The first thing Anton noticed, when they entered the Seventh Floor, was the cold. The first few floors of the dungeon had been wet, ranging from water dripping down the walls to ponds from which sliggs could spring ambushes. As they got deeper, the caverns got warmer and the air became more humid. The tangle of vines and roots they’d been struggling through weren’t exactly like a jungle—there were no leaves to catch the sunlight—but they were similar in many ways.

  Now, they stood on a cliff’s edge, with an icy wind blowing in their faces. The light of Aris’s glowstone didn’t go far enough for them to see anything other than darkness.

  “Kelsey?” Anton asked.

  Without saying a word, Kelsey flicked her device to a wider beam and shone it around. It was quite a sight.

  This floor was a wide open cavern again, stretching further than Kelsey’s light could reach. The ceiling was covered with roots, perhaps from the plants in the floor above. The floor was also draped with a carpet of thick vegetation. It was difficult to tell how thick it was.

  Rising out of the jungle were several flat-topped buttes. They could see three from where they were, but Anton knew from reports that there were seven in total. They also featured thorny bushes and vines, but the coverage was much sparser than it was below.

  “There’s a key on top of each pillar,” he told the others. “We have to collect all seven keys to open the boss chamber.”

  “A fetch quest, I hate it already,” Kelsey said.

  “Now that we’re here…” Anton ran his gaze over the view. “I wonder if it might be best to split up.”

  Kelsey raised an eyebrow. “Is that considered best practice?” she asked.

  “For Tier Three parties, yeah,” Anton replied. “If each party member can take a mini-boss on their own, you can save a lot of time.”

  “We’re not a Tier Three party, though,” Aris said.

  “Yeah, what I had in mind was a little different,” Anton said. “You see, the quickest way to get to the keys is…”

  He got Kelsey to shine her light on the cliff face below them. Eventually, he found it: a cluster of vines growing out of the cliff about five yards down that stretched towards the nearest plateau. Kelsey traced its path as far as she could, making it clear that it went all the way across.

  You could consider the vines a bridge. To Anton it looked more like a death-trap that you had to volunteer for, but the notes said that the vines would hold. Safety was an entirely different matter.

  “There are bridges like that connecting all the pillars,” he said. “They’re not easy to cross, though, so I was thinking that Zaphar and I would take care of all the keys while the rest of you made your way through the jungle and met us at the centre—where the boss chamber is.”

  “Did you say something about mini-bosses?” Zaphar said warily.

  “They’re only level fifteen, you should be able to take them,” Anton said. “If you can’t, that’s why I’m coming.”

  “I don’t much like the idea of climbing along that,” Aris said.

  “It's trickier than it looks,” Anton agreed. “There are ice patches and a few other dangers.”

  “Are you gonna be all right on your own?” Kelsey asked.

  “I’ll be fine,” Anton said. “Unwavering has dealt with worse. You won’t even be that far away. Given that you’ll be lit up, I might be able to keep you in sight most of the time.”

  “Fair enough,” Kelsey said. She turned to the other two. “You up for a girls' only dungeon crawl?”

  “I suppose,” Aris said.

  Anton kept his fears to himself as he watched the girls make their way down the cliff. It was steep, and tall, but there were plenty of handholds and Kelsey had gone down first to catch them. Catch Aris, really, Tyla had swarmed down the rock face like she did it every day.

  There were dangers down there, but nothing that they couldn’t handle. It was mostly the same monsters, with some ice-based variants. Nothing that needed a solution more elaborate than ‘shoot it’. The real dangers were on the upper levels.

  “You said there was ice? Ice patches?” Zaphar said, gingerly making his way down the cliff. Like Anton, he had Spider-climb, so his feet and hands simply stuck to any surface whenever he wanted to. It still looked like he was climbing, but only because walking down the sheer face would have been awkward.

  “Yeah. It shouldn’t be any problem for us, though,” Anton said. He started making his own way down. “It’s slippery and can chill your hands if you’re holding on, but we should be fine. Oh, but keep an eye out for snakes.”

  They made it to the top without any issues, passing easily through the one ice trap on the way. They were as sudden and mysterious as the notes had described, a small patch of lower temperature, cold enough to put a layer of ice on the vine, existing for no reason that Anton could see.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Magic, he decided. The dungeon didn’t need a reason, other than dislodging unwary trespassers.

  The top of the pillar was sparsely covered by thorny bushes. They would have lacerated the skin of anyone without armour, but even the flexible sligg-skin pants that Zaphar was wearing were enough to protect him. Now that they were here, they could see that the top was shaped like a huge bowl. Cold air wafted up from further down.

  Anton let Zaphar lead the way. They encountered just one monster on the way in, a Frozen Vinelurker with blue skin that burst out of a bush only to be skewered on Zaphar’s dagger.

  Zaphar cursed when they got to the centre. The ground dipped more steeply, culminating in a vertical drop of about a yard, ending in a pool of icy water. Out of the middle of the pool, a thin column of rock rose, supporting a stone chest.

  Above the pool, bridging the gap between the edge of the drop and the column, was a latticework of ice.

  “That isn’t strong enough to hold me,” Zaphar stated.

  “The notes say that it is,” Anton replied. “As long as you’re careful, and don’t make any sudden moves.”

  Zaphar stared at him. “Why would I make sudden moves?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Because you’ll be fighting a Frostbite Reaver,” Anton said. His attention was on the pond, looking for signs of where the thing was.

