ABH - CH 25 - Trapped

A/n: The start of the dungeon dive <3

Chapter Twenty-Five

Trapped

Rise of Winter, Week 5, Day 4

An unnatural darkness surrounded Freddie, but it was only for a moment. Because as soon as it overcame her, it dispersed into the shadows of a poorly lit room. 

Freddie, however, felt no better for the dim light that was coming from the portal before her. And, thus, she tried to run back through it. That was how dungeons worked. You can leave at any time —so long as you’re capable of getting back to the entrance. 

She pushed with the entirety of her body, but she was unable to go through the entrance. So, she pounded her fist against the red-tinted portal, hoping her Strength would make a difference. 

[Running]

[Quick Fight]

She tried to force her way through at higher speeds, with greater force. 

It didn’t make a difference. 

“Tiltham!” She cried. 

What is that hag going to do to them?! Freddie thought frantically, Because of me. Because I exist. 

She screamed and howled and yelled for the Knight Captain, again, and again, and again, until she sank down, her arms around her knees and the back of her head pushing against the sealed portal. 

Her voice was hoarse when she finally focused on the [System Notice] begging for her attention. 

[Hello, Challenger! Welcome to Dungeon M283! May you thrive.]

[You have entered the First Floor of Dungeon M283. Please greet The Welcome Committee.]

[NOTICE: The entrance has been sealed. Please defeat Dungeon M283 in order to exit.]

“What is the welcome committee?” Freddie wondered aloud, dismissing the notices. 

That was when she looked at the room around her. Behind her and to her sides were stone walls, and above her was a tall stone ceiling. It was what was across from her that confused her. From the ceiling, roughly ten feet away from where she sat, was a densely packed wall of vines. They drooped from the ceiling and curled at the floor. 

That cannot be good, Freddie sighed. 

“I’m not stupid,” she grumbled, pulling her satchel over her head and opening it. “I need to know what I’m working with before I anger the probably murderous vines.”

The small bag had a spacial enchantment on it that Tiltham had tried to explain to Freddie, only for the girl to tune her out.  All Freddie needed to know was that it was enchanted and what said enchantment did —in this case, it was preserve potions and hold an obscene amount of items. 

Freddie began pulling out and organizing everything. She lined up the different bags of travel jerky and water skins, then carefully pulled out the different kinds of potions —each labeled clearly and a distinct color. As Tiltham had warned her, there was no tent, but a half dozen changes of clothes, the same black outfit she was currently wearing. There were several different kinds of weapons that Freddie had been forewarned she’d be learning with and blank monster manuals, which were just black notebooks with squares to doodle the image of the monsters and several pages of questions for each entry. 

After counting it all out, Freddie knew she had enough food and water to last her for months. She had piles of Quick Wash and True Clean potions, roughly enough for a month. Two if she only used them every other day. She had similar piles of Regenerative Potions —mana and health, Disinfectants, and General Antidotes. Unfortunately, she would still have to be careful about how she used such potions. Freddie had no idea how long she would be in the dungeon, how deep it went, or if it was even possible to clear it. In the worst case, if the gap in levels grew to be too intense, which Freddie knew was uncomfortably likely, she would have to spend her days hiding and waiting for outside help. 

If they even could help.

It was a Goddess who sealed the dungeon, after all. 

“I’m going to kill that damn Goddess,” Freddie ground out, frustrated. 

She looked suspiciously at the vine wall again and decided she would have to wait for her revenge. If she wanted to kill a Divine, it would require her to escape ‘Dungeon M283’ first. 

Freddie began gingerly repacking her bag, careful to keep everything organized in the different enchanted pockets within the satchel. It had taken her roughly an hour to count everything and put it back up, and it made her antsy that the dungeon entrance was still sealed. If help was coming, it would take time. And the dungeon wanted her to start.

Well, who was she to make the thing wait?

Freddie took a deep breath and stood up, untying her cloak and folding it. She had needed it on the trek in, but the dungeon was warm, almost muggy. It went in as the final piece to fill her satchel. 

Freddie stomped a single boot on the ground, listening to the solid thump that resounded. She twirled a dagger in her hand. 

