The Lone Healer-Chapter 84: How a World Ends

Neve Stephens

Level 77

MP: 1300/1300 (+300)

EXP: 400/770

AP: 3690

IP: 10

WS Tokens: 34005

---

Endurance: 30

Speed: 40

Precision: 30

Strength: 39

Arcane: 100

[Well... The worm didn’t drop anything I could use, but... Holy shit,] Neve thought as she looked at her Arcane. [100. Damn.]

She wasn’t sure if she was the first person to reach this point or not. Surely, there had to have been some people who opted to go fully into the "glass cannon" direction and must have, at least, gotten close. But, as far as she knew, she was the first one.

With this accomplishment came the realization that, indeed, Attributes were capped at 100. She had gotten as strong in terms of raw magic potential as a human being possibly could.

Which only made her lack of powerful spells all the more noteworthy.

Looking back at the worm, Neve thought:

[... Like Tamira said, starting with the next floor, loot will actually be usable. All the more reason to get the hell out of here, no?]

As she stood in this lonely field, with nothing but sand and a massive worm-like monster’s corpse around her, a portal opened up.

It was helpfully titled:

{Third Floor}

Exhaling deeply, Neve stared at it for a bit.

[I should probably go talk to Alexander again. Tamira said there were 20 Influence Points I could get on this floor and I only have 10. Maybe I should walk around a little to see if I missed anything, too.]

And so, pausing her progress momentarily, Neve began to roam the desert again.

As she did, a few things came to her mind. Some of them related to her current mission, some of them pushing their way in front of her mind’s eye, despite how much she wanted to keep them out for now.

[Was it right for me to ask to keep Ahlakan by my side? With everything that I’m doing, everything that I need to do, I don’t think I’m going to be able to spend that much time with her. Or Erin, for that matter.]

Some guilt slid into her heart but Neve kept it at bay. If it wasn’t for this mission, she would have likely thrown herself off the nearest cliff after everything that happened with the high-level players. This task she’d imposed on herself was the only reason she was still around.

Everything else, she could think about it all later.

Absent-mindedly, she’d ended up back at the church.

Somehow, though she hadn’t been gone for long, the pile of corpses had doubled in size. As she approached it, she found Alexander standing by, with a lit match in his hands.

He glanced over at her and then turned his eyes back to the pile.

"It’s done," he muttered.

"What? Is this all of them?" Neve asked, looking at the mound.

"No. I didn’t find every single body in the world, obviously. But, yeah, this is all of the ones around here."

[I take it that "around here" probably means "within the Second Floor."]

"See that one?" The man asked, pointing at a body sandwiched in between many others. "Killed that guy myself. Shot him right in the head."

"Why?"

"Dunno," Alexander shrugged. Slowly, wearily, he then pointed at another one. "Killed that guy too."

"Um, okay, why?"

"Dunno," he answered again, quietly. "It’s been a while. Years, lots of ’em. I’m sure I had some sort of a reason. Maybe they both pissed me off. Maybe I was fighting for my life, and it was in self-defense. Maybe the Gods had something to do with it. I just... I dunno. All that matters is, I’m alive and they’re not."

He didn’t sound particularly happy about it, though Neve felt that being the last living person on an entire planet had to have been a massive achievement.

"Did the Gods not reward you at all? For making it this far, I mean."

"Hah," he shook his head. "No. Haven’t heard from them in a while. If this was all just some big test, then... I think it’s safe to assume we failed. My being alive doesn’t change that."

"I... guess."

He looked back at Neve, then.

"Did you already go and kill that thing?"

"Yeah," Neve answered.

"Ah, damn. Good job," he told her, before putting his eyes back on the bodies. "Must not have been easy."

"Uh, well," Neve said, before summoning Erin next to her. "I had some help."

As the lamia appeared, she took in Neve’s calm demeanor and read the situation. This was no battle.

She looked over at the pile of bodies, scanning it.

"Lovely," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "What is this?"

