Luke’s straightforward demand made the temperature drop. The raid boss’s corpse behind him melted away. Snow began to fall at a standard rate once more. Blood soaked snow slowly churched.

Letting his heart pump vigorously, Luke said, “Sooty, remember my words from earlier. Keep watch for me if any of them try something, okay, pal?”

Sooty flapped her wings in pride and began to scrutinize each of the remaining six raid members. She tried to caw like a menace but failed spectacularly. His bird could be threatening when she had something to protect, but overall didn’t have an intimidating bone in her body. Luke gave her an A for effort, regardless.

He began negotiations, “Prove to me you brought any value to this raid. Sooty and I took out nearly seventy-five percent of Onelius’s HP together. Based on my awareness, we never received a single heal, a taunt from tanks, or control effects from any member of your raid.” He held up a hand as Ludia attempted to speak, “I’m not done yet. Sooty ruined one summon completely on her own. Then, if that weren’t enough, we took out another one together.”

Luke tapped his feet in thought for a few seconds, “To my eyes, you, at best, took out one summon and did about a fourth of the damage. I’ll advise you,” Luke’s eyes grew sharp, “the only reason you can argue about loot is because of my help. Otherwise, you’d be another hunter in The Black Death’s stomach. Don’t delude yourself into thinking anything else.”

Ludia huffed for a while before attempting to speak, “As the raid leader-“

The Reaver spat, “Some raid leader you were. How many died due to your poor leadership?”

Ludia became flustered and yelled, “Stop interrupting me, you rude farworlder. I’ve-”

“Then do something to earn my respect rather than make groundless demands. You must be a noble with this level of entitlement.”

The tank grew silent; her facial features became exaggerated. Her hand landed on her spear.

“The silver white-hair elf with a sword cane was right; you all are quick to anger with a low tolerance. Not that I have much room to criticize. I’ve been getting angry a lot today. Too many low-quality people lately.”

Ludia said, “Silver-white hair, sword-cane…tell me, did he wear rings on both hands?”

“He did, but what does that matter?”

“That’s my grandfather, why would he waste time on some crass farworlder like you?”

Luke shifted snow under his feet, “Poor old man, clearly his teachings didn’t reach his grandchildren. I feel sorry for him.”

Steam rose from Ludia, “Take that back! I always try to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps. And to do right by people. We Drels are known to be kind and righteous.”

“Could you blame me if I said I don’t believe you? Alright, enough of this crap, lady. Here’s what we’re going to do, only because you’re an eyesore, and I want you out of my hair. I will hand over the two lowest items to you, ‘raid leader.’” Luke pointed to the maimed human hunter, who had lost his companion and left arm, “As a fellow companion class, I’m going to give a third item to him. It will be his, and his alone.”

Ludia started to talk incessantly, but Luke’s language filtering skills rose to new heights. He didn’t register a single word from her. Luke strolled past her and crouched down to the maimed hunter, who had been only holding the dead body of his demon ape companion with his remaining arm during the argument between the two sides.

Luke touched his shoulder, “I know what it’s like to lose someone so close to you. She was family to you, am I right?” He asked the hunter.

The human man nodded and kept his emotions back, “I don’t know what I’ll do without Ulia; I could eventually tame a new companion. But it won’t be the same. She protected me with her life, I should be the dead one, not her.” The distraught hunter looked like a man without purpose.

Luke nodded, “I understand. As someone who also has a companion, here.” He handed over the spear Onelius dropped, “Do with this as you wish. If you need another helping hand, ask for Luke at the Defier’s guild.”

After the hunter accepted it, he looked gratefully at Luke. But soon returned to his desolate demeanor. The Reaver stood up. He scanned the other five raid members, “That spear remains his unless he wishes to trade it for one of the other two items I’ll gift to-”

“How can you decide that for yourself? What gives you the right? You greedy and selfish farworlder. Your type is exactly why we nobles look down on-”

“Sooty, shut her up for me, please.”

Sooty tackled the zealous raid leader, and pulsed shadow essence through her skin. The woman visibly weakened and became exhausted. The raid had already brought her to her limits earlier.

