives were saved thanks to my actions, and I’ll surely be heralded as a heroine by the powers that be.

But her words to Lindsey still ring in my ears. ‘Don’t you understand how much better the world will be once we rid ourselves of these pathetic, worthless leeches once and for all’. Fact is, she’s absolutely right in her goals. Not her methods, which I can’t condone. But a new political system, some new honest people to run our government instead of sleazebags in suits? Yeah, we sure as hells need a lot of systemic reform.

A knock comes to the door. I don’t need to hear Chloe’s voice to know that it’s her. Just the cadence of her tapping is enough. That, and the fact that my [Mechanist’s Eye] Skill can see her [Ether] signature, door or no. Were it anyone else, I might feel some sort of way about her using her [Ethersight] to do the same to me, although to a lesser extent. But I have nothing to hide from my love. There’s no part of my body she won’t get an intimate view of soon enough.

“I’m almost dressed, Chloe,” I say. “Just need another minute.”

“You sure I can’t come in again?”

“Please?” I ask, half state. “You’ll get to see soon enough.”

“Don’t keep me waiting too long, Sera.” She giggles.

I’m still a little nervous about… That. I guess I’m partially worried that I’ll do it wrong, and won't be able to make her happy. Or worse, accidentally hurt her in my inexperience. At the same time, I’m nervous, in an excited way.

More and more, I realize that I’ve been attracted to Chloe for a long time. I just hadn’t been able to admit it to anyone, least of all myself. I blame a combination of living in a part of the country that was never keen on same-sex relationships and focusing so hard on my studies that I never stopped to consider the possibility of a relationship with anyone, regardless of gender. But I want to be with her, in any and every way. I guess the only reason I’m so hesitant is that I want to make sure it’s just perfect, or as perfect as I can make it, when that day finally does happen. Chloe deserves that much.

I emerge from the restroom seventy seconds later; I know this exactly because Chloe informs me the second I walk out that I was ten seconds late in joining her in the main room of the guild hall. And damn, I have to say, she cleans up even better than I do.

“So, Lindsey told you ‘good luck’ before we started coming back here, and you told me to wait until later to tell me what she was referring to.”

“I did.”

“Well, now is then’s later. So spill!”

I whisper in her ear. “Class change. I might not be able to do much for a while. Can I ask you to look after me while I do so?”

“Of course, love. I can’t wait to see what you get.”

After a light meal of sandwiches on sourdough bread, we head back to the ladies’ dorm wing. I sit down on my cot and close my eyes. As I get situated and comfortable, I feel a warm arm wrapping around me from behind, followed by the gentle air of Chloe’s breath on the back of my neck.

“Are you going to be comfortable like that? It might take a while.”

“Are you kidding? You in my embrace, relaxing on a warm summer day, scrolling through my phone, loving and being loved? This is pretty much my biggest fantasy.”

“Alright. I’ll see you again in… Sooner rather than later, I hope.”

With a warm smile, I turn to the System notifications in the corner of my eyesight.

[You have met the conditions necessary for a Class Change. Would you like to change classes now?]

I decide to do so, not quite sure what will happen. As I mentally select the option, the sights and sensations of the outside world fade away. Chloe’s touch feels muted, her breaths cooler and then softer before I can no longer feel them at all. My vision goes white, and then dark, an endless void which somehow manages to feel both warm and comforting.

Bit by bit, the space around me changes. Color returns to the world, although wherever I emerge, it’s not the guildhall for sure. I don’t recognize it for a good while; it takes some time for the world to materialize and my vision to sharpen and focus. But then I realize that I’m in Chloe’s room back home. On her bed, specifically.

I don’t think I warped here somehow. Outside the bedroom window is more of that endless black, and even with the internet… troubles since the world modifications, I think Chloe would have kept up with our hometown being engulfed in a void of endless black. And I can’t open the door leading into the upstairs living area, either.

The world then shifts again. I’m growing smaller? No, the room is going wider. All of Chloe’s personal effects are disappearing, and in their place, I see silhouettes of myself, all wearing different outfits. It takes a moment to figure it out. These silhouettes represent different paths for me, different classes I could take. And now I have to figure out which one of these best speaks to me.

I start with the one nearest me, this me wearing a lab coat and carrying my trusty sketchbook of all the glyphs I’ve compiled to this point.

[Class: Spell Researcher]

[The [Spell Researcher] isn’t content to just cast magic. She wants to understand it, from the most fundamental principles to the myriad applications. She has heard the maxim ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’ and has set out to prove the statement, its converse, and every other variant. A [Spell Researcher]’s knowledge of glyphs, Ether, and the properties of both are second to none, and she effortlessly translates that knowledge into power against all who would make an enemy of her.]

[[Strength] -1, [Speed] +0, [Vitality] +0, [Mind] +8, Maximum [Health] +100, Maximum [Ether] +300 when choosing this class. [Mind] +2, 6 Free Stat Points per level.]