  “One of those big sliggs?” Zaphar asked. He grimaced. “It’s in the pond, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe,” Anton said. “I don’t see it. Maybe you can sneak across while it’s hidden.”

  Zaphar studied the ice lattice and pool beneath it. “No such luck,” he stated, pointing out a figure climbing out of the water below.

  Anton would have whistled, but you didn’t do things like that when you were delving. The sligg that climbed out of the pool was larger than any they’d seen so far, and its blue-white, translucent skin was excellent camouflage against the ice.

  “You might be better at this than you think,” he told Zaphar. “Dodging seems like it would be the way to go. You need firm footing to parry.”

  “You—you need sound footing to dodge!” Zaphar retorted.

  “You out-level it,” Anton said. He tried to maintain a tone of reasonableness. “You’re faster than it is. You may not be stronger, but you’ve got daggers.”

  “It can go in the water with—without issue,” Zaphar spat. “I can’t.”

  “If you fall in, I’ll kill it and pull you out,” Anton promised. He patted the coil of rope at his side. An adventurer was always prepared. “Don’t fall in, though.”

  “Like I want to,” Zaphar muttered. He drew his knives and crept forward.

  Anton had seen Zaphar practicing with his daggers, but he’d never really had the chance to evaluate the man when he was fighting for real. On the previous floors, Anton had been too busy looking out for Aris to pay close attention to how Zaphar fought.

  To put it bluntly, he wasn’t very good. Daggers were not Anton’s chosen weapon, but he’d been drilled in their use. His parents had wanted him to know the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon and had pointed out that you never knew what weapon you would be forced to take up in an emergency.

  Zaphar had not been drilled. He’d picked up a few tricks on the streets, he was at least holding it correctly. But his line was off, he was dropping the point too much and he wasn’t able to put his weight behind his thrusts.

  He was really good at dodging, though. Anton didn’t think he could match him, not without using Uncanny Dodge. Even on the treacherous footing of the ice lattice, Zaphar wove about, avoiding the sligg’s claws easily.

  But then, that was why Anton had Uncanny Dodge. That was Zaphar’s problem, he didn’t have any good attack Traits. Anton thought he saw Feint being used, but that wasn’t strong on its own. It almost guaranteed a hit for your next strike, but it needed to be chained to a decently strong attack.

  Anton resolved to get Zaphar a rapier at the next opportunity.

  For now, though, Zaphar was doing all right. The Reaver wasn’t attacking with any great skill and was already sporting some small cuts from Zaphar’s glancing attacks. However, Zaphar was getting tired and the monster wouldn’t…

  Anton blinked. He was too used to fighting undead. The monsters here did get tired. He could see it happening in front of him.

  Well, I guess it remains even then, he thought. Zaphar Feinted again, and came in for a slash. The Reaver was off balance but he…

  Breathed out a cloud of freezing mist. Zaphar aborted his attack and dived out of the way. The ice cracked where he landed, but he kept moving, sliding forward onto safer ground.

  The Reaver didn’t follow him onto the weakened ice, but howled furiously. Anton could see flakes of ice falling off Zaphar’s arm. The icy breath had instantly covered it with a thin layer of ice. Anton could only imagine how cold Zaphar must be feeling.

  Standing on the edge of the battle, Anton felt a little extra chill. The cold was spreading, and it was more intense where Zaphar was standing. Anton could see his breath beginning to mist up.

  Zaphar wasn’t going to retreat. As he stood on the edge, he was mapping out a route across the ice, gauging the strength and soundness of the way forward. The Reaver bellowed a challenge, but kept its position between Zaphar and the prize.

  This time, Zaphar didn’t move cautiously. He dashed across the ice, his feet firmly placed exactly where he wanted them. He didn’t move in a straight line, but it made little difference to the Reaver, who stoically met his charge. At the last second, as Zaphar’s dagger was rising to strike, the Reaver breathed again—and Zaphar dropped to the ground.

  Anton hadn’t noticed, but the Reaver had chosen to stand on a flat patch of ice. Anton wasn’t sure why—the Reaver moved as easily on the ice as Zaphar did—but level ground was the easiest to fight on. Now, Zaphar used that against it, as he dived under the icy breath and let himself slide right past the confused sligg. But that wasn’t all.

  As he slid past, Zaphar’s dagger flashed, and the Reaver howled in pain. Even as it whirled around to strike him, its leg collapsed from under it. Zaphar had hamstrung the brute. It roared its outrage and pounded on the ice.

  Anton thought it was just frustration, but it was an attack just as deadly as its breath. The ice splintered under its fist, cracks spreading as the entire lattice started to collapse.

  Zaphar must have heard the cracking, but he hadn’t looked back since tumbling to his feet. Even as the Reaver’s fists pounded the ice, Zaphar was running for the pillar. It was the right move. He reached the chest, just as half of the lattice collapsed with a splintering crash, sending the Reaver into the pond.

  For just a moment, it felt like everything was still and quiet. It wasn’t—the waters beneath roiled with the impact of all the ice, Zaphar was breathing heavily as he held on to the chest. Then he opened it, taking out a handful of gold and a small, strangely shaped black stone.

  Stowing his reward in a pouch, Zaphar carefully walked across the remains of the lattice and around the edge to where Anton waited.

  Anton looked down at the pool. “You know, you won’t get the full experience reward unless you finish it off,” he said.

  Zaphar glared at him, and then at the pond. “I’m fine with missing out,” he said.

  should apologise! Now let's talk sex!

  watch.

  climax? Ey? Ey?