Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
3.39 The Third Ascent V

Out of the volcano, and into the arctic. It’s really, really flipping cold, especially after starting to acclimate to the volcanic boss from the ninth floor, and the fierce gales blowing snow all around aren’t helping matters in the slightest. My armor— wyvern-scaled though it may be— is absolute shit when it comes to insulating properties. And, worse still, my wings and arm are doing nothing for the cause, instead conducting more cold directly into the rest of my body. And no, wrapping my wings around my body barely does anything to brunt the boreal assault.

Lindsey isn’t doing much better, shivering up close to Stefan, who takes the easy opportunity to wrap his arm around her. Despite being the least clothed of the four of us, he doesn’t seem to be cold, or he’s a world class actor when it comes to no-selling his reaction. No shivers, no cuddling up close to himself. The only thing he does is draw his blade and allow it to glow with the tiniest of embers— a hint of incandescence as opposed to the roaring flame it can generate, but welcomed nonetheless.

Chloe is the best off when it comes to her choice of attire, the warm, modest robes allowing her to brave through the perilous climate before us with only mild discomfort. Still, she nestles in close to me, wrapping herself around my right wing and arm, which I eagerly allow. Not sure if she’s doing so for her sake or mine, and I’m sure I don’t care what the answer is. An opportunity to keep Chloe by my side is a welcome one which I will never turn down.

“So, where do we go from here?” Stefan asks. “I don’t have any sensory Skills; I can’t see for jack out in this blizzard.”

I nod, closing my eyes as I switch to the omnidirectional form of my [Archangel’s Gaze]. It’s still difficult to see. The individual snowflakes dotting the landscape and the air around me are visible in crisp detail. Each of them blows with the gusts, and yet, in this state, they move so slowly that they appear to stand still. But there are so many of them— millions, if not billions, flying all about, and even more outside the range of my Skill.

And there is nothing that immediately points toward a specific direction to go. No path. No beacon of light. No waypoint that I can see. Nothing at all.

And yet, there is one direction that seems imminently more likely to be the right one. I point directly into the headwind. “This way,” I say.

“Did you see something?” Chloe asks out loud.

“Nope. Just snow so thick that even my Skills struggle to pierce the blizzard. But think about it, if this storm is another test by the System, then–”

“That makes sense,” Stefan says. “Absent any better ideas, I think we have our plan of action.”

No objections come. We proceed through the headwinds, Stefan and Lindsey out in front, and Chloe and me in the small wind shadow that his giant frame produces. I also produce a [Heat] glyph and activate it with a trickle of [Ether]. It fails to make the air around us warm or lukewarm, or really anywhere better than frigid, but it at least blunts the absolute worst of the bitter chill.

Snowflakes begin to collect in my hair, turning it from golden blonde to platinum, and Chloe’s from brunette to silver. Stefan, however, continues to power through the snow effortlessly as though he has some [Skill] that gives him resistance to the elements, looking no worse for wear after what feels like two hours of drudgery.

It’s only been ten minutes, and already, I’ve enjoyed more snow and blizzard conditions than I want to experience in two lifetimes. Snow is creeping into my boots, melting and then becoming puddles of cold water that seep into my socks and chill my very blood from without. Goddesses above help me, for I wish for nothing more than a bit of sweet relief from this all-encompassing blizzard.

No relief comes. Makes sense. Even if I am the [Mechanical Angel], I’ve never been particularly pious. In fact, I’d say my iconoclastic, anti-theistic mindset is about the exact opposite of pious, even going so far as to invoke every pagan goddess in I can think of in my invocations, specifically to spite the commonly-held notion of the omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent one-true capital-G God.

Who knows. Maybe I was proven right after all? The closest thing to an omnipotent, omniscient being that can be proven to exist is the System itself, and it sure as hell ain’t omnibenevolent!

Ten more minutes pass, my heightened [Mind] stat making it feel closer to thirty. Not wanting to pull out my phone to look at how long we’ve been here, I instead track the time by watching my [Ether] stat slowly tick up. With a [Mind] stat of 250 thanks to my own investment, Chloe’s [Saintess’s Blessing] boosted through [Angelic Bond], and a sprinkling of Stefan’s [Rally Cry], I’m now gaining [Ether] at a rate of 2,500 per hour. This, in turn, is bolstered by a further 720 per hour due to my [Flawed Ring of Regeneration], which is admittedly starting to lose its usefulness.

Altogether, this adds up to just under a point per second. Nine points in ten seconds, if my math is correct. This amount is halved by the effect of the Tower. And with my [Heat] glyph eating just over half that remaining regeneration, it comes out to about one points per five seconds net.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Chloe asks. “It’s been too damn long and even I’m starting to feel the arctic bite.”

“It feels like it should be, but I have no way of knowing for sure.”

There’s still no signs that we’re making any progress. Just more ice and more snow and more wind. Not even a few System-sent monsters to actually give us an excuse to let loose, enjoy the heat of battle, and vent some of the anger that’s been slowly building within me ever since we started this floor.

“Wait,” Lindsey says. “Do you hear that?”

