[NR] Two Traps - Chapter 491 (Patreon)

Neither Jason nor Rosha really had a response for what Courtney had said, so they all settled in to heal up. While only Jason had been hurt by the monster, you don’t exactly come away unscathed when you throw yourself at the ground in a rocky cave. That and a bit of magic on Courtney’s part gets the party ready for more.

And more wasn’t hard to find. After a few times through everyone had noticed that the floors weren’t carbon copies. Yes, most of the features, the order in which they happened, and general spacing stayed the same. However, the small details could all change. What were chest high walls might only be waist high, the corners not quite as sharp, and so on.

Not the arena though. That place was exactly the same every time. Though Courtney did put forward that since it was a more artificial space, it might be based off of something the dungeon had experienced. How a space dungeon had supposedly experienced an arena was up for question, but it was the closest thing they had to an explanation.

It was on the eighth floor that trouble finally found them. Well, that they found an expected trouble. The nasty end of floor trap thing had been copy pasted. Not even fully either, but rather a weaker version.

Now, not everyone was facing it, but the guards had said something like one in five groups that got out had been reporting it. That meant with the number of deaths counted in it was probably more like one in four or maybe even three. Though that would just be pointless speculation.

There had even been some minor speculation in the line that this was in reaction to whatever the Guild was doing to get rid of the ninth floor trap. Courtney however had denied such speculations as this hadn’t been seen in previous similar incidents. So while it couldn’t be completely ruled out, the group decided it wasn’t likely.

Though speaking of likely, Rosha was very likely to be able to beat the weaker eighth floor trap. While copying elements, none of them were as harmonious or refined as what had been on the ninth floor. The pressure plates didn’t overlap, the fronds had less fluff, and the vines didn’t criss-cross as much. Not easy, mind you, but not hard mode.

Still, the two backed off while Rosha prepared to take the trap on. They believed in her. After all, they expected her to be able to take care of the ninth floor trap as well. It was just that despite looking the same, the group didn’t trust the dungeon. Who knows what might be hidden.

Though in the end it turned out to be exactly what it looked like. The pressure bladders on the floor were just like those from last time, except less sensitive. Those tufts could take a bit of wind without breaking and she would have had to lean on the vines to set them off.

Not a shoddy trap per se, just not up to the standards that Rosha had come prepared to deal with. As if a high schooler had entered a spelling bee only for it to all be words from their grade school vocab quizzes. Sure, a chance to mess it up, but if they had paid attention it would be fine and Rosha had paid quite a bit of attention.

It did provide one benefit for her. The trap allowed her to practice taking a break. Seems simple enough, but sometimes you’re in the middle of a multi-stage trap disarmament and the next part is going to need your full attention. Better to rest a second if possible so you can give it your all.

After that appetizer, the ninth floor was practically a joke all the way up until the group was once again faced with the devilish trap at the end of it all. Compared to the boss fight, this trap was more like an actual boss fight, at least for Rosha.

A monster is simple enough. You beat on it until the hp hits zero. Traps? Especially ones this complicated? They were like a series of puzzles you had to solve in a specific order that had been wrapped up in a maze that was designed to lead you to the wrong puzzles over and over.

Rosha was the only one in the group who could really appreciate the work that the dungeon had done with this trap. As only something that can place everything down all at once can manage, the triggers were many and interconnected. More so than even last time, she could see it.

Each trigger wasn’t just an individual component. The pressure from the bladders was connected to the tufts and the vines were attached at the bottom to more vines that were held stiff only by that very same pressure. Rosha had done a fine job on it the last time, blocking off the pressure loss. However, she now sees that given a few more minutes and the trap would have gone off anyway.

It would have been slowly losing pressure and those vines would have loosened such that the trap would be set off. A nasty little last minute surprise as by that time they would have likely been fighting the boss. That meant no possibility of escape. The trap was truly savage in its design.

Though in the end, that just makes Rosha want to succeed even more. The question was how? Sure, she could just go to town using her previous method. Except that would likely result in a forceful return to town. Not that there was anything wrong with that route, rather she knew her limits and that straightforward path was beyond it.

Rosha shakes her head and turns her attention to another matter. While the obvious trap was obvious, the deadly parts weren’t. She remembers the dry inner layer of the seemingly lively greenery and the numerous spears. Could she get at those parts without setting it off?