Chapter 92: Foraging in the Dark
Marron leaned back against the bed, carved with simple mimic runes. It wasn’t as flashy as the dwarves, but it was better than sleeping on cold dungeon ground.
She stared at the translucent System screen still hovering above her palm. Four silhouettes of plants pulsed faintly on it—two mushrooms, two flowers—but they remained nothing more than outlines.
"Great," she muttered. "Spent five hundred gold just to look at shadows."
Ding!
[New Category Available: Stealth Plants]
[Details unlocked once you make first harvest.]
Marron groaned and dropped her face into her hands. "So now I have to find them? In a dungeon filled with creatures that could kill me?"
The map she had unrolled across her table glowed. Tiny green glimmers appeared along the outer edges of the tunnels, marking themselves like fireflies in the dark.
Her eyes widened. "Oh. You are giving me hints."
The four plants flickered, each one annotated with the System’s crisp text:
Silent Cap – absorbs sound in a five-foot radius.
Veilpetal Bloom – renders user’s outline blurry in dim light.
Cinderlace Mushroom – muffles scent trails for up to an hour.
Moonfern – heightens night vision, grows only near dungeon water sources.
Marron sat up straighter. Her heart kicked once in cautious excitement. "So if I combine them..."
[Prototype Recipe Unlocked: Stealth Broth]
[Effect: Temporarily cloaks chef in shadow for 15 minutes.]
Her pulse quickened. "Fifteen minutes. That’s... enough. Enough to tail someone. Enough to watch without being noticed."
The map shifted again, a red dot appearing deeper on the seventh floor.
Ding!
[Captain’s movement detected. Recommend foraging stealth plants before pursuit.]
Marron exhaled slowly, running her thumb across the bone shard in her pocket. She had recipes, a map, and now a way to hide.
But she also had 300 gold left. Not enough for mistakes. Not enough for luxury.
Only enough for survival.
She packed her journal, hot plate, and a few rice balls into the new storage box. The preservation magic shimmered faintly as it sealed shut. Then, pulling her apron tighter, she whispered to herself:
"Time to hunt for shadows."
The mimic-lit halls outside her door hummed with faint whispers—"feed us, feed us"—but Marron ignored them. She had no intention of feeding anyone tonight.
Tonight she would give herself an edge on the monsters that surrounded her.
+
The map led her to the farthest tunnel on the fourth floor. The stone felt colder here, rougher, untouched by mimic hands. Water dripped somewhere far below, echoing like a heartbeat.
Her lantern flickered once, then dimmed. Marron froze.
But instead of going out, the flame bent toward the tunnel wall.
Her eyes narrowed. "Hm? Show me what’s there."
The lantern’s flame quivered in response. Marron pressed her palm to the damp stone, feeling a strange vibration, almost like a pulse. She followed it until the tunnel opened into a small cavern.
And then she saw it--the Silent Cap.
It looked almost ordinary at first glance: a mushroom with a round, gray cap no larger than her hand. But as she stepped closer, she noticed it absorbed sound. Though there was water dripping behind the mushroom, there was no sound.
She tapped her foot on the floor near the mushroom, and heard nothing. Even her own breathing was dampened, like someone stuffed her ears with cotton.
"...whoa." Marron whispered, and even her whisper died at her lips.
She crouched, knife in hand, and carefully sliced the Silent Cap at its base. The instant she dropped it into her pouch, sound rushed back all at once—the drip, the rustle of cloth, her startled gasp.
Her fingers tingled. She laughed softly. "Okay. That’s... actually useful."
The System chimed.
[Ingredient Acquired: Silent Cap (Rare)]
[Effect: Temporarily absorbs sound when cooked or consumed.]
One down. Three to go.
The next marker was harder. Marron trudged deeper, following her map’s faint glimmers until she found herself in a cavern where the walls glittered faintly with quartz veins. A faint glow pulsed from the ceiling.
And there, dangling like lanterns, were blossoms of pure silver-white. Veilpetal Blooms.
They swayed gently in a breeze she couldn’t feel. Their petals seemed half-there, like they were drawn from smoke. As Marron crept closer, she noticed her hands looked faint, translucent in their glow.
She swallowed hard. "So this is what blurring looks like..."
She stretched up on tiptoe, plucking a bloom. The instant it left its stem, her fingertips blurred, her skin fuzzy at the edges. She looked like a half-finished painting.
It lasted only a few seconds before fading.
But it was enough.
Ding!
[Ingredient Acquired: Veilpetal Bloom (Rare)]
[Effect: Distorts the outline of the user in dim light.]
Marron exhaled. "This is starting to feel... real."
The third marker was near water. Marron smelled it before she saw it: damp stone and algae. The cavern opened to a shallow underground pool, black as ink, reflecting her lantern in ripples.
Moonlight—or something like it—seemed to shine from nowhere, bathing the surface in silver. And at the edges of the pool, feathery plants with glowing veins unfurled: Moonfern.
Marron crouched, plucking one carefully. As soon as she touched it, her vision sharpened. The darkness peeled away, revealing tiny details: scales of lizards clinging to the wall, the faint shimmer of insects above the pool.
Her breath caught. "It’s like night-vision goggles."
Ding!
[Ingredient Acquired: Moonfern (Rare)]
[Effect: Enhances low-light vision.]
She had three. Only one left.
The Cinderlace Mushroom.
Her map guided her into a narrower tunnel where sulfur stung her nose. Heat radiated from the stone, sticky and oppressive. Marron tugged her apron away from her chest, wiping sweat.
The walls glowed faintly orange with mineral deposits. She nearly missed them at first—the mushrooms were black as coal, thin and lacy like burnt lace pressed against the rock.
Marron crouched, pulling one free. At once, the sour stench of sulfur vanished. Even her own scent—sweat, herbs, butter still lingering on her apron—dissolved.
Her eyes widened. "No way."
Ding!
[Ingredient Acquired: Cinderlace Mushroom (Rare)]
[Effect: Masks scent trails for up to one hour.]
Her pouch was full now, her hands trembling with excitement.
The System window flared bright.
[Prototype Recipe Complete: Stealth Broth]
[Combine Silent Cap, Veilpetal Bloom, Cinderlace Mushroom, and Moonfern.]
[Effect: Cloaks chef in shadow, muffles sound and scent, and enhances vision. Duration: 15 minutes.]
Marron licked her lips, pulse racing.
It wasn’t a weapon. Not really. But it was power. A way to slip past watchful eyes. A way to tail the Captain without being caught.
She looked at her reflection in the black pool, holding the Moonfern in her hand. Her face was tired, her apron stained, but her eyes... her eyes burned.
"I can do this."
The bone shard at her hip pulsed once, warm and steady, like a heartbeat in sync with her own.
Marron smiled faintly. "Yeah. We’ll do this together."
She stood, gathering her bag tight against her shoulders, and turned back toward the tunnels.
Behind her, something rippled in the water. A pale shape, faceless and thin, watching her from below.
But Marron didn’t see it.
Ding!
[Quest Updated: Tail the Captain]
Step Two: Cook the Stealth Broth.