149: The Descent, Part Twelve

The Descent, Part Twelve

In all honesty, Neve didn't feel too concerned about being trapped in this place. 

Perhaps that was because her being "trapped" was debatable to begin with, given that it was quite literally just a wooden door that was keeping her from exiting. 

No, in truth, it was Lamrosh's father's words that poked and prodded at Neve's heart. 

[He remembers each time that he's been killed...] Neve recalled. [So, obviously, this is what Tamira wanted me to hear, but why? What can I do with this information?] 

She felt like there were some choices to be made here, though one choice had already been made for her. 

Like Tamira said, the next time she went into that room, she would have to fight him. That much was guaranteed, according to Neve's assistant. 

[... But, I'm being given this information for a reason. There has to be something else that's up to me. But, what exactly?] 

Again, she felt like it could help to focus on the unchanging factors. The second unchanging factor was the condition for completing the Floor Quest. 

Neve would have to rescue Lamrosh. Dissecting that instruction, she understood that this meant that, in some form or fashion, Lamrosh would be in danger in the near future, and Neve would have to get her through it. 

Which left her with one important question. 

[... Does anything else matter, then, as long as I keep Lamrosh alive?] 

There was a knock at her makeshift cell's wooden door. Briefly, Neve feared it was her executioners standing behind it. That she had less time to think about all of this than she'd expected. But she quickly wondered why exactly they'd have to knock politely instead of just going in. 

"N-Neve?" A quivering voice asked. 

[Lam!] 

Scurrying toward the door, Neve replied: 

"Yeah, I'm here." 

"A-Are you dead?" 

"..." 

Neve blinked. 

"Uh, no."

[Not yet, anyway.]

"H-Hold on! I'll get you out!" 

"Thank you." 

There was no complex lockpicking or magic necessary to do so. As soon as Neve said those two words, Lamrosh just pulled the door open. 

[... Well, alright then.] 

"You're alright..." Lamrosh noted. Her watery eyes hinted that she'd been fairly worried. 

Standing here, Neve thought about what exactly she'd do now. 

[What's the answer?] She asked herself. [There's something the Forces That Be want me to do, clearly. Giving him a personality and telling me to rescue Lam is enough to suggest that. But, what exactly?] 

No definitive answers arrived just yet, but she did think to herself: 

[Maybe I should explore this side of the river. I might find something.] 

As Neve contemplated the matter, Lam tugged on her skirt. 

"N-Neve..." She said quietly. 

"Yeah?" 

"L-Let me talk to my father!" She urged suddenly. Neve tilted her head. "I can convince him to let you go!" 

Because she was so confused with regard to what she needed to do in order to clear this floor, Neve even picked this moment apart for any potential clues. 

[Am I supposed to reject this offer? But, the only way in which a portal has spawned so far is with the death of a boss. So, it's not like I can just say "no, I'll find some other way out". What am I supposed to do?] 

The best answer that she arrived at was:

[I guess I should just go along with this.] 

"Sure," she replied, nodding. "Let's try. But, on the way back, the orcs who took me here aren't going to be too happy to see me leave. Things might get dangerous again." 

"... I understand," Lamrosh responded quietly. 

The little girl then grabbed Neve's hand and pulled her out of that dark prison. 

Going up the natural staircase, they came out to that other half of the river that Neve hadn't managed to inspect before she saw the boss fight for the first time. 

This section seemed different. 

[Hm... All sorts of weird plants around here. There might be something worth bringing back to Ahlakan later. There are a few different paths too. Maybe a secret room, or something? Something to look at later, for sure. With the {Silence} effect on me right now, even if I found something that's OP, I probably wouldn't be able to use it. At this moment, I know where the boss is and that's all that matters.] 

Getting to that boss wouldn't be too easy, though. 

The way to that crevice they'd passed before was blocked by a few orc bodies. Warriors patrolled the area, their blank eyes kept firmly in front of them as they walked mechanically around the boss arena. 

[... I could use more Invisibility Potions, but, fuck, those things are pricy. And, I actually do want to get to 100K WST soon, so... Fuck it, I'll fight my way through.] 

"Lam," Neve whispered, crouching to meet the girl's eyes. "I don't think we can get through this quietly. Can you help me take those guys down?" 

The little orc took one glance at the larger guards and then nodded at Neve. 

[Hm. Honestly, she's a little too quick to agree to kill her own people, but... Who knows what they might have done to her? I did find her crying, after all.]

