90: Blood in the Water, Part Five

Blood in the Water, Part Five

Continuing into the next room, Neve and Erin found themselves in a vast, but clearly transitional, space with three potential areas they could continue moving through. One set of doors up ahead, one to the left, and one to the right, all lined with emerald slashing along the white stone. 

"Hm, Neve, do these voices in your head tell you where exactly we are to go next?" 

"Nope," Neve replied as she looked around.

[Well, there's the boss marker, but I have no intention of heading to the boss right now, though.] 

"Doesn't matter if they did, though," she continued, "I want to look through every nook and cranny of this place." 

[With 50% of the loot now being, like, actually usable, I definitely should start being more of a completionist.] 

It was on that note that she looked to her right and found a highly suspicious pile of crates, stacked on top of each other. 

Staring at it for more than 1 second let her know that there was probably something behind it. 

[... Look, I'm not complaining, but even a kid would probably find that "hidden" loot.] 

"Hm? Where are you going?" Erin asked as Neve walked toward them. 

Three quick casts of {Iceball} broke all of the crates down, and behind them was a rather proud-looking black and gold chest. 

As she opened it, Erin leaned over Neve's back, peering into it with great curiosity. 

"I... see nothing," Erin said. 

Neve, however, could not say the same. The chest's inventory showcased 2 things: 500 WST and a few more items. 

Sacred Firebomb x4 - Consumable - Uncommon - Val: 25

{These pots explode upon being thrown and inflict Holy Damage to nearby enemies}

At that moment, Neve realized something. 

[... Again, something I can use but not something that's actually good. Yeah... Even if something is available for me to use, it might still be trash. Or, just not as good as the rest of what I have.] 

"There's nothing here," Neve replied as she took the tokens and quickly sold the consumables. "Come on, let's see what's through this door over here."

"Well, if our past experiences are any indication, then I'm confident in my ability to guess." 

"Who knows? You might just be wrong." 

"Would you like to bet on it?" Erin asked. 

"Sure," Neve replied. She knew she was probably going to lose this bet, as she too could guess what would be behind this next door, but if taking this bet meant lifting Erin's spirits a little, then she didn't mind. 

"Well, if we go through this door and there are murderous, strange creatures waiting for us... You owe me a kiss." 

Neve instantly blushed a little. 

"And if I win?" 

"What would you like?" 

"..." Neve blushed harder. "I'll get back to you on that if I win." 

She pushed the door open herself. 

Erin had been correct, of course. However, there was something else in this room that shocked them both. 

Up ahead were three level 51 enemies pushing a pair of people against a corner. People whose features resembled that statue Neve had seen before. 

It was like the scene had been frozen but had unpaused the instant Neve laid eyes on it. 

The three fish-like warriors held their tridents out, stepping forward with a threatening aura. 

Erin reacted before Neve could even issue any orders. 

The lamia was covered in a red aura, triggering {The Lamia's Hunt} as she closed the distance. Neve fired off a few {Fireballs}, trying to aim her spells in such a way that they would not accidentally strike the couple. 

MP: 1070/1100

One of her spells missed, but the other two landed. 

Two of the enemies were engulfed in fire. The third took its eyes off the civilians and turned toward them. Swiftly, it leaped into the air. Flipping behind Erin, it slashed at her and the two of them began trading strikes, their weapons grinding and clanging against each other. 

Neve continued attacking the other two, walking forward and launching {Fireballs} at them. 

MP: 1020/1100

MP: 980/1100

The wall behind the two warriors Neve was aiming her spells at had several scorch marks. Her lacking Precision was easy to see. The spells she did land, however, had the desired effect, keeping these enemies from being able to retaliate while Erin fought their friend. 

The lamia bent over backward, dodging a stabbing thrust. Raising her swords, she pushed those blades through the opponent's head. It dropped its trident but before it had even hit the ground, Erin was attacking the other enemies. 

A few slashes later, all three enemies were lying on the ground, dead. 

EXP Gained: 120

EXP: 240/500

WST Gained: 240

WST: 75625

Erin was breathing heavily. Neve looked down and found a cut over her abs. 

The lamia met Neve's gaze and gave her an expression that was almost daring her to bring up the minor wound. Neve had no intention of doing so, allowing the woman to disappear without being questioned. 

Instead, she turned her attention to the confused, fearful couple. 

They had horns on their heads, dozens of tiny tentacles forming fleshy beards, and bulging eyes. Their bright, blue skin seemed smooth beneath their silver garbs. 

"As per usual, I will translate for you," Tamira told Neve internally. 

Almost immediately after that, the one on the left, holding the other, said:

"W-Who are you? Where did the other one go!?" His voice was rough, deep, and a little guttural. 

"Please," the other said with a feminine voice said, "stay back." 

Looking at both of them up and down, Neve noticed a couple of things. 

Firstly, the man had dark lines running through his body like scars. The woman next to him seemed to be pregnant. 

[Oh. She's got four boobs too. Whoa.] 

As the two of them looked back at Neve, the healer thought back to what had happened on the Second Floor. 

[The Forces That Be don't seem to have a good grasp of subtlety... I'd bet that this might be the trigger for the Third Floor's quest.]  0

With that being said, she put her staff away and crouched in front of them. 

"Don't be alarmed. I'm not an enemy," she said. Like Alexander before them, the fact that she could speak left them both stunned. "Are either of you hurt?" 

Upon hearing that, the girl subtly glanced over at the man, who shifted uncomfortably. 

Only then did Neve notice a purple puddle forming under him. 

[... Either he pissed himself or he needs help.] 

"I'm a healer," she stated. "If you have any wounds at all, let me see them. I can heal them away." 

Still, the man hesitated. Upon exchanging one last look with the woman next to him, he finally nodded and slowly got up to his feet. Neve backed up to give him space. 

Cautious, looking over his shoulder, he turned around and showed Neve a deep gash on his back. 

[That's... This guy was probably a minute or two away from bleeding out.] 

Taking her staff out, Neve aimed it at his back. The woman watched with easy-to-see anxiety. 

Neve nearly smirked as she caught sight of her face. 

[I've met like, what, four different species of people? And, all of them are a lot like humans. Hm. Will things stay that way? What kind of people will I see on the next floors?] 

Using {Great Healing Dart} five times, Neve healed the wound away. 

As the man felt his wound fade, he turned around and gawked at Neve, but his earlier caution had been replaced with a deep sense of awe. The woman, with no small amount of effort, stood up on her own, sharing in his amazement. 

As he noticed that, the man quickly moved to hold the woman, as they both looked back at her with what Neve felt had to be many questions passing through their minds. 

Of course, she had some questions of her own, but she was fine with letting them get theirs out of the way first. 

"Thank you, stranger, but... Who are you?" He asked. 

"My name is Neve," the healer replied. "And, you are?" 

"Ah, I-I am Torma," the man stated. "This is my wife, Norn. You... You are not of our world, are you?" 

[I'm glad they brought that up themselves. Maybe this first conversation of ours won't end with me having a gun aimed at my head.] 

"I'm not," she admitted easily, and lightly. "But, like I said, I'm no enemy of yours. I'm here to find one thing in particular. Once I kill that thing, I'm leaving." 

Perhaps she had sounded just a little too aggressive, but they didn't relax too much upon hearing that. 

Still, Neve pushed through the simmering tension and asked the first thing that came to her mind. It wasn't terribly important, of course. At the end of the day, her objectives remained the same regardless of what the answer to this was. 

That said, she was just too curious not to ask: 

"So... Are you familiar with the Unity Trials?" 

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