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Arcane Pathfinder
Book 2: CHAPTER 41 — “Well, that’s one disaster averted.”

Book 2: CHAPTER 41 — “Well, that’s one disaster averted.”

After ranting at herself for a while about not realizing she wouldn't be able to fly the ship at her current level in the Technogog class and would not likely find sixteen people who knew how to operate a spacefaring vessel on this planet, Sam finally calmed down enough to think logically about her situation. Mumbling to herself, she started pacing. "Should I just shut down production while I figure this out? No, that would delay everything if I do figure out how to fly the ship." She stopped pacing and looked at where the fabricators were working on S-2's new frame when she thought, “I wonder if the droids can function as crew members? That would solve everything!” Wasting no more time, Sam dashed from her workshop and into her art room. Finding the nude figure of herself on the pedestal at the head of the altar, she grinned, “Damn girl, you're looking good.”

Although she wasn’t sure if switching back to her Arcane Pathfinder class would kick her out of her soul, Sam decided to do it anyway, figuring she could dive back in if needed. Laying on the altar after admiring her figure for a bit longer, she mentally pictured herself reverting to her original form, and a prompt appeared.

You exceed the minimum requirements to use this avatar. Note: Assimilation with this soul construct will temporarily change your class. All noncompatible abilities, skills, and spells from your Technogog Arcana class will not level while you are in this form. In addition, your class, Arcane Pathfinder, will be granted levels from the accrued experience gained while in the Technogog Arcana form, as it is a sub-class of Arcane Pathfinder and cannot level. All unique class skills and spells relating to the Arcane Pathfinder will be able to level normally, as well as your race and racial skills and spells. Note: You cannot assimilate with the Technogog Arcana avatar for 72 hours. Do you still wish to assimilate with Sam, Arcane Pathfinder [Level 57]? Yes/No?

Sam’s heart skipped a beat when she read the prompt. “I’ve been banking my experience this whole time! Why didn’t the System just tell me that’s how it would work in the first place?!? It doesn’t matter! The only thing that matters now is that I know.” She selected ‘Yes’ while mentally desiring to stay in her soul.

The same as before, Sam felt a warm feeling wash over her. In just a few moments, she was lying nude on the altar. The clothed figure of the Technogog Arcana was on the altar's pedestal.

Sam exited the altar and summoned clothes onto her body before returning the Technogog Arcana figurine to the pedestal on her desk. Sam said, "It was fun being you for a while as the figure assumed its normal position on the pedestal. I'll return in three days to take you for another spin." The figure looked at Sam and smiled coyly before going motionless.

Sam checked her messages, hoping she could assign her levels while still in her soul.

Race Human/Voidling Hybrid has leveled up to Level 61, 42 free stat points received.

Class Arcane Pathfinder has leveled up to Level 60, 30 free stat points received.

"So, all the experience was just dumped on me at once, it seems," Sam mused, noting she only went up five levels in her race and three in her class with a bit of disappointment. Then she mused, "Nara did tell me that leveling gets harder as we progress, and none of my kills were evolved beings, so I guess it makes sense. I should probably be happy with what levels I did get."

Sam assigned her free points without wasting any more time worrying over how few levels she had gained from essentially vaporizing part of a dungeon with a tactical nuke. As always, she focused on her magic but kept her other attributes from lagging too far behind. She checked her status sheet.

Samantha Alecto Moura [S.A.M.]

Race: Human/Voidling Hybrid; Mortal [Level 61]

Class: Arcane Pathfinder [Level 60]

Title(s): Grade Breaker, Mad Scientist

Health: 5662

Stamina: 5208

Mana: 15958

Attributes:

STR – 145 [190]

VIT – 163 [230]

END – 131 [185]

AGL – 191 [250]

INT – 190 [249]

WIS – 245 [566]

Free Attribute Points 0.

