Once the status windows have cleared and I can confirm with my eyes that Armosi is, without a doubt, completely and utterly slain, I collapse onto the ground and proceed to do nothing. Processing the level up seems to have helped with the mental fatigue, but only enough that I have the mental fortitude to reach into my backpack and grab some trail mix. Then I even grab some hardtack, shove it in my mouth, and soften it with water. Best damned thing I’ve tasted in weeks. And the water is cooler, crisper, and more refreshing than even the sweetest concoctions I’ve had the pleasure to have had cross my lips until now.

Chloe gives me a look, thankfully not The Look, as she sits down next to me and we take a moment’s rest in the dungeon. The air around us is strangely calm, and not even the monsters from before approach us as we enjoy our lunch in the darkness. Is it because we defeated the boss of the floor? It’s not an unheard of phenomenon, but at the same time, I would have expected at least one creature to take its chances against us. As weakened as I am, it might just have a chance of succeeding.

Bit by bit, my [Ether] ticks up. A little faster than I’d expected, even taking into consideration that I boosted my [Mind] by another four points during my most recent level up. Perhaps defeating the boss of a dungeon floor modifies the characteristics of the dungeon in other ways, causing the Ether density to pick up?

There are a lot of other questions I have about what exactly dungeons are, why they form, and how they work. Guards aside, I don’t remember any monsters even trying to escape from either of the two dungeons I’ve visited to this point. Do they have entire ecosystems contained within? Or are they closer to artificial constructs born of Ether and created by the dungeon to form challenges for adventurers who brave the depths. I suspect I’ll not be getting definitive answers to these questions either.

Once I’m sufficiently hydrated and my [Ether] is back over two hundred points, I shamble over to the treasure chest and drag it back to where Chloe continues to eat. I’m still worried about the potential for monsters within the chests, but after knocking it about a bit and seeing nothing with [Ethersight], I open it.

On top are two identical books with crimson covers, each about an inch thick and with pages that are roughly six inches by nine inches. They’re not written in any language I recognize, and the glyph inlaid in gold trim doesn’t look familiar either. I hand one of them to Chloe and flip through the pages. Vaguely, the language might pass for the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs from millennia ago, but I think these are extraterrestrial in origin.

I flip through to the back and see one glyph I do recognize. Unfortunately, it’s one of the glyphs in my sketchbook that I haven’t yet been able to figure out. A confirmation at least that the two are the same language, which also seems to be the language of magic, or Ethertech, or the native language of System. I’m not sure on the first of those, but I’m fairly confident on the other two.

“Chloe, do these symbols look familiar to you?” I ask. “When you’re casting your spells, that is.”

“No,” she says. “I don’t really see these sorts of symbols when casting my healing magic. It’s more that I just envision the spell I want to cast, trigger an impulse to do so, and then everything else happens in the foreground.”

“Hmm… We could look at taking you down the path of spell development, if you want.”

“Spell development?”

“The glyphs in this book all seem to be written in the language of the system. The same glyphs I’m using in my Ethertech. I think you could learn how to create even stronger healing spells, or ones with different effects.”

“Like a spell that lets me heal multiple people at once? I think I should get one of those spells when I get to a higher level, but it would be nice to have sooner.”

“Hmm. I doubt we’ll be able to decipher enough of this language to get you there before level 20 or 25. I’m not getting any translation Skill to help read through this.” I use [Ethersight] and glance through the pages. No luck.

“Your eyes are pretty when you use your [Ethersight], Sera.” She looks away. “I’m a bit envious.”

“I’m sure that you’ll be able to learn the Skill once you get a bit better at controlling your Ether flow. Also as an additional incentive, you get an extra two stat points whenever you max out the rank of one of your Skills.”

“Wait, really?” she asks. “I wonder if it works for spell proficiencies as well.”

“Like having to cast a spell a certain number of times in order to get it to rank up?”

Chloe taps me with her finger, causing an invigorating sensation of fresh mint to bubble up from my core. Then she does so another four times in quick succession.

“Huh. That last one didn’t work.”

“I think it’s because my [Health] reached its maximum after the fourth cast.”

“So, I have to–”

“Boundaries, Chloe. I will be your pincushion if I have to, but I will not start willingly ingesting or injecting myself with poisons so you can rank up your antidote spell or whatever it’s called.”

“Nope, it’s just called [Antidote]. And it doesn’t seem to have higher ranks, anyway.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “But let’s save it for after we finish our dungeon crawl. I don’t know if the monsters in here are drawn to fresh blood, and I’d rather not drain our limited [Ether] reserves if we don’t have to.”

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“But I’m topped out!”

I sigh. “Only cast every time it tops back out. I don’t know if my arm can take more than that.”

Chloe gives me an evil grin. I sit back and enjoy the rest of my meal with the added joy of getting my left arm poked with a needle every minute and a half. I take a single point of damage each time, except for once, when I take two due to pinching a nerve. The pain of each poke goes away the next instant as I get to enjoy yet more minty taste in my entire bloodstream.

The mint makes the hardtack surprisingly easy to force down. Doesn’t combine particularly well with the jerky though. Maybe a sweet jerky, cured with sugar instead of salt? I feel like that has to exist, but I don’t recall having ever heard of it. Sounds like carnival food.

