Going through the dungeon's first level again is much faster this time. We know exactly where the ice golems are ambushing and how to deal with them. My fire channeling in the quiver with arrows works wonderfully, with no less than three projectiles that explode.

Because yes: the golems are once again ambushing in the entrance corridor. This indicates that those third-year morons haven't gotten ahead of us and aren't inside.

Ronan animates some of the fallen golems again, forming a small squad that precedes us. Once in the large chamber, the ice bats try their mass attack strategy, but we're prepared. I take cover behind an earth wall while the pup, Ronan, the three skeletons, and his zombie golems handle the rest as I fire from my trench at the larger golems I remember hiding spots for.

A couple of light orbs illuminate us at all times.

I've had to reconnect with the earth beneath the rock floor and mold it to create my trench. Actually, this is something else I thought about last night: if the floor is stone, how was I able to pull earth from underneath? That's why this time I've focused more on feeling the terrain and realized that the stone layer isn't very thick and has areas where its thickness is even less, and my spell naturally brought up earth from below by applying pressure in those areas.

I can tell the seed of evil enjoys finishing off the bats, and he does it like it's a game, in an adorable way with little barks and jumps that seem designed to catch my attention and remind me how cute he is.

Still, he hasn't leveled up yet.

And the innocent act doesn't work on me. Once the area is clear, I approach him and crouch down to his level.

"Come on, take me to that raised mark on the wall, and don't you dare touch it."

He guides me to the area, and I can clearly see the rectangular relief that I noticed the other time.

"I'd ask you if it's real, if it does anything, but you can't answer me."

Or you won't... which would be worse.

"Let's do this—if I can still evolve you when we get the eggs and I have mana, we'll press it then. Now make yourself small and into my hands."

Because I'm not going to carry him in my backpack, but well-secured and in sight. I don't trust him.

Meanwhile, Ronan has been collecting parts of the bats, like legs and fangs. Apparently, he doesn't want all of them for resurrection; some he's taken as loot to sell later. He also has many golem cores, those tiny stones, but he prefers to keep them rather than sell them, which is fine by me.

"Shall we leave the mountain king bear as the guardian once more?"

Ronan gives me an expressionless look, but I, getting to know him, would say he's trying to be patient.

"My lady. It consumes a lot of mana, and that potion was extremely expensive. Its purpose was to gather all the egg pouches without being bothered. However, we returned empty-handed yesterday. Furthermore, are you not concerned that they might think it belongs to us? If we leave it there again, they will likely call the army once more."

"You're absolutely right, Ronan, forgive me. Sometimes I don't think before I speak. That said, we'll need to keep some mana in reserve in case those third-years come, quickly advance through the sections we've cleared, and attack us."

"Do not worry, my lady. Our friends are already warned and alert."

Joe raises a gloved hand, as if greeting me.

Yes, fine.

I think we could handle them even without mana. As long as they don't attack us from behind while we're in a fight with the trolls or some strong enemy, we'll be fine.

"Also, I am leaving one of the bats hidden in the icy reliefs on the ceiling to warn me if they come."

"Great. That makes me feel better."

We go down the spiral staircase and enter the maze. The light from the orbs, which I've anchored to Bob and Tom's helmets, reflects and refracts off the ice walls, creating shadows that give me the creeps, as my imagination sees potential wraiths everywhere.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I swear I'm not letting go of the seed. And I'm side-eyeing him the whole time.

We've barely gone twenty meters when the first crack occurs. The floor beneath one of the golems gives way, and the creature partially falls through the crack. Thanks to its levitation spell, it remains suspended halfway into the pit. It and the other golems make a bridge for us. As I'm crossing, I carefully peer over the edge. At the bottom, about three meters down, dozens of sharp ice spikes point upward.

Yeah, a very painful fall. Good thing we have the golems.

And by the way, this trap is much earlier than the first one from last time. As we advance, I notice it's true that both the traps and the turns and forks in the narrow maze have changed. Just like the academy mission info said.

Maybe it's my eagerness to get out of here, but the maze seems endless. Several times we take wrong turns that lead us to dead ends. In some of these dead ends there are traps, but despite being perfect spots for an ambush, there are no enemies.

This makes me wonder if the dungeon core can't change a room once it's been created. Because if I were it, I'd also put traps that would collapse part of the ceiling on our heads and golems that would attack us.

I guess it can't, or the guide would warn us about it.

