The arrow hurt but Michael left it in there for the moment, despite Hazels protests. The opponents bow was disabled meaning they would now be facing either magical or physical attacks, the latter being more likely. Whatever came they could handle it together, but not if they spent all their mana healing his shoulder. Besides, the coldness of the arrow was actually numbing the pain somewhat and he was only losing a point of health every 5 seconds. He still had over 300 remaining so, despite the massive arrow sticking out of his body, he was actually relatively safe for the moment.

A thought, hidden from Hazel and Jelly, rose from a dark corner of his mind; that's assuming there is only one enemy.

They didn't have to wait long. The monster, its bow rendered useless by Michaels lucky shot, struck hard and fast. Michael was distracted by his pain and Hazel was distracted by Michael, it was the best time for the monster to strike. Jelly on the other hand, was not distracted. Not because it didn't care about Michael, though that was somewhat true, but because it refused to let this enemy best it. It had already gotten hurt by the monster, almost killed, and it was determined to end the monster for the insult. Jelly may have deferred to Michael, even letting the human name it in such a silly manner, but it would not let some random, no-name monster too scared to even show its face get the better of it.

Which is why, as the Vitr Dreki silently burst from the trees, daggers as big as Michaels arm clutched in each hand, it was met a barrage of ice spells coming the other way. A Tier three Gelidreynard has two natural abilities that make it one of the more powerful monsters, capable of winning or at least surviving battles against higher level enemies on a regular basis. The first ability is quite possibly one of the most cheatlike abilities in the universe; Innate Spellbook. The Gelidreynard instinctively gains access to every pure Ice Spell that it is physically capable of casting within its tier, allowing it to have an extraordinary range of spells.

The second ability is actually one of the more common abilities among Magical Monsters, and is the one which Jelly used in this moment; Magical Bombardment. The ability allows the monster to rapidly use multiple spells within the space of a second, ignoring any chanting or channeling requirements. For most Monsters it means four or five spells bursting out shotgun style. For Gelidreynards, it meant potentially dozens of spells blasting out, depending on how much Mana they have at that moment.

There is a reason that Gelidreynards are not the most dangerous beings however. One of the Universes Core Concepts, a running theme built into the fabric of reality is that of Duality, or Balance. Light and dark, good and evil, hot and cold, yin and yang. As powerful as the Gelidreynards abilities may be, they have equally powerful downsides. For Magical Bombardment the downside of the ability is that for an hour afterwards the Gelidreynard is completely unable to use any spells, a veritable death sentence for the physically weak monster. For Innate Spellbook, the balancing downside is far more severe. The Gelidreynard is completely unable to advance through killing; It could kill a dragon and not gain a single level. This was a large part of why Jelly was willing to endure a bond with Michael, eating natural treasures was one of the few ways of levelling it had available and the Foggy Dawn flower he had was one of the best natural treasures for a Gelidreynard.

The Vitr Dreki had expected some resistance from the Gelidreynard but it believed, based on the strength of the Ice Barrier it had destroyed earlier, that it would be easily overcome. The last emotion that went through its head before it died, other than shock, was a deep, searing regret that it had underestimated its prey.

And so the Vitr Dreki, the deadliest enemy Michael had yet to face within this dungeon, died. Not with a bang, or with a whimper, but with a deafening deluge of wintery death. Ice spears, Ice shards, One slightly confused snowman, three different variations on the classic blizzard spell and a whole hoard of other Ice Spells crushed, froze and crushed the poor monster, along with two dozen trees behind it, into nothing more than a pile of frozen chunks.

Michael nearly died from shock. Hazel nearly died from shock. One second they were waiting, their every sense straining to catch a hint of their foe, when an avalanche on steroids crashed down behind them. Hazel was absolutely sure they were dead and Michael was sad his last meal had been some tasteless jerky. Both of them were shocked to find themselves still alive.

When the two of them turned around and saw what was left of the forest behind them they were even more shocked. As one they turned their gazes towards the culprit who was currently licking their paw as if nothing had happened. When Jelly finally raised its gaze to its two shocked companions causing them to flinch slightly. Satisfied with their responses Jelly returned to its cleaning, doing its best to hide its Mana exhaustion from the two. It had an appearance to maintain after all, it wouldn't do to let the Bear and its pet human see her weakness.

Michael was staring at Jelly, realising that their original fight was a lot more dangerous then he had realised. He could feel Jellys weakness through their bond but and guessed that it had used some sort of ability which likely had some sort of drawback but it still made him realise that he couldn't underestimate anything. After the fight with the first Frost Giant he had assumed that Jelly was somewhat weak for a Tier three Monster, despite its large array of spells, but the decimation left in Jellys wake completely reversed his assumptions. He even started to wonder if Jelly had been going easy on him for some reason.

Rousing himself from his thoughts Michael decided they should take a break. It was hard to tell in the dungeon but it was approaching evening and they'd had a long day. Activating his Dungeon Citizen path perk he created a Safe Zone, a bubble of fog-like Mana radiating out from him before coming to a stop twenty feet away and slowly fading into the background. Michaels Mana Sight could just barely make out the faint layer of Mana shielding everything within the circle, removing any trace of its contents from those outside the circle. From outside it would have looked like Michael and the two companions simply faded into nothingness.

