153: Neve's Reward, Part One

Neve's Reward, Part One

Of course, that was all what had happened in that spirit realm.

Outside of it, the orc whose head Neve had just taken off simply fell back, the spell he'd been attempting to cast earlier was canceled. 

Neve, however, felt reinvigorated. As she got up and saw the orc on the ground, his eyes went to her with a look that carried a similar amount of disgust to the one he'd given her before their fight, but, now, held a hefty amount of surprise with it as well. 

"... Thus, once again, I have lost." The man coughed up blood. Neve could see no horrible injuries on his person, so it was as though his body had been torn apart from the inside. "Perhaps carrying these memories into my next life will help yield better results." 

Naturally, Lamrosh rushed over to him and knelt by his side, wondering what was wrong with her father.

"W-What's going on?" 

Her father took no solace in seeing her like this, though. All he saw was another opportunity. 

He raised up a hand and held it in front of her. 

Neve twitched, almost moving to stab him as soon as she saw that until she remembered: 

[Right, I got the EXP,] she said, checking the window for it. [The fight should be over.] 

"Maybe I can..." 

The orc's hand let out a spark, as though he was about to try to use the same magic from before to drain his daughter of her power, but his hand then fell, and what little energy he still had truly left him. 

"Even now," Neve muttered, pulling both his and Lamrosh's eyes to her, "all you can think about is using Lam to try to kill me? I hope the Forces That Be didn't expect me to feel sorry for you. Seriously, you're not even gonna try to make your last moments with her meaningful?" 

"You assume these will be my final moments with her," the orc responded with a raspy, tired voice. "I will see her again soon enough. This existence is my prison, and death is no release from it." 

Lamrosh looked back and forth between them, unable to follow the conversation. Teary-eyed, she grabbed her father by his robes and tried to pull him up. 

"Father, g-get up! I-I can..." 

His eyes fell on her now and Neve wondered if her own father had ever looked at her this coldly before. She couldn't remember such a thing. 

"... Perhaps the next set of humans to come to this world will be a little slower. Then... Maybe..." 

He did not get to squeeze another word out before he took his last breath. 

As soon as that happened, a portal appeared at the back of the boss arena. 

Neve's eyes remained on the corpse for a little while longer, though. 

[Did he ever feel love for his daughter? Was it the other players who turned him into this? If it was, then... All I did was add to the problem.] 

Neve sighed. 

[Maybe that's true. But, sorry, future groups who pass through here. I have my own issues to handle.] 

Before she left this floor, Neve mainly just wanted to know one thing. 

[Tamira.] 

"Yes?" 

[So... Lam... What's gonna happen with her?] 

"Nothing much. Her memories will be erased and she'll be taken back to the room where you found her. Then, some other players will come in and make their own decisions with regard to this quest. I'm looking forward to it~" 

[Wait, what? So, she's just gonna...] 

"Neve," Tamira cut her off. "Your choices in this world were not like the third one. This civilization has long since been defeated and, due to their own prejudices, they exiled and hunted down the members of their society who could help rebuild. Lamrosh and her father are among them, but your decision to fight Lamrosh's father has helped continue the cycle," Tamira stated. 

[But, he was gonna kill me!] 

"Eh, probably. Maybe. We'll never know now, will we? Since when you stepped into that spirit realm, all you could think about was killing him as well. Anyway, please don't misunderstand. I am not trying to lecture you, your decisions are entertaining, which is all I care about. That said, if you wanted this world to change, a good way to start would have been to not do exactly the same things as all the other players who came."

Neve shook her head, but couldn't find anything to respond to that with. 

"Well, congratulations! You achieved your goal and beat the 6th Floor before the enemies on the 7th Floor could respawn. Which means that the path to the 8th Floor is mostly clear." 

[Wait, wait, wait,] Neve said. [When am I supposed to get Lamrosh as a vendor?] 

Tamira paused.

"You won't."

[... What?]

"You won't."

Neve was stunned. 

[But, I did her quest!]

"Huh? Neve, Lamrosh has a will of her own. Why on Earth would she make things for you? You just killed her dad!"

[He was trying to kill me!]

