57: The Hall of the Luminous, Part Twenty-Two

The Hall of the Luminous, Part Twenty-Two

"... I suppose you're taking some amount of pleasure from this."

"Of course, not."

"Yes, very believable. I can see you holding back a smile."

"I'm not. Just... Just do it when you feel like it."

"You say that, and yet it sounds like you're pushing me to be faster."

"You can think that if you want."

"Oh, I do, I do. Ugh. By the way, why exactly can't we just do this with monsters?

"Because my healing magic doesn't work on them." 

"Hm... I suppose it is nice that your magic seems to believe I am a normal existence." 

With that being said, Erin quit stalling and did as Neve wanted, cutting her palm open. She hissed, but Neve cast {Healing Ground}, somewhat softening the pain. 

Then, as soon as the wound was healed away, Erin slashed her palm again and they repeated the process. 

This was the final act Neve could think of to become stronger before the last 10 waves. She planned to ask that old mage for more spells, but she didn't think she'd get anything else as useful as {Rorvan's Spirit}. And, of course, she planned on getting more potions, but those would only get Neve and her summon so far. 

That meant that making Erin stronger was the last truly impactful act that needed doing. 

And this was how she wanted to go about it. 

She could almost hear the Forces That Be booing her. Maybe that's why she was almost grinning.

[Deal with it, assholes. After everything you've done, a little bit of boredom is just what you need.] 

"You truly look like a sadist sometimes," Erin muttered. "I knew some back home who enjoyed the use of whips and chains. You did not strike me as the type but, perhaps I was wrong." 

"Huh? Uh, I was thinking about something else. Sorry."

"Whatever." The latest wound healed and Erin glared down at her hand. "How many more times do we need to do this?" 

"A lot," Neve replied. "Unfortunately."

"You don't sound that saddened by it. Are you absolutely sure that I'm going to get stronger? Is this some summon-related thing I don't know about?"

"It is," Neve replied. "Um... Well..."

[Actually, I guess now would be a good time to explain the System to her, right?] 

"You know how I can do this, right?" Neve asked, putting her staff in her inventory and then pulling it out again. 

To someone who couldn't see the System, it simply looked like she'd manifested the staff and then burned it away. 

Erin had flinched when she'd seen that the first few times, but now she'd grown desensitized to it.

"Yes."

"Well, there's all sorts of stuff that I can see that you can't. A lot of... Em... Options in the world that are available to me."

"Such as?"

"Well, every time I kill a monster, for example, I get stronger. Literally, I get stronger. And faster. You've noticed, right?" Neve asked. "Someone with eyes like yours, you have to have noticed."

"I've certainly noticed that you've gotten faster, but I haven't exactly seen you kill much." 

"What you kill makes me stronger too," Neve added and Erin made an "ah" face.

"How convenient."

"Anyway, every time we do this, every time you get wounded and I heal you, you get stronger. Thing is, the effect is based on the severity of the wound. But, I don't have any intentions of stabbing you, so, yeah." 

"You don't, eh? Well," Erin said, putting her knife in a reverse grip. "How about we test that theory?"

She then proceeded to plunge the knife into her own gut. Neve just about had a heart attack.

"WAIT, WAIT, WHAT THE FUCK!?"

"What? It's not like I'll die or anything." Erin asked, coughing up blood.

That blood fell on her golden corset and seeing these drops be added to the innumerable stains that had long since dried made Neve realize just how much she'd been putting Erin through. 

"I... Ugh," Neve groaned, moving to heal her with guilt-ridden hands. "I don't want you to be in pain, though." 

Erin just gave her a sad smile, wiping the blood off her chin. 

"Isn't that what I'm here for?" 

All in all, it took about 12 hours of nonstop wounding and healing before Neve's Healing Magic skill went up. 

It had taken many, many battles, from the moment Neve had entered the Final Challenge to when she reached the Hall of the Luminous, just to get that skill from 40 to 41, and now it had taken basically the entire day to get it to 42. 

Knowing that it was progressively going to get even harder to go further, Neve let Erin know that this was what most of their days would consist of for a while. 

Now, she was truly beginning to understand why Tamira had speculated that it would take weeks to clear this dungeon. 

However, Neve didn't know if she had weeks. 

Thomas and his group had pressed on with the Main Dungeon. She didn't know what stage they were on, and how much time she had left before they either cleared the Final Challenge or died trying. 

She couldn't accept either outcome. 

So, from the moment she woke up to the moment she went to sleep, this was what she and Erin did.

And so, hour after hour, self-inflicted wound after self-inflicted wound, after an entire week of nothing but this, Neve got her Healing Magic skill to 50. 

Which meant Erin was now level 50. 

---

"I was beginning to suspect that you and your half-snake friend had somehow found a way out and escaped," Ministress Jia told Neve. 

"You almost sound disappointed that we didn't." 

"... As I said before, I find you giving false hope to my city's people to be awfully cruel. Whether I like it or not, the fact that you've gone into the Infested Hall and have come out alive three times now means that now there are real expectations. So," she said, as Neve took stock of what she had. "What will you do?" 

Neve checked her inventory. 

5 Potions of Bloodlust, 5 Minor Healing Potions, 5 Potions of Medium Agility. Ahlakan had made these all on her own while Erin and Neve grinded out the latter's Healing Magic. Save for the Potions of Medium Agility, of course, which did require Erin to get more herbs from the lake. 

These would be their items going into the next five waves. Neve liked what she saw. 

"Same thing we've been doing. Keep trying to clear the monsters out."

"Well, you've said that, supposedly, they are not endless. Do you have any estimate as to when exactly you'll be done?"  1

"Two more trips," Neve replied. "That's all." 

Ministress Jia looked out the window of her office, then, as Neve said that. Without turning back toward her, she said:

"When the Infested Hall first became the way that it is, and my people were trapped in this place, I was the one they all looked to for answers. I tried to think of so many ways to save these citizens. I threw hundreds of warriors at the place, but the monsters wouldn't stop appearing. I tried to find some other way out, but our equipment and magic couldn't break open a path. I did everything I could think of, and nothing came of it. Nothing but the feeling that the deaths of everyone here were my fault, and my fault only. Would a better leader have saved them all somehow? I don't know. But, now," she looked over at Neve, "you've come. And, it seems you might give them the salvation I could not offer. For that, I do thank you. I just hope we don't end up finding your corpse in there."

"You and me both." 

Neve and Erin walked through the city, on their way to the Infested Hall for the penultimate time. As they did, most citizens were either out in the streets watching them go, or, they were looking out their windows from above. 

[Even though Erin's only level 50, I can make up for her being at a disadvantage through my abilities. {Sacred Ground} can act as artificial Endurance, the Bloodlust potions can act as artificial Strength, and my healing can cover for any mistakes she makes. So, in truth, although up until now I've mainly just been relying on her to carry me through this, now, it's my job to carry her through what's left of the dungeon. Can I do it?] She wondered, looking at her summon out of the corner of her eyes. [I don't know. But... I don't want to let her down.] 

As the two of them stood before the Infested Hall, Neve placed a hand on Erin's shoulder, asking for her to stop. 

"So, uh..." Neve said. "Now, we're really going to be a lot weaker than the enemies we fight. Okay? Try to fight as smart as you can." 

"I will do my best," Erin replied. 

Neve opened her mouth to respond but couldn't find anything to say. Shaking her head, she looked at the temple's doors and exhaled slowly. 

[... Waves 16 to 20. Here goes nothing,] she thought before stepping into the temple once more. 

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