Primer for the Apocalypse

Had our opponents not been so numerous, I felt confident that Zavira and I could have lasted a lot longer. As it was, we managed to make it to the sixty-ninth wave.

Or rather, I did.

Zavira fell during the sixty-eighth wave when the flying mobs broke through her barriers and slipped past her defenses. She fought well. But after more than a day of almost non-stop fighting, mistakes were almost expected.

I managed to finish that wave and start the next one, but I was so tired by that point, I didn’t last very long. I did manage to snag a few of the bodies before I ‘died,’ though.

While that might have sounded like a worse performance than our previous wave trial, it really wasn’t, considering the strength of our opponents had reached level seventy-four by the end.

The amount of experience gained during the Trial was also quite good. Nearly two-hundred thousand experience points was an excellent start to getting through the capstone level.

The last levels in a tier were always the worst, more than doubling the previous amount needed to increase a level.

As I waited for the dungeon to determine my reward options, I pulled up my status for the first time in what felt like years to see how far I’d come.

***

Name: Emie deEpíkairos

Level: 70 (267009/3809800)

Profession: (P) Enchanter

(S) Manatechnician

(T) Merchant

Affinities: Time, Space

***

Health: 350/350

Stamina: 84/610

Mana: 108/920

***

Attributes

Strength – 26

Agility – 33

Vitality – 35

Intelligence – 92

Wisdom – 71

Perception – 38

***

Spells*

Skills*

***

Though I was fully healed, the dungeon’s magic did not restore my stamina or mana. It wasn’t a huge problem since the arrival platform was one of those places people weren’t allowed to attack each other in the dungeon.

Still, I’d be sure to cast Barrier before exiting, now that I’d recovered a bit of mana.

I’d stopped investing in Vitality a while back since getting hurt wasn’t much of an issue, given the number of protective talismans I carried. Even if I did get injured, healing spells would fix the problem. I was pretty confident my E3 talisman would even revert instant-death injuries, though I wasn’t willing to test it.

I could always use one of the dungeon creatures as a test subject…

I shook the errant thought away.

[Congratulations on your performance!]

[You have earned a boon.]

I almost rubbed my hands together in excitement for my reward. I barely needed to look at the options since I already knew what I’d choose. Just in case there was something new there, I made myself review everything.

[As a reward for completing 68 waves of the Seventh Floor Trial, you may select one of the following:

Growth crafting material of choice

Growth item of choice

Set of professional growth tools of choice

Intermediate Skill Crystal of choice

Advancement of one existing skill of choice

Intermediate Spell Crystal of choice

Advancement or evolution of one existing spell of choice

Minor Affinity Boost]

I almost overlooked the last entry. Even after seeing it, I still almost ignored it in my eagerness to boost my Enchanting skill. That one improvement would save me decades, perhaps a century (or more) of time and effort.

But depending on how the affinity boost worked… it might be worth it.

If it just boosted an existing affinity, the boon wouldn’t be as appealing since both of my affinities were quite high. Also, I already had a good idea on how to naturally boost an affinity, and I could probably get a lot farther with that in a century than I could Enchanting.

But if it could raise an existing affinity that was too low to count… that was something wholly different. Becoming a tri-affinity mage was such a big deal that it might be worth the delay, depending on which affinity I might unlock.

If there was even one that might qualify.

I wasn’t sure how much a ‘minor boost’ would improve a non-affinity or if it would even be enough to awaken one. It didn’t help that I had no idea what my non-affinity ratings were.

Would the dungeon tell me?

It should, since I assumed the dungeon knew what they were. The challenger apartments used a mana-testing crystal to obtain our mana signature on each floor, and I doubted a dungeon created for research purposes would give up such an easy data source.

But first, I needed to see if Minor Affinity Boost even worked with affinities below the threshold or if they only applied to awakened affinities.

I probed the selection for more information.

[Minor Affinity Boost: Increase your affinity to a specific mana type by a small amount.]