"The last remnants of my people," Alexander stated. "Around here, anyway. Get a good look at ’em. I’m about to burn them all."

"These are the others who participated in this world’s Unity Trials. Still doesn’t ring a bell?" Neve asked.

"No. My mind still feels the same as before," Erin answered, before slithering away.

[Huh?] Neve thought, as she watched Erin leave and lay down on the sand. [I guess this conversation’s not too interesting. Oh well. I tried.]

Alexander’s eyes remained on the lamia with some curiosity, before he then turned back toward the mound.

"Your world," he said, suddenly. "How’s it doin’?"

"We’re getting by," Neve replied. "For now."

"I see... I’ll tell you this," Alexander stated, glancing at her. "The ones who died first were the lucky ones. If your world ends up traveling the same path as mine, things will get a lot uglier before the end."

"Is that so?" Neve asked quietly, staring at the corpses.

"Anyway," Alexander soon said, "I’m happy for ya. You should go and get out of here, though, if the canvar was all you came for. There ain’t much else to see."

[You say that, but there are still 10 IP points I haven’t picked up. The trigger for them must not be here, though.]

"Thanks for the rocket launcher. It was pretty damn useful."

"No problem. Would have been a shame if that thing just sat in my house for all eternity. Keep it. You won’t find ammo for it in the Shop thingy, but maybe you can sell it."

"I think I’ll do that."

Noting that, Neve nodded.

"Alright... Take care," she told Alexander. The man gave her a firm nod of his own and she walked over to where Erin was.

There was a complicated look on Erin’s face as Neve approached. Neve heard the mound get set on fire behind her.

The healer had been just about to ask her about what she did and did not remember about her world when she thought of something else she would have liked to have asked Alexander.

[Hm. I should probably ask if he ever visited any other worlds or took the Final Challenge on himself. Maybe he could give me some tips.]

"Hey, did-"

Neve turned around, then.

Just in time to see Alexander shooting himself in the head.

Neve flinched. Alexander’s lifeless body fell onto the base of the high mound, joining the others in the flames. Welcoming him, the fire wrapped itself around him as well, while a message popped up over Neve’s head.

{Floor Quest Completed!}

IP Points Gained: 10

IP Points: 20

Erin had no reaction to what had just happened.

All Neve could do was watch with her mouth wide open. Her eyes were stuck. She just hadn’t seen this coming.

[Oh...] She thought, finally turning away. The fire crackled away apathetically, in the distance. [Shit.]

---

... In the end, I wouldn’t say that the Second Floor is too complicated. That said, you obviously shouldn’t lower your guard. But, if your group isn’t in the same kind of shitty situation that mine was in, I could imagine yours beating the floor’s boss pretty easily.

Don’t ignore any NPCs, by the way. You might not see the same one I saw, but still, they’ll probably give you some useful information. Or some items.

What NPC did I meet, you might ask? Well, I met a really lonely guy called Alexander. If you meet him too, tell him I said, "hi." If you do, I wonder if your version of him will end up being the same version I met. I wonder if he’ll remember me. We didn’t get to talk much, though. Maybe he won’t remember me, even if it is the same version.

I don’t want to end up turning this guide into a journal. I hate it when guides do that, you know? Like, "no, don’t give me your personal backstory, goals, aspirations, and where to find you on social media. Just tell me what the fuck to do!" If that’s how you’re feeling right now, then, don’t worry. I’m not about to shower you with my own thoughts and feelings...

... But, what I saw did leave me thinking a little. What exactly happened to this world? How did things get so fucked for them? And, are the things that lead to this outcome for this world happening in ours?

I don’t know.

Between these moments of looking back, and getting the fucking sand out of my shoes, I wonder if any society has actually succeeded at the Unity Trials. What do they look like?

I guess we should just focus on our own, though. With that being said, I’ve told you everything I was able to find out about the Second Floor.

I wish you luck. Wish me luck, too. I’m gonna need it.