The Ruined Fortress of Roha Vala, Part Four

{Neve}

[How many fucking hits is it going to take me!?]

Neve hadn't bothered to keep count of how many spells it would take to defeat this mannequin, which was likely a poor choice looking back, but she guessed that the total number of {Waterballs} that had struck the creature had to have surpassed 15.

Possibly...

Maybe.

She probably should have kept track. She would not make that mistake next time.

Eventually, however, it finally happened! As yet another arrow bounced off the wall and added itself to the massive pile just ahead of Neve, she peeked over the railing and cast one final {Waterball}. Automatically, she went to crouch down again, but just before she did she saw the monster fall to pieces.

EXP Gained: 200

EXP: 250/230

Level Up!

WS Tokens Gained: 100

WS Tokens: 3550

Neve sighed, letting her head fall against the wood as the message floated above her head.

[I guess the one positive part of being severely under-leveled for all of this is that I'm leveling up fast. 3 kills, 3 levels. That's nice, I guess. I almost expected more EXP, though. I mean, the gap between us is pretty big. Maybe I can ask Tamira about how this stuff works later.]

Placing her next three Attribute Points into Endurance once again, and selling the archer mannequin's stuff, left her new status looking like this:

Level 24

MP: 330/330 (+50)

EXP: 20/240

Activity Points: 150

WS Tokens: 3750

---

Endurance: 14

Speed: 10

Precision: 15

Strength: 5

Arcane: 33

She'd only been through a single "fight" and yet Neve already felt like she could sleep for 12 hours.

[Hey, I can finally move past the first room. Awesome! And, it only took, what, an hour? Half? Whatever, let's just keep moving.]

There were two directions she could go, but with one hallway so close by, Neve knew where she wanted to venture through first.

If this was an actual game and she had unlimited lives, she'd probably head back toward that other door first, see if it led to some sort of treasure room or something, explore that section to its fullest, and then she'd come back and do the same here.

This was not a videogame, however. This was real life. And, that meant that she only had one chance at success, so, ideally, what she wanted was to find a straight path to the boss.

The hallway led to what looked like an old library. There were cobwebs, enough dust to clog her lungs completely, and hundreds of old books on shelves that looked like they'd break with one, light touch.

There was a skeleton sitting at a table wearing some scholarly robes and a few open books in front of him with no words written on them scattered throughout.

The orb over Neve's head from Candlelight faded away, and, Neve cast the spell again. It illuminated just enough of Neve's surroundings for her to see that she was not in immediate danger, but there could be more ranged-type mannequins up ahead.

Wondering if, perhaps, it was a player, Neve tried to see if she could search through the skeleton's inventory. It didn't have one, however. No inventory popped up as it would usually do whenever Neve got close to a fallen monster or player.

[Is this guy just cosmetic or something? Are the Forces That Be trying to set a mood?]

She kept her guard up the entire time as she walked through.

[... It's so eerie in here... What is this place, though?] Neve asked herself as she clutched her staff tightly. [Did the Forces That Be come up with this place? Am I in some alternate dimension or is this actually a location that exists somewhere? Are all of these books blank?]

There was a balcony at the other end of the library.

And, for her own sake, she really hoped that she'd just found that straight path to the boss.

That was not at all what she saw, however.

[No...]

She thought, as she walked to the edge of the balcony and looked over it.

[You've got to be shitting me. This is... This is optional, right?]

It was...

A platforming section.

There were floating blocks leading to floating buildings, none of which could be explained through conventional science or rational logic, but all of which were very clearly there, right in front of her. They showcased what could loosely be called "paths" to different places, the ominous structures that hovered in the distance.

The part about this that very much disheartened the healer was that far to the front, between all the other buildings, was one very big, very important-looking, castle-like structure.

One that may as well have been carrying a sign that said "the boss is here".

[I... Okay,] she stepped back from the balcony. [How about we go check that other hallway? Maybe there will be something important back there! Y-You never know, right?]

It was worth a shot.

So, she turned away and walked right back the way she came. The skeleton in this room felt like it was laughing at her as she moved through the room, went back to the entrance, made sure to walk over that trap from before, and went to the opposite set of stairs.

Here, she made her way through the other door and hoped that this section would reveal a more friendly path elsewhere.

What she found was a small, dark room with one black door on the other side.

[Yeah, this is probably the right path! All that stuff back there was probably just for the try-hards who aren't afraid of falling into lava for the sake of getting-]

She walked up to the door, placed her hand on the knob, and turned it.

The door refused to open.

{Key Required}

Neve blinked.

She let her head fall against the door, feeling its cold metal kiss her forehead.

"Of course."

---

Having made the walk of shame all the way back to the balcony, Neve anxiously paced from one side to another.

"H-Honestly, it doesn't even look that hard," she muttered. "The platforms are pretty big, too! Yeah, this... this is going to be easy! Hehe..."

Her shoulders dropped.

"Who the fuck am I kidding?" Her attempts at gaslighting herself were largely unsuccessful. "I have the coordination of a drunk monkey. I'm fucked."

Sweating profusely, all she could do now was look at the path of floating platforms and accept that her journey was probably not going to end with her looking into Thomas's eyes as she stabbed him in the gut, or with her dying at the hands of a monster, but rather with her slipping and falling into a sea of lava as a laugh track played over her while the Forces That Be cackled and howled, clapping at their screens as they watched.

[Don't look down. Just don't look down. That's what they always say in the movies, right? Just don't- *holy shit*, it's such a long drop.]

Swallowing, she prepared herself, staring at the first tile that floated just ahead of the balcony's edge.

[... Fine,] she thought, rubbing her palms and putting her staff away in her inventory. [Fine. Fine! I'll do it. Let's go.]

Finally, with a reluctant, spiteful heart, Neve jumped.

"AGH!"

She landed on one foot and nearly lost her balance.

Flailing, she managed to remain steady, however. Her first leap was a success.

But, this was just the first of many.

There were many platforms like this ahead of her and three different structures to search, if the one she was making her way to now did not have the boss inside of it.

She had a long way to go.

[... No, seriously, if that big building in the back isn't where the boss is, I'm going to be so sad. I will actually cry.]

For now, she could only go in one direction. Keeping her momentum, ignoring the trembling of her legs and hands, she hopped over to the next platform before she could convince herself not to.

Again, her landing was shaky, but she managed it.

Wiping away her sweat, Neve looked up at the path ahead.

[I can do this. Just get to that other building, try to find the boss, and get out before anything else has a chance to kill you.]

She swallowed, standing up unsteadily as she prepared herself for the next jump.

[All of the shit you're feeling right now, just bottle it up and put it in your fists. Use it to make punching the shit out of those low-level assholes that much sweeter.]

This was, without a doubt, one of the most stressful things Neve had ever done.

As the path ahead grew smaller and smaller with each jump, so too did the path back to the balcony where Neve had begun jumping from.

She glanced back. She had already gotten quite far from the balcony.

That meant that, at this point, she was completely committed.

And, unfortunately, the space between blocks was becoming wider.