The Lone Healer-Chapter 138: The Descent, Part One

{2 Days Later}

43.

That was where Neve’s Blade skill ended up after almost 48 hours of doing nothing but training.

It would have to do.

With four days left before the 7th Floor’s monsters respawn, Neve needed to get moving.

"You’re going in?" Erin asked as Neve stood before her.

"Yeah," she answered. "I think it’s time."

"And, I don’t suppose I’m going to get to just sit here and relax?"

"Uh, unfortunately, no." Neve shook her head. "You’re probably gonna disappear the moment I walk in, regardless of where you are."

"Hm... In that case, Neve, I wish you luck." Erin gave her a light-hearted smirk. "As always, please, try not to get yourself killed."

"I’ll do my best."

On that note, Neve looked at her status.

In the end, this was what she went with:

Level 50

MP: 900/900 (+300)

EXP: 0/500

AP: 3690

IP: 40

WST: 81200

---

Endurance: 50

Speed: 20

Precision: 17

Strength: 15

Arcane: 60

Obviously, it would have been better to remove all of her points from Arcane and distribute them elsewhere, but, as she’d thought about before, the issue was that if Tamira refused to let her respec after the 6th Floor was cleared, Neve would simply be screwed.

With 50 Endurance, she hoped she would be able to survive enough hits to get through this. She also hoped that potions would help her make up for the other attributes being so low.

[More donations too,] Neve noted, seeing her token total. [I might reach 100K before I’m done here.]

"These are the last ones," Ahlakan said, approaching Neve outside her tent. "I have no other ingredients to work with. This is all I can give you."

The nulin woman was holding a box that contained dozens of different flasks, of various colors, shapes, and sizes.

[Hm... Healing, Swift Feet, Poison... Yeah, I think all of this will help.]

"Thank you," Neve replied gratefully. "I think I stand a slightly better shot now."

"I wish you luck, Neve." Ahlakan leaned in and kissed the girl on the cheek. Neve blinked twice, her face turning red quickly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to my film."

Then, she spun on her heel and walked back into Neve’s tent. Resuming her movie, the sounds of guns and yelling poured out from the open flaps.

Neve had seen her only a handful of times over the last 2 days, despite literally living in the same place. And half of those times were when they were going to sleep.

[... She would be such a NEET if she lived on Earth.]

"Neve", Erin said, pulling the healer’s attention back to her. "If I may offer some last-minute advice, I’d suggest you run away from any intelligent fighters. This training you’ve done will very likely not be enough to make any real difference against them. However, you should be able to win fights against mindless beasts if you plan your moves out well enough. And, look," Erin slithered forward, "we’ve had some disagreements here but I know for a fact you’re good at scheming. So, play to that strength, understand?"

[Geez, you’re making me sound like some sort of villain.]

"Yeah, I get it. Avoid knights and warriors, fight mindless beasts, and do it in a smart way. I understand."

"Very well. Is there anything else you need to do?"

"... No," Neve replied, suddenly feeling quite a bit colder. "I should just go."

Erin gave her a fairly sad smile. It was clear she wished she could tag along, but alas, that was impossible.

"Good luck."

Neve walked from the camp to the cavern’s entrance, where the 6th Floor waited for her.

Holding that Blessed Shortsword, Neve stepped forward.

As soon as she went into the cave, Erin disappeared. It struck Neve then that if she failed, if she got herself killed here, this would essentially mark the end of Erin’s life as well.

Neve tried to keep herself motivated, though. The thought of Thomas’s group reaching the 10th Floor, beating the Final Challenge, and being welcomed back in Starlight City as heroes was enough to push her feet forward.

[Here goes nothing.]

This first part of the dungeon was tight and cramped. Water dripped in the distance. The way ahead was illuminated by a far-away blue light that Neve slowly made her way toward.

The source was a single violet torch hanging lazily from a rope nailed to the rocky ceiling. Once Neve reached it, she got to see what would likely form the structure of the 6th Floor.

