The Lone Healer-Chapter 222: The Aftermath, Part Six

"Hm... I’m sorry." Neve said.

Elena had just finished telling her about everything that happened over the course of the last year and a half. How she lost her family like so many others, how she was tasked with protecting her brother, how she failed.

"I-It’s okay," Elena replied, with her head low. "But... I don’t know if I have it in me to fight monsters directly anymore. I-I just... Just thinking about it makes me start shaking."

Even to her own ears, she didn’t sound like someone who was fit to be heading into dungeons, much less being part of a guild.

Neve didn’t say anything mean to her, though, like Elena worried she would.

For a little while, she didn’t say anything.

"Am I out?" She asked. Even to her own ears, she sounded like an injured cat.

However, Neve finally responded.

"No," she shook her head. "I’ll think of something else that we can do. Go home and get some rest, for now."

That wasn’t very inspiring to hear.

But, Elena took Neve at her word, hoping her application to this guild hadn’t yet ended.

Of course, she’d failed to mention the part where she didn’t have a home to return to.

Her home had been literally burned down by monsters when the Unity Trials began, and she hadn’t yet earned the tokens to buy another one. She didn’t think she would anytime soon either.

So, Elena kicked rocks as she walked away from the school-turned-guild hall, wondering what exactly she was supposed to be doing with her life.

She wasn’t left waiting for long, though.

Just a couple of hours later, as the sun rose to the center of the sky, she got a call.

"Hello?"

"Elena?" The scout recognized Neve’s cold voice instantly, and yet the lady still added, "it’s Neve."

"O-Oh, uh, hi," Elena responded, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.

"I have something for you. Head to this place," Neve told her before Elena received a notification on her phone. "So we can finish that assessment."

"Now?"

"Whenever you want," Neve replied. "I’m already there. I’ll wait."

"I-I’ll be right there!"

Neve hung up and the scout began half-walking, half-jogging to the place on her map.

All the while the few people she saw in the streets, some walking absent-mindedly, some helping to clean the remaining dead bodies off the side of the road, some standing in line and waiting to order a hotdog or a sandwich at a food stand, all looked like they had a little bit more energy than usual.

As Elena arrived at the spot, she found Neve standing in front of a portal. This one was nowhere near as massive as the one she’d walked out from on the day she finished the Final Challenge, but still carried a minor sense of danger.

"Hey!" Elena greeted her from afar, arriving at her position and having to take deep breaths as just that small amount of exercise had exhausted her. "I-I hope I- holy crap," she struggled to speak from how out of breath she was.

"Take your time," Neve told her.

Thankful for the opportunity, Elena dry-heaved for a little while longer before she could finally speak normally.

"Uhm, hey," she said, "what are we...?"

"We’re going to clear a dungeon," Neve said. "An actual dungeon."

"..." Elena’s eyes just about bulged out of their sockets. "B-But, this is a white dungeon... You’re level 92."

"Indeed," Neve replied. "If I walk into this dungeon, what’ll happen is that I’ll have my level reduced to the dungeon’s maximum allowed amount. That being level 10." She pointed at it lazily. "I’ll take the role of the carry, you play the part of the support. It shouldn’t be too hard," she shrugged. "We can walk out at any time and I can see what you can do without you having to fight anything. Sound good?"

Honestly, as sweet a deal as it was, Elena struggled to accept it. She knew some people would probably kill for this offer, of course. Going on a casual dungeon run with "Miss Saved The World" herself. But, Elena couldn’t help but wonder what would happen the moment they came across a monster.

The chances she’d freeze again were so high. But, she couldn’t deny the opportunity. She still needed to find a way to get some food in her stomach, and getting accepted into this guild was simply the fastest way to do that right now.

"Okay," she finally said after a while. "Sounds good."

"Alright. Accept my party invitation."

"Uh, right, hold on."

A little while later, the two of them were standing in front of the portal with a message hovering over Neve’s head.

Level 10

Players: 2/4

Are you sure you want to enter this dungeon?

{Yes} {No}

Neve tapped yes and the two of them stepped in, with Elena feeling a cold wind passing over her heart.

The location they appeared in smelled so bad Elena reached up and covered her nose with her hand. Neve had no such reaction, strangely.

