92: Blood in the Water, Part Seven

Blood in the Water, Part Seven

Now that Neve had received the Third Floor's overarching quest, she began the process of clearing it in earnest. Up until now, she'd mainly been trying to get a feel for this floor and find whatever good loot that she could. Now, however, she had an objective on the horizon. 

"Alright, so," Neve clapped her hands together, turning toward her summon. "If I'm understanding what I've been told so far, this 'city' is built pretty much like an iceberg." 

"What is an iceberg?" 

It was a rather predictable question from Erin, of course, but one Neve wanted to hear, however, so that she could get her thoughts in order. 

"An iceberg is basically a floating piece of ice in a body of water. The thing about them, though, is that the part that is under the water's surface is usually a few times bigger than what's above. If this place follows that kind of design, then we can expect a fuck-ton of floors to go through, below." 

Neve paced from one side to another while Erin listened on, her eyes following Neve like those of a bored kid in school. 

"If this place's basic game design philosophy continues to hold up, that means that the boss is, probably, at the very bottom. I would be shocked if it wasn't," Neve said. "It also means that we can probably expect our opponents to get tougher as we go on." 

"Ah, is that right?" Erin asked, perking up a little once the conversation began to touch on the topic of combat. "Not so tough that we cannot kill them, right?" 

"No," Neve replied. "The entirety of this place should still be tied to my own strength. But, tougher in the sense of them being more skilled. More complicated." 

"Ahhh, I understand. Well then, as cute as it is to hear you rambling like this, what are we waiting for?" 

"Uh," Neve blushed a little, "nothing. We just need to find an elevator or some stairs." 

"Understood. Let us begin our search, then." 

With Erin taking point, the two of them began to scour the floor for any such structures that would lead them to the next portion of the Third Floor. Along the way Neve did keep her eyes peeled for any potential chests or loot, of course, making sure to double-check any curious-looking objects. 

That attitude was what led to her spotting something. 

"Hm?" Neve raised a brow as her eyes fell on a wall to her left, as she and Erin had been making their way through a wide, empty hall. This wall she'd just spotted was oddly discolored, a shade darker than all of the other walls around her. 

Erin noticed her having paused and the lamia slithered next to her. 

"Are you once again seeing things that I cannot?"

"... Maybe."  Neve walked forward, reaching up toward it. "I think this might be- FUCK!" 

As Neve touched the wall, it disappeared, revealing a hole that Neve had almost just fallen into. 

Before she could do so, Erin grabbed her by the back of her Priestess Robes and pulled her away from the hole, causing Neve to fall on her butt instead. 

[Holy shit,] Neve thought as she remained there, on the ground for a time. 

Erin leaned forward, looking down the abyss tucked away, behind that illusory wall. 

"Hm. Was this some sort of prank? If so, I don't think those otherworldly beings you mentioned like you very much." 

"No," Neve answered as she stood up, regained her bearings, and walked up to the edge. "Hold on." 

Quickly, her instincts instructed her to do the following:

She aimed her staff down at the hole and shot a {Fireball}. The magical sphere of flames traveled through the black chasm, illuminating small portions of it as it descended farther, and farther. 

One of Neve's suspicions was confirmed thanks to this. She found tiny ledges in the walls, likely meant for players, to hop onto as they entered this hole and made their way down. The distance the {Fireball} traveled, however, was so much that Neve couldn't tell what was at the bottom of this thing as the sphere came into contact with something and was extinguished.

"Hm, did you see anything at the bottom?" Neve asked her summon. 

"No," Erin replied. "It is quite far." 

"Yeah..." 

[Thinking about this from the perspective of a rookie game designer or something, I can only think of two things this hole might be. Or, two things it might lead to, rather. This is either a shortcut or hidden loot. It could be both also, I guess, but yeah.] 

"Ah, but there's just no way to find out from..."

"Neve," Erin said. "Could you shoot another one of those magical balls down there?" 

