The party entered the dungeon and found it full of ice and snow. Icicles appeared all around the environment, growing from stone, and cold frost covered the floor as far as he could see. He hoped these boots would last. Only one extra pair remained on his skeleton mage.

Caesar summoned his tomb hippo, who blocked out the cold and quiet with its barrier. Although their pace had slowed, he felt much more secure sheltered between the two monstrous summons. He conversed with Alta and taught her more words. But before they went too far, he made sure to drill basic combat skills into her. After hours of training, she grew accustomed to using the shield and khopesh.

“Problem, lord.”

Confusion appeared on his expression, and he asked what she meant. Her speech was still clumsy, but he understood. Apparently, she had recognized common patterns in his body language during combat. She pointed out a few of his flaws and he adapted. They continued onward.

A giant ice rat popped up from the snow and shot an ice spike at the hippo. A retaliatory Bolt of Decay killed it. More came. Withering Blasts slaughtered much of the horde, but a few slipped past. Caesar defended himself with his spear and deflected most of the rats toward Alta for her to handle. A rank two rat king appeared – but immediately had its throat severed by the Bone Elemental.

The group finished off the rest of the rats and continued to a room with baby ice rats gnawing on the frozen corpse of a dead bear. They scattered as the party approached. Caesar tore out its heart and identified it as a rank zero material, good for raising Vitality by one. Unnecessary. Max already had ten Vitality. He put it back and let the remaining rats flee.

Silence floated in the hallways until one of the icicles suddenly rose and flung ice bolts at him. He speared it into the ground, then studied its corpse and found root-like features under the monster.

The next icy plant had less luck. His Bone Elemental managed to identify the next ambusher and propelled a bone shard to impale it before it could strike. Alta tried to compete with it by pointing at each plant it spotted, but she was always a step too late.

He relaxed and let his summons practice. Almost all of the enemies were below rank two, making them worthless in leveling up his party. Still, Caesar enjoyed having his summons hone their skills.

The party stuck together as they traversed long hallways and side rooms. Now was not the time to practice splitting up yet. The next miniboss also wandered outside of traditional miniboss rooms – a strange feature of this dungeon.

Mutated Arctic Fox – Level 24

[Rarity]: Uncommon

An arctic fox pelted his party with ice spikes from each of its two tails while running away. He almost wanted to mark it. Multicast – the kind that required different “hands” – was a good talent to try fusing but missing out on things like the Grief Elemental made him change his mind. If it had been an ability, his decision might have been different, for that only required the mind.

A Curse of Impotence drained the fox’s strength and the Curse of Bindings tugged at the fox’s legs. It slowed down, allowing Alta to catch up. She dropped her shield and khopesh in favor of claws instead. A few smaller foxes tried to intervene, but she weaved in between their spells and cut down a few. The larger fox dashed in to protect them, shrouding its body in a cloak of churning ice.

As she fought, her disguise wore away, revealing an inhuman grin. Red patches of skin began to flourish. Caesar frowned. She’d need to work on that later. The Doppelganger disappeared from view and cut down a few more lesser foxes, then spun behind the miniboss. Her claws raked through its back and throat, killing it.

Dead foxes littered the actual miniboss room, with the largest mutated fox’s heart giving extra Agility to rank zero beings. He fed it to Max.

The party came across stairways leading above and below. He commanded Alta to clear the rest of the floor with his Bone Elemental while he explored the first parts of the other floors.

Caesar confronted a pack of seven wolves in the upper floor. Two level twenty-one pack leaders rushed at him. The first wolf flinched away from his halberd but failed to dodge. A mighty gash tore into its neck, and he jabbed the spearhead at the other wolf. These two were slightly weaker than the minibosses below. He made short work of them and their weak passive powers.

The wolves guarded an unidentifiable egg. Good to eat, he thought. He picked it up and walked back downstairs.

The party gathered at the stairways again for Alta to report. She had fought a field of icicle plants, who guarded a field of rank zero flowering materials. Like the previous flowers used to make Starflower Dust, these needed to be mixed together by a competent herbalist to increase chances of stat gains.

Although he had no time to come up with a proper recipe or learn the skill, he recognized a few of these flowers. He crushed them into paste, wetted it with his saliva, then allowed the wolf to drip its own saliva into the mixture. His skeleton mage then heated it up until the flowers became slightly burnt.

“What is that?” his Doppelganger asked.

“Something my mother forced me to eat as a child.” Although it tasted like soot and left a disgusting taste in his mouth for the rest of the day, he had to eat it twice a week for almost a year. He suspected the mixture served as medicine for his damaged soul, but it might work to increase rank zero stats as well.

It did. After he fed the blob to his wolf, its Spirit increased by two.

Alta had not found anything of note within the other rooms, except for a cozy little area that kept heat well. He warmed his hands by a blazing fire and ate the egg while his horrors patrolled the area. The crackling flames lulled him to sleep.

The group explored the upstairs floor on the second day inside the dungeon. After the wolves came a massive irregular room. Rubble lined the walls, and frozen trees reached toward the ceiling. Two bears spotted his party from the sides. Their roars drove other prey animals away as they lumbered toward his group.

Caesar engaged the largest bear and struck its icy armor. The chill seeped into his bones and slowed him down. A paw hit his side, but he regained his tempo and continued to hammer away. Next to him, Alta had already torn through the armor on the bear’s flank, drawing blood. She used the barrier to great effect, rushing in and slaying the beast without fear of damage.

