175: Reach for the Stars, Part One

Reach for the Stars, Part One

This {Reconstruction} ability presented many different possibilities. 

[Honestly, if you're patient, this is pretty insane, isn't it?] 

Unless the System left something out, there was no restriction to what one could sacrifice. Meaning, theoretically, Neve could go into the World Shop, buy everything there, even whatever she couldn't use, and sacrifice it all to make something else stronger.

[I'm guessing there's some sort of a limit. Or, maybe diminishing returns. But, still, this {Reconstruction} stuff is pretty strong.] 

Neve leaned back in her chair. 

[So,] she thought, inhaling sharply, [what will I use this for?] 

Immediately, two options became the obvious answers. 

1. She could use this on one of her offensive spells, and turn {Fireball}, {Iceball}, or {Waterball} into a spell that actually deals good damage. 

Or: 

2. She could make her healing, or shielding, even stronger, to the point where it would become very difficult to imagine an enemy powerful enough to break through. 

She could, of course, increase her attributes as well, or make her staff or sword better, but she suspected that neither of these options were particularly worth it. 

[I could also use it to make Erin stronger, but then if this floor or the next one has a Silence mechanic or enemies that can Silence, then it would be a complete waste.] 

The second option was less appealing since the Angel Set already made Neve's healing and shielding insanely strong, but the reason she considered it was because...

[Depending on how much damage the spells would gain per Reconstruction, and the whole diminishing returns thing, it could take a while before I actually level the spells up enough. The cooldown is 24 hours. If, for example, Reconstruction only gives 5% bonus damage, it would take weeks just to double their damage.] 

"About that," Tamira chimed in, "we've been pretty lenient about you taking long breaks so far, but since you've already killed your main target, at this point, all we want is to see you clear these last two floors!" 

[How much time can I spend doing these reconstructions?] Neve asked curtly. 

"We'll give you two weeks," Tamira responded. "If you aren't back out there fighting by that time, I will *literally* pick you up and throw you out of the Safe Zone!" 

Neve nodded. 

[2 weeks... So, I'll be able to use this skill 14 times.]

Neve looked through the skill's description again. 

Reconstruction - Cooldown: 24 hours

{Sacrifice attribute points, weapons, spells, or techniques to enhance attribute points, weapons, spells, or techniques. Once sacrificed, whatever was sacrificed can never be gained or used again.} 

{Example: Sacrifice 10 Arcane to increase {Fireball} damage by 10%. Arcane will now be capped at 90.} 

{Example: Sacrifice the {Fireball} spell to boost the healing of {Healing Ground} by 2.5%. The user cannot use {Fireball} again, even if the spell is re-discovered or re-purchased.} 

[Hm... Okay,] Neve went into the Hidden Shop. [Let's try this out once, just to get a feel for how effective the Technique is. I'll go with Option 1 for now.] 

Thus, Neve began to look through everything that she owned to see what she could sacrifice. 

[Hm... What is the enhancement based on? Is it the thing's token value, or its tier?] 

She selected the {Fireball} spell as the item to be enhanced and her {Barrier} spell as the item to be sacrificed, since {Flash Shielding} made {Barrier} irrelevant anyway. 

[There's no preview as to what the result will be. And, Tamira's not saying anything either. I guess I just have to sacrifice one or two things and find out?] 

Thankfully, Neve had two items that allowed her to test this theory fairly easily. 

One, the {Ring of Favor}. 

Ring of Favor

{Accessory}

{Uncommon} 

{Effect: While wearing this, Buff-type spells cast upon the wearer are 10% more effective}

{Val: 500 WST}

And: 

Sacred Orb

{Consumable}

{Uncommon} 

{Pot that spreads Holy Essence when thrown onto a Player. Players wrapped in Holy Essence repel any impure-type enemies for 1 minute} 

{Val: 50 WST}

"Yeah, I think these two make sense to use," Neve murmured. 

[I can use one on {Fireball} today and then the other on {Iceball} tomorrow. If the enhancement ends up being equal, then that means the enhancement is based on the tier of the item I sacrifice. If the Sacred Orb ends up enhancing its spell less, then that means it's based on how much money the thing I'm sacrificing costs.] 

