[NR] Finishing With The Trap - Chapter 494

Bright and early, Rosha returns to the trap. With the fronds taken care of, she could pass through on her own. However, she wasn’t looking to get a solo beat down from the dungeon boss.

That meant she needed to handle at least enough for Courtney to get through. While it felt a little mean to single her out, Rosha was certain that Jason could manage what was left. For Courtney, though, she was going to have to remove at least a few of the tripwires.

However, Rosha starts with the bladders on the floor. She had deactivated a fair few getting through, but only she knew which was which. So, to point out the ones that were safe to step on, a piece of chalk was used to mark the safe ones.

Satisfied with that, Rosha moved onto actually disabling the tripwires. Now, if they had been normal tripwires, this would have been easy. With the way mechanical tripwires tend to be set up, you just need to secure them. Then it is a simple matter of snipping the wire where you want to walk.

And depending on how the wire is set up? This is almost too easy. With a bad enough example, you can even use a piece of chewed up bubble gum. The vines weren’t that easy.

Rather, since they were living things, the vines did something most mechanical traps could only dream of. Instead of being a consistent tension, the vines would stretch and contract.

If Rosha had tried to just secure the vine near either end, all that would do is set the trap off. A less than ideal outcome. So instead, she had to get creative.

The only saving grace being that there weren’t too many tripwires that needed to be disarmed. Though her solution was interesting enough in its own way. Even if it did involve some touch and go moments.

First, she took out some collapsible bamboo poles. Simple enough things that she had more than a few in her pack since they were so light. While it hurt to be using five of them all at once, stuff like this was why she had them.

So with the five poles extended and locked open, Rosha set them up, poked into the ground between disarmed pressure plates. This provided five poles, on top of each she had a small loop of fabric.

Through those loops, she fed sections of string which she tied off on the vines to be moved. This was a careful balance that required her to only tie the second side when the vine was right in the middle of its contraction. Then, with the string tied off on all the vines, cut off one side of the vine and froze.

No sap gushed out of the vine to declare the trap moments from going off. The vine didn’t instantly contract from the sensation. Instead, it continued to extend and contract, the string not just holding it in place, but allowing it to do so without noticing.

It worked and Rosha so wanted to cheer or strike a pose. Instead, she calmed herself and continued. First with cutting off the other side of the vine she was holding. Then moving onto the other four vines that needed work. After those were taken care of, it was a simple matter of disarming a couple more pressure plates and things were ready.

Courtney and Jason, upon seeing the results were suitably impressed. While they might not be the most versed in traps, they could tell it took more than normal to handle. Though in the end it took them all less than a minute to travel through the section of hallway that the trap occupied.

On the other side, Rosha couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh geez, all that work just to get to the other side of the road. What are we, chickens?”

Jason snorted, “Not quite how that goes, but we wouldn’t have exactly been able to do it any other way.”

Courtney shrugs, “We all know it’s on me. While fancy, you could have done it with just the pressure plates and fronds disabled while I’m sure Rosha could manage with just the pressure plates.”

Rosha, “Eh, but you’re the healer. I don’t like our odds against the boss without you.”

Jason, “Speaking of the boss, I guess we finally have to fight them. Kind of almost wish I left Lily back.”

Rosha sighs, “As much as I want to keep her safe, for Lily to grow she needs to break this bottleneck as well.”

Jason nods, “True enough.”

And with that, they proceed into the tenth floor of the dungeon. Not that anyone besides Jason can actually feel the difference. Though they soon see a difference.

If before the rock and dirt looked normal enough, that all changed. From just another cave, things took on an alien appearance. Smooth bubbled walls and sharp rubble everywhere, along with a darkness that seems to drink up the light. As if it didn’t matter how much light was passing through, things would remain a dark void.

Though after a bit more walking, the dungeon ended up dropping the darkness bit. It apparently didn’t want the boss fight to be in the dark or maybe the Guild had kicked it into shape at some point. Anyway, the team arrived at a well-illuminated arena.

Yes, just like the fifth floor, though much bigger. At least double the size in all directions, if not more. It was a little hard to tell as only the main area got the lights and so the far walls and ceiling are obscured.

And at the center? The boss stood waiting and ready. Though the team took a moment to stand back and observe things.

After all, this is the best put together tardigroid they had seen. A big monster, though not oversized, only about fifty percent taller than Jason. As for its shape?

The boss took on a taur form. A shape the group had seen previously in the dungeon, but most of those had been more along the lines of a classic centaur. Which, while somewhat majestic in its own rights, in the end is just a human torso stuck on a horse’s neck.