"Why did I drink so much?" Lein was lamenting when I woke up.

She clearly had to much to drink yesterday and probably fell asleep on the banquet table with Sylm. Albius is probably still sleeping and Veria nowhere to be found. Lein really need more sleep. She is already getting it, in expensive borrowed clothes, and drooling over her pillow. I believe most peoples are in a similar, though more benign, state. I can still faintly smell the alcohol and food.

Guess I'll go on a stroll. I have already seen most of the palace but walking around random places that I can only reach thanks to my feline agility and size is quite fun. The sky is cloudy today, I can feel the air is slowly getting colder. I should...

"… go into the dungeon I showed you."

No.

"Is that all? Could you at least elaborate and give me a reason?"

Trusting a liar once is a mistake, twice is stupicity and thrice is madness. Plus you didn't even tell me it's a dungeon you wanted to send me there without any information again.

"So you're still mad for the 50km?"

"I take that silence as a yes. I know it was mean but I promise the staff will do wonders for Lein."

I don't care.

"Cmon, please! There's should be good stuff down here."

You're not even sure of what's down here? And you want me and my master to go there?

"Just you should be fine plus I'm sure you'll like it."

If the staff proves to be useful I'll do it.

"That's already done."

What? The only thing it did is endanger Lein and Sylm lives.

"Check your status."

There's noth... Why the hell do I have Ice affinity?

"Look further."

Winter witch's guardian

The great ice witch choose you! Ice affinity and mastery granted.

…

I'm speechless, a skill and a perk without even holding the staff myself. Lein will be shocked when she see her status.

"Ok what's in that dungeon?"

"No idea but it's Lydie's stuff so it should be interesting."

"Guess I have time anyways. How do I get in?"

"I'm not sure but it should be something like a hidden mechanism. Maybe on the top part of the statue, I remember she really like flying whith magic."

To the top then!

"See you later."

Are you sick?

"Why?"

That's the first time you told me you were going.

Pampil?

Yeah this is what happens.

I guess I'll check the statue.

It's actually quite hard to get up there, my claws can't pierce the enchanted ice. I could easily climb up if I could reach one of the fold of the statue's cloak. I tried three times but couldn't reach it by jumping. I can't reach it from the nearby roofs either.

Well the agile and sophisticated approach didn't work, I guess I'll use raw strenght. I turned into a horse and walked around the table from yesterday's feast. After turning back into a cat and climbing over them I reached the "fold" of enchanted ice and walked over it until I could reach another one. Reapeated that process seven times and I am now sitting on the statue's shoulder.

My first idea was to look for the highest place, the top of the head. Nothing.

After that I went for the dark and out of sight, but found nothing inside the hood.

The only noteworthy place left is the top of the staff. How do I reach it though?

I could jump from the statue's head but I'm not sure I would reach the staff. I guess there is no use overthinking, here I go.

I should reach it.

Maybe.

I won't! I'm going to fall! The hand holding the staff is uncer me but it'll still hurt!

Isn't there something I can do? Giantification? I'll try.

My paws barely touched the edge of the staff and I climbed on it with my back legs flailing in the wind.

And of course, nothing. There is no mechanism or anything. Why did I listen to Pampil?

I droped from the staff into the hand and went toward the folds I used as makeshift stairs.

"Don't give up yet, you haven't checked something."

Why are you here?

"I never left, just didn't speak."

I hate you. What did I miss?

"Chest."

Do you really think I have time to stare at her breasts?

"I was hinting toward what is ON her chest you pervert!"

Oh.

It's a pendant. And there is mana inside.

"I was right!"

Where did you first say it was?

"I never said I was right from the start."

Vixen!

I droped carefuly from the collar of her cloak to the pendant. A simple infusion of mana was enough to trigger it. It gave off a gentle blue light and I heard a clicking sound above. The entrance must be opening.

Wait wasn't it supposed to be under the staff?

"It is but you may have to go through the whole staff to get there."

I hate you.