I huffed at the lack of elaboration and asked, “What are my current affinities?” I crossed my fingers in hopes that the dungeon would feel like sharing.

[Time: 95

Space: 87

Arcane: 14

Soul: 12

Void: 11

Force: 10

Shadow: 9

Nature: 9

Air: 9

Life: 9

Mind: 8

Fire: 7

Earth: 6

Sound: 5

Crystal: 5

Fate: 5

Water: 4

Ice: 4

Lightning: 3

Metal: 3

Light: 3

Magma: 2

Poison: 2

Acid: 2

Death: 2]

I gaped at the increase in my affinities.

Sure, they’d both increased over time in the other timeline, but I didn’t expect that trend to continue with the boost they’d received upon my return. I suspected the added improvement was due to a mix of training and the mastery skills I’d gotten after the last two Trials.

Knowing that my Space affinity was just a few points shy of reaching ‘Exceptional’ made me tempted to select it right away. The improvement I noticed between timelines could not be understated, and Master Kairos had mentioned the value of having an exceptional affinity rating more than once.

Space was already such a strong affinity. How much better would it be if it crossed the next threshold?

And then there was Arcane. It was only two points from qualifying as a weak affinity.

I’d always felt a connection to the ‘element,’ though that may have been wishful thinking on my part after learning how flexible it was. But to see how close… I really could become a tri-affinity mage!

I hesitated only because I knew it was possible to do it without a dungeon reward. I even knew where an Arcane mana well was.

Then again, people without an Arcane affinity risked dying if they got too close. Would I be able to awaken the affinity without killing myself in the process?

And I couldn’t just ignore my original goal of becoming a Master Enchanter.

I really wanted to improve the skill to the Master level. To give it up now after working for so long to reach the next stage… I wasn’t sure that I could.

But it wasn’t like I couldn’t earn it on my own.

Sure, picking it now would save a ton of time, but it was something I could manage myself, eventually. And so was improving my existing affinities, for that matter.

The only one that wasn’t assured with time and effort was gaining a third affinity.

While others had done it, their methods weren’t usually shared.

Had they achieved that feat through the dungeon?

I assumed it was possible to gain a few points with a mana well because Ros had done it, but his situation was far different from mine. It was entirely possible that getting too close to the mana well would kill me, even if Arcane was only a couple of points away from awakening.

But if I used the boon to awaken it now, I might be able to use the mana well to increase it later.

I wanted to pull my hair out at the options. I had everything planned, and this one addition had completely thrown everything into disarray!

Not only that, but I also needed to consider how gaining a third affinity might impact my future.

People had practically fallen over Sumi for having three affinities, and I was pretty sure they were all pretty weak. Would choosing this path be more of a headache than it was worth?

I really wished I could discuss my options with Master Kairos. He’d never mentioned something like this might be an option, and we’d discussed Trial rewards numerous times over the years.

Then again, he hadn’t known the mastery skills were an option, either.

Still, this was different. The option was listed instead of being hidden behind a seemingly lackluster selection.

Was it something new? Did the option only become available because of Sir Eri’Non’s experiments? Or was it a performance thing?

I had so many questions!

But those didn’t matter right now. I needed to make a decision.

If I chose to boost my unawakened Arcane affinity, there was a possibility that it still wouldn’t awaken. If it only went up by one point, it wouldn’t cross the threshold, and my reward would be effectively wasted.

The thought made me shiver.

If it did awaken, I’d be a tri-affinity mage with Time, Space, and Arcane. That was… crazy.

Unless I always wore a [Disguise] amulet, I’d probably get harassed constantly. I might even need to worry about being kidnapped or having my eggs forcibly removed if Rhona’s deal with Sumi was any indication.

They’d literally promised her a cushy life for little more than a few eggs. It was crazy.

Then again, her tri-affinity status was natural. That made a difference.

The thought soothed my worries a bit.

Gaining Arcane as a third affinity would make crafting easier – so much easier. It would almost certainly speed up my skill progression.

