Astrid and I left the village in a hurry. The quicker we were able to reach the mines, the more likely we were to find the missing teenagers. There was a chance we would meet them on the way, but the odds were not in our favor. It seemed like there were a few different paths they could have taken to the entrance of the mines. But just a few minutes after we left, before we reached any important landmark, snow started to fall from the sky.

"Shit, a snowstorm now?" I grumbled.

"No storm," Astrid replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Always like this."

"Always? As in always, always? It’s never not snowing here?"

"Yes."

"How is that possible?" I spoke out loud, but I was talking more to the System than to Astrid.

"Don’t know."

[The area around the dungeon can be affected by the internal environment. For that reason, it is possible that the dungeon is responsible for the unusual weather pattern.]

'But to this degree? To the point of making it an eternal snowfall? Wouldn't it need rain to make snow?' This time I made sure to ask only the System.

[Effect is within the realm of possibility. System is unable to understand the reason for such an intense effect without coming into contact with the dungeon core.]

'I guess it’s a good thing we’re going there anyway. But I really hope the kids didn’t end up finding the dungeon core. Why is it always teenagers? Can’t they just obey?' I sighed.

[According to the information available to System, it is common for teenagers to have a rebellious phase. Inquiry: Did user not have one?]

'I don’t think so. I always followed what people told me, at least when it made sense. There were times when they were just being annoying or overly cautious. Like when they told me there was a bear roaming around, but I still went out to hunt. Or the time I took a boy to the Hunter's cave in the middle of the night. I knew what I was doing. Nothing bad was going to happen.' I smiled. Those were some fun memories despite the scolding I got later.

[What user described is very similar to a rebellious phase. User believed the rules created by the adults were not correct and acted against them despite their better judgment. The fact that user was not injured or hurt does not mean that said rules were unnecessary.]

'Huh. I guess you have a point,' I never really thought about that, but there were times when Pops said he was going crazy because of me.

We arrived at a highway from the old world a few minutes after we left. There were a couple of houses nearby but they were destroyed due to the weight of the constant snowfall. Everything was covered in white, and there were no tracks for us to follow. Even the ones we just made had already been half-covered by the weather. Looking ahead, I could see the markings of the six roads that made up the highway. Seven, if I’m counting the one we were using. And between the two main lanes was a small overpass that was currently buried under the snow. In fact, the entire area was covered in a thick layer of snow.

It was strange. If the weather here never changed, then we should be seeing towering walls of ice and snow covering everywhere. After all, nothing would ever melt. Yet, that was not the case. It was not impossible to understand the layout of the ground. Small pieces of the earth were bumpy or had small hills peeking through the white sheet. Could the dungeon be using the excess snow in order to make more? How would that work? Maybe it was related to the need for resources. The SP couldn't just cover everything in ice since it would make whatever lived inside the dungeon starve to death. But even then, it was wild to consider the control the particles would have over the environment.

Astrid did not say anything. She just continued sprinting towards what I assumed to be the mines. She cut between all the roads and reached the other side before finally stopping and turning towards me. "We go west. If you spot them, do not yell. Tap me and we go."

"Okay. They can be anywhere?"

"Yes. Various paths."

"Got it. Just out of curiosity, why can’t I yell?" I asked. This was almost instinctive to me, but I wanted to understand why she was telling me not to yell now. Maybe Eaters could show up here, but that did not make sense considering what she told me last night.

"Bear territory. And the ice devil."

Not an Eater, but almost as bad. "Yes, ma’am."

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Astrid frowned. "I’m younger."

I stared at her for a moment. "Ok… Yes, lass. Is that better?"

"Not worse."

We continued moving as fast as we could. Unfortunately, it was clear that I was slowing Astrid down a bit. Every so often, she had to stop and wait for me to catch up. But at least that gave her an opening to look around properly and see if she found any trails or signs of the teenagers. {Predatory Sense} was quiet for now, but I double-checked with the System, and everything was working as it should.

We continued along the highway for about half an hour when Astrid veered right, heading northwest towards what looked to be a mountain, but I could not make it out properly through the snow that was falling. It was not a storm by any means, but it was enough to reduce visibility after a few hundred meters [yards].

"Are we getting close to the mine?" I asked.

"No. Lake first," Astrid explained as she pointed to the track she was making in the snow. "Behind me."

"There’s a lake here?" I moved to walk just behind her. The snow was slowly becoming more of an issue, and because of her frame, she was able to open a path more easily than I could.

