43: The Hall of the Luminous, Part Eight

The Hall of the Luminous, Part Eight

{Resuming challenge: Hall of the Luminous}

{Wave 6}

Erin waited patiently just a few steps ahead of Neve for the next set of enemies to appear. The rays shining down on her from the window above the doors at the other end of the temple made Erin look as magical as she actually was. 

She held the blades Neve had acquired for her in her hands firmly, staring ahead as distortions suddenly appeared before them. 

Whatever nerves Neve had were clearly absent on the lamia, as she looked completely focused. In fact, one could even argue that she looked bored. 

[Erin's Dual Wielding and Unarmed skills are both at 60, but there's probably going to be a difference in her combat effectiveness. Just the fact that she's using a weapon likely means it'll be easier for her to tear through an enemy's body. Or, maybe not? There could be a chance that her claws actually count as a stronger "material" than these swords. I guess we'll have to see.] 

Four enemies spawned as she finished going over that. 

Four strange, beige-colored worms with hundreds of moving teeth. They let out a chorus of ear-piercing shrieks as they spawned. All of them were level 18. 

{Status Effect Gained:}

{Weakened}

{Recieve 10% more damage}

Neve had encountered these enemies just once before, during her time as a player before the Final Challenge. 

"I felt chills just now," Erin said. "What kind of creatures are these?" 

"Don't think about it too hard, they're just worms," Neve replied. "They can't actually use any magic. They're going to try to overwhelm you with raw pressure." 

"I see. I will try to stop them."

She had been half-lying when she said they couldn't use magic, but she hoped that letting Erin know would ease any worries that screech may have produced in her. 

[That ability they just used is the only magic they know. Their whole strategy revolves around inducing fear and then capitalizing off that fear. These things are low-endurance, high-damage enemies. But, as long as players approach fights against them like they would any other fights, with a calm mind, they usually get by easily.] 

The worms launched themselves at Erin, their nearest target. 

Neve cast {Sacred Ground} under her. 

MP: 850/900

[It looks like I have a lot of mana, but as the enemies get stronger, it'll take more than a minute to get through all 5 waves. I can summon Erin back here three times, with this amount of mana. So...] She sighed. [There's probably going to be a wave or two that I'm going to have to fight on my own.] 

She let out a dejected sigh. 

[Not looking forward to that at all.] 

The worms all tried to collapse on Erin at once. 

The lamia used {Freezing Gaze} to paralyze them. In the middle of their coordinated attacks, the worms remained perfectly still. Erin slashed through one of the worms with two quick swings from her short swords. 

EXP Gained: 40

EXP: 390/410

WS Tokens Gained: 50

WS Tokens: 6750

The effect of her spell faded away. At that point, Neve cast three quick {Fireballs} at the other enemies. 

Like the arken she'd encountered at Roha Vala, these enemies were weak to Fire-type damage. 

As the flames wrapped themselves around her targets, they let out another set of screams. These were screams of pain, though. 

"Erin, they're hurting! Take advantage!" 

That statement was all Erin needed to hear. 

The lamia raised her body, stretching up high before coming down and sweeping across the worms in a single spinning slash that bisected the remaining three enemies. 

EXP Gained: 120

EXP: 510/410

Level Up!

WS Tokens Gained: 150

WS Tokens: 6900

The status effect they'd inflicted earlier faded away.

Even though these enemies were level 18, based on her previous experience with them Neve knew that most of their attributes were assigned to their Strength and Speed attributes, meaning that, as was the case with Neve herself when she first entered Roha Vala, they likely didn't have much more Endurance than the average beginner-level monster.

"Good, we got through that quickly," Neve muttered. "You're probably going to disappear in the middle of the next fight. I'll resummon you, though." 

"Got it." 

The worms' bodies disappeared. 

Ten seconds passed and four more enemies appeared. 

Four spiders. Spiders that were far, far larger than the ones they'd fought previously, and had dark green legs. 

Again, there was no ranged enemy among them. 

[Wait, I know these things too.] Neve thought. 

There was one similarity between these spiders and the worms that caused some speculative thoughts to bubble up. 

[Two straight waves of... Are these waves going to be Cave-type enemies? At the same time, it looks like these waves are going to revolve around seeing how we deal with pressure. If I'm right, then it's good that we ran into this theme now since we're going to be over-leveled for it. If this had been the theme of the last 5 waves, we'd probably be screwed because Erin isn't a proper tank.] 

All of these enemies were level 21. 

As soon as they moved forward, Erin disappeared. 

There was enough of a gap between them to where Neve had time to resummon her, but just barely. 

MP: 630/900

The lamia appeared between the Neve and the spiders, ready to fight. With a swipe of her tail, she pushed two of them back, but the other two jumped over her attack. 

That had not been a good response from them, however. 

As they descended toward Erin, the lamia simply held her swords out and the spiders landed on them, impaling themselves. 

EXP Gained: 100

EXP: 610/410

Level Up!

WS Tokens Gained: 120

WS Tokens: 7020

The other two spiders quickly got back up and simultaneously shot out webs aimed at Erin. 

The lamia disposed of the bodies stuck to her swords and sidestepped the projectiles. Neve flinched as both attacks landed near her, sizzling as the globs of webbing burned the ground. 

[... Dangerous.] 

Erin then closed the distance, meeting them head-on. As she stabbed one of the enemies through its head, the other jumped on top of her back. 

Seeing this, Neve cast {Sacred Ground} under her, helping to minimize the damage the spider attempted to inflict by biting her. 

As the third spider died, Erin pulled the last one off of her and stabbed both of her swords into its body, from above. 

