Void

  Once again, Void looked at the Screen, reading it.

  [Time Remaining until realm integration relative to the current spatial realm: 5 days, 21 Hours.]

  [Time Remaining in integrating realm until event: 9 Months, 21 Days, 14 Hours.]

  [Time remaining in Caltermira Realm until integrating realm is absorbed: 5 years, 9 Months, 16 Days, 2 Hours]

  Time sped up in this place due to a multitude most races would struggle to comprehend. After all, not many were privy to the thoughts of gods. Still, the timer seemed to tick by achingly slowly. Five days left out of the decades he had spent waiting wasn't long, especially for him, but it would feel like a century.

  Resting a hand on his chin, he flicked through the updates that were pending for each system. The movement was something he didn't need to do, but after spending a prolonged time being able to watch mortals, it had rubbed off. The two systems that were being used were both based on the same design but had altered slightly because of different events that had taken place.

  One of his eyebrows twitched as he saw the most recent update pertaining to the goddess of the hunt and animals and what she had done. The choice to be put in this realm was one based on his nature; he could hold the realms together for the longest, but he still was upset that his influence on the system and events had dwindled in both realms in the millennia he had been here, not that he'd made many movements in the past. He wondered if some of the gods had even forgotten about their brother. The thought was appalling.

  He’d have to change that during the upcoming event, but without being able to intervene himself, he'd have to move carefully, or one of the realms might become a wasteland with runaway magic.

  Aster

  [You have entered a dungeon.]

  [5 out of 5 participants, the maximum party size has been reached.]

  I felt a shiver run down my spine at the screen, and the feeling that ran down my spine was the same odd sensation I felt when I knew one of the wolves was stalking me for practice or someone was watching me from a distance. The sensation left a moment later, but it was still slightly unnerving.

  When we turned down the tunnel, which seemed to twist oddly, the light from the sun faded, and the entrance vanished behind the stone. Fernand whispered something, and a moment later, two orbs appeared. They were small enough to hold in my fist but glowed bright enough to illuminate the cave all around us.

  The track down was slow. We were probably more cautious than we needed to be. We all had our weapons out, my bow was in my hands, and I was ready to fire at anything that dared to move. The only problem was how small the tunnel was; it was barely manageable to fit two people side by side while still giving them room to swing. So, shooting any arrows past them was something I didn't even want to attempt.

  My worries ended up being forgotten as the tunnel slightly widened out, and I was able to see a glow from ahead, small and distant at first but rising. The heat that was slowly building had sweat dripping from my forehead, telling me a shower would be a priority in my future. Mentally, I made a note to find out if there was a way to clean yourself while adventuring. I'd also wanted to find a way to keep cool, especially now since I seemed to be immune to anything above unpleasant. Both the reason for heat and glow were given answers when the tunnel finally opened up into a large room. Well, large wasn't right, but it was big, at least a hundred feet circular and dozens of feet tall, with stalagmites hanging from the ceiling and a large pool of what I knew from reading was magma in the middle that bubbled slowly.

  “Woah..” Kat said, wiping her forehead, and I blinked, my eyes watering slightly at the density of the mana in the air mixed with the heat. They were both equally as stifling. Even with the new expanse of the cave taking most of my attention, my ears twitched, moving as I heard the shift of talons on the stone above me. It was a noise I was used to, but in a completely different circumstance and only when Umbra was with me.

  Angling my bow at the same time I looked up, I let the arrow fly with a quick drawback on the string.

  The monster, because it definitely couldn't be normal to have two heads growing out of one neck, looked like a deformed forest salamander. Instead of the general forest brown that was usually on them, it had a gray, pebbly, bumpy-looking skin that blended in with the stone behind it. Its eyes were an amber red that glared at us with malice and hunger.

  I didn't think as I pulled back the string, letting the arrow fly, which was probably why my arrow didn't hit it straight on; instead, it hit at an angle, but it still managed to sink into the flesh of its torso. It let out a half hiss, half croak before it fell from the roof, landing between me and a startled Fernand with a splat. The creature lay motionless, yellow blood oozing out of the hole.

  [You have killed A Dungeon - Fire Ember Salamander Level 34]

  [You have defeated a Monster, Grade 1, Normal Experience is awarded]

  For a second, there was silence, and then the cavern echoed with a multitude of burping, popping noises and hisses.

  “Remember the formation! Keep your backs to the entrance. There's no way we missed any passageways with how narrow it was. Kat, keep an eye above us so no more sneaking up on us.” Fernand was quick with his words, appearing calm as the hisses grew in volume, even pulling out a potion, which he threw towards Kat. He then started to whisper to himself, casting a spell as we all got ready and into our positions. It was awkward and obviously unpracticed as Wren raised his shield, stepping in front of us, blocking my sight, and Fernand got too far to the side. I might have been wrong, but we felt too open.

