187: Reach for the Stars, Part Thirteen

Reach for the Stars, Part Thirteen

{One week and a half later}

"So, you're done?" Erin asked. 

Neve did not turn to look at her, but nodded. 

"Almost," the healer said, somewhat cryptically. She felt like a mad scientist, about to see the monster she'd created come to life. 

There were many different routes Neve could have gone with her use of {Reconstruction}. 

For one, although thanks to the Angel Set this was pretty much already the case, Neve could have poured most of her resources into her healing, in order to make a single cast of {Great Healing Dart} be capable of saving a person's life from being on the brink of death.

Additionally, she could have put everything she had into {Fireball} and turned this spell into something capable of one-shotting an enemy. Of course, the problem was that Neve assumed she would encounter at least one or two more situations in which she would be {Silenced}, and if she went down this route, she'd be screwed. Especially since she just lowered her Strength to 5. 

With this in mind, she also theorized that she could use most of her time to make her sword stronger. Not only would this mean that she could get some use out of the Blade training she was doing, but perhaps she could even get her sword to such a point where it was extremely strong, even without being activated. Doing so, however, may have been a waste in the event that the {Silence} she expected to encounter never arrived. 

Finally, there was one issue to take into account. Neve had already sold most of her expensive gear in anticipation for her fight with Thomas. So, in truth, she was mainly left with the items she was gifted, as she did not want to sacrifice her Arcane. 

So, after some contemplation and plenty of donations, she settled for all of the above, choosing to go for an all-around powerful healer setup. 

And, these were the results of her efforts: 

Fireball

{Effect: Now deals an additional 20% Max HP damage}

Ring of the Prolific Mage

{Increases Mana Regen by 50%}

Sayran's Holy Blade

{Effect: Attacks now apply severe Bleeding, causing enemies struck to lose HP over time}

{Note:  Some enemies are immune to this effect} 

These were the changes Neve made to herself, personally. With them, she hoped that she'd be able to get herself out of any bad situations, whether she could use her magic or not. 

However, there was one more set of things Neve enhanced. 

Mainly, everything surrounding Erin. 

The {Reconstruction} Technique could be used to enhance four things: Weapons, Spells, Attribute Points, and Techniques. This meant that Neve could use it on Erin directly, as she was, in fact, the result of a spell. 

After using {Reconstruction} on her a couple of times, Erin's stats were increased dramatically. 

Level 67

MP: 150/150

EXP: N/A

Activity Points: N/A

WS Tokens: N/A

Mood: 85% (Close Friend)

---

Endurance: 55

Speed: 70

Precision: 85

Strength: 45

Arcane: 15

Not just that, but Neve leveled up her Healing Magic as well, which brought Erin's level to 67, further increasing her stats. 

Operating under the assumption that this wouldn't be enough, Neve also enhanced two other spells.

First of all, {Bolstering Presence}, which she'd been using a lot lately. 

Bolstering Presence

{Boost one ally's Speed and Precision by 10 for 1 minute} 

And: 

Encourage

{Increases the damage dealt by allies recently affected by Healing or Shielding by 10%} 

With all of these buffs, Neve had veritably created a monster. 

Taking into account each of the stat bonuses, that "level 67" over Erin's head was an absolute lie. She now had the stats of a player that was somewhere around level 80, with {Bolstering Presence} being capable of taking those stats even higher. 

Now, there was only one more move Neve had up her sleeves. 

This was it. The last {Reconstruction} Neve could do before Tamira would throw her back into the 9th Floor against her will. 

[... It might be a waste, but, it's the only other thing I can think of. Fuck it.] 

She'd buffed her magic, she'd buffed Erin, and she'd buffed her sword. 

There was just one thing left to buff. 

Herself. 

As the {Reconstruction} Technique's description made clear, Attributes Points could also be buffed. And, with the healer's Strength being literally just 5, Neve felt something had to be done to address that. 

So, she tapped her {Strength} in the Reconstruction menu, and then tapped the item she intended to sacrifice. 

Lia's daggers. 

Death's Touch

{Unique}

{Twin Daggers}

{Class Req: None} 

{Daggers wielded by Lia, the Kinslayer.} 

{Effect: Critical strikes deal 50% bonus damage.}

{Val: 15000 WST}0

Neve inhaled sharply. 

