48: The Hall of the Luminous, Part Thirteen

The Hall of the Luminous, Part Thirteen

"Agh... ah... hsst." 

Neve swallowed, breathing heavily as she struggled to get up. 

Blood, both her own and that of the three enemies she'd spent the last 10 minutes running around, dripped from her robes, falling onto the stone beneath her feet. 

The back of her staff was covered in red. 

It had taken an extreme amount of time for what was a fight to the death between four opponents, but the Hit-and-Run strategy she'd employed had turned out to be too much for them. 

Slowly, and steadily, she'd whittled them down until they died. 

And now, she stood at the center of the temple, watching their bodies disappear, panting, as the next wave was set to start already.

[10 seconds between waves is cruel...] Neve thought, staring down at the floor. 

To her right, she could hear the next set of enemies manifesting. 

It was a precarious situation. The next wave was starting and Neve felt like she could barely move. 

[Come on,] she said to herself. [Get up.] 

Her arms and legs hurt. Sweat rolled down her face and fell on the ground, adding itself to the blood that had been shed. Her muscles screamed in agony as she forced them to work for her, straightening her posture. 

She picked up her staff and turned toward the other end of the temple. 

Two enemies. Both were massive. 

Neve opened her inventory and reached for another Potion of Medium Agility. She would only have one left after using this one. 

As much as she didn't want to waste them all, that last wave made it clear it wasn't debatable since she had to get through this wave on her own too in order to be able to call Erin for the last one. 

[If I don't drink this fucking thing I'll probably just die, so...] 

Greedily, she pulled the cap off with her teeth and poured the flask's contents down her throat while the two enemies materialized. 

Two Level 42 werewolves. Enemies Neve hadn't fought herself, but that she'd heard of on the forums. 

They were tenacious. Dangerously quick and incredibly aggressive. Not that it mattered here, but they were particularly feared due to their tendency to ignore tanks and go instead for whatever target they felt was the weakest first. 

One of the monsters started running toward Neve the instant that it appeared. The other gave a dreadful howl. 

{Status Effect Resisted!}

{Terrified}

{Deal 15% less damage)

Neve smirked as the werewolf approached.

[Resisted? I wouldn't say that. I'd definitely say 'terrified' describes me pretty well right now.] 

Despite that, Neve began the same strategy as before. 

Her mana had regenerated just a little, so she started running in a circle around her enemies, casting {Iceball} at the nearest opponent. 

MP: 330/900

[I need to have enough mana to summon Erin in the next wave, but I don't think these guys are going to go down as easily as the rabbits and the turtle thing did. I remember hearing someone say that werewolves have some of the most balanced Attribute distribution. High Speed, high Endurance, high Strength, low Precision, low Arcane. If that's the case, then it's pretty clear what I need to do. I need to spend more mana. But, what'll happen in the next wave if I do it?] 

Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to worry about that here. She was, after all, in a life-or-death situation. 

[I guess I'll just have to deal with that problem when it comes.] 

That usual frosty mist wrapped itself around the first werewolf. Its slowed-down movements were much easier to read, but the other werewolf soon joined the fight, rendering that advantage almost useless. 

So, Neve got to work on it next. 

MP: 290/900

MP: 280/900

MP: 270/900

The wolves' claws slid along the stone as they chased behind Neve. She took every opportunity that she could to look back and throw some spells their way, but these enemies were fast. Very fast. It was all she could do to launch a spell, sidestep an attack, and then keep running. 

At one point, Neve ran toward the half-broken statue and the altar. One of the werewolves, closer to her than the other, lunged for her. 

Jumping through the air, claws out, it tried to catch Neve once and for all. The healer rolled to the right, however, and the werewolf slammed its head into the statue. 

It whined, whimpering as it stumbled back, holding its head. 

[An opening!] 

Before its friend could catch up, Neve cast a few {Fireballs} at the creature. Its pained cries intensified before its ally reached Neve and interrupted her. 

Neve went on the run again, the chase between her and her enemies promptly resuming, but she'd gotten some decent damage off. 

[Take it slow,] she told herself. [That potion you drank will wear off in like 10 seconds. Make these last 10 seconds count.] 