His polearm pressured the bear, keeping it at bay, until it overextended into an axe swing. One more thrust fractured its armor and Caesar stopped dodging.

With the nuisances gone, he walked around the ice on the floor and discovered a thriving ecosystem. Small animals like rats and rabbits hid in burrows, where foxes roamed for scraps of meat. Wolves patrolled around their territory, tearing apart any lone animal wandering in. A few solitary beasts slept in their own areas, keeping an eye open for any interlopers. Those he targeted. Four more rank two Uncommon monsters lay dead by the time the party reached the end of the floor.

Here, a great icy tree extended its branches too far upward and left residue on the ceiling. Around it, a massive snake slept. Three ripe fruits grew from the tree’s branches, much larger than the rest. He scanned the area for any other entities before his whole party attacked.

This monster put up quite a fight. While only of Uncommon rarity, its level was higher than anything he had fought before. It remained attached to the tree, cold poison dripping from its mouth as it snapped and lunged toward him and Alta. Their barriers protected them from its venom and they evaded its attacks well enough for the hippo to engage. Each strike became slower as wounds accrued on spots of broken armor.

The behemoth brawled it for quite some time before the ice armor shattered, allowing the Bone Elemental to pierce its vitals. At the end, it finally recognized danger and attempted to disengage from the tree, only to collide into his halberd.

[Notice]: Congratulations! Your Bone Elemental has leveled up to Level 23! +2 Free Stat Points

He put the two points into Presence, then checked his hippo's injuries. Icy crystals grew on some parts of its body, but not much, and the essence flood began to break away a few pieces. The situation became safe, letting Alta slip up the tree and knock dozens of fruits down.

[Item]: Rime Fruit – Rank 2

[Rarity]: Uncommon

[Effects]: A material imbued with ice, or a catalyst for rank 1 abilities.

The smaller fruits were also materials, but not catalysts. Fortunately for him, these rank zero fruits granted extra Magic when consumed, albeit at a minuscule rate. Max wolfed down the whole batch and only received two extra points for his effort. At least it’s not zero anymore. He stored the three Rime Fruits away and checked the snake’s stats.

Hoarfrost Serpent: Uncommon

Level 30: 30 Free Stat Points, 1 Perk Point

Ability: Armor of Rime (B) – Rank 2

Facet: Reinforced Ice (D)

Talents: Hoarfrost Venom

Strength: 13

Agility: 12

Vitality: 16

Magic: 12

Willpower: 8

Spirit: 8

[Armor of Rime (B)]: An ability that encases the user’s entire body in icy armor, with durability based on Vitality. Armor regenerates slowly after being destroyed but will not take more than a day.

- This armor has Impact Resistance.

[Reinforced Ice (D)]: A facet that increases the toughness of ice abilities, spells, and talents from the user.

[Hoarfrost Venom]: A talent that indicates this entity’s successful production of hoarfrost venom. This type of venom reduces Agility and concentrates its damage on the affected area.

Caesar asked Alta to identify the ceiling around the treetop, then recalled his Bone Elemental to fuse the serpent core into it, hoping for its venom. He chose not to satisfy his curiosity about perk points yet lest Essence Fusion became affected. Meanwhile, the Tomb Hippo mummified the serpent’s corpse.

Bone Elemental: Rare (Fused Hoarfrost Serpent)

Level 23

Ability: Bone Assimilation (B) – Rank 2

Facet: Viper Strike (B)

Talents: Enhanced Hearing, Emotionless, Hoarfrost Venom

Magic: 10 -> 12

“Nothing,” she said when he looked back up. He nodded at her and left, studying the new Bone Elemental as he did so. A spike and a shard soared into the distance and sank into a poor wolf wandering around the area. It whined as it fled, but its injured leg failed it. His Bone Elemental caught up and bit into its back.

He checked its wounds. Cold poison lingered around the areas where fang and spike entered flesh, but not shard.

In an effort to find a possible secret area, he ordered his hippo to topple the piles of rubble along the walls. They found nothing. Caesar examined the ground floor for anything Alta had missed. Again, nothing. He scratched his head and went downstairs instead, leaving the mummified serpent behind to guard the stairs.

Rows of trees lined the walls in the entrance of this floor. Some were an icy blue. Others, a verdant green. The trees swayed to an invisible wind, the majority of their branches and roots reaching toward a single direction. Suspicion grew within him. This scene reminded him too much of one of the more important threats drilled into him by his parents’ stories. He slowed down his pace, taking a cautious and humble posture, even when he realized every other monster had only been Uncommon at most.

The previously arrogant group had become meek. They kept their heads trained on the ground as they trudged their way to the boss room.

Caesar’s thoughts raced, unlike his footsteps. He questioned himself on whether or not a fight was worth it. Not only would he receive access to an Epic summon, but he’d also gain the loot from its body. It would be tough – perhaps even sacrificing his entire party wouldn’t guarantee its death. It all depended on whether or not it had unlocked Perk Points yet.

Lesser Tree of Life – Level 25

[Rarity]: Epic

Caesar retreated. Every twenty-five levels granted a perk – extra sublimation attempts on their chosen ability or facets – but epics gained two.

Then, he poked his head back in. It had detected him already, but instead of attacking, waved its branches in a gesture of peace. He stepped back inside the room with his companions, hoping it did not discriminate.