Like the 3rd one, this floor would be all about verticality.

Steep, narrow paths winded around a dark chasm. Checking her map, Neve found that the boss marker for this floor alluded to the idea that the boss would be found at the very bottom.

There were platforms on which Neve could see some monsters standing around, waiting. They looked slightly like goblins but taller and bulkier, with grey skin as opposed to the usual green.

[... Right. Since this is a floor intended for Warrior-class players, I guess it makes sense that most enemies might just end up being really basic. I need to be careful, though. There are some enemies that are meant to be fought with blunt weapons and others that are meant to be fought with blades if I remember correctly. Not knowing which ones are which could end up making things worse for me since all I have is this shortsword.]

The path she was on led to one, singular room with two of those violet torches looming ominously over it.

[First room. Let’s see what happens.]

She was sweating.

Her hands, wrapping hard around her blade, felt twitchy. The air was so cold Neve could almost see her own breath.

There were no enemies to stop her from stepping into that first room. Something Neve found incredibly suspicious.

So, she stopped just outside of it.

[Okay, Erin said I’m decent at scheming so let’s do some scheming. Each floor has had a sort of "introductory" fight, meant to get you used to what you can expect out of the rest of the dungeon. I saw those orcs outside, so I’m guessing I can expect some standard enemy design here.]

She closed her eyes, envisioning the different scenarios she could walk into.

[2 warriors, 2 mages, maybe, if the Silence effect doesn’t apply to the monsters. With me being the only player on the floor, it could end up being scaled down to be just 1 warrior and 1 mage. Or, maybe, 2 warriors if the Silence does.]

She opened her eyes and scanned the path leading in. All she could see ahead was simply darkness.

[If it’s as cliche as it could be, the place will probably light up as soon as I’m inside. Once I’m in... Well, I should probably still just run around, right? The fact that I can tell the difference between a parry and a deflection doesn’t mean that I can just stand and fight in front of a bunch of enemies now, or anything.]

...

She ended up standing there for over three minutes.

The stakes were high. She had no summon or healing magic to bail her out of trouble this time around, so she needed to make sure she was prepared for every single situation she got herself into.

Even the intro fight.

[... Alright. Stop stalling.]

Neve forced her legs to walk forward.

Entering the darkness, Neve prepared her nerves for whatever could await her.

As she’d predicted, the instant she walked in, another violet torch lit up at the opposite side of the room.

Two enemies were revealed. One was an orcish archer at the back, the other was an ax-wielder.

Level 49

MP: 150/150

Level 51

MP: 170/170

[Sorry, Erin. I can’t just run past these guys without maybe ending up having to fight something else. I should probably just try to beat them.]

Neve instantly ran to the left.

With her Speed at 20, the ax user caught up quickly. Neve did not turn to face it, though. Instead, she kept her eyes on the archer.

The orc’s weapon swung down on her from behind and missed by a hair. Neve saw the archer about to let an arrow fly and sidestepped it. The arrow crashed into a rock wall behind her.

With this opening, Neve ran in and tried to stab through the archer’s head with her shortsword.

The archer failed to react in time.

But Neve’s weapon barely sunk into its skull.

"RAAAAARGH!" The orc screamed in her face, with her sword embedded in its head.

[Crap!]

Pulling it out from the orc’s thick forehead, Neve pulled back only to find the ax-wielder there, about to cleave her in half.

"Agh!"

Grunting, Neve performed a nifty trick Erin had taught her. Moving back, into the orc’s right side, its swing didn’t quite catch her.

Hopping back several steps, Neve ended up right back where she’d started, under the torches that marked the entrance.

Both orcs roared at her, with blood sliding down from one’s face.

Neve wasn’t quite breathing heavily, but she could already tell that more of this would take a toll on her.

[These fights are going to last a while, aren’t they?] She sighed. [Fuck this level design!]

With that salty declaration said, Neve ran back in.