"Yes. Frozen solid."

"Completely frozen?"

"Yes."

I frowned. There was almost no change in the temperature between the village and here. In fact, just before the highway, there was a small stream that was still running. Only a few parts of the shore had actual ice. How could something like that exist in the same area as a lake that was completely frozen? Even if it was not just a gigantic iceberg, the temperature should not allow the middle to freeze like that.

Could this be another effect of the dungeon, or maybe there was something in the lake making it even colder?

I asked the System, but it also did not have an answer. We continued moving, going around the lake instead of through it, and like Astrid said, it was completely frozen over. We could not even see the water below. There was some sort of structure in the middle of the lake itself. Whatever it was, it looked ancient, as parts of the base had frozen over and become one with the ice.

"What is that thing?" I did my best not to raise my voice, but despite the snow, all the noise we were making was carried by the wind.

"Fishing hut."

"So there are fish under the lake?"

"Not anymore," Astrid continued moving, not slowing down at all.

"What happened?"

"Water froze. All water."

"Shit. Everything?"

"All we can dig."

"How long has it been since that happened?"

"I wasn’t born."

So, just like the frost, it seemed this was not a sudden occurrence, but a gradual thing. "How old are you again?"

Astrid glanced towards me with a single raised eyebrow. "23. You?"

"25. My birthday wasn’t that long ago."

"Congratulations," Astrid replied. If it was anyone else, I would think they were being condescending. But her comment seemed genuine.

We continued walking for another hour. The amount of snow covering the area slowly increased, which made me think we were getting closer to the dungeon. That wasn’t all, the snowfall also increased. It still wasn’t aggressive like a storm, just a constant trickle of snow. But the change was like going from a small stream to a lazy river. I assumed that the closer we got to the dungeon, the stronger the effects would be. But I never expected things to be this bad. Yet, somehow, Astrid was fully capable of navigating the area, even gesturing to some points where cracks or small holes would be so I could avoid them.

Eventually, we reached the ruins of a massive building that had long since been destroyed by the relentless snowfall. Considering we were close to a mine, this building should have been the facility where everything was processed. Parts of it were still standing, like the row of massive metal cylinders that were used for something, I assume—maybe storage? It’s hard to tell. I don’t think I ever stopped to study how a mine actually worked.

But we were only able to see those things when we were very close. The snowfall was intense, almost like a full sheet of white covering my view, even though the snowflakes fell lazily from the sky.

"Stay close. Almost there. Don’t fall."

"What do you mean, don’t fall?" I frowned. Talking to Astrid wasn’t completely without its challenges, but I didn’t want to press and make her upset with me. It wasn’t my place to try to teach her or force her to act in a way she wasn’t used to.

"Big drop. The eye will be better."

"Eye? Like the eye of the storm?"

Astrid just nodded at my question. We continued walking for a couple more minutes. This time, it was clear our progress was much slower. The snow was reaching Astrid’s waist, which was about the height of my stomach. She was quite literally acting like a bulldozer, pushing through the wall of soft snow in front of us. During this time, I kept pestering the System for more answers. But it could not say anything else. We needed to find the dungeon core to get more information about how this worked. Maybe being inside the dungeon would already give us some insight, but it would not be enough to answer all my questions.

Eventually, we reached a point where the ground tilted down and the snow became unable to hold our weight. Panic set in as soon as I remembered that Astrid told me to be careful. But even as we were being dragged down, my guide wasn’t frazzled. She seemed confident that we were going in the right direction. Not long after I realized that, the snowfall stopped completely, and we skidded to a halt.

We were now in the mine proper—a gigantic hole where there once was a mountain. The road spiraled around the place, making some twists and turns before reaching the bottom. Everything was covered in deep blue pieces of jagged ice, as if the frost itself was growing from inside the ground. Surrounding the mines was a wall of snow, with more falling. Looking up, the sky was clear—there was no cloud to be seen. Not in this central area. There were some tracks leading down, and they clearly went to a specific opening on the south side of the mine. A red flag was placed just outside the entrance. The cloth was too new for it to have been left by someone else long ago, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed that.

"There," Astrid pointed to the flag.

"Is that a signal you use?"

Astrid nodded. "Means people inside."

"And you’re sure no one else came here? Couldn’t someone have run away and forgotten to take the flag down?"

"No." Astrid started going down the path towards the tunnel entrance.

I followed right after her, but after just a few steps, I froze, staring at the words that appeared in my view:

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You have entered the Frosted Gold Dungeon

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