It’s quieter than I would have expected as we make our way closer to the giant crystal in the center of this otherwise idyllic landscape.  Not quiet in the sense of an unnatural silence like was the case on the twenty-second floor.  Small chirping birds and plenty of annoying insects are buzzing around, contributing to the ambience of this faux natural environment.  But there hasn’t been any sign of monster attacks over the last half hour, and not just in the sense of nothing hostile coming to greet us.

Throughout the entire walk, ever since Kristil finished off the [Horned Drakelings], I’ve not detected a single monster over level 32 within the radius of my [Archangel’s Gaze].  I dare not hope that the Tower is letting us off that easily.  But I’m not sure where the trap is.  Or if we’re already ensnared within it.  And if we are, I have even less of an idea how to extricate us from the situation before something horrible and potentially irreversible occurs.

“I was expecting some differences between the Tower here and the one back in Red Clay City,” Kristil says.  “But the differences are more stark than I could have imagined.”

“How so?” Chloe asks.

“When I went into ours, it was basically just a bunch of pretty simple dungeon layouts.  Go forward through these mazes, fight monsters, sometimes get a loot drop or two, then continue fighting… Or running away, sometimes.  But now, we’ve got these wide open floors, elaborate worlds, scenery befitting… some sort of grand fantasy novel.  Like we’re in a video game, or traversing the wonders of Middle Earth.”

“Our first couple of floors were like that,” Chloe says.  “Some sort of maze, then a cave that… sort of was a maze, if you took a lot of liberties.  But then we’ve had floors that have been wide and open, a couple of puzzle floors, some floors that were just fights with a boss.  It’s been really hit or miss.”

“And you said the last flight for you was a… space station exploration mission?”

“More or less,” I say.  “I think we should expect more wild and wacky stuff here.  Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if these next few floors are all part of the same general mission.”

“Hopefully we find something worthwhile for our trouble,” Kristil says.  “It’s great to see y’all again and all, but I want to get stronger and…”  She grits her teeth, letting a bit of lightning crackle around her.  “I’m not going to lose anyone else the way I did my cousin.”

The ground rumbles and the trees shake.  The rocky hill a bit to our left starts to stand up, taking the form of a beast.  Two legs, four arms, but no head to speak of.  It easily dwarfs even me, the tallest of the three of us, reaching a height of some fifteen feet in height at the top of its… cephalothorax?  And most ominously, the creature’s body contains a single, glowing red sphere in the dead center of its chest.  I don’t think I was supposed to see the brief glow of light, some sort of central control mechanism that screams ‘internal weak point’, but such is the power of my perception techniques.

“Kristil, I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to take this fight myself.”  I grip Filia one-handed, much as I would an extremely long zweihander.  “I’ve constructed a new weapon for myself, and I need a chance to test it out in an actual battle.”

“Yeah, I was meaning to ask about the spear.  Did you get tired of your gunnery shtick or something?”

“It had its disadvantages.  The biggest one being that it was a real bitch

on my [Ether] supply.”

“I guess that makes sense.  I forget that you’re basically a half-mage class with how powerful your magic is.”

I nod.  “Yeah.  Something like that.”

Chloe touches me with the light of [Saintess’s Blessing] as I step forward, spear in hand.

“Are you ready, Filia?”

“I was created ready for this, Seraphina.  I trust you saw its core for that brief moment while it was coming out of the ground?  Attacking its body is meaningless.  As long as the core is intact, it will regenerate its body without end.”

“Of course.  Blade Beam?”

“As you will.”

With a simple flick of my weapon, I gather Etheric energy in Filia’s blade, forming a faint aura around them.  My charge begins, though it is not without resistance.  The earthen construct launches thousands of thumb-sized projectiles toward me.  I begin spinning Filia around, grateful that the sentient weapon is immune to dizziness and disorientation as I start deflecting the attacks.

A few get through, and they sting.  My health falls by a couple dozen with each attack I take.  However, between my swordstaff technique, the [Wyvernscale Buckler] strapped around my right wrist, and the [Agility]-boosting effect of my [Archangel’s Gaze], the attacks that hit me are few and far between, only one in a hundred or so.

Having failed to stop me with its initial attack, I now feel the creature’s aura bearing down on me as I approach.

[You have been targeted by [Whelming Pressure].  [Indomitable Will] effect triggers.  All negative [Mind-Altering] status conditions are automatically negated.]

It’s as though a giant, invisible fist is clenching around me.  Then, in an instant, a spherical aura of pure intent surrounds me, keeping the fist from constricting my movements and enabling me to continue my charge unabated.

With gritted teeth, I fire a blade beam, severing the creature’s left leg.  The ground shakes.  As the creature has no ability to vocalize itself, I recognize this as a cry of defiance and pain merged into one.  Though my attack hit home, Filia’s earlier statement was apt.  Even before I’ve finished my swing, the construct is already pulling small stones and clumps of dirt and debris and hardening them, forming a new leg to replace the one I cut through and then pulverized.

“We must be quick, Seraphina.  The other leg, now!”

Using the last of the residual momentum from my earlier attack, I spin around, charging energy within Filia once more.  The creature attempts to counter with a fist to my back in what would be my blind-spot, but such weaknesses are beyond me.  Instead, I wait until the last second to sprout my wings and float over the top of the creature’s approaching arm.

I land atop its appendage and deliver a single downward thrust, curving it into a partial severing.  And I am astonished.  I knew, in terms of combat parameters, that Filia was two tiers above my [Mechanical Arm Cannon] in terms of offensive capabilities.  But seeing how effortlessly they cut through [Vitality]-reinforced stone, not slowed or diverted in the slightest, is another matter entirely.