"Huh? Right now?"

"Yes, now," Erin told her with a polite tone. 

"Uh, yeah." 

Neve did as the lamia suggested, sending out another {Fireball} through the deep, dark, taunting hole. 

"Anyway, I-"

And, before she could get another word out, Erin jumped into the hole, after it. 

"ERIN!?" 

Neve leaned over it, watching the lamia fall as she chased after the {Fireball}, through the air. She soon recalled that, of course, Erin would not actually die from this, but she'd been caught off-guard.

[Geez,] Neve thought, shaking her head. [Weren't you the one asking me to make you "feel real"?] 

A loud thud rang out from the bottom of the hole. The {Fireball} disappeared, and Neve quickly resummoned Erin right next to her. 

"I could tell where our little conversation was heading, so, I figured there was no need for any pre-jump foreplay," she said, explaining herself. "There is a chest down there," Erin stated before Neve could even ask any questions. "It was different from the one you found earlier. This one was golden." 

Neve's eyes widened. 

"Golden?" 

She had not seen any such chests up until now. It wasn't hard to conclude what this could mean. 

[... So, the loot is probably better. Could it even be a Legendary item? Holy fuck.] 

"Additionally," Erin continued, "I believe I caught a glimpse of an opening of some sort. A path that leads elsewhere, maybe?" 

"Could be a way to get back here... Or, it could lead to another part of this city." 

This was, of course, an important find. One that had Neve scheming as soon as she learned about it. As she considered her options, an idea came to her mind. 

"Maybe, you could..."

Perhaps sensing where Neve's mind was going, Tamira quickly spoke up in her thoughts. 

"For the record, Erin can't actually loot chests for you."

[What?] 

"You just found one a little while ago, no? Don't you remember? Erin could not see what was in the chest. She would not be able to drag the item in the chest to your inventory."

[Fuck. So, if I want that, I'll have to grab it myself.] 

"Precisely. Have fun!" 

As Tamira's voice faded from Neve's mind, she smirked. 

Tamira had, perhaps unknowingly, revealed a bit of information surrounding this chest's contents. 

["The item", eh? So, it's actually just one object instead of, say, four bombs or whatever. In that case, it might actually be pretty valuable.]  2

Or, maybe Tamira had purposefully hinted at that to further entice Neve. 

"Indeed. So, what will you do?" Erin asked, turning toward Neve. Neve didn't doubt that Tamira was waiting to hear the answer as well. "Should we disregard this? Or, do you believe that whatever is in that chest will be worth the risk of attempting to acquire it?" 

For Neve, this question was already answered in her heart. 

Everything she'd done so far was for power. Everything she'd done so far was for the sole purpose of making eliminating Thomas and his followers when she came across them that much easier. 

What happened to Neve in the process was of no concern. 

[That's the goal I set out for, isn't it? To kill those assholes or die trying. Well, it's not really a choice then, isn't it?] 

Neve answered Erin's questions through her actions, as she took a step forward. A worried look flashed on the lamia's face before she said:

"Be careful, then. You still owe me a kiss, you know." 

Neve hid a smile as she thought:

[Is that the only reason you want me to be careful?]

Neve cast {Candlelight} over herself then walked to the edge. 

"... I'm thinking I'll use {Fireball} to mark the way for myself." 

"Whatever you do, just make sure you don't drop that staff, then." 

Becoming conscious of the object, Neve's palms suddenly felt sweaty. 

[Right, right. I almost forgot to put it in my inventory. Yeah, I'm not nervous at all... hehe...] 

Swallowing, Neve took a few deep breaths.

The first ledge was visible thanks to {Candlelight}. All of the ledges after that would likely require {Fireball} to illuminate first. 

[Hm. One slip and it's all over. Nice. Awesome. Let's just get this shit over with.] 

On that note, with the worried crimson eyes of her summon weighing heavily on her back, Neve jumped. 

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