Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
3.37 The Third Ascent III

The ninth floor of the Tower Gauntlet takes place on a small tropical island, as stereotypical as they come. Palm trees covering most of the interior, with the exception of a beach of warm, golden, extra-fine sand. The salty smell of the ocean, something Chloe confirms to be consistent with her experiences at the beach in years previous. The water is crystal clear, and little fish are swimming all around.

The objective, as far as any of us can tell, is hidden within the volcano in the dead center of the island. Again, pretty stereotypical as far as depictions of tropical islands are concerned.

The one downside of all of this is that my [Ether] hasn’t had nearly as much time to recover as I would have liked. I’m sitting at just over 2,600 now that I’ve had a full hour to rest and recuperate, and while I could use an [Ether Canister] to replenish myself a bit more, I’m still feeling a bit gun-shy after knocking myself out of commission for three days the last time.

I suspect, again without proof, that Chloe will get a spell that will cure that sort of condition as she gains further levels. But for now, especially since I don’t know how long Stefan and Lindsey plan to stay in town, I choose to remain cautious; we need to make it as far as we can by the end of the day.

I check my phone— quarter after nine. Still have plenty of time to explore, and thanks to Lindsey’s and Stefan’s preparations, we’ve got enough food for two days, plus a handful of [Health] restoratives from the army’s alchemy depot. Not that I expect to need that much; with that thing from last time following people during their ascent and forcing them up or out, we’ve only got a couple hours per floor, maximum.

I pop a mini-muffin in my mouth. Was expecting blueberry, but got chocolate chip instead. No disappointment whatsoever.

We head into the lush forest surrounding the mountain. More fights with tropical animals— this time, it’s a lot of snakes and amphibians. Giant frogs and toads, most of which can secrete some rather nasty poisons from their skin, their tongue, or both. However, with a bit of caution, and a lot of Chloe by our side, they prove considerably easier to dispatch than their level would suggest.

[You have defeated 143 Assorted Island Animals (Levels ranging from 32 to 37). You have gained a boosted 8,000 Experience.]

[Level: 41; Experience: 979,505; To Next: ,960]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 5,191 / 5,318; [Ether]: 2,431 / 3,821]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 92 (Base: 48); [Speed]: 92 (Base: 48); [Vitality]: 170 (Base: 89); [Mind]: 239 (Base: 125)]

I have to assume that Chloe is something of an anomaly, in a rather different way from how I am 「The Anomaly」. It’s the only explanation that really makes a lot of sense for why so many of these encounters feel so easy.

First, there probably aren’t a massive number of [Healer] type classes in general. Sure, people training for careers in the medical field probably will end up with one— paramedics, doctors, nurses, and so forth. But throughout the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that they are far outnumbered either by [Evoker] or [Summoner] type classes, among those seeking a magic-oriented class, and those three types together are outclassed by professional, non-combatant classes. Which makes sense; not everyone is cut out for fighting, and we still need electricians and plumbers and couriers and so forth, with Skills dedicated to their trades, gaining levels by doing ordinary, safe jobs.

Second, most of those who do take [Healer] classes probably choose [Professional Healer] variants rather than [Combat Healers]. I’m a little surprised Chloe didn’t take a professional class starting out. Actually…

“Chloe, quick question.”

“Yes, love?”

“When you were first choosing your class back when the System arrived, did you have the choice between either a combat-focused healing class or a, I guess, a professional variation, for lack of a better word? I’m just musing about some System-related stuff and I figured I’d ask.”

“I don’t think it’s quite so distinct? Like, I had a [Doctor’s Apprentice] class, and then a [White Mage] class, which I think are kind of the same as what you’re describing.”

“Yeah, I was just wondering, since I know I’ve heard about certain classes gaining Levels and Experience without combat. Not as much as combat classes, but still more than nothing.”

“Oh? What about it?”

“I was just thinking that there aren’t many high-level healers that are going around in Towers and dungeons. I don’t want to say that you’re one-of-a-kind, but I doubt there are many people with healing magic as potent as yours.”

“Oh, I’m not one-of-a-kind?”