We finally reach the exit of the maze, an ice arch carved with intricate geometric snowflake designs that marks the end of the corridor and connects directly to the floor of the gigantic cavern containing both the lake and the forest.

The temperature, while still very cold, is a bit more tolerable than in the maze. Since there's natural lighting here, I won't renew the light orbs when they run out. They last five minutes. I ask the pup for a lick to replenish my mana, as I've used quite a few. Torches would have been more practical, but I want to level up the spell. According to what the light magic professor told me, the next level triples the duration. In fact, I had to take a potion earlier. It's one of the two I took from the desert dungeon loot because, unlike Ronan, I haven't bought any. As for the lick, it's the first one I've used.

We begin walking toward the forest. It's snowing, with flakes falling gently on our heads. However, the wind starts to blow, and the snow falls more heavily. I adjust the hood of my coat while missing a pair of blizzard goggles, like the ones I used on Earth when I went skiing. We haven't even reached the actual forest yet, where the scattered trees around us grow denser, when something catches my attention. The pup I'm still holding in my hands— whom I don't fully trust— suddenly tenses, fur bristling. He stares intently toward the forest.

"What's wrong?" I whisper to him.

Okay, he's not going to answer me, but neither did the pets in my world, and that doesn't stop their owners from talking to them.

Ronan notices it too and goes on guard.

"Something's coming," he murmurs. "Multiple targets."

Without wasting time, I take out my bow and ready an arrow. Tom unsheathes his sword and assumes a defensive position. Bob does the same with his spear, and Joe brings his gloved hand to his back to grab an arrow and nock it in his bow.

"According to the guide, they'll be snow wolves, right?" I ask Ronan.

He nods.

"Do you think they've detected us already?"

"It is likely, my lady. They are natural hunters with exceptional sense of smell."

The snow begins to fall more intensely, making visibility difficult. I look around, evaluating our position. We're exposed on all sides. The golems and bats that Ronan has raised surround us, covering us.

"Should I make a wall to surround and protect us?" I ask.

"Proceed."

Given the 25 cubic meters I can manipulate, I raise the ground—no stone this time, just earth beneath the snow—shaping it into a barrier that surrounds us entirely, rising to chest height. We're grouped together, but I place the circular wall more than a meter away from us. The reason is that 25 cubic meters is a lot of earth, and I can afford to give us maneuvering space. I make the wall half a meter thick and at a comfortable height to shoot or strike over it. With leftover material, I line the exterior with spikes. Finally, I apply earth channeling to reinforce it.

"There," says Ronan, pointing toward the tree line.

We've stopped whispering; there's no point after the rumbling I caused raising the earth.

Through the snowfall, I spot movement. White shadows slipping between vegetation, nearly indistinguishable from the snowy landscape. The snow wolves are creatures perfectly adapted to this environment, with fur as white as snow and icy blue eyes that glow in the dim light. And I remember the mission guide: their wounds freeze the area they affect.

This freezing is real, not like the wraiths'. I mean, if it's just a scratch, the freezing effect will be mild. But if they bite and maintain the bite over time, the freezing grows increasingly severe. You could easily lose a leg if the wolf stays there a while with its teeth sunk in. The level of healing magic or health potion that would cure that is beyond our reach. Hence the instructions: if bitten, focus on making it release you.

"They're surrounding us," I observe, tightening my bow grip.

"They are intelligent," Ronan nods. "Far more than normal wolves."

I breathe deeply and concentrate. There must be about 20 or 30 of them. We need to eliminate as many as possible before they reach us. I apply fire channeling to my quiver.

"Ready?" I ask Ronan.

"Yes, my lady."

I nock a flaming arrow, aim over the wall at one of the wolves approaching our left flank, and fire. The arrow cuts through the storm and embeds in the wolf's side. The creature howls in pain and falls, but its cry seems to be a signal for the others.

Suddenly the biome comes alive. Snow wolves emerge from the trees, charging at full speed. They're beautiful lethal creatures, adult wolf-sized but with pure white coats. If their glowing eyes were red instead of blue, I'd think I was in the middle of a hunting movie from Earth.

"They're coming!" I shout, grabbing another arrow.

The wolf pup, now at full size by my feet, growls and steps forward.

"Stay behind the wall," I warn him just in case.

Sure, his HP has increased, but not enough. Here at my feet, along with several small ice golem zombies, he's not in danger. I'll let him out to finish off enemies when it's safe.

Ronan, meanwhile, mumbles a magical litany, and his dark aura intensifies. I'd bet anything it's an area exhaust spell. I love that one.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.