Davi stared at the entrance to the dungeon with an annoyed look on his face. The rest of the people in his group all stared back at him when they noticed he wasn't entering the dungeon.

"Davi, what's wrong?" Ken asked, folding her arms.

"It's cold," Davi grunted. "I don't like this dungeon."

"Well, tough luck." Ruby sneered. "The entrance is here; we're entering through it. Suck it up and come on."

The house had been just as ruined as they all expected. What wasn't expected, though, was the entrance to the dungeon. The fridge was the only thing in the building that was still functioning somehow. Its doors were open, and it stretched out into an icy tunnel with frost filling the air. The others had already started to enter the dungeon.

The tunnel was extremely narrow, so Cain had to walk from side to side, keeping his body curved. Ken and Ruby, on the other hand, weren't even able to enter correctly due to their… assets. Because of that, Ken pulled out Yujin, who now looked like a large, plump skunk. The floating fire spirit glowed softly and was melting through the ice, forcefully expanding the tunnel to allow both women to enter, and that was when they noticed Davi hadn't even budged.

"Don't tell me you have something against ice?" Cain called out from the other side of the tunnel. "Your mana is even colder than this cave! I assume with how chilling it is, you have to have cold resistance or even cold immunity?"

Davi inched forward after a few moments and sighed. "The cold and I don't really get along very well. I do have a decent cold resistance trait, though. Heat resistance as well."

Ken's eyes narrowed slightly. "Did you take a heater pill?"

"No."

"Then how did you heat resistance?" Cain questioned with a confused look.

"I had to melt my way out of the ice somehow…" Davi muttered quietly, and for a moment, harsh flickers of fire went through his mind.

"What?"

"Nothing." Davi shook his head. "Let's just get this over with. The sooner the better."

"That's right." The four of them turned when Jack Larison spoke up. The Knight had remained a few meters away from them and kept his arms crossed the entire time. "Remember, being in a dungeon for the long term isn't healthy. As Knights, our bodies can naturally withstand it longer, but it's impossible for us to have a real resistance to the dungeons' cursed mana. It's important you finish the mission as quickly as you can so as not to risk mutation."

"He's right." Ruby nodded. "Let's move out."

Ken used her own energy to boost Yujin's fire, and soon enough, the tunnel was wide enough for both women to make it to the other side. Davi followed behind at a slower pace. Past the fridge and the cold tunnel was an even colder ice cave.

The floor was a bit slippery, and the air dropped massively low. Davi was fine due to his resistance. Ken and Cain were also fine since they had magic that could produce heat. Ken ran her flames over herself while Cain made a jacket of superheated radiation that kept him cozy. Ruby was the only one who was clearly having a hard time. The woman's arms circled around herself, and her teeth were chattering as she shivered. Her skin was also turning a little blue despite the fact that she had just set foot in the cave.

Much to the woman's embarrassment, she was forced to practically stay pressed between Ken and Cain just so she could share in a bit of their warmth. Jack was the final one, and like Davi, he didn't seem bothered at all, probably having a resistance to the cold.

"Davi was right." Ruby shivered even harder. "The cold sucks."

"Told you." Davi patted the girl on the shoulder, which only made her colder since his mana was so dense. She shot him a nasty look, and he removed his hand. "My bad."

"L-Let's j-just f-find t-this s-stupid b-boss," Ruby growled.

The cave itself was a typical dungeon, save for the frosty look it had. It wasn't a castle or a tomb or anything like that. It was just a big frozen cave with lots of twisting tunnels.

They walked through it at a slow pace due to Ruby. Davi and Cain kept their guard up while Ken was doing her best to make sure Ruby didn't freeze to death. Despite keeping their eyes open, though, neither of the men saw a single goblin. They didn't hear any of them either. Davi was confident none were hiding out of sight either, thanks to his Danger Sense trait.

