Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]

Planet XSQ-1827, Transport Docking Bay 89, Year 13,369 A.I. (12 Weeks after Seraphina’s Awakening)

It’s finally the big day! I’ve got plenty of my favorite foods already stored away in my [Inventory], along with my sketchpad, my diary, and of course, all my equipment. My [Gravilance] is stowed away and at the ready, and I’ve configured my [Inventory] so that I can suit up into my armor and accessories at a moment’s notice.

Well, except for my [Bracelet of the Cosmos], a gift I received from Madison shortly after we finished the Tower Gauntlet. It’s so pretty, looking like the night sky reflecting a hundred times over, sparkling patterns glittering over a sea of glossy black. And the strength it provides is nothing to scoff at, either.

[[Bracelet of the Cosmos]: This accessory is infused with cosmic essence, containing the strength of both the nigh infinite stars in the night sky, as well as the inky oblivion of their antithesis, the black hole. Increases all stats by 25%. Provides 75% Resistance to [Light] and [Dark] elemental attacks. In addition, the [Bracelet of the Cosmos] passively creates a bubble of atmosphere of an appropriate composition and temperature for its wearer, shielding its wearer from both the vacuum and radiation of deep space.]

I should have plenty of food on board, but just in case, I’ve packed a whole bunch of leftover macaroni salad as well. So good! Creamy and rich and flavorful, and the vegetables provide the perfect crunch to complement the smooth texture. Everything else I’ll need for the weeklong journey will be on board the starship, but it doesn’t hurt to have a little something to snack on along the way.

“Seraphina!” Madison asks from the other side of the door to my room. “May I enter?”

I quickly take my fingers and brush them through my hair, making sure that any lingering bedhead I’ve gotten has been dealt with before inviting her in. This is going to be my first foray into what Madison calls ‘the wider world’, and for the life of me, I want to make sure I look good while up in front of so many important and powerful people

“Ah, good,” she says. “How are you doing today? Are you excited for your first trip to a named planet?”

“Named planet? I know you’ve mentioned it before, but I’m still not sure exactly the difference.” In truth, I was too busy admiring my bracelet at the time, but Madison doesn’t need to know that.

She sighs. “Seraphina, I trust you will pay more attention when we arrive at Arbarra.”

I nod sheepishly.

“A named planet is any planet that is culturally, historically, strategically or technologically important enough to humanity to be given a true name, rather than just a generic set of numbers and letters to serve as an disambiguating code. It could be anything from being the birthplace of an influential leader of humanity to the home of a particularly noteworthy sect, association, or other political organization.

“Arbarra, home of the Interplanetary Defense Union for the Outer Fringes of the Perseus Arm, falls into that last category. I and others will be attending this summit to coordinate efforts and try to determine what responses we’ll have to take to the recent disappearances of entire swaths of the nearby Andromeda Galaxy.”

“Disappearances? You mean, stars are just… disappearing? But that happens all the time, no? Stars fade and die just like people eventually grow old and pass on.”

“I’m glad that you’ve been keeping up with your studies. The problem is that, although stars do eventually wither and die, the life cycle of individual stars is measured in millions or billions of years. Trillions, even, for the smallest and dimmest stars. And individual stars dying naturally wouldn’t even register to all but the most advanced sensors here in the Milky Way, millions of light-years away.

“Rather, what we’re dealing with is some force that has been snuffing out hundreds of thousands of stars at once.”

I shudder. Not just in imagining what could eat so many massive stars all at once, but also at how many lives must have ended all in such a short time. Trillions? That seems far too low. Quadrillions, maybe even quintillions. Even if humanity has only a very tiny presence on Andromeda, there are still countless other intelligent species throughout the universe.

I… I do the only thing I can. I lower my head in remembrance. It does nothing to quell the dead. There is nothing I can do to provide them and any surviving family members comfort. Still, I feel like the dead deserve that much.

“Keep that spirit in your heart, Seraphina,” Madison says. “Remember, though. You do have the power. Maybe not to bring back those who have already passed, but you can prevent this tragedy from spreading even further.”

“Is my power really that great?”

“It is, Seraphina. And it’s my job to protect you until you’re able to fully awaken that power.”

“Will we be able to do that? I still don’t know exactly how to awaken that power.”

“Right now, that means continuing to apply your Skills and other abilities in combat. Arbarra has a high level Tower Gauntlet designed for combatants from levels from 128 to 192. It will be an ideal place to continue to develop your power.”

“Am I really on par with someone at level 128? Already?”

“Not quite. Although you don’t have a level, I’d say you’re more in line with someone with a level between 110 and 120. However, I have a feeling you’ll get stronger between now and then.”

I shudder, this time at the expression on Madison’s face. I’ve seen this mischievous, almost sadistic grin a few times before. Never has it preceded anything pleasant for me. I do not expect that to change anytime soon.

After a breakfast of honey-oat cereal and a side of cubed honeydew melon, Madison leads me out of Substation 33 for what will be the last time for at least a few weeks. Yes, I’ve been outside the substation a few times before, but getting to go out for an extended period of time? With permission? And not just having to fight? Getting to actually leave the planet? Travel in space, see the stars, visit an entirely new world? Oh my goodness, my excitement cannot possibly be expressed with something so inadequate as words!

