“Fu—”

  My curse of surprise and pain caught in my throat as my body was swiftly restored, and I was teleported back to the safe room.

  I’d linked my implanted E3 talisman to a newly crafted beacon shortly after my arrival, giving myself a safe place to escape in the event of a serious injury. However, I’d never been pushed to use it.

  This was actually the first time the life-saving device had been triggered. Ever.

  That fact only reinforced how dangerous my situation really was.

  I absently rubbed my newly restored chest as I considered my last encounter.

  I hadn’t been careless or arrogant during my attack. I hadn’t even managed to draw out the susorc boss before being faced with a wickedly strong opponent – one of the two guards that stood outside the boss’s chambers.

  It was far stronger and faster than the other susorcs I’d encountered, and the added speed had caught me off guard. That small surprise had allowed the creature to land a pretty significant hit across my torso after shattering my Tier Nine [Barrier] in a flurry of motion.

  Without Time magic, I might not have survived the blow at all. Even regular healing would have likely struggled to repair the damage, considering the creature had cleaved me nearly in half.

  It really was a wake-up call.

  I’d already earned enough experience to reach Tier Nine but had been holding off on leveling up in hopes that I might somehow create an arsenal strong enough to bridge the gap between myself and the remaining rift bosses.

  In fact, I’d accrued so much excess experience that I was close to hitting the limit. It was something I never expected to encounter again, and only sheer stubbornness had kept me from pulling the trigger and just tiering up.

  I’d even toyed with the idea of spending a ton of points on a couple of new Arcane spells since my collection in that affinity was severely lacking. I’d put some effort into adapting spellforms from other types of spells, but there were tons of options only available through the system that really were impossible to get without buying them or being some kind of spellform scholar.

  It was unfortunate that I hadn’t acquired many Arcane spellforms back when I was researching such things for the primer I’d written long ago.

  Ultimately, I decided not to waste the experience on such a purchase since I really could figure out most of what I wanted to do with enchantments.

  “Well, I guess there’s no reason to delay any longer,” I sighed as I placed my furnishings in their normal spots.

  “I’m glad you’re finally willing to see reason,” Lisa said smugly as I settled in my comfortable reclining chair. It was in need of a restoration soon, as there were several spots in the upholstery that had worn thin. But I’d get to it eventually.

  Lisa’s comment made me chuckle.

  I removed one of my newer manatech devices from my ring and sat it on the short table next to me.

  Having long grown tired of simply seeing my friend on a screen, I’d crafted the holographic cube to grant my Interface Assistant a three-dimensional body. It made me feel a little less isolated, which was important, given how long I’d been blocked from contact with the outside world.

  It hadn’t even been all that hard to make.

  I sent a playful glare toward the newly manifested avatar. “Yeah, yeah. It’s easy to say when you don’t have anything personal to lose.”

  “We’ve already discussed this topic several times. My response has not changed,” Lisa said, her voice now coming from the purple-skinned holograph instead of my mind. “Without you, I do not exist. If you die because you refuse to gain the requisite power to escape, I die along with you. I most certainly have something to lose in that case.”

  Once again, I wondered if Lisa’s response was genuine or simply a byproduct of her programming. I’d already decided the answer ultimately didn’t matter, but the uncertainty still occasionally reared its head.

  And though Lisa could undoubtedly read my thoughts, she never, ever commented on my unspoken question. That action alone contributed more to my doubts than anything else.

  “Well, we don’t want you to die, now, do we?” I said glibly, pushing my doubts away. “It’s not like I’ll really lose anything, anyway. Gaining a fourth affinity was a long shot, especially since I could only really afford to use one reward to try.”

  “That’s a good way of looking at things. Besides, it’s unknown whether a fourth affinity is even possible. There are no records of anyone accomplishing such a feat in the past.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  It was another thing we’d discussed several times.

  “Yeah, I know,” I said tiredly. The fatigue of fighting and almost truly dying seemed to hit me all at once. “Well, might as well get to it, I guess. I’m going to go ahead and apply both levels since there’s no reason not to at this point.”

  I’d been gathering experience and putting off my next level for several years already. In fact, it had been a little over a decade since I somehow managed to defeat the first boss. It was time.

  Not waiting for Lisa to reply, I manipulated my status to do just that.

  ***

  Name: Emie Momentia

  Level: 82* (7151352/7786900)

  Profession: (P) Enchanter

  (S) Manatechnician

  (T) Researcher

  Affinities: Time, Space, Arcane

  ***

  Health: 340/340 *

  Stamina: 431/620*

  Mana: 685/1120*

  ***

  Attributes

  Strength – 28

  Agility – 37*

  Vitality – 34*

  Intelligence – 112*

  Wisdom – 74*

  Perception – 40*

  ***

  Spells*

  Skills*

  ***

  I almost had enough for the last level, but since I hadn’t hit the experience cap, I wasn’t quite there.