“You’re the only one for me, Chloe.”

“Good answer.”

And that gets to the final reason why Chloe is so perfect and valuable and wonderful and amazing. Among those people who do have combat-focused healer classes, how many people are going to find a party that can properly make use of her Skills and protect her long enough to develop into the confident, powerful spellcaster she is now? I can’t imagine it’s that many.

Which is why, even as we enter the volcano, none of us feel rushed. Even as our [Health] trickles down a few points at a time due to the burning, caustic air, we all four remain cool and collected.

My inverted [Heat] glyph on its own is capable of blunting the worst of the unpleasant, my newly improved Skills reducing the cost to maintain it down to just under my [Ether] regeneration rate, even within a dungeon. And with my new [Intermediate Glyph Manifestation] Skill, I can keep it running in the back of my mind without need for conscious effort.

That, I think, even more than the improved efficacy of the spells I cast, will prove to be the most useful benefit of my newly-evolved Manifestation ability.

It’s something that I’ve long thought a bit odd— why is the stat governing magic called [Mind]? Having a higher [Mind] stat doesn’t make one smarter, wiser, or better able to detect bullshit. On its face, calling it a [Magic] stat would seem more apt, since it principally governs one’s ability to regenerate [Ether], as well as the damage taken and received by magical attacks.

The one thing one could say is that it does have some effect on mental processing speed, which is why even pure physical fighters need to invest in it at least a little. No sense being physically capable of outspeeding a bullet if your mind can’t send the signals to your muscles fast enough.

Except, [Mind] does have noticeable effects on two very important facets of mental prowess: willpower, and concentration. It is the stat that allows us to resist mental afflictions, such as the [Maddening Cacophony] I faced a couple of months back. It is the stat, alongside [Vitality], which allows us to keep fighting even when we should succumb to pain. And it is the stat that allows us to bring our Skills into effect even in the midst of battle, or when we’re on death’s doorstep.

Both of those are vitally important for my [Glyphcasting]. Manifesting a single glyph is not generally a strenuous exercise in willpower— enormously complex glyphs like [Gravity] aside. However, the difficulty increases somewhere between quadratically and cubically with each additional glyph added, especially when more elaborates sets of linking runes are included; [Luminous Barrier] and [Lightning Barrier] are each closer in difficulty to a basic spell of three and a half glyphs, despite only containing two root glyphs each. And a higher [Mind] absolutely does increase how many glyphs I can comfortably use at a time.

The next logical step from here is to get to the point where I can cast spells consecutively, just like normal spellcasters. And, once I can do that, it should be possible to learn to split my mind completely and cast multiple spells simultaneously. Some sort of [Parallel Thoughts] variant, should one exist, would be the end goal on that front, perhaps augmented further down the line with cybernetics. After all, if a computer CPU can have sixteen or more processing threads, why can’t I?

My musing is interrupted by Lindsey, who alerts me to the presence of the boss of the floor. It’s… a centipede-shaped rock monster sitting in a pool of lava. It’s perhaps five hundred feet tall— plus however much more is hidden beneath— with dozens of thin, stony legs and a single, glowing, eyeball between two mandibles that easily dwarf even Stefan. This… this boss seems awfully familiar, as though I’ve seen it before. But where?

As soon as we get close, the creature lunges forward, attempting to bite down upon me. Stefan intercepts in a blur, slashing at the creature’s right mandible so hard that sparks ignite, creating miniature flames that briefly burn in the volcanic air.

I channel more Ether into the inverted [Heat] glyph I’ve been maintaining, lowering the temperature down to a more comfortable level. More importantly, as I begin to fire [Frosted Bullets] toward the hulking behemoth, it’s slowly hardening the creature’s magmatic carapace.

Lindsey fires shots aimed square at the creature’s eye, which glares at us with such focus and intensity that it practically screams ‘please hit me, I am this creature’s weak point’. Unfortunately, even with her sharp reflexes, her attacks aren’t landing. They seem to be repelled by some invisible barrier covering the eye. And Chloe’s [Scouring Light] isn’t having too much effect either.

