A Dungeon’s Survival

Lawrence

“Stop,” Flur called out as she raised an arm up to block anyone from advancing, “something's different here.”

A wave of apprehension swept over me. I knew that Dungeons changed over time. This one had already become so different from how it'd been the day I first entered it with my master. It wasn't the changes themselves that bothered me. It was the new dangers they brought with them.

“There aren't any alchemical plants anymore or mana crystals,” I noted aloud.

I couldn't see far into the hall, the passage being much darker than normal without the light crystals present, but the lack of the plants that I always sought out wasn't something I could miss.

“We'll go slowly and play it safe. Expect it to be more dangerous than usual,” our leader's voice rang out through that unsettling grin of hers.

A shiver ran down my spine. I hated it when she got like that. Without fail, it always seemed to mean danger was close at hand, and I would soon be fighting for my life with all I had to give. It didn't take long for my fears to be proved justified.

Suddenly, our swordsman's shouted, “Dracos!” as wind from his swinging blade ruffled my hair.

I tensed. I hated those things. For some reason, they always seemed to target me, and this time was no exception. The corpse of one fell to the ground right behind me, split in two. The worst part was that I didn't have a good way to handle them, especially not in confined spaces like this. The only thing I had that worked was fire magic, but in a narrow passage filled with flammable plants, that wasn't an option.

“Lizard-Bait really is a fitting name for you, isn't it,” the man who had just saved me from taking an unfortunate tumble teased through a smirk.

It looked like they'd be using that nickname again for the rest of the day. I hated it, but as far as humiliating things they'd called me went, it wasn't actually that bad. Every time I messed up in an embarrassing way, I earned a new one, so in a way, it was a relief. If nothing else, my collection of unofficial titles wouldn't be growing on this delve.

With that thought, I sneaked a glance at Autumn. I wanted to see if she was laughing at me too, but the expression on her face was completely devoid of emotion. So too was the one that her brother wore. I gulped as I realized how tense the atmosphere was. If he wasn't joining in on the ribbing, it meant that I shouldn't be wasting my time thinking about such things.

Recomposing myself, I began scanning our surroundings as we slowly advanced. For a while, there didn't seem to be any Crystal Puffers present. That changed when a Horned Draco came flying toward us from ahead. As it neared, a blast of shadowy flames engulfed the passage in front of us, setting the roots and bramble alight. Flur cut the monster down, and I rushed forward.

Frantically, I reached into one of the pouches on my belt and pulled out a faintly glowing bead of light. I poured mana into it until I felt it reach capacity. I only had three seconds after that until the item fully broke down. Hurriedly, I tossed it into the magical fire. Then, it exploded into a burst of light that extinguished the flames before they could get out of hand.

Crossing the rest of the hallway was nerve-racking. The entire way, we had no idea when the next magical explosion would ring out or the when next winged lizard would swoop in. Somehow, it was worse than when the place was filled to the brim with magical weeds. At least when that had been the case, we had known what to expect. Now, there was no false sense of security to take comfort in.

A couple of tense encounters aside, we eventually made it to the end of the path. When we did, we were met with a bizarre sight. The room that had previously contained a dozen Crystal Puffers was now filled with grass and a small hill. In the center of it was a lone tree. Surrounding it were stalagmites rising from the ground. A faint glow illuminated the center of the room, but I couldn't immediately identify its light source.

“Now, that's a sight!” our leader cheered happily.

I couldn't help but to shake my head at that. There was a time and a place for that kind of thinking, but–

“Mm, it is pretty,” Autumn agreed with her.

Then again, I guessed I could kind of see where they were coming from.

I took a step forward to get a closer look, but a hand found purchase on my shoulder. I flinched at the sudden contact and turned on the spot. Lance was shaking his head at me and yanking me back.

“Your warped senses of aesthetics aside,” he spoke up, “you do realize that room is probably a death trap, right?”

“Of course it is,” our leader stretched out her words as she happily responded without missing a beat, “but you still have to appreciate the sights where you can. If not for that, what's the point in being an adventurer?”

Another chill ran down my spine at her words. The sheer gap between the way she outwardly acted and her deadly competence bothered me at times. I was never the best at understanding people, but something about it just felt wrong to me.

The other experienced adventurer in our party sighed at her antics before asking, “What's the plan?”

“I could head in first and lure out whatever's in there. Then, you all can back me up.”

“You didn't learn anything from what happened with that hole in the ceiling, did you?”

“Nope!”