I spin around, another blade beam cutting the creature’s right leg and causing it to fully topple to the ground. It thuds, the entire ground roaring in anguish.  Clumps of dirt rise up on the ground, demonstrating the titan’s mastery of all things earthen.

My first instinct is to defend, but I recall Filia’s words.  There’s no sense in trying to win a battle of attrition.  All I’ve done is temporarily damage its outer shell.  And as long as that damn core remains intact, it will regenerate without end.  So I thrust, aiming between the creature’s leg stumps for a bit of added cover against the attacks bombarding me.  And I feel a smidgeon of relief and revenge seep over me as I tear the creature a new asshole, finally repaying the System back for the morning after integrating itself into our world.

“Seraphina, try your [Ether Bullet Barrage] Skill.  It might be effective.”

“Can I use it while equipping you?”

“It should adjust itself accordingly.  The Skill doesn’t specify that it requires a gun be equipped to work.”

With this in mind, I move [Ether] throughout my body in the same manner as when I use my [Ether Bullet] Skill, pushing it through Filia’s physical form and concentrating it at the tip of their blade.  Cycling through the options, I conclude that Water is the likeliest element to be effective against this creature— Wind and Earth are often considered antipodal in many game systems, but I can’t see how a burst of air is going to cleave through solid rock anywhere near as effectively as a concentrated jet of water.

The [Ether] begins to congeal, turning from a vibrant teal to a rich and luscious ocean blue.  The concentrated energy splashes about like a wave, only to be forced back inward by the pressure I’m exerting upon it.  The creature roars and begins thrashing about, its attacks more erratic as it attempts to crush me or smush me between its thighs.  And that is most uncool— only Chloe is allowed to do that.

Finally, just as I’m about to be pulverized by a block of dirt and stone the size of a large house, the energy finishes concentrating.  I unleash my blast, which cascades outward like a waterspout, tearing through the earth and stone, turning the construct’s entire body into a giant puddle of mud.  It also has a secondary effect of knocking me backward with enough force that I manage to narrowly avoid being flattened as well.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

“I added a little of my own strength as well.”

“That reminds me.  When I equipped you, I noticed that you had spells you could cast as well.  How does that work?”

“The same way as your girlfriend casting magic.  I simply shape my own [Ether] around me in the form of the spells I’ve learned or been granted by the System.  We can continue this conversation later.  For now, there’s a fight to finish.”

I shake off the momentary distraction, noticing the glistening red core trying to burrow underground and shape a new shell around itself.  I concentrate my will, forming an inverted [Gravity] glyph with my [Glyph Manifestation] Skill and yanking it, along with the mass around it, into the air.  Finally, with a quick leap into the air and one last blade beam, I slice through the center of the sphere, cracking off a portion of the core.  Red wisps of energy disperse out of it as it wriggles about, and though I don’t think it can fight any more, I stab Filia’s blade through the center of the larger chunk to ensure there’s not even a shadow of a doubt that the thing is stilled for good.

[You have crushed a [Stone Construct (Level 56)].  You have gained a boosted 91,640 Experience.]

[You have gained enough Experience to reach Level 57. [Strength] +1, [Speed] +1, [Vitality] +1, [Mind] +1.  Please assign free stat points (Remaining: 4).]

I assign all four points to my [Strength] stat, and quickly.  Filia’s [Attack] stat might have carried this fight, but there will be far stronger enemies than this one in the future.  Kristil can handle the magical attacking at range, but I’m going to be the vanguard for this expedition into the Tower.  A lot of my and Chloe’s Skills add to my staying power, either by boosting my stats, shielding me from harm, or boosting my evasiveness.  Right now, what we need is frontline, physical, offensive power.  And that’s going to fall on me.

[Maximum Health increases by [Vitality] x 2 + Current Level + Rand[1,3] = 278]

[Maximum Ether increases by [Mind] + Current Level + Rand[0,2] = 216]

[Level: 57; Experience: 3,547,370;  To Next: 154,980]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 7,679 / 9,342; [Ether]: 4,972 / 6,956]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 181 (Base: 87); [Speed]: 183 (Base: 88); [Vitality]: 227 (Base: 109); [Mind]: 329 (Base: 158)]

[Your [Archangel’s Gaze (Rank XII)] has upgraded to [Archangel’s Gaze (Rank XIII)].]

[Your [Elemental Ether Bullet Barrage (Rank IX)] has evolved to [Elemental Ether Strike (Rank IV)].]

[[Elemental Ether Strike]: Through consistent training and practice, you have attained a level of mastery both with the ability to manipulate your internal [Ether], and modulate it into elemental forms through the use of Glyph manipulation.  With this Skill, you can release a concentrated burst of [Ether] either from a part of your body, or any equipped weapon.

Note 1: Due to [Angelic Form], cybernetic attachments are considered a part of the body for the purposes of this Skill.

Note 2: It is easiest to channel [Ether] through the palms of one’s hand and progressively more difficult to do so through locations with a lower concentration of [Ether] channels.  Haphazard use of this Skill may cause [Ether] channel rupture.]

Well, that’s an ominous warning.  Both in that I don’t care to repeat my experience with that condition, and that I’m sure I’ll do exactly that, at a moment where it would be particularly unpleasant.  In either case, that’ll be a problem for Future Seraphina to deal with.  Right now, we have more pressing matters to attend to.  We’re not far from the Crystal, and I’m guessing that only by going inside can we get closer to our next objective.