OW: ABH - CH 45 - Spoils of War

A/N: EHEHEHHEEH Here we goooooooooooo!!!!

Chapter Forty-Five

Spoils of War

Rise of Winter, Week 5, Day 6

Freddie had no interest in any of the traits the Lesser Mana Pearl possessed—except for maybe Perception. Darkness was an elemental trait, which could muddle her current affinity for flame. She, simply put, wasn’t willing to risk that. Freddie loved the heat of her fire, the way her mana felt like magma bursting from her skin. 

And the rest—cruelty, anathema, and blood—just spelled disaster. If absorbing any of the mana pearls meant gaining any of those traits, she’d rather just toss it. Or give it to Tiltham to do something with. This wasn’t the kind of Skill adjustment she was looking for. 

Freddie tucked the pearl into her bag before turning to look at the chest at the center of the cavern. It had honestly been the first thing she’d wanted to examine. The proof that her suffering was for more than just the act of it. That there were rewards for working through the dungeon, that it wasn’t a task for the masochistic. In the end, though, Freddie knew the hard work had to be done before the rewards could be reaped. 

Excitement bubbled in her chest as Ogon darted around the chest, examining it himself. 

[Inspect]

[REDACT—

[Chest of Conquest, Tier 1, Epic]

[A reward chest for clearing the first floor of Dungeon M283. Can only be opened by the one who delivered the final blow to the Boss of the First Floor. Once opened, rewards will be manifested.]

[Crafted by: Dungeon M283]

Freddie ran her fingers over the translucent chest, and as her nail hit the shimmering material a ripple was sent out, diffracting the pale blue light in soft waves. The chest was mid-sized, wider than Freddie and coming up to her mid-calf. It was a beautiful thing, this ‘Chest of Conquest’, and it called to Freddie the longer she stared at it. 

“All right, Ogon. Ready?” She asked lightly, not really waiting for the fire spirit to respond. 

“Do it, do it, do it” Ogon cheered as Freddie flipped the latch on the front of the chest and popped it open. 

Multi-colored light flooded the cavern, originating from the open chest. After a moment, the light condensed and shot upward into three separate beams. At the center of each beam manifested an object. Marble sized balls of light that shone even brighter than the beams that encased them. 

Freddie grabbed the first one, the one on her left. 

Wrapping her hand around the ball of light, Freddie pulled it out to her—and nearly stumbled as a small crystalline box manifested. It was a heavy thing and Freddie had to bring her other hand up to catch it from falling. 

The box, while clearly made of crystal, was opaque. Freddie could peer in from the side and see the moment it became shrouded in mist. Almost as if the inside were made up of frosted glass. 

[Inspect]

[Crystal Salt Cellar, Tier 1, Rare]

[A salt cellar made up of Peteria Crystal. The Peteria Crystal allows any salt aged within the salt cellar to be imbued with mana. Different types of mana infuse the salt with different effects. The longer the salt is aged, the more potent the effect.]

[Crafted by: Dungeon M283]

Freddie looked between the salt cellar and her satchel and fought back the urge to fill it immediately. 

“I’m so curious,” Freddie groaned, but sat the crystal box down next to her. “But on to the rest of the rewards.”

She pulled on the next ball of light. This time, when an overly large object appeared, Freddie was prepared to catch the object. In her hands, Freddie examined the item—longer than her forearm and quite clearly a rolling pin. It’s wood was pitch black with silver grain lines running along the polished exterior. 

[Inspect]

[Netherwood Rolling Pin, Tier 1, Rare]

[A rolling pin made up of Netherwood. Due to the properties of Netherwood, the rolling pin can neutralize Tier 1 poisons up to the rarity rating of Rare. In addition, when infused with the mana of the user, effects are embedded into the ingredients being processed.]

[Crafted by: Dungeon M283]

“Very on brand for this floor,” Freddie said wryly. “It did say this was the Starlight Bakery.”

She considered how she could use the Listrain wheat and flour with the rolling pin as she sat it down next to the salt cellar. She had already received the gloves for [Gardening], so surely the whole floor was meant to be dedicated to the reproduction of the initial meal. 

Freddie straightened her back, preparing herself for some equally ridiculous baking supply to be the third reward. 

She pulled on the final orb with both hands. This time, two small books manifested. They were both thin, barely long enough to qualify as books. They were closer to booklets in Freddie’s eyes. 

[Inspect]

[Blood of the Dark, Tier 1, Rarity Unknown]

[A Skill book created by Dungeon M283. Can be consumed a single time in order to bestow the Skill Blood of the Dark once. Alternatively, the Skill book can be studied to gain the Skill naturally.]

[Requirements: Affinity for Blood OR Affinity for Darkness.]

Freddie grimaced at the Skill book. “Useless, just like the Mana Pearl.”

“Oh?” Ogon hummed, darting around the black book with silver embossing. On its cover was the shape of a droplet. 

“It’s that Skill the Starlight Goblin used—the one that shredded my insides and turned my blood to spears impaling me.” Freddie didn’t hide the distaste from her voice. She looked at the other booklet. It also had a silver embossed droplet on its cover, but the leather cover was crimson. 

A frown settled onto Freddie’s face. 

[Inspect] 

[Blood of Fire, Tier 1, Rarity Unknown]

[A Skill book created by Dungeon M283. Can be consumed a single time in order to bestow the Skill Blood of Fire once. Alternatively, the Skill book can be studied to gain the Skill naturally.]

[Requirements: Affinity for Blood OR Affinity for Fire.]

“Well, that’s annoying.” 

