ABH - CH 36 - To Fuel A Flame

A/N: Hehehehheehe THREE CHAPTERS IN A DAY!!!!! Worship me for I am a God(dess). This puts us 13 chapters ahead <3

Chapter Thirty-Six

To Fuel A Flame

Rise of Winter, Week 5, Day 5

Freddie listened when her Skill tried to show her a new attack. It didn’t always tell her something. No. It was as if it were a mentor that came in and out of existence. A tilt here, a shift there. It was a red overlay of her own body, flickering into place before fading away after Freddie was able to catch a glimpse—even if Freddie didn’t catch a glimpse.

Maybe that was the nature of the Skill—fire came and went, light jittering and unsteady. It required oxygen to grow. What Freddie needed was more oxygen. 

She needed a martial attacker to go against. This mockery of a mageling just wouldn’t cut it. It simply scampered backward, extending its barrier as far as it could go before bringing it back close to its body so it could slip into the darkness. But Freddie was never far behind with another hit. She stalked it even in its retreat. Eventually, it retreated no more. 

Three more hits and [Fist of the Flame Monk] fell away. The redness of her vision lifted, and Freddie realized her hits had made contact with the goblin. The monster was no more, as dim light had returned to the hall. 

It was unfortunate that this goblin was of the world—its body reeked of sewage already, and Freddie didn’t want to sift through its corpse to find another mana pearl. 

With a heavy sigh, Freddie did so anyway. This time, she looked around the hallway first—checking for any other stray goblins. She didn’t see anything, and so she lined her palm with fire and pulled out the pearl with ease. It was growing routine, locating the mana pearl. After nearly a dozen of the corpses, she hoped it would be. 

Freddie debated what to do with the corpse. She could drag it to the pit. But—why? The thing could rot here for all she cared. She had no need to rest, not yet, and so she turned and began walking back down the hall she’d apparently come from. It was a dozen feet or so before she met a junction. It was still lit, and Freddie recognized the drops of her own blood on the ground. 

As she peered down at the crimson and gold puddle, Freddie sighed. 

[Regenerate]

Freddie felt relief flood her as her knees released their tightness, as the back of her head stitched itself together, as her ears finally stopped ringing. 

It took several minutes, but the time flew by without the sharp aches and pains Freddie had inherited from her grandfather. As she healed, Freddie looked over the latest combat report—it had gotten her marginally closer to Level 13, but [Sparkler] and [Bright as a Flickering Flame]had leveled to six, and [Fist of the Flame Monk] had gotten to level two.

Looking around the hall, there were two paths—one that led to more darkness and one that led back to more light. Freddie figured the former was the path onward, and so she turned right and headed out. 

[Sparkler]

Approaching the darkness found another fork in the road—one headed left and the other forward. Or, to Freddie, because it was on that side of her body, right. Which was good enough for her to pick it. She’ll keep going right until the end. 

Stepping closer to the center of the hall, Freddie continued. It was ten paces, then the hall curved further right. Another fifteen, and it curved right again. 

Whirr.

“Ugh, why?” Freddie whined. “Just leave me alone.”

Even as she rushed forward, beelining toward the barrier at the edge of the light, she didn’t bother to hide her frustration. It didn’t matter. Goblins wouldn’t understand anyway. 

Once again, it was a series of smashing through barriers with feet and fists until Freddie could get a hold of the Yellow Goblin and crush its windpipe—and, admittedly, probably its neck. Freddie was reasonably sure it was the neck bit that caused them to die so fast. 

As the blood evaporated, Freddie grabbed the mana pearl as it rolled away and toward a box.

Seeing as none of the boxes have been mimics—yet—Freddie stepped back. Then she nudged the box with the toe of her boot. When no eldritch horror-type tentacles appeared, Freddie nodded and popped open the box. Within was a tweed bag the size of her head, and holding it up it felt uniformly heavy. Freddie lowered the bag back down, after raising it to make the size comparison, and untied the rough rope holding it closed. 

Peering into it, Freddie furrowed her brow. 

“Dirt?”

[Inspect]

[Listrain Soil, Tier 1, Uncommon]

[Soil from the swamplands. It is a neutral acidity and retains moisture when potted. Used to raise crops.]

“...” 

Freddie stared at the soil for a long moment, then thought back to the very first item she’d found. The gloves that helped with gaining [Gardening] and other related Skills. 

“Is this dungeon telling me to get a hobby or something?”