The 7th wave was dealt with, and all four spider corpses vanished. 

EXP Gained: 140

EXP: 750/410

Level Up!

WS Tokens Gained: 120

WS Tokens: 7140

"Good work," Neve told her summon. "How do those swords feel?" 

"These blades you gave me are suitable, though I do wish they were longer," Erin replied. "Having to allow my enemies to come so close for me to slash them feels like it defeats the purpose of using weapons. At that point, I feel I'd rather just use my claws." 

That statement surprised Neve. But, upon thinking about it, she understood what Erin was getting at. 

[Huh. I guess that does make sense. For someone who has claws like hers, the range advantage provided by swords and spears would be the biggest reason to use weapons instead. If the material these things are made of isn't that much better than her claws at cutting through enemies' bodies, then, with how short they are, there actually isn't much of an advantage being gained, right? Especially when you're someone who is equally proficient at fighting without weapons as you are at fighting with them. I hadn't considered that.] 

The 8th wave was composed of two enemies.

A pair of level 24 cave trolls appeared, roaring and slamming their fists into the ground. That action made a message pop up over Neve's head. 

{Status Effect Gained}

{Frenzy}

{Deal 15% more damage, but take 15% more damage}

[Another effect that increases damage taken? Again, I'm really glad we're going through these types of enemies now... Though, I wonder what the next waves will test.]

"The enemies are getting stronger, Erin. Remember that," Neve warned. 

"I have not forgotten," she replied with a tone that almost sounded like she felt insulted that Neve thought she had to remind her of that. 

Lowering her posture, Erin waited as the trolls moved toward her. 

[She probably only has around 20 seconds left before I have to resummon her. How quickly can she take these two out?] 

That question was answered as the cave trolls ran toward Erin. 

The lamia waited for them to strike, slithering back just a little to give herself some room to dodge. 

As one of them raised its fists over her body, telegraphing its intention to crush her, Erin slithered behind it. 

She stabbed both her blades into its back and then leaned behind it, just as the other troll went to punch the summon. 

Instead, it hit its friend. 

[Friendly fire!?] 

As the first cave troll cried out, Erin pulled her swords out and stabbed its head next with both at once. 

Neve was ticking down the 20 seconds Erin had left in her mind. Just as they were about to run out, Erin slammed the creature back with her tail.

It was stunned, laying on the ground and struggling to get back up. Erin didn't even let it try, though. 

She ran up and stabbed its head. The instant her weapons pierced its skull, her body disappeared. 

As did the corpses of her enemies, and her swords which returned to Erin's personal inventory. 

EXP Gained: 200

EXP: 950/410

Level Up!

WS Tokens Gained: 120

WS Tokens: 7260

Neve waited for the next wave to appear before summoning back Erin. 

Four figures again.

Level 27 each. This time, two worms and one spider, and one cave troll. 

As Neve resummoned Erin, the worms screeched and the troll pounded the floor. 

MP: 330/900

Both those earlier passive effects appeared again, but at this point, it was clear that the troll's magic was not a benefit for the enemies. 

Erin's entire thing was dealing damage and being slippery. 

That {Frenzy} effect, increasing damage dealt and damage taken, was overall a gift for a fighter like her. 

Erin threw forward her blades. 

They reached the two worms, stabbing through their bodies before they could react. The spider moved before its friends, running at Erin so quickly that if it had been Neve being attacked, she wouldn't have been able to protect herself in time. 

But, it wasn't Neve. It was Erin being attacked. Someone who was an experienced fighter. One who did not consider swords all that necessary. 

As the spider reached Erin, it jumped at her. Neve was tempted to cast {Sacred Ground}, but she held herself back, knowing how little mana she had left. Erin slammed her tail into it, striking it out of the air and sending it flying into a wall to the right. Then, she slithered toward the incoming troll, avoided a punch, and slashed through its neck with her claws. 

Killing the spider after that was only a formality, as the monster had been weakened so badly it couldn't even stand. 

EXP Gained: 220

EXP: 1070/410

Level Up!1

WS Tokens Gained: 160

WS Tokens: 7420

With one more wave left to go, Neve informed Erin of her remaining time, likely just 20 more seconds, and watched as one individual level 30 enemy appeared. 

A humanoid, ugly creature appearing like an elderly woman with blank white eyes and wearing black rags, known as a slugwitch. Another Cave-type enemy Neve had experience dealing with. 

"She's a sorcerer," Neve told her summon. "Close the gap and-"

The instant Erin heard "sorcerer", she was on the move. 

She dashed toward the opponent. 

The slugwitch crushed a cursed skull, causing black spirits to pour out from it. The spirits tried to attack Erin, but she dodged them nimbly. As the slugwitch reached for another skull to crush, Erin reached her. 

She wrapped her tail around the enemy and... well, Neve pre-emptively cringed as she knew what was coming. She'd already seen it before, after all. 

Erin placed both her hands on the slugwitch's head and pulled in opposite directions, down with her tail and up with her hands. 

And she ripped the monster's head off. 

[... Brutal.] 

Erin tossed the head aside nonchalantly and the last monster's body disappeared, along with Erin herself. 

EXP: 200

EXP: 1270/410

Level Up!

WS Tokens Gained: 140

WS Tokens: 7560

With that, waves 6 through 10 were done, but Neve quickly understood that things were about to get much more difficult. 

[The enemies' levels are going up in multiples of 3. That means wave 11 is going to have level 33 enemies, and that, by the end of it during wave 15, we're going to be fighting level 45 enemies.]

Understanding this, Neve felt dejected just thinking about what was to come.

["Easy mode" is pretty much over.] 

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