40: The Hall of the Luminous, Part Five

The Hall of the Luminous, Part Five

The second wave went down just as easily as the first, though, these enemies were level 6. 

Despite the fact that they were still rather weak, they did give slightly more EXP than the previous wave and so, Neve leveled up off them. 

As the third wave appeared, 10 seconds after the second, Neve went to allocate her new attribute points casually. 

Erin hadn't yet disappeared either. Both waves had been disposed of in under a minute. 

[I have the mana to summon her again as soon as she disappears. I shouldn't be in any real danger until the later waves. So, this should be a breeze.] 

And yet, outside of managing her level-up, Neve still did not lower her guard, though. 

[Even if that's the case, I don't want to develop bad habits that could come back and bite me in the ass later. So, I'll try to fight like I normally would. Even if there's such a disparity in power.] 

She ended up with these stats: 

Level 42

MP: 600/600 (+300)

EXP: 15/420

AP: 1690

WS Tokens: 6300

---

Endurance: 20

Speed: 31

Precision: 15

Strength: 5

Arcane: 60

As far as deciding where her attribute points went was concerned, Neve felt there were only two real options. Speed and Endurance. 

No matter how high her Strength became, she wouldn't deal any serious damage when bashing her staff over someone's head because staves were simply not meant to be used that way. Additionally, her precision was already high enough to land the vast majority of her spells, so long as the target wasn't too small.

The reason she had no interest in raising her Arcane past 60 was that she would need access to better spells before that became a solid investment. Especially since, due to Erin's insanely high mana cost, she would need 30 more Arcane in order to get another cast of her summon. 

These facts made her think the best course of action would likely be to focus on either being able to take more hits or able to avoid more hits. 

For now, she went with *avoid* more hits. 

The next wave was composed of five level 9 spiders. At first glance, they all appeared to be the same, but two of them had yellow marks on their backs. 

[Is the structure of each wave going to be the same? A few melee attackers, a few ranged ones?] 

Erin slithered toward them quickly and used her spell, {Freezing Gaze} to paralyze the group. 

Almost immediately after that, she disappeared. 

[Hm?] Neve tilted her head, as she moved to summon Erin back. [Did she do that on purpose to buy more time for me?] She asked, referring to the use of her spell.

This wasn't exactly a high-pressure situation, as the spiders were only level 9, but still, Neve liked to see that kind of strategizing coming from her.

Despite whatever Erin was feeling if she was making decisions like that, it showed she was at least somewhat focused.

As soon as Erin reappeared, she slammed the entirety of the group with her tail. The spiders were thrown back. 

At that moment, Erin used her other ability, {The Lamia's Hunt}, to quickly close the gap between them, and, one by one, she crushed the enemies with a single strike each. 

The third wave was disposed of, Neve earned 30 EXP along with 40 WS Tokens, and the bodies disappeared. 

"Hey, Erin," Neve said before the next wave arrived. "Good job! I liked that you used that paralyzing ability before your spell timed out. That was nice." 

Erin glanced back and nodded, as though she acknowledged her compliment but did not feel too happy about it. 

"I was simply doing what was required of me," she muttered, with no sense of pride in her voice at all. 

"I..." Neve wanted to respond to that, but she could not find the right words. 

It was clear that learning of her true nature was having an effect on Erin's mind, but she wasn't letting it affect her fighting capabilities. 

[I guess I should talk to her later... Or, should I not do that?] She asked herself. [Should I just treat her like a summon and nothing else?] 

The fourth wave arrived then, pulling Neve out of her thoughts. 

Three figures, this time. 

Three level 12 wolves. Two with beady brown eyes and black fur, and one with red eyes and white fur that hid behind the other two. All of them were massive, and all of them had their sights set on Erin who stood in front of them, ready to move in and crush them. 

Neve, however, thought of something.

"Erin," she said. 

"Yes?" 

"Can you... Can you let them hit you for a bit? I want to see something." 

If this idea that had suddenly appeared in her mind was viable then, perhaps they could get more out of this place than just EXP and WS Tokens. 

"Are you angry at me?" Erin asked, narrowing her eyes at her summoner. "I'm sorry if I disappointed you."

"What? No, I just want to test something," Neve quickly replied. 

"... My durability?" Erin asked, slightly confused. 

"Something like that." 

"I see. Very well." 