  The next salamander appeared from out of the magma, molten rock dripping from its skin. It was followed by three more. Now that the creature wasn't hanging from a ceiling above me, it appeared a lot smaller than I'd first thought, only coming up to just above my waist. It was definitely dozens of times larger than it should be, but not as big as I'd first thought. Wren thought the same thing. He let out a sigh that sounded relieved, disappointed, and upset, all at the same time, and he started to walk forward.

  “What are you doing?” Kat whisper-yelled. She was a dozen steps to the side, one hand holding the potion Fernand had thrown her and the other hand holding a dagger.

  “I don't see how anyone could have had trouble with this. Look at them. I mean, she killed it with one arrow.” Wren gestured to me with his shield in a ‘Look how small she is’ motion. “There's only three anyway. This will be as easy as hunting a wild boar.”

  As if waiting for that moment, another salamander dragged itself out of the lava, then another and another. I lost count after nearly two dozen. Wren, who had looked so prideful a moment ago, had lost his sneer and carefree attitude and taken a step back. The heads of the salamanders, which ranged from one to three, with more heads meaning a bigger body, were snapping and drooling the magma they had just come out of.

  I didn't wait to see how many more came out, breaking what felt like a prolonged moment of sizing up from both sides. Pulling my bow back and this time taking the half-second required aim, I let loose an arrow. One of the first three salamanders who were the closest dropped like a stone, the arrow sticking out of its eye.

  As if a wolf's howl announced the start of a hunt, the tide of salamanders moved forward as one. Wren raised his shield and stepped back, matching the speed of the fastest salamander. I shot a second arrow, bringing down another of the grotesque monsters, while a burning blade flew into another. It didn't ignite the salamander, but the sharp tip protruded from its head, splattering yellow blood onto the ground. Whispering came from behind, and before them, a thin white line, barely a few finger widths high, appeared on the ground in front of the small horde. It didn't stop them, but it did trip them up, causing the front row to stumble and the others to crash into them. It didn't last long, but it gave me time to reduce their numbers with Kat. This time, Wren thankfully stayed out of the path of my arrows while still standing in front of us and began to fight as he ceased backing up.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  I had a small, tiny moment of admiration for him. Not many humans or elves I'd met, which wasn't saying a lot, would face a swarm of these things, even with as low a level as they were, without panicking. The grin on his face showed the complete opposite emotion of what I'd come to expect.

  The salamanders who had reached Wren were more manageable. Still, I expected him to stumble or even fall when four collided head-on with him, but a slight blue glow from his feet and shield showed the use of a skill, and he didn't budge more than an inch. Another slightly darker glow emitted from his sword, and he sliced cleanly through one of the salamanders, the return swing taking off the tail of another.

  I wasn't going to aim at him as I readied another arrow, instead taking the spare moment to reposition to look past the remaining salamanders.

  Fernand had raised a mostly translucent white wall that kept part of the cave clear of the last few, allowing me to maneuver around a small cluster of stones without any difficulty to gain a better view of the lava. Kat was busy behind the now dozen or so salamanders, luring one away, fighting them individually, or backing off if more than one pursued. Pulling back the arrow, I began to pick off the salamanders in the middle. It reminded me, in a strange way, of how I first started practicing with my bow back in the forest. I'd climb onto a stone, making sure I didn't cast a shadow, and use the fish as practice.

  The fight, which had started so quickly, ended just as fast, with Wren plunging his blade into the last salamander's head. The only noise left in the cave was the bubbling of the lava and the panting from all of us.

  The first words after were from Fernand: “Did anyone receive any injuries, burns, or cuts?”

  I checked myself over but knew I was fine; none of the salamanders had even gotten close. Kat had received a light burn across one of her arms where her skin had rubbed against a salamander, and Wren had a cut that had burned enough to stop the bleeding that should be happening on his hand. He appeared not to be fazed by the injury at all, but before I could ask why, Kat must have seen the look on my face and whispered in my ear quietly, “Pain resistance, it is a skill a lot of front line fighters aim for, it dulls the pain of any injury gained while fighting for an hour or longer if the class that gave it is rare.”

  I nodded my head, ear twitching. It sounded like a skill that would be useful for almost anyone but might also pose problems. If you broke a bone, how would you know? Could you just turn the skill off?

  My thoughts were pushed aside as Fernanad spoke up, “I think we were lucky. Compared to all of the other groups who have another frontline, we have more people who fight from range. Usually, that's bad in dungeons, but if all the creatures on the first floor can hurt us by just touching us, I think our group composition will be a preferred choice in the future. “

  Crouching down, I looked over one of the salamanders with a frown. Earlier, they had emitted a boiling heat to the point where, after their death, the cave felt like it was cooling down. I heard Wren say something, but I ignored him, instead holding my hand above the creature's skin. It still let off a lot of heat, but not like before.

  Taking out an arrow, I laid it on the salamander with a thought. The arrow warmed up, but the wood portion didn't burst into flames or get scorched immediately. I wished for a moment I could speak to Umbra. She seemed to have an innate sense of how creatures worked. Looking up, I started listening back into the conversation.