“I’ve got an idea,” Stefan says as he launches another slash to beat back an attack aimed square at Chloe. “But it’ll require you and Lindsey to be able to defend yourselves and Chloe for several seconds.”

“Go ahead,” I say, using my own [Shining Sword] to try the same thing. Unfortunately, even with my buffs, my [Strength] is still eclipsed by the titan of a man, and that’s before his massive frame and Skills are factored in. I’m pushed back, briefly knocked down to one knee, my wings pressing into the ground to give me that bit of extra stability to buttress against the attack. Magic might be magic, but the man’s martial prowess is superhuman all the same.

“If you can launch me, I bet I can break through whatever barrier is guarding its eye.”

“But you can’t fly,” I say. “And if I miss or it dodges, you’re heading right in the drink.”

“You underestimate yourself, you know. And you really underestimate me. I doubt a little dip would be enough to put me six feet under. Besides, I know your partner will patch me right up if I need any healing.”

“Chloe, prepare your strongest healing spell. Stefan might need it!”

“Wait, what?” she asks.

Before I can respond, I grab Stefan by the waist and take to the air. Lindsey, seemingly already knowing what I’m up to, goes all out with her arrows, providing the covering fire we so desperately need as the boss rains literal stone and chunks of magma at us from all sides. Stefan, however, is far from helpless, and even as he is, with my arms around his waist, he’s still able to beat back attacks as though he’s been doing it his entire life.

Once I get to within a hundred feet, I fling him forward with all the [Strength] I can muster, breaking off my flight and spinning back toward the surface, where Chloe and Lindsey are getting ravaged by relentless attacks. Lindsey is doing her best, but it’s a matter of a second or two before their [Saintess’s Cloister] runs out.

Worse still, I get pelted in the back, sending me face-first into the dirt. So embarrassing, and my own [Cloister] is down to just under eight hundred points remaining. I frontflip to my feet, just in time to see Stefan’s attack connect.

A sound like the shattering of glass echoes through the chamber. Then a roar that somehow deals five hundred damage to my shield— probably all dealt directly to my eardrums. Then everything goes deathly silent. The attacks cease.

Lindsey has Chloe by the waist and is rushing the two of them out of the way of the now-collapsing monster corpse. But I know what to do. I immediately leap forward, dodging legs and bits of stone and chitin as I try to make my way around the corpse. Stefan is still there, and probably falling fast, right into the drink…

But no, as I crest the titan and look over its head, I see Stefan, covered in blood and sinew, standing triumphantly, doing his best to wipe the guts off his body. I think about trying to clean him off with a [Water] glyph, but not until the System notification appears, which it does in short order.

[Your party has slain an Armored Arachnid (Level 45). You have gained a boosted 48,000 Experience.]

[You have gained enough Experience to reach Level 42. [Strength] +1, [Speed] +1, [Vitality] +1, [Mind] +1. Please assign free stat points (Remaining: 4).]

I assign three points to [Strength] and the last to [Mind]. The former because I’m being shown again and again the types of feats I could perform with a high [Strength] stat. And the latter because I always need more [Ether] regeneration.

[Maximum [Health] increases by [Vitality] x 2 + Current Level + Rand[1,3] = 225]

[Maximum [Ether] increases by [Mind] + Current Level + Rand[0,2] = 172]

[Level: 42; Experience: 1,019,505; To Next: 58,515]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 4,567 / 5,543; [Ether]: 2,094 / 3,993]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 101 (Base: 52); [Speed]: 95 (Base: 49); [Vitality]: 174 (Base: 90); [Mind]: 250 (Base: 129)]

[Your [Ether Bullet Barrage (Rank X) has upgraded to [Ether Bullet Barrage (Rank XI)].]

[Party Levels:

Seraphina Mortensen: 42 [Mechanical Angel] / [ ] / [ ]

Lindsey Reed: 43 [Ranger-Tactician] / [ ] / [ ]

Chloe Jacobs: 39 [Heavenly Saintess] / [ ] / [ ]

Stefan Rothsman: 37 [Stalwart Swordsman] / [ ] / [ ]]