180: Reach for the Stars, Part Six

Reach for the Stars, Part Six

Before Neve went ahead with streaming her practice session, she first got the day's {Reconstruction} out of the way. 

[Okay, now I'm going to use one of my Sacred Orbs. If the enhancement is less effective, then I assume that means the enhancement is based on the token value of the item that's sacrificed. If it's just as effective, that means it's based on the tier. Let's find out.] 

As she did before, she was going to enhance {Fireball}. 

Selecting {Fireball} in the Reconstruction menu that popped up, Neve chose to sacrifice one Sacred Orb, and the process began. 

Her body flashed gold. Neve inhaled sharply. 

[... I hope it's based on the tier. If it is, then I can get rid of some of the items I've got in my inventory, just kinda sitting around.] 

As though answering her thoughts directly, this was what she found when she looked at the results of the {Reconstruction}. 

{Spell Enhanced!} 

{Fireball} 

{New: Fireball now deals an additional 6% max HP damage} 

Neve hung her head. 

[So... The amount of "max HP damage" it deals went up by 1%. Shit.] 

She leaned back in her chair. 

[I mean, don't get me wrong, if I had unlimited time, that would still be insane. That would mean that sacrificing one Sacred Orb per day would result in {Fireball} doing 100% max HP damage after just 94 days. I would *literally* be able to one-shot any enemy. But, I don't have unlimited time. I have 12 days.] 

Neve opened up her Inventory. 

[Huh, so the enhancement must be based on the token value of the object that's sacrificed. But, that's weird, because I can sacrifice anything for this, right? I can sacrifice attribute points, spells, and techniques. In other words, I can sacrifice things that don't have token values. Maybe I should try that tomorrow. As far as things that do have token values, though...] 

Looking through her inventory, she couldn't find much that was expensive *and* wasn't being used. 

[... I kinda sold everything I had so I could get my internet service. Is there...?] 

One item did come to mind, after a while. 

[Lia's daggers. How much do they cost again?] 

At this moment, the blades were in Erin's personal inventory. So, Neve got off her chair and walked outside. 

She found the lamia sitting on a bench, staring up at the stars above. 

Neve made her way over to the lamia. 

"Hey, Erin, can I see those daggers I gave you a while back?" 

"Certainly?"

Erin pulled them out of thin air, holding them out in front of Neve. 

Taking the weapons, Neve saw: 

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}

[Oh!] She thought. [That reminds me. I still have her clothes too... If you can even call them clothes.] 

Bloodstained Rags

{Unique}

{Clothing}

{Class Req: None}

{Lia's clothes. Reduced to nothing but rags, this outfit is so worn out that it is impossible to tell what she'd been wearing originally.}

{Effect: Wearer is 15% more persuasive} 

{Val: 15000 WST}

For a moment, Neve started at the effect Lia's clothes had. 

[Right, this makes me more "persuasive", which is a bit vague but whatever.] 

With these items in front of her, Neve thought about sacrificing them. 

[Ah... Honestly, I'm a bit reluctant. The effect on the daggers is insane. 50% bonus damage with no cooldown on critical strikes is crazy. And, when it comes to Lia's clothes, who knows? At some point, I might have to talk an NPC out of a fight or something. Kinda like what happened on the 6th Floor, with Lam's dad, though I didn't even try to calm the guy down back then.] 

For now, she simply put the items back in her Inventory and pushed the matter out of her mind. 

[I've got 24 hours to think about what I want to sacrifice anyway. It's fine.] 

"Alright," Neve said. "Erin, we're going to get back to practicing in a little bit. Let me just set some things up." 

"Understood." 

Neve went into her Inventory and grabbed her laptop, along with a camera and some other minor necessities. After putting together a barebones streaming setup, and changing back into the Angel Set, she went live while Erin stood behind her, not bothering to put out any type of announcement beforehand. 

And yet, the instant her stream started, she had a few hundred viewers regardless. 

This level of attention made her slightly uncomfortable. 

[... You're doing this to pay Charlotte back. Just push through it. It's fine.] 

Seeing her own image through the streaming app, she saw how Erin watched her with great curiosity but kept quiet. 

"Um, I'm making it so that people can see us train. That's all," Neve told her. 