And it wasn’t like I needed to reach Master Enchanter before leaving the dungeon. I didn’t even need to reach it this century! It was just a goal I’d always dreamt of reaching.

Now I was a single choice away from reaching it. I could leave the Trial a Master Enchanter and… what? Enchant a little easier? Gain a few new Enchanting techniques and insights?

Was that worth giving up a potential third affinity?

What if the option was never offered again?

Improving a skill had been a consistent Trial reward, so there was a good chance I’d be able to get it on the next floor anyway.

Framing it that way, the choice seemed kinda obvious.

Though there was some risk involved, I decided to take it. The potential benefits were simply too great to ignore.

= = =

I felt Time and Soul mana surrounding me, coupled with a sense of discomfort.

Something had happened, but I wasn’t quite sure what.

“There you are!” Zavira said excitedly. “Let’s go to your apartment and discuss our rewards. I can’t wait to hear what you thought about the addition!”

There were only a couple of people nearby, but both seemed to perk up at her comment.

Still feeling a bit dazed, I cast Barrier before stepping off the platform. I’d somehow forgotten to cast it before selecting my reward.

Zavira was practically vibrating by the time we reached my door. We usually spent time in my apartment since I’d spatially expanded it far more than I’d done in hers. It was also closer to the entrance.

When I tried to enter the apartment, the door didn’t move.

“Huh. It isn’t opening,” I said blankly.

Lisa alerted me that I’d been targeted by an inspection spell. I glanced around and didn’t see anyone other than Zavira. Spatial Sense agreed with my vision and assured me that we were alone, so I returned the gesture.

[Zavira de Hephastios – level 69 – Smith/Trader/Cartographer – Force/Metal]

“You got a second affinity!” I exclaimed.

We had discussed our reward plans several times over the years, and Zavira had recently decided to obtain Metal Magic Mastery in hopes that the insights involved would be enough to awaken the affinity.

She’d known her non-affinity ratings before entering the dungeon, and having Metal rated at fifteen – a single point below the threshold – had always been a bit of a sore point for the half-dwarf since having the second affinity would have made her Smithing that much easier.

Seeing her tertiary profession wasn’t a surprise since she’d swapped it out as soon as we arrived on the floor. I’d considered doing the same, but ultimately felt like Merchant would earn more experience than charting the ever-changing labyrinth.

“You got a third!” she replied, almost affronted. “Seriously, how is that fair?”

“The dungeon gave me all my ratings. I had no idea I was so close with Arcane. I thought maybe Void or Force, or maybe one of the affinities my parents have. But… yeah.”

“The dungeon gave you all your ratings? Even an update on Time and Space?” Zavira asked curiously.

I nodded. “They both increased.”

“Of course they did.”

I tried to suppress my grin. I really didn’t want to rub it in, but I was really excited about the improvements and my new affinity.

“It didn’t tell me what my new Arcane affinity is, though,” I added thoughtfully.

“We should go check that! I didn’t even ask what mine were!” Zavira replied. “And with a new affinity, your mana signature probably changed. Maybe that’s why your door isn’t opening. Mine probably won’t work either.”

Zavira was correct in her assumption, and a quick visit to the dungeon golem in the lobby sorted the issue.

It also allowed us to check our updated affinities.

I’d hoped for more, but considering the circumstances, having an Arcane affinity score of sixteen wasn’t bad. It was barely enough to qualify as an affinity – or awaken one, depending on one’s perception – but that was all I needed for now.

Zavira’s new Metal affinity was rated at eighteen, which had pleased the Smith immensely.

“It’s low, but that’s fine. With as much as I’ll use it, I feel confident it will rise in time,” she said once we made it inside my apartment. “I can’t wait to craft with it! What do you want me to make? You need more rings, right?”

I smiled at Zavira’s renewed enthusiasm. It was nice to see her happy and excited again. The dungeon had felt like a slog for far too long.