None of us answer in the affirmative. Still, Lindsey draws her dagger and takes a position in the vanguard of our formation, her eyes constantly darting around, looking for the source of whatever it was that she heard.

I hear something twenty-four seconds later. A low, deep rumble that shakes the air, as though… a war horn sounding. Yes, this sounds exactly like a horn used to rally forces and lead them into battle. And the addition of further cries crescendoing through the howling gales only exacerbate the sense of foreboding. Lindsey was right, as she usually is. I draw my blade and take my position on Stefan’s right, keeping Chloe in the back where she’ll be relatively safer.

She’s already closed her eyes and begun chanting, readying her [Sanctuary] once more. I’m not sure exactly how it differs from [Saintess’s Blessing], but it does seem to have other, often eclectic benefits when cast, all in exchange for having an often prohibitive casting time. But in a defensive fight against an unknown number of incoming creatures, where we have a couple minutes to prepare? This is absolutely the right time and place to cast such a spell.

As it begins to take effect, the air calms, then starts to warm. The flow of Ether around us changes, Chloe’s will affecting it and imposing a protective will upon it. Golden light fills Chloe’s body, slowly radiating outward. The ground above us begins to shimmer with a golden, auroral aura, like translucent golden drapery surrounding and protecting us out to a radius of about two hundred feet.

Just as the spell finishes activating, the first of these creatures appears. Some sort of bipedal, white-furred snowbeast. Yetis, perhaps. It picks up a clump of snow off the ground, which rapidly grows in size, then shrinks, some Skill allowing it to nearly instantly compact the snow into a dangerous softball-sized projectile. One which it throws with startling accuracy and power.

I sidestep the attack, though the whistle of the air at my side suggests the snowball was thrown at a speed approaching the sound barrier. I get the distinct feeling from this that we’re going to have a less than pleasant time once all the others show up.

Deciding it’d be best not to wait for the entire party to arrive, I switch my [Mechanical Arm Cannon] to blaster mode and begin firing [Flaming Bullets] as quickly as I dare. Finally, I’m getting a chance to cut loose, and just as before, I’m enjoying myself a bit more than is entirely healthy.

The winds are still blowing outside the [Sanctuary], but they are nothing compared to those which the Thunderbird conjured a couple of hours earlier. They prove completely ineffective at diverting my attacks, each of which strikes directly at the snowbeast’s torso. Unfortunately, while I’m able to singe the fur and even cause some of their white visage to turn black, there’s simply too much wind and cold and snow to get that flame to stick. Even a barrage of eight shots fails to cause an ignition.

Stefan’s sword, on the other hand, is far more capable. With a single downward arc, a beam of fiery energy forms, and then launches forward, briefly taking on the shape of a firebird screaming toward its target. It collides with the snowbeast, somehow delivering enough concussive force to knock it flat on its ass.

For a brief moment, I stop to celebrate. I expect Lindsey to steal a furtive glance from her boyfriend. But, being a true professional, her guard doesn’t drop even for an instant. The moment our friend starts trying to climb back to its feet, she’s already in motion, launching an [Explosive Arrow] that again knocks it back to the ground.

It’s definitely injured. It staggers as it tries to force itself up, but it’s also definitely alive. And it’ll be getting back to the fight soon enough. Such is the [Health] and [Vitality] of these creatures, each of which has levels and stats comparable to our own. Part of me wants to rush out and just finish the creature off; who knows if one of these monsters has a healing ability, or some other effect I don’t want to have to deal with? But I know that leaving the effect of [Sanctuary] is an absolutely horrific idea.

So I leap into the air, taking advantage of my aerial mobility, especially compared with the creatures which seem groundbound, and continue pelting it with [Flaming Bullets]. Each incendiary strike hits home, and a strike aimed at the beast’s throat scores a vital blow. It’s bleeding out; death should be imminent, though I still don’t let my guard down. I fire two more bullets and finally get the System notification.

[Your party has slain a Boreal Snowbeast (Level 41). You have gained a boosted 9,000 Experience.]

[Level: 42; Experience: 1,028,505; To Next: 49,515]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 5,117 / 5,543; [Ether]: 3,475 / 3,993]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 102 (Base: 52); [Speed]: 96 (Base: 49); [Vitality]: 176 (Base: 90); [Mind]: 253 (Base: 129)]

Two more of them appear. I launch an [Ether Bullet Barrage] upon the one to my left as Stefan launches another plume of flame to the other one. Lindsey follows up, two [Explosive Arrows] upon each of them, compounding the damage dealt. I throw up a simple array of [Fire] and [Compression], conjuring a basketball-sized fireball that I throw at my previous target. It hits home, and unlike our previous attacks, my spell deals enough damage and create enough flame to cause a noticeable burn on our adversary.

But though we have the upper hand, something seems very, very wrong. There should be many, many more. And why aren’t they attacking us as a group? It feels like… Wait, why wouldn’t they… Unless this isn’t their main force. These three… They’re not the vanguard. They’re the decoy.

I drop back to the surface and scan the area.

Oh shit.

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