“I appreciated your grandfather’s help, so I’m going to forget we ever interacted. But,” Luke lowered himself to look into her eyes, “I hate your guts. Your stupid raid claimed multiple lives today. I hope you suffer for it.” He looked up at Sooty, "And you nearly took something irreplaceable to me."

Luke carefully walked over to the elf healer with black hair, Meluia, “Continue to take care of your dad, Meluia. Tell him to get well soon for me.” He handed over the other two items, the boots, and unidentified cloth, “These are for you; decide amongst yourselves what to do with them after I leave.”

The Reaver briskly strode off. He felt his shoulder missing a weight, while continuing to create distance, he said, “Come along, Sooty. No need to waste more time with that lady.”

He pulled up a notice screen.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

[Leave the Raid? Y/N]

Luke selected yes and made peace with himself. While the interaction with the raid leader left a sour taste in his mouth, six people would return to their families tonight that otherwise would’ve become beast chow.

Sooty perched on his shoulder, and Luke already saw the gorge. Although the shape wasn’t the same as the section he previously visited.

“The gorge must circle around the mountain,” he guessed.

Faintly pulsing runes gradually enlarged as he came closer. After the cloak equipped, the rampant snow around him felt tepid to him almost. For Sooty’s sake, however, he walked with purpose. The gap in frost resistance between the two had grown to seven, with the Black Ice Mantle equipped.

As the distance between him and the gorge gradually closed, Luke recalled the cloak could also gradually repair another item through its passive effect. He pulled up the Interface, interacting with the Equipment tab. After pressing onto the cloak item slot, another prompt came up.

[Assign Onelius’s Tenacity to the designated item? Y/N]

Luke pressed yes, and a faint energy wrapped around his finger. He pushed the icon for Whispering Edge on the equipment panel.

[Whispering Edge has been blessed with Onelius’s Tenacity, gradually self-repairs]

He pulled out the weapon, and the thin crack on the left closed at a snail’s pace. Reassured he put the new passive to maximum use. After Luke checked the distance left to walk and put Whispering Edge back, he scrolled through the rest of the Interface log.

[Granted Onelius’s Mark. Ice Horde Beasts on the 1st and 2nd floor will submit to you until Onelius respawns in two weeks]

“Unexpected, but I’ll take it. It’ll speed up reaching the third floor.”

“What’s unexpected?” Xera said.

Luke looked both ways and behind him. He didn’t see a soul. Relieved, he spoke to Xera.

“For dealing with that raid boss, we got his mark. The beasts on this floor and next will leave us alone for now.”

“That’s no fun! I wanted to cut up some Basilisks. They look crunchy.”

“A massive raid boss wasn’t enough you for? Says he only respawns once every two weeks. Not often you’ll fight something like that, Xera,” Luke said.

“Well, yes, but…okay, good point. Causing explosions inside a boss had me screaming for joy,” Xera admitted.

“I noticed.”

Luke continued through the log, a few expected lines read off.

[Your companion, Sooty, has reached level 25. Acquired one skill point. Must perform a successful Ascension to raise her level cap further]

He saw her level in real-time a few minutes ago, so this was already accounted for. He still pat Sooty on her wing, “Great job. You reached our goal for the dungeon, Sooty. Looks like we’ll have to find the materials for the ritual after we leave this place.”

Sooty rattled with pride, then, for good measure, flapped down to peck Xera a few times. She got too excited every once in a while.

“I’m being bullied! Spare me, Sooty the mighty,” Xera said, playing along.

This seemed to satisfy Sooty. She aimed her playful mood toward Wayfinder next. The compass grunted and stayed silent, unsure of how to handle the crow. Sooty didn’t mind and continued to mess with the shiny compass.

Luke spotted the runes a few yards away. He cleared through the last log notices.

[You have reached level 25. Acquired two skill points. Must perform a successful Ascension to raise your level cap further]

Until Luke raised his level limit later, he chose to apply and permit any future experience he gained to Xera.

[You have stolen 57 HP, 6 Strength, 4 Intellect, 5 Agility]

“Expected as much. That raid boss should’ve been the only one worth stealing from. The Sloth Beast might’ve given a bit too, I’m not sure.”

