147: The Descent, Part Ten

The Descent, Part Ten

Neve and Lamrosh took the elevator back to the 6th Floor's kerosh den silently. 

As much as she wanted to focus and concentrate, what Lamrosh said continued to poke at Neve's mind. 

[She wants to find her dad...] Neve thought, shaking her head. [I'm guessing there's like a 99% chance the guy's dead, huh?] 

Try as she did, the healer could not see any other outcome. Especially given how the Forces That Be liked to mess with people's hearts. 

[Well,] she continued, [we'll deal with that mess when it comes.] 

As the elevator took them back to the last spot in the den that they'd seen, the time came for Neve to resume, and hopefully soon clear, her run through the 6th Floor. 

"So, Lam. What else can you do? Aside from making stuff and shooting fire." 

"I... I can throw water..." 

The orc girl still seemed hesitant to talk about her magic, but far less so now than before. As Neve heard that vague answer, she guessed she'd see more of her skills in depth as this part of the dungeon went on. 

[Lam's probably running a basic Sorcerer build, then. And,] she glanced down at her, [because of the fact that she doesn't have a level over her head, I wonder what exactly is going to be her role. She's probably not going to be helping me too much, right? If she was, I feel like the Forces That Be would have given her a level just so I can plan out my fights better. It feels like she might just help clean up fights rather than participate in them actively. Oh well, if that's the case, that's fine.] 

The cave took the girls lower, and lower, becoming darker as the torches lighting the path became sparser. 

Neve stayed in front of Lam, in much the same way that Erin normally would for her. 

[Actually, I'm kinda seeing things from Erin's perspective now, aren't I? That's pretty funny.] 

Of course, the unfortunate part was that Erin's role naturally carried more danger than Neve's usually did. And, while Erin was functionally immortal so she didn't have to worry about that, Neve wasn't. 

She tried not to think about that too hard as the two girls came out to an open space, with webs all around them and two kerosh on the opposite side of the room. 

Level 50

MP: 120/120

Level 51

MP: 110/110

The two monsters were devouring an orc corpse that looked a little too fresh for what was supposed to be an ancient, fallen civilization. 

[... I sure hope that's not her dad,] Neve thought, as she stepped forward. 

She used two potions here. First, she drank one of her Potions of Fervor, granting her a 2% damage increase that stacked up to four times per hit, and she coated her weapon with this: 

Subtle Brutality

{Poison}

{Rare}

{Effect: Corrodes an opponent's internal organs, progressively weakening a target and making them take 10% increased damage over 10 seconds. The poison is consumed by the first target hit but repeated hits on that target reapply this effect.} 

{Val: 1000 WST}

[A damn good poison to have,] Neve thought. [Though, obviously, the main difference between this and the potion I drank is that this is a single target item. Still, it's massive.] 

The two kerosh noticed her and quickly began charging toward her position, taking no time to strategize or plan ahead. After all, their plan was probably going to be somewhat simple. Run at Neve, sink their thin, white legs in her flesh, and then eat the flesh off her bones once she was dead. 

Knowing this, Neve planned accordingly. 

She ran to the left, water dripping onto her clothes from the cave's ceiling as she did. 

[Space,] she thought. [These things are quick. I need to kite them.] 

A glob of white slime was shot in her direction. Neve ducked under it, sliding to a brief halt before going on the run again. 

One of the kerosh reached the healer faster than the other and raised its mandibles over her head. She recalled what would likely follow this just a little too well and Neve ran into its body, sticking her shortsword inside of it. 

The kerosh screeched. One hit wasn't enough, of course, and Neve took her sword out and stabbed it again.

She got two more hits in before its friend showed up. Blood fell on Neve's chest the way water would all on a pop star during an early-2000s concert dance choreography. The kerosh wasn't quite dead yet, but it staggered back, hurt. 

Neve got up just before the other kerosh could come in and take advantage and end her life. Still, the position she was in left Neve quite exposed. Enough so to where the next kerosh raised a thin, blade-like leg and went to drop it on her left thigh. 

If she was on her own right now, some damage likely would have been done to her. Just before that leg could connect, however, a stream of water crashed into the kerosh's body, from behind. 

"Aeughk!?" The creature screamed. Neve wasn't about to let this opening go to waste. 

She ran in and stabbed at its body, twice. She wanted to get more hits in but its buddy came in and saved it before Neve could finish it off. 

The two kerosh moved back. 

Neve did the same, standing before Lamrosh once again. 

"Good job," Neve muttered to her, keeping her eyes on their enemies. "Your magic really came in handy!"

She didn't get to see the girl's reaction, though, as she ran forward again. 

The effect of her potion was fully stacked, after all. She had to make use of it. 

