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As she went off to find Kaede, Seraphiel realized she’d held off on something. Lucifer had rather directly told her she was banking experience. “Fine. Let the rest of the levels come.” She said to no one in particular, and almost stumbled as the levels hit her.
The Farseer Class, along with her race, jumped straight to 375, meaning 125 banked levels, which meant a 50% increase. Her other two Classes got a bit less at 100 each due to synergistic reasons. Fighting Tyranids was something that Farseers were supposed to do, even more than the two other Classes were supposed to fight monsters, which is why that Class benefitted more. Still, it was a shocking amount of levels and stats to suddenly get dumped on her, especially with her new racial Skills that also improved as her race did. This next bout with Kaede would be very interesting.
Just to get more used to her stats, she stopped to eat at one of the food stands run by the students. The stand was named after Satsuki Yotsuba, one of the students who'd belonged to the original class with Negi when Seraphiel had originally visited this world. Yotsuba had since passed away due to old age, but she remembered the girl fondly as a good-hearted girl, always working to improve things for herself and her friends.
As she sat down, she could feel her [Fount of Purity] reacting, cleansing something. That caused her to pay more attention, which allowed her to spot the transparent, almost entirely invisible thread approaching her food. Some sort of substance ran along the thread before being cleansed away. “So that’s how she’s doing it.” She realized. Or at least that was one of the methods.
She used her telekinesis to bundle up and toss away the thread, before enjoying her first non-poisoned meal in a long time. Not that most poisons would really do much to her anymore. [Bastion of Purity] combined with her effective Vitality meant that anyone wanting to poison her needed to be specialized in poisons and severely over-leveling her in order for any poison to be effective. That didn't mean she wanted any foul-tasting poison in her food.
Kaede seemed to appear out of nowhere to sit next to her. “I see you finally managed to stop me.”
“That’s what 375 000 effective Perception does.” She shrugged. “Even if I’m not entirely used to it.”
“How much?!” Kaede asked shocked, her eyes opening fully for the first time.
“375 000, give or take a bit. On a related note, someone forgot to mention that races get scaling stat boosts at level 250.” She said in a way of explaining.
“Yeah, everyone does. I didn’t know Angels got any particular boost in Perception though.” Kaede stated. “Although it makes sense with how balanced the race is across stats. You’re somewhat similar to Humans in that regard.”
“What do Humans get by the way? I know the race isn’t highly ranked, but there’s a whole lot of you, so it would be nice to know.” She asked. Humans were by far the most common race in this universe as most of the universes joined into this one had at least some Humans.
“A scaling 0,1% to all stats, even those granted by Classes.” Kaede didn’t bother hiding, since it was a rather well-known fact.
"Huh. That's not too bad considering the difference in Ranks. That means you've got about a 100% bonus to all stats." Seraphiel nodded, chowing down on her noodles.
“Yes, well, it doesn’t match the raw power of most races, but it does provide a lot more flexibility. Also doesn’t come with any issues concerning balanced stat builds.” Kaede nodded in agreement. “And with enough stats, it can come close to matching what other races get. There are other ways of getting stat boosts when necessary, like your blessing just to name an example.” She also waved to the chef to get her own order.
Seraphiel had to slap Kaede's sneaky hand away several times as the ninja tried to manually slip the poison into her food. “Not a big fan of such wide builds.” She commented.
“Well, they definitely have their downsides, but few people actually go to the extremes you do. Most aren’t focused on squeezing the most out of the System in the shortest amount of time.” Kaede finally focused on her own food, before pointing at her with her chopsticks. “You need some new clothes, in case you haven’t noticed.”
Seraphiel grimaced a bit. “Oh, I noticed.” Her previous uniform didn’t fit in the slightest. She hadn’t exactly been flat before, but now she couldn’t even button up her shirt and blazer properly, showing way too much cleavage and her skirt had suddenly become indecently short. She wasn’t a short woman by any measure. Angels tended to be tall by most standards, and there wasn’t a large difference in height between male and female Angels. “I was planning on getting a bit of sparring in with you beforehand, just to get used to my new stats.”
“Were you planning on sparring nude? Because that getup certainly won’t work.” Kaede pointed out rather bluntly. “And if your issue is at the magnitude I suspect, you’re going to tear them to shreds.”