Halting, Neve waited. Both werewolves saw her go still and interpreted it as her giving up, an opportunity to kill her that they were more than happy to take. 

Both enemies tried to collapse on top of them and Neve sidestepped at the very last moment, lighting them up with more {Fireballs}. 

MP: 250/900

MP: 240/900

MP: 230/900

[Three more... Then, I seriously need to stop using any spells, or I'll just die on the next wave, probably... If I miss any of these next spells, I'm going to be so fucking angry.] 

For her last three spells, she swapped over to {Waterball}. With her potion's effect having run out after that last move, she needed to lower their Precision at least a little if she hoped to make it through this. 

"One," she counted aloud as the spheres of water she conjured crashed into the enemy. "Two, three!" 

MP: 200/900

With that, she was done. If she cast any more spells than this, she would all but guarantee that the next wave killed her before Erin could come back. 

She was done using her staff...

... To cast spells, anyway. Now, she would have to approach offense in a slightly different way. 

Like she had in the previous wave, it was time to use her staff like a baseball bat. 

Wrapping her hands lower on her staff, she prepared herself mentally for the fact that she'd now have to swing the damn thing as hard as she could. Not that it would matter too much. 

[My range advantage is gone. I don't have any potions. They're both still alive. But, they're slowed down and {Waterball} should have lowered their Precision a little. Let's hope it's enough.] 

And so, as they approached, Neve gritted her teeth and hopped to the left, avoiding another lunge.  2

As the werewolf remained next to her, she raised her staff up and slammed it down on top of the monster's head. 

"ERGH!" She cried out, bashing its skull with her staff. 

Once, twice, she managed to hit the thing. Then, a casual backhand from the enemy sent her flying to the wall behind her. 

Crashing into it with a gasp, pain shot out through her body. 

She couldn't wait, though. The werewolves moved to end her instantly. 

Scrambling up to her feet, Neve started running again. 

[I'm so weak,] she thought. [If I'd chosen to be a warrior, hell, even a tank, this would be so much easier... But,] she turned toward the enemies, gritting her teeth, [this is what I chose, so I have to make this work!] 

As the werewolf in the front moved to bite down on Neve's front right leg, the healer reacted by hopping to the left. 

[Not yet...] 

If she tried to attack right now, she'd simply be killed by the second enemy. So, the correct time to strike came after this. 

As the second wolf reached for her with its claws. 

[An opening!] 

Neve raised up Father Uriel's staff and proceeded to use it in a way that she wasn't sure the man would have liked if he'd lived to see this moment. 

The staff's pristine, pure white crystal crashed down on the wolf's thick skull, and it was stained by some blood. 

Neve was not strong. And Uriel's staff was not meant to be used like this. 

But any wall could break if it was hit enough times. 

The wolf wasn't dead, but it went down, clearly unable to continue its pursuit. 

That was all Neve needed. 

Stepping back, breathing heavily, and sweating like someone who'd just run a marathon, Neve raised her blood-covered staff and aimed it at the werewolf that was still standing. 

With anger alone providing her with the energy to move her arm, she asked:

"... Not so eager anymore? Why? Is it because you've just realized you might get hurt?"

The werewolf expressed its dissatisfaction with a low snarl, looking from its fallen, injured ally and then back up at Neve. 

"Welcome to my world." 

Again, it lunged at her. Its movements were desperate. Its frustration could be seen in the way it started swiping wildly as soon as it reached Neve. 

Whether it was because the enemy had been slowed down by {Iceball}, or made far less accurate by {Waterball}, or simply because it could not believe that this small, frail girl was so hard to kill, the outcome was that none of its blows came close to striking Neve. 

The healer's staff found the werewolf's body, though. Its right knee, its thighs, its abdomen. Neve struck every single place she could, over and over again. 

Until, this enemy too fell to the ground, with too many wounds to continue walking. 

Neve broke down their skulls then. It took more time, of course, and both ends of her staff were now covered in crimson, but she managed to do it. 

The enemies died, and this wave was done. 

The bloodlust coursing through Neve's veins didn't fade away, though. 

"I can do this," she pushed through quivering lips, shaking with fury. "I can do this." 

pqdm.com