Both of the injured kerosh decided that this time, they weren't really feeling like having an up-close and personal encounter. So, both of them pulled back and launched those projectiles. 

Neve dodged them, seeing that strategy coming after the damage she'd done, but one of them used an attack she hadn't seen yet. 

The less-injured kerosh suddenly dug its way into the ground, disappearing from view. 

[Shit.] 

Predicting what would happen next after what she saw on the Second Floor, neve quickly stepped to the side just in time to avoid two mandibles that would have caught her left foot. 

With this kerosh pulling itself out of the ground, though, Neve felt she had an opportunity. 

She ran up to the more-injured one and stabbed it. 

The poison was still in its system. As its effect indicated, hitting the creature again reapplied the effect, causing it to take increased damage from the two subsequent stabs that followed. 

One, two, three impaling thrusts and this kerosh was dead. 

The other was killed soon after but not by Neve. As it left the ground, it was greeted by a stream of water fired directly into its face. 

Neve watched then as the kerosh hit the ground, with half of its face missing. 

[Holy shit,] Neve thought, as she saw Lamrosh back away from the corpse she'd just produced. [She did that to its head, where its body is strongest. That's kind of crazy.] 

EXP Gained: 120

EXP: 430/500

WST Gained: 240

WST: 825901

"Hey," Neve said, walking up to the girl. "Good stuff! You backed me up pretty well, there." 

The girl just held the hem of her skirt, having no reaction beyond a faint blush of her cheeks. 

"Alright, let's keep going before more of those things arrive." 

"Mhm..." 

The kerosh's bodies held no loot of value, so Neve just kept walking. 

From this point, the kerosh den winded and coiled into itself, like the cave system had leading up to this place, but eventually, it finally opened up to reveal what Neve quickly assumed to be the last part of this floor. 

[Hm... Well,] she thought, [that does look like more of a civilization than what I've seen up until now.] 

From a natural alcove, Neve and Lamrosh saw an underground river with some huts built at its sides and a ladder to the left, leading down to it. Neve could hear the faint sounds of pickaxes landing on rocks in the distance, and the low grunts of angry, mindless orcs. 

The one by her side, though, who wasn't mindless, watched all of this with the same confusion as Neve. 

[... I'm guessing there's not supposed to be some sort of community down here, huh? What a weird place.] 

A quick look at her boss marker said that the boss fight was past the final hut found at the back of this river, where the water funneled into a choke point. A crevice here probably marked the boss room's door, since Neve could see light coming from the other side. 

[Well, that was quick. I mean, all things considered, is this floor the smallest one so far?] Neve thought, looking at it. Her eyes then went to the left where she found another path stretching past it. [Looks like there's more to the dungeon, though. So, what exactly is going to happen when I go into that crevice?] 

A lot of the orcs in this place could be seen from this alcove. So, Neve pointed at them and asked:

"Are any of these guys your dad?" 

She shook her head. 

[Hm? I can't see any bodies though... Is her dad still alive? Ah, maybe he's near the first part of the floor. In that case, once I'm done with the boss fight, I'll go back up the elevator with her and we'll take a look.] 

For now, Neve just told the girl to do the following: 

"Here, drink this once we get down there." 

"What is it?" 

Neve closed the Hidden Shop, having just purchased two items. 

"An invisibility potion," she stated. "Those guys won't be able to see you. So, we can just walk right by them, okay?" 

[Because she's an NPC, sneaking shouldn't be a thing with her,] Neve noted. [After all, back where I found her, none of the other orcs looked like they even knew she was there. But, I still wanted to give her one of these, just in case.] 

"Uh... Okay." 

WST: 72590

So, they went down the ladder first and then drank the potions. 

Now, with both of them being invisible, they walked forward. 

Unlike the place where Neve had found Lamrosh, here, the orcs were so far apart that Neve was a lot less worried about being found. 

It was a long path, though. She wondered if a minute would be enough to reach the end, but it would have to be. She had no intention of having a massive fight here, even if she received help from Lamrosh. 

One small step at a time, they made their way down the river. 

A few times, some of the orcs seemed to almost notice them but not quite. Thus, they reached the crevice fairly quickly. 

Peeking inside, Neve found one singular orc sitting on a big rock. 

The orc was big. A lot bigger than any other Neve had seen so far. It wore dark robes, befitting some sort of a sorcerer. Which, of course, made sense given the kind of people who were thrown into the hole. 

[... Looks like the boss to me,] she thought. 

Here, Neve paused. 

"Okay, Lam. Wait here," she said, kneeling in front of her. "I need to-" 

And, at that moment...

"D-Dad?" Lamrosh muttered as she looked through the crevice. 

Neve's heart almost stopped when she heard that. 

[... Fuck.] 

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