Having decided on that, it was time to begin. 

Swapping out {Barrier} for the {Ring of Favor}, Neve finally began the Reconstruction. 

Her body flashed gold. 

Neve reached up and put a hand on her chest, wincing. 

[Agh... I can feel something being taken from me. Fuck.] 

That feeling quickly passed, however, and Neve was rewarded with a wave of comfort washing over her, as her body flashed gold again. 

Then, she saw this: 

{Spell Enhanced!} 

{Fireball} 

{New: Fireball now deals an additional 5% max HP damage} 

Neve's eyes sprang from her skull. 

[Wait, that's crazy!] She thought, reading that prompt. [Obviously, resistances are still a thing, but if an enemy isn't resistant to Fire, more enhancements would mean that just 10 or so hits of {Fireball} would kill pretty much anything! That's insane!] 

She soon also added that with enemies having very high Endurance as well, that too would probably reduce the amount of damage the spell did. But, still, this was promising. 

Neve's phone began ringing, taking her out of her analysis. 

Charlotte's name lit up her screen. Neve picked up the call. 

"Hello?" 

"Salut," the sultry voice on the other end replied. "How are you faring?"  1

Neve leaned back in her chair. 

"I, uh... Have some new information for you, I guess." 

"Oh?" Charlotte's instant curiosity was almost funny. "What is it?" 

"I made it to the 9th Floor," Neve stated. "Just two more to go, including this one." 

"Is that so? Good work, Neve. Please, keep it up." 

[... When was the last time I heard anything like that?] 

"Am I interrupting anything, by the way?" 

"No," Neve replied. "I'm taking a break right now." 

"I see... In that case-" 

"Questions?" 

"Yep. You got me," Charlotte responded with a laugh. 

"I'll be posting my notes on the  8th Floor later," Neve told her. 

"I'm happy to hear that. But, the questions I wanted to ask were more, ehm... Personal, once again." 

"Oh. Uh, alright." Neve shifted in her seat, slightly uncomfortably. "Um... Sure." 

"Have you been looking at the forums, lately?" 

"Not really, no." 

"Ah, well~" Charlotte replied and Neve heard some tapping on a keyboard. "There have been a few developments related to you, recently." 

"What? What do you mean?" 

"Hehehe, well, there have actually been quite a few people claiming to be your friends, family, and lovers and I wanted to see if any of these stories are true." 

Neve pulled the phone off her ear and looked down at it with shock. 

"Huh!?" 

"Indeed. To give you an example, there was one man who claimed to be your boyfriend," Charlotte told her. "He said that the last time he saw you was right before you walked into the Final Challenge, that just before you walked to what would likely be your death, you'd wrapped your arms around him and kissed the guy, telling him that every minute of your time in the portal would be spent thinking of him. Quite a sweet tale, I must say." 

Neve had to keep herself from gagging. 

"So, I was wondering if you could confirm or deny some of these. What do you-" 

"They're probably all fake," Neve told her before she could even ask. "As far as the relationship stuff is concerned, well, I'm only into girls but, even then, I haven't actually been in a real relationship." 

[What I had with Ahlakan is the closest thing, but even that was mostly physical. Though... I really did like her.] 

"And, when it comes to family, uh, they all died during the beginning of the Unity Trials. So, unless I've got some long-lost cousin I don't know about or something, that's probably not true either." 

"... I see," Charlotte replied after a bit. "Ehm, also, there was one other thing." 

"Hm?" 

"I was asking people what they wanted me to ask or tell you, and one lady, I believe her name was Tiffany, told me to tell you she was sorry about what happened in middle school. Does that ring any bells?" 

Oh, it did. 

Neve recalled what she was talking about a little too well, actually. 

"Yeah..." Neve replied slowly, swallowing. "I do." 

"Oh? Would you like me to tell this girl anything?" 

Neve bit down on the insides of her cheeks, balling her hands up into fists. 

Neve closed her eyes and the flashing of cameras all around her became as vivid as though she were living the moment again, with the girl responsible being one of them, holding a phone up as well. 

"Yeah," she said once more. "You can tell her to fuck off." 

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