Jill sucked in a quick breath, nearly choking on the frigid air that filled her lungs. If lungs could get frost burn then it was definitely a risk here. She ignored the burning sensation in her throat and lungs, lifting her hand up. Snow swirled around her as the blizzard’s furious winds turned the snow into projectiles themselves. It was hard to see through the walls of snow and wind, but she could vaguely make out a shadow in the distance. Flying over a hundred feet in the air might be a mistake, with how cold it was, but it made it a little easier to see the stupid monster.
The chill air bit her skin like gnats. If not for Mash’s magical clothing, she would’ve needed to abandon the dungeon altogether. It was, however, just as amazing and versatile as all of his abilities seemed to be. She had been able to mold the clothes into a winter coat, one that conveniently had all the insulation and resistance Mash did. She couldn’t stop the jealous thoughts from leaking into her mind. These clothes would be among the best magical items in the world, and he could just make them, seemingly without limit. Her mother, who had spent her entire life as an enchanter, couldn’t make something like this.
It was hard not to feel envious of such an ability. And with everything else he had, it just felt unfair. Why didn’t she get a class like that? Jill knew that was a dumb question. Her class was amongst the most useful and powerful on the planet. A little digging from Red and Arthur told her that she probably had the best teleportation ability among anyone. Even if she couldn’t teleport to places, she hadn’t been, almost nobody could teleport as freely as her. That knowledge didn’t make her feel any less jealous though.
Her mind focused on one painful fact. For all the power and value her class provided, Mash had stopped her with nothing more than a thought. He had the ability to just stop her. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl. It was so damn similar to that damn god.
She pushed those thoughts away as the shadow in the distance began to move toward her. It wasn’t all that close and had only now taken notice of her. It was already too late though. Jill teleported forward. The space around her seemed to constrict, squeezed together as though she had pulled on the sky itself.
She reappeared above the monster and gazed down at the blue-black scales that coated the odd creature. It had a long body with an uncountable number of sharp insectile legs, although it had scales like a lizard. She couldn’t fully make out the head beneath the cover of the snow, but she could kind of see the outline of pincers. She focused her attention on the body of the creature, imagining a hand grabbing and holding onto scales. Pouring mana into that desire, the space around the monster reacted, solidifying and holding the large monster in place.
The monster immediately began thrashing, but it was useless. No amount of physical force could break space. No, as far as she knew, the only things that could stop her skills were other skills or magic. The monster didn’t seem to have either. From the way it managed to kick up snow and tear entire trees from the ground, she guessed that it was pretty strong, not to mention the size of a house. Yet, she could’ve trapped it with a much smaller shackle than she did.
She stared down at the writing creature, taking in the snow-covered forest that surrounded it. Tall trees with dark wood and spines for leaves filled the expanse in every direction. The only space without trees was behind the creature, which had so uncaringly trampled a section of the forest. Jill took in the sight since it would be very different in a second.
She summoned her needle. The long spear coalesced from the air in the space directly in front of her, the impossibly sharp tip aimed straight toward the beast. She didn’t bother catching the weapon, instead letting gravity carry the weapon down. The monster might be able to dodge the needle if it managed to get out of her grip, but it would never dodge the explosion.
Long before her needle reached the invisible barrier of space, Jill teleported away. She couldn’t see very far in the storm, so she made many quick teleports rather than a single long one. After three teleports she glanced back toward the creature, which was now completely shrouded by the falling snow. She hovered in the air, silently counting the seconds inside her head.
[You are still too close.]
Jill was shaken by her count, as Priscilla’s message interrupted her thoughts. Priscilla’s presence was an easy thing to ignore, especially since she rarely ever said anything when not prompted. The warning felt like the kind of thing a concerned parent might say, and it grated on Jill a little. Luke and Valeria were very protective, and Jill’s patience was quickly dwindling under their supervision. They kept stressing how they needed Jill and wouldn’t let anything happen to her. The constant feeling of being babies made her wish for the time when Luke was a confused mess. She immediately regretted the thought, even if no one would ever hear it. Keeping that sickening thought inside her head, she responded to Priscilla out loud.
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“I know, I’m going to try and block it. And this should be far enough to avoid the worst of it.”
As per her usual nature, Priscilla didn’t respond. Jill was fairly certain that Priscilla was just messing with her. The little snake tended to understand Jill better than most. Jill let it slide because of how cute the small Priscilla was.
