Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
3.43 Seraphina’s Excursion III

Planet XSQ-1827, Outside Tower Gauntlet: Sector 92, 11842S-105487E, Year 16,369 AI (8 Weeks after Seraphina’s awakening)

I take a long moment to stretch and adjust my eyes as we emerge out of the Gauntlet and back into the outside world. We failed to complete the entirety of the Tower today, something that I was initially more than a little upset about. But we did make it from the first floor all the way to the forty-fourth out of sixty-four, something that apparently isn’t supposed to happen in a single day.

“I can’t believe she still wants to go on after all that,” Flynn mutters, quietly enough that he doesn’t expect me to be able to hear. Or maybe he does expect me to hear, although his words are barely more than a whisper. “I guess that’s why the bigwigs have such high hopes for this girl.”

“Actually,” I ask Madison, “why are we stopping so soon? Is the forty-fifth floor boss supposed to be that difficult? Am I not ready for that fight yet? I thought I was doing really well for myself so far!”

Madison taps my forehead. “It’s not just about whether you’re ready, Seraphina. It’s about making sure you look after those you’re fighting alongside.”

I turn to Flynn and Nate. Neither of them are critically injured, but I do notice that both of them aren’t exactly looking fresh. Nate struggles to keep his posture fixed, instead slumping and slouching and breathing heavily. And Flynn is covered in bruises which Madison refuses to heal for some reason. Actually, that’s a good question.

“Madison, why didn’t you heal them?”

“Do you think I will always be there for you, Seraphina?”

“I– I suppose you would be done with me at some point. I just… I never wanted that day to come, so I tried to pretend that it wouldn’t.”

“Done with you, Seraphina? Why do you say something like that?”

“You just said you didn’t want to be around anymore.”

Madison takes me into her arms and wraps me into a hug. She’s got two inches on me, meaning my head fits just perfectly into the space between her neck and shoulders. It… it feels so nice. I almost start crying, but I am just barely able to hold my tears back from the overwhelming emotions powering through me.

“I never said that I didn’t want to stay with you, Seraphina. Just that my obligations will take me away from the research facility, and from this planet. In time, you, too, will have your own obligations, your own missions and training to undertake.”

“Because of the end–”

“Please, Seraphina–” Madison cuts me off, then lowers her voice to a whisper so quiet I have to read her lips to make sure I’m catching her meaning correctly. “Don’t mention the end to anyone else. It would… cause a lot of issues if that information was revealed more broadly.”

That seems weird. The end of the universe is like… the biggest thing of all. The single, primary objective for all of humanity and all other lifeforms that dwell within the entire universe. And we aren’t telling everyone this, why? Should we not all be taking steps to avoid the end of the world? Why shouldn’t we all be working together? I mean, yes, maybe I have all this extra power as 「The Anomaly」, but that’s just way too much pressure to put on me, to expect me to save the entire universe alone!

“I don’t understand,” I mumble.

“I will tell you later, Seraphina. Our transport has just arrived.”

Sure enough, as soon as she says as much, I hear the roaring of the transport’s sub-light engines roaring in the far distance. It approaches nearly in a flash, far faster than I can travel even with the help of my [Swift Foot] Skill. I wonder what kind of technology they use to move so quickly. I wonder if I can integrate it into my own design, or otherwise learn to harness that power for my own. It would be such a step up from this basic Skill I have.

The transport touches down on the landing station a few hundred feet away from the entrance. Once the door to the transport opens and the pilot emerges, both Flynn and Nate head inside and sit down. And I’m pretty sure they both fall asleep the second their butts hit the seat. I mean, yes, we were in there for some thirty-six hours, but I’m still feeling full of energy! I want to keep going! Reach the top! I’m sure there’s incredible treasure waiting for us on the sixty-fourth floor!

“Dr. Mazerie,” the pilot says as he steps out of the cockpit. He greets Madison with a salute and a quick head bow. “Flight Captain Manuel Lorrel, at your service. We received your signal beacon a few minutes ago and arrived as fast as we could. I trust that your mission was a success?”

“It was,” Madison says, returning the salute. “Seraphina is growing stronger at a rate commensurate with the upper range of our projections, and I am not far now from reaching the Level 224 threshold. Should only be another month or so at this rate”

“Godspeed, Doctor. The entire planet wishes you success on your final ascension.”

Level 224 threshold? Oh, that’s right. I don’t have levels due to the way I interface with the System, the power of 「The Anomaly」 causing me to increase my stats directly without levels. But for most people, they gain a lot of power, stats, and Skills when they hit the class change thresholds— namely every multiple of 32. And with 255 being the System’s level cap, 224 would be the final ascension.

It’s hard to believe that Madison could get any stronger. And… though it doesn’t make me feel great, I realize now exactly how outclassed I was while she was training me.

I can’t help but laugh. Every time she gave me an inch, allowed me to deliver a strike onto her. Every time I blocked an attack. Every time I even so much as moved or stood off the ground or breathed. She allowed it. She is so much stronger than I am that I was unable to realize just how much she was yielding to make me feel better.