Neve glanced at the chat. 

b00bs: hello

rinstain10: NEVE

nevesfutamilk: is that a monster? 

slingshot: BEHIND YOU!!!!!!!!1

[... Just ignore them.] 

With everything set up and good to go, Neve turned around. 

"Okay, let's-" 

Erin had closed the distance in a flash. 

"AGH!" 

Neve grunted as she ducked under a claw swipe. Hopping away, she brought out her staff and her holy blade. 

"Erin? What the hell!?" 

"Do you think an enemy will wait patiently for you to prepare yourself? For you to be good and comfortable before the fight starts? Of course not," Erin said with a smirk. "Now, stop acting so shocked and-" 

Neve cast {Fireball} at her. 

Erin dodged it with a simple lean to the left, watching the flaming sphere fly past her head. 

"That was-" 

Now, she was cut off as Neve ran at her. 

Swinging her blade in the practiced motions the lamia herself had taught her, Neve tried to land a hit. 

"You cheeky brat," Erin told her with a smile before slamming her tail into Neve's back, pushing her forward, and sending her to the ground. 

The wind was knocked out of Neve's lungs. She was pretty sure she heard something crack, as well. 

Just in case, she raised her staff up and healed herself. 

Erin helped her get up to her feet, with those two draconic gauntlets. 

She gently shoved Neve back and took up a fighting stance. 

"Well then, your highness, are you prepared to fight now? Must I wait for you to have your tea first?" 

"Are you talking from experience? You're the royal one here," Neve replied. 

"Ah, indeed, you are correct. Let me show you, then, how a princess handles a runt like yourself~" 

Neve raised a brow. 

[Okay, she's talking trash now. Is she having fun?] 

Her answer came in the form of Erin making her way over to Neve's position, trying to slap her head off. 

Some time passed. Neve lost track of the hours as she got more and more invested in the training session. 

Their Endurance allowed them to go on for so long. That was something Neve had noticed yesterday. She couldn't actually remember the last time she was genuinely exhausted. At least, in a way that didn't come from a lack of sleep. 

Once the clock on Neve's HUD hit 10:00 pm, Neve's body began to feel more sluggish. 

With dozens of little scratches here and there on her body, Neve raised a hand and ended the session. 

"I think that's enough for today." 

Erin, who carried far fewer injuries, nodded. 

Neve healed herself. 

"That was rather enjoyable," Erin said with a big grin. "You know, you're not nearly as stiff anymore. I like it. Good job." 

"... Thanks." 

Neve turned and walked over to the laptop, remembering that she needed to end her stream. 

As she did, she looked at the chat and found the following: 

[Huh? Why is everyone spamming "BOOBS"? What the...?] 

Neve glanced down at herself. 

[Oh.] 

She hadn't noticed it but...

Well... 

The Angel Set was not exactly the most durable piece of clothing out there. That never really mattered, most of the time, as, the way armor worked, a piece of armor's condition was instantly refreshed as it was swapped in and out of the Inventory. 

This was why Neve's Angel Set, and previously her Priestess Robes, hadn't been reduced to literal threads despite all of the awful things that had happened to her. 

It wasn't really something that mattered, though. Or, something Neve kept track of. In this world, the only person who could gawk at Neve for her lack of modesty on days when she forgot to refresh her outfit's condition was Erin. And, Neve just wasn't terribly affected by the thought of Erin seeing more of her skin than usual. 

Right now, though, there were over a hundred thousand people watching her. 

A hundred thousand people who, as Neve looked at herself on the streaming app, were seeing her Angel Set fighting for its life to keep Neve's boobs from spilling out completely. 

Neve's jaw hit the ground. 

Her eyes went from the image of herself to the number of viewers and then back to the image of herself. 

Then, as quickly as she could, she ended the stream. 

"Hm? Neve?" 

Erin must have felt something change as her tone dropped its earlier mischievousness. 

Neve stood there for a second, frozen. 

In her mind, she could see cameras flashing all around her. 

[... Oh,] she thought, as she subconsciously covered her chest with one of her arms, [I'm seriously not over that. Fuck.] 

Turning around, she walked over to Erin. 

"It's nothing," she said. "Uh, hey, how about we train a little more?" Neve asked, with twitching hands. 

Erin shrugged. 

"Sure." 

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