I jumped from the head again but with gigantification triggered from the start this time. I reached the staff without a problem. Inside it I found a narrow staircase leading down. At one point the ice of the statue was replace by stone. I kept going deeper and deeper into the unknown until I reached an opening.

The stairs were still going but the walls around were replaced by a giantic cave with several undergound lakes. I can see some strange creatures from here. Most of them are ice variants or creatures from Yrsrevir. They look really strong, I can even see a elder frost drake from here. This place is out of my league but it's an open space with a lot of small holes between the rocks I should be able to flee to one of those if I need to flee.

As I went down I notice several structures, two brick towers, a wooden shack and a glass greenhouse. I should find the frost witch's stuff in these places. The towers are easy to reach but the shack is on top of a rock roght next to where the ice drakes are roaming, they must be nesting near. The greenhouse is on the opposite side of a lake and I can't see any way to cross it. Lydie must have frozen the water when she wanted to go there I guess.

For now I'll go to the nearest tower.

Once I reached the ground and went through some sort of magic shield covering the staircase, I headed toward my goal. I had to stop not even three steps further, a frozen widow spider blocked my path. Those are small but their venom is extremely lethal, it freezes an entire humans body in less than an hour. I am not sure I could kill it in one shot and I lack ranged attacks. I should stalk monsters that use magic so I can copy their spells.

The spider ignored me and walked away. I took a few steps outside the barrier and heard a strange crashing sound followed by ice shattering. I walked around a big rock while hiding with stealth and looked at the source of the noise.

Two giant turtles with black skin and light blue shells covered in ice spikes are fighting. They look like bastion turtles with ice shells probably a northern variant. One of the beast used magic to freeze it's own shell and cover it in larger spikes and then charged the other that used it's shell to absorb the impact and strike back. They kept repeating this kind of attacks until one of them fell from exhaustion. The winner headed toward a nearby grotto, probably it's den, and the loser walked away.

Your skill has leveld up: Stalk is level 2!

Always nice.

Even though I watched the whole fight I didn't manage to copy their spells. I have no idea if it's beacause the spell is too complex or if I need more time to analyse it.

I walked toward my original goal and hid from several beasts. Mostly turtles and white wolves, though I also met another widow spider weaving in the shade of a large rock. The thread of those spiders is enchanted, I can see how much power it holds, it could become a pefect material for mage robes. From what I see there aren't much beasts here overall, the lack of plants must reduce their presence in this area. The turtles are the only ones who can survive by eating the toxic moss that grow on the rocks and the spiders eat flies. Wolves must hunt somewhere else where they can find more game.

Soon enough I was in front of the tower's door. From here I could see the moss covering the place and the cracks in the stone, this place is really old. I can smell something odd. It's as if several rotting corpses were right next to my nose. What happened here?

I tried to push the door but it seems locked. No choice I guess. I turned into a horse and trampled the door. The inside of the tower is filled with skeletons and moss covered glass tubes with beasts preserved in some strange liquid. It looks like a facility to study beasts. I can't see any book or piece of paper, which mean the owner either didn't store the data here or took everything when he left.

The skeletons are mostly intact, though covered in dust. On the opposite, none of the specimens in the tubes are in good condition. Actually they all are rotting, some of the liquid went from cyan to dark brown, probably because of blood and rotting flesh, and body parts are floating on top of the liquid.

Ther is no basement and the second floor is the same as the first. There is nothing to find here exept information. I know most of the subjects here are monster from around, which mean I should see if there is anything worth looking for.

And there is, this place is a treasure trove of rare monsters variants! Drakes, trolls, tyrant snakes, wraiths, mist hounds and eben mamoths. I didn't even know there still were mamoths alive, most believe they are extincts. I could find most of thoses here!

Now the ones that are usefull to me are the hound, snakes and wraiths. Drakes are too dangerous and the others don't use magic. It's too bad there are no data here, I would have known where to find those creatures. Anyway I'll try to find them and copy their spells if I can.

The missing informations might be in the other tower, I'll head there right now!