They had arrived at a swamp that was nearly pitch-black. A violet moon hung over their heads as Elena looked around, trying to find the path forward. All she saw was muck and drooping, slimy-looking trees, though.

Even the minimap made it seem as though this place was just this one, big swamp with secret rooms or paved paths.

[Where are we-]

"Yeah, my level’s lower," Neve said, interrupting Elena’s thoughts. "Should be fine, though."

Elena looked up over Neve’s head.

Level 10

MP: 100/100

"A place like this will have some pretty scary monsters in it. You can stay as far back as you want, though. As long as you can still use your abilities, of course."

Elena breathed a subtle sigh of relief.

"I-I understand."

"Good. Let’s get started, then."

Neve walked forward so quickly that if Elena hadn’t followed her immediately, she worried she would have gotten left behind. Without hesitation, she descended from the small hill they’d been standing on and moved into the black, grimy water. Elena followed her, trying not to gag.

Trying to get her mind off this scary atmosphere, Elena asked:

"Have you ever been in a place like this?"

"Nope, never," Neve answered. "Hm... This looks like a good spot. How about you use that {Lesser Aura Detection} ability of yours?"

"Sure."

Raising one hand in the air, Elena activated the spell. A few distant figures appeared, marked by blue silhouettes.

All of them had a closed-eye symbol over their heads, which Elena took to mean that they hadn’t yet been spotted.

She pointed at them.

"Uh, two there, one there, and one over there," she said.

"Okay. Let’s go for the closest ones first. The map doesn’t say where the boss is. Do you know how those kinds of dungeons work?"

"Not really."

"Yeah? Well, me neither," Neve shrugged. "Are you ready to get started?"

Elena was slightly put off by the fact that Neve, apparently, took her to a dungeon she was clueless about, but the look on Neve’s face, all but telling her to hurry up and answer, made Elena go:

"Y-Yes."

"Good. Let’s move."

Walking toward the closest nearby enemies, the two of them found a couple of odd monsters walking in circles.

One was a slug, slowly dragging itself through the muck, the other was a creature that resembled an overgrown lobster, walking on two legs.

As they approached them, Neve pulled an item out from her Inventory.

She handed Elena a small knife, the same dim silver color as her own hair.

Silver Dagger

{Lesser}

{Weapon}

{Class Req: Assassin path}

{Val: 100 WST}

"If everything goes according to plan, you won’t need this. But, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared."

Elena stared at the weapon and then slowly, hesitantly, nodded.

Without another word, Neve began walking right over to the two opponents.

She did so holding only a golden sword in her hands. Elena was surprised, as she hadn’t known healers to be able to use such a weapon.

The lobster-like opponent saw Neve approaching and roared. Well, it looked like it was trying to roar. The sounds that actually came out from its mouth were more like furious clicking noises.

Its aggressive behavior was turned defensive quickly, though, as Neve ran up and cut it across the stomach.

The slug then reached her and the healer was forced to move away in hopes of not getting hit from behind.

Elena wasn’t even involved in the fight, and yet she could feel herself unable to move. If a third enemy appeared, it would undoubtedly be the end for her.

It didn’t seem as though this fight would last long enough for that to be a worry, however. Elena had spaced out for just a couple of seconds and the next time she looked up, both monsters were already bleeding heavily, from just a couple of shallow wounds.

Neve stood confidently amongst them. The aura of a hero, truly. It made Elena feel even worse about herself.

As the healer stood proudly like that, however, something happened.

The slug raised its head and shot a green glob at her.

Neve failed to react in time.

[Huh?]

Elena herself couldn’t believe it.

The instant she was hurt, Neve pulled out her staff from thin air and shot both monsters down with a couple of quick {Fireballs}.

It was so effortless that Elena had to wonder why Neve hadn’t done that in the first place. But, maybe she had simply been waiting for the girl to offer up any semblance of support in which case Elena had failed dramatically.

"Are you okay!?" Elena yelled out, jogging over to Neve’s position.

The healer looked at her own status, sighed, and then said:

"I got poisoned."

"O-Oh, uhm, do you have a Cure Poison-"

"Nope," Neve replied, cutting her off. "But, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Come on. Let’s keep going."