“I know of one thing, yes,” Selleron replied. “And you know for certain there’s something like that in that treasure chest?”

“I do.”

“How?”

“I can feel it,” I lied. “With my legs, when I dragged it out. What is it? Is it a trap?” I asked, knowing dungeons could be tricky like that.

“It’s not,” Selleron said as he knelt next to the chest and undid its locks. “It’s a weapon.”

That sounded interesting. My eyes were fixed on his hands as he moved them down into the wooden container and pulled out a… an orb?

The captain held up a transparent orb, seemingly made of glass, some kind of white liquid swirling inside, which, after a few seconds, transitioned to what looked like liquid flames. The fire did explain the heat that I’d seen, but for some reason, I didn’t see its temperature rise.

“What kind of weapon is that? And if it’s hot, why aren’t you burning your fingers right now?”

With this question, I hoped to help convince him of the lie I’d told earlier. Not that I wasn’t curious. I mean, what was this thing? And why did it suddenly stop getting hot and then cold?

“A spell orb,” Selleron said. “And after it’s touched, it stops radiating its properties, in this case, ice and fire.”

“Okay, so, I am totally lost here. Is a spell orb similar to a spell scroll?”

“Apologies,” Selleron said, a smile behind his helmet. “Yes, it’s similar to a spell scroll, but easier, and a bit more versatile.” He paused for a second as he watched me.

“And I’m sorry to disappoint. While this is a decent find, its value isn’t terribly high. The spells contained within are a one-time use only, and generally weaker than more specialized scrolls. You see,” He said as he held up the orb, about the size of a fist. The fire within changed to a milky white liquid again before he continued.

“This right here can be thrown at an enemy to unleash its contained spell. Before you throw it, you shake it vigorously when it has the properties of the spell you wish to use. This will start the activation sequence and make sure the resulting spell will be the effect of your choice.”

“And how do I know what the ice and fire spells do?” I asked.

“The orb explodes. They all do. What that means is that if you choose to use the fire spell, you create an explosion that will leave a fire in its wake. The same goes for the ice spell.”

“An explosion of ice…” I let out. “I don’t know what to imagine.”

“It’s a liquid,” Selleron explained. “And the liquid will freeze when it touches something. Imagine someone throws a bucket of water on you, you get drenched, and within seconds, it freezes.”

“Sounds highly uncomfortable.”

“And extremely effective against, for example, slimes,” The captain said with a wink. “Some free information for you, right there.”

“Thanks a lot, I suppose,” I said with a chuckle.

“Anyway,” He continued. “This is yours. Shall I put it in your bag, Cellestra?”

The purple-eyed elf nodded, and after the officer stashed away our newest acquisition, we were on our way again, leaving the waterlogged chest behind, which prompted a new question from my end.

“Selleron, what happens to dungeon monsters that we leave behind, like those buffalos?”

“If they are not interacted with by foreign entities – creatures that aren’t spawned by the dungeon – they disappear after a certain time.”

“Thank you.”

I’d learned something new, but I could have guessed there’d be something like this. Otherwise, there would have been bones all over the place, and that was obviously not the case. The spell orb thing was quite interesting to me in concept, especially the frost effect as that wasn’t something I could replicate, at least for the time being. However, maybe it would be better to sell it.

Beyond this lake was a small, empty plain of nothing but volcanic rocks, and small critters, including scorpions and some spiders. I could already see what I thought to be the next potential enemy hotspot.

Another lake, bigger than the first one was stretched out before us. Selleron sped up his pace and walked up next to me, seemingly in a hurry to tell me something.

“Kealyna,” He said. “These next creatures. Do not underestimate them. I inform everyone of this. They are fast and strong. If you need help, say the word, but do it quickly or you may pay the price.”

His words made me nervous, especially the part where he mentioned they were fast. Selleron knew I was swift as the wind myself, so I took his words to heart.

“Cellestra. I’m going to make sure you don’t fall off, okay?”

She nodded in response to which I used several threads to anchor her legs against my sides so it would be impossible to lose her. The combination of heavy armor and straps might be something I’d use more often, as long as she was fine with it.

“Thank you, Selleron,” I said as he moved back and I moved forward.

I aimed my halberd forward, but in reality, I would probably run and gauge the enemy’s strength before attacking, especially so after the captain’s words.

I’d also solved the so-called theme of this floor. It was numbers. On the previous floor, I could get through monsters one by one, but here, I’d faced fifteen at the same time — twice. It made me slightly worried about what I’d see next as the previous herd of creates had already seemed incredibly powerful, yet Selleron was confident I would be able to overcome the next obstacle.

Unlike before, there were no heads sticking above the water surface, and I wasn’t about to get any closer to it, so I fired a weak ice lance into it, just to stir up whatever was inside.

Within seconds, the first eyes surfaced and peered at me as they closed in. Then, a massive body emerged from the lake as more heads popped up. A large, fat, gray creature appeared.

It had legs that seemed to be too short for its body, but Selleron had warned me of its speed and to not underestimate it, so I wouldn’t. Above its elongated head were two small ears that stood upright and wiggled, shaking off water. At the end of its body was a short tail.

In all honesty, it looked cute in an odd way. That was, until it opened its mouth.

Two massive teeth, like tusks, protruded from the sides of the bottom of its gaping maw with two smaller ones in between them. I could see a couple of smaller ones with quite a bit of space between them in its upper jaw, and further inside, rows of large molars that seemed to march into the depths of its gullet.

The speed with which it closed its mouth shocked me. It made me realize that it was justified that Selleron warned everyone of these beasts. It looked like it could literally snap people in two.

And before I knew it, it charged at me, causing me to run away to start firing spells at it. I had the nagging feeling that I didn’t want to be anywhere close to this beast.

The creature chased me down, others joining in as they left the water, and I was still surprised by its speed. It had no trouble keeping up with my normal running speed. In fact, I believed it was gaining on me.

“Hold on tight,” I instructed Cellestra, who was already doing just that. I guessed I just wanted her to be aware I was going to pick up the pace even further.

As I did that, I fired a high-velocity ice lance at the creature that was slowly falling behind. Its speed was considerable, still, and far higher than anyone could achieve on foot. Once more, I was blessed to have this body.

My attack seemed to do little. I had to turn slightly to observe the damage as my rear was in the way, and, while the attack had landed, and embedded itself in the creature’s skin, it didn’t seem to do much of anything. I was led to believe it possessed an exceptionally tough hide.

A fireball didn’t do much either, leaving me with very few long-range abilities. I wasn’t confident in the use of my lightning arc either as, even if I managed to take the first monster down, there would still be four more, and I doubted I had the mana pool to support it.

I still had some spells up my sleeve, though. One of which I’d never used before, and I wasn’t certain if it would suit the situation, but I didn’t have anything to lose. If it worked, I could potentially save a good deal of mana before the next floor. I prepared myself and then fired something a little different, something more dangerous — a necrotic venom bolt.