“You have a point.” She pursed her lips. “Too bad the re-sizing charms have their limits.” She’d gotten the clothes when she’d come to the Academy, and they’d reached the limits of the charms a while ago. She had grown quite a lot since then. She knew the clothes could be fitted with charms all the way from a baby to an adult, but then you’d never have to buy more clothes, which would be bad for the tailors. So they didn’t.
"Also, it's hard to keep poisoning your food if you keep stopping me," Kaede complained as her hand was smacked away again.
"That's because I don't want you to poison my food. Not that there's any point anyway. I automatically cleanse everyone and everything around me, so the poison wouldn't work unless you have something stupendously potent. It only ruins the taste." Seraphiel explained.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Fair enough, although I do have some more potent poisons from magical creatures. Get some decent clothing before you come to the resort. In fact, go get some armor from the armory. They should have something that fits even if it’s not prime quality. Armor will be much better than clothes if we’re going to be sparring seriously.” Kaede gestured towards the center of the academy.
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The shockwaves from the strikes between the two combatants were causing massive waves and devastation among the trees as Kaede and Seraphiel moved like two streaks across the terrain of the resort. Kaede wasn’t too shocked to find that she had to fight seriously, utilizing all her Skills to just keep up with Seraphiel. The Angel was the sort of being that wouldn’t stay weak for long, although the speed at which she’d grown was rather shocking, and the fact that she had to fight seriously against someone almost seven hundred levels lower than her was not something that could be dismissed with a shrug. Then again, Champion, so…
At the start, Kaede was beating Seraphiel easily, but the more the Angel got used to her new stats, the more that scale swung in Seraphiel’s favor. Seraphiel had always had the skill in a fight to beat her, just that her System enhancements hadn’t been able to keep up. Seraphiel’s stats were clearly still lower than hers, but by a much smaller margin than they should be. And stats only enhanced what was already there. It was clear Seraphiel had a lot more there than she did, as was to be expected from a higher-ranked being.
As their bout had a slight natural pause, she finally asked the obvious question. “You’re not just an Angel or Archangel, are you?”
"Never have been," Seraphiel admitted openly. There was no point in hiding it. Kaede felt like she was punching a Dragon. A small Dragon size-wise, but a very dense one. Like a young Azure or Platinum Dragon.
“SSS-ranked race at least.” She speculated openly, Seraphiel not commenting anything. The Angel had never been great at keeping secrets, mostly because she didn’t care to, but she was proficient at not LETTING anything slip through her poker face when she wanted. "And your Classes must be similar in rank as well."
The worst part was that every time she hit Seraphiel, it felt like her veins were on fire. She could tell it was some sort of retaliatory effect that ignored most of her defenses. Something that was quite problematic for a Ninja. Her Classes didn’t exactly excel in defense in the first place, and durability wasn’t her strongest area. Her purpose was to strike fast and hard from stealth, not to take part in a slugging match like this. “Seeing as you’re fighting me equally, I suppose Eva will have to have you graduate quite soon.”
Seraphiel chuckled. “Not before abusing my sudden strength in some way. I don’t know how keen the other academies are when it comes to holding tournaments what with the Tyranids and everything, but she’ll figure something out.”
“What will you do after?” Kaede asked, genuinely curious.
“Why, want to tag along?” Seraphiel cut straight into the heart of the matter.
“You know, I wouldn’t necessarily mind. Tatsumiya might want to as well. Both of us are getting tired of the academy life, and we both feel we should be doing more. We’ve mostly stayed here because there hasn’t been a pressing reason to leave and training students is important. Eva can’t get the academy messed up in anything too dangerous because of the students, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t work to be done. Plenty of worlds and groups might want mercenaries in the current situation. Especially if one of those mercenaries has already wiped out a fleet of the Tyranids.” Kaede revealed part of what had been niggling at her. Only a small part, but an important one.
Seraphiel could sense there was more to this but decided against digging too deep for now. "I'm not opposed to the idea of joining hands for a time at least. It's not like I'll be cutting ties with the place since my brother and mom are here. That said, I wouldn't use my recent feat as an advertisement, as I suspect it won't work quite as well again, and soon it might not work at all. The 'Nids aren't known for being slow to adapt. Would be sort of embarrassing to get hired for that and then fail. Besides, we had quite a few powerful individuals feeding power to me to make it work."