[Imbue Flame]

Magma filled her veins, the heat of her mana rushing to her hand and the sharp blade. 

[Fire Conjuration+Fire Manipulation]

Hot, white flames erupted from the dagger, lining the blade and illuminating the entry to the dungeon in a flickering fluorescent light. 

Freddie stepped forward, getting a hair's breadth away from the vines before swallowing thickly.

Then she jumped back. 

“Inspect, you idiot,” Freddie swore under her breath, “[Inspect].”

[Vanda Vine, Tier 1, Level 6]

[A carnivorous plant with the ability to ‘jump.’ They are known to dig pits and line the bottom with their roots and thorns, using their vines to hide such traps.]

Freddie glanced down at the floor, crouching down to lay flat across the stone. She army crawled her way to the vine wall, peering into the dense foliage. As she swung her dagger across the wall, nipping several tips of the vines, she saw exactly what [Inspect] told her to beware of. A pit, just a foot further into the vine wall. 

Freddie didn’t have long to look at the fall though, because the Vanda Vine was lurching towards her, the tips of the plant lit aflame. Freddie scrambled backward, attempting to get out of the reach of the vine. 

She almost made it, too. 

But the Vanda Vine wrapped itself around Freddie’s wrist, freezing Freddie in place. A rage burned deep within Freddie, then. How dare this—this—this plant, touch her. She wasn’t afraid of something so weak. 

And then, Freddie pulled. 

She used every ounce of her 56 Strength and, flipping her wrist around and gripping the vine, she stepped backward. Freddie could feel her muscles tense, could hear the rough tearing sound coming from above, and then the vine she was holding fell straight down from the ceiling. Quickly, Freddie began rolling up the vine, even as it tightened around her wrist. It didn’t quite hurt—because the vine wasn’t strong enough to break through her Vitality, but it wasn’t pleasant to have it constricting around her. As the vine grew taught, Freddie swiped it with her blade, severing it from the main body, lighting both sides aflame. On instinct, she patted down the vine she was holding, attempting to smother the flames. After several seconds, it finally went out.

The Vanda Vine in her hand immediately began to shrink, as if dehydrating in her hands. Between one breath and the next, a black miasma was being spat out by the desiccated vine, encasing it entirely. The miasma had a green sheen to it that Freddie had never seen before —but Freddie had been thoroughly educated. So she knew that meant she should expect a mana pearl instead of a corpse. 

“Well,” Freddie said, a grin forming on her face, “That makes this interesting. How many vines will it take to collapse the colony?”

Freddie extinguished the flame on her dagger, opting for simply cutting the vines away—after she’d pulled them down. The room went back to being dimly lit, and Freddie was put on edge.

Gripping as many vines as she could fit her hand around, Freddie braced herself. And then she flexed her shoulders and pulled another four vines down, slicing them as soon as they grew taught. This time, the vine twitched for longer rather than shriveling up. 

Freddie blinked. 

Then she lifted her hand up to her face, looking over the plant, watching as it attempted to wrap around Freddie’s hand even after being severed. 

“It was the fire?” She said, exasperated. “Fine. Fine! I’ll use the fire.” 

Grumbling, Freddie felt her mana inside her. She still had almost all of it. The brief time she’d maintained the white flame had only taken a fraction of a fraction of her power. 

Magma filled her chest, and Freddie formed the intent for her Skills. 

[Fire Conjuration+Fire Manipulation]

As soon as the thought was formed, red flames shot out before Freddie, forming a massive fire ball. The crimson flames whipped out and attacked the vines. Freddie sent the flames at the ceiling, aiming for whatever grip they had loosening and them plummeting into the trap of their own devising. 

The fire began eating away at the vines, causing them to fall and shrivel. At first, it was one or two, then one or two dozen, and soon enough, it was dozens more—no, hundreds of vines fell in all directions, disappearing in the green-black miasma as they were severed from the main Vanda Vine. 

More and more came alight with the crimson flame until the wall of vines was filled with fire. Freddie could not pass through it then, even if she wanted to. So, instead, she waited until the pit was revealed. It took several minutes before the flames had eaten enough of the Vanda Vine to reveal the drop below, but all Freddie had to do was wait it out and sure enough, she could see straight down into the pit. 