  I split my attribute points pretty evenly, with only Strength not getting anything from the double level-up. Given how often I was using Haste and entering melee, I’d invested a few points into Strength and Agility over the last several levels, but I didn’t think the former needed anything more at the moment.

  Really, the boost from increasing my Tier should make far more difference than a few points ever could. I was relying on that very advantage to shift this experience from something impossible into something inevitable.

  I hated missing out on a Trial reward, but at least I’d spent a few months soaking in the regeneration-boosting Hot Spring on the eighth floor before leaving. Losing both boons would have really grated at me.

  I closed my screen.

  Since the changes wouldn’t truly go into effect without sleep, I activated my strongest defensive formation and settled in for a much-needed rest.

  “Oh wow,” I said as I took in the damage from my offensive Space magic tests. “It’s almost like being back in the dungeon!”

  I didn’t bother suppressing the wide grin that stretched across my face as I realized the implications. Based on the damage that a few unenhanced spells had done to the ‘regular mobs’ nearby, I suspected I’d be escaping the rift far sooner than I had feared just a short time earlier.

  “As expected,” Lisa replied confidently in my mind. “Your attacks are far stronger than they were before.”

  “Still, it’s a bit beyond my expectations,” I admitted. “For some reason, I thought I was still going to have to struggle after tiering up.”

  “Don’t get too confident. You still haven’t tested yourself against the remaining factions yet.”

  She was right, of course.

  “I should do that now,” I said excitedly.

  Without waiting, I teleported to my normal spot just outside the susorc settlement. They were the best foe I could think of to test my newfound power against, given my recent failure.

  “You should probably activate Stealth before alerting them to your presence. It would be helpful to check how effective the spell has become.”

  I nodded in agreement and silently cast the spell.

  Stealth had been good before tiering up, so I was very confident the newly strengthened spell would be even better now. Even so, I took my time and carefully entered the faux village.

  As expected, none of the large, humanoid boar creatures noticed my presence at all. In fact, I was easily able to make my way into the heart of the village without alerting either of the guards that were stationed outside the room.

  I’d managed the same thing once before, but the boss had been roaming the village at the time.

  Unlike the avemon boss, the oversized boar creature was not hidden from my perception, allowing me to sneak up on the semi-isolated boss as it sat, or rather, slumped, snoring on a misshapen throne of hardened Magma.

  Seeing that, coupled with the tell-tale signs around the room indicative of Magma spells, the boss’s affinity was apparent. Not that I hadn’t already verified that fact. But still, seeing proof was comforting.

  Though I was at the low end of Tier Nine and the boss was at the absolute peak, I suddenly felt much more confident in my chances against the sleeping humanoid orc-boar. And even if it did manage to attack, I was sure I could survive long enough to escape.

  I probably wouldn’t have felt as confident, even with the recent power-up and the boss’s apparent lack of consciousness, had I not recharged and re-implanted my E3 talisman prior to leaving the safety of the stone room.

  I still should have been terrified, especially after one of the creature’s guards so recently managed to nearly kill me. But somehow, I wasn’t.

  If anything, I was excited.

  Assassinating the bosses had to be the goal, right? It was a rift designed to test Tier Nine Assassins, after all, and the boss was sitting there, unconscious… all alone.

  It was practically an invitation, and I was only slightly annoyed that I hadn’t stumbled upon this opportunity before tiering up.

  I crept behind and to the side of the slumbering boss before halting. I wasn’t sure whether to attack directly or use Pause to ensure the creature didn’t move at the last moment.

  Since the creature was clearly sleeping, it was unlikely it would be capable of resisting the Time spell. It should be easy to drop a small Portal over the thing’s head and finish it that way.

  Such an approach felt a little cheaty, but I’d long lost any concern for what others might consider ‘fair.’

  Happy enough with my plan, I cast Pause on the sleeping boss and immediately followed up with a carefully placed Portal.

  The rest of the susorcs didn’t react to their leader’s death, which honestly surprised me a little. I expected the rift to force a conflict after the boss died, but nothing of the sort happened.

  The entire thing was completely anti-climactic, just like a good assassination probably should be.

  I didn’t bother skulking back through the faux village after collecting the boss’s bulky remains. Instead, I grabbed a few items that I could sense were stored under the throne and teleported directly back to my safe room.

  That made two bosses down and three more to go.

  I had a feeling the rest of the rift was going to pass pretty quickly now that I was no longer at such a disadvantage.