Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
3.2 Future Plans

“Ahh…” I mutter as I stretch in the tub, relaxing as hot water cascades from the showerhead down my back. I’ve had my share of baths back at the guildhall, but feeling the scalding shower sizzle water down my body and ease the knots I didn’t know I had? Well, it feels nothing short of incredible. As incredible as flying with Chloe in my arms and nearly as incredible as everything she and I did last night together.

I think Chloe’s right about things, now that I think about them with the benefit of a full night’s rest behind me. I do have options. It might be unfair that I have options where others don’t. But I’m also not omnipotent, able to bend the world to my will and justice with a thought and a flex of my power.

Perhaps someday, I will, and should that day come, I’ll… I'll need to be very, very judicious with that sort of power. Already I have more physical prowess than, probably 99.95% of the population. And I expect that percentage to only go up as I learn to tap further into the power that only I have. Taking down a force of people all five to ten levels above me was utterly trivial in my Overlimit state. And that’s just as I am now. If I reach the levels of power my old self did, I doubt there would be any being on this planet who could oppose me.

Something about that famous movie line springs to mind: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ And mine are great in both capacities. To become strong enough to challenge a god, in order to effectuate exactly that outcome.

For now, however, I enjoy the soak, the relentless pinpricks of water running down my back and arms and legs. My mind again wanders, as it is wont to do in the shower. This time, however, the thoughts are far more concrete and immediate. How can I best use this half a million dollars? How best can I use these weeks I’ve been given? How can I get in contact with Chloe’s father? Where in the nine hells is Chloe’s father, who supposedly ‘knows more about me’?

I suppose that would be one reason to take the government position, one that I hadn’t considered before. Though not a good, long-term reason. Not one that should cause me to abandon the decision Chloe and I made against doing exactly that.

What I do need, though, is resources. I need proper materials with which I can enhance my gear, my weapons, my arm and wings and everything else. And with half a million dollars at my disposal, that shouldn’t be nearly so much of a problem. Although it might involve heading to some shadier areas and dealing with some seedier folks than I’d ideally like to. Still, I’ve done things I don’t like before, and I’m sure I’ll have to do so again before this is all said and done.

I know Chloe wants to take things slow and just enjoy one another on a lazy morning, but after fifteen minutes of musing and ruminating in the shower, I’m starting to get antsy! Things to do, preparations to make, plans to begin setting into stone and carving out of metal and… The metaphor is definitely heavily mixed at this point.

In either case, I use a [Heat] glyph to help me dry off and combine it with a [Wind] glyph to create a metaphysical facsimile of a blow dryer. Once I’m dried off, clothed, and suited up into my armor, I head back to the bedroom and gather the sheets and throw them in the wash. By now, Mrs. Jacobs is awake and looks at me with furrowed brows.

“So, should I be looking into some soundproofing for you two’s bedroom now, or do you plan to make it yourself?”

I blush with embarrassment. “Uh… I guess we didn’t realize you were home when we…”

She laughs. “Oh, no, I didn’t get home until nearly eleven last night. But it seemed the logical conclusion as to why you’re washing the sheets this morning. Judging by your expression, I’d say that I’m right!”

I take half a step back, my face now bright red. “S– Sorry.”

“You two are adults now and I trust you both to make smart decisions. Just, be safe, use proper protection, and all that good stuff, okay? Promise.”

“Yeah, I promise.”

Chloe emerges from the other bathroom a moment later, breaking up the awkward silence which had developed in the interim. She reaches over to me and gives me a hug, one which I eagerly reciprocate, even in front of the most embarrassing audience.

“Alright, you two lovebirds, I’ve got to head out for another long day of work. I’ll probably be late again tonight. You two can just make whatever you want for dinner. Or if you want to order a pizza or something, that’s okay too. I left a twenty on the table. Chloe, if you need anything else or there’s an emergency, just call me. I’ll try to have my phone around, but it’s really busy, so you might have to leave a message.”

She’s pretty clearly going through her ‘worried mother’ phase the way she’s rattling off everything. I can’t blame her, though. We’ve been out in a sort of temporary exile, remanded to military custody for the last couple of months, and we’ve only just gotten back. I think more than anything, she misses Chloe. And maybe me too, to a lesser extent.

“Alright, Mom. We can take care of ourselves.”

“I know you can. I don’t want to know everything you two have been through these past couple of months, but I can see on your faces just how much you’ve matured.”

The three of us share a group hug before Mrs. Jacobs departs. Once she’s pulled out of the driveway and onto the street, the two of us stare into each other’s arms, neither of us able to resist the opportunity to steal a kiss away from prying eyes.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Chloe asks after a minute of our tongues getting to know one another. “Stay here and cuddle? Repeat last night a few more times?”