Danger Sense basically worked by sending out a small pulse of mana in all directions like a radar. It would only go off when something with hostile intent was coming close to him. Because of that, if something didn't have the intent aimed at him or was able to mask it, the ability wouldn't go off. Goblins were quite stupid and unskilled, though, so it should have been impossible for one to mask its aura of hate toward him.

Danger Sense could work on people too, but it wasn't as useful since people could mask their emotions. It had gone off in his fight with Rowan, which is what saved him. Danger Sense was mainly just used for monsters since they were programmed to hate and despise humans. Even creatures like the snake, which were willing to work with humans, would still view humanity as scum that needed to be wiped out; it would just first use the scum to benefit itself before anything else.

They also weren't being quiet as they walked through the cave, which made the fact that no goblins were showing up kind of confusing. Davi was starting to get a bit concerned until he turned the corner. "Oh."

"What the fuck?" Ruby wasn't able to hold back her curse, and she even forgot about the cold for a moment as her eyes roamed over the intense gore.

The cave had opened up into a large section, which looked like it had been made into a makeshift camping area. Dozens of tents and rolls were scattered around, and campfires had been set up. The floor was also a crystal red as the goblin blood froze and mixed with the icy cavern. Corpses littered the ground, mangled and crushed beyond belief.

"Oh." Ken nudged one of the corpses with her foot. "So that's a goblin. Neat."

A loud crashing sound echoed and bounced off the walls. Near the back, an entire section of the cave had been torn apart. The group hurried over just in time to see a massive red ogre bringing a pillar of ice down onto a greater goblin, crushing and killing it in an instant.

The dungeon was having a hostile takeover. The ogre must have come in and slaughtered the other goblins. This ogre was also clearly stronger than normal ones. Most ogres were massive, and while this one was huge, it was a lot smaller, yet even more muscular, having all that power and weight compressed down. It was a rare anomaly of the species that could sometimes show up. Just like how goblins could have greater goblins be born, this was a greater ogre.

It was a creature most mage squads would be scared of.

Team Ruby wasn't like most mage squads, though.

Ruby raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the creature, which turned to look at them. "Oh? That's it? Seriously? Cain, Davi. You two got this."

Davi and Cain stepped forward, both drawing their swords. Cain held his katana out while Davi twirled his sword of moonlit energy around. "I'll go for the legs," Davi said casually.

"Alright, I'll take its hands out, and then we can both take its head out." Cain nodded.

"Sounds like a plan."

The ogre roared and charged as both men got ready to slaughter the prey that was coming toward them.

***

Olivia gave the command, and her group scattered just in time as the ogre jumped toward them. The red monster slammed its giant stone club out, but by that point, they had all dodged, so its strike missed entirely.

"Ash!" Olivia called out. "Get its attention! When I give you the chance to do the thing, do it!"

"What thing?" Ash asked.

"You'll know it when you see it!" Olivia yelled back. "Emma, you're the Attacker, do your thing! Nori, back Emma up with attacks, and do your best to shield Ash."

Nori gave a grin, and he muttered a spell. Glass wings grew out of his back, and he took to the sky, getting out of the danger zone. "Don't worry, I'll make sure the little rat doesn't get hurt too badly. Row Glass Armor!"

Olivia gasped as shards of glass swarmed around her and began to mold into a reflective chest piece. The same happened for Emma and Ash, as Nori gave them all glass armor. The glass itself wasn't tough or durable, but a thin layer of mana draped its way over their body, giving them a weak barrier that could let them take a blow they otherwise couldn't.

While Nori was doing that, Emma drew both her guns and raised them up. "Row Spacial Shift." The air flickered, and suddenly bullets appeared in the chambers of her revolver. She began to pull the trigger rapidly, and the gun would go off, sending mana bullets directly at the beast. The bullets kept coming as well, new ones constantly reappearing within the gun, effectively giving Emma infinite ammo. So long as she could pull the trigger, the gun would fire.

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The bullets rammed into the ogre's back but didn't do much damage to the beast. Its attention turned toward Emma, and it roared, but before it could charge, Ash used a spell.

