==========

  [Sigurd]

  Sebastian watched the ocean floor from the archway, waiting for the slightest ripple to appear in the dead calm water. Currently the water was so smooth and clear that Sigurd could see the man reflected in the mirror like surface. He found that there was something about this ultra-calm water that felt cold, colder still than the physical temperature, as if life hadn’t taken up residence yet. The reflections of the icy ceiling didn’t help with that warm feeling either, it gave the water a whitish glow.

  In the frigid room, Lorelei’s fire aura was a godsend, but it still barely prevented the chill from sinking bone deep. Sigurd shivered, feeling the cold flow down his nape as the collar of his cuirass lifted, letting the air pour in.

  Having seen something, Sebastien straightened up “alright, go!” he commanded, jumping onto the first icy block. To Sigurd’s great relief, it didn’t move, no rocking or shifting in the slightest. Kael jumped over with ease and Lorelei and Jenna held each other’s hand as they stepped over, Lorelei catching Jenna as her feet slid on the icy surface.

  Jackson and Sigurd followed, the big man taking just one step whilst Sigurd managed with a short hop. As before, there was no movement and they shuffled over to the edge of the ice before moving on to the next platform.

  It was a few platforms later when the first issue presented itself in the form of a bird. They had just jumped over a gap between platforms, when from the heavens, a bird swooped down at them, luckily it went at Kael and the man managed to twist out of the way with ease, letting the bird continue its plummet until it crashed into the ice, cracking a large section of it.

  “Blimey, that’s a shocker” he said crouching down and pulling the bird from the floor. It squawked in shock until he tipped it upside down, at which point it quieted down.

  “How’d you know that would work?” Sigurd asked.

  “Oh, dad was a chicken farmer, it’s a well-known trick to keeping them calm and quiet while you move them between coops. Though you have to be a bit careful, if they’ve just eaten, then the food dribbles back out of their beaks when you keep them upside down. It smells and looks fowl, heh.” He said raising his eyebrows. Sigurd snorted at the fowl pun.

  “The more you know.”

  Sebastien took a closer look at the bird, pointing out a few of its features. “You see the bill?” they nodded.

  “It’s short and stubby, backed up into its face, and surrounded by the bony head which supports it. That helps allow it to crash into stuff with ease. Its ingenious really. See the wings? How swept back they are? When it impacts, they can be held next to the body and kept out of harm’s way. So, despite crashing straight into the ice it’s completely uninjured.”

  “Well, let’s keep an eye on the sky, I think if you got knocked off the ice by one, it’d be a job to try and save you. And we’re running low on healing potions too.” Jackson said before following behind Sebastien, leading them off to the next platform.

  It was two more platforms before they stopped next. Sigurd couldn’t tell why but according to Kael they were just about to encounter their first fight. The group gathered around Kael and Sigurd listened in interested in what Kael had seen as he pointed it out for him.

  “You see the snow pile, it’s another monster, we’ve got a bigger platform and the dungeon has liked to hide its monsters as snow drifts, probably another yeti hidden in plain sight.”

  “You sure?” Jenna asked not convinced. Sigurd mirrored her opinion, all the platforms so far had held snow piles and snow scatters that could have been monsters but weren’t. They helped in that they provided far more grip than the sheet ice did, and so as a group they had tended to walk over the snow instead. Thankfully Kael was aware enough to keep checking.

  “Yeah, I saw it move not a minute ago. It’s a damned good disguise and if we hadn’t encountered any other disguised monsters, I might have discounted it like any other snow pile. If you were looking for threats from the sky or the sea it might keep people distracted enough that maybe you’d miss it. That’s something that would be good to put in your report Seb, those birds are worrying so I could definitely imagine someone focusing on them as they progressed and missing this snow pile.”

  “This dungeon’s a tricky one, God help anyone not experienced in delving coming in before our report makes it to the guild and they can set-up out here, even the first floor, whilst incredibly easy once you know the trees, is more than capable of taking someone by surprise.” Sebastien commented before continuing.

  “Right, moving on, Jackson and Sigurd same plan as that first yeti. Jackson, take the first blow on your shield and provide the opening, Sigurd you take the legs down with your axe and I’ll sneak behind it and deal damage when I can, just make sure to keep its attention between the two of you ok.”

  “Got it” Sigurd replied, smiling, working in this group was damned fun and he and Jackson would be on the front lines.