The snake lady lowered her arms then, allowing the wolves to move in and attack. 

The two wolves with black fur bit down on her, one biting Erin's left wrist and the other biting her by the abdomen. The white-furred wolf cast a spell, using some form of {Iceball} that stuck Erin's chest. 

Erin did not respond at all. The wolves tried to tear her skin out. They were unsuccessful, of course. 

Neve then cast {Healing Ground} under her summon. Whatever wounds the wolves were trying to inflict on her disappeared as they made them. 

"... Do I continue waiting?" Erin asked. 

"Yeah," Neve replied. "I'll let you know when you can attack again." 

"Understood." 

Seconds ticked away. Tenacious as they were, the wolves did not let up. 

Neve waited, and waited, and she continued to wait until Erin disappeared. 

Then, Neve resummoned her, and before the wolves could shift their attention to Neve, she instructed Erin to take the same position. 

MP: 275/900

"Get in front of me!" 

Erin wordlessly did as she asked and, again, the wolves bit down on her. Neve cast {Healing Ground} under the summon, and...

{Healing Ability Increased!} 

{Healing Magic: 41} 

{Erin Leynall - Level Up!} 

{Erin Leynall - Level 41}

MP: 25/100

EXP: N/A

Activity Points: N/A

WS Tokens: N/A

---

Endurance: 30

Speed: 35

Precision: 43

Strength: 30

Arcane: 10

Neve smiled, her eyes gleaming. 

[It worked!] 

"Yes," Tamira suddenly appeared, whispering in her mind. "But, I just want to let you know, you were quite close to increasing your Healing Magic skill to 41 before this moment. You hadn't increased that skill at all since coming into the Final Challenge, after all." 

[Huh? So, that means...]

"Healing Magic, as a skill, increases faster when you heal severe, dire wounds, and slower when you heal marginal, dismissable wounds. What I am trying to tell you is that, unless you have the patience of an angel, you might want to wait until later waves to try this. Otherwise, you are going to be here for a while." 

[Oh... Wow,] Neve replied in her thoughts. [Some unprompted advice from you. Did you wake up in a good mood or something?]

"Well, although I had said humanity would benefit from the Unity Trials as well in the long run, do not forget that the point of this, from my superiors' perspective, is entertainment. To put it simply, my superiors do not wish to watch you grind out your Healing Magic skill all day." 

[Sucks for them. Can't they just go watch someone else?] 

"Why would they?" Tamira asked, and Neve could almost hear the grin on her face as she spoke. "You are one of the most entertaining things happening right now." 

She left on that note.

["One of", huh? I wonder who else is in as dangerous a situation as I am, doing the Final Challenge and all.] 

Neve saw Erin looking back at her, mildly annoyed, with a raised brow. 

"Okay," Neve told her. "You can take them out now." 

---

The fifth wave presented no threat, just as the other waves hadn't. They were done soon and a message appeared saying:

{Do you wish to exit the dungeon?}

{Progress will be saved}

{Yes} {No}

Neve selected {Yes} and walked out alone, as Erin's summon timer ran out soon after the fifth fight was done. 

All in all, her stats ended up like this:

Level 42

MP: 600/600 (+300)

EXP: 350/420

AP: 1690

WS Tokens: 6700

---

Endurance: 20

Speed: 31

Precision: 15

Strength: 5

Arcane: 60

[Okay, now that I have a better idea of what the dungeon is going to be like, I... Huh?] 

As she walked out of the Hall of the Luminous, she saw dozens of the city's denizens gathered in front of the temple, gawking at her as she exited the building. 

One of them walked forward. With a great amount of hope in his black eyes, he asked:

"D-Did you do it? Is the temple cleared?" 

"No," Neve quickly replied. "But, I definitely can do it. It's gonna take time, but I can make it happen."

That statement caused the crowd to begin talking amongst each other excitedly. Their chaotic chattering faded into the background, as Neve walked through them. 

[... As I was saying, I should go see what kind of equipment I can purchase. Maybe I can get some stuff for Erin that might help with the later waves. I could... Hm?] 

Again, her thoughts were interrupted. This time, as she caught sight of one particular citizen of Rorvan, peeking at her from around the corner. 

Ahlakan, Minerva's daughter, had been watching her as she walked out. She tried to hide but Neve still noticed. 

[I understand these people's curiosity, but it could definitely get annoying fast. Oh well.]  2

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