After he set up the Safe Space he turned to a matter he had been putting off for a while, the gian arrow skewering his shoulder. By this point he had lost almost all feeling in his arm an he was now wondering if frostbite would show on his Status. Would losing an arm count as a Debuff? Michael wasn't really interested in finding out but neither was he particularly thrilled about what he needed to do. The Vitr Drekis arrows were all barbed like a fish hook, a fact that Jelly could definitely attest to, so unless he wanted to rip out most of his shoulder and potentially lose his arm he would have to push the arrow all the way through. The worst part of all of this was that he hadn't bothered to buy any of the strong liqueur from the system store and the stuff he had on him didn't do anything for someone with 25 Vitality; he was going to have to do this stone cold sober.

Gritting his teeth he started sawing through arrows shaft with his knife. There was no way he was going to shove the entire two meter arrow through his shoulder, especially with the fletching being made of magical ice, so he he had to cut it. He tried to melt the arrow with a Fireball but the _____ thing was made form a Magical Ice that laughed at his attempts. As he was cutting the arrow he was forced to stop several times, his shoulder was numb but the constant vibration from cutting had wonderfully proven that his nerves were still working, despite all the ice and blood. By the time he had cut through enough to snap the arrow he was sweating, his hands shaking from the pain. Fortunately that was the last thing he needed to do, Hazel was in charge of the next part. Unfortunately, the next part involved pulling the arrow out.

The feeling of an arrow the size of steel rebar being pulled through a person's shoulder is one experienced by very few and desired by even fewer. It would be none, but there are a lot of weird beings in the universe. By the time the arrow was completely out Michael was seeing spots, his teeth clenched so hard he almost broke several. Hazel had been as gentle as she could but there was only so much a bear could do when pulling an arrow out with her teeth. After it was out blood started flowing from the dime sized hole that ran through Michaels shoulder but they started healing immediately, using every healing spell available to them. Healing Sap, Novice Heal and Regrowth working in tandem to repair the rent flesh. Because of its location effectively disabling Michaels left arm it was categorized as a moderate injury so healing took a while, by the time Michael was fully healed both he and Hazel were down over 500 Mana. On the bright side, healing a massive arrow wound had apparently been just what he needed to get his Novice Heal to level ten, the notification popping up as soon as he was done.

After he was fully healed Michael set up a tent and tried to get a campfire going but the kindling refused to light, likely due to the abundance of Ice Element in the air. He sighed and got ready for the cold night ahead. Since he couldn't make a fire Michael decided to take out his axe and see whether he could get some of this wood. Who knows, if the wood was Tier 3 and some sort of Ice aspected wood then he just might get some Ice Arrows out of it.

That plan was a Nope. Michaels axe didn't even dent the wood, the reverberations from the hit nearly ripped the axe from his hand despite his high strength. The failure didn't deter Michael and his next swing was imbued with a Fireball. In hindsight Michael could see the flaws in using a powerful, and explosive, spell to try to chop wood. The explosion managed to do what the previous hit failed and ripped the axe form Michaels hand, fast enough to break five fingers and shred the webbing between his thumb and his forefinger. The explosion also picked Michael up and flung him against a tree, the impact shaking loose a flurry of snow that promptly buried him.

As Hazel ran over Michael managed to shake his head enough to free it from its snowy blanket, at which point Michael let loose a string of expletives that in his opinion was justified and in Hazels opinion made him look like a demented fish.

Morning was an unknown, time being somewhat meaningless in the Dungeon, but Michael felt like it was a good morning nonetheless when he woke up, despite the events of the previous night. After he got up and had breakfast he packed everything up. He managed to have a hot breakfast by holding a pan over a Fireball but cooking one handed was an ... interesting experience. He discovered that holding the spell in his hand without releasing it wouldn't directly hurt him, but it could hurt still him in indirect ways such as heating a pan to such a level even the handle became too hot to touch.

Michael was reeeally looking forward to changing the spell.

Once Michael finished packing his tent they continued on with the Dungeon. The next few rooms were once again filled with the standard collection of Jötunn and Ulfs they had come to expect. It wasn't until the 21st room that they discovered another Forrest room. For this room Michael decided to go it alone rather than risk Hazel and Jelly. They fought him on it, or at least Hazel did, but he stood his ground. He reasoned that he alone could detect and dodge the Vitr Drekis attacks, the others might get hurt. Hazel wasn't happy about it but she accepted it, with the caveat that Michael be in constant mental communication with her and she would charge in the instant Michael got hurt.

The forest was silent as Michal walked in, his footsteps slow and measured and his ears straining for the slightest whisper of movement. He had activated both Novice Stealth and Beginner Tracking as soon as he had entered, his footfalls going from quiet to near silent. Novice Stealth was still a Tier 1 Skill though, he couldn't rely on it to keep him hidden from the Dreki. At current the skill only deadened the noise he made which meant it would be completely useless against an enemy that could see him, or use some other form of detection like Mana Sense to find him. The skill would only start hiding him from visible sight at Tier 2.