  “Kael, Lorelei, long range damage, especially when Jackson and Sigurd split apart, then you can funnel the damage between them. Jenna, heal Jackson unless one of us is in trouble, he’s got no protection for his front right now so he’s a lot more vulnerable than normally.” Seb said, outlining the plan. It was a good plan Sigurd thought. “Lorelei…” Sigurd said, voicing an idea, “is it worth starting the fight with a fireball to try and burn off some of its fur?” he questioned. Everyone looked to Sebastien, who nodded.

  “Good idea, Sigurd. Lore, start us off, then Jackson, take the first blow and we’ll continue from there.”

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  “Sound”

  “Got it”

  They replied, confirming.

  “Right, plan set, let’s hope it doesn’t go to hell. Jackson… Lead the way.”

  Sigurd hopped over the gap and stood beside Jackson and they got ready to fight. Jenna, Lorelei and Kael remained on the previous platform as their attacks were ranged and so there was no reason for them to get closer and risk getting targeted.

  Adrenalin rushed through his veins as the fireball from Lorelei blazed past him and splashed against the white fur of the beast. The bitter acrid smell of singing hair invaded his nostrils making him wrinkle his nose in distaste as it stood up with a roar, its fur alight.

  “Shit!, It’s not a yeti”

  ==========

  [Dungeon]

  The group arrayed themselves against the polar bear, obviously aware of the beast. Their experiences on the previous levels teaching them well.

  Stepping forward Jackson and Sigurd hopped over onto the bear’s platform followed shortly by Sebastien. They stood right at the edge, just out of the range that the bear would respond to, and got ready to fight. At some signal, Lorelei sent a fireball just over the right shoulder of the half dwarf man. It splashed against the bear singeing its fur and setting it alight with small burning embers that were quickly extinguished in the damp cold environment of the bears fur.

  The bear stood, roaring in fury at them.

  “Shit!, It’s not a yeti” one of them exclaimed, I missed who it was.

  Jackson ran forwards and slammed his shield into the bear as it crashed down onto all fours and swung a paw at him. Sigurd, following just behind the big man, brought his axe across the bear’s exposed belly, slicing through the fur and into the skin enough to draw blood but not much more. The bear roared at them, spittle flying from its wide jaws and charged forwards. Jackson braced before moving left slightly and kiting the creature off his shoulders making it turn from both Sigurd in the middle and Sebastien who had shifted right along the edge of the platform to try and circle it. As the creature followed Jackson, Sigurd darted forward once more, spinning to his left and driving his axe into the left foreleg of the bear. As it tripped, the bear lashed out catching the edge of the shield and sending Jackson sliding back and spinning.

  Lorelei and Kael took the opportunity to blast the bear with fire and arrows that roasted off the fur and stuck in the flesh like the quills on a porcupine. The stream of fire ended and revealed a slightly singed Sebastien and a very singed bear. Sebastien stood over the bear with his sword slamming down, its tip cutting through muscles but stopping only a half foot into the creature, who bucked him off as it clambered to its feet.

  Regaining his footing, Jackson flew back in, bashing the bear in the head with the edge of his shield and knocking it to its side, the injured foreleg not strong enough to stop it rolling with the impact. The collision with the beast gave such impact that it forced Jackson off his feet as he fell on top of the bear, his shield the only protection he had against the sharp claws and gnashing jaws.

  Roaring with ear deafening volume, the bear rolled further on its back and clawed him up with its hind legs, snapping at him with its jaws as well. Unfortunately for me, but I suppose fortunately for them, Jackson was just out of reach of the grasping mouth, though he did get slashed a few times with the claws on its hind legs, which caught on his armour and shifted it out of place whilst gouging deep enough into his legs that a generous stream of blood started to run down his legs and out of his shoes.

  Sigurd spying an opportunity started slashing with his axe at the bear’s rear legs and butt, stopping the hind legs from clawing up the big man as Jackson worked to lever himself from the bear’s grasp and disengage from it, he popped out leaving the shield behind just in time for Sebastien who emerged from behind the fight and drove his sword through the bear’s skull ending its fight with a single blow.

  I sighed, another good fight. Even surprised as they were by the bear not being a yeti, they had handled it well with basically no significant injuries having been received. When this team were on it, they were extremely good, far too good for the current monsters I had. I thought I would have to build the remaining fire levels soon, because I was doubting that the ice floors would stop them. I suspected that they might not get to the deepest point this time around, but I knew that soon enough they would probably return and I needed to be ready for them.