Another half hour passes, during which time my [Ether] restores by a hundred and eighty points as opposed to the expected one hundred and thirty-five. I keep track using Chloe’s phone, which she’s kept charged. It is possible that dungeons are distorting time somehow. However, there’s been no evidence to suggest as much during our previous two excursions, so I still consider this unlikely. More probable is that defeating a boss has an effect.

I also take the time to examine the rest of the loot we’ve found for defeating the first floor. I find a [Ruby-Studded Wand], which I hand to Chloe. According to the System description, it is supposed to augment the power of fire-based spells when used as an effector. Chloe has no such spells in her repertoire, but the overall boost to her spellslinging effectiveness justifies the upgrade. This despite her reluctance to give up the weapon I crafted for her a couple of weeks back.

More swords. The System must really like swords. Then again, the idea of swinging a stick is one of the big appeals of fantasy. Even I’m not immune to the basic impulse to engage in swinging a sharp object, although it’s not my preferred weapon. Much better to fight at range when possible. I tap my [Modular Blowgun] once for good measure. But I do take the [Blessed Sword] as a far better backup weapon than the [Fire-Forged Bat] that has long outlived its usefulness at this point.

More importantly, I find a nice brigandine. The System rates its defensive capabilities at +30, a considerable upgrade from the +12 on my current suit of leather armor. I do worry as I put the suit on that it will end up not fitting well due to my… decidedly not male and not unisex figure. My fears are once again allayed as the plates of metal and leather shift around my body, forming a fit that’s snug on me, without pinching or squeezing my more tender areas.

I get up and run around to make sure that there’s no sliding about. It does make a bit of noise when I move, something to be aware of if I need to engage in stealth operations. But other than that, it’s as comfortable as can be expected. And weighs a bit less than I’d assume all this leather and steel should. Maybe eight pounds or so? With my [Strength], [Speed], and [Vitality] as they are, I don’t notice any encumbrance at all when I try to move about. Even tumbling maneuvers like the one I performed last battle are… not perfectly smooth, but manageable.

I check the glyphs etched into the surface. Seems to be the usual slate of defensive enchantments,

Chloe gets a pair of robes. White like the ones from before, but this time adorned with new glyphs and Ether conduits. She asks me to help her put it on. I don’t see why she needs the help slipping into some new robes. But she helped me and if she wants me to help, it’s the least I can do. Even if the extent of my work is to give her a once over and compliment her on her appearance. She twirls around like a dancer on stage, letting the stale air whip about, and finishes her whimsical spin with a hairflip and a half-bow.

“Did you like it?”

Wait, what? Why does this sound suspiciously like she’s trying to hit on me? She has never, in all thirteen years that I have known her, even once hinted at being attracted to women. And this just days after Lindsey made what might have generously been described as interest as well.

Did something about my class change cause me to start exuding lesbian vibes? Even if I’m curious in theory, it’s not like I’m in any position to start dating. Not when there are dungeons to explore and worlds to save and so much to learn about magic and Ethertech and exploring the stars and even more potential than I have words to describe.

“You look great, and the outfit looks great on you, Chloe,” I say with full sincerity. If she’s seriously hitting on me— something I struggle to wrap my head around— then the words should assuage her while not setting her up too much. Maybe this is a greater cruelty still, leading her on like this. But, I don’t want to make things awkward. Not now, in the middle of a dungeon.

“Thanks, Sera,” she says.

We finish up our meal and rest period, and since I’ve not really done so up to this point, I decide to pull up my full status menu, with all equipment, skills, and other information listed.

[Name: Seraphina Mortensen]

[Age: 18]

[Level: 17; Experience: 22,546; To Next: 2,579]

[Current Stats: [Health]: 1,273 / 1,274 ; [Ether]: 475 / 741]

[Current Stats: [Strength]: 20; [Speed]: 20; [Vitality]: 43; [Mind]: 54]

[Combat Parameters:

[Attack (Physical Damage Dealing Capability)]: 90 (Base Strength 20)]

[Agility (Ability to Dodge Attacks): 45 (Base Speed 20)]

[Defense (Damage Reduction from Physical Attacks): 80 (Base Vitality 43)]

[Magic Attack (Magic Damage Dealing Capability): 54 (Base Mind: 54)]

[Magic Defense (Damage Reduction from Magical Attacks): 59 (Base Mind: 54)]]

[Equipment:

[Weapon: [Modular Blowgun]: Attack +70 (+30 with glyphs inactive)]

[Helmet: None]

[Arms / Shield: [Simple Buckler]: Defense +1, Agility +20]

[Body: [Brigandine]: Defense +30]

[Leg Armor: [Boots of [Impulse]]: Defense +5, Agility +5]

[Accessory 1: [[Repulsion] Gauntlets]: Defense +1, Magic Defense +5]

[Accessory 2: None]]

Class 1: [Planetouched Mechanist]

Class Skills: (2/6 Skill Slots remaining)

[Tinkerer]

[Flash of Insight]

[Ether Bullet (Rank X) [Max Rank Achieved]]

[Trick Shot]

General Skills: (3/6 Skill Slots remaining)

[Basic Glyph Manipulation (Rank V)]

[Intermediate Ether Manipulation (Rank I)]

[Ethersight (Rank I)]

Unique Trait: [Touched by the Multiverse]

Having rested and restored enough of my [Ether] to move on, we head off and into the second descent.