We board the starship Boundless shortly after eight in the morning. Madison is eager to get going as soon as possible, meaning that the entire installation is in an uproar. Muscled men in uniform are screaming commands out to one another, including some rather gruff, scruffy-looking men shouting some particularly colorful language.

Not one of them notices me as I enter, but as soon as Madison follows, the entire room goes incredibly quiet. The men, previously shouting obscenities in quantities nothing short of voluminous, stand upright as though a titanium rod had been jammed directly up their butts. I try my very best to act casual and not be intimidating, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help or hinder these men in the face with the absolute power that is Dr. Madison Mazerie. And so, I do my very best to appear as small as possible, to avoid causing any other problems.

“Varmon!” Madison says. “Status Report!”

“Ma’am, Yes, Ma’am! All systems are just about ready. We’re doing one final check of the subspace warp drive and making sure the fusion engine has an appropriate supply of deuterium and tritium oxide to make the journey to Arbarra.”

“The radiation shielding and deflector shields?” she asks.

“All checks are complete and looking good to go.”

“That includes the tuning of the deflector shield with the improved [Phase Shift] glyph?”

“Absolutely, ma’am. E– Everything is installed and ready to go.” There’s a hint of nervousness in his voice that Madison and I both pick up on.

“And the problem that you’re not telling me about?” Madison’s aura briefly flares out, dazing Varmon and knocking out a couple of the technicians. I rush over to make sure they don’t collapse on the hard ceramic floor.

“Dr. Mazerie, Ma’am. Dr. Kalo received the glyph specifications that you outlined and completed the installation to the best of his abilities. However, he… said that he would inform you about how he was unable to properly calibrate the glyph into the rest of the shield formation. Something about a desync with the runes currently being used, and–”

Madison grits her teeth. “Fine.” She mumbles almost inaudibly, something to the effect of ‘being too busy’ and ‘having turned her communirune off’ to focus on the summit.

I make myself scarce, huddling off to a corner of the room while Madison works on the starship so quickly that most of the crew and technicians aren’t able to track her movements, let alone keep up with her. Despite moving at around three times the speed of sound, her movements are swift, graceful, and quiet enough not to be heard over the sound of a pin dropping on the ground. Just one of the many wondrous things possible thanks to the combination of the [Silence] glyph and her astronomical level and stats.

A full hour passes before Madison returns to a speed resembling normal human movement. Or normal cyborg quickness, in my case. Her hair is ever so slightly tangled compared with before, but she’s not short on breath, nor does a single drop of sweat glisten her forehead. I am… dumbfounded that she can maintain that level of movement for such a long time, and yet still not even break a sweat.

And she said that real fights between high-level opponents generally last seconds, maybe a minute at the most. Which means that that’s not anywhere close to how fast she can go when she truly goes all out.

Qualitatively, the difference between level 1 and where I am, around level 115, is not any different than the difference between 115 and 230, or between 115 and 161, for that matter. In both cases, the lower-leveled individual is not even an ant before the storm. Quantitatively, in terms of stats and capabilities, I am quite certain that the growth is superlinear. I’m not sure if the curve is quadratic, cubic, or even more, but I am quite certain that I’m about to be in a room full of people who can kill me if they so much as sneeze at me wrong.

And… there goes my excitement, replaced by nervousness. But I won’t show it.

At half-past nine, Madison and I finally get to board the Boundless. Although it looks only about twice the size of the Reverence on the outside, this starship has numerous spatial-enlarging glyphs embedded into the ship’s interior. As a result, the main cabin is quite spacious, maybe a third of the size of the docking bay.

It’s also got a handful of small sleeping quarters, a mess hall with a molecular synthesizer to generate various foodstuffs. Madison has a communication deck installed with the latest subspace communication relay outfitted, ensuring we can transmit relevant information in a reasonable timeframe while in interstellar space. Lastly, there’s also the cockpit and work quarters for the half-dozen crew members accompanying the two of us as we begin the week-long journey of approximately seven thousand light-years.

We strap in. The door closes. The sublight thrusters ignite. Despite the roar of the engines outside, it’s quiet enough that I can hear my heart racing and my breath catching in my throat. I try to stop my body’s reflexes using my [Bodily Control] Skill, but it’s Madison’s hand over my own that snaps me back to.

“It’s okay, Seraphina,” she says. “It’s okay to be nervous. It’s okay not to know exactly what’s going on. It’s okay to be a little scared. This is your first time in space, after all. But remember one thing. You’re not alone. You’re not alone, and you’ll never be alone. I will be here with you, and if needed, I’ll make sure to do everything I can to protect you.

My breathing begins to return to normal. I look out the window and watch as we ascend higher and higher. Over the buildings, then over the airships and flying cars traveling along the various traffic corridors. Then so high up that cities look like little seas of silver among a sea of brown. Finally, we leave the atmosphere behind, the hue of sky blue fading away to reveal inky black in every direction save for the yellow-white of the planet’s star a hundred million miles away.

As we leave planet XSQ-1827 behind, I am sure of exactly one thing. I’m about to step into a cosmos far bigger, grander, and more incredible than anything I’ve seen before. And I’ll find a way to make my place within it. If I really am meant to be the special, secret weapon to bear against the System, I have no choice but to try.