Matthew's class was taken to a new dungeon that week, since a lot of students refused to go back to the Tower of the Dead, specially if Matthew also going. Some blamed him for the peril they went through that day when the dungeon fluctuated. Few even left the school after the incident.

Others, however, now looked at Matthew as a leader for his role in the events of the tower. Stepping forward to face the horde single-handedly and landing the killing blow on the Dullahan were seen as heroic acts by those.

The dungeon they went this time was called Chilling Highs. It was a vast tundra with a few buildings in ruins spread around. The most common monster that the dungeon spawned were Blizzard Foxes, a bigger version of the arctic fox that could breathe freezing air from their mouths. Also present were Icicle Rabbits, fluffy white rabbits with sharp teeth made of ice, Skeletons, that roamed the underground of the ruins, Polar Bears, the regular animal, and rarely a Yeti, a humanoid monster covered in white fur with big claws, an ape face and four huge fangs that were as big as its head.

Before entering the dungeon, Orpheu was giving the students ruby bracelets that protected against the cold. Orpheu, himself, had just returned to class after recovering from his injury after the Dullahan fight. There was a rumor going around that Saintess Monica, an adventurer considered to be the most powerful healer and holy mana user in the world, came herself to heal him.

"Do you think it's true?" Erin asked Matthew while fixing her bracelet.

"Of course not." Matthew laughed. "Why would the Saintess herself come here just to heal the professor?"

"Do you know something, Lynn?" Erin asked Faralynn who was adjusting her breastplate.

Faralynn just shook her head negatively.

"Do you think they might have some history? They are the same age and the Saintess is from our city." Erin cogitated. "Perhaps they were childhood lovers and it's some form of forbidden love they still share?" She fantasized.

Matthew laughed at Erin's romantic fantasies while loading his gun.

"How's Mia?" He changed subject. She hasn't been attending class since his trial. Relieving her trauma made her ill disposed again.

"She's fine." Erin answered. "Said she's coming back tomorrow."

"I'm glad." Matthew said with a smile.

"You're awfully found of her recently, aren't you Matt?" Erin asked after noticing Faralynn's shoulders sag a little from Matthew's comment.

"I don't know. I feel responsible about what happened to her. So I guess I'm a little protective? Specially now after the trial. She didn't need to testify." Matthew confessed.

"She volunteered." Faralynn said. "Vanessa didn't want to put her on the stand, but she volunteered."

"Really?" Matthew got surprised.

Faralynn just nodded.

Matthew felt even more grateful and more guilty about her. He'd need to thank her properly when he'd meet her again.

They entered the dungeon as soon as Orpheu finished giving his instructions. Helen and Tina were going to follow Orpheu, since he didn't find anyone like Matthew to party with them as he did long ago in the goblin dungeon.

Blizzard Foxes were very weak for Matthew now. He could defeat one with only 1 or 2 shots. And the experience it yielded was not good enough for him. Therefore he decided to just look over Faralynn and Erin who were killing the foxes as easily as they killed goblins.

Both Faralynn and Erin were at level 7, but both said they were close to level 9. Therefore they kind of entered a killing spree chasing around all the foxes they could see forcing Matthew to run behind them collecting the mana crystals.

Both girls were extremely rich. In fact, most of the students there were. Therefore they gave no value to the small mana crystals that were falling on the ground, making Matthew and a couple of others the only ones collecting crystals. That made adventuring with the school very profitable for Matthew.

"We should slow down." Matthew said looking at the distance. He could see other parties walking around and defeating their own monsters. He could see some other parties going down into ruins of old stone buildings. The tundra seemed to go on forever and they were already very far from the gate.

Erin looked at him pouting like a child. She was having a lot of fun. But Matthew had too many bad experiences inside dungeons and gates to be at ease and having fun in there. He was always cautious about something going wrong.

"Let's keep the gate in sight at least." He conceded to Erin's pouting.

After a few more foxes and a couple of Icicle Rabbits, that, despite being smaller than the foxes, were stronger and yielded more XP, Faralynn leveled up.

"I'll get a level on Mage and pick the Lingering Mana skill to be able to use Imbue Mana with my arrows. Their enchantment alone is not enough anymore." She said to Erin. They no longer hid their builds from Matthew, once they were piratically a party.

"Erin will keep up the Mage build?" Matthew asked.

"No. I decided to be a Somniomancer." Erin said. "When everyone was trapped in the dungeon and we knew nothing of what was happening inside, it was really nerve wrecking. I decided to get the Dream Walk skill so I can communicate with people inside the dungeons."

"So… You need to be Visomancer first. For that you need Mage level 3, Healer level 1, and Caller level 1." Matthew noted.

"Yeah. I'm getting Healer next two levels." Erin said. "Then Caller at level 10."

"Good. Our party will finally have a healer." Matthew smiled.

"And a damn good one." Erin laughed.

It took 11 more foxes for Erin to level up. Now she was armed with the Heal skill and, with all the Mage skills, she had a wide array of Healing spells to cast. She just needed to practice.

"Should we go back?" Matthew asked after Erin finished selecting her new class and skill.

"Yeah." Faralynn said straightening her back. They were quite far from the entrance now.

On their way back they ran into a party that was running away from an underground ruin. It was only two people, though. They were missing one.

"Where is Robert?" Erin asked them about their third member.

"He's inside!" The girl Erin asked screamed and then looked at Matthew. "You have to help him! You're the strongest here!"

"What happened?" Matthew asked.

"A yeti was hiding inside!" The boy, the other member of the party, said in tears.

"Go find professor Orpheu. He's with Tina and Helen." Faralynn ordered to the girl and the other boy. "We'll help Robert."

Yetis were level 15 monsters. Orpheu instructed all students to keep away from them. But Matthew, enhanced by the demonic mana surely would be stronger than a Yeti. And now that Erin had the Heal skill, she could help Robert if he was injured.

The three of them ran towards the ruin while the other two ran towards the entrance looking for Orpheu.

The ruins were just the remnants of an old house. All that was left were the stone pillars and the stone foundation. On a corner of what was left of the house, an old stone stair led to a basement.

The basement had three chambers with rotten old wine barrels in them. Some mana crystals were laying on the floor indicating that skeletons were defeated there.

They searched each chamber and, on the last one, a stone wall was crumbled and, behind the stones, there was a tunnel.

Following the tunnel, Matthew, Erin and Faralynn found themselves in a lair of a Yeti. It was a cave with ice covering the walls and ceiling. They walked carefully now. If Robert was still alive, their best chance to save him was not to agitate the beast.

Real Yetis stored living prey in ice they produced with their breaths. The only chance Robert had to be alive was if the Yeti simulacrum would also copy that behavior. If it did, agitating it, would lead it to kill Robert.

For their luck, they found Robert unconscious hanging from the ceiling with his feet trapped in the ice that covered the ceiling. The Yeti itself was nowhere to be seeing.

They then hurried to take Robert out of there.

Matthew lifted Faralynn over his shoulders and she used her sword as a pick to break the ice and free Robert's feet. It was up to Erin to break his fall to which she really tried, but, having only 5 Strength, she was no better than a slightly stronger man. Robert's weight was too much and she fell to the ground trying to hold him.

Erin then healed Robert's visible injuries. While Matthew and Faralynn looked around for the Yeti they found another exit from that cave. The Yeti probably left through there.

Therefore they decided to leave from where they came. However, they found themselves facing the Yeti coming from the ruins they were just in.

Matthew took point, he would hold the Yeti while the girls ran to the other exit. But luck was never on Matthew's side. When Faralynn turned carrying Robert, there was another Yeti coming from the lair.

They were now surrounded with no way out.

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