94: Blood in the Water, Part Nine

Blood in the Water, Part Nine

Neve's shoes soaked up the water as she stood there, frozen. Her right hand hadn't moved since tapping the weapon's image in the inventory. The description she'd just read had nearly made her faint. 

She hesitated to drag this thing to her inventory. What if the instant that she did the weapon would disappear, replaced by a simple message that read "lol no"?

As the seconds ticked on, however, the weapon did not disappear. 

It did not appear to be some strange form of illusion.

No, she'd actually found this thing. 

[Holy shit,] she thought, finally pulling it into her inventory. 

As soon as she did, she almost pulled it out but, then, a distant creaking sound reached her ears and she remembered that she was, in fact, not in a safe zone. 

[Okay... I'll take a closer look at this thing later. For now, just figure out where you are and how to get the hell out.] 

It appeared that she had fallen down an elevator shaft of some sort. She turned to the right and found a broken-down pair of doors that she quickly walked out through. 

Water dripped from someplace in the distance, echoing throughout the dark room Neve had just entered. The only lighting was that of the very emeralds she'd seen lining the walls and doors above. Here, where the sunlight did not reach, the emerald lines were glowing, casting Neve and her surroundings in a dense green haze, fighting the blue from Neve's {Candlelight}. 

She summoned Erin next to her. 

MP: 800/1100

The lamia looked around and was about to open her mouth to say something, but Neve held up a finger in front of her lips. 

[This place doesn't feel right. There might be enemies just around the corner, or hiding in the shadows,] she thought. Almost as though she'd read her mind, Erin nodded and slithered forward, close to her. 

Up at the top, Neve could never have guessed that this strange city had seen any recent fighting. Down here, however, it was far more obvious. 

Streaks of dried, dark green blood could be seen all around the two foreigners, along with a thick scent of death that invaded Neve's nostrils. As they went through a door, they found a few corpses in what almost looked like a library. Some belonged to creatures who were clearly of the same species as the couple Neve had spoken to earlier, others belonged to strange, half-insect, half-fish creatures. Likely the monsters the Unity Trials had brought here. 

There was another chest next to a set of stairs. This one was a dark blue instead of the gold that Neve had managed to reach through her earlier descent.

The healer approached it and opened it while Erin stood by and watched for any enemies. 

White Templar Shield

{Uncommon}

{Class Req: Paladin} 

{Effect: User negates 10% of all elemental damage}

{Val: 5000}

Quickly, Neve sold the item off in the World Shop, bringing her total amount of WST to 80995, and she, along with her summon, went up the nearby stairs. 

It was tense, every step of the way. Not because Neve wasn't confident in her and her summon's ability to win a random skirmish, but because it felt like if they did get into a fight, they could very easily end up surrounded by enemies. 

Indeed, as the stairs took them up a floor, they came upon a hall with several enemies roaming freely. One creature that looked like a salmon that had gone out of the water and had grown arms and legs, another that truly did seem like it had come from another world appearing as a raptor-like creature with a line of black spikes running down its head, and a few other similar beasts devouring old bodies. 

Thankfully, the set of stairs did not stop there, and the two of them continued to go higher, and higher until they reached what looked like a dead end. 

The stairs were cut off by a wall. Neve, however, walked up and tapped the wall with her index finger. 

Just like the one that had revealed the hole she'd found, this one disappeared, and Neve found herself back at the top floor she'd been in before, staring across the hall at the opening she'd taken earlier. 

Evidently, this illusory wall had been hidden better than the one she'd found.

Neve let out the breath she'd been holding. As she and Erin walked forward, she said:

"Let's head back to the safe zone. I have to show you something." 

---

"Hm... What a curious-looking weapon," Erin murmured as she sat next to Ahlakan on a bench, the two of them watching on as Neve held up the sword she'd looted. "It looks more like an ornament than an actual weapon." 

"What do you mean?" Ahlakan asked. 

"As in, it looks like it's meant to be a decoration rather than something one would actually use in battle." 

It was a brilliant shade of dark gold. Shaped like a regular longsword, from just looking at it, the only thing that stood out was its color, at least to Neve's eyes. That and some odd lines engraved along its length. 

She couldn't help but worry a little. 

[What does this thing scale with?] She wondered. [Judging by the fact that I can use it as a Priestess-class player, am I wrong in assuming this thing's damage doesn't scale with Strength or Precision? Does it scale with Healing Magic like Erin's summoning spell does?] 