Luke closed out the Interface Log, breathing in what should be frigid air. To him, it became near temperate by the time it entered his lungs. Based on the feeling, twenty frost resistance should completely negate any environmental factors on this side of the dungeon.

“Let’s get this over with,” Luke dropped down and touched a pulsing rune. A massive suction force ripped him over into the gorge. He dropped and waited for the wind to slow his fall. A few yards from the bottom, a rapid gale killed any acceleration from falling. He landed on his feet to an informed but disturbing sight.

Beasts all around him came out of their homes, usually inside the gorge, and laid down, whimpering. A minority acted like dogs, exposing their bellies to him in surrender.

Luke sensed Xera’s disappointment. She already knew Luke’s views on these matters.

“It’s fine, really. I know you won’t hunt them down since they submitted to you,” Xera said.

The Reaver only managed to scratch his head as Sooty landed back on his shoulder. His sword wand knew him well.

“Sorry, Xera. Doesn’t feel right.”

“Hmph.”

Luke pushed aside the awkward feeling and stepped around the beasts. They shivered in fear whenever he came close but never showed any signs of hostility. Luke could only sigh and move on.

He was thankful the gorge walls handled the wind chill, at least for Sooty’s comfort. Luke searched for the gorge’s end. While parting multiple tides of beasts, he found what he was looking for within the hour. He entered the cave facing the direction of the mountains.

As he entered the cave, Luke told Wayfinder, “The goal was to hit level 25, and I did that. Do you think continuing on to clear the 3rd floor is worth it?”

“If you believe the quest reward and another bounty of loot is useful enough for the cost of your time, lad. I won’t decide for you.”

Luke thought on it as he walked along, delving into the caves. His feet crunched fragile ice as he passed splitting paths. He continually chose the way that descended in altitude. A few Glacier Wing Bats spotted him but hung shock still. Luke found it comical how they figured he would disappear if they closed their eyes.

In a way, they were right.

“It’s worth it. The frost resistance should also distribute to Sooty. For that reason alone, I’ll finish this place out.”

“Aye, the clatter trap doesn’t take to the cold quite as well as you do. With them frosty skills you fancy, not a waste to strengthen the lass.”

Luke nodded. By chance, he returned to the nexus point. A minority of the groups from before remained. The area was cramped; most parties looked to be recovering. He moved through the safe point, seeing no reason to stop.

As he left, the chatter behind him slowly gave way to whistle of wind. After Luke traveled through more cave intersections, Luke’s trail abruptly ended. He studied the ice cave wall, unsure if this was a dead end.

After he dusted off a thin snow layer, a dead rune revealed itself.

“More runes,” Luke said.

“Make your peace with the curiosities. They dot this land,” Wayfinder said.

Luke touched the rune, but nothing occurred. He pushed essence to his hands, and the rune greedily took in every ounce. He’d lost over two-thirds of his essence by the time it was sated. Luckily, Luke’s resource was the type to regenerate quickly.

The ice wall vaporized, and snow dust scattered into the air. The Reaver paced forward, and less than five seconds later. He heard ice reforming behind him.

“Everyone must pay their price. Greedy runes.”

Luke took in the sight before him. The shrinking cave path expanded into a vast cavern, except at its peak, a circular hole revealed the night sky above. When Luke strained his vision, he noticed a near-transparent barrier protecting the cavern from the winds outside. A smattering of beasts rammed against the barrier, unable to enter.

[You have entered the Beast Divide’s Final Floor]

“I can see that; thank you, Interface.”

A tundra forest occupied the cavern. The few natural willow trees trees mixed as they dotted the permafrost soil, but the majority were Ice crystal trees. Dire wolves poked their heads around the trees, watching him. Luke stared at one, and a tooltip screen appeared.

[Dire Moon Wolf]

Level: 25

HP: 1400/1400

Member of the Dire Moon pack. If it spots an intruder, instantly alerts Amarok Scar Eye. It’ll be too late by the time you read this.

“…”

To punctuate Luke’s dismay, the wolf howled into the forest. The sound ripped across the entire cavern.

“I was never the stealthy type anyway.” Luke took out Xera, forming her into a wand.