Kaede looked at her like she was stupid. “Seraphiel, I’m a ninja, not an idiot. I merely meant that we have some success against the enemy, which is more than many others.”
Seraphiel sheathed her weapon, allowing her wings to float her to the ground. "OK, so let's work on this idea for a bit. The two of us, and maybe Tatsumiya. That's three. Not exactly a mercenary company yet, even if high levels get treated as special assets. From what I remember, Tatsumiya is mostly a ranged type, while you're a ninja. I can fill the tank and bruiser role, but we're several positions short of a proper team. And no support personnel. I mean, I can make weapons but I don’t even have clothes or armor at the moment. I’m not broke, but I’m not exactly wealthy either. You know what they say about the importance of logistics.” She started listing potential issues.
“I have a few ideas about some of that. So far, most of my logistic needs have been taken care of by Mahora, but if we go out on our own, then that will not likely last forever. Both Tatsumiya and myself have some contacts on the outside, but admittedly we’ll be working barebones in the start.” Kaede chewed on the idea for a while. “You were friendly with the Champion Shepard, correct?”
“I am.” Seraphiel nodded carefully.
“Well, I get the feeling that you have several friends that we might eventually make contact with. Now Shepard is a Champion and likely has her own duties, but if there are people like us in your past, we might be able to recruit some of them. And if we could get some sponsors to kick-start us off, this whole thing might work. If we ask Chachamaru, she might be able to wrangle something from Eva. At least to get us started." Kaede suggested.
The idea of running a mercenary company with some of her old acquaintances wasn't an unattractive one, although depended heavily on how many of them were still around. There certainly seemed to be a need for it. She didn't have a concrete plan after leaving the Academy anyway, and she could easily think of several individuals that might be suited if they were alive and well.
“Well, we have some time to work on the details since I most likely won’t be able to graduate immediately.” She pondered. “That said, the basic premise does intrigue me. We need more people and resources though.”
"I'll talk to Tatsumiya and Chachamaru," Kaede promised.
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"Huh. Didn't expect you to get to me this fast." Seraphiel muttered as Chachamaru sat opposite her in the café opposite the tailor's shop. It had only been a few hours.
Chachamaru tilted her head in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Made sense. “So, what are you here for?” Seraphiel asked.
"There's someone here looking for you," Chachamaru explained. She was Eva's assistant, so that wasn't too out of place.
“Me specifically, by name and everything?” Seraphiel asked a little suspiciously. “Shepard?”
“No, although we have gotten word that she might be visiting soon. This being the territory of another Champion necessitates certain courtesies.” Chachamaru stated instead.
“Who?” She asked.
“A pair of Shinigami. Apparently, they’ve sensed the awakening of a Zanpakutō at Mahora, so they came to investigate.” Chachamaru revealed.
“Ōetsu.” She grunted the name of the creator of all Zanpakutō in realization. “And you came to me straight away.” She phrased it as a disgruntled statement instead of a question.
Chachamaru chuckled. “Let’s be realistic. Of all the students in this academy, you’re the most likely to awaken something that shouldn’t be possible.”
“That is high slander and very prejudiced of you. I thought you knew better.” Seraphiel joked.
“I do, which is why I’m here.” The android snarked back.
“Who did they send?” Seraphiel asked curiously.
“They did not mention names, only ranks. Apparently, a Lieutenant, and something called a fifth seat. I’m not sure how they’re organized, truth be told.” Which was likely because the Soul Society didn’t advertise such things.
“So not big shots, but not a token representation either.” Seraphiel nodded. “The ranks suggest that they’re from Soul Society East.”
“I’m not familiar with the term.” Chachamaru pointed out.
“Don’t mind it. Just speculating. Well, better not keep them waiting.” She prompted.
As they approached the administrative building, Seraphiel reached out with her newly sharpened senses and was surprised by what she found. The fifth seat felt reasonably powerful, but she couldn't tell much more, and she couldn't sense the Lieutenant at all, which showed quite a lot of control. It seemed like they hadn't slacked around since she'd been gone.
As they stepped into one of the meeting rooms, she got another surprise. “Rangiku?” She recognized the Lieutenant with beautiful looks, generous bust, and generally lazy demeanor.
“Captain?!” Rangiku shouted in even larger surprise, clearly recognizing Seraphiel even in her current form, which resembled her real body quite closely already.