Setting that aside, Neve brought out her shortsword. 

[Now, how do I...?] 

"Lam, can you shoot some magic at that guy over there? Water magic, preferably." 

Neve pointed at the closest individual to them. 

There were four enemies in total. 2 of them being rather close to Neve and Lamrosh, while the other two were farther away.

These creatures would likely be impossible for Neve to get through on her own but, with Lamrosh's help, she assumed that she could manage. 

The orc girl did as Neve asked, raising a hand and producing a massive sphere of water that launched from her palm and crashed into the enemy's back. 

"Aurgh!?" The orc cried out. Lamrosh's magic still clearly packed a punch. 

Neve drank one Potion of Fervor but nothing else, choosing to save as much as she could for the boss fight ahead. 

As the orcs were alerted, the one that was attacked made its way to Neve before all of the others. Thus, Neve tried to get as much damage in as she could while Lamrosh backed up and took a safer position. 

The orc carried a massive club and raised it over its own head, threatening to crack Neve's skull open. The healer avoided that by dodging into its space, as Erin had taught her, and she shanked the monster.  2

As per usual, her shortsword did not dig too deeply into its body, but these initial hits served one purpose and that was to stack her potion's damage. 

With a few more ex-convict prison stabs, that purpose was fulfilled and Neve backed away from the opponent. 

"AEERGH!" The orc flailed its club wildly, swinging it around like a drunk baseball player. Neve, knowing she did not have the speed to dodge such attacks, just stepped back, and back, until she found an opening. 

Once she did, she went for her *signature move*. 

She got on her knees and stabbed the creature in its balls. 

The testicular assault brought a sharp cry out of the orc. Neve yelled out: 

"Lam, finish it off!" 

Awkwardly, Lamrosh pulled both her hands up and used another spell. This one was also water-based, perhaps due to Neve's request earlier. 

This time, a stream of water, far more furious than the river they were currently standing on, poured out from the girl's hands. 

It crashed into the orc Neve had just stabbed. 

[Good! Now... Huh?] 

But, it did not stop there. 

The stream of water rammed the other three orcs as well, sending them to the ground. 

Neve's eyes just about bulged out of their sockets. 

She ran forward so fast she nearly tripped, wanting to finish the other orcs down while they were down. Or, at least, get some good damage in on them. 

Thus, more scrotum perforation ensued. With a little bit of neck stabbing as an added bonus. 

One by one, Neve went through each of them, thrusting her shortsword up their crotches and in their throats. 

The first three did not put up a fight, as the impact from Lamrosh's spell had stunned them too badly. 

The last one, however, pulled its ax off the ground just as Neve had been walking up to it and swung it at her legs. 

"AGH!" 

Neve cried out as an ax was buried into her calf. Looking down at the wound, she was lucky her leg hadn't been split in half. 

As Neve hit the ground, water going into her ears from the height of the river, the orc stood over her body. 

It raised its ax, intending to finish it off before a little orc girl suddenly tackled it. 

"Leave her alone!" Lamrosh yelled as she brought the taller orc down. Neve quickly drank a Minor Healing Potion while Lamrosh held the orc down, pinning it to the floor. 

Once she was up, Neve brushed off her fading pain and walked up to the orc, raising her shortsword to the air in much the same way it had, and bringing it down on the orc like a guillotine. 

Several stabs later, the orc was dead and Neve wiped off some sweat from her forehead. 

"Stop it! Stop it!" Lamrosh yelled out at the dead orc. 

Neve hadn't noticed until now, but the little girl had been pounding the orc's head. 

Its skull had long since caved in on itself.

EXP Gained: 160

EXP: 590/500

Level Up!

WST Gained: 320

WST: 72910

[... Okay, so her stats really are just insanely high, huh? Though, I still can't see her level.] 

"Uh, Lam." 

"H-Huh?" 

"You, uhm... You beat it up already." 

Hearing that, the little girl looked at the orc's head. 

"UWAGH!?" 

She pulled back and scurried all the way to Neve's legs, staring at the damage she'd done in disbelief. 

"It's alright," Neve told her. "We're done here." 

Breathing a sigh of relief, the little girl took on a much more serious face. 

"Uh... Come on," the little girl then said, pulling Neve with her to that crevice from before. "I'll take you to my father!" 

Neve went along with that then, hurriedly putting her 3 gained attribute points into her Speed as she felt she would need it for the encounter ahead. 

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