Lasting thirty-seven seconds, my foot! She could have killed me in a thousandth of that time had she desired it. She could… Yes, she is likely the strongest individual on the entire planet. That’s why she can’t train me forever. She has her responsibilities as this planet’s protector and leader in military matters, though probably not civilian ones too.

“Thank you, Captain,” Madison says. She turns to me. “Seraphina, are you ready to depart?”

“I am,” I say, taking a seat in the back, while Madison takes the one right next to me.

The transporter lifts off, and before the minute is done, we’re back in the air, flying at hypersonic speeds toward the research facility where I was born and still live. During the downtime, as Madison is idly scrambling through her communicator, managing any number of problems for the planet as a whole, I take a moment to look at my new stats.

[Current Experience: ??,???,???. To next: ???,???] [Error: Cannot establish baseline with…]

[Level: ???]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 104,949 / 131,850; [Ether]: 20,212 / 26,825]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 241; [Speed]: 219; [Vitality]: 240; [Mind]: 110]

I have successfully gained a good mix of all three of my physical stats during our day-and-a-half excursion. Unfortunately, my [Mind] continues to trail behind my other three primary attributes. This, I think, is due to the type of monsters I fought in the Tower. A lot of large, bulky monsters with plenty of strong physical attacks. Had I fought faster monsters and those who used more magical attacks, I probably would have progressed accordingly.

Strange how that works. My stats increase based on the creatures I fight and defeat. I would have expected them to increase based on the sorts of attacks I launch, similar to how my Skills gain ranks as I use them and grow more experienced with them. And why don’t I have the ability to control that part? I thought 「The Anomaly」 was supposed to be the power of absolute freedom. The ability to shape my own growth without restriction.

Though, maybe it is doing exactly that. If evolution is supposed to be the natural process by which organisms better equipped to survive an environment are more likely to survive and propagate their genome, then maybe this is doing an analogous process to my own body. I am adapting, getting stronger and modifying my own power in a way that leaves me better prepared to fight more of the same. I would therefore need to fight monsters and others who use magic if I am to improve accordingly.

“Seraphina,” Madison says a few minutes later. “How was your first trip through the Tower?”

“It was fun,” I say.

Madison starts laughing, though I’m not so sure what’s so funny. My brows drop and my eyes narrow slightly.

“Did I say something funny?”

Madison smiles. “Most people wouldn’t consider a series of trials like those to be fun. And they certainly wouldn’t enjoy fighting for their life as they push their physical and mental fortitude to their limits.”

“Really?”

“I’m more of an exception to that rule. Well, we both are, I suppose.”

“By the way, is it really okay that we didn’t finish the whole Gauntlet in one attempt? I know that the teleporters let us go back up to where we left off, but it almost feels like it’s cheating, not starting from the bottom every time.”

“Think about it this way, Seraphina. You are stronger now than you were when we entered the dungeon, correct?”

I nod.

“And the first few floors were not particularly difficult, correct?”

Again, I am forced to concede her point. Though, one thing bothers me. After a few awkward seconds, I ask the begged question.

“I see what you are getting at. But it’s my understanding that the entire point of a gauntlet is to be challenged by its length as well as the difficulty of the monsters contained within. Would allowing us to start from a later floor not serve to the detriment of that challenge?”

“Do you believe that the lower floors would pose any meaningful challenge to you?”

“No.”

“Exactly. It would be a waste of everyone’s time, and it would be a waste of [Ether] for the Tower to generate lower level monsters, ones that will give a challenger no or virtually no Experience. Rather than consigning everyone to waste time for no benefit, the Tower allows those who have proven themselves capable to skip to a floor commensurate with their Skills and Experience.”

“And I suppose the reason why there are teleporters in the first place is so that people can bow out if they’re feeling overwhelmed?”

“Remember, Seraphina. The System wants us to get stronger, not to die. At the same time, it needs to challenge us in order for us to grow stronger. Unlike dungeons, Tower Gauntlets disallow backtracking or retreating. And the Tower Warden prevents people from lollygagging about for too long to recover their [Ether] each floor. These increase the challenge, and therefore the potential Experience gain.”

“Can the Tower Warden be slain too?”

“It would take a number of people even stronger than you to do so without a massive amount of dumb luck.”

“Like you?”

“Yes. I slew the Warden of this Tower once before. That was the final bout I needed to gain the requisite Experience for my Level 192 Class Change. The most recent such one I went through, fourteen years ago. And, the penultimate ascension before reaching the highest echelons of power.”

“Fourteen years ago? I thought you were hardly more than thirty!”

“Haha! You are too kind, Seraphina. As a person gains levels and [Vitality], they are able to remain young for longer and longer, and my primary class, whose full name is [Saintess of the Heavenly Immortal Blade], grants agelessness as one of its Skills. In other words, I will never grow old, nor die from natural causes.

“So how old are you?”

“It’s impolite to ask a woman her age, Seraphina.” Madison pauses, letting me squirm. “Don’t tell anyone this, but I’m actually nearing a hundred and sixty years old.”

Madison grips her weapon, [Divine Blade Luminaria], and wills it to disappear into her [Inventory]. And just as she does, the transport lands back in the docking station. Time for some more adventuring through the– I’m cut off by a long yawn. Seems sleep is finally coming to claim me as well after a long trial mostly completed.