ABH - CH 38 - Ogon, The Light in the Dark

A/N: 16 Chapters ahead oh yeahhhhh, we get closer to 21 every day!!!

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Ogon, The Light in the Dark

Rise of Winter, Week 5, Day 5

“Ogon,” the flame hummed, and the heat around Freddie intensified, “I like it. It wields power. I accept.”

Taking a deep breath, she let the warmth envelop her, let sweat prickle her neck. She basked in the way the humid air stung her throat and lungs as the air circulated through her. A hot breeze ran across her freshly healed wound, and she tightened her palms into fists. 

“Ok,” Freddie said, her voice rough, “enough tears. Enough wallowing. Just. Enough.”

Feeling within herself, Freddie tried to focus on the magma in her veins, on the way her mana flowed. 

“Ogon, how did you get here?” She asked, trying to distract from the distinct emptiness of her magic. 

“You called me here, of course,” Ogon said, and as he spoke the heat in the air moved sporadically, causing a breeze to form. “You didn’t want to be alone, now or before. And so I came to be.”

“Ah. The Elementalist.” Freddie huffed, humorless, before musing, “A creator at heart, huh?”

“You are a Young Lady of Flame, but flames require fuel to burn.”

“Yeah,” Freddie agreed. “Does that make you a fire spirit?”

“Mmm,” Ogon hummed, his voice chipper. The heat spinned around Freddie’s head, and suddenly she didn’t care so much that she was running on fumes. She wanted to see exactly what she’d called. 

[Sparkler]

Her magma spilled out her palm, and the micro-suns manifested in her open hand. The were small, no larger than a golf ball each, but they gave off enough light to see through the magical darkness. Freddie, while far from a scholar, was sure the Boon was actually funneling sparks of the suns. It had to be something to do with Divine light. Otherwise why would the darkness be broken by it?

Freddie brought her tired eyes toward where Ogon’s voice and warmth were coming from, and she found an ember. A flicker of flame floating, the same flicker she’d seen upon waking the past two sleeps. It bounced energetically around Freddie, the golden light never quite touching her. 

“You’re so small,” Freddie breathed. 

Immediately, the light dimmed, revealed an orange piece of ash. 

“I will grow.” His voice was small, unsure and Freddie brought her free hand up to reach for him. 

Ogon circled her fingers and an uncomfortable heat coated her. 

[Imbue Flame]

It was pushing it, using both Skills, but Freddie didn’t care. She didn’t care that she was running on empty—she wanted to be able to hold Ogon. 

“You are warmth incarnate.” Freddie couldn’t help but sigh as the ember landed on her fingertip. “You are perfect as you are, Ogon. But we will grow together. Or not at all.”

“Really? You aren’t regretting my name?” Ogon asked, hesitation hidden underneath the sound of crackling flame. 

Freddie nodded, quirking a lopsided smile as she spoke. “I said I wanted a light in the dark, someone to rely on. You can be that someone, even if you are a glorified spark.”

The ember lit back up, fire licking Freddie’s fingertip, before it darted into the air and circled her. 

“We’ll make a great team—watch this!”

As Freddie followed the flame with her gaze, Ogon floated up, landing on one of the vines that were keeping Freddie prisoner. As Ogon sat there, Freddie blinked. She could see the ember spreading and growing, could see Ogon’s flames expanding. 

The vine was writhing as Ogon drifted back to Freddie. 

“Can you do that to all of them?” Freddie asked, measuring her voice in a way she so rarely did. Whether it was exhaustion softening her, or a desire not to insult the flame she had named, Freddie wasn’t so sure. 

“Yes! I’m very good at lighting fires!”

Rolling her eyes, Freddie huffed. “How could you know that? You’re like a day old.”

“I just do.” Ogon hummed, lighting another vine aflame. “See? I’m very skilled.”

“You’re brilliant, Ogon, now do it to the rest of them. It’s time to show off. Prove yourself to me.”

Freddie didn’t have it in her to keep up [Imbue Flame] and [Sparkler] much longer, so she decided to drop [Imbue Flame]. Ogon’s heat wasn’t terrible, though the air was getting stuffy. She decided a few burns were worth it to have her sight.  

At that thought, Freddie glanced at the broken thorn, coated in her deep crimson blood—golden streaks decorating the spike. 

 [Inspect]

[Randa Vine, Tier 1, Level 8]

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

“[Uncommon], then. Just like the Yellow and Purple Goblins. No wonder I wasn’t able to rip the vines as easily.”

As ash began to fall from the vines, Freddie glanced around her. At the edge of the pit there were very few roots. Instead, there was a line of spikes just past the thorn Freddie had been impaled on. Above her, Ogon was jumping from vine to fine, lighting small fires everywhere he landed. Freddie could see the fire climbing up the vines and producing a pale yellow smoke. 

Don’t breathe in the yellow smoke, Freddie. That’s a bad move. 

Unwrapping her leg, Freddie shook out her jacket—already the pant leg of her outfit was beginning to repair itself. As she held the damp cloth up, she watched as her blood disappeared into the fibers. Slowly, the jacket ate away at the stains. Folding it around her head, Freddie covered her mouth. Hopefully that would stop the smoke. 

Poison would be bad. Please, do not be poison. 

Freddie rested her head back against the stone, letting [Sparkler] end. For the moment, there wasn’t much to do besides fall back into [Meditation] and continue to recover her mana. 

-

“Ha! Take that, foul beast!” Ogon shouted into the darkness. 

Freddie couldn’t see the fire, but presumably Ogon could as he was continually lighting more of them—she could tell because the smoke had grown thicker, and it was often accompanied by a shout from the fire spirit.  

