188: Reach for the Stars, Part Fourteen

Reach for the Stars, Part Fourteen

As Charlotte waited patiently for Neve to explain her findings, the entirety of the healer's journey played back in her mind. 

Not just the battles, the times when death nearly got to embrace her, but the moments of rest as well. The evenings she spent planning her next move. All of those days flashed before her eyes as she said: 

"If I'm reading this graph right, every spike in activity happened when I made it to a new floor," Neve stated. "Specifically, uh, the last part really makes it clear. It's been two weeks since I made it to the 9th Floor, and all of a sudden things got worse than ever. But, yeah, I'm trying to recall my progress and it feels like that's the connection." 

"In that case," Charlotte quickly replied, "why haven't we figured this out until now? There have been 9 attempts at the Final Challenge. Surely, the pattern of all hell breaking loose because of what's going on in there would have become obvious, right?" 

"I don't think the other groups have gotten this far," Neve replied. "Plus, none of the previous attempts were this long. So, at least for me, I imagine I just brushed off the spikes in outbreaks as being a few rough days, or something." 

"Hm..." Neve watched as Charlotte tapped her finger against her desk, contemplating what she was hearing. "Well, this is highly unfortunate." 

[Yeah, kinda.] 

Neve's progress, while promising, was causing direct harm to Starlight City. And, possibly, the rest of the world. That was the conclusion both women quickly arrived at. 

"Should I post a little 'my bad' on my Tweeter or something?" Neve asked light-heartedly. 

She could feel the other woman's mind at work as she considered this information. As a journalist, it was her job to create narratives, but Neve had enough reason to believe that she was biased in the healer's favor, which probably made this a somewhat unsettling situation. 

At least, that's what Neve assumed, but the way the woman suddenly perked up, suggested otherwise. 

"No," she said quietly, "Neve, this is an opportunity!" 

"What do you mean?" 

"We can use this!" Charlotte told her. "We can use this to boost morale!" 

"You mean you want to use my circumstances to manipulate the consciousness of the mass- oh, right, journalist, sorry. Uh, how exactly can we do that?" 

"Neve, at this moment your story is the only thing anyone's talking about these days. But, what we just found out added one extra element to that. Now, they have stakes in this as well!" 

"Didn't they already have some stakes in it? You know, the whole '10 years of no monsters' thing?" 

"Well, yes, but think about it this way," Charlotte said, "if you failed before, what's the worst thing that happens? Everything goes back to the way it was. But, now, if you fail..." 

"The same thing happens," Neve cut her off. "Hell, they should want me to fail now." 

"Ah, ah, ah," Charlotte shook her head with a grin that let Neve know she was thinking a couple of steps ahead. "You didn't look at the full graph, did you?" 

Neve raised a brow. 

[Uh... Honestly, no. I only needed the recent part to confirm my theory.] 

"Give me a moment." 

"Take your time~" 

Pulling the graph up again, Neve immediately saw what Charlotte meant. 

"Wait a fucking second..." Neve murmured as her eyes went up the ladder displayed on her screen. 

"It would seem that the fact that the other attempts didn't really get too far is a blessing in disguise, no?" 

The realization Neve just made was simple. 

Not only did outbreaks all around the world get worse as groups attempted the Final Challenge, but...

"There's no reset," Neve whispered, stunned as she looked at the graph. 

"Indeed," Charlotte replied. "I didn't quite put that part together myself until just now either. I, and I assume pretty much everyone else, had assumed that the Forces That Be were making things harder for humanity over time on a whim. But, no. Every attempt at the Final Challenge that fails makes things worse for the world at large. The reason no one noticed was because no one had made it as far as you have now, which means..." 

"If I die, the world might just be fucked," Neve completed for her. "Damn." 

"Indeed," Charlotte giggled. "That's a good reason to cheer you on, isn't it?" 

---

Erin went ahead, raising herself up the shortcut she and Neve had found before. Getting on the ground, she held a hand out for Neve to take and lifted her up easily. 

"Even with this newfound power, I don't think I'll be able to do anything about that horde. You still haven't found a way to detect that invisible monster?" 

"Nah," Neve replied. "We'll have to try to be as quick as possible... And, keep an eye over our shoulders." 

"I see. In that case..." 

"Huh? What are you- w-wait, wait, HOLD ON!" 

