34: An Honest, Simple, Regular Dungeon, Part Five

An Honest, Simple, Regular Dungeon, Part Five

A while later, after Neve's mana had fully regenerated once again, she summoned Erin and sat down by the opening she and her summon had come through. 

"Neve, may I ask you a question?"

The healer looked around. None of the coffins in this area seemed like they were going to open soon. She allowed herself a moment to calm down then, pressing her head against an old stone wall. 

"Sure," she answered with closed eyes and a slightly tired voice. 

[I should have slept before coming into this dungeon. I was riding such a high from beating the boss at Roha though, that the idea of resting didn't even enter my mind. I need to remind myself to take breaks in the future.] 

"Not that this venture of ours into a dark, dangerous, and haunted tomb is not exciting, but why are you putting yourself through this?" The lamia asked, slithering next to Erin. She gave Neve a slightly concerned expression. "This seems like quite a lot of peril to go through for simple treasures."

"Well, that's cause what I'm after isn't just treasures," Neve replied, without meeting her eyes. "I'm trying to get stronger too."

Erin considered that, crossing her arms and looking around. 

"I suppose I can understand that training in a yard with other knights is considerably less interesting than this, but is this really the right way to go about it?"

Neve was reminded then, once more, that Erin did not fully comprehend the kind of world they were in.

"Yeah, but... I'll explain once we're outside."

"Alright then. I look forward to it. You certainly do seem to want to keep me waiting for these answers, though. I hope my end will not come before you choose to provide them."

[Yours won't, but mine might. And, if that happens, then it doesn't really matter anyway, right?] 

"Alright. I think that's enough sitting on my ass for a bit. Let's keep going. Lead the way." 

"It would be my pleasure." 

A set of stairs descending into quiet darkness brought them to a place where Neve's feet began walking through pitch-black water.

It reached up to Neve's ankles. Were it not for {Candlelight} showing a path far to the left, Neve probably would have turned and assumed this was a dead end.

"Agh," Erin muttered, holding her nose. "The smell of the water here... It is clouding my senses."

[That's unfortunate.] Neve definitely did not like the sound of that. 

Drops of water falling from the ceiling echoed throughout the room as Neve tried to think of how to approach this.

She took a step forward and saw that the water rippled easily with even the most subtle of movements.

[... I'm guessing this part of the dungeon was designed with people like Erin in mind. If you had been relying on sharpened senses to carry you up until this point, then a few of those options are being taken away so that all you would be able to do now is rely solely on hearing. Because I have {Candlelight} though, eyesight is still a factor.]

Quickly, she recalled what had happened a couple of rooms ago.

[The "game designers" probably understand that some mages might come in with a spell like that, though. Which means I can probably expect to see another undead mage trying to cast a Silence spell again to deal with it.]

She scanned her surroundings, trying to get a feel for how large this place actually was. The types of angles the enemies could attack from.

"Erin, remember that magic I told you to keep an eye out for?"

"Yes."

"I'd guess we're going to see it again, so, if you see it being cast, you stop the caster no matter what. Alright?"

"Understood," the lamia replied.

"Okay... Let's take this slow."

Beginning to move toward that path to the left, Neve stayed so close to Erin that she nearly tripped over her summon's tail.

Her legs and hands were shaking. Whether that was because she was nervous, or because the water was so cold, she couldn't tell.

She didn't even blink for the longest time, keeping her eyes peeled, waiting for even the slightest movement in the water.

And yet, Erin still saw their first enemy before she did.

"Ahead!"

That one word kicked off a chaotic sequence that saw Erin burst forward, reaching for an unseen opponent's head and slamming it into the rock wall to her left.

Judging by the fact that no EXP message appeared, it hadn't been killed yet.

An electric sound came from the right, behind the two of them.

[Huh?]

Neve turned toward it and found an invisible mage beginning to cast a spell that came with ear-piercing high-pitched crackling sounds. Erin was too busy to intercept it, as it seemed like there were more enemies near her.

[Shit.]

As quickly as she could, she aimed her staff at the creature and cast {Fireball}.

The enemy got its spell off, though.

A sphere of flames and a bolt of lightning flew past each other. The fire-based spell reached the shrouded mage, covering it in flames. The lightning reached Neve and the water around her.

"AGH!"

It was an interaction Neve had only seen a few times over the course of the last year. Something that could only happen in a situation like this, where the person on the receiving end of an electric ability was standing in a pool of water. 

This electric spell paralyzed her. 

"...!"

She couldn't move. If a strong wind hit her right now, she'd tip over, fall under the water, and likely drown.

The mage who'd cast the spell burned, letting out a ghostly shriek. Neve, still frozen, watched on, begging for the paralyzing effect to be brief.

[Come on, come on!]

Behind her, more cracking sounds came and EXP messages began to appear. 

EXP Gained: 40

EXP Gained: 50

EXP: 260/410

WS Tokens Gained: 50

WS Tokens Gained: 50

WS Tokens: 6111

At least Erin was having an easier time.

Just as the flames fully dispersed on the caster, Neve regained control over her body.

Instantly, she launched another {Fireball} at the caster before her. This time, her attack landed before the enemy could react. The mage let out an otherworldly scream, flailing once again. Neve added to its pain by launching several more {Fireballs}.1

As Neve's mana reached 720, the mage finally died.

EXP Gained: 40

EXP: 300/410

WS Tokens Gained: 50

WS Tokens: 6161

Turning back toward Erin, Neve spun just in time to see her summon being surrounded. As she tried to fend off her opponents' attacks, she was slashed by an invisible blade.

A streak of red appeared over Erin's bare back, dripping blood that looked black in the darkness. Erin retaliated with a powerful slam from her tail, but she was clearly in need of assistance.

First, Neve cast {Healing Ground}. Then, as Erin called out that there was an enemy to her own right, Neve cast {Iceball} where she thought the enemy would be.

As the spell reached it, a massive block of ice suddenly appeared next to Erin, as the target was frozen.

[Huh?]

Although Neve had used {Waterball} and {Iceball} in tandem many times, she had been unable to cause anything like this.

[What just...] 

Because Erin was suddenly given more space to work with, dispatching the other two enemies next to her was fairly easy. It allowed Neve to take a moment to consider what just happened. 

[I guess it works the same way as that electric interaction did? It only froze this thing because it was standing in water?]

One by one, Erin slammed them with her clawed hands, and one EXP message after another popped up as the enemies were taken down.

Their victory was marked by a sigh of relief from Neve and a "Level Up!" message in front of her.

Neve's shoulders dipped. So far, this revenge journey had produced way too many moments in which she genuinely thought she was going to die. 

At this rate, she wouldn't have been surprised if the end of this mission of hers came via a heart attack. 

[That was stressful,] Neve thought, as Erin turned to say something and, of course, disappeared as her minute ran out.

[I hope this is the only room like this that I have to go through. If that enemy had been an archer or something, it could have just killed me with a shot to the back of my head.]

She raised her staff, preparing to summon Erin once again.

Wanting to get to the next part of the dungeon as quickly as possible, Neve moved forward as she did so.

And, unfortunately, she stepped on a button, hidden by the water.

[Shit.]

Ducking was her immediate response, but this was not a conventional trap that she'd just triggered.

The ground opened beneath her.

And Neve, along with a portion of the room's water before the trap door closed again, fell into darkness.

pqdm.com