Abilities:

Spatial Inventory

Loot

Linguistics

Cartography

Mana Manipulation

Void Manipulation

Mana Sight [Level 49]

Class Skills:

Repair [Level 17]

Mana Caster [Level 33]

Racial/General Skills:

Identify [Level 31]

Rebuild [Level 11]

Meditation [Level 32]

Void Infusion [Level 9]

Class Spells:

Arcane Bolt [Level 29]

Kinetic Dampener [Level 21]

Racial/General Spells:

Void Bolt [Level 9]

Hybrid Skills:

Creator [Level 1]

Void Step [Level 1]

Hybrid Spells:

Void Tunnel [Level 1]

Resistance(s):

Arcane Magic [Level Max]

Pain [Level 57]

Heat [Level 20]

Poison [Level 49]

Cold [Level 25]

Mental [Level 12]

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Void [Level 15]

Sam first noted that the combined skills had yet to go up a level. She supposed it was because they were higher-ranked combined skills and thus leveled slower. She was still surprised simply because she used Repair and Creator a good bit during the short time she had them. Still, in the end, she could do nothing about it except keep using them as much as possible.

Sam was elated when she noticed she had kept her hybrid skill, Void Step, and her hybrid spell, Void Tunnel. She also still had the maxed-out Arcane Magic resistance!

"When did my Mental Resistance go up, and how?" Sam asked herself. She tried to think back to her fights. She remembered mentally battling the being that controlled the dungeon droids when she used Override and Reprogram. Figuring that must be the reason, Sam dismissed her status screen.

Walking back to her workshop to check on the progress of her creations, Sam pulled out the headphones and Data Link from her inventory. She had stripped and stored all the usable tech she received from her transformation into the Technogog Arcana, hoping she could use some of it as a Pathfinder. Sam had just gotten her music back, and it was hard for her to give it up. So, slipping the headphones over her ears, she swiped at the Data Link to wake it up. The screen flared to life, displaying all her icons.

Sam smiled when the device lit up and tried to link with it; nothing happened. She touched the music icon and—walked into the doorframe leading into her workshop. Her head made a dull thunk when it struck, and she rolled her eyes at herself for not paying attention. Sam was out of the habit of using her mana threads for area detection. Forming her mana threads with a sigh, Sam returned to staring at her Data Link.

Touching the music icon worked, and her songs were now displayed. Selecting one randomly, Sam smiled happily when Lindsey Stirling's unique music combinations came through her headphones more crisply than she could ever remember.

"Well, that's one disaster averted," she said with a goofy smile as she sat at her workstation. "Now, to see if I can still use the laptops and other equipment."

Fortunately, she could still access all the machines in her workshop via the laptops. She also found that even with the low level of her Creator skill, making Void and Arcane mana crystals went even faster than before.

Sam spent two more days in her soul, trusting Lupie and Nul to keep her body safe. She briefly considered leaving her soulscape to tell Lupie she would be a while. But Sam assumed the Bloodmorph would figure it out when she didn’t immediately return.

***

It was toward the end of Lupie and Nul’s second day of camping while guarding Sam’s body. They were relaxing by the fire after playing a game of portal tag. Nul was out like a light in a bundle of blankets, and Lupie’s head was drooping. The soft sounds of the fire crackling in the quiet night were slowly lulling her to sleep.

It was then that Lupie felt a presence nearby. Jerking her head up, she surveyed the area warily. Seeing S-2 on its feet with its ear antenna swiveling in every direction made Lupie that much more cautious. She poked Nul with a tentacle to wake the sleeping slime, letting the little black teardrop know something was approaching and to be prepared to fight or flee.

Taking her own advice, Lupie transitioned into her wolf form and snatched up Sam, securing her on her back.

They made an odd trio: a Bloodmorph, Void Slime, and Droid, all standing around a fire inside a small stone circle.

After a few minutes, sensing nothing more, Lupie was starting to relax when Sam stirred awake, where she was strapped to her back.

Lupie quickly warned Sam using their voice chat, "Mistress, take caution. Something is stalking us and trying to find a way into the safe zone."