  Standing up, Jackson got a quick heal from Jenna and went to wash out his shoes in the water. Walking around in blood filled shoes was not what Sigurd would call pleasant. Once he had slipped his shoes – dried from Lorelei – back on his feet, he collected his shield from the bear corpse and joined the group

  “Good fight everyone.” Sebastien commented. “We did very well and made very few mistakes. Now, who wants to cut it open?” He asked, to which no-one replied.

  “O…Kay. Who wants to cut it open knowing that if there is in fact a mana core then they can keep it?” He asked, providing more incentive.

  “Go on then.” Sigurd responded, patting the dead bear. “You’d better have a nice surprise for me beastie.”

  ==========

  [Sigurd]

  Elbow deep in animal guts was a familiar place for Sigurd, He wished it weren’t. But, alas, it was. First you had to slice down the belly, opening it up from the dip at the front of the neck – just between the clavicle bones – to between the creature’s legs. Next you reached in with a short sharp blade and severed the windpipe at the throat and then pulled it all out, cutting what remained connected at the other end.

  Up inside the animal, towards the head, where the heart was, usually just nestled behind it was a mana core. More powerful creatures started forming them once their growth was done and the cores were often encased in layers of tendons and veins that allowed the mana that was absorbed to spread around the animal’s body and keep feeding it power. This time was no exception and Sigurd dug around for a few minutes before locating it.

  Taking out his boning knife, he cleaned his arms in the icy waters and then cut it out before washing it off and examining it, The mana core was a pale blue almost white in colour, indicative of ice energy and rather smooth, although it had pointed tips it looked more like a cross between an egg and a diamond but it was valuable and would sell for a fair amount, certainly making the trip a bit better.

  Looking over the white bear Sigurd fancied the pelt as well. After cleaning the core once more he stored it away before beginning to skin the bear. He cut up and around the legs, circling them at the paws. This would allow him to peel the skin from the carcass. He had never seen such a pelt for sale before, pristine white and very soft it would probably net him a very tidy profit, if he sold it, he was thinking about keeping it though, it would like lovely on the back of his bench. Things were looking up.

  “Wow, Sigurd, I didn’t know you knew how to butcher” Lorelei asked, appreciatively. Sigurd felt pride.

  “Yep, Pa taught me ages ago, comes in useful when you encounter something like this. Though I’ll have to cut out the section you ruined with the fireballs and that I ruined with my axe away, Hopefully I can wash out the blood and it should still net me a decent profit if I sell it, think it could look good in the house though.”

  “Yeah, I could see it, on the living room bench?” Jenna asked.

  “Just my thoughts as well” he replied offering a high five.

  “Hey, Sig?” Kael asked.

  “You fancy cutting off a few steaks for us, I’m up for some mystery bear meat tonight, Lore can cook it for us and I don’t want any jerky and flatbread now.”

  “Sure” Sigurd replied laughing, “one sec.”

  Once he was done with the meat for Kael, they kicked the carcass off the platform and lo and behold underneath the bear was a treasure chest. They hadn’t spotted it during the fight as the bear had hardly moved from its napping spot, he was glad they had decided to shift its carcass.

  “Good lord, it keeps getting better!” Sigurd exclaimed, kneeling down to open it.

  Inside was a large purse of coins, mostly silver, as well as a steel bracer and pauldrons. There were a few shiny gems and a couple of ice mana crystals too. The crystals were like lesser versions of the core that he had just acquired.

  Pulling them out he showed the others. “Look at this haul, you think these’ll fit Jackson?” he asked, gesturing to the pauldrons.

  “Hmm, maybe, give me a sec and I’ll try them, it’ll be good to have at least shoulder armour again.” Jackson replied.

  “Wow, that’s quite a lot” Jenna remarked happily as she received her share of the coin. Sigurd guessed it was not a lot in comparison to their normal fare of dungeon delving nor the stipend he was sure they got from the guild for doing this initial exploring, but she was right, for a fight this early in a dungeon it was definitely on the more generous side.

  Once they’d split the loot, minus the pelt and mana core that went to him, he received 16 silver, enough to support him for a few weeks. Jackson had fitted the pauldrons, if barely, and received his silver gratefully, it was a drop in the bucket he needed for his armour repair but it all helped.

  They got ready to advance again, and as he was about to step onto the next platform he heard a twang and a squawk, followed shortly after by a splosh. He glanced at Kael.

  “Diving bird just came at us,” Kael said in answer to Sigurd’s unasked question.

  “Nice shot” he replied before continuing onto the next platform.