The Lone Healer-Chapter 136: Moving Along

Level 58

MP: 1100/1100

EXP: 110/580

AP: 3690

IP: 40

WST: 65400

---

Endurance: 40

Speed: 40

Precision: 13

Strength: 5

Arcane: 80

Upon defeating this boss, Neve received her 10 Influence Points from the Floor Quest along with a piece of loot the necromancer dropped that, unfortunately, she could not use.

Lich King Staff

{Unique}

{Staff}

{Class Req: Summoner}

{Req: 100 Arcane}

{Effect: Duration of summons is increased by 100%}

{Val: 15000 WST}

Neve couldn’t help but sulk a little when she saw the class requirement.

[God, this would be so good to have.]

There was no changing that requirement, however, so Neve reluctantly went into the World Shop and sold the item off, bringing her WST up to 80400

[Hm.] As Neve stood in the middle of that empty crypt, with only a few skeletons lying around to keep her company, she looked at her total amount of tokens. [I might reach 100K before the next floor is done. If that happens...]

Naturally, buying internet service was one of her priorities but, at the same time, there were so many good items to buy in the Hidden Shop that it almost felt like a waste.

[Well, it’s good that I didn’t tell Charlotte how many coins I actually have. If they are actually trying to get me to 100K out there, my tokens might end up way past the 100K mark. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.]

On that note, she looked toward the open portal leading to the next floor and decided that she was done here.

Or, she would be done, after she did one last thing.

---

Having made good enough progress to where she could rest for a full day and still be on schedule, Neve decided that there was one thing she could do for one of her friends.

She wanted to keep going. Even now, as she saw Ahlakan marveling at the buildings around them, she wanted to run straight to the portal and progress, but she felt she could set aside a few minutes for this.

"Is this... is this truly my world?" Ahlakan asked, standing by Neve’s side.

Up ahead, Erin scanned their surroundings and led them through the streets of the previously-haunted city.

Neve held one of Ahlakan’s hands and kept her staff out and ready. As Tamira had stated before, Ahlakan wasn’t allowed to leave the safe zone on her own, but Neve could take her out if she wanted to.

Doing so carried risks, however, as Ahlakan wasn’t like Erin. If Ahlakan died out here, that was it. She wasn’t coming back.

So, Neve made sure to keep her guard up in case any stray ghosts just so happened to pop up.

"I’m not sure," Neve answered. "But, I think it might have been."

"These buildings do seem to match what was described to me," Ahlakan muttered. "Do you remember when we talked about that? In Rorvan." She turned toward Neve with a nostalgic tone. "A sky so bright it’s blinding. Buildings so high they can kiss the sky."

[Eh, that’s not *that* specific a description, in reality,] Neve thought. [I’d say Starlight City fits that description too.]

"Did you see anyone?" Ahlakan asked.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you saw anyone around here, as you walked through this place."

"Um, no," Neve replied. "Just a lot of monsters. Ghosts."

"I see."

Ahlakan stopped in front of one house that was smaller than all the others. The sleek gold-and-stone architecture was still being put on display, but there was a humility to this one building that Neve recalled seeing elsewhere, in Rorvan.

"This looks like my home," Ahlakan said quietly. "But, well, a lot brighter."

She squeezed Neve’s hand a little. The healer couldn’t think of anything to say. Ahlakan looked at her and asked:

"Is it possible to see my mother again?"

Neve’s eyes widened.

She paused, considering what may have been the best way to tell Ahlakan that the answer was "no", but it seemed like Ahlakan gleaned that fact from the way Neve reacted.

"I guessed that was the case," Ahlakan said softly. There were tears at the corners of her eyes that hadn’t fallen yet but were threatening to. "I was hoping, but... I suppose whatever power you use to conjure me and Erin isn’t enough for her as well."

"I was thinking the same thing, a while ago," Erin suddenly spoke up a few steps away from them. "Suppose the answer is the same for me, as well, though... In my case, I saw my family meet their end, so maybe that’s different."

Neve’s heart was tugged in a few separate directions as she heard them. Ahlakan asked her:

"Do you miss yours?"

"... Yeah," Neve answered with a low tone. "A lot."

"I hope you’ll get to see them soon," Ahlakan replied, her eyes fixed on the house in front of them. "Once your journey here is over."