"Row Wind Spear!" The wind compressed and fired, flinging through the air at a high speed and ramming into the ogre's head. It also didn't hurt the ogre all that much, but it did cause the monster to whip its head around toward Ash and swing its club out at him. "Row Wind Barrier!" Ash barely put up his shield as the club smashed into him. The air formed a dome, and he was sent flying back, but he was mostly unharmed and landed on the heels of his feet, flicking his wand out again. "Row Wind Tornado!" Ash sliced the wand down and launched his spell.

The air rapidly twisted and bent to his will, roaring out as it launched toward the red beast. Ash had used this same spell to defeat the ogre in the simulation countless times, and he assumed this was what Olivia had meant when she said he would know what to do. This ogre wasn't like the one in the simulation, though.

The tornado smashed into it, but the creature flexed, and its toes stabbed into the ground, holding it in place. It wasn't going to be launched away into the sky so easily. Ash cursed and put his barrier back up as the ogre took a swing at him. He braced himself this time, and his shield stood firm, but his arms shook.

Emma kept firing at the ogre, and while her shots were leaving minor bruises across its back, it wasn't enough to actually halt the monster.

Ogres, like most powerful monsters, had mana-resistant flesh that could cause low-level spells or magical attacks to bounce off. It would take serious firepower to actually harm them. Emma's bullets packed a punch, but they were just regular rounds that were being boosted with mana, so the damage output was too low.

Olivia clutched her wand and scanned the monster up and down. "Emma, focus your fire on its ankle! Nori, help her out!"

"If you say so." Nori nodded and raised the tip of his finger up. "Row Glass Blade." He flicked it out, and the glass formed, becoming a long-bladed weapon that was nearly invisible due to how thin it was and the way it reflected everything across its surface. Emma did as she was told and focused her bullets on the ogre's ankle. She hit the same spot, the bullets nailing it over and over again thanks to her marksman trait.

The skin along the ogre's leg started to peel and crack, and it hissed in pain but kept swinging at Ash, who was still on guard. That was when Nori's attack came flying out. The glass blade sliced out and rammed into the ogre's ankle. The weapon shattered and exploded, dealing minor damage, but it did cause a tiny papercut to appear along the bruised skin that Emma had left. Emma's bullets started to pepper the cut, making the wound grow.

Olivia took that as her chance. She had remained on the sidelines watching the fighting, but it was now her time. She ran forward and used the glass knife to cut part of her wrist in a shallow slash. Blood flowed down the hand that clutched her wand, and she reached the ogre, dodging past its legs, which kept stomping down. The ogre also noticed her and went to swing its club at her, but Ash was faster.

"Row Wind Bird!" The air shifted and became a large falcon made of wind, which draped itself over Olivia, using itself as a shield. The ogre's club bounced off the bird, which cracked and shook, nearly shattering, but the construct held on, giving Olivia the chance to slide.

She got behind the ogre and twisted around, thrusting her wand out. She rammed the tip of it directly into the wound the ogre had on its foot. The wound was shallow and not deep, less than an inch of the wand getting in, but it didn't matter. Its skin was tough, as was the inside of its body, but unlike the outside, the inside wouldn't have the same magic-proof flesh.

"Row Blood Scythe." Red erupted and exploded out of Olivia's hand, crawling along her wand and forming into her blade, directly inside of the monster's ankle. More blood spilled out, and the ogre screamed in pain as the weapon tore through it.

Her blade would usually not be sharp enough to cut the monster, but in this case, the forming of the weapon made it more deadly than the blade itself. This was because the blood would flow remarkably thin and at rapid speeds. In an instant, that thin blood would shape itself into a long scythe, and if anything were caught in the way of that shaping, the blood would just cut through it. Even a pebble could become a dangerous weapon if it were thrown fast enough, after all.