“What? What? Tell me!” Ogon darted around frantically as he shouted. 

Freddie shushed the spirit, before opening the book and looking through the pages. The first page read, in a neat script, ‘[Blood of Fire]’. It was the next page that intrigued Freddie. 

-

By possessing the Will, there is always a way. Through the instruction in this book, you will be able to understand the Way of the World as it relates to Blood and Fire. 

[Blood of Fire] is a Skill with one key application. 

By bonding the warmth of one’s Blood to the warmth of Fire, one can use [Blood of Fire] offensively to set another’s veins aflame, thus giving the aspect of Fire a Corporeal presence. 

A Skill crafted by Dungeon M283, it is not truly Unique, as one who possesses the proper Affinities can stumble across it naturally. This primer will guide you through the acquisition of the Skill. By regulating your mana flow, maintaining the shape of the runes required in your mind's eye, and determining the proper mana regulation technique, you will gain access to [Blood of Fire].

-

“It’s an elemental Skill,” Freddie said after taking a minute to read and process what was on the page. “Which was obvious from the name, yeah, but it’s… a Skill that only requires one of the affinities to learn.”

Freddie furrowed her brow, flipping through the next few pages. 

“Why is there so much math?” She groaned, eventually. 

Filling the booklet were complicated equations, words she had never seen and didn’t know how to contextualize, and even more lines of equations. They lasted for all twenty-ish pages.

“How am I supposed to understand this?” Freddie snapped the book shut and focused on the external symbol, the silver droplet. 

[System Notice: You have acquired a Skill Book. It has been imbued with a single use. Would you like to learn the Skill [Blood of Fire]?]

[Yes/No]

Unlike the other System Notices in the dungeon, this one was back to the crimson of Freddie’s own screens.  

Freddie hesitated. She knew she wouldn’t be able to decipher the mathematics in the booklet, but what if Tiltham could? What if it could be used more than once? What if she could share it? Was it not her duty as the Nemo Heir to bring back what she could? To strengthen the Duchy in whatever way that meant?

In the end, Freddie’s sense of self-preservation took over. Another Skill in this dungeon was only going to help her survive, and she’d surely be able to reverse engineer the learning conditions. 

“Yes,” she commanded the System.

The System Notice shuddered, then burst into a thousand motes of red light that all flung themselves at Freddie. Ogon bolted away from the spectacle, choosing to hover out of the reach of the System’s fragments. The motes of light coated Freddie’s skin, causing her to glow like the Second Sun. 

Freddie had to choke back a scream as the fragments began digging into her skin, sinking into her mana veins and ripping them to shreds. It was warmth. Heat. Flame. The fire was in her blood. It was setting every nerve aflame, and sinking even further into her. There was nothing but painpainpain flowing through her mind. There were no thoughts, no processing, nothing. She was simply enduring. 

Snapping her eyes closed and gripping the booklet so tight she could feel the skin over her knuckles go taut, Freddie swallowed thickly. Saliva was threatened to stream down her mouth with the pain. 

The motes of light sank into the core of her, into her heart and mind and stomach, and they reforged her shredded mana veins. Soon, she could feel the magma within her resurge. 

With a gasp she loosened her grip and flung herself back away from the Skill book. Staring down at it, she watched as it fell, landing open faced. The pages were no longer covered in the neat script or the equations. It was blank. 

[Congratulations! You have learned the Skill: Blood of Fire!]

Freddie’s hands shook, tremors shooting through her whole body, as she bent down to look at the now-empty Skill book. 

“That’s it,” she sighed. “I need a nap. I was too drained to deal with that.”

“Nap, my Lady of Flames, I will stand guard,” Ogon said seriously. 

Snorting, Freddie pulled out her dungeon pillows. “Guard against what? We killed everything.”

Ogon’s light dimmed and Freddie eyed the little flame. “But far be it from me to hold you back. Wake me before the floor resets. Got it?”

“Aye, aye!” The overly cheerful spirit cried and as Freddie settled in to nap off her Skill overuse and general mana exhaustion, she called forward the final piece of her fight. 

[Combat Report]

[Combat Report]

[Skills Used in Combat:

Inspect Lv. 6

Imbue Flame Lv. 8

Fire Manipulation Lv. 7

Fire Conjuration Lv. 7

Regeneration Lv. 7

Running Lv. 6]

[Hostiles Defeated:

2 Level 9 Yellow Goblins - Killed

1 Level 10 Starlight Goblin - FLOOR BOSS - Killed]

[Contribution: 100%]

[Level Discrepancy: Various]

[Overall Experience Modifier Adjusted for:

100% Contribution against Hostile

User Level Above Hostiles

Matched Rarity with Hostile

Defeated a Floor Boss for the First Time]

[Post-Combat Results:

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

Skill Level Up! Inspect is now Level 7

Skill Level Up! Imbue Flame is now Level 9.

Skill Level Up! Imbue Flame is now Level 10.

Skill Level Up! Fire Manipulation is now Level 8.

Skill Level Up! Fire Conjuration is now Level 8.

Skill Level Up! Regeneration is now Level 8.

Skill Level Up! Regeneration is now Level 9.

Skill Level Up! Running is now Level 7.

Divine Experience logged due to: Regenerate

Divine Experience Evaluation: Approved.

Divinity Awarded.

Divinity Received: 5 Divinity.

Class Experience Applied. 

Class Level Up! You are now Level 13.

Stowed Experience Applied.

Class Level Up! You are now Level 14.]

Freddie frowned at the last line. 

“What does it mean by stowed experience?”