"I guess I'm just in time, then." Sam sent in response. She slowly slid off Lupie's back, sending her mana threads out in every direction. Sensing nothing, she still kept her threads flailing around wildly. Sam trusted Lupie’s instincts: if she said they were being stalked, they likely were.

“S-2,” Sam said softly, getting the droid's attention, “I made you a new body and upgraded core and processors.” She deposited the new sentry droid frame on the ground between them. Its sleek dark violet and black armored body, reflected by the light of the fire and moons, looked menacing and spoke of pure power. She asked, “Can you download into this frame, and how long will it take? Answer quietly.”

“Affirmative,” the droid said softly, “It will take four hundred thirty-three seconds.” There was a moment's hesitation, and S-2 added, “Thank you, master.”

“Okay, do it, and you are welcome. It’s only level sixty, but it’s still better than what you have, and your core won’t degrade anymore either," Sam said, laying a hex shield, mana rifle, and an enormous mana sword next to the frame. The quicker they upgraded S-2, the better.

S-2 opened a compartment in the side of its head and pulled a nanowire out to attach to the sentry droid's head. Then it curled into a ball next to the other droid and went still. Sam started counting down the seconds.

She also removed the newly rebuilt S-4 from her inventory and inserted the core. She hadn't awakened the droid in her soul, unsure if that was a good idea. She hoped Ica would awaken and tell her. She waited several hours longer than she needed to just in case the dragon's memory woke up, but there had been nothing. S-4 whirred to life, and before it could say anything, Sam quickly told the droid to be silent and defend S-2 while it downloaded. With a few soft whirs and clicks, the droid stood over its upgrading counterpart. It surveyed the surroundings, its rifle at the ready.

"Why were you gone so long? Did you have trouble leaving when you switched to your natural form two days ago?" Lupie's curious and concerned voice sounded in Sam's mind.

Sam replied, "No, but there is a lot I need to tell you, and I mean a lot!” She felt something brush past her mana threads and said, "But it will have to wait. Something is watching the safe zone about forty meters out just behind that ridge." Sam gestured to the area in question.

“Do you want Nul to look?” The void slime asked through their chat.

“No,” Sam responded decisively. We will wait for S-2 to finish before we do anything. If whatever is out there can detect safe zones, it must be powerful, so we may want to portal away instead of fighting."

They waited…and waited…and waited.

Sam jumped when the Sentry Droid frame jerked to life, startling her. Without a word, S-2, now in its new body, quickly detached the nanowire and stood, grabbing the weapons and hex shield. Instead of equipping the rifle, the giant droid stowed the long gun on the magnetic slot on its back and hefted the sword with one large hand. Then, it placed the hex shield in a slot on its left forearm, which surprised Sam. She was momentarily confused about why it didn't put it on its hip. Her confusion cleared up a moment later when a glowing violet tower shield shimmered into being on S-2's arm, the translucent hexagonal sections of the shield letting off a slight glow as energy coursed through them.

Reaching down, S-2 picked up its old body and handed it to Sam, who stored it without a word. Turning back around, S-2 let out a pulse of energy that flowed 360 degrees. As the energy pulse flowed across their surroundings, Sam took a second to check her newly improved droid’s stats on her Data Link.

Designation: S-2 Version 2.0

Frame: High Mobility Hybrid [Level 60]

Model: Elite Class Combat Sentry Droid [Unknown Origin]

Operating System: Hybrid Combat AI Module Version 2.0

Frame Integrity: 100%

Armor Integrity: 100%

Total Damage: 0%

Max Power: 47689mu

Current Power: 41756mu

Reserve Power: 5000mu

Loadouts:

Close to Mid-range Tactical Heavy

Defensive Close

Programs:

Grenade

Concentrated Beam

Shield Slam

Shell Defense

Crosscut

Power Slash

Resistances:

Arcane Magic [75%]

Kinetic Damage [62%]

Magic Damage [73%]

Void Magic [25%]

“How did you upgrade your AI?” Sam couldn’t help but ask.