Olivia gripped the handle of her scythe, which was lodged in the ogre's ankle. She gave the monster a cold look, no longer afraid of it as it roared in agony. She attempted to tug on the blade, but she wasn't strong enough to move her weapon, so instead she turned away. "Emma, Nori, take out its foot."

Nori and Emma stood, and in Nori's case, floated there, stunned for a moment before they snapped back into the action. Nori used another glass blade while Emma started to launch her bullets around the scythe, digging into the ankle wound even more. Nori's sword smashed down and rammed into the handle of the scythe, and since Emma made the wound start to grow, the scythe was able to be pushed in further.

Olivia lifted her foot up, and she brought it up to the butt of her weapon once Nori's glass blade vanished, and she kicked forward with her might. Between the damage that was already caused and the worsened state Emma left it in, the scythe slid further in, getting deeper and deeper until it reached the other side and sliced the foot clean off.

The ogre collapsed to the ground, missing its foot, and it rolled around howling. "Alright, Ash," Olivia began. "Toss it."

Ash gave a hesitant nod. "Row Wind Tornado." This time, the ogre wasn't able to stop itself from being lifted into the sky. It tried to hold onto the ground with its remaining foot, but Olivia brought her weapon down on its toes. She wasn't able to slice through them, but she did cause it enough pain that it let go and went flying away. It was carried into the air, where it spun. "Want me to launch it?" Ash asked.

Olivia shook her head. "With how tough it is, it could survive even if you blasted it miles away."

"So then what?"

"Put it down."

"What?" Ash looked at her as if she were crazy.

Olivia casually pointed to the molten pits of lava that were scattered throughout the mountain they were on. "Let's see how good his fire resistance is."

Ash opened his mouth to retort but then stopped. Olivia usually came up with ideas and plans, but was she always this twisted? It was a monster, so it wasn't like it mattered. Ash flicked his hand out, and the ogre was sent smashing toward the ground, the wind shoving it down. It rammed headfirst into a pool of magma.

Magma was more like a syrup than an actual liquid, and the ogre didn't instantly sink. Its body ignited in an intense flame, and it began to thrash, slowly going under. Its skin became black and peeled away, and parts of it exploded as it got deeper and deeper, revealing bones by the time it dropped down entirely.

Nori stayed up in the sky, and he stared down at the pit before finally letting out a relieved sigh. "Its mana is gone." He called out. His glass wings started to flap as he dropped from the sky and landed on the ground. "It's dead."

"Yes!" Olivia cheered and raised her scythe up. "Wow! That was crazy easy! I didn't even have to use my second or third spell!"

"We're lucky we had this arena to fight it in," Ash muttered. "I don't know if we could have beaten it otherwise."

"I'd have come up with something." Olivia chuckled.

"That was a good plan." Emma walked over and nodded. "It was quick and easy and allowed us to take the beast out without a prolonged fight. Good job." Then Emma turned to look at Sune, who had stayed on the sidelines, close enough to get involved if she was needed, but also out of range. "Are we done? Did we pass?"

"Not yet." Sune folded her arms and tapped her foot down. "Just because you killed the boss doesn't mean it's over. The dungeon will begin to fade and will vanish, going back to wherever it is they go when they're beaten, but our job isn't done yet. We still have to report back to the village and inform them what happened." Then a small smile managed to cross onto Sune's face. "You four did well, though. You were faced with something scary, yet you managed to get the courage to beat it. Good job."

"Nice." Olivia cheered again. "I finally did well on a test."

"Yes, you weren't bad." Nori laughed. "You impressed me pretty well."

"Don't laugh like that. It ruins the message."

"I thought your magic would be useless, but that scythe of yours is strong," Emma said, casually poking the blood scythe Olivia was still holding.

Olivia gave a sheepish grin and shrugged. "Thanks. It was a spell I made myself."

"Making a spell is extremely hard," Emma said, almost sounding impressed.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded and looked at the scythe almost lovingly. "There is this super cool girl. She's pretty and an Arcane Knight. She saved me, and she fought with a scythe. She also had this cute witch outfit on as well! She was the best!"