Rather than the greenery above, the pit was lined with brown roots on all sides and a thick layer at the base. In between the gaps in the roots were long, thin spikes that had a white liquid dripping from the tips. 

“Thorns?” Freddie huffed, “More like lances, good Gods.”

Freddie, disturbed and interested both, kept peering into the pit until she saw a splash of green. Focusing in on it, Freddie noticed that both vines and roots were attached to the protruding greenery —as well as several purple flowers that looks much like orchids from elsewhere. The flower and stalk were pressed up against the far wall and perched on something wooden. 

Leaning further toward the pit, Freddie caught a glimpse of metal. 

“The plant is on a treasure chest,” Freddi gasped.

As the Vanda Vine continued to burn above her, Freddie sent a controlled burst of flame below her, aiming immediately below where she was peering into the pit. 

As the roots burned, Freddie stood up and cast [Fire Step], creating several platforms down to the bottom of the trap. It took two casts to get to the base, but Freddie could maintain several platforms simultaneously. Not to mention that they were strong enough to hold her even if she jumped since passing the First Threshold of Divinity. 

Stepping down from [Fire Step], Freddie felt the heel of her boot sink into the ground. Surrounding her were the roots, slowly being eaten away by flame. With a swipe of her hand, Freddie gathered the fire in front of her and redirected it to behind her. Gingerly, Freddie tried to walk around the roots, only for one to shift towards her abruptly and cause her to yelp. 

She re-cast [Fire Step] after that and decided to simply walk over the roots. Freddie sent another burst of flame out to reignite the roots below her as a shiver went up her spine. 

“Creepy. Plant monsters are the worst.”

[Fire Step]

Freddie created a long walkway, using several different fiery platforms at the same level, and walked up to the main body of the Vanda Vine. 

The closer she got, the more beautiful she thought the flowers looked. 

It was a shame, really, that she had to destroy it anyway. 

The crimson light from the fires above and behind her gave the plant before her a beautifully demonic look, but once Freddie held up her blade and lined it with white flames, the bright purple of the flowers was prevalent. 

Still, Freddie began slicing the Vanda Vine’s roots and vines away from the main body. As she did so, they began shriveling up and coating themselves in the miasma indicative of mana constructs. 

“You’re not real, so even if I plucked one of your flowers, it wouldn’t matter,” Freddie sighed and plunged her dagger into the thick bulb at the base of the plant. 

Between one breath and the next, the Vanda Vine’s flowers fell, turning to dust before they hit the ground, and the rest of the plant dispersed with it.

Jumping down, Freddie dispersed the conjured flames —and checked her reserves. She still had a decent amount of mana. 

Where there was once the Vanda Vine was a small green marble with purple streaking in it. A Mana Pearl. Freddie pocketed it, sliding it into her satchel haphazardly. She’d find a place for it later. It was time for the chest. 

The treasure chest, Freddie thought dreamily, then flipped the latch and opened the wooden chest.

Inside the chest were two items: a small leather bag and a pair of black gloves with purple flowers embroidered. Vanda Vine flowers, Freddie recognized immediately. Opening the bag revealed two silver coins. Opening her satchel she found an empty pocket and placed the coins inside.

Freddie felt the System was attempting to deliver a [Combat Report], but she was uninterested for the moment and pushed it to the back of her perception. She’d look at it later. 

“[Inspect],” Freddie said, looking at the gloves. 

[Vanda Vine Gloves, Tier 1, Uncommon]

[Gloves crafted with Vanda Vine fibers and embroidered with Vanda Vine flowers. Meant to aid in the acquisition of the [Gardening] Skill and derivatives.]

[Crafted by Dungeon M283]

“Cool,” Freddie laughed, and the last of the Vanda Vine disappeared into nothingness. She looked up at the stone ceiling and decided it was time to see what else the dungeon had in store for her. 

[Fire Step]

Freddie climbed up out of the pit easily, satisfied that it had been so easy to defeat the Vanda Vine. Perhaps the whole first floor would be—

“Ow!:” Freddie hissed, bringing her hand up to her shoulder, where there was now a wooden stick protruding.

An arrow. 

Something had shot Freddie with an arrow. 

[Regenerate]