* * *

Flur

My blood was pumping, heart racing, and anticipation mounting. I didn't know where the threats laid, but I was keeping an eye out for all of the suspicious areas as I entered the room. The ceiling was clear, but something could easily drop down from the hole up there. There were likewise small pits scattered about the ground that something could rise out of.

Then, there was the tree itself. Its leaves were swaying with a light breeze that didn't seem to have anything to do with the cave's natural wind flow. It wasn't moving in a way that implied a monsters were rustling around in its branches, but I wasn't going to dismiss the possibility.

I took step after step into the seemingly peaceful room as I drew my daggers. I waited for something to happen as a variety of scenarios ran through my head.

This is the perfect kind of place for a big fight. Will that snake make an appearance? What about that green draco? I never managed to confirm if it was a static monster, so it could also be the Trenti, or maybe, it'll be something entirely different.

My smile widened as the impending fight drew near, but even as I reached the halfway point to the tree, nothing happened. I stopped, my smile faltering for a moment.

No, it couldn't be, not in this Dungeon.

I had heard about certain spots in Dungeons that were completely safe. They usually came after some sort of large challenge, and they were used as resting spots between areas. This Dungeon didn't seem like the kind that would have something like that, though. It was too hostile and dangerous. Also, nothing in here was ever as it seemed.

Still, as I stood there, watching over all of the spots I had taken note of, I couldn't help but to frown. A pleasant breeze passed over my face, and I couldn't help but to think about just how picturesque the scene was. As much as it would be a disappointment for me if it turned out to be the case, I began to think it really was a safe place. Then, an attack came from an angle I hadn't been expecting.

I barely reacted in time as a stalagmite whipped toward me. It wasn't fast; it had just caught me off guard. I slid under it and rolled to my feet just in time to jump another impending blow.

This is supposed to be a plant and reptile Dungeon! What's a rock monster doing here?

It was common knowledge that Dungeons only had a couple types of monsters in them. That was why I hadn't even suspected that anything was up with the stalagmites. On top of them being a mostly normal sight in this Dungeon, it shouldn't have been possible for them to be monsters. They were made of literal stone.

My mouth fell slightly agape as I stared at the writhing, spiked, rock pillars. Upon closer inspection, they moved too fluidly to be made of stone, but more than that, they were a familiar sight. I wouldn't mistake those spiky appendages anywhere. I had nearly died to those things the first time I came here.

“Mutant Bloodthorn Vines!” I yelled out my observation to the rest of my team as I gritted my teeth.

As soon as I recognized the creature for what it was, I shifted my focus in its entirety to two goals. The first was to dodge its strikes. With how slow it was, that should have been a simple task. The second was to find its flower. Unless I could track it down, there was little I could do to inflict anything more than superficial damage to the creature.

Suddenly, a fireball shot forward and impacted one of the monster's tendrils. Considering it should have still been a plant monster, the attack did less than I would have expected it to, but it did manage to set it alight. The apparent flaming stone retreated down the hole it had been sticking up through and out of sight.

My vision fell upon the tree. It was something that was obviously different with the room, and I was hoping that was where the flower was hiding. The alternative was that it was in a cramped tunnel underneath us, and I had no desire to try crawling around down there where vines would be free to attack me as they pleased. If that did end up being the case, no amount of vested interest in this Dungeon would be enough to keep me around for any longer. I'd leave and never come back.

With that decided, I bolted for the tree. I made sure to keep a fair distance away from any stalagmites in case they ended up being more of the creature's camouflaged appendages, but I didn't care as much about the holes in the ground. I knew I was fast enough to dodge any vines rising from them. That was a mistake.

In front of me, from one such hole, came a sight I had not been prepared for. My face twisted into a grimace as I couldn't help but to think, It just had to be Crystal Puffers, didn't it?

Instead of a pointed tip like the rest of its kind had at the end of their vines, this one had an indentation, and stuck inside of it was a mana crystal. Firmly rooted in it was a Crystal Puffer. It puffed before I had a chance to react, and a shadowy liquid coated me.

I tried to turn on the spot, but the magical fluid made that an insurmountable task. It took far more effort than it should have to work my joints, and my feet stuck to the floor. Worst of all, it had gotten in my eyes. I couldn't see. My vision contained only darkness, a rare experience for me since I could normally see just fine in the dark.

On instinct, I fell into a roll. A weak gust of wind overhead confirmed that to have been the right choice, but now, the liquid shadows were binding me to the floor with multiple points of contact. In that state, there was little I could do.