I try to get some information about [Ether] regeneration rates and possible Skill changes, and to my great surprise, the System actually grants this information. My [Ether] regeneration will increase to [Mind] x 12, and I will have the option to move both [Glyphcasting] and [Intermediate Ether Manipulation] to Class Skills, should I choose.

I will be able to keep [Tinkerer] as a Class Skill, but I’ll lose [Mass Production], a result of this class focusing a bit less on the weapon and Ethertech crafting and more on the spell crafting side of things. All in all, in terms of combat potential, it seems a strong choice. I’m not sure how I feel about it overall, but thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be a time limit of how long I can look around the room, and I still have several more classes to check out.

The next version of me is dressed in a cowboy— or cowgirl, I guess— getup straight out of an old-time Western. Brown leather chaps, a well-worn blouse, knee-high boots, a vest, and even a ten-gallon cowboy hat. Most notably, however, is the pistol holstered at her side and the shotgun strapped around her shoulder.

[Class: Gunner Elementalist]

[The [Gunner Elementalist] knows that you can go further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone. The gun was the weapon that won the–]

Yeah, I’m gonna skip over the neocolonial bullshit. Gun go shooty, tool, so-called ‘peacekeeper’, and so on. Let’s see what the class actually does.

[[Strength] +8, [Speed] +4, [Vitality] -1, [Mind] -3, Maximum [Health] +100, Maximum [Ether] -50 when selecting this class. [Strength] +2, [Speed] +2, [Vitality] +1, 2 Free Stat Points per level.]

That makes sense. This is definitely a class geared more toward physical combat, and it’s going to boost my physical stats at the cost of a few points of [Mind]. I’m still stuck at an [Ether] regeneration rate of [Mind] x10, which is a big mark against the class. But I shan’t rule it out fully.

Ooh, interesting, looks like this class actually gets a more focused variant of [Basic Glyph Manifestation] as a Class Skill, scope-locked to apply to my [Ether Bullets] specifically. I won’t be locked to just one or two glyphs on a bullet, and I won’t need to take the time to carve a bunch of new glyphs in my arm to upgrade my [Mechanical Arm Cannon]. If I know the glyph or glyph combination, I can Manifest its effects onto a bullet. It will require some advanced knowledge and practice, since I’ll need to formulate entire arrays on the fly otherwise. So, maybe not as inflexible as I had originally assumed.

This class sadly loses access to [Tinkerer] and [Mass Production] as class Skills. In other words, I’m eschewing the research side to a pretty substantial degree in order to focus on being a gunslinger heroine. [Flash of Insight] changes to a gun-based variant, and [Mechanist’s Eye] changes to [Gunslinger’s Eye], losing a bit of the [Ether] sensing for far, far greater visual acuity of the physical world, including at night. Bullseyeing desert critters from atop an airplane or space ship? No problem!

I don’t like it, but I can’t rule it out completely.

Moving on, I see another version of myself, this one in a set of wizard’s robes. Ones very much like Kristil’s. Including the parts of her outfit showing a little more leg and cleavage than I’m entirely comfortable exposing. Even without seeing the class name and description, I can tell this class is going to be absolutely murder on my equipment. I’m probably switching from wearing medium armor to robes and light armor only, which means dungeon crawling and hopefully getting lucky enough to find an outfit on par with Chloe’s and Kristil’s.

But I should do my due diligence.

[Class: Glyphcasting Evoker]

[The [Glyphcasting Evoker] is a student of magic not content to study from only a single school. She laughs in the face of those claiming to be a master of all four elements; she’s studied a thousand glyphs and has plans to research ten thousand more. Although some may decry her methods as lacking the artistic flair and finesse of a true mage, her scientific rigor and methodology to magic gets the most important thing: results.]

Sure enough, I lose my armor proficiency, though it seems like I can buy it back at the cost of a General Skill slot. I also get to keep [Tinkerer], which changes from a more tech-focused Skill to one designed around spellcraft and building new glyph arrays. In pretty much every regard, this is the pure, mage-focused class. And I like it. I like casting spells. I like studying glyphs and [Glyphcasting] and building a library of arrays just like a wizard jotting spells into her spellbook. But the stats give me pause.

[[Strength] -3, [Speed] +0, [Vitality] -1, [Mind] +10, Maximum [Health] -300, Maximum [Ether] +700 when choosing this class. [Mind] +2, 5 Free Stat Points per level.]

And my [Ether] regeneration increases to [Mind] x 18 per hour, the biggest jump yet. Comparing it to the [Spell Researcher] class, this class is more of a pure mage that dabbles in spellcraft, while that one is more focused on research and studying. On the other hand, this class gives the fewest stat points each level, which I can’t ignore either. I’m not sure how many levels I’ll be stuck with in this class, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s going to be more than 32.

But that’s just more reason to survey the rest of the options available to me. And I still have a few more before I’m even ready to start making a decision.