It was fun for me to see that for once I wasn't the center of attention, although I doubted that Cellestra liked all the stares. She shifted uneasily while we made our way to the dungeon, but it seemed to improve with time, her confidence growing. By the time we reached our destination, she was strongly anchored on my back and focused, from what little I saw of her face.

We entered the Proving Grounds and moved as a group, skipping the first few creatures. The only thing we had to get out of the way was a stalking lioness, simply because it was aggressive. After that, we were free to move to the second floor, where we would continue where we left off.

I was eager to see what was beyond the wolves, but unfortunately, that was where our free pass ended. The wolves were there again, and reacted to our presence the same way as last time: with aggression.

And much like last time, I decided to get them out of the way with nothing but my weapon and an imbuement applied to it.

It was the first time I tested its worth, and I was more than satisfied with the results. The blade cut through both flesh and bone alike without any trouble. I stabbed and sliced wildly while moving to not give them a chance to encircle me. One by one, the wolves fell by either steel or the power of my legs. A few minutes later, the battle was over, prompting Selleron and his squad to walk up to us as we moved forward to the next part of the dungeon.

We still found ourselves in a massive, but dead caldera, but the scenery changed slightly as we moved forward. Rocky terrain made way for soil from which colorful flowers sprouted. I tried casting an earthen spike from it, but the rocky underground was still present, preventing me from using the spell.

Eventually, we came across some kind of oasis. A small lake sat at the center, seemingly not much more than a few feet deep, and smaller trees and greenery grew along its shoreline. I halted and looked around when I saw something move in the water.

At first, I was expecting something like the crocolisks in my first dungeon, but it quickly became clear this wasn’t anything like it. Multiple pairs of horns on either side of beast heads were moving my way. Their heads were eerily similar to a bull’s, even more so than the bison I’d fought.

These creatures didn’t look as muscled as the previous bovine, but their horns were magnitudes larger. Moreover, there were fifteen of them in total, swimming to and walking onto the shoreline. The ones that had reached it, waited and snorted in my direction.

“Hm, I wonder if those taste just as good,” I said.

“Want to get some meat?” Cellestra asked.

“Nah. We’re not here for that now. Make sure to hold on tight. I don’t think those horns are for show.”

“Gotcha.”

I readied my weapon as the first of the animals charged at me. It was met by the tip of my halberd, which penetrated its skull, killing it almost instantly.

You have killed a Caldera Buffalo: No experience was awarded.

I quickly pulled out the weapon as more of the buffalos charged at me. Thanks to my new addition, I was confident I’d be able to take them out one by one quite easily. It was time to start a dance, and I asked for my blessing to stop displaying messages for its duration.

I ran towards the edge of the small approaching herd and held out my halberd to the side, cleaving into the side of one of the buffalos, leaving a searing wound due to the imbuement, but the creature was already collapsing due to the depth of the wound and the damage it had done.

The same happened to another one of the creatures as it slowed down to turn its direction. Unfortunately for it, I was far more agile. I then quickly brought my halberd across to impale a bull that charged me from the other side, while shooting a fireball forward to another one that had appeared faster than I’d expected.

I jumped back, pulled my weapon with me, and created some distance between us to calmly evaluate how things stood.

One of the animals was burning alive and rammed its horn into another’s side, heavily injuring it, as it panicked and ultimately, died.

Five down, one injured. That meant there were nine healthy bovines to cleave through.

I turned my head to look at Cellestra who nodded, indicating everything was going okay. I nodded back as I charged the outermost of the animals a second time, cutting off a leg, and running the blade through its belly and side. I shot a thick line of thread from my hand that connected to the animal, and then ran a half-circle to the other end of the pack, cleaving down another beast, and causing some of them to trip over the thread, causing confusion.

I used that time to lunge forward and lance one of them that had come to a halt behind the front echelon. From there, I was able to finish off the beast that had suffered damage from one of its own. That left me with six.

“This new weapon sure is doing work,” I said as I ran away for a second time. I turned around to see the remaining animals charge again, they’d continue to do so until they were neutralized.

I took a deep breath and refocused on the battle. Things were going well, and I knew that if I just kept calm, this was easily doable without breaking a sweat, or using more mana.

Cellestra held on tight and I started another charge, intending to finish this battle.

The blue and silver of my blade flashed as I attacked to my left, taking another beast down. I kept using my dexterity to stay at a safe distance and then strike, avoiding their horns. A few more of my attacks landed, and ultimately, there was only one creature left, and it was bleeding profusely.

I finished it by chopping off its head, ending its suffering, while Selleron approached, slowly clapping his gloved hands.

“Impressive. I knew you’d be able to do this, but that was cleaner, far cleaner than I’d expected,” he said.

“Glad you liked that,” I replied. “I didn’t want you to feel like you’d misplaced your confidence.”

“I don’t doubt that. In fact, seeing how easily you get through this makes me feel like you’d do well on the third floor, but I’ll warn you, the third floor scales in difficulty way faster than the first two. If you, at any point, feel like you’re unable to overcome your enemy, call out for us, okay?”

The seriousness that his voice assumed reminded me that dungeons were dangerous.

“Yes,” I said, nodding. “Thank you.”

He then pointed us in the right direction, and we continued, moving along the shoreline, until I suddenly came to a halt.

“What’s wrong?” Cellestra asked.

“Give me a second,” I said, turning to the water.

I thought I saw something in the water and took a closer look, using my thermal vision to pierce the clean, but dark water.

“You mind stepping off for a second?” I asked.

“Sure,” Cellestra replied, before hopping off. I could see she was still struggling with her armor, and just sat down to lessen the strain. In the meantime, I cast the water walking spell, and skittered across the still water’s surface, in order to get a better look at what was going on.

Since the beasts that had been swimming here had been eliminated, and Selleron was going to have us move on, I didn’t think there would be any more enemies here, but I was careful, nonetheless.

The black, rocky bottom of the body of water was easily visible, but I’d spotted something near the center, a small dot of red in a sea of grey on my alternative vision. It had disappeared quickly, but I know for certain I’d seen it.

Near the middle of the small lake, the rocky underground made place for sand, and in the center of that patch, I saw the red dot appear again, bigger this time. Just like before, it disappeared within the blink of an eye.

I shot an ice lance down into the water, aiming for the dot, thinking it could be some living creature, but instead, it became stuck in something in the sand.

I brought down my front two legs, willing them to pierce through my spell’s effect. I was successful in my attempt and, thanks to their length, they easily reached the sand, where they tapped onto something solid beneath the sand.

Curiously, I started digging through it to find a small wooden chest, that seemed to contain something that was hot, and then cold, in pulses.

I didn’t trust this. I walked backward while moving the chest along the bottom of the water until it was on dry land.

“Selleron,” I called the captain’s name. “Any idea what goes hot and then cold?”