Erin casually took Neve up onto her back. 

"What are you doing!?" 

"We need to be fast, don't we?" Erin said as she slithered forward. "We aren't going for some leisurely walk here." 

"I-I mean... Fine. Fine," Neve sighed. "If we're going to do this, let's do it right, then."

Using the new version of {Bolstering Presence}, Neve brought Erin's Speed up to 80.

"Use {The Lamia's Hunt}. And, uh, yeah," Neve put away her weapons and wrapped her arms around her summon. "But, be care- AGH!" 

The lamia rushed forward in a blaze. 

With {The Lamia's Hunt} activated, Erin was currently at 90 Speed. 

Neve could hardly tell where the hell they were as she dashed through the corridors. 

She emerged back at that plaza they'd encountered earlier, moving from one place to another, just to make sure they didn't miss anything, in a zig-zag motion. 

[Holy fuck, I'm going to puke.] 

Wrapping her arms around Erin more tightly, Neve buried her face in the woman's hair, figuring that she'd stop as soon as she found anything important. 

That pause she now longed for came as Erin found some enemies up ahead. 

"Hey, I found some enemies up ahead." 

[Great,] Neve muttered internally as she saw the enemies in question.

These opponents were new. Two flying beetle-like creatures, black wings fluttering excitedly as they saw the pair. Below them were two more enemies, centipede-like monsters that Neve half-remembered seeing back at the Hall of the Luminous. 

All of them were level 67. 

Erin allowed her to hop off. Neve nearly fell to the ground, dizzy and unstable. 

[Crap.] 

"Hm... Perhaps that was not the greatest of ideas. Oh well. I should be able to handle this alone anyway. Take a moment to get your bearings." 

"B-Be careful," Neve said, as she brought out her staff and attempted to provide at least one form of assistance. That being casting two quick spells, the newly enhanced {Encourage} and {Great Healing Dart} to trigger it. 

[Okay, shit. I need to lie down.]  2

Having just learned what would happen if she died did sway Neve's heart just a little, but still, if Erin somehow failed and Neve ended up dead, all she could think to say about that was still: 

[Unlucky.] 

She even went as far as to close her eyes, as her brain continued to feel like it was rocking back and forth in her skull. 

Laid out on the floor like that, Neve turned her head to see how Erin was faring. 

With both {Bolstering Presence} still affecting her, increasing her Speed to 80 and Precision to 95, and {Encourage} boosting her damage by 10%, well...

As she'd suspected when she'd finished her {Reconstruction} work, she'd very much created a monster. 

The two flying beetles went to fly past Erin, their eyes set on Neve. The lamia stopped them, stretching up high in the blink of an eye to strike them down. 

Her claws went straight through both creatures. At first, Neve wondered if the minor boost to her Strength was really enough to produce such a result, but as she saw that the beetles' heads had been severed off from their bodies perfectly, she realized this deadly showcase was a result of her Precision. 

The two enemies below the beetles accepted that they were unlikely to squeeze past the lamia and instead tried to run through her. 

As they approached, Erin used {Dragon's Divine Breath} to produce what effectively acted as a wall of flames, cutting them off. 

Both centipedes reared back, and Erin took advantage of that moment of hesitation in brutal fashion. 

She pulled together an old combo, one Neve hadn't seen her use in a while now that she had access to so many tools, but one that was perfect for the situation. 

Using {Freezing Gaze} to paralyze both centipedes, Erin moved up and went into {Rorvan's Flurry}, becoming a cloud of claws, slashing in every direction. 

The monsters were ripped apart. 

Blood fell so far that Neve felt a few drops reach her face. 

Two EXP messages popped up along with the earlier two, combining to form: 

EXP Gained: 350

EXP: 860/670

Level Up!

WST Gained: 1000

WST: 12300

Neve turned her head back up. 

[Holy shit.] 

Erin came into view, slithering up to Neve with a satisfied look on her face. 

Green blood dripped from her draconic hands, forming a gradually descending sleeve of liquid. 

Grinning down at Neve, the lamia extended one helpful hand. 

Neve took it and the woman pulled her up to her feet, effortlessly. So much so that Neve ended up a little bit too close. 

"Uh-" 

With an excited, bloodthirsty expression, Erin said: 

"That was rather fun... Are you ready to continue? I need more." 

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