105: Blood in the Water, Part Twenty

Blood in the Water, Part Twenty

Erin swam toward the snake-like creature with such a clear proficiency that Neve wondered if perhaps underwater fights were common among her kind. Or, if the skill she was displaying was yet another benefit of being a summon, somehow. 

Regardless, Erin reached her opponent in a flash. 

The snake responded just as quickly, though, moving away as it opened all three of its gaping maws. 

White beams began to charge up. Erin saw this and circled her opponent, strafing around it until the projectile shot out.

MP: 250/300

It missed, but just barely. 

All the while, Neve felt like she was one more sudden shift in speed from losing her grip. 

[Shit... I can feel my lungs starting to burn. How much longer can I hold out? How many seconds have passed since the fight started?]

If Erin was aware of Neve's thoughts, she wasn't showing it.

The lamia went to attack the snake again and, once more, her opponent moved away at a speed that felt downright wrong given how big the creature was. 

Erin kept her eyes on it, though, and followed it. A game of cat and mouse began where the roles would swap every couple of seconds. 

Erin would chase after it, the creature would retreat, moving between broken-down pieces of debris, and then it would start using those white beams and Erin would be forced on the defensive herself. 

Watching this happen, Neve thought:

[Shit... It's been more than 20 seconds already, for sure. Maybe 30. Is Erin going to disappear soon? Crap... Maybe taking this fight was the wrong move.] 

Neve tapped the lamia on the shoulder and Erin just nodded, without looking back at her. It looked like she was thinking the same thing. 

[But... With how much damage she deals, all she needs is probably a couple of hits and this thing might just die instantly. With how fast it is, I'd guess its Speed is around 40, and with 300 mana, its Arcane has to be 30. Unless it just doesn't have any points at all in Precision and Strength, it shouldn't have too many attribute points left over for Endurance. Come to think of it, that's probably why it's being so cautious right now.] 

It made sense to her. 

[A few hits and this thing is probably dead.] 

After a couple of beams, the monster's mana was running low, just as Erin's timer was beginning to dwindle as well. 

MP: 100/300

Neve's own mana, however, was full. 

If Erin disappeared, she could bring her back in an instant. For once, the problem wasn't Neve's mana, it was air. 

[... Yeah, even if I do resummon Erin, I don't think I'm going to make it through another entire minute of this. My lungs are on fire.] 

Erin dashed forward. The monster went to retreat as it usually did but Erin predicted its path and tried to swim in front of it. 

Realizing that they were on a collision course, all three heads on the snake opened their mouths and they changed strategies, deciding that they were going to try to devour Erin here and now. 

The lamia welcomed the attempt. 

She waited. Neve guessed that, at this point, she had less than 10 seconds left. She was mentally preparing herself to pull her staff out of her inventory and summon her again. 

As the snakes arrived at her position, Erin went under them, holding her left hand out. 

The draconic claws dug into her opponent's body, tearing it open. Cutting it open all the way down its length, a cloud of red mist formed around Neve. 

And, Erin disappeared just as her claws reached the tip of the monster's tail. 

Neve quickly went and pulled her staff out of her inventory. 

But, before she could summon Erin again, one of the snake's mouths reached her. 

Neve was swallowed whole. 

"Mmmm!" 

She had to force herself not to scream as her surroundings went black. Along with her staff, she traveled down the throat of the monster, caressed by fleshy walls until she ended up in its stomach.

Her face fell in a pool of acid. 

"MMMMNNN!" 

Burning, Neve summoned Erin. Her summon joined her in the acid dip, realizing what situation she was in. She wasn't interested in staying here for long, though, so Erin quickly used {Rorvan's Flurry}. 

It was hard to miss when she was quite literally inside of the enemy she was targeting. 

Blood joined the acid. The fleshy walls trembled. 

Neve cast {Great Healing Dart} so many times as she burned she quickly lost count. 

5 seconds was all it took for Erin to cut a hole straight through her opponent's body. 