Neve just sighed.

"That’s not happening."

"Why?" Ahlakan asked.

"Cause they’re dead," Neve answered plainly. Now, it was Ahlakan who was looking at her, while Neve kept her eyes glued to the small building in front of them. It was as though she could see images from her past playing out before her. "The only family I had is gone. No one’s waiting for me back home."

"I’m sorry to hear that," Ahlakan responded. Neve just waved her concern away.

"Don’t be. I wasn’t planning on making it back home anyway."

Erin, who had slithered over a moment ago, furrowed her brows at that comment.

"Ideally," Neve sighed, "once I chase those dicks down," she told Erin, "everything will be over at some point after that."

Erin’s eyes scanned Neve’s face for any sign that she may have been exaggerating. As she understood that she wasn’t, a deep sadness dawned on her visage, though she tried to maintain her usual mirth.

"I hope not," Erin replied. "You still owe me a walk on the beach, you know?"

"Ah, right... Right," Neve replied with a little smile. "I forgot."

"... Um, what exactly are ’dicks’?" Ahlakan asked and Neve barked out a laugh.

The tension broke.

As the tone lightened quickly, they kept walking.

3 girls, all with more in common than they initially believed.

---

{A couple of hours later} 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The portal took Neve to the entrance of a cavern, situated deep within a dark and dreary forest.

Contrary to the previous floor, in this one, Neve couldn’t see the sky. A dense fog was blocking it, shrouding the healer’s surroundings and plunging her into darkness.

"Ironically, the air smells better here than in any other place we’ve been to," Erin noted.

"Ah... With the air so humid, my paintings might never dry," Ahlakan complained as Neve finished setting up the camp.

Using some of the tokens she got, she bought a few luxury items.

An automatic massage table for Ahlakan worth 1500 WST.

An ultra HD 4K holographic TV that came with over a hundred classic movies downloaded on it worth 2000 WST.

And...

"Um, are you sure you want this?" Neve asked, holding up a peculiar set of discs. Videos the TV did not come with.

"Why do you sound so worried?" Ahlakan asked. "This ’porn’ you mentioned sounded interesting. Is it not normal among your people?"

"Well- I mean- kinda- but- it’s-... I..."

"I am curious," Ahlakan insisted. "Besides, it might serve as decent inspiration for my art. I am getting tired of drawing landscapes all day."

"I-I understand."

They’d come upon this topic, by the way, after Ahlakan had asked if there was any way she could learn some more about sex.

"To be honest, I am curious as well," Erin said with a smirk. "I wouldn’t be opposed to taking a day off to study up on the topic."

"Erin..."

"Right, right, ’we must make progress!’" Erin mocked her. "Shall we leave your lover to her studies and go on, then?"

"Erin!"

"What? You’ve fucked like three times or something, have you not? Where I am from, that is what we call people who you sleep with regularly."

"L-Let’s just go already!"

"Fine."

Standing at the entrance leading into the cave, Neve and her summon prepared themselves for the next batch of enemies, traps, and whatever else they were set to encounter.

[Five days,] Neve thought. [That’s how long I have before everything on the 7th floor respawns. If I can clear this floor before then, I can skip that floor entirely.]

It would be massive for her journey if she could pull it off.

With any luck, this floor would be as easy as the last was.

She took a step forward, entering the cave.

"Uh, there aren’t exactly too many directions enemies could come from in here, but still. Keep your guard up, okay? We’ve already seen ghosts appearing out of thin air and zombies rising from the earth. This could... Erin?"

Her summon had been strangely silent.

Neve turned around and found that the lamia was not there.

Her eyes widened.

[What? Did I get caught in an illusion?]

That was her initial suspicion but, the way illusions worked, if one realized they were in an illusion the illusion would break.

Having that thought did not bring the lamia back.

That left one other, far more terrifying possibility.

[No. No, no, no, no, no... Don’t tell me...]

With shaking hands, Neve pulled up her status.

Her biggest fear was confirmed.

{Status Effect: Silenced}

{No spells can be cast}

{Cause: 6th Floor Passive}

Neve dropped to her knees.

"FUCK!" She yelled out. Her voice echoed around her.

Whereas the previous floor had been built to be a breeze for Priests and Priestesses, this one was the opposite.

An anti-mage floor.