[... God. Fuck. These weapons are honestly pretty fucking amazing. No class requirement, and with that kind of a passive effect, even I could probably score a kill or two with them if I got a good angle on an enemy. Should I really do this?] 

She almost did. 

Her right index finger hovered over the {Reconstruct} button, tempted so intensely. 

But, in the end, Neve sighed, shook her head, and pulled away. 

[No. No, no. I can't.] She decided. [These things are just too valuable. I might even end up having to use them one day. I can't just sacrifice them like this.] 

In the end, she grabbed a random item she'd been gifted and used that instead. 

Strength: 10

Neve Stephens

Level 67

MP: 1300/1300 (+300)

EXP: 510/670

AP: 3690

IP: 80

WST: 10900

---

Endurance: 50

Speed: 40

Precision: 38

Strength: 10

Arcane: 100

Neve got up. 

[Okay... That's all. With this, plus all that training, I think I've just about done all I can do.] 

The training she referred to had brought her Blade to 48, and of course, her Healing Magic to 67. Erin's stats remained entirely unchanged, which Neve had truthfully expected. 

[If just a couple of weeks is enough to get, let's say, Erin's 71 Unarmed to 72 or something, it wouldn't take long at all to hit 100. I imagine you'd have to train all your life to get that far. Maybe.] 

"Done." 

"Finally!" Erin exclaimed. "I was so bored! All this newfound power and you haven't even let me try any of it out in a serious fight. So cruel." 

"Heh," Neve stood up. "Sorry. We're going to be fighting a ton now, so, uh... Yeah, you'll get your fill." 

"Well, so long as this oxygen of ours does not run out, right? Or that horde doesn't trap us." 

"When it comes to the oxygen, we just have to be quick," Neve told her. "And, when it comes to the horde... Well, all we can do is hope that we find that invisible  thing  we saw last time." 

"I'll do my best to keep an eye out... Though, it is invisible, after all. Have you found any way to deal with it?" 

"Not yet, no." 

"Hmph. I suppose if you had, then any and all challenge would have been erased from this Floor. I guess it's okay." 

"Don't get too cocky." 

"I am a princess, Neve. Arrogance is in my nature~ Just be glad I'm aware of it." 

At that moment, Neve's phone buzzed. 

"Uh, can you give me a moment?"

"Certainly. I'll wait outside." 

The lamia slithered away, then, leaving Neve alone in the camp. 

Neve opened up her laptop and, as usual, answered Charlotte's video call. 

"Salut," Charlotte greeted her. "I won't take up too much of your time," she added before Neve could even greet her back. "I just wanted to let you know that I finally got around to compiling some data on the outbreaks." 

"Oh, thanks." 

"Don't mention it. In all honesty, when you told me to do this, I guessed that you wanted to see if perhaps there was some sort of a pattern to it. I tried and wasn't able to find any such thing." 

Neve went to her email and found that Charlotte had sent her a graph. 

"Do you still think you will be able to glean anything from this?" 

"Maybe," Neve answered. "It's worth a shot." 

[Besides,] Neve added in her thoughts, [if my guess is right, then there's a reason you didn't find any pattern. You're missing information.] 

"Alright. Take a look. What do you think?" 

Neve's immediate response, as she pulled up the graph and scanned its contents, were somewhat mixed. 

[... I should probably ignore the first half, if my guess is correct. I have no clue about the pace they progressed at.] 

Focusing instead on the latter half, Neve tried to think about her personal timeline. Where she'd been recently and, of course, how long it had taken her to get there.

One spike toward the end, that had turned into a flat line, let Neve know she was probably correct. She couldn't know for sure just yet, but it was the best guess she had. 

"Hm..." 

"Ah? Came to a conclusion?" Charlotte asked, eager to know what was going on in the healer's mind. 

Neve nodded. 

"If I'm not wrong..." She exhaled deeply. "The outbreak spikes... They're tied to my progress here." 

Charlotte pulled back. The woman had been holding a cup of coffee, one she'd been in the middle of delivering to her beautiful lips before she froze when she heard that statement. 

"What?" She asked, sounding surprised. 

"Let me explain..." 

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