S-2 responded softly, "This model was already equipped with an upgraded kernel to enhance my cognitive capacity and function." Then the droid's antennae swiveled to face where Sam suspected someone or something was hiding, and it went into a combat stance, its sword and shield at the ready. S-2 interposed itself between Sam and the potential threat and said, "Alert! An unknown presence was detected! The power level is estimated to be very high. The threat level is extreme. The recommended course of action: Rapid retreat.”

The creature took that as its cue to emerge from its cover and begin a wandering path in their general direction. Sam finally got a good look at their stalker; her mana threads had given her an idea of its size and general shape but not much detail. The creature was surprisingly small, no larger than Sam actually, but its lithe and agile form more than made up for its stature. The monster looked like it should be bipedal with two arms and legs, but for some reason, it was crawling on all fours as it crept slowly in their general direction. It looked like something out of a nightmare. It was humanoid, with a bald head and no facial hair. Its sunken eyes were pitch black and, coupled with the pale grey skin stretched too tight across its face, made it look ghoulish and gaunt. Long, thin arms terminated with black claws extended from skeletal fingers. Its torso was just as thin as its face, and Sam could see wiry muscle rippling through the holes in the ragged clothing draped across its body. When the creature stood on its thin legs to check its surroundings, Sam immediately knew what it was before she even used Identify. It was a Blight Craven. She checked anyway, just to be sure.

Tenarian Blight Craven [Level ??]; Hostile

Affinity: Variable.

Sam felt something inside her cry out in rage as she stared at the creature in front of her. It wasn't anger at the monster itself but at the injustice of the twisted magics that turned it into this…thing. She knew in her heart she could not let the Blight Craven live and was seconded when Nul said, “Must release the soul.”

Sam looked up at the void slime now perched on her head and opened her mouth to agree when both of their notebooks zipped out of their inventories to hover in front of them. At least this time, the books didn’t obscure their vision, allowing them to keep an eye on the Blight Craven. Sam read the words that appeared in her book.

Dear daughter,

Before you is the shell of a long-dead Tenarian that is housing a trapped soul of one who Void favors. Defeat this monster and release the soul so that it may return to Void at all costs. This is a duty that all who are part of the Collective share. If you succeed, you will be rewarded for this by the Void itself, and should you fall, your memories will remain intact upon your soul's reincarnation should you so wish.

-Ica

After reading the note, the notebooks slapped closed and disappeared into her inventory space. Sam focused on the Blight Craven, drawing ever closer as it narrowed in on their safe zone. She asked, "Lupie, will it receive any debuff if it enters the safe zone?”

“Yes, it will be slowed fifteen percent and will have reduced agility and attack. Are we going to fight it, Mistress?”

“Nul and I have to fight it, but you have my permission to sit this one out if you wish. Nul can portal you away while—"

Lupie interrupted Sam, “Mistress, please never ask me to flee while you fight again if it is only for my protection and not part of a greater plan.”

Sam clamped her mouth shut. There was a hint of annoyance in Lupie's voice that was entirely unlike her. After taking a moment to process that, Sam said, “Very well, Lupie, I am sorry for insulting your dedication,” Then, addressing all of them, she said, “Okay, let's focus on the upcoming fight. This thing will be fast and agile like Naris and Nara, even with the debuff it acquires when it breaks into the safe zone. So, whatever you do, don’t stand still for long. It likely won't be able to drink my magic, but I’m not sure about the rest of you. I wouldn’t doubt that it could drain your cores S-2 and S-4, so do your best to avoid its claws and fangs; they are mana siphons and will be able to drain you quickly.

The Blight Craven chose that moment to attack. The creature froze for an instant, then locked its black eyes on Sam and lunged forward so fast Sam could barely track its blurry movement.

The second the invisible bubble of the safe zone ruptured, a notification sounded in Sam's mind. She minimized it; the fight was on!