As she had recovered, Freddie had decided to wait until she was near full of mana before running [Regenerate]. It was working slow. Freddie had activated it half an hour before, and had been focusing on her thigh. But the Skill had yet to ease the entirety of the pain—though it had healed enough for Freddie to make out a nasty scar that shined on her otherwise dark skin. 

“Ogon,” Freddie called, her voice sharp. “That’s enough.”

“Okay, okay,” the spirit grumbled, floating back to Freddie. The vines that had been in her immediate vicinity had long been eradicated. All that was left was for Freddie to make her way to the heart of the plant monster. 

[Fire Step]

Nearly full with mana, she stood, climbing up onto the fiery platform. As she stepped, a sharp pain shot through her leg, but Freddie ignored it. 

She had a dungeon to conquer.

Or, at the very least, a pit to escape and a bag to retrieve. 

Freddie decided, then and there, she would never leave her bag without also taking mana and health potions. She had pockets. All she had to do was try not to shatter the vials. And they were Nemo-made—surely they could withstand a few falls without shattering. 

Hovering over the roots and thorns below her, Freddie continued toward the center of the thicket. It was the only way to go, behind her was a wall and before her was darkness. The smoke stung her skin, and so she used [Imbue Flame] on her face and hands to protect from the heat. 

In one hand was [Sparkler] and in the other was a ball of flames dancing around her fingers. Ogon was fluttering by her side, looping around Freddie as she strode forward and ascended her [Fire Steps]. Ogon reminded Freddie more of a firefly than a spirit of flame, but either way.

She had a fight to finish.

Freddie was seeing red, rage and indignation filling her.

A plant had nearly been her end.

A plant.

As Freddie took another step, the heart of the Randa Vine appeared—its flowers a pale blue rather than the violet of the Vanda Vine. And the body of the monster was near double in size.

It didn’t matter, though. 

Freddie wasn’t planning on getting close enough for it to matter.

[Fire Conjuration+Fire Manipulation]

-

[Combat Report]

Skills Used in Combat:

  Inspect Lv. 6

  Imbue Flame Lv. 8

  Fire Manipulation Lv. 7

  Fire Conjuration Lv. 7

  Fire Step Lv. 5

  Sparkler Lv. 6

  Regeneration Lv. 7]

[Hostiles Defeated:

  1 Level 8 Randa Vine- Killed]

[Contribution: 100%]

[Level Discrepancy: 4 Levels Above Hostile]

[Overall Experience Modifier Adjusted for:

100% Contribution against Hostile

User Level Above Hostile]

[Post-Combat Results:

Skill Experience Applied to: Inspect, Imbue Flame, Fire Manipulation, Fire Conjuration, Fire Step, Sparkler, Regeneration.

Divine Experience logged due to: Regenerate

Divine Experience Evaluation: Approved.

Divinity Awarded.

Divinity Received: 2 Divinity.]

Freddie glared at the status screen for a long minute, even as Ogon darted around her enthusiastically.

“This is wrong,” she said eventually, her voice laced with the frustration that came from being unable to understand. “I shouldn’t have gotten a hundred percent contribution.”

Ogon was here, and he did damage. 

“What does your [Combat Report] say?” Freddie demanded of the spirit, her orange eyes sharp as she glared at Ogon.

The flickering ember paused at her question, floating in place.

“I… I don’t know.” Ogon said, his usually chipper voice laced with uncertainty. “What is that?”

“It’s the System notice that pops up after a fight, Ogon. Get it together.” Freddie clicked her tongue as she swiped away the report in front of her.

Gathering the blue and green swirling Mana Pearl from the remains of the creature, Freddie also grabbed some of the flowers and fallen petals from the main body of the Randa Vine. With the other plant monsters, they had simply evaporated into nothingness—but the [Uncommon] creature was of the world already. It was more than just a mana construct.

“Oh, hmm,” Ogon mused. “Then that’s an easy answer. I don’t have the System.”

The spirit was laughing as it spoke, and Freddie stopped what she was doing and smacked her forehead. “You don’t. Of course you don’t. You’re a spirit.”

“Silly Young Lady of Flame, you forgot, huh?”

Dragons, spirits, Gods, true fae. The list was small, but it was easy to forget that they didn’t possess a System. They were all rare to find in the wild, only appearing through a summoning circle—apart from the Gods that were typically locked to hallowed ground and the Divine Lands. 

Locked my rear end, Freddie growled in her head, thinking of Scylla’s descent. 

“Never mind that, I need to get to my bag. I need a real healing potion, and to clean the ash off my skin.”

[Fire Step]

Freddie climbed out of the pit, Ogon darting to catch up as she raced away from the scene of her slaughter. The last of the magical darkness had long since faded away, and Freddie knew better than to continue on in her state. Her leg was still weak, her magic unsteady, and [Regenerate] not working as fast as it once had. 

Even then, the aches in her knees of bursting fissures were present. It reminded her of her grandfather’s presence. 

As Freddie limped back to her bag, she sighed. “[Nemoan Protectorate].”

With the Nemoan lands spreading out before her, she watched her grandfather’s fast-moving light grow closer to the center of the map. Grow closer to her. She was not alone, not in this life. Not with her family—and, for now, Ogon. 

Turning into the alcove she’d left her satchel in, Freddie quickly flipped it open and grabbed a health potion—neatly labeled and with a swirling green and orange liquid within. Taking a swig, Freddie felt the itching of tissue, the pressure of muscle, bone, and sinew reforming, and she tightened her jaw to stop the yell threatening to escape. 

I’m not alone. No more whining. Just doing. Just cultivating power. Glaring at her bag, Freddie fought the urge to kick the dark leather. And no more leaving without at least a health potion in my pocket.