Still, despite the skill being two Tiers below the target it seemed to have worked, Michael made it into the trees without an arrow flying out at him. He wasn't sure whether the previous Dreki had heard their arrival, had been watching the door or had simply been in the right place at the right time but this one had apparently not been as lucky in its hunt. Once Michael was in the trees he felt much safer, the presence of fauna all around putting him in somewhat familiar territory. Admittedly he had never been in a forest quite like this, but the feeling of being surrounded by trees was a comforting one. Feeling more confident Michael continued moving through the forest, constantly scanning his surroundings for signs of the Dreki.

It wasn't long before he found footprints, though he was pretty sure they were a trap. The previous Dreki had acted like a maser hunter, striking unseen before retreating like a ghost. The footprints on the other hand, were far from stealthy. A half blind, completely drunk cow could have followed these tracks. They were clearly fake tracks meant to trick a prey into following them, right into an ambush.

So of course Michael followed the tracks.

The various Vitr class Monsters all originate from the same planet, a large planet the size of Neptune that was undergoing a millennia long Ice Age when the planet was finally Systemised. The dominant species The original species, which had called themselves the Maðr, had a complex class system where the value and rank of an individual were based on their talents, which were clear from birth. The Jötunn were the commoners, those who were unqualified for anything other than menial labour due to the combination of their strength and their near complete lack of brainpower. The Dreki were hunters, skilled and dangerous with a great many tricks up their sleeves but completely lacking in Mana related skills or abilities. The Fraujō were equivalent to human Nobles, the local rulers of various areas due to a combination of their might, both physical and magical, and their innate ability to lead. The Einvaldskonungr was the ruler of their race, powerful in all aspects and wielding the innate servitude and respect of all the Maðr. The Ulfs were simply pets, similar to dogs.

In all respects the race would have been a civilised race like any other, if not for their inborn xenophobia. Once introduced to the rest of the universe they immediately set out to eradicate every other sapient race within the universe. It became such that a coalition was formed between several strong races with the intention of wiping out every single Maðr in existence. Needless to say, the coalition succeeded; a newly introduced race had no chance against such power. The Maðr were eradicated and the coalition disbanded, content with the successful mission.

The System was never one to waste such an opportunity though. Taking advantage of the hateful Maðr it created several new Monsters that had two things in common; they all had the name Vitr and they all resembled the now extinct members of the Maðr race. The System also threw in some of the original animal species from the Maðr home world, to add a bit of variety to its newest batch of Monsters.

The Vitr Dreki was indeed a skilled hunter, the instincts from the Maðr Dreki echoing in its very soul. It knew that there was prey that had entered the room, one of the benefits of being a Monster tied to the Dungeon, but it had been too far away when the prey had entered and the prey had already vanished by the time it arrived. It did not matter to the Dreki though, it simply meant the hunt might actually be interesting. It scanned the tracks near the entrance and determined the prey to be alone. This would make it easier.

It returned to the forest, its footsteps leaving no trace as the snow itself lent it aid on its hunt. As a hunter it knew the prey would be seeking it out so it did not bother searching for it. The Dreki travelled through the forest as light as a shadow towards its ambush site. It had naturally been prepared for an event like this and had long since laid down a false track that would lead a prey directly to this spot. After it arrived the Dreki settled in to wait. Patience was key in a successful hunt and every Dreki was instilled with near endless patience. Staying completely still for hours on end just to kill one prey was not only easy, it was as normal to the Dreki as rubbernecking was to humans.

The Vitr Dreki wasn't the first ambush predator Michael had ever faced, nor was it the first ranged Monster. It was the first to be both though, which made planning difficult. For most Ambush predators it was simple once he discovered the ambush site, the Monster would almost always leave some sort of sign as to where they were and, if not, he would at least be able to trigger the ambush from a distance with a well placed spell. Ranged Monsters were even simpler.

Michael had no real idea how to deal with this. The simplest action, walking into the ambush, was also the riskiest. He had no idea if he would be able to slip into that sensory mode when he needed to; he had tried a few times since and had mixed results. Besides, last time he had still ended up with an arrow through the shoulder, an experience he didn't really want to repeat. The other option would be to follow the tracks at a distance, travelling parallel to them, and hope he found the Dreki. This was not so mush a plan as it was a shot in the dark. He had no idea how far away the Dreki would be from the ambush site, if the ambush site was at the end of the trail or somewhere in the middle. He didn't even know if he'd be able to detect the Dreki before it detected him. If it discovered him first then the whole exercise was pointless.

The simple truth is that Michael simply didn't have enough information about the Dreki. He didn't even know what the things looked like, Jelly had pulverised the last one before he could see it. Michael sighed a deep sigh of the resigned. The only way to defeat the Drekis ambush was to learn about the ambush, and the best way to learn was to walk in headfirst. Well, not the best way, but at least he'd be training his Dodge Skill, and possibly his healing skills. Who knows, maybe he'd get to find out what the Tier 2 version of Novice Heal was?