"And you think she, a child, cares?"

[...]

Neve couldn't say anything to that. She hadn't thought it was possible to miss out on rewards from completed quests, but, apparently, these rewards were not guaranteed.

And, Neve had, in part, fucked the quest up somehow. 

[Shit.] 

"Anything else?"

[Before you go, can you buy my levels off me again?] 

As she was, just a few too many of Neve's attribute points were invested in her Strength, Speed, and Precision. Not an obscenely high amount, as she'd made the choice to keep her Arcane high before entering this floor, but, still, she would have liked to adjust them. 

Plus, if she happened to run into more high-level monsters soon, she would rather have as high an Arcane stat as possible. 

Unfortunately, Tamira said: 

"Nope!" The snake cackled. "Unless, of course, you lower your level to where I want it." 

[Which is?] 

"Level 48," the assistant responded. "Take down to that amount and I'll let you sell your levels." 

Neve stopped. 

Immediately, she understood what was happening. 

[That's the level Thomas is at, I'm guessing.]

"Maaayyybe."  2

[And, because the way to the 8th Floor is clear, it means I'm probably not leveling up too much before I see him, am I?] 

"Ah, quick-witted! I've always liked this about you." 

Neve considered her options. 

With that boss fight, she was now at level 56, 8 levels over Thomas. 

Level 56

MP: 900/900 (+300)

EXP: 150/560

AP: 3690

IP: 50

WST: 83110

---

Attribute Points: 15

Endurance: 50

Speed: 23

Precision: 17

Strength: 15

Arcane: 60

[... No,] Neve responded. [I'm keeping my levels where they are,] she announced before dropping all 15 points into her Arcane. 

Arcane: 75

MP: 1050/1050 (+300)

"Really? Is that 15 Strength really going to come in handy against an assassin like Thomas? Or, do you think that 50 Endurance will stop him from killing you in one shot? Heck, will 23 Speed even be enough to avoid a single hit from him?"

[I guess I'm going to find out.] 

Tamira remained silent for a while, before finally responding: 

"Very well. A word of advice, Neve, you should take a moment and celebrate," she said. "Not just because you have a fight with Thomas coming up. The final 3 floors are all slightly more complex than the 7 that precede them. Up until now, I have had the utmost confidence in your ability to defeat your enemies. The 8th Floor is where that faith begins to waver. You never know what might happen..." 

[It's not like I'm going to be Silenced on those floors, right? I should be fine.] 

"Eh, I suppose you are right about that. Best of luck, as always~" 

With that, the snake disappeared from her thoughts. 

And, on cue, Lamrosh faded away as well. 

Like Tamira had said, this world hadn't been saved. And, as a direct result of Neve's decisions, Lamrosh's fate would be placed in the hands of future players. 

[Well, this is definitely worth writing about in the guide.] 

Her eyes went to the open portal standing before her. Balling her hands up into fists, Neve nodded to herself. 

[But, for now...] 

Neve stepped through the portal. 

She appeared within violet clouds. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought she was in freefall, but a quick look down at her feet let her know that she was, in fact, standing on some sort of glass floor. 

[What the hell?] 

As she looked around, she received even more questions. 

The majority of the 7th Floor was visible from this position, with every building around her being made of glass, floating in the sky. She could see what looked like monsters past transparent walls, what some might call biblically accurate angels, flying from one place to another, robotically. 

The minimap told her that she was, in fact, in the safe zone, and that the boss was on the opposite end of this portal. 

"Would you like to bring your things?" Tamira asked. 

[Yeah. Send everything here.] 

With that being said, the camp was teleported to this location. 

Ahlakan, who probably felt the sudden shift in temperature and saw a different light peeking through her and Neve's tent, walked out quickly. 

The sheer awe on her face let Neve know what her own expression probably looked like when she arrived. 

"This- this is incredible!" She remarked as she walked over to where Neve stood. 

"Yeah... It's something, alright. But, we're not gonna be here for too long," Neve made sure to communicate. 

[The only thing I'm interested in getting from here is the Floor Quest. As soon as that's out of the way, I'm walking straight to the 8th Floor.] 

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