P-System Log This is an incredibly suboptimal solution, to say the least. What does [Cosmic Gaze] even do? [Cosmic Gaze lv. 15] Targets with an insufficient Insight stat will be stunned. Targets with an insufficient natural INT will be stunned. Stun duration: skill level * 6 seconds. P-System Log

Well, shit. I guess Jerome being dumb finally came around to bite him in the ass.

Shame, too. I could swear he was getting smarter.

Still, ninety seconds? That's a fuckload of time, but I don't know if I can even flush the effect out with W Inertia. It's not something I've seen before, and the effect itself was a set-and-forget, not something that's being caused by an active mana stream.

Shit, I hope the others don't die in the meantime.

Party Chat

[P-System]: Jerome gets up in 90 seconds.

[K]: Got it.

[Arcs S'tar]: Surviving a minute and a half is going to be tough.

[Aster K'lon]: We will do what we must.

P-System Log

Alright, this is still pretty bad. I don't know how long K's [Nightwalk] lasts, but he should be able to avoid taking much damage while he's in that state. It's the two casters and Thron I'm worried about. The latter can't even defend himself, and the first two are going to have their work cut out for them.

If only there was some way I could power them up...

[Adaptive Wall] + [Inferno Spear] = [Blazing Forcefield] cast! [Tentacle Storm] x 12 = [Tentacle Barrage] cast! P-System Log

Hey, wasn't that an R System skill? I wonder why this thing has it. Do we also have access to the same skills that R Beasts do? That's a frightening thought. Are we really that different, then? They use a System just like we do, W Inertia just like we do, and apparently also we share skills. That's creepy.

Well, more relevantly, Aster survived. The shield didn't even break, and I think it actually did something back.

Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: 51. Not much, but it's something.

[Arcs S'tar]: Your defensive skill does damage?

[Aster K'lon]: I've been a [Mage] for a very long time. I've picked up some tricks.

[Aster K'lon]: We are lucky it did not target Thron. I doubt he would be able to survive a sustained barrage.

[Arcs S'tar]: Why didn't it target Jerome?

[K]: My guess is stunlock.

[Aster K'lon]: You believe it has more uses of [Cosmic Gaze]. Not unreasonable.

[Aster K'lon]: We need to prevent him from suffering another instance of the attack, then.

[Arcs S'tar]: We need to live that long first.

[Nightwalk] + [Zenith Strike] = [Seven Shadowy Sins] cast! Party Chat

[K]: 517. No kill yet. It's tough.

[Aster K'lon]: We can see that.

[Aster K'lon]: Reincarnators.

[Aster K'lon]: How long until you can [Nightwalk] again?

[K]: 12 seconds.

[Aster K'lon]: Be ready to move.

P-System Log

Fucking Jerome still isn't responding. This stun effect is really powerful, isn't it? It's practically cut him off from me. I can still spend W Inertia, but what use is a new skill when its Integrated user can't actually do anything with it? I mean, theoretically I could go for an immunity of some kind, but I can't replicate the stun effect.

Fuck me, I need to figure something else. My Admin Tier is a lot higher than it was before, courtesy of spending one metric fuckload of W Inertia on Jerome. Maybe that means that things that were previously left inaccessible are now actual, viable options for me? Like I'm recognizing a couple disturbing things now--there's been times when I thought in the wrong direction and then my lower Admin Tier meant I couldn't keep going. That is horrifying as hell, but it's not what I need to focus on now. The fact that I can even recognize that they were disturbing incidents now means that I've ascended above them, I think, since I couldn't really process them as weird before.

That means my capabilities has increased. Maybe it means that they've increased enough for me to do things I couldn't before. Things, like, say... connect with others? I definitely wouldn't have been able to speak to them properly in the Party Chat before. Maybe now I can do even more than speak.

Well, I can test that after they survive this next attack. If they survive this next attack.