“I was actually thinking of heading to a local pawn shop and seeing what we could procure as far as gemstones and precious metals. I’ve got a literal half million dollars, and we both need better weapons, armor, and accessories if we’re to brave the challenges which lie ahead of us. And yes, I will absolutely buy you a ring. A ring with a big fat diamond on it if that’s what you want, much as I dislike the whole damned diamond industry.”

“Well, I guess I have to buy you a ring, too. I mean no disrespect when I say this, but yours is kinda… tacky.”

I laugh, causing Chloe to laugh as well. “Pretty sure anyone seriously trying to fight with System-registered gear is going to look tacky unless they’re lucky enough to have a set of matching equipment. Which, I do not.”

“Maybe you should look at crafting a set of matching gear?”

“Hmm. Definitely a good idea in theory, although I’m not sure I’m capable of matching the efficacy of my current equipment. Especially not my wings.”

“Well, your wings look beautiful, Sera. Always.”

“I’m sure you’ll get a pair yourself one day, Chloe. Then we can fly together. Maybe have a date up in the clouds.”

“You think I’ll get wings like yours?”

“Not like mine. The old me had wings of pure Ether like those of a butterfly. I think it’s highly likely that you will get wings of that sort, especially if you continue to stick around me and keep up with your [Ether Manipulation] exercises.”

Chloe closes her eyes and begins mouthing some sort of mantra. I can tell instinctively that she’s trying to do exactly as I instructed. However, I’m not confident that she has the [Ether] capacity or Skills to do so without some sort of additional effector like my [Wings of Icarus]. Of course, if that is what she wants me to build for her, then I will spare no effort in doing so. All the more reason to head to the bank to deposit this check and start procuring our materials as soon as possible

To my surprise, Chloe does manage to sprout a pair of wings, wings which glow an incandescent yellow-white. She jumps into the air and floats just off the ground… and then promptly falls back to the ground a moment later. She jumps higher this time— only barely avoiding crashing her head into the ceiling— and hovers again for a couple of seconds, fluttering her wings multiple times in quick succession, but the result is the same. She tumbles groundbound. If not for my catching her at the last moment, she surely would have faceplanted into the carpet beneath us.

“Do you want me to carry you like we did yesterday?” I ask. “I don’t mind.” As if I would ever mind an opportunity to wrap my arms around Chloe, or give her an excuse to do the same to me.

“No. I mean, yes, I definitely do, but I also want to get this right. I feel like it’s so close and yet I’m missing something. And I am going to figure out what that something is before we leave.”

Chloe tries and fails, and tries and fails again. She’s generating a lot of wind— enough that we quickly have to head outside lest we knock down a vase or some other expensive yet fragile decoration. But she doesn’t seem to be able to maintain her flight for more than a couple of seconds.

She remains as determined as she was the moment she heard about my past life experience, despite half an hour of consistent failure. It’s only then that I realize the pattern. The shape of my wings isn’t particularly conducive to flying, and hers are modeled after mine. For me, it’s not a problem. My wings have extra glyphs and circuitry that enable flight despite the inferior design. But she’ll need a more optimal shape and flapping pattern to generate enough lift, even taking her smaller size and lighter armor into consideration. Thankfully, [Angelic Insight] gives me an intuitive idea of how to fix the problem, even if I don’t precisely understand the physics behind it.

“Can you try making your wings a bit thicker and a little shorter? And maybe a second pair of compound wings like a butterfly might help as well.”

Chloe closes her eyes once more, and her wings shift. Her wingspan drops by about a third, but each of her wings grows far thicker, especially nearer to her back. More impressively, and a testament to her improved control since upgrading into [Intermediate Ether Manipulation], the wings are pleated and covered in protrusions that look a bit like golden-white feathers.

Her forehead has a few drops of sweat on it, and her breathing is a bit short due to the mental exertion of her new technique. But she’s got nothing but smiles on her face as she leaps into the air, hovering about five feet off the ground. Her wings are flapping gently, and the wind she generates beneath her is a fair bit more than it was before.

Though, it seems she’s not capable of hovering in midair the way I can. For a few seconds, she can, though it seems to fatigue her considerably. But when she flies around the neighborhood, it’s with all the grace of an eagle, soaring about, watching those of us down on the surface with splendor and majesty.

She touches down on the grass in her backyard, and the two of us share another hug and kiss, because of course neither of us are going to lose the opportunity to bask in the joys of young love. But then she backs away, regrowing her wings, and lifting up off the ground. I follow suit, taking to the sky, and together, the two of us soar off, toward whatever awaits us as we face the day ahead.