191: Reach for the Stars, Part Seventeen

Reach for the Stars, Part Seventeen

Neve resummoned Erin as the next wave arrived. Thanks to the minute-long break between battles, Neve had regained 120 mana before her next summon, which was substantial, but she was still losing mana quickly. 

MP: 895/1300 (+100% regen)

[At base mana regeneration, I gain around 1 mana per second. With +100% mana regen, I get around 2 per second. If I can sit back and let Erin handle the entire wave, I can squeeze in approximately 240 mana regenerated per wave. Unfortunately, though, that still puts me at a loss, even if I don't buff Erin, which I have to. I'll still slowly bleed mana.] 

What that meant was that, although Erin was going to be putting on the performance of a lifetime with these stats, Neve would inevitably have to get her hands dirty. 

[It's fine,] Neve thought, looking down at her sword. [I can do this.] 

Her time would not come just yet, though. For now, she still had mana, and Erin was still out in the field. 

The next wave was identical to the one that preceded it. 10 enemies, all level 65. 

If Neve applied every single buff she had onto Erin, that would mean she would have to spend 125 mana per wave through {Encourage}, {Bolstering Presence}, and {Field of Brilliance}, in addition to the 300 mana from summoning the lamia. So, Neve took {Field of Brilliance} and {Encourage} out of the equation, casting only {Bolstering Presence} onto Erin to boost her Speed and Precision. 

MP: 845/1300

[Good thing I didn't sacrifice any of my Arcane going into this. I would have been fucked.] 

The lamia landed on top of the incoming horde like a crashing wave of death. As she arrived at her position, a few heads quickly went flying from one use of {Dragon's Divine Swipe}.

[Because of the time that passed between waves, her damage buff went away. She needs to stack it again. This also means I lost my sword stacks too. I need to keep that in mind.] 

Erin slammed a couple of creatures back with her tail. The antennas on their heads began to glow. Erin shielded her eyes, remembering what had happened earlier, and then used {Rorvan's Flurry}, only getting a few hits in before she missed an attack. 

A couple of the onyx-colored monsters tried to move past Erin, seeing Neve behind her standing by her lonesome. They charged at her desperately. Neve would not have been shocked to hear that Tamira suggested they do just that. 

The lamia didn't let it happen, however. She circled around them, creating a wall they could not escape with her tail, and then used {Dragon's Divine Breath}, showering the small group in flames. 

The monsters who still remained began to panic in much the same way regular human players would, scattering throughout the arena in hopes of trying to stay alive. 

Under normal circumstances, Neve would simply allow them to do so. Here, however, they were operating on a timer. 

"Erin, take them out!" 

Erin nodded, instantly activating {The Lamia's Hunt} to bring her Speed even higher. Cutting across the arena like a bolt of lightning, she went from one straggler to another, finishing them off by raking her claws across their bodies. 

The last of them fell just before Erin's minute ran out. She disappeared, and Neve looked at her mana. 

MP: 965/1300 (+100% regen)

[Good... But, yeah. I'm still bleeding mana,] Neve thought as she recast {Rorvan's Spirit}, bringing her down to 915. 

{Star Absorption: 4%}

[... Whatever. Let's just keep it going.] 

---

The sixth wave ended with Erin placing one hand on an enemy's antenna and placing the other in its mouth. 

She then pulled in opposite directions and tore the creature apart, causing green blood to decorate the glass floor. 

As the bodies of the wave's enemies were disintegrated, their blood was left behind, the only evidence that these fights even happened. 

The {Star Absorption} tracker was sitting at 12%.

Neve was now at 375 mana. 

Letting out a deep breath, she nodded to herself. 

"Erin," she called out. "It's time." 

The lamia gave her a look that almost wounded what little pride Neve had. She did not look too confident in Neve's ability to survive. 

However, with her mana at this amount, summoning Erin once again would mean she wouldn't be able to heal, or buff, or even recast {Rorvan's Spirit}. 

She had to fight. 

"Be careful," Erin told her, as her minute ran out. 

Suddenly, Neve felt dizzy. 

She nearly fell to the floor, catching herself halfway. 

[Huh?] 

Looking at her wrist, she found that it had been coated in blood at this point. 

[Wait, shit, I forgot to heal myself.] 

To keep herself from dying, Neve had been spending 10 mana on one {Great Healing Dart} every minute or so, but she'd forgotten to cast the spell this time. 

Absent-mindedly, she checked her mana, to see how much she was regaining before she healed herself. 

In doing so, she noticed something important. 

[What?] 

MP: 450/1300 (+150% regen) 

[I can get it that high?] 

Unfortunately, given that she had nearly fainted from the blood loss, Neve did have to heal herself. But, the fact that she could increase her mana regen to this extent through the combination of the Ring of the Prolific Mage and the {Rorvan's Spirit} spell, meant that her initial calculations had been wrong. 