[Cosmic Disintegration] cast! [Misty Step] + [Misty Step] + [Adaptive Wall] = [Shielded Teleport] cast! [Shadow Step] cast! [Cosmic Disintegration] dealt 804 damage to you! P-System Log

Holy shit, Aster's regeneration has got to be insane. Her mana capacity is comparatively tiny when looking at her versus Jerome, but she's able to keep on spamming out skill combos one after the other. This time, she cast a skill that was strong enoguh to catch her, Arcs, and Thron. Thank fuck she got out of there, too. The monster's skill created a golden sphere right on her location, and it managed to hit Jerome. K just fucked right off, so he's good too.

Jerome took a pretty solid hit. On any of the other party members, that would've been an instakill. The power of having me as the System, I suppose.

Still, it's a touch worrying. I'm pretty sure it's been under 30 seconds so far. I think he'll survive the full 90 seconds, but if the others don't do any kiting, [Cosmic Disintegration] could wear him down to death as well.

Oh, what am I saying? I still have a bunch of W Inertia to make use of.

Current W Inertia: 27388

Max W Inertia: 38382

Jerome Smith (abbreviated) Stat Current Maximum Health 6785 10367 Mana 4631 6271 Admin Tier increased! 5 -> 6 P-System Log

Yeah, there we go. He isn't dying anytime soon.

The others, though...

It's time to try doing something stupid.

Private Message [Aster]

[P-System]: How much mana do you have left?

[Aster K'lon]: Not enough to survive the full fight. I must rely on my physical abilities.

[P-System]: Can you spend some to try something out?

[Aster K'lon]: One moment. I must regenerate.

[Aster K'lon]: Ready.

[P-System]: Okay. I'm going to extend you a bit of W-- a bit of-- a-- fuck. I'm going to give you something to hold onto.

[Aster K'lon]: Mana-wise? Physically?

[P-System]: Mana. Or something similar, I guess.

P-System Log

This is going to be rough. I've literally never tried anything related to this before--I think I couldn't.

And it has to work. Jerome is definitely going to survive the fight, but I don't know if I can say the same of the others. They're not going to take a single blast from that eldritch fuckin' thing.

I don't have another choice.

I'm going all out on this. Aster was the first person to actually be nice to me in this godsforsaken world, and I'll be damned if I let her die like this. I can afford to lose a thousand, two thousand, three thousand W Inertia if it means keeping her alive.

All that expenditure, and I can barely extend it out of Jerome's body. I think he absorbed the majority of it somehow, though how the hell that happened without leveling him up I don't know. Still, I got some out. Just about a thousand W Inertia of the original three thousand spent, reaching out towards Aster...

Now all I can do is hope she gets it.

Private Message [Aster]

[Aster K'lon]: I can feel it. Something in the air. It's thick, and I vaguely recognize it... this isn't mana.

[P-System]: It makes mana. Or something. Try and reach out for it.

[Aster K'lon]: I think I can make a connection. Should I?

[P-System]: You're about to die when that thing hits again, so yes.

[Aster K'lon]: This is rather complex. I think one would typically need a lab on this in order to make full use of it.

[P-System]: I know. Please hurry.

[Aster K'lon]: It is messy and subpar, but I have formed a connection. I am accepting what I can and discarding the rest.

W Inertia accepted! Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: It worked.

[Arcs S'tar]: What worked?

[Aster K'lon]: An impossibility.

Aster K'lon Class Race Level Archmage Human 1 Stat Current Maximum Mana 2000 2000 Health 300 300 Skills Titles [Master] Stat Modifier Total Strength - Magic - Insight - Constitution - [Learn] cast! [Perfect] cast! P-System Log Not just one but two [Legendary] skills and a skill evolution that skipped a rarity? I know some of that bullshit is because of me, but Aster definitely played the largest part in that. She's scarily good with magic, and it's time I realized that. [Cosmic Disintegration] cast! [Nullify] cast! [Cosmic Disintegration: Variant A] cast! Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: 887. Room for improvement.

[Arcs S'tar]: What the hells...

[Aster K'lon]: Thank you, P-System. Allow me to reveal the depth of my stored potential.