Grumbling to herself, Freddie was forced to acknowledge she couldn’t just carry a sack of soil around the dungeon. She’d have to go back for her bag. Reminding herself that a few minutes was nothing in the grand scheme of things, she decided no, actually, that was too long. 

[Running]

That made quick work of the hall. Freddie thought smugly, her mouth twitching into a smile as she jogged up to her bag—hidden under the table where the four Red Goblins had been milling wheat the day before. This time, when Freddie went into her bag she did unpack the potions and put them on top. It was annoying because it required her to remove the boxes of flour, but Freddie knew that one day her bad habits would come back to bite her. 

Tiltham had done her best to make sure Freddie was aware of that. 

Pulling her bag over her shoulder, she decided to stick it closer to the next instance of magical darkness. Jogging back to the last hallway, she curved right and headed to the end of the hall where—

“Oh, gross,” Freddie gagged, forgetting about the corpse. “Never mind that then, I’ll do it by the soil box.”

Covering her mouth, she carefully made her way down the hall, listening for the distinct whirr of the jaundiced mages. Instead, she heard silence. Glorious, wonderful silence. Silence meant there were no goblins waiting in the darkness—probably. 

So, she made her way through the curling hall and dropped her bag. 

Checking her reserves, Freddie was almost out of mana—which made sense. She had been keeping [Sparkler] running and using [Quick Fight] liberally. But, really, Freddie had felt the most drain when using [Fist of the Fire Monk]. The new Skill seemed to be an inefficient energy hog.

Thus, when Freddie got back to the next hall of darkness, she had no choice but to rely on her senses and the wall. Slowly, Freddie walked further into the dark. As her sight left her, she searched for breathing, or scraping, or any sound at all. 

28 wasn’t the best Perception, but it sure wasn’t nothing. It was better than any 1st Tier [Common] Class could hope to get. And, depending on the attribute progression, better than a few [Uncommon] Classes. 

But still, she heard nothing. And, suddenly, the sound of silence wasn’t as comforting as it had been. 

Does it muffle distant sounds? I didn’t notice before, but I’ve only ever heard the goblins once I cleared the room before them. Is this one room? More? What is hiding—

Lost in thought, Freddie gasped when the wall she was following ended abruptly, her hand gripping nothing but air. She stepped backward, searching for her grip again. Finding the cool stone, the tension in her shoulders released slightly. Freddie stepped closer to the wall, reaching out with her other hand to search for an edge. Fortunately, it seemed that the hall simply had an extremely sharp turn. 

Following the wall once again, Freddie turned with the stone this time—being sure not to leave her only anchor behind. 

As she moved forward, she began to smell the familiar scent of vegetation. Still, she heard no sound. Stepping forward, Freddie led with her palm. 

[Inspect]

[Magical Darkness, Tier 1, Rare]

[A darkness made of mana.]

[Crafted by: Dungeon M283]

Irritated Freddie continued on. She hated the dark.

As she did, her palm brushed something cold and, almost, wet. Freddie recoiled. Or, she would have, if a vine had not wrapped itself around her arm. 

Startled as she was, Freddie jumped—and at the same time, she felt more vines wrap themselves around her legs and drag her into the mass of vegetation in front of her.

It was with an annoying realization that she was being taken in by a Vanda Vine that Freddie started trying to tear the vines off of her—only, this time, they weren’t breaking. And Freddie was falling. 

[Fire Step]

Freddie summoned a platform of flame, only to feel its heat as she fell next to it. 

[Fire Step][Fire Step][Fire Step]

In an attempt to catch herself again, Freddie called the platforms to be beneath her in a row. But the force at which she was falling meant her Strength worked against her—she broke through the row of platforms and was unable to catch herself. 

Her heart pounded, her blood rushing to her ears. 

Spikes! Vanda Vines have spikes!

Trying to grip the vines at her ankles that were forcing her fall, Freddie used [Fire Step] as many times as her mana allowed. It turned out: that was only three. And she shattered each, one by one by one. 

Trying to turn sideways as she felt the wind brush back up at her, Freddie was trying desperately to not get stuck. 

It was not to be. 

Freddie found herself quickly, and brutally, hitting the ground, a sharp pain shooting through her thigh. 

Trying to use [Regenerate], Freddie felt the drain on her mana stop—there was no more magma left to fuel it, just a growing headache and the sensation that the world was off kilter. 

In the darkness, somehow, Freddie caught sight of a glittering gold. 

Blood. 

My blood.

So. Much. Blood. 

That was when Freddie started screaming.