Neve could squeeze out 150 mana per minute with this mana regeneration rate. Or, 300 mana every 2 minutes. 

[That's enough to keep Erin out for a while, but I'm still bleeding mana. Good to know, though.] 

Setting that aside, Neve waited for the next wave to arrive. 

Her own blood dripped onto the ground. She struggled to keep herself upright, as she'd refused to heal herself so she could maintain this regeneration rate. 

A voice spoke to her. 

"For someone who doesn't care whether she lives or dies, you sure do seem determined all of a sudden~"

Neve said nothing to the snake. 

Instead, as the portal opened, she gripped her sword tightly. 

Casting {Great Healing Dart} on herself ten times, she fully healed herself and activated her sword, while simultaneously recasting {Rorvan's Spirit}. 

MP: 300/1300

[Remember what you learned in training. You... Huh?] 

Neve's eyes widened.

Only one enemy appeared.  1

"AAAAAAGH!"

A bulky creature up ahead gave a shrill cry. 

It looked almost like the other enemies that had come in earlier. An overgrown version of them, with three antennas on top of its torso and a gaping maw in its chest with hundreds of teeth each as long as Neve's fingers. Its limbs stretched out like branches on a tree, and although it had no eyes, Neve felt it set its attention on her. 

Level 70

MP: 300/300

[A miniboss!?] 

Neve almost summoned Erin out. 

Almost. 

She stopped herself when something came to her mind. 

[No, no... Realistically, a one-on-one fight is what I should have hoped for. I have a better chance of dealing with one very strong opponent than 10 quick pests. I should take this thing head-on!] 

Placing her sword in front of herself, she looked at her mana. 

MP: 306/1300 (+75% regen)

[Let's do this.] 

The antennas on the creature glowed. 

MP: 250/300

Neve flinched before quickly turning away, avoiding a flash of light that would have paralyzed her. As she turned back around, though, she found that the monster had already closed the gap. 

"AGH!!"

It attacked her with its thin, long arms, trying to rend her flesh with its claws. 

Neve was able to avoid the attacks, however, stepping back, and moving outside of its range, as Erin had taught her to do. 

Putting her staff forward, she tried to land one cheeky cast of {Fireball}. 

Sure, with its +20% max HP damage, she could finish this fight with five casts of that spell, if this enemy wasn't resistant to fire, but that would defeat the point of this whole situation, which was to try to regenerate some mana. 

Her {Fireball} went right past the opponent. 

[I missed!] 

Gritting her teeth, Neve raised her right foot to avoid a sweeping claw slash and then leaned to the right to avoid another from its opposite hand. She was just barely managing to dodge these attacks, as the enemy was indeed faster than her, but Neve had practiced with Erin for long enough to make up for that discrepancy. 

At least, for a while, anyway. 

"AERGH!" 

A claw found Neve's gut. 

The cut burned. The creature moved in for the kill, but doing so allowed Neve to land two quick {Fireballs} back-to-back, at point-blank range. 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The creature cried out, its body scorched by the spells. 

With some distance between them, Neve checked herself. 

The cut was shallow, thankfully. Any deeper, though, and Neve felt her guts may have exited her body. 

That same voice returned to her mind. 

"You sure you don't wanna lay down and die here? A monster as ravenous as that thing would probably make it quick for you..." 

Scowling at the creature, Neve felt something. 

Anger. Rage. A single-minded determination that she hadn't felt in weeks. 

Growling like a wild animal herself, Neve ran toward her opponent. 

She went for its legs, dragging her awakened sword over the creature's right thigh. Its wounded burned with a divine light, as green blood began to pour out profusely. 

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} 

Assuming that any and all attacks applied the same amount of Bleeding, Neve did not try to go for any of her opponent's weak spots. 

She cut its hand as it tried to run a claw through her, she cut its other thigh as it charged at her, and she cut the top of its foot as it tried to stomp on her from above. 

Neve wasn't terribly fast, but next to Erin, this creature was painfully slow. She could handle this much. 

A trail of green followed the miniboss as it tried to move throughout the arena. 

Neve stopped trying to attack it. 

Instead, she put all of her focus on avoiding the blows it tried to deal. Mostly making sure she wasn't even in range of them. 

Until, after some time, the monster collapsed. 

Breathing heavily, it tried to crawl toward Neve, having to drag itself through a pool of its own blood to do so. 

Taking deep breaths herself, Neve took some steps back and sat down on the glass floor, letting her opponent bleed to death. 

The wave ended, and Neve had a minute to think to herself. 

But, at this point, her mind was empty. All she could think was: 

[... I can't die yet. No, not yet.] 

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