An EXP message appeared over Neve's head. The creature was dead. 

However, at that same time, Neve's lungs were finally tapping out under all of this pressure. 

Her summon had turned around just in time to see Neve communicate something rather important

Her time was just about to run out.

---

{Erin}

The lamia's eyes widened as she watched bubbles pop up from Neve's mouth. Their eyes were locked as Neve prepared to begin a different, much shorter journey than the one she was currently on, called "drowning". 

Each and every one of Erin's moves from this point on was sheer instinct. No thoughts went through her mind other than: 

[Neve's about to die.] 

First, knowing her mana had been refilled since she was resummoned, Erin cast {The Lamia's Hunt}. Taking Neve by the arm, she pulled her harshly, dragging her out of the snake's body and the pit the battle had taken place in. 

She forced her body to move as quickly as it possibly could. The eels they'd swam past before saw them and went to try to fight them once more only to be ignored in an even quicker fashion than they had been before. 

As {The Lamia's Hunt} was about to run out, Erin used it again, ignoring the sharp pain from reaching 0 mana. 

In a fraction of the time it had taken her before, Erin reached the other end of this path, the path to the rest of the city that they'd abandoned for the sake of trying to get that reward. 

They came out of the water, ending up in a dark room that was identical to the one that had led them into the pool, to begin with. 

Erin was relieved that she'd gotten her out so fast, but as she realized Neve wasn't saying anything, that relief quickly faded. 

Without wasting any time, Erin laid Neve's body out straight and tilted her head up. 

[She took some water in on the way, dammit!] 

The ring Neve had placed on Erin's hand stared back at her as she placed her hands on Neve's chest and pressed. 

[Our anatomy should be similar enough for this to work... Come on, come on,] she thought, pinching Neve's nose closed and putting her lips on Neve's to deliver air to her directly. [I'm sorry if I end up pressing so hard I break a rib or two, but this is quite a desperate situation.]  2

Over and over again, Erin repeated that process. It felt hopeless for a couple of seconds, but the fact that she was still here, that Neve's summon hadn't disappeared yet, told her that she could still bring this woman back. 

[... You don't get to put a Promise Ring on me and then die like this. I will not allow something so shameless.] 

"Ack-" 

"Neve!?" 

As though she'd heard that thought, Neve finally coughed up the water in her lungs. 

In an instant, the healer grabbed her staff and began casting some spells on herself. 

[Does that even work on drowning?] Erin thought as she pulled back. 

The amount of relief she felt surprised her. As she saw that the woman made it, Erin's shoulders visibly dropped from the tension leaving her body. 

"Agh... Holy fuck," Neve said, gasping for air. 

Erin just shook her head. 

She opened her mouth to tease the woman in some way, but quickly stopped herself and instead said: 

"... That was bad. You nearly didn't make it." 

Neve's head fell back against the floor. She stared up at the ceiling, without saying anything for a while. 

"Holy. Fuck." 

"What a way with words you have," Erin responded, unable to resist this time. "Well, what did we learn?" 

After a while, Neve slowly got up and replied: 

"I don't know yet." 

"Hm?" Erin raised a brow, tilting her head. 

"Let's check the reward in that chest and then I'll tell you." 

Erin was straight-up shocked. 

After everything they'd been through, Erin almost felt like she'd known Neve her whole life. During moments like these, though, the girl would show sides of herself that Erin hadn't seen before. 

[How the hell can you be so eager to get back in the water after this just happened to you? What kind of person is this tenacious?] 

A quick reminder of Neve's goals gave her the answer. 

[Right. Someone on the path of vengeance would be.] 

A hand on her shoulder caught Erin off-guard. 

Then, somewhat clumsily, Neve wrapped her arms around her. 

"But... Before that, uh... Thanks. That was scary as shit," Neve told her quietly. 

Shaking her head with a smile, Erin sighed. 

"I'm just doing my job, you fool." 

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