"We can talk about this all later," Ash grunted. "Let's get out of here."

Olivia gave another nod. "Yeah. You're right." She turned toward the castle entrance, where Sune was still standing. They'd have to leave the same way they entered. "Let's get out of here—"

It happened in an instant.

One moment, they were all standing out in the courtyard, talking and smiling, and then the next, a massive surge of mana hit them all head-on. Even Olivia, who didn't know how to sense mana properly, felt it. A chill crawled up her spine, and she let out a whimper on instinct. She wasn't the only one who was hit with a wave of fear. Emma's face turned pale, and Nori looked like he was about to collapse. Ash did collapse and drop to his knees, vomiting.

Sune was instantly on full alert, and she was in front of all of them, her sword out, but it was too late. Everything changed and began to twist. Then Olivia blinked, and she was no longer outside. Instead, she was somewhere else. Somewhere familiar.

"You've got to be shitting me." Sune spat out, her eyes wide as she glanced around. "This shouldn't be happening! This is a one in a million!"

"W-What is it?" Olivia whispered, but she already knew the answer.

Sune's teeth ground together, and her hands shook. "A dungeon."

"W-We were in a dungeon." Nori forced a nervous laugh.

"Yeah." Sune nodded grimly. "A dungeon just opened up inside of another dungeon."

***

"Way to go." Jack lazily clapped. "You took out the ogre."

"That was way too easy," Cain said flatly.

"Agreed." Davi removed his shiny new sword from the ogre's skull. The poor monster had been hacked to bits in under one minute.

"S-So we're done?" Ruby demanded, shooting a look toward Jack.

"Yep." Jack nodded and tossed a sucker her way. "Good question. You've slain the boss so that the dungeon will close. All that's left to do is leave and report back to the-" Jack's sword was in his hand, and he lifted his palm out. "Row Imaginary Portal!" The energy crackled, but then it fizzled out. "Fuck!"

While he was doing that, Ruby, Ken, and Cain all suddenly looked extremely sick and shaken. Davi had it the worst, though. He grabbed at his face and suddenly screamed. It was loud and wailing as his head felt like it was about to explode. His scar burned, and Danger Sense screamed at him to run and escape, but there was nothing he could do.

One second, he was in the icy cave, and the next, he and everyone else found themselves in a new dungeon. Davi shivered as he felt cold. Really, really cold. The others were already freezing over, their skins starting to crack and turn blue, and Ruby already looked like she was dead, her chest no longer moving. Even Jack looked to be in a bad state, as he shivered and lines opened up along his flesh.

Davi craned his head up and nearly vomited at what he saw. He was ankle-deep in snow. A blizzard formed around him, blanketing him in a sea of white. He was in a dungeon. A very familiar dungeon.

"A dungeon in a dungeon?" Jack cursed and shivered and forced his energy out, attempting to heal and warm the rest of them up. "Only someone like Father can deal with this." Jack bit his lip so hard it bled, and instantly the blood froze. "What the hell took notice of us?"

His question was answered moments later as a rumble echoed through the blizzard. Jack looked up, as did the others, and they all screamed—all but Davi.

Something massive was making its way toward them. The boss of the dungeon had already spotted them.

It was gigantic in nature, so big none of them could fully see it, and it walked on four legs, each one ending in massive black claws. Harsh red scales covered its body, and a tail whipped back and forth, cracking the ground. Its head craned down at them, steam rising off its body as the ice around it melted, and suddenly the group no longer found themselves cold. They were burning. Even Ken winced as her flesh started to smoke.

It was a dragon. Beasts that should have only existed in legends. The monsters Haru slaughtered. The dragon craned its head down and stared at the crowd of terrified people. Among them, though, it could tell that one stood out. Its eyes landed on the only human that was glaring up at it. Fire gushed out of its snout as it snorted.

"Oh? Little Davi? Have you come to be saved once more?"

Davi found his Dragon.

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