Sporemageddon

"The core's in the last room?"

Phillipe frowned. "I might have misspoken. The final room isn't the core room, but the penultimate one. The core room, being undefended and usually empty of anything worth gathering, is often not counted."

"Why not? It's still a room, isn't it?" I asked.

"Because some contracts pay delvers based on the number of rooms they've cleared. And since the core room never needs clearing, it could be used as a... bonus, of sorts."

Tyro chuckled. "A freebie."

"That didn't last long," Phillipe said. "But yes, for a while it was a way to charge a customer for one more room cleared, and oftentimes businessmen didn't inform themselves about the dungeon enough to know that they were being fleeced. But eventually word got around."

"Interesting," I said. Phillipe was always good for a bit of trivia. "So, one room, then the core. Should we get to it?" I wouldn't have minded a little break, but from the sounds of it we were going to be pressing through tunnels for the most part, and that was slow-going.

The room had several doors, but Phillipe led us to one opposite the stairs. It opened to a stone-walled corridor. "Tyro, stay close. I'll be showing you what to look for."

Phillipe had warned us earlier that this floor would have us mostly confined to a single space, and he wasn't wrong. The corridor seemed to go on forever. Initially it wasn't all that bad. Phillipe moved slowly, pointing out traps where he saw them. Then we slowed down when a trap went off that we hadn't seen. It involved a loose brick on the ground that somehow made a metal blade swipe out of the wall.

Phillipe caught the blade on the haft of his hammer, then he stepped back and allowed it to smack into the floor.

Whatever was giving it its torsion was quite strong.

"We'll have to be more careful," Phillipe said.

I couldn't disagree... but a glance over my shoulder showed that the door into this corridor was just a dozen metres behind, and it felt like we'd been at it for an hour or more already.

Soon enough, I started to work on my skills to keep myself sharp. We were moving at the kinds of speeds that would make a snail look quick, but it was necessary. It was just rather boring too.

I didn't know if it was my body's age that was causing me to be unable to focus or if I would have been bored regardless, but in either case, I couldn't afford to be too distracted.

So control exercises it was. I grabbed my [Aura of Growth] and pushed it out, trying to make something like a thin, narrow rope from the magic. That took a few dozen minutes to figure out. Then I started working on making a second, similar line next to the first. It wasn't easy. Controlling the aura this way was the magical equivalent of rubbing my head and stomach in different directions.

An hour later, I had figured it out, but I had to stop. My mana reserves were starting to run low, something I only noticed as I felt the edge of a headache pressing in on my temples. That was stupid of me. I might need that mana if we ended up in any sort of fight.

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On the other hand, I had pushed [Aura of Growth] to level seventy-five with nothing more than an hour's hard practice. That was something. On the surface it would take me a few days, maybe weeks, to push a skill's level up like that.

I paid more attention for a bit as I had nothing else to focus on. The boys were crawling forwards, sometimes literally, as they cleared out traps and checked for trouble.

Another hour passed, then another, and by then my gut was squirming and my feet were killing me. I wasn't sure how long we still had to go, so I settled down and prepared a light lunch from my supplies. Something to stave off the hunger and that the boys could eat without interrupting their work too much.

I caught up with the boys after I finished prepping our meal, then we ate while crouched around in the poorly lit tunnel.

Phillipe had brought out his and Tyro's lanterns. Light wasn't a concern in the immediate area around us, but it felt as if the tunnel swallowed anything past a certain distance.

"We're nearly there," Phillipe said. "Another hour or two."

I nodded along.

I wasn't looking forward to doing this again in reverse. Though by then most or all of the traps would be cleared. I couldn't imagine Phillipe just waltzing past though.

For the next bit, I returned to practising my [Aura of Growth] turning the aura into a pair of long stems. Then I practised my knitting by tangling the auras together. It didn't really work out as I imagined. The aura being made of magic didn't hold up as a rope or cord, it simply melded into itself. It was also mostly ephemeral, so there was no feedback or anything.

Not the greatest results but interesting all the same, and maybe it would help me in the future when I wanted to push my aura towards something with less waste. More efficient mana use would never be a waste.

Finally, after what felt like forever, we reached the end of the tunnel. We had crossed several doors along the way, but Phillipe hadn't paid them too much mind except to tell us to be quiet around them. This door was different. It was wedged into the back end of the tunnel.

"Alright," Phillipe said as he removed his backpack. "Gear check. We'll have to clear this one. We're not in a hurry, but keep in mind that we'll tire faster than any of the spiders do."

"So, run in and smash?" Tyro asked.

"I wish, but the spiders will be waiting in ambush, and most will be on the ceiling or in crevices." He stretched his shoulder, then considered. "We... don't have to clear the room, exactly."

"Oh?" I asked.

"The passage to the core will be just to our left. It's relatively narrow. We could use it as a space to fight in. They'll either have to follow us into the open, or wait for us to return."

"I'd rather fight with walls to my sides and nothing behind me," Tyro said.

"Likewise," I replied.

Phillipe nodded. "Very well then. We're leaving our things here. Unless there's anything you need to bring to the core room?" that last was obviously directed to me.

"I don't think so, no," I said. "I'll bring my satchel, just in case."

"That's fine," he said.

Tyro shucked off his own backpack and set it next to the doorway as well. "Will this be safe?" he asked. Updates are released by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩

"Nothing here can grab it," Phillipe said. "And we'll close the door behind us to stop the spiders from poking at it anyway."

"Alright," Tyro said.

"One last thing," Phillipe said. Then he pulled out a blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders like a shawl. He even looped it up around his head, creating a hood. "Grab yours and do the same," Phillipe said. "If a spider lands on you, it'll be easier to throw it off."

Well, I wasn't going to refuse anything that would make me less appetising to the giant spiders next door.

"Ready?" Phillipe asked.

"Yeah," Tyro said.

I pulled my knife out and checked my mana. I was ready to cast [Blight] at the first thing to get near me. "I'm ready," I said.

"Then let's end this."

***