"Allow me to answer that," Tamira said, speaking in Neve's mind. "The damage of the weapon you are holding scales with three things. Your Arcane attribute, your Blade skill, and your Healing Magic skill. In its awakened form, anyway. Unawakened, it is, for all intents and purposes, just a regular sword. One that scales with Strength and Precision." 

[Shit,] Neve thought. [So, I can't just pull it out and start swinging the damn thing. I have to activate it every time before it actually starts dealing damage.] 

"Exactly," Tamira replied. "Most 'legendary' items have quirks like that. Not that they all require 'activation', but they are all rather creative items." 

[Its scaling,] Neve thought, interrupting the snake. [Is it all even?] 

"Good question. No," Tamira answered. "Most of this item's power will come from your Healing Magic skill. Your Blade skill and Arcane attribute both provide less damage but are equally as important." 

[... So, if I'm understanding what you're saying, you could say the scaling for this thing, when it's Awakened, is something like 50% Healing Magic, 25% Arcane, and 25% Blade?] Neve thought, taking a few lazy swings with it. Ahlakan and Erin both watched on, seemingly entranced by the object. 

"Exactly," Tamira replied. 

[Agh. It would have been better if it was something like 50% Arcane instead.] 

"Are you truly complaining?" Tamira asked. "Neve, you just found a legendary item from a random chest! How much more convenience do you want?" 

[... I guess you have a point.] 

"Aaaand," Tamira said, appearing before Neve as a snake so small she could fit in Neve's palms, "considering that the only reason this legendary item ended up being Priestess-class is that I convinced my superiors to shift the values of loot and drops in your favor, I believe some gratitude may be in order." She batted her eyes at Neve. 

Swallowing her pride, Neve said:

[Thanks.] 

"You're welcome."

[... One more thing,] Neve said. 

"Go ahead." 

[Can I use Erin as a trainer?]

She hadn't needed to up until now, but this situation made it clear that she did now if she wanted to get as much value out of this item as possible. 

"If she feels like it," Tamira said. "Like alchemy and blacksmithing, the effectiveness of any training she chooses to give you will be greatly affected by her mood. Have fun with that."

Tamira then promptly disappeared, leaving Neve to continue analyzing this weapon. 

[Well, that's not so bad. Erin's been feeling pretty good lately, hasn't she? Oh, I shouldn't forget that this thing also gets stronger with every Priestess spell I cast. With such a broken mechanic, though, I'm guessing the rate at which it gets stronger is pretty small.] 

All in all, this weapon was a great blessing she'd just been granted, but it did present Neve with two unfortunate facts.  0

1. She would need to increase her Healing Magic skill, as that was the main source of this sword's power. 

And:

2. She would need to increase her Blade skill as well, as it was equally as valuable as her Arcane.

Both of these facts led her to make eye contact with a certain curious-looking lamia. One who clearly got a bad feeling the moment Neve turned toward her. 

"... You aren't planning to test that on me, are you?" 

"Uh, Erin," Neve said, approaching her.

"Yes?" 

"So, uh... My- the people I can talk to, the ones who make the 'rules', the System-"

"The voices in your head?"

"Yeah," Neve replied, ignoring Ahlakan's immediate concerned expression upon hearing that, "they told me that this thing, uhm..."

[How do I say this?]

"... It's tied to your power," she declared. Technically, she wasn't lying. Both Erin and this blade scaled off her Healing Magic. "The stronger you get, the stronger it gets." 

"And that means I will be stabbing myself again," Erin said with a sigh. "Wonderful." 

"That's not all, though," Neve continued, taking a step closer to her. Finally, she asked, "could you teach me how to use a sword? I'm clueless when it comes to this." 

If Neve was going to get maximum value out of this sword, both of these things needed to happen. 

Erin looked at her for a moment. 

The woman stared Neve down. 

Then, she glanced at Ahlakan, then back at Neve, and said:

"How badly do you want me to teach you?" 

[... What the fuck does she mean by that?]

"Uh... Pretty badly." 

"Hm. Then," she crossed her arms, smirking back at her. "You're going to have to earn it." 

Neve swallowed. 

Naturally, all she could ask was:

"How?"

And Erin just grinned in response.

pqdm.com