Even as she talked with Priscilla, Jill began to harden the space around her, forming an invisible barrier that had no openings. Her one wing wrapped around her as a final line of defense. The sickly-looking grey and black feathers felt soft as they pressed against her skin. A second later, her needle made contact with the barrier. She was too far away to see the moment the two made an impact, but she knew when it happened.
The world in front of her twisted and shattered before her very eyes. It was like she was wearing broken glasses for a moment. Then it snapped back into place as it exploded. The sky, snow, and ground rippled like water from the explosion. The force of the blast struck her shield, winds billowed around the invisible surface as the ripples passed over her. Even with the shield and her wings in place, she could still feel it when her body bent with the ripple. The gut-churning sensation made her want to vomit. Managing to keep her organs inside, she gasped in relief as the rush of a level-up hit her.
It didn’t restore her mana, but the rush of the level-up rejuvenated her. This was the third dungeon of the night. It hadn’t been hard, and she had ignored most of it by just flying over to the boss. Part of the reason she knew what to expect was because of the notes the guild had on the place. This was one of the most well-documented dungeons out there. It was meant for adventurers over level 100, but she had to settle sometimes. The dungeons meant for her level were scarce and dangerous. She would need to start doing those soon though. If it took her three dungeons just to gain a single level, then it was time to move on. But first, she needed to recover some mana.
With one teleport, she appeared beside the entrance of the dungeon. She had learned that she could teleport across worlds, it would simply cost an astronomical amount of her mana. Luke’s buffs might barely get her there, but she didn’t need to do that now.
The dungeon’s entrance was an enormous stone archway that was built into a pedestal of some kind. Greystones covered the ground forming a near-perfect square. The only blemish was a section near one of the corners that had been destroyed. The stones were warm too and seemed to fend off the snowstorm somehow as the stones were all completely visible. The archway had green vines wrapped around it tightly. The entrance was big enough to let a wagon through.
She didn’t hesitate in the slightest, strolling through the portal without worry. The world seemed to change around her. Going from the frigid air of the dungeon to the warm summer air of the beach. Her skin tingled and she shuddered as the warmth washed over her body. The dungeon’s entrance on this side was on the western coast of the continent. The coppery beach stretched far. The dungeon’s entrance was similar on this side as the portal was embedded within a large stone archway. It was half buried in the beach and a few simple buildings had been built around it.
The buildings were made of a light brown wood that was probably from the trees that were scattered along the coast. Some adventures milled about the buildings, while others just relaxed on the beach. A few people turned her way, but none of them approached. A lot of people were leveling quickly right now, and more and more people were risking more dangerous dungeons. She might not have a domain like Mash, but she could glimpse a person’s class and skills with a simple look. Her halo, broken though it may be, provided her with a degree of insight that let her guess a person’s level. And most of the adventurers she saw here weren’t even level 100. They were taking risks to take advantage of the boost to leveling that was happening right now.
She couldn’t judge them though. Not with what she had been doing. She gave the adventurers one last look before teleporting away, once they began to take notice of her. Jill couldn’t easily hide her wing, nor did she feel the need to. With how Mash and Red looked now, she didn’t care much for her inhuman features. She was a bit surprised by how few adventurers actually had them. Most either hid them completely or simply never got them. It made her wonder if Mash’s presence had influenced her in some way. Knowing him, that was probably the case.
The world shifted around her, as she landed outside a very different kind of archway. This one was made of wood and had a constant stream of people coming and going. Not to mention Valeria herself was standing guard. Luke and Valeria would trade off who would guard the portal. Valeria noticed Jill and waved her over, clearly wanting to talk about something.
Jill nodded back and walked over, ignoring how startled some of the beastmen had been on her arrival. As she looked over the beastmen entering Mash’s world, she picked out two who were evil. That wasn’t the right word for it, they were deceitful and probably had some ill intentions for the transfer.
“The eighteenth and twenty-third. Anything else?”
Valeria understood what Jill meant. They hadn’t bothered coming up with some code since most people wouldn’t get it anyways. Plus, unless they were really high-level, they couldn’t run either. If they were that strong, they wouldn’t need to do this kind of thing. Valeria gave a subtle nod.
“Thanks, but I was just going to tell you that Re-, I mean Lin wanted to see you.”
Valeria caught herself. Despite not knowing Red, or Lin as she wanted to be called now, for that long, she still struggled to adjust to the change. Red felt like the name didn’t fit her anymore. Jill didn’t like it though. Red had changed her name. Well, her nickname, to better fit her new appearance. And it seemed like Lin preferred short names.
“Yeah, I’ll go see her.”