  “Well, I don't want to leave them. There are at least twenty cores here. Do you really not know a way to collect them?” Kat asked

  Fernand looked down at the corpse I was messing with. “Wrens right, I think there's no way to harvest them safely or collect their cores. They do appear to be cooling down, though, so it's possible we might be able on the way back.”

  “You know the dungeons are going to absorb them before we get back,” Kat said but didn't seem to have another argument.

  “There's only a few gold for all of these cores put together; it'd be a waste to collect them anyway,” Wren said disdainfully.

  I was ready to leave the cores. I didn't need any money based on what I understood about finances, but I did want to bring as many cores as possible to Umbra. If Umbra had been here, she probably would have cooled down the bodies in a matter of seconds. As that thought crossed my mind, I looked at the arrow. Picking it up, I rolled it between my fingers while I thought. My skill, Frosted Arrow, was as simple as infusing frost mana into the arrow tip, with the frost affinity added by the skill. When it struck a target, it transferred the mana to the creature, freezing it. My mana was still full from the fight because I hadn't needed the skill. Holding the arrow, I imbued it with frost, watching as the tip frosted over and cold vapor drifted off of it. The talking witch I'd begun to ignore again paused as I thrust the arrow into the salamander's corpse.

  What little I had learned in my classes so far wasn't a fraction of what I wanted to know, but I had discovered that it was hard to force mana into a living creature while it was nearly effortless with a dead one. So when the creature's skin hissed, and steam rose, I felt a rush of excitement.

  “What did you do?” Fernand asked, crouching next to me. I glanced over, then up at the three of them, grinning as I explained the basics of my skill. It wasn't anything special aside from my affinity, which was obvious, so I didn't see a reason to be quiet about it. I was quite proud of having come up with the idea.

  Fernand watched the process with fascination as the salamanders cooled. Its body darkened in color, and cracks formed in the skin. Once it stopped steaming, we stepped back. Wren, grumbling but also a bit curious, used his shield as a hammer to strike the salamander's corpse. It shattered like a rock, pieces crumbling into bits no larger than my fist. In the center, a soft red glowing gem no bigger than a fingernail rested among the rubble. Kat stepped forward, using the blade of her dagger to pick it up, and after a moment of thought, touched it. She kept her finger on it, her eyebrows lifting. “It's warm, but definitely not as hot as the salamander's body. It is the core, though.”

  At her words, and as she passed it around, I identified it.

  [Fire Ember Salamander Core - Grade 1 - The core of a fire affinity dungeon monster in Grade 1.]

  As I held it, I was pleasantly surprised by how it sparkled in the magma’s light. It was almost like the gems I had seen on display in the market, but clearer.

  “Aster, do you have the mana to cool the rest of the bodies down? It’d be more prudent to keep more than half of your mana available if you don’t, in case of the next rooms. Even without the cores, the levels made this room more than worth it.”

  I blinked at Fernand's words. One of the main reasons we were in here was to gain levels! It had slipped my mind the moment I thought of the cores.

  The adventurer's course leading up to this had provided several tips regarding fighting and exploration. One of those tips was to hide all notifications and set a priority list. I was used to notifications popping up and distracting me until the fight was over, but with so many creatures to fight at once, it was clear that the change was worth it. Focusing on the slight pressure in my mind, I opened the notifications and started sifting through them after raising my hand in a quick gesture.

  [You have killed A Dungeon - Fire Ember Salamander Level 27]

  [You have defeated a Monster, Grade 1, Normal Experience is awarded]

  [Notice: You have killed multiple similar dungeon monsters ranked in grade 1. Would you like to see the complete list? Yes/No]

  It was a pleasant surprise that the system gave the option to skip all of the kills, and I gratefully used it, moving to the next window.

  [You have gained Multiple levels.]

  [Race Class: Daughter of Kulni has increased from level 32 to level 35]

  [Second Class: Bonded Ranger has increased from Level 25 to Level 27]

  [Through practice and action, you have gained the skill Archery - Rank 1]

  [Having used the bow from grade 0 and showing expertise with it, Archery - Rank One has increased to Archery - Rank 7]

  I grinned. I knew that archery was a skill I'd get eventually, but gaining the levels from what I did in grade zero was a nice bonus. I started to wonder what other skills might also benefit from what I achieved in grade zero.

  After that and a quick glance, I noticed that my mana, which had dropped forty points from the skill, had already been replenished by half. I was tempted to check my updated character sheet, but a pointed cough from Fernand made me postpone that and decide to assign my free points later.

  “I can cool down all the bodies, but I think it will take a bit,” I said, picking up the arrow that had frozen the body and inspecting it for any splitting or splintering.

  “Let's do that, then. Kat, can you keep an eye out for any monsters that might emerge from the lava? I'll watch the entrance to the other room. Aster and Wren can collect the cores.”

  I wanted to complain, but somehow, through an unspoken agreement, Fernand had become the group's leader, and even Wren didn't seem to mind for some reason. Looking around, I spotted Ellysa near the entrance to the room, watching it with an unreadable expression. She had stayed out of the fighting the entire time and hadn't intervened when Wren got hurt to try to heal him. I wondered what it would take to make her step in.